• Visit with Santa
• Roast marshmallows over a fire pit
• Dunbar Saxophone Quartet at Town Hall
• Holiday carols with the Woodbridge Community Choir
• Children’s activities
• S’more fixings and caramel apples at The Pretentious Gourmet
• Roasted chestnuts at Gift & Gather
• Hot chocolate at Tastefully Yours
• Art Open House at The Artists’ Undertaking Gallery

WinterFest is a daylong family-friendly celebration of the winter season that highlights multiple destinations with entertainment, food, and activities for all ages in the Lorton-Occoquan-Lake

Ridge region. WinterFest begins on December 8, with Santa’s Lake Ridge Parade on Harbor Drive in Lake Ridge at 11:00 a.m., followed by a holiday arts market at Tackett’s Mill until 2 p.m., Occoquan’s holiday activities from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the Workhouse Arts Center’s Second Saturday Art Walk from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The day’s events will conclude with a spectacular firework display approximately 8:00 p.m., courtesy of Prince William Marina, with viewing areas in the Town of Occoquan, Occoquan Regional Park, and Hoffmaster’s Marina.

WOODBRIDGE — When it comes to the cost of removing children from trailer classrooms, $143 million may be too much to swallow.

The joint county/schools capital process team voted Oct. 29 to move forward with a $143.2 million plan to build new classroom space that would lead to the removal of more than 100 portable trailer classrooms stationed at Prince William County Public Schools.

The vote in the joint committee passed 5-1 with Prince William County  Occoquan District Supervisor Ruth Anderson dissenting.

“I’m just not ready to put my name behind that number yet,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the cost for the proposal trailer-removal program have changed over recent months, moving lower from as high as $500 million to a little over $170 million, and now to the current plan of $143.2 million, as estimated by the county’s school division.

“Now we are at $143 million in an effort to not have to use trailers anymore. And I think we can bring it down some more.” Anderson said. “I still think $143 million is too high.”  

Anderson said she and other county officials are still in the process of reviewing the plan.

There are about  100 schools in Prince William County with some under-capacity student population and some over-capacity. Changing school boundaries and sending more children to underutilized schools could save taxpayers money, said Anderson.

Prince William County boasts the highest class sizes in the Washington, D.C. region.

Boundary changes “can cause a lot of turmoil,” among neighbors and families, adds Anderson but if the boundary changes can save the county millions of dollars, she maintains that’s worth looking at. Anderson has requested a presentation about boundaries but isn’t sure if that will be discussed at a joint meeting of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and School Board on November 27.

She said she would support a $100 million price tag, but not $143 million.

For many county leaders, the joint Nov. 27 meeting will be the first time they see details of the plan, , Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland said.

Candland says the plan is not yet ready for prime time and that there still needs to be a lot of discussion between county leaders and school officials.  

Candland said the plan would not eliminate all trailers – which was the working assumption of the. But, as it stands, only 120 trailers of the more than 200 trailers would be eliminated, for a total of around $1.2 million per trailer.

That’s “a lot of money”, Candland said.

New school construction is at least six years down the road,

Candland suggested building funding for trailer removal into the county’s five -year financial plan, or, start a “school capital levy” That would earmark money for new “brick and mortar” school buildings.

Brentsville District School Board representative Gil Trenum supports the plan to bring the proposal to both Boards on Nov. 27.

“If we don’t move forward with it then we’ll never make progress,” Trenum said.

Trenum said the plan adds in two more elementary schools and several additions that would equate to about 40% of a middle school and then adds that to the school division’s capital improvement plan  – eliminating trailers over a 10-year period, Trenum said.

Woodbridge District School Board member Loree Williams also voted yes for the recommendation that included the $143 million plan.

She said that one of the requests the county was getting from the public was to get rid of trailers.

“The school system trailer count is fluid,” Williams explained and said that the numbers of trailers change often.  

Williams said that the joint committee is going to present that plan along with all the other things “operationally” that they discovered to both boards and then it’ll be up to the individual boards to decide whether they take action.

Ultimately, the Board of County Supervisors will decide whether or not to fund the plan.

