Fredericksburg

A table on the University of Mary Washington’s Campus Walk that advertised voter registration while displaying Democratic campaign literature was permitted under the university’s rules, a UMW spokeswoman said.

A reader who contacted Potomac Local News reported seeing the table in front of Lee Hall on Oct. 22. It carried a “register to vote here” banner, and two men were staffing it, according to an email the reader sent that evening to UMW’s director of student activities and the president’s office.


Schools

Loudoun County Public Schools staff this week floated closing four low-enrollment western elementary schools to save about $8.5 million, but most members of the Loudoun County School Board rejected the idea at Tuesday’s meeting, Loudoun Now reported.

The discussion comes after neighboring Prince William County closed Potomac View Elementary School when students moved into the new Woodbridge Elementary this fall, Potomac Local News reported, and after the Prince William School Board canceled plans for a 14th high school in February amid declining enrollment projections.


Police Blotter

Prince William County police charged a Haymarket man with assault and battery on a law enforcement officer after a domestic dispute. The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office released its daily incident report listing two fraud cases and a DUI arrest.

On October 27 at 7:41 p.m., officers responded to a residence located in the 5700 block of Waterloo Bridge Cir in Haymarket (20169) to investigate a domestic dispute. During the investigation, one of the involved parties, later identified as the accused, became aggressive and assaulted an officer, before being secured. Minor injuries were reported by the officer. Following the investigation, the accused, identified as Michael Salvatore DEJESUS, was arrested.


News

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Eugene Vindman will headline a Get Out The Vote rally in the Dumfries area of Prince William County on Friday evening, the Prince William County Democrats announced.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, with the program scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. The public listing does not publish a street address; organizers say the venue is shared after registration.


Manassas

Manassas City Council deadlocked 3-3 twice Monday on the first reading of a rezoning that would put 162 apartments and a public parking garage on the former Manassas Ice and Fuel site at 9007 Center Street, then left the outcome unclear when the clerk’s language on the tape said the item both “is passed” and “is deferred.”

A motion to defer the item failed 3-3. Theresa Coates Ellis, Sonia R. Vásquez Luna, and Ashley Hutson voted yes. Mark D. Wolfe, Ralph J. Smith, and Tom Osina voted no. A motion to approve produced the same split: Osina, Smith, and Wolfe yes; Ellis, Vásquez Luna, and Hutson no. Under ordinary council rules a 3-3 vote fails. Official minutes or a later clarification will be needed to confirm what, if anything, advanced.


Manassas

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Bull Run Unitarian Universalists as “Brew Church.” The congregation’s acronym is BRUU.

Manassas police recovered more than 25 shell casings from the street at the Church and Main intersection after shots were fired about 11 p.m. Friday outside Bull Run Unitarian Universalists (BRUU). No injuries were reported, and officers already within one block of the scene arrived in less than one minute.


Prince William

A church pastor in Prince William County has filed a lawsuit to block a ballot question that would remove a ban on same-sex marriage from the Virginia Constitution, FOX 5 DC reports.

Pastor Ben Purves of Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge claims proper procedures were not followed to place Question 2 on the ballot. The lawsuit was filed by Founding Freedoms Law Center in Prince William County Circuit Court.


Virginia

If Virginians approve a ballot referendum on Nov. 3 to permanently protect reproductive rights in the state’s constitution, the amendment will be challenged in court on Nov. 13, the Virginia Mercury reports.

The case seeks a preliminary injunction to block the certification of the amendment referendum results by alleging that the process was not properly filed and that ballot language was misleading.


Virginia

A Bloomberg Law report says a lawyer for Virginia fielded tough questions before an appellate panel over the state’s authority to require federal law enforcement officers to show their faces and identify themselves when enforcing immigration laws.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit appeared more receptive at argument on Tuesday to lifting a preliminary injunction to allow the state to enforce its law dictating terms for local cooperation with federal law enforcement.


Virginia

Attorney General Jay Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a federal appeals court ruling that a revoked Virginia vanity license plate is protected free speech, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

Rae Pickett, a spokesperson for Jones, confirmed the office will file a cert petition on Oct. 29 in Whateley v. Lackey.


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