Fairfax County - ��Ӱ��

Economic concerns and social values shape Fairfax county’s 2024 election

Zaid Mastou — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:38:53 +0000

Originally a Republican stronghold, Fairfax began to shift in the early 2000s as its population grew more diverse and younger families moved in.

From student loan debt and health care to economic stability, these issues drive voters to make their voices heard in what many see as a defining election.

For some voters, economic issues top the list. “For me, it’s the economy,” said Nelson Ulloa, one Fairfax resident. “Things that affect you daily, such as the economy and values, are important to me. The U.S. was built on certain principles.”

This perspective is common among voters who prioritize job stability, inflation control, and economic resilience, significantly as prices fluctuate and uncertainty looms over the future.

There’s a strong sense among Trump supporters that he’s the candidate to bring economic stability.

“I believe Trump will bring back the strong economy we had before,” said Lisa Thompson, a Fairfax resident and small business owner.

“He understands how businesses work and wants to cut the red tape strangling small companies. That’s something we need more than ever right now.”

Lisa’s perspective resonates with many conservatives in Fairfax who feel that Trump’s policies offer the best path to economic growth and stability.

Toora Arsala, wearing a “Keep Virginia Blue” T-shirt, told ��Ӱ��, “I’m all in for Kamala Harris.” Toora believes that Kamala is the best choice for the country.

Arsala wanted “student loans and health care” when he voted. “I think once Kamala gets elected, we will have a better health care system, and we’ll have abortion rights will be better for all women everywhere in the entire country.”

Fire Weather Watch issued in Northern Virginia

Lauren Spiers — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 23:07:19 +0000

The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch for parts of Northern Virginia this afternoon.��

Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax are among those jurisdictions impacted by the fire weather watch.��

In , a fire weather watch is announced when there is potential for a red flag warning to be issued in the near future. A red flag warning is issued when relative humidity is less than 30%, wind speed is over 20 miles per hour, and temperatures are above 40 degrees.��

A watch is also issued so land managers, such as National Park Service campsite managers, and fire officials can call attention to increased fire danger in the area when weather conditions support extreme fire danger, according to the National Weather Service.��

The National Weather Service indicates Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax are among the areas affected by the enhanced potential for spread of wildfires.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency on Nov. 7 in response to two fires in Madison and Patrick counties. These fires, plus the Matts Creek wildfire near Lynchburg, continue to pose a threat to public health in Northern Virginia.��

The weather watch comes as the area currently has “” drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.��

Luis Rosa, meteorologist for the NOAA, said there will be dry, breezy conditions, with smoke making its way to the area this afternoon accompanying wind from the southwest.��

“Outdoor burning is not recommended tomorrow anywhere in the region,” Rosa said.��

Rosa said the low humidity and strong winds are a recipe for the spread of wildfires, which is why he recommends limiting outdoor grilling, bonfires, and fireworks this weekend. ��

Lindsey Long, a community forestry specialist with the Virginia Department of Forestry, said as long as community members practice fire safety, common fall activities involving fire do not have to be off the table.��

“It’s really important to watch any fires that you do start,” Long said. “Make sure you’re doing any proper steps to put out any fires if you do start them.”��

These steps include clearing all flammable material away from burn areas and making water and tools readily available to extinguish the fire in case of emergency, according to the United States Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service.��

A , created by these organizations, shows the counties in Virginia where fires are not permitted at this time.��

Shawn Maddox, vice president of the Virginia Fire Prevention Association, calls them “burn bans.” He said weather conditions similar to those in Northern Virginia – strong winds, low humidity and dryness – prompt local authorities to enact these bans.��

“It is just to reduce the risk of fire,” Maddox said.��

Arlington resident William Richardson said he has never had any experience with fire in the Northern Virginia area. However, a fire weather watch did not shock him.��

“I know that we’ve had very little rain here,” Richardson said. “I’m familiar with the Canada problem and West Coast problem, but all I know is that we have not had much rain.”��

Both Madison and Culpeper counties near Northern Virginia have issued “burn bans.” ��

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Fairfax County Republicans push ‘no’ vote on school bond referendum despite strong public support

Oliver Ward — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 21:11:27 +0000

School bonds have long been a footnote in Fairfax County politics, appearing on the ballot every two years but drawing little attention. This year, however, shifts in the financial environment and local politics have lent new salience to the often-overlooked school funding question.

