Manassas-based Electra announced Tuesday it will build its first production facility for the EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft in Springfield, Ohio, not Virginia.
The $850 million project is expected to create 1,975 jobs at a new 96-acre site next to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. The nine-passenger plane is designed to take off and land in as little as 150 feet and is aimed at a new market Electra calls Direct Aviation.
What began as a competitive bracket battle is evolving into a cross-state partnership.
Mayor Kerry Devine and Fredericksburg Main Street Executive Director Chris Allen will travel to DeLand, Florida, July 23-25 to meet with Mayor Christopher Cloudman and Main Street Director Stephanie Garcia Mullins.
In Stafford County, a resident reported a fraud involving an altered check and an attempted FDIC scam. A license plate was also reported stolen from a vehicle.
These incidents were among those detailed in recent reports from local law enforcement agencies.
Manassas is staring at big changes — and Eugene “Doc” Brown wants a seat at the table.
In this Potomac Local News podcast interview, longtime community advocate Eugene Brown sits down with Uriah Kiser to talk about his run for Manassas City Council, the controversial 167-apartment project planned next to the historic Meredith House, new affordable housing at the old DMV site on Godwin Drive, the city’s ongoing school challenges, and the political transition as Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger prepares to step down.
“The gun used at Old Dominion University by a convicted foreign terrorist supporter came from a Virginian who stole it and was dealing firearms without a license, according to his guilty plea,” The Center Square reported. Kenya Mcchell Chapman, 32, of Smithfield, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to three counts of making false statements during firearm purchases and faces up to 35 years at his Dec. 18 sentencing. Prosecutors say he stole the weapon from a vehicle in Newport News a year earlier and sold it to Mohamed Bailor Jalloh the day before the March 12 attack.
Jalloh, previously convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, killed one person and wounded two others during a shooting at an Army ROTC class on the Norfolk campus before he was subdued and fatally stabbed. Cellphone records showed Chapman’s number was the most frequently contacted in the week leading up to the attack, and ammunition matching that used in the shooting was recovered from Chapman’s residence the following day.
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Their support helps sustain independent local journalism that covers the stories shaping Fredericksburg, Manassas, Woodbridge, and the surrounding communities.
Fredericksburg City School Board Member-at-Large Jarvis E. Bailey has resigned, with the board moving quickly to fill the vacancy.
Bailey submitted his resignation letter on July 13, 2026. It was read into the record during a special board meeting on July 20. In the letter, Bailey described his service as a “calling” and framed his departure in seasonal and spiritual terms: “There are seasons in every life… After much prayer and reflection, I have come to recognize that this is one of those moments.” He expressed gratitude for serving students, families, educators, and the community, and stated his commitment to ministry, speaking, coaching, and teaching.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely today, mainly after 4 p.m., with some storms possibly becoming severe. Skies will be mostly cloudy with a high near 92 and heat index values as high as 103.
Southwest winds 8 to 13 mph with gusts up to 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch are expected, with higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