WOODBRIDGE – (Press Release) On November 6, detectives from the Homicide Unit identified and arrested a suspect in connection to the double homicide that occurred in the 16800 block of Brandy Moor Lp in Woodbridge (22191) on November 4. The investigation revealed that the suspects, who were identified as the accused and Israel GAMEZ Jr., made arrangements to meet the victims, Christopher Jermaine WILLIAMS and a fourth individual, identified as a 22-year-old man, in the above area to sell a pair of shoes. Sometime during that meeting, the suspects attempted to rob the victims. During the altercation, WILLIAMS and GAMEZ were shot and killed. At some point, the accused and the other victim left the vehicle and fled on foot. The accused was later identified by detectives in connection to planning for and being present during the robbery attempt. Following the investigation, the accused, identified as Daunte Anthony MOTEN, was located and arrested without incident. The investigation continues. Additional charges are pending. 

Arrested on November 6:

Daunte Anthony MOTEN, 22, of 2410 27^th Ct, #103, in Arlington

Charged with felony homicide and robbery

Court Date: January 9, 2019 | Bond: Held WITHOUT Bond

 Identified:

The deceased victim was identified as Christopher Jermaine WILLIAMS, 28, of Woodbridge

The deceased suspect was identified as Israel GAMEZ Jr., 18, of Stafford

Double Homicide Investigation [Previously Released] – On November 4 at 5:55PM, officers responded to the 16800 block of Brandy Moor Lp in Woodbridge (22191) to investigate a shooting. When officers arrived on scene, they located two males inside of a vehicle that had driven over a curb and into a wooded area.  Both victims were suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives from the Homicide Unit confirmed the identities of both victims killed during the shooting and are actively investigating this incident to determine what led up to the altercation. At this time, no suspect information is available. The investigation continues.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Babur Lateef will hold on to his seat as Prince William County School Board Chair, At-large.

He won election to the seat Tuesday after being appointed to the position earlier this year following the resignation of former Chairman Ryan Sawyers.

Lateef, endorsed by Democrats, beat Gainesville District School Board representative Alyson Satterwhite, who was endorsed by Republicans.

Stanley Bender, a third-party candidate who was largely absent during the campaign, managed to win more than 14,000 votes. It came after former Prince William County Democratic Committee Chairman Harry Wiggins founded a political action committee late last month “Republicans for Stanley Bender.” Red signs with the name of the PAC were found at polling places throughout the county on Tuesday.

Republicans called the move a “vicious” attempt to mislead voters and said it amounted to voter suppression.

Republicans called a 4 p.m. press conference at the schools’ headquarters at Independent Hill to discuss the matter.

During her concession speech, Satterwhite called the move “dirty tricks today at the polls.” Lateef has made no comment on the matter.

Satterwhite continued her speech to thank parents, teachers, and college students who helped in her campaign.

“It was not about republican and democrat. It was about the people of Prince William County,” said Satterwhite.

Lateef campaigned on narrowing the achievement gap between white and minority students, increasing spending on students, hiking teacher salaries to improve employee retention, and hiring more legal help and other administrative staff for the school division to bring it up to par with jurisdictions like Fairfax County.

Lateef raised $132,000 in his campaign and, at $89,000, vastly outraised and outspent Satterwhite who raised about $13,000.

Updated — email statement from Lateef:

“I am humbled and grateful to have been elected Prince William County School Board Chair by the voters of our great county. Last night’s results were an overwhelming validation by the people Prince William County for who they believe shared their values. I ran a positive campaign that was committed to student success, the safety and security of our schools, the space and the infrastructure needs of our schools, and teachers/staff salaries. I have worked six months as the Interim School Board Chair to do all of these things. I am proud that the school administration is moving towards addressing my agenda and platform. The voters in Prince William County approved my message and gave me an overwhelming victory last night. I did this by promoting a positive message about where our school system needs to go and how we are going to get there. I am excited to move forward as the Chairman-Elect and to continue working on the issues that mattered to the voters and students of Prince William County. I would like to thank all my campaign volunteers, supporters, and the voters of Prince William County. I look forward to helping deliver a World Class Education for ALL of our students.”

