The week’s top stories
–A Spotsylvania County resident is seeking a court order to remove Battlefield District School Board candidate James King from the November ballot, saying the hopeful doesn’t actually live in the district. King denies the assertion, however, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
-It’s one thing to ensure students receive CTE training, another to ensure they put that training to use in the local job market. The need to retain local talent after graduation was one focus of a recent roundtable of Fredericksburg-area school superintendents, Coghill writes.
-It’s four for Ward 3. Keon Toyer, Elizabeth Rehm, Caitlin Finlayson and Christopher Butz have applied for the vacant ward seat on the Fredericksburg School Board. The board has scheduled a meeting for Sept. 22 to receive public input and make an appointment for the temporary position, which will last through Dec. 31.
-You don’t even have to be as old as the Press Rewind writer to fondly remember going to the movies at Marquee Cinemas in Spotsylvania County. The coming attractions at the former movie house these days, though, could include used cars. The proposed Marquee Auto Mall project would repurpose the property as a place for multiple independent automotive dealerships inside the existing building. Bill Freehling has the details and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
-Pneumonia might have slowed Debi Bernardes, but it didn’t stop her. The 67-year-old King George County resident, founder of the Great Train Race and the Blue and Gray Half Marathon, recently competed at the 2025 Masters CrossFit Games, Devin Payne writes.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
100 — Number of rushing yards two Massaponax High School football teammates surpassed recently as the team got its first win of the season. Joe Sanders finished with 119 yards; Brian Henderson collected 108 yards.
Scenes from the sideline
Photojournalist Jeff Kearney captured the action at xxxxxxx xxxxx on Friday night.
What they’re saying
“For someone who’s been through so much stuff, it’s like I’m the wise old owl. Now that I’ve been through all this, I somehow can find a silver lining in things.” –Ryan Hale, drummer and singer for the band The Richard’s. Hale grew up estranged from his family, and even was once robbed and shot through the neck. Read more about his story in Free Time, our weekly entertainment newsletter.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-The Free Press will hold the third and fourth of its local candidate forums this week. On Wednesday, Sept. 24, a forum with hopefuls for King George County School Board and Board of Supervisors will be held at the UMW Dahlgren Campus, 4224 University Drive, King George, VA 22485. The following day, Thursday, Sept. 25, will feature a forum for candidates for Fredericksburg School Board and City Council at 5:30 p.m. at the Dorothy Hart Community Center, 408 Canal St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401.
Listen up
The fifth episode of the Fredericksburg Free Press award-nominated podcast “The Tribe” drops today.
