Gov. Bob McDonnell was among the prominent visitors to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's Bloemendaal House March 28 as he joined Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, Dominion Resources chief executive Tom Farrell, and Richmond 2015 CEO Wilson Flohr in making a milestone announcement about the funding of Richmond 2015. Corporate partners with the non-profit corporation overseeing the city’s hosting of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships have raised more than $11 million, reaching the halfway mark in their fundraising goal to stage the international cycling competition. > Read more.

Gayton Elementary School fourth and fifth graders had the opportunity to visit with representatives of approximately 80 different occupations March 22 as GES celebrated its biannual career day.

Among the students who enjoyed trying on handcuffs at the Hermitage Technical Center criminal justice program booth were Shea Gunter (center) and friends Aiden Ginn (left) and Sarah Hastings. > Read more.

St. Mary’s Hospital hosted a tour March 27 of its new Pediatric Emergency Department (ED), which has a separate entrance and private waiting area adjacent to the Adult Emergency Department and numerous child-friendly features to make visits more comforting and less intimidating for children.

Among other features of the ED are mosaic tile floors, colorful walls, butterfly artwork and an interactive butterfly video exhibit, which Dr. Billy Lennarz, Bon Secours Virginia Health System’s chief medical officer for pediatrics, demonstrated to attendees. > Read more.

Students and teachers from J.R. Tucker High School and Varina High School recently participated in the World War II Roundtable Seminar at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond.

They had the opportunity to meet and learn first-hand about World War II from a panel of 12 Virginia World War II veterans from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, including a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 and a former Army Ranger who was part of the first wave of Americans who hit the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944. > Read more.

Henrico residents are slightly more likely to be born underweight, grow up in single-parent households, suffer from obesity as adults and contract sexually transmitted infections than average Virginians, according to a national study released last month.

The fourth annual County Health Rankings & Roadmaps study rated Henrico as the 38th healthiest locality in Virginia, among 133 cities and counties analyzed. But the county trailed both the state averages and the national benchmarks in seven key categories, including low birthweight, adult obesity, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption, sexually transmitted infections, children in single-parent households and number of fast-food restaurants per capita. > Read more.