Jane Fullerton Lemons, Author at Potomac Local News

Proposed budget boosts election spending: Prince William officials aim to fix issues that led to long lines, voter complaints

Published February 26, 2019 at 5:39PM | Updated February 26, 2019 at 11:41PM

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — The proposed Prince William County budget would significantly increase spending for the Office of Elections by nearly $800,000, targeting issues that led to voter complaints in 2018 just in time for the 2020 presidential primary.

County Executive Christopher Martino presented his budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 to the Board of County Supervisors, telling board members the increased funding includes about $300,000 for the March 2020 presidential primary plus another $400,000 for Election Day equipment.

Business

Flory Center closure leaves void in small business development services in Prince William County

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published December 27, 2018 at 12:19PM | Updated December 27, 2018 at 1:43PM

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — The longtime head of the Flory Small Business Center is retiring Dec. 31, leaving Prince William County residents without small business development services for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Linda Decker, the center’s CEO and president, is stepping down after deep disagreements with Prince William County officials about the future of the small business center she has headed since it opened in 1991.

News

Opioids are a ‘huge’ problem in Prince William: Resources and training are available to combat the epidemic

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published November 19, 2018 at 6:03PM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 8:21PM

MANASSAS PARK — The somber message from everyone involved with the drug epidemic resonated clearly: Opioid addiction continues to be a growing problem in the Prince William County area that cuts across all demographic distinctions, costing lives and wreaking havoc in its wake.

More than 80 people gathered Nov. 17 at the Manassas Park Community Center to assess the scope of the current opioid crisis as well as ways to combat it. They heard from law enforcement officers, health care professionals, elected officials and people whose lives have been devastated by opioid drugs.

News

Absentee voting is way up across Prince William, Stafford. What you need to know ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published October 25, 2018 at 10:54AM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 8:40PM

Northern Virginia elections officials are seeing a significant increase in the number of voters casting absentee ballots, a trend they expect to continue as the Nov. 6 midterm election draws closer.

Officials in Prince William and Stafford counties, along with Manassas city, will have extended hours for absentee voting in the final two weeks before next month’s local and federal election.

Features

World War II ‘flying fortress’ visits the Manassas airport

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published October 19, 2018 at 7:00PM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 8:42PM

MANASSAS — Four 1,200-horsepower radial engines slowly revved up, spewing clouds of gray smoke when the propellers began to rotate, as the massive B-17 bomber prepared for takeoff Thursday at the Manassas Regional Airport.

The whooshing of those nearly 12-foot propellers grew into the unmistakable roar of a World War II airplane. That sound meant the Aluminum Overcast was ready to soar.

Business

Kaiser plans new facilities in Haymarket and Stafford, but future of $200 million Woodbridge hub uncertain

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published August 31, 2018 at 4:00AM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 10:43PM

Kaiser Permanente is continuing its regional expansion efforts with plans to open two new state-of-the-art medical office buildings in Stafford and Prince William counties.

But the future of a potential $200 million “hub” in Woodbridge appears to be uncertain. Company officials could not confirm the status of the proposed 335,000-square-foot Kaiser South Northern Virginia hub campus on Minnieville Road, east of Caton Hill Road.

Business

Prince William officials give Scriyb an extra year to meet terms of economic development grant

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published August 27, 2018 at 4:00AM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 10:50PM

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Prince William County officials recently gave education software company Scriyb, LLC, an additional 15 months to relocate its headquarters within the county or face the prospect of repaying its $100,000 economic development grant.

Scriyb is one of at least five companies that have received $400,000 in county funds since 2016 aimed at generating economic development, but it’s the only one facing the prospect of repaying its grant. The company so far has been unable to find a suitable location for its operations.

Business

Northern Virginia “Ground Zero” for tech workforce: Thousands of unfilled cyber jobs could impact local economy

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published July 2, 2018 at 10:23PM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 11:24PM

Craig Stevenson, right, of Arlington-based cybersecurity company HyperQube, demonstrates how a Prince William County technology start-up, Scriyb, provides a live online, cloud-based classroom platform so teachers can reach more students.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — If you’re looking for a job in the computer industry, you’re in the right area.

Although this region has the nation’s third-largest digital technology workforce, there are currently 43,200 vacant tech jobs waiting for workers in the DMV — the metropolitan area that includes the District of Columbia, parts of Maryland and all of Northern Virginia.

News

Didlake workers take their strike to company’s Manassas headquarters

By Jane Fullerton Lemons

Published June 15, 2018 at 12:31PM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 11:27PM

MANASSAS — Workers who’ve been on strike for three weeks against Didlake Inc., including several with disabilities, took their grievances to the company’s Manassas headquarters Thursday morning with the support of local elected officials.

The workers voted in April to form a union, culminating a yearlong effort aimed at improving their pay and health-care benefits. But Didlake has refused to recognize those efforts while awaiting a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, stemming from the company’s appeal of a decision that favored the workers.