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A few days ago I was caught up in driving that endless oval roadway around Dulles airport. You know the one. You’re waiting to pick someone up. If you don’t time it exactly right, then you have a “grace period” of about two minutes to idle near the Arrival doors until, sure enough, a security…

The college basketball landscape in November and December is littered with good games, bad games and upsets. It’s pre-conference action at both its best and at its worst with annual fiascos like Georgetown-Howard going side-by-side with stellar matchups like Maryland-Arizona. Yet one thing always stays the same in college hoops, no matter what time of…

Russell John Smith, charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old Dale City girl, was scheduled to be escorted back to Prince William County from Oregon late Thursday night. The plane landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport at about 11:45 p.m. Airport officials could not be reached to confirm whether the Dale City man was on the plane….

By LACY LUSK [email protected] WOODBRIDGE Gar-Field didn’t look like an underdog Thursday night as it claimed the school’s second Group AAA, Northwest Region boys basketball championship in three seasons. The Indians, retooled since finishing second in the state in 2001, cruised to the regional championship with a 71-51 win over Potomac in a game played…

At Old Dominion Speedway, the checkered flag finally has dropped on NASCAR’s longest-running active operation under the same owner. In a deal negotiated by his son, Dickie, ODS patriarch Al Gore has reached an agreement to sell the race track for an undisclosed amount to construction executive Steven E. Britt of Clifton, and real-estate developer…

By LACY LUSK [email protected] MANASSAS If she laughs too much or speaks in thinly veiled pop-culture references, Osbourn Park senior Carola Royuela can be excused. The native Bolivian did, after all, learn her English from “The Simpsons.” “I like Bart he’s my favorite of all the characters,” Royuela said. “And I like to watch movies….