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Tim Peterson

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Fairfax County Delivers Geer Documents

Thirty days after a court order by Fairfax Circuit Court judge Randy Bellows, Fairfax County has produced documents concerning the shooting death of John Geer.

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Could Fairfax County End Veteran Homelessness in 2015?

Chairman Bulova, Fairfax County take on national Mayors Challenge.

The transition from serving in the armed forces to civilian life is often not simple. While in Fairfax County there are more than 12,000 veteran-owned businesses, indicating a significant measure of success, for others the path is far more difficult.

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Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bulova Releases 2015 State of the County Address

Despite a projected shortfall of nearly $100 million facing Fairfax County going into the FY 2016 budget, Board of Supervisors chairman Sharon Bulova remains encouraged by a 2014 that she said was full of accomplishments.

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South County High School Students Perform with United States Navy Band

A dozen members of the South County High School band program got a taste of what it’s like to perform with one of the country’s premier service ensembles.

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Clifton Lions Club Donates Over $30,000 in December

The 65-member Clifton Lions Club has just about matched its headcount with donation recipients in the last year: 58.

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Human Trafficking Forum To Be Held at West Springfield High School

Fairfax County Police refer to the definition of teen sex trafficking as “the act of manipulating or forcing anyone under the age of 18 to engage in a sex act in exchange for anything of value (money, drugs, shelter, food, clothes, etc.).”

General Assembly Session Approaches

Delegates, senators, community leaders reflect on priorities.

With the sentencing of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell fresh on their minds, many northern Virginia members of the delegation to the state General Assembly expect ethics reform to be a focal point at the session beginning Jan. 14.

Clean-up of Tire Dump in Lorton Ongoing

In early December 2014, the Fairfax County Fire Marshal issued a notice of violation to AAAACo Used Auto Parts in Lorton for more than 1,000 used tires on their property and overflowing into Giles Run, according to Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department spokesman Dan Schmidt.

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Scott Surovell (D-44) Announces Bid for State Senate

Del. Scott Surovell (D-44) used his blog and e-newsletter to make his intention known: Less than a week after Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36) announced she would not look to serve another term, Surovell declared he would run for the vacant seat on Sunday, Jan. 18.

Virginia Senator Toddy Puller (D-36) Will Not Seek Re-Election

Just as the Virginia General Assembly kicked off its 2015 January session, state Senator Linda T. “Toddy” Puller (D-36) announced her decision to not run for re-election later this year.

Delegates, senators and Fairfax County community leaders reflect on priorities for the General Assembly

With the sentencing of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell fresh on their minds, many northern Virginia members of the delegation to the state General Assembly expect ethics reform to be a focal point at the session beginning Jan. 14.

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General Assembly Fairfax Delegation Holds Public Meeting Prior to Session in Richmond.

Justin Dolan addressed the state delegates and senators from his wheelchair rather than the podium. The 34-year-old Falls Church resident has cerebral palsy, and received an Individual & Family Developmental Disabilities Support waiver.

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Fairfax County Supervisors Seek Outside Help with Transparency

“Independent expertise” to advise on information disclosure policies.

Eight days after offering the public the first of any kind of official explanation for officer-involved shooting of Springfield resident John Geer, the Board of Supervisors took another step.

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Glancing Back to 2014, Looking Forward to 2015: Springfield Town Center, World Police and Fire Games, Occoquan

A crowd of eager shoppers gathered Oct. 17, 2014, for the grand opening of the Springfield Town Center, a completely revitalized version of the long dilapidated Springfield Mall.

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South County High School Swim and Dive Team Donates Toys at South Run

Before filling the pool for warm-ups, members of the South County High School Swim and Dive team filled the Toys for Tots collection box at South Run RECenter. The team decided to give collectively at their final dual meet before Christmas break, a Dec. 19 face off with the team from Robert E Lee High School.

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Irresistible? How Karen Garza Creates Change in Fairfax County Schools

Karen Garza is a good listener. And once she’s listened, she is, admittedly, not very patient. “If there's a real issue, I don't think it has to be debated for 10 or 15 years,” Garza said in an interview. “Either we're going to do something about it or not.”

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Burke Church Volunteers Assemble Birth Kits for Haiti

Meg Hanrahan of Burke and Melinda Engelbrektsson of Fairfax Station have each faced life-threatening complications with childbirth. Thanks to the medical resources available to them and “the grace of God,” said Engelbrektsson, they and their children survived. Many women in third world countries including Haiti don’t have the same opportunity.

Connolly To Hold 22nd Telephone Town Hall Meeting for Fairfax County, Prince William County and City of Fairfax

The representative is just a phone call away. Rather than cramming thousands of constituents into a single room, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) is hosting his 22nd “telephone town hall meeting” where people call in for an hour-long virtual session. The event is set to take place Dec. 16 at at 8 p.m.

