June 27, 2018 | Serving Haymarket, Gainesville and Western Prince William County | Vol. 17, No. 26 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢
Vote for your favorite local businesses in our first Readers’ Choice Awards, Page 14
Youth For Tomorrow pledges to reunite kids with families CEO Gary Jones expects most immigrant children at the Bristow facility to be released to relatives within two weeks
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, right, met Friday, June 22, with migrant children separated from their parents at the U.S. border who are now being housed at Youth For Tomorrow in Bristow. Above, Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner, left, meet with immigrant advocates in Arlington Thursday, June 21, to discuss families recently separated by government officials at the U.S. border.
By Jill Palermo and Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writers
Youth For Tomorrow’s Chief Executive Officer Gary L. Jones said Monday he expects most of the 15 migrant children recently brought to their Bristow facility after being separated from parents or relatives at the U.S. border will be reunited with their families within two weeks. The nonprofit, launched by former Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs in 1986, is housing 15 immigrant children between the ages of 10 and 17 who were forcibly sepa-
rated since April from their families at the border by U.S. government officials as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” for those entering the country at unauthorized crossing points. Youth For Tomorrow has been in contact with 14 of the 15 families involved. Jones said he anticipates all
the children will be returned to their families in about two weeks. “We will reunite them with their families,” he said. Most of the adults who traveled to the U.S. with the children have been released from government custody but not deported from the U.S., Jones said.
The Prince William/Gainesville Times has not been able to independently verify that the reunifications are pending. Located on Linton Hall Road, Youth For Tomorrow has been caring for immigrant teens for six years under a federal contract. But until recently, those were teens who arrived at the border on their own, without a parent or guardian. The organization also works to reunite children in those situations with family members. “That’s what we do here is reunite children with their families,” Jones said. Senator confirms YFT housing kids separated from parents. Until Friday it had been unclear if Youth For Tomorrow was housing children separated from their families. A day before, images of the faSee MIGRANTS, Page 4
Remembering Christopher In the wake of stepson’s death, grieving stepdad finds solace in encouraging other teens By Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writer
Joel Martinez wants to turn a bad decision into a lesson on good decisions that he hopes to share with other families. The bad decision was that of his stepson, Douglas Christopher Portillo, 15, who died in a car crash June 8 in Lorton. Christopher was one of five Prince William County boys who were in a Nissan Maxima that hit a tree and flipped on Furnace Road on the last day of school. See PORTILLO, Page 4
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Douglas Christopher Portillo, known to his friends and family as Christopher, with his stepdad, Joel Martinez.
A CAVALCADE OF STARS: Battlefield’s Kelsey Brown was among the large list of Prince William County athletes making all-state teams. Sports, Page 17 INSIDE Calendar.............................................13 Classifieds...........................................21 PWC Libraries.....................................20 News....................................................3
Obituaries...........................................11 Opinion...............................................12 Puzzle Page........................................16 Real Estate..........................................19 Sports.................................................17
Members of Battlefield High School’s choir are set to perform with rock band Foreigner. Page 13
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Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | June 27, 2018
New central police station dedicated to former chief During a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new central district police station, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, told the story of the first time he and retired Prince William Police Chief Charlie T. Deane toured the new station. Stewart said he asked Deane how he liked the facility, and Deane said it was a “nice building.” Stewart said he told Deane that was a good thing. “I said, ‘Well good. I’m glad you like it because it’s going to get named after you.’” Stewart went on to say it was fitting that Deane, who served the county for 42 years, including 24 years as chief, to have the 54,200-square-foot
PHOTO COURTESY PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY
Ceremony opens new police station named for former police chief Charlie Deane station bear his name. “He led this community through some very, very tough times. Without Chief Deane, we would not have the police department we have today. We would not have the level of public safety we have today. We would not have this reputation for integrity and honesty,” Stewart said. “On behalf of the board of county supervisors and the entire Prince William County community, congratulations Chief Deane. Job well done, and this is very much deserved.” Supervisor Ruth Anderson, R-Occoquan, said she and her con-
