News

This week I finally had a chance to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. The last time I had seen the site was in 1998. Back then, of course, the Twin Towers were still standing. At the time, I had made it a point to go to the observation deck at the top of the World Trade Center. I remember the amazing views of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, and the surrounding area that I enjoyed from that man-made summit.

We all thought those towers were a permanent fixture of the Manhattan skyline. How sad we were when the attacks on 9/11 tragically disproved that notion.

When someone in the U.S. dies in fire inside their home, statistics show most often the batteries inside the smoke detector were not working.

This weekend, fire officials urge everyone to check the batteries inside their smoke detectors to help prevent fatal fires. And there’s no more perfect time to check your batteries than when we “fall back” and Daylight Savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Stafford, Va. — It takes a dedicated deputy to work the Halloween late shift at the Stafford County Courthouse.

Officials here each year leave on the lights so parents and children can have their Halloween treats screened for harmful pins and needles – for free.

Stafford, Va. — Those at Stafford Hospital on Saturday were not only dispensing life-saving drugs, they were collecting them as well.

The medical center served as a drop off site for the annual National Drug Take Back Day, an effort by local and federal law enforcement to collect unused prescription drugs.

By Stephanie Tipple
For PotomacLocal.com

It’s that time of year again where the werewolves start howling and the vampires are thirsting for blood. It’s also time for you to pick out your costume for Halloween, and depending on what your schedule’s like, then it may be a last minute costume choice on your way out the door.

Some snow could be on the way for Prince William County on Saturday.

A winter weather advisory issued for the county by the National Weather Service means the area could pick up at least an inch of the white stuff – the earliest snow in the season for this area since 1979.

While driving home from covering a groundbreaking ceremony for the new American Wartime Museum in Dale City on Thursday morning, I decided to take a detour.

I drove through Prince William Forest Park to do a little “leaf peeping.” It was a scenic drive as the leaves of our area begin to reach their fall peak.

As we go about our daily routines it is hard to imagine how close the world came to the brink of nuclear war 49 years ago this week. Now known to history as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the events of October 1962 tested every element of national power, especially our nation’s intelligence community.

On Oct. 14, 1962 a U.S. Air Force U-2 reconnaissance aircraft overflew Cuba. The U-2’s mission was to help the US find out if the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear missiles to the island that were capable of targeting the U.S. The photographs the