News

On Tuesday, January 24, Taylor presented a budget about 12% higher than the school board approved in 2022. Taylor says that using the money to pay teachers a higher salary will help retain more qualified educators and benefit students.

The fast-growing school division with about 30,000 students is asking the county government to find more than $340 million in funding for a wishlist of new projects, including three new elementary schools, replacing Drew Middle School, and adding a new wing on North Stafford High School. The increase would double the average homeowner’s property tax bill if approved all at once.


Opinion

If it’s a day that ends in “Y”, then there’s a data center debate going on somewhere in Prince William County.

While much attention has been given to the controversial Digital Gateway, another large data center development is pending, impacting several neighborhoods, schools, and businesses.


News

On January 17, 2023, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors passed a motion to approve more than $4.7 million of federal funding for the Prince William Parkway sidewalk project.

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Event

High school students from across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region are invited to participate in Dialogue for Democracy at George Mason University!

Hosted by the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, this event offers high school students an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about democracy, civic engagement, and the importance of understanding different perspectives.


News

Stafford County Public Schools congratulated Dr. George Hummer for his selection as the new Superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools, a role he will begin on January 30, 2023. During a Frederick County School Board meeting this week, Hummer was appointed to the position.

“Dr. Hummer has demonstrated a passion for serving students and standardizing practices for students with disabilities,” said Stafford Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor. “Frederick County is gaining a student-focused leader that will affect incredible change in his new role. We wish him well in this well-deserved new position.”


News

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Breaking News

Updated 5:30 p.m. — Prince William police found no bomb at Unity Reed High School after someone threatened to bring an explosive to the school at 8820 Rixlew Lane, near Manassas Mall, just before 1 p.m. today.

The school division placed Unity Reed (formerly Stonewall Jackson Senior High School) into secure the building mode, meaning no one enters or exits. After police called all-clear, officers assisted in dismissing students.


We’ve welcomed our newest group of newsroom interns, and I want to take a moment to introduce you to the young men and women who are working with us here at Potomac Local News.

I’ve worked with multiple interns from our area colleges and secondary schools since 2018. Each of them stepped up and became an essential part of our team while learning how to navigate the digital local news landscape, from posting content to our website and writing original news stories, all while building relationships with business owners and elected officials across all of the communities we serve.


News

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Business

According to sources familiar with the project, an unnamed single firm aims to build four server farms in multiple corners of the county, including the Falmouth, Griffis-Widewater, and rural George Washington magisterial districts.

Now commonplace in localities to the north, like Loudoun and Prince William counties, data centers are typically large warehouse-style buildings, with hundreds of thousands of square feet, built between 60 and 100 feet tall. They’re full of servers that power the internet and draw large amounts of electricity to power the servers and water to cool them.