Forecasters said the region could see its first inch of snow for the season late Tuesday night and Wednesday.
A storm system coming from the Great Plains will move into the region Tuesday night and affect the area for most of Wednesday, exiting the region Wednesday night.
Forecasters expect cold air overhead for the duration of the storm, which could lead to at least a wintry mix or snow. Forecasters said that those who live north of Washington, D.C., will see more significant amounts of snow. Overall, the region has a 30 to 40 percent chance of seeing snowfall during the coming storm, they added.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm will move from southwest to northeast and should affect significant portions of the area by rush hour Wednesday morning. With a forecasted high temperature of 40 degrees, any snow should turn to rain by the afternoon.
Additional snowflakes could fall across the region before 10 p.m. Wednesday. In its wake, the storm will leave behind sunny skies and cold 40-degree temperatures on Thursday.
As for weather-related government school closures, Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. LaTanya McDade announced a new “code orange” designation for the state’s second-largest school division. The school division will use the label during inclement weather, instructing students not to go to school buildings for classes but to log on to their laptop computers to learn from home for the day.
The division’s Code Red label designates a full closure of schools for the day, and is a favorite among teachers and students. It used the code liberally under former Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts, who retired earlier this year.
Code Red will now be used only during extreme weather, which causes utility outages, hampering internet usage at home, McDade added. Schools will close for the day.
In Stafford County, teachers and students are also getting used to a new school delay and closure classification system. Newly-introduced Code III indicates students should stay home and use laptops for virtual learning for the day, while teachers should report to work by 10 a.m.
Emergency and administrative staff should report to school buildings under Codes I and II, respectively. A newly-introduced Code Zero will be used during extreme weather, indicating everyone should stay home, and schools will close for the day.
City employee vaccine push: A financial push to get Manassas city employees vaccinated against COVID-19 has netted just a 68% vaccination rate among staffers. [Insidenova.com]
Stafford road bond projects move forward: County voters approved a $50 million bond referendum in 2019 that opened the door for eight road projects and another 35 projects focused on widening and safety improvements. [Fredericksburg.com]
Generous donation: Home Depot in Haymarket presented American Legion Post 1799 with a $1,000 gift to support Post activities. [American Legion Post 1799]
Top honors: Stafford High School’s 2021 festival play, “The Secret in the Wings,” had an outstanding showing at the Virginia Theatre Association (VTA) Conference last month. All aspects of the production were recognized with top honors for individual and group achievements to include Best Play, Best Actress, two All-Star Cast acting awards, and Outstanding Technical Merit. [Stafford County Public Schools]
Record pardons: Gov. Ralph Northam set a record when he pardoned nearly 700 prisoners. He says he’ll take it slow in his last days when it comes to more. [Virignia Mercury]
The preceding post is a round of stories posted to local and state news websites and press releases emailed to us. Please email your news for inclusion in this post.
Traffic stops on I-95: Drivers traveling through Stafford County during the overnight hours next week should know about upcoming roadwork that could delay their trip. [Virginia Department of Transportation]
Go Stafford: The Stafford County Department of Economic Development and Tourism launched a new version of its website, gostaffordva.com. The redesigned site focuses on communicating the benefits of locating or expanding businesses in Stafford County. [Stafford County Government]
Live marathon to return: The Marine Corps Historic Half Weekend will return live and in-person to Fredericksburg in 2022, on May 20 through 22. Runners can celebrate by registering now for the Marine Corps Historic Half (MCHH), Semper 5ive, or Devil Dog Double. [Marine Corps Marathon]
Christmastime in Prince William: Multiple businesses and non-profit agencies in Prince William County scheduled holiday events this year. The county’s Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department compiled a complete event listing. [Prince William County Government]
Expanded toll lanes: Virginia is studying extending express lanes in the 11 mile stretch from the Interstate 95/I-395 interchange in Springfield along the southern part of the Beltway, across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, into Maryland, near National Harbor. [WTOP]
More than 50 children will each pair with a police officer and set off to shop for Christmas gifts.
