Coronavirus Updates
Of the more than 1,900 people employed permanently by the Fauquier County School Division, more than 1,500 indicated in a recent survey they want to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the school division announced Wednesday. Teachers and other school staff members are part of the Phase 1b eligibili… Read more
A look back at the local stories that defined an unprecedented year. Read more
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced new restrictions Thursday amid soaring numbers of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Some gatherings will be restricted to 10 people, down from the 25-person cap instituted Nov. 15. Northam also asked Virginians not to stay out after mi… Read more
Tina Thorpe and Lisa Mele were enjoying lunch in front of Sunny’s American Grill on Main Street in Warrenton last Thursday. In fact, they were enjoying themselves so much, they stayed and talked for two hours. It was a chilly day, but they were coatless and comfortable in their own “bubble.” Read more
Jury trials can now take place in Fauquier County Circuit Court; the Supreme Court of Virginia has approved the county’s plan to mitigate risks for participants contracting COVID-19. Although Fauquier County courts have mostly been functioning normally since the summer, jury trials have been… Read more
Highland School will temporarily cease in-person instruction for all students after Thanksgiving break, a school representative confirmed Friday. The decision was made as a precautionary measure due to the increased risk of the spread of the novel coronavirus from holiday travel and gatherin… Read more
This story has been updated to reflect new information. Read more
Courtesy of Virginia Mercury Read more
Courtesy of Virginia Mercury Read more
Courtesy of Virginia Mercury Read more
A student attending in-person classes at Kettle Run High School has tested positive for the COVID-19, a health department letter to Kettle Run parents and staff announced Monday. No students or staff members were considered “close contacts” of the infected individual, the letter said. The ca… Read more
The annual Fauquier County school board retreat has been canceled “out of an abundance of caution due to COVID protocols,” School Board Clerk Ginger Farmer confirmed Wednesday. The retreat had been scheduled to take place Oct. 5 at Shenandoah National Park; school board members and school di… Read more
This story is the second in a series about how special education students and their families are coping with remote instruction in Fauquier County Public Schools. Read the first story here. Read more
The number of Virginia and Fauquier County residents receiving unemployment insurance benefits continues to creep downward, according to the latest data from the Virginia Employment Commission. The number of workers who received benefits during the filing week ending Sept. 5 is about the sam… Read more
Along with expanding county employees’ access to child care for their children, members of the board of supervisors will also likely discuss at a work session next week the possibility of using CARES Act funding to subsidize child care for low-income county residents, according to a Sept. 1 … Read more
The total number of weekly claims for unemployment insurance benefits in Virginia have fallen by 33% during the past four weeks, according to the latest data from the Virginia Employment Commission for the filing week ending Aug. 22. Still, more than 10 times the number of state residents re… Read more
The three branches of the Fauquier County Public Library system will reopen for browsing on Monday, Aug. 24. Very limited seating will also be available for users who wish to use Wi-Fi or public computers; until Aug. 23, an appointment is necessary to use public computers. Curbside service w… Read more
The number of individuals in Virginia receiving unemployment insurance benefits is essentially unchanged from last week, according to the latest weekly claims data from the Virginia Employment Commission. The number of unemployment filings had dropped 28% in the two weeks following July 25, … Read more
Even in the middle of a pandemic, sometimes baseball games are still canceled for old-fashioned reasons. Read more
Another week of unemployment claims data released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission told a similar story to that of recent weeks. New layoffs in the Hampton Roads area are surging along with new cases of the novel coronavirus, and the overall employment situation in the rest of … Read more
Fauquier County has been in no way immune to the pandemic’s economic fallout, but the county’s employment situation continues to be better than that of Virginia as a whole, according to the latest data from the Virginia Employment Commission. Read more
Testing for the novel coronavirus has become exponentially more accessible since the pandemic began. In Virginia, 43 times more tests were performed during the most recent week than in mid-March. Getting tested before traveling or returning to work has become a routine part of life during th… Read more
Fewer Fauquier County residents filed for unemployment insurance benefits last week than in any week since early April, but the number of county residents receiving benefits is still more than 16 times higher than before pandemic-related layoffs began. Read more
Offices of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services have reopened for in-person services by appointment only. Read more
Summer in Fauquier County has always been a challenge for families who are food-insecure. With COVID-19, this need became even more urgent. The Fauquier Reaches for Excellence in School Health program, better known as FRESH, seeks to meet this need in the community. Their goal is to ensure t… Read more
As promised, last week I said I would look into the reasons why deaths were presented on the public Virginia Department of Health website on the day they were recorded as COVID-19 deaths and not when they actually occurred. Read more
