Pay Now, Bye Later
Contrary to last week’s column, if I do pay for it now (things I can’t afford), then I’ll be so in debt later that I may end up saying “bye” anyway--from the stress of it. And if that were to happen; dying with a smile on my face, so to speak, would I be truly better off now anticipating that later was not going to be my problem? Do I want to be a modern day version of George Raft, the American actor from the 1930s and 40s best known for his portrayals of mobsters, who said about his Hollywood money: “I must have gone through $10 million during my career. Part of the loot went for gambling, part for horses and part for women. The rest I spent foolishly.”
Three Narcotics K-9s Support the Force
Leroy, Lucy and Vegas are trained and ready for duty. With their keen sense of smell, they are experts at scanning wide varieties of locations and assisting patrol officers with requests for service on a 24/7 basis. These dogs are busy, industrious professionals.
DASH-ing All the Way
Employees of the DASH transit system pose for a photo with Santa (aka DASH driver Charles Johnson) in front of the King Street Trolley Dec. 15 to kick off a day of free photos with Santa at Market Square.
Dance Team Wins at Winterfest
At the Dec. 15 Winterfest Cheer and Dance Competition at CD Hylton High School, the Carl Sandburg Middle School Dance Team, competing in the middle school category, won 1st place trophies in Pom, Lyrical, Captains Dance, and the Solo categories.
Salvation Army-Bell Ringing
Santa (aka Charles Johnson) joins Pomeroy, a 12-year-old Pomeranian rescue, during the Alexandria Rotary Club's day of service Dec. 15 for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign in Market Square.
Family Services Gives Christmas Presents to Families
Santa’s elves come in several forms; and in the local area, many of them are Northern Virginia Family Services volunteers. And this week, they’ll deliver Christmas presents to 589 families — some 2,100 people — in Fairfax and Prince William counties.
Federal Porn Charges for Former Teacher
In June, Fairfax County police charged a special-education teacher at Poplar Tree Elementary with 10 counts of possession of child pornography. He was immediately suspended without pay, and the school system assured parents that no images of students were found on his computer and school computers were not used.
A Time for Giving
FACETS helps children give presents to siblings.
All year ’round, FACETS helps people in poverty in Fairfax County. It works with families living in public-housing communities and having an average income under $20,000 for a family of four. It also aids those who are, or recently were, homeless.
Letter to the Editor: How Many More Incidents?
To the Editor: There is a saying from the Quran that to take one innocent life is to kill all mankind.
School Notes
Vocal musicians from 14 Fairfax County public schools have been named to the Virginia Honors Choir for 2012.
Military Notes
Francis J. Rechner has been awarded an Air Force ROTC scholarship to attend a host college or university.
Bovine Intervention
Del Ray's Holy Cow, ACT partner for local charities.
With checkbook in hand, Bill Blackburn sat down Nov. 27 to write the first check payable to ACT for Alexandria as part of a partnership between the community foundation and the recently opened Holy Cow gourmet burger restaurant in Del Ray.
Neighbors
Taylor Run
ELECTION WRITE-INS A certain amount of dissatisfaction with our current political setup raised its head in write-in votes for the recent election.
Inova Dedicates Cancer Center
Facility named for supporters Joseph Viar Jr. and Bonnie Christ.
Inova Alexandria Hospital held a dedication ceremony Dec. 12 to officially name its cancer center in honor of longtime Alexandria residents Joseph Viar Jr. and Bonnie Christ in recognition of a $1.25 million Legacy of Life gift through Viar's estate.
Capitals at Blessed Sacrament School
Johansson Teaches Students about Hockey
Prior to becoming a Washington record holder in points and assists by a defenseman, Washington Capitals assistant coach Calle Johansson learned the basics of hockey playing the game in a parking lot with his father.
That's What Friends Are For
Firefighters and Friends annual toy drive to help 4,000 area children.
For 45 Head Start preschoolers, Christmas arrived a week early when they entered Penn Daw Fire and Rescue Station 11 Dec. 18 to select a toy of their choice from the thousands that had been collected as part of the 2012 Firefighters and Friends annual toy drive.
Column: When To Be Representative or Trustee?
Lessons #3 for serving and governing.
City Council members: What are you, representatives of the people or trustees for the people? Answer: You are both, but not at the same time; and only you can figure out the time to be one or the other.
Column: From Learning ABC’s …
Meeting Paola has been a life changing experience. I began working with Paola in February 2011 and it started out as mainly teaching her the English language.
Norwood Raises Money After Hurricane Sandy
Participants raise more than $4,000 to help purchase books, rugs, easels and bookcases.
More than 200 Norwood School students, parents, teachers and staff members walked the grounds of the school’s Potomac campus earlier this month to raise money for schools devastated by Hurricane Sandy in New York City.
Fireworks In February?
Court of Special Appeals rejects county on Brickyard; legality of school board lease to be argued early next year.
Chief Judge Peter B. Krauser and the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland on Dec. 7, 2012 rejected Montgomery County’s motion that would have allowed moving forward with development of soccer fields on Brickyard Road.