The city will now seek formal Federal Aviation Administration approval to implement the name change.

The resolution seeks to change the airport’s commercial name while retaining the airfield’s dedicatory name, Harry P. Davis Field, and its FAA location identifier, HEF. The action reflects the city’s effort to better position the facility within the competitive Washington aviation market and support its anticipated transition from a general aviation airport to one capable of handling commercial passenger service as early as 2027.

Assistant Airport Director Jolene Berry, speaking on behalf of Airport Director Juan Rivera, told the council the rebranding would enhance the airport’s visibility and better reflect how travelers search for flights.

“When folks are looking for a ticket, they’re flying into the D.C. area, and so that’s why Washington would go first, and then Manassas,” Berry said.

Berry said the change applies only to the airport’s commercial branding and does not alter the historic designation of the airfield.

“The name … we are proposing would be Washington Manassas Airport. The airfield is still Harry P. Davis Field. We’re not asking to change the airfield,” Berry said.

The potential name change comes as the airport works toward adding commercial airline service, scheduled to begin in the first half of 2027.

City officials said the renaming aligns with industry naming conventions for airports near major metropolitan areas and is intended to improve recognition among airlines, travelers and businesses.

The Manassas Regional Airport Commission previously recommended three potential names: Washington Manassas Airport, Washington Manassas National Airport and Washington Manassas Regional Airport. The “National” option was later removed following feedback from federal regulators and legal concerns, leaving Washington Manassas Airport as the preferred choice.

Berry said the commission undertook an extensive public and stakeholder engagement process.

Tenants and fixed‑base operators were notified, a public work session and town hall meeting were held, and the experiences of other airports that underwent similar name changes were studied. She added the estimated $500,000 cost for updating major signage would be funded through the airport’s budget, “so there’s no taxpayer money being used.”

Public feedback on the proposal was mixed.

An online survey received 159 responses, with 58% opposing the name change and 42% supporting it. Opponents expressed concerns about preserving the city’s identity and questioned the need for rebranding, while supporters said incorporating “Washington” would make the airport more recognizable and help attract airlines and economic investment.

Council member Theresa Coates Ellis acknowledged the limited number of survey responses but said the long‑term benefits justified the decision.

“I do appreciate the 159 responses from the community with the survey, but … that seems really low,” Coates Ellis said. “I am supporting Washington Manassas Airport … if we’re looking at trying to have a successful airport, it is the right thing to do.”

Council member Sonia Vasquez Luna highlighted the airport’s role in Virginia’s aviation landscape and its future ambitions.

“I believe for years the airport has been … one of the busiest airports in Virginia when it comes to general aviation,” she said, adding that she would support the name change in part because costs would not fall on taxpayers.

Council member Tom Osina framed the decision as part of the airport’s evolution.

“Our airport has had three names,” he said, noting that each change was done “to intentionally reposition the airport” as it evolved from a small strip to a municipal and then regional facility.

According to the resolution, the airport opened June 8, 1932, and was renamed in 1994 to Manassas Regional Airport, Harry P. Davis Field, in honor of a former mayor who played a key role in its early development.

The incoming airport operator, Avports, has also endorsed the new name, calling it “a meaningful and strategic step forward” that would enhance the airport’s competitiveness and regional visibility.

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Rick Canizales, the county’s director of transportation, spearheaded a presentation on the initiative during the board’s meeting Wednesday.

Canizales said the widening for the 2.5-mile stretch is not yet included within the county’s Capital Improvement Program, nor is the project’s projected debt service in the county executive’s five-year plan.

Nevertheless, Canizales said his team is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to create a piecemeal approach similar to the county’s past widening of Route 1.

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” Canizales quipped to the board.

Funding for included $200 million authorized by voters in a 2019 bond referendum, with the cost of the widening estimated at $400 million as of 2020, according to Canizales’ presentation before the board. The county reimbursed the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority for nearly $7.5 million in funds for the cancelled project.

Canizales’ presentation sought direction from supervisors on four items:

• Should staff continue to move the project forward?
• Will bonds be utilized to fund the project?
• What funding will be used to pay the debt-financing of the project?
• Should VDOT continue working on preliminary engineering/designs to move this project forward?

Chair Deshundra Jefferson, a Democrat, said the board is “gonna have to prioritize” ahead of its April 14 budget markup and April 21 budget adoption – with “tough choices” and “financial discipline” needed in the coming weeks.

Jefferson cited funding for parks and trails projects as well as the county’s long-anticipated indoor sports complex in Woodbridge as top pursuits.

