The much anticipated football game between Varina and Highland Springs has been delayed another day because of rain. Originally scheduled for tonight, the game will be played tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Highland Springs. The Capital District title and a berth in the Central Region Division 6 playoffs are at stake. Highland Springs Activities Director Rudy Ward has brought in extra bleachers. Presale tickets ($7) are still available at each school’s front office. If the schools don’t sell out their allotment (2,500 each), tickets will be available at the gate until they are gone.

Tickets for next Thursday’s 7 p.m. football game between Varina and Highland Springs will be on sale Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the main office at both schools. Tickets for the game, which will be played at Highland Springs, cost $7. If the sellout number of 5,000 is reached before game time, there will be no tickets available at the game.

Tickets for next Thursday’s 7 p.m. football game between Varina and Highland Springs will be on sale Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the main office at both schools. Tickets for the game, which will be played at Highland Springs, cost $7. If the sellout number of 5,000 is reached before game time, there will be no tickets available at the game.

The Highland Springs football team decided to visit Varina last night after playing an afternoon game. What they saw was a team that’s peaking at the right time. Trey Johnson had his usual big game—271 yards and four touchdowns—but there was no player of the game this week, just a whole team that deserves recognition. The No. 4 Blue Devils put up 30 first-quarter points on the way to a 50-14 blowout of No. 10 Cosby. It started as an intriguing nondistrict matchup and ended with a running clock.

The newest members of Varina’s Wall of Fame will be honored today at a 5 p.m. ceremony in the school cafeteria before the Blue Devils’ football team plays host to Cosby. The inductees are Jimmy Shaw (Class of 1962), a football, basketball and track star; Delanor Battle (1972), basketball and track; Polly Guard (1980), basketball and softball; Mandy Dunn Holder (1994), softball and tennis; and Patrick Richardson (1999), basketball and baseball. - Arthur Utley

Henrico County police say that a rabid raccoon had been confirmed in the Varina area. Officers from the animal protection unit were called Monday after a resident shot what appeared to be a sick raccoon and placed it in a plastic bag. The carcass, which was tested because it had been handled, was confirmed positive for rabies on Wednesday.

Early season football matchups featuring playoff-caliber teams continue this week with No.6 Thomas Dale traveling to No.1 Varina and No.2 Meadowbrook playing host to No.4 Hermitage. This isn’t the first time these teams have played each other. “We want to play the best opponents,“ veteran Thomas Dale coach Vic Williams said. “It’s a challenge for the preparation, for the kids and for the coaches. It’s what we like to do. That’s why we schedule these games.“

Henrico Police say today that a skunk found Saturday in a Varina yard tested positive for rabies. An officer with the department’s Animal Protection Unit said the skunk was in a yard with two dogs contained by an invisible fence. The dogs had valid rabies vaccinations but will receive boosters and be quarantined at the owner’s home for 45 days. There was no known human contact.

WEEK’S END In Pragmatism and the Tragic Sense of Life, Sidney Hook described the dilemma of choosing between two rights, between two goods. The vote on Henrico’s Comprehensive Plan resembles just such a circumstance. The preservation of green space defines a good. Respect for property rights similarly defines a good. Henrico does not want to become a continuous subdivision from West End to East. We sympathize with the Varina residents committed to retaining their corner’s tranquility.

Henrico’s path to the future will not follow Interstate 295 south to the James River with suburban development. The comprehensive plan adopted last night was amended to address the concerns of Varina residents.

Henrico County’s 2026 Comprehensive Plan covers the entire county, but Varina was the only area worth talking about for most of the speakers at last night’s public hearing. From the Varina Beautification Committee to a tree farmer who lives on the border with New Kent County, speakers asked the county Board of Supervisors not to turn Varina into another Short Pump.

Henrico County’s School Board voted last night to designate $2.5 million in state stabilization funds to begin planning a new high school in the Varina district.

Many residents of eastern Henrico County don’t care where the funds come from to build a new school. What they care about is that students aren’t going to classes in trailers, don’t have to wait in long cafeteria lines and have facilities on par with other parts of the county. About 75 residents attended a public hearing about the proposed Henrico budget last night at a Board of Supervisors meeting. Many wore buttons reading “Eastern Henrico Schools Now.“

Many residents of eastern Henrico County don’t care where the funds come from to build a new school. What they care about is that students aren’t going to classes in trailers, don’t have to wait in long cafeteria lines and have facilities on par with other parts of the county. About 75 residents attended a public hearing about the proposed Henrico budget tonight at a Board of Supervisors meeting. Many of them were wearing buttons reading “Eastern Henrico Schools Now.“

John W. Montgomery Jr.‘s nightmare scenario would be that federal stimulus money comes in and only can be used to fund projects that have nothing to do with classrooms. Montgomery, chairman of the Henrico County School Board, is—like parents and school administrators across the country—awaiting word on precisely what the county will be allowed to do with an estimated $14 million in stimulus dollars.