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[Photo: Mike Petrucci/Unsplash]
A federal survey seeks whether small businesses have recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. However, some local business owners are more concerned about a potential recession and inflation.

The Federal Reserve recently distributed questionnaires to gather data for its Small Business Credit Survey 2022 Report on Employer Firms. The data collected, which will cover the 12 months before the survey, will try to tell the overall story of health in the small business community and its recovery from the pandemic.

However, some in the business community need to see sunny skies when they look ahead in time.

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The yellow outline shows about 10 acres where a new elementary school will sit next to Fred Lynn Middle School in Woodbridge.

The Prince William County Planning Commission approved a location for a new elementary school in Woodbridge. Construction crews will build the on about 10 acres on the north side of Prince William Parkway near the intersection of Route 1.

The school will have three stories to accommodate 631 students. The purpose is to relieve overcrowding at several elementary schools, such as Featherstone, Kilby, and Marumsco elementary schools.

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Dawn One at Manassas Regional Airport

Manassas Regional Airport recently hosted an unmanned research aircraft's first successful test flight.

Dawn One, an unmanned solar-electric hybrid research aircraft with a 90-foot wingspan, was designed to be used for atmospheric studies by Electra Aero. According to a press release on Electra's website about the event, Dawn One was created to be part of Harvard University's Stratospheric Airborne Climate Observatory System.

The project is supported by contracts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Weld Foundation for Scientific and Environmental Development.

The project is designed to observe and collect data, allowing for deeper research into the physical, chemical, and biological controls that govern critical climate systems. 

"The high-spatial resolution observations from SACOS will provide, for the first time, quantitative forecasts of risk associated with rapidly expanding wildfires, the increasing rate of sea level rise, the intensification of severe storms, and global shifts in arid regions that trigger water shortages," the project's leader Professor James G. Anderson Professor Anderson said. "Moreover, these quantitative forecasts of risk will, in turn, establish the essential intellectual links directly coupling irreversible changes in the climate structure to economics, public policy, and associated societal instability."

According to airport manager Juan Rivera, Electra approached the regional airport for the Dawn One test flight in June 2022.

"The airport supports new innovative aviation companies. These types of test flights may lead to new Advance Air Mobility (AAM) flights for our airport that could bring educational and career opportunities to this region," said Rivera.

Electra Aero is one of many new aerospace companies to open its doors in Manassas last year. The airport is also home to Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences and the Reston-based Leidos. According to Rivera, both companies have been at the airport for over five years.

Below is a video of the flight courtesy of Electra Aero:

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A small-scale replica of Aerodrome No.5, a lighter-than-air craft launched near Quantico in 1896, seven years before the famed Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk, N.C. [Photo: Rick Horner]

Updated -- The Stafford County Board of Supervisors could use coronavirus money to help tell the story of Aerodrome No. 5, now believed to be the first case of unmanned flight.

The Langley Foundation has sought American Rescue Plan Act funding to create a new exhibit at the Stafford Regional Airport, a replica of Aerodrome No. 5, flown by Samuel Pierpont Langley on May 6, 1896, in Stafford County.

dThe foundation's president Chris Hornung hopes to raise $300,000 to build the exhibit. The funds from the county would be a one-to-one match with the foundation responsible for raising the other $150,000.

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Photo: Stafford County Public Schools

Stafford County Public Schools has requested that Virginia give its teachers a raise to make the jurisdiction more competitive with neighboring counties.

COCA, otherwise known as Cost of Competing Adjustment, is given to counties by the state to adjust salary differences for support and teaching staff between localities. The funding for counties is based on average salary and population, which are currently expected to rise higher over the next decade in Stafford County.

According to the school division, Stafford is the third-fastest growing county in Virginia and has increased by 10 percent over the last decade. Despite that growth, the school division only receives the adjustment funding that matches 25 percent of its annual budget.

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The Saint Callinicus Romanian Orthodox Church held its second annual Romanian Festival on Saturday, October 8, 2022.

The event was held at the Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church, off Route 3 in Spotsylvania County, and offered a taste of authentic Romanian food, games, and attractions for children, Romanian folk music and dancing performances, and vendors selling art and jewelry.

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Picture courtesy of HGA Architects and Engineers

The University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino unveiled conceptual drawings for a new building for the school's theater arts program.

The presentation plans to construct a two-story, 63,000-square-foot building on the school's campus on the corner of Sunken Road and William Street. The new theater building will replace two current dormitory buildings, William and Russell halls, and have a path leading from the University's bell tower on campus and another from the Sunken and William crossroad in front of the campus leading to the building's second level.

Plans for the new building were developed by Virginia-based Commonwealth Architects and Minnesota-based HGA Architects and Engineers.

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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors approved a letter outlining concerns about inmate fees that could affect the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

The letter, written on behalf of the regional jail's board, was sent to the Virginia Board of Local and Regional Jails, which is currently engaged in a study on the effects of fees prisons charge inmates at commissaries. The study is looking into potentially reducing or eliminating those costs.

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Pennys Used Auto Parts on Minnieville Road in Woodbridge caught fire [Photo: Prince William fire and rescue]

Penny's Used Auto Parts has started a GoFundMe to raise funds for its recovery after a devastating fire.

The Archie Family, the owners, and operators of Penny's, are asking for 100,000 to help rebuild the business. The fundraiser has received $650 in the four days since it has been online.

Penny's was founded in 1956 by Henry and Anne Archie as the first used car parts junkyard in Woodbridge. Penny was Henry Archie's nickname, which became the business's name.

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