The Fauquier County School Board voted unanimously Monday night to reopen county schools on Aug. 24 using a “blended” instruction model, with students attending school two days per week and learning from home the other three. Read more
A new survey of Fauquier County parents indicates majority support for sending children to school four days a week this fall instead of just two -- a possibility that remains on the table as school board members continue to weigh options for the upcoming school year, which could begin as soo… Read more
Unemployment claims filed during the week ending July 4 rose in both Fauquier County and Virginia as a whole despite the easing of some pandemic restrictions as the state entered Phase 3 of Gov. Ralph Northam's reopening plan. Read more
It's not yet clear whether new state guidance reducing, in some cases, the recommended physical distancing among students in Virginia schools from 6 feet to 3 feet will have a substantive effect on Fauquier County’s plans for reopening its public schools. School board members will discuss re… Read more
Public computers at the Fauquier Public Library branches in Warrenton, Bealeton and Marshall are now available by appointment, according to a July 6 blog post on the FPL website. However, library buildings remain otherwise closed. Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: On June 29, Fauquier County Public Schools Superintendent David Jeck presented to the school board four possible plans for opening schools in the fall. Read more
At least for now, Virginia’s mask mandate has survived another legal challenge, the tenth so far. The latest suit was brought forth on behalf of Philip Carter Winery in Hume, and its representative, Philip Strother. On June 29, Judge Jeanette Irby of the 20th Judicial Circuit denied a motion… Read more
According to the latest data from the Virginia Employment Commission, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose in both Fauquier County and Virginia as a whole during the latest filing week, which ended June 27. This is the first time that initial claims have increased since the week end… Read more
Here are some thoughts for the end of June, as we move into the seventh month of this pandemic. I would like to cite a quote from one of my early emails: Read more
As COVID-19 cases in Texas, Florida and Arizona and California are soaring, Virginia is keeping a lid on new cases. The state added 624 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, June 26, and 677 cases on Saturday, but since then has been able to remain below 600 new cases a day. Five hundred and nine… Read more
On the morning of Saturday, June 27, the 48 graduating seniors at Wakefield School in The Plains made their way up from the school’s gym to an improvised commencement ceremony site in one of the parking lots on campus. In addition to the fancy southern attire that is a hallmark of Wakefield … Read more
At the very moment that most businesses and their employees were being hit the hardest by the economic repercussions of the pandemic, Neha and Ajit Jadhav purchased thousands of dollars worth of gift cards from three local restaurants and donated them to local first responders and health car… Read more
As a percentage of the total labor force, the number of claims for unemployment insurance benefits by residents of Fauquier County continues to be much less than the state and national averages. Read more
Although some county offices opened on Wednesday, June 24, Fauquier Public Library Director Maria Del Rosso said in a June 22 phone call that the interior spaces of the county’s library buildings will most likely not reopen this month. Read more
On Friday, June 19, the Virginia Department of Health website updated its modeling for the state; the model was created by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute. The analysis attempts to put the results of mitigation efforts in perspective. Read more
The flood of layoffs at the height of the pandemic has turned into a trickle, but most people who lost their jobs since March have not returned to work. Read more
Playgrounds in county-owned parks are now available for use, according to Gary Rzepecki, Fauquier County’s director of parks and recreation. All playgrounds were cleaned, sterilized and fitted with fall-cushioning material last week. Read more
It’s an old saying: A friend in need is a friend indeed. For some small businesses in Fauquier County that have been shut for weeks during the pandemic, their landlords have turned out to be good friends indeed. Read more
Shenandoah National Park entered Phase 2 of its reopening plan on Thursday, June 11. With few exceptions, most of the park's facilities will reopen by the end of the month, according to a statement on the park's website. Read more
On Thursday, June 4, the Virginia Employment Commission released the latest weekly statistics on claims for unemployment insurance by Virginia residents. The latest filing week ended on May 30. Read more
Courtesy of Virginia Mercury Read more
The United States Department of Agriculture has announced a program to provide financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities in order to help offset sales declines and increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
Since April 12, free Internet access has been available in the parking lot of Leeds Ruritan Club Park in Hume, thanks to a Wi-Fi hotspot set up by Blaze Broadband, a local firm. Even though the park is currently closed due to the pandemic, anyone can utilize the Wi-Fi from their vehicle in t… Read more
In Virginia, the total number of initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits filed during the pandemic is now greater than the number of initial claims filed during the 18-month recession that began in December 2007, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. Read more
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