This past weekend, a surge in electricity demand across the Mid-Atlantic region prompted a change at an area wastewater plant.
The electrical grid that serves the east coast, PJM Interconnection, was overloaded with demand when temperatures plummeted to the single digits at 4:20 a.m. Christmas Eve.
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The Workhouse Arts Center is thrilled to announce the return of a Northern Virginia Halloween season favorite, the Workhouse Haunt, an immersive outdoor haunted trail.
This year's haunt, "Nightmare Harvest," will run on weekends from Saturday, October 1, through Saturday, November 5, 2022. Friday and Saturday hours are from 7 to 11 p.m., and Sunday hours are from 7 to 10 p.m.
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The Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc. is holding a special opening reception for its Kissed by a Muse exhibit.
The exhibit will feature artwork by Virginia-based painter John Hartt and mixed-media artist Cheryl Neway which celebrates the main themes and draws inspiration from Xanadu (based on the Universal film, music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar). The works will include contemporary costuming, fanciful paintings of enigmatic characters, and bright discothèque colors.
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The musical Xanadu will take the stage at the Workhouse Arts Center.
The upcoming production, based on a book by Douglas Carter Beane, Music, and Lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, and based on the Universal Pictures film, with a screenplay by Richard Danus and Marc Rubel, will run May 7 through June 11, 2022 (Friday and Saturday nights are at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m.)
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The 24th Annual Eagle Festival at Mason Neck State Park in Lorton returns on May 7.
This family-friendly event runs from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. It includes live animal shows, hands-on educational opportunities, and outdoor recreation clinics that all aim to highlight the natural history of Northern Virginia and foster stewardship of the environment.
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Two area residents are breathing a bit easier tonight after winning big in the Virginia Lottery.
Sean Davis bought a winning $1 million ticket at a 7-Eleven at 8228 Gunston Corner Lance in Lorton.
He and his wife have had a midweek evening routine since the pandemic began. They sit out on their deck and scratch Virginia Lottery tickets for fun.
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Shanco, a leader in the home exterior and roofing industry, opened a new office in Lorton in an effort to expand the company's service area
More from Shanco:
Shanco handles exterior needs including roofing, gutters, and windows for residential and commercial multi-family homes.
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The Workhouse Arts Center is thrilled to announce “Nightmare Prison,” Northern Virginia’s first-ever Haunted Drive-Thru, is coming to Lorton for this year’s Halloween season.
A haunted attraction is, itself, a long-standing tradition offered by the Workhouse, which serves not only as entertainment but also as an extension of the Workhouse Performing Arts program, allowing local youth to practice their set production and theatrical skills.
“Nightmare Prison” is the first immersive, completely contactless drive-thru Halloween experience in the region. Zombies, swamp creatures, creepy clowns, scary dolls, and frightening prisoners are among 13 different scary scenes taking up residence on the Workhouse campus during the month of October. These new inhabitants will scare and entertain visitors experiencing the attraction from the safety of their cars.
Set on the grounds of the former District of Columbia’s Correctional Facility, the Workhouse campus provides a unique and extra eerie setting for this Halloween attraction.
“At a time when Performing Arts is on hold in the nation, the Workhouse is truly pleased to provide an artistic outlet for our young actors, set designers, stage managers, and volunteers alike to participate safely in creating this incredible production,” said Joseph Wallen, Director of Performing Arts at the Workhouse.
“Building on last year’s Haunted Trail production of “Breakout” and this year’s Drive-In Movie series at the Workhouse, we found a way to create a hair-raising, haunted attraction that is both terrifying and completely safe. The drive-thru design of “Nightmare Prison” will allow visitors to enjoy the Halloween season despite COVID-19,” adds Caroline Blanco, Vice-Chair of the Workhouse Board of Directors and Chair of the Workhouse Haunted Attraction Design Team.
Ticket prices start at $60 per vehicle will go on sale in late August. There will be 13 nights of fright, starting on Friday, Oct. 2 through Sat. October 31. Fridays and Saturdays will run from 7-11 p.m. each weekend in October, and the three Sundays in the middle of the month (October 11, 18, and 25) will run from 7-10 p.m.
The Workhouse will soon be announcing auditions for scare actors and is accepting volunteers to assist in this year’s event. Students wishing to volunteer are eligible to receive service hours. The tickets, along with contributions and sponsorships, will keep the arts alive in our region. Join us to do something fun, unique, and incredible. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact: [email protected]
Mason Neck State Park, located in Lorton, V.A., is closed until further notice after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.
While the employee is currently at home being quarantined, closing the park was necessary to protect the health of park visitors and employees, according to Julie Buchanan, senior public relations and marketing specialist.
This decision follows protocol from Virginia State Parks, based on guidance from the Virginia Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, Buchanan states.
Park facilities will be deep cleaned and sanitized. Facilities will only reopen if the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the agency that manages the state parks, has determined the risk of community spread has been reduced, according to Buchanan.
Buchanan says decisions to close a state park are made on a case-by-case basis. Any state park closures related to the coronavirus pandemic will be listed on DCR’s website at dcr.virginia.gov.
Dynamic speed signs have been set up on the E-ZPass Express Lanes on Interstates 95 and 495.
Transurban, the Australian-based transportation company that operates the express lanes, installed the new speed signs for a trial run. Much like traffic radar signs that drivers see along the roadside in neighborhoods, dynamic signs will show how fast a vehicle is going within the express lane.
The posted speed limit will be shown next to the dynamic sign to encourage customers to adjust to that recommended speed in order to ensure their safety.
The trailers that hold the dynamic signs will be placed on the shoulders of the express lanes, also similar in practice to the traffic radar signs.
“As drivers approach the sign, it will display their current speed. The signs aim to give speeding drivers a reminder and encourage them to slow down for the safety of themselves and others on the road. Speeding increases the risk of a crash and crash severity should one occur,” stated Transurban manager Mike McGurk in a press release.
One justification made for this action is due to the coronavirus pandemic. With fewer vehicles on the road due to stay at home orders, some drivers have been speeding up more than they should, Transurban says.
According to data from the Virginia State Police, troopers assigned to the express lanes wrote 1,079 speeding summonses and 994 reckless driving summonses between April 2019 and April 2020.
In April 2019, VSP charged 71 express lanes drivers with reckless driving and 73 for speeding compared to 44 for reckless driving and four for speeding in April 2020.
“Governor Northam’s COVID-19 safety restrictions definitely impacted Virginia’s highways statewide during the month of April, as state police saw significant decreases in traffic volume,” stated VSP’s Public Relations Director Corinne Geller.
The decision for this trial run was ultimately inspired by data that was compiled in a report for the Governor’s Highway Safety Association which found excessive speeding to be a trend that was forming across the U.S.
For example, New York has issued 24,765 speeding tickets which was double the amount issued only a month earlier in spite of the fact that there are fewer vehicles on their roads. In Los Angeles, speeds are up on some roads by 30% which has prompted changes to street and pedestrian lights.
The report also lists instances in states such as Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, and Utah of police clocking drivers highway speeds at over 100 mph. In states like Florida and Iowa, Highway police have reported drivers going between 20 and 40 miles over the posted speed limits.
While the amount of car crashes has gone down the crashes themselves have become more fatal. In states like Minnesota and Massachusetts, the crash rate is rising and in some cases doubling from the same time last year. Even pedestrian fatalities have been rising in states like Nevada and Rhode Island.
The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management, and promote best practices.
Its members are appointed by their governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans.
