News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | November 1, 2026
Local News
Courthouse complex among economic development plans in Charles City
With citizens in Charles City County concerned over the lack of funding to schools thanks to a decline in revenue from Waste Management, opinions and comments float around the community about why there aren’t other streams for a consistent cash-flow into the county. That is the task at hand that county planning director Matt Rowe deals with every day. Rowe’s goal is to entice companies and businesses into Charles City. Right now, he is dealing with issues and questions on not only future businesses, but current county revenue providers. That mixture and concerns from citizens prompted Rowe to speak out…
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Colonial Downs, VHBPA dispute impacting New Kent’s proposed budget; supervisors to begin work on $65.2 million proposal
Last month when county administrator Rodney Hathaway introduced a proposed $65.2 million next fiscal year budget to county supervisors, the revenue/expense structure appeared not just balanced but reasonably sound. Since then, however, the ongoing squabble between Colonial Downs and the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (see related story this issue) over the number of live racing days has escalated to the point that this summer’s thoroughbred meet at the New Kent racetrack is in serious jeopardy. And under state law, no live racing contract between the two entities means no thoroughbred wagering at Colonial Downs’ eight off-track betting sites….
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Valdrighi tabbed as next New Kent High School principal
When outgoing New Kent High School principal Yvonne Jones announced her resignation effective at the conclusion of the 2013-14 school year in February, she desired her predecessor to take the high school to bigger and better things. Apparently New Kent’s school board found Jones’ wishes a few doors down the hallway. Chris Valdrighi, a current assistant principal at the high school, received the nod as the new principal for 2014-15 at New Kent High School during the school board’s regular April 7 meeting. The Mathews County native began his education career in 1989 after graduating Randolph-Macon College. Valdrighi received a…
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DNA on cigarette butt leads to defendant accepting deal
A Richmond woman who discarded a cigarette butt on property that she burglarized, accepted a plea deal during Monday morning proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court. Melissa Dawn Miffleton, 27, of the 2100 block of Oregon Avenue accepted a plea deal to one count of burglary. One count of petty larceny was dropped. In a summary of evidence, last August 9, Miffleton broke into the house of Laurie Dunston with an unidentified male and stole items. When the defendant left the scene, she flicked a cigarette butt out the window in the victim’s yard. Detectives recovered DNA evidence from the…
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New Kent supervisors’ resolution opposing Sunday hunting serves as protest to General Assembly bypassing local input
Five New Kent residents chastised county Board of Supervisors members last week over the board’s action a month earlier to pass a resolution opposing a bill before the state’s General Assembly allowing Sunday hunting statewide on privately owned land. During the public comment session at last Thursday’s board meeting, the residents complained that supervisors had not given sufficient advance notice about their intentions and had taken less than 10 minutes to discuss and pass the resolution at the board’s March 10 meeting. They labeled the matter a personal property rights issue and asked the board to rescind its action. One…
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Briefly… for Apr. 17-30, 2014
Three killed in accident in New Kent The driver of a 1992 Toyota Tercel that was struck April 8 after the car pulled in front of a tractor-trailer on Route 155 at the entrance to Colonial Downs in New Kent County is being charged with reckless driving, according to state police. The driver, Saul A. Hernandez-Gonzalez, 65, of the 9000 block of Suburban Village Lane in North Chesterfield, was the lone survivor among four men, all from North Chesterfield, who occupied the Toyota. The driver’s brother, identified as Julio C. Gonzalez-Hernandez, 61, who was seated in the front passenger seat…
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Interstate 64 eastbound paving set to begin Monday night
VDOT has announced plans to commence with paving work on eastbound Interstate 64 through New Kent County, a project that is long overdue on the heavily traveled and badly deteriorated stretch of roadway. Officials say work is scheduled to begin this Monday (April 14) at 10 p.m. VDOT has another project in the works for New Kent. Concrete patchwork is scheduled to start June 1 on Route 60 through the county.
Driver in triple fatality wreck in New Kent charged with reckless driving; identities of victims released
The driver of a 1992 Toyota Tercel that was struck Tuesday after the car pulled in front of a tractor-trailer on Route 155 at the entrance to Colonial Downs in New Kent County is being charged with reckless driving, according to state police. The driver, Saul A. Hernandez-Gonzalez, 65, of the 9000 block of Suburban Village Lane in North Chesterfield, was the lone survivor among four men, all from North Chesterfield, who occupied the Toyota. The driver’s brother, identified as Julio C. Gonzalez-Hernandez, 61, who was seated in the front passenger seat and wearing a seat belt, died at the…
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Two New Kent men, found asleep in vehicle, now face drug charges
Two New Kent men face drug charges after a county deputy sheriff, acting on a phone call concerning a suspicious vehicle, discovered the pair asleep in the vehicle parked on a road in the Quinton area. Deputy Wyatt Johnston responded to the call around 9:30 p.m. on April 4, locating the vehicle on Poverty Hall Road. Inside, he found two men, identified as Evan Roy Sluder, 31, of the 5300 block of Adams Road in Quinton, and Winston Allen Kirby, 36, of the 3800 block of Poverty Hall Road, Quinton, apparently asleep. According to a sheriff’s office report, Sluder, the…
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New Kent deputy employs stun gun to subdue break-in suspect
A New Kent County man is being held in jail without bond following an incident at a local motel where the suspect allegedly tried to break into the motel’s office. When a sheriff’s deputy arrived on scene, the man allegedly charged at the officer, resulting in use of a stun gun to subdue the suspect. Glenn J. Lanno Jr., 43, was reportedly residing in one of the motel’s rooms at the time of the incident. He is charged with one count each of attempted burglary, possession of burglary tools, being a peeping tom, and drunk in public. According to a…
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