Press Rewind podcast
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The week’s top stories
-Spotsylvania County School Board member Rich Lieberman campaigned partially last year on a promise that he would revisit the issue of drug testing school division employees, and he brought the matter up last week. But it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere. Superintendent Clint Mitchell said it would hurt teacher recruitment and retention, and the board eventually agreed to table the discussion, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
-A 32-year-old Spotsylvania County man faces several charges after police say he boarded a Fredericksburg school bus bound for James Monroe High on Friday morning. Jordan Cromes sat in the back, drawing suspicion from the driver and students, and assaulted a school staff member after being denied entry to the building at JM, according to authorities, Joey LoMonaco writes.
-The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors is registering its discontent with a proposed power line and the possible expansion of collective bargaining. The board is working on sending a letter to the State Corporation Commission, opposing the Valley Link Joshua Falls to Yeat transmission-line project that would run through part of the county. And the supervisors approved last week another letter of opposition, this one asking Gov. Abigail Spanberger to veto Virginia General Assembly bills that would expand collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. Coghill has the story.
.-Three other bills, these by Del. Joshua Cole, are headed to the governor’s desk. One would direct every police department or sheriff’s office in Virginia to implement their own firearm give-back or buy-back program, after a similar initiative was successful in Fredericksburg. The second would prohibit drivers from initiating or participating in a social media livestream while on the road. The third would regulate the drug kratom.
-Hyperion Espresso will start a major renovation project in downtown Fredericksburg this week. Coffee shop owner Jack Scholl said the work will lead to a new bar featuring coffee-tasting flights, new seating and paint. Bill Freehling has more on this and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
54 — age of Army Chief Warrant Officer Three Robert M. Marzan, who was killed recently in the U.S.-Iran military action in the Middle East. Marzan, who was living in Spotsylvania County, leaves behind a wife and two children.
What they’re saying
“He was that person that tried to make you successful and bring out the best in you.” -Jen Dodge, a close friend of the late Thom Schiff, a fixture in the Fredericksburg music scene. Stephen Hu writes about Schiff’s life and legacy in Free Time, our weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
