New Kent County authorities identified a Quinton couple found dead in their home last week as Cheyenne Bullock Sr., 49, and his wife, Caroline Bullock, 32. The apparent murder-suicide was discovered after a family member asked the county sheriff’s department Friday to check on the welfare of the couple, who lived at 3800 New Kent Highway.

Kent County authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide that was discovered Friday afternoon. Deputies with the New Kent Sheriff’s Office went to a home in the 3800 block of New Kent Highway in Quinton to check on the welfare of its residents. A family member told authorities that the residents hadn’t made contact with anyone for several days and that this was uncharacteristic of them.

The Chesterfield County school system is considering having the state conduct an efficiency review of its noninstructional operations. Last night, the county’s School Board discussed whether to request participation in the Virginia School Efficiency Review Program run by the state’s Department of Budget and Planning. The department hires an independent consultant to look at possible efficiencies in areas such as human resources, finance, purchasing, special education, transportation, technology management and food services. The goal is for recommended savings to go into instruction.

It’s important for assessors and commissioners to do a reassessment right. Their job is to determine the fair-market value of real estate—and that matters to property owners, because it is one of the two factors that determine their real estate tax bill. Assessments are supposed to be an impartial estimate. It’s the other piece—the rate at which property is taxed—that’s a political decision.

A look at localities that reassessed residential and commercial properties this year: Chesterfield County: In all, the county’s tax base grew 1 percent. The Board of Supervisors will advertise a tax rate of 95 cents per $100 of assessed value, the same as it now charges, even though the so-called rollback-rate calculation shows it could set a 97-cent rate for all real estate. The rollback rate, which localities are required to disclose when reassessments average a more than 1 percent increase, is what the real estate tax rate would have to be to keep tax bills unchanged.

A New Kent County couple who came to realize how difficult it was to find affordable housing in their community have made it possible for six families to do so. Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity will break ground today on a six-home subdivision off Hopewell Road—its first project in New Kent—that will be built on 10.6 acres sold by Bert and Elsie McLaughlin.

Kitchen manager Duan Blackston may have been able to whip up a mean spaghetti dinner at a regional jail in New Kent County, but he’s now accused of trying to smuggle contraband behind bars. A contract worker for a canteen service, Blackston is facing a hearing next week in Henrico County on charges of attempting to smuggle cigarettes and drugs into the jail, Henrico Regional Jail East. Jail space is shared by New Kent, Henrico and Goochland.

Petersburg St. Joseph School is hosting an open house for prospective pre-K3 through eighth-grade students and their families tomorrow at 1 p.m. The public can meet the faculty, tour the facility and hear about the academic curriculum and religious education program. The school is located at 123 Franklin St. For details, contact the school office at (804) 732-3931.

Heart disease and excessive weight killed Yvelt Occean after he struggled with police in April, and not the shocks of a police Taser that officers used to subdue him, authorities have concluded. After nearly eight months of investigation, the state medical examiner’s office has ruled that Occean, 31, died from coronary artery atherosclerosis—the principal cause of coronary artery disease—about 2½ hours after being shocked with a Taser on April 5 in New Kent County.

How much of your money will local government spend during the next budget cycle, and on what? If you’re not there to influence their thinking, who is? The watchdogs - or gadflies - depending on which side of the table you’re on.
Gadflys:

The New Kent County School Board is gathering input and applications to prepare for the July retirement of Superintendent J. Roy Geiger II. Geiger, 58, who began his career in New Kent as a teacher 33 years ago, has been superintendent since July 1995. School Board Chairman Joseph S. Yates said an outside consultant, Richard Hixson of Yorktown, has been hired to assist with the statewide search for a new superintendent.

New Kent The New Kent Ruritan Club and Virginia Blood Services will hold a blood drive on Wednesday from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Quinton Community Center. Register by logging onto www.vadonor.com and enter “nkruritan” as the sponsor code. Petersburg The annual Lighting of Petersburg will be Friday from 6:15 to about 10 p.m. at the Old Towne Visitor Center and Union Train Station. The event includes music from the Virginia State University Marching Trojans and a visit by Santa.

MONDAY, DEC. 1 New Kent County School Board, 7 p.m., New Kent High School auditorium, 7501 Egypt Road. TUESDAY, DEC. 2 Chesterfield County Joint Board of Supervisors/School Board Liaison Committee, 11 a.m., Room 505, Lane B. Ramsey Administration Building, 9901 Lori Road. Hopewell Public Schools Special Education Advisory Council, 3:30 p.m., School Board Office, 103 N. 12th Ave.

Community events in Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, New Kent, Chesterfield, Powhatan and Tri-Cities. SATURDAY, NOV. 29 Craft Bazaar and Outreach, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Ladysmith Baptist Church, 19443 Jefferson Davis Highway. Details: (540) 226-2911.  TUESDAY, DEC. 2 Christmas Concert, presented by the Virginia State University Concert Choir, 7 p.m., Anderson-Turner Auditorium, Virginia Hall. Free. Details: (804) 524-5311 or (804) 524-5342.

New Kent County hasn’t had a Christmas mother for the past 10 years, but it does have a Christmas mother program.