Kenny Boddye, the Democratic Occoquan District supervisor, encouraged the widening project, opining “this is a much more tangible thing” to talk to community members about.

Canizales added the ongoing Yorkshire Small Area Plan in the Coles District will guide the design of the Route 28 project.

Republican Yesli Vega, the Coles District supervisor, emphasized the value of Route 28 as a “regional artery,” with the ensuing need for matching funds and grants in addition to existing revenue-sharing agreements with the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

State Sen. Danica Roem, D-30th District, said surveys and town halls during 2019 yielded 1,334 responses regarding Route 28 redesign plans.

The public’s desires for the project included a shared-use path – which eventually led to the installation of , Roem said, to avoid utility relocation and eminent domain issues, as well as a raised median along Route 28.

Roem also praised At-Large Planning Commissioner Mark Scheufler’s idea for a “much more surgical widening,” which would include an OmniRide bus connection from the Manassas Park area to the Vienna metro station, which she said should be undertaken concurrently with any Route 28 redesign plans.

�鶹����’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.

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On March 26, jurors found 29-year-old Grorethas McKinnon Jr. guilty of second-degree murder, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth’s office said in a Monday news release. McKinnon faces up to 40 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for July 2.

Another man involved in the murder, 29-year-old Drew Buchanan of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of first-degree murder. He faces life in prison at his sentencing set for June 12.

The convictions stem from the Feb. 2, 2024, ambush-style shooting of Egypt Carter, a North Carolina resident, at the Orchard Mills apartment complex in Dale City. The murder was allegedly orchestrated by Carter’s husband, Lionel Carter III, 34, who is serving a 30-year sentence at Sussex State Prison for the 2014 second-degree murder of his high school sweetheart, Kadijah Stewart, in Chesterfield.

Authorities allege Carter hired the suspects to kill his wife and lured her to the area of Brickwood Drive and Bronson Court in Dale City under the ruse of picking up narcotics for him.

Egypt Carter was reportedly sending her location via Telegram to an unidentified individual known as “Mr. Robot,” whom she knew, according to the release. Detectives also learned Carter had come to Prince William County to “make a play,” typically referring to a narcotics transaction, prosecutors said.

Just after 2 a.m., police responded to a shooting and found Carter’s Toyota idling in a cul-de-sac, the release said. Her car had come to rest against a parked vehicle off Benita Fitzgerald Drive.

“When the officer approached the vehicle, a female victim was found in the driver’s seat suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and head,” the release said. “The driver’s side window was halfway down and two holes from an apparent projectile were observed.”

The victim, later identified as Carter, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Based on an informant’s tip, Drew Buchanan was identified as a suspect and later arrested.

The informant also told detectives McKinnon asked Buchanan to commit the murder in exchange for cash at the behest of someone in prison, the release said. The plot was organized over social media and by text message.

Detectives interviewed Buchanan, who confessed to shooting Carter, the release said.

A sample of Buchanan’s DNA was compared to the DNA found on the cartridge casings at the murder scene, and Buchanan could not be eliminated “as a contributor,” the release said.

On Buchanan’s phone, detectives found calls with a number known to belong to McKinnon at the time of the murder, an Apple maps search for the murder location an hour before the crime and web history showing the user searched for news about the murder after the shooting, the release said.

A search warrant was served on McKinnon’s known Instagram account, which revealed his communication days before the murder with someone serving time in prison, leading to other text messages linking him and Buchanan to the crime, the release said.

A Prince William County grand jury indicted Lionel Carter for aggravated murder in December 2024. A jury trial is scheduled in Prince William County Circuit Court beginning April 27.

“This was a tragic loss for the family of Egypt Carter and a technically challenging case for the commonwealth as much of the evidence corroborating the statements of the co-conspirator was coded communications via messaging apps,” Ashworth said in a statement. “We are grateful that the jury understood what really happened in this case and found Mr. McKinnon guilty and responsible for the senseless death of Egypt Carter.”

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Early voting for the April 21 special election will close April 18. On the ballot is a question asking residents whether Virginia’s constitution should be amended to allow the Virginia General Assembly to adopt new congressional districts. The mid-decade redistricting plan has been championed by Democrats to secure more seats during the 2026 midterm elections.

According to Thalia Simpson, a spokesperson for the Prince William County Office of Elections, total turnout in the county for early voting was 16,635 through March 27 — which includes 5,187 in-person votes and 11,448 mail-in ballots — representing 5.01% of the county’s 332,197 registered voters.

The Office of Elections did not provided a breakdown by magisterial district.

