The Federal Government began distributing 500 million home coronavirus tests kits Tuesday, January 18. The Biden administration ordered the kits to make testing more available and equitable, said Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.Â
Citizens may go to covidtests.org, where they can get to get up to four free tests per household. Users that provide their name and address will have the tests shipped.Â
This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.
The new brewery will be at Fredericksburg Square, a 19,000-square foot property on Caroline Street. The brewery will also be home to a new Hot Chikn Kitchn, a Nashville-style chicken restaurant in Woodbridge.
The owners of Water's End and Hot Chikn Kitchn, Zach Mote and Mike Sagaro, entered into a partnership that resulted in Fredericksburg Square's purchase. The duo had been working on this acquisition since Summer 2019, after dealing with setbacks such as the coronavirus pandemic and the passing of the building's owner Van Perroy they finally completed the sale in December 2021.
This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.
Recently hired Chief of Police Al Siebert spends his first 100 days making a full review of the Haymarket Police Department.
Siebert made his report to the Haymarket Town Council which consisted of a review of the department. The newly-appointed chief held audits and inventories of everything from making sure policies were up to date, to inventory of resources and equipment, and making changes to document filing which the chief had found to be problematic.
One of the main aspects of the report was a full review of the department policy to make sure they were up to date, conformed to current practices, and were accredited. Siebert reported that 80 policies were written generally but were hard to read and not easy to follow. The policies followed by the Haymarket Police Department were based on policies followed by police departments in Southwest Virginia which were adopted and accredited in 2016.
According to the chief, the department is currently updating the policies to make them current, easy to read and customized to Haymarket, a town located on Interstate 66 in Prince William County.
A full inventory of police personnel and equipment was also made, the results of which Siebert called "remarkable" in his report. Currently, the Haymarket Police Department has six full time officers and three part time officers that have an average of 15 years of experience which makes the department personnel one of the more experienced in the area. Siebert's assessment found that all of the officers have certifications in two or more fields of specialties.
The department also did an inventory of its equipment and found it all to be in good shape, Siebert announced that moving forward there would be semi-annual inspections of all police property to make sure that it all stays up to standards.
Siebert also held an inventory and audit of the department's evidence room as well as their procedures for documenting and labeling all items kept for evidence. The Chief's report found that all property and evidence were accounted for and standards are being met.
The department plans to procure a safe for extra security of valuables, drugs, and weapons, the department is also currently purging any property and evidence no longer needed.
One issue found by the audit was that the department's storage of internal documents was found to be problematic. Instead of keeping the documents on a central server, the department was found to instead use external hard drives to hold documents. Siebert reported that a new server would be installed and would be completed by the end of the month.
Siebert also reported that the department would also restart its Drone program, the Haymarket police does own a drone which could be used for assisting officers in search and rescue, traffic collision investigations, crime scene analysis, crowd monitoring, surveillance, town planning needs, structural issues, among other uses.
Siebert had wanted to get the program up and running in his first 100 days but complications such as a certification class officers needed for the program was canceled and damage to the drone itself delayed the program's relaunch.
Going forward Chief Siebert wants to have plans for department budgets that look towards the next five to ten years and create development plans for the officers for advancement. All these will help to provide quality service and engagement to the community according to the chief.
A Manassas City Council member whose also running for congress shined a light on human trafficking.
During a city council meeting on Monday, January 10, Councilmember Theresa Coates Ellis introduced a proclamation to end human trafficking and highlight efforts to promote awareness by local rotary clubs and the Manassas City Police Department.
Ellis' proclamation designated January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Ellis also specified January 11 as Human Trafficking Awareness day and #WearBlueDay, phrased for social media.
This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.
Medical marijuana dispensary Beyond / Hello, located outside Manassas, will expand to other Northern Virginia neighborhoods.
The chain, owned by the Florida-based wellness company Jushi, has opened a new location in Sterling and will soon open locations in Woodbridge, Arlington, and Fairfax, according to Jushi's Chief Commercial Director Trent Woloveck.
Since opening its first dispensary at 8100 Albertstone Circle, just off Balls Ford Road outside Manassas, Beyond / Hello's customer base has grown from an initial 5,000 patients to nearly 50,000. The dispensary guidelines set by local authorities and those set by the Center for Disease Control due to the coronavirus.
This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.
Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch has been re-elected chairman of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors.
Elected by her peers on the Board of Supervisors, 2022 marks Vaunch's second term as chairman. She first became chair of the board in 2021, succeeding Falmouth District Supervisor Meg Bohmke.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
The Manassas City Council has approved rezoning and a special use permit to make way for a new Wawa gas station.
Wawa had applied to the city to rezone one and a half acres from business office zoning to general commercial zoning to establish the gas station at Sudley and Digges Road.
The application had been contested due to concerns of traffic as well as the station's close proximity to the University of Virginia's Northern Virginia Health Center.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
[Updated 3 p.m.] Sentara Northern Virignia Medical Center said that the number of incoming coronavirus patients has stretched its staff to their limits.
According to information provided by officials at the hospital in Woodbridge, the Sentara saw a rise in patients with the virus starting after Christmas Day. In October, several area hospitals joined Sentara in requiring all of it staff receive two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
This article is FREE to read. Please Sign In or Create a FREE Account. Thank you.
Located at the center of the small town in western Prince William County, the new 2,570 square foot building will have 117 rooms. Those rooms, along with the hotel's meeting spaces, can hold 175 people, according to Nicole Warner, Media and Partner Relations Specialist for the Prince William County Office of Tourism.
The new hotel will have 61 employees in different positions throughout the hotel.
This article is exclusively for our Locals Only members. Please Sign In or upgrade to become a Locals Only Member today!
Your support helps us continue delivering more in-depth community news that matters to you.
The Dumfries Town Council approved a conditional use permit and rezoning that makes way a senior living center, childcare, and a cultural arts center.
The council held a virtual public hearing on Tuesday, January 4, to discuss the rezoning of about eight acres on the south side of Curtis Drive, west of Route 1. The land was rezoned from a general residential district to a planned mixed-use district, allowing a 125-unit senior living multi-family facility.
