Henrico County News

The rich may be rich and the poor may be poor, but a nonpartisan think tank says there’s a way to eliminate state income taxes on the poorest Virginians while providing as much as a 10 percent tax cut to everyone else.

The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy on Friday unveiled a plan to restructure Virginia’s tax system – which the group says could generate substantial economic growth.

The nonprofit group’s report recommends slashing certain business taxes and income taxes while expanding the sales tax to currently untaxed services. > Read more.

Few are the industries that have escaped the effects of the recent economic downturn, with the construction and real estate industries chief among the sufferers.

But an observer might be forgiven for speculating that retirement communities would be an exception.

After all, baby boomers are reaching retirement age in huge waves, at a pace that would seem to leave the construction industry struggling to keep up.

Shouldn’t boomers be beating down the doors of senior citizen communities? > Read more.

It took nearly a century, but the St. Gertrude High School “Gertie Girls” will finally have fields of their own – and a presence in Henrico County.

At a fundraising campaign kick-off held April 28, parents, students, alumnae and friends of the school gathered at the site of a future athletic complex off Park Central Drive to envision the soccer fields, softball diamond and tennis courts soon to take shape. In addition to a turf field for soccer, field hockey and lacrosse, the Outdoor Athletic Center will boast a grass field, concession stand, restrooms, storage space, athletic training room, meeting room and a walking path that can be used by the cross country team.

The complex will be a godsend for families and staff at SGHS, who have relied on a cobbled-together network of rented and borrowed playing fields, a handful of buses and “the patience of our parents” to keep track of the teams’ whereabouts and schedules, said Margaret Shibley, director of alumnae & public relations. > Read more.

Byrd Middle School recently was recognized nationally as the winner of two 21st century contests.

A video created by the school’s librarians and HCPS-TV, which documented the school’s participation in the first-ever national Digital Learning Day Feb. 1, was selected as the best middle school impact video submission in the nation by the Alliance for Excellent Education, which organized the day. More than 10,000 teachers and 1.5 million students in 37 states participated in Digital Learning Day, designed to highlight innovative teaching and learning techniques. > Read more.

Sameer Sarkar, of Henrico, is one of only six high school seniors in Virginia to be chosen a 2012 Presidential Scholar. One of the nation's top highest honors for high school students, the Presidential Scholar award is bestowed annually based on academic success, artistic excellence, essays, school evaluations, and evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals. Sarkar will join two classmates from the Maggie Walker Governor’s School (Bethany Bruno of Powhatan and Judy Hou of Chesterfield) to receive the Presidential Scholar Medallion at a June 16 ceremony in Washington, D.C. > Read more.