Friday, Sept. 25

Home sales in the Historic Triangle slowed last month, but were still ahead of the rest of the state, where rising mortgage rates pushed statewide sales down, the state Realtors’ group reported Thursday.

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Thursday, Sept. 24

Publicity about the Williamsburg-area mother arrested for letting her 5-year-old walk alone to a Ford’s Colony pond re-energized a national conversation about parental rights, child safety, and overzealous prosecution.

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Wednesday, Sept. 23

Dear Santa, here’s James City County’s wish list for our local legislators:

• Assure the county’s water supplies

• Allow the county to cap real estate assessment hikes, to ease sticker shock when property values are rising rapidly

• State payments toward veteran tax exemptions that are rising rapidly, to $7 million this year

• Understand what it will cost local taxpayers if county and school employees are allowed to unionize

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Tuesday, Sept. 22

Less than a week into early voting, advocates on both sides of the proposed constitutional referendum on abortion rights have raised more than $3 million to make their case to voters, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

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Monday, Sept. 21

James City County lost seven of its Flock license plate surveillance cameras to vandalism over the summer, Chief Mark Jamison said.

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Local enrollment in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library project soared after her death a month ago today, according to the founder of the Williamsburg project.

“It has exploded since her passing,” said Kyle DeGood. “We’ve enrolled ...over 1,100 children in the past month.”

The Dollywood Foundation announced a “Give Like Dolly Day” for Sept. 25 to support the program -- a playful nod to her famous hit and movie “9 to 5.”

DeGood opened the Williamsburg branch in February 2025.

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Publicity about the Williamsburg-area mother arrested for letting her 5-year-old walk alone to a Ford’s Colony pond re-energized a national conversation about parental rights, child safety, and overzealous prosecution.

Lenore Skenazy, co-founder of the Let Grow nonprofit that supports giving children more independence, told us Karyann Parkinson’s case is an illustration of exaggerated parental fears and overreaching by authorities, who are often called in by well-meaning neighbors.

She pointed us to a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimating more than a third of American children – and 53% of black kids – will be the subject of a child protective services investigation at least once before age 18. So was Parkinson’s son Samuel.

Skenazy also pointed us to an Institute of Family Studies report issued in May showing that a majority of 14-year-old American kids are not allowed to travel beyond their own street. Even as they restrict their children’s physical mobility, parents are allowing them to spend more time online with negative results the study found. She also sent a Journal of Pediatrics study claiming the primary cause of the rise in mental disorders in children is a decline in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.

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Our area awakes Wednesday to a coastal flood warning from the National Weather Service because of a stalled front south of the Historic Triangle.

The warning forecasts 2-3 feet of flooding, along with strong winds, this afternoon in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways in James City County as well as Surry County, Newport News and Isle of Wight County.

Service on the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry may be disrupted occasionally into Friday because the tides can prevent the loading ramps on docks from being safely raised and lowered onto the ferry boats, the Virginia Department of Transportation warned.

York County said it was opening its lots at Chisman Creek Park and the McReynolds Athletic Complex through 5 Friday afternoon so residents can park trailers, boats and campers out of potential flooding areas.

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James City wish list for legislators

Dear Santa, here’s James City County’s wish list for our local legislators:

• Assure the county’s water supplies

• Allow the county to cap real estate assessment hikes, to ease sticker shock when property values are rising rapidly

• State payments toward veteran tax exemptions that are rising rapidly, to $7 million this year

• Understand what it will cost local taxpayers if county and school employees are allowed to unionize

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Owens & Minor will be shutting its Toano medical facility and begin laying off its 419 employees just before Thanksgiving , according to a notice it sent to James City County officials last week.

Avid Medical’s layoffs will begin “on or about November 25,” the human resources manager said in its Sept. 16 WARN notice, which was emailed to the James City County board of supervisors, County Administrator Scott Stevens and state and regional officials.

The facility at 9000 Westmont Drive produces medical kits for hospitals.

The notice was filed under the U.S. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies with 100 or more full-time employees to provide a 60-day notice of plant closures which affect 50 or more employees.

The company notice, first reported by Virginia Business, said about 380 employees will be laid off in the 14 days around Nov. 25, with the final 39 departing at a later date.

