Maestro Musings
The Red Violin Comes to the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra
On April 20 and 21, the Alexandria Symphony’s Be the Music...The Music of Empowerment concerts will features popular violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn. Ms. Pitcairn is famous not only for her ability to mesmerize audiences with her playing, but also for the instrument she owns and plays: the legendary Red Mendelssohn Stradivarius that inspired both the book and movie The Red Violin.
Man Shot and Killed by Police on Tuesday
Shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, police were called to a home in the 6600 block of Thurlton Drive in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County for the report of a possible suicidal subject, according to police. Officers from the Franconia Police District arrived and encountered a 37-year-old man.
Risky Business
City taxpayers are about to assume financial risk for new Metro station.
Alexandria taxpayers are about to gamble on the future, rolling the dice on development at a former railroad yard to fund a new Metro station. City officials are expecting Potomac Yard to generate $1 billion worth of revenue in the next three decades, an expansion of the tax base that would help fund construction of a Metro station that could open its doors as early as 2018. But that plan comes with significant risk.
Chantilly Robotics Team 612 Honored
Chantilly Robotics Team 612 was presented with the 2013 Judges Award at the DC FIRST Robotics Competition, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on March 29-30. Each year FIRST challenges students, working with adult mentors, to design a robot to play an original game, and to design and build it in exactly six weeks. This year at the DC FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Regional Competition, robots built by 59 teams faced off in a game called “Ultimate Ascent.”
Bulletin Board MV
Email announcements to gazette@connectionnewspapers.com. Deadline is Thursday at noon. Saturday/April 13 “Striving for a Healthier Way” Prevention Conference. At Falls Church High School, the conference will feature an Ideas and Resource Fair and promotes alternatives for youth to manage stress and to deter use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Register online at www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org.
Hunting Towers Sold
New owners tell city leaders they will preserve affordable housing.
For years, people who live in the twin towers at the southern edge of Old Town have lived with a sense of dread. That's because their landlord is the Virginia Department of Transportation, which purchased the buildings during construction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
School Notes CV 4/10/2013
Email announcements to centreview@connectionnewspapers.com. Deadline is Thursday at noon. Photos are welcome. Carolina Sosa, a sophomore at Westfield High School, was among 50 girls from 23 states and Puerto Rico to participate in the ANNpower Vital Voices Leadership program.
Mixture of Victories and Disappointments in Legislature
Commentary
The General Assembly reconvened on Wednesday, April 3, to take up the Governor’s amendments and vetoes. HB 2313, the transportation bill, which caused so much debate during the session, came back with amendments which addressed concerns of constitutionality and reduced some of the burdensome fees that my constituents were displeased with.
War on the Waterfront
Iron Ladies file another lawsuit challenging city's efforts to upzone three sites.
When the dispute between Old Town and City Hall was at its height last year, 20th Century Fox movie "Iron Lady" was in the theaters celebrating the life of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. So when Old Town residents April Burke, Beth Gibney and Marie Kux filed a lawsuit against the city, the trio was dubbed the "Iron Ladies" — a tip of the hat to the steely determination of the former prime minister.
Three Years Later: No Police Oversight Board
Beltrante continues to lobby for citizens panel.
Three years after forming the Citizens Coalition for Police Accountability, retired D.C. homicide detective Nicholas Beltrante and his organization have not realized their goal of getting the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to establish a citizen police oversight panel. The genesis of Beltrante’s effort was triggered In 2009 when David Masters, a Vietnam veteran, alleged to have stolen flowers from a Route 1 nursery, was shot and killed by Fairfax police after a car chase.
Neighborhood
Taylor Run
CELEBRATING CHUCK Lots and lots of people went to Putnam Place on Saturday to celebrate the 56th birthday of Chuck Linderman. Children Corinne and Will had organized the party, Corinne all the way from Salt Lake City where she works as an engineer for GE.
Mulch Sale Supports After-Grad Party
Mulch Sale Supports After-Grad Party The Centreville High School community rallied around its seniors and bought thousands and thousands of bags during the annual mulch sale March 15-16. The result: 13,500 bags of mulch sold and delivered in two days.
Meet New SFDC Executive Director
Edythe Frankel Kelleher appointed last month.
Edythe Frankel Kelleher, recently appointed executive director of the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation, may be the first true “homegrown” executive director in a long line of staff director’s appointed in the past several years by the SFDC. Previous executive directors lived outside of Fairfax County.
Vivian M. Gorham
Obituary
Vivian M. Gorham, 89, died on April 3, 2013, in Woodbridge, Va. A native of Alexandria, Vivian was born to Harvey J. and Delia C. Millan on Aug. 30, 1923.
Entertainment
Email announcements to centreview@connectionnewspapers.com. Photos welcome. Ongoing The Airbus IMAX Theater at National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, 14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway, is showing movies including “Hubble,” “Fighter Pilot,” “Space Junk,” “Air Racers” and “The Dream is Alive” through May 23. “Oblivion” will begin with a midnight show Thursday, April 18. Visit http://airandspace.si.edu/udvarhazy/ or call 703-572-4118 for the movie schedule. Throughout the month of April, Our Military Kids has partnered with Glory Days restaurant at 13850 Braddock Road, Centreville. The restaurant is participating, and is donating 10 percent of diners' total receipt to the charity. Diners need only to submit receipts to Our Military Kids, 6861 Elm Street, Suite 2A, McLean, VA 22101. Visit www.ourmilitarykids.org.
Letter: Letters to the Editor-Who Is Responsible?
To the Editor: Congratulations to Walmart for its decision to put wheel locks on shopping carts, because they are expensive — nearly $100. But attempts to apply external pressure, and especially attempts at legislation to force Walmart to this action, is way out of line.
GWMS To Present ‘Once on This Island’
George Washington Middle School dramatic arts students will be performing “Once on This Island,” a musical retelling of “The Little Mermaid” based on the 1985 novel “My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl” by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea.
Schools
School Notes
Email announcements to centreview@connectionnewspapers.com. Photos are welcome. More than 300 JMU students embarked on 30 spring break trips around the country and world. Students spent the week living simply, focused on service in their destination community but also on teamwork and reflection within their group. The following students participated in alternative spring break: Emma Stewart, Adrienne Lowry and Rachael Donnelly
The Indispensable Library
$40 million facility now taking shape at Mount Vernon Estate; opening set for September.
Drivers zooming along Mount Vernon Memorial Highway are seeing history in the making. There, nestled in the thick woods of George Washington's estate, is a construction zone that will shape how future generations will view a figure historian James Thomas Flexner dubbed "The Indispensable Man."
New Home for Turtles at Riverbend
Girl Scout Natalie Gilbert builds and donates new box turtle habitat.
Young visitors to the Riverbend Park Nature Center used to have a hard time looking at the three box turtles in the turtle habitat. The old habitat featured a solid wood wall, meaning children could only look straight down at the turtles and rarely had an opportunity to see more than the tops of their shells.