Background: Ann — Undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Mary Washington and George Mason University respectively; retired Prince William County elementary school teacher; volunteers for the Rappahannock Food Pantry, RAAC Art Tour, Headwaters,...
Local Services
Belle Meade camp delighting children for 30 years
Nestled in the foothills with a view of Old Rag, Susan Hoffman and Mike Biniek have been hosting a summer camp at their Belle Meade Farm for 30 years and show no signs of slowing down. The camp, which has several two-week sessions each summer, sees dozens of kids as...
Pandemic’s long lesson continues in Rappahannock schools
Social worker Erica Jennejahn helps students cope with growing mental health needs Three years on, and yet Erica Jennejahn still sees ripples of the COVID-19 pandemic in the classrooms of Rappahannock County Public Schools (RCPS). “What I see is that kids and parents...
Real Estate commotion hits Sperryville
The School House is up for sale; Copper Fox Antiques narrowly avoids foreclosure auction Update: The foreclosure auction of the Copper Fox Antiques was called off late last week after owner Alex Sharp and Atlantic Union Bank ended a year-long impasse. They agreed to...
Doer’s Profile | Richard Compton
Background: Owner, Compton Excavating Company; fourth generation Rappahannock County resident; over the years has provided free excavation and construction services to area fire departments, churches, and residents; collector of antique tractors and autos; one...
‘We are out of balance’
Stories of the search for home in Rappahannock By Sara Schonhardt — For Foothills Forum Home means something different to everyone. Yet what we discovered through responses to a Community Housing Questionnaire we circulated last year is that those who choose to make...
Chris’s Corner | The Base at Blue Ridge: A family business
Theresa Ruffo Swanson hails from a large Italian family — six siblings and a mom and dad now watching from above. She’s a career caterer, founder of Distinguished Engagements, and a firefighter in Chantilly. The Base at Blue Ridge is at the location where the...
Rappahannock News announces Julia Shanahan as editor
It’s been a privilege serving as editor of the Rappahannock News, especially as such an early career journalist. Thank you to the community that welcomed me with open arms and placed a great deal of trust in me and my colleagues to bring them Rappahannock County’s...
Commercial kitchen, food service education to expand at Carver Center, serving Rappahannock food ventures
State Extension Director visits, tours renovated Culpeper facility Regional representatives with an interest in agriculture and business convened recently at the Carver Center in Culpeper County to meet the new state cooperative extension director and tour the...
Editors’ efforts to hold onto readers and advertisers
local news logo ‘We don’t want to shut down’ Norman Styer has devoted his career to reporting news in Loudoun County, an outer Washington suburb that has quintupled in population over 30 years and is now Virginia’s third-most populous county. He signed on as Leesburg...
An African-American weekly carries on a proud legacy
local news logo The Richmond Free Press, an African-American weekly newspaper, was established in 1992, but if it seems much older it may be because its late founder, Raymond H. Boone, was at the center of covering the struggle for civil rights for half a century....
News industry travails pose challenges for Virginia’s specialty papers
local news logo Newspapers that specialize in covering the interests and concerns of Black Americans, ethnic groups, gay readers and other targeted groups face the same economic and demographic challenges that buffet general-interest newspapers in Virginia, including...
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