Clarifications
* The Loudoun Community Guide included in the
Sept. 9-14 issue of the Connection stated
that citizens must go in to the offices of the Commissioner of the Revenue to register a vehicle before purchasing a decal. Citizens may also register their vehicles online at: https://www.vipnet.org/loudoun/revenue/tax1.htm.
* Loudoun County employees, including deputy sheriffs, receive their Spanish lessons at their offices rather than driving to Inlinga School of Language in Rosslyn. An article in last weekÕs Connection indicated otherwise.
<sh>Gang Forum
<bt>Members of the public are encouraged to attend the upcoming Community Gang Forum sponsored by the Gang Response Intervention Team (GRIT). The forum will be held from 7-9:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Dominion High School, 21326 Augusta Drive in Sterling.
Topics to be covered include: gang awareness; local and regional trends; indicators of gang activity; what makes a child at risk to join a gang; and what a parent can do to prevent a child from joining a gang.
Members of GRIT and the Loudoun County Sheriff's Gang Intelligence Unit will make a formal presentation to be followed by a question-and-answer session.
For more information about the forum, contact Dave Carver, GRIT coordinator, 703-777-0303.
<sh>Ashburn Fire Investigated
<bt>The Loudoun County Fire MarshalÕs Office is investigating a fire that resulted in an estimated $500,000 damage to a two-story single-family home on Frost Court in Ashburn.
According to the report, around 12:53 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 18, Loudoun County Fire-Rescue responded to a structure fire at 43686 Frost Court. Fire and rescue personnel from Ashburn, Sterling and Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (Dulles) responded to the scene, and discovered heavy black smoke and flames coming from the garage and roof of the home. Due to the extensive damage to the home, the family of five has been displaced and will be staying with family pending repairs to the home. There were no injuries as a result of this fire.
<sh>Stabbing under Investigation
<bt>Two brothers from Sterling were stabbed
during the early morning hours on Sunday, Oct. 10, and Sheriff's Investigators are trying to determine how the incident occurred.
According to the report, personnel from Loudoun Hospital contacted the Sheriff's Office shortly after 4 a.m. after the two brothers, 18 and 19, were brought in for stab wounds. The two initially told deputies the incident occurred in Leesburg and it was later ascertained the incident occurred at a residence in the 46000 block of Saffron Court in Potomac Falls. At this time it appears the case is gang related.
The 18-year-old was treated and released and the 19-year-old remains hospitalized in stable condition.
The case remains under investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division. Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Investigator Fognano at 703-777-0475.
<sh>Sterling Woman Injured
<bt>A four-vehicle accident Thursday, Oct. 14, on
Route 28 sent a Sterling woman to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the county Sheriff's Office, just after 11:30 a.m. Sarah Sherrow, 21, was traveling on Route 28 southbound near Holiday Drive in a 1994 Volkswagen when she rear ended a 1999 GMC van driven by an Arlington man. The van was sitting in the turn lane of the roadway.
After striking the van, Sherrow's vehicle then veered into a
northbound 1998 Dodge van driven by a Reston woman. The van was then sent into a 1995 Ford pickup driven by a Herndon man who was also heading northbound.
Sherrow, who was the only driver not wearing a seat belt in the accident, was airlifted to Inova Hospital where she remains hospitalized.
The accident remains under investigation and witnesses are asked to contact Sgt. Jeff Mees of the Sheriff's Office Accident Reconstruction Unit at 703-7373-8049.
<sh>Absentee Balloting Under Way
<bt>Registered voters may apply for an absentee ballot and vote at the main office of the General Registrar, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., in the Virginia Village Shopping Center, 26-C Fairfax Street, S.E., Leesburg. The office is currently offering extended hours for absentee voting and will be open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. The main office will also be open on the two Saturdays prior to the election, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, for absentee voting from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Now through Oct. 30, absentee voting will also be available at the Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Place in Sterling, near the Eastern Loudoun Regional Library. Hours will be Monday through Friday, from 4-8 p.m., and on the two Saturdays prior to the election from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
The deadline to apply to vote an absentee ballot by mail is Thursday, Oct. 28, while the deadline to apply to vote an absentee ballot in person is Saturday, Oct. 30.
More information about voting in Loudoun County, including a list of polling places by election district and the language of the bond questions and proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot, is available on the Loudoun County Government Web site at www.loudoun.gov/government/voting.htm.
<sh>Teens Arrested
<bt>Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with an alleged series of robberies last week in the Sterling area.
Lorenzo Green, 19, of Leesburg, and a 17-year-old and 15-year-old from Sterling are charged with robbery and assault. Investigators identified the three suspects late last week.
The 17-year-old was arrested Thursday, Oct. 14, at a residence on North Cottage Road in the Sugarland Run community.
