Spotsylvania - Potomac Local News

Scheduled Lane Closures for Bridge Washing Along I-95 in Fredericksburg District

Published October 24, 2025 at 6:56PM

A drone view of Interstate 95 at Exit 126 in Spotsylvania County, where traffic merging with Route 1 has been identified as one of the region’s top crash hot spots. [Photo: VDOT]

“Bridge washing will require alternating lane closures along I-95 northbound and southbound between Exit 110 (Ladysmith) and Exit 118 (Thornburg),” Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) announced. “Work is scheduled Sunday through Saturday, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., at the bridge over the Matta River.”

“Additional bridge washing will take place between Exit 130 (Route 3) and Exit 133 (Falmouth/Warrenton), with alternating lane closures in both local and through lanes at the I-95 bridges over the Rappahannock River,” VDOT stated.

New Crisis Center Will Bring Round-the-Clock Mental Health Care to Fredericksburg Region

By Uriah Kiser

Published October 24, 2025 at 1:00PM

Governor Glenn Youngkin and State Senator Tara Durant (R-27, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania) joined local officials today to break ground on a new Crisis Receiving Center (CRC) — a $12 million facility that will provide 24-hour behavioral-health stabilization and care for residents in the Fredericksburg region.

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Emergency response drill scheduled at Freedom Middle School tonight

By Uriah Kiser

Published October 23, 2025 at 4:39PM

“A multi-agency emergency crisis response drill with Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, and FBI will take place in the evening on Thursday, October 23, 2025, at Freedom Middle School,” Spotsylvania County Public Schools posted. “As part of the drill, there will be multiple Sheriff’s Office and FBI vehicles to include helicopters at the school during that time.”

Durant and Youngkin announce $5.5 million for Fredericksburg-area crisis care expansion

By Uriah Kiser

Published October 16, 2025 at 8:30AM

Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, Senator Tara Durante, and candidates Hung Cao and Derrick Anderson hosted a rally in Stafford.

Senator Tara Durant (R-27, Stafford, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania) has teamed up with Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) to invest in mental health resources across Virginia. As part of the state’s “Right Help, Right Now” initiative, the partnership will fund new crisis receiving centers and stabilization units to give Virginians faster access to behavioral health services.

Locally, the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board will receive $5.5 million to enhance care in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, and Caroline counties. The funding will support the purchase of a new commercial property, relocation and modernization of the Sunshine Lady House adult stabilization unit in Fredericksburg, and the creation of new youth crisis care facilities. A groundbreaking ceremony for the new center is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 24, 2025, just off Route 1 near the Lee’s Hill Goodwill Donation Center, near Four Mile Fork.

‘Your First Amendment Right does not come without consequences:’ Speaker removed after criticizing school division following employee’s guilty plea in child sex abuse scandal

By Uriah Kiser

Published October 14, 2025 at 1:30PM

A man known for wearing costumes and using satire at Stafford County School Board meetings was removed from a Spotsylvania County School Board meeting Monday night after using mocking language and cultural references while speaking about a child abuse case.

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Crash rate up 35% after I-95 through lanes opened; Route 3, Exit 126 flagged as danger zones

By Uriah Kiser

Published September 26, 2025 at 1:00PM

A drone view of Interstate 95 at Exit 126 in Spotsylvania County, where traffic merging with Route 1 has been identified as one of the region’s top crash hot spots. [Photo: VDOT]

This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today! Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you. Thank you.

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Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you. Thank you.

Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy Opens New Firearms Range

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 26, 2025 at 1:10PM

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. — The Rappahannock Regional Criminal Justice Academy has opened a new 9,000-square-foot indoor firearms range, marking a major upgrade to officer training in the region.

Located on Lee Hill Drive beside the academy’s main campus, the facility features 14 lanes, classrooms, storage, and the ability to simulate darkness for nighttime training.

One Pill Can Kill: Miyares, Durant, and Survivors Lead Fentanyl Awareness Talk in Spotsy

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 20, 2025 at 2:53PM

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares led a “One Pill Can Kill” town hall Tuesday evening at Salem Fields Community Church, joined by state and local leaders who warned that fentanyl remains the state’s most urgent drug threat.

Miyares told the audience that fentanyl is “100 times more powerful than heroin” and that his office has prosecuted enough cases to remove the supply that could have killed nearly seven million Virginians. He called the drug not an overdose but “poison, turned into murder,” and said just two cartels are responsible for most of the synthetic drugs entering Virginia.

Stabbing in Wawa Bathroom Leads to Abduction Charge

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 18, 2025 at 2:55PM

A woman was stabbed during an attempted abduction in a Wawa gas station bathroom early Saturday morning.

Deputies responded to the store at 4527 Plank Road around 6:30 a.m. on August 16, where they found the victim with a knife wound to her hand. She told investigators the suspect, Austin Wayne Wilson, had hidden in a restroom stall and climbed into hers, displaying a knife and trying to restrain her. Her screams caused him to flee.

VRE Advances Station Upgrades in Manassas Park, Completes Spotsylvania Property Transfer

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 17, 2025 at 10:05AM | Updated August 18, 2025 at 11:19AM

Virginia Railway Express is moving forward with improvements at two of its stations, one marking a long-awaited property transfer in Spotsylvania County and the other preparing for a major new parking facility in Manassas Park.

At its July meeting, the VRE Operations Board approved a contract with Espina Paving, Inc. of Woodbridge to mill and pave the Manassas Park Station parking lot. The work, set to finish before winter, aims to improve the lot’s appearance and safety after recent construction left it looking, as one board member put it, “like a war zone.”