“We don’t want to be the reason that anybody can sort of infer who has voted, who might be voting which way,” Simpson told InsideNoVa in a March 30 phone call. “So we don’t release that granular level at this stage.”

Satellite locations in Prince William County will open next weekend, April 11. The six locations include:

• Office of Elections — 9250 Lee Ave., Suite 1, Manassas, VA 20110 (currently open for early voting since March 6)
• A.J. Ferlazzo Building — 15941 Donald Curtis Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191
• Brentsville Courthouse — 12229 Bristow Road, Bristow, VA 20136
• Dumfries Community Center — 17757 Main St., Dumfries, VA 22026
• Haymarket Gainesville Library — 14870 Lightner Road, Haymarket, VA 20169
• Woodbridge DMV — 2731 Caton Hill Road, Woodbridge, VA 22191

Drop boxes for mail-in ballots will also be available at all six voting locations. Voting hours are as follows:

• Weekdays: 8:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays
• Saturdays, April 11 and April 18: 8:30 a.m. — 5 p.m.
• Sunday, April 12:11 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Statewide, 619,741 ballots have been cast across the commonwealth through Wednesday, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project. This includes 412,502 in-person and 207,239 by mail.

According to reporting from the Virginia Mercury, several majority-Republican jurisdictions have already cast between 10% and 15% of their ballots among registered voters, indicating strong GOP turnout.

But Simpson cautioned early numbers may be misleading, as the populations may be smaller than in areas with hundreds of thousands of registered voters, rendering it easier to cross the percentage threshold.

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It was January 2025, and a 73-year-old woman in Prince William had stopped breathing. Wise was at Station No. 2 in Woodbridge – in a classroom completing timely EMT training on intubation skills – when the call came in. His unit responded to the woman at a loss for breath.

When Wise arrived, another unit on the scene had already started chest compressions. A fellow medic asked Wise whether he had put in an airway before. Wise replied he had, in fact, just learned how to do that.

Wise told InsideNoVa putting in an assisted airway consists of placing a tube down the patient’s throat and then attaching a breathing device to it.

“So I go ahead and I place it in, and it works well, I get a good response on the ventilations,” he said in an interview. Eventually, they loaded the patient into the ambulance and drove her to the hospital. During the drive, Wise said, he sat by the patient’s head, “breathing for her, making sure that her chest is rising adequately.”

The patient was later discharged from the hospital, healthy.

Although Wise said that when he first walked onto the scene he was overwhelmed – this was something he’d never seen before – he decided to take action despite the fear in the back of his mind.

“In that moment, I had to make a decision on whether or not I was going to allow that fear of what was going on cloud me from being able to help her, or if I was going to suppress it for the moment in order to provide the best care that I could,” he said.

Wise made the right decision in suppressing that fear and taking action. A moment of reflection came afterward, when his unit returned to the station and the crew sat down to discuss the call – a department policy after every “big call” a unit makes to help team members process and talk through what just transpired.

The response earned Wise national recognition and the Passion for Public Service Scholarship from the National Society of High School Scholars.

What it means to serve

The January 2025 call and the many others he’s been a part of since then taught Wise what it means to work in a “service position,” he said.

“No matter how big or small the call is, everyone requires the same amount of passion for care that you have,” Wise said. “So you should treat everyone with the respect that they deserve.”

EMTs, medics and other first responders, are in a “servant” position, he said, and he’s learned how to demonstrate a “servant attitude,” even if the call doesn’t appear to be an emergency.

“The biggest thing that I’ve learned as a volunteer EMT … is to just treat everyone with respect and to be a servant to those who you are serving,” Wise said.

Wise, who lives in Woodbridge and attends Logos Classical Academy in Lorton, is working toward becoming a crew lead.

He was first introduced to first responder work while working as a lifeguard at a sporting facility, which had EMTs on staff. He said he began to think about how he could contribute more and felt the next step would be to become an EMT. Coincidentally, one of his friends was an EMT and recommended he join the fire department.

Most of his ideas of what EMT work looked like stemmed primarily from TV shows, which, he said, he now knows are largely inaccurate depictions of the work.

“Looking back on it, I can firmly say that television does not portray it adequately at all. It is a very different environment than what I would have anticipated, but I do very much enjoy it,” Wise said.

Wise said media depictions of EMT work are often over-dramatized, while in reality, “everything is a lot calmer.”

“I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up before I started volunteering at the fire department,” Wise said. “But after being involved with patient care, I can’t even imagine what else I would do.”

He told InsideNoVa he plans to pursue a medical degree, though at the time of the interview he was not yet sure where he would be attending college.

