Policy on the #NNK

The Town of Kilmarnock has issued a notice to the public of the upcoming maintenance of the town’s three water towers and the impact it will have across town. The notice was posted on Facebook, as shared above, and is repeated in text format below. Those with questions should call the town government office, (804) 435-1552. The Important Notice for Kilmarnock Residents: Water Tower Maintenance As part of our commitment to providing safe and reliable water, the Town of Kilmarnock will begin scheduled maintenance and inspection of our water towers this week. This preventative process helps ensure our water system operates efficiently and remains in excellent condition. Here’s the schedule: E. Church Street Tower: Week of December 2nd Hospital Tower: Week of December 9th Tractor Supply Tower: Week of December 16th What to Expect: Water pressure may be temporarily lowered in affected areas, but no one should lose water service. If you notice sediment in your ...

Online tools Government Comic Books provides a ton of communications and messaging design inspiration for those wanting to reach out to the younger set or hit the nostaslgia nerve with the youngest boomers. . . To create your own comic, head over to Canva , a free and paid online tool with templates and styles to help you design the chef’s kiss of images and products. (Crowdsourced) Outreach on the NNK is what the title says it is: A list of outreach resources, IRL and virtual, to help your organization or business reach more people without having to do the homework yourself . Sure, we can all look up US Post Office addresses, but why when this resource has all the info? The spreadsheet currently includes social media, media, houses of faith, POAs, organizations (a mish-mash), physical locations, and elected and appointed officials. And, it’s editable, so if you want to add missing info or correct what is there, do it! It’s easy to use: Just download it and perso...

The post Local, state, and federal open and historical spaces beloved. Yet federal threat looms. identifies the beauty and historical value of the Northern Neck and the threat presented by the nomination of Gov. Doug Burgum as interior sec. The post shares, for example, this description of this place: The Potomac and Rappahannock rivers and the Chesapeake Bay form three of the boundaries for the Northern Neck Recreational Planning Region. There are more than 1,000 miles of shoreline, which comprise 38 percent of the total Tidewater shoreline in Virginia. Wetlands cover 37,890 acres of the region. More than 50 percent of the region’s land area is forested. (Source: Northern Neck chapter (PDF) of the Virginia Outdoors Plan 2018 ) The post also summarizes the Burgum threat: The beauty and importance of place are why President-elect Trump’s pick for Secretary of the Interior Gov. Doug Burgum is so troubling to so many. Burgum is all for making the US the world’s largest producer...

VDOT is holding a public hearing on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Norris Bridge Replacement Project Tuesday, December 10, 5:00 - 7:00 pm at Lancaster Middle School (191 School St, Kilmarnock in the auditorium). Get a preview of the meeting by taking a look at the display boards, brochure (English and Spanish available), and EA. There are several ways to comment: Attending the meeting, in writing, via email, and a survey/comment form online. The comment deadline is December 20 .

It’s safe to say that one of the reasons people love the Northern Neck is the place itself: It’s water, farmland, vistas, rich outdoors opportunities, and wildlife. And it’s easy to understand why. The authors of the Northern Neck chapter (PDF) of the Virginia Outdoors Plan 2018 write, The Potomac and Rappahannock rivers and the Chesapeake Bay form three of the boundaries for the Northern Neck Recreational Planning Region. There are more than 1,000 miles of shoreline, which comprise 38 percent of the total Tidewater shoreline in Virginia. Wetlands cover 37,890 acres of the region. More than 50 percent of the region’s land area is forested. The region features a wealth of natural and historical assets including the 88-mile Northern Neck Heritage (bike) Trail (PDF), Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail , George Washington Birthplace National Monument , and the Northern Neck National Heritage Area ( Northern Neck National Heritage Area - All Documents and Proj...

Northern Neck Native Plant Co announced on Facebook some big news that should positively impact NNK-area nonprofits, farmers markets on the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula and those who frequent those events, and non-market event pop-ups. The deets are in the FB post immediately below and the text is below that. This news is especially timely given the increasing need for resiliency planning and activity. Northern Neck Native Plant Co’s Post We have some BIG changes coming down the pike for next Spring. We will transition to an “all profits to Charity,” model. Our plant sales will offer a percentage of sales to NNK-area nonprofits with the remaining funds-after-costs going to our nonprofit arm Sustainable Landscapes VA-MD . NNK Native Plant Co will focus on local farmers markets, native plant sales, and serving the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. We will no longer offer plant delivery, but we will continue to offer installations! ...

The Northumberland County Economic Development Commission partnered with Northumberland County Public Schools to hold the Saturday, November 2 Northumberland County Career and Job Expo 2024. On Thursday, November 15, the EDC reported to the supes on the event. Some data in the report: Individuals in attendance : Five under 18 and one 18-24 Employers in attendance : Six (Northumberland High School; Indian Creek Yacht & Country Club; Abilities Abound Physical Therapy and Wellness Center, Callao; Northumberland Emergency Services; Northumberland Library; Division of Rehabilitative Services, Fredericksburg) Lessons learned : Explore grant options for spring events; advance planning for wider dissemination; more collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce; and plan for a broader County-wide effort, details to follow The supervisors responded positively to the report. I, on the other hand, have a negative response. The EDC has not articulated a...

Northumberland County Sheriff Johnny Beauchamp has shared the news in a Facebook post that shotgun deer season where dogs are allowed to track deer for hunters starts Saturday, November 16. More information is available from NCSO on their app. Get for Android . Get for iOS .