Avid Medical Inc Layoffs

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Less than a week into early voting, advocates on both sides of the proposed constitutional referendum on abortion rights have raised more than $3 million to make their case to voters, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

The overwhelming majority -- $2,849,251 — was raised by Virginians for Reproductive Freedom, a referendum committee that Virginia Public Media says got most of its funding from Planned Parenthood organizations and the American Civil Liberties union.

Opponents of the referendum have raised $444,820, and VPAP identified the largest player as No Safeguards, No Deal, at $263,877. The campaign is affiliated with The Family Foundation, a Virginia conservative Christian advocacy group. Other groups including Virginia Medical Professionals for Women’s Safety and the Virginia Catholic Conference have raised smaller amounts, according to VPAP.

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James City County lost seven of its Flock license plate surveillance cameras to vandalism over the summer, Chief Mark Jamison said.

His comments came during a Williamsburg Watch town hall last week with local law enforcement leaders, where they defended license plate cameras as key law enforcement tools that do not impinge on privacy.

“Seven of ours have been damaged,” Jamison said. “...Vandalized, damaged, thrown into a marsh and destroyed. So for whoever’s, you know, if you know anybody that may be involved in that, just remember that you’re preventing potentially a crime being solved.”

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Friday, Sept. 18

President Donald J. Trump hosted a telephone rally for First District Congressman Rob Wittman and two other Republicans Thursday night, asking voters to turn out and vote as if he himself were on the ticket.

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Thursday, Sept. 17

The case of the Williamsburg mother who made national headlines after being convicted for allowing her 5-year-old son to walk alone to a pond half a mile from home resurfaced at our town hall with local law enforcement chiefs Tuesday night.

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President Donald J. Trump hosted a telephone rally for First District Congressman Rob Wittman and two other Republicans Thursday night, asking voters to turn out and vote as if he himself were on the ticket.

Early voting in Virginia begins Friday for the Nov. 3 election.

Trump, who is known for speaking extemporaneously for several hours at his live rallies, spent less than 20 minutes speaking from the Oval Office to urge the re-election of Wittman and two Republican colleagues, Jen Kiggans of the 2d district and 5^th district Republican John McGuire.

“Pretend that I’m on the ballot, because when I’ve been on the ballot....we’ve gotten tremendous turnout,” Trump said.

The entire rally lasted just over 30 minutes, starting with Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA”, the song Trump uses to kick off his rallies.

Wittman introduced Trump to the audience, saying “thank you so much for your leadership.... getting all our voters here.”

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The case of the Williamsburg mother who made national headlines after being convicted for allowing her 5-year-old son to walk alone to a pond half a mile from home resurfaced at our town hall with local law enforcement chiefs Tuesday night.

Karyann Parkinson’s case has prompted national discussion about parental rights and child safety, including among her former neighbors at Ford’s Colony, who disagree whether the gated community’s security service should have called the police on her.

One Ford’s Colony resident told us the homeowner’s association will scare away young families by becoming known “as the nanny state HOA.”

(This writer lives in Ford’s Colony.)

Parkinson told Williamsburg Watch she is waging her legal fight to protect parents from overreaching police and social service officials who don’t understand the law.

The mother of five, a recent William & Mary law school graduate, was found guilty last month of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Her offense was allowing her son Samuel to walk unattended from their home to Tutter’s Mill Pond to collect goose feathers.

Child Protective Services also placed her on the Central Child Abuse registry for seven years, which Parkinson said prevents her from volunteering at her kids’ schools.

Parkinson, who has moved back to Warrenton, is appealing her conviction and faces a two-day trial by jury scheduled in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court starting Feb. 4.

“There’s always more to the story,” James City County Police Chief Mark Jamison told a questioner at our town hall, who asked why she couldn’t simply have gotten a ticket. He reminded the audience about the drowning death of 12-year-old Juan Sebastian Mejia Acevedo, a Virginia Beach boy who disappeared on his way to a friend’s house in January of 2025 and was found drowned in a pond.

Parkinson said the chief and social services don’t understand the law.

She said she worked for former Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel, who passed legislation in 2023 specifically designed to protect parents from overzealous prosecution for allowing their children to engage in independent activities without adult supervision if it is appropriate for the child’s age, maturity and physical and mental abilities.