Will Lam, 19, met Wise while working at the OWL volunteer fire department. Wise was assigned to his crew, and Lam ultimately became one of Wise’s mentors.

Though they no longer work together – Lam now works as a firefighter in Fairfax County – Lam remains one of Wise’s mentors and wrote a recommendation letter for Wise’s scholarship application.

As Lam and Wise got to know each other, Lam said he learned about Wise’s desire to go into the medical field and his “enthusiasm and passion to help others.”

That desire and enthusiasm to help others, Lam said, is what makes Wise uniquely-suited for work as an EMT and beyond in the medical field.

“His ability to work with others, and truly care about them and their situation,” Lam said. “But also that curiosity … he is always asking questions, trying to learn more, better himself, fine tune his skills.”

Lam himself, despite being older and in a leadership position, said he learned from Wise what it means to be a “servant leader.”

“Just throughout all of his sacrifices that he makes for the department and for those around him, he just takes up his additional responsibilities without hesitation,” Lam said. “That really taught me a lot.”

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Under the school system’s policy 729, which sets the guidance for cellphone-free education, AI-enabled glasses meet the definition of cellphones or personal electronic communication devices and are subject to the same restrictions, according to a news release from the school system.

“In recent months, schools nationwide have seen an increase in student use of this technology,” the release said. “In response, the Virginia Department of Education and the College Board have provided guidance on how AI-enabled glasses should be managed in educational settings. PWCS is aligning with this guidance to protect student privacy and support safe, focused learning environments.”

AI-enabled glasses are wearable devices that can discreetly record, process and display information using artificial intelligence.

All Prince William County schools will follow this guidance:

Elementary schools and combination schools (K-8, Traditional):

• AI-enabled glasses may not be worn or used at any time during the school day
• Devices must be turned off and stored upon arrival at school and remain stored until dismissal
• Storage means the device is not worn on the face or head and is placed in a backpack, in the student’s locker, in a locked pouch or in a designated place in the classroom

Middle and high schools:

• AI-enabled glasses must be turned off and stored from bell to bell
• Devices may only be used before the first bell and after dismissal, provided use does not violate the division’s code of behavior
• Storage means the device is not worn on the face or head and is placed in a backpack, in the student’s locker, in a locked pouch or in a designated place in the classroom

Prohibited uses (all students) — the following uses of AI-enabled glasses are always prohibited on school property, school buses and school-sponsored events:

• Audio, photo or video recording of students, staff or visitors without explicit permission
• Use in restrooms, locker rooms or changing areas
• Livestreaming or AI-assisted analysis of people or environments
• AI impersonation or altered media involving students or staff
• Accessing or creating content that is obscene, harassing, threatening or disruptive to a K-12 learning environment

Transportation (all students): AI-enabled glasses on school buses are permitted when used in compliance with prohibited use and:

• They do not distract the driver
• They do not compromise student safety

The wearing of AI-enabled glasses is always prohibited during any assessment, including daily class assessments, nationally normed external tests such as the SAT, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge and Standards of Learning assessments.

Violations involving AI-enabled glasses will follow the same progressive discipline structure used for cellphone violations, in alignment with the code of behavior, including:

• Device surrounded
• Parent/guardian notification and pick up
• Disciplinary referrals
• Additional disciplinary actions for repeat or severe violations

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The brief appearance of Virginia bluebells has become a welcome sign: Winter is over, and spring has arrived.

Northern Virginia’s iconic bluebells are on pace for their typical early April show.

The Virginia bluebell, known scientifically as Mertensia virginica, is a native woodland wildflower found throughout the eastern United States and parts of Canada. The plant grows naturally in moist forests and floodplains from the Northeast to the Southeast and west into the Midwest along rivers and streams.

The flowers are known for their bell-shaped clusters that begin as pink buds before opening into soft blue or lavender blooms. They typically grow one to two feet tall and are classified as spring ephemerals, meaning they appear early in the growing season, bloom briefly and then disappear by early summer once tree canopies fill in and block sunlight.

In Northern Virginia, the bloom typically begins in late March, with the most vibrant displays appearing in early to mid-April.

Matt Felperin, a naturalist with NOVA Parks, said the peak at Bull Run Regional Park and other popular sites generally falls in the first half of April. Peak bloom usually lasts only about a week to 10 days before the flowers begin to fade.

“They tend to run in the first two weeks of April, and I imagine it’ll be about the same this year,” Felperin told InsideNoVa.

Large colonies of bluebells can create sweeping carpets of color across woodland floors.

“It is dynamic, and even when some are coming up early, there’ll still be a late wave too,” Felperin said.

