A consideration to limit the height of flag poles and monuments in Stafford County is making its way to the Board of Supervisors’ agenda. 

At the July 7 Community and Economic Development Committee, committee members Garrisonville District Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer and Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch voted to send the item to the general Board. Chairman of the committee, Gary Snellings of Hartwood, was not present at the meeting. 

Right now, flag poles and monuments are exempted from count height restrictions. To limit the height of flag poles, this wording would have to be removed from the code. 

Should the Board pass this resolution, the maximum flag pole height in residential/agricultural zones would be 35 feet, and the maximum height in commercial areas would be 65 feet. Each individual zoning district has a max height restriction for structures. 

Requests for taller flag poles would require a Conditional Use Permit that can be obtained after public hearings with the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission.

Existing flag poles that exceed the height regulations, if passed, would still be allowed to exist as they were up before the policy was put in place. 

A confederate flag that is visible from Interstate 95 near Falmouth is on an 80 foot-tall pole. While the flag has drawn the ire of residents over the years, the pole is protected by a grandfather clause and would not have to be removed should the height restrictions be passed.

Regulations on flag pole heights vary across different localities. 

In Prince William, the maximum height is 40 feet in all zones. In Spotsylvania, there are no restrictions in residential areas and a 25-foot max in commercial zones. 

Black Lives Matter protesters took to the Fredericksburg streets on July 1 to mark one month after they were teargassed in earlier protests.

Twice the city used teargas in early June, and the Stafford sheriff’s office also deployed teargas on protesters on Falmouth Bridge.

Protesters on Wednesday called their march “Back the Burg,” playing off of the “Back the Blue” rally that took place last Sunday.

Black Lives Matter protesters retraced the steps of the Blue Lives Matter march all the way to the Fredericksburg police station. The nearly 200 protesters met at Hurkamp Park in the 90-degree heat where organizers offered masks out to people who had none. 

“We are remaining peaceful the whole time,” instructed one of the protest leaders, Eddie Banks, to the crowd. 

Halfway through the hour-long gathering at the police station, Fredericksburg Police Chief Brian Layton and Captain Betsy Mason retreated back inside the building.

The two were outside, standing in front of the protest group, listening to individuals share their stories of being teargassed. 

“I am no threat to you at all,” said one of the protesters who was tear gassed on May 31.

“You guys hurt us, you hurt our community,” another protester said.

Layton responded to the protesters saying, “I am thankful that you are out here and doing this the right way.”

“The right way” is in reference to the permit protesters obtained to hold the march.

Protest leaders, from the various organizations created in early June as a response to Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s death, met with city police prior to Wednesday’s march to discuss a course of action. 

“We talked about the event and assured them that their safety was paramount,” said Fredericksburg Police Public Information Officer Sarah Kirkpatrick. 

The meeting spanned about 90 minutes, and one of the points that were emphasized was that the chief would go inside if vulgarities were said, Kirkpatrick told PLN. 

“You want to know what we say when we say defund the police, do you want to know what it actually means? When we say defund the police, we mean to take out these racist misogynist pigs,” said the protester right before Chief Layton and Captain Mason went inside. 

After going inside, the two never made a reappearance. A few other officers remained outside as spectators.

“When things turned south tonight and vulgarities were made and police were called pigs and a lot of unnecessary language was used, they decided to retreat,” added Kirkpatrick.

No incident reports were filed for the July 1 protest.

Fredericksburg Police posted on its Twitter page a traffic warning about the July 1 “Back the Burg” protest. 

“Please be advised of potential traffic congestion in #Fredericksburg today between 4:00 and 9:00 p.m. to accommodate two permitted events,” read the tweet from @FXBGPolice.

Happening Today: Please be advised of potential traffic congestion in #Fredericksburg today between 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. to accommodate two permitted events.

A notification will be made when both events are over and traffic patterns return to normal. #FXBG pic.twitter.com/UBKfJroaka

— FredericksburgPolice (@FXBGPolice) July 1, 2020

The second event was a smaller protest of about 35 people, according to Kirkpatrick. Black Lives Matter FXBG organized this second protest and is not affiliated with FXBGAAC, The Melanin Cooperative, and Leaders for Peace who organized the march to the police station.

