Author: Caitlyn Meisner

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Manassas

Dominion Energy to Donate Historic Cottage to Manassas

By Caitlyn Meisner
Dominion Energy is donating an historic cottage to the City of Manassas. [Photo courtesy of the City of Manassas]

“The cultural value of the cottage within the community cannot be underestimated,” Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger said.

The cottage used to be the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth (MIS) and was chartered in 1893 by Jennie Dean, a former slave and resident of Prince William County. The structure was originally built on Wellington Road by the existing Jennie Dean Elementary School building but was moved to Jefferson Street in the 1960s.

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News

Call to Action: New Volunteer Opportunities in Prince William

By Caitlyn Meisner
[Volunteer Prince William via Facebook]

Greetings, Prince William: We have a breaking volunteer opportunity that’s short notice but would be great for groups! KABOOM!, AWS In Communities and Prince William County Parks & Recreation invite you, your family and friends to help build a new playspace during Build Week from Wednesday to Saturday at Fairmont Park, 9805 Fairmont Ave., Manassas 20109.

Lots of volunteer help is needed to complete this important project since building an entire playground is no easy feat. The schedule is Wednesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The ribbon cutting will be Saturday at 2:30 p.m.  This would be a fabulous opportunity for offices, groups, clubs, etc. to bring smiles to the faces of children in this neighborhood!  Visit the Prince William County events page for more information, which includes a link to the Eventbrite page where volunteers can sign up.

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Features

ARTfactory Hosting ‘Factory of Fear’ Haunted House This Weekend

By Caitlyn Meisner

The ARTfactory’s building, which many believe is haunted, will be transformed into different levels of scariness for visitors to enjoy. Ahyrel Tinker, director of education at the ARTfactory, created the haunted house.

“There’s nothing like this downtown and our community of spooky season lovers need something Manassas strong to haunt them this season,” Tinker said. “We listened to the feedback from last year’s sold-out Haunted Hallows event, and decided to ramp up the scare factor.”

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News

Keep the Park Beautiful Event Collects More Than 100 Pounds of Litter

By Caitlyn Meisner
[Photo courtesy of Manassas Park]

The Keep the Park Beautiful (KPB) event on Oct. 14 at Scott Drive Pocket Park collected more than 100 pounds of litter throughout Manassas Park.

KPB is a part of the Manassas Park government and is a Keep America Beautiful — a nonprofit dedicated to educating and inspiring people to clean up their communities — affiliate. 10 volunteers, comprised of KPB committee members, Manassas residents and Manassas Park City Schools students, cleaned up Manassas Park for two hours.

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News

NOVA Faculty Say President’s Actions Are Harming Students

By Caitlyn Meisner
Northern Virginia Community College Manassas Campus.

WTOP News: “Weeks after some faculty members at Northern Virginia Community College took a ‘no confidence’ vote in regards to President Anne Kress’ leadership, they’re now speaking out about recent policy decisions that they said are harming students.

In a memo sent to members of the college’s full-time, nine-month teaching faculty caucus on Friday afternoon, the group said decisions such as reducing summer classes, ignoring safety concerns and removing athletics programs are negatively impacting students.”

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News

58th Session of Criminal Justice Academy Graduates 17

By Caitlyn Meisner
The 58th session of the Prince William County Criminal Justice Academy Basic Law Enforcement graduated on Oct. 17. [Photo courtesy of Prince William County]

Following a 24-week course of training, the 16 police officers and sheriff’s deputy attended a graduation ceremony at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas to celebrate their achievements.

The course included training in all aspects of police work, including classes in firearms, use-of-force decision-making, driver training, legal training, patrol techniques and investigative work.

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Prince William

Dual Credit Program Coming to Prince William County Schools

By Caitlyn Meisner
Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge Campus

Inside NOVA: “Some Prince William County students will soon be able to earn college credits at Northern Virginia Community College after the launch of the Collegiate High School program.

The program allows high school students to take college courses on NOVA’s college campus and earn credits while completing their high school education, according to a Prince William school system news release.”

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News

Fall Festival Happening Saturday at Pat White Center

By Caitlyn Meisner
[Graphic courtesy of Prince William County]

Formerly known as the Ben Lomond Community Center until 2015, the building has been a community hub for many years in providing programming and events. The festival will have activities for all ages, food trucks, STEM projects, musical instrument demonstrations, giveaways and much more.

Here’s some history on the center from Prince Willam County:

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Manassas

Preview: Oct. 21 Manassas City Council Meeting

By Caitlyn Meisner

This one’s for the people who really care about local news. Locals Only members get deeper reporting, more context, and fewer shortcuts. Think that’s you? 👉 Join Locals Only Already a member? Sign in

This one’s for the people who really care about local news.

Locals Only members get deeper reporting, more context, and fewer shortcuts.

Think that’s you?
👉 Join Locals Only
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News

Young Marines Hosting 8th Annual Drug Prevention 5K

By Caitlyn Meisner
The Young Marines are hosting a Drug Demand Reduction 5K Dash on Saturday. [Photo courtesy of the Young Marines]

The race will be the kickoff event for Red Ribbon Week — which runs from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 — a nationwide drug prevention and awareness initiative. Nationwide, Young Marines will begin a week of activities to prevent the use of drugs with National Family Partnership, the founders of Red Ribbon Week in 1985.

The 5K commemorates the death of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was killed in Mexico in 1985 in his quest to get drugs off America’s streets.

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