Manassas

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Manassas cancels First Friday for rest of 2026 after teen bystander slain in downtown shootout

By PLN News
Downtown Manassas

The City of Manassas and Historic Manassas Inc. have canceled the final 2026 First Friday after considering community feedback. The decision follows the Sept. 4 shooting during the packed downtown event that killed 16-year-old Patriot High School student Ashley Intihar, an uninvolved bystander, near the train depot.

Police said gunfire broke out about 9:30 p.m. amid roughly 10,000 people. Xavier Wanzer, 19, of Orange, approached Tasheem Rashad Douglas, 21, over a prior conflict. Douglas, a convicted felon already out on bond, fired and struck Intihar. Wanzer and Talib Davis, 23, of Fauquier County, returned fire. Douglas faces second-degree murder and firearms charges. Wanzer and Davis face malicious wounding and firearms charges. All three are held without bond. The organizations will focus the rest of the year on fall and winter seasonal events instead, and residents can share feedback on First Fridays for 2027 through a questionnaire.

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Manassas

District Hemp closes Manassas store after Spanberger’s new hemp rules

By PLN News

District Hemp Botanicals will close its store at 9417 Main Street in Historic Downtown Manassas on Saturday, Oct. 17, after nine years in business, founder Barbara Biddle announced this week.

In a letter published by Manassas NOW, Biddle said she was sharing the news “with a heavy heart.” She described the shop as a mission focused on education, access and alternatives, and said changing regulations, the loss of popular products and challenges for independent hemp businesses made it impossible to continue. A 50% closing sale runs through the final day.

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Manassas

Manassas police shut six massage businesses and arrest three

By PLN News
Booking photos of Yanzhi Mei, Yanwu Glick, and Stephen Smarr
Booking photos of Yanzhi Mei, Yanwu Glick, and Stephen Smarr. Credit Manassas City Police Department.

Manassas City Police shut down six massage businesses and arrested three people Tuesday in Operation False Front, the department said.

The operation started with a Crime Solvers tip. Detectives and assisting agencies served search and arrest warrants at the businesses and at homes in the City of Manassas, Fairfax County, and Prince William County. Police said they seized several hundred thousand dollars in cash, plus records. Several people the department described as human-trafficking victims were found and given services.

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Manassas

Mamta Kafle’s mother testifies as the Bhatt trial breaks until Tuesday

By PLN News
Naresh Bhatt
Naresh Bhatt. Credit Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center.

Gita Kafle told a Manassas courtroom she and her daughter often video-called two or three times a day until the calls stopped around July 30, 2024, DC News Now reports.

She said she reached Naresh Bhatt about five days later and he told her Mamta had gone to work and had not come back. The trial recessed Thursday until Tuesday at 9 a.m. Detective Claudia Ventura of Manassas Park Police is expected back on the stand. The paper said about an hour of body-camera video from her August 2024 interviews with Bhatt was played Thursday.

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Manassas

Broad Run flooding is one reason VRE wants a 100-percent federal planning grant

By PLN News

Virginia Railway Express wants a federal planning grant to study how extreme heat, inland flooding and storms could affect its tracks and stations. The Operations Board on Sept. 18 recommended authorization to submit that application jointly with the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority.

The recommendation covers the U.S. Department of Transportation PROTECT planning-grant round for fiscal years 2024 through 2026. PROTECT is the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation program. Chief Executive Officer Katie Choe told the board she expects the grant to be about $800,000, fully reimbursed, with no local match. That figure is her expectation. It is not an award, and the written item does not state a dollar amount.

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Manassas

Manassas Journal is back in print. Arias says the city lost its record

By PLN News
Yellow text Manassas Journal Is Back Print $100 a year next to a printed copy of The Manassas Journal
A printed Manassas Journal on a table with Old Town in the background. Potomac Local News Podcast graphic.

Manassas used to have a newspaper you could hold.

This one’s for the people who really care about local news.

Locals Only members get deeper reporting, more context, and fewer shortcuts.

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Politics

10th District candidates meet Oct. 15 in Manassas

By PLN News
Prince William Committee of 100 and League of Women Voters 10th District candidate forum flyer
The Prince William Committee of 100 and the League of Women Voters will hold a 10th District forum Oct. 15. Credit: Prince William Committee of 100.

The Prince William Committee of 100 and the League of Women Voters of the Prince William and Fauquier Area will hold the forum Thursday, Oct. 15, the committee said. Doors open at 6 p.m. The forum runs 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. at the Manassas Community Center, 8750 Sudley Road. The flyer names Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, the Democrat from Ashburn, and Dave Beckwith, the Republican from Sterling. Bruce Potter, publisher of InsideNoVa, is the moderator. The event is free, open to the public, and does not require registration. Seating is limited.

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Manassas

Manassas candidates meet Sunday at the museum

By PLN News
[Courtesy of the City of Manassas]

 

The Manassas Journal will hold the forum Sunday, Oct. 4, at the Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William St., the Journal said. Arrive by 3:45 p.m. City Council candidates are set for 4 to 5:30 p.m., School Board from 6 to 7 p.m., and House of Delegates District 20 from 7 to 7:30 p.m. It runs until 8 p.m. and is open as capacity allows. Questions go to [email protected] by 5 p.m. today. The Journal has not named who is coming.

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Prince William

Eight Unity Reed students were hospitalized after an ROTC field day

By PLN News
A back-to-school festival held at Unity Reed High School near Manassas. [Photo: Prince William County Community Foundation]

Eight students were taken to the hospital for dehydration Friday after an ROTC field day at Unity Reed High School, FOX 5 reported. Nine students were treated. The school was on a short hold, then the hold was lifted. Dismissal ran late. Principal Milagros Vélez told families the school is in contact with the families of the students.

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