Move Me Festival
Music, dance, theater and martial arts troupes entertained and hosted workshops at the 5th Annual Move Me Festival on Saturday afternoon, April 26, in Kenmore Middle School. The festival, organized and produced by Bowen McCauley Dance, was sponsored this year by The JBG Companies, KCI, Servant’s Heart Foundation, Arlington Community Foundation, The Shooshan Company, Washington Forrest Foundation, Dominion Foundation, Kenmore PTA, BB&T, Ballston BID and the Perfect Pointe Dance Studio.
Recycling in Central Arlington
Sunny weather brought community members out to Thomas Jefferson Middle School to kick off the recycling portion of their spring cleaning. The parking lot off Glebe Road had been turned into an efficient slalom course of stations for dropping off of everything from televisions and vacuum cleaners to batteries and motor oil at the semi-annual E-CARE recycling event on Saturday, April 19.
Letter: Distress over LED Streetlights
To the Editor: One could never have imagined that Arlington County would perpetrate such an injustice on its citizenry. Unfortunately, I can find no other way to sum up the county’s force-feeding of LED streetlights to county residents.
Letter: Time To Expand Medicaid Program
I ask lawmakers to consider the facts when deciding the issue of Medicaid Expansion. Opponents claim that the Virginia Medicaid program is fraught with abuse. Yet, according to a 2011 JLARC Report “Mitigating the Risk of Improper Payments in the Virginia Medicaid Program,” recipient and provider fraud totals 0.3 percent, (or roughly $6 million) not the $38 billion that some have tossed about. In fact, Virginia has one of the best managed Medicaid programs in the country.
Easter Fun
The Easter Bunny welcomed warmer weather and perfect sunny skies as he greeted the kids at Upton Hill Park in Arlington on Thursday, April 17.
SCAN Honors Stowe
SCAN honored six Northern Virginians with 2014 Allies in Prevention Awards earlier this month. The awards were presented at SCAN's 12th Annual Allies in Prevention Awards Luncheon, with emcee Leon Harris from ABC7 and Keynote Speaker Dr. Terry Morris, the NASA scientist who shared his personal story of experiencing child abuse and the foster care system.
Rehearsing for ‘Shrek - The Musical’
The Washington-Lee High School drama department is in rehearsals for the spring performance of "Shrek - The Musical." Performances will be Thursday, May 1- Saturday, May 3 at 7 p.m., in the school's auditorium.
‘Onward with Erin’
Team seeks to raise funds for National Brain Tumor Society.
Erin Kelly spends her professional life tending to critically ill children as a pediatric nurse on the cardiac intensive care unit at Children’s National Medical Center. What patients and their parents may not know is that she has spent the last three years in her own health battle, one with a stubborn brain tumor. The 26-year-old Arlington resident will be running the National Race for Hope on May 4, a 5K run in Washington D.C. that raises funds the National Brain Tumor Society.
Who is Trailing Don Beyer in Hotly Contested Democratic Primary?
Candidates elbow each other out of the way to secure second place.
Campaign finance documents show that former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer crushed the nine other candidates in the hotly contested Democratic primary.
Alone on the Road: 7 out of 10 Northern Virginia Workers Use Single-Occupancy Vehicles
Study raises concerns about amount of time drivers spend commuting alone.
Despite the decades-long war against the single-occupancy vehicle, seven out of 10 workers in Northern Virginia drive to work alone every workday.
A Picture Perfect Home
Tips from the pros on boosting a home’s curb appeal.
When Realtors Marsha Schuman and Betsy Schuman Dodek drive up to a home to show it to a prospective buyer, they know that they have only one chance to make a good first impression. Potomac-based Dodek and Schuman of the Schuman Team of Washington Fine Properties say a home’s curb appeal matters. “When we think of curb appeal we think of the lawn and landscaping, front door, windows, roof and how it all looks,” said Dodek.
What to Expect
Real estate experts offer a forecast for spring.
Real estate agent Joan Caton Cromwell says she lost a home bidding war last week in Falls Church even though her client was a strong contestant.
Realtors: Great Kitchens Help Sell Homes
Real estate experts offer tips for creating an appealing kitchen.
Designer Jacquelin Lluy, of Nicely Done Kitchens and Baths in Springfield, recently transformed the kitchen of a home in Mantua, in Fairfax, from a small, dark space to a light-filled, free-flowing culinary oasis.
Spring Songbirds Arriving Now
Local bird groups and bird walks help beginning birders see colorful birds.
The birds are coming. The annual migration of often brightly colored songbirds from their winter homes in Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and the southern U.S. is underway now. Millions and millions of avian migrants fly northward every night and the come down to rest or nest every morning. Some of the birds are enroute to nesting areas far to the north; some nest right here or nearby.
Region Sees Lowest Number of TB Cases in Decades
Outreach efforts get people in for tuberculosis treatment before it spreads.
When Dr. Barbara Andrino came to the Fairfax County Health Department in 2011, there were 137 cases of tuberculosis in Northern Virginia.
Where Am I?
"I’m sitting in the rocking chair, good buddy," (a "Smokey and The Bandit" reference, if you’re not of a certain vintage), between two 18-wheelers where the police radar can’t find me – further referencing the C.B. radio days. Updating to the "Kenny-with-cancer" days, I’m a month or so past my last very encouraging CT Scan, the one I wrote about when my oncologist offered me a congratulatory handshake, a gesture he had not made in the five-plus years since we’ve been tangling with this damn disease; and I’m approximately seven weeks away from my next CT scan, "intervaled" every three months at present. Seven weeks is far enough away where I’m not even thinking about it, or the possibility of its discouraging results that I’ll know about on or about June 9th. I am cruising, emotionally, and savoring the excellent results from the last scan and not yet worrying, wondering, hoping, praying (too much) about my next scan. This means, at the moment – or moments, I should say, I am enjoying a relatively stress-free and blissful ignorance to what may – or hopefully may not, be happening in my lungs. I am, to quote a Three Stooges line: "as safe as in my mother’s arms."
Entrants Sought for Anti-Alcohol Awards
A Vienna-based, alcohol-education group wants to honor local, high school groups for their efforts in fighting underage drinking. To recognize high-school students for "doing the right thing," the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) will present its 2014 GEICO Student Awards at a May 16 ceremony in Washington, D.C., and is accepting applications for the honors through Monday, April 28, at http://www.wrap.org/files/youthOutreach.htm. Entry is free.
Editorial: Past Time for Later Start Times
Teenagers are sleep deprived, and sleep deprivation takes a significant toll on safety, health and learning. We’ve known this for decades. But for decades, literally, Fairfax County Public Schools (and Montgomery County, Md.) have let a combination of reactionary blabber ("buck up and get moving;" "just tell them to go to bed earlier") and organizational resistance prevent implementing a solution to this very real problem. Getting up at 5:30 or 6 a.m. to hop on a school bus at 5:45 a.m. or even as late at 6:30 a.m. to get to school by 7:20 a.m. is not healthy for teenagers. It is nearly impossible for teenagers to go to sleep before 11 p.m. or midnight. Fairfax County high school students average six hours of sleep a night on weeknights. Research shows they need nine hours of sleep. Research has also quantified the costs of sleep deprivation.
Classified Advertising April 23, 2014
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Commentary: Dean Supports Beyer
I’ve always stood for the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. When I started my presidential campaign in 2003, I was against the Iraq War, and had worked hard as Governor of Vermont to create marriage equality and universal health care in my home state. Those positions weren’t totally popular at the time. But I believe candidates should pay attention not only to their prospective constituents, but also to their internal compass.