Uriah Kiser, Author at Potomac Local News

Upcoming Cardboard Boat Races the ‘Ultimate Recycling Project’

Published July 10, 2013 at 2:30PM | Updated July 10, 2013 at 2:58PM

Cardboard boats race at Aquia Landing Park on the Potomac River in Stafford County. (File photo/Mary Davidson)

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. — It’s an annual tradition in Stafford County: The Rock Hill Ruitan Club’s Cardboard Boat Regatta on the Potomac River.

The regatta will be held this year on July 20 at 10 a.m., which is held each year at Aquia Landing Park at the confluence of Aquia Creek and the Potomac River.

News

Conflict, Safety Issues Debated as Innaugural Dumfries Parks Commission Rolls Out

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 10, 2013 at 10:16AM | Updated July 10, 2013 at 11:33AM

[Photo: Uriah Kiser / Potomac Local News]

DUMFRIES, Va. — Councilman Derek Wood has been tapped to lead a new Parks and Recreation Commission in the Town of Dumfries.

Wood served as the catalyst for creating the new commission and helped to secure $25,000 of un-appropriated funds that will be used for events to be held at the town’s three parks in the coming year. Wood will serve as the elected official appointed to lead the commission made up of five town residents who were also appointed Tuesday night.

News

Wood Finds New Home in Dumfries

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 10, 2013 at 9:42AM

Wood

DUMFRIES, Va. — Councilman Derek Wood found his way home Tuesday night, back to his seat on the dais at Dumfries Town Council.

The Council met for the first time this month after postponing a meeting last week due to the Independence Day holiday, and Wood addressed questions that arose in June about his resident status in the town in which he is elected to serve.

Originals

Tucked Away, Rheingarten Offers Authentic Flavor

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 8, 2013 at 10:55AM | Updated July 8, 2013 at 12:51PM

NORTH STAFFORD, Va. — It sits tucked away along U.S. 1 in Stafford County. Not like many roadside attractions, this quaint destination has a small bridge that carries cars across a stream into a gravel parking lot. The stone facade of the house and wooded surroundings denotes the uniqueness of the venue.

And then, as if almost you’ve been transported overseas, the sight of people wearing traditional German clothes not often seen outside of Oktoberfest, and you know this is not your normal chain restaurant.

News

Wood Residency a ‘Funny Situation’

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 5, 2013 at 9:44AM

Wood

DUMFRIES, Va. — Dumfries officials are playing a game of wait and see when it comes to the living arrangements of Councilman Derrick Wood.

The freshman council member was forced to move out of his rented Williamstown townhome in mid June when the owner sold it. Wood told Potomac Local News last week, as well as Dumfries officials, he hopes to reestablish residency in the town by July 9.

News

Quiet Sought for Future Dove’s Landing Park

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 2, 2013 at 8:22AM | Updated July 2, 2013 at 1:30PM

Ryan Conklin, a planner with the Prince William Parks and Recreation Department, shows where a parking lot for a new Dove’s Landing Park could be located. [Uriah Kiser / Potomac Local News]

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — Neighbors and officials are going back and forth over the future of a rural piece of property called “Dove’s’s Landing.”

A rural area about five miles outside Manassas, the nearly 240-acre wooded site sits along the Occoquan River, and boasts views of the Broad and Cedar runs creeks. With nothing more than a cell phone tower on the land leased by Prince William County to Verizon, it’s a quiet cove of nature in one of Virginia’s fastest-growing counties.

News

Typo Yields $5 Million Budget Error

By Uriah Kiser

Published July 2, 2013 at 12:01AM

The Seal of Prince William County, Va.

WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Government officials in Prince William County are scrambling for answers after a $5 million budget shortfall appeared.

The error was discovered June 24 and reported late Monday afternoon, after government staffers preparing for the beginning of the new fiscal year — which began yesterday — found a data entry error that caused budget projections for the county’s payroll to be millions off the mark.

News

Neighbors Give Extra Help to High School’s Vandalized Fireworks Stand

By Uriah Kiser

Published June 29, 2013 at 7:45AM | Updated June 29, 2013 at 8:23AM

News

VRE Searching for Coffee Vendor at Quantico

By Uriah Kiser

Published June 28, 2013 at 11:00AM | Updated June 28, 2013 at 2:32PM

QUANTICO, Va. — Want to run your own coffee shop and sell train tickets? There may be an opportunity for you at the Quantico Virginia Railway Express station. The commuter railroad wants to talk to interested people about setting up shop at the train station that sits just outside the “crossroads of the Marine Corps.”

VRE is looking for a company to run a full-service coffee shop, offer food, sell train tickets, and maintain the restrooms, between 5 and 9:30 a.m., and between 3 and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on holidays when the trains don’t run.

Originals

Sculptures Give Glimpse into PTSD-Ridden Minds

By Uriah Kiser

Published June 27, 2013 at 9:33AM | Updated June 27, 2013 at 3:07PM

Army Corpsman Sgt. Linsey Siu, talks about her art labeled "Just put on a happy face." [Mary Davidson/ Potomac Local News]

LORTON, Va. — The effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on this nation’s veterans can be devastating.

More than just loss of sleep, PTSD can cause once emboldened military warriors that served in combat overseas to lose their sense of self worth, to feel helpless and regretful — an illness debilitating enough to place them into hospitals to help treat the condition.