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 newly formed Friends of Sailor's Creek Battlefield group has announced that the manager of the planned Sailor's Creek Battlefield State Park will be Chris Calkins, Petersburg Battlefield National Park historian.

Caroline A fund to display the fossilized remains of a 28-foot-long whale continues to grow in Caroline County. Defense contractor VSE Inc. recently gave $25,000 to the county for the project. The county has received $81,000 in donations so far to finance the $100,000 display in the county's visitors center on state Route 207 by late summer. The whale bones were found in deposits left millions of years ago when the county was submerged beneath coastal bays.

Charles City Habitat for Humanity will hold a "pleasure trail" horse ride July 12 to raise money for construction of Habitat's second home in Charles City County. A $25 fee includes a barbecue lunch. Those who don't want to ride but would like to come for lunch must pay $7. The event starts at 10 a.m. on Horseshoe Road off The Glebe Lane. The event is BYOH (bring your own horse).

Chesterfield The Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia, together with the county's Parks and Recreation department, is offering an archaeology summer camp July 7-10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Castlewood, 10201 Iron Bridge Road. The camp is for children 8-10 years old. The camp will include a field trip to a historical site in the county. The camp fee is $95, and preregistration is required. For details, or to register, call (804) 777-9663.

Colonial Heights The Colonial Heights Planning Commission will hold its regular monthly meeting tomorrow at council chambers at City Hall, 201 James Ave. A public hearing will be held on a request for an alley abandonment behind AB Cook Farm subdivision.

Cumberland Anthony Wooten, who faces charges of second-degree murder and felony child abuse and neglect in connection with the death of a 2-year-old child he was baby-sitting, is scheduled to stand trial in Cumberland County Circuit Court this week. The jury trial is scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday.

Dinwiddie The Virginia Ag Expo, the largest agricultural field day in Virginia, will be held Aug. 14 from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Billy Bain Farms in Dinwiddie County. There will be exhibitors with the latest in equipment, agricultural technology and crop inputs. Field plots will include corn, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, tobacco, summer annual forages and pumpkins.

Goochland The Goochland County Planning Commission has recommended approval of a permit for Collegiate School to build a tennis pavilion and storage building for their athletic campus. The construction is part of a master plan to develop the school's property in the eastern part of the county, county records show. The commissioners made their recommendation during the panel's June 19 regular meeting. The Goochland Board of Supervisors have the final say on the permit.

Hanover Mary Pennock has been hired as Hanover County's first project manager to help developers navigate the development-review process. Pennock supervises case-management teams that handle project applications from beginning to end. Her hiring is part of a customer-service initiative adopted last year by the Board of Supervisors.

Henrico Employers in Henrico County and the rest of the Richmond area looking for summer workers can turn their search over to the Capital Area Workforce Investment Board and the Summer Job Hunt. The program is designed to connect employers facing summer staffing vacancies with motivated young people who have received career and work force development. The Summer Job Hunt will provide an account executive to work with employers and accommodate their staffing needs. For information, employers can call (804) 226-1941, send an e-mail to cawib@cawib.org or log on to www.cawib.org/jobhunt.cfm.

Hopewell The Hopewell Downtown Partnership will show a family movie tonight beginning at 8:30 p.m. The movie is free and open to the public and it will be shown at the former Patrick Copeland grounds, across from the Appomattox Regional Library. Residents are encouraged to bring snacks, their blankets, lawn chairs and mosquito spray. In the event of rain, the showing of the movie will be moved to St. John's Episcopal Church, 505 Cedar Lane. For details, contact Councilwoman Christina Luman-Bailey at (804) 541-7015.

King and Queen A private foundation grant will provide periodical dental care to children in King and Queen County and other Middle Peninsula localities. The Williamsburg Community Health Foundation donated $781,824 to Three Rivers Health District to operate a mobile dental van to offer preventive care in local schools. For details about the van's schedule and services, contact the Three Rivers Health District at (804) 758-2381

King William Dr. Judith K. Gwathmey received St. Paul's Baptist Church's leadership award recently. Gwathmey is the chairman of Citizens for King William County and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Medical Center.

Louisa Louisa County is still on schedule to begin billing for ambulance service starting Sept. 1, the county's administrator for the system told the Board of Supervisors this month. The county will bill federal and private insurers after emergency-service responses to offset some of the costs of ambulance service. No one will be denied emergency service, and financial relief will be provided for those who are uninsured and who have limited or no ability to pay. Three informational meetings are scheduled for July and August, April Jacobs told the supervisors during their June 16 regular meeting.

New Kent Animal-control officers from the New Kent County Sheriff's Office will be in front of the Heritage Library on the first Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with pets available for adoption. The library is at 6215-D Chesapeake Circle. For details, call (804) 966-9516.

Petersburg Cultural Resources Inc. began last week an archeological investigation of the Battersea villa and its 37 acres. The study, made possible by a $30,000 grant from the Cameron Foundation, aims to uncover more evidence of early American Indian settlement, the history of the property, and information on 19th-century agriculture and commerce on the site.

Powhatan The Powhatan County School Board meeting on July 8 at 7 p.m. will be its first at the Powhatan High School. The board had long met at Pocahontas Elementary School but voted this year to move the meeting. "More space, more room, better seating and more parking," board member Heinrich A. Gideons said.

Prince George Prince George County has added a second recycling container to the county courthouse parking lot. There is now one container for paper only and one for co-mix (bottles, glass, cans, etc.). The containers are emptied three days a week.

Richmond The city has accepted a $100,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to complete an environmental study of the Fulton Gas Works site and nearby land owned by the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The city wants to determine the extent of contamination on the former industrial site on Williamsburg Road in hopes of marketing it for cleanup and redevelopment. The property, near the planned Rocketts Landing development along the James River, had been proposed by Mayor L. Douglas Wilder as a ballpark site for the now-departing Richmond Braves.

Sussex The Sussex County Board of Supervisors agreed recently to pay $6,500 for its share of a regional study of flood conditions in the Chowan River basin. A series of floods along the Blackwater and Nottoway rivers, starting with Hurricane Floyd in 1999, has raised suspicion that debris along the riverbanks is impeding the flow. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is to conduct the $45,000 study.

AROUND THE STATE

Virginia Beach A Virginia Beach man has pleaded guilty to killing the mother of his daughter and two others three years ago. Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant said he intends to seek the death penalty against Marcus Garrett, 31. Garrett pleaded guilty Friday to killing girlfriend Rachel Scher, Bryce Bauerbrand and David Kusa and wounding two others. Garrett told an investigator in a videotaped confession he was out of control and under the influence of alcohol during the May 2005 shooting.

Collinsville The Commonwealth Transportation Board has provided $114,000 for a public transportation pilot program in the Martinsville-Henry County area. The program calls for a one-bus, one-loop transportation system that will stop at designated locations throughout Martinsville and Henry -- most likely high-traffic retail and medical areas and local government offices.

Luray Shenandoah National Park will hold a "Basics of Family Camping" seminar on July 19-20. The program is aimed at families that want to camp but never had the time to learn. It will include hands-on experience in cooking and setting up a tent. Park rangers and volunteers will provide tips. Equipment and food will be provided. The program is $50 for one adult and child (5 to 12 years old) and $10 for each additional family member. Register at www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/resource_seminars.htm.