The Henrico County Department of Social Services will hold a meeting Thursday, July 11 for individuals and couples who may be interested in providing foster care to county youth.

Henrico has a significant need for foster parents, with 98 children placed in foster care as of April 30, according to Social Services. A total of 53 children entered care during the past year. > Read more.

Seven members of Henrico County's General Assembly delegation surprised Henrico County Manager Virgil Hazelett during the Board of Supervisors' May 8 meeting by appearing to read a proclamation of commendation from the assembly, recognizing Hazelett for his 20 years of service. Hazelett, 66, is the second longest-tenured of Henrico's seven county managers (Edward Beck served for 25 years, until 1977). > Read more.

More than 1,400 Special Olympics athletes from throughout Virginia will convene in the Richmond region June 8-9 to participate in the Special Olympics Virginia Summer Games, and organizers are seeking volunteers to cheer at the events.

Athletes will be competing in tennis, powerlifting, swimming, bowling, track and field and softball competitions during the event. Organizers hope to pack venues to provide the athletes with the true feeling of competition and support. > Read more.

If you're invited to a wedding in Virginia in a few decades, don't be surprised if the groom is named William and the bride Sophia.

Those two names top the list of the most popular names for babies born in Virginia in 2011, the Social Security Administration announced today.

Overall, the top five boys names (in order) were William, Jacob, Mason, Noah and Ethan. For girls, the most popular names were Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Isabella and Abigail. > Read more.

Chamberlayne Elementary School recently was awarded a $750 grant as part of the Keep Virginia Beautiful (KVB) “30 Grants In 30 Days” program.

The Green Team at Chamberlayne started a school-wide recycling program two years ago and would like to add plastic bag recycling to the program. The team will use this KVB grant to make this a reality. Their goals include installation of permanent plastic bag collection sites, reusable shopping bags to distribute to families, additional outdoor recycling containers to be used throughout campus, as well as a field trip to a local recycling facility for members of the Green Team. > Read more.