Former Gov. and U.S. Sen. George Allen told a presidential campaign forum at a Chesterfield County high school yesterday that energy is the No. 1 problem facing this country. Allen, representing Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, at the forum hosted by Cosby High School, called for more nuclear power, more oil drilling, alternative energy and greater use of coal.

'Patchwork quilt' not the ideal, speakers say.

Economist says political boundaries less important to firms than other needs.

The big issues are expanding public transit, how to finance new projects.

Julian Ferras helped collect thousands of signatures on petitions to give Richmond voters a chance to vote on whether to elect the city's School Board.

Public education in Richmond was the main course at an informal dinner attended this summer by a small group of chief executives from some of the region's biggest corporations.

After years of near-dormancy, Richmond's education foundation is poised for new leadership that School Board members hope will raise money and the school system's profile. RPS Education Foundation members said the organization started with promise—including a $100,000 contribution from Verizon—and ambitious fundraising goals. But soon after, the board suffered from instability, said Terone Green, who served as the foundation board's treasurer. After the nonprofit's inception in 2000, school leadership changed and some foundation board members moved away and never were replaced.

last of three parts It won't be easy to find a solution to the financial and economic constraints on regional cooperation, but advocates of regionalism say the time to start looking is now.

REGIONAL SOLUTIONS Why can't we all just get along?

If there's a regional cooperation model to follow, education leaders say it's theirs. Superintendents from the Richmond metro school districts boast about close communication. Though local needs are the first priorities, the superintendents look for opportunities to combine efforts. It's been that way for generations, said Stewart D. Roberson, Hanover County superintendent.

Economic development is a regional success story, many business and county government leaders say—even though the mayor of Richmond has declared war on the area's regional development agency. That organization, the Greater Richmond Partnership, brings Richmond and Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties together with about 200 businesses to fund a $3 million-a-year effort to market the region.

Poverty has long been a Richmond problem, but government and business leaders say sheltering the homeless, helping the needy and counseling the troubled may demand regional approaches. The concentration of poverty and homelessness in the city means a heavy financial burden on its taxpayers, a burden that weighs less heavily on other localities in the region.

We cooperate in dozens of ways across city and county lines—as much as we can afford to, some say, but others argue we could do better.

The purple-and-white buses of Richmond's regional transit system barely nose past the city line. That's because they follow the money. Of the two localities that appoint GRTC Transit System's board, Richmond pays for service and Chesterfield County doesn't. Except for one state-financed express bus service, buses no longer run in Chesterfield. GRTC does have a few lines that go into Henrico County.

For 37 years, a commission of nine localities has been the place to envision the Richmond region's future. In the past half-year, the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission canceled two monthly meetings. As many as a third of the 40 local officials who are supposed to go to the commission's meetings did not. Of 26 pages of meeting minutes detailing the group's work so far this year, 11½ were devoted to discussions of retirement benefits for four employees.