He added while this winter has been “very untypically rough,” that alone does not determine when the bluebells bloom.

“This month, the weeks leading up to bloom does have an impact. But if it’s cold all winter, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

Instead, he said, more recent weather patterns will likely shape the timing. “I imagine that with some of the warmer weather we’ve had, it should lead to a typical early April bloom.”

The ‘hot spots’

Several parks and natural areas across Northern Virginia are known for particularly large bluebell displays. One of the region’s most prominent locations is Bull Run Regional Park north of Manassas, where over 150 acres of bluebells grow along floodplain forests near Bull Run and Cub Run. Trails through the park attract thousands of visitors each spring hoping to see one of the East Coast’s largest bluebell stands.

For those hoping to see the most impressive displays, Felperin pointed first to Bull Run.

“They have a specific Bluebell Trail, and it is just absolutely magical,” he said. “They stretch along the floodplains as far as I can see. So that is definitely our hot spot for bluebells.”

He added that other sites in the region also put on a strong spring display.

“We also have some good ephemeral blooms going on at Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Regional Park, and I believe Seneca Regional Park also has some good blooms,” Felperin said. “Just keep in mind, those two parks do have more limited parking. Bull Run is definitely kind of the headliner.”

Other popular viewing spots include Riverbend Park along the Potomac River in Great Falls, Manassas National Battlefield Park and Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area, where wetlands and floodplains support large seasonal blooms along Cedar Run.

Several events in the region celebrate the bloom. The annual Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm brings visitors together for guided wildflower walks, nature programs and educational exhibits highlighting the area’s habitat and wildlife.

Another spring celebration, Bluebells at the Bend at Riverbend, features nature walks, environmental exhibits and family activities along the Potomac.

Outside Northern Virginia, regional events include Bluebell Festival at Shenandoah River State Park, scheduled for April 4 and featuring guided hikes, music and vendors.

Along with timing and location, Felperin offered one simple piece of practical advice for visitors heading out to see the flowers.

“Good shoes for the mud,” he said. “Pretty muddy. That’s like the biggest piece of advice I have for anyone who’s going to come visit for the bluebells, wear good boots for the mud.”

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The new system is being introduced because the park frequently reaches capacity during peak summer periods, which results in turning many guests away, Virginia State Parks said in a notice on its website.

Park officials say requiring reservations will help reduce overcrowding, ease traffic congestion and protect the natural resources of the park along the Potomac River, while also guaranteeing admittance for visitors who plan ahead.

There will be a non-refundable $2 transaction fee, assessed by the software vendor, for reservations, which must be made before the day of arrival, no later than 11:59 p.m. Same-day reservations are not permitted, the website said.

Annual pass holders will also be required to reserve spots, but will have the parking fee waived.

Overnight campers and paid boat storage users are not required to have a reservation.

Day-use reservations are per vehicle, and individuals can make up to five reservations per person.

Additionally, leaving the park and returning on the same day is prohibited for day-use reservation holders to prevent “shuttling people” who lack reservations, the website said.

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The phenomenon, which was reported across a wide area stretching from Gainesville to Leesburg and beyond, brought dozens of inquiries to the NWS Sterling forecast office this weekend.

The loud clap of thunder was the result of a lightning strike that occurred in southern Frederick County, Maryland, just before 10:50 p.m. Friday, the weather services said in a social media post.

“The resultant thunder shook the windows at our office here in Sterling near Dulles Airport, as well,” forecasters wrote.

The exceptional noise was attributed to two main factors: the nature of the lightning and a natural “echo chamber” effect.

First, the strike was identified as a positive cloud-to-ground lightning strike. This type of strike originates from the top of a thunderstorm rather than the base and carries “a lot more power than usual,” the NWS said.

Second, a temperature inversion was present near the ground. Typically, air cools with height, but this inversion meant air a few hundred to a couple thousand feet above the ground was actually warmer than the air at the surface.

“While not rare (they actually happen most nights), that inversion creates a barrier that sound ‘bounces’ off of, so it acts like an echo chamber – making an already powerful and loud strike seem even louder!” the NWS wrote.

For more information on the science behind the sound of thunder, go to .

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LaCroix, a longtime Woodbridge resident and local businesswoman, prevailed with a plurality of the just under 1,700 votes – edging Democratic nominee Muhammed Sufiyan “Sef” Casim by around 250 votes, 43.7% to 37.1%.

Write-in candidates received 19.2% with approximately 745 votes.

Pam Montgomery, former chief of staff to Del. Margaret Franklin, the outgoing Woodbridge supervisor and current Virginia House of Delegates representative for the 23rd District, ran a write-in campaign following the resurfacing of Casim’s derogatory online remarks toward the African American community from 2012-2015.

