City of Manassas VA will open a shelter for Hurricane Sandy victims at 7 p.m. at Osbourn High School.

Prince William County VA has opened two shelters, one with animal accommodations, reports schools and courts closed on Tuesday.

Prince William County VA has opened a Haymarket location and added the McCoart Government Center location in Woodbridge as places where absentee ballots may be cast for the Nov. 6, 2012 General Election and Special Elections.

Prince William County has solicited entries in a design competition to add to its 9-11 memorial- Liberty Memorial at Freedom Park - using four steel beams acquired from the destroyed World Trade Center. The board of supervisors will be making a selection from one of a dozen submissions, from around the country and from both design companies and individuals, according to Tracy Gordon, assistant to the county administrator.

Get ready for Halloween and upcoming holidays by learning to make decorated cookies. Aubergine Chef Jason Shriner will share secrets to successful cookie decorating on Saturday, Sept. 8, with a free class at the Manassas Park VA Community Center. "Admission" will support the center's "kitchen drive," with the donation of new or gently used kitchen equipment.

Manassas VA City Police Department's crime report for Tuesday, Sept. 4 includes larcenies involving a laptop, medication, miscellaneous tools and a red tool box and a fight involving two sets of males, 4-5 in one group, 2 in the other.

Prince William County VA Police Department's crime reports for Tuesday, Sept. 4 include felony child abuse in the case of an eight-month-old baby left strapped in a child's seat in the back seat of a abandoned car that was running, the alleged strangulation of a 16-year-old by a family member and the alleged stabbing of a family member by an 18-year-old.

As a big weekend for visitors approaches in Manassas VA, the city manager has announced that Lake Jackson Drive, which has been closed, will reopen today, Aug. 24, a week earlier than planned. Many events in connection with the historic 1863 Second Battle of Manassas will be held this weekend.