A familiar political face in Prince William County will serve as the chief of staff for incoming Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.
DJ Jordan accepted the position as Miyares’ chief of staff. Jordan, who lives in Prince William County, will assume the role on January 15.
Closings and delays: See our full lists of school closings/delays and government closings/delays. [Twitter]
Not ready yet: Prince William Schools Superintendent LaTanya McDade walked areas of the county hardest hit by Monday’s snowstorm before making the call to close school to students and teachers Thursday. [Insidenova.com]
In this post, Prince William police report:
Shooting into a Residential Dwelling – On January 3 at 10:06PM, officers responded to a residence located in the 2900 block of Frankfurt Ct. in Woodbridge (22191) to investigate a shots fired call. Residents of the home reported to police that multiple gunshots were heard striking the residence. The investigation revealed that the rounds entered through the front of the home before striking the living room wall and ceiling. No injuries or additional property damage were reported. While investigating the incident, officers located multiple shell casings on the sidewalk in front of the home. A police K-9 searched the area for any suspects who were not located. At this time, there is no suspect description.
A townhouse burned this morning in Stafford County.
Multiple occupants from adjacent townhomes are displaced. Five occupants who lived inside the house that burned were not home when flames broke out and were found safe.
The county’s secondary thoroughfares and sidestreets snarled due to a continued closure of Interstate 95 that left thousands of drivers stranded overnight. The declaration will trigger much-needed help from the state’s emergency management.
Since the storm’s onset early Monday, January 3, law enforcement and fire and rescue crews have been working 14-hour shifts on county streets. While answering calls for help, some became trapped in their vehicles due to fallen trees, ice, and snow.
Just after 8 a.m. Monday, January 3, just as a massive snowstorm ramped up, state police troopers began receiving calls for help on the highway near Fredericksburg. Tractor-trailers crashed, stranding thousands of drivers for most of the day.
At 4 a.m. today, the Virginia Department of Transportation closed a 53-mile stretch of the highway between Dumfries and Ruther Glen, near Kings Dominion. The agency gave the order to remove stranded cars on the road, adding it is impossible to know how many drivers or cars became stranded on the highway.
According to Prince William County spokesman Matt Smolksy, emergency crews deliver MREs (meals ready to eat) to stranded drivers on I-95. A 53-mile stretch of the highway between Dumfries and Carmel Chruch, near Kings Dominion, closed about 5 a.m.
About 30 tractor-trailers became stranded near milepost 110 at Thornburg. At milepost 136 near the Stafford regional airport, more tractor-trailers became stranded.
Trained spotters for the National Weather Service said 14 and a half inches of snow fell in the Holly Corner area of southern Stafford County, just off Route 17. According to another trained spotter, in the western portion of the county near Lake Arrowhead, more than 11 inches of snow fell.
According to National Weather Service spotters, in Prince William County, the highest totals are in Dumfries and Dale City, as each area saw 12 inches of snow.
