FREDLINES
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Potomac Local News
Stafford School Board awards $7.1 million contract for North Stafford high fine arts wing
By PLN News
The Stafford County School Board on Tuesday awarded a $7.1 million construction contract to Oakley and Williams Construction for the North Stafford High School Fine Arts Wing.
The board approved the contract unanimously at its Oct. 13 business meeting.
The low bid came in above the original construction estimate of roughly $6.5 million. Staff told the board that contingency and furniture, fixtures and equipment funds are available to cover the difference. They also described a temporary appropriation from savings on other projects—including Rock Hill interior work and North Stafford HVAC—that would be used until the July rest of the budget.
Fredericksburg Free Press
Vindman introduces bill to shield customers from paying for data centers’ electricity costs
By FPP Staff
Rep. Eugene Vindman introduced legislation Wednesday that he says will protect smaller ratepayers from being forced to shoulder the electricity costs associated with data centers.
The Democrat, whose 7th District includes the Fredericksburg area, said in an announcement that the Make Data Centers Pay Act would amend the Federal Power Act to require large and medium-sized data centers to pay the full incremental costs associated with their electricity use, preventing those expenses from being passed on to residential customers and small businesses.
Under the legislation, data centers and high-density computing facilities with electricity demands of at least 20 megawatts would be required to cover the incremental costs of serving their electric needs, the announcement said. This would help ensure that the costs of infrastructure and electricity service needed to support these facilities are borne by the companies driving that demand.
Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors tables action on solid waste ordinance
By Taft Coghill, October 14, 2026
After several residents spoke against a proposed ordinance to revise the Spotsylvania County Solid Waste program during a public hearing Tuesday night, the board of supervisors deferred a vote until its Oct. 27 meeting.
Supervisor Jacob Lane, who represents the Livingston District, informed Assistant County Administrator Ben Loveday that when the issue is brought back for a decision in two weeks, he’ll propose that the revised ordinance does not include a Residential Refuse Permit, or a $50-per-year hangtag for residents to use county convenience sites.
The Free Lance-Star
Spotsylvania Commissioner of Revenue on this year’s ballot
By Scott Shenk, October 15, 2026
A special election for the Spotsylvania County Commissioner of the Revenue is on the ballot this election cycle.
The Free Lance-Star sent questionnaires to the two candidates to run prior to the Nov. 3 election.
The commissioner of revenue serves a four-year term. The position duties include assessments for business licenses, business property, excise tax, meals tax and personal property, according to the Spotsylvania website.
Other commissioner of revenue duties include reviewing applications for land use, tax relief for the elderly and disabled, and real estate exemptions for veterans.
The acting commissioner is Janet Lloyd.
Shellie Bowman is one of the two candidates on the ballot. Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisor Chris Yakabouski (Battlefield District) is the other candidate. Bowman responded to The Free Lance-Star questionnaire. Yakabouski did not respond.
Spotsylvania supervisors hit pause on trash program decision
By Scott Shenk, October 15, 2026
Negative resident responses and unanswered questions led the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors to reconsider adopting changes to the refuse program.
Following a public hearing Tuesday night, the supervisors tabled a decision on proposed code changes to establish a $50 permit for residents to use county convenience center sites, along with other changes, such as prohibiting the dumping of construction and demolition debris at convenience centers and closing the convenience centers two days a week.
The county has already temporarily prohibited dumping of construction and demolition debris at convenience centers and has implemented two-day weekly closures. The code adoptions would make those changes permanent.
FredNats attendance falls for the third year at stadium
By Alex Murphy, October 15, 2026
For the third consecutive season, the Fredericksburg Nationals saw a decline in average home attendance, to 3,000 fans per game in 2026.
Attendance figures for all 120 Minor League Baseball teams were released on Tuesday by Baseball America, signaling a troubling trend across MiLB as total attendance dipped under 30 million fans for the first time in decades, according to the article.
The FredNats saw 195,029 fans come through the gates at Virginia Credit Union Stadium across their 65-game home slate this season, the lowest overall total since the stadium opened in 2021.
This came as Fredericksburg clinched the Carolina League North Division 1st half title, going 80-51 in the regular season, the first 80-win season since the team was moved from Woodbridge.
ADVANCE READS
Eric Bonds, Steve Rabson, Phil Huber
Fredericksburg Trail Rape Suspect Arrested in Guatemala
Fredericksburg police have announced the arrest of a man in Guatemala who they plan to charge on 11 counts in connection with two rapes this past year on city trails near the Rappahannock River. According to a police, the man, Cesar Paau-Pan, 22, of Spotsylvania, is waiting extradition and will face the following charges:
· Four counts of Rape by Force (two victims)
· Two counts of Forcible Sodomy (two victims)
· Two counts of Abduction with Intent to Defile (two victims)
· Attempted Forcible Sodomy (one victim)
· Aggravated Sexual Battery (one victim)
· Strangulation (one victim)
What follows is the Fredericksburg Police Department account of the incidents, the investigation, and the arrest:
Should a Virginia Jail in Caroline County Be Exempt from State Standards Just Because It Contracts with ICE?
