City middle school site: Fredericksburg is postponing the public hearing that was scheduled for Thursday night, January 13, 2022 at 7 p.m. at James Monroe High School. The city recently received a letter from Mary Washington Healthcare seeking to gauge the interest of the city in acquiring the 2300 Fall Hill Avenue building, the home of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, which may have potential to be renovated for school purposes. [Press release]
New bank president: Virginia National Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Virginia National Bankshares Corporation today announced industry veteran, Diane E. Corscadden-Weaver, as new president of Virginia National Bank. She will also serve on theBank’s board of directors. [Press release]
MLK office closure: Stafford offices, departments, facilities, and all courts will be closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday on Monday, January 17, 2022. [Press release]
Postal frustration: Residents across the D.C. region have become increasingly frustrated over delays in mail deliveries, with last week’s snowstorms, a spike in coronavirus cases and long-standing problems with the U.S. Postal Service contributing to a breakdown in services. [The Washington Post]
Neighbors face off over data centers: Prince William County’s approval of a data center project near Manassas National Battlefield Park that month was the flashpoint for a battle that has become all-consuming for hundreds of people on and around Pageland Lane in the western part of the county. [Insidenova.com]
High-profile opposition: Ken Burns, the renowned documentarian who created The Civil War series, wrote a letter to Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors, Jan. 5, encouraging supervisors to protect the landscape around the Manassas National Battlefield. [Bristow Beat]
Volunteer opportunities: Delta Sigma Theta will also hold a MLK Day of Service on January 17 following the oratorical program, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. [Volunteer Prince William]
New Year’s Baby: Crystal Ardinger and James Jones welcomed baby girl Gracelynn at 10:59 a.m. on January 1, 2022. [Press release]
Not big enough for two: Del. Luke Torian, one of the Virginia House of Delegates’ most powerful Democrats, has been drawn into the same district as Del. Elizabeth Guzman, one of the House’s most progressive Democrats, under new redistricting maps finalized by the Supreme Court of Virginia. [Prince William Times]
Virtual artist talk: Brown’s exhibit, titled Capricorn Planetary Alignment 2020-2021, will be featured throughout February at the ARTfactory (formerly Prince William Center for the Arts) in Manassas in honor of Black History Month. [Press release]
Data center public meetings: Prince William County’s planning office will host two in-person, community meetings later this month on proposals to replan about 2,000 acres near the Manassas Battlefield National Park for data centers and to expand the county’s existing “data center overlay district” to make more room for the giant buildings around the county. [Prince William Times]
New public safety chief: Prince William County is excited to announce the hiring of Daniel Alexander as the Deputy County Executive of Public Safety for Prince William County. [Press release/Prince William County Government]
Closings and delays: See our full lists of school closings/delays and government closings/delays. [Twitter]
Not ready yet: Prince William Schools Superintendent LaTanya McDade walked areas of the county hardest hit by Monday’s snowstorm before making the call to close school to students and teachers Thursday. [Insidenova.com]
Temporary waiver: The Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board (R-Board) will temporarily waive fees for yard debris disposal until January 17. [Stafford County Government]
Carbon monoxide poisoning: During this time of the year, when temperatures begin to fall, families seek alternative methods to heat their homes. [Press release]
Schools town hall meetings: Stafford County Public Schools will host seven Town Hall meetings regarding the Fiscal Year 23 budget, one in each election district. [Press release]
Government closings and delays: Are you military, or do you work for local or state government? See our complete local closings and delays list. [Twitter]
Waiting game: Dominion expects Northern Virginia power restoration to be ‘multi-day effort’ [Insidenova.com]
Report a power outage:
[Updated Noon] Nearly a foot of snow fell across the region so far today.
The storm moved in early this morning. The snow machine ramped up after 8 a.m. making roads impassable, causing power outages, and causing headaches for emergency responders who were stranded in the snow and had to call for help from wrecker services.
About 11 a.m., trees across the region began to fall onto powerlines, cars, and houses. Emergency crews did their best to respond to emergencies. However, many were impeded by heavy snowfall.
A spokesman announced that the Interstate 95 E-ZPass Express Lanes would close between 1 and 5 p.m. so crews could remove the snow. Operators said the lanes would remain pointed north for the remainder of the day and not reversed to allow traffic to travel south from Washington, D.C.
As of 10:30 a.m., more than 2.7 million Dominion Power customers in Virginia were without power. Locally, Stafford County saw the most outages, with 31,500 Dominion customers in the dark.
More than 13,00 Dominion customers in Prince William County were in the dark.
NOVEC reports more than 11,000 customers without power. About 7,200 of them are in Prince William, while about 3,100 are in Stafford.
Emergency crews in Stafford County battled the elements to reach the sick and injured Monday. More than 30 trees fell across the county — some reportedly onto people and fire trucks.
Several fire trucks got stuck in ditches on two-lane roads and called for tow trucks to free them. At 10:30 a.m., a 911 dispatcher instructed drivers to stop calling dispatch to report stranded engines.
In Prince Willaim County, only one fire engine got stuck in the snow, said Batalliion Chief Matt Smolsky. “Obviously, any emergency response will be slightly delayed due to road conditions,” he said.
Manassas, fire crews assist with snowplow operations to keep roads clear, said city spokeswoman Patty Prince.
OmniRide and FredTransit canceled bus service today.
The message we continue to hear from local officials – stay off the roads. “Our public safety teams are experiencing a high number of calls, and it would be better if everyone could stay home at this time until the storm subsides,” said Stafford County spokesman Andrew Spence.
Schools across the region are closed today. Click these links to get opening information about local schools and governments.
School closings and delays: Check our comprehensive list of school closings and delays from local government school divisions in our region. [Twitter]
Government closings and delays: Are you military, or do you work for local or state government? See our complete local closings and delays list. [Twitter]
Occoquan tale: Congratulations to Occoquan resident Henry Brinton on the publication of his second book set in Occoquan, Windows of the Heavens. [Occoquan Mayor Earnie Porta]
The preceding post is a round of stories posted to local and state news websites and press releases emailed to us. Please email your news for inclusion in this post.
![A portion of Route 1 near the Stafford County Courthouse, called The Wayside, is deemed impassable as of Noon Monday, January 3, 2020 [Photo: Stafford sheriff’s office]](https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010322-route-1-wayside.jpg){kind=link}
![Multiple trees fell in Stafford County due to a snowstorm on January 3, 2020. [Photo: Stafford County Sheriff’s Office]](https://www.potomaclocal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010322-snow-enon-road-stafford.jpg){kind=link}