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
-Perhaps it’s not a surprise, but the members of Fredericksburg’s congressional delegation aren’t pleased with the U.S.-Israel campaign in Iran. They’re all Democrats, for one thing. But Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Rep. Eugene Vindman also have specific concerns, including how long the fighting will last and what President Donald Trump wants to accomplish with the military action.
-Kaine, Warner and Vindman also expressed concern last week over what they characterize as a slow start to the Fredericksburg Veterans Affairs Health Care Center, which is now a year old. The Spotsylvania County facility still isn’t fully staffed, but officials there said morale is high among staff members, and that the plan from the beginning was to slowly roll out services to ensure safety and sustainability. Taft Coghill Jr. has the story.
-The first of five co-defendants involved in a shootout in the Olde Greenwich neighborhood almost a year ago has been sentenced. Jeremiah Upson of Ruther Glen was sentenced to 25 years in prison recently after convictions for second-degree felony murder, paramilitary activity and selling a handgun to a minor. Sentencing for a Spotsylvania teen also involved in the incident that left three young men dead was delayed last week because of a power outage at the county courthouse, Coghill reports.
-Del. Nicole Cole, a Democrat who represents parts of Caroline and Spotsylvania counties, held an online town hall meeting last week about Virginia’s April 21 redistricting referendum. She stressed that the measure would be a temporary reform to offset a push by Republicans in other states to gain more control of the House of Representatives. But her colleague in representing Spotsylvania, Del. Phillip Scott, said the referendum amounts to old-school gerrymandering, and that Virginia doesn’t have to act just because others are. Coghill has the details.
-Junior Hasan Hammad has helped lead the University of Mary Washington men’s basketball team to its first appearance in the Division III Final Four. And he’s been tackling that task lately while facing a challenge his teammates don’t have: He’s had to fast while observing the Islamic high holy month of Ramadan, Joey LoMonaco writes.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
200 — as in almost 200 ukuleles. That’s how many instruments have been crafted by local woodworker, professor and performer Larry Hinkle. Kathy Knotts writes about his life’s works in Free Time, our weekly arts and entertainment newsletter.
What they’re saying
“This is more than just a title, it’s a chance to showcase everything that makes downtown Fredericksburg so special.” -Chris Allen, executive director of Fredericksburg Main Street. He was talking about Garden & Gun Magazine’s annual bracket-style competition to determine the “Best Main Street in the South.” Fredericksburg is in the running this year, notes Bill Freehling. Bill has more on this and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-On Wednesday, the Stafford Planning Commission will hold another public hearing on the proposed Buc-ee’s that would be located in the central part of the county. It’s the most controversial land-use project in Stafford that’s not a data center, and Stafford’s planning staff is recommending denial of the project, identifying negatives such as the traffic and light the operation would generate.
