Newslinks

Friends mourned 16-year-old Ashley Intihar after she was fatally shot at Manassas First Friday, Virginia legislators presented $160,000 at the McCoart building for the September 11th National Memorial Trail, VDOT is closing I-95 ramps in Woodbridge nightly through Sept. 22, Woodbridge Supervisor Jeannie LaCroix returned to work after a Vermont bike crash, and a dry midweek precedes Thursday storms.

According to the Prince William Times, friends of Ashley Intihar, a 16-year-old Patriot High School student, gathered this week at a memorial near the Manassas train station where she was fatally shot Friday night during the city’s First Friday event. Police said Intihar was caught in the middle when two adults exchanged gunfire across the station parking lot about 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 4. Tasheem Douglas, 21, who was also injured, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder; Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen said investigators are still searching for a second shooter.

Three people died in a fiery I-66 Express Lanes crash in Fairfax; Prince William police responded to a believed self-inflicted shooting in Woodbridge; Stafford businesses are pressing supervisors to reject a BPOL tax; and inmate deaths in Virginia jails rose to a five-year high.

According to FOX 5 DC, three people died Sunday afternoon after a Honda Pilot struck a stopped truck carrying oxygen tanks in the right travel lane of the westbound Interstate 66 Express Lanes in Fairfax County. Virginia State Police said the collision occurred around 4:10 p.m., the Honda caught fire, and all three occupants were pronounced dead at the scene. A Toyota 4Runner was also involved in the events leading up to the crash.

Amtrak will cut most Virginia-to-Washington rail service in October for tunnel work, while Manassas closes a public lot tied to data center construction, lawmakers clash over license-plate cameras, and veterans ask a court to stop a proposed arch at Arlington National Cemetery.

Virginia Mercury reports that Amtrak will suspend most rail service between Virginia stations and Washington, D.C., from Oct. 16 through Oct. 26 to replace aging switches and crossovers at the A-interlocking in the First Street Tunnel. The existing equipment is beyond its service life and has forced a 10 mph speed restriction; passengers traveling to or from D.C. from the south should expect cancellations and route changes, with many trains ending at Alexandria and most trips to Richmond, Charlottesville, Lynchburg and Hampton Roads handled by express buses.

Fairfax County is temporarily putting crossing guards back at 11 high schools after a student was struck near South Lakes, Stafford officials are urging residents to tell the FCC whether Verizon’s plan to end traditional copper landlines would leave them without reliable phone service, and Manassas students have been invited to design the city’s official 2028 “I Voted!” sticker.

According to FFXnow, crossing guard services at 11 Fairfax County public high schools will be temporarily reinstated while county supervisors assess longer-term solutions for pedestrian safety. A Fairfax County Police Department spokesperson said Wednesday that police officers and crossing guards will provide traffic and crossing support at 11 high school locations that had previously been staffed. The move comes after the Board of Supervisors approved a May budget that eliminated funding for police crossing guards at high schools.

Prince William supervisors return this week to a data center overlay vote as Dominion’s contracted load tests the regional grid, nearby voters weigh a school-construction sales tax, and Labor Day travel rules take shape on I-95.

According to InsideNoVa, Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega said she has not yet taken a position on how long a grace period should last if the Board of County Supervisors ends by-right data center development in the Data Center Opportunity Zone Overlay District. The Planning Commission will rehold its public hearing Sept. 9 after a notice problem, and the board is scheduled to consider the zoning text amendment Sept. 22; Vega called the end of litigation over the PW Digital Gateway “a sigh of relief” after QTS dropped its Virginia Supreme Court appeal and said she still supports keeping land-use decisions with local governments rather than Richmond.

A Spotsylvania jury convicted a man of second-degree murder in a teen’s death, Virginia received an overall “C” on a new infrastructure report card, Stafford County set its 25th-anniversary 9/11 ceremony, and ARTfactory will stage “Hairspray” at the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

A Spotsylvania County jury convicted Tyler Butler of second-degree murder Thursday in the May 3, 2025, shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Bosworth, a Massaponax High School senior, the Fredericksburg Free Press reported. After a three-day trial in Circuit Court, the jury also found Butler guilty of attempted second-degree murder, malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. A charge of maliciously shooting at an occupied dwelling was reduced to unlawfully shooting after two other homes in the River Club subdivision were struck by gunfire.

Police charged men from Woodbridge, Manassas and Stafford in an undercover child-exploitation operation, a Fairfax patient committed after killing his landlord left the country on a weekend pass, and Stafford officials said next year’s budget will be especially tight.

According to FOX 5 DC, police arrested nine men ages 21 to 48 in an undercover operation targeting suspects who initiated sexually explicit online conversations they believed were with minors. Detectives said most of the men traveled expecting a sexual encounter with a child and instead were met by investigators. The nine suspects face a combined 20 criminal charges, including solicitation of a minor, procuring a minor for prostitution and attempted indecent liberties.

COVID-19 activity is climbing again in Virginia, including high wastewater readings in Woodbridge, while nearby school divisions report lingering teacher vacancies, a national education leader visits a new Manassas campus, and Prince William and Manassas roll out new library loans and a city license plate.

According to the Prince William Times, COVID-19 activity in Virginia remains low but is increasing, the Virginia Department of Health said, with 842 cases recorded in the week ending Aug. 22. Emergency room and urgent care visits for diagnosed COVID-19 accounted for 0.6% of all such visits that week, a share that has tripled since mid-July. State officials said late-summer increases have occurred each year since 2020, though summer peaks have been lower over time.