The Interstate 95 northbound temporary off-ramp to exit 133 (Route 17) to Falmouth and Warrenton in Stafford County will close overnight for repair after a vehicle fire heavily damaged the pavement.
Early Wednesday, Jan. 18, and Thursday, Jan. 19, the off-ramp will close to traffic between midnight and 3 a.m.
During this time, northbound travelers seeking Route 17 northbound or Route 17 Business will be detoured to continue traveling to exit 136 (Centreport Parkway). Drivers are encouraged to use the most convenient alternate route depending on their destination.
In December 2022, crews with the I-95 Northbound Rappahannock River Crossing project met a major milestone by opening a new northbound I-95 bridge.
Currently, three lanes of I-95 northbound are crossing the Rappahannock River between the City of Fredericksburg and Stafford County on the new bridge. The original northbound bridge is closed for a maintenance project.
Northbound I-95 traffic will remain in this long-term traffic pattern until spring 2024, when the $132 million project is expected to be complete.
Construction will continue over the next 18 months to finish the three additional travel lanes on the busiest segment of I-95 in the Fredericksburg area, which carries around 150,000 vehicles a day.
For additional information on this project and others on I-95 in the Fredericksburg area, please visit improve95.org.
A new Chick-fil-A restaurant in North Stafford will be one of the chain’s most extensive and updated models.
The restaurant will feature a dining room, a kitchen in the center, and a larger meal preparation area. Outside, drivers can use two of three lanes to pick up food from a window.
The new restaurant will also feature a playground for children. According to a company representative, Chick-fil-A will incorporate innovations used during the pandemic to serve customers during the age of social distancing.
The restaurant, to be built at the intersection of Garrisonville and Shelton Shop roads in North Stafford, near North Stafford High School, will be about 20% larger than another Chick-fil-A about two miles east on Garrisonville Road. That restaurant opened in 2001 and is closed for renovations.
The Stafford Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to grant Chick-fil-A a special use permit to operate a drive-through and to accept a request to remove a condition on the land that had prevented developers from building a restaurant on the site.
Supervisors rezoned the property to commercial land in 2006 with the vision of an office building and a bank on the site. Today, a storage facility, 7-Eleven, and a CVS Pharmacy sit on the property.
The new location will be similar to one in Lee’s Hill in Spotsylvania, across from a veterans clinic under construction.
During the supervisors’ meeting, some elected officials expressed concern about students walking across the four-lane (soon-to-be six-lane) Garrisonville Road to get to the new restaurant. Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vanuch asked Chick-fil-A to give $25,000 to the county sheriff’s office for pedestrian safety education and traffic patrols in the area.
A Chick-fil-A representative and attorney Clark Lemming, who represented the firm during the meeting, said the company would consider the request. The restaurant representative added the company regularly pays for additional police and traffic control measures during restaurant grand openings.
Drivers will access the restaurant from the intersection of Garrisonville Road and Space Way and drive behind a 7-Eleven store on the site. An existing entrance from Garrisonville Road into the 7-Eleven will also provide access.
The new restaurant will be Chick-fil-A’s third in Stafford County. Just 14 miles north on Route 1 near Dumfries, the company will build one of the most prominent Chick-fil-A restaurants on the east coast with a triple drive-through.
Like North Stafford, the soon-to-open location sits about two miles from an existing Chick-fil-A.
Updated -- Delegate Danica Roem (D) has filed a bill allowing the General Assembly to change the town's Election Day, moving it from spring to fall.
Starting last fall, voters began electing its mayor and town council members on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
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The owners of the old Kline Dairy Farm have waited at least 20 years for the county to rezone more than 50 acres on Prince William Parkway.
They’ve agreed to wait a month and a half more.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously voted early Wednesday, January 18 to defer a decision to rezone land once used for farming at Prince William Parkway, just outside Manassas.
According to Sherman Patrick with Compton and Duling, who spoke for the property owners, who agreed to the deferral and demanded Supervisors call a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, to hold a vote.
Supervisors will not hear public comments about the project following hours of testimony from the public from residents who are in favor of the rezoning and those who are against it.
