STICKING POINTS: Lacrosse regionals commence this week. SPORTS, Pages 16-17
May 19, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 20 | 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.
School choice, election ‘integrity’ at issue in candidate forum GOP to hold 10th District ‘firehouse primary’ this Saturday, May 21 By Anya Sczerzenie Contributing Writer
With only five days to go until the Republicans’ 10th District “firehouse primary,” the 11 candidates held a final public forum Tuesday night during which they discussed inflation and supply shortages, Critical Race Theory, school choice and election integrity. Members of the audience submitted anonymous questions, which were written on slips of paper and passed to the front of the Unity
Caleb Max
Jeff Mayhugh
Braxton Middle School auditorium before the forum began. Education has been a top issue in Virginia for several years and was a major talking point in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) gubernatorial campaign. While critical race theory, or
David Beckwith
John Henley
CRT, is a graduate-level subject that is not taught in Virginia’s public schools, many Republicans use the term as a catch-all for issues of race, racism and diversity being addressed in public schools. Caleb Max, who at age 24 is the youngest candidate vying for Vir-
ginia’s 10th District seat in the U.S. Congress, said he is in favor of a “backpack bill” that would fund vouchers for students to attend private schools. Max is the grandson of former congressman Frank Wolf, who held the 10th District seat from 1981 until 2015. “That money would follow the student wherever they go,” Max said. Max said he opposes the idea of critical race theory being taught in schools. “It’s basically telling minority children that they’re only going to be successful if the white kid sitting next to them allows them to be,” Max said. See GOP, page 4
3 fatal shootings in 6 hours in Woodbridge, Triangle
PHOTO BY MIKE BEATY
Celebrating Unity Braxton Middle School: Students, staff and community members gathered at Unity Braxton Middle School, formerly Stonewall Middle School, to formally rename the school in a May 10 ceremony. The new name honors the legacies of local trailblazers Carroll and the late Celestine Braxton. Carroll Braxton, 98, left, rose to the rank of Master Gunnery Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a Congressional Gold Medal recipient. Celestine Braxton served as a teacher with Prince William County schools for 33 years.
Summer Reading is back at Prince William Libraries, page 10
Staff Reports Three men were killed in fatal shootings in eastern Prince William on Sunday, May 15, marking the county’s most violent weekend in recent memory and bringing the total number of homicides reported in the county this year to six. The shootings occurred within a sixhour period. Two 23-year-old men were killed in a double homicide in an apartment in Woodbridge late Sunday afternoon. That incident was followed about five hours later by a fatal shooting outside townhomes in Triangle that left a 52-yearold man dead, according to police. The shootings follow a rash of local gun violence in recent weekends, including a Mother’s Day shooting in Gainesville that left an 18-year-old Montclair man dead, as well as non-fatal shootings at a youth football game and at directly outside a spring break carnival at Gar-Field High School. See SHOOTINGS, page 2
Senior Living: The power of robotic pets, local birdwatching, page 13
88 DULLES, VA
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com