The Fredericksburg City Council decided to decrease the speed limit in its downtown business district from 25 miles per hour to 20.

The City Council held a first reading of the resolution that would lower the speed limit to 20 mph in business districts; the authority to make such a change is codified in the Virginia Code. Fredericksburg has also been focused on making its downtown business district as an attraction, with a the newly opened Riverfront Park.

The affected areas for the reduced speed limit would include Sophia Street between Lafayette Boulevard and Amelia Street, Caroline Street between Lafayette Boulevard and Lewis Street, William Street between Washington Avenue and Sophia Street and Lafayette Street between Sophia Street and Prince Edward Street.

Members of the City Council, such as Ward 1 Councilor Jason Graham and Ward 2 Councilor Jon Gerlach, voiced approval for the speed reduction citing pedestrian safety concerns. Gerlach added that a lower speed limit would lower the threshold for accidents.

At-Large Councilor Matt Kelly also voiced his approval for the resolution but was also concerned about the city having a plan to enforce the new speed limit reductions. "We should have an enforcement plan for when we reduce the speed limits and not have to wait a few years for such a plan", said Kelly.

Kelly also wants to have a presentation for the public to explain why and how the reduced speed limits will be enforced.

The Fredericksburg City Council had made pedestrian safety a top priority as shown by the recent increase in speeding citations made by the police which was revealed at its April 26 meeting. An example of these efforts include the installation of new bump out crossings at the Lewis Street Bicycle Boulevard's intersection with Caroline and Princess Anne streets.

Other efforts that are in the planning stages include the transition of one-way streets into two way streets. Those streets include Washington Avenue, Fall Hill Avenue, and Maury Street. The street conversions are listed in the Capital Improvement Plans for Fiscal Year 2023. Construction is scheduled to take place in 2023.

Fredericksburg also commissioned an engineering study that looked at other potential options such as converting more one-way streets such as William and Amelia Streets into two-way streets. The study is also included in the improvement plans listed for FY 2023.

The new speed limits go into effect on July 1, 2022.

The Stafford County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities is seeking input for designs of a new skatepark.

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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is once again turning its eye to a familiar problem: overcrowded parking at the Historic Port of Falmouth Park.

The Board has had several discussions over the last two years on alleviating problems of overcrowding and parking at the beach.  Since then, the county has made some strides, including sectioned-off parking areas, adding drop-off areas and no parking signs, and towing away illegally-parked cars.

The county has also made additions aimed at the beach's cleanliness and safety, including dog waste stations, loaning personal flotation devices, and providing EMS staff from the Fire and Rescue Department to monitor park activity on the weekends.

All these steps and others have cost the county money, and now they're looking for ways to continue funding the beach.

Some Board members, such as Hartwood District Supervisor Darrell English, have proposed to close the beach entirely. English spoke to the high operation costs mentioning items such as the upkeep of 18 port-a-potties and county employees picking up trash five hours a day which, according to the Supervisor, gets worse during the summer.

"There's a lot that we spend on there, and we've kicked the can so many times, and it's been an issue," says English. "I suggest we start charging or close the beach because it's costing too much money to run this. I think it's going to get worse this year."

English would suggest charging for parking and estimated that a fee of $20 or $25 per car from 80 cars over the course of the day could bring in $2,000. This estimate is based on how many cars would park at the beach during the summer.

George Washington District Supervisor Tom Coen responded that the county would not be allowed to close the park due to a deal with an entity that no longer exists, the Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority. Coen believed that the county would also not be able to charge parkgoers from nearby Fredericksburg but got clarification that the county would not charge residents of the city more than they would potentially charge county residents.

One option was charging non-residents of the county and Fredericksburg for parking. Garrisonville District Supervisor Pamela Yeung was against the idea, saying that the park was for everyone.

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The Rappahannock River Ecological Park, also known as RIVERE, has approached Stafford County leaders to create an ecological center on the banks of the Rappahannock River.

Company representatives made their case at a meeting of the county's Community and Economic Development Committee earlier his month to make it case that the park would be a help with tourism in the community as well as its importance in ecological research.

RIVERE is seeking to lease a portion of Duff McDuff Park which is currently owned by the county due to its position on the Rappahannock River. Duff McDuff is currently home to the local Patawomeck Tribe, which is currently building up a cultural center. The 60-acre plot of land that the organization seeks to lease is adjacent to the tribe's land. The land owned by the county has been assessed to be valued at $83,900.

RIVERE has already obtained a 14-acre site near Duff McDuff from the University of Mary Washington.

