Uriah Kiser, Author at Potomac Local News

Stafford leaders slow to decide future of old Moncure Elem School

Published September 3, 2019 at 5:40PM | Updated September 4, 2019 at 8:27PM

Old Moncure Elementary School, at 75 Moncure Lane in North Stafford.

Since 2012, it’s been the intention that after a new Anne E. Moncure Elementary School was built and opened (it did last month) the old school and the property on which it sits would be conveyed from the school division to the county government.

Now it has, but that deal was inked in an era when retail and commercial development around the now-abandoned school on Route 610 was booming. Today, when questions swirl over whether or not a new movie theater will ever be built at The Garrison, that boom time seems so long ago.

Originals

P-Nats extend lease in Woodbridge, still bullish on Fredericksburg opening

By Uriah Kiser

Published September 3, 2019 at 12:19PM | Updated September 3, 2019 at 5:45PM

The Potomac Nationals will extend their lease at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium for 2020.

The move comes after the team said it played its final home game in Woodbridge on Thursday, August 29.

Originals

P-Nats play ‘potentially the final home game’ at Pfiztner

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 31, 2019 at 11:49PM

Fans gather on August 31, 2019 to watch the last home game for the Potomac Nationals before the team moved to Fredericksburg. [Uriah Kiser/Potomac Local News]

The only thing spectacular about the final game at Pfitzner Stadium was the Potomac Nationals 5-1 win over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

The team scored a three-run homer in the fifth, which was the game-winning hit. Other than that, there was no on-field good-bye, or firework show. That had been done the weekend before.

Traffic

Mine Road now connects Route 610 with Courthouse Road

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 31, 2019 at 11:55AM

The final stretch of Mine Road has opened, connecting drivers with Route 610 in North Stafford to Courthouse Road.

It means drivers don’t have to make the sharp turn at Austin Ridge Road to get to Courthouse Road like they did before the last 2-mile stretch of the road was completed.

Schools

Jenkins Elementary evacuated twice before it ever officially opened

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 30, 2019 at 5:52PM

Those evacuations took place once on the mornings of Thursday, August 22 and Friday, August 23, when county officials stopped a kindergarten orientation with students in the building, and during a teacher orientation session, respectively, show emails obtained by Potomac Local.

“I am concerned that school staff continued to place teachers and students in harm’s way. People’s lives were being endangered by ignoring the life safety issues identified by the county building officials and county fire officials,” penned Prince William County Executive Christopher Martino in a letter to school officials. He went on to call the actions of the school division “egregious.”

Originals

Kindergartners enter Jenkins Elementary despite fire safety concerns, no permit

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 29, 2019 at 5:09PM | Updated August 30, 2019 at 9:57AM

John D. Jenkins Elementary School.

County officials are fuming after children, teachers, and staff of the new John D. Jenkins Elementary School entered the building before Prince William County inspectors issued a full occupancy permit, and despite concerns about a fire suppression system that may not work properly.

Kindergarten students were allowed inside the building for orientation at 10 a.m. Thursday, August 22. A the same time, County Building Official Eric Mays was concerned that the hangers used to secure pipes for the fire suppression system were not strong enough to “support the weight of the pipe, the water, plus an additional 250-pound load,” according to emails obtained by Potomac Local.

Originals

Lillie Jessie: No aviation classes for Stonewall Jackson High School

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 29, 2019 at 3:00PM | Updated August 29, 2019 at 3:26PM

Lillie Jessie gives her acceptance speech after the Prince William Democratic Party declared her the next Occoquan District School Board member. (Mary Davidson/PotomacLocal.com)

Lillie Jessie, the Occoquan District School representative on the Prince William County School Board, is fighting to keep an aviation mechanics program solely at Woodbridge Senior High School, in her district.

Last year, the county school division announced plans to add the after-school, extracurricular classes to Stonewall Jackson High School on the other end of the county, outside Manassas.

Schools

Jenkins Elementary School opens

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 29, 2019 at 12:00AM

John D. Jenkins Elementary School.

The newest elementary school in Prince William County is named for its longest-serving supervisor.

The new school at 4060 Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge bears the name John D. Jenkins Elementary. He represented Dale City as the Neabsco District Supervisor between 1982 and his death in February of this year.

News

Aquia Town Center owners at odds with county over stormwater repair cost

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 28, 2019 at 3:44PM | Updated August 29, 2019 at 3:01PM

The owners of Aquia Town Center are working with Stafford County officials on a plan to fix nagging stormwater issues at the site of the old shopping center, despite a county-imposed deadline coming and going.

It’s still the hope of the property owners, Mosaic Realty Partners of Baltimore, and Stafford County leaders that, despite years of the site sitting dormant, something may be built to replace the once-thriving strip mall.

News

Georgetown South meeting to tackle Grant Avenue redux, landscaping, utility relocation

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 28, 2019 at 10:03AM | Updated August 29, 2019 at 12:40PM

It might be the only place in the region aiming to reduce the number of lanes on a street.

Under a plan to remake South Grant Avenue, the street will be reduced from four lanes to two lanes, with right and left-turn lanes in certain sections between Lee Avenue and Wellington Road. If built, the new conditions would match what already exists on North Grant Avenue, between Lee Avenue and Sudley Road.