The Stafford County Board of Supervisors passed a controversial new tax that will be placed on business owners next year.

STAFFORD — Residents are using less water than they did just one year ago.

STAFFORD — Stafford County is looking at a bond referendum to borrow $70 million to complete road projects as a follow up to a 2006 bond that was rejected by voters. 

RICHMOND — Operation Air, Land and Speed returned to Interstates 95 and 81 and yielded eight, 160 summonses and arrests during the two-day enforcement operation which took place June 27, and ended June 28. There were no reported fatalities on either interstate during the course of the operation

STAFFORD — As the county encourages conservation, Stafford has increased the price of water throughout the county.

This year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has signed into law 884 bills passed by the legislature. A few, such as the repeal of bad-driver fees, had emergency clauses and took effect as soon as Kaine signed them. The vast majority took effect Tuesday

ALEXANDRIA — Virginia consumers and businesses have new safeguards against counterfeit and unsafe products due to successful legislation that will allow persons caught selling the merchandise with a felony. Attorney General, Bob McDonnell, highlighted these new consumer and business protection measures, which took effect July 1.

CULPEPER — Police have arrested a second Fredericksburg man in connection with the 2004 robbery of a Culpeper restaurant.

The following is taken from calls to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office from June 23-29:

WOODBRIDGE — A Stafford man pleaded not guilty in Prince William Circuit Court Tuesday morning to charges stemming from a November car accident in the Manassas area.

Virginia is turning to teens to help increase the blood supply as restrictions on who can donate shrink the pool of eligible adults. 

A Washington and Lee University professor has carried out his threat to challenge the Virginia Lottery. Business professor Scott Hoover is claiming in a lawsuit that millions of dollars worth of scratch-off tickets were sold even though the top prizes had already been won. 

The man twice convicted of the 2005 murders of Locust Grove residents William Browning and Vicki Truax died early Sunday morning at Central Virginia Regional Jail. 

RICHMOND — On the day Dominion Virginia Power began construction of a coal-fired power plant in Southwest Virginia, 12 people were arrested in Richmond for protesting the plant. 

STAFFORD — David C. Gandy, 48, of Myrtle Road in south Stafford, was fatally shot Sunday, according to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office. 

WISE – The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center will move swiftly toward construction, officials said Wednesday after the state Air Pollution Control Board approved permits for the 585-megawatt, coal-fired power plant. 

Waiting for Virginia lawmakers to kill new taxes for roads is like watching a car crash in slow motion. 

STAFFORD — A citywide Independence Day celebration is expected to draw big crowds, offering an alternative to driving long distances to enjoy a fireworks display.

STAFFORD — Red T-shirts stood out during Tuesday night’s regular school board meeting as citizens came forward to voice their ever growing concerns over the funding of Stafford County schools. 

WHITE OAK — Malicious wounding charges are being sought against Sharelle Pettas, 23, of the 1500 block of Meadow Drive as a result of a “domestic” situation at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday, reported Major David Decatur the same day. 

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Planning Commission approved several zoning ordinance amendments during its regular meeting June 18. 

STAFFORD — The Stafford County Parks and Recreation Commission discussed the facility plan and how it relates to the bond issue being crafted by the county at a June 19 meeting.

This year’s U.S. Senate race in Virginia is the first time that Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore, both former governors, have ever faced each other on the ballot. 

The following was taken from calls to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office from June 16-23:

A stinging 18.3 percent, $1.3 billion-a-year increase in electric bills proposed by Dominion Virginia Power probably won’t get the utility and its customers caught up with soaring fuel prices.

STAFFORD — A South Carolina schoolteacher has been sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison for soliciting sex from an undercover Dumfries police detective, according to an Associated Press report.

WOODBRIDGE — Violent crime throughout the state experienced a 2.6 percent decrease last year while reported property crimes dropped less than 1 percent, according to the 2007 Crime in Virginia report released June 20. 

Head coach Jim Farr and assistant Ryan Wheeler left the College of William and Mary baseball program following the 2005 season.

STAFFORD - Authorities have recovered the body of a man who drowned in the Rappahannock River just 25 feet from shore.

A wreck that killed a bicyclist in Stafford County yesterday is still under investigation, according to a published report