Stories for February 2015

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova Bulova to Create Transparency Review Commission

Group would include citizens, legal community and other organizations.

When Alexandria resident Natasha McKenna was removed from life support and died on Feb. 8, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office posted a release on the county website.

About Riley’s Life

Riley was a good puppy. He was trained to walk on a leash. He had lots of friends, played with them and had lots of bones and chew toys. Then he grew up to be a big dog he got very happy and then he got cancer and got sick.

Letter: Oversight Needed in Police Shooting Cases

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Kudos and thanks for your recent editorials voicing the concern of many Fairfax County citizens in connection with the investigation of police shootings.

Competing in Agility Contests

Great Falls resident Sophie Young, 15 and her 3-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, Lexi, participated in the AKC Junior Agility Competition on December 12, 2014 in Orlando, Fla., where they received a “Clean Run” and “Second Place” in the 8” Jumpers Category. Sophie and Lexi were among 86 Junior handlers (18 years old and under) from all over the United States.

Preschoolers Celebrate Valentine’s Day

The St. Francis Creche preschool in Great Falls recently celebrated Valentine’s Day with several class activities.

Budget Town Hall Meetings

Budget town hall meetings.

Helping on Deadline

Reston, Herndon, Great Falls and McLean reporter Ken Moore, of Potomac, with his 14-year-old tabby Trilke. "Don't forget to feed me on your way out to deadline!"

Fern and Otter Come to ‘Work’

“My dogs Fern and Otter, both adopted from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. They love to come to work with me at the shelter.

Letter: Supporting Deer Management

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Thank you for the excellent article on deer management in Fairfax County (“A Time to Hunt?” - Connection, February 18-24, 2015). One deer can carry 1,000 ticks, and approximately 25 percent of ticks in our county carry an infectious agent.

Priceless Puppies, Future Service Dogs

Photographer Joan Brady of Great Falls volunteers with a nonprofit called paws4people.org which raises and trains service dogs, including psychiatric assistance dogs for veterans with PTSD and assistance dogs for children with disabilities. Brady documents the dogs from birth.

Letter: Survey, Video Document Deer Challenge

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Ken Moore's article on the impact of growing deer herds on our local forests (“A Time to Hunt?” - Connection, February 18-24, 2015) was a good overview of the issues facing our community and a description of some of the ways in which residents can help ensure that our local forests remain for the next generation.

When Sam Met Frodo

“Sam and Frodo are both rescue cats. Frodo, the big orange guy with the furry feet, came from Home Alone Feline Rescue in 2011. He is part Maine Coon and part American bobtail. Lou and I had been thinking about getting a second cat as a companion for Frodo when I ran into Lee District School Board member Tammy Koufax at a community event in Springfield in August 2013..."

Rio Comes Back from College

Tory Cheshire, of Great Falls, on her horse, Rio, who is meeting her family’s german shepherd puppy, Hunter at the barn. Cheshire loved her horse so much that he went with her to college and lived at a barn near Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., for four years.

Best Friends of Great Falls

The late British-American writer Christopher Hitchens once wrote, "Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods."

Bark and Call

Mobile Pet Grooming Comes to You

Marzi Sharifi started HoPPooH in Fairfax, a mobile pet grooming service, in 2013. With her two vans and groomer, Sara, HoPPooH—which means little dog or dog in Persian—will come to the pet owner’s door to groom and style man’s best friend…or his cat.

Column: Not So Late This Time

But real-time once again: February 20, 11 hours, approximately, after our regularly-scheduled, post-scan meeting with the oncologist at 10:00 this morning.

Priceless Puppies, Future Service Dogs

Photographer Joan Brady of Great Falls volunteers with a nonprofit called paws4people.org which raises and trains service dogs, including psychiatric assistance dogs for veterans with PTSD and assistance dogs for children with disabilities.

Editorial: Managing Mental Illness in Jails

Natasha McKenna’s death provides window on national concern.

A national report released on Feb. 11 highlighted the prevalence of people with mental illness incarcerated in local jails.

Fairfax County School Board Discusses New AAP Center at Poplar Tree

Board seeks more community feedback before taking action.

Greenbriar West Elementary School is far from the only Fairfax County Public School with an overcrowding problem.

Great Falls Home Sales: January, 2015

In January, 2015, 9 Great Falls homes sold between $2,875,000-$675,000.

Great Falls Home Sales: January, 2015

McLean Gymnastics Wins 6A North Region Championship

Senior Brown-Kaiser qualifies for states in all-around.

