York Notebook: Voting Info, Celebrate Farmers' Markets, Watch Local Gov't in Action

By Sam Thrift Monday, August 01, 2011

Confused about voter registration? With a day left to register, York County residents still have a chance to turn in their application to vote for the Aug. 23 Republican primaries. Also discover how you can celebrate Farmers’ Market Week in Yorktown and how to watch and find information about the Board of Supervisors' meetings from home, and a reminder about the library fine amnesty program that starts today.

Voting information
Today is the last day to register to vote for the Aug. 23 Republican primaries and York County voters still have the opportunity to turn in their voter registration applications.

Voters can take their application to any of the following places in York County to register to vote, although turning it in after today will be too late for the Aug. 23 primary:

Registrar's Office, 224 Ballard Street, Yorktown, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Griffin-Yeates Center, 1490 Government Road, Williamsburg, Monday to Friday from  8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.

York County Public Libraries, 100 Long Green Boulevard in Tabb and 8500 George Washington Memorial Highway in Yorktown.

If you have voted before, you don’t have to register again. If you are unsure of your status, you can click here to check your voter information.

For a map of the voting districts, click here http://www.yorkcounty.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=2554 and to find out the polling locations click here.

Farmers’ Market Week
Governor Bob McDonnell designated the week of Aug. 7 as Farmers’ Market Week, and York County residents will be able to join in on the statewide celebration and have the opportunity to join a photo contest through Yorktown Market Days on Aug. 6 and 13.

McDonnell gave local community markets a week of recognition because of their popularity, their ability to provide the public with high quality, locally grown farm products and how beneficial Farmer Markets’ are for the economy in communities across the Commonwealth.

Residents can shop for fresh produce at Yorktown Market Days at 425 Water Street, Riverwalk Landing in Historic Yorktown Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.

As part of the Farmers’ Market Week celebration, the Virginia Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Services are sponsoring a Photo Contest in three age groups for the best original photo taken at the event. The three winners - one child 12 or under, one teenager and one adult - will receive a prize package of Virginia’s Finest and Virginia Grown products worth at least $100. The deadline to send in the photo is Wednesday, Aug. 17, and the farmers’ market with the most entries also will receive a special prize package. For complete details, contest rules and a release form, click here.

Board of Supervisors preview
The Board of Supervisors will be meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss issues such as tax relief for the elderly and mosquito control, but you do not have to be at York Hall to listen in.

York County residents can watch the meeting three different ways: in person, online or by watchong live on television on cable channel WYCG-TV. Residents can stream the video live online or watch it later by clicking here.

If you would like to know what will be discussed at the meetings, the agenda is posted here before the meeting.

Food for fines has begun
Avoiding the library because you just found that library book that was supposed to be returned months ago? The York County Public Library is letting patrons with overdue materials off the hook by sponsoring a Food for Fines amnesty program August 1 through August 14.

The program will allow anyone facing overdue fines at Tabb or Yorktown libraries to pay off the fee with non-perishable food items. One food item will pay one fine, regardless of the amount of the fine. Patrons may bring as many food items as they have overdue books, DVDs, cassettes or CDs. The Food for Fines program does not apply to charges for lost or damaged items.