You can tell it’s election season.  Our elected officials are busily covering over the misdeeds of their tenures and re-packaging themselves as faithful servants of the people.

Look at the creative ways they try to exploit your inattention.  Did you know that our board of county supervisors has authorized a water study of the Occoquan watershed, a Sustainability Commission Report, development of a revised noise ordinance, and considering enhanced building code standards for data centers?

The results are due back about the same time as they finish pouring cement for the millions of square feet of data centers they already rushed to approve.

You’d think if they were really interested in what they claim, they might have looked into these issues before sealing our fates with their pre-determined decisions.  After all, there were certainly enough informed citizens lining up at Public Comment time pleading for them to do so.  They finally got the message after the damage was done.  Better late than never.

For the next few months of election season, you will hear nothing but accomplishments from this board. Just don’t look too closely out your car window, and for some neighborhoods, don’t even look out your back door, or you will see the reality of their “accomplishments.”

Chair Ann Wheeler is the chief practitioner of the drive-by photo op and the innocuous “proclamation.”  Throw in buttering-up a few select community members with appointments to commissions (our equivalent of ambassadorship), and you’ve built a superficial following.

How’s that working for us?

Paula Daly
Gainesville

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Executive Vice President and General Manager Nick Hall will leave the Fredericksburg Nationals baseball team.

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Updated 3:30 p.m. — It appears the sound of a car backfiring caused Quantico Marine Corps authorities to place the military installation into lockdown today.

The lockdown issued at about 1 p.m. was lifted just before 3 p.m.

At approximately 12:35 p.m., base security dispatch received a report of five shots fired in vicinity of the Lyman Park housing area behind the commissary. Base personnel and residents were notified to shelter in place as units responded.

After securing the area, speaking to witnesses and investigating the scene, it was determined that the reports were based on a possible vehicle backfire.

The all clear was given at 2:30 p.m. No evidence of shots being fired was identified, and no injuries were reported during this incident.

Thank you to all base personnel and families for the prompt adherence to the shelter in place order and to law enforcement personnel for their quick response.

— Quantico Marine Corps Base Capt. Michael Curtis

 

QTS, the firm aiming to build a data center next to Manassas National Battlefield Park, had planned to hold a town hall meeting about the development last night, April 18, 2023, at Bull Run Middle School near Gainesville.

However, as we reported Monday, April 17, a Prince William County school said the school was double booked with the town hall meeting and a back-to-school night for parents of rising 6th-grade students.

The school had inadvertently double-booked the schedule (human error). The organization is looking to find another location to host the meeting and that information will be shared once confirmed.

— Prince William County Public Schools spokeswoman Diana Gulotta statement to PLN

Residents opposed to more data centers had planned a demonstration outside the school before the event began.

In a statement to PLN following our story about the cancelation, QTS spokesman Nick DeSarno said it’s working to reschedule the event, that the firm had the event on the books since late last month, and only learned of the back-to-school night on the day before its scheduled event.

“QTS Data Centers was today notified by Bull Run Middle School that a conflicting event at the school would necessitate the cancelation of QTS’ open house despite school officials last week confirming the QTS event. As a result, QTS is working to reschedule the event to provide the Prince William community with important information about the PW Digital Gateway project and its many benefits to the county,” said DeSarno.

The April 18 QTS Open House event had been planned since late March. Throughout the planning process, QTS Data Centers (QTS) was never notified of another event scheduled for the same day or anything that may disrupt QTS’ Open House event. The following timeline lays out the planning of the event, coordination with Bull Run Middle School staff, and the subsequent cancellation of the event.

• March 30, 2023: On March 30, QTS submitted a request to hold the event via the school’s automated scheduling system, Community Use.
• April 3, 2023: On April 3, QTS received confirmation the event had been approved. Following confirmation, QTS coordinated with Bull Run Middle School staff to arrange a tour of the school and specifics of the event.
• April 13, 2023: On April 13, QTS toured the school and confirmed the logistics of the event with school staff.
• April 17, 2023: The morning of April 17, QTS received a notification from the Community Use scheduling system that the event had been canceled. That same day, the school calendar was updated with the event entitled, “Rising 6th?Grade Information Night,” scheduled for Tuesday, April 18.

The data proposed data center would sit on some of the more than 800 acres earmarked by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, approved last year, for Prince William Digital Gateway.

Residents opposed to more data centers in Prince William County, on track to eclipse neighboring Loudoun County for the most in the world, were planning a press conference to oppose the project “The attitude of Prince William County residents, and our message to QTS, is simple and concise: go away.  We are not buying their insincere overtures to placate us while they concurrently plot to destroy us,” they noted in a press release.

