FREEDOM STORMS INTO STATE SEMIS: Tyquan Brown and the Eagles are two wins from the state title. Sports, Page 11
November 28, 2018 | Vol. 17, No. 48 | www.PrinceWilliamTimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
A new way to get to work?
Haymarket commuter bus begins Dec. 17 By James Ivancic Times Staff Writer
Commuters who live in western Prince William can leave the driving to someone else come Dec. 17 when a new bus begins round-trip service from Haymarket to Arlington. The “OmniRide Haymarket Express” will make four trips in the morning and four return trips in the afternoon and early evening. It will run along Interstate 66 between Haymarket and the Rosslyn Metro station. The trips will originate from the new park-and-ride lot on the northeast corner of U.S. 15 and I-66. The Monday through Friday service is meant to give workers an alternative to traveling by car. It’s the first commuter bus service from Haymarket. Omniride – part of the Potomac Rap-
pahannock Transportation Commission – runs commuter bus routes from the Cushing Road commuter lot, outside Gainesville, and from Linton Hall Road. But the service has never before extended so far west. The Heathcote Commuter Lot is one of several being built as part of the ongoing “Tranform I-66” project, a $3.7 billion public-private partnership to add toll lanes and more commuter options on I-66 outside the beltway. The OmniRide service will leave the Heathcote lot at 5:33 a.m., 6:18 a.m., 7:03 a.m. and 8:10 a.m. Return service from Rosslyn to Haymarket will be offered at 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Along the way, the bus will make stops along Heathcote Boulevard at Abberley Loop, Legend See COMMUTER, Page 4
PHOTO COURTESY VDOT
An aerial view of the new Heathcote Commuter Lot, along U.S. 15, between Interstate 66 and Heathcote Boulevard, which will be the starting point for Omniride’s new “Haymarket Express” commuter bus. The new service begins Dec. 17.
Amid bus-driver shortage, some Prince William teachers are training to get behind the wheel By Karen Chaffraix Times Staff Writer
Double-duty drivers PHOTO BY RANDY LITZINGER
Prince William County instructor/trainer/recruiter for transportation services Laura Landis instructs teachers from left, Kevin Loughery, Ryan Wicka, Shannon Parker, Yonika Powell and Sharon Harrison on how to perform the exterior bus inspection during a Saturday class held at Parkside Middle School in Manassas. INSIDE Calendar.............................................14 Classified............................................18 Lifestyle..............................................13 News....................................................3
Obituaries...........................................17 Opinion.................................................9 Puzzle Page........................................10 Real Estate..........................................16 Sports.................................................11
The entire nation is running short of school bus drivers, and when drivers are absent, students sometimes arrive late to school. In light of all this, one Prince William County school hatched a plan. While brainstorming one day about chronic student tardiness due to late school buses, which is often the result of having too few back-up bus drivers, Parkside Middle School Principal Mary Jane Boynton took a cue from Prince William County Transportation Director Shirley Posey who floated an idea: Why not offer school bus routes to teachers? They’d be assigned routes that allow them to arrive in time for the starting bell, teach all day and then transport students back home. Initially, the teachers would be on call to serve as back-up drivers. In time, the they could pick up routes paying $18.21 an hour. “We had several meetings about the driver-shortage situation,” Posey said. At one point she asked Boynton: “Why don’t you have some of your teachers drive?” Parkside Middle, located in the Manassas area of Prince William See TEACHERS, Page 4
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Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | November 28, 2018
Woodbridge woman charged with second-degree murder in husband’s death A 60-year-old Woodbridge woman was charged with second-degree murder Nov. 21 in the fatal shooting of her husband, Tyrone Timothy Drake, Rene Drake, 60, of Woodbridge, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in the fatal shooting of her husband, Tyrone Timothy Drake, 54.
54, also of Woodbridge, according to police. Officers arrived at the couple’s home, on the 3300 block of Labourn Drive, off Cardinal Drive near Interstate 95, to investigate a shooting at 8:08 p.m., Sgt. Jonathan Perok, spokesman for the Prince William County Police Department, said in a press release.
Police: Woman struck man with car during argument
Attic fire displaces 4 in Woodbridge
A Manassas woman was charged with attempted malicious wounding after, police said, she struck a man with her car during an argument. Police were called to the 7600 block of Quail Run Lane in the Manassas area at 2 p.m. on Nov. 21 to investigate a reported assault, Prince William County police said in a news release. Police said a 26-year-old Manassas man and Natalia Elisabeth-Laverne Rector, 20, were involved in an argument that escalated. During the argument, Rector struck the victim with her car before leaving the scene, police said in the news release. Minor injuries were reported. Following an investigation, Rector, of Peakwood Court in Manassas was arrested and charged with attempted malicious wounding, hit and run and destruction of property. She was held without bond and has a court date on Dec. 14.