Casim’s social media controversy led to a splintering of local Democrats between him and Montgomery, stirring uncertainty as to the viability of their respective candidacies and the lack of a clear majority in the typically left-leaning district.

According to Thalia Simpson, a spokeswoman for the Prince William County Office of Elections, exact write-in tallies will be revealed on Friday along with the remainder of results certification.

LaCroix, who did not face a GOP primary opponent last month, had previously run for the seat, losing the 2023 Woodbridge District race to Franklin – with the Democrat claiming nearly 63% of the vote.

LaCroix listed public safety, education and “smart growth” as her top campaign priorities.

“Woodbridge has been growing without a plan, and overcrowded schools and constant traffic jams are making life harder for everyone,” she said on her website. “I will fight for Smart Growth that fixes our roads and supports our schools before we add more large developments. Let’s protect our green spaces and keep our neighborhoods great places to live.”

The supervisor-elect will join Tom Gordy of the Brentsville District and Yesli Vega of the Coles District as the board’s Republican supervisors.

Casim defeated Montgomery in the Feb. 7 Democratic primary, with Casim receiving 291 votes to Montgomery’s 258.

Casim also ran against Franklin in the Dec. 16 Democratic primary for the Virginia House of Delegates 23rd seat. Montgomery won 225 votes to 109.

Franklin replaced Del. Candi Mundon King in a special election after the latter was appointed secretary of the commonwealth under Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

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The Haymarket resident was named to the United States team after Liu withdrew from the world championships, which are scheduled to run March 24-29 in Prague.

Liu won the gold medal last month at the Milan Cortina Games.

Everhardt got this chance after she was listed as the second alternate following her fifth place performance at the U.S. Senior Nationals in January.

Bradie Tennell, who finished fourth at Senior Nationals, was the first alternate, but declined to compete at the world championships.

Everhardt had medaled her first two trips to nationals, placing fourth in 2024 and third in 2025. The top four finishers medal.

At senior nationals, Amber Glenn became the first U.S. woman to win three consecutive gold medals since Michelle Kwan, who won eight straight from 1998-2005.

Liu was second and Isabeau Levito third. Glenn finished with a total of 233.55 points between the two programs. Liu was second with 228.91, Levito third with 224.45, Bradie Tennell fourth with 211.48 and Everhardt fifth with 209.47.

Liu is the reigning world champion. Levito was the 2023 U.S. champion and Tennell was a 2018 Olympian.

Glenn, Liu and Levito secured the three spots available on the U.S. Olympic Team, which was officially announced Jan. 11.

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Bill Brown answered emphatically.

“I’m done,” the Virginia High School Hall of Fame member said.

After 281 career victories and nearly 50 years of coaching high school football both as an assistant and a head coach at a combined five different high schools between Prince William and Stafford counties, Brown decided it was time to call it quits once his son resigned his position to pursue an athletic director’s job.

Since starting out as an assistant at his alma mater (Gar-Field) in the early 1970s, Brown’s only break from football came from 2002-2006 when he spent four years in administration, first as an assistant principal and then a principal at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge.

“I’ve got plenty to do,” Brown said. “I play a lot of golf. I’ve got a garden and a workshop and I have a wife.”

Although he was not the head coach the last eight seasons at Colonial Forge, Brown still had responsibilities that required his attention.

“Even as an assistant, you help with the weight room and 7 on 7,” Brown said. “It’s not hard, but it’s time consuming. It’s all about development and you have to plan around that.”

This fall, Brown and his wife Gail are considering taking a trip somewhere, something that was impossible to do while he was coaching.

“This kind of frees me up,” Brown said.

Brown, who turns 75 this August, took a year-by-year approach to returning as an assistant at Colonial Forge with an eye on a self-imposed deadline. Years ago, Brown told himself that he would not coach past the age of 75. He reached that goal once John made his decision.

The two have coached together since their time at Hylton. Bill then helped John in John’s final season as Freedom-Woodbridge’s head coach before taking the Colonial Forge head coaching job in 2007. Bill led the Eagles for 11 seasons, going 108-36 in that time before John took over in 2018.

Bill also was the head coach at Potomac and Hylton, where he started both programs. In his 20 seasons coaching at the two schools, he posted a combined 173-60-1 record with five total state final appearances (two with Potomac, three with Hylton), which included back-to-back Group AAA Division 6 titles at Hylton in 1998 and 1999.

