CPAM Hearing
<bt>The Loudoun County Planning Commission is seeking public comment on a proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPAM) concerning eminent domain and the protection of existing communities. The commission will hold a public input session Monday, April 16, at 7 p.m., following its regular public hearing, in the board room on the first floor of the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., S.E., Leesburg.
The proposed amendment would add policy language to the Comprehensive Plan that disapproves of the use of eminent domain for economic development purposes and removes language that calls for the redevelopment of established communities. The CPAM also proposes to remove language that calls for town centers east of Route 28.
More information regarding the proposed CPAM, including the proposed policy language, is available on the Loudoun County Web site at www.loudoun.gov/planning/eminent or by calling 703-777-0246.
<sh>Extended Hours
<bt>Local post offices will offer extended hours to accommodate the tax filing deadline, April 17. The hours are as follows.
* Dulles Retail Office, 22715 Prentice Drive, Sterling, 9:30 a.m.-midnight.
* Leesburg Main Office, 25 Catoctin Circle, S.E., Leesburg, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
* Potomac Falls Branch, 46164 Westlake Drive, Sterling, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.
<sh>Finally Found
<bt>It's a story more than five decades in the making involving a one-of-a-kind guitar, a self-proclaimed king in the music industry and grand larceny.
In December 2005 the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office was contacted by Jimmy Luttrell, a 65-year-old California man, who told a story of a stolen guitar. This week Loudoun investigators returned the guitar to its rightful owner after 52 years.
In February of 1955, a then teenaged Jimmy Luttrell was in Albany, Calif., and preparing for a gig. Luttrell and members of his band loaded their instruments and equipment into a van. In the van was a custom-made guitar.
Someone broke into the van and took Luttrell's guitar and two other guitars belonging to his band mates. Luttrell's guitar, a one-of-a-kind double-neck guitar and mandolin, was a gift custom-made for him by Wesley Elmore in 1952. Luttrell kept the guitar in a wooden case in which he tacked letters across its interior spelling out his name. After the theft, Luttrell immediately filed a police report in Albany.
Luttrell continued on with his music career as he had been playing the guitar since the age of 10. Over his career, he has played with such artists as the Drifters, Ben. E. King and Bobby Vintion; and inspired the late Jimi Hendrix. Luttrell has become a legend all his own and is known as "The Guitar King."
In December of 2005, Luttrell was contacted by a Leesburg man who had recently purchased a double-neck guitar over the Internet and wanted to inquire about its origin. The guitar's new owner contacted Luttrell because he could see faint impressions in its case spelling out Luttrell's name. After receiving pictures of the instrument via e-mail, Luttrell realized it was his guitar that was stolen 51 years earlier.
Luttrell contacted the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, who worked with members of the Albany Police Department in California, and were able to verify the instrument was in fact Luttrell's stolen custom-made guitar. Understanding the situation, the Leesburg man who purchased the guitar over the Internet for $1,500 handed over the item to authorities.
Although the guitar has changed many hands over the years, and it is unlikely the thief will ever be caught, the custom-made guitar was returned to Luttrell's California home Saturday, April 7.