Four people were displaced early Sunday when a fire damage damaged their Woodbridge home. Firefighters responded to the report of a house fire at 1422 Horner Road at about 1:37 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 25. The fire was extinguished within minutes, according to Rebecca Barnes, spokeswoman for the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department. The Prince William County Fire Marshal’s Office has determined the fire was caused by faulty wiring. Fire units from OWL VFD, Dale City Volunteer Fire Department and Prince William County Fire & Rescue responded to the incident, Barnes said in a news release. The Red Cross assisted the residents who were displaced by the blaze. Fire officials remind residents to have working smoke detectors in their homes. “Please regularly check your detectors.” OWL VFD Chief Jim McAllister said in the news release.
They found Rene Rachelle Drake, 60, near the front of the residence. The officers then located her husband, Tyrone Drake, who was suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Perok said. The investigation revealed the Drakes were inside their home when they became in-
“By taking a little time to change the batteries, you could be saving the lives of you and your family.”
Two charged with attempting to break into vehicles in rental car lot Two Washington, D.C. men were arrested early Sunday morning after police said they attempted to break into vehicles at a rental car lot in Woodbridge and then nearly struck a police officer with a vehicle while attempting to flee. Officers were called to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car at 14655 Jefferson Davis Highway in Woodbridge at 12:20 a.m. on Nov. 25 to investigate reports of “several people tampering with vehicles,” Prince William County police said in a news release. An Enterprise employee told police that three unknown suspects were seen on video surveillance attempting to break into vehicles, police said. When officers arrived, the suspects fled in two vehicles, “almost striking an officer and a police cruis-
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er,” police said in the news release. One of the vehicles then crashed, and police arrested the two men inside the vehicle, police said. Police determined that the suspects entered three separate buildings belonging to the business, through the front and side doors, which were damaged, police said. Carlo Tyrone General, 18, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with one count of attempted malicious wounding of law enforcement officer, one count of eluding, one count of tampering, one count of conspiracy to commit larceny, two counts of burglary and two counts of conspiracy to commit burglary. George Sidney Montgomery, 18, of Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged with one count of possession of stolen property, one count of tampering, one count of conspiracy to commit larceny, one count of possession of burglary tools, two counts of burglary and two counts of conspiracy to commit burglary. Both were held without bond and have a court date on Jan. 4.
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volved in a verbal altercation that escalated, Perok said. During the argument, a firearm was brandished and Mr. Drake was shot. Mrs. Drake was subsequently detained without incident, charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, Perok said.
Healthy Plate, Healthy Pocket
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Prince William Times | www.princewilliamtimes.com | November 28, 2018
County board won’t support the ERA Supervisors pass ‘equality’ resolution instead By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
While the Prince William Board of Supervisors say they believe in the idea of equal rights for all, they took a pass last week on a resolution declaring their support for an effort to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Virginia. The board reached their decision after midnight, Wednesday, Nov. 21, following nearly three hours of debate on a resolution proposed by Supervisor Frank Principi, one of only two Democrats on the board. Supervisor John Jenkins, D-Neabsco, missed the meeting because he is recovering from knee surgery. The resolution had two goals, Principi said: to declare the board’s support for the ERA and to urge the Virginia General Assembly ratify the proposed constitutional amendment when they return to Richmond in January. First introduced in 1971, the long-stalled amendment is now 47 years old. Proponents have launched a renewed effort to win its ratification, with Nevada approving it in 2017 and Illinois following in 2018. Virginia could become the 38th state to ratify the measure, pushing it over the threshold needed to become law. But Congress would also need to act on the amendment since time ran out in 1982 on its seven-year deadline (and three-year extension) for collecting the required state approvals. Principi, D-Woodbridge, brought the measure to the Prince William board with the encouragement of Delegates Hala Ayala, D-51st, and Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-2nd, two local state lawmakers who are among the chief sponsors of the bill to ratify the amendment along with Del. Luke Torian, D-52nd, and Sen. Scott Surovell, D-36th, whose districts also include parts of Prince William.
As debate drags on, Dumfries OKs ERA resolution without comment
The Dumfries Town Council, controlled by Democrats since the May election, also took up the matter Nov. 20 and approved it unanimously without comment, said Mayor Derrick Wood. The situation was vastly different across town in the James J. McCoart building, where more than 30 speakers urged the county board to oppose their resolution based on possible unintended consequences. Among other things, speakers said the ERA could “force abortion without limits” or lead to federally-funded abortion. Speakers also said it could do away with Women Infants and Children food benefits as well as Social Security payments for widows and require women to register for the draft. Also a concern: single-sex bathrooms, gender-separated high school and college sports teams and separate spaces in prisons and jails for men and women. “I think it will endanger my children to have to share bathrooms and locker rooms with people of the opposite sex. There is a difference,” said Barbara Norton of Montclair. About 20 people spoke in favor of the bill, saying the Supreme Court had already legalized abortion based on privacy rights; that unisex bathrooms already exist and the military has
From left: Supervisors Frank Principi, D-Woodbridge; Pete Candland, R-Gainesville, and Ruth Anderson, R-Occoquan, listen as speakers share their opinions on a board resolution to support the Equal Rights Amendment. Brought by Principi, the resolution failed to win a second. long moved away from the draft while relying on women, some of whom serve in combat roles. Others told personal stories of unequal pay and unfair treatment and noted the Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the rights of women, which is why they believe the ERA is necessary. “The issue comes down to whether the Constitution prohibits discrimination, and as you heard tonight it does not,” Ayala said. Several Democrats who have already declared their candidacies for the county board also spoke in favor of the measure, including Kenny Boddye, Aaron Edmund, Margaret Franklin and Andrea Bailey. In making his motion, Principi, too, tried to clear up what he called “confusion about the ERA.” He said his resolution says “nothing” about the legality of abortions nor the integration of prisons or bathrooms or college sports. To make such changes, “other existing laws would need to be challenged, and only our court system, the Supreme Court, could make those decisions,” he added. “Gender equality is far more than a women’s issue,” he added. “It is an issue that speaks to the very heart of who we are as a country.” But when Principi made his motion, it failed for the lack of a second.
