"how to keep one's financial affairs in order"

Arctic Snowy Owl at Springfield Mall

"Snowy Owl at Springfield Mall," the subject line read on the Virginia Society of Ornithology’s birding hotline, on Feb. 4. The winter of 2013-2014 had seen an unprecedented irruption of Arctic Snowy Owls into the mid-Atlantic states. Dozens, or hundreds were being seen from Maine to the Carolinas, and even one in Florida. Mostly they showed up on Atlantic barrier islands, or at airports (two were seen at Washington National Airport) which look like their native tundra.

Be Dazzled

The now and the future of dance comes to Mason.

The dancers are coming! The dancers are coming! The Winter Olympics isn't the only venue to see agility, power, speed, strength and beauty. And you won't need to know the difference between a double Lutz and a triple axel. Soon Fairfax County will be welcoming five hundred of another type of athletes: 500 dancers from dozens of colleges and universities showcasing and competing with dreams of appearing at the Kennedy Center this May. It is the American College Dance Festival with a grand opening by the famed Joffrey Ballet. "We are very excited to be hosting this year’s mid-Atlantic festival and opening our beautiful facilities to our talented guests," said Susan Shields, professor, Mason School of Dance. "At Mason, the arts are highly valued throughout the campus and the curriculum."

‘I Have to Protect Society from You’

Requejo sentenced to five years in prison.

Even if Eduardo Requejo was sexually molested himself, as a child, that didn’t give him the right to do it to anyone else. That was the message Judge Brett Kassabian gave him last Friday in Fairfax County Circuit Court. He then sentenced Requejo, 23, of Fairfax, to five years in prison for sexually molesting an 8-year-old girl.

Fairfax City Budget Proposal Unveiled

Includes no increase in property-tax rate.

The City of Fairfax is on firm financial footing and the real-estate tax rate is not proposed to increase in the coming fiscal year. That was the message City Manager Bob Sisson brought to the City Council last Tuesday, Feb. 25, when he unveiled his proposed FY 2015 budget.

Message To Teenagers: Things Do Get Better

Catie Warren is a 2009 Woodson High grad and her brother is a freshman there. Now a writer, after last week’s tragedies she wrote the following about high-school life in general on TotalSororityMove.com: Yesterday, a student from my former high school died tragically. He was 15. Just a baby in the grand scheme of things; a young boy with his whole life ahead of him. A life filled with graduations and relationships and jobs and little ones. A life filled with happiness and joy and precious moments, laughter that makes your belly roar, silliness that makes your cheeks hurt, and love that makes your heart skip beats. He had his whole life waiting for him. Instead, he chose to end it. His death marked the fifth suicide at this school in four years. And. It. Has. Got. To. Stop.

Trying to Stay Strong Through the Grief

Woodson High community mourns two students.

Tears, sad faces, hugs, stunned silences, churning emotions and unanswered questions – all are part of the reaction of the Woodson High students in the wake of last week’s tragedies: Two of their classmates have died.

Tour Of Silver Line Reston Station

Despite delay work at Reston station continues.

In February, Metro authorities with the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA) released a statement that key criteria had not been met by Dulles Transit Partners (DTP), who submitted their notice of "substantial completion" to MWAA on Feb. 7.

Local Author Turning Book Into Screen Play

Great Falls Writers Group: Evening with the Authors.

A local author is planning to put the story of her life on the silver screen. Sixty-one-year-old Mindy Mitchell of Reston is writing a screenplay based on her book, "Lube of Life: A Tribute to Sex, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness in the Boomer Age," which she released last year along with her co-author, 63-year-old Edward Land of Hampton, Va. "The content [and] energy contained in our book, ‘Lube of Life,’ would adapt easily to film: a comedic yet poignant tale of late-in-life love," said Mitchell. "A ‘When Harry Met Sally’ all grown up."

Q&A with David Harris, Reston Association’s New Chief Financial Officer

Reston Association has hired longtime Northern Virginia resident and public accounting professional David Harris as their new chief financial officer. Harris took a few minutes on Friday afternoon to discuss his background and what his plans are for managing RA’s finances and information technology department as he settles into his new role.

Project BEST Brings Fun Science to Middle Schools

The nonprofit started last year by five Thomas Jefferson High School students brings its youth conference to Langston Hughes Middle School.

Thomas Jefferson High School senior Robert Young peered over a table of middle-schoolers gathered in a cafeteria on Saturday morning to observe their progress dissecting a brain made of Jell-O. The students’ mission in this activity was to simulate a precise act of brain surgery, using only tweezers and the steadiness of their hands.

