Free Republic

When Arsen Tatizian arrived in Petersburg earlier this year he did not think he would be staying in Alaska beyond the end of his contract with OBI-much less with his wife and his daughter at his side.The Ukrainian first stepped foot in Little Norway on February 6.It was his second year working for OBI, though he spent his first summer at their plants near Wood River and Larsen Bay.He was only here for two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.While he continued with work, his mind was on the safety of his wife Snizhana and their two-year-old daughter Kateryna, or Kate...

What looked like a draw for control of the House of Delegates turned into an apparent Republican victory with the defeat of Del. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, who had appeared to narrowly win re-election over GOP newcomer Kim Taylor. Instead, Taylor took a late lead in what appears to be an upset victory over Aird, as the battle for a House majority swung back and forth Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning with unofficial results subject to canvassing by local electoral boards to determine final winners. House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, declared victory with a statement released at 1:40 a.m....

Confederate Major General John B. Gordon’s troops launch an all-out assault on Fort Steadman in the Union lines surrounding Petersburg, VA. The predawn attack is initially successful. Fort Stedman and a couple of near battery emplacements are captured. But within a couple of hours, Army of the Potomac’s XI corp. counterattack Gordons forces and force them back to the Confederate lines. This is the last time that General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia will attack their old advisory, the Army of the Potomac. Within 15 days, the Army of Northern Virginia will cease to exist.

The president and founder of Kentucky’s Creation Museum in Petersburg and the Ark Encounter in Williamstown has been dropped as a speaker at the University of Central Oklahoma after a LGBT group objected. Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, had been scheduled to speak March 5 at the public university in Edmond, Okla. Stockton Duvall, student body president at the university, took responsibility for the decision to rescind Ham’s invitation after learning of the opposition to his visit. Duvall told The Oklahoman newspaper that a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning group opposed Ham’s visit because of his view...

Williamstown - Shem’s Snack Shack sits about a mile away from the Ark Encounter on a road that turns into Williamstown’s Main Street. In case you missed the reference to Shem, Noah’s son, it’s also the “Home of the Ark Dog” — two-thirds of a Biblical cubit long — and has swirly blue linoleum floors meant to mimic the ocean and a camel mascot named Humphrey, who declares that the gourmet hot dogs are flooded with flavor. The snack shack is owned by Charleston, W.Va., doctor Brian Plants, a longtime donor to the Answers in Genesis ministry of Australian Ken...

RICHMOND, Va. -- When it comes to street parties, perhaps never has there been one in RVA like the day the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike opened on June 30, 1958. There were "antique cars, pretty girls, champagne" according to newspaper reports at the time. Huge crowds turned out, even though the road cost numerous citizens - many of them poorer African-Americans - their homes during the two years of heavy construction. The $103 million marvel meant no more winding down busy Route 1 (Jefferson-Davis Highway) through the guts of the city. And Richmond and Petersburg were among the very first cities to...

...This city of 32,000 just south of Richmond is facing a financial crisis unusual for fiscally conservative Virginia — or any state. In at least the past four years, the city had spent all of its reserves and then kept spending money it didn’t have. It took out short-term loans based on anticipated tax revenue to keep paying bills. When the loans ran out, it stopped paying. Some fire and rescue equipment has been repossessed. The city trash hauler is threatening to stop pickup. And lenders will not give Petersburg any more loans. In his 46 years minding state ledgers...

Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged as the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day, officials said. A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles has been extensively defaced by graffiti. The vandalism occurred sometime during the past week, KCAL/KCBS-TV reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was...

A Civil War monument in Petersburg was vandalized at some point early Saturday morning. The Monument to Union Soldiers stands on Wakefield Street and is across from Walnut Hill Elementary School. Petersburg police and the National Parks Service are working together to investigate the damage. If you have any information that could help investigators, call Petersburg police at 804-732-4222 or Crime Stoppers at 804-861-1212.

TV’s famed “Bill Nye the Science Guy” will argue the case against creation and for evolution as he faces the founder and president of the Creation Museum, Ken Ham, on February 4, 2014, in the museum’s 900-seat Legacy Hall. The museum, which has drawn two million guests in six years (including 20,000 visitors at its recent Christmas Town programs), is located in Petersburg, Kentucky (near the Cincinnati Airport).

