The Prince William County Landfill, at 14811 Dumfries Road (Route 234) and the Balls Ford Road Compost Facility, at 13000 Balls Ford Road near Manassas will no longer be open on Sundays beginning November 6.
This is a consequence of the ongoing labor shortage – specifically for heavy equipment operators and CDL driver positions. Most employees must work mandatory overtime hours to keep the facility open, according to a statement from Coles District Supervisor Yesli Vega.
On October 7, the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to Rippon Middle School, at 15101 Blackburn Road in Woodbridge, concluded an investigation into an assault that occurred in a classroom on September 22.
The investigation revealed during class, a male student made a homophobic slur towards the victim, another 13-year-old male student, before riping and removing the child’s facemask.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors will hold a work session on Wednesday, October 12, to discuss increasing the starting salary for the county’s public safety employees.
The move comes after the Virginia State Police increased its starting pay for troopers working in Northern Virginia to nearly $66,000, about 28% higher.
Freedom-Woodbridge’s point total in Friday’s 112-16 win over visiting Colgan ranks fifth all-time in state history and is the most points ever scored by a Prince William County high school program, according to the Virginia High School League record book.
Germanna Community College announced an expansion in Stafford County with the purchase of its new $15 million Stafford Center of Educational Excellence at Center Street.
Two buildings, named the Barbara J. Fried Center at 10 Center Street and the Kevin L. Dillard Health Sciences Center at 25 Center Street, totaling over 74,000 square feet, both just off Route 610 in North Stafford, will meet Germanna’s space requirements in Stafford for the foreseeable future, said Jack Rowley, president of GCC’s Real Estate Foundation. “This purchase will help Germanna to double student enrollment in the critically needed Allied Health Services – especially nursing,” he said. In addition, Germanna will be expanding cybersecurity, IT, general education, and dual enrollment programs.
With Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration looking to tighten accreditation standards for the state’s public schools, 98 of 107 schools in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park met full state accreditation requirements for the 2022-23 school year.
Picture courtesy of HGA Architects and Engineers[/caption]
The University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino unveiled conceptual drawings for a new building for the school's theater arts program.
The presentation plans to construct a two-story, 63,000-square-foot building on the school's campus on the corner of Sunken Road and William Street. The new theater building will replace two current dormitory buildings, William and Russell halls, and have a path leading from the University's bell tower on campus and another from the Sunken and William crossroad in front of the campus leading to the building's second level.
Plans for the new building were developed by Virginia-based Commonwealth Architects and Minnesota-based HGA Architects and Engineers.
The new building is designed to have two small theaters on each level, one with 300 seats and the other with 150 seats. The theaters are intended to hold classes but can also be used for performances. The building will also have two studios for the school's dance program, faculty offices, and storage space.
The University of Mary Washington will receive $117 million in state funding from the Virginia State budget for the project's Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
In addition to the new theater arts building, some of the funding will also go to renovate three other dormitories, namely Melchers, DuPont, and Pollard. All three halls have been operating on the campus since they were built in the 1950s and need renovations.
"The halls are incompatible with the needs of the 21st century," said Paino. "Those halls hold programs that are important to attract the next generation of students, programs that have been successful in career development and community outreach."
Paino explained some of the reasons for the hall's renovations, including improving accessibility for physically disabled students. The two halls that will be demolished to make way for the new theater arts building, William and Russell, were also in line for renovations but would have to wait 20 years before the funding was available.
The university president also explained that the University was unable to take on the debt capacity necessary to renovate the two buildings, which made the decision to replace them with the new theater building more tenable.
An event to celebrate the closing of William and Russell Halls is already in the planning stages in 2023. Mary Washington is currently exploring ways to honor the building and its namesakes, such as a cookout event, and physical and virtual tours of the halls before their demolition were also mentioned as possibilities.
The next step in the process for the building will be a presentation made to the school's Board of Visitors Executive Committee and then another with the Town and Gown Committee later in the month. Members of the committee will include university administration, students, representatives of neighborhood associations, and city government officials.
The University is also planning a presentation for Fredericksburg's Art and Architectural Review Board and is currently preparing an environmental impact report to share with city officials.
The Potomac Shores Middle School library is named for Hilda Barg, a longtime elected official from Woodbridge.
Residents and elected officials gathered at the school, 17851 Woods View Drive near Dumfries, for a dedication ceremony on October 6. About 100 poeple attended.
The top election official in one of Virginia’s biggest counties announced Friday that he’s quitting his job later this year due to stress and called out what he described as a “bullshit” ploy by local Republicans to try to undermine his office by installing their own people in jobs overseeing polling places.
