Back in November, Jewelry by Designs on Smoketown Road announced it was closing its doors and clearing its inventory.

Now, during a global pandemic, it has reopened under new ownership by the Nelson Coleman Company.

This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.

Vehicle theft is a problem in Manassas.

The city’s police department has applied for an over $12,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to purchase an additional license plate reading system, which would aid the police department in finding stolen cars.

Since the beginning of the year, 90 cars have been stolen in Manassas, thirty percent of which have not been found.

More in a press release:

The Manassas City Police Department has submitted a grant application to the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.  The department’s pending award of $12,235.00 is intended to be used to fund the purchase and installation of an additional automated license plate reader (ALPR) to supplement the department’s current ALPR program.

Since January 2019, seventy vehicles have been reported stolen in the City of Manassas and close to thirty percent of these cases remain open today. ALPR systems are valuable tools in helping solve these cases by providing a more efficient means to identifying and locating stolen vehicles. ALPR technology is also used as additional investigative tools for other enforcement efforts.

The items requested to be purchased from grant funding require only coordination within the city’s public safety users, other City departments, and selected vendors. Any comments on this grant should be directed to Lieutenant Christopher Shields at (703) 257-8017 or by email at cshields@manassasva.gov.

The Coronavirus pandemic created a hardship on nonprofit organizations that assist and help others throughout our community. To support these groups and help them continue the work they do every day, Stafford County has awarded $432,078 from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to community organizations in the area who have been impacted due to COVID-19. Recipients were chosen through a stringent application process via Stafford’s Nonprofit Sustainability Grant Program.

“Social safety net nonprofit organizations are a critical part of our region’s health and human services system, working closely with our local government to serve the most vulnerable individuals and build stronger, more equitable communities,” said Stafford County Deputy County Administrator Donna Krauss. “These grants are funded by the CARES Act and will be administered by Stafford County.”

Fourteen organizations were awarded amounts ranging from $10,193 to $59,200. The grants were based upon the size and demonstrated needs of each organization. Grants can be utilized for project expenses related to COVID-19 response or organizational capacity in response to COVID-19. The goal is to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the organizations that serve the community and, in turn, the people who are served. Please see a summary below of each awardee:

Big Brothers, Big Sisters received $25,000 to foster resilience through communications with mentees, funds will be used for staff salaries, equipment for remote working, and program activity costs.

Boys and Girls Club received $10,000 to support personnel, cleaning supplies, masks, and sanitizer that will assist with providing virtual learning support to its recipients.

Empower House will use its $25,000 award to defray the costs of the shelter, to provide rental housing assistance and for technology needs.

Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank received two $25,000 awards. Data currently shows an increase of 11.1% in overall food insecurity and a 17.1% increase in child food insecurity. Funds will be used for the mobile pantry to support distributions as well as to establish alternative distribution sites in place of close pantries.

Healthy Families Rappahannock Area will utilize its $23,314 award to transition to a virtual platform for engaging and supporting families as well as for virtual platform subscriptions, mailings, and creation of video engagement tools.

Moss Free Clinic was awarded $59,200 to integrate telehealth for its patients, to upgrade technology to improve team interaction, and to pay for staff support in place of volunteers lost to the fear of COVID-19.

Mental Health America received $10,193 to mitigate the increased level of calls to its helpline due to COVID-19 and $12,250 to provide additional staff to support seniors, a high-risk category, by providing grocery and medication delivery, removal of trash and other related needs.

Rappahannock Council Against Sexual Assault will direct its $11,559 award towards technological upgrades and supplies needed for safely engaging the community.

Loisann’s Hope House was awarded $40,000. The funds are for upgrading the computer systems impacting client data and information focused on emergency shelter, prevention, rapid rehousing, and the homelessness helpline.

Rappahannock Area United Way’s $50,000 in funding will go to the Alice Assistance fund that provides support to households experiencing financial hardships. An exponential increase in requests for assistance has occurred since COVID-19.

