Richmond Report: On Medicaid, Road Funds and Uranium
This week’s General Assembly session included “Crossover” on Tuesday — after which the House and Senate may only work on bills approved by the other body.
Letter: In Support of Riverbend Park Master Plan
I am a Boy Scout from Troop 712 based in Chantilly and I am writing about the proposed Riverbend Park master plan.
A Breach of Trust
In a Tom DeLay, Texas-style move, Republicans in the Virginia State Senate re-drew the legislative district lines without public notice or involvement. This action in the 20-20 divided body came on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday when Democratic Senator Henry Marsh who is one of Virginia's most prominent civil rights leaders was away attending President Obama's inauguration. The new map, if passed by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and signed by the governor, would give Republicans an advantage in taking back control of the Senate which they hold now only by virtue of the lieutenant governor who is the presiding officer and tie breaker being a Republican. "Count this as a new low for hyper-partisanship, dirty tricks, and the unaccountable arrogance of power," is the way one newspaper editorial described the action.
Short Subject: RA Survey, Lake Anne Progress?
It turns out ours was one of 3,000 or so households included in Reston Association’s community survey. In fact, we got not one, but two in the mail. It is not what I expected. The survey was billed as feedback on RA performance to “help . . . its Board of Directors set benchmarks for tracking the quality of services provided to residents.” Sounds like a good idea. In fact, the lengthy survey asks for little direct info on RA or its performance. Only one in five questions are directly or partly relevant to association services—35 out of 158 questions. And, these are not probing questions likely to ID RA services which are excellent, problematic or in between.
Viewpoints: Winter Fun in Reston, Herndon
Area residents discuss “the best ways to have fun.”
“I like to go and watch basketball and hockey games. I like to see the Wizards and the Capitals; stay active and have fun. I also like to go to the Reston town center for ice skating and sledding when it snows.” -Justin Britt, marketer at Oracle, Herndon
Letter: Taking Exception on Medicaid Expansion
Your recent editorial ["Expanding Medicaid Good For Virginia," The Connection, January 23-29, 2013] is noble in its desire to "extend health coverage to more than 400,000 residents who currently have no health insurance." If public policy making were just that easy. The editorial then goes on to indifferently say, "the Federal government picks up the tab.
Editorial: Extreme, But Brief, Volunteering
More than 150 volunteers needed to survey chronic homeless for three days in February.
The real solution to homelessness is housing. This week in Northern Virginia, a point-in-time survey will record all of the “literally homeless” individuals and families in the region. Last year, on Jan. 25, 2012, there were 1,534 people who were literally homeless in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community; 697 of them were single individuals and 837 were people in families. A third of the total number of homeless were children. Nearly 60 percent of the adult members of the homeless families were employed.
Letter to the Editor: Reform County’s Appointment Process
In August 2010, Supervisor Hyland constituted a visioning task force to study the Mount Vernon District and create a comprehensive report concerning the next 25 years.
Column: Week of Sunshine, Online Textbooks and Car Title Lenders
Last week in the General Assembly was a busy one. I have introduced 15 bills, three constitutional amendments, one study resolution, seven budget amendments, and I am Chief Co-Patron on four bills.
Letter to the Editor: Embracing School Choice
School choice is a hot topic in Virginia, especially as our great commonwealth debates the merits of school choice policies.
Letter to the Editor: Guns Make It Too Easy to Kill
“Guns don’t kill, people do,” says the National Rifle Association. It sounds so right because it’s so obvious. But while it’s obvious that people kill, guns make it too easy to kill.
Letter to the Editor: Need Sensible Gun Laws
Two recent national events have caused me to reflect on the nature of our democracy. In the Capitol of the most powerful country on earth we witnessed the peaceful continuation of leadership. In a small Connecticut town we witnessed a violent destruction of sanctuary.
Letter to the Editor: Despicable Maneuver
On Martin Luther King Day, Henry L. Marsh III, who grew up in segregated Virginia, became a civil rights lawyer who worked on school desegregation cases who went on to become Richmond’s first African American mayor and has been a state senator since 1991, went to Washington, D.C. to see the nation’s first African American president sworn in for the second time to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
George Washington: Surveyor
George Washington's career began as a surveyor, and he continued that activity throughout his life.
Washington and the Culper Ring
In the 18th century, an insult to a Gentleman’s honor required a duel to settle the score. It was better to die respectably in a duel than to live without honor.