stituents were glad that the station is in their district. “The Occoquan District is very proud to have this new central district police station in the Occoquan District, and we are so proud to have it named after you Chief Deane,” Anderson said. Supervisor John D. Jenkins, D-Neabsco, said it was “exciting” to see the “much-needed central police station come to life.” “It brings our police officers closer to the people that they proudly serve every day. How fitting it is that the station has been named af-
ter Chief Charlie Deane, an original member of ... the police force, who so honorably served our community for 42 years,” said Jenkins. Police Chief Barry Barnard told Deane during the ceremony the station was named after him because of his guidance over the years. “We really named the station after Chief Deane, the board did, and the community did, because of… your outstanding leadership and what you taught us,” Barnard said. Barnard also thanked the community and the board for the station. “I want to thank the community for the Charlie T. Deane Police Station. The community made this happen... It’s so important to have the support of the community,” he said. Deane spoke last at the ceremony and thanked his family, as well as the board. “It’s very humbling for me to have served in this department and then to have this named some years later. I’m honored to have served here, and I’m very honored to have this lasting legacy.” The new station is at 5036 Davis Ford Road and will serve the mid-county, Lake Ridge, Woodbridge and Dale City areas. – Prince William County
Two men arrested on sexual abuse charges relating to 11- and 12-year-old girls More Information on page 9
Two men were arrested by Prince William police Thursday on charges relating to rape, abduction and the production of child pornography in
two separate incidents involving 11and 12-year-old girls. According to a Prince William County police, the first investigation was launched Wednesday, June 20, when detectives from the special victims unit received a report of a rape in Woodbridge. The investigation revealed the victim, 12-year-old girl, was raped by a family member on more than one occasion in April and June 2018, a police press release said. Jose Hector Gonzalez Ortiz, 35, of Woodbridge, was arrested Thursday, June 21, and charged with two counts of rape and one count of abduction with intent to defile. He is being led without bond at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, the press release said. Detectives from the same unit began a separate investigation June
6 into a report of sexual assault at a residence in the Manassas area of Prince William County. That investigation revealed that the victim, an 11-year-old girl, was inappropriately filmed by the accused, an acquaintance, on more than one occasion between November 2016 and June 2018, the police press release said. On one occasion, the accused allegedly sexually assaulted the victim, the press release said. Esteban Carrillo Zapeta, 32, of no fixed address, was located in Hyattsville, Maryland, and charged June 21 with aggravated sexual battery, unlawful filming and production of child pornography in connection with the investigation. Zapeta will remain in Maryland custody until he is extradited back to Virginia, the press release said.
Community Editor Anita Sherman, 540.351.1635 asherman@fauquier.com Staff Writers ISSN 1050-7655, USPS 188280 Amanda Heincer, 540-878-2418 Published every Wednesday by aheincer@fauquier.com Piedmont Media LLC James Ivancic, 540-878-2414 jivancic@fauquier.com How to reach us Leland Schwartz, 540-351-0488 ADDRESS: lschwartz@fauquier.com 41 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 Jonathan Hunley PHONE: 540-347-4222 jhunley@fauquier.com FAX: 540-349-8676 HOURS: 8 a.m. 5 p.m. weekdays, Sports Editor 24-hour answering service Peter Brewington, 540-351-1169 pbrewington@fauquier.com Publisher Catherine M. Nelson, Sports Staff Writer 540-300-4780 Jeff Malmgren, 540-874-2250 cnelson@fauquier.com jmalmgren@fauquier.com NEWSROOM ADVERTISING Editor in Chief Ad Manager Chris Six, 540-212-6331 Kathy Mills Godfrey 540-351-1162 csix@fauquier.com kgodfrey@fauquier.com Managing Editor Classified Sales Consulatants Jill Palermo,540-351-0431 Jeanne Cobert, 540-878-2491 jpalermo@fauquier.com jcobert@fauquier.com Associate Editor Evelyn Cobert, 540-878-2492 John Toler, 540-351-0487 jtoler@fauquier.com ecobert@fauquier.com
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Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | June 27, 2018
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Andrea Bailey launches 2019 run for Prince William supervisor Longtime Potomac District Supervisor Maureen Caddigan won’t seek re-election
Looking ahead to 2019
Andrea Bailey, of Dumfries, is the first to declare her candidacy for the Prince William Board of Supervisors, which will be on the ballot in November 2019. All eight seats on the county board will be up for election next year along with all eight seats on the Prince William County School Board. Also on the 2019 ballot will be all 100 members of the Virginia House of Delegates and all 40 members of the Virginia State Senate.
By Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writer
The election is more than a year away, but businesswoman and community advocate Andrea Bailey has announced she’s running for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in 2019. Bailey, a Democrat, is again vying for the Potomac District supervisor’s seat, a post she unsuccessfully sought in 2015. She officially launched her campaign with an event Sunday, June 24. If elected, she would be the first African American to serve on the Prince William Board of Supervisors. Whom she might face in the election, however, is unclear. Republican Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, who defeated Bailey in 2015 with 53 percent of the vote, isn’t planning to run for re-election, said Bill Card, who chairs the Prince William County Republican Committee. Caddigan, who was first elected in 1991 after serving on the Prince
PHOTO COURTESY
Andrea Bailey with Prince William County Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, at her campaign kickoff Sunday, June 24. William County School Board, couldn’t be reached to comment. Card said no other Republicans have announced candidacies for the Potomac District, but he’s confident a hopeful will step forward before the election. “We’ll run somebody,” he said. Bailey, meanwhile, said she looks at this campaign as the continuation of what she started in her first run. “I didn’t finish the race,” was how she summed it up. Bailey said she wants to both give
back and be a catalyst for the community to move forward. “We must constantly be driven to enhance where we live,” she said. Bailey wants to make sure the public has a good relationship with public safety professionals, saying that the public shouldn’t be afraid of law-enforcers, and the authorities shouldn’t be afraid to do their jobs. “There’s a relationship that needs to be built there,” she said. Bailey said she’d also like to see more mental health services available in the community, and she wants to ensure that teachers are paid well. On another issue, transportation, she said that Metrorail needs to be brought to Prince William, and that the PRTC bus service enhanced.
And she said her experience in business means she could help boost economic development in the county. Bailey has owned an event-planning business since 2003 and spent two decades working in sales and human resources for Xerox and USA Today. Bailey first lived in Prince William in 1976, when her husband, Cozy Bailey, a retired U.S. Marine colonel, was stationed at Quantico. Cozy Bailey is now president of the Prince William County NAACP. Andrea Bailey is a native of St. Louis and earned a bachelor’s degree in media studies from Webster University and a master’s degree in human resources management from National Louis University. She and her husband moved from Fairfax County to near Dumfries after he retired from the Marine Corps in part to live closer to their church, First Mount Zion Baptist on Va. 234, where Cozy Bailey is an associate minister. The Baileys have an adult son, Cozy Jr., a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the University of Virginia, and Andrea Bailey is the caregiver for her mother, Essie L. Pullman. Reach Jonathan Hunley at jhunley@fauquier.com
Principi: Neabsco Creek dredging could begin in September By Jonathan Hunley Times Staff Writer
Neabsco Creek could be dredged by this fall, and Prince William County may be able to use some state money to pay part of the bill. The creek needs to be dredged because the U.S. Coast Guard recently deemed it too shallow to safely navigate by motorized watercraft. In March, the Coast Guard removed the two navigational buoys they usually drop at the mouth of the creek at this time of year. Instead, after a crew measured the waterway’s depth to be less than 4 feet, officials posted white signs affixed to wood pilings that say: “Danger – Shoal.” The channel must be 5 feet deep to be considered safe for boat travel, so the move has been likened to closing the creek, which affects 12 businesses and about 50 jobs. The potential danger to recreational boaters is that they can be left stranded if their boats run aground, the Coast Guard has said. Or, in
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The U.S. Coast Guard posted warning signs at the mouth of Neabsco Creek after a crew measured its depth to be less than 4 feet, which is considered too shallow to safely navigate. cases where a vessel is traveling at a high speed, boaters can be ejected and suffer injuries or be killed. But the danger to the three marinas, and a fourth that plans to open,
is financial, as boaters may not want to visit the businesses at the creek if they perceive it’s unsafe to do so. So Supervisor Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge, and a coalition of
community members and federal, state and local officials have been working on the issue. “It’s a great example of the community coming together,” Principi said. He said the plan is to have dredging equipment in the water by September, and that the job will take about six weeks. The cost for the project will be about $1 million, and the Prince William Board of Supervisors agreed recently to provide $750,000. The county is going to apply for state funds to pay the rest, Principi said. The recently approved two-year state budget included $2.7 million for dredging waterways. There’s also a possibility that the county can get some federal funds to help with the dredging cost. “We’re moving forward,” Principi said. “It’s where we need to be.” The last time Neabsco Creek was dredged was 1998, he said, and historical records show that it wasn’t dredged for 100 years before that. Reach Jonathan Hunley at jhunley@fauquier.com.
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