Hospitals in our area are adapting to life after the pandemic, and at least one has resumed its normal visitation policy.
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge says it’s ready to welcome once again the visitors who wish to visit patients inside the hospital. Sentara will resume standard visitation policies for all Sentara hospitals and outpatient facilities.
All visitors, including those who are under the age of 12, are allowed to visit.
There are some exceptions for patients for having the coronavirus and those who are awaiting coronavirus test results. Those patients will not be allowed visitors, says the hospital.
The UVA Health Medical Centers in Haymarket and Manassas (formerly Novant/UVA Health) have not changed their visitation policy. Visitors are welcome from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Patients awaiting coronavirus test results and those who have tested positive may not receive guests. The health system last updated its policy in June.
At Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, hospital patients are allowed two guests from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Most patients are allowed to have two guests with them during the overnight hours.
Visitors under age 15 are not allowed to see patients.
The policy at all of the hospitals mentioned, visitors will be allowed to see coronavirus patients if they are at risk of death.
Gov. Ralph Northam’s state-of-emergency declaration ended on July 1, while a statewide mask mandate ended on May 30.
Stafford County
FRAUD
15 Salisbury Drive, Holiday Inn Express, 7/4, 7:46 a.m. In the overnight hours, the front desk employee was contacted by someone claiming to be the hotel owner. The caller told the employee he needed cash from the safe in order to pay a fine. The employee removed cash from the safe and attempted to make a transaction in order to transfer the money to the caller. The transaction was unsuccessful and the employee eventually determined the call was a scam.
10 Washington Square Plaza, Sheetz, 7/5, 10:09 p.m. A store employee reported two female suspects entered the store and approached the cashier’s counter. One of the females handed the cashier a $20 bill to pay for gas. The employee used a counterfeit bill detector marker on the bill and determined it was fake. The suspects then fled the store.
DUI
Sunnyside Drive & Jefferson Davis Highway, 7/3, 2:17 a.m. Deputy E.E. West stopped a vehicle for speeding. The driver, Brady Durham, 22, of Quantico, had glassy eyes and smelled of alcoholic beverages. Field sobriety tests were administered and Durham was arrested for driving under the influence. He was released on an unsecured bond.
INTOXICATED PERSON
Foreston Woods Drive & Jefferson Davis Highway, 7/3, 8:27 p.m. Deputy A.J. Deasy responded for a report of a female stumbling in the roadway. Upon arrival, the deputy located Angela Cook, 60, of Stafford. Cook had glassy eyes and slurred speech. A controlled substance was later found in her possession. Cook was charged with possession of a controlled substance and public intoxication. She was held on a $1,000 secured bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail.
LARCENY
902 Garrisonville Road, CVS, 7/3, 3:42 p.m. The manager reported a male and female suspect entered the store and took two bags off of the store shelf. They then filled the bags with various types of body wash. When the employees weren’t looking, the suspects fled the store with the items.
2612 Jefferson Davis Highway, Weis, 7/3, 9:22 p.m. Three juvenile females filled a shopping cart with items. At self-checkout, they only paid for a portion of the items in the cart before leaving the store. An adult male accompanying them also took a case of beer without paying for it.
1455 Stafford Market Place, Best Buy, 7/5, 1:53 p.m. The loss prevention employee reported a male suspect and female suspect stole headphones from the store on three separate occasions. The most recent theft occurred on July 5 at 1:29 p.m. The male suspect removed items from the store shelf and concealed them in the female suspect’s purse. They then left the store without paying for the items.
Prince William County
Abduction | Domestic Related – On July 4 at 10:00PM, officers responded to the Springwoods at Lakeridge Apartments located in the 12300 Wellspring Way in Woodbridge (22192) to investigate a domestic. The victim, a 27-year-old woman, reported to police that she was involved in a verbal altercation with an acquaintance, identified as the accused, and attempted to leave the residence. On more than one occasion, the accused grabbed and pulled the victim, preventing her from leaving the apartment. Eventually the victim was able to separate from the accused and left the apartment where she contacted the police. The victim reported minor injuries. Following the investigation, officers obtained arrest warrants for the accused, identified as Brendan Robert MCGUIRE. Attempts to locate the accused have been unsuccessful.
Wanted: [Photo from May 2013]
Brendan Robert MCGUIRE, 30, of the 12300 block of Wellspring Way in Woodbridge Described as a white male, 6’00”, 145lbs., with brown hair and eyes
Wanted for abduction and domestic assault & battery
As if all of the talks about the coronavirus vaccination over the past six months wasn’t enough, now Virginia lawmakers have changed some vaccination requirements for children in schools.
The Rappahannock Area Health District (RAHD) is reminding families of changes to school immunization requirements effective July 1, 2021. These changes include:
- Children entering kindergarten now need two properly spaced doses of the hepatitis A vaccine (HAV). The first dose should be administered at age 12 months or older. The HAV vaccine requirement is an addition to the existing kindergarten vaccine requirements.
