The week’s top stories
-The CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative had a perhaps startling message for the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission last week: One data center requires as much power as the co-op’s entire current customer base. Taft Coghill Jr. has the details.
-Continuing with the data center theme, two Stafford supervisors last week said that attracting the tech businesses to the county isn’t about tax revenue for revenue’s sake. But a data center watchdog group begs to differ.
-In another Stafford battle, this one on the gridiron, Colonial Forge bested rival North Stafford in high school football Friday night in thrilling fashion, 27-26. Devin Payne has the story.
-Pizza pairing: YMMAS, a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg, is getting folded into the Sammy T’s brand, as the two businesses are in the same building and both owned by Jeff Small. In addition, a popular bagel chain may return to the Fredericksburg area. Bill Freehling has the dish on this and other restaurant and business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
–King George County voters will find only one contested local election on their ballots this fall. Bryan Metts, an engineer with Naval Sea Systems Command, and Shawn Palivoda, a real-estate agent and member of the county’s planning commission, are vying for the James Monroe District seat, Coghill writes.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
1 — As in, one-woman show. That’s how Jessica Wilkins started Biscuit Batch in a food truck. But now the operation has grown to become a standalone restaurant in the Spotsylvania Courthouse area. has the culinary story in Free Time, our weekly entertainment newsletter.
Scenes from the sideline
Photographer Jeff Kearney captured all the action at Colonial Forge on Friday night.
PHOTOS: Colonial Forge football edges North Stafford in showdown of top 540 squads
What they’re saying
“The school is already divided. This is just picking a side. Equality hurts no one. Safety hurts no one. Self-expression hurts no one. Removing a club created for equality, safety and self-expression hurts many.” –Artemis Park, an eighth-grader at King George Middle School. Artemis was talking about comments for and against a planned Gender and Sexualities Alliance club at the school.
Forum footage
-The Free Press held the third and fourth of its local candidate forums last week, in King George County and in Fredericksburg. Here are videos of the events, which featured hopefuls for school board and board of supervisors in King George, and school board and city council in Fredericksburg:
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
-In minor league baseball, even the announcers are eagerly awaiting their big break. Eric Bach, the Fredericksburg Nationals’ play-by-play man, got his recently, and he told his story to Free Press Managing Editor Joey LoMonaco.
