Advance Morning News
It's Sunday, October 5, 2025. Today, books reviews by an established author and newcomer, Drew talks Tay Tay and Shakespeare, Clay tackles the shutdown, and a letter to the editor.
Support the Advance Today with a One-Time or Recurring Donation
A Note from the editor: Welcome to Sunday. This coming Saturday, join the Advance as we celebrate cats in the Canal Quarter. Learn more about the tour, listen to Marty and Adele and her two daughters discuss the power of cats on the New Dominion Podcast, and purchase your tickets.
HUMOR: Shake It Off, Shakespeare; Shake It Off
By Drew Gallagher
Drew continues following Taylor Swift’s career and connections to Shakespeare.
Read the full story
POLITICAL CARTOON: Watch That Radical Left
By Clay Jones
It’s coming up on Week 1 in the federal shutdown, and the blame-game is in full swing. Clay Jones brings his distinctive eye to the challenge, with a Fredericksburg twist.
Read the full story
Sunday Books & Culture - Fiction
Penny Parrish reviews a complex tale of friendship in Fredrik Backman’s latest novel “My Friends.”
Read the full review
Sunday Books & Culture - Fiction
Ashley Riggleson covers Eliana Ramage’s debut novel about the sacrifice needed to become the first Cherokee astronaut in “To the Moon and Back”
Read the full review
Letter to the Editor
A local resident contends mudslinging, factual misrepresentation have gotten out of hand.
Read the Letter
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”