After finishing runner-up to Washington-Lee three straight years, McLean breaks through with a region title.

Leslie Anthony’s ‘Horse and Hound’ on Exhibit at Katie’s Coffee House

Leslie Anthony is the guest artist exhibiting at Katie’s Coffee House (the Old Brogue), 760 Walker Road, Great Falls in March 2015. Titled “Horses and Hounds,” the show consists of oil paintings mostly of Virginia Equine scenes plus one acrylic surprise. “There is so much energy when one paints horses, whether running, jumping or sniffing a hound, or even just standing there.

Column: Staying Ahead of the Feds

The federal government is not always wrong. At the same time, the state government is not always right.

The Virginia House and the Senate have penned similar but competing mid-point versions to the 2014-2016 biennial budget.

Three Local Keller Williams Teams Among Top 100 in USA

Ron Cathell, the owner and operating principal, and Amina Basic, CEO of Keller Williams McLean/Great Falls office, announced three teams made 2014 “TOP100 Teams” Nationwide for Keller Williams. The following teams made it to the top 100 nationally: The Belt Team, HBC Realty Group and Ron Cathell Team ranked among the best in the country out of more than 100,000 associates. All three teams consist of a long time area residents.

Black History Month Celebrations

Local students learn about the history and accomplishments of African-Americans.

Fourth grade student Eli West crafted a poem this month that was modeled after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous, “I Have a Dream” speech.

Stalled Labor Market Slows County Budget

Proposed budget calls for no real estate tax rate increase, but average homeowner would pay $184 more.

Supervisor Jeff McKay pointed out an irony in County Executive Ed Long’s proposed $3.8 billion budget. Three planning positions would be eliminated from the budget even though Long suggested the county needs more efforts to raise revenue from commercial and industrial venues.

Super-Insulation Talk Attracts Homeowners in Reston

How to lower electric, gas and water bills?

The Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center at Lake Anne in Reston was the venue for a well-attended presentation by Rich and Marian Taschler on proper home insulation and its mostly unknown benefits. The program was offered under the auspices of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at George Mason University.

Oh Deer! What Can the Matter Be?

The county Park Authority used aerial infrared surveys via fixed-wing airplanes to count the number of deer inside parks and within a small distance in the surrounding neighborhoods on Feb. 6, 2014 and Dec. 27, 2013, according to the 2014 Annual Report on the Environment for Fairfax County.

Great Falls Grange Reopens

President of National Grange to speak at Great Falls Historical Society Program on March 11.

In a special program to celebrate the reopening of the Great Falls Grange building and to explore the history of the National Grange movement, Ed Luttrell, the 22nd President (Master) of the National Grange will be the keynote speaker at the March 11 program of the Great Falls Historical Society.

Scoring Baskets for Haiti in Great Falls

GF Hoops sponsors “Shots for Shots,” to help vaccination effort in Haiti.

GF Hoops shoots way beyond any basket by taking on an initiative to provide immunization shots for school-age children in Haiti. The children of Haiti are not permitted to attend school unless they have been immunized. The cost to immunize a child for a year? $1!

Column: Real-Time, Really Late

I’m not a night owl. More of an early bird, worms notwithstanding. But given the contents of last week’s column, “Scantsy,” I find it difficult to write about anything else while waiting for the results of my CT Scan.

Matthew Charged In West Potomac Alumna Hannah Graham Murder

Suspect faces life in prison.

Nearly five months after the disappearance of University of Virginia sophomore and West Potomac High School alumna Hannah Graham, the primary suspect in her death investigation has been indicted by a grand jury in Albemarle County.

Combining Health and Mental Health

Community Services Board provides emergency services, prevention and treatment.

One teenager who attempted suicide revealed that if anyone had asked him beforehand whether he was thinking of hurting himself, he would have said yes.

Fairfax County Judge Orders More John Geer Materials Released

Family’s lawyer’s motions supported.

Though extensive, the thousands of pages of documents, dozens of audio files and handful of videos released last month by Fairfax County, documenting the shooting death of Springfield resident John Geer, aren’t exhaustive.

Letter: Failing in Their Duties

Letter to the Editor

I applaud your editorial on the Geer murder (“No Justification for Secrecy, Delay on Geer Shooting,” Connection, February 4-10, 2015). The Connection has done yeoman’s work in keeping this tragedy in front of the public, unlike other newspapers which are johnnie-come-latelies.

Editorial: Not the First or Only Time

Secrecy around police shootings has been a problem for at least a decade.

