Newslinks

Patient Zero, a juried exhibition tied to Factory of Fear, opens Saturday at ARTfactory in Manassas, and Stafford supervisors agreed to revisit data-center tax incentives on Oct. 27.

Patient Zero: An Exhibition — Saturday, Oct. 3, 6 to 8 p.m., ARTfactory, 9419 Battle Street, Manassas. According to the Potomac Local events calendar, the Caton Merchant Gallery opening is a free artist reception for a juried show of more than 70 works by 54 artists. The exhibition runs through Nov. 1 and is tied to this year’s Factory of Fear theme, Outbreak.

Good Shepherd Housing Foundation’s third annual Make Home Possible golf tournament is Friday at Old Hickory in Woodbridge, and a Caroline County native who became Virginia’s first Black female judge was the keynote at a Local Heroes banquet in Bowling Green.

Make Home Possible golf tournament — Friday, Oct. 2, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Old Hickory Golf Course, 11921 Chanceford Drive, Woodbridge. According to the Potomac Local events calendar, Good Shepherd Housing Foundation’s third annual tournament is a day of golf, contests, and raffles, with proceeds meant to help the foundation keep affordable homes in Prince William County.

Prince William planners say two Dumfries-area data-center filings next to Four Seasons still have “substantial issues,” a man once sentenced to death in a 2001 Bristow killing walked out of jail Monday after 25 years, Amazon settled with King George on the Birchwood campus, and Manassas Council will hear interim-mayor applicants Oct. 5.

According to InsideNoVa, Prince William planning staff told two developers that separate applications for a total of six data centers beside the Four Seasons at Historic Virginia 55-and-over community off Interstate 95 have “substantial issues and deficiencies” and cannot be supported in their current form. William Cooley of Atlantic Funding LLC filed a solo application May 22 for a 60-acre site at 16251 Dumfries Road; Barrie Peterson of Southgate Business LLC filed June 3 on a neighboring 79-acre parcel.

A first statewide hunger survey finds 40 percent of families in the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank service area food insecure, Fredericksburg planners delayed housing-code changes to revisit parking minimums for stacked townhomes, and Stafford supervisors meet with the Economic Development Authority tonight.

According to the Fredericksburg Free Press, the first Virginia-specific food-insecurity survey found that 40 percent of families in the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank service area lacked consistent access to enough food this year. The rate was 44 percent among families with children in the region and 52 percent among households of color. Statewide, 42 percent of all households and 51 percent of households with children were food insecure.

A Prince William judge will allow cameras but no livestream at the October Naresh Bhatt murder trial, a Woodbridge man was sentenced to 40 years in a federal child-exploitation case, and Del. Joshua Cole is preparing to leave the House for a 2027 state Senate run.

According to InsideNoVa, Prince William Circuit Court Judge Kimberly A. Irving on Friday granted a motion from several local media outlets allowing cameras in the courtroom for the upcoming trial of Naresh Bhatt, the Manassas Park man charged with murder after his wife’s 2024 disappearance. NBC4 Washington’s request for a livestream was denied.

Spotsylvania supervisors spent Tuesday night answering for social-media posts and appointment paperwork, Fredericksburg is moving toward monthly utility bills as soon as November, and Caroline County approved a large industrial rezoning on U.S. 1.

According to the Fredericksburg Free Press, two Spotsylvania supervisors came under fire Tuesday even though the board agenda had no public hearings. Courtland District Supervisor Drew Mullins apologized for posts on X, and residents challenged recently appointed Chancellor District Supervisor Tim McLaughlin over the address on his application, a late Statement of Economic Interests, and a confrontation at early voting.

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.