MANASSAS — The second time was the charm for Theresa Coates-Ellis.

The Republican who lost her 2016 bid for Manassas City Council turned it around Tuesday night, winning a seat she had, essentially, sought for more than four years.

She joins Democrats Michelle Davis-Younger, and incumbent Ken Elston who also won Tuesday. They’ll take their seats on a new council come January.

The long-serving Republican Marc Aveni lost his re-election bid Tuesday. Democrat Rex Parr, who was making his second attempt in as many election cycles at a city council seat, also lost.

By the numbers, with more than 6,100 votes, Davis-Younger was the top vote getter followed by Coates-Ellis.

For this second-time-around candidate, this election felt different. She made education a priority and, this time, she says, it was teachers who put her over the top.

“I have connections that run deep in a lot of different parts of our city,” said Coates-Ellis. “But when I ran in 2016, I didn’t feel like the education world understood me.”

Working with students is how the candidate who works in property management by day made a name for herself. She started a website and handed cameras to Osbourn High School students and told them to go out and document what they see in the community.

Then she began connecting city students with internships with businesses. For someone who got her college degree later in life, Coates-Ellis championed career and technical education in the city for those students who may not go to college but rather work in the trades.

This time, she said, educators got it.

“There’s what I call quiet teacher outreach. Teachers are extremely careful with politics. They don’t want it in the schools. But there are lot teachers whispering… ‘help.” They can’t say it out loud but they wanted to have a voice,” said Coates-Ellis.

When she begins in tenure on the council, she’ll become embroiled in the debate on how to adequately fund the city’s school division. The council sets the tax rate and collects taxes, but, by law, hands over the money to the city school board to do with it what they will.

And that members of that board have long called for more funding, leaving city leaders with the task of raising city property taxes — some of which are already the highest in Virginia — or cutting services.

Coates-Ellis says she won’t advocate for raising taxes. She wants more parental involvement in the schools.

“I’m not hearing from teachers that more money is going to solve our problems,” she adds.

WOODBRIDGE — Prince William County wasn’t kind to Corey Stewart.

The electorate there overwhelming Tuesday chose the Democrat Tim Kaine over the Republican in the race for U.S. Senate.

Stewart lost Prince William County — where he’s been Chairman At-large of the Board of Supervisors for the past 12 years – by a staggering 29 points. Statewide, he lost the election to Kaine by 15 points, earning just 35 percent of the vote.

The Prince William numbers were surprising. During his 2017 state gubernatorial Primary Election, he lost, barely, to Republican Ed Gillespie. He easily won Prince William County, and nearly clinched the nomination, losing by about 4,500 votes.

In a General Election for Supervisor in 2015, Stewart beat Rick Smith, the Democrat who ran against him, by 9,300 votes.

Voters, this time, weren’t buying what he was selling. In his concession speech Tuesday night, he described this mid-term election as a headwind too difficult to overcome.

Fighting more than the so-called “blue wave” against President Trump — a man Stewart has so closely aligned himself with — Stewart was also fighting to overcome his association with symbols like the Confederate battle flag. Used by the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate blacks and other minorities during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, Stewart in 2017 made several appearances with the flag when campaigning for governor in the southwest portion of the state, proclaiming the flag a symbol of southern heritage, not hate.

Stewart, who made a political name for himself in 2007 on the illegal immigration issue, also spent a lot of time this campaign clarifying his stance on the issue. Even at a press conference following his concession speech, Stewart reiterated for a reporter that he supports legal immigration to the U.S. It’s those who cross the border illegally that he, like President Trump, has vowed to combat.

Overall, Stewart admits he’s tired. His political future in Prince William County, or anywhere for that matter, is uncertain.

“I’ve been campaigning for four years… I’ve been chairman for 12 years. That’s a long, long time,” he said.

His Chairman seat is up in 2019, and he would not commit Tuesday night to run for reelection. That’s a stark contrast to the Corey Stewart of the past — a man who’s gained a reputation, for better or for worse, as a hard-charging, tough-talking Republican whose ready to take on his opponents at every turn, doing and saying anything to win.