Should the county agree to lease the plot to RIVERE, the organization plans to set up a center dedicated to ecological research and education. Among its efforts, RIVERE will place sensors along the river and its tributaries, effectively creating the first "smart river" using AI technology. The goal of this transformation is to carefully monitor those areas in real-time for pollutants that could endanger the river's health.

The data could be used to identify pollution sources and create responses and measures through predictive modeling to inform and guide authorities on the challenges that freshwater bodies deal with regularly. The sensors would be installed along the length of the Rappahannock River to the organization's headquarters at the Chesapeake Bay.

The organization would work alongside Stafford County as part of the Virginia Smart Community Testbed, which is focused on the development of new technologies. Representatives for RIVERE also mentioned potential benefits for the county in tourism, not just of the center itself but of other county sites of interest, such as Chatham Manor.

Some concerns were made by members of the committee, which included Garrisonville District Supervisor Pamela Yeung, who had questions about the effect the sensors themselves would have on the surrounding ecosystem and the affordability for local students to visit the new eco-center.

Representatives of RIVERE responded that they were making formal relationships with many public and private organizations and could partner with local youth organizations such as the 4-H Club, which was one way they could create a route for affordable, educational tours for local students.

Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke questioned the organization's representatives about those partnerships when she noticed that the George Washington Regional Commission was listed as having a partnership with RIVERE.

Bohmke sat on the board of the GWRC and reported that its board had seen no notice of a partnership with RIVERE. While both she and the organization clarified that the agreement with the GWRC was on the staff level Bohmke suggested that a presentation to its board might be in order.

Plans have been made to hold more talks between RIVERE and the county before it goes to the Board of Supervisors. In the meantime, the organization plans to compile more information in order to answer questions that the committee may have going forward.

Eats Burgers offers a retro atmosphere while you -- you guessed it -- eat burgers.

Kelly Hunt is no stranger to the local restaurant scene. Since she was 15, she has enjoyed cooking for herself and her guests. This love of food and hospitality in her native Fredericksburg has resulted in Hunt becoming the owner of the Mason-Dixon Cafe and has kept her going for the last 32 years.

In late April 2022, Hunt embarked on her latest venture with Eats Burgers, a fast, casual food concept. The building in which Hunt decided to open her new burger restaurant has a place in local restaurant history as it's the former location of Mr. Dee's, a burger and barbecue place that closed in January 2015 after being open for 32 years.

The building had the look of the old burger joints from the 1950s and 60s and had that retro look that appealed to Hunt. The building had originally been under contract to be torn down and the land used for condos, but luckily for Hunt, that fell through, and she jumped at the chance and purchased the property in March 2019.

"I live just up Lafayette Blvd, so I drove by the old Mr. Dee's pretty much every day," says Hunt. "I've always loved the building. It's mid-century modern and reminds me of Mason-Dixon's building on Princess Anne Street. It turns out they were both Hardees."

And then came the Coronavirus pandemic.

The event slowed down Hunt's plans for Eats; in addition to that, she had to let go of much of her staff at the downtown Mason-Dixon location and temporarily close her Stafford restaurant. Along with her son and a small team, Hunt was able to keep the business afloat and was able to get back to the Eats project.

Hunt's family is very involved in her restaurant ventures; her sister, two children, and significant others all work at her restaurants.

"Once things returned to normal, I was able to hire a contractor and get the project rolling. Permits took a very long time due to covid," says Hunt. "In the end, I am grateful that it happened this way because the result was much better than I had planned. I was able to take my time and restore the building completely."

According to Hunt, the opening day for Eats was very busy as customers were interested in the restaurant's offerings, such as the BBB Burger, which consists of local Seven Hills beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and bacon jam, Eats sauce, bacon and an onion ring. Eats also offers waffle fries, donut sandys, and other options.

Hunt is just getting started with Eats, her plans include give-back nights like she does at the Mason-Dixon and classic car shows.

Eats Burgers is located at 701 Lafayette Street and is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday thru Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday through Saturday.

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Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) took a tour of a water treatment facility in Prince William County to promote projects that would qualify for funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The congressman received a welcome at the H.L. Mooney Water Treatment Facility in Woodbridge. The visit was part of a tour that the congressman made across both Prince William and Fairfax counties.

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There's a new restaurant on Caroline Street in Downtown Fredericksburg, nestled between a beauty salon and a home decor store.

Maggie's opened on New Year's Day,  but it has been in the works for the last two years according to owner Benjamin Culwell. Culwell and his father began the construction of Maggie's in March 2021, all the while documenting their road to opening the store on social media, announcing such things as the arrival of the store's uniforms and showcasing their outdoor dining area.

