Obituaries: May 3 – May 17, 2024

- May 18, 2024

Tirsa EastmanOviedo, Florida Carolyn Isaly CrainFredericksburg James “Jim” O’DonnellBeaverdam, Virginia Diana L. HueftleFredericksburg Mary Ellen ScangoLake Monticello, Virginia James Whitney BrownResidence Not Listed Maurice FosterFredericksburg Byron David AllenStafford David SlingerlandHaymarket, Virginia Elizabeth SkinnerFredericksburg Colleen EwingFredericksburg Dean SnyderFredericksburg Harry FairbanksStafford Slade MillerFredericksburg Dennis SpringerStafford Catherine DeLanoMcLean, Virginia Martha SlusherKing George Kathryn GinnanFredericksburg Baby Giannis Tharps-Patterson Residence […]

The News That Moved Us This Past Week: May 10 – May 17

- May 17, 2024

The week just past saw Spotsylvania Schools moving into roadwork, family summer grocery budgets catching a break, Glenn Youngkin spurring FOIA requests, tax laws and the failure of school funding, and legal fees run amok. In addition, local public schools model excellence, and Drew is still petitioning to join (potential governor) Spanberger for a job. […]

COMMENTARY: Celebrating Excellence

- May 15, 2024

To dismiss public schools as “failing” is to cheapen the achievements of students who reach for it, and show the way for elevating the bar for all. Using standardized tests to measure academic achievement is hardly a new idea. America has a long history of experimenting with ways to measure outcomes. Few efforts have been as […]

Stressed Family Grocery Budgets Get Summertime Help

- May 14, 2024

Summer means much higher food bills for families with school-age children. The Summer Food Service Program is there to ease some of the pain. The COVID pandemic led the U.S. government to change the rules around summer food distribution for school-age children, and the result has been a boom in meals served to needy children […]

Yellen, Biden Score a Win in Stafford

- May 13, 2024

Treasury Secretary Yellen celebrated almost 700 homes gaining high-speed internet access in Stafford. Pending additional government funds could connect all Virginians in near future. About two miles from Richland Baptist Church in Stafford, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was getting a crash course in splicing and testing fiber optic wire on Monday morning when her […]

Negligence, Tax Laws Undermine Schools in Spotsylvania

- May 12, 2024

The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors has worked for more than 10 years to destroy public education by defunding it. Both political parties see it. The Board can fix it in one easy move. Last fall’s elections in Spotsylvania County were arguably among the most heated in our region. Parents and voters frustrated with a dysfunctional […]

Happy Mother’s Day from the Advance

- May 11, 2024

Our youngest son sent his mom a photo the other day of the night sky. He is far, far from home serving our nation. But even in these trying days, he found beauty in a difficult part of the world – a sky unfettered by the light pollution that keeps us from seeing the universe […]

Pre-Season, but not Dull 

- May 10, 2024

The Republican Forum in Fredericksburg Thursday night offered insights into the range of opinions within the party around foreign affairs – and a few fireworks. If politics were baseball, Thursday night’s Republican Candidates’ forum in Fredericksburg would have been just another preseason game. Of interest only to the most rabid fans. After all, most of […]

Abigail Spanberger Recognized for Bipartisanship

- May 8, 2024

Common Ground’s annual report card is out, and Spanberger earns the top score in the Virginia, and one of the best scores in the nation, for working across the aisle. That the U.S. Congress is often gridlocked in terms of moving effective legislation – see failures to pass a budget, develop effective border policies, or […]

Interview with Kerry Devine

- May 7, 2024

Fredericksburg’s newest mayor has grit, vision, and a love of baseball. Recently, FXBG Advance sat down with Kerry Devine, the newly minted mayor of Fredericksburg to learn more about who she is, her vision for the future of the city, and the joys of bringing new people into a tight-knit but welcoming community. FXBG Advance: […]