We posted 2,893 stories in 2019.

That’s nearly 3,000 times Potomac Local brought you closer to your community — connecting you to the decision-makers, making you smarter about how the local news that affects your family, home and business, faster.

I’m grateful for the 730,000 users who trusted us, viewing our content 1.5 million times over the past year.

Thank you to our advertisers, and our nearly 500 subscribers who make bringing you thew news possible. Please subscribe today to support our work! 

With coverage of more local meetings, transportation, and the region’s newest baseball team the Fredericksburg Nationals, we plan to bring you even more coverage, by more reporters.

With a redesigned website, and with new reader options where even non-subscribers will soon be able to read now and pay later, we’re excited about 2020! 

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Here’s a look at the most-read stories of 2019:

1. Driver killed in Route 17 crash identified 
2. 21-year-old man dies after found shot in Lake Ridge
3. Reserve at Long Forest headed to public hearing
4. Stores closing: Multiple mall shops dark in Fredericksburg
5. Colonial Forge High School mourns student killed in crash
6. Gun fired inside Hylton High School, lockdown lifted after weapon found
7. Manassas Park to once again require residents to buy, display decals
8. Smash and grab at Stafford’s newest liquor store
9. Manassas DMV to relocate to Prince William County
10. Stafford to New York City bus service starts May 25

Those poor conservatives.

Election Day comes around every year on the first Tuesday in November. Yes — in Virginia — there is an election every year. But yet, somehow, conservatives said they missed this one.

Some of the thousands who lined up to speak at rallies in Prince William and Stafford counties in recent weeks urging the leaders to adopt resolutions upholding 2nd Amendment rights used phrases like “they’ve awoken a sleeping giant,” and evoked the phrase printed on our state flag: “Sic Semper Tyranis.”

Unhappy about the outcome of a Democratic blue wave the swept both the House of Delegates and State Senate, they largely blamed each other for not showing up to the polls to elect more Republicans. Some of the conservatives I talked at these rallies said it was the gun-rights debate, which flared up after the election, was the catalyst that now has brought firearms advocates out of the woodwork.

As to why they’re getting involved in the public process now, they told me things like “I don’t like to get involved with government,” and “I shouldn’t have to be here,” or “I’m just going to leave the state.”

Newsflash: You pay taxes, you use the roads, your children go to public schools, so you are involved.

And if you abdicate your responsibility to be involved in local and state government, who should step up? Should it be left to politicians who, in a world where the local press is dying and fewer people are watching and asking questions, be left alone to make even more decisions in the dark?

You shouldn’t have to be here? OK. Should the decisions of government that affect all of us be left to up to government employees who can effectively lobby the elected officials to approve only the policies they like?

And if you flee the state — no matter what you’re running from — it will inevitably catch up with you.

I’ve been covering local government here for 10 years, and in that time this is the largest number of people I’ve seen show up to speak to their locally-elected leaders. Wouldn’t it be great to also see similar turnout when leaders are debating whether or not to add more toll roads in the region, or whether or not to re-authorize the school superintendent’s six-figure salary?

When it comes to voter apathy, the numbers tell the tale. Comparing the 2019 election with the same election just two years ago, in Stafford and Woodbridge’s House District 2,  240 fewer Republican votes were cast in 2019 in a contest where, once again, Democrat Jennifer Carroll Foy won the seat.

In Manassas’ House District 50, Democrat Lee Carter kept his seat as 120 fewer Republicans cast ballots. In Prince William County’s 51st District, 594 fewer Republican voters cast votes, and Delegate Hyla Ayala handily won re-election.

Bucking the trend for the Republicans was House District 31, which straddles Fauquier and Prince William counties, where 467 more Republican votes were cast. However, Democrat Elizabeth Guzman won re-election in that race.

And it’s not just apathy on the side of Republican voters. Precincts in Woodbridge and Dumfries in eastern Prince William County, with seats that have been held by Democrats for years, saw the lowest voter turnout rates in Prince Wiliam County.

In the east where two contests — the 36th District Senate seat race and the Woodbridge District Supervisors seat were uncontested — saw turnout rates as low as 21%. Compare that to precincts in the west that saw both contested races and turn-out rates as high as 46%.

A 46% voter turn out rate in an off-off year election is huge. I hope the numbers continue to increase during future elections.

For too long, politicians relied on people sitting out off-year elections in order to win. But, with the rise of absentee in-person voting — where people can cast their ballots in the weeks leading up to Election Day for just about any reason — those days are over.

