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2008-12-17 digital edition
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December 17, 2008  RSS feed
Task force outlines ways to address school overcrowding
The Growth Task Force will turn in a final report this week with 12 key recommendations on how the Chesterfield School Board should address the county's growing need for new schools while facing rapidly growing construction costs. More...
Making memories
By Susan Nienow CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Christmas is all about memories, both from the past and creating new ones. The following families allowed the Chesterfield Observer to take a peek at their Christmases: Samantha and Tom Travers The Travers' 3- and 6-year-old sons make sure the holidays are all about them. They have a new brother on the way this winter, and their parents are adding some new traditions. More...

'Tis the season for giving
Even when the economy's slack
By Gwen Sadler CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It's hard dragging cash out of your wallet these days. Even those who have jobs know that many people don't, and may wonder who's next on the layoff list. Still, it's Christmas - a time for giving - and many organizations rely on the generosity of those who have to help make the holidays brighter for those who don't. More...

 News
• article has image Home prices are trending down from assessed values
County home prices, when compared to assessed values, trended down in October and November, bringing the median sales price for existing homes for January-November of this year to 3.7 percent less than the assessed value. Earlier reports this year had sale prices for existing homes being flat with assessed values. More...
• article has image Fleet management revises billing system
• article has image Cast-off cigarette ignites fire
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 Family
• article has image Pilots take children up, up and away
Pilots from the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program gave children free aircraft rides during the Christmas Toy Airlift last weekend at the county airport. The Virginia Chapter Ninety-Nines collected toys at airports around the state. More...
• article has image Chesterfield Observer Bellwood teacher is in "Jeopardy!"
• article has image More budget worries for county schools
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 Crime Watch
• Deposit turns dangerous
CRIME WATCH
Two Jersey Mike's employees recently learned how dangerous making after-hours bank deposits can be. When the two pulled their vehicle up to the night-deposit drawer at the Village Bank branch in the Midlothian Station Shopping Center at about 10:20 p.m. on Dec. More...
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 Loose Ends
• article has image The snow is on the pansies
Loose Ends
As I sit at my desk with a mug of hot coffee, I am looking at the dusting of snow on the pansies in the planter boxes on the deck. They are still blooming and don't seem to notice that it is too cold for me to be out there. But for the past two years I have put pansies in those planters, and by spring they are dead. Apparently they don't like the cold any better than I do. More...
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 Opinions
• Schools should allow Christmas to be celebrated
Dear Editor, I have reached the boiling point of having a very small minority of people dictating to the majority of us what to do. Schools in Chesterfield County are not allowed to have Christmas decorations, trees, angels, parties, etc. More...
• Abstinence should be respected
• School budget cuts are clarified
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 Calendar
• article has image Experience the story of Christmas at the zoo
Thurs., Dec. 18 Rotary Club of Brandermill weekly meeting, 7:30 a.m., Brandermill Country Club, 3700 Brandermill Parkway. For more information, contact Eric Rohnacher at 346- 5466. Book discussion group, 11 a.m. More...
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 Sports
• article has image County couple on track to help area youth
Donyelle Thompson and her husband, Clifton, are used to the naysayers. "People say, 'You're crazy, '" Donyelle admitted. "They say, 'I can't believe you spend all your money on those children.'" "Those children" are the same ones that Donyelle often refers to as "my children." They are members of the Tri-City Jets Track Club that she and her husband started last spring. More...
• Students wanted for International Games
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