Uriah Kiser, Author at Potomac Local News

Reckless Driving Charge No Longer Only Option for Stafford Deputies

Published August 16, 2013 at 8:22AM | Updated August 16, 2013 at 6:22PM

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — Sheriff’s deputies have a new tool when it comes to citing bad drivers.

Stafford County officials voted to change the county code and allow deputies to charge drivers with improper driving, a charge that previously wasn’t an option for deputies to place. Until now, deputies had to charge drivers with reckless driving and judges later had the option of reducing the offence down to improper driving.

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Chinn Center Expansion Near Center of Prince William Swimming Pool Debate

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 15, 2013 at 12:04PM

The aquatics facility at the Chinn Center in Woodbridge. [Photo: Courtesy Prince William County]

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — In 2006, voters in Prince William County approved the option of floating an $27 million bond to improve park facilities.

One of those projects was a planned $11 million expansion of the heavily used Chinn Aquatics and Fitness Center in Woodbridge. One of the area’s few indoor public pools, the swim lanes are used daily from about 4:30 a.m. to about 10 o’clock at night.

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Stafford Rescinds Vote on Waste-To-Energy Plant, Plan Goes Back to R-Board

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 13, 2013 at 7:47PM

An image provided by Stafford County officials depicting what a waste-to-energy plant would look like in at a regional landfill in Stafford County. [Submitted image]

STAFFORD, Va. — It’s back to the drawing board for a plan to lease land for a waste-to-energy plant at a regional landfill in Stafford County.

Stafford officials Tuesday chose to rescind a June approval that would’ve moved forward a plan for a $100,000 per year lease, and a $1 million advance payment by Energy Extraction Partners, LLC for land to build a facility that would convert landfill waste, including tires, to produce up to 15 megawatts of energy that would power up to 1,300 homes.

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Cuccinelli Firm on Bi-County Parkway, McAuliffe Wants More Federal Jobs

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 9, 2013 at 2:41PM | Updated August 9, 2013 at 4:27PM

McAullife / Cuccinelli [Photos: Mary Davidson / PotomacLocalNews.com]

MANASSAS, Va. — Giving a solid answer on his view of the Bi-County Parkway, Virginia Attorney General and Virginia Republican Gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli supports the Bi-County Parkway between Interstate 95 in Dumfries and Dulles Airport.

“With the tremendous growth in Loudoun, and Prince William County, and the region, we need new transportation options, but the current proposal on the table is unacceptable,” said Cuccinelli. “We cannot be closing roads down just so we can build a new road…we need all the transportation options we can get.”

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Cost, Classroom Funding Concerns Stall School Pool Decision

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 7, 2013 at 5:10PM | Updated August 9, 2013 at 12:45AM

A rendering of a proposed swimming pool that could be built at Prince William County's 12th high school.

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — The idea of building a $10 million swimming facility at Prince William County’s next high school was floated again last night.

The county’s Board of Supervisors and School Board met for dinner during a rare joint session Tuesday. There, members heard got an earful about plans for the school from School Board Chairman Milton Johns, but both boards couldn’t reach an agreement on who would build the pool and who would maintain it, the county government or the county school division.

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‘Light’ Cargo Would be Carried on Bi-County Parkway Between Dumfries and Dulles

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 6, 2013 at 6:12PM | Updated August 6, 2013 at 9:20PM

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton stands with Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart to announce 1,000 new commuter parking spaces will be built at the Horner Road Commuter lot. (File photo: Mary Davidson/PotomacLocal.com)

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton accomplished two things today.

First, he told Prince William elected officials that a Bi-County Parkway from Interstate 66 near Manassas to Dulles Airport, and its eventual connection to Va. 234 and Interstate 95 in Dumfries, would not be used to transport heavy cargo.

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Prince William Studies Rural Lands, Farmers Speak Out on Suburban Growth

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 5, 2013 at 8:00AM

Allen Whetzel and Richard Geyer, of Nokesville, examine early findings of a new study of Prince William County’s Rural Crescent land. [Uriah Kiser / Potomac Local News]

NOKESVILLE, Va. — In a rural schoolhouse, the future of Prince William County’s Rural Crescent was considered.

The crescent-shaped area of land from the Potomac River at Quantico, north through Nokesville and Haymarket, and around to Manassas National Battlefield, was designated in 1998 as a place where suburban sprawl would be limited, homes would only be built on 10-acre lots, and access to public sewage would only be permitted at new developments under certain circumstances.

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Chief Clair Reshapes Quantico Police

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 31, 2013 at 2:36PM | Updated August 18, 2013 at 11:07AM

Cpl. Richard Buster, Chief John Clair, Officer Paul Moriarty of the Quantico Police Department. [Submitted photo]

QUANTICO, Va. — It’s a new day for the Quantico Police Department, and its new chief has just passed the 100-day mark on the job.

He’s been made some changes.

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95 Express Lanes Construction Shifts into High Gear, Drivers Face Worst of the Headaches

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 31, 2013 at 8:00AM

Now at the height of construction, a paving crew working on the 95 Express Lanes at Quantico uses a GPS assisted paving machine to lay the first new layers of asphalt. [Photo: Uriah Kiser / Potomac Local News]

The first layers of new pavement for the 95 Express Lanes Project are on the ground. And with them comes a mean season for summer drivers.

New asphalt lies in the median of Interstate 95 at Quantico and in northern Stafford County, where there once was no road. It’s part of what will be 29 miles of new highway, or the tolled 95 Express Lanes, that when complete in late 2014, will seamlessly connect with similar lanes on the Capital Beltway from Springfield to Dulles Toll Road.

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Warner Visits Woodbridge, Calls for Immigration Reform

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 29, 2013 at 8:00AM | Updated July 29, 2013 at 3:36PM

Senator Mark Warner (behind podium) calls for local leaders and those in the business community to get behind national immigration reform. [Mary Davidson / Potomac Local News]

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Senator Mark Warner stopped by Northern Virginia Community College on Sunday to continue his push for national immigration reform.

During a special town hall meeting the college’s Woodbridge campus, Warner touted the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. The bill calls for stricter security along the southern U.S. border with Mexico, the implementation of eVerify system to check legal statuses of workers, for “blue card status” to be applied to those who have performed agriculture work, and for a merit-based immigration system for future immigrants that would cap the number of new migrants to the U.S. at 250,000.