“Back when interest rates were close to zero, I voted yes on those,” said John Graves, a McLean resident, who was voting at McLean’s Governmental Center on Saturday—the last day of early in-posting voting in the county. “Interest rates are so high right now,” he continued, adding that he was skeptical that the county should be adding to its debt burden.

Fairfax County Public Schools’ standard operational costs come from the County Executive’s Budget. But to finance building and renovation projects, which require large one-off expenditures, the school district issues bonds to spread the costs out over several years. For this, they need voters’ approval. This year, $435 million in school bonds are on the ballot, with revenues tipped to fund development projects at 15 elementary schools and one middle school, according to the

These bond issuances typically pass with overwhelming public support. In 2021, almost 70% of voters voted to approve $360 million in new school bonds. In 2019, school bonds passed with 77% support. In 2023, however, Republicans have been campaigning against the initiative.

“Their use of bonds is, at best, inappropriate,” said Arthur Purves, the Republican candidate for chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Purves cites research from the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance, which he has been president of for more than 25 years, showing that since 2016, the cost of servicing existing debts has exceeded revenue from bond sales.

“That’s like opening a new credit card to pay off a previous credit card, and meanwhile, you’re paying interest, which could either be used to lower taxes or to do more construction.”

A campaign sign for Arthur Purves outside a McLean polling station. (Oliver Ward/��Ӱ��)

Purves is also concerned about the misuse of funding from previous bond sales.

“They’re not frugal, I think, in their design of buildings,” Purves said, citing the construction of the new Public Safety Headquarters near Fair Oaks, mainly funded through bonds. “With all the vacant office space in Fairfax County, why couldn’t they repurpose an existing building for their public safety?” Purves added. The retired computer programmer is running against the Democratic incumbent, Jeff McKay.

Local Republican opposition to the new school bonds broke with recent elections when the party took a softer stance. Local politics is partly to blame. Before 2019, Elizabeth Schultz and Thomas Wilson, two Republican-endorsed candidates, sat on the school board. But Democrats now control all the seats.

Purves said Schultz had pushed the Fairfax County Republican committee not to oppose school bonds “because that would make it harder for a school board member to get reelected.”

Both sides have published campaign literature arguing their respective cases before Tuesday’s election. In September, Fairfax Republicans published a blog post from Purves titled where he assails “excessive spending” and fiscal irresponsibility. Meanwhile, Fairfax County Public Schools distributed fliers to parents last month supporting the bond referendum, from some parents over using student data for political campaigning.

Fairfax County Public Schools declined an interview request for this story.

This political sparring, however, may have been lost on voters.

Joaquin Perez, a school social worker, said he hadn’t heard from anybody telling him how to vote on the issue and didn’t know what school development projects stood to benefit from the bond issuance. He voted in favor of the ballot initiative in McLean on Saturday.

“Appropriate funding for schools is important to me,” he said.

Joaquin Perez outside a McLean early voting location. (Oliver Ward/��Ӱ��)

Even voters who expressed concern over worsening borrowing conditions revealed they had still voted ‘yes’ on the ballot initiative.

Amy Hammer, a Republican who is voting for Independent or Democratic candidates “until we get Trump and the crazies out of the party,” said she had backed the new bonds, even if it meant higher taxes in the future to fund the debt.

“I have a granddaughter that’ll probably be going through these schools and I had four kids go through these schools,” Hammer said.

“It’s a bad environment,” said Colin Hart, whose children are now university-aged. “But I don’t think we have much choice.”

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GMU opens new college of public health, a first for Virginia

Olivia Diaz — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 15:44:56 +0000

Last month, George Mason University launched an official college of public health, an interdisciplinary move that officials say took more than a decade to make.

The college is the first of its kind in Virginia, where there has yet to be another standalone public health college. Bob Weiler, associate dean of academic affairs at George Mason, said conversations about creating the college began at the end of 2004.��

“It has required a lot of time and a lot of effort by a lot of people here at Mason, particularly within the college as well,” Weiler said. “And so, just to see the actual transition to solidify and actually happen is really exciting.”

