The Stauntonian: Volume 1, Issue 28 | Storms, Statlers & Sticker Shock
A thunderstorm pushes the 250th’s fireworks to nearly 11 p.m. Sunday’s deluge floods Gypsy Hill Park. And a Dominion email means about $8 more a month, with a bigger number waiting in the wings.
This Week at a Glance
The Queen City got its 250th birthday party, but Mother Nature demanded a seat at the table. A Saturday evening storm shoved the Moxie Stadium concerts back nearly two hours and the fireworks toward midnight, testing the patience of every parent with a sleeping toddler in a stroller. Then Sunday night dumped two inches of rain on Staunton in half an hour, put water across Gypsy Hill Park, and flooded a fire station in Churchville. Somewhere in between, Dominion’s email arrived to explain why the power bill is going up. It was that kind of week: memorable, loud, and slightly more expensive.
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Lead Stories
Storms Bent the 250th. They Didn’t Break It.
Staunton’s biggest Fourth of July in a generation came with weather written into the program. The News Leader reports that a Saturday evening storm rolled through Gypsy Hill Park with rain, thunder, lightning, and wind, delaying the Moxie Memorial Stadium concerts by nearly two hours and sending much of the audience scrambling for cars and shelter, though a hardy contingent rode it out under umbrellas in their lawn chairs. The disruption was no small thing regionally: WHSV reported that the storm cluster, severe-warned as it made a close pass of Staunton, snapped trees and damaged power lines as it pushed north through Augusta County, leaving thousands without power into the overnight hours.
The music recovered what it could. Rockbridge County native SJ McDonald had her afternoon set cut down by the weather, telling the News Leader, “We played six or seven songs for Staunton and that’s better than none.” Jack and Davis Reid restarted the evening once organizers gave the all-clear, and the night built to something genuinely historic: Jimmy Fortune’s first performance at Moxie Stadium in 32 years, a return the former Statler Brothers tenor filled with both Statler classics and his own material, per the News Leader.
The delay carried a cost, and residents said so. Fireworks promised for around 10 p.m. in the city’s advisory didn’t light the sky until roughly 11, nearly an hour late on top of an evening that already ran long. Critics on social media, as the News Leader reported, faulted organizers and the city for poor communication about the slipping schedule, arguing that parents plan around a published fireworks time and that an hour’s uncertainty means exhausted kids and families debating whether to give up and drive home. Some did leave before the finale. It’s a fair note for the all-volunteer nonprofit to carry into next year: the storm was nobody’s fault, but the silence about the new timeline was a choice.
The ledger still lands in the black. City tourism director Samantha Johnson told WHSV that businesses are reporting stronger foot traffic and more money through the door over the holiday weekend, with reports still coming in, saying “the people that gathered were so happy.” One downtown shop owner told WHSV that opening on the Fourth pays off precisely because the park festivities run late in the day, giving visitors somewhere to spend before the show. Event president Andrew Deitz had told WHSV before the holiday that the roughly 25-volunteer nonprofit plans year-round for the event that once drew crowds topping 100,000 in the Statler Brothers era. For the story of how a quiet park and four hometown singers built the whole tradition, our People & Culture piece How Staunton Became America’s Fourth of July Town has the history.
Sunday’s Deluge Tested the Valley. The Floodplain Passed. A Firehouse Didn’t.
The holiday weekend’s second storm did its damage with water. Staunton took two inches of rain in roughly 30 minutes Sunday night, and photos of a flooded Gypsy Hill Park spread across social media, prompting worried residents to ask whether something had gone wrong, per WHSV. The city’s answer: the park did exactly what it was built to do. Environmental programs administrator Willow Hughes explained that the area by the baseball field sits in a floodplain designed to hold storm water so it doesn’t rush downstream, and downtown is downstream. Water pooling in the park during a major storm means “less water downtown, which is a good thing,” Hughes said. The city is addressing minor sidewalk erosion from the event and has installed new rain gauges to improve public flood alerts, WHSV reported.
Augusta County took a harder hit. The same storm clogged two storm drains directly in front of the Churchville Volunteer Fire & Rescue station with wind-blown debris, and the backup sent what officials called an unprecedented amount of water off the roadway and into the building, according to Rocktown Now. A weather station in Churchville recorded more than four inches of rain, most of it inside a single hour, per WHSV. Career and volunteer personnel worked through the night pumping water out, a restoration company was called in, and Augusta County career staff relocated overnight to the Swoope Volunteer Fire Company. The department stressed that emergency services never stopped: crews kept answering calls throughout.
The timing gives Staunton’s own planning effort a sharper edge. The city is building a Flood Resiliency Plan and has invited residents to a listening session Monday, July 14, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Staunton Public Library, along with an online survey for those who can’t attend. Anyone who watched Lewis Creek’s tunnels come apart after 2020, or watched their street pond over on Sunday, now has a venue for that story. Our Local History piece A Hundred and Seventy Years of the Same Problem explains why this conversation is older than anyone attending it.
That Email From Dominion
If you’re a Dominion Energy Virginia customer, an email landed in your inbox recently with the subject line energy companies use when the news isn’t good. The plain version: effective July 1, the fuel portion of your bill went up, about $8 a month for a typical home using 1,000 kilowatt-hours. Dominion’s notice says the charge covers the cost of producing electricity and buying power from other providers, passed through without markup, and it points customers toward energy alerts and Budget Billing to soften the swing.
