A Challenge for Garza: Excessive Homework
To the Editor: Your article “How Does She Do It” - Karen Garza’s vision: the irresistible force moving immovable object of Fairfax County Public Schools (The Connection,December 24-10, 2014) showed FCPS Superintendent Dr. Garza as a force for change. In the Fairfax County school system, students demonstrate excellence by collaborating and achieving good grades with the assistance of teachers.
Column: Traffic Caught
If I were writing this column in Massachusetts – where I was born and mostly educated (K-12), and had a thick Boston accent, that’s how court would likely be pronounced; changing a noun into a verb.
Editorial: Baby Steps, Not Enough
Supervisors should take action, not defer to “outside expert,” on absurd and outrageous behavior of police department.
Finally, now that the Fairfax County Police Department has taken stonewalling into the arena of the absurd, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has at least said it is time for change. It is a step, but a step that continues the appearance of obfuscation if not outright obstruction.
Letter: Volunteer for the Games
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: I love this community. There are so many ways to serve a community as diverse and as vibrant as ours. I recently competed in a special election to succeed Congresswoman Comstock. While I came up short in the vote count, largely due to the unfortunate weather on Election Day, I am as inspired to serve as I was on that day. My passion to serve others only strengthens with each pursuit.
Column: Seasonal Seven Dwarfs
Sneezy, Coughy, Phlegmy, Stuffy, Achy. No-Sleepy and Post-Nasal Drippy; and no Doc, which is possibly what led to this column being written.
Letter: County Shouldn’t Spray Against Fall Cankerworm
Letter to the Editor
This letter is in response to a recent letter to the editor about Fairfax County’s Fall Cankerworm Insecticide Spraying Program.
Column: $32.99 Plus Shipping
For one box of 54 petite Belgian waffle cookies in three delicious flavors: milk chocolate, dark chocolate and vanilla; an extravagance to be sure, available during the holidays; this recipient (actually, my wife, Dina, was the recipient) very happy to oblige and indulge.
Editorial: Happy New Year
Focused on community.
Happy New Year. We need your help in 2015. As local, weekly newspapers, the Connection’s mission is to deliver news readers need close to home, to help readers enjoy great local places and events, to advocate for community good, to call attention to unmet needs, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in community and people’s lives.
Column: Down and Not Out, Yet
Thankfully (so far as I know, which isn’t very far), after a five-week interval between infusions, which included two additional weeks of pre-chemotherapy lab work and an out-of-the-ordinary 24-hour urine collection (“creatinine clearance”) to boot – to more accurately measure my kidney function in hopes of meeting a 1.6 threshold – muster was finally passed, and I was subsequently infused without any further adieu.
Column: Level Best
If I wanted to rationalize the benefit of delaying my heretofore every-three-week chemotherapy infusion from three weeks to four and now on to five, possibly six – and that’s dependent on improved results from a second/maybe even third retest upcoming (this retest a bit more involved than drawing blood) – I would say it’s only fitting that I should have a break/brake; after all, it is the holiday season when all good things; yada, yada, yada. If only it were that simple.
Column: The New Normal
Loosey goosey, I suppose. As much as one might prefer some predictability in their life (certainly a cancer patient would – I know I would), I may be entering a cycle of permanent unpredictability.
Letter: Do Fairfax County Police Act with Impunity?
Fifteen months, after the shooting of John Geer, no officer has been identified, no charges have been filed, no grand jury has been convened and no reason has been given to the family or the public.
I would like to begin by saying that I have always and still do support the police as a whole. I appreciate the job that they do and the risks they take on a daily basis in an effort to keep the public safe. The ongoing policy in Fairfax County of police self-investigation, when officers are involved in possible crimes, has to change.
Editorial: Merry Christmas
A message of peace and joy.
Merry Christmas. It’s a magical time of year, and perhaps Connection Newspapers has over indulged in displaying the many rituals of Christmas on our pages in the past few weeks. In events around the area, a sense of community has infused holiday parades, Christmas tree lightings, menorah lightings, choral performances, singing of carols and other traditional events with warmth and joy.
Column: A Level That’s Anything But
This is not a home improvement reference, but this is most definitely a do-it-yourself column.
Editorial: Holidays Are for Giving
In the scramble to finish Christmas shopping, remember tens of thousands of local children are short of food as well as presents.
The holidays are for giving. Christmas and Hanukkah are about children and family, about sharing, about joy, about being thankful and about faith and appreciation. Here in Northern Virginia, many of us see few signs of families in need as we go about our daily lives and holiday shopping. Our neighborhoods are largely segregated economically; we mostly see the people who are most like ourselves economically.