The college is made up of 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students. It offers six undergraduate degrees, eight master’s degrees, five doctoral degrees and six professional certificate programs. The school is made up of the following:��

Nursing
Global and Community Health��
Health Administration and Policy
Nutrition and Food Studies
Social Work

Weiler said before George Mason created a designated college, Virginia was one of 13 states without a college of public health. He added it was also one of the largest states to be without such a college.

“To lead the nation in healthy outcomes, we as a state must establish schools dedicated to education, research and community service in public health,” he said. “As a school of public health, we see it as a responsibility to the region and to the state itself.”

Colin Greene, the state’s , said it was excellent for George Mason officials to bring the college to the state. He said having an understanding of the different facets of health helped him in his career as a doctor. It was also what inspired him to get a master’s degree in public health, he said.

George Mason statute in the center of campus. Provided by Ron Aira/Creative Services/George Mason University

“I think the fact George Mason is opening this college is great for the Commonwealth,” Greene said.��

George Mason’s public heath school may be the first college of its kind in the commonwealth, but there are other public health college initiatives spread across communities in Virginia, Greene’s office noted. Eastern Virginia Medical School teamed up with Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University last March in an effort to . Virginia Commonwealth University has also been working to make a public health college since last year, officials said.��

Rebecca Sutter, a nursing professor, said George Mason’s college approaches public health with an interdisciplinary lens.

“The interdisciplinary nature of the college, and I would say the interprofessional nature, really lends itself to [improving health outcomes],” said Sutter, who had already been a professor at George Mason for 10 years. “Staying siloed in health and public health is not going to lead to a change that we know we need to have.”

Students gather for a lecture in George Mason’s new college of public health. Photo provided by George Mason University.

Sutter said the COVID-19 pandemic was proof of the need for people across sectors to work together and for the college to come to George Mason.

“It really is timely as we’re coming out of a public health emergency and our COVID-19 responses,” she said. “As people know now, we just didn’t have the infrastructure and we just didn’t quite get it right.”

Taylor Thomas, a George Mason senior and global and community health major, said an interdisciplinary look at health would only make health infrastructure stronger. To Thomas, public health is not just vaccines or illness. She said it was also food access and other .

“I don’t think those are the parts of public health that people think of very often,” she said. “Having this change to the college of public health, I think, is reflective of what people really should know about public health in the broader community.”

Thomas is set to graduate at the end of this month. But she said she knows that although her time in the college is already ending, the college’s impact on the community was only beginning.��

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Head-on collision leaves woman trapped in car outside Kingstowne Center

Alex Fernandez — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 21:22:02 +0000

The Franconia Volunteer Fire Department today rescued a woman trapped in her car following a head-on collision just outside Kingstowne Center in Franconia, Va.

Fire officials confirmed that the woman had to be removed from her car,��a silver Toyota Corolla, using the “jaws of life” before being taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Franconia Volunteer Fire Department blocking northbound traffic on South Van Dorn Street.

Officials declined to comment on the extent of the woman’s injuries or the hospital to which she was taken.

The accident happened at the intersection of South Van Dorn Street and Greendale Village Drive just after 11 am. Police officials declined to comment on the other vehicle involved.

The accident and subsequent rescue halted northbound traffic on South Van Dorn Street for about 30 minutes.

Fairfax Police where at the scene clearing the accident and directing traffic. However, police officials declined to comment.

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Herndon cops want to better their policing. Their strategy: Meditation.

Olivia Diaz — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:25:09 +0000

Transcendental Meditation Instructor Lea Cho said she had taught mindfulness to all kinds of people: Doctors during the pandemic, victims of violence and children learning in D.C. schools.��

But in 2020, she tackled teaching a new and unexpected group of first responders: Officers from the Herndon Police Department.

“It was a lot of fun, especially with this group, because they’re just really good people,” said Cho, who has taught meditation for four years. “They feel like family at this point.”

Herndon police is the second department in the country after the New York Police Department to participate in a pilot program that teaches cops how to meditate. Instructors have taught meditation four times in the last two years to Herndon officers. The goal: To better community policing amid nationwide calls to defund law enforcement.

