The week’s top stories
-Fasihullah Safar, a missing 16-year-old from Fairfax County, was arrested in New Jersey on Friday evening after Fredericksburg officials closed the city’s schools “for safety and security reasons.” Safar was wanted by federal and local authorities because they said he was trespassing at James Monroe High School on Wednesday. Joey LoMonaco has the story.
-U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine shared a story of being on national TV when he was in Fredericksburg recently for a business meeting. But the Democrat wasn’t on a news program …
-Stafford County supervisors voted 4-3 last week to advertise a real-estate tax rate increase of 5 cents, from $0.8936 per $100 of assessed value to $0.9436 per $100. But property owners may not end up seeing that much of a hike. Advertising the rate means the supervisors can later approve a levy that’s lower but not higher.
-King George County Administrator Matthew Smolnik’s $137.2 million recommended operating budget for the next fiscal year reflects no increase in the real estate tax rate of 68 cents per $100 of assessed value. But the spending plan also includes flat — or unchanged — local funding for the county schools. Taft Coghill Jr. has the details.
-Data center developers got what could be considered a twofer’s worth of good news last week. The Stafford supervisors voted down a proposal that would have changed zoning regulations to require permits for projects in parts of the county zoned for heavy industrial use. And, the next day, the Spotsylvania Planning Commission voted to recommend that data centers be allowed without permits in industrial areas of that county. That vote, however, also recommended requiring permits for data centers in all other parts of the locality.
Go figures (Numbers that made the news)
–$10,000, amount in donations for Spreading Smiles at Renato’s an anonymous benefactor has agreed to match, Biz Beat’s reports. The nonprofit provides meals, holiday gifts, clothing and more to in-need local children.
What they’re saying
“You don’t just throw people off the ledge and say, ‘You need to survive on your own. So what if you hit the ground and die? That’s not our problem.’ That’s not how we should do things in the government.” –Dr. Bridgette Williams, a Spotsylvania County therapist. She has been inundated with calls from former federal employees in the wake of layoffs recommended by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Pressing on (a look at news in the week ahead)
Germanna Community College will hold a virtual “Community Conversation” with Temple Grandin, an animal behavior expert and autism awareness advocate, Monday night at 7. She’s to speak on “how different thinking styles, such as her own visual thinking, offer unique strengths,” and Free Press managing editor Joey LoMonaco will be watching to let you know what she has to say.
Special Sunday read
A CSX Transportation representative came to Mayfield last week to try to allay community concerns following a train derailment last year, but some residents still have worries. The Free Press was there for the conversation.
