The Progress-Index du lieu suivant : Petersburg, Virginia • A1

SHARPFPAT CYAN MAGENTA BLACK DOMINATION AT AAirUICAM MISSOURI SHOOTING Ml millllUMH PLPROGINDEXPAGES A01 I 081714 22:17 FEDERAL AUTOPSY HAS BEEN JEFF GORDON DRIVES TO ANOTHER VICTORY. B1 Ua, LI ORDERED IN TEEN'S DEATH. A2 THE AREA'S LEADING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1865 75 cents MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 IRONWORKS RESTORATION COLONIAL HEIGHTS Council considers regional radio system City will need $7 million to replace emergency communications network BY LEAH SMALL STAFF WRITER COLONIAL HEIGHTS The city is faced with finding $7 million to replace an emergency communications system with the looming deadline of a vendor who will no longer service the existing system or provide parts by 2018. Council discussed a plan on Tuesday Aug. 12, to upgrade to the Project 25 interoperable system, which would link the city with Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond.

The project has been considered by the city for years. Colonial Heights Fire Chief A.G. Moore said that while the current system hasn't failed emergency responders in the city, two events within the last 20 years have prioritized interoperability between localities. The first event was when a Richmond police officer was fatally shot in a police pursuit in 1998; the second was when an F4 tornado in 1993 ravaged the area. Localities taking part in the interoperable project are given the deadline of 2015 for issuing a regional request for proposals to find vendors to supply the new system.

Funding must be appro- Please see SYSTEM, Page A8 PATRICK KANEPROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO Jay Freeman, president of the Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation, admires a memorial at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg Monday, Aug. 4. To straighten the antique iron fence, new marble was installed and the lead re-melted to affix the pieces. The foundation is conducting a three-part project to restore dozens of antique iron fences and ornamental items in the cemetery. Phase II of three-part project to save ironworks and ornamental items in Blandford Cemetery is nearly complete BY LEAH SMALL STAFF WRITER Restoring the ironwork in Blandford Cemetery some of which was created as far back as the 1700s, requires painstaking care to ensure that these connections to the past stand for years to come.

The Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation is now on the second phase of a project to repair the ironworks that was started in the fall of 2012. The pieces of art wrap around the plots of the Petersburg cemetery in fences of spear points, medallions, chains and tassels. More ornate pieces portray the gar-tridge boxes and muskets and sabres of wars past. Figures of kneeling and mourning children are set in the Please see CEMETERY, PageA8 ONLINE EXTRA: See the slideshow of photos on our Web site: www.progress-index.com. PATRICK KANEPROGRESS-INDEX PHOTO Jay Freeman, president of the Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation, and Pat Rowland, Foundation spokeswoman, admire ironworks at Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg Monday, Aug.

4. Big money, sharp elbows in special election Winner to determine which political party controls state Senate BY ALAN SUDERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS RICHMOND The candidates in a special election that will determine which political party controls the state Senate are spending big money and throwing sharp elbows ahead of Tuesday's contest. Republican Ben Chafin and Democrat Mike Hymes have each raised more than $700,000 for their campaigns and spent heavily on television ads, according to state campaign finance and Federal Communications Commission records. Those totals are likely to increase during the final days of the campaign. Chafin, a member of the House of Delegates, has a natural advantage in the heavily red 38th District, which has voted for statewide Republi- Please see SENATE, PageA8 Church youth present donation to Colonial Heights animal shelter approximately $1,500, through fundraisers.

The group of about 30 took turns pulling bags of food from trucks and carrying them over to a shed that ended up being stockpiled with food. City officials, including Mayor Scott Davis, Vice May or Diane Yates, City Manager Thomas Mattis and Police Chief Jeffrey Faries, were at the shelter on Aug. 14 to congratulate and thank the youth group for their donation. Davis told the group that it was a "great deed that you've BY KATHERINE JOHNSON STAFF WRITER COLONIAL HEIGHTS -Youth from Immanuel Baptist Church recently took the time to stop by the city's animal shelter to unload 3,555 pounds of cat and dog food that they raised money for, done" and that the donation would go to great use. Mattis asked everyone to "keep in mind that we always got animals here looking for homes" and to encourage others to help them out.

Please see DONATION, PageA8 WEATHER INDEX Two sections, 18 pages Vol. 148, No. 45 III ATTENTION PRINT SUBSCRIBERS Go to www.progress-index.com to activate your FREE unlimited digital access. INSIDE If you've seen one cave, you've seen them all, right? Well, not exactly. A10 11 5 5 3- 5 Classifieds B5 Opinion A4 Comics B3 Sports Bl DearAbby B4 TV listings B4 Deaths A5 Weather A10 2014 GateHouse Media GHmsc Tonight's low: 71 Tomorrow's high: 88.