Happy 4th:The Gainesville Times office will be closed Wednesday.
July 4, 2018 | Serving Haymarket, Gainesville and Western Prince William County | Vol. 17, No. 27 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢
Vote for your favorite local businesses in our first Readers’ Choice Awards, Page 12-13
P-Nats eye move to Fredericksburg
Prince William supervisors ‘disappointed’ but not surprised By Jonathan Hunley and Jill Palermo Times Staff Writers
News this week that the Potomac Nationals Minor League baseball team is considering a move to Fredericksburg did not come as a surprise to Prince William County officials, most of whom said they already knew such talks were in the works. Still, the team’s June 26 announcement that P-Nats’ owner Art Silber and his adult children could soon enter into exclusive negotiations for a $35 million stadium outside the sprawling Central Park shopping center was “disappointing,” several Prince William supervisors said, considering the team has called
Woodbridge home for more than three decades. “I am really sad to see them leave,” said Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of Supervisors and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. He called the team “part of the fabric of the community.” Stewart, R-at large, helped shepherd a plan to construct a new county-owned stadium for the team at Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center in Woodbridge until those talks collapsed in July 2017 in the wake of failed effort to put the proposal to voters in a ballot referendum. The referendum idea, pushed by supervisors not in favor of a county-owned stadium, died in
COURTESY The Potomac Nationals released this rendering of its proposed new stadium in Fredericksburg. June 2017 in a 4-to-4 vote. But it nonetheless demonstrated a lack of five votes needed to move ahead with plans for the county-owned stadium.
See P-NATS, page 5
Tiny homes in Prince William? It’s complicated By Karen Chaffraix Contributing Writer
Whether it’s covered wagon trains, tents or tiny houses — micro-living is making a comeback around the country. That trend was evident locally last month, when the Prince William County Fairgrounds teemed with folks interested in miniature abodes, despite the 100-degree bake. “Oh, I’m just curious,” said Shirley Stewart, 79, from under a big hat. She drove up with a friend from Fredericksburg. “I would definitely need a bedroom on the first floor.” This was not your hippy-dippy crowd.
See TINY HOMES, page 4
PHOTO BY KAREN CHAFFRAIX Visitors enter the DC/Virginia Tiny House Festival June 17. The event was organized by the United Tiny House Association and held over three days at the Prince William County Fairgrounds. INSIDE Calendars...........................................14 Classified............................................17 Lifestyle..............................................14 Opinion.................................................6
Public Safety.........................................3 Puzzles...............................................10 Real Estate..........................................16 Sports.................................................11
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NEWS
Gainesville/Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | July 4, 2018
Warner praises Youth For Tomorrow, criticizes Trump By Jill Palermo
onto its campus, which was blocked by guards and barriers Wednesday morning.
Times Staff Writer
After stopping at Youth For Tomorrow Wednesday, Sen. Mark Warner had high praise for the Bristow nonprofit but also sharp words for the Trump Administration, which he blamed for the “horrific policy” that separated 2,000 migrant children from their families without a clear plan to reunite them. Warner (D) said that’s not the case, though, for the 15 immigrant children currently being housed at Youth For Tomorrow’s campus after being separated from family members after entering the U.S. All 15 have been in touch with parents or relatives and are in the process of being reunited with their families, Warner said. “The good news is that here, at Youth For Tomorrow, these kids are being taken care of in a clean and appropriate environment,” Warner said. “They’re getting the health care and the education they need, and the 15 children who were separated from their parents with this ill-fated policy have all been reconnected [via telephone] with a loved one.” Warner’s June 27 visit came a day after a federal judge in California ordered that children not be separated from their relatives at the border unless the adults are deemed unfit. The order also requires that children under 5 be reunited with their families
Protests from both sides
PHOTO BY DELIA ENGSTROM U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D) praised Youth For Tomorrow after visiting migrant children there Wednesday but called the government’s inability to quickly reunite migrant families “a major failing.” in no more than 14 days, and older children no more than 30 days. Warner said he remains concerned about whether federal officials can comply with that order and called the inability to do so “a major failing.”
Warner: YFT ‘one of the best in the whole nation’
Warner called the YFT campus, on Linton Hall Road, “probably one of the best such facilities in the whole nation.” He noted the facility has been
Prince William Times
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NOW THROUGH JULY 11TH Nominate your favorites. You can mail the ballots to us, drop them by our office (41 Culpeper Street, Warrenton, VA 20186) or vote online at www. PrinceWilliamTimes.com. At the end of the nomination period, the businesses and people with the most nominations will win in each of their categories. Prince William Times Readers’ Choice Awards are decided solely on your votes. We give the power to the fans. Now it’s your turn to tell us who is your choice in Fauquier County.
We will announce the winners in each category in our paper and online on August 1st.
