By saving for a rainy day, New Kent County is hoping to brace itself for financial stormy weather. The New Kent Board of Supervisors has directed the county administration to institute a number of belt-tightening measures, such as leaving vacant, nonessential positions unfilled, limiting access to training funds and putting off some discretionary purchases and capital projects. County Administrator John A. Budesky stressed that the county’s finances are strong and that such strategies are in preparation for possible state funding cuts and other revenue shortfalls.

This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at Amelia Work has begun on the visitors center at Amelia County’s Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park. The $1.1 million center is expected to be completed next summer.

A ponytailed man who lived a hermit’s life in New Kent County and who authorities say shot to death a teenaged intruder there this month was on the run from multiple drug charges in Florida, arrest records and law-enforcement officers say. In Westville, Fla., a tiny panhandle town and former county seat of Holmes County, John Steven Carter stood out for his flashes of temper and flashy vintage Cadillacs.

A ponytailed man who lived a hermit’s life in New Kent County and who authorities say shot to death a teenaged intruder there this month was on the run from multiple drug charges in Florida, arrest records and law-enforcement officers say. In Westville, Fla., a tiny panhandle town and former county seat of Holmes County, John Steven Carter stood out for his flashes of temper and flashy vintage Cadillacs.

New Kent County plans to settle a lawsuit filed by the developers of a proposed regional landfill by encouraging the developers to make other use of their property. In 2005, a Richmond group sought to build a 191-acre landfill southeast of Interstate 64 and state Route 106 but temporarily withdrew its application a year later following heavy public opposition.

This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities.