Winter Fun with Food
Easy and tasty ideas for winter meals.
The stove is fired-up, a sauté pan is sizzling and the thud of a steel knife blade hitting a wooden chopping block fills the air along with the woodsy aroma of fresh thyme. The temperature outside is frigid, but the kitchen feels like an inferno as Chef Kristen Robinson drives a knife though a fennel bulb, kale leaves and a tough-skinned butternut squash with staccato succession.
Miss America to Promote STEM
At a pre-Inauguration event Sunday, Jan. 20, newly crowned Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan addressed a large audience gathered at the FAA for a “Federal Open House and Program Mentoring and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).” She spoke passionately about girls and STEM education, which along with her personal issue will be the chief cause during her reign.
Better Said Than Done Comes to Nature House
Better Said Than Done, a community of professional storytellers, will be presenting “Brrr… It's Cold Outside,” a night of storytelling about trying to stay warm in a cold, cold world.
Fine Arts Festival Set for May 17-19
More than 200 artists to participate in Reston festival.
The dates are set for the region’s longest running and largest fine arts festival—the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, produced by the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE). Celebrating its 22nd Anniversary, the premiere event for art lovers and enthusiasts will take place the weekend of May 17-19, 2013, illuminating the streets of Reston Town Center.
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.
Change to Intersection Raises Concerns
Residents object to potential traffic signal at Hunter Mill and Crowell.
The Hunter Mill District Land Use Committee heard a request from Oakcrest School Tuesday, Jan. 15, to amend the special exception that would allow them to alter the intersection at Hunter Mill Road and Crowell Road, an alteration that has raised objections from nearby residents.
Reston Pays Tribute to King Legacy
Commemorative march, concert highlight weekend activities.
As he stood in front of the Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation Sunday, Jan. 20, to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Isaiah Roberts of Reston knew he was participating in something special.
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.
Week in Reston
Body found on a Reston path identified and History of Reston program continues
Celebration to Focus On Community Service
Former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond to deliver keynote address at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration.
The Reston Community Center presents the 28th Annual Reston Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration on Jan. 19 and 20, 2013.
Letter: Park Authority’s Clarification
John Lovaas addressed the need to preserve and manage natural areas in Fairfax County [County Failing to Preserve Natural Resource Areas, Reston Connection, Dec. 12-18, 2012]. Although we concur with that need, we felt compelled to clarify several points in his column pertaining to the Fairfax County Park Authority’s 23,136 acres of parkland.
Commentary: Smoke and Mirrors
One of my mentors in my earliest years in the General Assembly was Delegate Dorothy McDiarmid who served off and on from 1960 to 1989. First elected on a platform of keeping the public schools open during racial desegregation, the gentlelady from Fairfax Mrs. McDiarmid went on to successfully add kindergarten to the public school system of the state and to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Her supporters gave her the campaign slogan, “The Lady Has Clout.” Delegate McDiarmid taught me to look carefully at political proposals for many lacked substance and were simply “smoke and mirrors.”