News
Here is information about the upcoming National Night Out events in our region. The annual event is tomorrow, August 6, 2024, except Stafford County, which holds its event later in the year.
Manassas Park
Stafford County welcomed a new addition to Aquia Landing Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its latest playground installation. The event, overseen by Aquia District Supervisor Monica Gary, celebrated the arrival of new play equipment designed to accommodate the park’s unique environment, including space constraints and a high flood risk. The $144,000 project introduces a play set featuring a slide, swings, and climbing apparatus.
Gary shared her personal connection to the park during her speech. “When we were looking for a home about ten years ago, we drove down Brook Road and ended up here at a quiet landing,” said Gary. “There was no playground yet, but we really enjoyed the facilities here. It was a nice place to be for our family.”
I-95 Northbound and Southbound
Exit 136 (Centreport Parkway) to Exit 140 (Courthouse Road)
The Republican Delegation of Spotsylvania issued a joint statement praising Governor Glenn Youngkin’s recent announcement of more than $10 million in grants through the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) that will help Spotsylvania families.
“Access to high–speed broadband is essential for our residents and businesses,” said Senator Richard Stuart. “This significant investment will bring us closer to achieving universal broadband coverage in Virginia, ensuring that no community, including Spotsylvania County, is left behind.”
Starting Sunday, July 28, drivers on Route 3 westbound in Fredericksburg will experience brief overnight delays and a temporary rough ride as crews begin resurfacing the road and updating lane markings. The work will stretch from Gateway Boulevard to Woodlyn Drive and is expected to take about two weeks.
Fredericksburg Free Press: A meeting room at the downtown Fredericksburg branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library was filled to capacity Wednesday evening, as concerned citizens gathered to hear from local representatives from the Sierra Club and Friends of the Rappahannock about data centers.
Josh Summits has been appointed as the new Director of Fredericksburg’s Economic Development and Tourism Team, starting mid-August. Summits has fifteen years of experience in urban redevelopment, community revitalization, and economic development. He joined Stafford County’s government in 2019 and most recently served as Business Development Manager.
Summit said he has “spent the past five years working with Stafford to bring transformative economic development projects to the Fredericksburg Region. Each locality offers diverse and unique attributes and opportunities. The City of Fredericksburg has a robust list of amazing amenities and a thriving historical downtown. My core focus and energies will target corridor redevelopment, and expanded business attraction and retention efforts.”
Fredericksburg’s annual Agricultural Fair kicks off Friday, July 26 and runs until Sunday, Aug. 4. The Miss Fredericksburg Fair Pageant will be held Thursday, July 25.
The Fredericksburg Agricultural Fair’s website says it was established in 1738 and is the oldest fair in both Virginia and the United States. The range of entertainment has varied over the years, from Williamsburg comedians in 1752 to horse racing by the Fredericksburg Jockey Club in 1774, then hot air balloons in the 1880s. The fair has weathered interruptions with no events from 1881-1886 and during the Great Depression in the mid-1920s. It was revived in 1948 by a group of local farmers and the Jaycees, a non-profit community organization.
The train that derailed on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at Cobblestone Square, an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, had been experiencing mechanical issues, so the train was parked at the city’s Virginia Railway Express (commuter rail) station before moving to its final destination in Richmond. The two crew members on board did not secure the train cars properly, resulting in five cars derailing, said Randy Marcus, a CSX spokesman during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Marcus said the crew’s whereabouts at the time of the derailing are not known, and the company plans to have them complete additional training and education programs. No one was injured in the derailment.