Santa Cops will return to Woodbridge at 7 a.m. Saturday, December 4, as about 85 officers from police departments in Prince William County, Dumfries, deputies from the county’s Sheriff’s Office, and Virginia State Police troopers meet at Walmart on Worth Avenue next to Potomac Mills mall to spread holiday cheer.
Once paired with a cop, each child gets $175 to shop for Christmas gifts for themselves, family members, and friends. Many of them underprivileged, teachers from the county’s public schools choose to select the children for participation in the program.
“You would be surprised at what they buy,” said Roselee Bielec, a volunteer from the Fraternal Order of Police Battlefield Lodge 43 near Manassas, a coordinator of the event for 30 years. “It’s not just toys and video games.”
Many children put bedsheets and clothes into the shopping cart. As it is the only time the children can shop, many also purchase gifts for parents, said Bielec.
At the end of the shopping trip, children will ride with officers in police cars, lights and sirens activated, to the nearby Outback Steakhouse for a pancake breakfast donated by the restaurant.
Next week on Saturday, December 11, police officers from Manassas and Manassas Park cities and FBI members will join the fun when Santa Cops takes a new group of about 50 children shopping at a Walmart at Manassas Mall. Each year, the charity holds Santa Cops events on the east and west sides of Prince William County to better serve children’s needs and help increase the participation of police officers who volunteer their time to help children.
Between both events, Santa Cops helps more than 100 children in the community. Each year, generous donors make the Santa Cops event possible. Donors may choose to give during the event at either Walmart store or mail a check to the Battlefield Charitible Foundation, Inc., PO Box 195, Woodbridge, Va., 22194.
“This a time of year when we can block out all of the negativity in the world, take a step back, and look at the smile on a child’s face,” said Bielec. “It’s a great, worthwhile event.”
[Updated Monday, December 6] Police are in search of three men connected to this incident. Authorities released the following update on the case.
On December 3 at 2:49PM, officers responded to the 2700 block of Yosocomico Ln. in Woodbridge (22191) to investigate a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located shell casings in the area of Yosocomico Ln. and Nanticoke Ln. While investigating the incident, officers were informed that a 21-year- old man was at a residence on Jed Forest Ln. with a gunshot wound.
The initial investigation revealed that the man was sitting in a vehicle on Yosocomico Ln., when he observed three unknown men approach the vehicle. When the man exited the vehicle, the suspects fired several rounds, striking the man as he fled the area.
The man ran to the above residence where emergency services were contacted. The man was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspects fled the area on foot. A police K-9 searched the area for the suspects who were not located.
While canvassing the area, officers located two occupied apartments and two unoccupied vehicles that sustained damage consistent with being struck by projectiles. No additional injuries were reported. This incident does not appear to be random. The investigation continues.
Suspect Descriptions:
Three black men, all between 20-30 years of age, one was last seen wearing a black jacket, black pants, and multi-colored sneakers; the second was last seen wearing a white/black jacket, black pants, and black sneakers; and the third was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and black sneakers
Original post: Police are investigating a shooting in Woodbridge.
Before 3:30 p.m. today, police said someone in the Yosocomico Lane, just off Powell’s Creek Boulevard in the Powells Creek area, had suffered a gunshot injury.
Expect a heavy police presence in the area over the next few hours, police said.
Emergency crews took the victim to a hospital. Details are scarce, and we’ll post more information when we have it.
The Rose invited residents to chime in on its plans to build a new outdoor part next to its coming 305-room hotel and gaming resort.
The project’s developers will host a town hall meeting online via Zoom at 7 p.m. December 8, to discuss the new park. Participants should RSVP for the meeting to receive information for the Zoom call.
Developers will build the hotel and gaming resort atop the Potomac Landfill, a construction debris waste heap between Interstate 95 and Route 1. Developers plan to make the park on about 80 acres of unbuildable land, next to the hotel and gaming resort.
The Dumfries Town Council approved the gaming resort in September, despite concerns about traffic congestion from residents nearby and the Prince Wiliam County Department of Transportation.
