This week’s top stories
-Tragedy shook the Fredericksburg community this week when a local couple died in a plane crash on Long Island. Friends and family remembered Zach Hatcher and Chris Kucera for friendships, community involvement, and an uncanny ability to bring people together.
-A train derailment literally shook parts of downtown as the accident sent a soundwall crashing into Cobblestone’s garages. CSX officials attributed the incident to human error. Taft Coghill Jr. was on hand Wednesday when the company attempted to assuage the community’s concerns.
-Joey LoMonaco donned a hard hat to get a tour of the new Walker-Grant Middle School under construction in Fredericksburg. Progress has been brisk since English Construction Company broke ground on the $74.8 million project off Idlewild Blvd. last May.
-Animal shelters around the country are full and struggling. Noelle Clark has a story about an art studio event that somehow combines corgis, stoneware and ice cream into one sweet fundraiser.
-They’ll soon say au revoir, but French students from Fredericksburg’s sister city of Frejus made the most of their recent trip to the 540, writes Noelle Clark.
What they’re saying
“This new wave of data centers has nothing to do with Internet access. This has nothing to do with making sure kids can do their homework in a library. It has everything to do with Artificial Intelligence.”
—Tim Cywinski, communications director for the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club during a packed meeting that attempted to outline the environmental group’s stance on data centers.
Go figure (numbers that made the news)
–$88 million, the amount of tax revenue the Peterson Cos. estimate the latest data center in Stafford County will generate, writes Jonathan Hunley.
For planning purposes
On Tuesday morning, James Monroe High School will be the setting for a statewide conversation on cell phone bans in the Commonwealth’s public schools. We’ll answer the call.
