MANASSAS — Prince William – Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center has begun Phase 2 of its expansion, with a projected completion in February of 2020 and occupancy to begin in March of that year.

Right now, Jail Superintendent Col. Peter Meletis said that they’re at the stage of bringing in “massive pieces of concrete.”

“…we got a ways to go,” Meletis said.

The jail’s size is increasing with the region’s population.

“Our community has grown in population over the years and with that, we’ve had an increase in the total amount of crime that’s committed,” said Prince William Coles District Supervisor Marty Nohe.

Nohe explained that the state has changed the way they transfer prisoners in ways that cause the average length of stay to increase.  Local jails are typically used to house inmates while they’re away from trial, he said.

“…and now, the amount of time that someone will stay at a local jail after being convicted of a crime has increased and it can now be up to two years before they’re transferred to a state prison, so that has also had a big impact on the prison population.” Nohe explained.

Nohe said that there were two options – expanding the jail, which was already something that was being planned eventually or to take more prisoners to other jails with empty beds around the state and pay a daily fee for those prisoners.

The challenge was that there weren’t a lot of jails with empty beds and the transport costs were “unbelievably expensive”, Nohe said.  Every time a prisoner had a court date or needed to see a lawyer, they needed to be transported, he explained.

“We knew we had a problem,” Nohe said.

The county of the Board of County Supervisors funded a study to figure out how big the problem was.

“Overcrowding was no longer an option and building a new jail made more sense financially than farming inmates out to other jails because of the security risk and the transport cost, ” said Nohe. “This was the most cost-effective solution, but I don’t want to pretend that it’s inexpensive,” said Nohe. “I was the person on the county board who interfaced mostly with [Manassas] Mayor Parrish on making sure that what we were doing was consistent with the established agreement between the county and the city of Manassas and that any changes to that original agreement were fair to both sides.”

Prince William County is funding the $50 million construction cost of the expansion.

When the study was done, it was determined that the jail would need about 700 more beds if things stayed as they were, Meletis said.

One way to reduce inmates at the jail is re-entry programs, which Meletis said they are focusing on improving.

There are 33 inmates currently in the jail’s re-entry dorm who are learning skills to go back into society and hopefully prevent them from committing more crimes.

“If you have good re-entry programs… they’re less likely to commit crimes. It does enhance the safety of the community.” Meletis said.

The current expansion will be an increase of 204 beds. The jail has been over capacity since 2014.

“We’re still working on this. We haven’t stopped just because we’ve got some good stuff happening.” Colonel Pete Meletis said.

When asked if he was pleased with the expansion, Colonel Pete Meletis replied, “Yes, absolutely.”

WOODBRIDGE — A public hearing on a proposal to add 325 new homes in Woodbridge is delayed thanks to a judge’s decision on an unrelated case.

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors sent a proposal for a new “Ray’s Regarde” subdivision to be located at the end of Horner Road adjacent to Prince William Parkway back to the Planning Commission.

The Board was set to hear from residents on the proposal to add homes, which many have said would add to traffic congestion, and to the continuing overcrowding conditions at county schools.

The move comes as Prince William County lost in a case against Anthem Telecommunications, which wanted to erect a monopole on a separate property not associated with Ray’s Regarde in 2015.

Prince William Circuit Court Judge Carroll Weimer, Jr. in June opined that the county must provide mailed notice to property owners that would be impacted by a rezoning like this one within 30 days well before six months of a public hearing, which had been the county’s prior policy. 

It takes anywhere from a week to four weeks to update the county’s homeowner recordation books, so, in turn, the county should be able to notify affected property owners sooner. The county has decided it will now notify impacted homeowners 30 days before a public hearing. 

The Planning Commission approved the development proposal and sent the plan to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. While the proper notification policy was conducted prior to the Planning Commission meeting, it was not ahead of today’s hearing, said county spokesman Jason Grant.

