For a brief moment, we pause

It’s at this moment the world is merry and bright. Families travel to be with each other. Gifts of appreciation are shared. Memories are made. 

The store windows in Occoquan are decorated with garland, while the buildings in Downtown Manassas are adorned with white lights. 

A large Christmas Tree overlooks Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center in Woodbridge, while light continues to shine on our very own symbol of freedom — The National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico.

These sights are commonplace in our community at this time of year. The hustle and bustle of our daily lives sometimes make it difficult for us to stop, look around, and appreciate them for all they’re worth. 

At Potomac Local, I’m appreciative of you for allowing us to celebrate another Christmas by looking back at all we’ve accomplished over the past year. 

We’ve seen the opening of a new Re-Store which helps provide housing to some of our area’s neediest. We saw the renaming of a Dale City middle school and talked to the community who came to be a part of the process. 

We learned about the histories of Aden and Smoketown — once settlements that today remembered best by the road signs erected in their honor.

And we saw the community crave sweets with the opening of a new doughnut shop, and lose their appetites when another favorite restaurant closed. 

These are just some of my memories from 2016. 

Your gift of continued support and readership of Potomac Local goes a long way in helping us to celebrate the season.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Uriah Kiser
Publisher 

Lots of great story tips at coffee session 

My recent one-on-one with the publisher session at One Degree Captial was a success.

I enjoyed meeting with community members and business leaders in Occoquan, as well as representatives from the Prince William County Solid Waste Division, The Prince William County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Associates in Gastroenterology. 

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The 42nd annual Dumfries Christmas Parade was held Saturday.

This was my third year taking the microphone and announcing the marching groups, floats, and area elected officials who all participate in the Christmastime tradition.

I was honored to have Ms. Betty Covington on the stage to help me announce. Covington has done so much for Dumfries, serving as Dumfries Elementary School principal and later as the Dumfries District, renamed Potomac District School Board member.

In this day and age of video games, Netflix, and instant information, it’s great to see so many people bring their children to a parade, a time-honored tradition that brings communities together. Parents braved the cold and brought their children out on December day when temperatures never escaped the 30s.

From school dance troops, cheerleaders, Air Force JROTC, churches, businesses, the volunteer fire and rescue departments, and Santa and Mrs. Claus, there’s always a lot to look at the in the Dumfries show. All the marching organizations, bands, and floats were carefully judged they marched along the parade route. We’ll post the winners of the parade judging contest to Potomac Local as soon we have them.

The Toys for Tots float that appeared earlier this month in the Greater Manassas Christmas Parade held on December 3 that won first place at that event was also in Dumfries’ parade. We’ll see how it fared with the judges in Dumfries.

Going forward, Dumfries leaders may want to take a page out of Manassas’ book and move the reviewing stand to the end of the parade route at Graham Park Drive near Dunkin Donuts. Having both marched in the Dumfries parade, and announced the parade the past three years, I’ve noticed that many people gather at Town Hall at the start of the parade, and in a second large group at the end.

The announcer and the reviewing stand for the Manassas Parade are located at the very end of the route, at the intersection of Center and West streets. People line up along the over one-mile long parade route to see the procession, and then the participants are announced at the very end.

Very few people gather near the Dumfries parade review stand where I make my announcements.

The end of the parade is also a great place to snap photos, as many participants like to stop and perform for the parade judges to showcase their talents, and to show off their floats.

In Dumfries this year, parade marchers were told not to stop and perform in front of the viewing stand. However, some did and chose to dance or sing. Because their young hearts were enjoying themselves so much, who was we to tell them no? Where’s the Christmas spirit in that?

This year, the Dumfries parade was also competing with a series of events happening in eastern Prince William County, Winterfest, which also occurred Saturday. The festival was a daylong series of events that began with a Santa’s Lake Ridge Parade at Tacketts Mill, then caroling in Occoquan, capped off with nighttime fireworks at Prince William Marina.

