Column: This Spud’s For You
There’s more talk now than ever before, about the possibility of the Washington, D.C. professional football team changing its name.
Editorial: Be Part of Children’s Connection
Call for student artwork and writing; deadline Dec. 6.
During the last week of each year, The Connection devotes its entire issue to the creativity of local students and children.
Letter: Strongly Opposed to Cutting Food Aid
Last week, Elizabeth Berry wrote a letter expressing concern over a bill passed by the House of Representatives that would cut food aid for nearly 3.8 million people, and asked that I oppose this legislation. I strongly oppose it. The cuts recommended by the House would eliminate free school meals for 280,000 children and aggravate an already difficult situation for many families in Virginia struggling to put food on the table. We must protect nutrition assistance programs because it’s our responsibility to ensure the neediest among us have access to food when times are hardest.
Editorial: Vote Nov. 5 or Before
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
For voters in Virginia, it is hard to overstate how important it is to go out and vote next week. All Virginia voters will see statewide races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, plus one delegate race. In addition, there are a few local races in Alexandria and Arlington, a bond question in Fairfax County and a referendum question about the housing authority in Arlington.
Column: Excuse Me, Pardon Me, Excuse Me…
If it wasn’t a coincidence, it was the next thing to being one. What it was, was the hiccups; occurring after chemotherapy infusion number one and again after chemotherapy number two. The first episode lasted only a few days and annoyed my wife, Dina, way more than it annoyed me. The first hiccuping episode was fairly constant; however it was not exhausting – and I wasn’t having any trouble sleeping because of them. Nor was I making any disturbing sounds or having any difficulty breathing – when caught in mid-hiccup, and/or eating because of the herky-jerky movements/spasms of my diaphragm. In general, it was a fairly benign effect. In the big picture, it didn’t seem particularly important that it was the hiccups I was having, so I never called my oncologist. It was the hiccups after all. It might as well have been a skinned knee. Jeez. And sure enough, within a couple of days, I was “hiccuped out.”
Elections Matter if We Mean Business
As campaigns across Virginia make their final push to engage voters, disaffection about the election is capturing headlines and salting conversations from kitchen tables to online chats. According to news reports, many voters, especially younger voters, have tuned out or turned off the whole statewide campaign scene claiming fatigue from 2012, disgust with the negative advertising or cynicism about whether any of it really matters to them. Considering that state decisions affect so many aspects of our lives, the reaction is alarming.
Colors of Democracy
Something seems different. Actually, 59,629 things seem unusual. Why such a specific number? It is the almost exact number of registered voters in Virginia’s 34th House of Delegates district (the same district that Great Falls is a part of). And what is so precisely different about these voters? Their shifting political tendencies.
A Test of Leadership
I attended a debate On Tuesday, Oct. 22, between Barbara Comstock and Kathleen Murphy, candidates for State Delegate for the 34th District. After all the nasty flyers I've been receiving, it was good to hear the candidates respond to each other face to face and debunk some false claims. But more striking than the answers was the conduct of the audience. Most of the hundreds of attendees were polite and respectful. But five or six Murphy supporters were scattered throughout the audience hissing, jeering and laughing every time Ms. Comstock spoke. Although Kathleen Murphy refused to ask her own supporters to behave, Ms. Comstock, the moderator, the host and the ushers eventually were able to silence them.
Commentary: Dollars and Sense—Stewardship of FCPS
As many have become aware, the Fairfax County School Board’s budget discussions for the 2015 fiscal year have begun early. It is unfortunate that it has taken a combination of a $140 million deficit and demonstrable efforts by FCPS’ new Superintendent Karen Garza to bring full attention of the stakeholders, including the School Board, to education policy and funding.
Editorial: Halloween Party Safety Net
Make plans for a safe celebration; SoberRide safety net for those over 21.
Halloween is now a major holiday for adults, especially young adults, and also one of the major holidays each year that involve partying with alcohol and the risks of drinking and driving.
Opinion:Flying Saucers
Think outside the dull holiday dinner get-togethers. Think “Sibling Applesauce”!
Ok, now that I have your attention, I must confess that this piece is not about aliens, at least not the kind that NASA is looking for. Rather it is about creating traditions that may help keep members of your extended family from becoming aliens to you and your immediate family.
Letter: Trying to Hijack the Debate
The Great Falls Citizens Association’s planned debate on Oct. 8 with Delegate Barbara Comstock and Kathleen Murphy had to be cancelled this week when four gun control groups threatened to demonstrate “before and during” the debate and said they would “demand” answers to particular gun issues. This debate had been designed to answer questions that Great Falls citizens had submitted beforehand. The GFCA debate team made clear that there would have been a gun question, but that wasn’t good enough for these single issue groups who wanted to hijack our debate and make it all about their issue.
Editorial: Don’t Let Negatives Keep You From Voting
Choices are stark; think about what principles should guide governance in Virginia for the next four years.
Every Virginia voter will have the option to cast a ballot for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and their member of the Virginia House of Delegates. While much of the coverage and advertising at the top of the ticket has been negative in the extreme, it will still matter who is governor. Don’t turn up your nose, hold your nose if necessary, and go vote. You can vote on Nov. 5; most likely you can vote before that.
Letter: Campaign Based on Divisive Issues
As I look at the staged demonstrations that were organized before the now cancelled debate in Great Falls was clear that first, they were closely coordinated by Kathleen Murphy’s team; (one of the key organizers held Ms. Murphy’s kickoff), and second, that they were organized because Murphy does not want to debate all of the issues we have before our communities—she just wants to discuss her divisive social issues she’s based her whole campaign upon.
Letter: Disruptive and Disrespectful
Democratic candidate Kathleen Murphy and the gun control groups she is working with were so disrespectful to the Great Falls Citizens Association debate that instead of trusting our citizens to ask questions about this issue, they “demanded” that all of their questions be answered and organized a disruptive demonstration before and during the debate in order to bully and threaten GFCA and attendees if their questions weren’t answered. As a result the debate between Delegate Comstock and Murphy had to be rescheduled.