U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman wants the Defense Department to evaluate and report to Congress on how American military leaders in Afghanistan decide to release detainees. But Adam Cook, his Democratic opponent in this fall's election for the 1st District seat--who once helped make those decisions in Afghanistan--says Wittman is politicizing the issue and undercutting military leaders' authority....

Tuition at Germanna Community College will increase $5.50 per credit hour, or $16.50 for the average three-credit hour course, beginning this fall, the Virginia Community College System announced Thursday. "It pains us--and any community college--to see tuition increased," Germanna President David A. Sam said in a statement....

Thomas Hedlund, Kenneth Mossberg, Patrik Boyagi and Magnus Thunberg began playing soccer together when they were 8 years old. Except for their college years in the 1990s, the four friends from Gothenburg, Sweden, haven't been apart for an extended period of time since. They still meet once a week to play the game that initially brought them together....

A Fredericksburg woman claims she was rewarded for doing a good deed by being kicked and robbed, police said. According to city police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe, the incident occurred about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday after the victim found an iPhone next to the 7-Eleven on Lafayette Boulevard....

PEOPLE WHO LIVE near a recently shuttered Spotsylvania County sports bar have been walking by to see when their local gathering place will reopen. New owners Shakimah Torres and her fiance, Daren Washington, say they hope to get the ABC license for Hackers N Duffers in time to relaunch the golfing-themed restaurant at 4532 Plank Road on June 1....

The federal government has agreed to provide nearly $750,000 to repair earthquake damage at Salubria, the home built for the widow of Colonial Gov. Alexander Spotswood. The Germanna Foundation had already planned to restore the stately 1757 Georgian-style house before the magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck last Aug. 23....

IT IS finally here--Facebook Friday. To some, it is bigger than Super Bowl Sunday, a real chance to get rich....

Orange County brothers GW and Ben Plumb are semifinalists in a national contest for a handicapped-accessible vehicle. More than 1 million people submitted names of their local heroes and voted online during the first National Mobility Awareness Month....

Native Harvest Market is sponsoring its first Spring Fling Saturday.

One person was airlifted to the hospital Thursday following a collision involving a motorcycle on Ira Hoffman Lane.