The Year in Review!
Good morning! To mark our first full year of Williamsburg Watch, we selected what we consider the 10 most important news stories of the year. Plus -- home sales drop in November.
Top local stories of 2025:
#1: Democrats spend multimillions to sweep the 69th and 71st House of Delegates seats.
Virginia and New Jersey were the only states with statewide elections this year, and our local Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates benefitted from the flood of money that poured in to win full control of the state legislature and the gubernatorial, lieutenant governor and attorney general seats.
Democrats Jessica Anderson and Mark Downey overturned the incumbent Republicans in the 71st and 69th house districts that represent the Historic Triangle.
They poured twice as much money into their campaigns as the Republicans – a total of $5.173 million, or $119 for every vote they won.
Incumbents Amanda Batten and Chad Green spent $2.45 million between them, or about $63.40 for every vote they captured.
Voter turnout in James City County rivaled the turnout in the last presidential election, a rarity in local races, according to numbers from Director of Elections Dianna S. Moorman.
#2: Williamsburg, James City County end two years of squabbling to sign joint school agreement.
After two years of negotiations, the two localities and the Williamsburg-James City County School Board signed a new operating agreement for the 55-year old joint school system in October.
The city and county agreed to increase their school funding by more than $6 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That money comes with increased scrutiny from the local governments on how students perform, and budgets will be adjusted based on student results.
#3: Williamsburg -James City County’s subpar 3d grade reading results
Speaking of accountability, third grade reading skills, considered critical for future academic success, dropped to 67% for students in the Williamsburg-James City County Schools in tests administered last year. Third graders in York County fared significantly better, at 85%.
W-JCC School Superintendent Daniel Keever, who took office in June, is pushing to reach the 85% pass rate by 2028. The schools have launched a comprehensive reading plan that includes an enhanced curriculum, more reading specialists, and tracking progress regularly to intervene when a student goes off track, school officials said.
#4: Going up this year – taxes and spending
Our father-in-law loved to quip, when asked what was up, “Taxes and alimony”. Our readers stand to see more increases in everything from meals taxes to real estate taxes, depending on where they live.
James City County and York County will begin mailing out real estate assessments next year that should show double-digit increases.
York County taxpayers received an $8.4 million tax increase in real estate and property taxes this year. The upcoming assessments will show real estate values have gone up another 10-13%, said 5th District Representative Thomas G. Shepperd.
James City County eliminated a one-time tax credit last year designed to ease in the pain of a 21% growth in average assessments. County Administrator Scott Stevens told Williamsburg Watch he expects assessments will grow at about the same pace as York, and that he favors lowering the tax rate to reduce the bite.
Williamsburg has been seeing annual tax increases as its real estate values grow. It has scheduled a meeting Jan. 8 to vote on two controversial proposals: increasing the meals tax by 30%, from 5% to 6.5%, and a new 10% tax on admission to events.
#5: Construction programs on the move
Some of your taxes will fuel continued government construction projects next year.
James City County continues work on its controversial government center and library annex, whose final cost will not be known until next spring. Preliminary estimates capped the government center’s maximum cost at $179 million, and the library annex is expected to cost $25 million or more. These costs don’t include furniture and fixtures.
Williamsburg City Council approved design work for its new downtown library to obtain a binding maximum price from its contractor. Hourigan Construction Corp.’s initial estimate is $26.1 million.
Even York County, which has been conservative in its building projects, is getting into the act. County Supervisors plan to replace both the courthouse and the county administration building, at a cost estimated by Shepperd at between $70 million to $95 million.
#6: Controversial school names to remain
James Blair Middle School and Magruder Elementary will retain their names, despite complaints from critics that they celebrate slaveholders.
The Williamsburg-James City County and the York County school boards passed on a name change after hearing from constituents in online polls that they did not favor changing the schools’ names.
James Blair is named after the founder of William & Mary and Bruton Parish Church, who was a slaveholder. There is disagreement on whether Magruder is named for a place or a person, but most critics believe it is named after the Confederate general who burned down Hampton to eliminate a safe haven for escaped slaves.
#7: Former JCC cop reaches plea bargain that spares jail time
Former James City County policeman Michael T. Rusk reached a plea bargain that spared him jail time for shooting his sergeant two years ago.
The 27-year-old accused Sgt. Christopher Gibson of sexual harassment and shot him after the two got into a drunken argument at the Brickhouse Tavern January 25, 2023. Gibson survived.
Rusk was sentenced to three years in jail, suspended, without probation. Rusk is still considering civil lawsuits against James City County and Riverside Hospital, which treated him the night of the shooting.
#8: Ignorance is not bliss
Last year’s news coverage made it clear how painfully ignorant many local residents are about what government is doing that affects them.
Although a redistricting plan has been discussed for two years at Williamsburg-James City County schools, a consulting firm that polled 2,300 families found 52% of them were unaware of it.
This is on the heels of angry public hearings on the James City County government complex, when speaker after speaker accused the county of secretly planning the project without notice.
In fact, talk of the government center began five years ago, when county officials decided they had outgrown their current government center at Mounts Bay Road and commissioned several studies.
Since that time, there have been no fewer than four dozen articles about the center in local news outlets, and the county has discussed the plans at 25 different public meetings. James City’s government web site has an entire section on the subject.
Former Daily Press and Virginia Gazette editor and publisher Marisa Porto told us news sources are highly fragmented, and too many people expect to be spoon-fed via their social media news feeds. Because the technology giants that control social media use algorithms that keep you hooked on a particular theme, what you have seen before, rather than giving you a balanced news diet. If you click on conservative news story, you’ll see more of them in your feed. If you click on a story with, left-wing politics, you’ll see that instead.
#9: School speeding cameras come to James City County
James City County placed cameras outside seven schools that are plagued with speeding drivers during school hours.
Drivers who speed when the school zone lights are flashing will have their offense recorded by cameras and receive a citation for $100.
#10: Counties enact data center and sex shop regulations
James City and York counties enacted new regulations to control the entry of any data center that may wish to operate here to minimize noise and disruptions to the water and electricity supplies.
The State Corporation Commission has authorized Dominion Power to charge data centers a higher rate than consumers pay and demand a minimum level of spending to pay for bringing them power.
The two counties also updated their zoning ordinances to restrict sexually oriented businesses.
Although neither county has a sex shop in operation, York county moved ahead of what they had learned might be an upcoming application from a potential operator. James City County supervisors subsequently approved a change to the zoning ordinances to define what a sexually oriented business is, limit them to specific business and industrial areas, and require a special use permit.
Home sales drop, prices rise in Historic Triangle
Home sales slowed last month in the Historic Triangle, and throughout Virginia, according to the Virginia Realtors group.
“The slight slowdown in sales activity we saw in November reflects a combination of typical seasonal patterns and uncertainty caused by the federal government shutdown and ongoing federal employment and contracting cuts in some of our larger regions,” says the group’s Chief Economist Ryan Price. “As delayed data has become available following the shutdown’s end on November 12, we’re gaining a clearer picture of current economic conditions.”
Sales slowed, but prices increased, in both James City County and Williamsburg. Sales and prices both declined slightly in York County.
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Passings
Patricia Frances Combs, 75, Dec. 25.
Janice K. Roberts, 89. Dec. 23