The week’s top stories
–A Massaponax High School senior was shot and killed early Saturday morning in Spotsylvania in what the county Sheriff’s Office called an attempted break-in of a home by three individuals. No charges have been filed in the incident, in which another high school student was also shot. The shooting happened less than 24 hours before Massaponax held its prom for this year.
-The Rappahannock United Way will close June 30 after 85 years of service to the Fredericksburg area, the nonprofit announced Wednesday morning. Biz Beat’s
-Back on track: Yasmin Deane, who won multiple state track championships at James Monroe High School, was sidelined as a senior when she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. But after three years, three colonoscopies and multiple medication changes, Deane is a nationally-ranked sprinter for the University of Mary Washington. Taft Coghill Jr. on a gutsy comeback.
-The Rappahannock Area Health District hopes to debut a clinic on wheels this summer. The mobile clinic, which is intended to offer primary health care to rural areas, was discussed Thursday during a community health forum at Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg. The event, sponsored by Mary Washington Healthcare and the Fredericksburg Free Press, also included talk on other health matters.
-The chairs and vice chairs of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and School Board held a town hall meeting Tuesday in which residents brought up topics including economic development, housing and education. The event was a first for Stafford and was the brainchild of supervisors Vice Chairwoman Tinesha Allen.
Go figures (Numbers that made the news)
–18, the number of medications Luka Seymour has to take every day for NKH, a rare and fatal genetic disorder the 2½-year-old suffers from. Rep. Eugene Vindman invited the Seymour family to Capitol Hill on Thursday and spoke on the House floor about NKH. The family covers treatment for Luka with a combination of private insurance and Medicaid, and Vindman is afraid his Republican colleagues in Congress will vote to cut Medicaid funding.
What they’re saying
“They still do everything together. She’ll ask him where he’s going every time he gets up. If he’s going to the bathroom, she wants to know where he’s going.”–Marquita Fields, granddaughter of Thomas “Jimmy” Fields and his wife, Irene Fields. The elder Fieldses, who live in Caroline County, have been married for 77 years, making them one of the longest-hitched couples in Virginia and the nation.
Pressing on (a look at news in the week ahead)
-The Free Press will check in on James Monroe High School’s Gunnar Burns a year after the lacrosse player suffered an injury that left him partially paralyzed.
Sunday read
-A recent college visit left this columnist with mixed feelings on hotel buffets but convinced that his son is ready for the Ivy League. Is it an egg-cellent take? You decide.
