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 county School Board is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in the School Board Office, 16410 Dunn St. Before the open meeting, the board plans to meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss personnel matters. The board's agenda for the open meeting includes action from the closed meeting: approval of a resignation, new personnel and supplemental contracts. The board also will consider approving policy revisions.

Caroline The fourth annual invitational golf tournament to support Caroline County's Habitat for Humanity is scheduled at Pendleton Golf Course on Friday with a $1 million prize for the first golfer to sink a hole-in-one. Last year's tournament raised $13,000 for Caroline's Habitat for Humanity. Call (804) 448-4664 to make reservations.

Charles City Hungry children who need a meal can get a free one any weekday through Aug. 8 at the Charles City High School cafeteria. Meals are provided for participants in a summer camp program, but they're also available to children who are not in the program, as long as they're ages 6 to 16. Breakfast is Monday through Friday from 9 to 10 a.m. Lunch is Monday through Thursday from noon to 1 p.m.

Chesterfield The county's Domestic Violence Task Force will present a free mini-training related to gang violence and its relationship to domestic violence from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on July 28 at the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Conference Room. The training will be led by Detective Keith Applewhite of the Chesterfield Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division. The training is open to service providers, professionals and the public. For details, call Courtney O'Hara at (804) 706-1267.

Colonial Heights The city's Recreation and Parks Department will be conducting registration for a youth football and cheerleading summer program until July 25. The program is for boys and girls ages 6 to 13 who live and go to school in Colonial Heights. Registration will be accepted Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and this coming Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at Shepherd Stadium. For details, call (804) 520-9392 or (804) 520-9391.

Cumberland The Board of Supervisors meeting tomorrow will include a public input session on recommendations for the Commonwealth Regional Council's rural long-range transportation plan. Before the 7 p.m. public meeting in the county Circuit Courtroom, the board plans to hold a closed session at 6 p.m. to discuss investment of public funds.

Dinwiddie The county Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the board meeting room of the Pamplin Administration Building.

Goochland The Board of Supervisors will consider compensating fire and rescue volunteers for gas money. Many of the county's volunteers live outside of the county, and high gas prices could start affecting responses, Eddie Ferguson, the county's deputy chief of emergency medical services, told supervisors last week.

Hanover Interested in sharing your 2 cents about the state of Hanover County's schools? Join the Citizens' Academy, a series of seven meetings that offer the public a look at how the school division operates from the perspective of everyone from support services to finance. School officials are accepting applications through Aug. 22 for the 2008-09 academy. The 35 people selected will be notified in writing by Sept. 5. The meetings start Sept. 15 and go through March 16. Applications can be found on the school division's Web site, hanover.k12.va.us. For details, call (804) 365-4500.

Henrico A list of Henrico County neighborhoods holding special events during the 25th annual National Night Out crime and drug use prevention event on Tuesday, Aug. 5, is available on the Henrico police's Web site at www.henricopolice.org. Neighborhoods should register their events with crime prevention specialist Cathy Campbell at (804) 501-5047 by Friday to ensure a visit from police personnel. Residents are encouraged to lock their doors, turn on outside lights and spend the evening outside with neighbors and police.

Hopewell A new City Council will convene tomorrow during the regular council meeting at the Municipal Building, 300 N. Main St. At the meeting, the new council is expected to elect a new mayor and vice mayor.

King and Queen The Three Rivers Health District is seeking volunteers to train as support personnel during large-scale emergencies. Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck residents can call (804) 758-2381, ext. 28 for details.

King William A reminder to county farmers that Friday is the deadline to sign up for the fifth annual commercial vegetable production field day sponsored by Virginia State University's Cooperative Extension Service. The event will be held July 15 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at VSU's Randolph Farm in Chesterfield County. It will focus on new vegetable crops with market potential. Participants will have a chance to network with other growers and produce buyers. To register, call Reza Rafie at (804) 524-5960.

Louisa Derrick Christmas is scheduled to appear for a court hearing tomorrow on a drug charge related to his arrest on a child endangerment count. Christmas, a 25-year-old resident of the Zion Crossroads area, was charged with endangerment after cocaine and a prescription-strength sedative were found in his two small boys. The children's mother, Brenda D. Quarles, 26, also faces a child endangerment count.

New Kent The county is accepting applications for New Kent University, a program to educate residents about how the local government works. The 10-week program starts Aug. 26 and will include field trips to a county wastewater treatment plant, several parks and recreation facilities, the visitors center, the airport and elsewhere. Thirty-five residents may participate, and it's first come, first served. For details, contact Krista Jones at kmjones@co.newkent.state.va.us or (804) 966-9683.

Petersburg The City Council last week appropriated $2,000 to the sheriff's office from the Eddie Eagles Gunsafe Program. The grant will fund a program to teach schoolchildren what to do if they find a gun.

Powhatan A simulation is planned for Friday at Powhatan High School to test the county's procedures in emergency situations. The exercise, starting around 9 a.m., will involve the county Department of Social Services, the American Red Cross and the sheriff's office. Organizers will try to tackle as many scenarios as possible. People willing to volunteer as role players should go to the high school between 9 and 11 a.m. Lunch will be provided. For details, call Emergency Management Coordinator Floyd Greene at (804) 598-5646.

Prince George The Board of Supervisors will hold its regular meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the County Administration Building, 6602 Courts Drive.

Richmond The Virginia Board of Medicine recently suspended the chiropractic licenses of Andrew Lombardozzi and Joseph Michael Santarsieri, both of the Richmond area, pending a formal disciplinary hearing in each case. Lombardozzi is accused of having sexual relationships with two patients. Santarsieri is accused of using crack cocaine, pursuing a personal relationship with a patient and being rude and confrontational with staff and patients. To see other disciplinary case decisions of state health regulatory boards, go to www.dhp.state.va.us.

Sussex Navy representatives will start visiting county tax and deed offices in Sussex County this month to determine the owners of parcels of land being considered as potential sites for a Navy practice jet field. Navy officials also will visit government offices in Southampton and Surry counties and in the North Carolina counties of Gates and Camden -- all of which are under consideration for the outlying landing field.

AROUND THE STATE

Charlottesville The late Kathy Rae Frahm of Richmond has been named the 2008 recipient of the Gerald P. McCarthy Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Environmental Conflict Resolution. The University of Virginia's Institute for Environmental Negotiation presents the award annually on behalf of the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a partnership between the Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Cooperative Extension and the institute. Frahm, former policy director for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, died in September at age 40.

Fairfax A 54-year-old man died after being shot by police in Oakton, Fairfax County authorities said yesterday. At about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to a report of an apparent suicidal man at Summit Square Drive. Police found the man outside his apartment on the sidewalk. Officers told the man to put down the gun he was carrying. The man refused and pointed his gun at the officers, who then fired shots, police said. The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police have not released his identity. The two officers involved in the shooting have been put on administrative leave as authorities investigate.