The week’s top stories
-If you think politics is nasty only in Washington, then maybe you should take a closer look at what’s been going on in the Fredericksburg area lately. Acrimony has been the flavor of the election season here, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
-The two organizations in Fredericksburg named for George Washington’s mother have gotten together, and the result of the partnership looks to be a new kind of medical school, Joey LoMonaco reports.
-Local social services agencies put out word last week that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, recipients are facing a “high probability” of seeing delayed or interrupted benefits for November if the federal government shutdown continues. Coghill has the story.
-Data center development promises lots of tax revenue to localities. But what should be done with the proceeds? LoMonaco, the Free Press’ managing editor, has an idea: Help your neighbor.
-And, in other data center news, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in August to recommend the technology businesses be at least 1,000 feet from residential property lines, schools, churches, hospitals, daycares and parks. But now, a majority of the board isn’t so sure that’s the right way to go, Coghill reports.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
4 — Number of seasons the Fredericksburg Symphony Orchestra has been performing. Kathy Knotts details the ensemble’s fifth season, which has the theme “Summon the Heroes,” in Free Time, our weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
Scenes from the sideline
PHOTOS: Riverbend runs past Colonial Forge in battle of unbeatens
What they’re saying
“The No. 1 obligation in any school system is the safety of children. When a system fails at that, nothing we do matters — not test scores, not budgets, not slogans, not initiatives. Safety comes first, or you’ve lost the whole purpose.“ –Carla Milsap, Spotsylvania County resident. She was one of several speakers who pressed Spotsylvania school officials last week on their response to a recent child sexual abuse case.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-Stafford’s Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing Tuesday with the county’s Planning Commission on proposed new regulations for data centers. We’ll be there for the meeting, which insiders say could last until the wee hours of Wednesday.
Sunday read
-Can there be such a thing as “affordable housing” in the current Fredericksburg-area real-estate market? Stakeholders discussed the matter at the Regional Housing Assembly’s third annual Regional Housing Summit last week, and Taft Coghill Jr. was there.
From the editor’s desk
On Tuesday evening, my wife and I took our daughter to Maury Stadium to watch the James Monroe varsity field hockey team take on rival Eastern View.
The weather was fantastic, the vibes immaculate, and she even got to have that quintessential American experience of ignoring the action on the field altogether in favor of running around with other elementary-school-aged children behind the press box (In fact, I missed the game-winning goal in double overtime trying to corral her).
However, at one point, while we were sitting in the bleachers, my daughter pointed to an older woman seated several rows away and identified her as a substitute teacher who had rubbed her the wrong way a couple of weeks earlier. While she was clearly bothered by the encounter, we tried to use it as a learning experience.
In short: We live in a small city. You should always treat people — even the ones you don’t particularly care for — as though you’re going to encounter them again. Because you probably will.
-Joey LoMonaco
