Gun Lobby Over Gun Victims
Last year, I wrote a letter to my senator, Mark Warner. In it, I appealed to him to reconsider his position on gun violence, to support renewal of an assault weapons ban, a ban of mega magazines, and closing the gun show loophole for potential mass murderers. My senator wrote a polite letter back reminding me of his “A” rating by the NRA and his staunch support of the Second Amendment. He noted my concerns and wished me well. Yep, I knew where he stood.
Editorial: Value-added Evaluation?
TJ admissions illustrate growing gap between “haves” and “have-nots.”
More than 181,000 students attend Fairfax County Public Schools. So why do the 480 students who were accepted for next year’s freshman class at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology seem so important? Fairfax County Public Schools have a single elite magnet school, Thomas Jefferson, and TJ is frequently referred to as the top high school in the country. Dramatic disparity in the makeup of admissions at TJ is an indicator of disparity in early identification of students as gifted and talented, of access to advanced classes and enrichment, and in the basic education that the Fairfax County Public school system offers to all of its students.
‘We Have Not Forgotten’
Residents rally in Vienna to support stricter gun control measures.
Less than six miles from the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in Fairfax, more than 100 people gathered on the Vienna Town Green Saturday, April 13, to urge Congress to support stricter gun control measures.
Reston Traffic: From Difficult to Impossible
The writer is the RCA representative to the Reston Master Plan Task Force, Reston Citizens Association (RCA) Board of Directors co-chair and RCA Reston 2020 Committee.
Within Constitutional Limits
Our newly minted senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, gave the best response I have heard to those who argue that the Second Amendment is an absolute right to own guns.
Editorial: Voting Again
Every year is election year in Virginia, and it’s a bit much.
The most hotly contested race for statewide office in Virginia, the Republican contest for lieutenant governor, will be decided at a statewide convention on May 18. That’s about a month from now.
Letter: A Tennis Lesson To Baseball World
To the Editor:
Letter: Can a Golf Course Make a Good Neighbor?
To the Editor:
Commentary:Paving the Way
The Reconvened Session of the General Assembly that met last week concluded work for this year on the most significant funding program for transportation infrastructure approved by the legislature since the historic special session in 1986.
Energetic ‘Sustainable Reston’
Independent Progressive
ustainable Reston is one of our youngest and most active community organizations. Founded as part of the Reston Citizens Association, SR defines its mission as preparing Reston for the impacts of climate change, resource depletion as we pass peak oil, and economic problems beyond local control. It encourages local alternatives for food and commerce while minimizing fossil fuel use.
Commentary: Silver Line Access
Construction on the Silver Line, the extension of Metrorail in the Dulles corridor, will be completed for its first phase to Wiehle Avenue by August 2013. After extensive testing by its operator, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the line will start carrying passengers by December 2013. Reston riders will be able to go to Tysons, Arlington, downtown, or as far as Largo, Md.—without getting out of their seats. As exciting as the prospects are for mass transit into and out of our community, there is an understandable level of apprehension and concern about access to the rail line and its impact on the community.
Editorial: More Obstacles to Transparency
General Assembly puts more information out of public reach, but other factors also limit access.
The first paragraph of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, passed by the General Assembly in 1968, states that all public records "shall be presumed open." It doesn’t add, “except when we don’t want to,” although that provision does seem to be available in many cases. Individual government entities have a variety of ways of making it hard for the public to access public information.
Column: 14.8 Percent
That is the percentage of diagnosed lung cancer patients who survive beyond five years, according to The National Cancer Institute’s SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2009, in a graph published in the Feb. 26, 2013 Washington Post’s weekly Health & Science section. As a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survivor beginning his fifth year post-diagnosis, charting my prospects in such a cold and impersonal manner is both chilling and arguable. “Chilling” in that facts speak for themselves and are hardly made up of whole cloth, to invoke one of the late Jack Kent Cooke’s more famous quotes. And “arguable” in that charts, statistics, etc., may very well measure the mean, but it sure doesn’t measure the man (this man, anyway). Meaning, from my perspective: sure, the chart is scary as hell, but I’m not sure I’m on it, if you know what I mean? (I know you know what I hope.)
RCA—Voice of Reston
RCA—Voice of Reston