No tweet was made warning of traffic congestion for the “Back the Blue” march held on June 28 that amassed 1,000 people. 

“We felt that since [Black Lives Matter protesters] anticipated 300 people and there have been a lot of citizens who have been concerned about all of the days on our roadways, we thought it was really important to educate the community,” Kirkpatrick told Potomac Local News. 

Text traffic alerts did go out through city traffic alerts for both protests, according to Kirkpatrick.

This tweet comes after a segment of the Fox News’ Tucker Carlson show on June 25 that aired a 911 call audio recording of a driver who encountered a group of Black Lives Matter organizers protesting in the crosswalks. 

“Back the Blue” marchers have criticized the dispatcher’s response to the call who told the driver there was little the police could do since the protest was sanctioned by police. 

This won’t be the case much longer. 

Starting July 6, protesters will no longer be allowed to continue their crosswalk protests or stand in city streets, impeding traffic. 

“You don’t have the right to stand in a crosswalk, that’s a common misconception,” said Kirkpatrick.

Citations will be issued to violators of traffic safety laws. Protesting on the sidewalks is still allowed.  

The police department is currently conducting an internal review of its response to protesters over the past month. They are anticipating the report to be finished by July 31, according to the police. 

A third party will be hired to review the report, and then it will be released to the public, police say.

In a highly unusual move, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors has edited all vulgarity out of the public comment portion of its June 16 video recording. 

Black Lives Matter supporters filled the citizen comments period demanding racial equality, the defunding of police, and the end of the 287(g) program, abolished the next day. All this comes after a month of nationwide protests that were sparked by the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. 

Some of the comments were laced with profanity, all of which were subtly edited out of the uploaded video recording. “Beeps” were not used over the audio, the vulgar words were just cut out. 

“You guys f-ing suck,” said one commenter. 

“The minute you police the language that can be used here is the minute you lose the voices who are rightfully angry. All I have to say is F- decorum,” said another speaker. 

At the close of the comment period, Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson requested the vulgarity to be edited out of the recorded video.

“I did not want that profanity played during those replays knowing we do not give a warning for the profanity,” Lawson told Potomac Local News. 

Lawson’s fellow conservative on the Board, Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega, disagreed with the decision to edit the video. 

“This language was allowed, and thus I don’t think it should be censored to cover for the out of control tenor of the meeting. I actually think it’s good for the public to see that these are the types of people calling for the defunding and abolition of our police,” Vega said. 

Under the Freedom of Information Act, public comment minutes do not have to be recorded verbatim. The video recordings are public record, but they can be edited just as a report is changed from one draft to another in a database. 

Lawson also asked about changing board rules to allow only public comments only in English unless an interpreter is present. 

“I’d like to change our Board rules and procedures so that when people are addressing the Board during public comment time that English is the only language that they use unless they have an interpreter,” Lawson said at the June 16 meeting. 

Some Spanish-speaking residents were at the meeting that night.

The county attorney, Michelle Robl, will provide her legal advice to the Board at the July 14 meeting. 

“The Board may consider amendments to their rules of procedure regarding the issue,” Robl said.

The board discussed making the issue of decorum a topic at their upcoming retreat if one takes place. No time or place has been decided yet for the retreat as it is still in the planning stages.

The Board of County Supervisors will hold its next meeting on July 14, 2020.

A woman called 911 after coming across a group of protestors in Downtown Fredericksburg blocking the intersection of Caroline and Hanover street.

The protest, one of the daily recurrences in Fredericksburg this past month, took place on June 13. It was sanctioned by the city.

“The city manager sanctioned all protests for the immediate future, whether they follow procedure and obtain a permit or not,” said Sarah Kirkpatrick, Fredericksburg police public information officer.

The call to 911 was put in at 7:34 p.m. and lasted three minutes 12 seconds.

“We suggest that you report this to city hall and make a complaint there, and that way they can do something about it because right now they told our officers that we can’t do anything about it,” said the dispatch officer according to the 911 audio file provided by Fredericskburg police.

