Prince William Times 07/03/2024

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FOOTBALL: 2024 schedules for all 15 Prince William County public high schools. PAGE 7

July 3, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 27 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $2.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

County details error that led to damage to Black cemeteries Admission follows outcry from Gaskins’ descendants By Cher Muzyk

Gaskins family descendants, Joann Gaskins, second from left, her sister, Debbie Barlow, and their relative, Linneall Naylor, with Frank Washington, of Thoroughfare, at the gravesite of Susan A. Sevinson at the GaskinsSlave-Sevinson cemetery on Juneteenth.

Staff Writer

Prince William County’s planning chief reported that mistakes were made during county staff’s review of site plans for a new data center on Wellington Road that resulted in unintended impacts to a historic Black cemetery next door. As a result, steps have been taken to mitigate the impacts, and training is planned for county staff on how to identify cemeteries and interpret county ordinances meant to protect them, Prince William County Planning Director Tanya Washington said in a report to county supervisors that was shared with the Prince William Times. Washington’s report came a day after descendants of the Gaskins family held a Juneteenth press conference at the Gaskins-Slave-Sevinson Cemetery to voice concerns about the condition of their family cemeteries and call on the county to do more to protect them from nearby development.

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/CHER MUZYK

See CEMETERIES, page 2

Invasive spotted lanternflies now ‘ubiquitous’ in Prince William

Damaging insects are here to stay, county officials say By Cher Muzyk Staff Writer

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Prince William Forest Park

SOURCE: PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY

Circles denote areas of known infestations of spotted lanternflies in Prince William County.

337 new homes pitched for Minnieville Road, page 4

Linda Daubert was surprised to find spotted lanternfly nymphs in her Manassas backyard earlier this month. Daubert’s home is surrounded by mature oaks, but a “tree of heaven” sapling — the invasive pests’ favorite food source — had sprouted in her yard. Although she’d never before seen spotted lanternflies, she found dozens on just one branch earlier this spring. She’s not alone. “We have a lot of spotted lanternfly nymphs in our yard. I have been trying to kill them every day (all day) with vinegar or Dawn dish soap,” wrote Barbara Henn Richard, also of Manassas, on Facebook. “I don’t think it’s working. If I try to smack them or step on them, they jump away before I can. I swear they are all laughing at me.” The spotted lanternfly is an invasive pest that, while harmless to humans, can cause widespread economic and ecological harm by damaging plants.

Weekend Happenings, page 6

They were first spotted in Prince William County in 2021 around the Broad Run train station outside Manassas. Despite the county’s best efforts to manage the insects’ spread, they were officially classified as “pervasive” in the county last October. “Unfortunately, the spotted lanternfly is now ubiquitous throughout the county,” said Robin Firth, a county forest pest specialist. “The county is not able to control their spread in any meaningful way.” “Realistically, it looks like the spotted lanternfly is here to stay,” said Theresa “Tree” Dellinger, a diagnostician at Virginia Tech’s Insect Identification Lab. “I think the spotted lanternfly will be much like the Japanese beetle, and we’ll adjust to its presence of this invasive pest in time, although large populations of spotted lanternfly near homes can be quite the nuisance.” This spring, the county set 10 traps from Bull Run Mountain to Occoquan and Triangle to monitor the spotted lanternfly population. All have caught nymphs, Firth said. See LANTERNFLIES, page 2

88 DULLES, VA


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