FREDLINES
Claire Marshall Watkins, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Fredericksburg Free Press
Innovative teaching grants help Stafford educators engage students in creative ways
By Adele Uphaus 10/09/2026
Thanks to a new partnership between Stafford County Public Schools, the Stafford Education Foundation and Amazon, fourth- and fifth-graders at Falmouth Elementary School will be able to get hands-on with science through mobile science lab carts equipped with solar, wind and environmental sensor kits.
The Weekly Ringer
Police respond after investigation discovered omitted assault cases in Annual Safety Report
By Anna Goodman & Chloe McCann 10/09/2026
On Oct. 2, the UMW Police Department updated the 2026 Annual Security Report (ASR) statistics to include a 2024 aggravated assault that occurred within the campus Clery boundaries.
The UMW Police issued the correction to the 2026 ASR after The Weekly Ringer’s investigative report uncovered cases of aggravated assault omitted from the 2025 and the original 2026 ASR.
Lt. Michael Cornelius, who works closely with Title IX and other campus and non-campus entities to compile an accurate ASR, took responsibility for the clerical error.
Potomac Local News
Fredericksburg EDA asks whether the business license is costing employers
By PLN News 10/09/2026
Run a business in Fredericksburg and the city starts taxing your receipts at $100,000. Cross into Spotsylvania and, on the numbers read in the room Monday, that same kind of tax does not start until $2 million. Head north into Stafford, and there is no tax of this kind at all. Three weeks ago, Stafford’s supervisors refused to bring one back.
That gap was a focus of the Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority during its Oct. 5 retreat. The authority did not vote, and it did not recommend a rate. Chair Meredith Schatz said she wanted the receipts in hand before she took the question to a Nov. 4 meeting with the city. She did not want to hand the City Council a problem with no solution attached.
Fredericksburg City Schools eyes Project SEARCH partnership at new Kalahari resort
By PLN News 10/092026
Fredericksburg City Schools could join a regional Project SEARCH work-immersion program at the new Kalahari resort in Spotsylvania beginning in the 2027-28 school year, school board members heard Monday.
Chief Academic Officer Dr. Brendon Albon said the board will receive a memorandum of understanding in the next month or two for a partnership between Kalahari Resorts and Project SEARCH. The presentation was an information item only. The board took no vote.
Fredericksburg gets $17,000 to redo the alley into Market Square
By PLN News 10/09/2026
Fredericksburg VA Main Street, Inc. will get $17,000 to redo the alley from Caroline Street into Market Square, the governor’s office said Wednesday, as part of $615,000 for 22 Virginia Main Street projects.
ADVANCE READS
Jeff Eastland, Bruce Saller, Phil Huber
Our Stafford County Pit Stop for Nature’s Travelers Heading South
Jeff Eastland, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
A marvelous thing is transpiring right now on our seven-acre farm in Stafford, Virginia: The remarkable transformation of one of North America’s most fascinating and beautiful creatures—the Monarch butterfly.
Each year the Monarchs make a migration of thousands of miles, moving from breeding grounds in the United States and Canada to their wintering grounds in Mexico. While no single butterfly survives the whole way, the last generation flies 3,000 miles south to central Mexico making their journey an amazing wonder of nature.
Steer Clear of the Landfill: Storm Windows Save Money
Bruce Saller, ADVANCE CONTRIBUTOR
If you have single-pane windows or dual-pane windows without low-e glass, you can reduce your heating and cooling bills by installing low-e storm windows. (Low-e glass has a coating that reduces heat transfer.) Replacing a single window typically costs $270 to $1377 and generates a lot of trash for the landfill. Adding storm windows is less expensive and can provide similar energy savings.
There are two types of storm windows—exterior and interior. Exterior windows typically cost $60 to $200 per window. Interior windows are slightly less expensive, and you may be able to install them yourself. I found one company selling them for $100 each. Exterior storm windows help protect your regular windows by keeping out the wind and rain.
The Next War May Begin Before We Know We Are in It
Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
I have seen war from more than one direction. I formally served in four U.S. military operations in four theaters: Vietnam; Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Southwest Asia; Bosnia in Europe; and Haiti operations during a short tour in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. I also lived in Germany for four years and, as a Reserve intelligence officer working above corps level, took part in NATO training exercises. Later, I attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, now the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
That does not make me a prophet. But I have seen how decisions made in Washington reach the front lines. The view changes with the assignment, but the lesson does not: nations pay dearly when they ignore what earlier wars have taught. Wars often start before the shooting—when leaders discount warnings, neglect allies, bend intelligence to politics, or believe they can control the next step.
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Spanberger: Data center sales tax exemption still up for discussion
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
The debate over Virginia’s $1.9 billion sales tax exemption for data centers will likely continue, Gov. Abigail Spanberger told the several hundred people gathered for the Virginia Clean Energy Summit. A bid to end the exemption by Senate Finance Committee chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, stalled passage of the state budget until two days before the start of the current fiscal year. Lucas has said she still thinks ending the exemption is a good idea.
N. Va. county sues to block Trump from building his arch
By LIAM BOWMAN, TEO ARMUS AND DAN DIAMOND, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Arlington County’s local elected body sued to block construction of President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch on Thursday, arguing that administration officials bypassed a key review process in their push to begin work on the structure. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Virginia, argues that the Trump administration failed to adequately evaluate potential environmental impacts of the project as required by federal law. The Trump administration plans to build the arch on an island in the Potomac River that is officially part of D.C. but within a few hundred meters of Arlington, home to about 240,000 people, the Pentagon and several other federal agencies.
Virginia’s first Dominion-NextEra merger hearing brings up opposition, support and questions
By MAGGIE ALLWEIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Virginians on Wednesday added their opposition, support and questions to the official case record for the proposed merger of Dominion Energy and NextEra Energy. State Corporation Commission Chief Hearing Examiner Mathias Roussy heard directly from 30 Virginia residents at Christopher Newport University during the first of two local hearings. The SCC, which regulates utilities in Virginia, has six months to decide whether to allow the merger, with a deadline on Jan. 11.
Voters in midterm elections identify a culprit for rising cost of living: Trump’s tariffs
By ASHLEY MURRAY, Virginia Mercury
Rebecca Myers lives in one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional districts, and tariffs were on her mind as she voted early and in-person in Suffolk, Virginia, in late September. The 44-year-old trained social worker said she and her husband, who recently retired after 25 years in the U.S. Navy, are raising two children, ages 7 and 9, and forgoing a family vacation to save money. “I’m an educated person, but I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in the economy. All I can say is I know my family’s finances very well and I know everything we spend money on has gone up in price. I understand some of it is due to the tariffs, some of it is due to the war in Iran,” Myers told States Newsroom in an Oct. 1 interview.
Va. teacher vacancy rate below 3% for first time since pandemic
By ANNA BRYSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia’s teacher vacancy rate fell below 3% for the first time since before the pandemic this school year. The commonwealth started this school year with roughly 2,724 teacher vacancies — a 2.91% teacher vacancy rate, down from 3.4% last school year, according to state data collected during the summer. The teacher vacancy rate peaked in 2023 and 2024 at about 4.8%.
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