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JROTC students kick up their heels at military ball
Colonial Forge captures wrestling district championship
FEBRUARY 12, 2016
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 48
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Schools may close for primary
PROGRESS ON COURTHOUSE ROAD
TRACY BELL
Stafford County Sun
The upcoming presidential primary could close county schools March 1, but the Stafford County School Board wants more information before deciding. At a meeting Tuesday, the school board discussed the possibility of closing school that day for a teacher workday or opening late, due to the presidential primary. Fifteen of the county’s schools are polling locations. The informational item will come back to the board at its next meeting Feb. 23, and the board is expected to take action then. The suggestion stemmed from a letter from county Registrar Greg Riddlemoser and the registrar’s electoral board that encouraged the board “in the strongest terms possible” to cancel school March 1. The letter noted that the primary is every four years and with no incumbents running this year, should generate significant public interest. Record voter turnout is expected, the letter said. A third of the school divisions around the commonwealth will close, including Prince William, Caroline and Fairfax counties, according to the letter. The letter stated that it would be in the best interest of local citizens to close the schools. School board member Scott Hirons, Falmouth District, said that PRIMARY PAGE 13 in addition to the expected
The Sunoco station along Courthouse Road at Interstate 95 has been closed since the price of gasoline was $3.22 a gallon, in preparation for major construction to realign Courthouse and the intersection with I-95. ALEKS DOLZENKO/ STAFFORD COUNTY SUN
Changes underway on Courthouse Road project JILL PALERMO
Stafford County Sun
It’s been a while since gas was $3.22 a gallon but the price remains posted, frozen in time, at the long-shuttered Sunoco gas station at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Courthouse Road. But the outdated sign — and the boarded-up station behind it — won’t be there for long. The station was purchased by the Virginia Department of Transportation months ago to make way for the ambitious, $149 million project to replace the existing, circa-1963 interchange at Courthouse Road and Interstate 95 with a new “diverging-diamond”
style overpass, a design transportation planners say will move traffic more safely and quickly through the fast-growing North Stafford area. After years of discussion and planning, the demolition of the old Sunoco — as well as a now-VDOT-owned Citgo gas station across the street — will mark the first visible signs that work is set to begin on the multi-step project, which likely won’t be finished until 2020. The popular McDonald’s restaurant on Courthouse Road will also be torn down to make way for a relocated commuter parking lot, said Kelly Hannon, a VDOT communications manager in the Stafford area.
The restaurant remains open for now, and even employees say they’re not sure when operations will cease for the road work, which isn’t expected to begin fullthrottle until the end of 2016. A McDonald’s manager who declined to give her name said owner Welburn Management would likely rebuild a bigger restaurant nearby. Attempts to reach company officials were not successful. VDOT is in the process of negotiating with Welburn as well as the owners of two gas stations on the west side I-95, which will also eventually be torn down for the roadwork, Hannon said. PROJECT PAGE 13 Meanwhile, VDOT has
Fun, Fun and more Fun Fredericksburg expo center
February 13-14
www.Fredericksburgkidsexpo.com
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