And make no mistake; our community and our democracy need your participation. We need your ideas, and we need to debate them. We need qualified candidates to volunteer to represent and serve us.

For this whole thing to work, you’ve got to pay attention, get involved, and advocate for your community. We need you to remember vote is your voice, and you’ve got to use it. Showing up to political rallies weeks after the election, talking about shoulda–coulda–woulda “woe-is-me “doesn’t work.

And, frankly, it’s a slap in the face for those of us who show up to the polls each year, without fail, to vote for the person we think will represent us in government.

More layoffs in the local news industry are expected next week following the merger of Gannett and GateHouse Media.

• With USA Today and 266 local news outlets in tow, the $1.4 billion deal will create the largest newspaper company in the U.S.
• The new company, to be dubbed Gannett, will operate from Gannett’s current Tysons Corner headquarters.
• At least 10% of the staff inside local newsrooms who work at these newspapers are expected to lose their jobs as the new firm looks for ways to cut costs.

Inevitably, as it has in every other newspaper company merger or closure, the amount of local news coverage in the affected communities will decrease.

• That means fewer people watching local governments who spend taxpayer money, making decisions about local schools, healthcare, planning and zoning, political redistricting — the list goes on and on.

While there are no papers in Potomac Local Land to be affected by the new merger, we did see one newspaper in our area — yet again — be affected by the changing tides in the local news industry.

• The Fauquier Times, along with its Prince William Times and subsequent publications, was purchased by the non-profit Piedmont Journalism Foundation for $1,000.
• That’s a far cry from the millions a group of Fauquier County investors ponied up in 2016 to “save” the newspaper in 2016 when then-owner Peter Arundel was looking to sell.

Newspapers like the Philadelphia Inquirer, Salt Lake City Tribune have made the move to non-profit ownership.

• Online outlets like the Texas Tribune and Pro Publica have also produced great journalism, and have built engaged communities around their work.

As The Fauquier Times makes its transition, I hope it sees similar success, as the non-profit business model — while not for us here at Potomac Local — has a lot of potential to do a lot of good for the community.

I like the ability of us “for-profit” news organizations to partner with non-profit outlets.

• Earlier this year, I was pleased to post a story about opioid addiction in our region penned by the Piedmont Journalism Foundation.

For us, posting that story on Potomac Local was a way to help expand the reach of that story and for them, it was a way to further their mission of reporting on issues that matter here in Virginia.

• I look forward to more of these kinds of opportunities in the future.

I’m also following City Bureau in Chicago, who trains and pays reporters (called documenters) to attend public meetings and write about what happens.

• City Bureau, like most non-profit news outlets, distributes their content on multiple “competing” (to borrow a term from the old media world) outlets with the idea that the more people who see it, not where they see it, is what matters most.
• Some of the best reporting we’re seeing today is being produced by folks who have never been to J-school.

Every year at Halloween, my wife and I like to act like big kids.

• We try to make it to every fun haunted walk we can.
• We’ve traveled as far as Universal Studios in Orlando, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, and to various haunts near Richmond to have our wits scared out of us.

There’s always one haunt that we make the short drive to every year, and that’s Haunted Hallow.

• And for the past two years, they’ve been a Potomac Local supporter.

Located on an abandoned haunted farm in Warrenton, it’s the perfect Halloween
event.

• A haunted trail winds through the farm taking you through a maze of hay bails, a house of horrors, and a cave of terror.
• There’s always something new added to the walk every year.

It’s also a great place to usher in fall with hot kettle corn, pumpkin milkshakes, and more.

• You won’t have to wait in line, the actors won’t touch you, and those ages 13 or under are encouraged to have an adult to cling to.
• Check out the nearby Cows-N-Corn farm if you’re looking for something to do that won’t give your child 10 or under nightmares.

This Friday and Saturday are the final days of the year to experience Haunted Hallow.

• Don’t miss it, and Happy Halloween!

That’s why we’re continuing our efforts this year to bring you our Project:Election candidate surveys.

You saw them posted to our site prior to the June Primary Election, and our reporter Kimberley Scharfenberger will make sure you’ll see them again for candidates running in the Nov. 5, 2019, election.

The annual surveys are a public service, and a great chance for those candidates who have volunteered to serve to reach our readers, at no cost.