Last year Winterfest was on the third weekend in the month, while the Dumfries parade has traditionally been held on the second weekend. With so many Christmastime events happening I’m sure it’s difficult to efficiently coordinate everything, but it’d be good to see the leaders of the small towns not competing for holiday event goers.

My hat is off to Dumfries Community Services coordinator Brittany Heine, who shows us what being a one-woman production is all about. Sure, Henie has help from many volunteers, but after years covering the town and participating in events, her role is the glue that makes the parade come to together.

Do you have a pothole on your street that has been ignored for some time? How about a dirty playground in your neighborhood that is no longer a safe place for children to play?

Maybe you have some good news, like an amazing friend who organized as successful neighborhood watch program. Or, maybe you have a teacher who went the extra mile to help her students learn.

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By now, I hope you’ve made it where you are going for Thanksgiving.

For my wife and I, we spent the day traveling on Virginia highways making our way over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house. This is the third time we’ve made the annual trip to be with family for this special holiday.

Like many who traveled this holiday weekend, we braved lines, crowds, and delays to make it where we were going. For those who stayed close to home, long lines and delays at shopping malls and roads will also affect holiday travelers and shoppers.

The best gift you can give yourself this Thanksgiving is to be with friends or family. It’s these people who are there for us, who make us laugh, who are there for us to talk, and for the very best of them, give us a shoulder to cry on from time to time.

And, if you’re a good friend who returns the favor, your visit will be a gift well received. 

I am truly thankful for my family who supports me in not only this project of bringing you our local news but in all endeavors. From improving our home, investing in our family, planning for our future, and taking care of our tribe of goats and pack of dogs, my family has been there every step of the way.

I hope that you have friends and relatives like this in your life and that you’ll be able to count your blessings, and for what you are thankful.

We’ll take a break Thanksgiving Day from posting local news. For us, it’s time to be with family and friends, to relax, regroup, and, of course, eat some turkey.

We’ll be back bright and early on Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I saw the name of a Stafford County Sheriff’s Deputy, who was shot four times the line of duty earlier this week identified today in the media only through court records.

Thankfully, the deputy is on his way to recovery after a successful surgery.

We all respect those in law enforcement who protect and serve us. We, as a community join and rally around them to make a full recovery. We are saddened when they, god forbid, pay the ultimate price.

In this case, a reporter searching through court case records is the only reason we know the name of this brave deputy who is deserving our thanks, admiration, and goodwill.

“Initially, the deputy’s family requested that the injured deputy’s name be withheld. The Sheriff’s office complied with their wishes,” stated Stafford sheriff’s spokeswoman M.C. Moncure.

When three Prince William County police officers were shot in February, one of them fatally, we (the public at large and members of the media) knew the names of the officers within hours of the incident.

The Prince William County Police Department Public Information Office not only released the names to the media on the night of the shootings, but they also posted names and photos of the officers on the department’s social media accounts.

Officer Ashely Guindon paid the ultimate price on her first day on the job. Officers David McKeown and Jessie Hempen recovered, and were celebrated when they returned to the department for roll call — a triumphant moment that Prince William police shared on its social media pages.

In hours after Prince William police told us the names of the brave officers who were shot in the line of duty during a domestic situation, that information was used by citizens to create a rallying cry around fallen officers, and to show support for a police department that serves its citizens.

Within days, 1,000 people gathered at the county’s government center for a candlelight vigil to remember Officer Guindon, and pull together for the speedy recovery of the then hospitalized officers McKeown and Hempen. It was one of the biggest display’s of community support I had seen, and it made me proud to be from Prince William.

In regards to the Prince William department’s decision to tell us the names of its wounded officers, spokesman Jonathan Perok had this to say, “There isn’t a policy in that regard. It was a mutual decision that the department and families came to at the time. We saw a need in releasing the names and the families were consulted and agreed.”

