FREDLINES
Eve Evans, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Fredericksburg Free Press
By Taft Coghill, 08/26/2026
“Three teenagers were trying to evade authorities after kicking and banging on a garage door in the River Club subdivision in Spotsylvania County when a nearby resident shot two of them, including one who later died from his injuries.
“That was the testimony of the two surviving teens during the first day of the trial of Tyler Butler, the Spotsylvania man whose gunfire struck and killed Massaponax High School senior Michael Bosworth on May 3, 2025, at approximately 3 a.m.”
Potomac Local News
1% sales tax for Stafford school buildings heads to Nov. 3 ballot
By Uriah Kiser, 08/26/2026
Stafford County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to authorize a local sales tax of up to 1 percent, dedicated exclusively to school capital projects like new construction and major renovations, following a state budget change that extended this taxing option to all Virginia localities. County staff estimate the tax would generate $13-20 million annually against a $1.9 billion school capital improvement plan that includes rebuilding several aging schools; if approved, it would take effect July 1, 2027 and cannot be used for salaries, operating costs, or existing debt. The referendum comes as the school division faces scrutiny over an Aug. 3 staff outing to a Prince William County casino resort for “team-building,” after a public records request returned heavily redacted documents and no financial records, though officials say no taxpayer money was used and no gambling occurred. Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vanuch called the outing inappropriate and said voters should weigh the tax question against recent property tax increases and how school spending is prioritized.
The Free Lance Star
Congestion fix proposed for hectic Spotsylvania intersection (paywalled)
By Scott Shenk, 08/26/2026
VDOT will hold a public hearing Sept. 16 from 5-7 p.m. at the A&B Creative Events Center to present a $68.7 million plan to rebuild the busy Southpoint Parkway and U.S. 1 intersection in Spotsylvania County into a four-lane quadrant roadway with a new two-lane connector road southwest of the current intersection. The connector would redirect Route 1 left-turn traffic away from the main intersection, add two new stoplight signals, and increase green-light time for through traffic, while Southpoint Parkway drivers could still turn left onto Route 1. The environmental assessment estimates impacts of 2.2 acres of wetlands, 12.6 acres of floodplains, 5.2 acres of threatened and endangered species habitat, and 2,625 linear feet of streams, affecting roughly two dozen properties, four permanently. Spotsylvania has submitted the project for Smart Scale funding, the Federal Highway Administration is expected to release findings this winter, and construction wouldn’t begin until an estimated 2032.
Trial opens in Spotsylvania murder case over teenage prank (paywalled)
By Keith Epps, 08/26/2026
The murder trial of 28-year-old Tyler Chase Butler began Tuesday in Spotsylvania Circuit Court over the May 3, 2025 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Bosworth, a Massaponax High School senior killed a week before graduation while fleeing a “ding dong ditch” prank with two friends. Butler faces nine charges, including second-degree murder, malicious wounding, attempted murder, and firearms offenses, after allegedly firing 10 shots that struck Bosworth and 17-year-old Andre’us Wilson in the back as they ran down a sidewalk; prosecutor Holli Wood said the teens were unarmed and well off Butler’s property, and played recordings of Butler making violent, racially charged remarks. Defense attorney Mitchell Jacobs argued Butler believed his home was being broken into, citing his mother’s 911 call and disputed damage to a rear door, and said Butler fired after seeing Wilson reach into a bookbag. Surviving witnesses Wilson and Richards testified they were only on the Butler property briefly while evading responding deputies and didn’t damage anything, a claim defense witnesses are expected to dispute; the trial is scheduled to run all week.
ADVANCE READS
Donnie Johnston, Hugh Lessig, Steve Watkins, Mike Huff
Rain. Deer.
By Donnie Johnston, ADVANCE COLUMNIST
Nature operates on its own schedule, not that of humans.
For eight months—between last July and this April—we had little precipitation and some began wondering if it would ever rain again.
Not to worry. We should have known that when Mother Nature was ready, she would let go. And the old gal has.
For Area Veterans, Seeking Care Outside the VA Can Be Frustrating
By Hugh Lessig, ADVANCE MILITARY CORRESPONDENT
Veterans facing wait times at the Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center can instead seek care from a community provider, but that option can be problematic, area veterans said this week.
Rep. Eugene Vindman and Sen. Tim Kaine heard stories of canceled appointments and lack of coordination between the VA and community providers during a roundtable discussion Monday at the Howell Branch Library in Fredericksburg.
