Springfield: Special Bible Exhibit at First Church of Christ, Scientist
How did the King James Version of the Bible come to be? In a one-day exhibition celebrating International Bible Day on Nov. 23, Springfield resident and historian Bruce Slawter showcased several ancient Bible pages and explained some of the book’s origin story.
Mount Vernon: Arcadia Farms Offers Veterans More Purpose in Life
Beads of sweat on Laron Murrell’s forehead glisten under his grey wool beanie as he digs his hoe into the live earth. On one side, the Woodlawn Plantation mansion stands, a relic from 1800. The plantation overlooks Fort Belvoir, situated across Route 1 bustling on a gleaming Monday morning in November.
Mount Vernon Brief: One Dead, Two Injured in Hybla Valley Shooting
Police identified Marquel Davis, 22, of Audubon Avenue in Alexandria, as the man who died in a Hybla Valley shooting on Nov. 18. His cause and manner of death have yet to be determined by the medical examiner.
Mount Vernon High School U.S. Marine Corps JROTC hosts Veterans Day program
Mount Vernon High School senior Elisa Solomon is a Cadet Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at her school. She’s also a poet. The young officer stood at the podium in the center of the school’s Michael M. Skinner Field House on Veterans Day, Nov. 11 and read her original work “The Superheroes.”
Fairfax County Updates Teacher Safety Training In Wake of Woodson Fire
Science teachers across Fairfax County Public Schools have begun mandatory updated safety training in the wake of an Oct. 30 fire at Woodson High School that injured five students and a teacher, and caused $7,500 in damage.
Fairfax Station: Temple B’Nai Shalom recognizes veterans with special Shabbat dinner and service
Lt. Col. Jacob Kramer was concerned after finding a Star of David in a moving box. The Springfield resident was previously stationed in Morocco by the U.S. Army.
Springfield: Sangster Elementary School honors veterans with annual musical program
Springfield resident Tim Swicord’s parents met at West Point, the United States Military Academy, and then both served in the U.S. Army.
Lorton: Volunteers Clean Segment of Pohick Creek
Community members Helen Fransell, Don Fransell and Joe Chudzik of Mason Neck volunteered in a clean up of a section of Pohick Creek in Lorton, organized by the Mason Neck Lions Club.
Clifton and Chantilly: Athletic Fields Named for Local Sports Icons
Clifton resident Jeff Stein was among three local sports icons recognized Nov. 7 with athletic fields being named after them. Stein’s name now marks Soccer Field #3 at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly.
Springfield: Veterans Receive Donated Vehicles
When Alexandria resident Dani Figueroa left the U.S. Marine Corps after being injured during a tour in Afghanistan, she said, “I knew I was different, I had changed.”
Mount Vernon Brief: 17-year-old Charged in August Murder
On Oct. 29, police announced a 17-year-old from the Huntington area was charged with the murder of Khalid Aboumalik, 42.
Mount Vernon Brief: 17-year-old Charged in August Murder
On Oct. 29, police announced a 17-year-old from the Huntington area was charged with the murder of Khalid Aboumalik, 42.
“The Two Gentlemen of Verona” at West Springfield
West Springfield High School drama director Bernie DeLeo knew Shakespeare might be a hard sell with his students and for attracting community members. “I wanted to pick something really fun and relatable to modern-day students and settled on ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona,’” he said.
Springfield and Alexandria: New Hayfield theater director pulls from 7th through 12th grades for Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"
Taegan Chirinos is living every little girl’s dream: to become a princess. In just her second musical, the freshman from Lorton won the role of “Belle” in the Hayfield Secondary School production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
Deer Management Group Donates Venison to Lorton Food Pantry
Abena Kodua of Lorton likes her chili spicier. But she had no problem polishing off a bowl, homemade by Fairfax Station resident and hunter Robert Flanagan with ground venison, rather than beef, chicken or turkey.
Suspect Sought in Trio of Burke Grocery Store Robberies
Fairfax County Police are searching for a suspect in connection with two recent robberies and one attempted robbery at Burke area grocery stores.
Fairfax County: Garza Presents Budget Task Force Report to School Board
Transparency and methodology of budget review questioned.
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza is attempting to scale a towering projected budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2017. On Nov. 9, she presented School Board members the report of budget cuts recommended by a 36-member task force she summoned earlier this year.
Mount Vernon Snapshot: Volunteers Clean up Jeff Todd Way
Volunteers from the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce board, Mount Vernon Paint Co., Mount Vernon High School football team, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and friends and family of Jeff Todd came together on Nov. 7 to clean up trash on Jeff Todd Way.
