The News That Moved Us This Past Week
March 1 - March 8
by Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The week just past saw still another local school district with unfunded needs, all things election, Elementary School No. 19 still homeless, Mary Washington Healthcare expanding, and FOIA Follies in King George.
Also - our new website continues to pick up steam. Check it out to easily access and read the most important stories shaping our community on your phone, laptop, or desktop by going to www.fxbgadvance.com.
Number 5: Proposed City School Budget Has Unfunded Needs
There are $4.7 million worth of unfunded needs in the budget for fiscal year 2025 proposed by Fredericksburg City Public Schools Superintendent Marci Catlett. The division expects to receive about $2.35 million less in funding next year from the state of Virginia, based on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed budget, and it is looking at a $2.31 million increase in expenditures.
Number 4: Election 2024
The FXBG Advance has earned a reputation for providing the most thorough election coverage in the region. Our Election 2024 page is now active. It will remain at the top of our website through the end of the General Election in November. Come back regularly for new candidate interviews, polling data, voter information, and so much more!
Number 3: Stafford’s Elementary School #19 Will Not be Built in Embrey Mill
Despite pressure from the Board of Supervisors and residents of Embrey Mill to build the county’s 19th elementary school in that neighborhood, a majority on the Stafford School Board is sticking with the Brooke Point site.
Number 2: Mary Washington Healthcare Plans to Build Conference Center and New Medical Clinic, Expand Snowden House
Mary Washington Healthcare is seeking approval to build a conference center and new medical clinic, and construct an addition to Snowden House, a historic structure on the hospital campus that is used for “meetings, receptions, and fundraising activities,” according to the MWHC website. The new 24,500-square-foot two-story medical clinic will replace the building that currently houses Kids’ Station, the daycare and preschool that currently provides subsidized care for MWHC employees. (Last month, the Advance covered the announcement that Kids’ Station would close in May and then that the facility would stay open through September.)
Number 1: King George County Withholding Records Related to Complaints Against Board Chair
King George County is withholding in their entirety 34 pages of records responsive to a request under the Freedom of Information Act for emails referencing complaints against Board of Supervisors Chair T.C. Collins.
Humor - The Smiths (do not) go to Washington
Donald Trump has upset … well … almost everyone. But few more so than musicians, whose songs the King of Debt refuses to get permission to play at his Tikki Torch … er … campaign rallies. Heck, he won’t even go to Spotify and pay ten bucks a month so he can lie about believing that doing so gives him permission to use it anywhere, anytime, forever and ever amen. Drew Gallagher, however, has a few things to say about. Look out, Donald.
Commentary: Foregone Conclusions; Foreseeable Consequences
Trump’s supporters showed up Tuesday. Biden’s? He had his supporters, but they were washed over by a sea of red. And this may be the most concerning matter of all for the Democrats lining up to run for the 7th District Congressional seat.
Local Obituaries
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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 month, our reporting was:
First to report Mary Washington Healthcare's move to close Kid's Station Daycare
First to detail MWHC's taking actions that undermine the viability of the Moss Free Clinic.
First to detail and then expose the controversy surrounding the Riverbend High School swim team
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