2020-04-22
Empty plates: As restaurants struggle, county rethinks plans to float a 4% meals tax
On a typical sun-splashed spring evening at The Boathouse’s Brandermill location, the outdoor dining area is prime real estate: customers enjoying entrees, cocktails and each other’s company, music playing in the background, as they drink in a scenic view of the Swift Creek Reservoir. It’s strangely quiet and empty these days. The restaurant reopened for takeout and delivery orders April […]
Remembering Bishop Glenn: A complex, commanding presence
Some men meet a woman they like and take her out to dinner and a movie. For Bishop Gerald O. Glenn, a man who found his calling behind the pulpit, the church was a fitting first-date spot. The year was 1979, and Glenn was employed as a police officer in Portsmouth when he met a woman named Marcietia Simmons while […]
Keeping first responders responding
Public plays key role in keeping public safety professionals safeLike the medical professionals caring for those who have fallen ill, our first responders are also fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes our firefighter paramedics, police officers and sheriff’s deputies. The risks they take every day are only heightened by the invisible enemy we now face. Their families, too, are at risk each time one […]
Twenty-five test positive for COVID-19 at correctional center
Twenty-five residents of the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center have tested positive for COVID-19. According to a press release issued by the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, those who have tested positive are being kept away from other residents in a separate part of the facility, and are receiving care from a medical team. “Of the 25 Bon Air residents […]
Ensuring no student is left behind
A message from the Chesterfield County School BoardSchool buildings may be closed to the public and in-person teaching may have stopped, but the learning and the support services associated with public education are not done for the school year, at least not in Chesterfield County. Now is not the time to give up; it is the time to double down. Many of our students will have […]
Observer to suspend delivery in 23235, 23236
Due to a recent decline in advertising revenue, the Observer will be temporarily suspending mail delivery to households in the 23235 and 23236 ZIP codes beginning on April 29. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced much of our economy to shut down, impacting businesses large and small across the country. The Observer, which relies on advertising revenue to distribute more than […]
Midlothian couple survives nightmare cruise
It was supposed to be a 15-day cruise to paradise. It ended with nearly two weeks in quarantine, a lack of prescription medication, ongoing threats of exposure to a deadly virus and their trip making national headlines. For Midlothian’s David and La Donna Wheatley, a Hawaiian getaway aboard the Grand Princess became a harrowing journey when their fellow passengers and […]
Patient First offers drive-up COVID-19 testing
Patient First now provides drive-up COVID-19 testing at its location at 11020 Hull Street Road. Testing is by appointment only and appointments can be made by calling 804-744-6310. Patients are asked about symptoms and risk factors to determine whether they meet screening criteria based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In order to be tested, a […]
Comfort food
Pulling up the edible weedsIt’s been an exciting week. I backed the car out of the garage the other day. I needed to get my garden cart out, but my other half drove it back into the garage at the end of the day. We cleaned out my cloth napkin and tablecloth stash – not something we would ordinarily do together, but times are […]