The week’s top stories
-The Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic, which cared for the region’s uninsured and indigent since 1993, closed Thursday. The operation’s board of directors voted to shut down after it ran out of money. The clinic had struggled following a split with Mary Washington Healthcare, its longtime partner, Joey LoMonaco reports.
-President Donald Trump’s military parade may have been the talk of the town in Washington, D.C., but he caused quite a commotion in Fredericksburg on Saturday, too. Hundreds of people gathered at the corner of William Street and Blue & Gray Parkway for a “No Kings Day” protest, one of nearly 2,000 rallies held simultaneously in 17 countries. Rick Horner was on the scene.
-This isn’t usually what is meant by “retail politics”: The Fredericksburg Republican Committee was asked to leave Wegmans recently as members were writing postcards for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. It’s not clear if the grocery chain followed its own policy, but the committee will use another spot for its next postcard event. Taft Coghill Jr. has the details.
-The developers of a proposed campground in White Oak said last week that they’ve won a legal victory, but their opponents aren’t worried. The project, called Crow’s Nest Outdoor Adventure, is planned for a parcel off Belle Plains Road, and developers Mark and Vivian McLeod have sued Stafford County because the proposal hasn’t been fully approved. The county filed a demurrer in the case and attempted to halt it, but a Stafford Circuit judge ruled that the matter can go forward.
-Fredericksburg and Stafford County officials are united in their choice for a route for a new road and bridge over the Rappahannock River, but Spotsylvania County supervisors are feeling left out. LoMonaco has the story, with contributions from Coghill.
Go figures (Numbers that made the news)
-$489,000, a record-high median home sales price for the local housing market, the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors reported. examines real estate news and more in the Biz Beat Roundup.
–43, number of Minor League Baseball teams owned by Diamond Baseball Holdings. The organization is buying the Fredericksburg Nationals, but the team will remain in the city as the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. Seth Silber also will stay with the club as its president and a minority shareholder, Freehling reports.
What they’re saying
-“I walk into a school and all I see is midriffs, shoulders and butts.” –April Gillespie, Berkeley District representative on the Spotsylvania County School Board. She was one of two School Board members to vote against a change to the division’s dress code that removed as examples of inappropriate attire “halters, tank or tube tops, bare midriffs/crop tops.”
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-The Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization will meet Monday night to vote on the local preference for a new road and bridge over the Rappahannock River west of Interstate 95. The Free Press will let you know which route for the road is deemed the best.
Sunday long read
-A Democratic primary for the offices of lieutenant governor and attorney general will be held Tuesday, and to get voters ready, the Free Press takes a look at the eight candidates that are on the ballot.
From the editor’s desk
Got any weekend plans? Well, let’s make them together. This week, the Free Press launched its newest newsletter, Free Time with the Free Press. It drops every Thursday afternoon and offers an inside look at the Fredericksburg area’s music, arts and entertainment scene. Cheers.
-Joey LoMonaco
