Uriah Kiser, Author at Potomac Local News

Manassas library agreement set to expire, talks underway

Published September 4, 2019 at 5:50PM | Updated September 4, 2019 at 8:26PM

Downtown Manassas

Residents of Prince William County and the independent cities of Manassas and Manassas all use libraries in the county as part of a shared-services agreement. Neither independent city has a library of its own.

The county government builds and manages the libraries, and the cities supplement funding, unlocking the door for city residents to use library services.

Originals

Wexton on gun control: ‘The time has finally come to do something about it’

By Uriah Kiser

Published September 4, 2019 at 10:05AM | Updated September 4, 2019 at 8:46PM

Taking action on guns is a top priority for Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10, Loudoun, Prince William).

“The time has finally come to do something about it,” said Wexton, Wednesday at the Prince William Chamber of Commerce. Her comments come after a recent string of mass shootings in Texas, California, Ohio, and Virginia Beach.

Business

Stafford says no to Fredericksburg Chamber ribbon-cuttings

By Uriah Kiser

Published September 3, 2019 at 6:57PM | Updated September 4, 2019 at 8:27PM

County leaders on Tuesday didn’t like the idea of outsourcing the job of organizing ribbon-cutting events for new businesses.

Stafford Economic Development and Tourism (ED&T) Director John Holden briefed Board of Supervisors members on details of a plan we first reported over the weekend, to let the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce organize ribbon-cutting events for new county businesses.

News

Stafford leaders slow to decide future of old Moncure Elem School

By Uriah Kiser

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.