The School Board voted 5-2 Monday to ask legislators for authority to drug-test new hires and rehires, the Fredericksburg Free Press reports. Courtland member Carol Medawar and Chancellor member Belen Rodas voted no.
The board twice voted this summer against doing the tests itself. Berkeley member Larry DiBella said asking Richmond would answer the legality question. The division can already test an employee suspected of being under the influence. No statewide rule requires testing teachers.
“Why are we giving double tax incentives?” Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vanuch asked Tuesday, the Fredericksburg Free Press reports.
More than 10 data centers are already proposed. The board comes back to it Oct. 27, when it will also talk about ending the practice of letting a data center on heavy-industry land without a board vote, and about dropping the nondisclosure agreements.
Both R-Board landfills stay open Monday, the county said. Outdoor parks stay open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fire and rescue, the sheriff’s office, and the magistrate stay on their emergency lines.
Event location
Fort Hunt Park
8999 Fort Hunt Rd
Alexandria, Virginia 22308
Join Breast Cancer Collective for the 2026 Walk to Bust Cancer on Sunday, October 18, at Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria.
Walk alongside survivors, caregivers, friends, families, and neighbors for an uplifting community event supporting access to breast cancer screening and care across the DMV.
Walk to Bust Cancer brings our community together to turn hope into action and help expand access to timely breast health care. Register to walk, gather your team, and join us at Fort Hunt Park.
“If we can make that carve out for single-family detached, why can’t we make it for single-family attached?” Commissioner Dugan Caswell asked, the Fredericksburg Free Press reports. Attached homes need 1.75 spaces. A detached house on an existing city lot needs one. The commission deferred the housing-code changes until the next meeting.
Police told WJLA the charges were travel and events unrelated to the job. The station identified him as Darin Thompson, former principal of Hayfield Secondary School.
Stafford County Sheriff’s Office posted its Oct. 2 daily incident report. Deputies said Andrew Bunch, 36, of Springfield, was charged with public intoxication after an impaired-person call on Malvern Lakes Circle. The same report listed a fraudulent-check complaint on Courthouse Road.
The Oct. 2 daily incident report said that at 5:32 p.m. Oct. 1, Deputy L. Smith responded to an intoxicated person report in the area of Malvern Lakes Circle. Upon making contact, the suspect displayed signs of impairment, including a strong odor of alcohol coming from their breath, slurred speech, and an unsteady balance. The suspect was subsequently arrested. The suspect was identified as Andrew Bunch, 36, of Springfield. Bunch was charged with public intoxication and held at Rappahannock Regional Jail until sober.
Route 1 drivers crossing the Falmouth Bridge between Fredericksburg and Stafford County should expect brief daytime delays next week while the Virginia Department of Transportation inspects the span, the agency said Friday.
The inspection runs Monday, Oct. 5, through Friday, Oct. 9, with alternating lane closures on Route 1 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting, according to the release. VDOT said the 1943 bridge carries an average of 40,000 vehicles a day and that a major rehabilitation is in the design phase. The release does not say how long each closure will last, which direction closes first, or a construction start date or cost. It points readers to the Falmouth Bridge rehabilitation project page and to 511 Virginia for updates.
Trelawny Infusion is opening a restaurant at 1108–1110 Caroline Street in downtown Fredericksburg. The company says Taste of Trelawny has evolved into Trelawny Infusion, and its site lists the Caroline Street storefront as the new restaurant.
Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite said on Jan. 5, 2026, that Trelawny Infusion had signed a lease for the two-address storefront. Donny Self of Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite represented the landlord. Patti Murphy of Long & Foster represented Trelawny Infusion. The announcement did not give an opening date.
The Stafford Education Foundation, Amazon, and Stafford County Public Schools marked the first year of a teaching-grant partnership on Oct. 1, naming 24 projects. Sandra Osborn, the division’s chief communications officer, sent the announcement Thursday evening.
Teachers filed more than 90 applications, about $500,000 in proposed work. The release says the 24 projects should reach nearly 13,000 students. It does not say how much of Amazon’s three-year teaching-grant pool went to this first class. A Sept. 28 media alert said the partners would announce $100,000. The release instead cites the May figure: $360,000 for teaching grants over three years, inside a $560,000 Amazon investment that also includes $200,000 for food-access kiosks with the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank. The release’s food line reads “expand access to food access.”
