Press Rewind podcast
We regret to inform you that there is no podcast this week as our podcaster has a cold and his voice sounds like that of a wounded monster.
The week’s top stories
-The NAACP’s Spotsylvania branch said last week that it has “deep concerns” about a special grand jury’s decision to indict two Black women involved in a racially fueled incident on Partlow Road, but what’s still unclear is exactly what happened in that situation. The couple initially said they were victims of a hate crime, and two county residents have been charged in the matter. But now the couple from Richmond also faces charges. Taft Coghill Jr. has the story.
-The average teacher in Fredericksburg’s public schools may not be able to completely relate to the city’s population of Afghan-born students. But that’s not necessarily a problem because the school division has hired Afghan natives to assist the pupils, Joey LoMonaco reports.
-Efforts to build a memorial to enslaved people where the slave auction block used to be in downtown Fredericksburg are progressing, with Germanna Community College professor Gaila Sims and renowned artist Eto Otitigbe working with city officials and members of the public. has more on this historically significant project.
-Spotsylvania’s Planning Commission last week voted to recommend approval of 300-foot buffers and 400-foot setbacks for data center development. The regulations are aimed at protecting homes, hospitals, childcare facilities, schools, parks and places of worship from impacts from the technology businesses, Coghill writes.
-The artificial turf field at King George High School has seen its share of Friday football battles, but it was the notion of replacing the playing surface that caused a war of words last week at a county Board of Supervisors meeting. Supervisor T.C. Collins said the King George school division should use its $500,000 activities budget to help fund the installation. But Superintendent Jesse Boyd disagreed, Coghill reports.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
1 million — Dollar amount of a donation data center developers STACK Infrastructure and Amazon Web Services agreed to give Friends of the Rappahannock last week. It’s the largest corporate gift in the conservation organization’s four-decade history. Bill Freehling has more on this and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
Scenes from the sideline
What they’re saying
“We were a broke little theatre.” –Anne Kight-Lloyd, Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble board member. She was talking about the early days of the troupe, which Rick Horner details in Free Time, our weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-Our latest Coffee Shop Talk podcast also will feature discussion of the upcoming downtown slave memorial, as Free Press Managing Editor Joey LoMonaco sits down with Eto Otitigbe, the artist designing the monument.