Developer Stanley Martin Homes aims to build 240 townhomes, a drive-in pharmacy, a fast-food restaurant, and a storage facility.
The county planning commission blessed the project in November 2022. Residents who live nearby are concerned about traffic congestion from the new development.
Manassas and Prince William County are negotiating with the developer to relocate the Greater Manassas Baseball League, adding multiple ballfields on the property. More 20 more acres of the property will be deeded to the county for civic use, including a new school.
The relocation of the youth baseball league would be a solution after Manassas signed a deal with the city’s largest employer, Micron, in 2021 to expand its computer chip manufacturing facility on Godwin Drive. Micron’s expansion will consume the EG Smith Baseball Complex, where the league has played for over 50 years. The city sold the land on which the ballfields sit to Micron.
A total of 60 percent of the league’s ballplayers come from the county, and about 30 percent come from Manassas.
“We’re looking for a new facility, and this would be a great opportunity for us,” said GMBL President Colby Poteat.
The loss of the baseball fields in Manassas has left the organization scrambling to find a new home with multiple fields, creating a one-stop-shop for families looking to see their children compete in multiple games rather than holding individual games on fields scattered across the region.
Opponents of the project cited traffic concerns, fearing the development would lead to more congestion on area roads. An effort to deny the project failed in a 4-3 vote, with Supervisors Jeanine Lawson, Yesli Vega, and Kenny Boddye voting to deny it.
“I’m hoping those who still have concerns will work with the applicant. Give and take on both sides. We need a good-faith effort to move forward in some way,” said Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin.
If supervisors approve the project, an elementary school slated for the property could open by 2031.
The effort to develop the old Kline dairy farm is nearly 10 years old. Initially, developers wanted to build more than 400 homes on the land but scaled back the project after residents expressed concerns about additional traffic on area roads.
Crews found smoke inside the building. Employees had already evacuated the store when fire crews arrived. No injuries were reported.
Upon further investigation, two smoldering fires were found, one in the men’s bathroom and one in the women’s bathroom.
The Stafford County Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fires were set intentionally.
Courtney Venable, of Spotsylvania, is charged with burning of an occupied dwelling (arson). Venable is being held a Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
The Stafford County Fire Marshal’s Office was assisted by the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation.
The business sustained minor damage and was able to reopen.
A bill filed by lawmakers representing Prince William and Stafford counties aims to restrict parents access to medical records.
Delegate Candi Mundon King’s HB2109 will allow judges to deny parents access to medical records if the judge deems the action “would be reasonably likely to cause substantial harm to the minor or another person or deter the minor from seeking care.”
Parents would have the right to appeal the judge’s order and have their request reviewed. The bill has yet to be referred to a committee.
King (D) currently represents Woodbridge in Prince William County and a portion of northern Stafford County through December 31, 2023. Two other Democrat delegates from Prince William County — Elizabeth Guzman and Michele Maldonado co-sponsored the bill.
Last year, Guzman interviewed WJLA-TV, where she is seen suggesting parents face criminal charges for not affirming their child’s sexual identity. Guzman is mounting a Primary Campaign for State Senate District 29, held by Jeremy McPike.
Meanwhile, Candi Mundon King’s husband, Josh King, is making a second run for Prince William County Sheriff. Josh King, a Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy, ran for the post in 2019 and lost but not before he took a $50,000 campaign donation from liberal activist George Soros.
Updated 12:45 p.m. January 18, 2023 — The number of Prince William County high schools that failed to notify students they were the recipients of National Merit recognition in time for the college application process grew to four.
According to county schools spokeswoman Diana Gulotta, Battlefield, Colgan, Forest Park, and Patriots high schools failed to tell a combined 28 students they received letters of commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Program.
While the students do not qualify for the scholarship, many students use the commendation letters on college applications. The school division said it learned about the error on Tuesday, January 16 when the original number of county high school students believed to have not been notified was 16.
“[Prince William County Public Schools] believes strongly that all student achievement should be recognized,” said Gulotta. “This delay was due to an accidental administrative oversight. PWCS regrets this mistake occurred and principals have notified all those impacted.”
