After three years of development, Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals Inc. will start production soon at a $135 million expansion of its pharmaceutical plant in Petersburg. Most of the 100 jobs created with the opening of the new plant have been filled, company spokeswoman Amanda Tate said yesterday. The plant, which employs almost 500 people, typically has about five to 15 job openings per month, she said. A handful of jobs were listed on the company’s Web site yesterday for production and administrative positions.

Petersburg Ward 3 School Board representative Kenneth L. Pritchett and Ward 3 City Council representative Ken Pritchett will sponsor a meeting March 9 at 6:30 p.m., at Vernon Johns Junior High School, 3101 Homestead Drive. Representatives from the Virginia attorney general will discuss G.R.I.P. (Gang Reduction and Intervention Program).

Petersburg City Council this week unanimously approved the sale of the historic McIlwaine House, the current home of the city’s visitor’s center. The two-story house at 425 Cockade Alley in Old Towne will be sold for $140,000, city officials said. A city agreement identifies the future owner of the house as 425 Cockade Alley LLC, which belongs to Alexander “Sandy” C. Graham Jr., an attorney with the Richmond firm Williams Mullen.

Five people were injured, one severely, yesterday morning in a multiple-vehicle collision that snarled rush-hour traffic on state Route 36 at Fort Lee’s main gate. The crash at about 8:20 a.m. prompted police to close the area to traffic so a MedFlight helicopter could land. Marcia Jones of Danville, a Department of Defense civilian employee who was the most severely injured, was flown to VCU Medical Center. She was listed in stable condition yesterday afternoon, authorities said.

A career con man who allegedly schemed from a federal prison in Petersburg to loot the bank accounts of Holocaust victims was sentenced to 8½ years in prison yesterday. John Kenneth Leighnor, 49, pleaded guilty in October to one count of mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft unrelated to the Holocaust allegations. He and his lawyers strongly denied he ever intended or attempted such a crime.

The Petersburg School Board last night unanimously voted to approve a draft $50.4 million operating budget to submit to the City Council. The budget eliminates 22 teaching positions, the majority of which are vacant. Before the board’s vote, Petersburg schools Superintendent James M. Victory said, “Because this is a very fluid budgetary process, and [because] there are still several unknowns that may potentially impact final decisions, we reserve the right to continually adjust this draft document as necessary.“

When John Marshall boys basketball players and coaches talk about last year’s Central Region championship and run to the state tournament semifinals, Quantae Cooley can only listen. Cooley played for JM’s Colonial District rival Thomas Jefferson a year ago but transferred to John Marshall for his senior year. After the Justices defeated Highland Springs in Friday night’s semifinals at the Siegel Center, Cooley had this to say: “I wasn’t with them last year. This is the best feeling in my life.“

With just over six minutes remaining in the Central Region semifinal, Petersburg senior Cadarian Raines soared to block his sixth and final Henrico shot. Seconds later, at the other end of the court, Raines went up again—this time to jam the ball home. The message was clear. There would be no Henrico rally, as No. 1 Petersburg pulled away to win 77-59 yesterday at the Siegel Center.

On Feb. 20, published author Tayashimaya Morris visited Walnut Hill Elementary School in Petersburg to talk to the fifth-grade students. Students are preparing for the state Standards of Learning writing test. Morris is a Petersburg native and a 1990 graduate of Petersburg High School. Morris spoke to students about her success and how they can become successful as well. She read her book, “Whew, It Was Only a Dream.“ She also told the students how she writes, why she writes and when she writes. She told the students, “You can be anything you want if you set your mind to it.“

A week before finalizing a budget to submit to the City Council, the Petersburg school system still needs to trim $298,570 to balance it. The district is facing a shortfall of $3.7 million for its $54.2 million budget. The proposed budget calls for reducing staff positions, cutting transportation for after-school athletic practices and stipends for coaches and advisers at Petersburg High School, Peabody Middle School and Vernon Johns Junior High.

At its Feb.18 public meeting, the Petersburg School Board recognized three “little brothers” and three “big brothers,“ in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, who made a special contribution on Martin Luther King Day in January. DeMarkus Boyd and Jalon Jones of Robert.E. Lee Elementary School, and T’Quan Mason of J.E.B.Stuart Elementary, accompanied their Big Brothers Romell Floyd, Amos Pierre and Ashmore Hyndman to Virginia State University. There, the “littles” read speeches in honor of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., which they had worked on with their “bigs.“

A suspect in Saturday’s fatal shooting in Petersburg has been arrested, police said. Police spokesman Esther Hyatt said Derazz Tyrell White, 24, whose last known address was on Summit Street in Petersburg, was arrested Monday in Petersburg without incident. Police received a call Saturday at 4:26 p.m. about gunshots fired near South Crater and Wagner roads. Officers found a vehicle with several bullet holes and shattered glass in a parking lot in the 3200 block of South Crater Road, Hyatt said.

Petersburg police continued yesterday to search for a suspect in Saturday’s fatal shooting. Police said the suspect, Derazz Tyrell White, 24, whose last known address was on Summit Street in Petersburg, is considered armed and dangerous. Police received a call at 4:26 p.m. Saturday about gunshots fired near South Crater and Wagner roads. Officers found a vehicle with several bullet holes and shattered glass in a parking lot in the 3200 block of South Crater Road, police spokesman Esther Hyatt said.

Petersburg police are seeking a suspect in connection with a fatal shooting today. Police said Derazz Tyrell White, 24, whose last known address was on Summit Street in Petersburg, is consided armed and dangerous.

A gun-safety vigil will be held Saturday in Hopewell in honor of a 13-year-old boy who was accidentally killed with a shotgun in 2006. The event is being organized by Heather Jiggetts, the mother of Terry Othell Hayes Jr., who was fatally shot by his teenage cousin on Nov. 26, 2006. Terry and his cousin were in the home of a family member in Petersburg when the cousin removed a shotgun from a closet and started playing with it. The gun discharged in Terry’s face. He later died at Southside Regional Medical Center.