Wouldn’t the Stafford Sheriff’s Office agree the actions of the Prince William County Police Department set a good precedent in this cases like these in the name of transparency, as well as a way to solicit support from its residents?
‘
In my nearly 20 years experience in local media, the Prince William County Police Department is not alone when it comes to providing its residents the names of its wounded police officers.

We are all grateful to the service given by the men and women of the Stafford Sheriff’s Office, and all law enforcement agencies that work to keep us safe. The ability to identify its members and support them in trying times like these should not be limited to those “in the know” or by those who are forced to search court case records.

Potomac Local, like many organizations, tried to get Hal Parrish and Jeremy McPike on stage for a debate this election season.

To our dismay, and to many of those who looked forward to the debate, it never happened. But it was not for lack of trying.

Our community news organization held more debates this year than we ever have held during our five years covering Prince William County. Candidates for state and local offices agreed to meet to debate and discuss the issues facing our community.

Potomac Local worked with the Republican and Democratic committees of Prince William County to secure the public schools we used as venues to hold these debates. 

The debates were well attended, and discussion sparked from them made voters better informed. Our debates were far from perfect, but they were substantive.

Potomac Local didn’t sell sponsorships for the debate, and no one from my company was paid to be there. It was a true public service.

This summer, Potomac Local worked tirelessly to bring together McPike, Parrish, officials in the respective political parties, church pastors, and business leaders to come to agreement on when and where both candidates could meet.

We first secured Bull Run Unitarian Chruch in Manassas as our debate venue due to its central location in the Prince William region. Parrish’s campaign declined to participate and cited parking constraints as the reason.

We then secured a large meeting room at the offices of Home Instead Senior Care in Manassas. The McPike campaign did not want to debate there as they felt the location would be too close to Manassas Councilman Ian Lovejoy, who serves on the council with Parrish and manages the Home Instead offices.

Finally, we secured an auditorium inside a Prince William County Public School. The Parrish campaign declined to participate if the Prince William Chamber of Commerce did not participate in the event.

Potomac Local is a member of the Chamber, and I also know it tried unsuccessfully to bring McPike and Parrish to the table. Many who watch state politics closely, including Dr. Stephen Farnsworth, who co-moderated several of our debates, were eager to attend a debate featuring both candidates.

Potomac Local does not endorse political candidates. I know Parrish from covering the Manassas City Council where he serves as Mayor. I know McPike from my years of covering the Dale City Volunteer Fire Department where he volunteers.

McPike won a debate Potomac Local hosted in May, featuring two Democrats running against him in a Primary Election. It would have been nice to see if could do it all over again had been able to stand next to Parrish and debate the issues.

Another debate Potomac Local tried to organize at the Manassas Park Community Center, between Robert Marshall and Don Shaw was canceled after Marshall declined to participate. 

Uriah Kiser is the founder and publisher of PotomacLocal.com.

Opinion 

I went home Wednesday night and finished working on the fence in our backyard.

We installed a new gate to a side yard. Our two goats will enjoy this new large space, and I’ll enjoy the fact that they will eat all the unwanted foliage there.

It was simply just another evening at home I shared with my wife and our pets after another long day at work.

These evenings are ones we may sometimes take for granted.

That morning journalists Alison Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27, were shot and killed on live TV while interviewing a local chamber of commerce president, who was also shot and survived. The story they were covering was not one of violent crime, or digging up secrets of a mob boss, or to uncover political wrongdoing.

A celebration was underway for a dam built 60 years ago that created Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake. Parker and Ward went to learn about all of the fun events and activities planned for the anniversary, and went to bring home that community news story to their audience.

It’s a story that us reporters, and a service that we as readers may take for granted.

We journalists cover our communities with pride every day. Our business, the way we do our jobs, and the rules of traditional news writing as we knew them 20 years ago have all changed. They will continue to change as new digital storytelling tools emerge and, most importantly, readers continue to shift how they get their news and how much news content they demand.

