FREDLINES
Claire Marshall Watkins, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Fredericksburg Free Press
King George Board of Supervisors defends settlement with Amazon
By Taft Coghill Jr. 10/07/2026
The King George County Board of Supervisors stood by its handling of the settlement of a legal dispute with Amazon Web Services during its meeting Tuesday night.
County Attorney Richard Stuart instructed Board Chair David Sullins to open the meeting with a statement regarding the settlement, which the county agreed to prior to a trial that was scheduled for Sept. 28.
The Free Lance-Star
Rep. Eugene Vindman answers voter questions (paywalled)
By Pilar Davis 10/07/2026
The Free Lance-Star sent a questionnaire to each candidate and invited them to share their responses.
In his responses, Vindman says he will focus on infrastructure improvements to accommodate growing populations in Fredericksburg, as well as on preventing data centers from being built near residential areas.
Stafford court conviction highlights years of sexual abuse (paywalled)
By Keith Epps 10/07/2026
A man who molested two young sisters in a Stafford County home was convicted of four felony charges Wednesday.
Juan Grimaldo Baltazar, 58, was convicted in Stafford Circuit Court of object sexual penetration and three counts of aggravated sexual battery. Prosecutor Regan Kline dropped several other charges as part of a plea agreement.
Spotsylvania vape shops raided, facing hefty fines (paywalled)
By Keith Epps 10/07/2026
Vape and tobacco shops in Spotsylvania could be facing some heavy fines following a series of raids Monday in the county, police said.
Sheriff’s Maj. Delbert Myrick said 23 stores were checked during the operation, and 660 illegal vape products were seized. Myrick said the operation was a joint venture between the county sheriff’s and the commonwealth’s attorney’s offices.
Potomac Local News
Fredericksburg schools meet special education requirements for third year, but SOL scores lag region
By PLN News 10/07/2026
Fredericksburg City Schools has met Virginia’s special education requirements for the third consecutive year, but recently released Standards of Learning scores show the division still trails neighboring jurisdictions in every subject and that students with disabilities continue to post substantially lower pass rates.
Stafford Schools breaks ground on Edward E. Drew, Jr. Middle School rebuild
PLN News 10/07/2026
The new building for Edward E. Drew, Jr. Middle School is planned for about 1,100 students and is scheduled to open in August 2028. The current school, built in 1951, has a capacity of 650. Principal Amy Ivory and Superintendent Dr. Daniel W. Smith spoke at the ceremony. Students from the Drew band and chorus also performed.
ADVANCE READS
Patrick Neustatter, Donnie Johnston, Steve Watkins, Phil Huber
Anxiety: Cause for Worry
Patrick Neustatter, SPECIAL to THE ADVANCE
I’m tempted to make a joke about getting anxious trying to think of what to write about anxiety––a kind of crass Catch-22––on par with telling about my patient who didn’t take the Xanax I prescribed because she was too worried about taking anything to treat anxiety.
I wanted to write about anxiety because everybody’s got it and it causes a lot of morbidity. It’s the most prevalent mental health condition. A third of the population have suffered from some anxiety disorder.
This is different to worrying, which is persistently thinking about some problem, but which is temporary. Worrying usually pertains to stuff like work, exams, grades, health, and your kids.
Put Up or Shut Up
Donnie Johnston, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
The Iran War, which Trump thought he could win in a week, is now in its eighth month and Iran is showing no signs of capitulation. Instead, the Iranian government seems to gain more resolve each day and continues to control the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes—or did pass—every day.
In other words, we, supposedly the greatest military power in the world, have fought for more than seven months and gained nothing. In fact, we have spent billions only to lose mobility in a crucial shipping lane.
Iran may not have America’s military, but it has something else—an understanding of how Americans think. Iranian leaders know that if they can hold out long enough, we will give up and go home. We always do.
