News

Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday signed an executive order creating the cabinet position of chief energy officer and has appointed Josephus Allmond, a Charlottesville-based staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, to the new role.

On Saturday, March 21, members of Boy Scout Troop 218, the Northern Neck Master Gardeners, and Friends of the Rappahannock joined Stratford Hall staff in planting its first saplings as part of the “250 for 250: Improving the Northern Neck’s tree canopy for the Semiquincentennial” project. The new trees are located along the southwestern border of the preserve, near Stratford Hall Road and the entrance gate.

The Northern Neck Master Gardeners’ (NNMG) Shoreline Evaluation Program (SEP) is celebrating 15 years of offering shoreline advisory services to the Northern Neck community. During this time, team members have evaluated 28 miles of shoreline, 1,826 acres of waterfront property, and met with 540 homeowners.

Last week, Rappahannock Community College officials, community leaders, and project partners gathered to break ground on the long anticipated Health Sciences building at the college’s Warsaw campus.

Legislation aimed at curbing “forever chemicals” in farm-applied biosolids has cleared the Virginia General Assembly and is now headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk. Proponents of stricter controls acknowledge the measure is far weaker than they wanted. Still, they are urging the governor to sign the legislation into law, viewing it as an important first step to build upon.

Sheriff’s offices across the Northern Neck are warning residents about scams involving fake court notices and fraudulent demands for payment.

Delegate Betsy Carr, a Virginia legislator who had Ocean Harvesters in her sights, has been appointed to the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a key regional body shaping policy for the Bay.

On Tuesday, March 24, the Friends of Northumberland Public Library visited with the 8th-grade English students at Northumberland Middle School. There, they gifted the class enough books for each student in the 7th and 8th grades to read I Know Your Secret, a middlegrade thriller by Daphne Benedis-Grab, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney for the 6th-grade class.