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Five Stafford County firefighters have been displaced after mold was found at the station.

More in a press release:

On Thursday, August 13 , the Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department (SCFR) was made aware of the presence of mold at Fire Station 8 located in Rock Hill, which presents an environmental health concern for the personnel assigned to the station. A contractor will be at Fire Station 8 on Friday, August 14, to evaluate the situation and recommend mitigation action.

As a precaution, personnel and the units assigned to Fire Station 8 have been relocated to neighboring stations in Garrisonville and Mountain View to allow them to continue to provide service to the Rock Hill community.

“The health and safety of our personnel is our most important priority. Their work environment must be safe in order for them to continue providing an excellent level of care and service to Stafford County,” explained Stafford County Fire Chief Joseph Cardello.

No personnel have reported any illness related to the presence of mold.

The Rock Hill Fire Department is located at 2133 Garrisonville Road. The firehouse was built in 1976.

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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.

“Meals will be available for free, reduced, and full-paying students at school curbside and selected locations throughout the community,” according to school documents. “We have waived the 40-cents reduced meal charge. Students eligible for reduced-priced meals will now receive free meals,” stated the school division’s School Meal Distribution Plan.

To aid the plan, Brian Williams, director of nutrition, requested $40,000 in federal CARES Act funding from the Stafford County Board of Supervisors. The money would go toward meal totes and coolers for safely transporting food, as well as the expansion of meals delivered via the bus community drop off service.

“We still need coolers for distributing the meals on the buses […], and food totes for every school,” said Assistant Superintendent of Administration and Finance for Stafford County Schools Chris Fulmer.

Students will only be able to receive meals on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at select sites on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. During those days, students will receive hot lunches at the afternoon school curbside pickup sites and pre-packaged “heat and serve” meals that must be heated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees at community bus distribution sites and the evening school pick-up sites.

Students can also receive a two-day supply of breakfast and lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays at the school curbside locations. Students do not have to be present to receive the meals, parents can pick them up for them.

“A parent or guardian may pick up meals without the student being present, however, they will need to provide the student’s name and school attended,” according to school documents.

The meals can be paid for in cash at school pick-up sites, but meals picked up from community bus distribution sites can only be charged to a student’s lunch account. All change from the cash transactions will be credited to students’ individual lunch accounts. Breakfast will cost $1.65, and lunch costs $2.90, $3.00, and $3.10 at the elementary, middle, and high school levels respectively, according to the school division’s School Meal Distribution Plan.

Students without money, who are not on the free and reduced lunch program, can still receive meals by charging the meal to their student lunch account. Parents are, however, encouraged to pre-pay for their student’s lunches.

“[Parents] are strongly encouraged to prepay for meals online using myschoolbucks.com,” stated the school division’s School Meal Distribution Plan.

The current school curbside pick-up meal distribution locations are as follows:

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Monday, Wednesday and Friday

  • Shirley Heim Middle
  • Kate Waller Barrett Elementary
  • Falmouth Elementary
  • Rocky Run Elementary
  • A.G. Wright Middle
  • Ferry Farm
  • Brooke Point
  • Hartwood
  • Dixon Smith
  • Forge
  • N. Stafford

4:30 PM – 6 PM Monday and Wednesday

  • Kate Waller Barrett Elementary
  • Falmouth Elementary
  • Rocky Run Elementary
  • Col. Forge High

The current bus meal distribution communities are as follows:

11 AM – 1 PM Monday, Wednesday and Friday

  • Olde Forge
  • Meadows Park/Quarles Rt. 17
  • Town and Country
  • Foxwood Village
  • Sky Terrace
  • Garrison Woods
  • Widewater Village
  • Crystal Lake Courage
  • Hidden Valley
  • Potomac Hills
  • Taylor Mobile Home Park
  • Stone River Crescent Blvd
  • Forreston Woods
  • Bell’s Hill
  • Paradise Estates
  • Arbor Grove/Lakewood
  • Country Ridge
  • England Run
  • Vista Woods
  • Lake Arrowhead
  • Hope Road

Stafford schools are currently in the process of evaluating sites to expand meal distribution services.

To ensure the safety of staff, parents, and students during the acquisition of meals, there will be health and social distancing precautions. Staff will go through daily temperature checks, be required to wear face masks, and utilize 6 ft. tables to control the spacing between staff and students.

More information about where and how to get meals during the upcoming school year can be found here.

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Vergie Katherine Harris Barbour, 99 of Chantilly, VA departed on August 14, 2020. Born December 3, 1920 in Floris, Va. Vergie is survived by her sister Lillian Newman, four step-sons, Allen, Ray, James and Glen; two step-daughters Margaret Diamond and Carolyn Scriber; four daughters-in-law Sarah, Martha, Edith and Felicia; one son-in-law Melvin Pope; a host of grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. Although,…

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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.