Lawson introduces alternate resolution
Supervisor Jeanine Lawson, R-Brentsville, introduced an alternative resolution, which she said she and her staff wrote earlier in the day Tuesday in response to anticipated opposition to Principi’s measure. Her “Equality Affirmation Resolution” notes U.S. laws as well as the 5th and 14th Amendments already offer protection from discrimination and goes onto say: “All persons residing in Prince William County are afforded equal protection under the law” and “no county legislation will be passed that infringes or denies one’s constitutional rights.” Lawson then called the ERA a “ruse” and said its proponents aimed to “deceive the public.” “If abortion has nothing to do with this Equal Rights Amendment, then why is it that the pro-abortion organizations – NARAL and National Organization of Women – [are] the biggest proponents of this?” Lawson asked. “That tells me this is a ruse. If you’re gonna have an honest conversation about the ERA, let’s talk about the issues that are surrounding the ERA. They don’t want to. They want to deceive the public.” Lawson’s motion was seconded by Supervisor Ruth Anderson, R-Occoquan, who said she initially supported Principi’s motion until she researched the ERA and became convinced of its unintended consequences. “It is very chaotic, it’s confusing, and we’re not
getting clear answers about what the consequences could be,” Anderson said. Supervisor Marty Nohe, R-Coles, said last week he believed he would support Principi’s measure. But he said he changed his mind after listening to the opponents. “Of course we want equal rights. And I agree with Mr. Principi that we need the concept of equal rights encoded in our Constitution,” Nohe said. But Nohe said he is pro-life and is concerned other pro-life community members are wary of the ERA. Nohe said he felt it “inappropriate” to vote without a fuller understanding of those issues. Nohe has announced he’ll run for board chairman in 2019 as a Republican. Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, R-Potomac, called the amendment “very vague” and said she also could not vote for “anything to do with not being pro-life.” Caddigan also said she felt the ERA an inappropriate issue to come before the county board. “You know, we do land-use,” she said. “ We have delegates and state senators and this is their job to do. I don’t know why we have been brought into it.” Supervisor Peter Candland, R-Gainesville, similarly said he did not feel the board is “equipped” to weigh in on such issues and noted there was little consensus among the community. “You’ve got one side that’s concentrating on the possible positives, and then you’ve got one side that’s concentrating on the possible negatives,” Candland said. “This whole ratification process is about consensus ... and what this whole process tells me is there isn’t any consensus on this issue.”
Stewart: ‘What does this mean? No one knows.’
Board Chairman Corey Stewart, R-At Large, was the last to speak before the vote. He said no one yet knows what would happen if the ERA were ratified because it has not been challenged by the courts. “What does that mean? No one knows. There’s not a legal scholar in this country that knows what [the ERA] means because it hasn’t been decided yet. There’s no body of federal case law around this amendment because this amendment is not part of the Constitution,” Stewart said. “The problem, of course, is that when the law is vague, the judges make the law. And we don’t know what they’re going to say.” Lawson’s resolution passed on a 5-to-2 vote with Principi and Nohe abstaining. In an interview after the vote, Principi called Lawson’s resolution “a pathetic example of a last-minute political reaction to the issue of our time.” “Republicans wrongly made it about abortion rather than standing in support of equal rights for all,” he said. “It’s politics at its worst – cowering to dogma rather than standing up for what our country is truly about.” Ayala said she understood early in the evening the measure would not pass. She called the opponents’ concerns “standard status-quo talking points” pushed by conservative organizations long opposed the ERA. Still, Ayala said she and the other delegates would bring the ERA to the floor of the General Assembly where they believe it has the votes to pass. Republicans maintain control of the state legislature by two seats in both houses. Ayala said the supervisors’ vote should inform Prince William voters ahead of the 2019 local elections. “I agree with the people who said tonight that November is coming and we are watching,” she said. Reach Jill Palermo at jpalermo@fauquier.com
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