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On Feb. 12, students at Woodbridge and Forest Park high schools and Gainesville Middle School conducted protest walkouts, with hundreds of Woodbridge students leaving campus and flooding Old Bridge Road and a nearby shopping center.

As of Wednesday, 303 Woodbridge students had received suspensions, with more anticipated, Prince William County schools spokesperson Diana Gulotta said. No suspensions were given for students at Forest Park or Gainesville Middle, who stayed on campus, she said.

Makhi L. Phillips, a senior and PWCS Student Senator representing Unity Reed Students Against Fascism, said protest organizers were disappointed to hear about students leaving campus at Woodbridge.

Phillips, part of a group organizing this Friday’s effort, said such actions “harm the credibility of student advocacy and create negative publicity that hurts student movements.”

Students at nine county schools are expected to participate in anti-ICE walkouts Friday, including Unity Reed, Gar-Field, Woodbridge, Osbourn Park, Hylton, Colgan, Battlefield, Patriot and Independence Nontraditional School.

“We are the student body of PWCS, tired of violence and unlawful actions committed daily by ICE against our neighbors and loved ones,” organizers said on their Instagram page @pwcs_iceout.

Philips said one catalyst for Friday’s countywide protest was seeing social media reports of recent ICE activity on Liberia Avenue in Manassas.

“Witnessing evil so close to home made the issue immediate,” Phillips told InsideNoVa. “For many of us, it was a call to action.” Students at Unity Reed have also shared personal experiences with classmates, Phillips said, including one student whose father was reportedly deported to El Salvador.

Phillips is urging all students planning to participate in walkouts to “remain on campus, prioritize safety, bring peaceful signage, respect staff members and school resource officers.”

The disciplinary action at Woodbridge High School was taken for leaving school grounds, Gulotta said, but leaving class to protest peacefully can result in an unexcused absence for missing instructional time.

“Of course, if there is a violation of the Code of Behavior (fighting, etc.) during that walkout, additional discipline is required,” she said in an email.

Principals are sending notes to families in advance of the walkouts, urging them to talk with their students about whether they plan to participate and “ensure they fully understand the expectations and potential consequences of such actions.”

Regarding the unexcused absences, Phillips said Unity Reed students “will not receive an absence for participating” because they worked closely with school administrators.

“This is a protest, and historically, standing up for one’s beliefs can involve consequences,” Phillips said. “Students should make informed decisions and understand their school’s policies before participating.”

The event is entirely student planned and led, and is not school-sponsored, according to both the school division and Phillips.

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Speaking during Monday’s City Council meeting, Davis-Younger underscored her belief in term limits and, in this case, “self-imposed term limits.”

“Term limits are not a concession of weakness or being a quitter,” the mayor said. “They are of faith – faith that the people coming behind us are ready. The institutions we serve are bigger than the individuals who serve them.”

Elaborating in a statement to InsideNoVa, Davis-Younger said, “When I initially said I would run, I was committed to two terms, which is eight years. I said in the beginning that I would serve eight years and just happened to get split between council and mayor. So it’s always been there that I would serve eight years.”

Davis-Younger, a Democrat and Manassas native, was first elected to the mayor’s seat in 2020 after being elected to council in 2018. She was the first Black woman elected to a seat on council as well as to the mayorship. She’s also the city’s first Democratic mayor.

She won reelection in 2024 over Republican Xiao-Yin “Tang” Byrom by nearly 15 percentage points, or over 2,100 votes out of 15,424 cast.

Manassas’ mayor only votes in the case of a tie among the six-member City Council.

In her private work, Davis-Younger owns and operates The1ForHR, LLC, a human resources consulting firm in Manassas.

Speaking of her legacy, the mayor said she believes she “has raised the visibility of this city to levels that it had never seen.”

“That’s always been my intention: to make sure Manassas had a seat at the table everywhere I went, and that’s what I set out to do, and I believe I accomplished that,” she said. “Every budget we balanced, every difficult decision, conversation we had the courage to hold in public rather than avoid in private. That was a collective effort, and collective effort does not end when one person leaves the room. It will be sustained by the next generation of leaders.”

During Davis-Younger’s tenure, the city embarked on several high-dollar economic redevelopment projects, including the purchase and redevelopment of the Olde Towne Inn site and the Manassas Shopping Center, for $5.75 million and roughly $17 million, respectively. The city-owned Manassas Regional Airport is also in the process of transforming into a commercial outfit, with flights expected to begin next year.

Upon a mayoral vacancy, the City Council would have to petition the Circuit Court for a special election to fill the remainder of her term, which runs through 2028. The council could also appoint someone to serve as a mayor until a special election is called.