“I think my proudest achievement was to recommend to the 2005-06 School Board, full-day kindergarten for every student after my first year. The budget was good that year, and we were able to complete this initiative, the very next year,” stated Walts.

Walts’ announcement comes nearly a year before he plans to step down, because, as he states, he wanted to “ensure the School Board has the time to select the next great Superintendent for Prince William County Public Schools.”

His resignation comes announcement comes as he and the school board have become embroiled in a scandal involving Walts’ now-deactivated Twitter account. According to the school division, he participated in over 2,000 private conversations, mostly with students, on Twitter. School officials in May launched an investigation into Walts’ usage of his Twitter account, as his actions could be a violation of the school district’s electronic communication policy.

While the investigation into Walts’ Twitter account is complete, the findings of the probe have not been made public. Walts’ resignation announcement made no mention of the investigation into his social media account.

Additionally, Walts and the Prince William School Board are currently being sued for $2.3 million over a video he posted on his Twitter in relation to this by former school board Chairman Ryan Sawyers. The video was of Walts announcing the suspension of his Twitter account after pressure was mounting from the allegations against him. In the now-deleted video, Walts called the allegations against him an attempt to ‘smear and slander him for political purposes,’ presumably in reference to former Chairman Sawyers.

More information on Walts’ retirement can be found on the school division’s website.

Walts has led the school division since 2005 after coming to Prince William County from Greece, N.Y. The school division has 92,000 students and is the second-largest school system in Virginia.

Prince William County Public School students will be headed back to class virtually, at least for the first nine weeks of school, starting September 8.

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A robbery occurred at a Zales jewelry store inside Potomac Mills mall.

Police were called about noon today for a report of a strong-armed robbery that occurred at the store inside the shopping mall in Woodbridge.

Police were seen at a back service door at the mall, while other officers fanned out to search for a suspect who reportedly fled the scene, running in the direction of a nearby IKEA store, according to initial police reports.

We’ll update this post when we have more information.

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A Stafford County woman is now a multi-millionaire.

Carla Payne purchased her winning $2.8 million ticket at Onville Kwik Stop on Onville Road in North Stafford, according to a press release from the Virginia Lottery.

The press release states:

Payne [Photo: Virginia Lottery]
When she scratched a Lucky 7s Cash Blowout ticket that she bought at Onville Kwik Shop on Onville Road in Stafford, she got very quiet.

“I almost passed out!” she said.

She had just discovered she won the game’s top prize: a choice of either the $2,777,777 prize in annual payments over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $1,671,346 before taxes.

“I ran out to the car, jumped in and locked the doors!” she said. “It’s very surreal!”

Payne chose a lump-sum cash payment option over receiving the winnings paid over time. She is the second person to win a prize in the “Lucky 7s Cash Blowout” game. The second prize remains unclaimed, according to Virginia Lottery officials.

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Derek Miller

Derek D. Miller, Jr was born on June 23,1995 in Fort Belvoir, VA to Brenda Reed Miller and Derek D. Miller, Sr.  Derek was raised in Prince William County attending Rippon Middle School and Forest Park High School before moving to Columbia, SC in 2008 where he attended Summit Park School and graduated from Blythewood High School in 2013. He attended Mississippi State University from 2013 – 2015.

Derek Jr enjoyed playing football; from Rippon Middle School to Mississippi State University and was a part of and Captain of his school’s football team.  Derek Jr. placed joy in many people and had big dreams for life.   He was full of life and business ideas. He will always be remembered as a social butterfly as he loved the life he lived as well as the people that surrounded him. Derek Jr. will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by all those he touched. He will never be forgotten, and his spirit will live forever.

Derek Jr. is preceded in death by his grandmother Stephany Miller Wade, great- grandmother Margaret Miller Doughty and great-aunt Carrie Miller.

Derek Jr. is survived by his loving mother Brenda Reed Miller and father Derek D. Miller, Sr.(Charlotte), his 5  brothers; Marquis Reed, Darius Miller, Dalen Miller, Deren Miller, Dylen Miller; uncle Byron and aunt Callesha Wade of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; great aunt Tonta and uncle Gerard Marchand of Houston Texas; niece Amina Miller and nephew Montana Miller and a host of other relatives and friends.

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Derek’s life on Saturday August 15, 2020 with a viewing from 10:00 am-11:00 am with a 11:00 am Life celebration Service at Mountcastle Turch Funeral Home & Crematory, 4143 Dale Blvd, Dale City, VA 22193.

Interment will follow at Dumfries Cemetery.

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