In the call, the woman, Tara Durant, can be heard saying “They’re on my car right now” multiple times.

The dispatcher told Durant she notified nearby officers in the audio file. According to Kirkpatrick, the dispatcher “followed standard protocol.”

Durant said that she was in the car with her daughter.

“Get out of the way,” she can be heard addressing the protestors several times.

An active criminal investigation is ongoing following Durant’s call.

“Since this unfortunate situation, we have had several conversations with the caller. We also had an officer open a criminal investigation the following day to identify the person that jumped on her vehicle,” said Kirkpatrick in a statement.

Durant did not reply to Potomac Local News’ request for comment.

That night, protestors were walking in a square in the four crosswalks at the intersection. This is a method of protesting that the organizers had incorporated into their routine a few days prior.

“As numbers started to fade as far as people coming out, we changed up the strategy a bit, and we decided to start protesting in the crosswalks,” said 18-year-old Wesley Burton, one of the protest leaders.

The protest group will tend to stay at each crosswalk for about an hour, periodically allowing traffic to pass through the intersection, protest leaders told PLN.

“Some of our protests consist of walking around certain crosswalks and blocking traffic only for a few minutes at a time, no longer than five minutes. We don’t surround cars. We stay within the crosswalks,” said Amaya Montgomery, a leader of the Melanin Cooperative of Fredericksburg protest group.

“We only do it five minutes at a time,” said Kyana Davis, member of FXBG Activists, Allies, and Change (AAC). FXBGAAC is another group in the area that works with the Melanin Cooperative to organize the protests.

According to the protestors, there usually are some people who stand in front of cars at the crosswalks.

“I stood in front of her car to make sure she didn’t hit anybody,” said Burton who was at the June 13 protest.

“We might stand in front of a car if they try to go through us,” said Montgomery who was also at the protest.

Protestors told Potomac Local news that they did place their hands onto Durant’s vehicle.

“At most someone did have their hands on the car,” Burton said.

“We only ever touch cars when they are becoming a serious threat to us, and that’s what she was doing. She was driving into the crosswalk,” Montgomery said.

“We don’t hit cars. We put our hands on the cars and ask them to stop,” Davis said.

The FXBGAAC protest that was planned for this Sunday has been canceled due to safety concerns over death threats on social media. That day there is a planned “Back the Blue” rally that already has 3,200 followers on its Facebook group.

“It’s been very hard lately because of all this going on our protestors and group leaders have been receiving death threats from people,” Montgomery said.

“We are not going out there on Sunday,” said FXBGAAC leader Caylee Curfman. “We are not dangerous, we’ve been nothing but peaceful. We are all young individuals, and it’s not okay to be giving us death threats.”

Blue Lives Matter is a pro-cop, pro-law enforcement movement.

“Join us as we rally to show our support for law enforcement here in Fredericksburg and throughout the United States… It is our American right to stand against lawlessness and anarchy. Our goal is to be peaceful and to be heard,” reads the description for the “Back the Blue Rally” facebook group.

At the same intersection, Davis was struck by a car at a similar protest three days ago.

Two protestors, Davis included, were struck by a truck on June 24. An incident report was filed.

“They were in the pedestrian walkway not moving. The vehicle came to a complete stop and then attempted to go around the protestors since they weren’t moving. As soon as he started to move forward, they began to walk, and they were both struck by the vehicle,” said Kirkpatrick to Potomac Local News.

Both protests declined medical treatment, and no charges were obtained.

“The vehicle remained on scene, and was very cooperative,” Kirkpatrick said.

Davis later told Potomac Local News that she did visit the hospital following the incident.

“Later that day I went to the hospital and got a CT scan. I am okay on the inside, but my stomach is sore. My muscles are sore, and it hurts to cough,” Davis said.

The Fredericksburg City Council has passed a three-phase plan to address racial inequality and respond to the recent protests. 

For the past three weeks, protestors have taken to the streets of Fredericksburg calling for police reform and highlighting the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. 

