Lanterns lined Freedom Park and the honor bell sat ready Thursday evening as Prince William County gathered at Sean T. Connaughton Plaza to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001.
The ceremony was held the night before the national anniversary, beside the Liberty Memorial Fountain outside the McCoart Government Center in Woodbridge.
Three men are charged in the Sept. 4 killing during First Friday in Old Town Manassas. Two of them were already free on pending cases.
Manassas Police Chief Doug Keen said two suspects were already out on bond. Court files show those two were Tasheem Rashad Douglas, 21, and Talib Davis, 23.
Wonder says it will open a new location at Smoketown Station in Woodbridge on Thursday, Sept. 17, with a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m.
The address is 13257 Worth Avenue. The shopping center, off Prince William Parkway near Potomac Mills, already includes retailers and restaurants such as Best Buy, Lidl, Total Wine & More, Chuck E. Cheese and First Watch.
Prince William County Schools cut the ribbon Wednesday evening on the new Woodbridge Elementary School, a three-story K–5 on Prince William Parkway that opened Aug. 24 for the 2026–27 year.
The school sits at 1550 Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge, next to Fred Lynn Middle School near Route 1. Coverage of the project has put the cost at about $60 million, with a design capacity of about 775 students and roughly 129,900 square feet. Staff expected about 570 students when doors opened Aug. 24, according to a PWCS-provided preview published before the first day.
From a free all-day arts festival in Manassas and Bat Boy at the Workhouse in Lorton to a Slave Dwelling Project weekend in Fredericksburg and WWII living history in Woodbridge, here are things to do Friday evening through Sunday.
According to the Hylton Performing Arts Center, Arts Alive! runs Saturday, Sept. 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. across the Manassas campus at 10960 George Mason Circle, with free admission and no tickets required.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger spent Wednesday in the Manassas area for two events billed as open to the press. Local outlets got little warning. When a television reporter tried to ask her about the Sept. 4 killing of a 16-year-old Prince William County student in Old Town Manassas, she did not answer and left.
The Office of the Governor emailed its public schedule at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday — about an hour before the first listed stop. The schedule showed:
Dumfries Town Council returns Sept. 15 to a $319,000 question: whether to study a possible change to the town’s boundaries before it has named a parcel, drawn a proposed line or opened talks with Prince William County.
The study area is county land in ZIP 22026 that already sits outside town limits. Staff has not picked properties. Council has not authorized talks with the county or the Commission on Local Government. Town Manager Tangela Innis said the contract is decision-support so officials can learn whether a line change is even worth pursuing. It would not annex anyone.
Updated Sept. 10, 2026: Chelsea Quintern wrote Potomac Local on Thursday evening to correct two name spellings, note that her daughter Rylee was also at the meeting, and report that Joshua’s post-meeting scan showed no evidence of disease.
Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega’s chief of staff, Chelsea Quintern, returned to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors dais on Sept. 1 with her son Joshua beside her as the Board marked Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Their daughter, Rylee, was also present. Quintern later said Rylee has not had cancer but “experienced a major change in her life because of childhood cancer, too.”
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors marked a slate of September awareness dates at its Sept. 1 meeting, highlighting recovery, preparedness, voting access, kinship care and forensic work ahead of events later this month.
Recovery Month centers on the third annual Recovery is Real gathering Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the AJ Ferlazzo Building. The free-lunch event carries the theme “Recovery is Real, Restoring Every Aspect of Life.” Community Services Behavioral Health Program Manager Tanya invited the public to attend.
