My interns, Amelia Breeden and Madina Habib of Osbourn High School and Jacqueline Vontersch of Elon University, a Woodbridge native, joined me at the ribbon cutting of RapidFlight. The firm uses 3-D printers to make unmanned aerial drones and announced a $5 million expansion, adding more than 100 new employees.
The student interns spoke with the governor, who encouraged them to pursue their studies in school and in local journalism. More than 200 people attended the event, which allowed the interns to photograph and meet other business leaders and elected officials from their community.
Our interns conducted themselves with professionalism and grace and served as shining examples of our work here at PLN and in their respective schools. Breeden and Habib joined PLN in February as part of the Manassas City Public Schools Word-based Learning Program.
Vontersch joined PLN this month as a meeting reporter.
PLN works with students and members of our community in multiple ways.
Work-based learning Program: Students learn web publishing tools, copy editing, deadlines, and time management and are responsible for posting community news to our website.
Interested college and high school students may apply here for this unpaid internship.
Meeting Reporters Program: Our meeting “documenters” are trained and paid to attend, photograph, and take notes (document) public meetings in Prince William and Stafford counties, Manassas, Manassas Park, and Fredericksburg sites.
Interested residents may apply here to participate in this program
Thank you to our interns and meeting reporters who shine a light on news and events happening in our communities, continuously working to hold our elected leaders accountable.
And thank you for being a PLN member who ensures we may continue training the next generation of local news reports while continuing to bring you the local news and information you trust.
Please click here and become a member today and thank you.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is split on how much information it needs to decide where to approve data centers.
During its meeting on Tuesday, June 27, Supervisors voted 5-2 to send back a list of recommendations on where to allow data centers back to its planning commission for further study. In March 2023, the supervisor asked the planning commission to make a list of recommendations for a new chapter of the county's comprehensive development plan focusing on data centers, similar to a new chapter focused on solar farms.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
Good morning and Happy Friday!
Our meeting documenters/reporters have their eyes and ears focused on our community. They’ve been doing some great work, from covering plans to improve area schools, improving water quality to building one of the most expensive local roads in our region.
A few program notes:
Welcome, Jacqueline
- Please welcome Jacqueline to our community reporter/documenters team.
- Jacqueline just completed her orientation and is home from school for the summer and plans to cover some local meetings for us! Please take a moment to say hi.
Collaboration and practice
- Are there things you want to learn or learn how to do better when covering meetings and taking notes? Tips and tricks? What do you think about sharing some good advice about things you’ve already learned and picked up along the way?
- I want to schedule our first “community of practice” team session soon. Please let me know what items you think you’d like to discuss, and I’ll send out a Calendly link to schedule the event. I hope you can join us!
Changes to assignments and pay
- Active meeting documenters received a Loom video covering a few changes to the program, including how assignments are given, a new notes template, and pay changes.
- I’ve added a video assignment option, making it easier for anyone to cover our local meetings from anywhere. Please review the video and let me know if you have any questions.
Orientation
- For some of you who have expressed interest in becoming a meeting documenter but have not been able to participate in an orientation, please be patient.
- I’m working on changes to the documenter orientation process that will make it easier to hold orientations virtually, at any time, instead of scheduling them once a month: more info to come, and thanks for your continued interest.
Do you want to join our team of dedicated documenter meeting reporters and be trained and paid to report the news of our communities? I’m seeking new reporters for Stafford County, Manassas, and Manassas Park.
- Please complete our quick application form today.
I hope you’re having a great summer and will have a fabulous weekend.
Thank you,
Uriah Kiser
Founder & Publisher
Potomac Local News
Prince William County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. LaTanya McDade told the Dumfries Town Council she's working on several improvements to county schools.
McDade said she's working on a new strategic plan for the county schools, the state's second-largest school division.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
Uriah Kiser, Potomac Local News publisher, here.
We need your help reporting the local news. Our next meeting reporter orientation is on Zoom at 5 p.m. on July 3, 2023. Please click here to RSVP. Seats are limited.
All meeting reporters must complete the orientation before receiving paid assignments.
