Virginia Blue & Yellow Line shutdown just weeks away: Here’s how to navigate the closure — On Tuesday, both Metro and the city of Alexandria warned Metrorail riders to start planning now for what promises to be a difficult seven to eight months. Starting in just a couple weeks, Metrorail riders who travel between Virginia and D.C. on the Blue and Yellow Lines will have to leave extra time to get places, with the first six weeks being the worst time period. [WJLA-TV]
Transportation authority weighs $75 billion in Northern Virginia projects — The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is looking for feedback from the public on its long-range TransAction plan, which is supposed to guide the region’s transportation project priorities through 2045. [Insidenova.com]
City, VDOT officials join Spanberger to tout local projects boosted by federal funding — On Tuesday, Fredericksburg-area elected officials and Virginia Department of Transportation representatives met with U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger to tour local sites where major road projects are being planned. [Fredericksburg.com]
FBI director is potential hurdle in relocating agency to Virginia or Maryland suburbs, Cardin says — Maryland and Virginia leaders have opposing views when it comes to where the FBI should build its new headquarters. Maryland representatives insist that Greenbelt and Landover make the most sense, while their counterparts across the Potomac River greatly prefer the third option identified by the U.S. General Services Administration, a site in Springfield. [Virginia Mercury]
Prince William schools are making progress on hiring as the new year gets underway — Starting her second year heading up the county’s schools, Superintendent LaTanya McDade proudly told reporters that the school system was finally “getting out of the health care business” after the two pandemic-marred school years. [Insidenova.com]
Police emails to Fairfax schools about counselor’s solicitation charge bounced back — Emails from the Chesterfield County, Virginia, police department aimed at informing Fairfax County Public Schools that a middle school counselor had been arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution from a minor were sent to faulty email addresses, police said Monday. [WTOP-FM]
Fredericksburg native has super antibodies against COVID-19 — John Hollis has such a rare ability to fight the virus that’s plagued the planet for 2½ years that he’s been called the medical equivalent of the Holy Grail, an immunological unicorn–“immunicorn” for short–and COVID-19’s worst nightmare. [Fredericksburg.com]
Sticker shocked? County personal property tax bills rise despite targeted tax relief
— Many Prince William County residents are likely facing higher personal property tax bills this year than they paid on the same vehicles in 2021 despite the temporary tax relief the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved earlier this year. [Prince William Times]
Prince William County schools to hire ‘temporary teachers’ to fill classroom vacancies — In an effort to help fill hundreds of vacant teacher positions before the start of the new school year, Prince William County schools aims to hire about 70 new teachers who are not yet licensed but have at least a bachelor’s degree and the equivalent of one year of experience working with children. [Prince William Times / Paywall]
Spanberger flips the script on policing in race against auxiliary deputy — The ad sounded just like a Republican attack straight out of 2020: “She voted against our police and sheriffs,” a narrator says. But the digital ad — released this week — is in fact from Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger, accusing her Republican opponent in the 7th Congressional District race, Prince William County Board Supervisor Yesli Vega, of not funding police by voting against the county budgets. “Yesli Vega won’t keep us safe,” the ad’s ending note says. [Washington Post]
Fredericksburg-area SOL results show growth over last year — Fredericksburg-area students are making progress toward regaining learning lost due to pandemic disruptions, assessments released Thursday by the Virginia Department of Education show. [Fredericksbrug.com]
Former Stafford supervisor appointed to state transportation board — The Fredericksburg region has a new representative on the Commonwealth Transportation Board, which regulates funding for state transportation work. [Fredericksburg.com]
Amazon plans 900,000-square-foot data center campus in Bristow — Amazon is under contract to purchase the land, which is near the intersection of Nokesville Road and Piper Lane. The collective assessed tax value is about $3.35 million. [Insidenova.com]
Superintendent: Hoping for a new school year without pandemic ‘distractions’ — The new school year began Monday morning in Prince William County with students piling out of school buses anxious to see friends and greeted by waiting teachers, anxious to start teaching them. [Prince William Times]
Gainesville man arrested on federal charges after threat to ‘blow up Roanoke’ — A Gainesville man accused of threatening to “blow up Roanoke” and kill a bank branch manager was arrested last week on federal charges. [Fauquier Now]
Fauquier teen pleads guilty to Valentine’s Day killings of mother, brother –– A Fauquier County teen pleaded guilty Monday to first and second-degree murder in the 2020 Valentine’s Day killings of his mother and brother. [The Washington Post]
Kline Farm development plans resurface — Stanley Martin Homes LLC, which has been trying for nearly six years to gain approval for the project, filed an updated proposal with Prince William County on Aug. 1. The new application would limit development to 240 townhouses, a further downsizing since the original application. [Insidenova.com]
