Officials revise family-lot ordinance
Culpeper officials have made it easier to carve out family lots from the old home place. The revised ordinance, approved Tuesday night by the Board of Supervisors, also tightens loopholes that some developers have used to squeeze an extra lot out of an otherwise small, undividable parcel....

Movies opening this week
"FLIPPED" (PG) Two eighth-graders start to have feelings for each other despite being total opposites, in this film from director Rob Reiner. With Madeline Carroll, Callan McAuliffe, Rebecca De Mornay, Anthony Edwards, Penelope Ann Miller, Aidan Quinn. Rated PG for language and some thematic material. 90 min. [MV]...

Movies still playing in the Fredericksburg area
(NR) "AVATAR: SPECIAL EDITION" (PG-13) There's extra footage in this re-release of a film about a planet where unique creations and an avatar body help an injured man find a happiness he thought he'd lost. With Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang. Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking. 171 min. [MV] HH "EAT PRAY LOVE" (PG-13) This story of a woman seeking meaning in life comes off more as a star turn and travelogue. Despite the appeal of star Julia Roberts, this telling is as shallow as her character--eating her way through Italy, trying to pray in India and falling for a guy in Bali. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity. 133 min. [MV]...

CORRECTIONS
Jonathan Rodgers does not live in the Everglades Apartments on Cowan Boulevard in Fredericksburg. A Wednesday story listed an erroneous address. In a Sunday brief about the annual "plane pull" contest at Dulles International Airport, The Associated Press erroneously reported the event's date. It is scheduled for Sept. 25....

Supervisors hear about water, sewer issues

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

Twice in recent months--and both times on holiday weekends--construction around the new King George Gateway shopping center in Dahlgren interfered with water service at nearby homes. The most recent incident came on Sunday of Labor Day weekend. A worker at the Gateway center, where a Super Walmart is being built, had turned off a valve that supplies water to homes in Chatham Village and Monmouth Woods, said King George Service Authority Director Chris Thomas....

Orange council poised to raise sewer rates to pay for plant

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

The Orange Town Council appears set to reverse the previous council's decision by raising sewer rates to pay for a new sewage-treatment plant. The council held a public hearing Tuesday night to get comments on the proposed increase in the sewer base rates that the previous council had voted down. The increase is needed to pay the debt service on the town's low-interest state loan for the state-mandated sewage-treatment plant that will be operational by Jan. 1....

80 years given for online exposure

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

A Stafford jury last night recommended an 80-year prison term for a man who repeatedly exposed himself on his webcam to viewers he thought were young teenage girls. Ernest Donald Washington, 60, of Norfolk was convicted of 11 charges, including multiple counts of attempted indecent liberties and using a computer to solicit children. He will be formally sentenced Tuesday by Judge J. Howe Brown....

Public speaks on river access

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

By RUSTY DENNEN W.F. Wade had a simple assessment of how Fredericksburg should shape its management plan for thousands of acres it owns along the Rappahannock and Rapidan rivers....

>> SURE, YOU KNEW WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE--BUT DID YOU KNOW ABOUT SILENT CAL?

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

When it comes to U.S. presidents whose visits to Fredericksburg are widely known, there are the usual suspects: Washington, Monroe, Madison and Lincoln. And then there are the much less well-known, who include Cleveland, Taft and Coolidge....

>> NOTED CIVIL WAR AUTHOR WILL GUIDE UNCOMMON BUS TOUR OF HANOVER COURTHOUSE BATTLE SITES

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

It's one of the Civil War's most storied landscapes, and on Saturday, Sept. 25, it will get the full treatment from the Civil War historian who knows it best. So grab a ticket while you still can for Robert E.L. Krick's bus tour of Hanover County....

PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW RAIL RISKS

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

A consultant who once helped the D.C. City Council address concerns over rail shipments of hazardous materials blocks from the U.S. Capitol advised Fredericksburg area residents to seek information about their local rail traffic. "It's not un-American to know what kind of risk you're being put in," said Fred Millar, a Northern Virginia resident....

>> AT LOCAL VINEYARD, MUSIC AND MORE AWAITS THIS SATURDAY

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

Would you like to sit in a European-style courtyard, listen to some great New Orleans jazz and sip on great wine, but don't have the time or money for a jaunt down to the Big Easy? Well, that setting is being provided for you here in Virginia, at the nearby Ingleside Winery....

Friendships bloomat the bowling alley

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

The ball flies down the alley, crashing into the bowling pins. As the sounds of tumbling pins fills the air, Stephen Fandrich leaps off the floor, pumping his fists....

ABC sale outlined in plan

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

RICHMOND--You could be buying Jack Daniels in the Giant grocery store by this time next year under the governor's plan to privatize liquor sales. Gov. Bob McDonnell's staff yesterday unveiled his privatization plan, long awaited by legislators trying to decide whether to support the high-profile proposal....

CITY, COUNTY OFFICIALS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CSX RAILCARS

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

As residents object to hazardous materials being stored in railcars near their homes, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania officials continue to monitor CSX Corp. and Transflo Terminal Services Inc. train traffic. Also, Virginia Sen. Edd Houck, D-Spotsylvania, has asked CSX to swiftly deliver hazardous materials to its customers, rather than let railcars wait on the tracks in a residential area....

Panel head favors new rules on police lineups

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

RICHMOND--The head of the State Crime Commission seems to be leaning toward stronger rules on police lineups. After a presentation on how the state's 134 law-enforcement agencies conduct lineups, state Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, said she was disappointed that, despite a state recommendation from 2005, some police departments don't even have written policies on lineups....

Spotsy fire review begins

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

Spotsylvania County residents last night welcomed a state-level panel that will study the county's combined fire and rescue system over the next few months. Five officials with the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Emergency Medical Services serve on the review team....

Spotsylvania County officially opens its John J. Wright museum tonight

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

John J. Wright museum opens Spotsylvania County officially opens its museum to African-American education this evening at the John J. Wright Educational and Cultural Center....

Spotsy High volunteer faces child porn charge

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

A Spotsylvania High School color guard volunteer has been jailed after being charged with trying to produce child pornography. Jeremy Aaron Levoy, a 21-year-old Spotsylvania County resident, was arrested Friday evening after being questioned by authorities about sending inappropriate pictures via cell phone to a male member of the high school's marching band, Sheriff's Office Lt. Col. Michael Timm said yesterday....

Stafford grand jury indicts man in '06 case

Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010 23:00

A gang member suspected of planning a murder that was carried out in Stafford four years ago was indicted by a county grand jury Monday. But it is not clear when--or if--21-year-old Henry "Droopy" Menjivar will actually stand trial....