Alyssa Halstead has a long history of service when it comes to public safety and health.
She's worked as a public health emergency manager for the City of New York's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has a Master's degree in public health and education, and worked for 15 years in infectious disease planning for a pandemic.
Now she's running to represent the Hartwood District on the Stafford County School Board.
Halstead and her husband, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, came to Virginia In 2012 and settled in Stafford three years later. The couple has two children and two rescue dogs from a boarding facility in Woodbridge, where she developed a curriculum to help children learn social and emotional empathy by bonding with shelter animals.
Potomac Local News talked with Halstead about her campaign for the school board seat and other issues related to the Stafford County Schools.
What inspired you to run for the School Board?
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The Stafford County Government is formulating a teleworking policy for its employees.
Although the practice of teleworking is not new for the county, this past year saw an increase in demand for remote-work options in the wake of social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic.
The county shuttered its government building twice in the past 12 months, limiting the public's access to the local government hall, moving most government business and public meetings online. Neighboring Prince William County, on the other hand, largely kept the doors of its government center open while since the start of the pandemic.
Now the Board of Supervisors is looking into making a telework policy permanent for some employees.
County staffers told the Board of Supervisors that many workplaces in the private sector and government are allowing people to work remotely. A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that the benefits of teleworking included flexibility to employees, job satisfaction, and keeping the county competitive in the job market by increasing recruitment and aiding in retaining staff, staffers told the Board.
Many departments would benefit from telework, including the Commissioner of the Revenue's office, which assesses private property values, the county's top-tier administration offices, including County Administrator Fred Pressley, and the county's Public Works staff.
Several Virginia counties, including Prince William, Hanover, Loudoun, Chesterfield, and Henrico counties, all have telework policies that determine the maximum number of days that would be allowed to telework. Many allow for unlimited days for teleworking, while Hanover only allows two days a week. Chesterfield only allows telework in cases of inclement weather.
Spotsylvania is the only neighboring county that does not have a policy in place for teleworking.
In addition to how many days employees could work from home, the county will also work on a checklist that teleworkers would have to follow at home to comply with the policy.
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Of the four School Board members whose terms expire at the end of the year, Falmouth District representative Dr. Sarah Chase is the only one running to retain her seat.
She's also the only candidate whose running unopposed.
During her four years on the Stafford County School Board, Chase, a psychology professor who teaches at St. Mary's University in Maryland, experienced the coronavirus pandemic's issues, the departure of the district's school superintendent, and political redistricting in the county.
"It took a long time for me to decide to run again, but it's an important responsibility and we need different people on the board who have done their due diligence and their research in making these decisions," said Chase.
Chase said that her experience not only as a member of the Board but as someone who volunteered in the schools before her term would help with the transition that the school board will go through with three new members coming onto the board and a new superintendent to be hired in the next few months to replace the outgoing Dr. Scott Kizner, whose leaving in September.
"We're going into a situation where we have two members of the Board who only have two years of experience and one who has twenty years of experience and we're getting a new superintendent. I want to stay on and help whoever becomes the new superintendent to acclimate to the school system," says Chase.
Chase is also proud of some of the board's success during her term, such as purchasing the old Fredericksburg Christian School off Garrisonville Road in North Stafford, which became the Northstar Early Childhood Education Center. The center, according to Chase, provided necessary space for the developmental needs of the students.
Chase also touts the opening of Moncure Elementary, stating that they got it open on time as a success. Chase is also staying on when students are coming back to school after having to adapt to the issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. While some teachers and students with special needs or in need of internet access did stay in the buildings, most were relegated to virtual learning throughout the 2020 school year.
Students began to trickle back into the school soon after some elementary school students returned in October, while some high school students could return in February 2021. Many worked on hybrid programs during that time, spending half the time in class and the other half online.
"It wasn't ideal, I'm not going to pretend that everything worked out great. But for a difficult situation, it worked as well as we could make it work," says Chase of the school's adaptations to the pandemic.
Another issue for some Stafford residents is requiring students, teachers, and staff to wear masks as they returned to school on Aug. 9. Gov. Ralph Northam says a new law requires all school divisions across the state to require masks, although the author of the law disagrees. The forced mask mandate for everyone inside school buildings will stand until September 21, when the board will revisit the issue and decide whether or not to continue with the mask mandates.
