Opinion: Voter Fraud at the Highest Levels
Over the last several years there has been a proliferation of bills introduced in Virginia and in many other states to prevent voter fraud. Conspicuously missing from the debate on these bills has been any specific examples of voter fraud having been committed. In fact, the greater problem with voting has not been that persons have been fraudulently voting; voter participation in Virginia and the nation has been embarrassingly low. The emphasis needs to be on getting more people to vote and not to make the process more cumbersome and bureaucratic so that it discourages voters.
Opinion: Who is Running to Represent You in Congress?
If you only get your news from the TV and the big city newspapers that still exist, you might think that we are electing only the president of the U.S. and a U.S. senator from Virginia on Nov. 6, just 47 days from now. In fact, we’ll also be electing a new representative for Reston in Congress.
Letter: Preserving Open Space
You often don’t hear stories of government actually working well, so I thought people would enjoy hearing about Virginia’s great successes in land preservation.
Letter: Accurate Or Distorted Polling?
In last week's Gazette, Adrienne G. Cannon's letter was published in which she said, concerning the Westgrove Park off-leash dog area issue: "Repeated letters from one person attacking individuals and offering misleading facts does not help readers understand the public policy issues at stake." This reader would appreciate Ms. Cannon enlightening us as to exactly which facts have been misleading.
Letter: Why ID Law Is Needed
Voter fraud is a great danger that strikes at the very integrity of our election process. Voter identification is one way we can protect all our votes.
Letter: A Pro-Life Victory?
It’s being reported that the Virginia Board of Health, this past Friday, adopted a new slate of abortion center safety standards. This news comes two days following the release of several health inspection reports obtained by the Family Foundation under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.
Letter: Democracy Means Voting
We are now entering the final weeks of political campaigns for local offices that provide truly historic opportunities for Alexandrians.
Letter: ‘Found Wanting’
Although I am a strong supporter of President Obama, I had the idea that Mitt Romney was the best of the Republican candidates and capable of being the President if elected.
Letter: Join in Healthy Effort
September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. We hear a lot about the problem nationally, but many Alexandrians don’t realize childhood obesity is a problem here, in our own backyard. A 2007 study by Inova Health System revealed that 43.5 percent of children ages 2-5 in our city are overweight or obese. That means that nearly half of our youngest residents are at risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and more.
Letter: Getting ‘By Right’ Right
Once again we are hearing the myth, convenient for developers and City Council incumbents, past and present, that Small Area Plans like Beauregard and the one proposed for the Alexandria Waterfront, are necessary.
Letter: Citizens Deserve Mayoral Debate
For the first time in the history of Alexandria, the election for Mayor and City Council will be on the November 2012 ballot. There are many issues that will shape the future of Alexandria in the next five to 10 years.
Column: Refillable. Rechargeable. Reusable.
More like replaceable. Obviously, I want to remain positive and believe that today is not a good day to die (Worf from “Star Trek: Next Generation”) and that there will be many more tomorrows to live for and days beyond that to plan for. However, having a terminal disease has a tendency to darken up those rose-colored glasses.
Letter: Appreciate City Staff
We are writing because so often residents are slamming the good people that work for the City of Alexandria and we have just had such a wonderful experience, we wanted to share it with you.
Letter: Intellectual Dishonesty
The city says it wants and values citizen input and goes to great lengths to involve citizens in its decisions. Never mind that the procedural and legal mechanisms for meaningful citizen input is being expunged from the city charter and our zoning law. At the very least, there is intellectual dishonesty here.
Letter: Missing Information
In order to be a fully informed voter, we need to have accurate information, from a variety of reliable, factual sources. But we aren’t getting that in two different contests.