On Saturday Investigators were notified that Green and the 15-year-old were apprehended by the Frederick County Sheriff's Office near Winchester. Apparently the two suspects had stolen a car from the Sterling area and abandoned the vehicle after it broke down in Frederick County. After finding the two suspects in a laundromat Frederick County Deputies discovered the two teenagers were wanted in Loudoun.
The three are accused of partaking in at least three robberies with the first incident occurring Oct. 11, at the McDonald's on Sterling Boulevard. In the incident several subjects assaulted a 14-year-old Sterling boy in the bathroom and took cash and a cell phone from him.
On Tuesday an 18-year-old Sterling man was walking home from the 7-Eleven convenience store on Sugarland Run Drive around 5 p.m. when three black males approached him. The suspects asked the teenager for cash and began
patting him down. The suspects took a small amount of cash. Six hours later a 17-year-old Sterling man was assaulted and robbed along Carolina Court by three black males, again the suspects left with a small amount of cash.
All three suspects are charged with three counts of robbery and three counts of assault. The 17-year-old remains held at the Loudoun County Juvenile Detention Center while Green and the 15-year-old are being held in Winchester. Green and the 15-year-old could also face charges in connection with the stolen car.
<sh>Loudoun EMS Receives Grant
<bt>The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has awarded $1,869,582 in grants to 104 nonprofit EMS agencies and organizations, primarily volunteer rescue squads. These Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grants are administered by the VDH Office of Emergency Medical Services.
Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad received $19,500 for advanced life support equipment.
The grant awards are based on the needs of Virginia's nonprofit EMS agencies. Funding is for EMS vehicles, communications, medical equipment and training courses. The awards are made twice a year and represent the largest portion of the monies collected annually through motor vehicle registration fees.
<sh>Adams Hired as Financial Director
<bt>Mark D. Adams has been hired as Loudoun County's director of Management and Financial Services. Currently the assistant finance director for the City of Pittsburgh, Pa., Adams will start his new position with Loudoun County on Oct. 21.
As Pittsburgh's assistant finance director since 1999, Adams has managed the city's $359 million pension fund and has also been responsible for budget preparation, cash management, and financial information systems. He previously served two years as the city's assistant accounting manager.
Before joining the City of Pittsburgh, Adams served as assistant finance director for the Borough of Wilkinsburg, Pa., and as a financial consultant and stockbroker for Wheat First Butcher Singer. He also served for eight years with the U.S. Air Force.
He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance from Saint Leo College and a master's degree in public management from Carnegie Mellon University.
As Loudoun County's director of Management and Financial Services, Adams will oversee a new department formed from the merger of the former departments of Management Services and Financial Services. The new department includes such programs as budget development, management analysis, human resources, training, payroll, benefits, retirement plans, procurement, financial accounting, capital financing and debt management, financial and budgetary reporting, internal control, risk and insurance, real property and land use assessments, and property records.
<sh>$190,000 Raised for Medical Center
<bt>The 13th annual 5-Mile Run Oct. 9, sponsored by local home builder Van Metre Companies, raised $190,000 toward the construction of a cardiovascular surgery operating suite at Children's National Medical Center. More than 300 runners turned out and set off on a course through the streets and bike trials of the Broadlands community.
Aurelio Handanga of Baltimore, Md., had the best overall time, 23 minutes 57 seconds. Sharon Lemberger of Washington, D.C., was the first woman to cross the finish line at 28:08.
Since its inception, the Van Metre run has raised a total of $1.3 million for the center's cardiology fund and Children's Fairfax outpatient center. The cardiovascular surgery operating suite is expected to cost $1.2 million, of which 70 percent is needed before the hospital can break ground. With the run proceeds, the fund now stands at more than $800,000.
<sh>Lovettsville Library to Close Temporarily
<bt>The Lovettsville Library will close Friday, Oct. 22 for renovations and reopen Monday, Jan. 2, 2005, with a grand reopening celebration planned for Saturday, Jan. 8. The book drop will also be closed during renovations. Books can be returned to any Loudoun County library, the closest to the Lovettsville branch is Purcellville Library, 220 E. Main St., Purcellville.
The Lovettsville branch is adding 2,300 square feet of space with a new children's area and community meeting and story time room.
<sh>Free Riades
<bt>Free cabs rides will be available to would-be drunk drivers throughout eastern Loudoun County the evenings of Saturday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 31. Offered by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, the Halloween SoberRide program will operate beginning 8 p.m.-4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Area residents, 21 and older, celebrating with alcohol can call 1-800-200-TAXI and receive a no-cost ride home, up to a $50 fare. AT&T wireless users can call # TAXI for the same service. The SoberRide program is being offered throughout Washington, D.C., and the counties of Montgomery, Prince GeorgeÕs, Arlington, Fairfax, eastern Loudoun and Prince William. For more information visit www.soberride.com.