Large Confederate flag along I-95 in Stafford Co. draws criticism once again

By The Associated Press
July 20, 2020 | 11:38 AM

FALMOUTH, Va. — A Confederate flag that hangs from an 80-foot pole along I-95 in Virginia is once again drawing the ire of some local residents.

The Free Lance-Star reported Saturday that residents spoke out against the flag at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting in Stafford County. The latest criticism of the flag follows the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.

But the flag has been criticized since it first went up in the town of Falmouth in 2014.

County officials have said they can’t legally do anything because the flag is on private property. But a state lawmaker said he’ll ask Virginia’s Attorney General about what can be done.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

By Heather Gustafson
August 21, 2026 | 10:05 PM

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.

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