S.E.R.V.E. provides financial stability and food to the community and was given $25,000 for its assistance with its paycheck protection program and payroll tax credits.

Stafford Junction was the recipient of $25,000 that they would use for general operating costs, which includes supplies and support necessary to continue to serve low-income residents.

Thurman Brisben Center, the area’s homeless shelter, was awarded $50,000 to be used to address the impact of COVID-19 for hotel rents for physically-distanced clients, food now unavailable from volunteer organizations, client teleconferencing capability, and UV cleansing lights for the HVAC system to reduce airborne transmission risk.

Virginia Community Food Connections connects low-income residents with access to affordable food from local family farms. Awarded funds in the amount of $15,561 will support staff, equipment, and material costs for its food access programs.

Prince William County high school students will be getting an extra hour of sleep this upcoming school year, as the division's Superintendant, Dr. Steven L. Walts, has moved the schedule forward by one hour.

All high school students within the county regardless of their participation in online or in-person learning will now start school at 8:30 am, instead of the typical 7:30 a.m., and end at 3:30 p.m. instead of 2:10 pm. The decision took into consideration various parent and student surveys, the majority of which preferred a later school start time, as well as the health/academic benefits students, could reap, according to an email from the school division.

This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.

Stafford County Schools may be beginning the school year online, but they will still be providing meals to students.

During its August 11 meeting, the Stafford County School Board was presented with the division's School Meal Distribution Plan for the 2020-21 school year. According to the plan, hot meals for all Stafford County Schools students, regardless of whether or not they qualify for free and reduced lunches, will be provided via curbside pickup and a community bus drop off service. The school division will also give free lunches to all students enrolled in the reduced-price lunch program.

This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.

After 15 years of service and a recent Twitter scandal, Prince William County Schools Superintendant Dr. Steven L. Walts announced that he is planning to retire on July 1, 2021, when his contract with the school division expires and his daughter graduates from high school.

This announcement was made to both the school board, as well as to parents and students via email. In his resignation announcement, he detailed his accomplishments.

This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.

A multitude of Virginians mail in their ballots each election cycle, this year, however, thousands have received unsolicited and incorrectly labeled absentee ballot applications.

Earlier this week, the Prince William County Office of Elections released a statement stating that the office has been receiving ‘numerous phone calls and complaints’ regarding absentee ballot applications sent from The Center for Voter Information, a third-party organization unaffiliated with the state, or Prince William County Office of Elections.

The county has, however, not been affected by the issue of incorrect return addresses.

“It appears that the return address issues that have cropped up have not affected Prince William County. If you have received one of these letters with a Virginia Vote by Mail Application Form, you can use it to apply to have a ballot mailed to you (we will begin mailing ballots in mid-September). If you do not want to vote by mail, ignore the application you have received,” said Matthew Wilson, the Senior Deputy Registrar for the Prince William County Office of Elections.

Other counties, however, have not had it so easy.

According to The Center for Voter Information, half a million Virginians received absentee ballot applications with incorrect information on them, including incorrect return addresses. Fairfax City and Fairfax County, Franklin City and Franklin County, Richmond City and Richmond County, and Roanoke City and Roanoke County all received applications with the incorrect addresses.

“Approximately half a million applications sent to eligible voters in Virginia included incorrect information, and we are working diligently to address the issues. Mistakes in our programming are very rare, but we take them seriously,” stated a press release from The Center for Voter Information.

Aside from the return addresses, the applications are causing confusion among voters who already submitted absentee ballot applications, according to Fairfax County Election Officials, as The Center for Voter Information is ‘mass mailing pre-filled, absentee ballot applications to county voters without their request.’ The practice has left Fairfax voters who already applied with a second application and some with the suspicion that the application may be fake.

“These voters are worried that their applications were not received, leading them to think they need to apply again. While the mailing may appear to be from an official government agency, the Fairfax County Office of Elections did not send it,” stated a press release from the Fairfax County Government.

