Rural America may be an ideal spot to raise children, but it’s increasingly no place for mom and pop. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to plant its giant footprint in eastern Powhatan County. And family-owned Powhatan Pharmacy & Gifts lies right in its path. In this case, mom and pop are Carol and Jim Gregg, who have run the pharmacy for 35 years. “We were here when you didn’t have any stoplights,“ Jim Gregg recalled yesterday.

Two juveniles were apprehended this evening after escaping from Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center in Powhatan County. State police said the two were located on Maidens Road a short distance from the facility at 5:45, about two hours after they managed to flee through a fenced area. The two were not considered dangerous and are from outside the Central Virginia area.

What’s next? Perhaps jurors will be hidden behind a one-way mirror. Maybe they’ll hear evidence via closed-circuit television or an online stream and render their verdicts by e-mail. An advisory committee to the Virginia Supreme Court has proposed making jurors anonymous in all criminal jury trials. The jurors would be referred to by numbers instead of names.

Henrico The Henrico County Health Department is seeking 100 more volunteers for Sunday’s drill to test the county’s plan to dispense emergency medication in response to a bioterrorism event or a disease outbreak. The exercise will take place from 6-7 p.m. at CVS Pharmacy, 9501 Woodman Road. Registration has been extended to Friday. There is no age limit for volunteers, and participation is not limited to county residents. For information and to register, call 501-4643 or log on to http://www.co.henrico.va.us/health.

This daily column features short news items from some of the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at . Charles City The Charles City County Board of Supervisors will meet tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the Government and School Administration Building, 10900 Courthouse Road.

“The brutality and senselessness defy understanding,“ we said of Tahliek Taliaferro’s killing last year. So, to many, did the verdict returned by the jury—involuntary manslaughter, despite the use of a firearm, which is not an involuntary act. The fact that the defendants were white and the victim black fed suspicions. If two black males had killed a white student, would they have received the same seeming leniency? Such concerns have prompted protests and an inquiry by the FBI.

Sign-toting protesters marched in circles, sporadically chanting “No justice, no peace!“ as state troopers and sheriff’s deputies blocked the entrance to the Powhatan County courthouse. On an overcast morning Thursday, two defendants were being sentenced in the shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro and the nonfatal wounding of Courtney Jones. Family, friends and the prosecution had called Taliaferro’s death a murder. A jury of 11 whites and one black decided otherwise.

Two others facing charges have their trial dates rescheduled.

On Sunday about 300 people marched in Powhatan to protest the verdict in the shooting death of Tahliek Taliaferro. The jury’s decision for “involuntary manslaughter” prompted widespread incredulity and anger. Juries are sovereign. Outsiders do not know what transpires in the jury room; only those who attend a trial can appreciate body language and the effectiveness of the prosecution and defense.

All homicides dismay. Last year’s shooting of Powhatan’s Tahliek Taliaferro seemed particularly disturbing. Subsequent developments cast darker shadows. Truly, the crime wounded the community. Reports from the trial of Ethan and Joey Parrish—charged in Taliaferro’s death—depicted a world of pathos and squalor. Readers probably wanted to take a shower after finishing Jamie Ruff’s compelling stories.

A Powhatan County man who gunned down his uncle in August after a violent confrontation was convicted of second-degree murder yesterday. David E. Woodfin had been facing a charge of first-degree murder, but Powhatan County Circuit Court Judge Thomas V. Warren said that while he agreed Woodfin acted with malice, he did not believe the shooting of Donald Malkemus was premeditated. Premeditation is a requirement for a first-degree conviction.

The typical lead time for White House orchid presentations is usually measured in years. For Laura Bush, it was during her husband’s second term. For Hillary Rodham Clinton, it was during President Bill Clinton’s run for re-election. Barbara Bush’s husband was already out of office. The three first ladies all eventually received their namesake Cattleya orchids, but it took dozens of requests along with recommendation letters from prominent politicians to achieve.

The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors is asking the General Assembly to allow it and other localities to enact a meals tax without a referendum. The request is one of several the board included in a resolution of budget and revenue recommendations for the General Assembly to consider during its 2009 session as the county faces a drop in state revenue.

Fruitcake, as we all know, has a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to holiday food. “If you want to get even with a person,“ said Mattie Clayton with a laugh, expressing a common line of thinking, “give them a fruitcake.“ But she’s not talking about her fruitcakes. She uses those for genuine gifts, not retribution.

The road to Powhatan County High School’s 16-0 record and Southside District volleyball championship was long. There were hours of practice and the competition. But there were also long hours of travel to and from competitions.