Solar Farm Near Melfa Ok'd By Accomack County Supervisors

By  Candy Farlow

The Accomack County Board of Supervisors has given the go ahead for the construction of a solar farm in the Melfa area.

The vote to issue a conditional use permit was unanimous and included a list of conditions including what is to happen should the project fail. Lincoln Renewable Energy plans to establish the Virginia Endeavor Solar Farm on some 180 acres off of Racetrack Road.

The solar photovoltaic farm will be comprised of 20 one megawatt solar panel blocks with each block containing nearly 5,000 solar panels and a substation. The conditions under which the company can build the facility include the establishment of a landscaped buffer around the site and the execution of security agreements for maintaining the buffer in the future. A security agreement is also being required and for the removal of equipment and the restoration of the property to its current agricultural state should the venture cease to operate.

It is estimated that some 100 workers will be needed during the six month construction process, however, once construction is complete only one full time local worker will be required for the operation.

Source;  Shoredailynews.com

Virginia Driver Suffers Minor Injuries In Accident

MELFA, Va. (WAVY) - State police were called to the scene of a serious accident in the town of Melfa Wednesday morning. The accident involved a 2005 Freightliner tractor trailer, fully loaded with frozen chicken.

State police spokeswoman Sergeant Michelle Anaya told WAVY.com the tractor trailer was traveling southbound on Route 13 when it ran off the road to the right, struck two telephone poles, continued on to strike two unoccupied vehicles in a used car lot and continued on until finally striking a building. The truck came to a rest at Don Velario's Restaurant causing thousands of dollars worth of damage, Anaya said.

The driver, 41-year-old Tony Terrell Weeks of Mappsville, Virginia suffered minor injuries and was transported to the hospital.

An investigation into what caused the accident is ongoing. Mr. Weeks was wearing his seatbelt and alcohol was not a factor in the crash, according to Sgt. Anaya, however charges are pending.

One lane of Route 13 will be shut down for several hours as crews repair what was damaged.

Source; fox43tv.com http://www.fox43tv.com/dpps/news/local/truck-driver-survives-serious-accident_3759849

Tractor Trailer Crashes Into Melfa Shore Stop

MELFA, Va.- Virginia State Police say two people were injured Monday after a tractor-trailer crashed through the front of a Shore Stop convenience store on Route 13 in Melfa.

Police say that at around 10:20 a.m., a car was turning into the parking lot of the Shore Stop. Police say about three or four other vehicles were in back of the turning car, which had its turn signal flashing. Investigators say the tractor-trailer, which was in back of the stopped vehicles, was unable to slow down in time. Police say the driver of the tractor-trailer then swerved to the right of the stopped vehicles in order to miss them. The tractor-trailer missed the vehicles, and instead ended up going through the front of the Shore Stop building.

Troopers say a delivery man was inside the store when he saw the tractor-trailer headed his way. The delivery man then pushed the store clerk out of the way to safety.

Both the delivery man and the clerk were transported to Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Police determined the tractor-trailer driver was at fault in the accident. He was charged at the scene.

www.wboc.com

Tractor Trailer Slams Into Melfa Shore Stop

An 18-wheel tractor trailer has slammed into the front of the Melfa Shore Stop along Route 13. The call came over the scanner from dispath just after 10:00 AM Monday morning.

Dispatchers called for two ambulances, although injuries are currently not known.

Several fire and EMS personel responded to the accident. It appears as though the truck missed the gasoline pumps in front of the buildling.

Details on the accident are still emerging.

The right hand land in the southbound lane is currently blocked off as emergency teams clear the damage.
www.shoredailynews.com

Court Testimony Shows Strands Family Found His Slain Body

ACCOMACK — Murder charges against a man accused of killing Johnny Strand, a popular local restaurant manager, were certified to a grand jury at a preliminary hearing in General District court here.

Fernando Carrillo Sanchez, a 23-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, stands charged with killing Strand, 49, the manager of the Onley Pizza Hut.

Commonwealth’s attorney Gary Agar presented evidence that showed that the black Ford Expedition that was stolen from Strand’s Melfa home was found several days later near the residence of the accused man.

He said also that Carrillo Sanchez made and signed a confession the night he was picked up by the police and that there was a previous unspecified relationship between the two men. Investigators found Strand’s telephone number on the defendant’s cell phone.

Gladys Church, a relative of Strand’s, answered Agar’s questions about May 1, the day she found Strand lying naked, face-down and covered with blood in his bed at his Melfa home.

Church said she became concerned about Strand when he failed to pick her son up from his late- night job at Perdue. She picked up her son herself and drove to Strand’s house.

“We went there at about 2 a.m.,” she said. There were no lights on and his SUV was not there.

“The next morning, we kept calling and calling and he didn’t pick up,” Church said, adding she was nervous because Strand never missed work.

Church told the court she made repeated calls to Strand’s telephone and went to talk to some of his friends to ask if they knew where he was. No one did, she said.
At about 1 p.m., Church said she went to the police.

“I told them my Uncle Johnny was not answering his phone.” Church and her son drove to Strand’s home again.

The door was locked and his vehicle was not there. She said she and her son used a credit card to gain entrance to the trailer.

She began to sob almost uncontrollably as she described the horrific scene.

“We walked in. I got halfway down the hall.” Her son, ahead of her screamed, “‘Oh, no, Don’t come in here.’ I said, ‘I am coming in.’”

