Updated 11 a.m. Thursday, September 8 — Michele White, the former Prince William County Voter Registrar, faces fraud charges in multiple incidents during the November 2020 General Election, court documents state.
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Politics
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[caption id="attachment_176639" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Overlooking Fredericksburg, the Chatham Bridge, and the Rappahannock River.[/caption]
Overlooking Fredericksburg, the Chatham Bridge, and the Rappahannock River.[/caption]
The Fredericksburg City Council has amended the criminal blight rules to align with state legislation.
The previous city codes related to criminal blight were first adopted in 2012 and were known as "drug blight" provisions. Those provisions were used to designate a building or structure blighted due to unlawful activity such as sales or the use of drugs on an individual property.
Since then, the General Assembly has made many amendments to the criminal blight rule, numbered 15.2-907 in the state code.
The ordinances were designed as a tool to protect public health, safety, and welfare in the circumstances that they addressed and apply to all properties in the Fredericksburg area. However, according to the city's Public Information Officer, Sonja Cantu, this ordinance has never actually been used in the over 10 years it has been in place.
The revised ordinance has also been expanded to include using the property in the use of commercial sex acts and the use of a firearm in the course of a criminal action.
According to the ordinance, property owners have 30 days to take action to prevent the property from being designated a criminal blight. If Fredericksburg were to take such action, it would also include the expenses of that action to be charged to the property owner. Property owners could also ask for an additional 30 days to deal with the issues.
The amended ordinance was read at the Fredericksburg City Council meeting on August 9.
The outlook for Abigail Spanberger (D) is looking better in her race to keep Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat. The Cook Political Report today moved Spanberger’s race against Republican Yesli Vega, a Prince William Board of County Supervisor member, from “toss-up to “lean Democratic.”
The move comes on the heels of Democrats’ successes in recent weeks, passing the Inflation Reduction Act, which addresses climate change, hiring 87,000 more IRS agents to audit citizens and small businesses, transferring some student loan debt to U.S. taxpayers and away from the borrower, and raiding the home of a former U.S. President Donald Trump to secure classified documents.
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The two-term incumbent Democrat sent a letter to Youngkin demanding answers to how his administration is working to prevent another shutdown of Interstate 95 during a snowstorm like Virginia experienced on January 3, 2022.
Drivers were stranded along a 50-mile stretch of highway between Dumfries and Carmel Church, near Kings Dominion, for more than 12 hours without food, water, heat, and access to restrooms. Specifically, Spanberger wants to know how Youngkin is implementing recommendations outlined in an April report to prevent another disaster from occurring.
More than 200 poeple attended the opening of Yesli Vega’s campaign office in Spotsylvania County on Saturday, August 27, 2022.
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William “Billy” Tucker was shocked when he received a bill for $2,543, up from $1,938 last year. The value of his wife’s 2019 Kia Credenza is assessed 18% over the past year, now valued at over $33,000, and his Dodge truck up more than $7,000 in a year, at $45,500.
His daughter drives a 2007 Honda Accord that Demeria says is worth $4,400, $870 more than last year. “I know I can’t get $4,400 for it if I tried to sell it,” said Tucker.
(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his administration would “forgive” $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the plan could cost taxpayers more than $200 billion.
The total income cap is expected to be higher for married couples, likely around double the $125,000 mark, though that has not been confirmed.
[caption id="attachment_180182" align="aligncenter" width="435"] Little Falls Water Treatment Facility in Stafford County [Photo: Stafford County Government][/caption]
Little Falls Water Treatment Facility in Stafford County [Photo: Stafford County Government][/caption]
Stafford County has agreed to sell nutrient credits to Fredericksburg in a deal that will gain the county $5,000 to $6,000 a year, over the next five years.
The agreement between the two localities will allow Fredericksburg to purchase 1,000 pounds of nitrogen credits and 200 pounds of phosphorus credits each year for the next five years. Stafford County is expected to receive the total revenue from these annual payments is estimated to be $25,000.
Fredericksburg would also reimburse Stafford County for the legal fees incurred for preparing the agreement.
The credits would allow Fredericksburg to meet short-term obligations with its water permits and offset nitrogen and phosphorus reductions under the city's Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer Permit.
According to information provided by Stafford County, Fredericksburg is not expected to meet its reduction requirements through 2028 due to changes in Virginia regulations and would be in violation of those regulations without purchasing the credits necessary to make up the difference.
The credits will be transferred from the Little Falls Run Wastewater Treatment Plant to Fredericksburg. The plant is owned by Stafford County and is located at 952 Kings Highway in Falmouth.
Stafford County is allowed to sell unused nutrient portions through the Nutrient Credit Exchange to other members of the Rappahannock watershed under the Rappahannock River Water Quality Agreement for the Chesapeake Bay.
The plant is located along the banks of the Little Falls Run tributary, which runs into the Rappahannock River and into the Chesapeake Bay.
According to its website, the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange was established in 2005 to help coordinate and facilitate such exchanges among its members to help improve water quality efficiently and cost-effectively. Currently, the exchange includes 73 owners of 105 treatment facilities that clean wastewater in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus.
Potomac Local News first reported on the pending agreement back in July 2022 when it was brought up during a meeting of the Stafford County Infrastructure Committee. Members of the committee were informed that the deal would not affect the county's own permit obligations since the Little Falls Run plant has consistently produced excess nutrient credits.
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Yesli Vega pushed for more police officers this past spring when the Board of County Supervisors passed its largest budget in history — $3.8 billion — in April 2022.
Instead, the Democrat-controlled Board of County Supervisors provided funding to hire 15 new civilians, returning the uniformed officers working the desk jobs to the streets.