The comfort of calm

Herndon’s meditation program is funded by the , a nonprofit dedicated to teaching people transcendental meditation.��

Transcendental meditation is a form of silent mantra meditation, according to the foundation. Unlike other forms of meditation, people who practice it do not need to monitor their thoughts or focus on a specific manifestation.��

Bob Roth, chief executive officer of the foundation, said the foundation raises money for a four-day training from community donors in the Washington, D.C. area.

Roth said the training for Herndon police is not different from the training they would give to anyone else. The pilot project indicated that this universal technique could help officers among other first responders, he said.

“When a person has been traumatized, they have been traumatized,” Roth said.��

Herndon Chief Maggie DeBoard said she did not expect the training to work at all.

“I definitely had expectations like, ‘This is not going to do a darn thing for me,’” DeBoard said. “I mean, I had trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that I’m supposed to sit down for 20 minutes and just repeat a mantra so that this would have an effect on my brain.”

DeBoard said Cho and the other instructors proved her wrong.

Chief Maggie DeBoard poses next to Bragg, Herdon police’s comfort dog.

“It doesn’t eliminate stress, but it helps you cope with the stress that you’re dealing with,” DeBoard said. “It helps you feel more in control of the problems.”

Roth said many people who take the training have the same realization.��

“A real warrior is a person who can maintain an inner calm, inner equanimity in the midst of powerful dynamic activity,” Roth said. “So, this doesn’t make a person passive. This allows the person to marshal their energy and the resources to respond to any situation at any time.”

DeBoard said she learned meditation at the most challenging moment of her life. She said officers were leaving her department in droves after the 2020 killing of George Floyd and . Herndon is still down six positions in their 50-officer department, she said.

“That nearly broke me,” she said. “Meditation was a savior for me because it allowed me to realize that I can manage this.”��

DeBoard also said she brought meditation to the department because she wanted to better her officers’ relationship with the community. DeBoard wants to better her department after community calls for .

“The crux of reform is, ‘Do we have good, healthy cops?’” DeBoard said. “And if we have good, healthy cops, then we’re ultimately likely to have much healthier community interactions.”

DeBoard said she doesn’t mandate officers take the meditation training. But she tells officers, however, that they should develop skills to help them cope with their job.��

“Sometimes, you deal with people on the worst day of their lives, and you’re supposed to deal with it, but you have to be humbled about the fact that it’s going to impact you,” DeBoard said. “If it doesn’t impact you, you’re in the wrong job because you have no heart.”

A new department

The Herndon police department looks slightly different since it brought transcendental meditation to its ranks. Officers can meditate at the station’s nap room or wherever they feel comfortable while working their shifts, DeBoard said.

The designated nap and transcendental meditation space at the Herndon Police Department.

There are 48 officers in the department, DeBoard said. Lisa Herndon, department spokeswoman, said 14 officers and 13 professional staffers took one of the four training sessions.

Capt. Justin Dyer did the first session back in 2020. He said meditation changed his life.��

“I wasn’t very open-minded about it,” Dyer said. “I thought it was a bunch of Voodoo because I was closed-minded, put it that way. Coming out of it, I had a totally different perspective.”

Dyer said people might have preconceptions about meditation, but he learned a lot about how the practice can help first responders.

“It’s not a cold-type thing,” Dyer said. “It’s not a belief system. It’s just a way to rework how your brain operates. And it just gets rid of stress.”

Cho, the instructor who taught transcendental meditation to police, said many people often had that realization in training. Cho said police officers would never stop being human, nor should they be expected to do that.

“It’s not that you stopped having challenges in life,” she said. “It’s not that you stop having emotions. You know, and that’s never the goal. The idea is that when stuff does happen, you’re able to bounce back faster.”

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Read claims win in tight Fairfax City mayoral race against Yi

Olivia Diaz — Wed, 09 Nov 2022 16:06:37 +0000

Catherine Read is claiming to have clinched the Fairfax City mayoral election Tuesday in a tight race against Sang Yi, a slim win for Democrats.

