FREDLINES
Claire Marshall Watkins, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Fredericksburg Free Press
Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors sets legislative agenda
By Taft Coghill Jr. 10/29/2026
The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors decided on its legislative agenda during Tuesday night’s meeting, but its newest member was skeptical that representatives in the General Assembly ever consider what localities want them to do.
“In the last 15 years, has the state ever acknowledged anything that we put on our legislative agenda?” Chancellor District Supervisor Tim McLaughlin wondered aloud.
Deputy County Administrator Mark Cole, who served in the House of Delegates from 2002-21, said that, as a delegate, he would gather legislative agendas from the localities he represented and attempt to carry legislation that the local officials requested.
Talk of auditing Stafford government turns raucous
By Jonathan Hunley 10/29/2026
Stafford Supervisor Crystal Vanuch wasn’t pleased.
Vanuch arrived at the county Government Center on Tuesday night for a work session having noticed that three items she expected to be on the agenda weren’t there.
Vanuch, who represents the Rock Hill District, said soon after the meeting started that she wanted to add those items to the agenda. Two topics concerned data centers — discussion of making the technology businesses ineligible for certain economic development incentives, and of ending the practice of allowing data centers to be built in some areas without specific Board of Supervisors approval — and another proposing a sweeping audit of Stafford’s government.
The Free Lance-Star
Spotsylvania seeks alternative to annual $50 solid waste fee (paywalled)
By Scott Shenk 10/29/2026
Spotsylvania has switched gears on a proposed $50 fee and hanging tag for residential use of the county landfill and 13 convenience centers.
Instead, the Board of Supervisors and county staff are proposing a $10 increase to the county’s vehicle registration fee, which has stood at $25 annually since 2004, according to the county.
Around The Nest: UMW picked to win C2C in preseason poll (paywalled)
By Alex Murphy 10/29/2026
The University of Mary Washington men’s basketball team, the reigning NCAA Division III national champions, has been picked as the preseason favorites in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, receiving six of seven first-place votes.
Right behind Mary Washington in this year’s preseason poll is the No. 2 team in the country, Christopher Newport, which had the other first-place vote and finished with 30 points. UMW topped the poll with 36 points.
Potomac Local News
UMW says voter registration table with Democratic literature followed campus rules
By PLN News 10/29/2026
A table on the University of Mary Washington’s Campus Walk that advertised voter registration while displaying Democratic campaign literature was permitted under the university’s rules, a UMW spokeswoman said.
A reader who contacted Potomac Local News reported seeing the table in front of Lee Hall on Oct. 22. It carried a “register to vote here” banner, and two men were staffing it, according to an email the reader sent that evening to UMW’s director of student activities and the president’s office.
Stafford approves expansion for James River Equipment
By PLN News 10/29/2026
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 20 unanimously approved a rezoning allowing James River Equipment to expand its facility in the Falmouth District.The board approved the change from B-3 Office Zoning District to M-2 Heavy Industrial on about 9.5 acres (parcels 38-83D and 38-83) at the northeast corner of Wyche Road and Venture Drive.
The site already holds the company’s existing roughly 10,000-square-foot facility on the southern parcel; the northern parcel is used for outdoor storage. The rezoning permits a new approximately 35,000-square-foot building that will include office, shop, showroom and parts space, plus a wash bay. The existing building will remain.
Stafford board adds extra half-day holiday for Thanksgiving week
By PLN News 10/29/2026
Stafford County offices will close an extra half-day on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026, after the Board of Supervisors approved the additional holiday leave on Oct. 20.
The board voted 5-2 to approve Resolution R26-383, which gives county employees a full day off the day before Thanksgiving. Supervisors Crystal Vanuch and Pamela Yeung voted against it.
ADVANCE READS
Steve Watkins, Bell Clemens
Residents Call for Spotsy Supervisor’s Censure or Removal After Offensive Social Media Posts Continue
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Multiple Spotsylvania residents addressed the County Board of Supervisors Tuesday evening, October 27, with their concerns about Board Vice Chair Drew Mullins, whose offensive social media posts denigrating “law enforcement, women, minorities, the LGBTQ community, people of color, victims of sexual assault, among others” have continued—and been reported by The FXBG Advance and other local newspapers—in the month since he somewhat apologized at the last BOS meeting.
Here’s what two of the speakers had to say.
Why Not ‘To the Ramparts’ in America As Well?
