Manassas will celebrate opening its Farmer's Market for the 36th time.

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Police in Prince William County are seeking comments from the public during its accreditation process from now until May 31, 2023.

From a press release:

The Prince William County Police Department is proud to be a nationally accredited law enforcement agency through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the primary crediting authority in the United States. Our police department is committed to providing the highest quality professional police service to the residents, business owners, and visitors of Prince William County.

As part of its ongoing commitment to service, community partnership, and continuous improvement, the Police Department is pleased to announce the availability of a community portal which our residents and business owners may share feedback related to the agency’s compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status.

We invite our community to submit comments, which can be in the form of commendations or concerns, via the links to the comment portal provided below. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence. This community portal will remain open for a period of 60 days during the period of April 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023. We would like to thank all participants in advance for taking the time to share comments.

IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgement to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA® Accreditation.

• Submit a comment about the Prince William County Police Department
• Submit a comment about the Prince William Public Safety Academy

A Stafford County sheriff's deputy nabbed a group of teenagers, who range in age 14 and 15, who wore ski masks, beat someone unconscious, and stole his shoes on Monday, April 3, 2023.

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Stafford County Public Schools thanks its business partners during a breakfast meeting.

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Updated 2 p.m. --  Someone is killing foxes in Manassas Park.

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OmniRide's board of directors, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, will meet on Thursday, April 6, and is expected to authorize a $1.6 million micro-transit service for the Dumfries and Quanitco areas.

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Greetings, Prince William – You can make a difference in the life of a child! Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) need volunteers age 21+ who care about children growing up in a safe, permanent, and loving home. The staff will hold their next Virtual Information Session on April 5, 6 pm-7 pm, and a second session on April 19, 6 pm-7 pm.  Learn how to help protect abused and neglected children in your community by becoming a volunteer advocate. Please email [email protected] or call 703.330.8145 to receive the link to the meeting.

If you love animals and running, we have a terrific opportunity!  The wonderful people at Advocates for Abused and Abandoned Pets need an experienced volunteer age 18+ to help coordinate, manage, and execute walk/run fundraisers.  The goal is to host a 5K race in Prince William during the early fall.  It’s not too early to begin planning, and you’ll feel great as you promote a healthy event that will help homeless and abused animals!  Please email [email protected] to learn more.

Brain Injury Services is looking for a PALS volunteer (Providing a Link for Survivors) to be a friend to a young woman living in Arlington, recovering from a brain injury. This would be a once-a-month commitment to accompany the client on outings.  Please email [email protected] or call 703.451.8881, ext.232, for more information.

You can help our senior citizens!  Prince William Area Agency on Aging is looking for Home Delivered Meals Drivers age 18+ to deliver noontime meals to homebound seniors Monday-Friday, 10 am-12 pm.  Routes take about 1.5 hours to complete; schedules are flexible.  The program operates out of the two senior centers in Manassas and Woodbridge.  Volunteers must have dependable transportation, a valid driver’s license, a safe driving record, and proof of insurance.  Volunteers must also pass a criminal background check, paid by PWC.  You’ll get the warm fuzzies as you deliver both a smile to seniors’ faces and a hot, nutritious meal!  Please call Tracy at 703.792.4583 or visit http://bit.ly/3IPKVfJ for more information.

Are you a people person?  The staff at Capital Caring Health needs a virtual volunteer to help with volunteer recruitment for their various programs.  This virtual opportunity is about 10 hours a month and involves social media, marketing, and outreach support.  This is an excellent remote opportunity; you’ll gain nonprofit management and communication experience!  Please email [email protected] to learn more.

If you love admin work, the folks at CFH (formerly Catholics for Housing) want to meet you!  They need a volunteer bilingual Office Assistant who can keep the day-to-day office operations going and assist callers and clients.  Duties include answering phones, help visitors, help with the website and program applications. Flexible schedule, 2-3 days a week, 4-6 hours each shift.  Bilingual skills in Spanish required.  You’ll feel great as you help this agency make affordable housing possible for their clients!  Please email [email protected] for more information.

Attention, Feline Fans!  Last Chance Animal Rescue needs cat-loving volunteers to help with cat and kitten care and adoptions in the Manassas PetSmart, 10834 Sudley Manor Drive.  Volunteers aged 14+ welcome; volunteers aged 14-17 must volunteer with a responsible adult.  Duties include loving the kitties, playing with and socializing them, feeding, and light cleaning, including litter box scooping.  Volunteers would also help greet potential adopters, introduce them to the kitty guests, and process adoptions.  Training and orientation are provided.  Be prepared to commit to one or more shifts (AM or PM) per week; hours are available on weekdays and weekends.  You’ll purr with delight knowing that you’re helping to care for cats from high-kill shelters and place them in loving homes!  Please visithttp://bit.ly/3JxbyH0 to fill out and sign a Volunteer Agreement. Please email [email protected] to learn more.

