Newslinks

Prince William supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to shrink the county data-center overlay and end by-right approvals going forward, Route 1 intersection work begins today in Fredericksburg, and a statewide survey found more than half of Virginia families with children reported food insecurity.

According to InsideNoVa, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Tuesday voted 8-0 for a zoning text amendment that effectively ends by-right data center development countywide. Future projects outside the rewritten overlay would need a special use permit. The board kept the 90-day grace period first proposed by Brentsville Supervisor Tom Gordy rather than the 120 days recommended by the Planning Commission.

Prince William supervisors take public comment today on shrinking the county’s data-center overlay and on Dominion’s Vint Hill substation upgrade, Spotsylvania planners recommended a 555-acre Amazon campus, and Prince William schools posted 2027 graduation dates.

According to InsideNoVa, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors holds a public hearing today, Sept. 22, on a zoning text amendment that would shrink the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District and end by-right data center approvals countywide. Future projects would need a special use permit from the board. The overlay dates to May 2016.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger rolled out a statewide data center accountability package, Manassas holds a public work session today on the future of First Friday, a Fredericksburg councilor is preparing a House of Delegates run, and the 7th District debate at Mary Washington moved to Tuesday.

According to the Office of the Governor, Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Friday unveiled what her office called the nation’s most comprehensive data center accountability effort and signed Executive Order 22 to start putting pieces of it in motion. The framework is built around transparency, environmental standards, energy costs, grid and clean-energy rules, and workforce conditions. The order also creates a state AI task force on workforce displacement, privacy and cybersecurity.

A Prince William judge refused another delay in the Naresh Bhatt murder trial, a Dumfries motel operator was sentenced in a federal fentanyl and commercial-sex case, Manassas is asking the public how First Friday should change, and early voting for the Nov. 3 election opens Friday.

According to InsideNoVa, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Irving on Thursday denied a defense motion to postpone the trial of Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park man charged with first-degree murder in the 2024 disappearance and presumed death of his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt. Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox argued the case is too complex and that the defense needed more time to review evidence; Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Sarah Sami said further delay would keep Mamta’s family, including relatives traveling from Nepal, in limbo.

Prince William is asking the state for nearly $373,000 to staff a new behavioral health court docket, Manassas says musty tap water is seasonal and safe, and Dominion and NextEra sweetened a $67 billion merger bid that would change Virginia electric bills.

According to InsideNoVa, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has approved a $373,187 grant request to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to expand the county’s new Behavioral Health Docket. The money would come from the department’s State Opioid Response program for fiscal 2027 and would go to the Office of Criminal Justice Services if the state awards it.

Loudoun supervisors advanced a 12-month pause on new data center applications, Virginia environmental officials ordered Microsoft to pay about $2.5 million over Leesburg generator emissions, Fairfax restored high school crossing-guard funding after students were struck, detectives said a Woodbridge death in a parked car showed no foul play, two men were stabbed after a gambling session at Potomac Mills, King George settled an ACLU lawsuit over a middle-school club, Caroline officials mapped a possible 1% school construction sales tax, the Fredericksburg Free Press won a national financial-health award, and a Fauquier farm town’s World War II listening post is back in the news.

According to FOX 5 DC, Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday advanced a proposed 12-month pause on new data center applications. The county attorney said an indefinite moratorium would not be legal, and the temporary halt would apply only to new filings. The resolution still needs a final vote; supervisors expect to take the item up again Oct. 13.

Manassas is canceling October’s Second Friday after the Sept. 4 killing of a Patriot High student, a second suspect was charged in a June Manassas shooting, Prince William planners sent a plan to end by-right data centers to supervisors, and Dumfries returns tonight to a $319,000 boundary study.

According to InsideNoVa, the city of Manassas and Historic Manassas Inc. are canceling October’s Second Friday festival after 16-year-old Ashley Intihar, a Patriot High School student and uninvolved bystander, was shot and killed outside the Old Town train depot during First Friday on Sept. 4. Authorities estimated about 10,000 people were in the area that night; three men have been charged in the gunfire.

A Spotsylvania man was sentenced to 12 years for torturing his wife, Arlington Bishop Michael Burbidge urged Catholics to vote no on a Nov. 3 abortion amendment, and Fairfax officials moved to restore high school crossing guards.

According to The Free Lance-Star, Jason Louis Robbins, 42, of Spotsylvania was sentenced Friday to 62 years in prison with all but 12 years suspended after pleading guilty to child endangerment and three counts of malicious wounding. Judge Sarah Deneke called his conduct “horrendous” and said “the cruelty goes beyond anything I’ve seen in recent years.” The active term exceeded state sentencing guidelines, which capped the recommended prison time at just over seven years.

A Stafford grand jury added two more involuntary manslaughter charges against the bus driver accused in a May crash that killed five people, Prince William planners recommended 130 condos next to Potomac Mills, Stafford is among 47 Virginia localities voting Nov. 3 on a 1% school construction sales tax, Fredericksburg released a teen-violence prevention report, Fauquier teachers marked 9/11 for students born after the attacks, Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered flags lowered Friday, Amazon broke ground on a more than $460 million recycled-water system in Spotsylvania County, Stafford planners recommended a James River Equipment expansion, Prince William Fire and Rescue is seeking input on its next strategic plan, a Fredericksburg coalition built a 72-hour housing prototype, VCU raised its president’s base pay to $1 million, a Manassas nonprofit received an estimated $500,000 in donated clothing, a planned U.S. Senate debate between Mark Warner and Bert Mizusawa was canceled, the Commonwealth Transportation Board scheduled fall meetings in Fairfax and Fredericksburg, Central Rappahannock Regional Library won a grant to revive Rappahannock Reads, anglers are using FOIA to learn trout-stocking dates early, and Manassas is recruiting a resident for its Economic Development Authority.

According to The Free Lance-Star, a Stafford County grand jury on Tuesday added two more involuntary manslaughter charges against Jing Sheng Dong, the bus driver accused in the May 29 crash that killed five people and injured others. Dong had already been indicted on three involuntary manslaughter counts. The new indictments bring all of the charges together for a five-day jury trial set to start March 8.