News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | October 31, 2026
Local News
Charles City supervisors approve near $20 million budget for 2014-15
Charles City supervisors approved a $19,948,454 budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year during an April 29 recessed meeting. A four-cent tax increase over an equalized rate on real estate tax also passed unanimously. The county’s real estate tax rate will increase from 68 cents to 72 cents per $100 of assessed value. Contributing to the new rate is the county’s reassessment, which indicated the value of land increasing by three percent. Currently, the county is charging 70 cents per $100 of assessed value, thanks to a two-cent increase last year to support 24-hour fire and EMS services. Representatives chose to…
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NK board makes decision on stormwater law
A controversial stormwater ordinance that’s plagued New Kent supervisors over the past several months has forced them to choose a route that would maintain county control of the program. County representatives elected 3-2 at Wednesday’s work session to operate the stormwater management program, foregoing an option for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to handle the issue. The ordinance crossed the path of supervisors last October with members of the county’s Planning Commission passing it, despite their dismay. The following November, DEQ representative John McCutchen was the recipient of opposition and concerns from citizens and supervisors. Now, with a July…
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VDOT announces plan to improve safety at dangerous New Kent intersection
A Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) plan to improve safety at what has been labeled the most dangerous intersection in New Kent County has received the blessing of the county’s Board of Supervisors. VDOT interim residency administrator Marshall Winn outlined the plan to correct the situation at the intersection of Route 155 (Courthouse Road) and Kentland Trail during today’s monthly work session. The plan calls for eliminating the center lane where Kentland Trail branches into three lanes approaching the intersection from Colonial Downs and Brickshire. Proposed is a double-stop for vehicles for added safety purposes. There will be a right…
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Public firearm range under consideration in New Kent
An outdoor firearm range open to all county residents could be in New Kent’s future provided one Board of Supervisors member has his way. District 4 representative Ron Stiers says he is fulfilling a campaign promise by introducing the shooting range concept to county officials and pushing for approval. County administrator Rodney Hathaway says his office is exploring the possibility. But beyond that, there is nothing to indicate that gun enthusiasts could soon be opening fire at a target/practice facility. “There’s no definite answer yet since we’re still in the early stages,” Stiers said in an interview last week. “But…
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Three captured in drug sting accept plea deals in NK Circuit Court
Three defendants arrested during a November sting operation by the Twin Rivers Drug Task Force accepted plea deals during Monday afternoon proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court. Michael Anthony Winston, 45, of the 2300 block of Gray Street, Richmond, the prime target of the operation, accepted a plea deal to three counts each of cocaine distribution (first offense) and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. In a summary of evidence, Winston admitted that last Nov. 14-20, he sold the substance to an undercover informant near the intersection of North Henpeck Road and Route 249 (New Kent Highway). Under the plea agreement, he…
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Retrial denied, but sentence reduced for Henrico man involved in Charles City shooting
A Henrico man will serve a 29-year prison sentence after his request for a new trial was denied by Judge Thomas B. Hoover. JoQuan W. Hawkins, 21, of 2 West Gerald Street, learned his fate during Charles City Circuit Court proceedings Friday afternoon. Hawkins was convicted during a two-day trial last August on three counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle, two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, and one count each of aggravated malicious wounding and malicious wounding. Those convictions stemmed from an altercation in 2012 in which the defendant fired 13 shots into a…
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Shortfall in revenue, need for emergency radio system play roles in New Kent supervisors’ budget options
With the reduction of off-track betting revenue generated from Colonial Downs and the need to upgrade emergency radio equipment in the county for FY 2014-15, New Kent supervisors are weighing options to cover a projected $402,000 budget shortfall. As one of the options proposed by County Administrator Rodney Hathaway during an April 23 budget work session, supervisors will look to recover the aforementioned funds through adjustments in real estate taxes, eliminating a proposed community development director position, and reducing funding for county schools. An option favored by supervisors keeps the real estate tax at the current rate of 84 cents…
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CC schools may receive relief from returning $436,000 to county
If things turn out as favorably as Charles City Board of Supervisors’ chairman Bill Coada sees it, county schools may not have to give back as much money as first thought. After supervisors unanimously approved a reduction of $223,346 in appropriations for May out of the school system’s budget during the board’s regular April 22 meeting, Coada spoke about the possibility that the aforementioned reduction may be the last. “We’ve been looking every day for potential savings, and after a meeting with myself, [county administrator] Zach Trogdon, [superintendent of schools] Janet Crawley, and school board chairwoman Helen Payne-Jones, I hope…
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Briefly… for May 1-14, 2014
CC woman found deceased in car A missing Charles City woman has been found deceased inside of her vehicle. Lashonda Monic Jones, 26, was found on Apr. 14 around 3 p.m. according to police reports. Her vehicle was located near a dirt work towards the southern part of Charles City, shortly after crossing the Benjamin Harrison Bridge from Prince George. EMTs arrived at the scene and administered first aid, but she was found unresponsive and later died at the scene. Jones was last seen Easter Sunday morning (Apr. 20) between 10-11 a.m., traveling north on Route 106 from a Sunoco…
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Expect nighttime lane closures this coming week on I-64
Alternating lane closures on Interstate 64 through New Kent County are scheduled starting this Sunday night so that VDOT work crews can pave sections of the highway, weather permitting. Work is scheduled for I-64 east between mile markers 210 and 215 on April 27-May 1, 10 p.m.-6 a.m., and I-64 west between mile markers 208 and 224 on April 28-29, 9 p.m.-5 a.m.
