‘To Honor Our Beginnings’
Since the Center for Alexandria’s Children opened in 2007, a number of dedicated individuals has kept its child abuse education and prevention programs running, growing and thriving. Three of these individuals will be honored at its Fifth Annual Gala Benefit on Friday, Feb. 28, at Virtue Feed & Grain in Old Town. The organization hopes to raise more than $120,000 at the gala, which is its biggest fundraising event of the year. Center staff, volunteers and affiliates will take some time at the event to honor some key players in the Center’s history.
Brief: Memorial Fund To Honor Lawson
For the last 20 years, The Walk to Fight Breast Cancer has helped support mammograms and other diagnostic screening for Alexandria women who are uninsured or not adequately insured. To honor the Walk’s founder, Vola Lawson, who died in December 2013, the Walk will be renamed. A fund has been created in her memory, the Vola Lawson Breast Cancer Memorial Fund. Since its inception in 1994, the Walk has helped more than 8,000 uninsured Alexandria women receive free mammograms and other diagnostic screenings.
Synetic Theater Offers Street Theater Camp
Synetic Theater and dog & pony dc are teaming up to offer a week-long intensive course in street theater for high school and college students at Synetic's new studio space in Crystal City. It runs March 10-15 and costs $350. Classes will culminate on Saturday, March 15 with public performances that take students from Crystal City to Freedom Plaza in the District. “This year, we are very excited to be working with dog & pony theater,” said Camp Director Elena Velasco. “They use social media and are very focused on audience reaction and audience relationships.” She added, “With dog & pony, it will be how we can invite the audience into the action ... How do we incorporate that into social media — Twitter, texting — how can we expand that performance circle.” Under the guidance of senior Synetic teachers and artists from dog & pony dc, students will study the disciplines of collaborative creation. Street theater offers a means of honing one's skills as an actor, and performers use their craft to empower their community and transform public spaces into arenas of artistic exchange.
Budget Process: Get Involved
Chairman gives blueprint for community engagement in Fairfax County budget process.
In Fairfax County, when we adopt the budget, we are investing in the priorities and needs of the community. At the center of this open and transparent process is community engagement. It is critical that we have the community at the table with us when we are considering changes to the budget that the County Executive released for advertisement at our Board Meeting on Feb. 25. Below are some opportunities to learn about the budget, ask questions and make suggestions during the months of March and April. I look forward to hearing from you.
High Five
I made it. It’s five years after receiving a terminal diagnosis on February 27, 2009 from my oncologist: stage IV non-small cell lung cancer, accompanied by a "13-month to two-year" prognosis. Let’s be honest, medical professionals don’t toss around the word "terminal" because you’re going to be treated at an airport. Presumably, they know their facts and figures as well as the patient’s present condition, confirmed by a variety of diagnostic results from X-Rays, CT Scans, P.E.T. Scans, lab work and of course the ever-popular biopsy, so their diagnosis/prognosis is a bit more than an educated guess. Nevertheless, there are exceptions to every rule and until proven otherwise, I was not about to succumb to their statistics. Still, based on the best medical knowledge available at the time, this patient (yours truly) was given a limited life expectancy and encouraged to take the vacation I had always dreamed of – for obvious you’re-life-is-now-shorter-than-you-ever-imagined-type reasons, and yet, five years hence, here I am.
T.C. Williams Girls’ Basketball Loses in Region Quarterfinals
Titans fall short despite overcoming 11-point deficit.
The T.C. Williams girls' basketball team's season ended Tuesday night.
Q&A with Brooke Curran
After witnessing the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, Brooke Curran decided that she would embark on a mission to impact the lives of others. After recreationally running 10 miles each day, Curran made it her goal to run 50 marathons in all 50 states, seven marathons in each continent, and each of the five major marathons. Curran has successfully accomplished all these goals while raising money to fund more than 20 local charities with her Alexandria-based nonprofit, RunningBrooke.
Bulova: ‘This Will Be a Challenging Budget’
Fairfax County average homeowner will see tax bill increase $330 under County Executive’s proposed $7 billion budget.
Fairfax County Executive Edward Long, Jr. unveiled a $7 billion budget proposal Tuesday that reflects his "cautious and deliberative approach to budgeting," a result, Long said, of continuing uncertainty over federal spending and sluggish commercial tax revenues.
Commentary: People of Faith for Equality in Virginia
Prior to 1996, I had not given much thought to same sex marriage. Then, in September of that year, DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, was passed. Now DOMA confused me. I really did not understand why marriage needed defending. If gay people got married, would that make me want to abandon my wife or make me want to become a gay man? What nonsense! If gays adopted kids who needed homes, wouldn’t that be a good thing, and how was it different from an infertile straight couple who adopted? If gays had legally-recognized families, would they do any worse with the institution of marriage than straight people who for years have sported a 50 percent divorce rate? In November 1996, as a member of City Council, I proposed that we include in our legislative package a same-sex marriage proposal for consideration by the Virginia General Assembly. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago. That was the first legislative proposal for same-sex marriage in Virginia, maybe the first in the country. It didn’t pass, but I can tell you it made for some very interesting politics in my next election six months later.
Letter to the Editor: Complete Idiocy?
To the Editor: Is the “Complete Streets” policy adopted by Alexandria also to be termed “complete idiocy?” After listening to two hours of testimony before Council recently about the proposal to eliminate parking and put bike lanes on a stretch of King Street, the question occurs to me as a cogent one. The idea of Complete Streets seems like a reasonable idea. More people are using bicycles rather than automobiles to get around and bicycle rights-of-way in the past have been enormously unclear. Complete streets is touted as a way to accommodate cars, pedestrians and bicycles. Unfortunately, some very questionable planning decisions are being made in the name of the concept. For example, the Duke Street transportation plan calls for a bike path to be built on the south side of that major artery, separated from the street traffic and from pedestrian sidewalks. While that might seen like good idea, it would require condemning a strip of land, all now private property, to construct the bike lane. Thus homeowners on Duke, roughly from Jordan east to Wheeler, would lose a healthy chunk of their already small front yards.
