The week’s top stories
-Fredericksburg’s Karen Smith helped to inspire the city schools’ cellphone-free policy. But her advocacy came with a terrible cost, writes Joey LoMonaco.
-Not long years ago, Stafford’s Board of Supervisors was all-White and male-dominated. The county has seen quite a change, though. Now, five of the seven supervisors are female, and three of them are people of color. Oh, and the chairman they elected last week, Deuntay Diggs — he’s the first openly gay supervisor to lead the board.
-The College Football Playoff has been national news this year, but it also has some local flavor, as six players from the Fredericksburg area were on playoff rosters, writes Notre Dame running back Devyn Ford and Ohio State defensive lineman Eric Mensah.
-Last week’s snowfall in many ways was a mess. Just ask bleary-eyed parents who had their kids at home all week. On the other hand, though, the powdery precipitation can make for some interesting images. Suzanne Carr-Rossi found many of those.
-When William “Bill” Davis ran for election to the King George Board of Supervisors, he said transparency, accountability, low taxes and improving the county’s service authority were his primary objectives. That sounds like a lot. But Davis, a lifelong county resident, now has an additional responsibility: His peers elected him chairman of the board last week, Taft Coghill Jr. reports.
What they’re saying
“The community has given us everything. We just wanted to give back.” — Ristorante Renato owner Elisa Bonilla. Her eatery gave schoolchildren in need free meals last week when schools closed. Otherwise, these students would have had to go without.
Pressing on (a look at the week ahead)
Tuesday looks to be a busy news day, as Fredericksburg city councilors and planning commissioners discuss data centers, and Stafford County School Board members talk redistricting for a sixth high school. Data centers and school redistricting? Both topics can be controversial any time they come up.
