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

Recollections of Great Falls, 1901-2000

Group conversations—four Mondays in February—and you are invited.

The Great Falls Historical Society is preparing a documentary film on "Life in Great Falls, 1901 to 2000" as part of the upcoming Great Falls Day celebration, to be held on Sunday, May 5.

Slavery to Reconstruction Presented in Great Falls

Professional historian Marion Dobbins discusses the role of slavery in Northern Virginia.

Marion Dobbins is a seventh-generation Virginian, born and raised in Fairfax County. As an African-American child, she sat at her grandmother’s knee listening to the rich heritage of her ancestors. Her grandmother’s stories of the past inspired her to become a professional historian.

Classified Advertising Jan. 23, 2013

Read the latest ads here!

Chantilly Boys' Basketball Team Snaps 3-Game Losing Skid

Three Chargers score in double figures against Yorktown.

Brian Sydnor led Chantilly with 15 points, DeAndre Harris scored 13 and Sean Huelskamp finished with 12.

Katcham Receives McDonnell Award

Honored for his long-time community service.

Jim Katcham has been serving his community for years, so it’s only fitting that he was honored Monday night with the James D. McDonnell Award for dedicated and outstanding community service.

‘They Treat Him Like One of Their Own’

Centreville High football players mean the world to Juwaan.

Juwaan Espinal, 15, was born with cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound. But that doesn’t mean he can’t live a life as full of joy and meaning as possible.

Gaining Confidence for SATs

Educators offer prep seminar.

For high-school students, a great deal rides on doing well on the SAT test. But it can be both a daunting and an intimidating experience. And that’s where Westfield High counselor Dan Harris and English teacher Gregg Greentree come in. Together, they’ve developed an SAT prep course.

South County High Picks Mr. Stallion 2013

Holds Fifth Annual Male Beauty Pageant.

Ten male students from South County High School set the stage on fire at the Dale S. Rumberger Auditorium of the South County High School in Lorton, during the Fifth Annual Mr. Stallion Pageant on Thursday, Jan. 17. The event, described by Alison Andrews, one of the coordinators and class sponsors, as “a take on female pageant” and a quest for “bragging rights,” was well attended by parents and students, who kept yelling for more as participants appeared on stage.

Union Mill Holds Winter Concerts

Fifth and sixth grade band students from Union Mill Elementary performed in their Winter Band Concert on Wednesday, Jan. 16, led by band teacher Laura Seifried. First-year band students performed “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Old MacDonald Had a Band,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Hard Rock Blues.” The sixth grade band students performed “Bag ‘O Blues,” and several holiday pieces including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”

Elevation Burger Expands in Fairfax

Elevation Burger, fast-casual restaurant, has opened two new locations in Fairfax, the first at Fair Oaks Mall, followed by one at the Turnpike Shopping Center in Fairfax City, bringing the total number to 10 Elevation Burger locations in the Washington, D.C. metro area, of which four are located in Fairfax County.

Volunteering to Cheer

Special Olympics “Cheer Team” wows crowd with high-energy performance.

Like many girls, Jacquelyn Hoffmeier of Burke always wanted to be a cheerleader. The 25-year-old, born with Down Syndrome, finally got her chance to perform on Friday, Jan. 11. Hoffmeier, along with seven of her Special Olympics teammates, cheered and danced before a crowd of nearly 200 parents and students during halftime at the West Springfield High School girls’ basketball game.

Jail Tours Provide Wake-Up Call for At-Risk Teens

The Sheriff’s Office runs the Teen Awareness Program (TAP).

“At-risk kids are able to see and hear first-hand the effects of making a right decision versus a wrong decision,” says Deputy Sheriff Lieutenant Steve Elbert, about the tours and presentations he leads at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The Sheriff’s Office initiated the Teen Awareness Program (TAP) a year ago, in partnership with the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, to become part of the court’s diversion program for first-time, non-violent juvenile offenders.

Area Roundups

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will host a presentation by resiliency expert Nan Henderson, “Resiliency in Action: How Families, Schools and Communities Create ‘Bounce Back’ Kids,” on Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 7-8:30 p.m., in the Robinson Secondary School cafeteria. Robinson is at 5035 Sideburn Road in Fairfax.

Sharing People’s Stories Is Filmmaker’s Passion

Local grad Monica Zinn working on second movie.

Monica Zinn is an independent documentary filmmaker. This Burke resident already has one successful film under her belt and is hard at work on another. She graduated from Lake Braddock Secondary School in 2011, but attended the Fairfax Academy from 2009-11, and that’s where her talent began to blossom.

Letter: Overcrowded Classes

We now have the distinction of having among the largest class sizes in the area and Virginia state law does almost nothing to protect our children. Current student to teacher ratios are calculated at the county level and afford administrators way too much leverage where they can place as many kids as they want in a classroom, just as long as divisionwide, they do not exceed the state ratios.

Commentary: Too Good to Pass Up

In 2001, over 900,000 Virginians were living below the poverty line with an annual household income for a family of four under $23,050. Over 416,000 of these Virginians were living in deep poverty with a family of four having an annual household income under $11,525. Of the total, 270,000 were children, the highest number of children living in poverty in Virginia since 1998.

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.

Editorial: Expanding Medicaid Good for Virginia

Real health coverage for an additional 400,000 people is in reach.

Virginia has an opportunity to expand Medicaid in a way that could extend health coverage to more than 400,000 residents who currently have no health insurance while the Federal government picks up the tab; Virginia would pay 10 percent of the additional cost after 2020.

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.

Sort By

Date