Occoquan Chocolate Walk
Saturday, February 7th 11:00am – 4:00pm
Chocolate Pearl Drawing & Chocolate Goodies
Enjoy grazing through town tasting Chocolate Goodies at our participating shops & restaurants. Register at participating shops for a chance to win a necklace of freshwater dyed chocolate cultured pearls valued at $200. No Purchase necessary.
The Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board (R-Board) is proud of its service to its customers in Stafford and Fredericksburg. Our work to be responsible stewards of the environment led to our certification as an Exemplary Environmental Enterprise in Virginia. This means that we have a good compliance history, a fully-implemented environmental management system and pollution prevention program in place with demonstrated performance. Thanks to you, our customers, our recycling rate remains high, and we thank you for partnering with us in our commitment to protect the environment. In addition to being good environmental stewards, we are also fiscally responsible, and no tax dollars from the City or the County support the landfill costs.
To help us continue to enhance our service, the R-Board is implementing a fee for residents using the convenience centers on Eskimo Hill Road and Belman Road effective March 2, 2015, for trash disposal. Visitors to the landfill will have the option of using a coupon voucher or an annual pass. Cash payment for a one-time visit can be made at the scalehouse located inside the commercial entrance to the landfill. Recycling will remain free for the items listed below. Visitors may purchase coupon books or an annual pass at the locations listed below during normal business hours, beginning Wednesday, February 4, 2015.
Stafford County Treasurer’s Office
George L. Gordon Government Center
1300 Courthouse Road
Stafford, VA 22554
Monday-Friday: 8am-4:30pmCity of Fredericksburg Treasurer’s Office
City Hall
715 Princess Anne Street
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Monday-Friday: 8:15am-4pmR-Board Administrative Office
Rowser Building
1739 Jefferson Davis Highway
Stafford, VA 22554
Monday-Friday: 8am-4:30pmRegional Landfill Scalehouse (Commercial Entrance)
489 Eskimo Hill Road
Stafford, VA 22554
Monday-Friday: 6am-5pm & Saturday: 9am-12pmCoupon books and annual passes are also available by mail. Please send a check and a completed order form (downloaded from www.r-board.org) to the following address:
R-Board Administrative Office
PO Box 339
Stafford, VA 22555Cash or checks will be the only form of payment accepted at any location at this time. Please make checks payable to the Stafford County Treasurer (unless you are at City Hall and then your check should be made payable to the City of Fredericksburg Treasurer).
The annual pass is a small sticker to be displayed on the windshield behind your rear view mirror. Annual passes are limited to two per household and cost $75 total for the remainder of 2015. Customers will be charged $100 for an annual pass beginning in 2016. The coupon books cost $30 and contain ten coupons. A one-time visit voucher is $4 and is available only at the Regional Landfill scalehouse. Please be sure to bring your coupon book or display your pass when you visit the landfill after March 2nd.
The following items will continue to be accepted at the landfill at convenience centers for recycling at no charge
Single Stream – cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, cardboard, newspaper, etc.
Scrap metal
Donated items to Goodwill Industries (e.g. household items, clothing and textiles)
Vehicle, equipment & rechargeable batteries
Used cooking oil, motor oil and antifreeze
Cell phones and eyeglasses
Fluorescent Bulbs
Printer cartridges
After the completion of a national search, Action in Community Through Service’s (ACTS) Board President Craig Gerhart has announced the appointment of Steven G. Liga as the new Chief Executive Officer of ACTS. “Mr. Liga will provide ACTS with the leadership it needs to build upon its 45-year legacy of serving the community, ensuring it is here for those in need for years to come.”Â
Mr. Liga joins ACTS full time on March 30th, bringing over 22 years of experience in the Human Services Field. He is currently the CEO & Executive Director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) of Middlesex County, Inc., a nonprofit public health agency in New Jersey dedicated to reducing the impact of substance abuse and related problems in local communities.
