Letter: Re-examine Budget
Supervisor Hyland's call to add a 4 percent tax to restaurant meals is a bad idea. Restaurateurs have been badly hurt by the three-year recession and they need a period of recovery.
Letter: Live Within One’s Means
As a resident of the Mount Vernon community for 36 years, I enjoy the Gazette every week.
Letter: Appreciate Support
The West Potomac Dance Team would like to thank the local community (including the Gazette), our sponsors*, the West Potomac Office of Student Activities and administration, and our families for supporting our “Road to Nationals.” We couldn’t have done it without all of you. The West Potomac Dance Team would like to thank the local community (including the Gazette), our sponsors*, the West Potomac Office of Student Activities and administration, and our families for supporting our “Road to Nationals.” We couldn’t have done it without all of you.
Column: Peculiar Presence
In the last few months, out of the blue, I have received electronic correspondence from each of my three oldest childhood friends (none of whom have remained adulthood friends, though all three remain of interest to me) commenting on my cancer diagnosis; each having stumbled across one of my cancer columns online, presumably after initiating a Google-type search for yours truly.
Editorial: Interrupting Harassment and Bullying
Empowering bystanders to intervene, students to set boundaries.
With a controversial and much discussed new movie, "Bully," coming out this week, local school districts continue to wrestle with the issue of bullying in the schools.
Letter: Community Disconnect?
The silly season is upon us, the time of year in which the Mount Vernon Council (MVCCA) passes budget resolutions in which it urges the Board of Supervisors to raise every conceivable tax so that sufficient funding is available for the progressive spending the MVCCA supports. This year is no different.
Letter: Falling from Middle Class to Poverty
While the economy shows signs of improving, many in our area are still facing hardships and struggling to make ends meet.
Letter: Problem with Assuming
Can you tell a person's race merely by the color of their skin? Apparently, H. Jay Spiegel can.
Letter: Government Intrusion
In my previous letter, in response to H. Jay Spiegel’s commentary on Del. Scott Surovell’s voting record during this year’s legislative session, I asked how Mr. Spiegel could “suggest that any of Del. Surovell’s positions rise to anywhere near the level of ‘government intrusion in our lives’ represented by the infamous ‘personhood’ and ‘trans-vaginal ultrasound’ bills.”
Letter: Changes Ensure Ballot Integrity
Ensuring the integrity of the ballot box is just as important as ensuring that everyone has access to the voting booth. And while hardly the strictest in the nation, Virginia’s new voter ID law allows for other forms of ID to be used if a driver’s license is not available on Election Day. Furthermore, a voter without a photo ID can still vote using a provisional ballot — and such ballots are available at every polling station.
Column: Breast Cancer Charities - Knowledge is Power
Recent controversial decisions made by the Susan G. Komen organization have thrust the ethics of breast cancer fundraising into the national spotlight. While Komen's choice of fund allocations threatened their status as a non-partisan entity, the practices of breast cancer charities as a whole are being closely examined.
Letter: Appropriate Action Taken
I am surprised by the continuing debate about the school system's CIP budgeting deficiencies. The superintendent's review of vendor complaints uncovered these actions. The superintendent promptly brought the facts to the School Board. The School Board promptly authorized an independent inquiry.
Letter: City Needs To Explain Budget
Although City Council reportedly instructed the city manager to submit a budget that does not raise taxes (it is an election year), he submitted a budget that does take more money from us.
Letter: Violating Scenic Easements
Last Month, I appeared before the City Council to venerate the George Washington Memorial Parkway. So you can imagine my disappointment about the following proposal, apparently being pushed by the City and according to National Park Services, quite forcefully.
Letter: Bolster Sense Of Community
Is Alexandria’s sense of community being undermined by city budget cuts? I don’t know the answer to this, but it’s a question worthy of debate.