Meeting reporters (aka documenters) are paid for us to cover public meetings in Prince William County, Stafford County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, and others.
Meeting reporters are paid $50 per meeting (two hours of meeting coverage and one hour of notes compilation time). We pay $17 per hour for additional meeting time if needed.
Documenters must submit their notes are due within 24 hours of the meeting start time. I hold office hours on Zoom on Mondays between 2 to 5 p.m. to discuss upcoming meetings.
Why are we doing this?
In the past year, we learned a judge granted bond to a suspected killer, there are elevated amounts of “forever chemicals” in our drinking water, and our leaders said “no” to a grocery store known for driving down prices.
- All of these stories in our community went underreported.
- Now, imagine you could do something about it. Imagine you could be the community’s eyes and ears and report the news.
They said I was crazy.
If there is one thing I’ve learned after nearly 13 years of publishing PotomacLocalNews.com, I can’t be everywhere.
- Many people said I was crazy to have staked out a territory of Prince William and Stafford counties, Manassas, and Manassas Park cities — 628-combined square miles with more than 676,000 people — and try to provide news to all the neighborhoods.
- It’s not easy, and nothing worth doing ever is. While I’m still the business’s sole employee, I’ve had a lot of help over the years from people who love and care about their community, want its residents to be informed, and submit photos, news tips, articles, and op-eds. We’ve had fantastic success with our student work-based learning interns from the Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Manassas school divisions.
We’ve lost 2,500 newspapers.
Newspaper circulation (the traditional local news source for most Americans) has been at its lowest since 1940.
- Revenues have been down more than 62% since 2008. Nearly half of all newspaper jobs disappeared between 2008 and 2018. We’ve lost 2,500 community newspapers since 2005.
- Unfortunately, it’s a continuing trend.
- The future of local news, and the work of educating communities on local issues, holding local officials accountable, and driving participation in elections won’t be done by those who write for newspapers or their companion websites.
However, there is hope.
This week, we celebrated a first and a potential milestone that could be the future of how local news is reported in our communities.
- It’s a model I have watched with great interest since 2018 and one that, if implemented correctly and supported by our readers, would provide an excellent service to our community.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, Lynn Forkell Greene attended the Manassas City Council meeting and “documented” the meeting. Documenting is a fancy word for taking notes or reporting what she saw and heard.
- She covered the entire meeting from start to finish — from the council member’s comments about the city’s recent 150th-anniversary party to what residents had to say about a proposed, first-of-its-kind affordable housing project in the city.
- With her notes, meeting documents, and a video of the proceeding on the city’s website, I wrote a story about the development that promises affordable housing to city employees.
Get paid to report the news.
We cover multiple communities and many public meetings, so we’re recruiting, training, and paying documenters to attend public meetings and report what they see and hear.
- This paid opportunity is perfect for retirees, students, or anyone who needs extra income, has an interest in their community, can work independently and collaboratively with a team, and has a nose for local news.
- Please email me at [email protected], and I’ll send you information about how to get trained and paid to report the news and the eyes and ears of our community.
I hope you’re as excited about the prospect of more local news as I am.
Thank you for your continued support of what we do.
Editor’s note: Meeting reporter Natalie Villalobos documented this meeting. Her notes were used to produce this story. Click here and learn more about becoming a meeting reporter and covering our local news.
The Prince William County Government is working to reduce the total number of pollutants and sediment that winds up in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Board of County Supervisors was briefed on the county's watershed plan during its meeting on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. The plan calls for restoring area streams and improving stormwater retention.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
Uriah Kiser, Potomac Local News publisher, here.
We need your help reporting the local news. Our next meeting reporter orientation is on Zoom at 5 p.m. on July 3, 2023. Please click here to RSVP. Seats are limited.
All meeting reporters must complete the orientation before receiving paid assignments.
Meeting reporters (aka documenters) are paid for us to cover public meetings in Prince William County, Stafford County, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, and others.
Meeting reporters are paid $50 per meeting (two hours of meeting coverage and one hour of notes compilation time). We pay $17 per hour for additional meeting time if needed.