School supplies and backpacks are ready to go to Stafford County Public Schools — Stafford Rotary Club learned of the need for supplies and backpacks for students at all levels. Knowing that basic needs are essential for students and help them engage in lessons, they got to work and collected 65 backpacks along with numerous school supplies for first-grade through 12th-grade students. [Fredericksburg.com]
North Stafford club installs new officers — The small but mighty North Stafford Rotary held an initiation party for the new officers of the club, whose terms began in July and continued through June 2023. [Fredericksburg.com]
Prince William schools drop most COVID-19 protocols for the new school year (paywall) — Prince William County schools will begin the new year like it’s 2019. The school division will no longer post COVID-19 case numbers on its website; gone too will be mask requirements, social distancing and contact tracing. [Prince William Times]
New Route 28 intersections proposed in Manassas Park — The city is asking for over $18 million in Smart Scale funding from the Commonwealth Transportation Board for intersection changes from Manassas Drive to Spruce Street along Route 28. [Insidenova.com]
Va. AG Jason Miyares says Democrat Commonwealth attorneys aren’t charging gun crimes — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares visited Fauquier County, Va. where he joined the superintendent, sheriff, school board members, and others to discuss ideas on how to keep kids safe in school. [WJLA-TV]
Manassas neighborhood battles noise from data centers (paywall) — Some say it sounds like a low roar combined with tinny, high-pitched whir. Others say it’s like sitting beside a fan that never stops spinning. However they describe it, residents of Great Oak, a subdivision of 291 homes outside Manassas, say they’ve had enough of the annoying and constant buzz emanating from four Amazon Web Service data centers recently constructed between Prince William Parkway and Godwin Drive. [Prince William Times]
225-unit development pitched near Haymarket — K.Hovnanian Mid-Atlantic Division LLC submitted a rezoning application with Prince William County June 29 for the project. The company wants to change the land-use designation of about 80.8 acres across four parcels from agricultural zoning to planned mixed residential. [Insidenova.com]
Potomac High School graduate Kyle Honore dies after being hit by a train near Wingate University — g Keith Honore led Potomac for 17 seasons before retiring after this season as the Panthers’ head boys basketball coach. [InsideNova.com]
Stafford officials push to bring broadband access to more homes — The latest effort to provide the service to residents primarily in the eastern and western regions of the county comes with a $10.23 million price tag that county officials hope a 2023 Virginia Telecommunications Initiative grant will help fund. [Fredericksbrug.com]
Virginia schools reporting vacancies despite salary hikes — Despite Virginia teacher salaries continuing to rise, many school districts are reporting teacher shortages as students return to class for the 2022-2023 school year. [The Center Square]
Virginia Board of Education delays history standards review — Among Balow’s criticisms of the draft standards was their use of the word “succession” instead of “secession.” She also referenced the removal of the “Father of our Country” title for George Washington and “Father of the Constitution” title for James Madison…[Virginia Mercury]
More homes sold in Prince William County last month vs. a year ago –– In Prince William County in July 2022, a total of 676 homes were sold across the month of July, this is a noticeable decrease of 32.80% percent in comparison to July of 2021. New listings showed a slight 12.57% decrease with 918 new listings as opposed to 1,050 in July of 2021. [Realtor Association of Prince William]
Virginia Department of Education proposes no longer calling George Washington the “father of our country” on tests — From George Washington to George Mason to Thomas Jefferson, changes may be on the way for how Virginia students are tested on history in public schools. [WJLA-TV]
Campaign cash flowing ahead of Prince William’s 2023 elections —
The development industry has pumped more than $118,000 into the local campaign committees for seven members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and contributed at least $333,000 to two of their congressional campaigns. [InsideNova.com]
Prince William could steal Loudoun’s title of Data Center Alley. But land use battles are raging — Prince William County may be on its way to taking the “Data Center Alley” title from neighboring Loudoun County after initiating a plan to allow the development of data centers across 800 acres previously intended for agricultural use. [Virignia Mercury]
Inspector General: Virginia agencies mishandled I-95 snow incident — A new inspection report found the Commonwealth did not implement lessons learned during the Interstate 95 snow incident that occurred in January 2022. [WRIC-TV]
Prince William public safety career fair — The Prince William County Police Department, including Crossing Guards, the Department of Fire & Rescue, the Sheriff’s Office, Public Safety Communications, and the Adult Detention Center, will hold a career fair on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Press release]
OmniRide’s Fall Service Change will take effect on Monday, August 22 — Some schedules for Express and Local routes will change on that date. Additionally, Saturday service will now change to “Weekend Service” with the addition of Sunday service beginning on August 28. [Press release]
Virginia launches playing cards designed to solve cold cases — Attorney General Miyares today announced that playing cards to help close unsolved homicides have been distributed to inmates within the Richmond City Justice Center for recreational use. [Press release]
