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!

News

Pilot program to bring new school protection officers to Stafford elementary schools

By Uriah Kiser
(File photo)

STAFFORD — Three Stafford County elementary schools will have armed protection officers beginning the fall.

The Stafford Board of Supervisors voted to fund a low-cost pilot program that will place three new part-time sworn sheriff’s deputies and their full-time supervisor, a deputy sergeant, at the county’s sheriff’s office, will work as part of a $481,000 program during the 2018-19 school year.

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News

Schools superintendent urged to spend his summer on a listening tour after Reagan Middle School fallout

By Uriah Kiser
Prince William Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts.

GAINESVILLE — After a former Reagan Middle School Principal was transferred following allegations of bullying, the way the school division announced the move has now sparked as much or more controversy as the original bullying allegations.

Alfie Turner, a Prince William County school administrator whose worked at Coles Elementary, Potomac Middle, and most recently Reagan Middle School was reassigned to public schools headquarters in the human rescues office the following staff and parent and teacher allegations that she bullied them.

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News

Celebrate with us and save 20% on a new annual subscription

By Uriah Kiser

You might notice our homepage has a slightly different look this morning.

We’ve updated and improved the layout of the page to make it easier to find the local news you’ve been looking for. You may need to clear your temporary internet files in your web browser to see the updated layout.

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Features

Pilots, planes, and demonstrations dazzle at Leaseweb Manassas Airshow 2018

By Uriah Kiser
The Canadian Harvard Acrobatic Team [Photo: Mary Davidson]

MANASSAS — Thousands packed the Manassas Regional Airport on Saturday for the Leaseweb Manassas Air Show 2018.

The show ran from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. and featured bi-planes, formation fliers, and the world’s only privately owned Sea Harrier Jet that stole the show when the plane took a bow for the crowded pack on the tarmac.

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News

NVTC approves bicycle racks, lockers at Manassas Virginia Railway Express station

By Uriah Kiser

MANASSAS — Bike racks could be coming to the Manassas Virginia Railway Express station.

Monies from the Interstate 66 E-ZPass Express Lanes’ Commuter Choice program, a total of $55,000, will be used to install bicycle shelters, 10 bike lockers and a repair station at the Manassas train station in Downtown. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission approved the funds at its meeting Thursday night in Arlington.

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News

Leaders urged to build new courthouse adjacent to current building as downtown Stafford plans emerge

By Uriah Kiser

STAFFORD — At first, Stafford officials thought they couldn’t build a new $71 million courthouse on the same side of the street as the existing facility.

Officials knew they didn’t have enough room to build adequate parking spaces for the building and then began to look at 32 acres of county-owned property across Courthouse Road as a potential site for the new building.

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News

OmniRide gets green light for Uber-like commuter lot shuttle service for Haymarket, Gainesville

By Uriah Kiser

WOODBRIDGE — Full commuter parking lots in western Prince William County won’t be a problem for would-be transit bus riders for much longer. 

A new $1.1 million program that will allow bus riders to hail an Uber-like ride from their homes to commuter lots in Haymarket and Gainesville was funded Thursday night. The plan — let users hail the rides from their phones, just as they would any other ride-sharing service.

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News

Podcast: OmniRide’s rebranding, and its future growing beyond transit buses

By Uriah Kiser

In this episode of the Potomac Local Podcast, I talk with OmniRide Executive Director Bob Schneider about the transit agency’s new look, how it is overcoming internal struggles in its organization, and a new service that will operate more like Uber than a transit bus.

We recorded this podcast at the OmniRide Transit Center, home of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission in Woodbridge, on Monday, April 30, 2018.

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News

Property assessments lower than city leaders hoped, and a school funding promise is driving a higher Manassas tax rate

By Uriah Kiser

MANASSAS — The proposed rate in the fiscal year 2019 Manassas budget is about 2.6 percent higher than last year.

That means residents and business will most likely be paying more next year once the city council approves the budget May 14.

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