The formal name for the ceremony is the Presentation of the National Thanksgiving Turkey. In 1989 at the end of the ceremony, then-President George H.W. Bush remarked that he was “pardoning” the turkey, beginning a custom followed by subsequent presidents. Once pardoned, the National Thanksgiving Turkey and an alternate are sent to Morven Park in Leesburg,

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) report that Virginia has been awarded nearly $1 million in federal planning grants to strengthen and improve community behavioral health clinics for mental and substance use disorder treatment.

With consumer prices down over the past year, monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for nearly 65 million Americans will not automatically increase in 2016.

The Internal Revenue Service today issued a consumer alert about possible fake charity scams emerging due to severe flooding this month in South Carolina and neighboring states. "When making donations to assist flood victims in South Carolina and elsewhere, taxpayers should take steps to ensure their hard-earned money goes to legitimate and currently eligible charities,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

People in the western end of Prince William County now have a convenient, respectable and patriotic way to retire their worn American flags. Boy Scout troops in the Bull Run District constructed a special bin for the collection of the flags at the Balls Ford Rd. compost facility.

Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) released the following statement after becoming a lead co-sponsor on the Federal Employees Retroactive Pay Fairness Act Sept. 22. This bipartisan legislation is slated to be introduced next week and is sponsored by Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) and will shield federal workers pay in the event of a shutdown.

Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-10th) Sept. 21 announced that the deadline for students interested in applying for a nomination by the 10th District Service Academy Advisory Board to one of the nation’s military academies for the Class of 2020 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 1st in the Sterling office.

Seafood fraud worrisome. The fraudulent labeling of Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean blue crab meat has a detrimental impact on an industry that plays an important role in the Virginia and Maryland economies, generating nearly $30 million annually in ex-vessel revenue for commercial watermen in Virginia and over $58 million annually in Maryland, the release said.