FREDLINES
Claire Marshall Watkins, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Fredericksburg Free Press
Update: Suspect dead, deputy wounded after Spotsylvania officer-involved shooting
By FPP Staff 10/19/2026
The deputy’s injuries are not life-threatening, according to a statement from the Virginia State Police. The VSP’s Culpeper Field Office is handling the case, which remains under investigation. The suspect, Jerson David Martinez-Coreva, 39, died at the scene. The police were responding to a domestic-related shooting on Sunday at approximately 12:39 p.m. The VSP’s investigation revealed that the deputies encountered the suspect in the 11000 block of Smoke Tree Boulevard. The suspect allegedly drove the vehicle at the deputies and fired at them, wounding one. The deputies then returned fire, killing Martinez-Coreva.
Fredericksburg Planning Commission cancels meeting due to lack of quorum
By Joey LoMonaco 10/19/2026
Vice Chair Carey Whitehead noted that the body didn’t have a quorum. According to state law, a quorum requires a majority of the governing body be present.
Whitehead then moved to close the meeting and said that the commission would meet again on Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m.
Public comment invited on improvements at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Layhill Road in Stafford
By FPP Staff 10/19/2026
The public is invited to learn more about, and comment on, a proposed Virginia Department of Transportation project to improve the intersection of U.S. 1 and Route 624 (Layhill Road) in Stafford County.
An in-person design public hearing about it will be held Oct. 28 at Falmouth Elementary School, 1000 Forbes St., Fredericksburg, VA 22405.
Residents can stop by the hearing anytime 5-7 p.m. to review displays and discuss questions with VDOT staff.
98-year-old Fredericksburg man shows the voting way
By Jonathan Hunley 10/19/2026
A 98-year-old Fredericksburg resident recently voted early in this year’s congressional midterm election.
His reasoning?
“I may not be here Election Day,” is what he told City of Fredericksburg Registrar Jessica Atkinson.
Now, I certainly hope a good, civic-minded gentleman like this is still walking the Earth on Nov. 3, but he has a point: You just never know.
The Free Lance-Star
Will Stafford approve eminent domain for water system? (paywalled)
By Scott Shenk 10/19/2026
A data center developer, Amazon, is funding and building a new reclaimed water system in Stafford, which is considered a positive benefit of data centers coming to the county.
But there’s a downside to the system’s construction, which is aimed at providing treated wastewater to cool data centers in the county: the use of private property for the project.
Suspect arrested after pursuit, standoff in Spotsylvania (paywalled)
By Keith Epps 10/19/2026
A Woodbridge man was taken into custody Saturday following a series of incidents in Spotsylvania that included two pursuits, a minor crash and a “tense” standoff, police said.
Terrell Xavier Downing, 38, was charged with offenses that include two counts of felony eluding, two counts of possessing illegal drugs, possessing a firearm while in possession of illegal drugs, felony obstruction of justice, two counts of driving without a license and two other felony firearms offenses. Downing is being held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
Potomac Local News
VDOT lists lane closures for Fredericksburg District Oct. 18–24
By PLN News 10/19/2026
On I-95, mobile northbound and southbound single lane closures run Monday–Saturday, 8 p.m.–5 a.m., between Exit 133 (Falmouth/Warrenton) and Exit 148 (Quantico) for bridge inspections in Stafford.
Other I-95 work includes soil sampling between Exit 130 and Exit 133, Rappahannock River bridge inspections near Exit 130–133, pavement marker and rumble strip installation near Exit 143, and noise barrier work near Exit 126 in Spotsylvania.
ADVANCE READS
Steve Watkins, Phil Huber
More Offensive Social Media Posts Surface from Spotsy Supervisor
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
The Advance has twice posted stories about Spotsylvania Board of Supervisor member Drew Mullins’ offensive social media posts. The first, on Sept. 20, was in an article titled “Wedding Day” about a data-center project groundbreaking, which you can read HERE. The second, which ran Sept. 30, was “Spotsy Supervisor Gives Non-Apology Apology for ‘Misogynistic, Racist, Homophobic, and Incredibly Demeaning’ Social Media Posts.”