The busy intersection of Routes 1 and 234, near I-95, must be reconfigured to accommodate drivers headed to the hotel. Today, the county does not have the funds to complete the project, and there is no guarantee the developer, who is on the hook to rebuild the intersection, will be held accountable, a county spokesman said in September.
The new hotel will bring an estimated 24,500 more cars to the area when it opens in 2023. The resort will include nearly 2,000 video slot machines, restaurants, a theater, and a 2,500-space parking garage.
In January, Colonial Downs, the same firm that will operate The Rose, opened Rosies Gaming Emporium at the Triangle Shopping Center in Dumfries. Featuring video slot machines and a restaurant, the facility accommodates about 175 people.
The man boarded a Fredericksburg Regional Transit bus at the Stafford County Courthouse about 12:30 p.m., refused to pay, then refused to exit the bus, a sheriff’s spokeswoman states.
The man claimed to keep a gun in his pocket, she adds. Deputies surrounded the busy courthouse, the county government center and negotiated with the man on the bus. Eventually, deputies used a taser to subdue the man and arrest him, said a spokeswoman.
Afterward, business at the courthouse returned to normal. Deputies took the suspect for a mental evaluation, a spokeswoman added.
Deputies searched the man and did not find a gun.
Bus drivers charge riders a standard $1.25 one-way fare. The address of the courthouse is 1300 Courthouse Road in Stafford.
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Superintendent Dr. Latanya McDade announced a new snow day policy, introducing a Code Orange classification to the color-coded system the division uses to indicate the severity of weather-related closures. When McDade issues a Code Orange alert, school buildings will be closed for the day due to hazardous outdoor conditions that would hamper children’s safe travel to and from school.
Instead of going to school, the division will require students to log on to a laptop from home to complete independent coursework, called asynchronous learning. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, all students attended classes online after Gov. Ralph Northam shuttered public school buildings.
The division won’t require teachers to work on Code Orange days this year. However, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, McDade will require teachers to provide live instruction when she issues a Code Orange alert.
Overall, the new orange alert replaces one and two-hour delays, which the division phased out with this move. “Due to the ongoing national shortage of bus drivers, [Prince William County Public Schools] continues to have a number of double and triple bus runs. These runs make it logistically impracticable to have delayed openings,” McDade states.
The government school division will continue to issue Code Red alerts, said McDade. However, “Code Red Days” will be fewer and far between and most commonly given when weather conditions cause utility outages, making it impossible for students and teachers to work from home.
At the onset of the pandemic, school divisions across the state made strides to provide new and used laptop computers to children who state leaders forced to learn from home. “We have also made significant investments in technology support for our students, teachers, and staff,” says McDade.
Last month, the County School Board approved the division’s 2022-23 calendar. Students will begin the year before Labor Day, something the division began in 2019. The school year ends June 15, 2023, and includes “two full weeks for winter break and incorporates additional holidays that reflect the diversity of the PWCS community.”
About 89,000 children attend Prince William County Public Schools, about 3,000 fewer than before the pandemic. It’s the second-largest government school division in the state.
In March 2020, Virginia was the first state in the U.S. to close schools for the coronavirus. Initially, Northam ordered a two-week shutdown of public schools.
The move sent school divisions scrambling to purchase new and used laptop computers for students to use a home. While county school administrators allowed children back into school buildings for a hybrid schedule this time last year, the majority of students at Prince William’s government schools returned to the classroom this past August.
On August 26, the Virginia Department of Education released the long-awaited Standards of Learning test results. After nearly a year of remote learning, as many expected, most students performed poorly.
“Virginia’s 2020-2021 SOL test scores tell us what we already knew–students need to be in the classroom without disruption to learn effectively,” Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane stated in a press release. “The connections, structures, and supports our school communities provide are irreplaceable, and many students did not have access to in-person instruction for the full academic year. We must now focus on unfinished learning and acceleration to mitigate the impact the pandemic has had on student results.”
Since students’ returned to the classroom five days a week, the school division continues to focus on tutoring children to make up for the lost instructional time.