Mr. Liga also teaches at Rutgers University for the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, where he has developed a number of undergraduate and graduate courses. A passionate advocate, Mr. Liga has collaborated with elected officials on multiple pieces of legislation, including New Jersey’s 911 Lifeline and Overdose Prevention Acts. He has served on numerous professional and governmental committees and task forces and is an in-demand conference speaker. He has also served as President of several nonprofit boards and provides strategic planning services to others.Â
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Former Poet Laureate of Virginia Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda and former Daily Press Poet Laureate Bill Glose will present “Poets Laureate on Art and War” at Osbourn Park High School, 8909 Euclid Ave., Manassas, on Saturday, February 14, from 1 p.m. to 3: p.m.
Appealing to lovers of the arts, Kreiter-Foronda’s readings and presentation will come from her latest book, The Embrace, and focus on the art of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Glose will feature his current book, Half a Man, and focus on his life as a paratrooper and combat platoon leader in the Gulf War.
“Poets Laureate on Art and War” is free and open to the public and hosted by the Prince William County Poet Laureate Program.
Congressman Rob Wittman, who represents Virginia’s 1st District, recently visited the Flory Small Business Center, Inc. and met with the Center’s President & CEO, Linda Decker.
As a result of redistricting, Virginia’s 1st District now includes the Flory Center’s location and Decker appreciated the opportunity to discuss the Center’s mission, capabilities and ways the two offices can work together to benefit our region’s small businesses.
During their candid discussion, Mrs. Decker was pleased to learn that Congressman Wittman is a former board chairman for a community bank and possesses in-depth knowledge of business financing, including programs available through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
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Update Feb. 2
The I-95 South lane closures on the Dale Boulevard collector/distributor lanes scheduled for tonight has been RESCHEDULED for tomorrow night (Tuesday, Feb. 3) due to the high winds being forecast tonight. The 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM time frame still applies, as does everything else in the release below that was sent out Friday.
-Email from VDOT to Potomac LocalÂ
Original post Jan. 30
Both of the southbound I-95 collector/distributor lanes for Dale Boulevard (Exit 156) will intermittently close between 9:00 p.m. Monday, February 2 and 5:00 AM Tuesday, February 3. Each closure will last up to 15 minutes.
During the full closures, southbound I-95 motorists will not be able to access westbound or eastbound Dale Boulevard/Route 784. However, motorists on Dale Boulevard will still be able to access southbound I-95.
There will also be single lane closures in the collector-distributor lanes between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. The southbound I-95 through lanes will not be impacted by the work and will remain open.
Message signs will be posted in advance of the work so that motorists can use alternate routes.
The closures are needed in order to replace overhead sign structures.
The Prince William County Service Authority is beginning a major water and sewer main construction project along Davis Ford Road in February.
The new water main will help improve the reliability of the water system in the Occoquan Forest residential community while the new sewer main will convey wastewater from the community to the H.L. Mooney Advanced Water Reclamation Facility in Woodbridge for treatment.
Currently, wastewater from the Occoquan Forest community is treated at a small, localized water reclamation facility off Davis Ford. A new pump station will be constructed to replace the aging treatment plant in order to meet Virginia Department of Environmental Quality requirements.
The project is expected to start Feb. 2 and be completed by the middle of 2016. Traffic will be managed on Davis Ford Road and delays are to be expected during the process of constructing the water and sewer mains.
Please email [email protected] with any questions about the project.
Famed fiddlers Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are joined by their children to present an afternoon of Celtic music and dance in “Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond” at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 4 p.m. A pre-performance discussion, free to ticketholders, begins 45 minutes prior to the performance in the Hylton Center’s Buchanan Partners Art Gallery. Novant Health is the 2014-2015 Hylton Presents Season Sponsor.
