Correction
<bt>The story "Residents: No 'Urban Center,'" in the Dec. 15-21, 2004 issue of the Loudoun Connection, identified the wrong person as the Forest Manor Homeowners Association president. The president is Tom Kelly.
<sh>Citizens Meeting
<bt>Sens. Bill Mims and Russ Potts and Dels. Joe May, Dick Black, Bob Marshall, Tom Rust and Gary Reese will host a town meeting for Loudoun citizens Thursday, Jan. 6, prior to the 2005 General Assembly session, which runs Jan. 12-Feb. 26. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., in the Board of SupervisorsÕ hearing room on the first floor of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., S.E. in Leesburg.
<sh>Constituent Talk
<bt>Frank Sadler, a regional representative for U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) will hold office hours Jan. 6, from 1-2 p.m., at the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., S.E., Leesburg, to discuss issues facing the area with constituents and to help anyone having problems with a federal agency. Call Sadler, 703-966-6036, for more information.
<sh>Tsunami Fund-raiser
<bt>Kirkpatrick's Irish Pub and Family Grille, located in the Ashburn Shopping Plaza, will donate 100 percent of the profits Saturday, Jan. 8, from 7-9 p.m., to aid tsunami victims. The event will include a live auction of Redskin memorabilia. State Del. Dick Black (R-Loudoun) will co-host with former Washington Redskins' players Charles Mann and Tony McGee, supervisors Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) and Mick Station (R-Suglarland Run) expected to attend.
<sh>Town Hall Meeting
<bt>Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) will be holding a Lansdowne Town Hall meeting Monday, Jan. 10, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., at the Potomac Club Ballroom, Lansdowne.
The purpose is to discuss the Village Greens application, as well as any other county matters. Representatives for the Village Greens applicant will be present to provide details and answer questions regarding the latest modifications to the project. The application proposes a mixed-use town center development in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Belmont Ridge Road and Route 7. The proposal includes commercial office space, retail sites and 598 residential units consisting of townhouses and condominiums. RSVP is requested to DD@Loudoun.gov.
<sh>Money For Document Preservation
<bt>The Library of Virginia has awarded one grant in the amount of $8,400 and a second grant in the amount of $4,355 to the Loudoun County Circuit Court Clerk's Office for the preservation of historic records in the Clerk's Office in the spring of 2005. The first grant will allow Gary M. Clemens, the Clerk of the Circuit Court, to hire a professional preservation firm to perform conservation and preservation services for 10 historical deed books, will books and court order books, some of which date back to 1759. The second grant will allow Clemens to hire a temporary employee to scan older land plat records into a digital format for purposes of preservation of the original paper plat records.
The Code of Virginia requires the clerk to safeguard and preserve permanent records such as deeds and other court records. Loudoun County is among a few Clerk's Offices in Virginia that possess all court records dating back to the origin of the county or city. The Loudoun County Circuit Court Clerk's Office has preserved all of the court records dating back to 1757, when Loudoun County was formed from a land grant from Fairfax County. During the Civil War, Loudoun's court records were removed from Loudoun County by Clerk George Fox to a safe location and returned to the courthouse after the war.
More information about the historical records available in the Circuit Court Clerk's Office and other services of the office can be found on the Loudoun County Government Web site at www.loudoun.gov/clerk.
<sh>Ashburn Man Stabbed
<bt>A 20-year-old Ashburn man received stab wounds after an altercation outside a Leesburg party in the early morning hours of Dec. 24, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office
The victim told authorities that he was leaving the house party in the 42400 block of Rocky Meadow Lane around 2:44 a.m. when he was confronted by an unknown white male and an unknown black male. According to the victim the suspects confronted him and accused him of taking their beer and an altercation ensued. During the altercation the victim says he was stabbed twice.
Deputies were alerted to the stabbing around 3:30 a.m. after the victim arrived at the Loudoun Hospital Emergency Room at Lansdowne. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Anyone with information regarding this case or the identity of the two suspects is asked to contact the Investigator Hanna of the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division at 703-777-0475. Persons wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.
<sh>Tree Recycling
<bt>Loudoun County is offering five locations for residents to drop off their Christmas trees for recycling after the holidays, through Jan. 20:
* Sterling at Claude Moore Park;
* South Riding near Town Hall and the Children's Center;
* Leesburg at the Loudoun County Landfill;
* Purcellville at Franklin Park; and
* Lovettsville at the Recycling Dropoff Center.
Christmas trees should not be placed in bags. All decorations and stands should be removed before setting the trees out for recycling or taking them to any of the county's collection locations. Christmas trees placed in plastic bags and trees with ornaments, lights, or other items cause problems when they are processed into mulch.
Residents who receive curbside recycling service should contact their homeowners association, town office or private waste collector for information about Christmas tree curbside recycling.
For more information about Christmas tree recycling, call the county's recycling hot line, 703-771-5318, or visit the Loudoun County Government Web site at www.loudoun.gov/oswm.
<sh>Transportation Receives Award
<bt>The Loudoun County Office of Transportation Services has received the Outstanding Transit Service Program-Gary Kuykendall Award from the Chesapeake Chapter of the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT). The award, which honors the memory of Gary Kuykendall, a noted transportation planner in Virginia, was presented at the 18th Annual ACT Chesapeake Chapter awards ceremony held at the Hotel Washington in the District of Columbia. The Chesapeake Chapter includes Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Loudoun County staff submitted the nomination, outlining the growth in ridership, rider-oriented scheduling, effective communication tools and monitoring techniques. Annual ridership has grown from less than 45,000 passenger trips in 1994 to a projected 500,000 trips in 2005.
During fiscal year 2004, Loudoun County Transit was responsible for removing more than 13,000,000 vehicle miles traveled, which is the equivalent of 524 trips around the world or 54 one-way trips to the moon.