The official position of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on the need for changes in policy after the shooting of John Geer by police in Springfield in August of 2013 appears to be that this is the first time police policies have been a problem: “Policies for handling police-involved incidents, which served us well for decades, were inadequate in this complicated situation.”

Stem Night at Great Falls Elementary

Great Falls Elementary students put their science skills, as well as imaginations, into action at the school’s third Annual STEM Night on Feb. 3. The Children’s Science Center brought its Mobile Labs to the school where students and their families got the opportunity to try various hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experiments and activities.

I-66 Improvements Draw Crowd in Oakton

Public Information Meeting held at Oakton High.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in partnership with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) recently held several informational meetings on the “I-66 Outside the Beltway Improvements Project” to give the public the opportunity to better visualize its scope and ask questions of the people really in the know. One of these meetings was held at Oakton High School on Feb. 3 and drew a crowd of several hundred to the school cafeteria to learn more about the project that covers a 25 mile path from the 495 Beltway to Route 15 in Haymarket.

Exploring the Truth, Doubt and Consequences

1st Stage presents “Doubt.”

1st Stage has given audiences a beautifully accomplished, soaring production of “Doubt, a Parable.” Directed by Michael Dove, “Doubt” is a courageous act of intellectual and emotional honesty that is rare in its presentation of power, gender and ambiguity. It is rich in passionate dialogue to hold your attention.

It’s Time for a “Place”

The community of Great Falls is abundant with creative talent. Our ability to socialize our children into many layers of being in the world is truly remarkable: the home and school, the beach, the mountains and ski slopes, the world of the spirit, the arts, the sciences, technology, philosophy…exploration in nature, taking walks, journeying on the river, photographing nature, looking out the window while doing homework - connecting with the tree spirits, the herd of deer, the birds outside the window, all hanging out in the same tree. Our children have access to the knowledge of the world through the centuries on their phone, laptop or computer.

Pinball Kevin, Pinball Wizard

McLean man hosts state pinball championships.

Kevin Stone took out a loan to buy the 15 pinball machines in his McLean basement, the site of this year's Virginia state pinball championship. Virginia was one of 33 states to take part in the simultaneous championships on Saturday, Feb. 7. Stone's Harlem Globetrotters machine was built in 1979, others from Stern Pinball and Jersey Jack Pinball are contemporaries.

Great Falls Spa Offers an Alternative

Open house held at Fontaine de Jeunesse.

When Dr. Jeanette Coutin brought her Fontaine de Jeunesse medical spa to Great Falls in the summer of 2013, she was sure it would be a terrific location to offer services in the field of aesthetic medicine. She was right. "People in Great Falls are very conscious of their health," she said.

Column: ‘Scantsy’

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to characterize the feelings I regularly experience during the final few weeks leading up to my every-three-month CT Scan, and even more so the feelings I experience waiting the following week or so to see my oncologist to discuss the results.

Spelling Bee Champion

Great Falls Elementary fourth through sixth grade students took the stage at the school’s annual Spelling Bee on Feb. 4. After 33 rounds of spelling words ranging from "ignominious" to "quintessential," sixth grade student Ariana Sanjideh became the champion with the word "synthesis."

Langley Rowers Earn Gold, Silver and Bronze

The Langley High School Crew team excelled at the Mid-Atlantic Erg Sprints, the largest indoor rowing event for juniors (18 years or younger) in the United States. From Langley, Sophie Rogers took home the gold in the Junior Women Lightweight (age 16) category.

Langley High Orchestra to Present Spring Concert

The Langley High School Orchestra presents their "Start Spreading the News" concert on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Due to the undergoing renovations at Langley High School, the concert will be held at the nearby Oakcrest School at 850 Balls Hill Road, McLean.

McLean Wrestling Wins Conference 6 Championship

Conor Grammes’ pin delivers team title for Highlanders.

McLean beat Madison by 1.5 points to win the Conference 6 wrestling title.

Vienna: Koshuta-less Madison Snaps Langley's 14-Game Win Streak

Junior guard McWeeney helps Warhawks avenge loss to Saxons without injured star forward.

The Madison girls' basketball team beat Langley 46-38 Friday.

Fairfax County Goes Public with Geer Documents

FCPD report confirms John Geer was shot while unarmed, hands raised.

Of the seven eyewitness accounts of the shooting death of John Geer, only one describes Geer quickly bringing his hands down to his waist. That was the perspective of PFC Adam Torres, the officer who shot Geer in the chest, killing him in the doorway of his home on Aug. 29, 2013.

