Tuesday, December 27, 2011
A controversial election, a trembling firmament, a hyped-up hurricane, an expensive courthouse and a mysterious jailhouse death make for some of the biggest stories of 2011.
With elections, earthquakes, hurricanes, courthouses and more than enough crime reports over the last year, Fredericksburg Patch couldn't have picked a better year to get up and running. Now that 2011 is drawing to a close, let's look back on the year's most important stories. What follows is a list of 5 stories which shaped the year for residents across the area. Some stories on this list were chosen by virtue of the traffic they received, others were chosen because they chronicled important or controversial events. So, now we want to hear from you, the reader. In your eyes, which of the following stories was the most important one of the year. The winning story will be the subject of a larger followup to be published on New Year's Eve. …
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Expensive, divisive campaign outs establishment candidate Lt. Col. Michael Timm in favor of Roger Harris.
Spotsylvania County's next sheriff will be Roger Harris, who won a majority of a hotly contested campaign marred by allegations of impropriety and partisan division within the sheriff's office. With all 27 precincts reporting, Harris garnered 48.9 percent of the vote, besting rivals Michael Timm and Brian Bettis. Timm came in a distant second place, receiving only 41.4 percent of the vote. Bettis came in far behind both, with only 9.4 percent of votes cast. "Thank you citizens of Spotsylvania County," wrote Harris in a post on Facebook to his followers. "We did it." Harris' career in law enforcement goes back to 1969 working as a patrol officer with the Fairfax County Police Department. He retired from the Fairfax County Police Department …
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
A federal investigative agency cleared sheriff's candidate Michael Timm of any wrongdoing in relation to a Hatch Act complaint filed by a Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office detective.
Federal investigators said Spotsylvania County Sheriff's candidate Michael Timm did not violate the Hatch Act when he campaigned in uniform. The investigation, conducted by the Office of Special Counsel, the federal office which looks into Hatch Act violations, found that Timm is running as an independent candidate, so the Hatch Act does not apply to him. A letter from the Office of Special Counsel says that the case has been closed and no further action will be taken in the case. Timm tells the Free Lance-Star that he looks forward to returning to the campaign trail to focus on more substantive issues. In late September, Robin Kocher, an investigator with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office went public saying that she had filed a …
John
9:58 pm on Thursday, November 10, 2011
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