The week’s top stories
-The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors tabled a decision last week on a proposed 99-home subdivision called Smith Station Crossing, Taft Coghill Jr. reports. Supervisors and speakers at a public hearing say traffic is already backed up in the area, but the developer has promised to make road improvements if the project is approved.
-The Rappahannock Canal ran dry last week, and Fredericksburg officials are investigating the cause. If you’re around there, though, they say, don’t worry about any strange odors.
-Could there ever be a “downtown” in Stafford? The county’s Planning Commission recommended approval of a project last week that could eventually be a part of that.
-Fredericksburg’s City Council last week voted unanimously on first reading to set a real estate tax rate of 80 cents per $100 of assessed value. The rate represents a four-cent increase from last year and will fund a budget Councilor Will Mackintosh called “conservative,” Joey LoMonaco reports.
-Will a new bridge spanning the Rappahannock River ever be built? It’s not certain yet, but the Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization continues to discuss the idea. The regional transportation planning group is scheduled to vote in June on a preferred route for a crossing.
Go figures (Numbers that made the news)
–706, Caroline Street is the former home of the Visitor Center building in downtown Fredericksburg. Interior demolition work is underway, and Biz Beat’s
Picture this
What they’re saying
“This is a spiritual battle. Satan would love to take the family apart.”–Dr. Donald Stern, former state health commissioner and director of the Rappahannock Area Health District. He appeared at Thursday’s “Strengthening Faith, Family and Community Summit” at the Kingdom Family Worship Center in Fredericksburg.
Pressing on (a look at news in the week ahead)
-The chairs and vice chairs of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and Stafford School Board will host a joint town hall Tuesday on the path forward for the locality and its schools.
Special Sunday read
-Among environmentally friendly landscaping methods, would you say it’s the Greatest of All Time? Time will tell, we suppose, but those goats you’ve seen in Old Mill Park are, yes, there for a good reason: They’re working. No word yet on whether they’ll want to unionize, though. Free Press managing editor Joey LoMonaco has the agricultural details.
