Negative Campaign
Candidates appear at minority business forum, attacking each other.
Local and statewide candidates for office appeared at an unprecedented forum in Northern Virginia last weekend, a collaboration of minority business groups of blacks, Hispanics and Asians. But as candidates arrived at the Annandale campus of the Northern Virginia Community College for a Sunday afternoon forum, voters realized that the tone of the campaign would remain unrelentingly negative. "All three of the Republican candidates are Tea Party right wing extremists," said Del. Ken Plum (D-36), who is running unopposed. "Look at their records and their stands on the issues." Plum attacked Cuccinelli's lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act as well as his investigation into a University of Virginia professor studying climate change. The longtime delegate also said the Republican attorney general candidate Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-25) has a similar record, including a bill that would have required women to report abortions to police. Together with the candidate for lieutenant governor, Plum said, the ticket is Tea Party from top to bottom.
Advocates for Affordable Housing In Arlington Battle Over WIsdom of Ballot Initiative
Green Party advocates take issue with opposition from Democrats.
Arlington County is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, a sweeping demographic change that has wiped away more than half of affordable housing units for the poorest residents in the last decade according to a recent report.
Building International Bridges
Ukrainian Group spent 10 days here learning about business development, cultural opportunities.
They arrived as strangers but left filled with optimism and ideas for how to improve their own home, half a world away.
People Notes
Arlington County Board member Mary Hynes was elected vice president of the Virginia Transit Association for a two-year term.
Fully Accredited (Almost): One School Fails to Meet Minimum Standards
School officials were ready to celebrate victory until state included Arlington Mill High School.
The news couldn't have been better for Arlington Public Schools. Preliminary reports indicated that the Virginia Department of Education was on the verge of releasing standardized test data that would show all 31 public schools in Arlington would be fully accredited. Then the bottom fell out.
Full Disclosure? Forms Plagued By Lack of Information, Absence of Oversight
Fairfax County goes so far as to redact disclosure documents.
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is in hot water for taking gifts without disclosing them, and legislators are talking about increasing disclosure requirements for family members. But here in Northern Virginia, personal financial disclosure forms are often incomplete and inconsistent.
Review: ‘Come Blow Your Horn’
The American Century Theater dazzles with Neil Simon classic.
It’s been more than half a century since Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn” made its Broadway debut, launching one of the most successful playwriting careers in the history of the American stage. Filled with what would become Simon’s trademark wisecracking repartee, the autobiographical portrait of a young man leaving home to experience the swinging single lifestyle of the ’60s is performed to perfection by The American Century Theater at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two in Arlington.
Navy Yard Shootings Hit Close to Home
Four Fairfax County victims killed in Washington Navy Yard rampage.
“Marty was a kind and caring man. He had such a sweet spirit and was in every way a man that lived his life to honor Christ.” —Pastor Steve Holley of Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield
Art Matters for All Ages
Local experts say art classes help children develop new skills.
If you walk into Art at the Center in Mount Vernon on a Tuesday morning, you might find a group of preschool students and their parents or caretakers squishing potting clay with their fingers. In the same room, several other tots could be brushing an array of paint colors across art paper, making a mess but having fun. The children are part of the Center’s Art Explorers class, designed for children ranging from 18 months to 5 years old.
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
County suspends discarding of library books.
Just when Sam Clay, Fairfax County’s Public Library director, thought FCPL’s public image couldn’t get any worse, Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence) released photos of bins filled to the brim with discarded library books.
People
Nuptials, Elections, Conventions, and other milestones in the Arlington Community
Patterson Still Jailed, Murder Trial Set for Dec. 9
Arlington's Deputy Sheriff Craig Patterson lost another bid to be released this week. His murder trial will start Dec. 9 in Alexandria Circuit Court. The 17-year sworn officer with an unblemished record, according to the Arlington Sheriff’s Office, is charged in the May shooting death of Alexandrian Julian Dawkins.
Bulletin Board
Upcoming goings-on in Arlington
Tide Turns for Arlington Mill
Community center almost fell victim to recession; now ready to formally open.
Four years ago, the fate of the Arlington Mill Community Center looked moribund.
Patriarch of Architects
Fredrick E. Sheridan retires.
Veteran and Architect Retires After Forty Years