By Eric Bonds, VIRGINIA MERCURY
Harsh practices used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continue to make news across the country, with detainees including U.S. citizens describing agents kneeling on their necks, holding them in isolation and more.
Records show that the majority of detainees have no criminal convictions, and a PBS News/NPR/Marist poll earlier this year found a majority of citizens say “ICE is making Americans less safe,” while “a growing number believe the agency’s actions have gone too far.”
How should Virginians who share those sentiments respond? One could start by demanding our local and state institutions use the power they already have.
The Caroline Detention Facility, one of two main immigrant detention centers used by ICE in Virginia, is a case in point. Virginia law gives a state regulator, the Board of Local and Regional Jails, authority to inspect and oversee the facility. The Board has largely abdicated its responsibility to do so.
The Communist Bogeyman
By Steve Rabson, GUEST COLUMNIST
In his column last month, “Trump’s Communist Manifestation,” Phil Huber describes President Trump’s recent infatuation with the word “communist.” As of August of this year, he has said it 81 times, pinning this label on Democrats in Congress, judges, journalists, the mayor of New York, and a vice president. Probably the only public figure to top this was Senator Joseph McCarthy with his scattergun accusations that included General George Marshall, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, and 205 employees of the State Department. Watching Donald Trump today, l remember seeing McCarthy’s sneering face and hearing his scornful voice on television in the 1950s when I was in middle school.
Partly out of curiosity and partly as an expression of adolescent rebellion, I chose the Communist Manifesto when the class was assigned to write a book report during my senior year in high school. I also liked its brevity––only about fifty pages––to minimize the time I would need for the homework.
Give Ukraine Credit for Knowing How to Bargain
By Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Volodymyr Zelenskyy deserves credit for practicing the negotiating principles Donald Trump has spent years promoting: protect your downside, preserve your options and use your leverage. When those principles belong to a country fighting for survival, they should command respect—not accusations that its president cannot make a deal.
Trump says Ukraine has had repeated opportunities to end the war. But an opportunity to sign is not necessarily an opportunity for a secure peace. The test is what Russia must concede, who verifies compliance and what happens if Moscow attacks again.
State of the State
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Virginia rethinks refinancing as prices, interest rates rise
By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia didn’t have to wait long to feel the effects of a 3.7% increase in inflation over the past 12 months through September. The state was preparing to issue almost $800 million in bonds through the Virginia Public Building Authority next week, but the release of the monthly Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday changed the plan, which had included close to $300 million in bonds to refinance existing state debt.
Virginia Tech alumnus named as university’s new president
By MEGHAN MANGRUM, MATT BUSSE, TAD DICKENS AND ELIZABETH BEYER, Cardinal News
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors named Richard Linton, a three-time Hokie, as the university’s next president Wednesday. Linton, 60, is currently the president of Kansas State University, a role he has served in since 2022. He is also a Virginia Tech alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree and doctorate in food science from the Blacksburg school. He’ll be the third president who is also a graduate of the school. The board voted unanimously to appoint Linton as the university’s 17th president during a special called meeting Wednesday, after a six-month search.
Virginia under temporary power grid emergency
By BRAD MATTHEWS, Washington Times
The Department of Energy has ordered the power grid operator covering all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia to get equipment and backup power generation ready to prevent blackouts. Federal energy officials said Monday that they ordered regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection LLC to marshal the extra resources “as needed to maintain reliability” in light of heightened demand, planned transmission outages and planned outages for generator maintenance. The order, issued Monday, went into effect Tuesday and will last through Friday. ... PJM Interconnection asked the federal government to implement the order. In an alert Monday, the power grid operator said that the order temporarily waives environmental permit restrictions when it comes to generating power.
By DEVLIN EPDING, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
When Virginia first began to offer a 100% real estate tax exemption to disabled veterans in 2011, fewer than 600 Hampton Roads properties were enrolled. But the number of tax-exempt properties is projected to exceed 34,000 next year, and city leaders across the region say they can’t afford to cover the cost any longer. Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to provide the tax exemption for veterans with 100% service-connected disability rating and their surviving spouses. When the initiative passed in 2010 with 82% support, The Virginian-Pilot reported an estimated 4,200 veterans would qualify across the state. But enrollment has far surpassed that ...
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