News Briefs for March 25

Jarvis holds a master’s degree in public affairs and a bachelor of science degree from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She has over 35 years of experience, mostly in North Carolina, where she started her career in the Surry County, North Carolina, Department of Social Services.

She later served as a personnel officer in Mount Airy’s Department of Human Resources and Safety, which earned the designation of “Carolina Star” for improvements in health and safety under her leadership, according to the county. In the City of High Point, North Carolina, Jarvis served for several years as Human Resources manager and spent a year in the role of interim director of Human Resources.

She later worked as a consultant before joining James City County as interim director of Human Resources in August 2024.

Students Recognized for Participating in DSHR’s Get It Together Challenge

Drive Safe Hampton Roads recognized 16 local high schools for  their participation in the Get It Together Seat Belt Challenge.

According to DSHR, thanks to their efforts, seat belt use by teens increased 8.47% from the program’s starting baseline percentage, making it 89.38%. This is higher than the state average belt use of 75.6%. In addition, two area high schools increased seat belt usage over 15% from their baseline use rate.

Students and faculty involved in the program stressed the importance of wearing seat belts every time students ride in a vehicle, DSHR said. Strategies included seat belt checks, pledge drives, videos and poster contests, as well as other educational activities. Schools earned points for activities that attributed to medal-level awards.

Participating high schools are from the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.  For a list of medal winners, visit its website: drivesafehr.org/git.

DSHR Car Seat Round-Up Complete

Drive Safe Hampton Roads has joined forces with community partners to collect old, used and potentially unsafe child safety seats during the Child Safety Seat Round-Up program for over 36 years so they are not resold or given to unsuspecting parents or caregivers.

During this year’s Round-Up, 143 seats were collected. As an incentive, a $5 gift card was given as a “Reward” for each seat turned in, according to the organization. Safety seats were dropped off at Walmart Supercenter select locations or at any of the eleven AAA Tidewater Virginia locations from Feb. 1–28.

All collected safety seats were recycled by Waste Management of Virginia, Inc. Not only does recycling these seats eliminate the potential danger to children, but it also provides positive benefits to the community by utilizing a “greener” alternative for disposal, DSHR said.

For more information, visit drivesafehr.org or call 757-498-2562.

Atlantic Union Bank Earns Top Workplaces for Third Year

Atlantic Union Bank has been recognized with the 2025 Top Workplaces USA award issued by Energage for the third year in a row, it announced.

Over 18 years, the Top Workplaces program has surveyed over 20 million employees across the U.S., honoring outstanding organizations with regional Top Workplaces awards.

Top Workplaces USA recognizes organizations with 150 or more employees that have built strong workplace cultures, according to the bank. Winners are selected solely based on employee feedback from an engagement survey conducted by Energage. Results are determined by evaluating responses against 15 research-based Culture Drivers that predict high performance compared to industry benchmarks.

Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia Invites Residents to “Spring into Action”

Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia is inviting residents to donate gently used clothing, household items, and more in celebration of Earth Day April 22.

Goodwill has several recycling and donation events taking place during April across central and coastal Virginia, including April 5 at Kiln Creek, located at 2801 Kiln Creek Parkway, Yorktown.

To find a donation center near you, visit goodwillvirginia.org.

Williamsburg Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution

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2025 James City County Home Repair Blitz Slated for April 26

James City County announced the Home Repair Blitz is planned for April 26.

According to the county, this year the projects will be located in the Mooretown Road/Clark Lane area and it hopes to have 10 or more projects. Each home will receive exterior home repairs for a nominal fee, with work completed by anywhere from 100-300 volunteers to assist veteran, low-income, elderly or disabled homeowners.

The county needs volunteers to work as Team Leaders with the following skills:

• exterior carpentry (replace hand rails, porches, stairs, ramps, etc.)
• house and siding painting
• other minor exterior repairs (steps, gutters, fence)
• safety-related improvements

Each Team Leader will “adopt” a house and oversee the projects and volunteers on that home, according to the county, and will generally need to commit at least 5-6 hours of prep time prior to the event — and also commit all day of the event or the proposed rain date — at his or her pre-selected home.

Those who have interest in leading a team of volunteers for the Blitz should reach out to Keith Denny, Housing Programs Administrator at 757-259-5340 or keith.denny@jamescitycountyva.gov.

The first Team Leader Meeting will be held March 25 at 6 p.m. at the JCC Department of Social Services at 5249 Olde Towne Road. The rain date for the event is May 3.

York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office Recognized as Certified Crime Prevention Community

York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery recently announced that the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office successfully completed the steps to become a Certified Crime Prevention Community.

The certification requires 12 core community safety elements and an additional seven optional elements to be met: Crime Prevention Council, Crime Prevention Specialists, Neighborhood Watch, Community Policing, Organized Distribution of Community Safety Information, Community Safety and Security, Functional Crime Analysis, Comprehensive School Safety Audit, Business Outreach Program, On-Site Victim/Witness Program, Delinquency Prevention Program, VLEPSC Accreditation, TRIAD/SALT, National Night Out, VA Rules, School Resource Officer, McGruff, Gun Safety Program and Crime Prevention Newsletter.

On March 13, the Sheriff’s Office appeared before the Department of Criminal Justice Services Committee on Training to have the application reviewed. The board unanimously voted to approve our application — the thirteenth locality in the commonwealth to receive the Certified Crime Prevention Community certification.

Montgomery recognized Lt. Jeff Charville, Crime Prevention Specialist Kevin Taylor, and the York County Certified Crime Prevention Community Board Members, which include business members, school board personnel, county government, and citizens whose collaborative work, he noted, was essential to the success of the program. He also thanked all involved for their hard work and said he was grateful for the dedication of the deputies, community partners, and residents who played a role in making the achievement possible.

Williamsburg Business Appreciation Award Nominations Now Open