Fredericksburg
After a week marked by tragedy and intense emergency response, Riverside Center for the Performing Arts offers a night of respite to those serving on the front lines. The center is giving away 200 free tickets to local first responders and teachers for Friday night’s performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on April 11, 2025.
The offer is open to area educators, fire and rescue personnel, law enforcement officers, and other first responders. All seats are first come, first served, and must be claimed in person at the Riverside Center box office. Valid credentials are required.
Fredericksburg City Public Schools will open two hours late on Wednesday, April 9, in response to a mass shooting that left three people dead and three others hospitalized Tuesday evening in neighboring Spotsylvania County.
School officials announced the delayed opening late Tuesday, citing the “profound impact this incident has had on members of our school community.”
At 5:30 p.m., the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a shooting in the area of Olde Greenwich Circle, just off Layfaette Boulevard. Upon arrival, deputies discovered multiple individuals suffering from gunshot wounds.
Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while three others were transported to nearby hospitals with unknown conditions. The identities and ages of the victims have not yet been released.
At Old Mill Park along the Rappahannock River, there are spots where the mowers can’t reach, and to send a landscape professional in there with a weed whacker could be dangerous, so Fredericksburg has sent in the goats.
They munch the weeds until the job is done, leave a bit of organic fertilizer, and then jump on the truck to the next job, clearing invasive species at the following location.
As Fredericksburg city officials weigh budget cuts, tax increases, and federal funding uncertainties, one possible source of future financial relief came up during a joint City Council and School Board budget work session: a data center under development in Celebrate Virginia South.
Councilman Jon Gerlach (At-Large) asked whether the city could receive advance personal property tax payments from Stack Infrastructure, the company behind the project. The goal: explore whether Fredericksburg could tap into future revenue sooner to help offset current budget pressures.
Stafford County
DUI Arrests
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One of Fredericksburg’s most popular parks will transform into an eco-celebration zone on Saturday, April 26, as the city hosts its annual Earth Day Festival at Old Mill Park.
Now in its 20th year, the festival draws thousands of attendees and celebrates environmental awareness through hands-on activities, live entertainment, and eco-friendly vendors.
Governor Glenn Youngkin visited Stafford County on Friday, highlighting more than 250,000 open jobs across Virginia—even as concerns mount over federal job cuts. Speaking at SimVentions, an engineering and technology services firm in Stafford, Youngkin told the crowd, “Virginia has jobs. Lots of jobs.”
The event, hosted at SimVentions’ headquarters, was organized with the help of State Senator Tara Durant (R-28, Fredericksburg, Stafford), who said the initiative behind the state’s jobs rollout has been years in the making.