Audiences will have to strap on their psychological seat belts for “Normal,“ the rock musical that’s the latest offering from Stage 1 Theatre Company in Mechanicsville. At least, such is the opinion of several artists behind the production, running through April 25. “It takes you on a roller coaster,“ said Ali Thibodeau, who plays one of the lead roles, Polly, a teenager with an eating disorder.

New Highland Baptist Church. 9200 Ashcake Road in Mechanicsville, will host a Career Transition Workshop on April 4 from 9 a.m. to noon, for those who have recently lost their jobs as a result of the economy. Learn about networking, creating a résumé, interview strategies and more. Local human resource experts will facilitate the free workshops at the church. For information or to register, call (804) 550-9601 or visit http://www.newhighlandbaptist.org. Seating is limited.

Man’s missing Coast Guard mementos still surfacing Henrico collector returns some of the items mistakenly sold The good news came quickly. After reading a story about Matthew E. Rigsby’s lost Coast Guard mementos in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Saturday, Lewis Parks realized he had some of the items. Parks quickly contacted Rigsby to tell him three of the items were safe. “He came about an hour after I talked to him,“ Parks said.

Matt Rigsby may have “swallowed the anchor” and ended his service in the Coast Guard, but those years still matter to him. So he’d like to have back his mementos from his years as a Coastie. “It’s a piece of my personal history that’s irreplaceable,“ Rigsby said. How the memorabilia from his nautical rites of passage went adrift is a little tangled.

Shellback certificate for crossing the equator
Golden Dragon certificate for crossing the 180th meridian, the international date line
Golden Shellback certificate for sailing over the point in the Pacific Ocean where the equator and the 180th meridian cross
Red Nose certificate for crossing the Antarctic Circle
Cruise book from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Sea’s voyage to the Antarctic

A 24-year-old man was shot in the face during a brawl over the weekend at a private party in Mechanicsville, authorities said yesterday. Hanover County authorities charged Tyrone Lee Anderson Jr., 25, of South 17th Street in Richmond with malicious wounding and use of a firearm in a felony. The shooting took place Saturday about 1 a.m. after at least two fights erupted at the party, attended by about 300 people at the American Legion Post 175 in the 9100 block of Atlee Road, said Hanover sheriff’s Lt. Mike Trice.

Derek Edward Burkhead, facing a first-degree murder trial for the third time, is leaving his fate to a seven-man, five-woman Hanover County jury. Greg Sheldon, who has represented the Mechanicsville man through two previous mistrials, rested his case yesterday, putting on no defense evidence. Sheldon said he will argue today that, while Burkhead apparently shot his longtime girlfriend, there is no evidence that he did so maliciously or planned the attack.

John P. Clodfelter was skeptical when he went into a meeting yesterday with President Barack Obama. But the Mechanicsville man left the White House reassured. Clodfelter and his wife, Gloria, were among 40 family members of the victims of Sept. 11 and the USS Cole bombing who met with Obama, as he responded to their anger over delays in bringing terror suspects to trial.

The last time Stacey Stokes talked to her husband, he called to remind her to be careful driving in the rain. “He told me he loved me, and he wanted to make sure I was safe out here in all the rain,“ she said. She got that call at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. A little over two hours later, Antonio A. Stokes, 39, of Mechanicsville was found dead in the driver’s seat of the family van in North Richmond.

Army Sgt. William R. Partrea has arrived for duty at the U.S. Army Recruiting Station in Mechanicsville. The sergeant, a recruiter with five years of military service, is assigned to the Beckley Recruiting Battalion. Partrea, a 1995 graduate of Mills Godwin High School, is the son of Robert B. Partrea of Richmond.

Not many teens can say they met the Dalai Lama. Derek Henderson, 13, of Mechanicsville can. And he has the photos to prove it. “I just walked in there . . . met him and the whole day I couldn’t believe it!“ said Derek, who along with his family visited the spiritual father of Tibet last month during a trip to India over the holidays.

A Mechanicsville man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in an international child-pornography ring.

The fire crackled and flames reached skyward from the small, circular tub outside Messiah Lutheran Church in Mechanicsville. Those gathered sang “Shine, Jesus, Shine” as they fed the growing fire with branches of greenery.

Henrico Working with community groups and charitable organizations, the Henrico County Police Athletic League this week distributed educational toys donated by DARE America to needy children. Petersburg Minerva Books in Petersburg has partnered with Peabody Middle School to begin a Book Study Club. The book store has agreed to provide bookmarks and bags for participants.

William Thomas “Tom” West Sr. remembered when Hanover County was mostly rural and people were truly neighbors to one another. He tried to invoke that neighborly spirit as he served on the Hanover Board of Supervisors from 1968 to the late 1970s and on the relatively new Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, which he chaired in 1974, said his son, W. Thomas “Tommy” West Jr. of Old Church.