The Center for Voter Information offered an apology for any confusion the applications may have caused. The applications were a part of a campaign to encourage absentee voting due to the current global pandemic, as according to the Center for Disease Control, ‘elections with only in-person voting on a single day are higher risk for COVID-19 spread.’

“We know that voters are on high alert as the November election approaches, and we regret adding to any confusion. Please rest assured that we are working with local election officials in Virginia to re-direct the vote-by-mail applications to the proper locations, and will rectify any errors at our own expense,” stated a press release from The Center for Voter Information.

Similar issues with absentee ballot applications have also occurred in states across the country, including North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to WTOP News.

To receive an absentee ballot application, eligible Virginia voters can visit the Virginia Department of Elections website.

As coronavirus case counts rise in Virginia, free coronavirus testing is being offered in Prince William County and Manassas.

The tests are free to anyone living within Prince William, Manassas, and Manassas City Regions, and are being conducted via test via drive-thru or walk-up. Those receiving a test must provide their full name, telephone number, and a home or work address to receive their results.

The testing consists of ‘swabbing the patient’s nose and throat,’ according to the Prince William County Government.

Testing will be offered at these locations:

Thursday, August 13, 2020

• Cloverdale Park, 15150 Cloverdale Rd, Dale City, VA 22193. Start Time 8:30 AM
• Woodbridge Senior Center, 13850 Church Hill Dr, Woodbridge, VA 22191. Start Time 1:30 PM.

• Splashdown Water Park, 7500 Ben Lomond Park Rd, Manassas, VA 20109. Start Time 1:30 PM.
• Woodbridge Senior Center, 13850 Church Hill Dr, Woodbridge, VA 22191. Start Time 5:30 PM.

• Development Services Building, 5 County Complex Court, Woodbridge, VA 22192. Start Time 8:30 AM.

According to the Center for Diseases Control, those who have symptoms of COVID-19 and have not been tested should stay home. The symptoms consist of fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, headache, muscle or body ache, a new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea.

More information on testing can be found here. More information on COVID-19 can be found here.

On Wednesday, August 5, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the launch of COVIDWISE, ‘an innovative exposure notification app that will alert users if they have been in close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19,’ according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The app will make Virginia the first in the nation to utilize Bluetooth Low Energy technology developed by Apple and Google.

“We must continue to fight COVID-19 from every possible angle. The COVIDWISE exposure notification app gives you an additional tool to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community while maintaining your personal privacy. I encourage all Virginians to download and use this app, so we can work together to contain this virus,” said Northam.

More in a press release:

“COVIDWISE works by using random Bluetooth keys that change every 10 to 20 minutes. iOS and Android devices that have the app installed will anonymously share these random keys if they are within close proximity for at least 15 minutes. Each day, the device downloads a list of all random keys associated with positive COVID-19 results submitted by other app users and checks them against the list of random keys it has encountered in the last 14 days. If there is a match, COVIDWISE may notify the individual, taking into account the date and duration of exposure, and the Bluetooth signal strength which is used to estimate proximity.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 will be notified by a VDH case investigator and will be given a unique numeric code. This code is entered into the app by the user and serves as verification of a positive report. Others who have downloaded COVIDWISE and have been in close proximity to the individual who reported as being positive will receive a notice which reads, “You have likely been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.” This is your alert to get tested.

The notice includes the estimated number of days since the exposure and provides several options for taking further action, including contacting a primary care physician or local health department, monitoring symptoms, and finding nearby test locations. The Virtual VDH tab within the app also provides links to online resources and relevant phone numbers.

Anyone who downloads the app has the option to choose to receive exposure notifications, and if a person is diagnosed with COVID-19, it is up to them whether or not to share their result anonymously through COVIDWISE. No location data or personal information is ever collected, stored, tracked, or transmitted to VDH as part of the app. Users have the ability to delete the app or turn off exposure notifications at any time.

Widespread use is critical to the success of this effort, and VDH is launching a robust, statewide public information campaign to make sure Virginians are aware of the COVIDWISE app, its privacy protection features, and how it can be used to support public health and help reduce the spread of the virus.”