Mount Vernon Brief: Arcadia Program Seeks Applicants
The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture is a nonprofit organization based on Woodlawn Estate operating a farm, mobile market, food hub and farm-to-school programs.
Springfield: Capital Area Food Bank raises awareness of local hunger with Empty Bowls events
Kady Wohlfarth of Alexandria spent two months of her off days from the Alexandria Wegmans prepared food section to create 100 clay bowls. Hers accounted for one-third of the bowls at the “Empty Bowls” fundraiser and awareness-raising event for the Capital Area Food Bank.
Springfield: ‘Steady’ Voting
Allyn Hammel of Burke began working as an election officer over ten years ago and then was promoted to chief election officer for the 2008 presidential election. She described the voter traffic at West Springfield High School as “steady.”
Fairfax Station: ‘Steady’ Voting on Election Day
While most voters were likely fast asleep, chief election officer Sing Lee of Kingstowne was at Silverbrook Elementary School in Fairfax Station setting up voting stations at 4:30 a.m. An event in the school’s gymnasium the night before election day kept his team out until the morning. But it was critical to get the precinct open by 6 a.m. on Nov. 3.
Lorton: Albo Urges for Grant Funding to Remove Abandoned Ship
The 50-foot, steel-hulled landing craft resting in shallow water about 110 feet offshore in Belmont Bay once hauled materials for construction of the nearby Fairfax Yacht Club in the 1980s. When the job was completed, the WWII-type landing craft was abandoned. Over the years, the name of the company responsible for the barge was lost.
Mount Vernon Viewpoints: Why was it important to you to come out and vote today?
“These guys decide how resources are shared, apportioned. School resources is an important issue for me. Your no or yes makes a big difference.”
Mount Vernon: Surovell Victorious In 36th
Del. Scott Surovell (D-44) will be switching to the Senate side of the capitol building in Richmond, after he defeated Republican challenger Jerry Foreman for the 36th District senator job. Foreman finished with 3,684 votes, over 31 percent, to Surovell’s 7,934 votes, over 68 percent.
Mount Vernon: Storck Elected District Supervisor
With almost 57 percent of the vote Mount Vernon School Board member Dan Storck defeated businesswoman and Republican Jane Gandee.
Mount Vernon: Voting ‘Slow But Steady’ at West Potomac
Doris McBryde of Mount Vernon had a simple goal as chief election officer at the West Potomac High School polling center: “Get people to vote, as expeditiously as possible.”
Mount Vernon: Geotechnical Drilling at Dyke Marsh
In preparation for restoring up to 100 acres of Dyke Marsh, the The National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a short drilling project in the last week of October.
Burke and Fairfax: ‘Steady’ Stream of Voting at Robinson Secondary
Teri Ayres of Fairfax is in her fourth year as chief election officer at the Robinson Secondary School voting location.
Fairfax County: Republicans Celebrate the Victorious
And honor the defeated
Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) said he much preferred this night to the one when he was elected to his first term. A close race with his opponent meant waiting around until late into the evening. This year, Cook defeated Democrat Janet Oleszek by a more handy margin of about six percent of the vote.
Fairfax County: Palchik Upsets Incumbent Reed for Providence School Board Seat
With 58.22 percent of the vote in unofficial election results, Dalia Palchik of Annandale defeated the incumbent Providence District Fairfax County School Board representative Patty Reed, who garnered 41.31 percent.
Fairfax County: Hough Edges Incumbent Velkoff for Third At-Large School Board Seat
Fairfax resident Jeanette Hough said her race for the Fairfax County School Board started with a phone call to Springfield District representative to the board Elizabeth Schultz. “What are we going to do about the school board?” Hough remembers asking. “We’re being ignored as parents and taxpayers.”
Mount Vernon: About Scott Surovell
Liz Smith: “To me, he is involved with his neighbors, his community and is very easy with everybody. He’s not standoffish at all, talks with people on the things they’re interested in and answers their questions very directly when he’s talking with them.
Mount Vernon: Friends, Neighbors and Constituents reflect on Jerry Foreman
“I’ve found him to be very effective, with solid values to cut taxes and improve the environment for business. I think he’s done that for the most part."
Mount Vernon: Bucknell Receives New Laptops
With school textbooks in Virginia being shifted to digital form, “it means everyone should get a computer,” said Del. Scott Surovell (D-44). Yet at schools like Bucknell Elementary School in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria, a Title I school with a 73 percent free and reduced lunch population, many students don’t have computers or internet service at home to access those required resources.
