A number of school divisions in central Virginia will open late today after this week’s heavy rains and flooding. The following county school districts reported two-hour delays: Amelia, Dinwiddie, King and Queen, New Kent and Prince George. Also, Sussex County schools are closed today. For an updated list of delays and closings, visit TimesDispatch.com.

There will be no tricks, treats or Halloween parties this year for many of Virginia’s convicted sex criminals. Officers with the Virginia Department of Corrections and the Virginia State Police are teaming up again to make sure registered sex offenders who are under state supervision won’t cause any harm to young ghouls and goblins.

A Hopewell man surrendered to police yesterday in Friday’s fatal shooting of an acquaintance in Prince George County. Robert Edward Moore, 30, turned himself in about 11:15 a.m. and was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of William Joseph Miller Jr., 39, who was found shot to death in the driveway of his sister’s home in the 3700 block of Prince George Drive. Moore also was charged with using a firearm in the commission of murder.

Prince George County police say that a man sought in connection with a slaying Friday turned himself in this morning.

A Prince George County man was found fatally shot early yesterday in the driveway of his sister’s home, police said. The body of the victim, identified as William Joseph Miller Jr., 39, was discovered about 4:40 a.m. outside his sibling’s residence in the 3700 block of Prince George Drive. As of last night, police had made no arrests but were investigating a possible connection to a domestic incident that occurred about the same time and roughly 500 feet away on Prince George Drive.

Prince George County police this afternoon identified the man found fatally shot early this morning in the driveway of his sister’s home.

A Richmond woman who left her 8-year-old son on the side of a Dinwiddie County road after arguing with him about his performance in a bicycle race was convicted yesterday of contributing to his delinquency and given a 12-month suspended jail term. Leanne Denise Casolaro, 38, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge, reduced from felony child neglect, in Dinwiddie Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. A judge sentenced her to 12 months in jail but suspended the entire term.

Central Virginia has seen a slight increase in homicides so far this year, with higher numbers in Richmond and Petersburg offsetting improved numbers elsewhere. For the first nine months of the year, the region had 59 homicides, compared with 55 at the same time last year. The biggest shift has been in Richmond, where city police recorded seven more homicides as of Sept. 30 than a year earlier. Richmond’s nine-month count of 34 exceeds the total of 32 homicides for all of 2008.

An Essex County man was killed yesterday when his car ran off U.S. 17 in Caroline County and overturned, Virginia State Police said. Brian C. Russell, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10 a.m. crash, about one-tenth of a mile north of state Route 617. Police said Russell was traveling south when his car ran off the right side of the road and struck a guardrail and several trees before overturning. Russell, who police said wasn’t wearing a seat belt, was ejected. The wreck remains under investigation.

A convenience store was robbed at gunpoint last night in Prince George County. The robbery occurred about 9:15 p.m. at a store operated by Wilkinson Oil in the 20000 block of South Crater Road near Carson. A man entered the store and pointed a silver-and-black handgun at the clerk and demanded money, according to Police Lt. Brian Kei. The suspect fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money..

120 had no critical violations during inspections conducted during the 2008-09 school year; and
93 had two or fewer total
critical violations for the year
Here are some examples of critical violations inspectors found at area schools. These
violations were corrected:
Oct. 30, 2008: Employees were observed handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands at

After playing baseball in high school, John Henry Minor of Prince George County decided that a career in the minor leagues wouldn’t let him afford a family. Nonetheless, he played on a team in the county until he was 55 and broke a rib sliding into second base. Two days later, he was back on his tractor. He displayed the same kind of tenacity serving on the Prince George Board of Supervisors, including stints as chairman and vice chairman, from 1968 to 1975 and 1982 to 1995.

Each night for the past two weeks Qahir Abdur-Rahman, his wife, Mahasin Shamsiddeen, and their children have patiently waited for the sun to set on their Prince George County home so they could eat for the first time since dawn. Out come the fruits, crackers, soda—and sometimes even a couple of slices of pizza if their 11-year-old daughter, Tasneem, has her way.

6 million Muslims in America. The Muslim community in America is made up of people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and national origins.
In Virginia, there are an estimated 400,000 Muslims, and 17 mosques.
The worldwide population of Muslims is 1.2 billion.
Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in this country and around the world.

Prince George County looked within its own school system to find its next superintendent. The School Board voted 4-1 on Monday night to appoint Bobby R. Browder as the county’s top education official. Browder has spent the past three years as assistant superintendent for administration and personnel. “He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to education and the needs of the kids. He was the right fit as we went through the process,“ said board Chairman R.E. “Bobby” Cox.