Documenters must submit their notes are due within 24 hours of the meeting start time. I hold office hours on Zoom on Mondays between 2 to 5 p.m. to discuss upcoming meetings.
Why are we doing this?
In the past year, we learned a judge granted bond to a suspected killer, there are elevated amounts of “forever chemicals” in our drinking water, and our leaders said “no” to a grocery store known for driving down prices.
- All of these stories in our community went underreported.
- Now, imagine you could do something about it. Imagine you could be the community’s eyes and ears and report the news.
They said I was crazy.
If there is one thing I’ve learned after nearly 13 years of publishing PotomacLocalNews.com, I can’t be everywhere.
- Many people said I was crazy to have staked out a territory of Prince William and Stafford counties, Manassas, and Manassas Park cities — 628-combined square miles with more than 676,000 people — and try to provide news to all the neighborhoods.
- It’s not easy, and nothing worth doing ever is. While I’m still the business’s sole employee, I’ve had a lot of help over the years from people who love and care about their community, want its residents to be informed, and submit photos, news tips, articles, and op-eds. We’ve had fantastic success with our student work-based learning interns from the Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Manassas school divisions.
We’ve lost 2,500 newspapers.
Newspaper circulation (the traditional local news source for most Americans) has been at its lowest since 1940.
- Revenues have been down more than 62% since 2008. Nearly half of all newspaper jobs disappeared between 2008 and 2018. We’ve lost 2,500 community newspapers since 2005.
- Unfortunately, it’s a continuing trend.
- The future of local news, and the work of educating communities on local issues, holding local officials accountable, and driving participation in elections won’t be done by those who write for newspapers or their companion websites.
However, there is hope.
This week, we celebrated a first and a potential milestone that could be the future of how local news is reported in our communities.
- It’s a model I have watched with great interest since 2018 and one that, if implemented correctly and supported by our readers, would provide an excellent service to our community.
On Monday, April 10, 2023, Lynn Forkell Greene attended the Manassas City Council meeting and “documented” the meeting. Documenting is a fancy word for taking notes or reporting what she saw and heard.
- She covered the entire meeting from start to finish — from the council member’s comments about the city’s recent 150th-anniversary party to what residents had to say about a proposed, first-of-its-kind affordable housing project in the city.
- With her notes, meeting documents, and a video of the proceeding on the city’s website, I wrote a story about the development that promises affordable housing to city employees.
Get paid to report the news.
We cover multiple communities and many public meetings, so we’re recruiting, training, and paying documenters to attend public meetings and report what they see and hear.
- This paid opportunity is perfect for retirees, students, or anyone who needs extra income, has an interest in their community, can work independently and collaboratively with a team, and has a nose for local news.
- Please email me at [email protected], and I’ll send you information about how to get trained and paid to report the news and the eyes and ears of our community.
I hope you’re as excited about the prospect of more local news as I am.
Thank you for your continued support of what we do.
The Dumfries Town Council received an update on its efforts to attract new businesses.
Lacy Beasley, President of Retail Strategies, Mead Silsbee, COO of Retail Strategies, and Hannah Simmons, Portfolio Director of Retail Strategie, made a presentation during the June 6, 2023, Town Council meeting after the town government retained the firm to gain retailers' interest in opening up shop next to what will be the largest gaming destination in Northern Virginia.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
Meeting reporters are residents like you who want to help neighbors understand what is happening in their local governments in Prince William and Stafford counties, Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Manassas Park cities.
Meeting reporters attend public meetings, take notes on events of the meeting, and then submit their notes to us at PLN.
Meeting reporters receive meeting training and are paid $50 per meeting ($17 per hour, three-hour minimum, more for longer meetings as needed).
Join us Monday, June 5, 2023, for our next meeting reporter training on Zoom (space is limited): https://calendly.com/potomaclocalnews/documenter-reporter-training?month=2023-06&date=2023-06-05
More info about our meeting reporter program: https://potomaclocal.com/2023/04/14/we-want-to-pay-documenters-to-report-the-news/