- Children entering 7th grade are required to present proof of their first dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, one booster of the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccine (Tdap), and their first dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY). All are required for both boys and girls before entering the 7th grade.
- Students entering 12th grade now need to have a booster dose of the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY).
“Though so much of the last year has been focused on COVID-19, it is important to stay up to date on other recommended immunizations to protect yourself and your family and prevent outbreaks of other illnesses,” said RAHD Health Director Dr. Olugbenga Obasanjo. “As we enter the middle of summer, now is a great time for parents to make a plan to ensure their students are immunized before returning to school in August or September.”
Vaccines are available from many pediatricians, family physicians, and pharmacies, and are often available at no cost through health insurance benefits. Families with health insurance and a primary care provider are encouraged to seek vaccines through their doctors’ offices or local pharmacies.
To ensure all immunization access for all students, RAHD will be holding a series of drive-thru immunization clinics for school-age children to provide many of the required vaccines. Tdap, MenACWY, and HPV vaccines will be available at each of these clinics.
Vaccines will be available at no cost.
Children will be able to receive the vaccine regardless of insurance status, but if your child does have health insurance, please bring a copy of the insurance card. A parent or guardian must be present for the child to be vaccinated at these drive-thru events.
The clinic schedule is as follows:
- Saturday, July 10, 8:30-11 a.m.- Massaponax High School, 8201 Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA
- Thursday, July 15, 5-7:30 p.m.- Colonial Forge High School, 550 Courthouse Road, Stafford, VA
- Saturday, July 17, 8:30-11 a.m.- James Monroe High School, 2300 Washington Ave., Fredericksburg, VA
- Thursday, July 22, 5-7:30 p.m.- Caroline Middle School,13325 Devils Three Jump Road, Milford, VA
Vaccines will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. These events will be held rain or shine.
www.vdh.virginia.gov/immunization/requirements/. For updated information from RAHD including current clinic schedules, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/rappahannock/.
For more information on school immunizations in Virginia, visit
We’re on storm watch this afternoon, as our region is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 8 p.m.
Severe thunderstorms were reported over Stafford County and Fredericksburg just before 2 p.m. today.
That’s in addition to a flash flood watch that goes into effect at 2 o’clock this afternoon and will remain in place until Friday morning. We’re expecting up to four inches of rain tonight, and that could cause streams and creeks to spill their banks and roadways flood.
Just before 1 p.m., the temperature at Quantico Marine Corps Base was 89 degrees, with a heat index  (feels like) temperature of 98 degrees. Partly cloudy skies were reported, the weather station reported.
The National Weather Service outlines the forecast for the remainder of the workweek. It’s going to cool down after today.
This Afternoon Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some storms could be severe, with hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. High near 89. South wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Tonight Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then showers and thunderstorms likely between 8pm and 11pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 11pm. Some storms could be severe, with heavy rain. Low around 69. West wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
Friday A chance of showers. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Friday Night A chance of showers before 2am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 61.
Independence DaySunny, with a high near 84.
A plane crashed this afternoon in Fauquier County.
Virginia State Police are now on the scene and tell us:
“At 4:46 p.m. Friday (June 25), Virginia State Police responded to a report of a small, private aircraft making an emergency landing in a field in the 11900 block of Freemans Ford Road in Fauquier County. The preliminary investigation revealed the aircraft suffered engine failure. The pilot and only occupant was uninjured. The FAA and NTSB were notified of the emergency landing. The incident remains under investigation.”
We’ll update this post with new information as it comes in.
The Chatham Bridge will reopen a key entrance to Fredericksburg later this year, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced Monday.
One year ago, the Virginia Department of Transportation closed the 80-year-old bridge to demolish it, to make a new and improved structure. The new bridge carries drivers over the Rappahannock River, linking the city with Stafford County.
Potomac Local News on Monday toured the new bridge, which is in the later stages of construction.Â
The bridge has been one of the major throughways into downtown Fredericksburg from Stafford County from Route 3 since it first opened in 1941 and carried around 16,000 vehicles a day. Several improvements are underway to the bridge, which includes expanding it from a two-lane into a four-lane bridge and sturdier construction that will be able to hold larger trucks. Because of this, there will be no vehicle weight posting on the bridge.
Other additions made to the bridge will be new pedestrian and bicycle paths separated from vehicle traffic by installed barriers. The paths will also link to Stafford County's Belmont-Ferry Farm Trail and other sidewalks in downtown Fredericksburg.
While the bridge will be open for traffic by October, completion of work on the bridge will be done by April 2022. According to VDOT Engineer Robert Ridgell, final adjustments to the bridge and clean-up, such as removal of the stone embankments placed in the river alongside the bridge, allow heavy machinery to perform its construction tasks.
The total cost of the bridge has been estimated at $23.4 million and is being funded through state transportation funds from the State of Good Repair program. The building contract for the bridge was awarded to Pittsburgh-based Joseph B. Fay; the company included in their bid a guarantee to have the bridge ready for traffic in 16 months instead of the 38 months that the project was expected to be done in.
