Board Cites Lack of Funds for School Renovations
Aging schools collide with increasing student enrollments.
While the 2015 to 2019 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) passed at the Fairfax County Public School Board meeting on Thursday, Jan. 3, many board members expressed concerns with the program.
Jim Moran: The $15 Million Congressman
During his years in Congress, Moran raised and spent about $1 million each campaign cycle.
One of the first things that happened after U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) announced he would not be running for reelection this year was that he cancelled a fundraising event.
Democratic Women of Clifton Learn about Foster Care and Adoption
Children need permanent families in Fairfax County.
In Fairfax County, there are 265 children in Foster Care. That number may sound like a lot, said Nannette Bowler, director of Fairfax County Department of Family services, but that number was at over 3,000 children 10 years ago.
New Leadership for the Workhouse Arts Center
Board of Supervisors continue to debate future success of the center.
Laura McKie, a volunteer at the Prison Museum at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center, said she doesn’t expect the museum’s everyday operations to change too much as Fairfax County takes greater control over the center.
Saving the Environment, One Cafeteria at a Time
Silverbrook Elementary School runs effective recycling program.
Students at Silverbrook Elementary School in Fairfax Station are learning the value of recycling and helping the environment, thanks to school media specialist Valerie Finney, other teachers, and volunteers who are assisting in the effort to reduce waste.
Volunteers Spend Day Off Cleaning Up Park
Girl Scouts and their friends volunteer at Mason Neck State Park on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
After volunteering at Mason Neck State Park during the 2013 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Laura Douglas, who leads Cadet Girl Scout Troop 340 in Lorton, had such a great time that she decided it needed to happen again in 2014.
Burke Target Employee Killed by VRE Train
A cashier at the Burke Target was hit by a Virginia Railroad Express Train traveling from Washington to Manassas on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
Into the Budget Fray
Bulova highlights accomplishments, challenges in annual address.
Despite the lingering impact of an anemic economy, and the regional ripple effects of federal sequestration, Fairfax County residents will see some concrete signs of progress this year.
A National Memorial for Suffragists
Leaders raise money, advocate for Turning Point Suffragist Memorial in Lorton.
Not far down the road from where suffragists were imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse for picketing at the White House for the right to vote, members of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association, in partnership with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, are continuing efforts to build a memorial at Occoquan Regional Park to honor those women.
Program Works to Restore Greenery
Trees still available for planting in communities along the Interstate 95 Corridor.
In an effort to restore greenery to areas that lost trees during construction of the 95 Express Lanes project, Transurban and Fluor, private partners of the project, launched "1,000 Trees in 1,000 Days" to encourage community members to plant trees in areas along the 95 corridor.
Fairfax County Launches Sex Trafficking Prevention Campaign
Sex trafficking education materials also added to school curriculum.
In order to raise awareness to the fact that sex trafficking can happen anywhere, even in Fairfax County, a new prevention campaign and website raising awareness of this issue launched on Jan. 13.
Garza Proposes $2.5 Billion Budget for FY 2015
Proposed Fairfax County public schools budget would cut 731 positions, increase class size.
At the Jan. 9 School Board Meeting, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza released the proposed budget of $2.5 billion for FY 2015. The budget proposal requires an additional $98.1 million, or 5.7 percent increase compared to FY 2014, from Fairfax County, which the school system says is due to uncontrollable factors such as enrollment growth, retirement rate increases and the structural deficit. The FY 2015 proposed budget is an increase of $59.4 million from last year’s approved budget.
Virginia Supreme Court Opens Access to Audio Recordings of Oral Arguments
Policy change overturns blackout instituted in 2008.
Members of the Virginia Supreme Court have a New Year’s Resolution — become more transparent.
Let Sun Shine on Virginia’s Financial Disclosure Laws
State legislators turn attention to ethics in wake of McDonnell gift scandal.
As members of the Virginia General Assembly convene for the first time since last February, legislators are stampeding to introduce ethics legislation in response to the gift scandal which engulfed then Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R). The revelations last spring about numerous undisclosed gifts and purported loans from businessman Jonnie Williams to McDonnell — including a $6,500 Rolex watch engraved to the "71st Governor of Virginia" and $35,000 in gifts and catering for his daughters’ weddings — shined a spotlight on Virginia’s porous financial disclosure laws.
Legislators Head to Richmond, Address Upcoming Session
Proposed bills and priorities include ethics reform and ABC Transformation.
As the General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8, several delegates from Fairfax County have written bills that tackle some of the issues they believe are important to Virginians. Del. Dave Albo (R-42) proposed a bill that would get rid of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s three person board and would replace them with five citizens with business experience who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state legislature. Members of the current three-person board make six-digit salaries and are appointed by the governor. Albo’s plan would make the position part time and would pay 50 dollars per day.