“We as a council are making a commitment to listen and to make real, lasting change,” Mayor Katherine Greenlaw said. 

The response and recovery plan the council passed has three phases: immediate (next three to six weeks), intermediate (June through the end of August), and strategic planning (September through January). 

In the first phase, the next couple of weeks will be a continuation of incident response and emergency management. An incident management team will be formalized and start meeting regularly as well.

The goals of this phase include a complete review of the use of force from May 31 into the first week of June. A review by the Citizens Advisory Panel and a Professional Standards investigation is set to investigate incidents involving teargas and use of force.

An independent review of the Fredericksburg police use of force was largely requested in the nearly two hours of citizen comment time at the June 23 meeting.

In the second intermediate phase, the council plans to work on “actionable proposals” and criminal justice reform.  

Finally, in the third phase, the council will focus on “laying the groundwork” to address racial inequality throughout Fredericksburg. This will be a focus of discussion at the October council retreat.

There will be “whole of community” meetings that will allow community stakeholders to provide input on addressing racial divisions. 

“They’re things that happen all the time that can be fixed,” said Ward 4 Representative Charlie Frye. 

The renaming of Jefferson Davis Highway was also a discussion point. 

All members of the city council expressed their support for the renaming of Jefferson Davis Highway. 

“I’m going to ask that in July we consider a resolution that supports a name change,” said At-Large Representative Kerry Devine.  

The city can rename the portion of the highway that runs through its borders, but they have to go through the Commonwealth Transportation Board for approval.

“I don’t think we should wait for [the state], I think we should be leaders for our region, and maybe the state will follow,” said Ward 3 Representative Timothy Duffy. 

The council at this point hasn’t decided on a particular name to change Jefferson Davis Highway to. 

“I think its critically important that we take opportunities to name things in our community after people who have served at pivotal times in our history,” said At-Large Representative Matthew Kelly. 

Should the highway be renamed, the businesses that are located along it would need to change their addresses to reflect the new name. 

“Even though we want to do this quickly, we have to make sure that we give the businesses time to do all the things they need to do,” Ward 2 Representative Wililam Withers said. 

In response, Greenlaw said, “We’ll find a way to help them with that too.”

In nearby Prince William County, Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin on June 16 called for renaming the portion of Route 1 between Quantico and Occoquan.

Most of U.S. Route 1 in Virginia is named for Davis, who was president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. Portions of the highway, including a half-mile section of the roadway in Falmouth, and the portion of the highway that runs through Fairfax County, is named Cambridge Street and Richmond Highway, respectively.

Five students from James Monroe High School have tested positive for the coronavirus.

These students were all at the June 5 personal graduation ceremonies that the school held in its parking lot.

James Monroe’s personal graduation ceremonies were held over the course of three days where students could sign up for a time slot to graduate. The school is located at 2300 Washington Ave. in Fredericksburg.

The students who have tested positive may have had direct exposure to other attendees of the graduation ceremonies, according to the Rappahannock Area Health District (RAHD).

“We are working closely with RAHD to identify anyone who had close contact with the individuals to determine if they might have been exposed to COVID-19. If you are identified as having been potentially exposed, RAHD will contact you and provide additional instructions,” said Superintendent Marceline Catlett in a press statement.

Monday graduation participants are recommended to closely monitor themselves for symptoms, according to the statement from Catlett.

Symptoms may include coughing, shortness of breath, chills, body aches, fatigue, sore throat, runny nose, diarrhea, nausea, or a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher.

The Stafford County School Board is looking to pass a new policy on employee conduct, including regulations for electronic communications with students. 

Under this policy, employees are allowed to engage in electronic communication with students on school-approved platforms for “legitimate purposes connected to school programs or services,” the policy outlines. 

Employees can’t provide students with access to their personal social media or access that of students under this policy. Relatives and those using the platforms for outside community activities such as church groups are an exception to this rule. 

“Employees shall avoid improper communication through social media with students, coworkers, and the school community,” stated proposed policy 4113. 

This move comes before a school year that could involve a greater integration of online communications due to the coronavirus. 

