For Those Who Serve
World's largest USO facility opens at Fort Belvoir.
Less than two years ago, it was just an overgrown lot in the shadows of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. But on Feb. 5, the world's largest USO facility welcomed the community with a grand opening celebration of the new USO Warrior and Family Center.
Helping Nation’s Heroes
Inside the new USO Warrior and Family Center.
Growing up in Richmond, Staff Sergeant Charles Eggleston never imagined what awaited him when two improvised explosive devices detonated next to his vehicle in Mosul, Iraq in 2006. The Cornell University computer science graduate was severely injured, his spine nearly severed and his face badly scarred as part of his mission during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
February Bulletin Board
The Mount Vernon Bulletin Board for the month of February.
CSMS Science Olympiad Team Triumphs
The Carl Sandburg Middle School Science Olympiad Team has been notified that they have qualified for the Virginia State Science Olympiad Tournament to be held April 27 on the Virginia Tech Campus in Blacksburg. The team competed at the Virginia Science Olympiad Regional Tournament in Charlottesville, on Saturday, Feb. 16. Overall results placed Carl Sandburg Middle School as the 4th ranked school at the Science Olympiad competition that weekend.
Bipartisan Team Seeks Compensation for Victims of Forced Sterilization
Effort would give $50,000 to survivors; estimated cost would be $73 million.
Nobody knows how many people are survivors of Virginia’s forced sterilization program, which targeted people with mental illness, mental retardation or epilepsy.
Lawmakers Consider Effort to Increase Salary for Next Gunston Hall Director
Next museum leader could pull down more than $88,000 a year.
George Mason was one of the wealthiest Founding Fathers, and now the Virginia General Assembly may be moving to increase the salary of the director of the house where he once lived. Gunston Hall has been in a state of flux since the previous director was finally removed from office after more than a year of calls for his resignation.
Indoor Winter Fun with Children
Ideas for entertainment when Jack Frost appears.
Winter weather often means limited open air playtime for some children. “It is very important for children to get as much outdoor activity as possible, but there are times when it is not safe for them to be outside for an extended length of time, or any time at all, because it is too cold. ” said Shannon Melideo, chair of the Education Department at Marymount University in Arlington. “There are many other things that children can do besides sledding and ice skating.”
News Briefs
As Democratic delegates fight to keep firearms further from school property, Republican Bob Marshall (D-13) is pushing legislation to bring more guns in. Marshall is the chief patron of HB 1557, which would require every school board in the state to designate one volunteer to carry a concealed weapon on school property. Training for selected volunteers would be provided by either the Virginia Center for School Safety or the NRA, of which he is a member.
Four Northern Virginia Senators Targeted
Redistricting effort puts Fairfax County seats in the spotlight.
Four Northern Virginia state Senators are targets of a Republican-led effort to draw new districts — Sen. George Barker (D-39), Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37), Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36) and Sen. Chap Petersen (D-34). Democrats say the redistricting effort is a cynical attempt to take advantage of the absence of Sen. Henry Marsh (D-16), a prominent civil rights veteran, who was in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration on Monday. But state Sen. John Watkins (R-10) of Powhatan defended the effort as a way to create a sixth majority black Senate district in Southside. It passed the Senate on a 20-to-19 vote.
Making Schools Safer
Two Northern Virginia Democrats take part in panel to consider school security.
Do Virginia schools need more guns? That question is at the heart of a debate that’s now reaching a fever pitch in the commonwealth, especially after a man with a Bushmaster assault rifle blasted his way into a Connecticut elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults before killing himself. Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell responded to the tragedy by creating a School Safety Task Force, which is considering a proposal for every school in Virginia to have an armed school resource officer.
Residents Attend 57th Presidential Inauguration
Many brave crowds to witness history.
Local residents were among the hundreds of thousands who left their homes on a cold winter holiday, Jan. 21, to brave packed Metro trains and slow-moving security check points for a chance to celebrate and witness President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.
Many Local Implications in Zoning Rewrite
Four-year project moves from Planning Board to County Council.
Earlier this month when Callum Murray, the county’s chief planner for Potomac, spoke to the West Montgomery County Citizens Association, he told the group that the rewrite of the zoning code was about to move from planning to County Council.
UCM’s 19th Annual SOUPer Saturday
More than 100 handcrafted bowls were on sale at the Torpedo Factory for the 19th annual United Community Ministries SOUPer on Saturday, Jan. 19.
Fairfax Families4Kids
Fostering bonds with children.
Nationwide, more than 463,000 children live in foster care. In many states, including Virginia, the number of foster youth has tripled in the last 25 years. As of Sept. 30, 2011, nearly 5,000 youth were in foster care in Virginia, according to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Physical abuse is the most common reason children enter foster, but it’s not the only reason. Often there’s emotional abuse, sexual abuse and the parent or caretaker’s inability to provide a safe environment due to substance abuse.
A Family Made Whole
After a tragic loss, Reston couple creates a family through adoption.
The Granvilles look like a made-for-TV family. On a bright October afternoon, Chris, a computer engineer, is teasing his teenage son, Kenny, about what kind of pet to adopt, while Tiffany sits on a sofa, cradling Elijah, Kenny’s baby brother, who has just woken up from an afternoon nap. “Fish? No way,” Kenny, 15, says. “They just go ‘round and ‘round in a bowl.” Kenny is lobbying hard for a dog or—at the very least—a guinea pig or hamster.