Fairfax County: School Bond Referendum Tops $300 Million
The Nov. 3 election ballot will include a Fairfax County Public Schools bond referendum, featuring school improvement projects totaling $350,000,000.
Fairfax County Public Schools To Relocate 500 Staff
Fairfax County Public Schools has signed a 13-year lease at the Willow Oaks Corporate Center in Merrifield to relocated 500 support staff from the Fairfax Ridge Administration Center, where its lease it set to expire in March 2016.
Herrity: Fairfax County Board Made Decisions Not to Disclose Geer Information
Springfield supervisor speaks up on transparency at first committee meeting to review 140+ recommendations from ad hoc police commission.
While Commonwealth’s Attorney Raymond Morrogh was held up as one source of stalling the release information regarding the 2013 shooting death of Springfield man John Geer by then-Fairfax County police officer Adam Torres, Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) offered that “decisions we made” on the Board of Supervisors, on the counsel of the Fairfax County attorney, were also responsible for Torres’ name, discrepancies in the investigation and other details of the incident being withheld from the public and Geer’s family until a lawsuit finally forced the police department to release everything.
Clifton Haunted Trail Unites Town, Frightens Thousands
A strobe light pulses through dense fog, briefly illuminating rabbit corpses hung upside down under the arch of a bridge. As vines are brushed aside, a tall, white, hairy figure passes by quietly.
Burke and Springfield: Lake Braddock Homecoming Parade 2015
Residents line treets, stomachs before showdown with TC Williams
If Dorothy’s slippers had been purple and gold rather than ruby, she may have clicked her heels and found herself at Lake Braddock’s homecoming parade.
Burke, Fairfax: Cook, Kincaid and Silverthorn Host Domestic Violence Awareness Event
Fairfax County reports nearly 160 domestic violence arrests are made each month in the county. To bring more attention to this issue and in light of October being declared Domestic Violence Awareness month in Fairfax County, supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) hosted his third annual Stop Domestic Violence Community Awareness Event on Oct. 15 at Chuy’s restaurant in Fairfax.
Fairfax County: School Board Promotes Dyslexia Awareness
And adopts two-hour delay for March Primary.
Nine-year-old Maxwell Gebharts stood confidently on a step-stool to address the Fairfax County School Board Oct. 22. “My old school didn’t know I was dyslexic,” he said. “I was very sad and felt like I wasn’t keeping up with everybody.”
Springfield: Fun Run to Benefit Ecumenical Community Helping Others (ECHO)
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and Kirkwood Presbyterian Church of the West Springfield area will host a five-kilometer run and one-kilometer walk to benefit the local organization Ecumenical Community Helping Others, or ECHO.
Fairfax County: League of Women Voters hosts Forum for Board of Supervisors Chairman and At-Large School Board
Chairman Candidates Debate Economy, Police, Schools
Continuing their series of meet the candidates events, the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax area gave citizens another opportunity at James Madison High School in Vienna to ask questions and visit with hopefuls for both Board of Supervisors chairman and Fairfax County School Board at-large member.
Falls Church Man Dies in Custody
Paul Guida of Falls Church died while in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, police reported. The 68-year-old man was found unconscious and not breathing on Oct. 17 around 11 p.m.
Fairfax County: Board of Supervisors Accepts Final Report from Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission
Civilian Oversight Board Proposed, Debated
Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission chairman Michael Hershman was clear about what his group was, and was not tasked to do.
Mount Vernon: In Stitches Needlework Celebrates 20 Years
Alexandria resident Ellen Meyer has been keeping customers “In Stitches” at her specialty needlepoint store for 20 years. The owner celebrated her shop’s anniversary on Sept. 5, with grilled hot dogs, cake, balloons and a gold work demonstration from award-winning needlewoman Deborah Wilson.
Mount Vernon: Gandee Touts Business Background for Supervisor Seat
Holly Dougherty, executive director of the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce, said Jane Gandee is the reason that organization became involved with helping the homeless along Richmond Highway.
Mount Vernon: Storck Emphasizes School Board Experience in Supervisor Race
Christine Morin of Lorton remembers when South County Secondary School opened in 2005. She found out Fairfax County said they had no plans to build a South County middle school, as the system had previously promised, which was a reason Morin and her family moved to Laurel Hill from Burke.
Mount Vernon: Hyland Hospitalized After Meeting
Supervisor Gerry Hyland (D-Mount Vernon) was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath during the Board of Supervisors Oct. 20 meeting, Fairfax County spokesperson Tony Castrilli said.