Stafford Board Vice-Chair Tells Constituents to Come Up with Data Center Alternatives Themselves
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Two different Stafford residents say they’ve received the same response from Supervisor Maya Guy’s chief of staff after they wrote to Guy about their concerns and opposition to a new data center development on Accokeek Creek, to be voted on by the board this evening:
“If this type of development is not what you would like to see, please share what types of commercial or economic development you would support, that could generate meaningful revenue for Stafford while also contributing positively to the community and quality of life residents value?”
One Stafford observer, who asked not to be named, said they were appalled by Guy’s response.
Congress Should Apply One Standard When Investigating Corruption
Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Republicans were right to investigate Hunter Biden. When the family of a powerful public official receives foreign money, holds lucrative overseas business positions, or appears to market access to government, Congress has a duty to ask questions. It should seek documents, hear sworn testimony, trace financial flows and determine whether public power was used for private gain.
That principle should not be partisan. It should not disappear because the president is a Republican—or because the family name is Trump. The proper question is not whether Congress should declare anyone guilty. It is whether Congress should apply the same threshold for oversight to every president and every presidential family.
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Virginia Republicans urge Spanberger to call special session for fuel-tax holiday
By MARKUS SCHMIDT, Virginia Mercury
Virginia Republican leaders on Tuesday called for Gov. Abigail Spanberger to summon lawmakers to Richmond and suspend the state’s gasoline and diesel taxes for 90 days, arguing that the temporary break would help families, farmers and trucking companies cope with high fuel prices. Diesel prices have climbed sharply amid disruptions to global fuel supplies from the war with Iran and other pressures on the international market. Gathered at Owens Market Deli and Truck Plaza in Bedford County, Republicans said stronger-than-expected state revenues could replace the money normally collected from the taxes to give residents relief.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi directly opposes proposed Dominion-NextEra merger
By MAGGIE ALLWEIN, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi announced her opposition Tuesday to the proposed Dominion-NextEra merger. Following her five-city “Energy Costs Listening Tour,” Hashmi said at a news conference the proposed merger is not in the best interest of Virginians, citing a “breaking point” for high energy costs. Hashmi said her decision is based on community concern about the State Corporation Commission review standards and financial hardships on ratepayers.
More Virginia schools earn top ratings in second year of accountability system for K-12
By ANNA BRYSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia schools earned higher ratings in the second year of the state’s K-12 accountability system, with 44% rated “distinguished,” up from 23% last year, according to results released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Education. The system, developed under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, aims to give families and the public a clearer picture of how each school is performing. It replaced an approach long criticized for giving most schools the same accreditation designation despite differences in academic achievement.
Luria and Kiggans would both ban stock trading. But their wealth is above average.
By KATE SELTZER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican, and former Rep. Elaine Luria, a Democrat, recently traded barbs over congressional stock trading. Kiggans said Luria unfairly enriched herself while in Congress; Luria said that claim was wrong and that she left with less wealth than when she started. But both candidates, who meet in a rematch for Virginia’s 2nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, are wealthy. They could be insulated from the effects of the affordability crisis, which has been a heavy talking point this campaign season.
Tati King says his voting rights being restored is ‘still surreal’
By DEAN MIRSHAHI, VPM
It hasn’t quite sunk in yet for Tati King that his 2023 federal lawsuit has made him and nearly 235,000 other Virginians eligible to vote. King’s successful legal challenge ended Virginia’s long-standing policy of taking away a person’s voting rights if they’re convicted of any felony, leaving only three disenfranchising crimes in the commonwealth. “Right now, it’s still surreal,” King said in an interview Monday. “I would have never, in a thousand years, think they would change their position the way they did.” King said he believes voting on Election Day this November will help put the historic change in perspective.
Jefferson’s link to Sally Hemings’s children may have been settled by a hair
By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
As with any good mystery, the crucial clue was something easy to overlook: a single hair stuck to a page in a 200-year-old manuscript. Richard Kurin was previewing an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, where he was a top administrator, in 2011 when the hair caught his eye in a copy of Thomas Jefferson’s handmade version of the Bible. Light red or blond, the strand was stuck in glue that Jefferson had used to piece together this Bible from text cut out of other books.
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