Prince William Times 10/16/2019

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BOBCATS PURRING ALONG: The Battlefield volleyball team is 12-2 and hardly dropping a set. Page 15

October 16, 2019 | Vol. 18, No. 42 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

County: No answers yet on Va. 28 fix Bypass? Voters won’t know before the election By Daniel Berti

Times Staff Writer

Prince William County officials won’t know which plan they’ll pursue to fix Va. 28 before voters head

to the polls Nov. 5 to cast ballots on a $355 million road bond for which the majority of the money – $200 million – would be dedicated to either widening or building a new bypass for the traffic-clogged roadway.

A final decision on the plan can’t be made until a Federal Highway Administration environmental assessment is completed to evaluate the potential social, economic and environmental effects associated with the proposed bypass. The bypass project would extend Godwin Drive beyond its current ter-

minus at Va. 234 Business, or Sudley Road, to create a new road cutting through about four miles of mostly undeveloped land between the West Gate of Lomond and Yorkshire Park neighborhoods and alongside Flat Branch creek, a tributary of Bull Run. See VA. 28, page 4

Final debate reveals divisions

County board chair candidates clash on Jeff Davis Highway, ICE agreement, rural crescent By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

Extending Metro to Prince William, renaming Jefferson Davis Highway, preserving the rural crescent and the county’s agreement with federal immigration officials were among the hot-button issues four candidates for the county’s top elected post discussed during their last debate before Nov. 5 election. The topics revealed divisions among the four vying to be the next chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors: Republican nominee John Gray, Democratic nominee Ann Wheeler and independents Muneer Baig and Don Scoggins. Hosted by the Prince William Chamber of Commerce and Northern Virginia Community College, the Oct. 8 debate also touched on the biggest controversy in the race so far: the discovery late last month of offensive tweets Gray deleted from his Twitter account. Among other things, Gray’s tweets used racial stereotypes to mock African American political protests and displayed anti-Muslim and anti-gay sentiments. Gray again acknowledged the tweets were inappropriate and reiterated that he’d apologized, saying he’s “eaten humble pie” and has “beaten [him]self up about it.” “Anybody who knows me absolutely knows that I am not a racist, I’m not a bigot or anything along See CANDIDATES, page 2

Where the candidates stand: Rename Jefferson Davis Highway?

Study Metro extension to Woodbridge? Allow more development in the rural crescent?

Should PWC keep its 287(g) agreement with ICE?

INSIDE Business.............................................13 Classified............................................29 Lifestyle..............................................19 Obituaries...........................................28

John Gray (R)

Ann Wheeler (D)

Muneer Baig (I)

Don Scoggins (I)

No

Yes

No

No

“Changing the name of a road will not change anyone’s quality of life.”

“…a lot of people find the name of that road offensive, and I think we need to honor that.”

“We can leverage this opportunity to educate.”

“…Our political correctness is sort of getting out of hand.”

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Current rules aren’t working.

More study needed.

More study needed.

Leave one-homeper-10-acre limit in place because “that’s what the residents want.”

Yes

“While I appreciate that the staff did great things, they’ve had a lot of pushback because no one is willing to say we need to actually do something different to save our rural land in the rural crescent,” she said.

No

“We’ve been talking about [the rural crescent] for 10-plus years, so [waiting] one or two more years is not a big deal,” Scoggins said. “But I do want to see the rural crescent preserved. It’s one of the gems of the county.”

No

No

Opinion.................................................9 Puzzle...................................................8 Real Estate..........................................27 Senior Living.......................................23 Sports.................................................15

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