“The Planning Commission will now schedule another public hearing on the matter, and following that hearing, the Board of County Supervisors will have to hold a public hearing in the future,” said Grant.

County residents and school officials have raised red flags over the proposed neighborhood, saying nearby Kilby Elementary School at 1800 Horner Road is already overcrowded by at least 60 students. Though the school was reconstructed in and reopened in 2017, in 10 years, that number is expected to rise to 200.

HARRISONBURG – (Press Release) Joshua Chiquillo (Woodbridge, Va./Gar-Field) broke through in a big way last week, netting his first career hat trick and leading EMU’s soccer men to a 3-0 week.

The Old Dominion Athletic Conference recognized his clutch performances by naming him the ODAC Player of the Week.

Chiquillo had a hand in all of the Royals’ goals in their two conference wins last week, pushing the men into a tie for third place in the league standings.

In Saturday’s 3-0 road victory at Emory & Henry, Chiquillo hit the net just 5:08 into play and had his hat trick by the 35th minute when he stuck in a free kick from outside the 18.

In Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Shenandoah, he assisted on the only goal by providing the set-piece delivery on Caleb Oakes ‘ (Waynesboro, Va./Stuarts Draft) header in the 30th minute.
With the wins, the Royals are 7-5-1 overall and 4-1 in ODAC play.

For the season, Chiquillo has nine points on three goals and three assists.

He entered his junior season with three career goals.

STAFFORD – (Press Release) 9 South Gateway Drive. 10/10, 5:10 p.m. Deputies responded to a reported disturbance with a weapon at Wawa. The caller advised that he was in an accident with another vehicle and the driver had pointed a gun at him. Upon arrival, deputies learned from the victim that the driver had fled the scene shortly before they arrived. The victim said they collided while pulling out of Wawa. A verbal altercation ensued, and the suspect pulled out a gun and began waving it around, pointing it at the victim. The suspect was identified as Jayquon Powers-Brown, 21, of Fredericksburg. Deputies were able to contact the suspect who agreed to meet them at the Sheriff’s Office. The suspect was taken into custody and charged with assault, brandishing a weapon, hit and run, driving without a license, and having no insurance. He was released on a $3000.00 unsecured bond.

 

Editor’s note: We’re featuring the stories of some spooky hunts in our region during October. 

FREDERICKSBURG — Folklore tells of a spectral being that returns to Chatham Manor in Fredericksburg once every seven years to search for her lost love.

Robin Nimmo of Fredericksburg Hauntings Tours tells her story, as well as many other spooky stories, as she guides visitors on a 90-minute walking tour of haunted Downtown Fredericksburg.

Nimmo recounted the story. She said that Chatham is a plantation home built in the 1700s by William Fitzhugh, who knew George Washington. Because Chatham was such a big place to stay, when people were in traveling mode they would stay for weeks and months, sometimes years.

A gentleman was staying in Chatham from England. His daughter had fallen in love with someone who was a drysalter — someone who preserved meats. He was below her social status. He moved his daughter to America to keep her from marrying the drysalter.

Nimmo recounted that the odd way the young couple met. The young woman had a pet parrot that died and she wanted to have it preserved. A drysalter sometimes doubled as a taxidermist, and that’s how the two met.

The young man found out where his love was, but he was poor so he had to save money to get passage from England. Sometimes poor people would indenture themselves to make the passage. After six months he made enough money to come to Chatham. He came up with a plan and sent a note through a servant. On a designated night, she would come out of her window on a rope ladder and the two would elope.

On the night the young woman climbed down the rope ladder, rather than falling into her lover’s arms, she met with George Washington. Washington had learned of the elopement plan from one of his servants and helped stop the young couple from marrying.

Her father was furious. He sent his daughter back to England and married her to someone of a higher social status. She swore on her deathbed that she would find out what happened to her love.

A spectral lady in white is seen on the anniversary of her death every seven years. Some believe that she appears every seven years because that was the typical length of indentured servitude that her love may have served. The last sighting was in 2014.

