News

After the North Stafford Rotary Club announced their Fitness Challenge 2012, we wanted to know if you would consider taking part in a weight loss contest. Vote and let’s see what the Potomac Communities have to say.

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It’s part of a national First Day Hikes effort at state parks around the country to offer hikes on New Year’s Day. Leesylvania’s State Park has invited hikers to come to the Lee’s Woods Trail at the park nestled along the Potomac River in Woodbridge. The two-mile hike is described as moderate, and Chief Ranger Sarah Percival encourages hikers to bring water and to wear hiking boots and warm clothes.

Just across the Occoquan Bay in Fairfax County lies Mason Neck State Park, where they will be hiking their one-mile Bay View Trail Head between 10:30 a.m. and noon. The hike is described as easy and appropriate dress and water bottles are also encouraged.

Christmas 1776. The Revolution was not going well. The previous months had brought news that New York, Rhode Island and most of New Jersey had fallen to the British. Operational and intelligence blunders committed by Washington and his generals during these campaigns could have resulted in his dismissal as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Washington knew he needed to make a bold move in order to galvanize the Continental Army and rally the American people to his cause.

But before he could make that decisive move, Washington had to overcome a series of problems. Among these was the dwindling strength of the Continental Army. Many soldiers only enlisted for months at a time. Their enlistments were often up just as key campaigns were about to get underway. More importantly, though, poor sanitary conditions and lack of medical care resulted in extraordinarily high deaths from diseases like dysentery and malaria.

PotomacLocal.com ranked the area’s top local restaurants and compiled a easy-to-read list so you can see what’s good, what to try, and know what to tell your friends when they ask “is there any place good around here to eat?” Because no matter what the economy is doing, people, no matter what, still go out to eat!

These eateries were chosen for a number of factors like quality, service, location, uniqueness to the community, as well as being a darn good place to feast.

Last week we marked the end of the Iraq War, a long and arduous conflict that cost almost 4,500 American lives, over 32,200 wounded and cost approximately $1 Trillion. The war also deposed a brutal dictator and planted the seeds for a democratic Iraq – if, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, the country can keep it.

Historians will debate the outcome of the Iraq War and whether or not the U.S. achieved its strategic goals, but what is clear is that the Iraq War changed the way our country conducts intelligence and operations in wartime.

Woodbridge, Va. — The grand court at Potomac Mills mall has come a long way since the days of large plastic apples sitting in an oversized cereal bowl filled with water. While the decorative bowl of apples has been missing from the mall for years, Potomac Mills on Thursday unveiled a new children’s play place in the grand court modeled after landmarks in Virginia.

It includes a 17th century ship, cardinals depicting the state bird, Chesapeake blue crabs, George Washington and his fabled cherry tree.

Fredericksburg, Va. — Actress Vivica A. Fox is scheduled to appear in Fredericksburg as the keynote speaker for the Virginia Black History Month Association’s Formal Dinner.

The actress, who’s appeared in films like Independence Day, Kill Bill, and Soul Food, will speak at the annual dinner scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 at the Fredericksburg Expo Center.

Flags over the state capitol and other government buildings in Virginia will be lowered at sunrise and remain at half-staff until sunset to honor Officer Derek Crouse who was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop Thursday. Also killed that day was the man police believe pulled the trigger – 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley, of Spotsylvania County – who was found dead from a self-inflicted gun wound shortly after the Crouse was killed.

“I am deeply saddened by today’s news of another tragedy affecting the Virginia Tech community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those impacted by these shootings. Since this news first broke we have been monitoring the situation closely and I have made available all requested state resources to Virginia Tech, including the Virginia State Police. I have also spoken to Virginia Tech President Charles Steger earlier this afternoon,” McDonnell said in a statement.