City Tavern reopens

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Pete (left) and Nick Veltsistas

City Tavern, which closed June 29 after more than two decades in Old Town Manassas, has reopened in a location less than a mile away, outside the city’s historic downtown.

The restaurant reopened July 22 in a renovated building at 9550 Center St. that formerly housed KC’s Restaurant. A co-owner of City Tavern’s former building, adjacent to the Olde Towne Inn, said he expects another restaurant to open there after major repairs are completed.

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Washington Post, August 30, 2015

Q & A with Riverside H.S. principal

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Doug Anderson, principal of Riverside High School

Riverside High School in Leesburg will open Aug. 31 as the 15th high school in Loudoun County. The school is in the Lansdowne development, near Belmont Ridge Middle School and the National Conference Center.

Riverside, which has a capacity of 1,600, will open with 820 freshmen, sophomores and juniors.

Doug Anderson, 48, is Riverside’s principal. A graduate of Radford University, Anderson has been an educator for 21 years. Most recently, he was principal of Broad Run High School for four years. He began his career as a social studies teacher in Fairfax County, where he taught for 11 years before coming to Loudoun in 2004 as an assistant principal at Broad Run.

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Washington Post, August 23, 2015

Chris Yung Elementary School to open

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Kathy Notyce, Principal of Chris Yung Elementary School

When Prince William County schools start the new year Aug. 31, Chris Yung Elementary School in Bristow will open to students for the first time, with an emphasis on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art and math.

The school is named in honor of Chris Yung, a Marine Corps veteran and Prince William police officer who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Bristow in 2012 while responding to a call.

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Washington Post, August 23, 2015

Nature photography on display

The diversity and beauty of nature are on display in an exhibition that will run through Oct. 4 at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton.

“Nature’s Best Photography at the Workhouse” features 28 images that were taken around the world by professional and amateur photographers. The photos, ranging from panoramic landscapes to extreme close-ups, were judged to be some of the best entries in the annual Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition, held by Nature’s Best Photography magazine.

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Washington Post, August 20, 2015

Camp REAL hosts anti-bullying festival

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About 50 high school students in Loudoun County’s Camp REAL program for at-risk youths hosted an anti-bullying festival Aug. 6 at Sugarland Elementary School.

The students organized games, music and activities for younger children, including tie-dyeing T-shirts, face painting and supervising as they petted a miniature horse. Many participants, including members of the Camp REAL program for elementary school students, signed a pledge to help stop bullying.

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Washington Post, August 16, 2015

Little Free Library launched in Manassas

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Belinda Miller with the Little Free Library

A group of Prince William writers, joined by Manassas City Council member Ian T. Lovejoy (R), formally launched the city’s first Little Free Library in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 8.

Members of Write by the Rails, the Prince William County chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, constructed the tiny library. It will be mounted in front of the New School, which is slated to open this fall in the old post office building on Church Street in Old Town Manassas.

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Washington Post, August 16, 2015

Teachers start summer bookmobile

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Several teachers from Herndon Elementary School are volunteering their time this summer to get kids reading.

Every Wednesday, the group brings a self-styled bookmobile to two apartment complexes in Herndon, where the teachers lay out boxes of donated books on the lawn. Children are encouraged to look through, choose books that appeal to them and take them home to read. Best of all: The books are theirs to keep.

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Washington Post, August 5, 2015

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