‘Better Than I Deserve’: Roy Gravatte Dies at 84
For most people, the cursory greeting “How are you?” elicits a cursory “Fine, and you?” But for Roy Gravatte, it was a chance to show his gratitude in life with his signature response to anyone who asked: “Better than I deserve.”
Honoring Women on Front Lines of Pandemic
The Fairfax County Commission For Women celebrates Women’s History Month 2021.
Opinion: Column: “Cancerversary”
I realize I'm cancer-centric, especially in these columns, but for some reason that centricity didn't acknowledge my February 27th cancer anniversary.
Opinion: Commentary: What is ‘Fair’?
Equity costs - and paying that price will not be fair, but it will be just.
If Black people had a dollar for every individual, organization, and company that publicly professed a commitment to antiracism and racial equity while holding up progress in the name of “fairness,” we could have closed the racial wealth gap ten times over.
Fairfax County Planning Commission Recommends Denial of Flag Limitations
It's not a done deal.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted 11-0 to recommend denial to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to replace the current zoning ordinance establishing specific regulations for flags and flagpoles in the New and Modernized Zoning Ordinance (zMOD Updates) countywide.
Opinion: Commentary: Step into Nature for Improved Health
New research into the health benefits of being in nature prompted the Wall Street Journal reporter Betsy Morris to do a story titled, "For Better Health During the Pandemic, Is Two hours Outdoors the New 10,000 Steps?"
Starting from a Clean Slate
Compromise on expungement: automatic for some misdemeanors, petition for some felonies.
Marijuana convictions will be automatically expunged under a bill now under consideration by Gov. Ralph Northam, although convictions for crack cocaine will require missing a day of work and probably hiring a lawyer to go to court and seal the record. The legislation is a compromise crafted late in the General Assembly session by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring of Alexandria and state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36), who clashed repeatedly over the last year about how the process should work.
The Value of Dead Wood
Tree snags are “a gourmet restaurant,” that is, from a bird’s perspective, Larry Cartwright told a group of Northern Virginia Audubon at Home ambassadors on Feb. 20 in a Zoom meeting.
Opinion: Column: Back to Abnormal
Well, those last two weeks were kind of fun, (comparatively speaking) to the dozen or so previous weeks.
Fairfax County Readies for Public Employee Collective Bargaining
Holds collaborative meetings with union reps to write rules
Most Fairfax County public employees who provide vital services in education, safety, healthcare, and sanitation like others in counties, cities, and towns across the Commonwealth, will gain a new right on May 1, 2021.
Wellbeing: A Schedule Can Anchor Your Day
How creating a daily routine can ease anxiety during times of uncertainty
Her days were overwhelmingly stressful.
Opinion: Editorial: Brain Injury Awareness: A Personal Story
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month.
In 2007, my kids and I were at a fireworks show in Vienna that was so grand we were in awe of each burst.
Housing Values Increase and This Will Soon Be Felt in Tax Bills
The county juggles the tax rate, but higher tax bills are on the horizon.
Home Assessments Increase
Opinion: Commentary: Budget Passed
Enormous number of measures baked into budget to address critical needs in an unprecedented year
The 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly came to a close on Monday, March 1st, which really concluded with a long twelve hours on the floor Saturday that included the final passage of the Budget bill, and tax conformity legislation that set a critical $100,000 threshold for PPP expense deductibility for 2020 for all businesses in the Commonwealth.
Mount Vernon’s River Farm Offer Falls Short of Asking Price
NOVA Parks and partners made an offer but the farm remains on the market.
In an attempt to keep the property open to the public, the NOVA Parks, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, and their partners recently made an offer to buy River Farm in Mount Vernon, but the American Horticultural Society board of directors has voted to decline their offer, looking for their original asking price of $32,900,000 that they say they need to keep the society in operation.
Flying Squirrels, Our Nocturnal Neighbors
Around dusk or dawn, high up in the tree canopy, keen observers might spot a scurry.
Two Dead Bald Eagles Found in Mount Vernon
Several Mount Vernon area residents happened upon two dead bald eagles in the grass near a utility pole in the 7600 block of Elba Road on Feb. 17.
Opinion: Commentary: Inland Flooding
Facing storm intensities far beyond what our infrastructure was designed to handle
With one week remaining in the 2021 legislative session, Senators and Delegates are putting the finishing touches on legislation, and preparing to head home to the districts they represent in Richmond and throughout the year.
Opinion: Column: Not That I Don’t Understand, But...
...So this is what the process is like trying to schedule a Covid-19 vaccination.
Virginia Is for Pet Lovers, Too
Cosmetics testing, research dogs/cats, dangerous dogs, pet store employees come under scrutiny
The 2021 Virginia General Assembly had only six companion animal-related bills before it this session; a small number compared to the roughly two dozen during the 2020 session, and a dozen in 2019.