Since those articles ran, several readers have sent us screenshots of even more offensive posts from Mullins’ social media, nearly all from the past three years, which we’re reposting here. The Advance has reached out to Mullins several times for comment, most recently on Thursday, Oct. 15, at his violin business in Fredericksburg.
Democrats, Show Us What You Can Deliver
Phil Huber, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Democrats, an agenda is not a governing strategy. And a promise is not a result.
Hakeem Jeffries has identified substantive priorities, including reversing Medicaid cuts and restoring enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits. But the question is what Democrats can accomplish with Donald Trump still president—and possibly a Republican Senate.
Voters deserve an answer before the election, not an explanation afterward that Trump prevented everything.
Data Center Developments
Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
Supervisor Deuntay Diggs hosted a town hall billed as a chance to discuss “schools, transportation and infrastructure, public safety, development, taxes and affordability, and whatever else is important to you.” George Washington District School Board member Susan Randall spoke about the impact of the pending sales tax measure slated for voters to consider on the November 7 ballot.
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
State tax collections surged in September
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
As the first payments of estimated income taxes come in, they’re helping state revenues run ahead of what officials had expected. Estimated income taxes are the money Virginians send in for income they get that’s not withheld from their paychecks. September marks the first time in a state fiscal year that these estimated taxes are due, and they were up 8.6% to $1.08 billion. Still bigger, and by far the state’s largest source of funds, withholding payments from paychecks were up by 15.7% to $1.64 billion.
Constitutional Amendment Fundraising Through Sept. 30
The Virginia Public Access Project
See how much has been raised by committees advocating for or against the three constitutional amendments on the ballot in November.
Dems open wallets to flip seats in Congress
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
The big spending to woo Virginia voters has started, and Democrats are far outspending the GOP in two of the three congressional districts, the 2nd and 5th, that they hope to flip. And even in the hotly contested 1st District — which stretches from the western Chesterfield and Henrico counties to the Northern Neck — although Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st, is outspending Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, her challenge has been buoyed by more than $5 million of anti-Wittman ads, mailers and staff time from outside political action committees.
Up to 21 data centers, 2 power-generating facilities part of Southside complex
By CHARLES WILBORN, Danville Register & Bee
A digital infrastructure campus — representing the largest investment on state record — would have up to 21 data centers requiring about 3,000 megawatts of power and two natural gas power-generating facilities, according to permits filed last week. The details were revealed in a 92-page overview of the joint permit application submitted to Virginia agencies. The state Department of Environmental Quality received the initial application Thursday. Compiled by Wetland Studies and Solutions, an environmental consulting firm, it makes the economic case for the $100 billion project at the Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill expected to bring 2,500 jobs to Southside.
Funding shift could affect some Richmond-area highway projects
By DAVE RESS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Some of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s highway construction priorities — including a new lane on southbound Route 288 to ease chronic traffic jams as drivers cross the James River — might now have to compete with other statewide projects instead of counting on funds set aside for them. That shift is on the table, along with a similar plan for other Richmond-area projects, as transportation officials try to close a $1.7 billion funding gap for maintenance work without cutting too deeply into construction, Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Norfolk-backed firm invests millions elsewhere as city waits
By JIM MORRISON, Virginia Mercury
Hampton Roads Ventures backed a $12 million investment in a grocery store in rural Marion, $10 million for a farm equipment distribution center in Martinsville and $3 million for a supermarket in Louisiana in the past year. And once again, none of its projects were in Norfolk. More than four years ago, Norfolk’s City Council passed a resolution requiring the for-profit subsidiary of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority to seek projects in the city. Year after year, the annual report required by that resolution shows no progress supporting a project in the city.
Pocahontas’s father was born here. A developer wants to build houses.
By DANA HEDGPETH, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)
Just outside Richmond, along a two-lane road near a convenience store, cornfields stretch toward the James River. Thousands of years ago, Native Americans hunted and fished for shad and sturgeon here. It became the birthplace of Powhatan, the powerful Indigenous leader and father of Pocahontas. Now, the roughly 520-acre property is slated for a sprawling housing and retail development. But a coalition of tribes, historians and conservation groups is trying to stop the project, arguing that the land is a culturally significant and sacred place that could hold burial sites and undiscovered artifacts.
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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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