As of the morning of Nov. 9, Read snagged about 50 percent of the vote with 4,757 ballots, compared with Yi, who earned 49 percent, or 4,639 votes, with eight of nine precincts reporting. The absentee ballots and early voters. ��

“So many people made this victory possible!” Read wrote on Twitter Nov. 9. “Thank you to every person who believed this was possible!”

Catherine Read tweets after claiming victory in the Fairfax City mayoral race.

Officials with the Fairfax City Electoral Board said Wednesday that provisional votes still needed to be counted. The office also would count qualifying mail-in ballots that come in over the next few days, officials said.

Preliminary voting data shows the majority of people voted for Yi in five of the six polling places, while Read got the majority of absentee votes. Neither candidate responded to a request for comment on the results Nov. 9.

The unofficial results of Tuesday’s election come after Yi, a city council member and a Republican congressional staffer, battled Read, a Democrat and civic engagement strategist, for the mayor’s seat in a months-long, partisan campaign for a .��

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) endorsed Yi over the summer. Fairfax City Mayor David Meyer, a Democrat who is not seeking another term, donated to Read’s campaign, according to data from the Virginia Public Access Project.

Tom Ross, a city council member and Democrat who is running to keep his seat, said outside the polling station Nov. 8 that he was supporting Read.

“I’ve been on council with Sang for two years,” Ross said. “And I respect the fact that he served there, but I don’t agree with his values or with the kind of leadership style he has. So that’s why I endorsed Catherine.”

Katy Johnson, a community member, came to vote at the community center that day with her two children in tow. Johnson was happy to vote, but she said she was frustrated seeing the race become partisan.��

“We’re supposed to be independent, and I’ve literally lost friends because I think that we should be nonpartisan,” Johnson said. “I think the local elections are not the national elections and these are our neighbors. We’re all one Fairfax city.”

Jill Butterfield, another community member, said the partisanship impacted her decision regarding who to circle on her ballot.

“When I looked into what Mr. Yi was supporting, it all looked fine in a very generic kind of way,” Butterfield said. “But honestly, when I found out that Glenn Youngkin was campaigning for him or supporting him, it was like ‘No, not happening.’ ”��

This year’s race was also a costly one. Yi raised more than $169,000 for his mayoral campaign, including about $67,000 from his city council bid, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Read has raised about $90,000, according to the project.

Yi based his campaign on issues related to . Some citizens at the polling place said they voted for Yi because they think he supports development. Others said they voted for him because they wanted to vote for a Republican.

Signs for mayoral candidates Catherine Read and Sang Yi line the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center, where members of Fairfax City cast their ballot.

Susan Steiner, a community member who volunteered for Yi’s campaign, said she voted for Yi because he was an active member of the community.

“He’s a man of the community,” Steiner said. “We see him on our walks with his dogs, his children and his beautiful wife. He is a great neighbor.”

If elected, Yi would have become the Commonwealth of Virginia’s first Korean American mayor, if elected. Loretta Herrington, another community member volunteering for Yi’s campaign, said that representation mattered.

“Frankly, this is a community that’s very diverse,” Herrington said. “He represents all of us. And by that I mean, it’s time for the next generation to take leadership.”

Yi has not made a public comment on race as of 8:45 a.m. Nov. 9.

Read, who had previously lost a bid for a city council in 2012, based part of her campaign on social issues, and . She also pitched other municipal issues, .

Paul Wyche, a sophomore at George Mason University, said he voted for Read because of her stance on social justice. Wyche said he was able to meet Yi at George Mason before deciding who to vote for.��

“I am necessarily against Sang, but I voted for Catherine Read,” Wyche said. She was kind of the better choice for me, especially for the whole political climate going on nowadays with abortion rights.”

The Fairfax City electoral board will , which will be finalized by Nov. 15, 2022.

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Town of Vienna gears up for 76th annual Halloween parade Wednesday

Olivia Diaz — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 14:45:30 +0000

All roads will lead to Maple Avenue at 7 p.m. this Wednesday as the Town of Vienna celebrates its annual Halloween Parade.��

It’s been 76 years since the Town of Vienna began its Halloween Parade in 1946, a spectacle that takes place every year rain or shine. Even during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the parade carried on through a .

