Seniors should be some of the first prioritized to receive a vaccination for the coronavirus when it becomes available, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living told the National Governors Association.

"Given that long term care facilities care for our most vulnerable when it comes to this virus and employ hundreds of thousands of essential health care workers, we urge that your plans to the CDC make residents and staff of these settings the highest priority for the vaccine. Long term care facilities are comprised of our nation’s nursing homes, assisted living and memory care communities, intermediate care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities, and independent living communities," states the letter. Those who reside in long term care facilities are especially susceptible to this novel virus. The average age of residents in our facilities is 85 and almost every one of them has an underlying health condition, and some have multiple chronic conditions. According to CDC data, the risk of mortality in this age group is 630 times higher than those 18-29 years old."

“I fully appreciate the perspective the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living have shared,” said Dr. Stephen Smith, president and chief operating officer, Novant Health UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center and Novant Health UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center.

Novant operates the Caton Merchant House assisted living facility in Manassas.

“We’ve been fortunate at Caton Merchant House, as none of our residents have contracted COVID-19. 'This can be attributed to our team’s commitment to following the best practices of social distancing, hand washing, and mask-wearing in the facility.”

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He's been politically active in numerous parts of the city for decades but has never run for office.

He'll probably never do it again, he says.

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Greg Neiss just wanted to do something nice for his community.

"I stuck a flag on the pole outside my house, and I've had it there for years, on and off, probably 10 years," Neiss told PLN.

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A town hall meeting will be held tonight at the Manassas Airport Main Terminal Lobby at 7 p.m. to weigh in on several topics.

According to the agenda, the items discussed will be proposed changes to the city charter, which would give the city's mayor the power to vote on a regular basis. Democrats now hold a majority on the city council and are pushing for a change the charter.

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Prince William County, Manassas, Manassas Park, and all the towns now have a Public Defender.

On Wednesday, September 2, Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin hosted a virtual forum along with Chief Public Defender Tracey Lenox and Deputy Chief Public Defender Jenny Miller, as well as Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye and EJ Scott from the Prince William County NAACP.  

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Manassas city residents will get some tax relief for their vehicles.

The City Council voted on Monday night to approve the allocation percentage for personal property tax relief in the City of Manassas for the 2020 tax year.

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For Manassas, it’s the bypass.

The City Council unanimously voted to support a plan to extend Godwin Drive, creating a four-lane, four-mile Route 28 bypass. Known as “alternative 2B,” the road would connect with Route 28 at Bull Run, on the Fairfax County line.

The move comes after the council in July failed to endorse the bypass plan. Later on August 4, leaders in Prince William County voted to scrap it.

But last week, those same leaders reversed course, took another vote, and revived the road by opting to spend $89 million to design the four-lane road. The decision came following threats from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that it would pull the funding and allocate it to other projects.

As Manassas Vice Mayor Pamela Sebesky had said at the July meeting, “the city needs to wait for the Board of County Supervisors to make a decision before it can weigh in.”

“I think it’s presumptive of us a council to not allow them to make that decision and then support what the Board of County Supervisors’ decision will be in the near future,” Sebesky said.

And now that the county has spoken, city leaders say wanted their chance, and passed the resolution unanimously.

According to city documents:

“The City of Manassas remains a key stakeholder in this project. The Board of County Supervisors held a public hearing on the preferred alignment on July 14, 2020. After initially denying the request to endorse the bypass, the Board of County Supervisors approved Alignment 2B on September 8, 2020.”

Business groups like the Prince William Chamber of Commerce supported the bypass because it adds to the region’s existing road network, and would ease delays on Route 28 — dubbed Nothern Virginia’s most congested road prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The bypass is expected to cost $300 million to construct and a total of 54 homes would need to be demolished.

Once the road is designed, those plans need to be approved by the Army Corps of Eginneers becuase a portion of the road will plow through wetlands of Flat Branch, located at Bull Run Regional Park.

Manassas has a new fire chief.

During Monday night's city council meeting, Mayor Hal Parrish swore in a new fire chief, William Garrett.

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In the waning days of summer, people are flocking to area parks.

On afternoon of August 30, Leesylvania State Park in Woodbridge and Great Falls National Park in McLean were at the capacity that day and visitors who didn't make it there early were being turned away.

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Woodbridge resident Tomika Anderson has come up with a way to reach out to single parents who need support, or ideas to school their children.

The pandemic has proven challenging enough for parents who have to stay home to teach their children or to monitor their children’s virtual assignments, but what are single parents supposed to do?

Seven years ago, Woodbridge native Tomika Anderson founded a single parent traveling Facebook group Single Parents Who Travel that has now pivoted to also helping single parents with the schooling aspects during a pandemic. The group has nearly 7,580 members, with members around the world from the Philippines to Zimbabwe.

Members in the group have started meeting outside of the group as well, and next summer will have their third annual trip where they hope to go to Cancun.

But now that the pandemic has affected travel, she’s found ways to pivot to address the needs of her members coping with the challenges of COVID-19. She is finding ways to help parents educate their kids by tapping into her own parent’s wisdom, including the idea of “Grammy School”.

“My mother came up with the idea. My son calls her Grammy, thus the name. She volunteered to teach my son this year and in talking to some of her other educator friends / fellow grandparents they decided to support each other through teaching each other’s grandkids as well, whether providing information, support or other resources,” Anderson states in an email to Potomac Local.

Tomika Anderson’s parents, Regina and Gary both taught in Prince William County Schools. Gary Anderson was most recently a principal at Graham Park Middle School in Triangle and was also a guidance counselor at Potomac High School, Garfield High School Woodbridge.

Her mother was also a teacher who trained teachers at multiple schools including Leesylvania Elementary School in Woodbridge.

“Though my parents have long been retired they substitute teach and volunteer in multiple schools across Woodbridge each year to include Leesylvania and Mary G. Porter,” Anderson said in an email to Potomac Local. “Basically my parents are an educational dream team,” Anderson added.

Tomika’s parents are now helping to educate her son Solomon, who is seven years old. Her mom has a whole “posse” of former educators, both inside and outside Prince William County, who have been discussing how to help support their grandchildren during this time.

Not everyone has an involved grandparent, so Tomika said the group has also been having Facebook Lives with parents and problem-solving with members, including those with jobs like nurses to epidemiologists to school administrators.

They had a recent Facebook Live chat with mothers and fathers from as far away as the Netherlands, discussing what they’re doing and what it looks like for their children, and some were even able to tell the others how virtual learning was already going in their state or country.

If a single parent doesn’t have a grandparent, “We definitely have some pods that have just formed,” Anderson said, where kids who are in similar grades and in close towns who work out of one parent’s home. She also said that having honest discussions with employers is also an option.

Tomika, who is black, said that there are often bad connotations to being a single parent. The goal is to create a “new narrative” around what a single parent is.

“…to empower single parents to effectively put the proverbial masks on themselves first so they can provide the best possible support for their kids — during COVID and beyond. Our kids are only as “good” as mom and/or dad are. It’s also to provide the village we all so desperately need – in real life, whether in person or online. It’s also to change the narrative of what it is to be a single parent — we are not to be pitied or looked down upon. We are real-life superheroes, especially now!” Anderson said.