Virginia resident Michael McNeill filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court requesting a Writ of Mandamus to compel Petersburg Circuit Court Clerk Shalva J. Braxton to follow Virginia law when it comes to concealed handgun permit application processing procedures. A Writ of Mandamus is a judicial order compelling an official carry out a “ministerial duty,” i.e., a duty which is non-discretionary. In Virginia, the legislature requires Circuit Court’s to issue concealed handgun permits if the applicant pays $50, submits proof of firearms training, and passes a background check. Braxton initially told Petersburg NBC 12 News through her attorneys that...

A few years ago, Alaska’s proposed “Bridge to Nowhere” became a national symbol of wasteful government spending on little-needed projects. Now Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has pushed through his own version of this embarrassment, a $1.4 billion highway outside Hampton Roads that qualifies as a “Road for Nobody.” McDonnell has perplexed people across the state by his insistence on adding a tolled, four-lane highway parallel to U.S. 460. It will stretch for 55 miles from Petersburg, a Richmond suburb, southeast to Suffolk. The deal signed in December to build the road is especially insulting to traffic-jammed Northern Virginia, where...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick's season got off to a tough start after she crashed out early in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix. She was running ninth in the 22-car field on Sunday when rookie Raphael Matos tried to pass as the two went into one of the tightest turns on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit.

One of Russia's most famous statues of Vladimir Lenin has been bombed, leaving the Bolshevik revolutionary with a gaping hole in his rear. The bronze statue, in the city of St Petersburg, was badly damaged before dawn on Wednesday, when the blast blew a hole in Lenin's coat. No-one was hurt in the attack, the motive for which was unknown. The statue, outside the Finland Station, marks the Bolshevik leader's return from exile in April 1917. "Today at 0430 [0030 GMT] there was an explosion at the Lenin monument at the Finland Station in the city centre," a spokesman for...

Petersburg Police and officers from two other counties converged on Petersburg High School to help control several fights that broken out there, officials say. School officials say the incidents stem from a bomb threat that was called in to Petersburg High in the afternoon. Police were brought in to sweep the school for explosives, but reported nothing suspicious. After students were allowed back in the school, officials say several fights broke out among the student body. Police from Petersburg, Chesterfield and Prince George were on the scene trying to gain control of the situation. Petersburg Public Schools spokesman Cliff Davis...

Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390 The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Romney had a strong night, seemed raring to go, seemed to be willing to take on everybody, anybody, all comers, seemed to want to pick every fight possible." (Marc Ambinder, "The Debate In Review," The Atlantic Online Blog, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/, 11/28/07) National Review's Seth Leibsohn: "This Is Mitt's Night." (Seth Leibsohn, "This Is Mitt's Night," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com, Posted 11/28/07) Bill Bennett: "I think that Romney stood out tonight. I think he was loud and clear. Conservative. He was 'all-in' as you'd say in...

Russia's 'second city' rich in art and elegance Monday, July 10, 2006 ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Glorious on one block, dismal on the next -- St. Petersburg is a chalice holding the extremes of Russia's history. For an outsider trying to grasp Russia's sweep and complexities in a short trip, St. Petersburg may be the ideal synopsis. It's the pinnacle of czarist ostentation and the place where Russian literature reached great heights. The city's miseries have been just as dramatic -- the poverty and degradation that Fyodor Dostoevsky recorded, the three-year Nazi siege that drove the city into starvation...

This Day In History | Civil War July 30 1864 Battle of the Crater On this day, the Union's ingenious attempt to break the Confederate lines at Petersburg by blowing up a tunnel that had been dug under the Rebel trenches fails. Although the explosion created a gap in the Confederate defenses, a poorly planned Yankee attack wasted the effort and the result was an eight-month continuation of the siege. The bloody campaign between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Robert E. Lee ground to a halt in mid-June, when the two armies dug in at Petersburg, south of...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Tiny church saddles up for centennial By BETH PRATT A-J RELIGION EDITOR PETERSBURG — About 120 people gathered Saturday afternoon to hear and see what may well be the most unusual gospel presentation ever given in the 100-year history of Carr's Chapel. Horse trainer Chip Sugar of Abilene said that when God called him to preach, he could never have guessed that God would use his skills in horse training as an avenue of ministry. "God put it on my heart to use this round pen (for training)" as a means to describe the relationship God seeks with humanity, Sugar...