There will be costumes, floats and, of course, goodie bags filled with candy. in light of the event.

A panel of judges will select the most creative floats based on the parade’s theme, which changes from year to year. For 2022, it is “Time Machine: Vienna in the past, present and future.”

To Peggy James, the executive director of the Vienna Business Association, the parade represents the best parts of Halloween — costumes, celebration, music. But it also represents the town’s tight-knit community.

“I think about 30,000 people go to the parade here,” James said. “It’s crazy.”

Parade-goers in the 2021 parade. Provided by the Town of Vienna.

People line up chairs and blankets days before the parade to stake out their lot on Maple Avenue, James said. You can spot their blankets and chairs piled up against the curb, she said.

The parade is sponsored by the business association and . James, who is charged with putting together a panel of judges and getting local businesses to sponsor the parade, said it was incredible to see all the businesses that want to support the event.

“The parade is just like ‘Small Town USA,’” James said. “You just see so many of your neighbors and so many of your fellow business people.”

James said there were some staples of the parade: The Vienna Art Society, which she said always puts together a creative float. She also noted The Jammars, a local percussion-based music group, the town’s School of Rock and the Harley Davidson Club, which all usually make appearances every year.

Lily Widman, Vienna’s recreation program coordinator, said it was fun to see every float’s different interpretation of the theme.

A float in the 2021 parade, which had the theme of The Roaring Twenties. Provided by the Town of Vienna.

“There’s one group this year that’s actually making a time machine for their entry, so that’ll be cool to see,” Widman said.

The parade is special, she said, which is why the town will in Northern Virginia year after year.��

“This is a really huge undertaking for the town of Vienna,” Widman said. “And it’s amazing that we manage to close down Maple Avenue at rush hour on a Wednesday every year. It’s not easy to do. And like I would say just about every town employee at the town of Vienna has some hand in making it happen.”

Widman said, however, the coordination was worth it — the parade is her favorite event that the town puts on.��

“I’m the event coordinator for the town,” Widman said. “I’ve run a lot of large-scale events for the town and they’re all wonderful. But this one — it just sparks joy in the kids and the families attending more than anything else.”

The parade is woven in the town’s history. In October 1955, The Fairfax Herald wrote that it was the place “thousands of kids from six to 60 in the guise of clowns, goblins, witches, spooks, [and] storybook characters.”��

In October 1959, the Herald wrote that prizes went to the “spookiest, funniest, prettiest, and more original costumes.”

Maggie Reidy, secretary of the Vienna Host Lions Club, a volunteer organization, said her club will never miss a parade. News clippings also show that the Lions sponsored the parade in 1955.

“Our club is 80 years old,” Reidy said. “So, we’ve been doing the parade every year that there’s been one. We enjoyed it very much.”

Reidy will have to miss the parade this year, but she already has her costume for 2023 ready to go, she said. A lion suit, for the Lions Club.

Leigh Kitcher, who Widman and the town chose to be the parade’s grand marshal, also has finally picked out her costume.��

“I thought ‘My gosh, who am I going to go as?’” Kitcher said. “And I only knew that I wanted to wear this beautiful orange hat my friend lent me.”

Kitcher was chosen to lead the parade because of her active role in Vienna, Widman said. She has been involved in leadership positions in Historic Vienna, Inc. the town’s Ayr Hill Garden Club and the National Capital Area Garden Club. Kitcher also helped Vienna coordinate its first in 2021.

The parade will start at United Bank at 374 Maple Ave.

Kitcher knew she wanted to dress professionally but wanted to also celebrate the day.

“I thought: ‘Oh! I want to be Bella Abzug,’” Kitcher said of the . “What could be more appropriate than going as Bella because she was known for her hats. She was known for her outspoken support of women’s rights. And human rights. And she’s just a dynamic person.”��

Kitcher’s excited, she said. She described getting selected to be the marshal as an honor.

Parade organizers said kids who just want to march in the parade should show up at 6 p.m. at United Bank at 374 Maple Ave., which is the parade’s starting line. Those who have registered to be in the parade and put together floats are to do the same, .

Kitcher, dressed as Abzug, will lead the way at 7 p.m. Wednesday to kick off the fall festivity. She will be the one in the orange hat.