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Gateway Comics and Toys will participate in Free Comic Book Day, a worldwide event, on Saturday, August 14.
This year will mark the 20th time the event has occurred and involve more than 2,000 participating comic shops in 60 countries.
Gateway plans to host special guests at both their Fredericksburg and Woodbridge locations to celebrate the occasion.
Those who visit the Fredericksburg store at 2368 Plank Road will see the local business Reclaim Arcade joining the festivities. Reclaim Arcade offers the experience of retro arcade gaming similar to those popular in the 1980s and 90s. Reclaim Arcade also owns Reclaim Video, which offers a similar nostalgic experience but with VHS tapes.
Other guests will include Fredericksburg-based Freddy Donuts, as well as an appearance by local comic creator Charles McElvy. McElvy is known for his creation Spider Squirrel which is published through his own label Xion Press.
Among the guests for Gateway's Woodbridge location, at 3112 P.S. Business Center Drive, just off Smoketown Road, will be writer/artist Jonathan Luna, known for his series Alex and Ada, published through Image Comics. Luna will be joined by local comic book writer and artist Lauren Keely whose book 20XX was also published through Image Comics.
Also appearing will be cosplayer Laney Jade, pop culture podcast host of The Great Geek Refuge Mike Lunsford, and Dave's Dogs providing food for the event.
Free Comic Book Day was originally founded by Joe Field, the founder of Flying Colors Comics, which is based in Concord, California, to introduce comics to new readers while giving thanks to current fans.
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To all artists who use the sidewalk as their medium of choice, Stafford County wants you.
The Stafford County Economic Development and Tourism Board, the count’s Museum and Cultural Center, and the North Stafford and Stafford Rotary clubs are currently looking for artists to participate in the county’s first sidewalk art event known as Via Colori Stafford.
The groups are recruiting artists to participate in a Via Colori piece, where they will create a patchwork of different pastel murals to be drawn on the sidewalks. The art form is a modern version of a centuries-old tradition that can be traced back to 16th century Italy when artists would paint religious icons in the courtyards of cathedrals.
Artists will be given a square to paint in the commuter lot located off of Exit 140 in Stafford, where the public is invited to attend and watch the artists create their works.
Each square artist will be sponsored by a business, organization, or family with the proceeds, after expenses, to benefit the museum and various services in the region. The event is expected to have 100 artists from various arts organizations. So far, 40 have signed up for the event.
Stafford Economic and Tourism recently held an event in anticipation of Via Colori Stafford called Via Tutori for the artists that had already signed up, which gave them a primer on the art style by those experienced in the medium.
Via Colori Stafford will occur at the commuter lot off of Exit 140 in Stafford on Sept. 25 and 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. More information is available online.
Maureen Siegmund is running to become the representative for the Garrisonville District on the Stafford County School Board.
Siegmund says she's right for the job as the Director of External Relations for Active Policy Solutions, a government affairs firm that provides government relations and advocacy support to clients specializing in sports, health, wellness, education, youth development, and civil rights policy.
Siegmund says that this, along with her work with the Board's Gifted Advisory Committee, where she has served as both chair and vice-chair, gives her extensive insight into the issues Stafford County is facing in its schools and the experience to read, understand, and consider the impacts of policy.
Siegmund and her husband Steve have called Stafford County home since 2005, after spending many weekends exploring the area as tourists. They lived in South Stafford until 2016 and then moved to Austin Ridge in the Garrisonville District.
- The couple has four children attending the 2021-2022 school year with an eighth-grader at Rodney Thompson Middle School, fifth and third graders at Anthony Burns Elementary School, and a toddler still at home.
Potomac Local News spoke with Siegmund about her goal to become a member of the school board and other issues related to Stafford County Schools.
What inspired you to run for the School Board?
I have been serving on a School Board advisory committee for five years. I've learned a lot and met many incredible people. However, I noticed that there were no School Board members with young children serving, and I think that perspective is something missing from the board's deliberations.
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New survey findings show that the majority of respondents, at least 31%, favored extending Metro south of Springfield.
One of the options being discussed in the feasibility study is the possibility of extending the Metro's Yellow Line from Huntington station Alexandria south along Route 1 to Woodbridge, Potomac Mills, and Quantico.
- The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation has revealed the findings of a survey conducted to find ways to improve transportation in our region.
