Gaining a NICHE
Designation spotlights Inova Mount Vernon Hospital’s elder care.
Inova Mount Vernon Hospital recently earned the designation of being a NICHE hospital. NICHE, which stands for Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders, is the only national designation indicating a hospital's commitment to elder care excellence. Inova Mount Vernon Hospital is one of the first hospitals to receive the NICHE designation in Fairfax County.
Raffle, Auction To Support Fort Hunt ES
Fort Hunt Elementary School's Going for the Green Silent Auction and Raffle is this Friday, March 15. Food service begins at 6 p.m.; bidding opens at 6:30 p.m.
Annual Black History Celebration
The Gum Springs Community Center presented the 2013 Annual Black History Celebration on Saturday, March 2 with the theme of “Celebrating Black History from Africa to America and the World Over (The Past, Present and Future).” Close to 300 people attended.
Pack 1509 Hosts Pinewood Derby
“Gentlemen! Start your engines!” was the cry heard on a brisk Saturday morning in February when some of Alexandria's youngest car racers gathered round the race track. The Cub Scouts of Pack 1509, along with their parents and siblings filled Fellowship Hall of Plymouth Haven Baptist Church for their annual Pinewood Derby race. With cars of all makes and models, the Scouts and their families transformed Fellowship Hall into a Daytona Racetrack North with a four-lane race track, a pit area to work on and tune up the cars, a refreshment stand and viewing space for all to watch the cars zip their way across the finish line.
Building on History
New home arises on part of Mount Vernon Trolley line.
There’s a house being built on a lot adjacent to Fort Hunt Road that has a bit of history to it. Of course, most lots in the Mount Vernon area have similar pedigrees. But this oddly-shaped parcel has an interesting story.
Classified Advertising March 6, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
Mount Vernon School Notes March 6
School notes for Mount Vernon natives.
Poem: We’ll be Dancing up in Heaven
As I hurried through the airport, with a ticket to L.A. And a tooth brush in my pocket, should my luggage go astray Glancing up, I checked “Departures,” hoping for a slight delay While a soldier in a wheelchair made his way through TSA
Mental Health Counseling Professors Honored
Cultural sensitivity at the heart of their work.
Fred Bemak and his wife Rita Chi-Ying Chung, who are both professors at George Mason University in Fairfax, recall being in Haiti shortly after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. They were there to provide mental health counseling to those traumatized by the natural disaster.
Column: E-male
My oncologist is a man. He has e-mail. He works for an HMO that encourages/advertises its connectivity and responsiveness – electronically, to its members. If I want to get medical answers in a reasonable amount of time – save for an emergency, typing, “mousing” and clicking is the recommended methodology. No more phone calls, preferably. Though pressing keys on a keyboard rather than pressing buttons on a phone might have felt counter-intuitive at first as a means of receiving prompt replies, it has proven over these past few years to be a fairly reliable and predictable information loop. Not in minutes necessarily, but more often than not during the same day – and almost always by the very next day. In fact, I’ve received e-mails from my oncologist as late as 9:18 p.m. (time-stamped) after a sometime-during-the-day e-mail had been sent.
Chamber of Commerce Installs New Leadership
New The Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce leadership for 2013 was sworn into office at the annual “Installation Extravaganza” Wednesday, Feb. 27 at Mount Vernon Country Club...
Baker To Lead Bryant Early Learning Center
Torria Baker has been selected as the new director of United Community Ministries’ Bryant Early Learning Center. Baker joined the Center in May 2012 as assistant director and has been serving as acting director since October 2012.
MVCCT Presents Disney's 'My Son Pinocchio'
Mount Vernon Community Children's Theatre will perform Disney's "My Son Pinocchio" from March 8 through March 17 at Bryant Alternative High School on Popkins Lane in Alexandria, while Carl Sandburg Middle School undergoes renovations.
Column: State Budget Advances on Medicaid
Last week, I wrote about the transportation legislation that passed the General Assembly. The other major policy change this session was the expansion of Medicaid. This was especially critical for the 44th District.
Firefighters Check Smoke Alarms
On Saturday, March 9, from 9 a.m. to noon, firefighters will canvas homes in selected neighborhoods throughout Fairfax County, checking for working smoke alarms, and provide family fire escape plans for residents.
Putting a Face on Homelessness
462 homeless interviewed during Registry Week, an intense effort to document Fairfax County’s chronic homeless.
"We have to step up to this question. … Are we going to walk away from this tonight and say, 'That's just the way people live?’ Well, it's not the way people should live." —Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill)
Poem: blizzard (for Ted Kooser)
Dedicated to Ted Kooser, a former Poet Laureate who wrote about a famous midwestern blizzard in the late 19th century.
Obituary: Joyce Marie Scott
Mrs. Joyce Marie Scott, 80, died on Feb. 26, 2013.
The Snowquester Hits the Area
Snowstorm’s impact downgraded, but slushy roads still a problem.
The National Weather Service Wednesday downgraded its Snowquester forecast from 8-10 inches to about 4-6 inches in the region. At 3:18 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, the NWS predicted total snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches in Fairfax County before the storm fizzles out later that night, and north winds with gusts up to 45 mph in some areas, making driving hazardous.