This daily column features short news items from the 20 localities that make up the greater Richmond area. On Mondays, we run at least one item from each of the localities. If you have a news item, call 649-6990 or e-mail us at news@timesdispatch.com

NEWS NEAR YOU

Amelia The Amelia County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing next Monday at 7:30 p.m. Included is a proposal to rezone 48 acres as part of plans for the development of up to 14 lots on Military Road.

Caroline The Caroline County Board of Supervisors will consider a new vision, mission and core values statement for the county at its meeting tomorrow. This is a recommendation from an employee committee made up of county agencies and departments.

Charles City Shirley Plantation, which bills itself as America's first plantation, is offering a cool way to celebrate the day after the Fourth of July. The historic plantation off state Route 5 in Charles City County will hold an old-fashioned ice cream social July 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch; ice cream, lemonade, and tea are free as long as they last.

Chesterfield Chesterfield County's senior advocate is helping to recruit volunteers and participants for ElderFriends, a program that provides socialization to seniors who live independently. Volunteers must be able to commit eight hours a month to making friendly visits and phone calls to seniors. The next training session will be held July 22 at 10:30 a.m. at LaPrade Library. Call (804) 768-7878 for details.

Colonial Heights The Colonial Heights City Council last week discussed and approved an ordinance that will ban open alcoholic beverages in city parks, playgrounds and streets. The measure will go to a second-reading vote at the next council meeting, where it is expected to be adopted.

Cumberland A special closed meeting of the Cumberland County School Board will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Luther P. Jackson Adult Education Center to discuss personnel matters and an evaluation of Superintendent James Thornton. A work session to update and revise system policies will follow.

Dinwiddie The Dinwiddie County school system received nearly $96,000 from the U.S. Department of Education as part of a grant to enhance schools' readiness and emergency plans. The department awarded a total of $24 million to 92 school systems in 34 states. Five are in Virginia. In the Richmond area, Dinwiddie and Chesterfield County were the only two recipients. Chesterfield received $326,957.

Goochland Goochland County could install a roundabout at Fairground Road and U.S. 522 in the courthouse area at virtually no cost to the county, VDOT officials have told the Board of Supervisors. Under a state access-improvement fund, more than $900,000 has been approved for the project, said Ashland resident engineer Jorg Huckabee-Mayfield. VDOT officials say it might be years before the standards are met for a traffic signal there.

Hanover The Hanover County Department of Social Services will accept applications for its Cooling Assistance Program beginning today. The program, which runs through Aug. 15 or as long as funding is available, helps eligible households pay for such things as a portion of their electric bills, security deposits for electricity, air-conditioning repair, fans and window units. To be eligible, the household must have at least one vulnerable individual 60 or older, one who is disabled or a child under 6. For details, call (804) 365-4103.

Henrico A park master plan for the former Tuckahoe Little League property off Copperas Lane will be presented during a public meeting next Monday at 7 p.m. at the Deep Run Recreation Center, 9910 Ridgefield Parkway in Deep Run Park. The Henrico County Board of Supervisors will consider the Tuckahoe Park Master Plan for approval in July or August.

Hopewell Officials at the Carter G. Woodson Middle School unveiled newly recently installed letters at the entance of the Curtis W. Harris Sr. Library. The library honors longtime Councilman Curtis W. Harris, an advocate for civil rights in Hopewell and across the state. Harris' clothing from a march with civil-rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is preserved in the library.

King and Queen The King and Queen County Development Corp. will hold an open house June 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at Marriott School in St. Stephen's Church to explain its proposal to convert the old building into a community/cultural arts center. The school is on state Route 721, just west of U.S. 360. For details, visit www.kqcd.org.

King William The Mattaponi Indian Reservation will hold its 13th annual powwow on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The powwow features American Indian dancing, drumming, food, arts and crafts. The grand entry is at noon. Admission is $5; children under 6 get in free. Bring lawn chairs, but no pets. The rain date is Sunday.

Louisa Louisa County will hold two sessions to inform the public about its plan to collect a user fee for ambulance transports. Both sessions are on Mondays at 7 p.m. The first will be July 21 at Louisa County Middle School; the second is set for Aug. 4, at Trevilians Elementary School. For details, contact April Jacobs, EMS revenue recovery administrator, at (540) 967-3499 or toll free at (866) 330-8272.

New Kent Animal-control officers will be making pets available for adoption on the first Saturday of every month from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. outside the New Kent County branch of the Heritage Public Library, 6215 Chesapeake Circle. For details, call (804) 966-9516.

Petersburg Police are looking for three suspects connected to a violent incident at the 1 South Crater Road Valero Convenience/Gas station last month. At 10:15 p.m on May 31, a male was repeatedly hit in the head with a weapon before being robbed of personal items, police said. Anyone with information can call the Petersburg/Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at (804) 861-1212.

Powhatan The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors has adopted a resolution calling on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the General Assembly to enact a significant transportation-funding package during the legislature's special session. Among other things, the resolution calls for increased funding directed to interstate and primary highways, urban and secondary roads and transit projects; and attention to the transportation needs of Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and the Richmond metropolitan area.

Prince George Petersburg National Battlefield last week held the grand opening of its new auditorium in the Eastern Front visitor center. Now the park has a multipurpose theater for video projections, educational programs, multimedia ranger talks, and other activities. This is the first major change to the visitor center since its opening in 1967. The theater is now handicapped accessible and uses modern technology, officials with the park said. They said the changes were funded with the visitors entrance fees.

Richmond City Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn wants to explore the possibility of Richmond acquiring, developing and maintaining a burial ground for slaves and free blacks in Shockoe Bottom. The land is a parking lot recently purchased by Virginia Commonwealth University. McQuinn has introduced a proposal to the City Council that would ask the city administration to look into maintaining the property as a "sacred memorial site" along the Richmond Slave Trail.

Sussex The Sussex County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on a proposed 2008-09 budget at its regular meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the courthouse. The proposed $39.3 million budget would raise the county real estate tax rate from 48 cents per $100 of assessed value to 54 cents. The increase is intended to provide money for new school construction.

AROUND THE STATE

Virginia Beach A Navy pilot killed in a crash involving two fighter jets in northern Nevada has been identified as Lt. Jeremy S. Wise of Virginia Beach. The Navy said Wise died during a routine training mission about 50 miles east of the Fallon Naval Air Station. Wise, 28, was a four-year Navy veteran based at Oceana Naval Air Station. Wise's F/A-18C Hornet collided with a two-seater F-5 Tiger on Friday. The Navy said the pilots of the other jet parachuted to safety and were treated for bruises and other minor injuries. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area near the community of Middlegate, about 110 miles east of Reno, Nev. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Nelson The continuing-education-credit seminar on the assassination and funerals of Abraham Lincoln slated for Wednesday at the Virginia Funeral Directors Association convention at Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County has been rescheduled for 1 to 2:45 p.m. The seminar will offer two education credits.

Charlottesville The National Science Foundation has awarded $2 million to the University of Virginia's engineering school and two community colleges to produce more engineers in Virginia. Central Virginia Community College and Danville Community College were also recipients of the money, which is aimed at supporting a distance learning educational program that allows students to earn a four-year engineering degree without leaving the Lynchburg or Danville communities. The money will be distributed to all three schools over a five-year period.

Farmville A Longwood University physics professor and two colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University recently received a National Science Foundation grant for a research project that could help improve technology for high-density optical discs and PlayStation games. The $307,474 grant will allow Christopher Moore, assistant professor of physics at Longwood, and Alison Baski and Michael Reshchikov of VCU to study how the surfaces of the semiconductors gallium nitride and zinc oxide affect their electrical and optical properties.