Inside A6 New Village Farmers Market forming
Powhatan, Virginia
B1 BSH honors seniors in turnaround victory over Banner Christian
Vol. XXXIII No. o. 33
February 12, 2020
Two men suspected of 2019 pharmacy robberies arrested By Laura McFarland Editor
P PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Above, contestants in the Mr. Powhatan 2020 competition hold Hayden Bradbury up during their opening number. Wyatt Lowe, bottom left, was named Mr. Powhatan 2020 and A.j. Cascone is the runner-up.
PHS hosts third annual Mr. Powhatan competition
By Laura McFarland B Editor E
Editor
of the competition. The school’s Leftovers Club sponsored the pageant, which once again raised money for Relay for Life. This year, the event raised $1,305 for the fight against cancer, said Christian Miller, the faculty advisor for the club. “I thought it was magic. There are always those times when you think, ‘it is going to be what it is going to be,’ but it came together and just clicked,” he said. see MR. POWHATAN, pg. 8
POWHATAN – During its first offi o cial meeting with a complete new n makeup, the Powhatan County Planning Commission unanimously P elected Dr. Bare bara Brown as its chairwoman for 2020. Brown, who represents District 5, is one of four new members of the planning commission. BROWN Another new member, Bobby Hall, District 3, was unanimously elected as vice chairman. The other planning commissioners are Vicki Hurt, District 1; Jane Pendergast, District 4, and District 2’s Amy Kingery, who was first appointed to the planning commission in October 2019 to fill Owen Walk-
er’s unexpired term. The planning commission is an appointed advisory committee that makes recommendations to the board of supervisors on legislative matters related to land use, such as adoption and amendment of the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance, and subdivision ordinance. It also reviews applications for rezoning and conditional use permits and then forwards HALL its recommendations to the board of supervisors, which, as the legislative body for Powhatan County, makes any final decisions. Brown, who first purchased property in Powhatan in 2011, said she believes that the health of a community directly relates to the see PLANNING, pg. 4
Ham radio enthusiasts hold Winter Field Day
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zip ties and stole prescription drugs before escaping in an SUV. During the robbery, the sheriff’s office received what they believe was a related fake 911 call saying there was a man driving up and down Judes Ferry Road in a vehicle with a rifle near the high school, Searfoss said. “We believe that was to divert resources away from the pharmacy. We did send resources to that area, but we also withheld resources locally and were able to be on scene at the pharmacy very quickly once the 911 call came from the pharmacy,” he said. see ARRESTED, pg. 3
New planning commission leadership Watkins
By Laura McFarland POWHATAN – Whether he was pretending to be a Disney character, representing his love of football, or strutting down the catwalk, Wyatt Lowe said he was having a ball on his way to being named Mr. Powhatan 2020. The Powhatan High School sophomore and 10 other young men competed for the title in the school’s third annual male pageant, which was held on Thursday, Jan. 30 in the auditorium. A.J. Cascone, who is a senior, was named the runner-up
OWHATAN – The Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that two men have been arrested in connection with the 2019 robberies of two pharmacies in Powhatan and Henrico counties. Robert Levon Graham and Rashad Javel Fraierson were arrested on Jan. 31 in an investigation that involved law enforcement agencies c in both counties as well as the FBI F and Drug Enforcement Administration, said Jeff Searfoss, m chief deputy. c
Searfoss said the two men, who are being held at Pamunkey Regional Jail, will be charged federally, so he couldn’t comment on what charges had been filed against them. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which both Powhatan and Henrico directed further inquiries to for additional information, could not be reached for comment by press time. On July 15, 2019, two black men with covered faces entered Powhatan Drug at 2105 Academy Road at about 8:40 a.m. displaying firearms, Searfoss said. The men tied up the store owner with
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE POWHATAN AREA RADIO CLUB
Shown left is a map of the locations of stations throughout the United States with whom the Powhatan participants made contact during the 2020 Winter Field Day. Right, Josh Drake shows the map in the early stages of the event.
By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan County was truly part of a global community when local ham radio operators recently competed in the 2020 Winter Field Day. Powhatan County Emergency Management and the Powhatan Area Radio Club (PARC) worked together to host a local station from 2 p.m. on Jan. 25 to 2 p.m. on Jan. 26 at Powhatan State Park. About 40 people, including club members and guests, participated in the event, which saw them communicating with other ham radio operators throughout the United States and worldwide, said Curt Nellis, the county’s emergency management coordinator. Working out of the county’s mobile command center, the local participants were able to make 848 total contacts, including people in the majority of the continental United States, Alaska, and six other countries, Nellis said. Over the 24-hour period, the group made
contact with stations in Italy, Thailand, Germany, Canada, South America, and the Netherlands. “It was awesome. That was the most contacts we have ever had since we have been doing Field Day. It is going to get bigger and bigger every year,” said Nellis, who has been a licensed ham radio operator since the 1980s. This is the second time the local group has participated in the Winter Field Day, and it also competes in a summer version. While the outstanding 2020 results will be turned into the Amateur Radio and Relay League, Nellis added that the local participants were in it for the experience and the fun. “We are doing it for the practice, for the exercise of putting the equipment together and making it so efficient that we are able to get out that far. They really had to engineer their antenna and tune their equipment so they were able to make that many contacts. If your equipment is not set up right, you are not going to get out that far,” Nellis said. see RADIO, pg. 6
Nurseries’ properties to be sold in foreclosure auction By Gregory J. Gilligan Richmond Times-Dispatch
Properties owned by Watkins Nurseries Inc., founded in 1876 and run by the fifth generation of the Watkins family, are slated to be sold at a foreclosure auction later this month. A total of 342.3 acres of land in Chesterfield, Powhatan and Amelia counties - with a combined assessed value of $2.314 million - as well as vehicles and equipment owned by a sister company are scheduled to be sold at four different auctions at three locations on Feb. 20. The auctions will be held on the courthouse steps in Chesterfield, Powhatan and Amelia counties. Foreclosure notices were placed on Page D5 in the legal advertising section of Friday’s Richmond Times-Dispatch. Henrico County-based Dudley Resources is contracted to handle the foreclosure auctions on behalf of a bank that provided financing to the Watkins nursery and recycling businesses, said Tim Dudley, president of the real estate auction firm. “The bank is foreclosing on it for lack of payment,” Dudley said, declining to name the bank. Robert Watkins, the owner and president of Watkins Nurseries, could not be reached for comment. His father, former state Sen. John Watkins, a Republican who represented Powhatan and Chesterfield counties for 34 years, said SonaBank has not sent a formal notice of foreclosure. “We have not received any notice,” John Watkins said. “The law states you have to provide notice. My son is seeking legal advice.” John Watkins said the two businesses - Watkins Nurseries and Virginia Resources Recycled LLC - have loans that are cross collateralized, meaning the collateral for one loan also is used as collateral for another loan. “They have not been able to see WATKINS, pg. 7