What the email doesn’t say is that $8 is the optimistic number. Dominion put two scenarios in front of state regulators this spring, according to Cardinal News. Paying off the new fuel costs plus a $1.078 billion backlog of old ones in a single year would raise the typical bill by $21.79 a month. The alternative, which Dominion favors, holds the increase near $8 by financing the old costs over a decade, adding an estimated $1.80 a month for 10 years starting next year. Regulators placed the smaller number into effect on an interim basis for July 1, with an evidentiary hearing set for August 11 to settle which path stands, per a case analysis of the SCC’s interim order. Much of that billion-dollar backlog traces to a brutal arctic stretch in January, when Dominion had to buy expensive fuel and wholesale power to keep the heat on, Cardinal News reported.
The fuel charge also stacks on top of what came earlier. Base rates rose $11.24 a month in January after the State Corporation Commission approved Dominion’s first base rate increase since 1992, with another $2.36 arriving in 2027, according to Cardinal News. Put together, the typical residential bill carries roughly $19 more in structural charges than it did at New Year’s, before summer air conditioning adds its own line. The same regulatory case created a new rate class for data centers and other massive power users beginning in 2027, requiring 14-year commitments meant to keep the cost of Virginia’s server-farm boom from landing on households. Whether that firewall holds is the question consumer advocates keep pressing. Dominion’s assistance programs, including Budget Billing and income-qualified help, are collected at the company’s site.
Quick Hits
City Hall goes quiet. Staunton City Council canceled its July 9 meeting, one of two summer cancellations councilmembers chose back in March, and the Augusta County Board of Supervisors skipped July 8, as is its custom for the month’s first meeting. Council returns July 23, the News Leader reports.
Dump runs cost more now. The Augusta Regional Landfill raised its tipping fees effective July 1, per Augusta County.
Flaggers on Churchville Avenue. VDOT crews are running flagger traffic control on Route 250 between the Staunton city line and Waynesboro for pipe flushing, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays this week, and utility work has Parkersburg Turnpike under flagger control through July 31, per the Staunton District traffic alert.
Out & About
The holiday is over, but the park stays loud on a schedule.
Stonewall Brigade Band, Mondays
The band that opened the Fourth’s festivities keeps its own summer residency going Monday nights at 7:30 at the Gypsy Hill Park bandstand, per Visit Staunton. Free, outdoors, and older than every act it shares a stage with.
Praise in the Park, Tuesdays
The privately sponsored summer concert series continues Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9, also at Gypsy Hill Park, per Visit Staunton.
‘Lightworkers’ at the Visulite, July 18
The Democratic Party committees of Augusta County, Staunton, and Waynesboro are hosting a free screening of the documentary “Lightworkers” at the Visulite Cinema on Saturday, July 18, at 10:30 a.m., with a discussion to follow, per Augusta Free Press.
Blackfriars Playhouse
The summer repertory rolls on at the Blackfriars Playhouse in its 25th anniversary season, with As You Like It and Our Town trading nights through the weekend. One sends Rosalind into the forest to fall in love sideways; the other watches an ordinary town add up to everything. Dates and tickets sit at the ASC calendar, 10 S. Market St.
River Watch
The rivers felt Sunday night before anyone read about it. Two inches of rain in half an hour over Staunton, and more than four inches in an hour at Churchville, sent runoff surging through every creek and drainage in the area, per WHSV’s flooding coverage. A pulse like that changes a river’s character for days: higher water, faster current, murk where there was clarity. After a low, flat late June on the South River, some recharge was arguably overdue, but anglers and paddlers should treat this as a new week on the water. Check the USGS gauge near Waynesboro for the current stage before wading or launching, and give muddy, pushy water the respect it asks for.
The Sneeze Index
Middling air, easy sneezing. Staunton’s air quality index sat in the 50s Thursday morning, low Moderate territory with fine particulates as the dominant pollutant, per Weather Underground and AirNow-based trackers. Sensitive lungs should keep hard outdoor efforts to the morning. Pollen remains Low per IQAir, with tree season done and grass counts modest. Sunday’s rain rinsed the air on its way through, one small courtesy from an otherwise rude storm.
The Weekly Pump
The holiday slide has stalled. AAA’s Virginia average for regular stood at $3.74 Thursday morning, per AAA’s state tracker, a tick up after five straight weeks of declines carried prices down through the Fourth. GasBuddy’s analysts note the national average hit roughly $3.74 for the holiday itself, the third most expensive Independence Day on record but well off May’s $4.57 peak, and they warn that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are tightening global fuel supply enough to limit further drops, per WSLS. The spread across the region still runs wide, so GasBuddy remains the cheapest habit in your phone.
Real Estate Watch
A quiet week before a loud one. Virginia REALTORS publishes its June statewide report around mid-month, and we’ll bring the full market read next issue. The May picture remains the latest official word: 10,940 closed sales across the Commonwealth, a median price of $452,060, and inventory up nearly 10 percent year over year, per the Virginia REALTORS May report. Staunton keeps running cheaper than the state at large, with Redfin’s latest local read putting the city’s median sale price around $286,000. For specific recent sales, consult a local agent with MLS access.
Who’s Hiring
Staunton City Schools, Elementary Teacher. McSwain Elementary is still taking applications for the 2026-27 year, but the window closes Friday, July 10 at 11:59 p.m. The 200-day contract starts in late July with a salary range of $54,147 to $88,139 on the 2026-27 scale, per the city and schools portal.
City of Staunton, Utility Service Clerk. Public Works wants someone for clerical and technical work maintaining the city’s computerized utility account files and processing payments. Apply through the city’s jobs portal.
Staunton Parks & Recreation, Referees and Umpires. The city is taking applications for part-time officials for its adult soccer and softball leagues. Applications go through the city’s jobs portal.
The Stauntonian is independent local journalism for the Queen City. Questions, tips, or a story we should be chasing? Write to Brad at brad@stauntonian.com.