News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | April 19, 2024
News Archives for April, 2008
Cavs thwart Trojan bid for first victory
Four minutes into their soccer clash with King William’s invading Cavaliers, New Kent’s Trojans took a 1-0 lead. And for the next 73 minutes, the hosts nursed that advantage, holding off every Cav offensive threat. Unfortunately, a high school soccer game spans 80 minutes. With just over three minutes to go, King William took advantage of a Trojan tripping violation with a direct free kick that sailed into the net. New Kent, in search of its first win of the season, had to settle for a 1-1 tie. “It was a clear foul,” Trojan coach Craig Aliff said after last…
Read Full Story
NK 17 Southampton 5 (baseball)
Exploding for 15 runs in the fourth inning, New Kent’s Trojans wiped out a two-run deficit on the way to a 17-5 Bay Rivers District baseball conquest of Southampton’s invading Indians. During the decisive frame, the Trojans smacked 11 hits — seven singles, two doubles, a triple, and a home run — to put away the Indians and up their district record to 3-7. “We just lit it up,” Trojan coach Ronnie Cox said after last Thursday’s contest. “All of a sudden it opened up for us and we just kept on hitting.” New Kent’s bat prowess actually manifested itself…
Read Full Story
Lady Trojans christen new field with win
New Kent’s Lady Trojans opened play on the school’s new softball field with a 9-0 victory over Southampton’s Indians. But last Thursday’s triumph wasn’t as easy as it sounds. After leaving the bases loaded in both the first and second innings and stranding another runner in the third, the hosts finally broke through with a five-run fourth inning before adding four more scores in the fifth. “If we’d lost, we probably would have been going back to play on the old field,” Lady Trojan coach Betsey Lane said afterward, wryly assessing her team’s inaugural outing on the new layout. New…
Read Full Story
First NK roundabout in use
The first of three roundabouts — what some refer to as traffic circles — under construction on Route 106 in New Kent County has opened to traffic. Highway engineers tout the design as an improvement for traffic flow at intersections, but not everyone is convinced. Last week during the county’s Board of Supervisors meeting, board members heard the benefits of roundabouts as voiced by a state highway department engineer. The board also questioned safety factors, especially pertaining to trucks. VDOT engineer Terry Knouse said statistics show roundabouts substantially reduce the number of vehicle accidents along with injuries and fatalities when…
Read Full Story
Rising fuel costs plaguing Charles City’s school system
Rising fuel costs are adversely affecting businesses and consumers, and local school systems are no different. Charles City County school officials have learned money budgeted for fuel for the current fiscal year is nearly exhausted. Through the first eight months of the fiscal year, schools have spent almost $93,000 of just over $97,000 tabbed for fuel in this year’s budget, Melvin Robertson, who oversees the school’s transportation department, told School Board members during their April 15 meeting. And if the current trend of price increases continues through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, schools could be paying…
Read Full Story
NK planners give negative nod to mini-storage concept
George Philbates Jr. says he can live without the mini-storage building and fenced in area for storing recreational vehicles he plans to build across Route 249 from the auto wrecking and salvage yard he operates in New Kent County. He may have to. Monday night, New Kent’s Planning Commission voted 7-1 with one abstention to recommend that the county’s Board of Supervisors turn down a rezoning request that would pave the way for Philbates’ project. Philbates and his wife, Rebecca, have applied to rezone just over four acres across Route 249 (New Kent Highway) from their business, Philbates Auto Wrecking…
Read Full Story
NK supervisors reject zoning for equestrian-themed housing
Citing conflicts with the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, New Kent’s Board of Supervisors has turned thumbs down on a rezoning request that would have paved the way for building a 16-lot, equestrian-themed housing subdivision off Route 249 in Quinton. Supervisors, meanwhile, have postponed action on zoning law amendments dealing with standards for temporary land uses, along with transportation and utility uses, in the county. Instead, board members have instructed county staff to rewrite the section on mobile food carts after hearing how a Providence Forge hot dog vendor could be put out of business. Supervisors confronted both issues during…
Read Full Story
Real estate tax rate proposal now up to 75 cents in NK
New Kent officials are now proposing a 75-cent real estate tax rate to help fund a budget for the next fiscal year totaling just over $54.1 million. The 75 cents per $100 of assessed value rate is up 2 cents from what County Administrator John Budesky recommended last month. During an April 14 budget work session, Budesky told county Board of Supervisors members that funding cuts of state money for localities are “a little more substantial” than earlier projections. But along with less state money, the county could derive less than expected revenue from recent countywide real estate assessments once…
Read Full Story
Don’t cut funding, CC school officials tell supervisors
School Board members and representatives from Charles City’s schools urged county supervisors not to cut school funding during a public hearing on the county’s proposed $22.5 million budget for 2008-09. Schools are slated to receive $6.1 million in county money next year, a figure that is $1 million below the $7.1 million schools’ requested and about $900,000 below the $7 million county contribution for the current year. About 25 school officials and employees attended the April 14 hearing. School Superintendent Janet Crawley expressed her concern on what budget cuts could do to employment at the schools. “We are thankful to…
Read Full Story
Rifle use shot down in CC
Angry deer hunters stormed out of last night’s (Tuesday) Board of Supervisors meeting in Charles City after board members voted 2-1 to rescind the county’s two-year-old law allowing high power rifle use. A public hearing on rifle hunting options drew close to 100 spectators with rifle proponents slightly outnumbering those opposed. Of the 15 people who spoke, rifle supporters held better than a 2-to-1 margin. But in the end, District 2 Supervisor Sherri Bowman and District 3 representative Timothy Cotman remained steadfast in opposing rifle use, casting board chairman Gilbert Smith into the minority. Bowman’s motion to prohibit rifles passed…
Read Full Story