Letter: An Open Letter to Virginia Delegates

Letter to the Editor

Many of you know our story well. We are the parents of Morgan Harrington. Morgan, a student at Virginia Tech, went to a rock concert in Charlottesville in 2009 and never came home. Her remains were found 100 days later.

Citizens to the Rescue

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Academy accepting applications.

The Fairfax County Citizens Fire and Rescue Academy, a free nine-week program to learn about the work of firefighters and paramedics, will begin its next session March 12, with the deadline for online applications closing on Feb. 16.

Free and Low-Cost Dental Care for Children

Special programs available as part of National Children's Dental Health Month.

Dental hygiene should start even before a baby’s first tooth emerges. That is one of the messages that dental professionals are hoping to convey this month.

Mental Health First Aid

County program offers insight into mental illness and teaches strategies for intervention.

Leslie Roberts recalls hearing a mother talk about getting her stepson admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “Her stepson was angry and acting out,” said Roberts. “She didn’t understand what her stepson was doing.”

Editorial: No Justification for Secrecy, Delay on Geer Shooting

Everything about this case erodes public trust and demonstrates police departments should not be allowed to apply “blanket” exemptions to release of information.

After waiting 17 months for any information about the investigation into the shooting death of John Geer, the information released last week is deeply troubling.

GMU Students Rally to Lower Student Debt

Members of GMU Student Power Travel to Richmond to voice concern over rising debt.

Twelve students from George Mason University traveled to Richmond with the Virginia Student Power Network, rallying and calling for debt-free education, and for increased educational opportunities for undocumented students. Rodrigo Velasquez, a junior at Mason from Springfield and GMU Student Power’s organizer, was one of the 12 from Mason who also went to Richmond.

Langley High Choirs Complete Fall/Winter Season

The Langley High School Madrigals recently completed a busy fall and winter season with a performance at the Providence Baptist Church Twelfth Night Feast on Jan. 8. The Madrigals, a small vocal ensemble that performs mostly Renaissance music with an emphasis on independent and a cappella singing, also took part recently in a Tallis Scholars Masterclass with Peter Phillips at Christopher Newport University in Newport News.

Week in Great Falls

Langley Pyramid Helps Stop Hunger Now

For the fourth year in a row, Langley pyramid schools are raising money for the Stop Hunger Now. This year the goal is to raise $25,000, which is enough money to purchase 100,000 meals for school age children. To contribute to this fundraising effort, visit Stop Hunger Now at http://events.stophungernow.org/LangleyPyramid2015. Each 25¢ raised = 1 meal.

Column: The Past Future is Now Present

Presumably, maybe even obviously, nearly six years into a “terminal” diagnosis, arrangements for a smooth transition of power should have been made already.

Langley Alumna Ranks High at Air Force Academy

Sophia Vasiliadis named Wing Commander of school.

Four years ago, Sophia Vasiliadis was about to graduate from Langley High School and unsure of the direction she wanted to take in life. Since then, it has been up, up and away. Today, the 22-year-old student at the Air Force Academy (AFA) is now leading the entire student body as the new Cadet Wing.

1st Stage Receives Helen Hayes Nominations

Tysons' 1st Stage was nominated for nine Helen Hayes Awards for outstanding achievement in professional theatre in the Washington metropolitan area. The awards are named after Helen Hayes, the legendary first lady of the American Theatre. Nominated artists and companies exemplify the excellence found on Washington area stages.

Update: Roadway Paving On Hold

VDOT to resume Georgetown Pike project with good weather.

Due to erratic weather conditions, roadwork on Georgetown Pike is moving slower than originally anticipated. The historic byway running through the village was supposed to be finished by the end of November. According to Virginia Department of Transportation Communications Representative Jennifer McCord, the exact date of completion will only be known when there is a break from threats of snow and ice.

It’s Time for a “Place”

The community of Great Falls is abundant with creative talent. Our ability to socialize our children into many layers of being in the world is truly remarkable: the home and school, the beach, the mountains and ski slopes, the world of the spirit, the arts, the sciences, technology, philosophy…exploration in nature, taking walks, journeying on the river, photographing nature, looking out the window while doing homework - connecting with the tree spirits, the herd of deer, the birds outside the window, all hanging out in the same tree.

Local Prep Football Coaches React to End of Super Bowl XLIX

Majority say they would have called a run play from 1-yard line.

Lake Braddock football coach Jim Poythress sticks up for Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

Be Part of the Pet Connection

The Pet Connection, a bi-annual themed edition, will publish Feb. 25, 2015.