Manassas - Potomac Local News

Community gathers at Manassas train station for vigil after First Friday shooting

Published September 6, 2026 at 10:38AM

People gather on the platform at the Manassas train station Saturday night, Sept. 5, 2026, for a community vigil after a 16-year-old girl was killed during First Friday. Flowers, candles and a balloon sit near the brick depot as mourners stand along the tracks. (Submitted photo)

Friends, neighbors and other residents gathered Saturday night at the Manassas train station to remember a 16-year-old girl killed a day earlier during First Friday in Old Town.

The informal vigil was organized by community members, not the city. Organizers had asked people to bring a candle, a flower, a photo or a memory. By nightfall, bouquets, prayer candles and a balloon lined the platform under the depot canopy, a few steps from the railroad tracks where police say the shooting unfolded Friday night.

Court records: First Friday murder suspect is a convicted felon, was out on bond

By PLN News

Published September 5, 2026 at 5:17PM | Updated September 6, 2026 at 10:43AM

Tasheem Rashad Douglas in a February 2026 booking photo released after his arrest near Westgate Elementary School. Credit: Prince William County Police Department.

Tasheem Rashad Douglas, 21, is in custody and charged with second-degree murder in the killing of a 16-year-old girl during First Friday in Old Town Manassas, police said.

Manassas police also charged him with having a gun while committing a felony and having a gun as a convicted felon. He is being held at a local hospital.

Washington Manassas Airport earns FAA commercial certificate; first flights still a year-plus away

By Uriah Kiser

Published September 1, 2026 at 6:20AM | Updated September 1, 2026 at 3:50PM

Washington Manassas Airport Director Juan Rivera, right, receives the FAA Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate from FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Daniel J. Edwards as Virginia Department of Aviation Director Greg Campbell looks on Monday in Manassas.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday issued Washington Manassas Airport its Part 139 Airport Operating Certificate, the last federal approval the field needed before it can host scheduled passenger airlines.

City and airport officials called it a historic step. It is not the start of commercial service.

Last-day pleas force Manassas to hold hearing on $11M Mathis makeover

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 28, 2026 at 10:00AM

Manassas will advertise and hold a public hearing on the Mathis Avenue streetscape after four residents asked for one on the last day they could.

Planning and Community Development Director and Assistant City Manager Matthew Arcieri said Wednesday that former City Council member Lynn Forkell Greene’s request triggered the meeting. Greene is running again this fall as an independent for one of three open council seats on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Brescia says Manassas board used a closed session to discuss pulling her kids from Baldwin

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 26, 2026 at 11:00AM

Sara Brescia, left, Jill Spall, center, and Diana Brown, right, are members of the Manassas City Public Schools School Board.

School Board member Sara Brescia told her colleagues Tuesday that three of them used a private Aug. 3 meeting to talk about moving her elementary-age children out of Baldwin Elementary School. Then the board approved the minutes of that meeting, which never mention the children.

Brescia asked that one sentence be added to the official record. The board did not add it. After a messy voice vote — yeses, nos and an abstention, with no full list of who voted which way — Chair Jill Spall said the original minutes passed.

Dems OK school board hopeful who rejects evolution, partner in alleged secret-vote lawsuit — and won’t answer questions

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 24, 2026 at 3:00PM

Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee graphic identifying its endorsed candidates, including (bottom row) Manassas City School Board candidates Lisa Stevens, Murina Dove and Marcus Still. The full ticket graphic was posted to the committee’s Facebook page. (Courtesy Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee)

The Manassas & Manassas Park Cities Democratic Committee has publicly backed a slate of candidates that includes two Manassas City School Board hopefuls whose records have drawn scrutiny, but neither the committee nor the candidates responded to detailed questions about those issues.

A graphic circulated by the committee under the heading “Our Democratic Ticket” lists Murina V. Dove and Marcus Still among its endorsed candidates for the Manassas City School Board, alongside incumbent Lisa Stevens. Early voting begins September 18 and the general election is November 3. The race is officially nonpartisan.

Gathered on Center Adds a New Retail Concept to Historic Downtown Manassas

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 24, 2026 at 10:00AM | Updated August 24, 2026 at 4:23PM

Alexandra “Alex” Striemer of Bejeweled Era smiles inside Gathered on Center, the new retail co-op at 9082 Center Street in Historic Downtown Manassas, where she offers permanent jewelry among the shop’s mix of locally curated goods, gifts and experiences.

Historic Downtown Manassas has a new retail destination. Gathered on Center, a co-op at 9082 Center Street, brings together multiple creative small businesses under one roof.

The shop is led by entrepreneurs Terri Johnson, Karissa Terry, and Jasmine Oglesby. Shoppers will find an evolving mix of locally curated goods, gifts, and experiences. Among the offerings is permanent jewelry from Bejeweled Era.

BREAKING: Manassas Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger to Vacate Office Sept. 30

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 21, 2026 at 5:17PM

Manassas Mayor Michele Davis Younger [Photo: Mike Beaty]

Mayor Michelle Davis-Younger will leave office nearly three months earlier than previously announced, the City of Manassas confirmed Friday.

In a news release issued Friday afternoon, the city said it has received Davis-Younger’s written resignation letter. She will vacate her seat effective Sept. 30, 2026, following her final City Council meeting on Sept. 28.

Liberia House: Manassas Landmark Ties Revolution to Civil War

By Deen Lateef

Published August 20, 2026 at 10:00AM

Curator Mary Helen Dellinger shares how an 1825 plantation house and the Naylor family’s resilience illuminate Northern Virginia’s path from the Revolutionary era to today.

In the heart of modern Manassas, a red-brick Federal-style house built in 1825 still stands as one of the few early 19th-century structures left in the city. Liberia House, once the center of a vast plantation worked by nearly 90 slaves, bridges the Revolutionary War’s agricultural shifts and the Civil War’s upheaval. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the site offers a powerful window into what changed—and what endured—in Northern Virignia.

Manassas School Board ‘Secret Vote’ Fight Delayed

By Uriah Kiser

Published August 18, 2026 at 8:33AM

Manassas City School Board

A Prince William County General District Court hearing on Manassas City School Board Member Sara Brescia’s Freedom of Information Act petition has been continued from Tuesday, Aug. 18, to Sept. 24.

Brescia filed the petition for a writ of mandamus on Aug. 11 (Case GV26019633-00), alleging that a majority of the board, facilitated by Chair Jill Spall, held an unlawful electronic or telephonic meeting and vote in violation of Virginia’s FOIA. The vote directed Superintendent Dr. Kevin Newman to open a full investigation, using outside counsel, into allegations first raised by Board Member Diana Brown.