Press Rewind podcast
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The week’s top stories
-Spotsylvania County School Board member Jennifer Craig-Ford is seeking an opinion from the Virginia attorney general on pre-employment drug testing of teachers and other school-based employees. Craig-Ford was among the majority of board members who voted recently not to implement testing of new hires and rehires who work directly with students. No other school division in Virginia requires pre-employment testing, Adele Uphaus writes.
-A state law that took effect July 1 calls for all localities to establish a voluntary gun giveback or buyback program by 2028. It was patterned after a program started in Fredericksburg by Vice Mayor Chuck Frye, and the impetus for him was personal, Joey LoMonaco reports. This is the second installment of a series of stories about youth gun violence in the region and what is being done to address the issue.
-The King George County Board of Supervisors is considering repealing the sellers’ discount — a 3% deduction to the meals tax for any restaurant owner who pays their monthly tax expenses on time — and many of those don’t think this is a recipe for success. Some restauranteurs reinvest this savings into their businesses. Taft Coghill Jr. has the details.
-Fredericksburg School Board member Jarvis Bailey has resigned his position, and his former colleagues will appoint an interim representative to serve through the end of this year. They’ve also agreed to hold an election in November for a permanent board member to fill out the remainder of Bailey’s term. Applications to fill the interim position will be accepted through 5 p.m. Tuesday, Uphaus reports.
-The driver of a passenger bus that crashed in Stafford in May, killing five, was denied bond by a county judge Friday, but his attorney has appealed the decision. Jing S. Dong of Staten Island, N.Y., faces five felony counts of involuntary manslaughter — one for each death — and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. The bond appeal could be heard Tuesday.
Go figures (numbers in the news)
$9 million — A 194-room hotel in Central Park that has been closed for several years has sold for this amount. The buyer, a group of Warrenton-based investors, plans to complete a renovation of the property and reposition it under the Radisson hotel brand. Bill Freehling has more on this and other business news in Biz Beat Roundup.
What they’re saying
“The locations of everybody are such that anybody could have walked into this room and managed to commit this murder and exit without anyone else knowing, or passing anybody.” -Andrew Foote, director, “The Mousetrap.” He was talking about the Agatha Christie mystery being performed at the Riverside Center for the Performing Arts. Read more in Free Time, our arts and entertainment newsletter.
