James Russell Carwile

Legislation to provide free breakfast to public school students across the state is moving forward in the General Assembly with committees set to review the cost, Virginia Mercury reports. 

Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, and Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, D-Alexandria, are leading the charge after a similar effort fell short last year. Bennett-Parker’s bill was shelved by the House Appropriations Committee due to competing priorities while Roem’s Senate bill was following an amendment by Gov. Glenn Youngkin directing a work group to evaluate the program’s potential impact.

More than two weeks after a power outage set off a series of events that crippled Richmond’s water treatment plant, Virginia regulators are putting the city on notice that it may have violated state law and are launching their own investigation into what went wrong, the Richmonder reports.

“The water crisis should never have happened and was completely avoidable,” wrote an official with the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water in a notice of alleged violation issued Thursday. “The City of Richmond could have prevented the crisis with better preparation.”

A majority of the residents who spoke during Wednesday’s public input session about Fredericksburg’s proposed Technology Overlay District acknowledged or even supported the city’s pursuit of data centers.

Rather, it’s the terms and timetable governing said pursuit that comprised most of their questions asked during a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and City Council.

More than one speaker noted that adjacent jurisdictions, such as Stafford County, have taken up to six months from initiating the public process to voting for a data center. By contrast, Fredericksburg’s city council first discussed a Technology Overlay District in detail on Dec. 10 and could vote on related resolutions and ordinances as early as its Feb. 25 meeting.

On Thursday, January 23, 2025, members of the Fredericksburg Fire and Rescue Water Rescue Team conducted ice rescue training at the Twin Lakes Community. This rare opportunity was made possible by the recent sustained low temperatures that allowed waterways to freeze.

“We are rarely able to conduct this training, as the temperatures have to be low for a sustained amount of time for the waterways to freeze enough,” stated Fredericksburg Fire and Rescue in a Facebook post.

Officials caution that the ice remains dangerously thin. “As a reminder, the ice is still not thick enough for there to be no risk of falling through. Temperatures will warm throughout the next few days, making the ice even more dangerous. Please stay off the ice and encourage others to do so as well,” they advised.