Gulotta said Prince William County students can get their qualifying scores through their College Board Account.
The error comes after Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares launched an investigation into why similar errors occurred at high schools in Loudoun and Fairfax counties, including Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a school at which students across Northern Virginia apply to attend.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin told WJLA-TV Northern Virginia school divisions that failed to inform students of their achievements had prioritized equal outcomes for all students over individual student success.
“They have a maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs,” the TV station quoted the governor.
State Senator Scott Surovell, representing a portion of Prince William County until December 31, 2023, has called the Youngkin administration’s pursuit of answers in a so-called War on Merit “absurd.” The lawmaker shared a post written by a Thomas Jefferson High School student in what appears to be a student newspaper stating, “The delay in notifying the students of their status was wrong, but framing it as a war on merit is misleading. Merit is valued, recognized, and considered in every corner of Jefferson, from morning announcements to weekly emails to conversations about scoring an internship or a recent physics test.”
High school students must take the PSAT to screen for the National Merit Scholarship. Later some students are given Program recognition and awards, including commended students, semifinalists, finalists, and the winners of the National Merit $2,500 scholarships.
To celebrate, the city has planned a yearlong string of events and festivities, including a 150th birthday party, a historic walking tour, burying a time capsule, and workshops and speaker events.
Most notably, the birthday celebration will include a firework show on April 1, 2023, at Dean Park. The Boys and Girls Club at Dean Park will be reserved to support the event, and city staff will help with the festivities.
Other anniversary initiatives include “Telling Your Story,” a chance for Manassas residents to either submit a written or recorded recall of their favorite memories of Manassas. The city will produce a video to capture the stories.
The 150th-anniversary time capsule buried later this year is collecting submissions until March 1. Those selected can place their items in the capsule during the 150th birthday party.
You can submit your item for consideration on the city website. The contest is limited to Manassas residents and is open to all ages. The city suggests the items be small, around the size of a golf ball or a flat sheet of paper/ photograph.
All Stafford County sheriff’s deputies will wear body cameras by the summer.
Sheriff David Decatur took questions about his department’s new body cameras, which will record interactions between law enforcement and residents. The system, developed by Axon and approved by the Stafford Board of County Supervisors just over a year ago, merges other cameras already used in the deputys’ cars and on taser weapons.
A total of 15 deputies have been using cameras for the past two months. Supply chain issues delayed the arrival of most cameras, said Stafford County Supervisor Crystal Vanuch of Rockhill and the county’s Public Safety Committee Chairman.
As more cameras come in, they will be distributed to the remainder of Decatur’s 235 sheriffs deputies.
“I think the important thing is, and I want the community to know, is that we want to provide the very best service and provide within our control the best quality of life for those who live and visit Stafford County,” Decatur told PLN on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. “And we want to ensure we’re doing our best. And body cameras are just another example of being professional.”
Several non-profit groups and residents called for police body cameras 2020 to be used across the U.S. in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who resisted arrested died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
The body cameras are a first for Stafford County, where deputies have used in-car dash cameras for at least 10 years. Now, the sheriff’s office has 177 “fleet-three” cameras in use inside cars, on bodies, and taser weapons.
Designed for transparency and to protect the public and law enforcement, the cameras will activate during public interactions with law enforcement, including traffic stops. They will automatically start any time an officer pulls out a gun or taser.
“The deputies wanted the cameras as much as we wanted them to have them,” said Vanuch.
The new cameras produce large amounts of footage that must be stored and reviewed. Since being rolled out two months ago in the county, the sheriff’s office has collected 27,000 videos.
As part of its ongoing budget, the Board of Supervisors provided funding for new employees in the sheriff’s and commonwealth attorneys’ offices who will review, edit, and make videos available to attorneys for use in court.
In 2021, a team from Stafford County, including Decatur and Vanuch, traveled to Virginia Beach to see how that city’s police department used body cameras.
The sheriff used what he learned there to create a body camera policy for Stafford County. “We’re always going to be mindful and paying attention to what adjustments we need to make,” said Decatur.
Neighboring jurisdiction Prince William County began using police body cameras in 2017.
