SPORTS: All-Cardinal District football team announced, Patriot advances to region final, Page 17.
April 15, 2021 | Vol. 20, No. 15 | 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.
See PrinceWilliamTimes.com for coronavirus updates
County to receive $92M from American Rescue Plan By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
PHOTO BY CHER MUZYK
Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth at her desk
Too many cases, not enough prosecutors
Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth says her office needs a big boost in funding, staff to keep up By Cher Muzyk
Contributing Writer
Every Monday morning, Anthony Kostelecky, chief of staff to Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth, can be found hurriedly reading case files as he prepares to represent the commonwealth in the morning’s arraignments and bond hearings. On March 29, Kostelecky had 22 files waiting on his desk involving people charged with crimes ranging from misdemeanor trespass (one at the Quality Inn and another at Neabsco Regional Park) to murder in the second degree. In between was a cornucopia of felony and misdemeanor offenses; most defendants faced multiple charges. Kostelecky carried his files down the hall from his office to Courtroom 2 of Prince William’s general district court 10 minutes early. The court-
room was already abuzz as the attorneys, pretrial workers and court staff readied for the morning’s hearings. Kristina Robinson, Ashworth’s chief deputy attorney, was there to assist with the murder case. The 15 people crowded in the small courtroom hushed as Judge Turkessa Bynum Rollins took the bench at precisely 9:30 a.m. Defendants, appearing via video from the Prince William County Adult Detention Center, wore bright orange jumpsuits, white socks, navy laceless sneakers and face masks. Diverse as their charges, they included a nonverbal man in a wheelchair, a father of seven who threatened to fire his public defender when he was denied bond, and a confused young woman whose mother appeared in the courtroom in a show of support. See PROSECUTORS, page 7 INSIDE Classified............................................20 Lifestyle..............................................14 Obituaries...........................................19
Prince William County is set to receive $92 million in direct federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act earmarked for COVID-19 relief. The question now is, what should we do with it? The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package will provide more than $350 billion of new COVID-19 relief directly to state, local and tribal governments. County Finance Director Michelle Attreed gave an update to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors Tuesday, April 13, about the impending funds being sent to the county. The funding will come in two $46 million tranches – the first in May 2021 and the second in May 2022. Unlike the CARES Act, Attreed said the county can use American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace lost county revenues incurred due to the pandemic.
“We’ve got a very unique opportunity here. … I think we have an opportunity to make some investments that we wouldn’t have the opportunity to, if these [funds] weren’t there.” SUPERVISOR PETE CANDLAND, R-GAINESVILLE
In Prince William, several county revenue streams were heavily impacted by the pandemic including the county’s transient occupancy tax, or hotel tax, and agency revenue streams, such as fees for services associated with parks, recreation and tourism programs. It’s still too early, however, for county officials to know how much lost revenue is eligible to be replaced by the federal funding, Attreed said. See ARP, page 6
Potomac Shores VRE station on track for 2023 opening By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
After numerous delays, the Potomac Shores VRE station is on track to open in early 2023, according to the developer and Woodbridge District Supervisor Margaret Franklin. “Tremendous strides have been made in finishing out the Potomac Shores community. We have a tentative timeline of 2023 to open the VRE and we are working closely with the developers, CSX and VRE to guarantee this,” Franklin
(D) said Tuesday. The Potomac Shores VRE station was originally supposed to open in 2017 as a key component of the planned Potomac Shores town center. But the train station – and the town center – have been hindered by setbacks. The VRE station is being planned to include underground parking with retail on top, including a full-service restaurant, a coffee shop and an ice cream shop. See STATION, page 2
Opinion.................................................9 Puzzle Page..........................................8 Real Estate..........................................18 Sports.................................................17
Shred Day
Safely shred your confidential documents while TrueShred RECYCLES all shred into new paper!
Join us April 17th between 10 a.m. - 1p.m. at our Centreville Road branch. Visit TFB.bank for more information.
88 DULLES, VA