According to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), As a result of recent amendments to the Local and Regional Water Supply Planning Regulation (9VAC25-780), 26 regional planning areas [PDF] have been established throughout Virginia. Localities within those regional planning areas are required to submit a single jointly-developed regional water supply plan by Oct. 9, 2029. The amendments further specify that the new regional water supply plans identify water supply risks and propose regional strategies to address those risks. (Source: DEQ News Vol. 3 No. 10 ) The four counties of the Norther Neck―Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland―make up “Northern Coastal Plain 1” for the purposes of the new Local and Regional Water Supply Planning Regulation (9VAC25-780) . Northern Neck Planning District Commission will continue to manage the water supply planning for the region. To remain up-to-date on the status of the new regs, bookmark Water Supply P...

Resilient Virginia continues talking about and engaging the community on the very important topic of hazard mitigation Tuesday, November 12 during their webinar Hazard Mitigation Tools: Saving Lives, Building Resilience . The session will focus on hazard mitigation plans, where to find data, and ways to include social vulnerability in the planning process. The speakers are: Baja, originator of the Resilience Hub Concept and developer of the New and Improved All Hazard Mitigation Plan (read From fiction to reality: How resilience hubs could help people weather disasters — and build community ) Melissa Finucane, Vice President of Science and Innovation, Union of Concerned Scientists (read her bio on the UCSUSA website ) Krista Romita-Grocholski, Physical Scientist, RAND Corporation, and Lead Principal Investigator with the Mid-Atlantic Climate Adaptation Program (MARISA) (read her bio on RAND ) Understanding what the concepts mean, in brief ...

On October 30, Gov. Youngkin announced that a Hampton business will receive the latest blue cat processing grant . This small ($247,000) investment in processing will benefit the awarded business, watermen, the broader community, the economy, and the ecosystem as the release (below) and two 2024 blog posts― Can we eat our way out of the blue catfish crisis? and ICYMI: Increased processing = more blue catfish on dinner tables ―point out. In fact, Virginia Cooperative Extension has found that in 2019, the processing segment of the Virginia seafood industry out-employed all other segments in the industry and contributed similarly in labor, tax revenue, and output. See the image below for details. It is worth noting that there was one applicant for the grant from the Northern Neck. Governor Glenn Youngkin Announces Blue Catfish Processing Grant Award to Hampton Seafood Processor Grant will increase Amory Seafood’s purchasing, processing, and sales of local w...

Will a cleaner Chesapeake Bay mean more fish and crabs? It’s complicated (Bay Journal) Keys to a healthy Chesapeake: access, transparency, diversity (Bay Journal) Susan B. Anthony broke the law by voting in 1872. In 2024, women honor her courage (NPR) Protecting and Restoring Habitat in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula (NOAA)

On November 1, the Mayor of Montross posted news and a request on Facebook . On November 2, the post was updated. What follows is the text of the post with the latest first. Tl;dr, Greater Montross Partnership for Revitalization (GMPFR) Montross First Friday committee is taking over the Montross Flag Program from Westmoreland Ruritans. The post has been slightly edited to technical reasons. Missing are lots of American flag emojis. UPDATE - 11/2/24 As of this afternoon the Greater Montross Partnership for Revitalization (GMPFR) Montross First Friday committee has asked and the Westmoreland Ruritans have agreed to shift the Montross Flag Program to GMPFR. Please join me in thanking the Ruritan’s for their years of dedication in making our town look so good. The Greater Montross Partnership for Revitalization in a nonprofit Virginia Main Street affiliate who raises money though events and reinvests that money in our community. They additionally act as a voice for the...

High school and college students are encouraged to enter the Wetlands Watch Waves of Tomorrow: Artists Respond to Rising Seas art contest. Submissions are due January 1, 2025. Submissions may include visual work (sculpture, photography, drawing, painting, etc.) and written work (poems and short stories). Writes the organization about the contest, Rising tides and encroaching waters are reshaping Virginia’s coastline, leaving communities to confront the realities of sea level rise and flooding. This art competition invites high school and college age artists from across the state of Virginia to explore the profound impact of these environmental changes through their creative expressions. Whether through painting, sculpture, photography, or mixed media, participants are encouraged to capture the beauty, challenges, and resilience of life on the edge of the sea. By translating these urgent issues into art, we can inspire awareness, spark dialogue, and envision a future where both...

The Virginia Conservation Network is again offering a session on what can be expected from the GA next session. The General Assembly Preview takes place Saturday, December 7 , 9:00 - 11:00 am. According to VCN, “As the 2025 General Assembly session approaches, we invite you to join hundreds of Virginians for an important event focused on the key issues we expect to arise in the legislative session. This is your opportunity to gain insights on anticipated environmental legislation from statewide experts and connect with fellow conservation advocates—all in one day!”

On October 8, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) issued the following press release, 13 species added to Virginia Invasive Plant Species List, Fall gardeners encouraged to plant alternatives to Italian arum, nandina and others : RICHMOND, Va. — Thirteen more species that pose a threat to the state’s ecosystems have been added to the Virginia Invasive Plant Species List. The additions include Italian arum (Arum italicum), nandina (Nandina domesticum) and orange-eye butterfly-bush (Buddleja davidii). Invasive plants are non-native species that cause harm or have the potential to cause harm to natural resources, economic activity or humans. Some have been introduced intentionally into a region where they did not evolve; others, accidentally. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has determined that the plants on the list, which now includes 103 species, threaten Virginia’s forests, marshes, wetlands and waterways. The list, which has no regulat...