Marriage Equality Moves Forward

As one who has worked on human rights issues for many decades, I am excited about the positive changes that are occurring at such a rapid pace in laws and in peoples’ attitudes about sexual orientation, especially same-sex marriage. Most of the people I talk to under age 30 don’t understand why this is even an issue. Unfortunately because of some of my colleagues in the legislature, action by federal courts will be necessary to bring about changes in the law. As time passes there will continue to be residual harsh and discriminatory feelings on the part of a minority who cling to the past as there has been with every advance in civil rights, but most will look back in bewilderment over what people were thinking in refusing to grant the same rights to all people.

Teachers Undervalued, Dominion Owns Legislature

Fairfax County is preparing to stick it to our public school teachers again, as they have done for several years. New Superintendent Karen Garza has submitted a 2015 budget to the nominally Democratic Board of Supervisors, a budget including serious cuts (though not so much in fat central admin) and a modest 2 percent pay boost for teachers who’ve not had one in last three years, counting the year they got a nominal salary raise more than offset by an increase in their retirement contribution. But, the Supes promptly pleaded dire poverty in this county with incomes averaging over $105,000/year. The Supes say they will cut the budget.

Greater Washington Dance Center Brings a Fresh Perspective to Reston

Gretchen Vogelzang, founder and owner of the Greater Washington Dance Center (GWDC) in Reston will be the first to tell you that if you are looking for a studio where your child will be prepped to participate in elaborate performances for every season, then her place is probably not the one for you and yours.

Be a Hero!

A Purim message.

Close your eyes and imagine the Jewish nation in Persian times (519–465 BC), unwanted guests of an frosty host. An exiled nation still licking its wounds following Nebuchadnezzar - King of Babylons sacking of Jerusalem, and the destruction of Solomon's Temple a mere fifty years prior. As though matters were not bleak enough, Haman, a powerful man in the Persian Empire, and a sworn enemy of the Jewish People, seeks to destroy them.

Mosaic Harmony Sings at Herndon Senior Center

Community choir performs inspirational music.

"Feel free to please sing along with us," said David K. North, director of Mosaic Harmony Community Choir since 1996. North drove to the Herndon Senior Center from Maryland to direct the Feb. 28 concert performance. Twenty-five members of Mosaic Harmony performed in the show, which was also attended by Herndon town council member Sheila Olem. The concert was sponsored by the Council for the Arts of Herndon.

ArtSpace to Announce Photo Competition Winners

The competition pool, narrowed down from 87 entrants to 37 finalists, features photographers from the DMV area.

Those who turn out to ArtSpace Herndon on Saturday, March 8 from 7-9 p.m., will have a chance to see a colorful exhibition of images by 37 photographers from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. In addition to the exhibition, longtime photographer and competition juror D.B. Stovall will announce the first, second, and third place winners of ArtSpace’s 2014 Fine Art Photography Competition during an awards ceremony. Stovall narrowed down the competition pool of 400 submissions by 87 photographers to 37 finalists in a difficult process of elimination that he described as a "series of difficult cuts."

Petersen Report: Senate Addresses Health Care

Last Thursday, Feb. 20, we rolled out "Marketplace Virginia," an idea conceived by Sen. John Watkins (R-Powhatan). "Marketplace" takes the $2 billion in taxes paid by Virginians under the Affordable Care Act and keeps it in Virginia, where it can provide insurance for the 400,000 Virginians not currently covered.

Clifton Resident in Skiing Competition

Keeler Lambertson and mother Jacquie share perspectives on skiing.

Keeler Lambertson, an 11-year-old Clifton resident, competed in the Pennsylvania Alpine Racing Association U12 (under 12) Derby from Feb. 28-March 2 at the Silver Springs Ski Resort in Pennsylvania. Keeler is part of the Liberty Mount Racing Team, located outside of Gettysburg, Pa.

Sex Trafficking in Our Backyard

Fairfax County detective, trafficking victim testify at Congressional hearing.

Since its creation in October 2013, the human trafficking unit of the Fairfax County Police Department has received over 70 tips and leads about human trafficking in Northern Virginia.

Debate Over Lorton Landfill Continues at Public Hearing

Decision on application deferred until March 13.

The debate over the future of the Lorton landfill continued as community members commented before the Fairfax County Planning Commission at a public hearing on Feb. 27.

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