Chefs Discuss Spring Vegetables
When Dara Yaffe Lyubinsky was growing up in Potomac she always enjoyed cooking, whether it was with her family and friends, or for her synagogue. Today, she’s passionate about cooking fresh, seasonal meals. Lyubinsky, like many chefs and culinary enthusiasts, is looking forward to strolling through farmers markets and creating fanciful spring dishes with the season’s freshest bounty, especially as she prepares to return to D.C. from New York. However, she and other chefs are making the most of the available spring produce even if warm weather seems a like a distant dream. “Since it’s still so chilly outside, and the forecast is still calling for snow, we’re incorporating some of spring’s newest produce into some heartier, cold weather dishes,” said Lyubinsky, a professional personal chef and the owner of Tastes Like More Personal Chef Service (www.tasteslikemoreDC.com), a boutique culinary service. She’s also a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education and the University of Maryland, as well as a 2001 graduate of Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville.
Bishop O’Connell Softball Suffers Rare Defeat
After losing two all-Americans, Knights fall to Lake Braddock.
The Bishop O'Connell softball team recently suffered its third loss in three years.
Arlington Lifestyle Blooms in the Spring
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are on the rise, and Arlington residents are ready to finally enjoy the benefits of their urban neighborhoods. After what felt like an exceptionally long winter, people throughout Arlington have paid their dues and are planning their recreational activities for the upcoming months. Longtime locals and newer transplants to the area agree that a world of opportunities opens up in Arlington as springtime weather approaches. Whether in search of an endorphin rush, or somewhere to mingle with other Arlingtonians, places to go are aplenty and the area has more luster after the snow banks melt and the air loses its bite.
Editorial: Challenging Budgets
Local Government should be able to access income taxes to give relief on real estate taxes.
Northern Virginia governments are facing shortfalls in the classic budget sense: projected revenues are less than last year’s expenditures plus increases in costs.
Another Milestone
March 30, 2014. My age 59 and a half (9/30/54 is my date of birth). The age at which money deposited into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) can be withdrawn without incurring a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Not that I’m retiring. I am remembering though when this cancer-centric life of mine began.
Virginia Bluebells: Native Spring Beauty
Carpets of bluebells coming soon to a park near you.
The Virginia Bluebells are coming. In early Spring, these native wildflowers will burst into bloom profusely throughout much of the Washington area. Botanically named Mertensia virginica, one of a number of species of Mertensia, Virginia Bluebells can be found in many moist, woodland areas, especially along streams and rivers. Depending on the weather, they first appear in early April as light pink buds, and then open into several shades of pink, blue and even white. In some areas along the local rivers they bloom in stunning profusion, creating a veritable carpet of color.
Spring Fun for Dogs
Say goodbye to the dreadful polar vortex and ring in warmer weather with your dog at James Hunter Park.
“Flourishing After 55”
“Flourishing After 55” from Arlington Office of Senior Adult Programs for April 7-12. Senior trips: Monday, April 7, U.S. Botanic Garden, D.C., $8; Wednesday, April 9, Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pa., $35; Friday, April 11, Lee-Fendall House and Garden, Alexandria, $13. Call Arlington County 55+ Travel, 703-228-4748. Registration required.
‘Carmen’ Comes to Area
Virginia Opera brings "Carmen" to Center for the Arts.
Virginia Opera, the Official Opera Company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, will present Georges Bizet’s sultry tragedy about opera’s most famous femme fatale, "Carmen." The opera has enthralled audiences for more than a century and is one of the most popular. "Carmen" follows Don José and his ill-fated obsession with the alluring Carmen who tosses him aside for another man leading to jealous rage.
Commentary: Mental Health and Expansion of Medicaid
There is a growing consensus forming in the General Assembly that now is the time to improve the safety net for mental health services. Both the House and Senate budgets increase funding for these services by millions of dollars (House proposed a $10 million increase and the Senate $20 million) above the proposed budget of $36 million that Governor McDonnell presented in December.
‘Goal Is To Spot Kids in Crisis’
Police, others take suicide prevention training.
Although there have been four recent incidents of teen suicides in Fairfax County, the Police Department has planned to offer Suicide Awareness and Intervention Training for its officers since October 2013.
Celebrating Inclusion
Board of Supervisors Names March Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Inclusion Month.
The Board of Supervisors has designated March "Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Inclusion Month" in Fairfax County. Both those with disabilities and those without have their lives enriched when people with disabilities are fully included in the community. This special month seeks to help those with disabilities find ways to be involved in the community, and bring awareness to others of these engaged neighbors.
