SPORTS: Brandon Cassedy left his mark as a Colgan baseball legend. PAGE 11-12
July 14, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 28 | 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.
CASA to open new ‘welcome center’ in Woodbridge County pledges $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds to new facility offering job training, support to new residents By Cher Muzyk
Times Staff Writer
Martha Revelo, 28, of Lake Ridge, has been sick with COVID-19 three times. The first time, she caught it at work. The second time, her husband brought the virus home and then she got it a third time from her stepson. Revelo worked as a cashier throughout the pandemic, and each time she was sick, she missed multiple weeks of work -- all unpaid. Lost wages caused her family to struggle to afford food and other necessities. Throughout the pandemic, she leaned on CASA for help. CASA, a nonprofit that supports immigrants and working-class families, helped Revelo get health insurance, which allowed her to get the medical care she needed. She participated in telehealth appointments when she had COVID and now sees a primary care physician regularly. Without CASA’s help to se-
CASA Virginia’s new “Welcome Center” at 2359 Research Court, Woodbridge. cure health insurance, medical care would be out of reach, she said. In addition to her husband and stepson contracting COVID, Revelo’s mother was also infected and now suffers from persistent heart problems. During the height of the pandemic, both Revelo’s family and her mother received food boxes from CASA to keep their families fed, she said. Revelo’s story is not unique. She is one of thousands of local residents who turned to CASA for help with health, financial and emotional hardships during the coronavirus pandemic. Between January and March See CASA, page 2
PHOTOS BY CHER MUZYK
CASA Virginia will officially open its first “Welcome Center” in Virginia on Aug. 25. From left: Maria Ovando, CASA Virginia’s manager of health and social services, speaks with Alejandra Ponciano, of Manassas, and Rosa Torres, of Woodbridge, inside the new Woodbridge facility. Both Ponciano and Torres said CASA helped them get health insurance. “CASA is a family for me,” Ponciano said.
County Chair Ann Wheeler faces recall effort over investments tied to data centers By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
liam County announced a recall petition accusing Wheeler, D-At Large, of neglecting her duty and misusing her office by voting on tax rates and land-use applications related to data centers while holding personal investments in several technology companies with ties to the high-tech facilities. Wheeler did not respond to a July 12 email seeking comment on the recall effort.
Opponents of a controversial proposal to allow data centers in Prince William County’s protected “rural crescent” have launched a second recall effort, this time targeting the county’s top elected official: Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler, chair of the Prince William Board Ann Wheeler. In a Tuesday, July 12 press con- of County Supervisors. ference held outside the James J. McCoart Administration Building, members of the nonprofit Coalition to Protect Prince Wil- See WHEELER, page 4
Bus crash injures 4 in Woodbridge, page 5
PHOTO BY JILL PALERMO
Gary O’Brien, at the podium, speaks during a July 12 press conference announcing an effort to recall Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chair Ann Wheeler over her financial investments in firms tied to data centers.
A spin around the aisles at Amazon Fresh, page 7
88 DULLES, VA
It’s all about people . . . and always will be. www.vnb.com