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Potomac: County Chamber Presents Valor Awards
The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce brought nearly 1,300 business, government, and public safety leaders together at the 42nd Annual MCCC Public Safety Awards Luncheon on March 11 to thank the men and women who protect the community.
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No E-Z Answers on I-66
VDOT’s Transform I-66 Inside the Beltway meeting leaves public waiting for answers.
There were also questions and comments of a financial nature.
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Arlington: Concert at Culpepper Garden
The Arlington Philharmonic’s Youth Chamber Music program, Crescendo, arrived on March 6 to play a concert of Tango, Pop and Jazz music in the Culpepper Garden Senior Center.
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Arlington: Volunteers Assist REEP’s Mission To Educate
Organization helps immigrants to assimilate.
Arlington County’s English language program for immigrants and refugees will mark its 40th anniversary on April 29 with an all-American celebration — complete with cotton candy, balloon animals and a cake walk.
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Arlington: Wakefield High School Welcomes French Lycée Teacher
Parlez-vous ... Arlington?
Encouraging Language Study When Katy Wheelock began teaching at Wakefield, there were seven sections of French. By the time she received the Exemplary French Program award, there were nine. Wakefield also began offering two additional higher level classes, French 5 (a pre-AP class) and Advanced Studies of French (a post-AP class which APS is hoping to offer as a dually-enrolled class in the future). Under her leadership, Wakefield: * had an active chapter of the French Honor Society the “SHF”, or Societe’ Honoraire de Francais, and took part in the Grand Concours. * had two candidates who were wait-listed for Virginia’s Summer Governor’s Academy program, * students entered the Creative Writing Contest sponsored by SHF and wrote original poetry, in French, which they read aloud for World Languages Week at a countywide public event. * has gotten involved with Sister City Arlington-Reims committee for exchange opportunities (outbound to Reims 2013, inbound 2012, 2014); * had numerous guest speakers: David Biette, director, Canada Institute, Wilson Center (Jan 2015) and Idriss Fall, reporter, Voice of America (focus on Senegal, Africa) (Feb 2015) * established pen-pals for individuals; * Skyped with a Peace Corps volunteer about her life, usage of French etc. * welcomed five French high school students into their homes; * has set up a French Club; * students travelled to Reims for Spring Break 2014; * held a Declamation Contest, a juried contest in front of nearly 600 students. Miss Virginia International, Kristyn Admire, a linguist herself, came to encourage students to continue their foreign language studies in the future. * took part in a contest sponsored by the French Embassy in Washington D.C. called “Dis-moi dix mots qui te racontent” * allowed Wheelock to go on a French Embassy sponsored “Stage Pédagogique de Courte Durée” (short term teaching course) where she was one of 10 U.S. teachers in the country selected for an teacher immersion at CAVILAM in Vichy, France. Wheelock said she hopes to be able to visit middle school French teachers and students in level 1, at least once per year, to encourage more students to continue to level 2. She would like to see more students go on to language in high school and would like to see world languages become a core subject, as it is all throughout Europe. Wheelock also hopes to establish a stronger “college link” to show students the college opportunities for language study, how successful completion of advanced classes can earn college credits, how language can lead to studying abroad, internships, and and eventually, job opportunities.
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Legislative Wrap-Up Forum
Learn what your area legislator did during the Virginia General Assembly.
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‘Do You Keep a Gun in Your Home?’
Starting conversations about gun safety can help prevent play date tragedies.
Starting the conversation felt awkward. After all, she didn’t want to offend another parent.
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Arlington Column: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
... of the 2016 General Assembly session.
The Virginia General Assembly finished its work for the 2016 legislative session a day early and adjourned a “long” 60-day session where we made progress on many issues but fought bitterly on several others. Because the improving economy has led to increased revenue collections, we were able to invest in critical areas and make a sizable deposit to our Rainy Day Fund without increasing taxes.
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Column: General Assembly Agrees on Budget
Commentary
The past week has been a busy one in the General Assembly as the House of Delegates passed the 2016-2018 biennial state budget. The Senate also passed a similar budget. During the next two weeks, differences between these two budgets, which are relatively minor, will be negotiated to form a consensus budget that will be forwarded to the governor. The new budget will take effect July 1.
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Centreville: Stone Middle Students To Visit United Kingdom
Exchange program began in 2003.
With Spring Break around the corner for Fairfax County Public Schools, 19 students from Centreville’s Ormond Stone Middle School are gearing up for the trip of a lifetime: an eight-day adventure in the United Kingdom.
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Chantilly: Meet Westfield Principal Anthony Copeland
Decades of leadership prepared him for the job.
Westfield High Principal Anthony Copeland has a wealth of experience as a leader, both in schools and in the military. Before taking over the reins at Westfield in September 2015, he was an assistant principal at Lake Braddock Secondary and North Stafford High and an Army field artillery officer who served 20 years in the military.
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Burke Historical Society begins new research education series.
When Col. Blake Meyers’ (U.S. Army, ret.) mother and grandmother died, he inherited boxes of family records that no one had ever taken the time to archive, much less even go through and organize.
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Fairfax and Mount Vernon: Matthew Takes on Four More Life Sentences with Guilty Plea for Murders
Jesse L. Matthew, Jr., now 34, will never leave prison. Matthew was already beginning to serve three consecutive life sentences after he entered an Alford Plea for charges of abduction, sexual assault and attempted murder in Fairfax in 2005.
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Health Department Confirms Raccoon in Clifton Incident Had Rabies
Fairfax County Police investigated three separate incidents of wild animal bites at the end of last week, including a report of a Clifton man being awakened around 11 a.m. on March 3 by a raccoon in his home. The next day, police said the Health Department confirmed the raccoon tested positive for the rabies virus.
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Burtons allergy-friendly Grill & Bar opens at Hilltop Village Center in Alexandria
The Big 8: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. These represent the vast majority of all food allergies in the United States.
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Alexandria Man Charged with Assault after Police Barricade Incident in Franconia
Alexandria resident Sayed Robbie Javid was charged with assaulting a police officer and falsely summoning police after an incident at his home on Larkspur Drive escalated into a barricade situation.
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Boutique fitness studio WheelHouse Clifton caters to mind and body, men, women and children
Michele Achterberg is a winner. When the Clifton resident was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in 2015 despite having no family history with it, she underwent 20 weeks of chemotherapy and won. She went through a double mastectomy in June 2015, and won.
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Business Scholarship Calls for Applicants
Applications are now available for the 2016 Mount Vernon Lee Chamber of Commerce Education Partnership Scholarships.
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Springfield: Meeting the Challenge of Our Time
Greenspring resident and colleague receive U.S. Patent for process aimed at combating global warming.
Greenspring retirement community resident, 98-year-old Charlie Bliss, and his 78-year-old colleague Charley Moseley, are doing their part to suggest options for combating global warming.