Though they were putting the shop together in the latter days of the coronavirus pandemic, Culwell and his father worked to make sure everything came together with the way they wanted it.

"We didn't have any major setbacks during construction and COVID didn't really affect us since we were the ones doing the work," says Culwell.

When Maggie's opened on January 1 they offered up a selection of sandwiches, such as the Bromo, thinly sliced London broil on a Baltimore baked Kaiser roll, two types of sauces, and thinly sliced onion. Maggie's also makes its own root beer, cream soda, and orange creamsicle soda.

Maggie's also has an interesting sense of decor of various objects placed around the restaurant which according to Culwell each have a story of their own.

"Being born in Fredericksburg and growing up here, the history of this town is extremely important to my father and I," says Culwell. "This is a common theme through Maggie's. Every piece of decor has a story and we try to showcase that here."

One object that will catch attention is called the "Kaempffer's Corner Sailor," an artifact left over from when Culwell's family owned and operated a produce stand and landscaping store in New Jersey in the 1950s and 1960s called Kaempffr's Corner. The corner used the sailor as its mascot.

Other objects include boat paddles that were used to traverse the Rappahannock River and an old telephone pole dating back to the 1930s that would have been used across Virginia for both telegraphs and telephones.

In spite of having to deal with the recent snowstorm in early January, Culwell has had a great response to Maggie's grand opening. Not just from customers but also from the surrounding downtown business community, calling the response extremely kind and welcoming.

Maggie's is located at 820 Caroline Street in Downtown Fredericksburg, their operating hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

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A new ethnic market in North Stafford offers a taste of eastern European food, something new to the uninitiated, and comfort to those familiar with the cuisine.

The Moldova European Food Market opened its doors on April 9 and made available its offerings of foods and delicacies from countries such as Romania, Ukraine, Georgia, Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, and others surrounding the Baltic Sea.

Those offerings and delicacies include kielbasa, smoked meats, smoked wild fish, European candy, snacks, and imported frozen cakes as well as dumplings, pierogies, and various spices.

In addition to their new brick-and-mortar location, Moldova offers online ordering that can be sent to anywhere in the United States.

The owners of Moldova, Alexei and Corina Dorgan, came to the U.S. in 2010 and opened the store to provide those with a taste of something that some people may have experienced on their travels in the past or to have a taste of home.

"We opened the store for Military families who served in Europe and would like to find some specialty groceries and meats", says Alexei Dorgan. "Also for Polish, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Czech, Armenian, Georgian, Uzbekistan, and Serbian families.

The Moldova European Food Market is located at Aquia Park, 2773 Richmond Highway in North Stafford. Its hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,  and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From afar, you might think the only thing happening inside this 120-year-old house is a quilting bee or a Harry Potter cosplaying game.

But if you got closer to the door at 15101 Washington Street in Haymarket, they would hear the sounds of blues riffs, rhythmic drumming, and powerful vocals, all of which make up the sounds of rock and roll. Once they passed through the doorway, you knew that you'd entered the School of Rock.

The School of Rock opened in Haymarket in July 2017 as part of a franchise first founded in Philadelphia in 1998. Since its founding, the school boasts over 350 locations worldwide with over 40,000 students.

According to manager Mary Hitchcock, the school currently has 12 teachers and is growing and seeking to hire more.

The school goes beyond the typical one-on-one lessons between student and teacher with the instrument of choice. They also teach from their eponymously named School of Rock method. This method not only includes one-on-one instruction but group instruction, stage performance, learning music theory methods, and learning one song at a time.

This method struggled under the Coronavirus pandemic and, like many other businesses, had to adapt to the situation at hand.

"Like it was for everyone else, the pandemic was a tough transition," says Hitchcock. " We did switch to online lessons and continued our group rehearsals online. We explored many new ways to approach teaching and convey concepts that we now use in person!"

With the pandemic winding down, the school has been able to return not just to in-person teaching but to live performances by its students. According to Hitchcock, the school's house band has four shows in May. The school is offering summer instruction not just in instrument instruction but also in songwriting and recording.

"Currently, we are offering many summer camps which are filling up quickly, one of which is a songwriting camp and recording camp, " says Hitchcock. "Many of our teachers have a music technology background and have taught production and mixing."

School of Rock is currently preparing its performance groups for two shows in May, focusing on popular rock groups The Beatles and AC/DC and hair metal bands like Motley Crue, Poison, and others.

School of Rock will perform at 90 Grados located at 8509 Rixlew Lane in Manassas at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 14, and then at the Craftworx Taproom located at 5615 Wellington Drive in Gainesville at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 21.