Letter: Volunteer for the Games
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: I love this community. There are so many ways to serve a community as diverse and as vibrant as ours. I recently competed in a special election to succeed Congresswoman Comstock. While I came up short in the vote count, largely due to the unfortunate weather on Election Day, I am as inspired to serve as I was on that day. My passion to serve others only strengthens with each pursuit.
Column: Seasonal Seven Dwarfs
Sneezy, Coughy, Phlegmy, Stuffy, Achy. No-Sleepy and Post-Nasal Drippy; and no Doc, which is possibly what led to this column being written.
Letter: County Shouldn’t Spray Against Fall Cankerworm
Letter to the Editor
This letter is in response to a recent letter to the editor about Fairfax County’s Fall Cankerworm Insecticide Spraying Program.
General Assembly Underway
The General Assembly convened for its annual session on Jan. 14. Although the session scheduled to adjourn at the end of February is termed “the short session,” it will have a full agenda of opportunities and challenges.
Column: $32.99 Plus Shipping
For one box of 54 petite Belgian waffle cookies in three delicious flavors: milk chocolate, dark chocolate and vanilla; an extravagance to be sure, available during the holidays; this recipient (actually, my wife, Dina, was the recipient) very happy to oblige and indulge.
Editorial: Happy New Year
Focused on community.
Happy New Year. We need your help in 2015. As local, weekly newspapers, the Connection’s mission is to deliver news readers need close to home, to help readers enjoy great local places and events, to advocate for community good, to call attention to unmet needs, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in community and people’s lives.
Fairfax Cops Block Geer Killing Investigations
Finally some of the smoke is clearing. Sixteen months after unarmed John Geer was killed standing in his doorway by an unidentified Fairfax County Police officer we are getting an explanation of the wall of silence surrounding his death. In response to an inquiry by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney (prosecutor) Raymond Morrogh revealed why he failed to complete his investigation into Mr. Geer’s killing and took the unusual step of passing the case to the U.S. Attorney (U.S. Justice Dept.) a year ago.
Redistricting Remains an Issue
Although the drawing of legislative district lines is supposed to take place each decade after the federal census, the controversy over where and how lines are drawn keeps the issues alive every year. Most recently a federal court declared the current Congressional district lines in Virginia invalid because the way the lines are drawn discriminates against minorities being able to get elected. Essentially the black population is packed into one district.
Letter to the Editor: Fairness for All – the Lake Anne RELAC Decision
To the Editor: As we turn the calendar to a new year, some of our Reston neighbors will be facing an important vote in January that affects their summertime comfort. Covenant 15 of the Reston Association Deed requires 343 households to use the 50+ year old Reston Lake Anne Air-Conditioning Corporation cooling system (RELAC), unless they receive an annual medical exemption -- a nightmare when the unit goes up for resale.
Letter to the Editor: Hateful Tweets Call for Action
To the Editor: I would like to applaud the Reston Connection for its coverage of FCPS Superintendent Garza's meeting with concerned parents on Dec. 3 (“County Superintendent Listens to Reston,” Connection, December 10-16, 2014).
Letter to the Editor: Taking Exception on Express Lanes
To the Editor: An article was recently published in your newspaper discussing the new I-95 express lanes (95 Express Lanes Open, The Connection, Dec. 18-24, 2014). One statement in the article read, “Construction manager for the project John Morse, of VDOT, said that the addition of a third lane will solve a number of problems and give people options other than waiting in traffic.”
Column: Down and Not Out, Yet
Thankfully (so far as I know, which isn’t very far), after a five-week interval between infusions, which included two additional weeks of pre-chemotherapy lab work and an out-of-the-ordinary 24-hour urine collection (“creatinine clearance”) to boot – to more accurately measure my kidney function in hopes of meeting a 1.6 threshold – muster was finally passed, and I was subsequently infused without any further adieu.
Column: Level Best
If I wanted to rationalize the benefit of delaying my heretofore every-three-week chemotherapy infusion from three weeks to four and now on to five, possibly six – and that’s dependent on improved results from a second/maybe even third retest upcoming (this retest a bit more involved than drawing blood) – I would say it’s only fitting that I should have a break/brake; after all, it is the holiday season when all good things; yada, yada, yada. If only it were that simple.
Column: The New Normal
Loosey goosey, I suppose. As much as one might prefer some predictability in their life (certainly a cancer patient would – I know I would), I may be entering a cycle of permanent unpredictability.
Letter: Do Fairfax County Police Act with Impunity?
Fifteen months, after the shooting of John Geer, no officer has been identified, no charges have been filed, no grand jury has been convened and no reason has been given to the family or the public.
I would like to begin by saying that I have always and still do support the police as a whole. I appreciate the job that they do and the risks they take on a daily basis in an effort to keep the public safe. The ongoing policy in Fairfax County of police self-investigation, when officers are involved in possible crimes, has to change.