News

Trained spotters for the National Weather Service said 14 and a half inches of snow fell in the Holly Corner area of southern Stafford County, just off Route 17. According to another trained spotter, in the western portion of the county near Lake Arrowhead, more than 11 inches of snow fell.

According to National Weather Service spotters, in Prince William County, the highest totals are in Dumfries and Dale City, as each area saw 12 inches of snow.


News

The hardest-hit Stafford County, where a foot or more snow fell Monday, sees the bulk of power outages. As of 5 a.m. Tuesday, January 4, Dominion Energy reports 34,444 of its 53,300 customers — about 60 percent — are without power.

NOVEC reports 2,717 of its customers without power, just a little under half of the number of customers the utility serves in the county.


News

Icy conditions on the highway led to multiple stranded tractor-trailers overnight. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, drivers should avoid the thoroughfare while tow truck works to remove the broken down vehicles and snow plows work to clear the highway.

Late last night, highway again shut down a portion of I-95 in hard-hit Stafford County, where more than a foot of snow fell Monday. Multiple trucks became stranded at milepost 136, near the county’s airport.


News

Today’s winter storm hit Stafford County harder than anticipated, according to County Administrator Fred Presley.

“The storm was far more significant than was forecasted and we have numerous challenges that we are attempting to deal with,” Presley penned in an email.


News
[caption id="attachment_3686" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Stafford County Courthouse at 1300 Courthouse Road.[/caption]

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors have approved adjustments to the county's drug-free policy for its employees.

According to the revised policy, county employees are still not permitted to partake in the use of cannabis on or off the clock. An exception has been made however for the medicinal use of cannabis oil as long as they have a valid certificate for its medical use.

However if any county employee is found to be in possession of cannabis or found to be under the influence of the substance that would serve as grounds for their termination. This part of the policy will stand regardless of whether or not they have the valid certificate for medical use.

The county has decided to be a little more lenient when it comes to their employment practices, any applicant who is 21 or older will not be subjected to the drug-free policy. This means that a potential applicant will not be denied employment even if they test positive for THC during the screening process.

The assumption being that the potential applicant may not be aware of the county's policy and also due to the fact that recreational use of cannabis is legal in Virginia.

However, if that employee is hired by the county they will have to retake the test within a period of 8 to 12 weeks from the date of hiring. This portion was previously contested by Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vanuch during a public hearing on the matter held in November.

Vanuch had questioned the randomness of the test especially if the applicant knew it was coming and could prepare for it.

Potential hires who are applying for temporary or seasonal positions will be denied employment due to the short term nature of the positions.

Another change to the policy is regarding the pre-employment medical physical which now only positions which are considered necessary such as public safety will have to go through that process.

Stafford County decided to revise their policy after the State of Virginia legalized the recreational use of cannabis for persons aged 21 and over. This was done in July 2021 and signed by Governor Ralph Northam. While Virginia is the first southern state to legalize cannabis for this purpose it is still illegal under federal law.

Including the commonwealth, 18 other states and Washington D.C. have fully legalized the use of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes. Only six states remain fully committed to the illegalization of cannabis.

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Neighborhood Notes

[Updated Noon] Nearly a foot of snow fell across the region so far today.

The storm moved in early this morning. The snow machine ramped up after 8 a.m. making roads impassable, causing power outages, and causing headaches for emergency responders who were stranded in the snow and had to call for help from wrecker services.


News

We’ve learned the names of the first two babies born in 2022 in Stafford County and Fredericksburg.

Baby girl Nazli was born at 1:35 a.m. Saturday, January 1to Maria and Jaime of Fredericksburg, weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces. Nazli–meaning delicate, precious, and beautiful–is the couple’s second child, the hospital writes in a press release.


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