Everyone — paying subscribers and casual readers — can see them because they’re on our regular (free) content tier.

In addition, we’re also posting our interviews with the candidates to our Potomac Local Podcast (available wherever you get your podcasts) and to our YouTube page. All of this is free content you can hear and see at any time, on your schedule.

• • Click “subscribe” on our YouTube channel to be notified of new videos
  • Set your podcast app to auto-download the latest episode of the Potomac Local Podcast

Of course, we’ll also be writing about the upcoming election in the weeks to come. Our paying subscribers will benefit from our quick, easy to read, informative local politics coverage. If you haven’t already, please subscribe today.

As elections go, this year’s local elections are our “Super Bowl,” and we look forward to bringing you the latest updates through and after Election Day.

I love hearing from our LOCALS (paying subscribers) and casual readers. Here’s a note I received this week that I wanted to share:

Uriah,

Thanks for your message. We are very satisfied with our Potomac Local subscription. As you mentioned, it’s local news and information we can’t find anywhere else.

Your team does great work!

Best Regards,

Keith and Maribel

I hope you’ll help us with a little market research.

We value our email newsletter because it’s a comprehensive collection of original stories written by us here at Potomac Local News, stories written by reporters at other area local news organizations, as well as press releases and notices from non-profit organizations in our community.

It’s sort of an online version of a newspaper that comes directly to your email box on your phone or computer, saving you the walk to the end of your driveway or mailbox to pick up a newspaper.

Lately, we’ve been sending our newsletter out periodically on days we have an original news story, at least three times per week.

In the past, we sent it every morning at 5 a.m. Then we had it set to send on weekday afternoons.

This notion of when to send an email newsletter seems small. But it’s important to me because I want you to have the information you’re looking for, when you want to receive it, without being a burden on your inbox.

In the poll below, I’d like to know when you would like to receive our email newsletter. Your feedback will better help us serve you. Thank you!

Dear Jean,

Thanks for taking the time to give us feedback on Amy Taylor’s reporting of the anticipated reopening of Wild Run Brewery. 

We’re working hard to bring you local news. Your paid subscription to Potomac Local News truly supports our reporting efforts.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if I can be of service.

Here’s the email Jean sent us:

Uriah – Thanks so much for your reporting on the progress of the Stafford Campground Brewery.  I have heard that this gentleman brews up some mighty fine craft brews.

Unfortunately, he has been engaged in a real ‘pissing contest’ with the county.  But now your reporting seems to indicate he will emerge the winner and so will we the brewsky-affectionados of Stafford.

We would not even know where this situation stood if not for your reporting because Stafford is not telling us anything.

Thank you, Uriah!

Happy and safe 4th of July!

Jean E. 

Stafford

I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday morning while managing to stay dry. Rain is in the forecast as we finish the weekend and begin the new work week on Monday.

As we look back on the week that was and share with you the top five most-read stories on Potomac Local News. I’ll also take a moment to review the week that was.

• We told the story of former IBM employees who gathered to commemorate the founding of the company’s Manassas headquarters 5o years ago. When I was a child riding in the backseat of my parents’ car, I remember riding past the old building and seeing the IBM sign. I later remember listening to a radio program about IBM planning to close its Manassas headquarters, and the effect it was going to have on the city. It was a pleasure to work with the folks who held a commemorative 50th-anniversary party to tell their stories.
• Our subscribers were treated this week to a great story about a fourth-grade girl who convinced school officials in Stafford County to ban plastic straws in public schools. That’s impressive.
• We’re back in the habit sending out our”Potomac Local List” events email newsletter on Thursdays. It’s a mix of our local reporting, and a don’t-miss events list. Please let us know what you think.
• For Nurses Week, we compiled a special sponsored post this week for Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center featuring eight hard-working nurses who wanted to share their stories with our readers. Here’s a hat tip to them and all nurses who work tirelessly to care for others.
• Megan Dietrick has joined us as a summer reporter from the University of Pittsburgh. She’ll be posting content to our website, writing local news for our web, and learning about what makes our community unique. I hope you take the time commenting here, or by sending us an email and welcoming her to the team.

Here are the top most-read stories on our site this week:

1. Fredericksburg man killed on I-95
2. Former IBM Manassas employees gather for 50th-anniversary celebration
3. Woman sexually assaulted at Woodbridge park
4. Updated: Downed power lines force closure of portion of Route 234
5. Temporary closure of Route 17 at I-95 planned