“The care you receive in the community may be excellent,” said Michael Dunlap, a 23-year Marine Corps veteran, “but the feedback doesn’t get back to the VA. If you get an MRI out in the community, the VA doesn’t get the MRI. They get a text recap. Same thing with treatments. Most doctors don’t turn around and give a full, detailed report back to the VA with all the records.”
Fredericksburg City Council 86es Gateway Boulevard Data Center
Belvedere Plantation, Set to Open September 12, Announces Plans to Sell Out
By Steve Watkins, ADVANCE EDITOR
As expected, Fredericksburg City Council has voted down a developer’s rezoning application to build a million square feet of data center on 84 acres of undeveloped city property. The vote, which was unanimous, came after several hours of spirited public comments Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.
The Advance had reported on August 3, shortly after news of the proposal surfaced, that the majority of the board would oppose the measure. That story was headlined “Four City Council Members Say Hard No to 1500 Gateway Data Center in Fredericksburg.”
Meanwhile, like a game of Data-Center Whack-A-Mole, the Fulk family—five-generation owners of Belvedere Plantation—confirmed their plans to sell off their 645-acre farm property, which has long hosted the popular Fall Harvest Festival, to be converted into a “technology campus.”
STATE OF THE STATE
VaNews/VIRGINIA PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECT
Virginia won’t be able to cover full federal SNAP, Medicaid funding cuts, governor warns
By ELIZABETH BEYER, Cardinal News
Virginia will not be able to cover the full cost to fund cuts to social programs laid out in last year’s federal spending bill, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Tuesday. Her administration estimated $2 billion to $6 billion in lost revenue to the state annually starting in 2028 due to the loss of administrative funds, reductions in reimbursement for providers dependent on Medicaid and loss of enrollees in public programs. The General Assembly set aside more than $500 million in the 2026-2028 biennial budget to cover new administrative costs and cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through the federal spending bill.
Amazon changes course on water use for King George data center campus
By SHANNON HECKT, Virginia Mercury
Amazon Web Services is changing course on how a King George data center project will get its water after an application to renew a groundwater permit allowing withdrawals of up to 6.4 million gallons annually from the Potomac aquifer raised concerns. The tech giant is set to construct a major data center campus in the county at the Birchwood Drive tech campus that could host more than a dozen data centers across the 869-acre property. While some of the project is currently tied up in court proceedings, an application to renew a water permit already in place for the tech campus led Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, to urge the Department of Environmental Quality to deny the application.
E.P.A. Moves to Curb Public Input on Data Centers
By MAXINE JOSELOW, New York Times (Metered Paywall - 1 to 2 articles a month)
The Trump administration is moving to make it harder for communities to weigh in on proposed data centers, even as a backlash against the behemoth projects grows across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate a federal requirement that states publicize and solicit public input on applications for air pollution permits for a range of industrial facilities, including new data centers and the power plants needed to run them. The move could prevent residents from raising concerns about — or even learning about — data centers before permits are approved and construction starts.
Virginia students make small improvements on SOLs, still below pre-pandemic scores
By ANNA BRYSON, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Subscription Required)
Virginia’s third through eighth graders made slight gains on annual Standards of Learning exams this year, seeing a 0.4 percentage-point increase on both math and reading tests compared to last year. For the sixth year in a row, students scored lower on Standards of Learning tests than in the years before officials closed schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Va. budget cut could strain behavioral health crisis response
By KATE SELTZER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)
The budget that recently took effect in Virginia includes provisions that mean Medicaid will no longer reimburse providers for certain behavioral health services. Subject to federal approval, the Department of Medical Assistance Services, which administers Medicaid at the state level, will no longer pay for a service called community stabilization. And the agency will shorten the availability of mobile crisis response from eight hours per incident to four.
Rural Virginia communities face real and lingering consequences from labor and delivery unit closures
By ANASTASIIA CARRIER, Charlottesville Tomorrow
Tami Jaynes woke up in the middle of the night on Jan. 6. It was 3 a.m., and her husband was peacefully asleep next to her. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Yet, something felt wrong. She laid her palms on her belly. When was the last time she felt her baby kick? She couldn’t quite remember. It was her eighth child and so far the pregnancy, almost full term, had been going smoothly. ... She considered going to the emergency room, but Centra Southside Community Hospital in Farmville, her regular provider just a half an hour away, had closed its obstetric services just weeks earlier on Dec. 19, 2025, leaving Jaynes and other expectant mothers to find care elsewhere.
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