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Fairfax Station Railroad Museum Hosts 25th Holiday Train Show

Adriano Oddi is 5, and he likes that he can control whether his trains “go fast or slow.” The Burke resident was mesmerized by an N gauge model train whirring around a handmade landscape, designed by the Northern Virginia NTRAK model train club to resemble local surroundings.

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‘Gloomy’ Weather Doesn’t Ruin Clifton Christmas Cheer

It rained on their parade, but it didn’t rain them out. Chilling precipitation forced the Clifton Horse Society to cancel their costumed stroll down Main Street in Clifton on Dec. 6. But despite the weather, the other components of the annual Clifton Christmas Candlelight Homes Tour continued as planned.

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Buying Gifts Locally in Clifton

Cupcaked, 12644 Chapel Rd, Clifton, offers cupcakes for $3.50. “Cupcakes are great gifts because they’re cute, pretty and everyone loves a cupcake,” said owner Kristina Baranowski, who makes a new batch each morning. “It’s not too much, not too little.”

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Fairfax Station Girl Plays Clara in Kennedy Center Nutcracker

How many people can say they’ve truly lived out their fantasy? And of those, how many by age 11?

Clifton Home for the Holidays

Christmas Candlelight Homes Tour returns Dec. 6.

Driving through neighborhoods lit by Christmas lights is a time-honored tradition but in historic Clifton, residents take it a bit further. Each year as part of a candlelight homes tour, the public can enter five preserved and restored homes and two churches, done up for the holidays.

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Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Signs On for $403 Million Loan

Low-interest federal loan will help finance Phase 2 of Silver Line.

Phase two of the Silver Line construction got a boost towards its 2018 estimated completion date. After nearly a year of discussion, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize a federal loan agreement to the tune of $403 million.

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Fairfax County Facing More Budget Strain

County Executive and FCPS Superintendent present adverse forecasts.

Days before the traditional loosening of belts for Thanksgiving, Fairfax County officials discussed the need for tightening theirs.

Burke, Fairfax Station, Springfield, Mount Vernon: What Are You Thankful for This Thanksgiving?

“I’m thankful for my family, my relative health and my eighth grade Civics students at South County Middle School.”

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Sun Shines on Pohick Church Christmas Mart in Lorton

In recent years, it’s poured on people like Janice Cranel while they waited for the Pohick Church Christmas Mart to open. Rain or shine, they would still line up in front of the modest red brick building where colonial celebrities like George Washington, George Mason and their families attended services. “We come for the fellowship, the delicious luncheon, sweet ladies, arts and crafts, jewelry and Christmas decorations,” said Cranel.

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Lorton Outreach Group Sets Thanksgiving Service Record

Kathy Noone stood alone, surrounded by Thanksgiving baskets ready to feed over 400 families. The Lorton resident is Director of Volunteers for the Lorton Community Action Center (LCAC), and though she looked capable, she didn’t fill the bags all by herself. Earlier on Nov. 23, a team of volunteers worked “better than a well-oiled machine” to sort donated food into nearly identical combinations at the Moose Family Center in Lorton for delivery and pickup.

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Fairfax Resident Talks Victorian Christmas at Burke Historical Society

Electricity didn’t come to Burke until 1928. That meant no one could power strings of lights to decorate Christmas trees; they had to use real candles and assume the very real fire hazard risk. Fortunately, fireproof fake trees made of goose feathers or chenille had already been around since the 1880s.

95 Express Lanes Scheduled to Open in December in Stafford County and Fairfax County

Beginning next month, a 29-mile stretch of I-95 should look a little different. Existing HOV lanes will change to “Express Lanes,” offering drivers with an E-ZPass a less congested alternative. The change affects 95 starting in Stafford County around Garrisonville Road, north to I-395 in Fairfax County by Edsall Road.

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Lorton’s Pohick Church Hosts 55th Colonial Christmas Mart

Turkey salad, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffed celery, pumpkin pie, coffee and tea: Anita Stribling has helped serve the same holiday meal for 300 people for 52 years.

Lorton Boy Donates Arrowhead to Smithsonian

Ten-year-old Noah Cordle of Lorton became an overnight celebrity in August after literally stumbling upon a thousands of years-old arrowhead while on vacation in Long Beach Island, N.J. The Asbury Park Press first broke the story and soon national newspapers and television programs were hounding the Cordles for interviews.

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Renovation Keeps Rolling at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria

New wing showcased at Nov. 14 ribbon-cutting.

Thomas Jefferson senior Thomas Rogers is big on the laser cutter. “You can cut anything you want,” said the McLean resident, “like exact designs on sheet metal.” Rogers was enthusiastic about the device, but wouldn’t fire it up during the Nov. 14 tour of the Science and Technology Governor’s School’s new two-story wing with 14 research spaces.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors makes two rail-facilitating moves; Arlington ends streetcar project.