In the days leading up to its closure, there was much concern about how that lack of the bridge would affect businesses in the downtown area. That effect, however, was eclipsed by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and made it difficult to say which had more of an impact on local businesses.
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The Stafford County Planning Commission on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, will decide whether or not to recommend approval of an expansion of the Vulcan Quarry.
Vulcan has asked the county to rezone nearly 50 acres of land that surrounds quarry in North Stafford, from agricultural to heavy industrial land. The move would clear the way for a new concrete plant to be built on the property and expand the area in which rocks are extracted from the Earth.
Vulcan has asked the county to streamline proffers and rezone land to get at a new cache of amphibolite rock used for paving roads within a nearly 600-acre stretch near Dun Rovin Lane, just off Route 610.
Since the 1990s, Vulcan had been buying up the parcel by parcel, spending over $12 million to acquire the properties. In 1990 and again in 2019, Vulcan acquired land from Clark Leming and Patrica Healy, who has been an elected official serving on the county’s school board since 2000. Lemming is an attorney that has argued multiple land-use cases, like this one, before the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, which will make the final decision on the rezoning request. Â
The couple received nearly a combined $1.3 million for the sale of 174 acres. The biggest parcel of 150 acres passes between Leming and Healy and Vulcan twice, once in 1990 and again in 2006 when Vulcan re-acquired it.
Another family, Martin, Gloria, and Shirley Jones received $9.5 million in 2013 for the sale of 100 acres.
The Stafford County Planning Commission is charged with making a recommendation on the case to the Board of Supervisors. The commission, along with representatives of Vulcan, held a special question and answer session on June 16 at North Stafford High School, to try and assuage concerns from the residents who live near the quarry.
Those concerns ranged from issues with the roads to interruption in the patterns of local wildlife migration. Still, the main concern that many of the residents of the Eastern View neighborhood, which sits across from the high school, made was the possibility of damage to their homes if Vulcan ramped up its blasting and mining efforts.Â
Many residents also complained about the possible reverberations causing damage to homes. One resident, Dr. H.L. Barner, surmised that the blasting that was already going on had caused cracks to form in the foundation of his home due to the underground vibrations of the blast.
This was repeated by many who complained about cracks forming not just in the foundations but also in walls and support beams and pillars. Vulcan, for their part, denied that their blasting had anything to do with the damage citing the nearby ordinance range at Quantico Marine Corps Base as a prime suspect.
Vulcan also said that their use of berms, boundaries made of dirt, sand, and foliage, which it plans to erect around its expanded operation, should be enough to absorb any reverberations. Vulcan also mentioned that it monitors vibrations coming from their mines detected by seismographs planted between the quarry and the bordering neighborhoods.
According to Vulcan, the readings from those monitors show that the strength of the blasts put them at levels regulated by the Virginia Department of Mineral Mines and the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
Dr. Barner, an engineer with over 20 years of experience, disputed the ability of the berms to buffer underground vibrations due to their weaker root systems. Although, according to Barner, the berms had been put in place after natural foliage had been removed. The roots from that foliage would have grown much thicker over the hundreds of years there and able to absorb vibrations.
Because the root systems of the berms are newer, they wouldn’t have the thickness to absorb such shockwaves, said Barner.
Residents also asked how does the county benefit from the expansion. One possibility remains that once the quarry is closed and the land is conveyed to the county government in 2035, it would fill the old quarry with water and use it as a reservoir. In addition, the county is expecting huge population growth in the next 20 years, and water services currently wouldn’t be able to support such growth.
However, Vulcan is also asking for a lengthening of its contract regarding the east pit of the quarry, which would be extended to 2055, which would tack on another 20 years and make the quarry unavailable as a reservoir.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, at the Stafford County Government Center, at 1300 Courthouse Road, where the commission will hear the rezoning case. In addition, the Commission has commissioned an engineered sound study which is expected to be presented at the meeting.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the county’s public water infrastructure would not keep up with the anticipated population growth.
There are new several new places to chow down in Woodbridge -- all under one roof.
On Saturday, June 19, The EPIQ Food Hall welcomed hundreds of visitors for a grand opening celebration complete with a live DJ, face painting, a raffle, and the unmistakable aroma of food from all over the globe. Customers packed the venue to get a taste of the new food hall, a new business that seeks to bring a unique culinary experience to Woodbridge.
Located right across from BJ's Warehouse in Noblewood Plaza, just off Prince William Parkway, EPIQ Food Hall features 14 cuisines prepared by local proprietors, with seating for 390 guests over 13,000 square feet, on two floors. The establishment is the second largest food hall in the Washington, DC region in terms of square footage and is the largest food hall in terms of guest seating.
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Commuters will get an earful on the future of OmniRide, the transportation agency that provides bus service in Prince William and Stafford counties and the cities of Manassas Park.
Residents may tune into a virtual town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, where OmniRide Director Dr. Bob Schnieder will lay out his vision for the transit service that's been ferrying commuters since the late 1980s.
The meeting comes a month after OmniRide put six new buses on the roads, part of some 40 new buses the agency has put into service over the past two years, replacing older buses in its fleet.
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