In case you missed them, Crystal Graham prepared a roundup of her top stories from 2025 on Augusta Free Press.
The stories she selected focus on a wide array of issues including homelessness, Flock cameras, mental health, business, food and housing insecurity, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants and ongoing coverage of Trump’s America.
Scroll down for links to original stories she wrote in 2025. You may also find her full archive of stories here.
News
- Staunton to cancel Flock Safety camera contract, citing issues with ideology of CEO
- Staunton | Are police, ICE using Flock license plate cameras to spy on you?
- Beth Macy faces tough crowd in Waynesboro, first stop on listening tour
- Mary Baldwin spokesperson: Steps to restructure for long term ‘have fallen short’
- Waynesboro: Elementary school student allegedly had notebook with kill list
- Waynesboro pastor: Unhoused need to be seen and heard, not dismissed as ‘scary’
- Rockbridge County: Natural Bridge Zoo owner reports to jail for 100-day sentence
- ‘Shame on UVA’: Student producer fired for asking hard questions of interim president
- Roanoke: Author Beth Macy has faith Democrats can win back rural America
- Waynesboro: Church turnout shows people want to help homeless, not send them away
- Waynesboro | Neighbors disagree with couple’s efforts to push homeless out
- At risk? Tree Streets couple want homeless out of their Waynesboro neighborhood
- Albemarle County | HART team delivers alternative to jail, ER for those in crisis
- Waynesboro | Grieving father advocates for bicycle safety to honor his late daughter, Robyn
- Staunton | Habitat built her home; she’s still fighting to break out of poverty
- Justice for Valentine: Giraffe seized from Natural Bridge Zoo dies during transport
- Augusta County: As $16.5M crisis center eyes groundbreaking, neighbors raise issue
- Waynesboro: Fate of $36M natural history museum hinges on state funding
- Augusta County: Childcare center shut down by state; families desperate for alternatives
- Augusta County: Pride Day at county library cancelled by Board of Supervisors
- Politics at play? Augusta County author has Facebook page permanently suspended
- Mental health professionals in demand; concern majority ‘graying out’ of workforce
- Ten days, $15K later, Augusta County couple are victims of sweepstakes scam
- Waynesboro: Retiree planned to enjoy property along the river, city invokes eminent domain
- Crozet shooter’s family says system failed him; CSB says it can be ‘a confusing process’
- Crozet shooter: He was paranoid, schizophrenic, fighting his own mind, sister says
- Waynesboro: Natural history museum delayed; ‘unable to secure’ construction funding
- Meeting the moment: Kenny Lee proud to be first African American mayor in Waynesboro
- Not in my backyard: Neighbors oppose mental health crisis center in Augusta County
- Waynesboro: $15M trail project aims to connect Sunset Park to Crozet tunnel, SNP, AT
- Experts: Nonprofit boards have opportunity to learn from United Way, Habitat for Humanity
- New executive director at Habitat for Humanity looks at 2025 with fresh set of eyes
- Staunton: Habitat for Humanity ‘survives’ tumultuous year with exit of executive director
Entertainment
- Andrew Hypes, fresh off tour with Justin Timberlake, hasn’t forgotten his hometown
- Waynesboro | Tonic ready to rock The Foundry, ‘no stranger to small towns’
- Waynesboro: The Foundry finds its groove booking nostalgic bands from the ’90s
- Two entrepreneurs look to revive nightlife in Staunton with launch of The Box
- Waynesboro: Stone Soup Books begins new chapter in downtown location
- Waynesboro: 200 drones to create an airborne ‘storytelling experience’ for spectators
- Planting the seed: Staunton flower farmer discovers magic in gardening during COVID
- Bartender, drag queen finds home in Staunton, aka the ‘Queen City’
- Waynesboro: Everclear’s Art Alexakis talks politics, ’90s rock and roll, mental health
Business
- ‘Bittersweet’ news: Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant to close permanently on Christmas Eve
- ‘No longer having fun’: Liberty Mills Farm abruptly closes pumpkin patch, corn maze
- Coffee wars? Micah’s buys land in Waynesboro, 200 feet from Kline’s planned espresso bar
- Waynesboro: Webber Payne embraces change of pace after closing downtown flower shop
Trump’s America
- Former CIA analyst: Case against Afghan arrested in Waynesboro ‘troubling’
- Local airports not showing partisan TSA video amid government shutdown
- Harrisonburg: Immigrants rounded up by ICE were covered in dirt, appeared scared
- Waynesboro: Food pantry says clients ‘have no idea’ of pending federal cuts
- Augusta Health, Valley Community Services Board brace for impact of Medicaid cuts
- Waynesboro: City manager concedes it’s no longer ‘business as usual’ under Trump
- Plain clothes, masks, unmarked vehicles: ICE agents target immigrants in Virginia
- Albemarle County: Authorities working to maintain the trust of immigrant communities
- Future of 988 Lifeline? Concern that substance abuse prevention, mental health cuts looming
- ‘Unneeded fear and hardship on rural America’: USDA releases some IRA funds to farmers
- ‘Little to no hope’: USDA reimbursement paused for Augusta County farmer
- Farmers ‘in a tough spot’ due to challenges, chaos caused by Trump administration
- ‘Business as usual’: Waynesboro, Staunton weigh in on ‘uncertainty’ of federal funding
- Community braces for impact of federal funding freeze on nonprofits, services
- Safe havens: Virginia schools scramble to calm fears of immigrant families, students
- Venezuelan family legally in the U.S.: ‘For most people, we are criminals’
- Shenandoah LGBTQ Center: ‘We know that many are scared and uncertain’
- Albemarle County schools comfort immigrant community after raids nationwide instill fear
- What’s wrong with you America? Yes, I am angry you voted for Donald Trump
Related: 2023-24 top stories
- Crystal Graham: Top stories in 2024 focused on animals, mental health, housing
- By the numbers: The top news and sports stories of 2024 from #teamAFP
- Crystal Graham: Top 2023 stories focused on animal welfare, affordable housing, mental health
- A look back: The top news and sports stories of 2023 from #teamAFP
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