Editorial: Holidays Are for Giving
In the scramble to finish Christmas shopping, remember tens of thousands of local children are short of food as well as presents.
The holidays are for giving. Christmas and Hanukkah are about children and family, about sharing, about joy, about being thankful and about faith and appreciation. Here in Northern Virginia, many of us see few signs of families in need as we go about our daily lives and holiday shopping. Our neighborhoods are largely segregated economically; we mostly see the people who are most like ourselves economically.
Commentary: Changing Society’s Perception of Sexual Assault
Recently, headlines across the country involved another sexual assault tragedy. This time at the University of Virginia. While a great deal of controversy surrounds this latest story, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that stories of sexual assault are filling our newspapers all too regularly.
Editorial: Make a Plan, Talk About It
Here is help in keeping impaired drivers off the roads.
The holiday party season is upon us, and with it an increase in drinking and driving. It’s up to you to make a plan to get home safely.
Letter to the Editor: The Story My Grandma Told Me
To the Editor: This summer, I visited Bangladesh, the country where my parents grew up, for the first time in six years. When we visited the small village where my father grew up and my grandparents still live, my grandmother told us stories about the immense poverty in which most of her neighbors were living, including the story of one man whose wife was very ill.
Commentary: A Legislator's Holiday Season
The multiple celebrations that make up the holiday season bring travel, big meals, and family and friend reunions. For state legislators the end of the year and the holidays bring an additional dimension: preparation for the next legislative session.
Column: Senators Weigh In on Fairfax Police Killing
We have positive developments in the still unexplained slaying of John Geer by a still unidentified Fairfax County police officer on Aug. 29, 2013. Fairfax Police Chief Ed Roessler refuses to release the shooter’s name or any information. Commonwealth Attorney Ray Morrogh, who is responsible for investigating police criminality but is usually more a mouthpiece for the cops, declined to investigate at all. Citing a mystery conflict of interest, he passed the case to the U.S. Attorney.
Alexandria Letter to the Editor: City’s Priorities?
Not only can North Old Town now boast a new monstrosity — the Harris Teeter with its garish gigantic red neon illumination — but this new red light district is going 24/7. This in a neighborhood with quite a few individually owned restaurants, some of them cozy fixtures of decades, three blocks away from the waterfront. Already during a hearing at City Hall, another onslaught on local culture, food trucks, was opposed not only by restaurant owners but also by many of their patrons
Alexandria Letter to the Editor: Enough Arch-O-Speak
If you have ever suffered through a hearing before the Board of Architectural Review (BAR), whether it be for the Old and Historic District or the Parker Gray District, you may have been surprised at the strange rhetoric used by many of the board members, especially the architects.
Alexandria Letters to the Editor: Schools Need Independent Audit
To the Editor: Your Nov. 13, 2014, article on the costs of the tennis courts at T.C. Williams understated the scope of the problem.
Letter to the Editor: Help Shape Eisenhower West in Alexandria
The exciting improvements in store for the Potomac River waterfront are grabbing headlines, but other significant planning efforts are also underway in Alexandria. Eisenhower West was identified by City Council in 2013 as our city’s next significant planning opportunity. Geographically, Eisenhower West is the part of our city west of Holmes Run and south of Pickett Street.
Alexandria Editorial: Be Part of Children's Gazette Packet 2014
Annual edition showcases youth art and writing.
During the last week of each year, The Gazette Packet devotes its entire issue to the creativity of local students and children. The results are always remarkable. It is a keepsake edition for many families.
Alexandria Commentary: Improving Academic Achievement
Academic achievement is not accidental but rather the result of a sustained focus on rigor, relevance, engagement and coherence. At its best, academic achievement reflects a relentless determination to reach and teach all students.
Letter to the Editor: Fairy Tale on Medicare Money
To the Editor: Virginia voters are not stupid. However, Delegate Ken Plum continues to espouse the Jonathan Gruber, purported architect of the Affordable Care Act (ObamamCare), fairy tale that Virginia is somehow losing money (“Protracted Legislative Session,” Reston Connection, November 19-25, 2014).
Letter to the Editor: A New Kind of Candidate
To the Editor: Craig Parisot is a new kind of candidate running to succeed Barbara Comstock in the upcoming special election for the 34th Virginia House of Delegates District.
Shine Your Light
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory—more than 2100 years ago—of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over the mighty forces of a ruthless enemy that had overrun the Holy Land and threatened to engulf the land and its people in darkness.