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caring since 2012 for 10- through 17-year-olds who have come across the border unaccompanied by their parents. Youth For Tomorrow has “10 or 11” separate homes where the children stay, which Warner called “very nice.” The nonprofit sets aside 110 beds for immigrant children and another 50 for U.S. children who are troubled or in need of a residential care, Warner said. Warner said “90 percent” of the migrant kids are from Honduras, Guatemala and Salvador. They attend Youth For Tomorrow’s onsite school, receive medical care, have an opportunity for counseling and have access to telephones to call loved ones, Warner said. Warner said his only complaint was he could not speak with the children, which he blamed on a “heavy-handed” representative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who accompanied him on his tour. Warner said he planned to “take it up with the secretary,” presumably HHS Secretary Alex M. Azar II. Youth For Tomorrow has so far not allowed reporters or cameras
The emotional controversy underlying the immigration crisis was evident during Warner’s press conference, which took place on the sidewalk in front of Youth For Tomorrow on Linton Hall Road. Near the end of Warner’s remarks, Andrew Olson, a man who said he lives in a neighborhood across the street, approached Warner and called him a “coward” for “not telling the truth” about why migrant families are crossing into the U.S. through Mexico. Warner gestured to the man to calm down but did not stop to speak to him. Olson later told reporters his wife is an immigrant from Salvador who came to the U.S. illegally in the 1980s. He said there are “advocates” in Mexico encouraging people to cross into the U.S. with their children because of U.S. policies. Olson blamed Democrats for not being truthful about the roots of the crisis, but said he does not agree with the Trump Administration’s handling of the migrant families. “I think his administration does this; they pull the trigger before they put their assets in place,” Olson said. “Not that I disagree with the policy; I disagree with the execution.” Meanwhile another protester, who gave only her first name, began picketing in the median on Linton Hall Road. She wore a sandwich-style sign with “Free the children” and “Imprison Trump the traitor” in black marker. “I am so disturbed by this,” she shouted to reporters. “I worked for the government. I retired from the federal government. This is not the government I worked for!” “I’m not having this,” she added, turning to walk in the opposite direction. “I’m not putting up with this!” Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@fauquier.com
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
Chairman Emeritus George R. Thompson To place Classified and Employment ads: Call 540-351-1664 or fax 540-349-8676, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday — Friday or email fauquierclassifieds@fauquier. com SUBSCRIPTIONS Call 540-347-4222 Help with your subscription? Call 540-878-2413 or email CirculationFT@fauquier.com Missed your paper? Call 540-347-4222, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays Subscription: $69.68 per year within the United States. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Fauquier Times, 39 Culpeper St., Warrenton, VA 20186. Periodicals postage paid at Warrenton, Va. and at additional mailing offices
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Haymarket man charged in ‘road rage’ incident
A Haymarket man was arrested Wednesday after an alleged road rage incident in Gainesville, Prince William County police said. Police were called just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, to investigate an incident involving the brandishing of a firearm in the area of James Madison Highway and Sudley Road in Gainesville, Prince William County police said in a news release. Police said the incident “initially began as a road rage encounter” between a 34-year-old woman and a man later identified as Jason Michael Heath while both were in vehicles on James Madison Highway, near Sudley Road. At some point during that encounter, Heath “allegedly brandished a firearm at the victim,” police said in the news release. Police said Heath then “followed the victim to her residence in Haymarket” where her male friend confronted Heath and a “verbal confrontation ensued,” police said in the news release. Heath eventually left the area and the victim called police. A responding police officer located Heath driving on the 14500 block of James Madison Highway, stopped his vehicle and detained him. Police recovered a concealed handgun, a rifle and a fixed-blade knife from Heath’s vehicle, police said. Heath, 21, of Sanders Lane in Haymarket was arrested and charged with one count of brandishing a firearm and three counts of carrying a concealed weapon. He was held on a $5,000 secured bond and has a court date on Aug. 27.
Fire displaces 27 residents from Woodbridge apartment building
Twenty-seven people — including seven children — were displaced early Tuesday, June 26 as a result of a fire in their Woodbridge apartment building.
Camp with cops The Manassas City Police Departments hosted its 2018 Youth Police Camp last week for a group of rising freshman at Osbourn High School. Here, officers in the civil disturbance unit guided the teens through a mock civil disturbance scenario. COURTESY PHOTO
Prince William County firefighters reported to an apartment building in the 1200 block of Bayside Avenue at 3:39 a.m. Tuesday, June 26, to find smoke showing and people exiting the building, according to a fire department report. The fire was determined to be in the kitchen of one of the building’s dwelling units. The two-alarm fire was quickly brought under
control, the report said. The fire marshal’s office has determined the cause of the fire to be unattended cooking, the report said. The Red Cross is assisting those displaced by the incident. Two civilians were transported to a local medical facility for evaluation, the report said.
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