Letter: The Right Decision
It is unfortunate that the Great Falls Citizens Association was forced to postpone the scheduled Wednesday, Oct. 8 debate between incumbent Delegate Barbara Comstock and challenger Kathleen Murphy. But, it was the appropriate call in keeping with the civilized debate process the GFCA has always followed.
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: Get a Flu Shot, Register to Vote
Getting a flu shot has never been easier.
Claims vs. Facts
To the Editor: At a recent elementary school’s Back to School Night, a friend was handed materials from supporters of Barbara Comstock, the Delegate for the 34th Virginia House District. I expect that a candidate would paint him or herself in the most favorable light, and that campaign materials should be read with a certain degree of skepticism. However, a little research in the public record shows a tremendous discrepancy between the way Ms. Comstock portrays herself and the reality of how she has voted. *Claim: Comstock claims to support education and takes credit for helping to restore $120 million in cuts to Virginia schools. Fact: in 2010, Comstock voted in favor of a House Budget Bill (HB30) that cut education by $620 million.
Guest Editorial: Virginia’s Easy Access to Guns
A parent asks why background checks aren’t better.
How do you respond to a 7 year old when she comes home from school and says “we did our bad man drill today Mommy, but don’t worry it was just for practice, no one really came into our school to shoot us”?
Column: “Mor-Tality” or Less
Meaning, in my head anyway, the future and what there is left of it. More specifically, I mean life expectancy. When you’re given a “13-month to two-year” prognosis—at age 54 and a half, by a cancer doctor, your cancer doctor—the timeline between where you are and where you thought you’d be when becomes as clear as mud.
A Tireless Advocate
It is nearing that time again, to choose our elected representative for delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates, and I want to tell you why I think we should continue to support our current delegate, Barbara Comstock.
Learning About Polluted Runoff
To the Editor: My name is Benji Prickett, I attend Kilmer Middle School. Lately we have been learning about the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the dangers of runoff. Runoff can carry sediments, rocks, pollutants and also fertilizers and pesticides. Fertilizers and pesticides especially can be very dangerous; they can kill the wildlife in the bay and can also stop recreational activities like fishing, boating and swimming, just to name a few. I hope that we can cut back on using spray pesticides on our lawns. My family has been doing this for many years and our lawns look fine. Currently our bay is very polluted, but if we where to cut back on pesticides our bay would be so much better for everyone and every thing. Benji Prickett Great Falls
Commentary: In Search of Affordable Housing
Challenges for Residential Studio Units and the need to address them.
Fairfax County’s Planning Commission will hold two workshops on Wednesday, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 to expand the discussion about the proposed residential studio unit (RSU) amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. There will be a staff presentation on Sept. 25, and questions submitted online by citizens to the Planning Department will be answered in the second workshop on Oct 2. The plan is for both workshops to be televised on the county’s cable station.
Editorial: Vote
It will matter who is elected governor.
To vote on Election Day, you must be registered at your current address no later than Oct. 15, 2013. You can check your registration status online by visiting the State Board of Elections website at www.sbe.virginia.gov. There you can also download a voter registration form and mail or fax it to your elections office address.
Column: A Study in Contrasts
The decision for yours truly to participate in a Phase 1 Study at N.I.H. or Johns Hopkins (depending upon availability and qualifications) discussed in last week’s column has been put on hold, temporarily. It seems that my oncologist was thinking about me over the holiday weekend and called me on Wednesday following Labor Day to say he had a diagnostic idea concerning me: a 24-hour urine collection (a “Creatinine Clearance Study”) which would provide a more accurate reading (than the regular lab work I have; from blood) of my kidney function.
Column: A Peculiar Existence
I’m not exactly pretending that I don’t have stage IV lung cancer (non-small cell, to be specific), but ever since my hospital admission on August 2nd, I have been treatment-free; no I.V. chemotherapy, no oral medication, no targeted treatment, no nothing. And during this sabbatical (I use that term loosely; being off chemotherapy has been as much about recovering from surgery and recuperating from my hospital “stay-cation” as it was anything necessarily intended), I have progressed from feeling crappy and being short of breath—while being infused previously, to where I have become relatively asymptomatic, breathing normally and for the nearly eight week treatment-free interval mentioned, have felt mostly OK.
Editorial: Addressing Virginia’s Economy
Ending gridlock in Congress and supporting health care reform would be huge steps in supporting economic recovery in Virginia.
The strength of Virginia’s economy, especially Northern Virginia’s economy, comes significantly from federal spending. So while the governor and other elected officials claim that Virginia’s success is because Virginia is a low-tax state with fewer regulations, it’s worth considering that the sequester and continuing gridlock in Congress threaten Virginia’s most important resource, federal spending.
Letter: Supporting Comstock
To the Editor: Recently Kathleen Murphy, who is running against our current delegate, Barbara Comstock, called me to ask for my support. She said her friend, former Delegate Margi Vanderhye, told her I was open minded, liked to support the best candidate regardless of party and that she should talk with me.
Column: Now This is What
Do nothing (no more treatment) and live life to the fullest (for as long as I’m able, and right now, I’m extremely able); start another chemotherapy protocol – with an I.V. chemotherapy drug which, according to my oncologist, has not been proven in any clinical setting to be better than the patient doing nothing; or, try to get into a Study (Phase 1, 2 or 3) at either N.I.H. (National Institutes of Health) or Johns Hopkins (in Baltimore) and let the treatment chips fall wherever experimental/research medicine takes them. This is what my oncologist discussed with Team Lourie at my most recent appointment, my first appointment with him since my hospitalization and subsequent release.