Colleagues surprised

The mayor’s announcement came as a surprise to her City Council colleagues.

“It’s sad and a big loss,” Councilmember Sonia Vasquez Luna told InsideNoVa. “I’m still trying to understand and digest it, but I know how the politics in the city are and how hard it is to be able to serve, you know, and sometimes politics are put before the person.”

Vasquez Luna said while she respects the decision, the departure leaves uncertainty about the city’s direction moving forward.

“I understand, and I’m happy for her because she has reached all the goals that she wanted. But when it comes to the future and the leadership, it’s a difficult moment,” she said.

Councilmember Tom Osina said his “initial reaction … was most definitely a surprise that she would be stepping down at the end of 2026.”

“She’s been the mayor ever since I’ve been on council,” Osina said. “She’s been my mayor.”

He praised the work she’s done at the city’s helm.

“She … highlighted the variety of different things that may not have always gotten the attention that other things get in our city,” he said. “We are a pretty diverse city … and as our mayor, she certainly did a lot of those sorts of things.”

Osina said he is optimistic about the next chapter.

“Our city is blessed with many people who could serve as mayor,” he said. “December is a long time away and there’s a lot of other things going on in the city. It’s important for this council … to be focused on what we have to do between now and then.”

Davis-Younger did not discuss future political runs, and she said she intends to remain a Manassas resident.

“Between now and Dec. 31, I will govern with the same urgency I brought to my first day,” she said. “There are commitments to honor, projects to complete, and a city that deserves a leader who is fully present until the last day of service. I do not intend to coast.”

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Woodbridge Area elementary, set to open in the 2026-27 school year, will have a program capacity of roughly 630 students, while the new Potomac Shores elementary, set to open the following year, will accommodate just over 1,000 students.

“Woodbridge Area” and “Potomac Shores” are preliminary names for the elementary schools. Official names have yet to be determined.

The approved redistricting plan is a modified version of the division’s Scenario 6, the plan originally recommended by the school system.

Under the plan, all of the affected schools will be within capacity compliance over the next several years, with no school exceeding 105% and other schools moving away from being less than 80% utilized.

The approved plan is largely the same as Scenario 6, with two key changes, requested by Potomac District School Board Member Justin Wilk, whose district is most heavily impacted by the redistricting.

Specifically, Wilk requested students in the “Graham Park corridor” remain at their current school, which is Dumfries Elementary, and that students from the Forest Park area be moved to Covington-Harper Elementary School.

“I believe these changes will maintain attendance area contiguity to the greatest extent possible while balancing capacity utilization across the schools impacted,” Wilk said during a January board meeting when he requested those changes.

Wilk acknowledged last week the redistricting process has been difficult and not every community member will get what they want.

“This is not an easy process. Change is difficult in many ways and, in the end, there are going to be people who are not happy with these maps,” Wilk said. “There is no possible way to keep every family within their current and existing school boundaries.”

The redistricting plan maintains current boundaries for student walkers wherever possible, school system officials said, and students who attend Kilby Elementary will progress to one middle school — Fred Lynn — rather than two.

Students at Pattie Elementary School will progress to only one high school, Forest Park, and are no longer split between two middle schools. Vaughan Elementary School is reduced from three geographic progressions to two.

The plan was approved with specific parameters for implementation, including:

• Rising fifth-grade students will not be reassigned. All rising fifth graders residing in areas affected by the approved adjustments may remain at their currently-assigned elementary school for their fifth grade year.
• The attendance area for the Woodbridge Area Elementary School will take effect beginning in the 2026-27 school year.
• All remaining elementary school attendance area adjustments, including the establishment of the new Potomac Shores Elementary School attendance area, will take effect beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
• Students in grades other than rising fifth graders who reside in areas reassigned effective in the 2027-28 school year will attend the school to which they are newly-assigned beginning in that school year.

Sesalle McDaniel, president of the Pattie Elementary School parent-teacher organization, thanked Wilk Feb. 4 for the changes and for listening to the communities he represents.

The alternative proposal that was approved, she said, “directly addresses concerns our Forest Park families raised about the original Scenario 6.”

“It maintains walkability for established neighborhoods, preserves parent involvement and investment and was responsive to the majority of feedback when feasible,” McDaniel said of the plan. “It keeps more students at their current schools without cascading shifts from school to school to school.”

While a number of parents spoke in support of the approved plan, several criticized the overall process.

Megan Feaman, a parent at Pattie Elementary, said the process at times “felt rushed, lacked meaningful community engagement and created confusion that undermined transparency and trust.”

Ultimately though, Feaman said she supported the passage of the alternative plan.

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