Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce held a roundtable Thursday about what the across-the-board cuts will mean for Northern Virginia.
What will sequestration's $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts do to the Northern Virginia economy? Specifics are hard to come by, but it doesn't look good. Fairfax County executive Ed Long is hoping that the White House will soon put forward a proposal outlining the 10-year implementation of the cuts. "I think the rest of the world is interested in how we are dealing with this issue," said Long. "We know we are going to take a hit, but tell us what is going to be hit and we'll move forward." Congress triggerred the sequester after failing to meet the March 1 deadline to compromise on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction, and this year the U.S. military will be forced to cut $46 billion and domestic defense spending will be cut by $85 …
Friday, March 1, 2013
Prison inmates will remove signs Tuesday through Friday beginning later this year.
Fairfax County now has the authority to clean up illegal signs placed on roadway medians thanks to an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation. This week, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement that has been in the works for months allowing the county to clear signs from public rights-of-way and issue fines to residents who post them. The program, which supervisors signed off on in an 8-2 vote, will cost the county $150,000. Non-violent prisoners on the Sheriff’s Office Community Labor Force will perform cleanup duties four days a week, Tuesday through Friday, starting later this year. Putting up signs on any state road is illegal, including advertisements and – especially – political signs, which all but took over …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
It's now a County responsibility to clean up signs in medians and near roads managed by the Commonwealth.
Tired of seeing all those illegally placed signs on the median during election season? A recently-passed bill in the Virginia General Assembly has given localities in Virginia the ability to clean up local signs and fine offenders up to $100. “Not only is this a safety issue, but it is a quality of life issue. If you live near a neighborhood with 15 signs at intersection that say ‘We buy houses’ or ‘We clean gutters,’ it looks horrible and reduces our property values,” said Delegate Dave Albo (R-42), who sponsored the bill. According to House Bill 34: Any person who in any manner paints, prints, places, puts or affixes any sign or advertisement upon or to any rock, stone, tree, fence, stump, pole, mile-board, milestone, danger-sign, …
That figure does not include 'ripple effects' through the economy from an expected slow down in consumer spending.
The White House has released state-by-state information on how sequestration may affect residents of all 50 states—and Virginia stands to lose hundreds of millions. When Patch asked its readers this weekend whether President Obama and Senate Democrats are “to blame” for sequestration or if fault lies with John Boehner and the House Republicans, opinions were mixed. “Both parties are to blamed for this event, as neither are attempting to compromise on the issues that each party brings to the table. Neither party is governing at this point in time,” said reader Roger Todd. See: Thanks to Sequestration, You’re About to Lose Your Job: Who’s to Blame? Another reader, who went by the username cmvorhees, wrote, “It is absurd that the failure of …
Sunday, February 10, 2013
A roundup of area headlines.
A lot happened in Fairfax County last week. If you missed it, sit back and catch up with news rounded up from our Patch sites from around the county: An explosion took place at The Sub Shop at approximately 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Lorton, sending the owner to Washington Hospital Center's burn unit. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Officials from the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) and a bomb investigation unit were on the scene Wednesday investigating whether someone may have started the fire. "There are reports of a subject leaving the scene on foot," said FCPD Officer Don Gotthardt. "We are considering him a suspect but we have no description of him." Hundreds witnessed the ribbon-cutting Tuesday afternoon at …
Sunday, February 3, 2013
What will it mean for the Northern Virginia economy?
Sequestration — $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to defense and civilian programs over the next decade — will likely happen, and it will mean thousands of layoffs, program eliminations and near-certain economic devastation for Northern Virginia, said Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran (D-8th) and Gerry Connolly (D-11th) on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Mount Vernon. "You need to be aware that this is probably going to happen," said Moran, who spoke at an annual meeting conducted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "It's a democracy and things will ultimately play themselves out, but things are not going well right now (in Congress)." Congress averted the fiscal cliff crisis at the beginning of the year, and …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Fairfax County School Board votes against expanding at Thoreau, Cooper, Herndon middle schools, asks for broader study of advanced academic program offerings as a whole.
Fairfax County School Board members voted Thursday to expand the school system's Advanced Academic Program Centers to three additional elementary schools this fall in an effort to relieve overcrowding at several existing centers. But they stopped short of expanding the program across about a dozen and a half more elementary and middle schools in time for the next school year, as was proposed last fall, pending a broader discussion of what advanced academics truly means in Fairfax County, whether the system is in line with national best practices of gifted and general education and where board members envision the program going in the future. The decision came at the end of a four-hour discussion Thursday that stretched into the wee hours …
Friday, January 25, 2013
A look at what's canceled, rescheduled Friday as winter weather advisory goes into effect.
Several school and government services and community activities are being canceled Friday in anticipation of afternoon snow. Fairfax County employees have liberal leave. The Capital Weather Gang anticipates 1 to 2 inches of snow will fall between 2 and 5 p.m. Friday. A winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service is in place from 2 to 9 p.m. for Vienna and surrounding cities and counties. The service predicts "snow will begin during the mid-afternoon and taper off in the evening. Snow may be moderate to locally heavy at times during the late afternoon and early evening." Roads will become snow covered and slippery, the service says, "resulting in hazardous travel during the afternoon and evening commute." The following …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The storm watch begins Thursday morning.
Update 2:30 p.m. Thursday: The Winter Weather Advisory for the Washington area has been canceled. -- The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather storm watch for the Fairfax County area which will be in effect Thursday morning until late Thursday night. Heavy snow is expected during this time, accumulating to an estimated five inches. Snow may mix with rain earlier in the day and will become heavier throughout the afternoon. Snowfall is expected to end Thursday night. Temperatures will be in the lower 30s, and winds are expected to be northwest 5 to 10 mph and gusts up to 20 mph. Roads may become slick and covered in snow, especially during the evening rush hour. According to NWS, a winter storm watch means there is a potential…
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova wants county's gun turn-in service better publicized.
Fairfax County officials are looking into hosting events for residents to hand over unwanted guns for destruction. The initiative is resulting from last month's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, asked staff during the Board’s meeting Tuesday to publicize more heavily the county’s existing gun turn-in service so residents might be encouraged to get rid of their firearms. “Many residents have contacted my office to voice concern regarding guns,” Bulova said. “Most residents do not realize that Fairfax County provides a voluntary gun turn-in service.” Unwanted or unneeded firearms and ammunition can be turned into the Fairfax County Police Department…
Gordon Blvd
9:42 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Nope. I'm saying FULL DISCLOSURE looks a hella-lot better at the end of the day. Looks a lot less scummy as well, specially when we are talking about ppl sneaking around trashing our streets, neighborhoods, county, and NOT picking up behind themselves more ›