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Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise. Here’s how to keep your car safe.

Olivia Diaz — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 14:35:46 +0000

Richard Tonetti, vice president of operations at Craftsman Auto Care, said it happens to the best of his customers.

They power up their cars and hear the engine hiss. The wheel is stiff, and the gas pedal won’t accelerate. Icons across the dash light up like a Christmas tree.

Tonetti can guess the problem: The vehicle’s catalytic converter has been stolen. And officials say it is a problem that has only been growing in Fairfax County and across the nation.

More than 700 catalytic converters have been stolen in Fairfax County this year, according to data provided by the police department. That is nearly double the 409 converters stolen in all of 2021 — and triple the 213 stolen by the end of September last year, the data shows.

Catalytic converter thefts in Fairfax County in 2021 and 2022 as of Sept. 30. Provided by the Fairfax County Police Department.

“We have seen more and more of these calls come in,” Tonetti said. “It is extremely frustrating for people.”

Officials and locals like Tonetti are trying to help the community protect their vehicles amid the surge of thefts. Whether it be increasing penalties for the crime or setting up a tracking system for stolen converters, they hope new efforts to stop catalytic converter thefts will help keep potential incidents at bay.

Why catalytic converters?

Catalytic converters were developed during the 1970s by the to tamp down on pollution and smog-forming emissions from cars, with support from the . By 1975, they were required on all new vehicles in the U.S.

“The converter has precious metals that help to break down the vehicle’s toxic gas so that it doesn’t go into our ozone,” Tonetti said. He said each converter is different, but can have multiple metals such as copper, aluminum, steel or platinum.

Those metals are valuable.

“That’s worth a decent amount of money,” Tonetti said. “So yeah, people will sell it to someone who has the tools to melt it down and separate the metals.” Tonetti noted that Toyota Priuses, to crime.

A worker at Craftsman Auto Care looking at a Toyota Prius on Oct. 6, 2022.

Virginia Del. Robert Bell, R-Albemarle, said catalytic converter thefts have historically been like other thefts of items less than $1,000, which are a misdemeanor in the Commonwealth.

But while a converter may be worth less than $1000, repairing damaged vehicles can .

Bell ��to take those costs into account. He said making the crime a felony was a logical response.

“My opponents, though, did not like having too many felonies in Virginia,” Bell said. “Their opposition was not a surprise. But we were able to get it through.”

The bill passed 57 to 38 in the Virginia House of Representatives. It passed unanimously in the state senate.

The new law signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, in April makes . If convicted, a person can face up to five years in prison.

Bell said it would take time to see whether the new law was effective.

“The guy on the street stealing a catalytic converter is not reading the code amendments,” Bell said. “We are hopeful that the few people who are committing these crimes will over time be deterred or get caught and go to prison.”

A nationwide trend

Fairfax County is not the only place experiencing an influx of catalytic converter thefts, said Chris Herrmann, professor.

“These are increasing crimes everywhere,” Hermann said. “I think you can kind of blame that a little bit on the economy and blame it a little bit on the fact that it has easy access.”

Herrmann said it does not take much to steal a catalytic converter, noting that perpetrators can access converters by sliding underneath people’s cars.

Barriers to shield catalytic converters are expensive, Herrmann said.

“The only way to really prevent it is to weld a cage over your catalytic converter,” Herrmann said. It’s an expensive process, so a lot of people probably wouldn’t do that.”

Tonetti and workers at Craftsman Auto Care are etching people’s converters to make their cars a less easy target, they said.

Asha Boone, marketing manager at the auto shop, said the shop bought scanners that can be placed on the converter and��.

The supplies Craftsman Auto Care purchased to etch catalytic converters in Fairfax County.

Workers call it “Etch and Catch,” she said. The auto shop has hosted eight events this year where people can drive up to Craftsman Auto Care, and shop workers will glue the scanner on the converter for free.

People can notify the International Security Register code check website if the part gets stolen. If someone tries to sell the piece for scrap, a and can notify the website they found the part.

The Fairfax County Police Department partnered with the shop to promote their etching campaign, Boone said.

