Letter: Welcome from Police Chief Ed Roessler
Newcomers Guide
Dear Community Members: The Fairfax County Police Department was established on July 1, 1940 and today we have an authorized strength of 1,372 sworn law enforcement officers who protect and serve the communities of the County. On average, officers respond to over 400,000 calls for service each year.
Column: Accommodate or Exacerbate
As a diagnosed-as-“terminal” cancer patient (is that better, Rebecca?), I feel I am due some accommodations. However, when offered or given, I am hesitant to accept (not always, though; I’ll be honest).
Editorial: Sea Changes in Policing?
Report offers blueprint for transforming aspects of policing, jail and services for people with mental illness.
Yesterday, for the first time in the history of Fairfax County Police Department, a Fairfax County Police officer was charged in a shooting death.
Column: B.D. Versus A.D.
If my experiences as a cancer patient/ “terminal” “diagnosee” are at all typical, then the following generalization might in fact be true: certain situations and/or feelings that were once tolerated before diagnosis are nearly impossible to tolerate after diagnosis: traffic, waiting in lines, rudeness, compromise, sacrifice, delayed/deferred gratification, to list just a few. Life becomes so much more precious, that wasting some of it – or the perception of wasting some of it – on unpleasant, unrewarding, aggravating, stressful, menial tasks, obligations, duties, etc. becomes almost too much to bear; on a consistent basis, anyway.
Letter: What’s Meant By ‘Farm?’
Letter to the Editor
These comments are in response to the article on Whitehall Farms. While it’s easy to love chickens, corn mazes and veggies, the reality of “farms” is quite different. Wineries, breweries and liquor distilleries are all considered “farms” too.
Editorial: 'Our Community Deserves Better'
Strongly worded recommendations for police on transparency and public trust; FCPD has miles to go.
Outrage over the shooting death of John Geer of Springfield on Aug. 29, 2013, by a Fairfax County Police officer led the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to form of the Ad Hoc Police Practice Review Commission, which began meeting in March 2015. The Communications Subcommittee was the first to give recommendations to the full commission, and the report pulled no punches.
Column: Back on Track
Having reread last week’s column a time or two now, I’ve realized that I neglected to update you regular readers – especially those of you who read my most recent pre- and post-scan columns: “Abyssful” Ignorance and Scant Know For Sure Anymore – on the previous week’s scan results. Once again, I have defied the odds – maybe statistics would be a better word?
Column: On A Tangent
Not that I live day-to-day or even month-to-month, but I do live – in my head anyway – quarter-to-quarter; that interval representing the usual and customary time between my recurring diagnostic scans. The time when the rubber hits my road.
Commentary: Scrap Toll Plan
This letter [dated July 21] is to respectfully request that you terminate plans to place a toll on I-66 inside the Beltway to fund the walking trails, bike paths and other multi-modal projects inside the Beltway described in your March 12, 2015 public presentation on this subject.
Letter: ‘Is Nothing Sacred?’
The massacre of nine African-Americans in Charleston, S.C., by a suspected domestic terrorist has left the entire nation shell-shocked and horrified.
Column: 'Abyssful' Ignorance
Hopefully not. But you never know – per last week’s column, until you know. And the preferred pattern seems to be that waiting to be spoken to in person, a week or so post-scan, is the best the process can be; or at least, that’s the process that suits the doctor/HMO.
Letter: Issues over Improving I-66
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: The following was approved by the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations’ Executive Committee as its June 30, 2015 meeting.
Editorial: What’s Special about Your Community?
Share tips in upcoming Newcomers and Community Guides.
The Connection’s annual Newcomers and Community Guides will publish Aug. 26. A bevy of interns, plus staff writers and editors, are preparing this year’s editions, but we need help from our readers.
Column: 'Scant' Know For Sure Anymore
After six years, four months and two weeks since being diagnosed with stage IV, non-small cell lung cancer (the “terminal” kind), I can say with certainty that I have no sense of what my next CT scan, scheduled for July 15th, will indicate. Previously (multiple scans over multiple years), I’ve felt something in my upper chest/lungs where the largest tumors are located and the subsequent scan showed nothing of consequence.
Letter: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: A few weeks ago the House passed HR 2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act. Sounds great, right? Wrong. The Ratepayer Protection Act is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and attacks EPA’s ability to curb climate change. Specifically, the Act goes after the Clean Power Plan, set to be finalized this summer, which would require states submit carbon reduction plans to the EPA.