Stafford County supervisors failed early Wednesday to adopt a Business, Professional and Occupational License tax after a marathon public hearing that stretched past midnight.

Chairman Deuntay T. Diggs announced that the motion to approve Proposed Ordinance O26-34 as advertised “failed.” The meeting, which began at 5 p.m. Tuesday, adjourned at 12:59 a.m.


After nearly 90 minutes of public comment on a proposed shift from an eight-course to a seven-course high school schedule, Chair Dr. Elizabeth Warner said at the Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, business meeting that the Stafford County School Board has deferred any schedule change.

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A Cool Springs dining-and-retail district, a second look at the closed Cannon Ridge golf course, and a fight over dashed lines on a road map all rode the same 6–1 vote Wednesday night.

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Stafford County is the largest locality in Virginia without a Business, Professional and Occupational License tax. On Tuesday, Sept. 15, supervisors will hold a public hearing on whether to bring BPOL back.


From a free all-day arts festival in Manassas and Bat Boy at the Workhouse in Lorton to a Slave Dwelling Project weekend in Fredericksburg and WWII living history in Woodbridge, here are things to do Friday evening through Sunday.

According to the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Arts Alive! runs Saturday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. across the Manassas campus at 10960 George Mason Circle, with free admission and no tickets required.


Stafford County supervisors on Sept. 1 directed staff toward letters asking Gov. Abigail Spanberger for a special legislative session on data-center rules — and, if comprehensive legislation cannot pass quickly, a temporary pause on new large-scale approvals — then expanded the ask to the federal administration.

The board did not vote that night to approve or deny any campus. Supervisors said their own ordinance — which Chairman Deuntay T. Diggs, George Washington District, called the strictest in Virginia and Supervisor Crystal L. Vanuch, Rock Hill District, said includes among the largest setbacks in the country — still cannot stop river withdrawals, well impacts, or high-load power costs that land on ratepayers.


Stafford County high schools deliver about 121.8 seat hours per course, 18.2 hours short of Virginia’s 140-hour standard for graduation credit — roughly 13 class meetings, or five weeks on the current A/B schedule.

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A Maryland tractor-trailer driver died Thursday morning after his rig left Interstate 95 northbound and struck the Courthouse Road overpass in Stafford County, Virginia, State Police said.

The crash happened about 11:20 a.m. at the 140-mile marker, at Exit 140. Troopers identified the driver as Derek P. Volkmer, 40, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. Volkmer died at the scene, according to a 5:42 p.m. update from Virginia State Police Public Relations Coordinator Matthew Demlein.


A D-BAT Baseball & Softball Academy is coming to The Shops of England Run on Warrenton Road, in the large storefront next to Rappahannock Goodwill’s new store in the former Big Lots space.

Owners Carrie and Brent Curtis say the indoor academy will be more than 14,000 square feet and will include 10 batting cages, a Rawlings-sponsored pro shop, and a flex room for birthday parties or corporate events. They are aiming to open in December or January.


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