55 percent rate increase proposed for region Dianne Saison
Water, water everywhere, but at what cost? American Water customers in the Northern Neck could soon face 55-percent higher water bills, pushing the average bimonthly payment from $62.30 to $96.79 beginning in May. The proposed increase, discussed during two March 8 public meetings at the RCC campus, is earmarked to cover infrastructure upgrades for a quickly degrading water system. "Many pipes, wells and pump stations are near the end of their useful life," explained American Water President Bill Walsh. "They are not necessarily the best systems we have and were not built to professional water utility standards." Limited storage, lack of back up generators,....
Water, water everywhere, but at what cost? American Water customers in the Northern Neck could soon face 55-percent higher water bills, pushing the average bimonthly payment from $62.30 to $96.79 beginning in May. The proposed increase, discussed during two March 8 public...
Most doctors are used to physical injuries. Crushed bones eventually mend, cuts heal and the pain of recovery one day subsides. But there is no cure for a crushed spirit. There is no cure for the pain of watching your loved ones die or knowing that their bodies may never...
Confirming what most county officials already knew, financial consultants reported a new high school means a tax increase of as much as 24 cents. Speaking during a combined session of the Richmond County School Board and Board of Supervisors, representatives of Davenport...
The key to the region's economic future has changed from paved roads and bridges to the internet superhighway. But when exactly is high-speed internet access expected in the area? Congressman Rob Wittman attempted to answer that question on Feb. 2 in Warsaw during a heavily-attended...
It was eight years ago that Bill Cronheim opened his business, Entertainment Systems Corporations, in Kilmarnock's now-booming technology park. But initially, Cronheim saw nothing but weeds when he looked out the windows of his sound and light equipment wholesale business on...
It's coming down to the wire for school districts' budgets around the region, and all are taking a big hit from the state. With four different proposed budgets coming from the state--former Gov. Tim Kaine's, Gov. Bob McDonnell's, the House of Delegates' and the Senate's--confusion...
A Northumberland Circuit Court judge will decide whether the prosecution can use evidence of earlier sexual misconduct against Hunter C. Williams, who on March 1, goes on trial on charges of rape and sexual assault stemming from an August 2008 incident. Before the court...
Search warrants filed in the Westmoreland County Circuit Court last week confirm that the death of a missing restaurant owner, whose body was discovered near her Kinsale home, is being investigated as a possible homicide. On the afternoon of Feb. 9, former Good Eats Cafˇ owner...
A black cloud of smoke could be seen over much of Northumberland County as a fire consumed a Wicomico Church shipyard on Feb. 2. The Virginia State Police have yet to determine how the fire, which consumed a building and several boats at Tiffany Yachts, originally started....
If a comprehensive plan is the destination, than the pieces of paper engraved in Magic Marker with goals such as "quality control development," and "limit government restrictions on zoning" were the zig-zagging highway towards it. Meeting on Jan. 28, representatives from the...
A current county leader and former commonwealth's attorney is out on bond after turning himself in to authorities in connection to an ongoing narcotics investigation. On March 3, District 3 Supervisor Lynn C. Brownley, 57, of Montross was arrested for one felony count of possession...
The future of broadband development in the area now depends on public/private partnerships, after the recent bid for a federal broadband development grant was denied.
The grant application reflected years of work through...
Sen. Mark Warner spoke to a packed house in the banquet hall at Lowery's Restaurant in Tappahannock on Feb. 19, tackling subjects like health care and the economy. "Everybody on the Northern Neck is always gracious," Warner told the crowd, pausing for a moment after realizing...
Commonwealth's attorneys in five area counties are at the top of the regional wage pool, according to data obtained through Virginia's Freedom of Information Act. In each of the four Northern Neck counties and Essex, state prosecutors are the highest paid in each locality and...
Two employees of O'Gara Group's United Kingdom-based Security Support Solutions have been indicted on charges alleging that they attempted to bribe an African minister of defense. David Painter and Lee Wares were among 22 executives and employees rounded up by the Federal...
A stack of blue PVC pipes that sit beside muddy tire tracks in the Richmond County Commerce Park is not an eyesore, as much as a sign of progress. Scheduled for completion in early spring, Bay Transit's $2.7 million maintenance and operations facility was delayed due to consistently...
Fall to Dan River team credited to poor first half showing
The Essex Basketball team's season ended in the first round of the state championship series as the Trojans fell, 48-45, against a rough-and-tumble Dan River squad. The game,...
The Essex Trojans boys basketball team scored two big wins this weekend and advanced to the state championship round for the first time since 1984. The Trojans' season continues at 5:30 Saturday night in the Virginia Commonwealth University Siegel Center as...
The Washington and Lee Eagles Boys Basketball team decided the Golden Eagles Booster Club Classic in the final two minutes, defeating the surprising play of the Rappahannock Raiders 63 to 58.
With four minutes to go in the state championship game, Essex Head Coach Todd Jones stomped up and down the sidelines. Face frowning, brows furrowed, Jones muttered to himself, and focused, as he had during the whole game, as if the next play were the most important...
The key to the region's economic future has changed from paved roads and bridges to the internet superhighway. But when exactly is high-speed internet access expected in the area?
It was eight years ago that Bill Cronheim opened his business, Entertainment Systems Corporations, in Kilmarnock's now-booming technology park.
