WOODBRIDGE — As Prince William County’s population grows, so does the number of 911 calls handled by emergency dispatchers.
As the county quickly approaches nearly a half-million people, Director of Public Safety Communications Eddie Reyes said that not only is call the number of calls on the rise but adds the job is evolving with new smartphone technology.
OCCOQUAN — About 20 years ago, Dolores Elder heard someone say nothing noteworthy ever happened in Occoquan.
She was working at the manager of the tourist information center that once sat on Mill Street in the tiny riverside town. It was a statement she didn’t quite believe.
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WOODBRIDGE — When Metro shuts down its Blue and Yellow lines this summer, OmniRide will step in with an alternative to help commuters get where they’re going.
DUMFRIES — With her daughter in a passenger seat about to give birth, Jena Smith drove her truck the wrong way up Route 1.
She had one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cell phone. She was on the phone with Prince William County’s 911 center, where a dispatcher told her to do anything she could to get around the stalled traffic.
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Once a refuge for low and middle-income workers priced out of Alexandria and Arlington, Prince William County is currently struggling to meet its population’s affordable housing needs.
Nonprofit organization directors in the area confirmed that the community is in need of housing assistance beyond the scope of existing support systems. But with fewer affordable communities planned in the county and housing programs that are already filled to capacity, no clear solution is readily available.
STAFFORD — Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department has applied for a grant for new dry fire hydrants.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors authorized County Administrator Thomas Foley to submit a grant application for dry hydrants with the Virginia Department of Forestry.
DUMFRIES — Stafford County’s newest resident was born on the floor of a fire station in Dumfries.
Kasey Lynnett Smith, 28, went into labor on Thursday, April 18. She was in a car with her mother, who was driving her to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge to deliver the child. Senatra, she said, is “where my doctors are.”
STAFFORD — Comcast wanted to talk about an early commitment, but Stafford County leaders just weren’t ready.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors this week voted to deny Comcast an early renewal of its franchise in Stafford County — an agreement it needs to provide cable TV, internet, and telephone services in the county.
FREDERICKSBURG — Here’s a look at your Interstate 95 traffic hot spots for the coming week.
With projects to extend the I-95 E-ZPass Express Lanes from North Stafford to Route 17, and a separate project to build a new bridge over the Rappahannock River to separate I-95 local traffic from long-distance drivers, you’ll want to keep alert on the highway.
WOODBRIDGE — An effort to hike taxes on data centers in Prince William County failed at a special meeting Wednesday night.
A 4-4 tie vote killed a proposal touted by Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart At-large that would have increased taxes on the current seven data centers in the county, as well as future data centers to be built, from $1.25 to doubling it over five years to $2.50 per $100 of assessed value.