Chatham does not allow the haunted tours on the grounds, so Nimmo tells the story as she shows tourists Chatham from across the river.

The lady in white is just one of the many local legends you will hear during a Fredericksburg Hauntings tour.

“We have a lot of stories to tell because we are so historic. Between the Revolution, George Washington and the Civil War battles that took place here, Fredericksburg is steeped in history and that always means hauntings. Ghosts stay because of tragic deaths or things left one done, said Nimmo. “This is one of the most haunted places in America.”

Tours run through Halloween. The tour is $12 for adults and free for children seven and under. For more information and the schedule of tours visit fredericksburghauntings.com. To book a tour call Robin Nimmo at 540-226-8378.

STAFFORD– On October 2, Kyle Bates from the Virginia Department of Transportation updated the Stafford County Board of Supervisors on the highlights of current VDOT construction projects in the county.

Questions and concerns from the Board of Supervisors

Mark Dudenhefer, Garrisonville District, expressed his concern for the lack of funding to improve county roads that are greatly impacted by when crews must portion of Interstate 95 for traffic crashes and construction projects.

“Somewhere along the line I hope we can get the state to actually recognize that it’s not just I-95 that’s causing the problems, that it’s being generated and it creates a problem throughout the entire county,” said Dudenhefer. “ It hurts our economic development, it hurts the quality of life of the people in Stafford and personally I don’t think it’s being given enough weight.”

“We’ll be working with them (county staff) to come up with funding mechanisms to try and fund some of these secondary improvements,” Bates replied.

Wendy Mauer, Rock Hill District, asked for an update on sinkholes that formed over the summer.

Bates told the board VDOT has completed work on most of the sinkholes and emergency failures. Bells Hill should be open again this week. He said VDOT spent about 2.5 million they had not planned on spending on emergency failures in the county recently and he estimated they had 10 or 11 emergency pipe failures.

Thomas Coen, George Washington District, asked about traffic impacts of the Chatham Bridge replacement. VDOT said it would follow up with the board with that information.

I-95/630 interchange and roadway widening

Work is underway to build a diverging diamond interchange at Courthouse Road and Interstate 95. It will replace an outdated diamond interchange that dates back to the highway’s opening in the 1960s.

“The signal at the [Colonial Forge High School] school entrance is fully operational and the bridge beams over 95 are now set so the fixed completion date for that project is still on the slate to be July of 2020,” Bates said.

I-95 southbound Rappahannock River crossing

“Construction started with median clearing between Cowan Boulevard and Route 3 [in Fredericksburg], that area, and that’s scheduled completion is 2022.”

Flashing Yellow Arrow upgrades at various intersections

All of the following upgrades are complete, according to the VDOT Report:

• Rte. 1 at American Legion Rd. and Eskimo Hill Rd.
• Rte. 1 at Port Aquia Dr., entrance to St. William of York Church
• Rte. 1 at Acadia St.
• Rte. 3 at Cool Springs Rd. and Jett Dr.
• Rte. 17 and Hartwood Rd.
• Garrisonville Rd. and Patton Dr. , entrance to Mt. Ararat Church
• Garrisonville Rd. at Furnace Rd. and Tech Pkwy.
• Staffordboro Blvd. and commuter lot, entrance to Stafford Marketplace
  Shopping Center
• Mine Rd. and commuter lot
• Mine Rd. and Northampton Blvd.
• Plantation Dr. at Lyons Blvd. and Gladstone Rd.
• Centreport Pkwy. and I-95 southbound on- and off-ramps at exit 136
• Centreport Pkwy. and I-95 northbound on- and off-ramps at exit 136

There is another list of flashing yellow areas going through the pipeline that will require a structural analysis first, according to Bates.