“He was lying on his stomach, face to the wall,” she said. “I could see blood splattered up the headboard, up the wall and on the floor.”

“I was screaming. We went back outside. I said, ‘Somebody killed him. Why, why.’”

Beverly Jacks, a volunteer emergency technician with the Melfa Fire and Rescue, was the next to arrive on the scene.

Jacks described the scene just as it had been told by Church. She said it looked like Strand had been dead for some time.

Tom Hedge, an investigator for the sheriff’s department at the time, described the murder scene. He said Strand had trauma to his head from multiple blows.

There were no signs of forced entry or a struggle, he said.

He said the wounds were consistent with the victim being killed where he lay, describing him as “unaware.” He found a blue Little League baseball bat covered in blood under the bed where Strand lay.

Strand’s vehicle was not located until four days later. The sheriff’s department received a tip that it was in Dreamland One mobile home park. They found the vehicle and asked neighbors to which trailer it belonged.

A person was seen running to that trailer, he said, and then refused to answer the door when police knocked. Finally three men came out and all were taken into custody.

Investigator Anthony Bright, with the help of an interpreter, questioned the suspect for several hours. He described Carrillo Sanchez as “very calm.”

“He began to cry and then made a confession,” Bright said. The accused man said he was forced into sex with Strand, Bright said. He claimed that Strand hit him with the baseball bat. Bright said he saw no wounds or bruising on the defendant’s body.

Carrillo Sanchez was defended by attorney Garrett Dunham.

www.delmarvanow.com

Field Fire This Afternoon.........

A combine caught fire in a wheat field in Melfa Sunday afternoon and destroyed roughly 40 acres of crop.

Accomack County Fire Department Supervisor Charles Pruitt said 50 firefighters have placed the fire under control. The fire remains burning as of 6:30pm tonight.

The fire started in a field off Main Street and spread toward Seaside Road.

www.wavy.com

Pizza Hut Manager Suffered Multiple Injuries

ONLEY -- Police said a slain Pizza Hut manager had suffered multiple injuries when his body was found by authorities.

The manager's SUV also was stolen from his home, Accomack Sheriff Larry Giddens said.

Johnny Keith Strand, 49, of Melfa, a longtime manager of the restaurant, had been reported missing earlier Saturday.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office found him at 2:28 p.m. at his Pine Ridge Drive residence near Melfa.

Tributes continue for Strand, known as a likable and gentlemanly Shore native who became synonymous with the restaurant.

"His bright eyes and quick smile never left him. He shared his talents and his time to make the Shore and all who visited a brighter place," said Carla Savage-Wells of Onley, a Nandua High School teacher who had known Strand since elementary school.

Pizza Hut District Manager Gil Liberty described Strand as "the kindest man that I've ever met and probably will ever meet."

Strand's death is being investigated as a homicide. Units and personnel from the Melfa Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company responded to the scene.

The victim's vehicle, a black 1998 Ford Expedition, also has been reported missing and has been entered into computer databases as a stolen vehicle. Its Virginia license number is ZC8 296.

A Pizza Hut assistant manager said she last saw Strand at 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 757-787-1131 or 757-824-5666.

www.delmarvanow.com

Melfa Rotary Club Hosts 11th Annual "Taste of the Eastern Shore"

To benefit the Eastern Shore Food Bank

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More than 20 Eastern Shore restaurants will bring out their most tempting edibles on Sunday, April 11 at the Workforce Center, Eastern Shore Community College in Melfa, Virginia to raise money for the Foodbank on the Eastern Shore, a branch of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. Presented by the Melfa Rotary Club, this 11th annual event will be an exciting afternoon of food tasting from your favorite local restaurants from 3:00-6:00 pm.

"Our hungry neighbors up and down the Shore depend on our Foodbank," said Charmin Horton, Manager of the Eastern Shore branch. "The Rotary Club and all of the restaurants involved help us make it possible to distribute groceries to those who need it. I encourage everyone to come, eat, and support the Foodbanks mission of feeding the hungry."

The Foodbank on the Eastern Shore annually serves over 29,000 local working individuals, children, and senior citizens struggling to put food on the table. It takes more than 900,000 pounds of donated and purchased food every year to keep them from going hungry.

A limited number of tickets are now on sale on and can be purchased from any Melfa Rotary member; at the Foodbank in Tasley; The Book Bin, Four Corner Plaza in Onley; Rayfields Pharmacy in both Nassawadox and Cape Charles and H & H Pharmacy in Oak Hall and Chincoteague. Only 500 tickets will be sold. Early purchases are recommended. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door (if available). For more information and to purchase tickets, contact the Foodbank at 757-787-2557.

Since 1981, the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, a member of Feeding America The Nation's Food Bank Network, and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, has been providing food for hungry people throughout Southeastern Virginia. Since its inception, the Foodbank has distributed over 183 million pounds of food throughout its 3,500 square mile Southeastern Virginia service area which includes the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Franklin and Virginia Beach as well as the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight and Accomack. During the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the Foodbank distributed over 11 million pounds of food to more than 330,000 individuals. For more information, visit www.foodbankonline.org.

Rotary, an international service organization, has 30,000 clubs in 162 countries with 1,200,000 members worldwide. Rotary is dedicated to providing leadership through club/vocational/international and local community service projects. The Melfa Rotary Club, one of four Rotary clubs on the Eastern Shore, meets Tuesday mornings at Sunrise Restaurant. Taste of the Eastern Shore is one of several community service projects it sponsors each year.


www.shoredailynews.com