“Employees conducting remote teaching shall ensure that their communications with students are school-related in nature. Such virtual classroom communications may be made directly with students only through programs and platforms approved by SCPS,” stated the proposed policy. 

Remote options must be made available for teachers and students who have complicating health factors, according to guidance Gov. Ralph Northam gave at his June 9 briefing. Stafford discussed its plans for opening in-person school at their recent school board meeting. 

The proposed policy also outlines that school division resources and technology can only be used for school-related business, but the occasional personal email is allowed.

“For me, this is all about setting expectations,” said Board Chair and Hartwood District Supervisor Holly Hazard. 

Stafford’s move to set an electronic communications policy comes after controversy over Prince William Superintendent Steven L. Walts’ Twitter interactions with students. 

Walts has developed a strong presence on Twitter with over 30,000 followers and is often referred to as “the GOAT” and “King” by students. 

Walts frequently interacted with students through Twitter despite Prince William’s Policy 503.02-1 that states, “Except as provided herein, employees shall not communicate with students using cell phone and other personal electronic forms of communication…”

The Prince William School Board hired an outside law firm to review Walt’s Twitter communications with students but has not released the Tweets to the public. 

Walts temporarily suspended his Twitter account, @SuperPWCS, as of May 8. 

See more of Potomac Local New’s most recent coverage on this issue. 

Stones at Government Island in Stafford County have been vandalized.

The Sheriff’s Office got reports of this incident on May 26 and are investigating, according to Major Shawn Kimmitz.

Names and “other choice words” were carved into the stones, according to Chris Stevens, Superintendent of Parks and Facilities. The quarry walls have reportedly been spared, though.

Parks and Facilities have reached out to a contractor to repair the damage.

It will cost about $4000 to fix.

Government Island is located at 191 Coal Landing Road, near Aquia Harbour.

Government Island, a historic 18th and 19th-century quarry site provided Aquia sandstone for the construction of the U.S. Capitol and the White House and other historic buildings in Washington, D.C.

Schools will be opening in the fall, at least in some capacity.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced at his June 9 briefing that the schools will be opening in phases that correlate to the phases of general reopening.

“To be clear, all Virginia schools will open for students next year, but the school experience will look very different,” Northam said.

Most of the commonwealth is in phase two right now, with Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park entering the second phase at midnight Thursday.

In this phase, schools may offer in-person instruction to students in pre-kindergarten through third grade. In-person learning can also be made available for English language learners and students with disabilities.

Additionally, school-sponsored summer camps can take place as long as large groups are limited to fifty people.

In phase one for schools, special ed and childcare for working families can be done in-person.

“Phase one is relevant for a few jurisdictions now and will be relevant if we move back to a more restrictive environment due to public health restrictions,” Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said.

By the time school starts in August, Virginia will likely be in phase three.

Under phase three, in-person instruction is allowed with physical distancing in place.

This means there would need to be six feet between desks, remote learning options for high-risk students and staff, and daily health screenings, according to Northam.

Staff will have to wear face masks if they’re within six feet of others, and Northam has encouraged the use of masks for students where physical distancing cannot occur.

Both public and private schools will need to submit plans to the Virginia Department of Education for how they’re going to follow these guidelines.

The Stafford School Board discussed plans for following Northam’s guidance at their school board meeting last night. 

“We have to think completely differently when school starts,” Superintendent Scott Kizner said.

Stafford is looking at options for staggering student schedules and ways to maintain six feet of space.

“I really feel like we’re going to be reducing the instructional day, I really do. I don’t see any way around it,” Kizner said.

On school buses, in order to have six feet between students, there could only be about 10 students per bus, Kizner said. He further discussed the potential of disinfecting buses between each ride and having multiple shifts of students come to the school at different times.

Other options discussed were pushing the start date to allow for more planning/teacher training, have lunch in classrooms as opposed to the cafeteria, and putting plexiglass up in staff office areas.

Nothing is set in stone yet, though. Staff is aiming to have a final draft of the school divisions plan by this Friday.

A work session has tentatively been scheduled for June 15 at 5:30 p.m. for the Board to hash out the details of what school will look like in the fall.