More than 50 children will each pair with a police officer and set off to shop for Christmas gifts.

Santa Cops will return to Woodbridge at 7 a.m. Saturday, December 4, as about 85 officers from police departments in Prince William County, Dumfries, deputies from the county’s Sheriff’s Office, and Virginia State Police troopers meet at Walmart on Worth Avenue next to Potomac Mills mall to spread holiday cheer.


[Updated Monday, December 6] Police are in search of three men connected to this incident. Authorities released the following update on the case.

On December 3 at 2:49PM, officers responded to the 2700 block of Yosocomico Ln. in Woodbridge (22191) to investigate a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located shell casings in the area of Yosocomico Ln. and Nanticoke Ln. While investigating the incident, officers were informed that a 21-year- old man was at a residence on Jed Forest Ln. with a gunshot wound.


The Rose invited residents to chime in on its plans to build a new outdoor part next to its coming 305-room hotel and gaming resort.

The project’s developers will host a town hall meeting online via Zoom at 7 p.m. December 8, to discuss the new park. Participants should RSVP for the meeting to receive information for the Zoom call.


The man boarded a Fredericksburg Regional Transit bus at the Stafford County Courthouse about 12:30 p.m., refused to pay, then refused to exit the bus, a sheriff’s spokeswoman states.

The man claimed to keep a gun in his pocket, she adds. Deputies surrounded the busy courthouse, the county government center and negotiated with the man on the bus. Eventually, deputies used a taser to subdue the man and arrest him, said a spokeswoman.


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Superintendent Dr. Latanya McDade announced a new snow day policy, introducing a Code Orange classification to the color-coded system the division uses to indicate the severity of weather-related closures. When McDade issues a Code Orange alert, school buildings will be closed for the day due to hazardous outdoor conditions that would hamper children’s safe travel to and from school.

Instead of going to school, the division will require students to log on to a laptop from home to complete independent coursework, called asynchronous learning. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, all students attended classes online after Gov. Ralph Northam shuttered public school buildings.


Shoppers who fill their orders at grocery stores in Fredericksburg must soon pay for plastic bags.

Today, the city announced it will begin taxing retailers five cents for every disposable plastic bag used starting January 1, 2022. The new tax should reduce the number of disposable plastic bags in the city, leaders said.


The cost of a pack of smokes could rise in Stafford County.

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During a regular county School Board meeting at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 1, parents urged elected leaders and school division chief Dr. Latanya McDade to rescind a mask mandate that’s been in n place since August, the beginning of the current school year.

Making masks optional for students was the standard message parents aimed to get across. “Let those who want to wear them, and there should always be a choice,” said Kimberly Stewart.


Santa to arrive in Occoquan by boat — On Saturday, December 4 at 10:30 a.m. on the Town Dock adjacent to Mamie Davis Park, Santa will arrive by boat. [Occoquan Mayor Earnie Porta]

Terracon expands in Woodbridge — On November 10, Prince William County Department of Economic Development (PWCDED) hosted a ribbon-cutting event at Terracon’s new DC South office located at 14001 Crown Court, Suite 109 in Woodbridge. [Prince William County Government]


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