News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | September 21, 2026
Local News
School budget deficit down to $155,000 in Charles City
With projected revenue of $10,723,619 for the 2013-14 year and a potential shortfall of $485,041, Charles City School Board members began making preliminary cuts on their projected budget. And even with the proposed cuts from a budget work session on Monday, more than $155,000 still remains to be addressed. Board members are tasked with finding ways to reduce the budget. With that at hand, members listened to public input on issues and concerns on addressing the budget. Reductions are also contingent on a request by school board members for an additional $157,716 to cover a textbook fund and aid with…
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Woman’s actions nearly put company out of business
A West Point woman who spent nearly $25,000 using credit cards in the name of her former employer’s company and a fellow coworker will now spend the next three years in prison. Lisa Ann Jordan, 37, of 202 Patriots Village Court, received a total of 30 years in prison with 27 suspended during sentencing in Charles City Circuit Court on March 5. She received 10 years on each of two credit card larceny charges and 10 years on a lone charge of credit card theft. Jordan worked for Servpro, a water damage restoration company with an office in Charles City….
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Burglaries, arrests on rise in New Kent, report says
Based on figures supplied by New Kent Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr., activity within the county sheriff’s office is on the upswing. Howard detailed statistics for 2012 Monday night during his annual report to the county’s Board of Supervisors. “The bad news is, residential breaking and enterings are up,” he told the board. “The good news is, 88 percent of those B&Es have been solved.” The sheriff attributed the burglary clearance rate to hard work by his detectives, advances in technology for gathering evidence, and vigilant residents working through Neighborhood Watch programs. Last year, 1,863 crime incidents were reported resulting…
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New Kent supervisors approve park land swap
Giving up a 100-acre site for a county recreation park in exchange for space just over half that size may seem odd, but for New Kent’s Board of Supervisors it was an offer they couldn’t refuse. Supervisors agreed Monday night to exchange the 100-acre location off Criss Cross Road for 39 acres on Pine Fork Road. Also in the mix is another 15 acres that the county accepted, located next to the Pine Fork site. That gives the county 54 acres of flat land that has easy access from Pine Fork Road. Only about 60 of the 100 acres at…
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Four indicted by CC grand jury
Four individuals have been indicted by a Charles City grand jury during its convening on March 5 in Charles City Circuit court. Those indicted and the charges they face are: –Zachery Clarkston Russell, 21, of 12701 Sterling Heights Lane, Providence Forge, on two counts of distribution of heroin and one count of distribution of morphine. Russell allegedly distributed the substances around Oct. 17 of last year. –Jonathan Mondale Crump, 41, of 6811 Courthouse Road, Providence Forge, on one count of distribution of cocaine and one count robbery. The alleged distribution offense occurred last Nov. 14 while the alleged robbery offense…
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Briefly… for March 14-27, 2013
NK car theft defendant sentenced A Richmond man is being placed in an alternative corrections program as part of his sentencing after pleading guilty to a grand larceny charge. Jacques Ishmael Botts, 19, of 6014 Newington Drive, Richmond, was sentenced on March 4 in New Kent Circuit Court to the state Department of Corrections’ detention program and will also attend the state’s diversion program after that. Botts admitted he stole a Honda Accord belonging to Earnest Kopacki last Nov. 6. He eventually wrecked the vehicle on Interstate 64 near the Bottoms Bridge exit where he abandoned the vehicle. Botts also…
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Audit report takes county to task over mismanagement
Mismanagement of money ranks chief among concerns listed in an annual auditor’s report on Charles City County finances. The report presented at the January Board of Supervisors meeting criticized a $1,000 bill rung up by the county sheriff’s office at a local restaurant. The bill was paid using assets that had been forfeited to the sheriff’s office. Using forfeited assets by the county for personal or political purposes is illegal, the auditor told the board. Other concerns in the audit report included lack of standard operating procedures in departments and lack of consolidating areas for similar occupations that execute similar…
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Task force proposed in NK to enhance school security
PICAS Task Force volunteers could soon be manning main entrances to New Kent County schools. PICAS, by the way, is an acronym for Protecting Innocent Children At School, a local resident-based volunteer “task force” that is the brainchild of Ron Stiers, the District 4 representative on the county’s Board of Supervisors. Stiers came up with the concept in the wake of last December’s tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn. “After Connecticut, I began asking myself what can we do to protect our students,” he said in a Feb. 15 interview. PICAS is the result, and Stiers has pitched the concept…
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Second truck stop proposed for I-64 interchange in NK
One truck stop already exists on Route 106 at the Interstate 64 Talleysville interchange in New Kent County. Now a North Carolina-based company is advancing plans to build a second. Wilco Hess LLC, headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., approached the county on Feb. 19 with a conditional use permit (CUP) application to build an 8,000 square-foot convenience store/fast food restaurant along with a dozen fuel pumps for cars and eight more for heavy trucks on the southeast corner of the interchange. That’s the same side of the road where Pilot operates a truck stop and convenience store. The Wilco Hess “travel…
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NK school budget shortfall below previous years’ figures
New Kent superintendent of schools Rick Richardson presented county School Board members with a budget that has one goal in mind– restoration. Richardson’s $28,127,900 projected budget for New Kent schools for fiscal year 2013-14 includes reinstatement and addition of 20 full-time employees as well as funds that were used for a one-time bailout. The presentation was made during the board’s Feb. 19 work session. “This budget reflects long, overdue items,” Richardson told the board. “It also reflects the growth and adjustments needed to the salary scale.” The proposal, however, reflects only an intake of $26,635,240 in projected revenue for the…
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