Prince William TImes 05/20/2021

Page 1

MIDSEASON BASEBALL REPORT: Colgan rises up to join traditional powers. PAGE 13

May 20, 2021 | Vol. 20, 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.

A family walks in the Potomac Mills mall Monday, May 17. Signs in the mall ask patrons to wear face coverings unless they are eating or drinking. TIMES STAFF PHOTO

Supervisors OK move to find more land for data centers By Daniel Berti

Times Staff Writer

Prince William County supervisors voted along party lines early Wednesday to take steps to amend the county’s data center overlay district, paving the way for a potential expansion that could allow data centers to locate within some areas of the county more easily. The board voted 5-3 after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, May 19, to spend $120,000 to hire a contractor to begin work on amending the overlay district, an area where data centers are allowed by right. The board’s five Democratic supervisors voted in favor, while the three Republican supervisors were opposed. See DATA CENTERS, page 4

‘I’m still going to be wearing a mask for a while’ Although not required, face masks remain common in Prince William By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

Despite Gov. Ralph Northam’s move last weekend to lift Virginia’s statewide mask mandate, many Prince William County residents seemed unwilling this week to give up their face coverings – at least for now. At the Potomac Mills mall, at Prince William County recreation centers and early voting sites, inside some local grocery stores and even at area gas pumps, many local residents were still wearing masks. In some places, masks remained explicitly required, such as Prince William County buildings and at the mall. But even places where masks are now optional, such as Starbucks and Giant grocery stores, employees said most customers and employees are

choosing to keep their faces covered. Compared to its neighboring shops at Potomac Mills, Starbucks was an outlier this week. While most continued to display “face masks required for entry” signs, Starbucks posted new signs stating: “Face coverings are optional if you’re fully vaccinated.” The national coffee-shop chain announced over the weekend that it would switch its in-store rules to match the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance announced last Thursday, May 13, which said vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in most settings. Still, the store was hardly back to normal. The baristas behind the counter were still donning masks, and the stores chairs and tables remained off-limits. “I’m going to be wearing a mask for a while,” said Monet, a Starbucks employee who declined to give her last name.

See MASKS, page 2

Manassas opens its first new fire station in 50 years See page 5

88 DULLES, VA

Welcome to the new legacy! Still your bank. Visit TFB.bank for more information.

COURTESY PHOTO

The U.S. Department of Justice released this picture, which it says depicts Marine Maj. Christopher Waragiris, 40, of Woodbridge, helping to keep open a door allowing people to breach the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

Marine arrested in Capitol breach served for 19 years By Daniel Berti

Times Staff Writer

A Marine officer stationed at Quantico who was arrested and charged last week with crimes related to the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol, served 19 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was tied to the incident by publicly released FBI photographs that were identified by one of his coworkers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. See MARINE, page 5

Visit PrinceWilliamTimes.com for coronavirus updates

NOW


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Prince William TImes 05/20/2021 by Fauquier Times (52 issues) & Prince William Times (52 issues) - Issuu