Top Stories Richmond

Drenching rains are washing out roads and forcing some families out of their homes in southwest Virginia’s Scott County.

The county’s 911 director, Tim Addington, said Thursday that rainfall totaling 4 inches in some parts of the county have flooded some roads, while eight families in the northern part of the county were told to leave their homes as a precaution. They are located in a low-lying area.

Addington said the rains have not caused any major property damage, though some roads were washed out and there were reports of rock slides.

School buses taking children home had to use alternate routes to avoid flooded road surfaces.

In the 1980s, Leah Husk worked at the White House for Ronald Reagan and, like many young people fresh out of college, found that the hours were long, the job was stressful and she wanted to blow off some steam by working out.

The problem was, the White House had a fitness center for executive-level offi

cials, not one for lower-level employees.

Spurred on by one of the executives, Husk and some co-workers went to work getting a center built and, in the process, she found her calling as a fitness trainer.

“From that point on, I knew what I wanted to do,” said Husk, who was on the board of the White House Athletic Center for several years.

Husk now is operating her own fitness center — Leah Husk Fitness. The center, in a storefront on U.S. 301 near Interstate 295 in Hanover County, opened last month.

Husk works with individuals on a one-on-one basis as well as teaching classes for yoga, kickboxing, body sculpting, cardio and boot camps. She also offers group exercise classes and biometrics nutrition and strength training.

She charges by the session or class.

Husk decided now was the time to open her own center because she had spent too many years moving from one place to another and wanted somewhere to call home.

Since coming to the Richmond area in 1990, Husk has worked at several area gyms and run her own personal training business.

Without a studio, though, she followed clients from gym to gym mostly lugging equipment in her vehicle.

Having her own place allows “me to do what I want and it allows me to offer a one-stop shop,” she said.

It also allows her to meet with clients at their convenience and offer classes that she might not be able to teach at traditional gyms.

Because she’s been working in the area for so long, Husk already had a following of customers who now come to her center. “That makes a big difference.”

She said she is able to bring a personalized level of attention to clients that they might not be able to get somewhere else.

“We get to know you on a whole different level,” she said.

Carytown plans

Richmond’s planning office has responded to a special-use permit application to convert the Verizon building at 10 Nansemond St. into retail space.

In a letter to Michael Albo, vice president of Baltimore-based Maryland Financial Realty, the planning office suggests some changes and requests more details.

Maryland Financial, the project’s developer, wants to convert the two-story, 136,968-square-foot building into 41,821 square feet of retail space on street level, with a 5,028-square-foot mezzanine and underground parking. Possible tenants include a specialty grocery store and restaurants.

The requests the city made include:

•Providing details on the materials to be used for exterior awnings and specific dimensions of all exterior signage.

•Moving the entrance so pedestrians don’t need to walk through the parking deck to enter the building.

•Guaranteeing that basement parking will be provided. It’s listed as an option in the plans, the city said.

•Limiting the hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

•Enclosing loading dock areas and trash compactors.

The development still needs final city approval before it can move forward. If the plan were to be approved, construction would likely begin next spring.

Officials with the developer told Carytown business owners at a meeting this month that the changes are being addressed and that they expect to respond to the city soon.

The city’s requests were made based on feedback from several agencies. The letter states, though, that not all the required city agencies have responded, meaning there could be further changes requested once another review is completed.

Developers have been discussing the proposal with area merchants and local residents. Some neighbors and business owners oppose the application and have created a group called “Don’t Box Carytown.”

Pet store closes

The Fin & Feather at 8818 W. Broad St. in Henrico County has closed.

The store, which opened in 2008, was a franchisee of the original Fin & Feather on Lakeside Avenue.

Melvin Major, owner and president of the original Fin & Feather, says the West Broad Street location closed because of poor sales and high rent.

The Lakeside store, which opened in 1959, remains open.

Chamber travels

The Greater Richmond Chamber is booking travel tours.

The business organization has started a service that allows people to participate in group trips. The trips are open to non-members as well as members.

The first stop is to Italy’s Tuscany region in November. That trip will be followed by an eight-day jaunt to China.

Mandy Burnette, manager of investor relations for the chamber, said the organization is partnering with tour companies that specialize in putting together trips for chamber of commerce groups. Trips planned through chambers of commerce have been around for a few years, but this is the first time the local group is participating.

The chamber promotes the trips and collects the reservations, while the travel companies handle the logistics.

“The chamber receives a nominal marketing fee,” Burnette said. “In addition, we contribute staff resources, as well as funding for marketing and advertising to make the program successful.”

The travel companies also arrange meetings with host-area business owners for travelers who want to participate in them.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or LLLovio@timesdispatch.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/RTDBizBuzz.