While Trump didn’t come to Virginia to stump for him, Stewart says he still supports the president and wants to help him find a way to win reelection in 2020. He estimates that if the president had come, that it might have helped him add two, maybe three points to his vote totals, but added it wouldn’t be “enough to make up for what I lost by.”

Afterward, Stewart greeted his supporters, thanking each one personally while sipping a margarita. 

“I’m campaigned out. I think I want to go to some Caribbean island someplace,” he said.

FREDERICKSBURG — At the Vangie Williams campaign watch party in Jay’s Downtown Sports Lounge in Downtown Fredericksburg, tensions ran high as supporters, staff, and volunteers awaited the verdict of the first district congressional election.

“This is more exciting than all six of my daughters and marrying my husband, so that says a lot,” said Williams, a Democrat. “At least when you’re having a baby, you know what you’re going to get.”

Williams was a first-time politician running against 11-year incumbent Republican Rob Wittman. In the end, Wittman won the election with 55.22 percent of the votes.

While her supporters clapped and cheered when they learned about Democratic wins across the nation, they weren’t able to celebrate a Democratic win in Virginia’s wide 1st Congressional District, which spans from Prince William County to near Williamsburg.

Wittman took to social media to thank his supporters, stating: “Serving America’s First District has been the honor of my life. Thank you for entrusting me with two more years.”

Wittman won by a smaller margin this year as compared to the 2016 election against Democrat Matthew Rowe. In 2016, Wittman won by a 23.25 percent margin; however, in 2018 he only won by a 10.53 percent margin.

In Stafford, a county that has voted a majority Republican in the past, Wittman won by a mere 4.38 percent margin (2,454 votes) as opposed to an 18.32 percent margin (11,870 votes) in the 2016 election.

As expected, Williams took Prince William County to the north with 56.72 percent of the votes. Fredericksburg to the south is also solid Democrat territory. 

If Williams had won, she would have been the first woman of color to ever be elected to a set in Congress for Virginia. Even though she lost, her campaign made strides for diversity and representation in Congress.

Williams didn’t accept any donations from PAC organizations and ran her campaign “for the people.” She and her campaign staff walked door to door trying to reach constituents who aren’t normally reached.

“Vangie is true and blue,” said communications director Sheri Shannon. “She is a very people-oriented person. We’ve seen her campaign go from a handful of volunteers to a full campaign staff, and we’ve been able to mobilize not only Democrats but also Republicans and moderates across the district.”

Williams and her supporters didn’t walk away from the night with sorrow; instead, they are looking ahead to the 2020 election. Her campaign staff has already started passing around envelopes for donations.

“I am really proud of the grassroots efforts that have taken place in this community, Williams said. “We have actually made a difference in our community, and we have set ourselves up for the 2019 election. My heart is saying that I’m not done until the fat lady sings.”

STAFFORD – (Press Release) An intoxicated driver was arrested early Saturday morning by deputies with the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office for driving under the influence and felony eluding following a pursuit.

On November 3, 2018, at approximately 1:45 a.m., Deputy Brandon Boyle was on patrol in the area of 33 Wicomico Drive when he observed a vehicle repeatedly slowing down and speeding up over the speed limit. Then, at the intersection of Northampton Boulevard and Old Mineral Road, the vehicle failed to come to a complete stop at the stop sign.

Deputy Boyle activated his emergency equipment and attempted to conduct a traffic stop; however, the vehicle did not stop and continued on at a high rate of speed. A pursuit ensued and the vehicle continued to drive erratically. The suspect vehicle lost control and crashed into a traffic sign in the area of 152 Winding Creek Road.

The suspect was extracted from the vehicle and deputies immediately detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person. Multiple open alcoholic beverage containers were found in and around the vehicle.

The suspect was identified as Neil James Lamb, Jr., 25, of Midland, Virginia. He was treated by rescue personnel on scene and then transported to a local hospital for further examination. In addition, a search warrant for blood was executed at the hospital.

Lamb was later discharged from the hospital and incarcerated at Rappahannock Regional Jail on a $3000.00 secured bond. He is charged with felony eluding, driving under the influence, driving suspended second offense, failure to stop at a stop sign, and expired inspection.