Stafford County faces a housing problem amidst its growing population.
According to the background report submitted to the Stafford Board of County Supervisors, the region has experienced some of the fastest population growth in Virginia. By 2040, the population will increase to nearly half a million people. This will require the county to consider where new and existing residents will live as housing prices continue to grow.
In November 2020, the George Washington Regional Commission (GWRC) conducted a study outlining the problems and its major findings. This included a community survey, focus group discussions, and individual interviews with representatives from government, non-profit, and private sector companies.
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A golf club in Stafford County is asking for federal funds for repairs to its parking lot.Â
The parking lot at The Gauntlet Golf Club was built in 1995 when the golf course opened, and since then, it has undergone six different leases and operators. The paving is currently ten years past its life expectancy and has potholes, cracks, and crumbling asphalt areas.
In March 2018, New Direction Golf Management assumed the lease. Since then, it has invested about $300,000 in improvements to the golf course, including adjusting the drainage and lifting trees for better airflow to make the course more playable. Other improvements include:
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Stafford County makes plans to assume full ownership of the Abel Lake Dam.
The lake formed by the dam is one of the county's key drinking water reservoirs.
Abel Lake Dam was built in the late 1960s in partnership with the federal government and the Department of Agriculture, now known as the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Its original purpose was for flood and erosion control and is currently used for the County's water supply and recreation.
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Farmers' markets are coming back to Manassas and Prince William County.
This year, Historic Manassas Inc. is hosting their Manassas Farmers Market during peak season, which will run through mid-November.Â
The Market is split between Thursdays at the Harris Pavilion in Historic Downtown Manassas and Saturdays at the Prince William Commuter Lot across from Baldwin Elementary School.
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A new farm winery with a lakefront view sits on Lake Manassas in Gainesville.
The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farm is a farm winery and craft brewery, locally owned by family friends Maria Rafferty and Tom Schrade.Â
"As both families' kids were grown and went to college and out of the house, he and I both just kind of found ourselves wanting to figure out some kind of the second career," said Maria Rafferty, co-owner of the Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farms. "We just talked about doing something we would both enjoy, and that ended up being the winery."
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A grassroots coalition is protesting the possible removal of African-American cemeteries in Thoroughfare, Virginia.
Thoroughfare, located just off Interstate 66 at the Prince William County/Fauquier County line, was established and settled by freed African-American and slaves, and Native Americans. It has homes and graves dating back to 1860. Earlier and the descendants of freed slaves and Native Americans still live in the community.
Now, the cemeteries in the face the threat of obstructed access and removal from land developers. Frank Washington and his brother Dulaney Washington created the Coalition to Save Historic Thoroughfare to fix this.
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On April 15, Manassas Park held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its new downtown development, the Village at Manassas Park, at Park Center Court.
The event marked the first phase of project construction.
The development is a private-public partnership between the city and Norton Scott, LLC, a privately held real estate developer and investment firm in McLean. In October 2019, it submitted a proposal to the city to redevelop the area around City Hall.
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According to a WalletHub study, Virginia has the fourth most Coronavirus restrictions.
WalletHub is a personal finance website based out of Washington D.C. The study was written by its financial writer, Adam McCann and posted on the website on April 6, 2021.
“The purpose of this study is to show exactly what the level of restrictions in each state is, seeing as more and more people are getting vaccinated and states are opening up as a result,” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.
The data was gathered by WalletHub’s team of researchers from government sources such as the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the CDC. From here, they compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 13 metrics on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the fewest restrictions. The team used the weighted average across all metrics to calculate the overall score and then rank ordered the states.
“Because our sources are mostly government, we consider all data to be accurate and with no errors. We do not alter the data in any way and use it as is,” said Gonzalez.
These are the rankings for Virginia in each category.
- 18th – Requirement to Wear a Face Mask in Public
- 1st – Travel restrictions
- 13th – Statewide school restart
- 33rd – Workplace Temperature Screening
- 19th – State Guidance on Customer Health Checks at Restaurants
- 38th – Large Gatherings Restrictions
- 27th – Reopening of Non-Essential Businesses
- 29th – Reopening of Restaurants and Bars
- 37th – Legislation on business immunity from COVID-19 claims
- 14th – Working from home requirements/recommendations
- 1st – Strictness of “shelter in place” order
- 20th – Presence of multistate agreements to reopen
- 42nd – Guidance for assisted living facilities related to COVID-19
Despite Virginia’s overall ranking, the state still has a high Coronavirus death rate.
“Virginia has the fourth most COVID-19 restrictions, less than there were a month ago when the state had the most restrictions in the country. It still has a high COVID-19 death rate, which is the main reason for the number of restrictions in place,” said Gonzalez.
The Rappahannock Area Health District (RAHD) reported 42 Coronavirus-related hospitalizations as of April 7, 2021. According to the CDC, the total amount of hospitalizations in the Fredericksburg region is 97 and the death count is 22 as of April 12.
RAHD officials encourage residents to remain vigilant, wash their hands, and physically distance themselves from others.
Over 30% of the adults in the area have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. About 66,000 doses are being distributed across the Commonwealth per day, with over 500,000 new doses coming in per week, according to Governor Ralph Northam.Â
Northam still encourages people to follow CDC guidelines and not gather in large groups.
A lot of poeple know about Peruvian chicken, but fewer know about the sweeter side of Peruvian cuisine.
That’s why Jennifer Solis opened Dolce Amore Sweets Peruvian Bakery in Manassas. She and her family moved from Long Island, New York to Manassas in 2014.
They started their business selling sweets at the Manassas and Dale City farmers markets, and it grew from there.Â
Solis opened Dolce Amore Sweets in June 2019 with plans to have a dine-in cafe and bakery. Their menu consisted of Peruvian desserts made in-house and six to seven tables in the dining area.
However, when the Coronavirus Pandemic hit, Solis and her team had to change their original plans. They applied for a PPP Loan and were approved, and made changes to their operation.
“We opened in June 2019 and then in March, that’s when the pandemic came. We weren’t even in business for a year, we were in business for a couple of months,” said Jennifer Solis. “It was kind of hard for us because we were just starting to get people to know us in the community. So we were trying to get people to come to the store and that’s when the pandemic came, and it was a really big impact for us.”
They had to change from dine-in to carryout and change their hours to close earlier to provide free delivery after 7 p.m. and started using disposable containers instead of their planned coffee mugs, glasses, and plates. They also changed their number of tables to only three in the indoor dining area and on the sidewalk.Â
In addition, they expanded their menu to include a greater variety of food, including sandwiches, breakfast, smoothies, and ice-cream.
With new additions to the menu, and as the pandemic subsides, Solis hopes hungry customers headed back out to eat come to visit.
Dolce Amore Sweets is located at 8641 Sudley Road in Manassas.