- The survey was conducted between April 19 to May 18 and asked 1,352 residents from Prince William and the southern portion of Fairfax counties what methods would improve transit.
DRPT sought to understand local and regional use of public transit in both the pre-and and post-pandemic eras. Public transportation serving Prince William County saw very low ridership due to pandemic restrictions, which had a detrimental effect on the revenue streams of public transit organizations such as Omniride and the Virginia Railway Express.
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The Eavesdrop Brewery in Yorkshire has undergone a very colorful facelift, one that according to general manager Sam Madden is giving the brewery a more eye-catching identity.
Over the last year, the owners of the brewery have brought in an artist to paint this mural across the building which as well as the brewery includes local businesses such as the Cairo Cafe, Eugene's Sausage and Fries, and the Renegade Classics Motorcycle Shop.
The mural, painted by artist Nick Zimbra, shows flora and fauna against a colorful background such as the rabbit running on the Renegade Classic shop front or the flowers on the front of the Cairo Cafe. Zimbra, who has worked on the mural over the course of three to four months, has done similar projects in Richmond where he is currently working on a mural for the Capital One building.
Madden praised the mural to Potomac Local News, saying that it's not something you would normally see in many places in Prince William County.
"Personally, I grew up in Prince William County. I'm like, man, there's no public art in. Yeah, it's so boring. So, like, stiff, but it was cool to see it," says Madden.
Madden also touts the uniqueness of the stores located next to the brewery, which includes The Drop Bottle Shop, which stocks hard-to-find ales.
"So that's stuff that you can't find in your Harris Teeter, Safeway, the other places, the small batches that they make," said Madden.
Many of the stores and restaurants in the brewery managed to survive through the pandemic even as they had to limit the number of customers by half. Many of the restaurants were able to survive through food delivery apps like Doordash as well as curbside service, said Madden.
Eavesdrop Brewery opened in 2017 and offers not just homebrewed beer but also local offerings of cheeses, meats, and honey that are produced at farms west of Manassas, located between Marshall and Front Royal.
Eavesdrop Brewery is located off of Route 28 at 7223 Centerville Road in Yorkshire.
The Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of the new Warrior Challenge Obstacle Course in Locust Shade Park.
Potomac Local News was there for the ceremony in Triangle, which attracted many representatives from the Prince William County Government, Quantico Marine Corps Base, as well as state officials
Located about a mile from the Marine Corps base, the obstacle course was created to give a place for residents in both the county and the base to get outside and exercise. The course, according to county parks and recreation department director Seth Handler-Voss, is inspired by the television show American Ninja Warrior where contestants run through a challenging obstacle course.
"I'm looking forward to seeing all the active duty, veterans, and residents coming out and enjoying the park," said Col. Michael L. Brooks, new Commander for Marine Corps Base Quantico.
The TV show is a spin-off based on a Japanese show called Sasuke that has been active since 1997, Sasuke was renamed Ninja Warrior when it was shown in the United States in the early 2000s.
The funds for the course came from a combination of a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense from their Defense Infrastructure Community program, one of only 15 such grants that were awarded this year. That grant was matched with another $250,000 in funding from Prince William County for a total of $500,000.
"This is the partnership between the County and Marine Corps Base Quantico, getting the grant for this course solidified that partnership. I'm extremely excited about the continued partnership with Col. Brooks as commander of the base and to continue that partnership in all activities including infrastructure, transportation. However that partnership rolls out, it is essential for the county," said Andrea O. Bailey, Potomac District Supervisor.
The opening of this course comes with new growth for the Quantico area, the base broke ground for their new wargaming facility in Sept. 2020. Quantico also awarded a contract to Dominion Energy to update the base's energy infrastructure. Both are aspects of the coming growth that Quantico will experience over the next few years.
There are plans to connect the obstacle course to the Potomac Heritage Scenic Trail which runs through Prince William County and now ends in neighboring Stafford County.
"The trail will connect through the Marine Corps Museum to this park and terminate in Stafford County who will take it from there and then go down to the Chesapeake Bay," said Handler-Voss.
Another opening will occur at Locust Shade Park in September when a new mountain bike trail will be opened to the public. Other amenities at the roadside park, located between Interstate 95 and Route 1, at 4701 Locust Shade Drive, include a mini-golf course, and a pond for fishing and paddle boating.