That includes “traveling to or from school or nearby locations by bicycle or on foot, playing outdoors, or remaining at home for a reasonable period of time” the legislation states.

Parkinson said she was careful to teach her son where he could safely travel in the community and what areas to avoid. He was a swimmer and a member of the Ford’s Colony swim team.

“I know my child best, I am the expert in Samuel and what he is capable of, “ she said. “The outcome of this case proves no matter what the law says, you still have to be afraid because local police and local child protection services don’t know the law.”

Samuel was brought home by a Ford’s Colony security officer after a neighbor called to complain he was walking alone. Parkinson said the guard told her the community’s covenants do not permit children under 8 to be alone — an assertion that is not found anywhere in Ford’s Colony covenants.

We called the official who manages the community for comment but had not heard back by our deadline.

The situation escalated when security called the police. Police officer J.W. Morris said in a court affidavit he went to the Parkinson home on the afternoon of June 5 and when he knocked on the door, Parkinson said she was not going to speak with him “and closed the door in my face.”

He called Child Protective Services and after consulting with prosecutors swore out a warrant for the arrest of Parkinson, who was not taken into custody because she was 9 months pregnant.

Parkinson admitted to us she could have defused the initial encounter with police by not being argumentative. The police officer noted in his court filing that she showed no remorse.

But, she said, “parents shouldn’t have to eat crow, show remorse or second guess what they know about their own children.”

Our review of court records showed Juvenile and Domestic Court Judge Brian J. Smalls proposed withholding his finding of guilt and dismissing the matter if there were no further incidents. When Parkinson’s lawyer refused the deal, Smalls found her guilty and sentenced her to six months in jail, with all six months suspended and a year’s probation.

Parkinson said going along with the judge “absolutely violates my principles...It is an admission of guilt ...and I absolutely wasn’t going to do that. “

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Williamsburg-James City County’s school superintendent recommended Tuesday the school board implement the latest redistricting maps drawn up in August, capping a marathon session that drew nearly an hour’s worth of protest about lack of data and diversity.

Although the board isn’t scheduled to vote on the maps until next month, their comments at Tuesday night’s meeting favored the recommendation, which would move about 16% of students to new schools.

Superintendent Daniel J. Keever told the board they should adopt the proposals submitted by the redistricting advisory committee with no changes, saying they would position the schools for long-term success. He said students who would be seniors in 2028 will be given the option to remain in their current high schools and receive transportation from the schools.

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Yes, but.

Discussions about a sales tax increase in York County illustrate Virginia’s schizophrenic approach to schools: one group of elected officials makes the decision on how to spend taxpayer money on schools, while another group of elected officials taxes voters to get it.

York County supervisors voted 4-1 in July to place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters if they will approve an increase of up to 1% in the county sales tax devoted solely to school construction. A consultant has estimated that will cost up to half a billion dollars over the next three decades.

At a joint meeting with the school board last week, the chair and vice chair of the York County board of supervisors urged school leaders to actively campaign for the sales tax increase. They noted it would ease the pressure on property taxes and would spread the school cost to nonresidents who shop in York or visit.

“I need some help” convincing taxpayers to vote yes, Board Chair Douglas R. Holroyd said. “I don’t see the school board...I don’t see the PTA...I don’t see signs in front of the schools saying yes” to a sales tax increase, he said.

“If we’re going to get this, it’s going to be a team effort,” added Vice Chair Thomas G. Shepperd Jr. “...the public will be looking to our school board members to say, wow, do you really need this?”

But school leaders seem reluctant to publicly make a hard sell for the increase, opting to frame the issue for voters and explain how a tax increase would help schools.

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Early voting begins Friday for November elections that will decide who represents our local congressional district, who will sit on the Williamsburg City Council, and who will represent us in the U.S. Senate.

York County residents will be asked if they approve of raising the sales tax by up to 1 percentage point to pay for school buildings.

Also on the ballot are three proposed constitutional amendments: One would expand abortion rights, another would allow ex-felons to regain voting rights and change the definition of who is mentally competent to vote, and the third would repeal the state ban on same-sex marriage. You can compare the actual wording of the amendments with the question found on the ballot by clicking on the comparison charts below.

