The Chesterfield County Planning Commission rejected proposed new rules for electronic signs last night. A key issue is how quickly the signs are allowed to change messages. The commission’s vote leaves in place the current practice of considering such signs on a case-by-case basis. But the commission also voted to try to come up with a new policy on such signs so that the county has a standardized approach to the devices.

Berger, Mr. Samuel N., 88, of Mechanicsville, a World War II Army veteran, a retired employee of the Internal Revenue Service, widower of Gertrude Berger, husband of Emily. Callis, Mrs. Eloise Lambert, 60, of New Kent, a retired nurse who worked at Westminster Canterbury. Chambers, Ms. Lulu Mae, 76, of Richmond. Claiborne, Mrs. Jean Elizabeth, wife of Joseph B. Claiborne Sr.

A coal industry group and the lobbying firm behind forged letters sent to three congressmen have responded in part to questions from a congressional committee investigating the recent scandal. The U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming launched a probe into the bogus letters after The Daily Progress disclosed that U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, had received a number of fake letters urging him to vote against a landmark piece of climate-change legislation.

It’s a safe bet to say at least one person didn’t pass the road portion of their driver’s license examination yesterday at the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles main office in Richmond. Richmond police were called to the DMV’s rear parking lot about noon for a report of a three-vehicle wreck. Police said someone apparently drove into two parked vehicles in the 2300 block of West Broad Street while taking their driving test.

Adkins, Mr. Kenneth E. “Lone Eagle,“ 74, husband of Virginia Adkins. Berkley, Ms. Gladys D., 90, of Ashland. Davis, Mr. Wayne “Red,“ of Richmond. Dean, Mr. Wesley F., 84, of Mechanicsville, widower of Frances “Lucille” Dean. Eckenrode, Mr. Lex T., 61, of Midlothian, husband of Patsy Eckenrode. Foster, Mr. Delwin L., of Richmond, formerly of Caroline County.

Buchanan, Mr. James T., 80, of Richmond, a retired mechanic for Colonial Ford Truck, widower of Katherine Marie Buchanan. Davis, Mrs. Jacqueline Whitehead, 63, of Charles City, an administrative assistant for the Federal Aviation Administration, wife of Isaiah P. Davis Sr. Domo, Mr. Robert Michael, 55, of Richmond. Fox, Mrs. Katherine H., of Richmond, formerly of Powhatan.

A Richmond program that helps uninsured people get specialty medical care and surgeries has arranged for more than $2 million in free physician care since it began. “We have, in a year and a half, returned $2.4 million in charity care to the community,“ said Deborah Love, executive director of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, which manages the Access Now program.

Arrowood, Mrs. Lucille L., 68, of Aylett, wife of Dairl E. Arrowood Sr. Barnett, Mr.Sam Martin Jr., 95, of Richmond, an Army veteran, a retired district manager of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, widower of Louise Patterson Barnett. Beard, Mrs. W. Sue, 65, of Richmond, owner of Freckles restaurant, widow of Charles G. Beard.

Shockoe Bottom’s second purple-martin festival is just four days away, but the guests of honor are not cooperating. Last year in mid-July, about 4,000 martins would darken the sky at dusk before flying into a row of trees on North 17th Street to spend the night. On Sunday, only about 300 birds arrived. Many swooped down toward the trees, then flew away.

A pilot program to reduce gang membership and violence has been so successful in South Richmond that authorities are taking the initiative on the road. Next up is an area of North Richmond that includes the Highland Park and southern Barton Heights neighborhoods. “There’s a demonstrated need for it,“ Assistant Police Chief David M. McCoy said yesterday as police, prosecutors and community leaders gathered at Trinity Baptist Church on Fendall Avenue to announce the expansion of the Gang Reduction and Intervention Program.

Authorities in Hanover and Henrico counties say they have arrested a man who stole and damaged more than $1 million worth of construction equipment. Rashad Muhammad, 23, of the 5700 block of Tivoli Circle in Henrico was arrested Monday. Authorities said that at the time of his arrest, Muhammad was traveling in a stolen semi truck from Hanover that was pulling a stolen trailer loaded with two pieces of construction equipment stolen from Henrico.

Fired Danville police officer Murrill McLean, who shot and killed a miniature dachshund named Killer on June 8, has decided to appeal the department’s decision to terminate his employment, a police department source said Thursday. First, McLean’s appeal will work its way through the Danville Police Department. Police Chief Philip Broadfoot will issue the final ruling for the department, which also can be appealed.

The typical voyage from America to combat zones in Vietnam took 18 to 21 days. Confined to a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with sleeping quarters so tight troops had little to no room to move leaves plenty of hours to occupy the mind. How that time was spent by soldiers is the focus of the Vietnam Graffiti Project, an endeavor started 12 years ago in Keswick in Albemarle County by Art and Lee Beltrone.

Monica Plumb, an 11-year-old rising sixth-grader in Powhatan County, needed to build a lamp with simple materials at a summer engineering camp. So she filled a box with pennies for the base, taped toilet paper rolls together for a pole, got a light bulb socket with a battery and held it in place with coils, which stuck out and helped adorn the bulb. Then she covered it with pink duct tape.

Textbooks are nice, but nothing beats a history lesson that includes original documents, eyewitness accounts and participants, a group of Virginia teachers is finding out this week. The 19 educators from across the state are learning about Massive Resistance—Virginia’s attempt to keep from desegregating schools in the 1950s and 1960s—as participants in the annual weeklong E. Claiborne Robins Jr. Teachers Institute at the Virginia Historical Society.