Bell Clemens, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
Like many Americans, I have been watching the student uprisings in France and all over the world in the last few weeks with something close to envy. The grievances are nearly identical: the underfunding of education and the overspending on conflict and war, the cost of living and housing soaring while pay remains stagnant, and the ultra-wealthy not paying their fair share.
My students, seeing it unfold on their TikTok feeds, and knowing I once lived in France, keep asking me, “Why doesn’t this stuff happen here?”
AOC Coming to Virginia, and Other Press Release Releases
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Join Congressman Eugene Vindman for Get-Out-the-Vote Rally in Dumfries
On Friday, October 30, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.-14) will join Congressman Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) for a get-out-the-vote rally in Dumfries, Virginia, to energize voters and mobilize supporters ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
With Election Day just days away, Ocasio-Cortez and Vindman will rally Virginia voters, highlight the stakes of this critical election, and underscore the importance of tackling corruption in Washington, lowering costs, and fighting for working families.
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
By CHARLES CREITZ, Fox 5
The Justice Department blasted Virginia Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones’ Election Day guidance as “bluster and political posturing,” pushing back against his 10-page directive advising local election officials to call police when federal agents approach polling places and to document their activities. The Oct. 15 bulletin, jointly issued by Jones’ office and the Virginia Department of Elections, outlines how officials should respond to federal agents, scrutinize requests from DOJ election monitors and prepare for potential federal demands for ballots and voting equipment. The dispute comes as conservative litigation firm America First Legal pursues records concerning the state’s warnings about potential federal election interference, which Fox News Digital has learned.
Prince William County says no to federal election observers
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Prince William County is refusing a request by the U.S. Department of Justice to send observers to county polling places on Election Day while Fairfax County and Virginia Beach say they are agreeing to allow them as neutral observers. Prince William and Fairfax had allowed DOJ observers in polling places during congressional primary elections in early August, but Prince William Registrar Eric Olsen said this week that the department had made the request too close to the election and had not shown any evidence that the county was not complying with civil rights requirements.
Here are the 3 constitutional amendments on Virginia’s ballot and what they mean for voters
By MARCELLA ROBERTSON, WUSA-TV
Virginia voters will decide more than who represents them in Congress this election. Three proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot could reshape protections for reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and voting rights for people convicted of felonies. The questions give voters an opportunity to decide whether those rights should be explicitly protected in Virginia’s Constitution. But changing the state’s constitution is no easy task.
VPAP Visual Constitutional Amendment Fundraising: Pre-Election Reports
The Virginia Public Access Project
Finance reports due October 26 provide the last complete look at fundraising before election day for groups opposing or supporting the three constitutional amendments on the ballot in Virginia.
Sen. Locke calls for tax boost on high income Virginians
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginians earning more than $1 million would be subject to an income tax rate of 10% under legislation proposed by state Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton. They, like Virginians earning more than $17,000, are currently subject to the state’s top rate of 5.75%. The new bracket and tax rate would add Virginia to the small list of states that levy double-digit percentage taxes on high-income individuals.
Dominion asks SCC to recoup RGGI costs from customers, adding up to $13 to bills monthly
By SHANNON HECKT, Virginia Mercury
This summer, Dominion Energy rejoined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a carbon market designed to offset carbon emissions. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin yanked Virginia from RGGI in 2023 and in her first speech to lawmakers in January, Gov. Abigail Spanberger announced the state’s imminent return to the program, a move cemented by legislation that took effect earlier this year. At the State Corporation Commission headquarters on Wednesday, the utility debated how to recover the cost of the carbon allowances from customers and how to implement the bill credit lawmakers allocated to offset the impact on ratepayers.
Virginia Department of Education focuses on Albemarle schools’ policies
By DAVID VELAZQUEZ, Daily Progress (Metered Paywall - 25 articles a month)
The Virginia Department of Education is stepping in. Jenna Conway, the state superintendent of public instruction, has informed Albemarle County Public Schools officials that they must hire an independent consultant to review all of their policies and practices regarding the mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse. “Given the seriousness of the situation, the credible reports of harm done to children, and the latest charges that multiple leaders at the school and central office levels failed to fulfill their legal responsibilities to report suspected child abuse, meaningful state action is now necessary,” Conway wrote.
***
Articles from newspapers throughout the Commonwealth and Washington D.C. Firewalls will block you from reading some, but you’ll at least have some idea about what’s going on from the headlines and summaries. CLICK HERE.
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.”