THE FXBG ADVANCE MONDAY 7/20/26 READS
The New Battle for Potomac Creek. Bench the Starting Pitcher: A Way Out of the Iran War. Two Young Fredericksburg Locals Rock the Flying Disc Worlds.
The New Battle for Potomac Creek
By Jeff Eastland and Ranjit Singh, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTORS
Another day, another local data center controversy—this time a a 99-acre data center campus proposed in the Falmouth district of Stafford county, where it would threaten Potomac Creek.
The matter came before the County Board of Supervisors on July 7. The applicant is Metts LC of McClean, Virginia. Metts LC is requesting that the relevant property be rezoned from A-1 (Agricultural) to M-2 (Heavy Industrial). They want to construct three data center buildings and an electrical substation there.
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Bench the Starting Pitcher: A Way Out of the Iran War
By Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Here we go again. Barely a month after Washington and Tehran signed a preliminary deal to end the war, it collapsed. An Iranian drone struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, we answered with airstrikes, Iran hit tankers and lashed out at Kuwait and Bahrain, the funeral processions for Ayatollah Khamenei filled Tehran’s streets with crowds chanting for revenge, Iran killed two U.S. service members in Jordan. The red lines are behind us. Full-scale war looks likelier by the day.
A friend asked me the question everyone is asking: how do we get out of this? I thought for a moment and gave an answer that surprised even me. Bench the United States. Hand the problem to Europe and step off the field.
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Two Young Fredericksburg Locals Rock the Flying Disc Worlds
By Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Fredericksburg’s Abby Kowalski took fourth place in the under-15 girls division in the Professional Disc Golf Association Junior Disc Golf World Championships last week in Pennsylvania—and with a partner tied for first in under-18 doubles—while another Fredericksburger, Ellie Cymrot, helped the U.S. squad to the World Mixed Juniors Ultimate Championship in Logroño, Spain with a 15-11 victory in the finals over Canada.
Ellie Cymrot, daughter of Advance Contributor Paul Cymrot, scored five of the U.S. team’s goals in the championship match. Paul commemorated the Worlds tournament with a series of watercolors.
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State of the State
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Virginia lawmakers weigh ending state’s off-year elections
By ANNA BRYSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia’s closely watched off-year elections have long made the state a national political bellwether, but lawmakers are considering moving them to even-numbered years alongside federal races, moving the gubernatorial election alongside either presidential elections or midterms. The hope is that not having elections every year would increase voter turnout. At a Thursday meeting, a Virginia General Assembly panel narrowed down its options on what it might propose to the full legislature if the eight-member panel votes to move forward at its August meeting.
Virginia’s sexual and domestic violence agencies are struggling to meet demand
By ANNA BRYSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Across Virginia, agencies that shelter and support survivors of domestic and sexual violence are carrying counseling waitlists of up to 100 people, reducing emergency housing and, in some cases, turning survivors away as years of declining federal funding strain victim services. Virginia has lost 54% of its federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding since 2020, leading sexual and domestic violence agencies to eliminate positions and manage growing waitlists while continuing to provide crisis services.
Congress could open Chesapeake Bay oyster sanctuaries for commercial harvest
By KATHERINE HAFNER, WHRO
Most of the time, a massive oyster reef along Pleasure House Creek in Virginia Beach is hidden below the water. But at low tide, long lines of shells come into view. Brent James, oyster restoration coordinator with the nonprofit Lynnhaven River Now, looked out at the expanse while the creek sparkled in the afternoon sun. “This was our biggest reef project ever, and most successful ever. I mean, tens of millions of oysters growing on it,” he said. “What we don’t want to see is someone come in and just start harvesting all these.” Nonprofits and government agencies have worked for years to install sanctuary reefs like this around the Chesapeake Bay to boost the wild oyster population. But a small clause in a proposed federal budget threatens long-term protection and funding for such reefs.
Va. schools gain spending flexibility under federal program
By NATHANIEL CLINE, Virginia Mercury
Virginia schools will have greater agency in administrative decisions and flexibility in how they spend federal funds heading into the upcoming school year, potentially affecting low-income student programs and teacher development. Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Education has loosened some rules on how federal Title program funds can be used. In December, Virginia submitted a successful application for the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 program to boost student success and implement educational improvements.
Data centers have united Americans of both parties in a shared hatred
By SHIRA OVIDE, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Kyle Schmidt ticked through what makes him irate about the massive Google data center slated for construction about a mile away from his home near Sand Springs, Oklahoma. He didn’t like that residents were kept in the dark about what would be built on a pristine tract of mostly forested land. He’s worried about the data center’s potential impact on the community’s water supply and on the dream home that his family moved into last year. But Schmidt said what really bothers him is the powerlessness he felt as the project advanced and elected officials, Google representatives and bigwig data center backers belittled or misled people who raised concerns.
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.
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