<sh>1. Air and Space Museum Annex Opens
<cl>Dec. 18, 2003
<bt>The National Air and Space Museum Annex in Chantilly was dedicated Dec. 11. Honored guests included Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, who contributed $65 million to its construction, Vice President Dick Cheney, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, former astronauts Neil Armstrong and Sen. John Glen Jr., as well as actor John Travolta.
The $311 million facility, which opened Dec. 15, houses the Smithsonian's galaxy of historically significant aircraft, which, until now, were too large to fit inside a space for viewing. The annex is accessible via the Air and Space Museum Parkway exit off Route 28 in Chantilly. Admission is free, but daily parking costs $12 a vehicle; yearly passes for unlimited parking are $50.
<sh>2. Westfield High Wins State Football Championship
<cl>Dec. 18, 2003
<bt>Westfield High's football team ended a perfect, 14-0 season on Dec. 13 with a 35-14 victory over Landstown High in the Virginia AAA Div. 6 state finals in Richmond.
<sh>3. Local Residents Serve in Iraq
<cl>April 10, 2003
<bt>Centre View began a series of profiles about several local residents serving in Iraq.
These residents included Little Rocky Run's Jeff Kaylor, 24, an Army first lieutenant who was killed April 7 when an enemy grenade was tossed at the Humvee in which he was riding.
He was the first person from western Fairfax County to die in the War in Iraq, and he left behind his parents plus his wife of nine months, Jenna, who also served in the Army in Kuwait.
Another local resident, Eric Schnabel, 24, married to Chantilly High grad Trish (Duffy) Schnabel, became a war hero. In Najaf, his Army platoon captured some 20 Iraqi soldiers disguised as civilians.
<sh>4. Centre Ridge Elementary Brothers Mourned by Community
<cl>May 1, 2003
<bt>Family, friends and members of the community mourned the tragic loss of three brothers, Bradley, Ryan and Kyle Edwards, ages 9, 7, and 5, respectively, all students at Centre Ridge Elementary. According to Prince William County police, they were shot and killed, April 23, by their father, Robin Edwards, 37, who then turned his shotgun on himself.
<sh>5. Charles Helem Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder
<cl>Dec. 11, 2003
<bt>After three trials, Charles Helem, 34, of Manassas was convicted in October of the April 2002 murder of Chantilly resident Patricia Bentley. On Dec. 5, he was sentenced to life in prison for his deed. That was the sentence the jury had recommended, and judge Stanley Klein imposed it.
<sh>6. Sully District Govt. Center is Dedicated
<cl>June 19, 2003
<bt>On a sunny morning in June, the Sully District Governmental Center was officially dedicated. It's the first new police district created in 27 years, and the building houses both the Sully District Police Station and the office of the Sully District Supervisor.
The $7.5 million building is at 4900 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly and was built to lighten the workload of the Fair Oaks District station — then the county's busiest station, with nearly 40,000 calls for service per year. Heading up the new district police station are Capt. Bill Gulsby, commander, and Lt. Steve Thompson, assistant commander.
<sh>7. Battlefield Bypass Routes Proposed
<cl>Feb. 6, 2003 issue
<bt>The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the initial road alignments proposed to divert traffic from the Manassas Battlefield Park elsewhere. This action is in response to a 1988 congressional mandate.
The proposal would close routes 234 and 29 through the park. However, the initial alternatives proposed would have smashed right through the homes and yards of residents — especially in the Fairfax National Estates, Virginia Run and Bull Run Estates communities. Since then, the plan has been drastically revised and Centreville has been largely spared.
<sh>8. Dick Frank Dies
<cl>March 13, 2003
<bt>Long-time community activist Dick Frank, of Centreville's Gate Post Estates community, died of lung cancer, March 10, at age 66. He'd served on countless committees, commissions, task forces and groups and was an expert in both landuse and transportation.
He was a founding member of the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee and served many years as a member and chairman. He was Sully District Transportation Commissioner, WFCCA President, and was on the Sully District Council of Citizens Associations and its Land-Use and Transportation Committee.
<sh>9. Teacher Sentenced for Sex Crime
<cl>May 1, 2003
<bt>Centreville resident and Fairfax County teacher Vanessa Baker, 27, was sentenced to 10 months in jail for crimes against nature — consensual sodomy. A P.E. teacher at Langston Hughes Middle School and freshman girls basketball coach at South Lakes High, she was sexually involved with one of her basketball players, a girl who was 14 when the relationship began.
In sentencing her on April 25, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Arthur Vierreg Jr. told Baker, "You took advantage of a position of trust with a child in the school system. You had influence over her life."
<sh>10. D.C. United Drops Soccer Plans at Quinn Farm
<cl>Jan. 16, 2003
<bt>The Fairfax County Park Authority and professional soccer team D.C. United hoped to join together to build nine, lighted, rectangular fields in Centreville's Quinn Farm Park. If allowed to build its training facility on that site, too, D.C. United would help foot the bill for construction of seven soccer fields for local youth teams and two, premier rectangular fields for its own practices.
But it would have meant amending the county zoning ordinance to allow the Park Authority to form a partnership with a commercial entity. And many residents, plus civic and homeowners' associations had serious concerns about such an intense use of environmentally sensitive land.
As a result, D.C. United dropped its plans, and the Park Authority will have to build the nine fields alone.