Preliminary engineering projects

• I-95 Fred Ex – Hot Lanes Extension – The estimated completion is 2022. This will extend the I-95 E-ZPass Express Lanes from Garrisonville Road to Truslow Road in south Stafford.
• Temporary Signal at Route 1 and Telegraph Road – This signal is fully up and running to restrict vehicles from making that left hand turn in the morning.
• Raven Road hard surfacing – They’re looking to begin this in spring of 2019.

Vista Woods

VDOT is working on replacing the cross pipes in Vista Woods as part of infrastructure repairs. They are looking to have that resurfaced pending funding in 2020.

Manassas – (Press Release) Olivia Hajioff and Marc Ramirez, the Marcolivia Duo, join Music Director James Villani as the featured viola and violin soloists for Symphonic Journey, the Manassas Symphony’s season-opening concert at 7:30 pm on October 27, 2018 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center. They are playing Max Bruch’s Double Concerto in E minor, Op. 88.

Marcolivia — featured many times on NPR’s “Performance Today” and “Front Row Washington” — is an award-winning violin and violin/viola duo who performs music from all styles and periods from Baroque artists to works by 20th-century composers, including folk music, virtuoso works, and their own arrangements.

The MSO concert program also includes Gioachino Rossini’s famous William Tell Overture, as well as the not often performed, but very beautiful Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 

Season subscriptions and individual concert tickets are available from the Hylton Center Box Office or by calling 888-945-2468. All children and student tickets (through college) are free.

Founded in 1992, the Manassas Symphony is the winner of the 2015 American Prize for Orchestral Performance, Community Division and is a Resident Arts Partner of the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. The all-volunteer orchestra plays five concerts a year and is involved with many educational and civic events throughout the community. For more information on the Manassas Symphony, visit its website at ManassasSymphony.org.

MANASSAS, Va. – (Press Release)  Write by the Rails (WbtR), the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, is pleased to announce a half-day writing workshop to be held Saturday, October 27, 2018 at Trinity Episcopal in Historic Manassas from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The “Back on the Tracks: Fall Writers’ Workshop and Social Campaign Kickoff” will feature a panel on marketing books and writing, along with breakout sessions on writing novels, memoir and poetry. The event will include networking, book sales, a book exchange and live-writing exercises.

The date also marks the live launch of the #WbtR #BackOnTrackNow social media campaign. Attendees will have the chance to write and submit Twitter-friendly lines to be published through social media and in an anthology.

WbtR Workshop Panel and Facilitators

Answering pre-selected questions as well as questions from attendees, the marketing panel will include Rebecca Barnes, Publisher of Prince William Living and Brides & Weddings magazines; Uriah Kiser, Publisher of Potomac Local News; Stacy Shaw, Publisher of Bristow Beat; and King Buari, CEO of Buarich Digital Marketing.

“This year, I am especially excited to have a session on marketing your writing with a panel of experts in the field. I really feel like each person on the panel brings expertise to our attendees. Marketing is one of our most requested topics for the club,” said WbtR president Jan Rayl.

Breakout sessions will be facilitated by novelists P.M. Hernandez and Natalina Reis, memoir writer Nancy Kyme and poet Katherine Gotthardt.

“I am always excited to see my personal writing improve after attending our Write by the Rails Writers’ Workshops,” said Rayl. “I never considered myself a poet. Yet at each workshop I have written a poem. I have had great inspiration in writing poetry from attending Write by the Rails events. I wrote my first poem at a poetry workshop led by Katherine Gotthardt.

“I read Nancy Kyme’s book Memory Lake and loved it. I have toyed with writing a memoir about working at the Boy Scout camp and am looking for inspiration in her session.

“And I have read, We Will Always Have the Closet,” by Natalina Reis while I was in Paris on vacation. It was a great summer romance to read.”

Vice President Katherine Gotthardt said, “I think people will love hearing how Natalina and P.M. Hernandez operate. P.M. Hernandez is one of the most prolific local authors I know. I’m in awe of her.”

Cost for the workshop is $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Published and aspiring writers are welcome to attend. To register, visit the WbtR website’s events page.