Two Richmond-area Chrysler dealers are among 789 dealerships that will close next month as the bankrupt automaker seeks to streamline its sales and service force. The remaking of the auto industry is expected to continue today when General Motors Corp. announces that about 1,100 GM dealers’ franchise agreements will not be renewed. Airport Chrysler Jeep on Laburnum Avenue in eastern Henrico County and Pearson Dodge on Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County were told in overnight letters received yesterday that they had lost their Chrysler franchises and will have to shut down by June 10. In all, 26 Virginia dealers were given the news.

JetBlue is tossing a sharp salute this month to the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. Active-duty service members will be able to fly out of Richmond International Airport on JetBlue Airways for $1 this month. Men and women serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard can book the $1 fares on flights from RIC—or Washington Dulles International Airport—for travel to any nonstop domestic destination between Friday and May 31.

Five Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles offices in the region will be closed on certain days during the next two weeks to prepare for the state’s new process for issuing driver’s licenses and identification cards.

• The Richmond Central service center, 2300 W. Broad St., will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Customers can use the East Henrico or North Henrico offices during the closure.

YOUR BEST A sea of spring color On a visit to a tulip farm in Holland, Robert Sharp of Prince George County captured this scene of acres and acres of tulips in bloom.

A Prince George developer is suing three members of the county’s Board of Supervisors and a former member for $150 million in federal court, claiming that his zoning request to build a hotel was denied for all the wrong reasons. Nathaniel E. Dozier Jr. claims that board member Jerry J. Skalsky violated his rights by orchestrating the denial of Dozier’s case for personal reasons. He also claims the rest of the board was complicit by allowing Skalsky to participate in the hearing, a violation of Virginia’s Conflict of Interests Act.

The Virginia Department of Transportation has awarded seven highway contracts, worth about $5.5 million, for construction and maintenance projects in central and Southside Virginia.

• Lee Hy Paving Corp. of Glen Allen received two contracts totaling about $2 million for paving work in Charles City, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico and New Kent counties.

The first step to make the 2010 census as accurate as possible is being taken. Actually, it’s quite a few steps. In the Richmond area, temporary workers for the U.S. Census Bureau will walk street to street beginning April 13 to verify addresses in preparation for next year’s population count. The canvassing has started in other areas and is set to conclude by mid-July.

The Prince George County School Board last night voted unanimously to approve a $60.15 million budget for the 2009-2010 school year that eliminates 18 positions and reduces spending in other areas. The 18 positions, including nine teaching jobs, will be eliminated through attrition or are currently vacant, saving the school system $979,253. There also will be no pay increases for school system staff.

The Prince George County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to keep tax rates unchanged. Officials voted unanimously to maintain the real estate tax rate of 80 cents per $100 of assessed value and $4 per $100 of personal property value. At the average value—$212,500—for residential property in the county, a homeowner would pay about $1,700 in real estate taxes this year.

Prince George schools plan released The Prince George County school superintendent last night proposed a budget that would eliminate 18 positions, including nine teaching jobs, and reduce spending on supplies and materials. All 18 positions to be cut are existing vacancies or will be vacant because of retirement or resignation, Superintendent R. Francis Moore said. The job reductions will result in nearly $1 million in savings, he said.

Gunshots hit home in Prince George Prince George County authorities are investigating why a group of people fired at least 89 shots into an occupied home Sunday in the 3800 block of Spring Road. No one was hurt. Police believe 10 to 12 people in three vehicles parked in and around the neighborhood, then walked to the home and opened fire about 8:12 p.m.

A man armed with a gun robbed a motel early this morning in Prince George County. The man displayed a handgun to the night clerk at the Comfort Inn, 5380 Oaklawn Blvd., about 1:55 a.m. The man took about $378 from the motel and fled on foot. Noel Watson, senior officer at the Prince George Police Department, described the suspect as a black male, wearing dark clothes and sunglasses, with a white shirt wrapped around his face.

As the economy dives, high school students across Virginia are increasingly turning to career and technical-education programs so they can go directly into the work force after graduation.

It’s important for assessors and commissioners to do a reassessment right. Their job is to determine the fair-market value of real estate—and that matters to property owners, because it is one of the two factors that determine their real estate tax bill. Assessments are supposed to be an impartial estimate. It’s the other piece—the rate at which property is taxed—that’s a political decision.

A look at localities that reassessed residential and commercial properties this year: Chesterfield County: In all, the county’s tax base grew 1 percent. The Board of Supervisors will advertise a tax rate of 95 cents per $100 of assessed value, the same as it now charges, even though the so-called rollback-rate calculation shows it could set a 97-cent rate for all real estate. The rollback rate, which localities are required to disclose when reassessments average a more than 1 percent increase, is what the real estate tax rate would have to be to keep tax bills unchanged.