Members of the Shah-Berry Dance Academy stepped and twirled to a beat yesterday at the Cultural Center of India in Chester during a commemoration of India’s independence from Britain 62 years ago. Janahavi Giribhattanav (left) from the Shah-Berry academy performed the Kathak Salaam, a classical Indian dance, and Bina Shah (right) celebrated during the children’s parade. In addition to the performances, there was food and an appearance by Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor. For more images from yesterday’s India celebration at the Cultural Center of India in Chester, go to TimesDispatch.com keyword: slideshow

special-needs support (gifted, special education)
local/community awareness
communication
subjects taught in isolation
teacher as dispenser of information
environment taught in science
study skills
self-awareness
classroom-centered learning
special-needs support (gifted, special education)
international awareness

For the second time in as many weeks, a published poll is showing Republican Bob McDonnell with a double-digit lead for governor over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. Public Policy Polling yesterday put McDonnell ahead of Deeds, 51 percent to 37 percent. Four weeks ago, the Raleigh, N.C.-based survey group reported McDonnell leading Deeds, 49 percent to 43 percent.

A vendor-paid trip for a dozen Henrico County school officials took them to look at vocational high school facilities in Las Vegas and suburban Phoenix. The early January trip involved a Sunday evening flight to Phoenix, a tour of two schools in suburban Mesa, Ariz., beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, followed by a tour of Phoenix’s Biotech High School after lunch, according to the group’s itinerary.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who recently has been criticized by state Republican leaders for his out-of-town trips as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says his security detail on those trips cost less than $10,000 in his first six months in the post. Kaine said he has kept records of the security expenditures and has instructed the DNC to reimburse the commonwealth for the costs.

Maymont, the popular Richmond park that is trying to weather the economic downturn, announced yesterday that effective July 7 it will charge admission fees for its Nature Center exhibits. The fees will be $2 for children 4 to 12 and seniors ages 60 and older; $3 for those 13 to 59 and free for children under 4. Admission will remain free for Maymont members.

The acting head of Virginia’s embattled computer agency is praising employees for “doing heavy lifting” and urging them to ignore critics. Leonard M. “Len” Pomata yesterday met with about 100 employees of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency at its Chesterfield County headquarters. Other workers listened by phone conference call, as did a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who was supplied the numerical pass code. Some employees submitted questions to Pomata by e-mail.

The stretch of Riverside Drive between Pony Pasture and the Huguenot Bridge is flat, shady and scenic, an irresistible combination for runners. Precisely the sort of route Dr. Peter Still loved. Still, 51, an avid runner, died last July of a heart attack. He was on a morning run. To honor his memory, the Richmond Road Runners Club has established a new race, the Pony Pasture 5K, which will be held July 25—three days before the first anniversary of Still’s death. Proceeds from the registration fees will benefit the club’s scholarship fund.

One of every 84 people in Petersburg has HIV or AIDS. In Richmond, that number is one of every 91 people, and in Norfolk, it’s one of every 102 people. (The statewide rate is one in every 370 people.) These three urban areas are among the nation’s HIV and AIDS “hot spots,“ according to a group that yesterday launched a Web site that let users geographically map areas where the HIV and AIDS burden is high.

The proposed construction of a large lodging facility at Fort Lee has triggered concern among hotel industry leaders and local government officials in the Tri-Cities. The Army is contemplating building a 1,000-room facility at Fort Lee to support a projected student growth at the installation because of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission process.

The Richmond school system’s payroll department is overstaffed but has been unable to detect overpayments, accurately track time off or collect money it is owed by employees, according to a report released yesterday by the schools’ internal auditor. In addition, an audit of the system’s human resources department, also released yesterday, showed a department operating on the fringe, with out-of-date policies and procedures and ineffective management. Neither department has seen updated guidelines since the mid-1990s.

A coalition of business and education officials put Virginia politicians on notice yesterday that voters want the state to invest more in its colleges and universities. “The people of Virginia get it,“ said W. Heywood Fralin, chairman of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council and chief executive officer of Medical Facilities of America Inc.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell talked jobs and energy yesterday at a news conference with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. McDonnell also ducked on two issues that have been in the limelight recently. McDonnell said he would defer judgment on whether to allow uranium mining in the state and what to do about Virginia’s troubled information technology agency, VITA, until studies have been completed.

Shannon Dean’s husband said he had never heard her scream as loudly as she did the Friday night before Mother’s Day. “It was late. I went out to feed the dog. I opened the kennel. When I was bringing the food back out, it hit,“ said Dean, who lives in King William County. “I looked at my hand and saw these huge fang marks.“ She was bitten by what was later determined to be a copperhead snake.

The Democratic candidates for governor talked unity yesterday, while Republicans went on the attack against new nominee R. Creigh Deeds. Flanked by the current governor and wearing the campaign stickers of the man who routed them in yesterday’s primary, Democrats Brian J. Moran and Terry McAuliffe pledged to unify behind Deeds and work to help him defeat Republican Bob McDonnell this November.