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Making a Prom Dream Come True for Chronically Ill

West Potomac student coordinates a No Worries Now Prom.

Four days before her June 15 graduation from West Potomac High School, Sara Sanders was at the Washington D.C. No Worries Now Prom that she coordinated with the help of local donations and volunteers.

8 Year Old's 9-1-1 Call Saves Mother's Life

Second grader Katie Lee commended by county.

Stratford Landing Elementary School staff and students gathered for an assembly June 6 to honor 8-year-old Katie Lee whose quick response saved her mother’s life.

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Serving the Muse and the Community

Peter Lattu turns to poetry and volunteering.

How to fill the void after the dog dies: That was the dilemma facing Peter Lattu. For several years, Lattu had taken his border collie on three long walks a day. But many empty hours stretched before the Alexandria resident when the dog was gone. "I needed things to do," said Lattu.

A Commitment to Social Justice

Walker discusses her faith as a Unitarian Universalist.

“I consider myself a mystical humanist,” said the Rev. Kate Walker of the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, where she has preached for almost four years. “I put a great deal of faith in the human spirit, intellect and heart, but I am also very open to the depths of mystery and all that I can’t explain. There is a sense of divinity and sacredness in this world that I engage with on a daily basis.”

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Need for Police Oversight Continues

Coalition reaffirms effort to establish Police Citizens Oversight Board.

Nicholas Beltrante’s effort to gain the support of the Board of Supervisors to create a Police Citizen Oversight Board would be, if his proposal is accepted, similar to the ones formed in other cities and counties in the U.S.

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A Commitment to Social Justice

Walker discusses her faith as a Unitarian Universalist.

“I consider myself a mystical humanist,” said the Rev. Kate Walker of the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, where she has preached for almost four years. “I put a great deal of faith in the human spirit, intellect and heart, but I am also very open to the depths of mystery and all that I can’t explain. There is a sense of divinity and sacredness in this world that I engage with on a daily basis.”

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Community Services Budget Under Scrutiny

$8 Million budget hole threatens programs, public review underway.

The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, which provides social services to thousands of the county’s most vulnerable residents and has come under fire for an $8 million budget shortfall, was given a temporary reprieve by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

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Greeting New ‘Fellow Americans’

Fairfax County hosts fourth annual naturalization ceremony.

"My fellow Americans," U.S. Rep Gerry Connolly (D-11) said with gravitas, pausing to let the meaning sink in. And when it did, 75 immigrants - from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan - who had just raised their right hand and taken the Oath of Allegiance to become American citizens, erupted with applause and tears, waving American flags and hugging family members. They were gathered at the Fairfax County Government Center Friday, May 25, for the county’s fourth annual naturalization ceremony.

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Hearing from Living History

Tuskegee Airman William T. Fauntroy, Jr., age 86, gave a talk recently to Boy Scout Troop 1509 at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in Fort Hunt. After World War II, Fauntroy went on to become the first African American civil engineer hired by the National Capital Transportation Agency — the predecessor to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority.

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Remembering Gilbert S. McCutcheon

Family, friends and neighbors of Gil McCutcheon gathered on the hilltop of Lamond Community Park on Saturday, May 12 for a ceremony to rename the park for the late Gilbert S. McCutcheon. McCutcheon was a key player in negotiations and acquisition of the 18-acre site off Fort Hunt Road. He also ensured that the home on the property would be preserved.

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Bolling: Republican Party Is for Women

Jean Ann Bolling, wife of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, was the keynote speaker at the Commonwealth Republican Women’s Club (CRWC) annual membership meeting May 3 at the Lloyd House on North Washington Street in Old Town, Alexandria. The reception recognizes those who work successfully for the Republican Party both locally and state-wide.

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Opening Doors for People in Need

FACETS celebrates volunteers, donors at annual benefit breakfast.

Surrounded by nearly 350 business executives, politicians and community leaders in the chandeliered ballroom of the Waterford, Frank Somers - dressed in jeans, sneakers and a denim work shirt - looked a little out of place.

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Game On

George Mason University students develop video games aimed at curtailing gang recruitment in Virginia.

Law enforcement officials now have two unlikely weapons in the fight against gang activity in Virginia: video games and college students.

Virginia Irene Sullivan Bruch Dies

Virginia Irene Sullivan Bruch (“Ginny”) was born May 26, 1921 in Hickman, Ky. A teacher and published poet, genealogist, and civic leader in Alexandria, she began a career in the Civil Service in 1948, retiring in 1980 from the Pentagon Army Library, where she was a section chief.

Dorothy P. Miller Dies

Dorothy P. Miller (Jane) died of complications following surgery in Woodland Hills, Calif., on April 27, 2012. Dorothy was the daughter of the late John P. and Dorothy Shepherd of London, England. She is survived by her son Michael Miller and his wife Jane of Springfield, Va., her daughter Mary Jane Seebach and her husband Steven of Newbury Park, Calif., a cousin Anne Farnario and her husband Jack of St. Clairsville, Ohio and a sister-in-law Alice Jennings of Bellevue, Washington. She is also survived by three grandsons, Philip Miller of Rockville, Md., Ian and Spencer Seebach of Newbury Park.