SPORTS: Resurgent Manassas Park High swim team enjoying solid season. PAGE 13.
February 2, 2023 | Vol. 22, No. 5 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Weapons-detection systems mulled for Prince William middle, high schools By Jill Palermo
“It’s scary to know that we had two guns in our schools. I think what’s even more scary is we don’t know how many guns are actually in our schools.”
Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY ROGER SNYDER
The proposed Devlin Technology Park, a 270-acre area in Bristow that could hold up to 14 data centers if the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approves a rezoning Feb. 7. The area is next to the “Hunter property,” which has already been rezoned for data centers.
Data center battle shifts to Bristow
Residents vow to fight 14 data centers slated for Devlin, Linton Hall roads By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
The battle over new data centers in western Prince William County has migrated from the Manassas National Battlefield Park to Bristow, where housing developer Stanley Martin is seeking to rezone 270 acres near Devlin and Linton Hall roads for up to 14 data centers. The proposed “Devlin Technology Park” has become the latest flashpoint in an ongoing war between Prince William County homeowners and landowners trying to sell their properties for lucrative data center deals. The project is near the communities of Amberleigh Station, Silver Leaf Estates, Lanier Farms, Sheffield Manor, Crossman’s Creek and Victory Lakes, as well as Chris Yung Elementary School. The rezoning won a recommendation from the Prince William County Planning Commission in July and was initially slated to go before the board of county supervisors last September. But Stanley Martin pulled the rezoning from the
“It’s rage and desperation. We have no hope. We have no options. We’ve lost hope in our county supervisors to protect us.” STEVEN PLEICKHARDT, PRESIDENT OF THE AMBERLEIGH STATION HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
board’s agenda after more than 100 area residents held protests along Devlin Road before the vote. The project will be back on the agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 7, but many residents are still opposed, as evidenced by angry comments made during three sometimes-raucous meetings hosted by Stanley Martin Vice President Truett Young last week. Young came prepared with a presentation touting benefits to the county in tax revenue and jobs. He also said Stanley Martin had been working with county officials to See BRISTOW, page 4
TOUS les JOURS bakery opens in Gainesville, page 8
The Prince William County school division is considering outfitting all 30 of its high schools and middle schools with high-tech weapons-detection systems to scan students for guns and other weapons on an everyday basis. “Evolv Express” detectors, which use both metal detectors and artificial intelligence, could be arriving at some Prince William County schools as early as next school year if the school board approves a plan that was first discussed publicly Wednesday, Jan. 25 during a joint meeting between the Prince William County School Board and Board of Supervisors. Such joint board meetings, which generally occur only once a year, are usually called to review budgets and talk about significant
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY POLICE CHIEF PETER NEWSHAM
school division needs, which in past years have included teacher salaries, bolstering school counseling staff or dealing with overcrowded classes and the need to reduce portable classroom trailers. See WEAPONS, page 2
Fauquier man to serve life sentence for killing his mom, 6-year-old brother By Coy Ferrell
Times Staff Writer
Nearly three years after he murdered his mother and 6-year-old brother, Levi Norwood was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison plus 40 years for the Feb. 14, 2020, double homicide in Fauquier County. During the Jan. 31 sentencing hearing, a video of Norwood’s 2020 confession to the killings was played for the first time. In it, Norwood told police he intended to kill both of his parents because they wouldn’t let him spend time with a girl he liked. Norwood, 20, will be eligible for parole in 20 years because he was 17 at the time of the fatal shootings, which took place at his family’s home in Midland, Virginia. Norwood was student at Liberty High School at the time of the murders. He pleaded guilty in August to fatally shooting his mother, Jennifer Norwood, 34, and brother, Wyatt Norwood, 6. He also admitted to trying to kill his father, Joshua Norwood, 37, but the shots intended for his father missed. Directly after the
shootings, Levi Norwood stole a car from a nearby house and fled to North Carolina, where he was found and taken Levi Norwood into custody. Joshua Norwood killed himself two months later. Circuit Judge James Fisher announced the sentence at the conclusion of a 1 ½ hour hearing during which prosecutors played for the court a video recorded in a Durham, North Carolina interrogation room after Levi Norwood was arrested. Norwood did not take the stand Tuesday and has never testified in open court since his arrest.
Post-arrest confession
In the video, Norwood is alone in the small room, handcuffed and sitting in a chair. After about 20 minutes of silence, he sees the security See NORWOOD, page 2
UPCOMING EVENTS: Open house at the Barnes House near Montclair Library this Saturday, Feb. 4, page 10
88 DULLES, VA