This Celtic family celebration will include world-class fiddling, spectacular step dancing and family fun! Together on stage, native Nova Scotian MacMaster’s Cape Breton style fuses with Leahy’s Irish-Scottish roots and Lakefield, Ontario upbringing, and their children represent the next generation of Celtic music. Married in 2002, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are raising a family of six to do what they do best: fiddle and step dance. Natalie MacMaster started fiddling as a 9-year-old, and Donnell Leahy, a fiddler of the sibling octet Leahy, began fiddling competitively as a 4-year-old. Their careers have been filled with awards and acclaim, and the Canadian couple continue to perform, tour and co-host the annual Leahy Music Camp in the summer.
“Cape Breton Girl” Natalie MacMaster released her debut album, “Four on the Floor” at the age of 16. With 11 albums to her name, MacMaster’s accolades include multiple gold albums, Grammy nominations (and a Grammy win for her collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma), Juno Awards, Canadian Country Music Awards and several honorary degrees, as well as the Arts & Letters Award from the Canadian Association of New York and the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor. Family man and bandleader Donnell Leahy released his family’s debut album in 1996. Leahy’s fanbase grew when the band toured with Shania Twain as the opening act of her World Tour and two television specials. With three Juno Awards, a Socan award and an Oscar Award-winning documentary, Leahy’s four albums represent a blend of musical styles.
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Canine Companions for Independence – a national non-profit organization that provides assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, is proud to announce that Haymarket, Virginia residents Susan and Bruce Pfeffer recently began raising an assistance dog in-training for Canine Companions for Independence.
Puppy Comfort is a specially-bred labrador retriever who will one-day know over 50 commands, and be matched with a person with disabilities.
Volunteer Puppy Raisers are critically important to the work of Canine Companions for Independence. Puppy Raisers take the pups into their home at eight weeks of age, raising them, teaching them basic commands and socialization skills. The socialization is perhaps the most important, because the dogs need to be exposed to any and all types of surroundings. With the special yellow capes they wear, these dogs are permitted to go to many public areas that family pets aren’t allowed. When the dogs reach about a year and a half old, they are returned to the Canine Companions for Independence regional headquarters in New York. They begin 6 months of advanced training with the organizations nationally renowned instructors, before they are matched with a child or adult with disabilities.
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James Glenn Warner, 44, of Manassas, Virginia, was arrested today and charged with soliciting bribes from executives working for a private company on a contract that Warner managed out of the Pentagon.   Â
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Andrew G. McCabe, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Robert E. Craig, Special Agent in Charge, Mid Atlantic Field Office, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and Frank Robey, Director, Major Procurement Fraud Unit, 701st Military Police Group, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, made the announcement after Warner’s initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge John F. Anderson. Â
Warner faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and up to a $1.5 million fine, if convicted. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Criminal complaints are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, in October 2014, Warner made arrangements to meet with two executives of Company A, a Virginia-based company which held a five-year contract with the Department of the Army worth up to $120 million. At the meeting, which took place at a restaurant located in the Pentagon Centre in Arlington, Virginia, Warner instructed the two executives to communicate with him by typing messages into his cellular telephone, which was passed around the table. As the affidavit alleges, Warner then passed a menu to the two executives. Inside the plastic covering for the center section of the menu was a piece of paper which outlined a bribe and extortion solicitation, suggesting that if Company A paid $500,000 it would secure a contract renewal from the Department of the Army and that alleged damaging information about Company A would be destroyed. According to the affidavit, the Company A executives declined Warner’s solicitation, reported the conduct and began cooperating with law enforcement agents. Acting at the direction of law enforcement, a Company A executive then met with Warner on four subsequent occasions, paying Warner a total of $50,000 cash bribes out of the total $500,000 solicited by Warner.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark D. Lytle and Kosta S. Stojilkovic are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Any person who believes they may have information regarding public corruption in the Northern Virginia area is encouraged to call the FBI’s Northern Virginia Public Corruption Hotline at 703-686-6225.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-mj-39.
