Author: Uriah Kiser

I'm the Founder and Publisher of Potomac Local News. Raised in Woodbridge, I'm now raising my family in Northern Virginia and care deeply about our community. If you're not getting our FREE email newsletter, you are missing out. Subscribe Now!

Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg Planning Commission Rejects 1500 Gateway Data Center 7–0

By Uriah Kiser
A city background memo map shows the proposed 1500 Gateway Data Center site outlined in blue between Plank Road and Cowan Boulevard, stretching along Interstate 95 and adjacent to neighborhoods including Great Oaks, Snowden, and the Preserve at Smith Run.

Substation ruled inconsistent with city plan; residents blast water, trees, and transmission line impacts

The Fredericksburg Planning Commission has unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone more than 80 acres near Route 3 and Cowan Boulevard for a massive data center campus, after months of controversy over water use, tree loss, and high-voltage transmission lines near neighborhoods.

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Manassas

SUV Crashes Through Barricade at Santa Lights Manassas; Driver Charged With Attempted Malicious Wounding

By Uriah Kiser

Christmas festivities were interrupted Friday night when a vehicle crashed through a police barricade during the annual Santa Lights Manassas celebration, injuring an officer and sending families scrambling during one of the city’s most heavily attended holiday events.

The crash occurred around 7:43 p.m. in Old Town at the intersection of West and Center streets, where officers were directing traffic as thousands gathered for the tree lighting, wagon rides, and Santa’s arrival by Virginia Railway Express train.

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Opinion

Some Towns Forgot What Christmas Is. Manassas Didn’t.

By Uriah Kiser
Manassas School Board members Dayna Marie Miles, Council member Theresa Coates Ellis, and School Board member Sara Brescia at "Santa Light's Manassas" on Friday, December 5, 2025.

It’s as if some local leaders forgot that snow, ice, and cold aren’t disruptions to the holiday season—they are the holiday season.

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Stafford

‘A Super-Corridor Through Our Neighborhoods’: Kraken Loop Sparks Countywide Backlash

By Uriah Kiser
Vanuch

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors used its December 12 meeting to launch a coordinated response to Dominion Energy’s proposed 500 kV “Kraken Loop” transmission line after a surge of resident testimony warning of health risks, environmental damage, declining property values, and failures in Dominion’s public outreach.

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Stafford

Developer, County Staff Dispute Supervisor’s Movie Theater Promise to Voters

By Uriah Kiser

Stafford County officials confirmed Tuesday night that no movie theater contract exists for The Garrison development on Garrisonville Road, directly contradicting campaign claims made by Garrisonville District Supervisor Dr. Pamela Yeung.

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Features

Manassas Showed What’s Possible — Why Isn’t Your Town Doing This?

By Uriah Kiser

This is a shining example from my podcast with Deron Blevins, Marketing & Communications Manager, Historic Manassas, Inc.

Suppose you work for a chamber of commerce, tourism office, municipality, Main Street organization, parks and recreation department, nonprofit, or economic development office. In that case, this is the model for how you should be interacting with Potomac Local.

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Prince William

“Not Without Us:” Union Balks as PWCS Weighs Extra 30 Minutes for Teachers

By Uriah Kiser
Yellow school bus facing the camera with SCHOOL BUS on the header and no district name visible
A school bus. Photo: Potomac Local file

Prince William County teachers delivered a warning on November 18, 2025, as the School Board reviewed data showing the division is one of only two in Virginia that still uses a seven-hour teacher workday — and board members hinted a change may be coming soon.

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Stafford

Stafford Revisits Data Center Rules, Proposes Grandfathering Five Major Projects

By Uriah Kiser

Stafford County officials will revisit their newly adopted data center regulations tonight, considering an ordinance that would exempt five previously approved developments from the stricter rules passed in October after a marathon joint hearing that stretched past 2:30 a.m.

On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, supervisors will weigh Ordinance O25-29(R). This revision would formally grandfather any data center project that had a rezoning, conditional use permit, or site plan approved on or before Oct. 21, 2025. County planners say the exemption was widely understood to be part of the board’s intent during the October vote but was never written into the final ordinance.

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Fredericksburg

Jolly Carolers Bring Holiday Cheer — and Invite Fredericksburg to Their Christmas Shows

By Uriah Kiser

We were doing a little shopping along Caroline Street on Small Business Saturday, and the sound of live carolers drifted out onto the sidewalk — the kind of thing that makes Downtown Fredericksburg feel like a Hallmark movie this time of year.

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Stafford

Small Businesses Shine at Staffordboro Christmas Market

By Uriah Kiser

More than two dozen small businesses braved temperatures in the high 30s on Saturday for the Long Family Christmas Market at the Staffordboro Boulevard commuter lot in North Stafford, kicking off the holiday season with a community-focused showcase of local makers, bakers, and entrepreneurs.

The special market, held two days after Thanksgiving, brought together vendors from across Stafford County, Fredericksburg, and Northern Virginia for a Shop Small-style holiday event organized by Long Family Markets.

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