The week’s top stories
-Germanna Community College has a new president. Dr. Tashika Griffith will take over the reins at the Fredericksburg region’s premier two-year institution in January.
-Leave it to the beaver to generate plenty of buzz (and page views, tbh). Stafford’s Planning Commission held its first public hearing on a Buc-ee’s convenience store planned for the county, and dissenters came out in full force, Jonathan Hunley reports.
-While the state rolls out its own program in the wake of nationwide SNAP shortages, local leaders are cooking up solutions, too. Stafford and Fredericksburg voted last week to allocate tens of thousands of dollars to the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, which is facing extra strain in the wake of the federal government stoppage. Read about how the aid came together.
-Local bagel enthusiasts might call it a brilliant development. Bill Freehling reports that Einstein Bros. Bagels will soon set up shop at the former Burger King location in Central Park.
-A candidate for the Stafford County Board of Supervisors has a $77 million lawsuit pending against the county sheriff and two deputies, but she insists that she could still serve if elected, Hunley writes.
What they’re saying
“I do pay attention,” – Spotsylvania Supervisor Lori Hayes, pushing back on the premise that the board didn’t adequately consider planning commission recommendations on data center setbacks the first time around.
Listen up
Yours truly sat down with University of Mary Washington professor Dr. Anand Rao for the latest episode of the Coffee Shop Talk podcast. Rao is the director of UMW’s new Center for AI and the Liberal Arts.
Pressing on
In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election on Tuesday. Check out our voting guides for Fredericksburg, Stafford and Spotsylvania, and make a plan to vote. Thousands of your neighbors have already done so!