The abortion amendment is already under legal attack from plaintiffs who say it does not explicitly protect parental rights to approve abortions for their underage daughters. Proponents of the amendment say it cannot supersede existing parental consent laws. As with this year’s ill-fated redistricting attempt, the legal fight may well continue past the November vote.

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Friday, Sept. 11

Williamsburg City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve a contract to build a new downtown library at a projected cost of $37.2 million, saying the project was a better solution to the growing pains of the decades-old facility on Scotland Street than renovation.

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Williamsburg City Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve a contract to build a new downtown library at a projected cost of $37.2 million, saying the project was a better solution to the growing pains of the decades-old facility on Scotland Street than renovation.

Council members voted to award the contract for the new 50,000-square-foot library to Hourigan Construction Corporation. Construction is slated to begin next April and finish in the summer of 2028.

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Lower income elderly and disabled James City County residents are getting an additional cut to their real estate tax bill this year.

County Supervisors unanimously approved increasing the real estate deduction for qualified residents from $150,000 to $200,000 at their meeting Tuesday night.

Commissioner of the Revenue Richard Bradshaw said the change would go into effect for December’s tax bill and estimated it would cost the county as much as $628,000 in revenue.

County Administrator Scott Stevens said the county could absorb the cost by trimming other expenses.

To qualify for the exemption, the taxpayer must be over 65 or totally disabled, with a household income of less than $55,000 a year and total assets – not including their home – of less than $200,000.

The supervisors were ready to approve the change at their July meeting but were told by the county attorney they needed to advertise a public hearing on the matter.

Because the supervisors did not meet last month, Sept.8 was the first date they could vote on the change. No one spoke at the public hearing.

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In a surprise development, the applicants for the proposed Cardinal Ridge project abandoned their application for rezoning. The news broke just before it was to come up for a public hearing at Tuesday’s James City County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Dozens of residents who had come to protest the development clapped and cheered when Board Chair John J. McGlennon announced at the beginning of the meeting that the proposal had been withdrawn.

D.R. Horton, a national mega developer, had sought rezoning for up to 1,066 homes and a commercial center on 365 acres of surplus Eastern State Hospital land, off Ironbound Road across from the new county government center.

“The applicant for Cardinal Ridge has withdrawn their application, so we will not be hearing that case tonight,” McGlennon announced at the start of the board meeting. We could not immediately reach a representative for the applicant for comment.

Opponents led by county resident Harr Fahl, who lives at The Mews neighborhood, have been lobbying intensely against the project since early this year.

In an effort to make the project more attractive, Horton offered to reduce the number of homes to 770 and set aside 38% of them as affordable housing.

But that was not enough to appease the protesters, who showed up in large numbers at Tuesday’s meeting armed with signs against Cardinal Ridge.

“The citizens of James City County spoke loudly and with conviction,” an elated Fahl said after the announcement was made. “Many thanks to the residents of James City County for their belief in the power of the people.”

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Local law enforcement chiefs are taking various approaches to deal with growing public concern about the use of license plate reader cameras to track their vehicles.

Since July, at least 20 Virginia local governments have pulled away from Flock Safety devices, Cardinal News reports. A Republican state senator wants to ban them across the state. Local governments have been grappling with citizen complaints about their privacy and concerns about who has access to information.

Locally, the response has been varied:

• York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery, a strong proponent of Flock’s safety benefits, invited the public to a town hall this Thursday to explain how Flock works and clear up what he said is false information

• William & Mary Police Chief Don Butler said campus police stopped automatically sharing data with outside law enforcement agencies Aug. 27, moving instead to a case-by-case review process

• James City County police cut the time they retain data on the automated license plate recognition (ALPR) system from the 21-day limit allowed by Virginia law to 14 days, the Williamsburg Independent reported. That period is still longer than the seven-day retention period recommended by Flock Safety

Flock Safety, based in Atlanta, says it services more than 6,000 police departments with technology that it says keeps the public safe without violating privacy.

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Notice to readers: We hope you have a happy Labor Day! We will not publish on Monday, and because of the time difference on the West Coast, where we will be attending an online publishers’ meeting, we will be pushing back our daily updates to noon next week instead of early morning.

Friday, Sept. 4

Faced with a crowd of Grove residents complaining they’d been blindsided by the plan, a group seeking to open a treatment facility for up to 200 drug addicts asked to defer their application until they could talk to neighbors.

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