Press Rewind podcast
No time to read our weekly recap newsletter? Then listen up: it’s the Press Rewind podcast, which will catch you up on top headlines in five minutes or less. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
The week’s top stories
-The King George County School Board voted Wednesday on a transgender-student policy, and several speakers at a board meeting weren’t pleased. The policy generally states that school-division personnel must refer to each student using only the name that appears in their official record, or, if the student prefers, a nickname commonly associated with the name that appears in records. Employees also must refer to students using only the pronouns relating to their biological sex. Taft Coghill Jr. has the story.
-Stafford County’s government celebrated a milestone last week. The locality welcomed the first Black-majority Board of Supervisors in its 362-year history. And in terms of political parties, the Democrats started the year with a 4-2 edge over Republicans with one independent serving, too. That’s Deuntay Diggs, who was re-elected as chairman of the board by his peers.
-Similarly, Fredericksburg saw history in November as Joy Crump won election, becoming the first Black woman to serve on the City Council. Crump and three of her peers were sworn in last week, Joey LoMonaco reports.
-The King George County Board of Supervisors agreed last week, by a 3-2 vote, to put into writing a “gentlemen’s agreement” from 2016-24 that permitted the board to rotate the chairman’s post each year by election district. Vice Chairman William Davis of the Dahlgren District was one of the dissenters, saying the leadership position should be earned, not passed around to each member, Coghill writes.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
$3.75 million — Sale price of the 28,000-square-foot Mill Race Commons building at 701 Kenmore Ave. in Fredericksburg. A former textile factory, the site has been the home of offices for many years. Bill Freehling has more on this transaction and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
What they’re saying
“Having somewhere you can go that isn’t just home or work, where you can talk to other people that isn’t necessarily based around alcohol or kids, is a really helpful space to have.” –Oliver Neleski, IdeaSpace user. Rick Horner details the history of the makerspace in Free Time, our weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-Local governments in the Fredericksburg region took some time off for the holidays, but they’re back to business now. We’ll be following their public meetings this week.
Sunday read
-Student representatives on Fredericksburg-area school boards give young people a chance to serve in a capacity similar to their elected counterparts. Stafford County just welcomed two new students to its School Board, while two previous reps are helping to launch a new statewide organization.