As the Silver Line Metororail project progresses towards its second phase opening date of 2018, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are helping pave the way.

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Fairfax Station, Springfield and Burke students at Sangster Honor Veterans

When Rachel Heyne sang “Let Freedom Ring” on Veterans Day with her classmates in the Sangster chorus, the message touched her.

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Traveling Purses Raise Domestic Violence Awareness Around Fairfax County

“Victoria” moved to the United States eight years ago with her husband. (Her name has been changed for protective anonymity.) At the beginning, he was the perfect gentleman: holding doors, full of compliments, telling her he loved her. She quit her job to be with him, her first love. Their future in a new country seemed bright.

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Jean R. Packard Remembered at Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna

Jean Packard was Frank Roberts’ first boss. He was 13, she was 22 and the acting editor of her father Dave’s Clermont Sun newspaper in Batavia, Ohio. “I was a ‘devil’s rat,’” Roberts said, responsible for odd gofer jobs around the office. “I was trying to hide from work and she’d track me down. She was a tough boss.”

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HOT Topic

Fairfax County Fire & Rescue invites the media for Hands-On Training.

Rob Schoenberger is pretty good with a 15-foot extendable camera. Its built-in microphone and powerful lights come in handy, paired with a Delsar seismic sensor device, when trying to locate people trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building.

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Gerry Gets Things Done

Democratic incumbent Connolly fends off Republican challenger Suzanne Scholte.

As Huey Lewis and the News’ “Power of Love” poppy ballad led a soundtrack infused with ’80s pop and modern country music, the mood at the DoubleTree Crystal City hotel in Arlington ebbed and flowed between elated cheers and frustrated boos.

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Paper Trail

Single voting method helps streamline the process.

When it comes to voting, paper is the past, the present and the future. The assistant chief election officer at Robinson Secondary school James Emery Jr. of Fairfax said paper is too valuable as a voting record to abandon.

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Writing Their Verse

Fairfax Station couple’s ministry supports vulnerable children in South Africa.

When Alec Zacaroli and his wife Amy hosted a boyhood friend from South Africa, they didn’t expect their lives would change in one evening.

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Board Approves Bicycle Master Plan

The Fairfax County Government Center has several massive parking lots. Many hundreds of spaces. But Bruce Wright and members of the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling only needed some rack real estate in front of the building. They rode into the afternoon session of the Board of Supervisors on two wheels apiece from Reston, taking the West Ox Road Side Path.

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Stage Presence

Cappies recognized among arts leaders at Arts Council awards.

After Bill Strauss first approached Judy Bowns about creating a student-driven arts awards and journalism organization 16 years ago, the ensuing creative partnership resembled a pair of cartoon characters.

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Connect Four

Complete ballot of 11th District candidates faced off in Lake Ridge.

It wasn’t so much a down and dirty debate as a no-frills four-way question-and-answer session. Not that AARP and the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area (LWVFA), two of the sponsors of the “Meet the Candidates” series billed the Oct. 14 event as such. Tuesday’s meeting was the penultimate of seven events in the series.

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Railroad Museum Hosts Western Film Crew

Rosie was the town prostitute. That was before she married an outlaw. Now she’s leaving him in the past and setting off for a new life out west. On a train, of course.

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Walking Dead

Clifton residents put on a bigger, scarier Haunted Trail on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Julie Thompson isn’t a voodoo priestess. But the stay-at-home mother, of Clifton plays, one, one night of the year, in a skit for Clifton’s Haunted Trail.

Focus on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence shelters and awareness organizations are hoping to build on the response they’ve seen since the Ray Rice abuse case escalated in a very public way.

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Police Investigating Death of Robinson Sophomore

Family, friends, school community mourn Brooke Buesking.

The Robinson community is coping with the loss of sophomore Brooke Buesking. On Oct. 15 Fairfax County Police found her body close to train tracks by Sideburn and New Guinea Roads, the Burke area where they’d gotten a report of someone being hit by a train.

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Delay in Shooting Investigation Decried

Supervisors urge action by U.S. attorney.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided they’ve exercised enough patience with U.S. Attorney Dana Boente’s office. Now more than 13 months after Fairfax County police shot and killed John Geer, standing unarmed in the doorway of his Springfield home, Board chairman Sharon Bulova addressed the silence from Boente.

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Board of Supervisors Urges Action on John Geer Shooting Investigation

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors decided they’ve exercised enough patience with U.S. Attorney Dana Boente’s office. Now more than 13 months after Fairfax County police shot and killed John Geer, standing unarmed in the doorway of his Springfield home, Board chairman Sharon Bulova addressed the silence and stagnance from Boente.