QTS already operates at least one data center in Prince William County, next to the George Mason University Science and Technology Campus near Manassas.

In November 2022, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors amended its comprehensive plan to allow 27 million square feet of data center space next to the national battlefield park, the site of two major Civil War battles, a national tourism destination.

Fire marshals charged a Maryland man with arson and attempted murder in connection to a townhouse fire in Dumfries’ Williamstown neighborhood in November 2022.

Arson, Attempted Murder*Arrest – On April 16, Fire Marshals charged a suspect in connection to the townhouse fire that occurred in the 3600 block of Dalhgreen Place (Dumfries) on November 26, 2022. The suspect is the stepbrother of the occupant who rented the basement portion of the home.

At the time of the fire, two (2) other occupants were upstairs in the home. Evidence from the scene and the suspect’s actions ultimately led to his identity in the incident. Following the investigation, Fire Marshals obtained arrest warrants for the suspect, identified as Nathanial Earl Payne, in connection with the incident. On April 18, the suspect was located and arrested without incident in Fairfax County by the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

Arrested on April 18:
Nathanial Earl Payne, 36, of Oxen Hill, Maryland
Charged with 2 counts of Attempted Murder in the 2nd degree, Arson of an occupied dwelling, and obtaining money by false pretenses.
Court Date: June 28 / Bond: Unavailable

— Prince William County fire marshal

Stafford County Economic Development Director John Holden resigned.

Holden's last day was Friday, April 14, 2023. He has led the department since 2018 and made $156,500 a year.

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The Prince William County Transportation Department will host a town-hall meeting in  Manassas Park on a $300 million bypass about four miles long and wedged between the Fairmont and Loch Lomond neighborhoods in Sudley, near Manassas.

The department calls it a public information meeting to be held on Thursday, April 20, at Manassas Park Community Center, 99 Adams Street, Manassas Park, both beginning at 6:30 p.m.

County leaders have previously said construction crews might need to demolish some homes to make way for the new street, though road crews have not released a final plan for the project. The road will be an extension of Godwin Drive in Manassas, along an alignment once called the Tri-County Parkway until that project was scrapped.

The meetings will inform residents about the project’s background, and current status, including aspects of the Bypass that most directly impact the PWC community. During the events, we plan to provide an overview of the projects latest updates and timeline, give the public an opportunity to review the project exhibits on display, engage in information sharing and discussion, meet with Prince William County representatives, and provide input. Spanish interpretation will be provided for those who prefer Spanish. Additional information about the project can be found at route28bypass.com.

You can submit questions before the meeting by emailing [email protected]. All questions will be responded to in a timely manner via email or through our website, route28bypass.com.

Updated 1 p.m. April 19 — Former Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup collapsed at tonight’s Prince William Board of County Supervisors meeting on April 18, 2023.

According to sources, Stirrup, who is running for the House of Delegates District 21 seat in Haymarket, was rushed to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, where he’s lying in intensive care.

His condition has improved, according to a post on his Facebook page.

John is now feeling much better, resting and even telling a few dad jokes to the hospital staff. He and Heidi are incredibly grateful for the first responders, medical team, and all those who have reached out and offered prayers and support.

Fire and rescue crews resuscitated Stirrup at the board meeting before loading him by stretcher onto an ambulance. Stirrup was speaking during public comment time, talking about the county’s violent crime rate, which has increased 70% since 2019, and the jail board’s abolishment of the 287(g) program, which had county jail officers partner with federal immigration and customs authorities to hand over jail inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler called a meeting recess until 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, 2023. Supervisors were in the public comment portion o the meeting and then were to engage in budget markup when leaders were to decide what to cut from the fiscal year 2024 budget.

After returning from recess, County Executive Christopher Shorter said, “What we witnessed here tonight was a medical emergency. The response from our first responders here was amazing.”

Stirrup, a conservative, served on the Board of County Supervisors for two terms from 2004 until 2011. Stirrup left the county government and later lobbied on its behalf.

Stirrup has a Republican challenger in Josh Quill, who is also seeking the party’s nomination in a June 20 Primary.

Here’s a transcript of Stirrup’s speech, delivered just before he collapsed:

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A NOVEC employee was shocked and flown to a hospital this afternoon.

This afternoon at 4:37 PM, units were dispatched to the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) Innovation Substation, located in the 9300 block of Godwin Drive, for a report of an individual who was electrocuted. A NOVEC employee, working on equipment, was accidentally electrocuted. The employee was rescued by fire and rescue personnel approximately 16’ in the air on a manlift. The adult male victim was flown by helicopter to an area trauma center for evaluation.

— Prince William Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Matt Smolksy