Watch here: Etching a catalytic converter

“We’re fortunate to have outstanding community partners who have volunteered to provide VIN etching,” Lt. James Curry wrote in a statement. “We hope this not only deters criminals from stealing catalytic converters but also aids detectives in tracking down the rightful owners if the property is found.”

Boone said their shop has yet to have been notified that an etched converter has been stolen, she said. It’s a hopeful sign, she noted, that etching these thefts will soon be on the decline.

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FCPS hosts Spanish workshop about gang prevention, supporting non-English speaking parents

Olivia Diaz — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 16:14:22 +0000

Fairfax County Public Schools will host a free Spanish workshop tonight on preventing students from succumbing to gang violence. It will be hosted by Fairfax County schools and the Northern Virginia Family Service, a nonprofit dedicated to providing services to migrant families and families of color.

The 6:30 p.m. virtual event is part of a range of efforts initiated by the school system to improve multi-lingual services. As the county becomes increasingly diverse, the schools have a larger goal: To make its wraparound services more inclusive for non-English speaking parents in its community.

Tuesday’s workshop will dive into why young people are susceptible to joining gang violence and what they can do to help prevent it. A gang prevention coordinator with Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court will also speak to parents.

Kate Reen, director of youth initiatives at the Northern Virginia Family Service, said the webinar is an opportunity for parents and educators to be on the same page regarding gang-related issues that impact students.

“Schools are hugely influential in a young person’s life,” Reen said. “We want to work in a coordinated fashion with their life at school and their life at home.”

Reen said her nonprofit hosted the same workshop in English in March. But she thought it was essential to ensure these workshops are language accessible.

“I think it can be challenging if you’re not sure who at the school speaks Spanish or who doesn’t — or to know what interpretation resources are available in our school,” she said. “And so, a lot of it is looking out for our Spanish-speaking parents. We want them to have the same information that our English-speaking parents have received.”

Screenshot of where parents can sign up for workshops on the Fairfax County Public Schools website. Courtesy of Fairfax County.

Fairfax County schools officials announced they will host in partnership with other local nonprofits, with topics ranging from social screening services for students to stress management resources.

Renee LaHuffman-Jackson, coordinator of Fairfax County family and school partnerships, said her office chooses the language of each webinar depending on the topic and resources available.

“We may have an offering of one thing that may be in English, but then we have some offerings that are in Spanish, or only Korean or in Arabic,” she said. “It just depends on the topic.”

LaHuffman-Jackson could not pinpoint how many people went to past workshops because attendance ebbs and flows, she said. Parents can also attend the workshops after they occur by watching them on YouTube, she said.

However, she said more people had used the school system’s general parent resources since COVID-19 broke out over two years ago.

LaHuffman-Jackson said the school system had these workshops for years, long before she joined the staff seven years ago.

LaHuffman-Jackson also mentioned the school’s phone line. The office also manages a phone line where parents can call and speak to :

Amharic
Arabic
Chinese
Farsi
Korean
Spanish
Urdu
Vietnamese

“Ever since COVID, it’s been booming,” she said.

Languages other than English that families speak at home. Data courtesy of the Fairfax County government.

Many students come home to non-English speaking households, . According to the county website, nearly 40 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home.

Donna Sabino, a science teacher at Oakton High School, said she saw firsthand the diverse languages students spoke outside the classroom.

“It’s not a monolithic sort of ‘Everyone speaks the other language, which is Spanish,’” she said. “It’s not at all. I have Arabic speakers. I have students that speak Turkish at home. I have students that speak Farsi at home.”

Sabino said she used Google Translate sometimes when she would email students’ parents. Sometimes, she would be able to coordinate a translator to attend a parent-teacher conference.

“The kid has the advantage that they can acclimate fast because they have school, but I think the parents are really at a disadvantage,” she said.

Sabino tries to build an environment where non-English parents can be involved in a student’s education, just as engaged as English-speaking parents. But resources such as the workshops and the phone line are essential to making it happen.

“What I mean, but if the school or I engage the parents, I usually find that it’s helpful,” she said. “I mean, we’re all looking for the same thing: we want our students to do well. And they want to be a part of their kids’ learning.”

Parents can register for the Tuesday night workshop on the , where they can find more information about resources in different languages.

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