The Virginia Department of Fire Safety has answered the most frequently asked questions about smoke detectors. Safety officials recommend changing smoke alarm batteries when turning the clocks back Nov. 4.

This Sunday, Nov. 4, residents are reminded to set their clocks back one hour for the end of Daylight Savings Time. Also change the batteries in all smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors when you change your clock. This is the 25th year of "Change you clock, change your battery" slogan.

Manassas city officials tipped their collective hats to city public works and utility crews, volunteer and career firefighters and police officers for their work in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and dubbed them "Hurricane Heroes," according to a news release from Patty Prince, public information director.

Scammers-or "storm chasers"-will likely try to take advantage of vulnerable storm victims as well as those who want to donate money to help them because Hurricane Sandy left behind power outages, downed trees, and property damage, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli warned about danger from scammers & what to look for.

Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) will monitor sex offenders on probation and parole supervision throughout Virginia tonight, Halloween night, while children are trick-or-treating.

Dominion Virginia Power has restored electric service to more than 75 percent of the 322,000 customers affected by Hurricane Sandy and expects to have power restored to virtually all customers by Thursday night, according to a news release.

Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative crews are working to restore power to approximately 15,000 customers after Hurricane Sandy blew through the area on Monday. At the height of the storm Monday night, approximately 32,000 customers lost power. Crews working in heavy rain and strong winds restored service to half of these customers by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release.

Prince William County Government Winter Shelter, operated by the Department of Social Services, will open today, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 This is two days earlier than normal. The winter shelter normally opens Nov. 1. Social Services decided on the earlier opening because of expected cold weather. Temperatures were in the 40s Tuesday morning.