As journalists, we are involved in this community in ways many people are not, or simply can’t be due to work and family commitments. We are here during the day reporting on our community while the majority of our readers leave the area for work in Washington, D.C.

We are the ones that are asked why police were “on my street last night.” or “what’s going on in my child’s school,” or “what am I really getting in exchange for the taxes I’m paying?”

In turn, we are privileged to go out and and bring home the answers to these and other questions. We get to explain to our readers what’s going on in their communities and why it matters to them.

Anymore, there are few others in our community that do what we do. But we’re glad there’s still a handful of us. Every community needs more reporters.

If our readers didn’t have to work and had more free time, maybe they would go out and do what we do. 

The job is not easy. It’s time-consuming. It’s not cheap. It doesn’t require the highest degree awarded by the most prestigious journalism school in the nation.

It does require dedication, commitment, and a true understanding of the community that we serve. It is work that should not be taken for granted.

It’s taken me a few days to write these words, and to try to wrap my head around the tragic events of this week. I tried to let my emotions subside and time pass before I took to my bully pulpit.

Newspapers, local news websites, and local TV stations are not the sole source for community information any longer. Social media is now an indispensable method of spreading news and photos, and for telling stories.

Not a day goes by that we, the reporters, don’t look to social media to find out what conversations are being had in the communities we cover. And you’ll be hard-pressed to find a TV news show that isn’t showing an image of a Facebook page or Twitter comment to help tell the story.

Not all information posted to social media is accurate. We saw that Wednesday when incorrect reports surfaced of Virginia State Police pursuing Parker and Ward’s killer on Interstate 64 near Charlottesville.

As long as we’re around — as long as our readers find value in our reporting and local businesses and organizations find value in marketing to our readers — we’ll do our best to report the news timely fairly, accurately, and with a focus on how it impacts our community.

It’s the same thing Parker, and Ward would be doing today had they not been gunned down.

Ahead, the debate over how to best help those with mental illness, and what to do about the increasing number of high-profile shootings will rage on. After Virginia Tech, the state is no stranger to these conversations.

For now let’s remember two young, much-loved journalists who had their whole lives ahead of them. Whom, for a brief time, were given the honor and privilege of covering their hometowns — the same privilege that I have been given.

And let us take nothing for granted.

-Uriah Kiser is the founder and publisher of PotomacLocal.com.

Some candidates rise and fall with their party affiliation. For others, it simply doesn't matter.

For example, take candidates running for school board in Virginia. A provision in the state code mandates all candidates for school board run without the affiliation of a political party and seek offices as independent.

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If it bleeds, it leads.

That’s an old saying about local news; taking shots at news directors who put stories like car crashes, shootings, and other general mayhem at the top of their newscasts.

However, news about crime and public safety is some of the most read, most shared, and consistently highest-ranking content on PotomacLocal.com.

Information about new arrests, scam artists trying to rip off residents, and details about why the police were on your street last night always does well on our local news site.

More than 50,000 unique readers in Prince William, Manassas, and Stafford consume this content on a daily basis. After seeing their friends and family member’s arrest photo on our site, finding a good lawyer becomes one of the first things on their to-do list.

It’s something for you to think about when trying to build awareness about your services in our community.

We also cover more than crime news – topics like schools, traffic and transit, and community events. We’re a trusted daily online news source read daily — with more than 150,000 page views and social interactions per month.

Take a look and you’ll see, from our list of most-read stories in 2014, PotomacLocal.com readers are captivated by stories about crime in their community.

See for yourself by visiting our site. We post at least one crime story a day on PotomacLocal.com. Our posts are based off trusted information obtained from local police and sheriff’s departments.

When it comes to marketing your services, we have online display ads, as well as ways to reach our audience through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

We also offer a promoted post option that allows you to reach our audience by posting answers to commonly asked legal questions directly to our site. It’s brands you as the local legal expert in your field. 

If you have questions about how all of this works, please send me an email and I’d be happy to chat with you.