Press Rewind podcast
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The week’s top stories
-The driver of a tour bus involved in a fatal, multivehicle crash on Interstate 95 last month has expressed that he’s sorry for his role, his attorney said last week. Jing S. Dong of Staten Island, N.Y., appeared in two Stafford County courts for the first time since the wreck on southbound I-95 that resulted in the deaths of five people and injuries to more than 40 others.
-It seems the Spotsylvania County School Board can’t help but attract controversy. For years, the body weathered fights over the content of books, superintendent hirings and firings, internal feuds, and more. But with the election of new school board members and the appointment of a new superintendent, some observers thought things would quiet down. Not so, apparently, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
-Spotsylvania residents last week encouraged the county Board of Supervisors to get more involved in data center community meetings after two recent gatherings held by developers and their representatives were deemed less than successful. Some of those who went to one of the meetings said they found parking issues, a long line to enter the Lee Hill Community Center and a noisy, overcrowded venue with no air circulation, Coghill writes.
-Stafford County officials are continuing to try to influence the path of a proposed power line if it’s ultimately approved by state regulators. Dominion Energy’s North Anna to Bristers electric-transmission project has been controversial since being unveiled last year, and the Stafford Planning Commission voted last week to recommend the Board of Supervisors approve guidelines for it.
-When it’s complete next year, Jeremiah Community will give homes to the chronically unhoused in the Fredericksburg region. But the supportive housing community in Bragg Hill will also provide some with jobs, writes Joey LoMonaco.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
10 — As in, nearly a decade in business. That’s how long Billikens Smokehouse has been on Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg. The company announced last week that it will close its restaurant Nov. 26 and shift focus to catering events, and this despite the fact that your Press Rewind writer has scarfed enormous amounts of barbecue and smoked items there over the years. Bill Freehling has more in the Biz Beat newsletter.
What they’re saying
“America was made in Virginia.” -Carly Fiorina, national honorary chairwoman, Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission. .
Sunday read
-Landon Josephs is just a freshman at Spotsylvania High School, but he’s already won two state track championships, and he’ll compete later this month in the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia. Taft Coghill Jr. has the story behind the speed.
