Moved
<bt>The Department of Social Services' reception room has moved to the first floor of the Shenandoah Office Building in Leesburg, effective Monday, Dec. 5. All those having business with the department should go to 102 Heritage Way, N.E., Suite 103. The reception room on the second floor was closed as of the end of business Friday, Dec. 2. All phone numbers remain the same.
<sh>Constituents Meeting
<bt>Chris West, regional representative for U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), will hold office hours Dec. 14, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., S.E., Leesburg, to discuss issues facing the area and to help constituents having problems with a federal agency.
<sh>Streams Meeting
<bt>A second public meeting on the development of the Occoquan Basin Streams Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs will be held Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., in the Richard Frank Room at the Sully District Governmental Center, 4900 Stonecroft Blvd., Chantilly. The meeting will discuss impairments in portions of the following streams: Broad Run, South Run, Kettle Run, Occoquan River below Lake Jackson, Little Bull Run, Bull Run and Popes Head Creek. The subject stream segments, all in the Occoquan Basin, are identified in VirginiaÕs 2004 305(b)/303(d) Report on Impaired Waters as impaired because of exceedances of the stateÕs water quality criterion for fecal coliform bacteria. South Run, Bull Run and Popes Head Creek are also listed as impaired because of violations of the general standard for state waters. A public comment period for this phase of the TMDL study will begin Dec. 14 and end Jan. 13. Fact sheets on the development of the TMDLs for the impairments referenced above are available upon request or at http://www.deq.virginia.gov/tmdl/. Questions or information requests should be addressed to Bryant Thomas at 703-583-3843, e-mail bhthomas@deq.virginia.gov.
<sh>Missing Teen Found
<bt>A teenager who was reported missing in September returned home last month, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Nickolaus Patrick Colclough, 17, returned home Nov. 20. He had been missing since Sept. 30. He was last seen leaving Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn Farms.
<sh>System Upgrade
<bt>The Loudoun County Citizen Alert System has been upgraded and expanded to include announcements of closings and delays from the Loudoun County Public Schools.
The Citizen Alert System is a free service, which allows subscribers to receive e-mails or text messages from the county government and school system over their cellular phones, pagers and hand-held devices.
The new Citizen Alert System uses technology developed by Roam Secure Inc., and is compatible with similar systems being used by Loudoun's neighboring jurisdictions. The new system will facilitate communication between government agencies and public-safety personnel from multiple
jurisdictions in times of an emergency or natural disaster.
To sign up for the service, go to the Loudoun County Government home page, www.loudoun.gov and click on Citizen Alert System, under Online Services. Current subscribers to the system have been notified about the upgrade, but they should check to make sure that their registration information has transferred correctly to the new system.
<sh>Sterling Fire
<bt>On Sunday, Dec. 4, at approximately 4:11 a.m., Loudoun County Fire-Rescue Services received a 911 call for structure fire at 228 Environs Road in Sterling, according to the department. Fire and rescue personnel from Sterling,
Ashburn, Moorefield and Fairfax County responded to the scene. Heavy fire was coming from the garage of the
two-story home.
Because of the extent of damages, two residents have been displaced. The Loudoun County After the Fire Program and the American Red Cross provided the residents with temporary housing and assistance. The cause of the fire,
which resulted in $300,000 damage to the home, is under investigation by the Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office. One firefighter was treated for minor burn injuries.
<sh>Fire Ruled Accidental
<bt>The Loudoun County Fire Marshal's Office has determined that a fire that occurred around 2 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 604 East Poplar Road in Sterling was accidental. The fire, which resulted in approximately $5,000 damage to an outside shed, was started by juveniles smoking. There were no injuries and no one was displaced as a result of this fire.
<sh>Fatal Accident
<bt>A four-vehicle crash that closed Route 50 in both directions for more than three hours took the life of a Marshall man Wednesday, Nov. 30.
According to the Sheriff's Office, Richard Martin Babb, 69, was traveling east on Route 50 near Lenah when according to witnesses his 2002 Chevy 1500 went over the double yellow line and struck a westbound 2002 Ford Explorer pickup driven by Hanna M. Solbach, 22, of Aldie. Babb's vehicle continued into the westbound lane and struck a 2002 GMC 2500 pickup driven by Rico Grayson, 49, of St. Louis. The GMC pickup was sent down an embankment where it came to a stop in some brush.
Solbach's vehicle continued into the eastbound lane and struck a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Mark Buchanan, 49, of Warrenton. The Jeep went up an embankment and rolled over coming to a rest on its roof.
Solbach, Grayson and Buchanan were all wearing their seat belts and were not injured in the accident.
Babb was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident remains under investigation by the Sheriff's Office Traffic Safety Unit. The accident occurred around 2:15 p.m. in the 41300 block of Route 50 between Lenah Farm Lane and Fleetwood Road.