Attention Plant Lovers and Gardeners!  Leopold’s Preserve, 16290 Thoroughfare Road in Broad Run, is offering a series of family-friendly training for volunteers to be certified in invasive vine removal at their facility.  Once certified, volunteers can come to the Preserve any time, on their own schedule, and independently work to remove invasive vines.  Training is required to learn more about invasive vine identification and removal techniques.  Training for 2023 will be offered on April 22, August 12, and October 14 1:30 pm-3:30 pm each date.  It’s family-friendly, and you’ll enjoy being outdoors in this beautiful facility and helping the staff as you clear out vines that could strangle trees and plants!  Please visit http://bit.ly/3J9YUNR for more information on this opportunity; visit www.leopoldspreserve.com/calendar to sign up.

Leopold’s Preserve also needs bird-loving volunteers to help monitor bluebird, purple martin, or wood duck boxes.  Monitors regularly check the boxes to support data collection – how many birds use their nest boxes and how many babies are born.  They have lots of boxes and can’t monitor all of them without your help!  Please email[email protected] to learn more.

Do you love coaching sports?  Martin K. Alloy Boys & Girls Club of Manassas needs Volunteer Coaches aged 18+ to coach basketball and volleyball to youth, boys, and girls.  Practices are held during the week; games are normally played on weekends.  Volunteers must be vaccinated (2 doses) and complete a BGCGW background check.  You’ll feel great working with youth and teens and watching them develop and improve their skills and performance!  Perk:  BGCGW will comp up to 2 children to play volleyball and basketball for FREE!  Must pay for an annual membership:  $50 (ages 5-12) and $25 (ages 13-18).  Please email [email protected] for more information.

Is your office or club looking for a group project?  SERVE’s Family Shelter needs small groups of 5-7 volunteers to provide, prepare and deliver nutritious meals for about 60 guests in their shelter, including Easter Sunday and Memorial Day!  Volunteers can prepare the meal offsite and do a drive-by drop-off delivery to the shelter or prepare and serve it onsite in the shelter kitchen.  It’s a great way to give back and provide a home-cooked nutritious meal for those coping with homelessness!  Please email [email protected] or call 571.748.2674 for more information and a list of meal openings during the year.

If you are looking for other opportunities, please don’t forget to call our wonderful team at Volunteer Prince William at 703.369.5292.  You can also visit our website at www.volunteerprincewilliam.org.  Thanks so much for all you do in our community.

Manassas celebrated its 150th anniversary on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at the Boys and Girls Club, 9501 Dean Park Lane.

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Prince William County Police Chief Peter Newsham will be front and center during the Board of County Supervisors meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, 2023, to update elected leaders about crime in the county.

According to Newsham’s 2o22 executive summary, the violent crime rate jumped an eye-popping 70% from 2019 to 2022, which includes murder, manslaughter, rape, sodomy, and robbery (outlined on page 48 of the department’s 2021 report).

The overall crime rate rose 23% in the past year, with 38 crimes per every 1,000 county residents reported, up from 32 in 2021. Even more alarming, the murder rate doubled in a year, with 20 homicides in 15 incidents in 2022.

All but two of the 2022 murder cases have been solved.

Last week, we reported Newsham said the crime report would be released soon and that it “doesn’t look good.” Newsham’s executive summary was found in Tuesday’s meeting agenda as a precursor to a more detailed crime report for 2022 that will be released at a to-be-determined date.

The crime rate has skyrocketed under the leadership of the current Board of County Supervisors, controlled by Democrats, and Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth (D), who took office in 2020.

Under Ashworth, grand jury indictments have fallen from more than 200 to about 70 per month, despite supervisors providing additional funding to the commonwealth attorney to hire more staff.

In a January 2023 interview with this news organization, Ashworth denied the rising crime rate and stated it was a “Republican narrative repeated only by people who watch Fox News.” Ashworth also explained that indicting more people, as was done under her predecessor, Paul Ebert, a Democrat, was just a means to put numbers in a board to increase state funding.

“That incentive is completely contrary to what you do as a prosecutor,” Ashworth told PLN, who added those caught with cocaine for the first time should not face felony charges. Republican Matt Lowery is challenging Ashworth in the November 2023 General Election.

Also, on Tuesday, we expect an update from the county’s transportation department, which is constructing new interchanges on Prince William Parkway near Manassas at Balls Ford and Brentsville roads.

During the 7:30 p.m. session, School Board Chairman Dr. Babur Lateef will present the school division’s $2.4 billion budget. The school division’s budget is tied to supervisors’ set real estate tax rate set to be approved later this month.

The county is slated to give the school system $192 million, its largest funding share, when combined with state and federal money.

Later, supervisors will be asked to rezone 51 acres from Planned Business District to Planned Mixed Residential for 334 age-restricted homes.

The meeting is held at 1 County Complex Court in Woodbridge. The afternoon session begins at 2 p.m., and the evening session at 7:30 p.m.

Can’t go? You can watch live and archived meeting videos here.