Virginia Garden Week to Feature NoVa Gardens
80th Historic Garden Week, April 20-27, 2013
Historic Garden Week 2013 will feature approximately 200 private homes and gardens open on 32 separate tours throughout the state of Virginia over eight consecutive days. It is the largest ongoing volunteer effort in Virginia and represents the coordinated efforts of 3,400 club members. One hundred percent of tour proceeds are used to enhance Virginia’s landscape. For 80 years, the grounds of the commonwealth’s most cherished historic landmarks have been restored or preserved with help from proceeds from Historic Garden Week including Mount Vernon, Monticello and the grounds of the Executive Mansion in Richmond.
Squash Across Borders
Lekotla Masope competes in All Africa Squash Championships.
During most of the year, Lekgotla Masope is teaching squash at the Regency Sport and Health in McLean. But for five days in February, he was representing his home country of Botswana in the All-Africa Senior Squash Championships in Windhoek, Namibia, where they took third place.
Facing STEM Challenges Head On
Thomas Jefferson senior Katherine Ho of McLean awarded scholarship from Siemens Foundation.
For many students, AP classes are a chore, something taken to help college standings or boost GPA and the AP Exams are dreaded all year long. For Katherine Ho of McLean, challenges and problem solving have been part of her life for a long time.
Column: Writing What Four
As far as anniversaries go–and I hope this one “goes” a lot further; acknowledging, dare I say celebrating my four-year survival anniversary from “terminal” stage IV (inoperable, metastasized) non-small cell lung cancer, a diagnosis I initially received on Feb. 27, 2009, along with a “13-month to two-year prognosis” from my oncologist, is certainly column-worthy.
Editorial: Hybrid Hijinks
Discouraging innovation in high-tech Virginia.
Consider this as a possible scenario (although perhaps we should have saved this for April 1): Fewer people are smoking, and many of those who do are smoking less. Virginia’s cigarette tax, the lowest of any state at 30 cents a pack, is a declining revenue source. Higher cigarette taxes are proven to reduce smoking. Under current logic in the commonwealth, there would be two courses of action to raise revenue: a) cut the cigarette tax, and b) charge non-smokers a fee to make up the difference and to compensate for the fact that they don’t pay cigarette taxes.
Langley Boys’ Lax Looking for Fifth Straight State Title
Defense figures to be Saxons’ strength in 2013.
The Langley boys' lacrosse team opens its season on Friday against Dominion.
EPA Will Not Appeal Court Decision on Accotink Watershed
EPA regulations could have cost county $300 million.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively ended a two-year legal battle with Fairfax County when the agency announced last week it will not appeal a federal court decision favoring Fairfax County’s handling of the Accotink Creek watershed.
Bicyclists Pedal Onward, Despite Legislative Losses
FABB promotes extended hours on W&OD Trail.
As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, Northern Virginia bicyclists are back on the roads and trails, despite the Virginia General Assembly’s antipathy for bike safety bills this session.
Capturing Nature, History of Great Falls
Photographer Dee Leggett releases “Visions of Great Falls.”
As a photographer, Great Falls resident Dee Leggett believes that people don’t always appreciate the beauty around them, even in their own backyards. So it’s only appropriate that her journey as a photographer began literally in her backyard.
Dancers Evaluated by Russian Ballet Society
Haddad Studio of Classical Ballet welcomes evaluations from Russian Ballet Society.
Students at the Margaret Haddad Studio of Classical Ballet recently underwent testing for the Russian Ballet Society exams for the first time in two years, the only such exams that take place in the area.
Wiehle-Reston East Station 82 Percent Completed
Construction of the five stations in Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail stations is now focusing on interior finishes, installation of elevators and systems.
From Rail to Trail at Freeman Museum
Museum traces history of the railroad passing through Vienna in the 18th and 19th centuries.
“These are trains that used to be alive a long time ago. … Now, they’re abandoned, now they’re scrap.” —Five-year-old Charlie Wilkins, Reston
Fire Department Auxiliary Hosts Craft Fair, Taste of Vienna
Crafts show launches VVFD’s spring schedule of events.
Vienna Volunteer Fire Department [VVFD] hosts community-wide public events and fundraising events.
Classified Advertising March 6, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
The Langley School Presents ‘Cinderella’ Musical
Middle School students at The Langley School will bring the enchanted fairytale of “Cinderella” to the stage this spring as they present Rogers & Hammerstein’s musical version March 14-16. The show will run Thursday, March 14, through Saturday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee performance at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, in the school’s Jeffrey J. Sherman Arts Center at 1411 Balls Hill Road in McLean.
All-Virginia Chorus Selected
The finest high school singers in Virginia will study and perform advanced choral music in Richmond from April 25-27 during the All-Virginia Chorus event. Once again, Langley High School will send the largest contingent of singers among all high schools in Fairfax County with nine selected performers and five alternates.
Column: E-male
My oncologist is a man. He has e-mail. He works for an HMO that encourages/advertises its connectivity and responsiveness – electronically, to its members. If I want to get medical answers in a reasonable amount of time – save for an emergency, typing, “mousing” and clicking is the recommended methodology. No more phone calls, preferably. Though pressing keys on a keyboard rather than pressing buttons on a phone might have felt counter-intuitive at first as a means of receiving prompt replies, it has proven over these past few years to be a fairly reliable and predictable information loop. Not in minutes necessarily, but more often than not during the same day – and almost always by the very next day. In fact, I’ve received e-mails from my oncologist as late as 9:18 p.m. (time-stamped) after a sometime-during-the-day e-mail had been sent.
Putting a Face on Homelessness
462 homeless interviewed during Registry Week, an intense effort to document Fairfax County’s chronic homeless.
"We have to step up to this question. … Are we going to walk away from this tonight and say, 'That's just the way people live?’ Well, it's not the way people should live." —Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill)
The Snowquester Hits the Area
Snowstorm’s impact downgraded, but slushy roads still a problem.
The National Weather Service Wednesday downgraded its Snowquester forecast from 8-10 inches to about 4-6 inches in the region. At 3:18 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, the NWS predicted total snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches in Fairfax County before the storm fizzles out later that night, and north winds with gusts up to 45 mph in some areas, making driving hazardous.
Italian Music at Langley High
Cooper Middle School orchestras join Langley High orchestras in concert.
Students in the five Langley High School orchestras and two Cooper Middle School orchestras presented a concert of Italian music on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Langley High School.