Page 2 - Kerry Devine News Today

When the Virginia General Assembly approved a bill in January 2020 that allowed jurisdictions to impose a 5-cent tax on disposable plastic bags, Fredericksburg City Council member Kerry Devine was

There are many times Fredericksburg City Council members agrees on an issue and vote accordingly. The decision Tuesday night to enforce a new sign ordinance was not one of those

Amnesty at Ely Pride 2019 - Credit: AMNESTY ELY The Ely branch of Amnesty International is marking the organisation’s 60th anniversary on May 28. Perico Rodriguez and the Jupp family at Ely Cathedral in October 2014 - Credit: AMNESTY ELY The international human rights group was set up in 1961 by Peter Benenson, a London lawyer who was appalled to read about two Portuguese students jailed for seven years by their government. Their crime? They had raised a glass and toasted liberty. In Octobe...

Fredericksburg officials are hoping a name change will make people more receptive to tempering the noise level downtown. Officials have been considering a noise ordinance that would make it a Class 3 misdemeanor to be plainly audible from 200 feet away. Now, they will no longer call it a noise ordinance. Fredericksburg Economic Development Authority Director Bill Freehling said during a presentation to City Council this week that it’s been renamed the “Good Neighbor Ordinance” to...

Fredericksburg Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and City Council members don’t believe there is a good way to navigate recent General Assembly legislation requiring the city to move its elections from May to November. The bill—SB1157—overrides Fredericksburg’s charter for City Council and School Board elections and will take effect in November 2022 if Gov. Ralph Northam signs it into law at the end of the month. City Council members say they will be hard-pressed to hold the nex...

Business owners in downtown Fredericksburg aren’t being quiet about a proposed noise ordinance scheduled for a City Council vote this month. The owner of Billiken’s Smokehouse at the Chimneys has circulated an online petition that has been signed by more than 1,400 people encouraging the City Council not to go forward with the downtown ordinance. A total of 16 letters—all taking a strong stance against the ordinance—were read at the City Council meeting last week. “You ...