The week’s top stories
-The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors last week voted to rezone more than 58 acres for the creation of a 99-home subdivision on Smith Station Road near its intersection with Woodfield Drive. The approval came despite the objections of Supervisor Jacob Lane, who is concerned the county’s once-rural way of life is disappearing, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
-The family behind The Meat Hook in Caroline County is carrying on the work of their late patriarch, Christopher Jones Jr., who started the business. Coghill has the story.
-Stafford supervisors agreed last week that they’d like a new road and bridge over the Rappahannock River to stretch from Celebrate Virginia Parkway in the county to Gordon W. Shelton Boulevard in Fredericksburg. But their decision isn’t final. Fredericksburg’s City Council and the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization still must weigh in on the route.
-Proposals for data centers in the region keep coming. Perhaps the newest application calls for up to 2.1 million square feet at the Hylton property off Interstate 95. Biz Beat’s Bill Freehling has more on the plans, which haven’t yet faced public scrutiny.
-After two years, Fredericksburg police made an arrest Thursday in a 2023 slaying. Ahmad Haigler, 26, of Spotsylvania County, was taken into custody on charges in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Antione Fox. The case had previously yielded few leads.
Go figures (Numbers that made the news)
-27, years Corey Koch that has served as the band director at Massaponax High School. Koch, who retired at the end of the school year that just ended, is the only band director the school has ever had.
–$20 million, the planning cost of Fredericksburg’s third fire station. City Council approved a $1.8 million contract for design work on the station during its recent meeting.
What they’re saying
–“It’s the first thing you’ll see when you come in the front door, and it’ll be up for three years.” –Gaila Sims of the Fredericksburg Area Museum. She was talking about the museum’s “Living Legacies” exhibit about the region’s Black history, which opened Friday.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-Congressional Democrats, including Rep. Eugene Vindman and Sen. Tim Kaine, are concerned that Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be cut if GOP-authored legislation becomes law. The Free Press will explore how potential impacts will be felt locally.
Sunday scenes
PHOTOS: 30th annual Fredericksburg National Cemetery Luminaria
From the editor’s desk
As we wandered through the Fredericksburg Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning, my wife and I remarked on the apparent youth of the vendors we encountered. It wasn’t until I’d purchased a bottle of hot sauce (jalapeño and habanero, for you Scoville enthusiasts) from a boy no older than 10 that it dawned on me that it was the Spring Kids’ Market, an annual event for entrepreneurs ages 8-15.
-Joey LoMonaco
