The Best of 2024 - Article of the Year
The FXBG Advance has launched the first in an annual series of awards recognizing the best article, government leader, and person of the year. Today, the Article of the Year.
2024 Article of the Year
The FXBG Advance best-of-the-year awards are voted on by our Board of Trustees, writing staff, and senior editorial staff.
The FXBG Advance’s first full year of operation provided a plethora of news stories that had significant effects on our community. From the January scandal involving the Riverbend High School swim team, and the ensuing FOIA battles that followed, to wrongly branding a Stafford County private citizen with a label of “misconduct,” an event that happened in July but that the Advance was able to break to the public in November, the year was filled with pieces both disturbing and uplifting.
There was also groundbreaking reporting on data centers, mischievousness of the King George County’s Board of Supervisors, the ongoing turmoil with the Spotsylvania County School Board, a major dust-up over a new development in Fredericksburg, and this is just touching the surface.
So how do we choose just one?
The challenge was so great that even our team was ultimately unable to settle on just one. When the votes were counted, three stories were on everyone’s minds.
Introducing the 2024 Stories of the Year.
Moss Free Clinic Faces Financial Cliff
Published February 9, 2024
Writer: Adele Uphaus
“The Lloyd Moss Free Clinic’s ability to continue providing services to Fredericksburg’s low-income, uninsured and underinsured population is threatened by changes in its relationship with Mary Washington Healthcare (MWHC).”
Thus begins the story that launched anger, public backlash, and led to a significant fundraising drive that by May raised $134,000 that allowed the clinic to continue providing medical and dental care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens.
The clinic’s challenges are far from over, of course, and the Advance will continue to track it into 2025.
BREAKING NEWS: KinderCare Daycare and Preschool on Mary Washington Hospital Campus to Close
Published: February 14, 2024
Writer: Adele Uphaus
“The KinderCare-operated daycare center and preschool on the campus of Mary Washington Hospital will close on May 24. Families and staff were notified of the upcoming closure yesterday in a letter from Stacy Butler, KinderCare Learning Companies senior district leader.”
That news, which the Advance was the first in the region to report on Valentine’s Day, led to an ongoing struggle between the hospital and the popular childcare provider that ultimately resulted in the center being allowed to stay.
Underlying this piece is the ongoing childcare crisis in our region that is leaving both families and employers scrambling for solutions. With 2025 being heavy on local elections, expect to hear more about this issue in the year ahead.
Library Board Member Dismissed for "Misconduct"
Published November 11, 2024
Writer: Adele Uphaus
“Mary Becelia wanted to give back to the library system. The Stafford Board of Supervisors removed her from her role and accused her of ‘misconduct’ without informing her, or explaining the decision.”
The Advance ended the year with a bang, uncovering the story of Mary Becelia and her dismissal from the library board by the Stafford County Board of Supervisors. The dismissal occurred over the summer, but came to light in November when Becelia shared her story with the Advance after the board refused to explain its decision — or even speak with her.
The story still has a number of loose ends that the Advance continues to pursue. Watch for more in 2025.
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).
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