Hollywood Comes to Fairfax
How to use Hollywood-style portrait techniques to photograph adoptable animals.
Animals at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter were given the celebrity treatment on Feb. 23 when a team from the non-profit Shelter Art Foundation taught shelter staff and volunteers how to use Hollywood-style portrait techniques to photograph their adoptable animals.
Giving Bianca a Second Chance
A Fairfax County Animal Shelter happy ending.
Bianca, a nine-year-old, female, German shepherd mix dog, had been living her life on the end of a chain in a rural part of Virginia. In late January, an unknown stray dog approached Bianca and attacked her. Bianca’s owner came outside and in an attempt to stop the attack he hit both dogs with a shovel, striking Bianca over the head and injuring her. Rather than pursue vet care, the owner drove Bianca to the local pound and surrendered her. For the next 36 hours, Bianca sat with no medical care, until a sympathetic staff person called the shelter’s rescue partner at the Highland County Humane Society in rural Virginia.
‘We Will Not Tolerate Unsafe Driving’
Police want motorists to get the message from their new cruiser.
There’s a new weapon in the Fairfax County Police Department’s arsenal, but this one has four tires and an engine. It’s a new cruiser covered with messages warning people not to drive impaired or distracted. It was unveiled on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Sully District Station, and the station’s commander, Capt. Ed O’Carroll, explained its significance.
Letter to the Editor: Different View on Lee
To the Editor: It is unfortunate and, I daresay, disappointing that Mayor William Euille, an otherwise serious and thoughtful African American, apparently felt compelled to issue a proclamation, on behalf of the City Council, honoring the Confederate General Robert E. Lee (opinion, Jan. 23-29). Euille should have considered the words of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who upon hearing of Lee's death in 1870, wrote: "We can scarcely take up a newspaper that is not filled with nauseating flatteries of Lee, from which it would seem … that the soldier who killed the most men in battle, even in a bad cause, is the greatest Christian, and entitled to the highest place in heaven."
Young Proposes $634.8 Million Budget
City Manager Rashad Young submitted his proposal for a $634.8 million General Fund Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 before City Council Tuesday, Feb. 25, reflecting an increase of 1.6 percent over last year's budget while maintaining current real estate and personal property tax rates. “Expenditures are growing at a faster rate than revenue,” said Young in detailing his proposed budget during a press briefing earlier in the day. “The challenge always is how to put together this big jigsaw puzzle to meet the needs of the different constituencies and stakeholder groups.”
Obituary: Thomas Edward Braswell, Jr.
Thomas Edward ("Ed") Braswell, Jr., died in Alexandria on Feb. 23, 2014, at the age of 93. Mr. Braswell served as chairman of the Alexandria Planning Commission for over 30 years, beginning in the 1960s. In that role, Mr. Braswell was a key figure in the preservation of the historic character of Old Town Alexandria, as well as its historic homes and neighborhoods. In particular, Mr. Braswell worked to defeat the "Beggs Plan," an urban renewal initiative in the 1960s that would have bulldozed several blocks of historic buildings on King Street, as well as most of historic neighborhood north of King Street in the vicinity of City Hall. Mr. Braswell assisted in the creation of Alexandria's Board of Architectural Review and the enactment of strict height limitations on new development, both of which have been instrumental in the preservation of Old Town Alexandria's historic character.
Letter to the Editor: An ‘A’ for Snow Removal
To the Editor: A week late, but after this last snow storm, I meant to give Alexandria an “A” for its efforts with respect to Snow Emergency Routes/Primary Road and transit/city school bus routes.
Column: No Sneaking into Newsrooms
Consider for a moment if Alexandria City Council and surrounding jurisdictions decided to join the federal government and sent agents, inspectors or political operatives into newsrooms of local newspapers, broadcasting houses and every online outlet. Can't happen most of the journalistic professionals would probably be spouting.
News Brief: Shooting at North Payne and Wythe
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a shooting that occurred in the area of N. Payne Street and Wythe Street on Sunday, Feb. 23. At approximately 6:30 p.m., police responded to for multiple calls of shots fired. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso. The victim was transported to an area hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Detectives and crime scene investigators continue to work in the area.
”Next Fall” Opens This Weekend
The Port City Playhouse is staging “Next Fall” from Feb. 28 to March 15. The contemporary love story written by Geoffrey Nauffts is about two gay men in an up-and-down relationship in New York. The character of Luke is devoutly religious and his lover Adam is an atheist. The action revolves around their five-year relationship and how they make it work despite their differences. However, when an accident changes everything, Adam must turn to Luke's family for support. “I want to tell a realistic story about two people who love each other very much,” said Director Rob Batarla. “And that at the end of the day, the differences that you think really matter just don't really matter.” He added, “Although the story centers around a same-sex couple, the central theme is universal.” “Next Fall” opened off-Broadway in 2009 and was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play. It also received a 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award as Best New American Play. According to Richard Isaacs, 50, of Old Town, who plays the role of Adam, one of the two leads, “All of the characters are in search of where they are in life. They seem to be looking for something, but they aren’t sure what they’re looking for. I think it’s about life’s journey and finding who you are in life.” Added Isaacs, “In this five-year relationship, they are trying to find a common connection and make the relationship work despite different theological attitudes … Some of the questions Adam asks Luke, I have asked these same questions in my own life.”