Arlington Home Sales: February, 2014
In February 2014, 167 Arlington homes sold between $2,600,000-$135,000.
Arlington Home Sales: February, 2014
Seven Scouts Achieve Eagle Rank
The largest group of Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 167 in Arlington to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout was honored for their achievement on March 1 at Mt. Olivet Methodist Church. Those attaining Eagle Rank were: * Brian Claeys – junior, Gonzaga College High School, * Spencer Cobb – senior, Yorktown High School, * Nicholas Goryachev – junior, Yorktown High School, * Ross Kocher – junior, Yorktown High School, * Callan Rogers – senior, HB Woodlawn Secondary Program, * Andrew Schweser – senior, Wakefield High School, * David V. Wein-Kandil – senior, HB Woodlawn Secondary Program. The Scouts have been friends for several years and elected to participate together in the Eagle Court of Honor — the first time in the troop’s history to so honor a group of young men.
‘Anne of Green Gables’ Opens Friday
Aldersgate Church Community Theatre presents the Alexandria premiere of “Anne of Green Gables.” Relive all of the memorable events and characters from the in L.M. Montgomery’s enduring tale about an orphan, Anne Shirley — “Anne with an ‘e’” — who dreams big and leads with her heart. From her first encounter with Marilla, her austere guardian, to her thrilling graduation from Queen's Academy, we experience all the tragedies and triumphs that mark Anne's growth from adolescence to early adulthood: her friendship with Diana, her feuds with Gilbert, her adoration of Matthew, the mistaken wine bottle, the cake disaster, the broken leg, the scholastic achievements, and the saving of Green Gables. Whether the playgoer is an old “kindred spirit” of Anne's or meeting her for the first time, audiences will fall in love with one of literature's most unforgettable characters.
Lester M. Bridgeman
Lester M. Bridgeman, 90, a lawyer since 1951, died suddenly after a day at the office on Thursday, March 6, 2014. A native of Paterson, N.J., Mr. Bridgeman grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was a long-time resident of Alexandria. He affiliated with a law firm based in Mobile, Ala. in the mid-1980s, and relocated there permanently about 25 years ago.After a brief period studying forestry at Syracuse University, Mr. Bridgeman joined the Army in 1943, attending (and playing football for) LSU until he volunteered for combat duty and was assigned to the 12th Armored Division. He was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Bridgeman was graduated from Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences cum laude in 1948 and from Columbia University’s School of Law. He worked for the Civil Aeronautics Board from 1951-53, leaving to become a Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School.
Yorktown Girls’ Lacrosse Team Facing New Challenges
After eight straight National District titles, Patriots move to Conference 6
The Yorktown girls' lacrosse team won eight straight district titles before the VHSL's six-class re-alignment.
Editorial: Income Gap Alive and Well
Statistics make life in the area sound idyllic, but many families are left out in the land of plenty.
Northern Virginia is a place of wonder and plenty. So says the New York Times this past week in, "Income Gap Meet the Longevity Gap," (March 15, 2014).
No Know. No Problem.
I felt a bit of a dope this week when, after reading last week’s column, "Whew!", multiple friends called to inquire specifically as to the "Tony-the-Tiger Great" news I wrote that I received from my oncologist, and I couldn’t answer them in any detail: shrinkage, less fluid, "partial stable remission"? Nothing. And though I tried to get my oncologist to explain to me exactly what was so encouraging about this most recent CT Scan – compared to the one I took three months ago (as opposed to the one I had nine months ago which was mistakenly compared to this most recent scan and resulted in the "Some better, some worse. I’ll explain more on Friday" e-mail I received from my doctor and talked about in "Whew!") – I was rebuffed. Rebuffed in the best possible way: being told instead how great I was doing, how great my lab results were (for this most recent pre-chemotherapy) and how I could live a long time like this (presumably continuing to be infused with Alimta) – it was almost disconcerting; especially when you consider the original e-mail assessment we received and our less-than-positive interpretation of it. Moreover, the oncologist’s exuberance and smiling countenance, along with his offer of a congratulatory handshake led me away from the missing facts and immediately into these new-found feelings.
How To Prepare for New SAT
Local experts say working hard in class is the best way to be successful.
Linda Mitchell and her 15-year-old daughter, Alexis, say they don’t really know what to expect when Alexis sits for the SAT college admissions exam in 2016, but they’re not too worried at this point. Two years is a long time.