Opinion: Dangers of Failure To Act
Our current and future standing in the international community is on the line.
President Obama has sought Congressional approval to carry out limited surgical strikes in Syria against the regime of Bashar al Assad in response to his use of chemical weapons to attack Syrian civilians, which killed 1,429 people, including 426 children.
Editorial: Later Start Times for High School
It’s past time to act; let this year be the year.
Tuesday morning, Sept. 3, the first day of school in Fairfax County, Dr. Karen Garza began her official day at 6:30 a.m. at Chantilly High School. While Garza was making herself available for interviews before the first class started at 7:20 a.m., many students were already on the school bus.
Wellbeing: How To Set Realistic Goals
Local experts say the key to success is setting achievable goals.
Laura Wheeler Poms, of Fairfax, set out to earn a doctorate degree and make a career change. As a wife, mother and working professional, the goal, she said, often felt lofty. “Writing my dissertation at times felt overwhelming, especially if I looked at it as one huge project,” said Poms, who now holds a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology and is an assistant professor of global and community health at George Mason University in Fairfax. “I set goals like writing one page or doing one analysis each day and I was able to get it done. I also gave myself little rewards along the way.”
Column: Indeterminate Sentence
And no, that’s not another made-up phrase by yours truly describing my occasionally cluttered/run-on prose with which many of you extremely patient regular readers are all too familiar. No, it has to do with how I perceive my future now that I’m post-hospital and sleeping in my own bed. Instead of nurses, respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, doctors and miscellaneous other hospital staff too numerous to list, I have one wife and five cats to do my bidding. And though they’re not nearly as attentive as the hospital staff, I know that they all have my best interests at heart.
Saving Jobs in Hard Times
Virginia lawmakers will push work sharing legislation this session.
“Having been through the recession and recent slight increases in Virginia unemployment rates as federal sequestration takes effect, it is important that we give Virginia businesses all the tools we can to help them and their employees get through challenging times. This bill does that.” —State Sen. George Barker (D-39)
‘Shared Work:’ A Win-Win-Win Solution
Preventing layoffs, maintaining the well-being of employees and their communities and keeping businesses competitive.
How do we mitigate the devastating effects of layoffs on employees, employers and their communities? Is there a "win-win-win" solution?
Joe Gittinger of Dunn Loring Wins Fishing Tournament
Joe Gittinger of Dunn Loring places first in historical first known fishing tournament in the country to offer a designated cash purse for individuals with intellectual disabilities. He collected $250 with the 1st place prize of the Travis Smith Special Angler Award. The designated cash purse was added to this year’s Lancaster County Little League Spanish Mackerel tournament on Saturday, Aug. 24th. The tournament is based in Kilmarnock, Va., located in Virginia’s Northern Neck, with 56 vessels competing in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Weichert, Realtors Recognizes Patricia Stack
Sales Associate Patricia Stack of the Vienna office was individually recognized for her exceptional industry success during the month of July. A top producer, Stack led the region, which comprises offices throughout Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Delaware counties, in resale dollar volume. Invite this top neighborhood specialist in to learn about the real estate services that Weichert, Realtors has to offer. She can be reached in Weichert’s Vienna office at 156 East Maple Avenue or by phone at 703-938-6070.
Vienna Among Top-earning Towns, Best for Families
In addition to being one of the top three “Best Places to Live,” Money Magazine has named Vienna on its list of “Top-Earning Towns.” Vienna is ranked 24 in a list of 25 towns across the country that have above national average household income and home prices. Vienna is joined on the list by Falls Church, at number 18 on the “Top-Earning Town” list.
Two FCPS Students Elected Key Club International Officers
Two Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students have been elected to the 2013-14 Key Club International Board of Trustees. Raeford Penny, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), was elected international president of the organization, and Eric Yoon of Oakton High School was elected as an international trustee.
Creative Framing Hosts Artist Shari MacFarlane
Bob Cramer, owner of Creative Framing on Maple Avenue West in downtown Vienna, invites members of the community to come in and enjoy original works by water and mixed media artist Shari MacFarlane.
Viewpoints: What are you looking forward to the most this school year?
“I’m looking forward to sports, football, basketball … looking forward to that. Also the challenge of new classes this year because junior year is typically the most difficult. I’m starting to look at colleges this year.”
Excited to Go Back to School
Fairfax County Public Schools began school year on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
If any of the children waiting at a Westbriar Elementary School bus stop had first-day-of-school jitters, no one showed them. The kids intuitively lined up as the bus approached the stop as parents waved good-bye. The children were excited; parents marked another passage in their children’s lives.
Capturing Vienna’s History
Historic Vienna, Inc. project recorded and filmed residents’ recollections of earlier Vienna.
There was a time when there was no Rt. 66 ramp in Vienna … mainly because there was a time when there was no Rt. 66 anywhere nearby. Nor was there a Capital Beltway. There was, however, a time when a train from Alexandria stopped in Vienna going west. There was a time when there were maple trees on Maple Avenue and churches along Church Street. Before Louise Archer Elementary School was named after the principal who ran the school for many pivotal years, it was a “colored” school.
Town Launches Shop Vienna Initiative
In July of this year, the Town of Vienna launched the Shop Vienna initiative, an online directory listing all in-town businesses. The directory is organized by category and individuals who “claim” their business will have their own micro-site on the town’s website.
YMM Art Space Opens in Vienna
YMM Art Space is a children’s art education company that started eight years ago in Shenzhen, China, by Yang Hongmei, with the mission to provide children with the highest quality art programs and to stimulate children’s innate creativity through art education. Mrs. Yang started out as a private art teacher offering lessons from her home and eventually expanding her vision, YMM Art Space, into a global arts education center with locations in Hong-Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, China as well as Toronto, Canada. Currently, there are over 30,000 students enrolled in YMM Art Space globally, and their age ranges from 2-18 years old.
Classified Advertising Sept. 4, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
Column: From Weak to Week
Eight days and seven nights. Not exactly the vacation I was planning. Nevertheless, admitted to the hospital on Friday, August 2nd. Discharged on Friday, August 9th: that was my hospital “staycation.” Though I definitely improved as the post-surgical week went on, the process itself – specifically, nearly four days in S.I.C.U. (Surgical Intensive Care) with round-the-clock monitoring, nursing and doctoring – was hardly restful. In fact, if you read the following prose, you’ll presumably develop an understanding of the cons.
Every Year Is Election Year in Virginia
Northern Virginia has most two-party races on ballot.
While the Virginia governor’s race is the one getting the most attention, both nationally and in the state, Virginia’s House of Delegates race is shaping up to be the most competitive in a decade. According to an official candidate list released last month by the Virginia State Board of Elections, 57 House seats will be contested this November — marking only the second time in the last decade where at least half of the 100 House seats will have more than one name on the ballot.
What in the World Does a Supervisor Do, and Why Should We Care?
Local Government 101: Where the rubber meets the road.
We see them at just about every community event. They manage a budget larger than the budgets of four states, and rule over a county with a diverse, well-educated population of more than a million people. The 10 members of the Fairfax County Supervisors have an intense, time-consuming, insanely detailed job, one that comes with enormous power and even more responsibilities. They impact our lives in large and small ways, allocating money and resources in ways that can propel our community forward—or cost us our first-rate status in education, livability and culture. Yet most of us, media included, are so focused on politics at the state and national level that we overlook the decision-makers in our own backyard.