Correction
<bt>The Spring High School Theater pullout contained in the March 22-28 edition of the Loudoun Connection should have reported the show times for Stone Bridge High School's production of ÒSeussicalÓ as Thursday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m.; Friday, May 5, at 6:30 p.m.; and Saturday, May 6, at 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
<sh>Collection Event
<bt>The Loudoun County Office of Solid Waste Management will hold the next Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Event, Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at Loudoun Valley High School, 340 N. Maple Ave., in Purcellville.
Residents may bring household hazardous waste to the collection event for disposal free of charge. Typical household hazardous waste items include oil-based paint and paint thinners, household cleaners, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline or other fuels, hobby chemicals and swimming pool chemicals. Used motor oil, antifreeze, automobile batteries and propane tanks will not be accepted at any HHW collection events this year. They can be recycled year round at the Loudoun County Sanitary Landfill.
Residents attending the event will be asked a few questions before being directed to the collection staging area where the contractor will remove the waste from your vehicle. Please be patient with the survey and the time required to safely remove the waste from your vehicle.
For more information about HHW Collection Events and other services offered by the Office of Solid Waste Management, including directions and hours of operations for the landfill, visit the Loudoun County Web site at www.loudoun.gov/oswm or call 703-777-0187.
<sh>Crime Victims' Rights Week
<bt>During the week of April 23-29, the Loudoun County Victim/Witness Program will celebrate the 2006 National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which has the theme "Victims' Rights: Strength in Unity."
The Victim/Witness Program will be giving out information regarding Crime Victims' Rights and keepsake items such as magnets, purple and gold ribbons and bookmarks. In addition, the Victim/Witness Program will be asking local businesses around the community to display purple ribbons and/or information regarding Crime Victims' Rights Week. On Wednesday, April 26, the Victim/Witness Program will hold a denim day and encourages participants to wear denim.
On April 28, from 2-4 p.m., the Victim/Witness Program will hold an open house in the Courthouse, 18 East Market St., including its annual Victims' Services Award Ceremony, at 3 p.m. This year awards will be presented to Investigator Ken Fognano and Deputy Matt Bressler, both from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.
For additional information about National Crime Victims' Rights Week, crime victim assistance or volunteer opportunities contact the Victim/Witness Program at 703-777-0417 or visit the Web site at www.loudoun.gov/vwp.
<sh>Human Rights Conference
<bt>U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) is holding a conference April 29, that will bring together leading experts and advocates on international human rights to address a variety of topics and discuss what individuals can do to get more involved.
The half-day conference will be at the Loudoun County School Board Administration Building, 21000 Education Court, Ashburn. The free conference starts at 9:30 a.m. and is open to the public.
Speakers at the conference will address global human trafficking, the ongoing genocide in Sudan, repression in North Korea, religious freedom in Vietnam and human rights abuses in China.
The conference agenda includes Panel I: The Scourge of Sex Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery; Panel II: Global Human Rights: The Face of Oppression Worldwide; and Panel III: How You Can Get Involved: Becoming a Voice for the Voiceless. For details visit www.house.gov/wolf or call the Herndon office, 703-709-5800 or the Washington, D.C., office, 202-225-5136.
<sh>Market Open
<bt>Farmers markets throughout Loudoun County are scheduled to open May 2, according to the Loudoun Valley Homegrown Markets Association. Residents in Cascades, Leesburg, Middleburg, Lovettsville, Purcellville, South Riding and Sterling will have the opportunity to enjoy fresh products from local farmers, including fruits and vegetables, flowers, fresh breads and baked goods and meat products.
The new Lovettsville-Leesburg market will operate, from 4-7 p.m. on Tuesday evenings; the Purcellville market will be open, from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday evenings; the Middleburg market will operate, from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturdays; the Leesburg market will operate, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturdays; the Cascades market will operate, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sundays. The South Riding market has a new day and time, 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays. The Sterling market, which operates, from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesdays, will not open until June 1.
<sh>Teen Found
<bt>A teen missing from the South Riding area since April 6 was located Wednesday, April 12, by a Sheriff's deputy.
Gary Henry was located in South Riding where investigators believed he had been staying with friends. He was last seen by his parents during the morning hours of April 6 after he was dropped off at Freedom High School.
<sh>Donate Old Phones
<bt>The Loudoun Sheriff's Ashburn Community Policing Office in the Ashburn Village Pavilion is the latest location for residents to drop off old or unwanted cell phones and help secure the call for victims of domestic violence. The program, a joint effort between the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and the Victim/Witness Program in the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, collects old cell phones and converts them into emergency service phones. The phones are then handed out to victims of domestic violence by the Loudoun County Victim/Witness Program.
Victims will not only be able to use the phone to dial 911 but it is also programmed to call the Virginia Family Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline, which provides crisis intervention and support. The victims who have received the phones may not have been otherwise able to obtain a cell phone and are now able to call 911 in an emergency.
In 2005 the Sheriff's Office made 346 arrests in domestic violence cases that involved assaults. Last year alone deputies responded to more than 1,388 calls for domestic disputes, an average of nearly four calls everyday.
The organization Secure the Call, a nonprofit group in Maryland, assists in the collection effort and performs the work necessary on behalf of the agencies. The old cell phones are reprogrammed by the nonprofit organization to only dial 911 even if it is not part of a wireless carrier's network.
Residents can also take old cell phones to a number of drop-off sites in Loudoun including most of the community centers and all of the senior centers. Loudouners in and around Leesburg can also take old cell phones to the Sheriff's Office Administration Building located at 39 Catoctin Circle, the Victim/Witness Office located in the courthouse on 18 East Market St., the Loudoun County Administration Building located on Loudoun Street and the Shenandoah Office Building on 102 Heritage Way. Residents who are donating several phones are reminded not to put the items in a box and leave them next to the drop-off container.
<sh>Suspect in Spree Sentenced
<bt>A Virginia man was sentenced Friday, April 14, in Loudoun Circuit Court to five years in prison for an August 2005 crime spree that spanned from Purcellville to Sterling, according to the Sheriff's Office.
William Russell Gibson, 33, of Front Royal, was charged last summer after he was involved in two armed robberies in Leesburg and Sterling. Gibson was sentenced on one count of use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, attempted robbery, robbery of a bank with a firearm and forgery.
According to the Sheriff's Office, Gibson and another man, David Owen Smith Jr., were caught near the Shell gas station on Route 7 in Sterling after they allegedly attempted to rob the High-Up Food Mart in the Community Plaza Aug. 24. One of the men was said to have brandished a firearm inside the convenience store shortly before 4 p.m. but fled the scene without taking any money.
Approximately two hours prior to the attempted robbery the men are alleged to have robbed the M&T Bank located at 345 East Market St. inside the town of Leesburg.
Gibson had previously pleaded guilty in district court to petit larceny and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle; both misdemeanors. Those charges stem from the burglary of a home on Nixon Road in Purcellville Aug. 24, when Gibson took the car that was used in the robbery attempt from a co-worker. He received 12 months with six months suspended on each count. The sentences are to run consecutively.
On the robbery charges Gibson was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge James Chamblin to 23 years in prison with all but five years suspended. He was also given 20 years probation upon his release from prison.