“The door is always propped open at Black Metal Mercantile in Old Town Manassas. That’s because owner Deron Blevins says there’s a little something for everyone inside, so they might as well come in,” Prince William Times reported. “Blevins, 55, said he bet on himself back in 2023 when he opened Black Metal Mercantile on Center Street in Old Town Manassas.”
Mayor Ernie Porta highlighted a busy stretch of community milestones in his October 12, 2025 episode of the Occoquan Radio Podcast, from a new business ribbon-cutting to fall festival traditions and the close of the town’s beloved Trivia Night series.
A new wellness destination has joined Occoquan’s historic business district. Evidi Massage, a boutique massage and wellness studio, recently opened at 300 Ellicott Street, Suite C. Porta congratulated the owners and thanked them for choosing Occoquan as their home.
Commuters in Manassas Park now have more parking options, thanks to a new 740-space garage at the Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station. Officials gathered Tuesday, October 21, to celebrate the grand opening of the garage, which supports both VRE riders and the city’s growing Park Central downtown.
Of the total spaces, 540 are designated for VRE commuters and visitors to Park Central — a recently revitalized mixed-use development that includes a new City Hall and library. The $35.2 million project was funded by multiple regional partners and responds to increasing demand identified in a 2017 VRE study.
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.
“As the Prince William School Board finalizes its legislative priorities for 2026, one key item from 2025 is off the list – for good reason,” InsideNoVa reported. “The school division has fought over the years for the removal of Virginia’s support cap, which limited state funding for support positions in school divisions.”
“The big enchilada, the one we’ve been fighting for for years … we finally got elimination of the support cap,” said Jim Council, the division’s lobbyist in Richmond.
“Virginia’s unemployment rate is expected to be higher than the national average next year, a stunning reversal for a state economy that had been the envy of other states for years,” Radio IQ reported. “That’s the forecast of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.”
“We expect the unemployment rate to continue to climb until about next summer at about 5%,” says executive director Eric Scoresone. “That is not great coming from 2.6 or 2.7%. That’s almost a doubling of the unemployment rate from last summer.”
“A massive internet outage stemming from errors in Amazon cloud services on Monday morning demonstrated just how many people rely on the corporate behemoth’s computational infrastructure everyday — and laid bare the vulnerabilities of an increasingly concentrated system,” The Associated Press reported. “Here is what to know about the data centers in Northern Virginia where the outage originated, and what the malfunction reveals about a rapidly evolving industry.”
“Haunted Mini Golf,” Prince William County Parks posted. “Swing by Locust Shade Park for some frightfully fun mini golf on our haunted 18-hole course!”
The event runs Friday through Sunday, October 24–26, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is $6 per player at Locust Shade Park, located at 4701 Locust Shade Drive, Triangle.
“Get ready for a night of Voodoo Magic with El Tosh performing live from 9-Midnight,” Voodoo Brothers Cajun Creole (Facebook) posted. “Make sure to come dressed up for our costume contest.”
The Halloween Bash will take place on Friday, Oct. 31, at 9112 Center Street in Manassas. Categories for the costume contest include Spookiest, Funniest, and Most Creative, with themed cocktails served throughout the night.
An incident unfolded in Lake Ridge when a 24-year-old man was arrested for abduction with intent to defile and indecent liberties with a minor, police said. The incident occurred on October 16, when the victim, under 15, accepted a ride from the suspect. He later brandished a handgun and exposed himself. The victim managed to escape and seek help from a nearby business.
In another incident, a 33-year-old woman with no fixed address was arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers at a 7-Eleven in Dumfries. She resisted arrest and kicked officers after being found with narcotics.