NEWS

NEAR YOU

RichmondThe Virginia National Guard’s longest serving aviator is retiring after nearly 42 years of service. Officials say Chief Warrant Officer Norman McIntosh will officially retire Wednesday after he takes off for the last time from the Army Aviation Facility in Sandston for a final flight around the Richmond area. McIntosh joined the Army in 1968 and served in Vietnam. During his service in Vietnam, he flew more than 1,330 combat hours and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal and 54 Air Medals. McIntosh joined the Virginia National Guard after his release from active duty in 1971. The Portsmouth native volunteered and participated in rescue and relief efforts for numerous disaster responses. He also was mobilized as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

ChesterfieldThe Chesterfield County School Board will meet in closed session at 4 p.m. Thursday at the School Administration Building, 9900 Krause Road, to discuss an employee disciplinary matter. HanoverLearn to refurbish your lawn after this summer’s dual assaults of heat and drought at the next Home Gardening Series class from 9 to 11 a.m. Aug. 28 at the Human Services Complex in Ashland. In the free session on turf establishment and maintenance, participants will learn the best strategies for planting, fertilizing and refurbishing lawns as well as dealing with turf pests and disease. To sign up, call Pattie Bland in the Hanover County Extension Office, (804) 752-4310 or e-mail pbland52@vt.edu.

AROUND

THE STATE
NorfolkThe Navy says more than 4,000 sailors are returning to Norfolk after a seven-month deployment that included helping deliver food and medical supplies in Haiti. Officials say the Nassau Amphibious Ready Group/24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is set to return today. The sailors and Marines supported Operation Unified Response. The amphibious assault ship Nassau also held six Somali pirate suspects after an attack on the dock landing ship Ashland. The ready group includes the Nassau, the Ashland and the amphibious transport dock Mesa Verde. YorkThe Virginia Department of Historic Resources is planning to study a previously undocumented shipwreck in the York River that may be from the Siege at Yorktown. Officials say sonar has recorded ship remains that will be surveyed starting tomorrow. Circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the shipwreck is associated with the October 1781 siege that decided the Revolutionary War. The site is close to the remains of the ship used by British Gen. Charles Cornwallis. Officials plan to map the wreckage and make efforts to confirm whether the ship was part of the British fleet at Yorktown. More than three decades ago, the Department of Historic Resources conducted a multiyear research project near Yorktown that resulted in the location of nine shipwrecks associated with the siege. OrangeA trial date has been set on a bid to block a Wal-Mart Supercenter near an endangered Civil War battlefield in Northern Virginia. At a hearing Friday, Orange Circuit Court Judge Daniel Bouton scheduled the trial for Jan. 25. In late April, Bouton kept alive the fight to block the store near where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met on the field of battle. The judge ruled residents who live near the battlefield and a historic group can contest at trial the county’s approval of the store in Locust Grove. RuckersvilleThe Greene County Sheriff’s Office is looking for those responsible for the destruction of at least 22 tombstones at the Ruckersville Cemetery. A broken liquor bottle was found near one of the tombstones. Kandie Hunt says tombstones on the graves of her infant son and her great-grandparents were knocked over. The vandalism occurred the same night that Ruckersville Baptist Church pastor Kyle Clements says the church’s stained glass windows were smashed. — From Staff and Wire Reports

Richmond police have identified the man killed in a homicide Wednesday night in North Richmond.

Authorities said Gregory Lee Jones, 29, was found dead about 6:30 p.m. in a home in the 3200 block of Cliff Avenue.

A police officer found Jones’ body on a couch in the living room with a gunshot wound to the head, according to a search-warrant affidavit filed in Richmond Circuit Court.

Police seized from the home a 9 mm gun, a green, leafy substance and other items, according to the search warrant.

The police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. — Reed Williams

 
    Herman Cain, a business leader and radio host; and Tea Party Patriot co-founder Jenny Beth Martin have joined the roster of speakers for the Virginia Tea Party Convention.
    Organizers have invited about two dozen speakers, mostly prominent conservatives, to address the convention Oct. 8-9 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
    
    Cain, former president and chairman of Godfather’s Pizza, sought Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Georgia in 2004. He hosts an Atlanta-based radio program.
    
    Martin, who lives in suburban Atlanta, helped launch the Tea Party Patriots organization in early 2009. This year Time Magazine named her to the “Time 100″ list of “people who most affect our world.”
    
    Other keynote speakers who have confirmed so far are former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs; Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., founder of Exodus Faith
    Ministries International and president of a group that promotes Judeo-Christian values; political strategist Dick Morris, and John Fund, a conservative author and columnist for The Wall Street Journal.
    
    Confirmed speakers for a forum on national policy are Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former Gov. and U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and Reps. Ron Paul, R-Texas and Steve King, R-I

Henrico County police arrested a 40-year-old woman today and charged her in the killing of another woman whose body was found in a small guest house on the suspect’s property.

Felicia Grahn, of the 3900 block of Genacre Lane off East Laburnum Avenue,  was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony, said Henrico police Lt. Bryan Cook.  

Officers were summoned about 3:35 p.m. today to the property and discovered the woman dead of a gunshot wound, Cook said. He said police are awaiting positive identification of the victim.

Grahn’s sister, Lesley Williams, said that Grahn and her husband live at the main residence on the property and that the couple was allowing the victim and the victim’s boyfriend to live in a guest house on the property.

Williams said her sister had been having some problems with the woman who was living on the property.  

Grahn used to work as a beautician and is a licensed cosmetologist, her cousin, Sonya Braxton, said.

Braxton said of Grahn,  “She’s really a wonderful person. She’s a God-fearing woman.”

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

– Reed Williams