Manassas City Police Department will offer a free VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) etching event on Saturday, Sept. 15 in the parking lot of the Walmart at 9401 Liberia Ave., Manassas. Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etching, a fast, safe and simple process, is one of the most effective means to deter auto theft that is currently available, according to the city's crime prevention specialist.

Deputy Police Chief Lt. Col. Barry Barnard will become Prince William County VA's acting police chief effective Sept. 1, 2012, the date Chief Charlie T. Deane retires.

A dozen campers ages 8-13 tried out the life of a Civil War soldier in Prince William County recently at Basic Civil War Camp at Brentsville Courthouse Centre in Bristow. David Born, historical program coordinator, and Michael Riley, site manager for the Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, led the young history buffs. The program was developed by Prince William County VA's Department of Historic Preservation.

The Dale City VA rest area on Interstate 95 in Prince William County was the scene for the symbolic gtoundbreaking for the i-95 HOT lanes project. This public-private project will add or enhance 29 miles of the interstate. The I-95 Express Lanes are high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, which means high occupancy vehicles such as carpools, vans and buses will have free access to the lanes. Drivers with fewer than three people may pay a toll to use the lanes.

The management plan for Bristoe Station Heritage Park, the popular historical site located a short distance from VA 28, is likely to be taken up by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors in August.

Prince William County, Potomac Nationals baseball, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and PTC Roadside Development LLC, said July 17 that they have agreed to a framework for a public/private partnership that would bring a 6000-7000 seat state-of-the-art minor league baseball stadium to the county near Interstate 95 and US 1.

The Town of Haymarket VA has called an emergency meeting of the Town Council for tonight, July 17, to discuss the Virginia Retirement System.

United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has approved the Virginia Board of Education’s application for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind benchmarks in reading and mathematics and the federal law’s mandate that all students, regardless of circumstance, achieve grade-level proficiency by 2014. Virginia will still hold schools "accountable for closing achievement gaps."