n LOUDOUN
4 | n LEESBURG
VOL. 8, NO. 47
8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY
7 | n EDUCATION
10| n LEGAL NOTICES
We’ve got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, state leaders and supporters line up for a formal ribbon-cutting during the Oct. 6 dedication of Sweet Run State Park.
State Leaders Celebrate the Opening of Sweet Run Park BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and leaders of the commonwealth’s park service gathered in northwestern Loudoun County on Friday morning to formally dedicate the
Sweet Run State Park. Virginia’s 42nd, and northernmost, state park covers nearly 900 acres in the Neersville area, stretching west from Harpers Ferry Road to the top of the Blue Ridge. It features 11 miles of hiking trails, including a link to the Appalachian Trail;
nine miles of equestrian trails; a fishing pond; a picnic pavilion; a nature play area for children; and historical sites that provide insight into early settlement and industry in the region. The park opening is the culmination of a nearly 25-year effort by Bob and Dee
Leggett to preserve the property for public recreational use and a decade-long effort to add the land to the state’s park system. “Virginia parks, they invite people SWEET RUN continues on page 29
School Board Approves More Staff Raises with $12M in State Funding BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agustin@loudounnow.com
The School Board on Tuesday voted to apply $12 million dollars in state funding to provide an additional 2% pay raise to all eligible full-time employees effective Jan. 1, 2024.
In May, the Board of Supervisors provided an additional $13 million to the division to offset the state funding shortfall caused by the General Assembly’s delay in adopting its updated budget. The intent was to use any unencumbered state revenue that came later to reduce the amount of that additional county
appropriation. Despite receiving $9 million in unencumbered funds from the state oncer the state budget was adopted, school administrators recommended using the money to fill the gap needed to implement the 2% pay raise enacted by the state. The board opted against a second
option to provide a 1.2% raise costing $7 million and giving back $5 million to the county. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby said the reason staff wanted
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Youngkin, Jewish Community Condemn Attack on Israel BY HANNA PAMPALONI
hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
Following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Gov. Glenn Youngkin traveled to Loudoun County on Monday afternoon to attend a prayer ceremony with the Jewish community. “Words cannot express the gravity and grief of this moment,” Youngkin said. “From our very founding, the bond of Judeo-Christian values is a cornerstone to this nation. A cornerstone that we all stand on together, a cornerstone that when we forget what binds us together, it enables an avenue for hate to invade our lives. We must stand strong and reject it.” He said he had friends whose families were in Israel celebrating the holidays at the time of the attack and were in an airport waiting to fly home, and a friend whose son was injured in his service with the Israeli Defense Force. “There is a bond, an unbreakable bond, between the United States and Israel,” he said. “A bond like a brother defending a brother, that will never ever cease. And in a moment like this we must stand strong.” He said the attack had brought the community to its knees in grief and anger and that evil must not be tolerated. Rabbi Chaim Cohen said the attack was “unprecedented” and reminded the community of the Holocaust. PRAYER VIGIL continues on page 28
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Sheriff Michael Chapman bow their heads during prayer at a ceremony Oct. 9 hosted by Chabad of Loudoun County following the recent attack on Israel.
$30M Title IX Lawsuit Filed Against School Board BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agusitn@loudounnow.com
A Leesburg family has filed a $30 million civil rights lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board for Title IX violations alleging it failed to keep their daughter safe, did not conduct a timely Title IX investigation, and covered up her sexual assault in a school bathroom. The lawsuit filed by The Stanley Law Group in federal court Oct. 4 also states their daughter, who was 15 at the time of the assault, didn’t receive proper support and has struggled academically, emotionally and physically since the assault at Stone Bridge High School May 28, 2021.
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Scott Smith answers questions at a press conference at the Loudoun County Court House Sept. 10 after being pardoned for disorderly conduct by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“After the sexual assault, Jane Doe was physically assaulted, threatened, and bullied by peers in a targeted form of harassment that was so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it deprived her of access to a safe educational environment,” according to the complaint. The suit goes on to say the school division “took no action in support and/or protect her” at that time or any time after despite knowing about the incident. According to the complaint, the girl was sexually assaulted in a women’s restroom by a “skirt wearing male.” It states she reported the incident to the school and her mother was called. It states her mother was told her daughter had been “beaten up” by a male in a girl’s restroom and was not told of the assault.
The Blankingship & Keith report—an independent investigation into the handling of the assaults commissioned by then division counsel Robert Falconi in October 2021 and recently made public—stated the boy identified as a male and stated it found no evidence he wore a skirt to gain access to girl’s bathrooms. The mother, Jessica Smith, was told by a Stone Bridge counselor she couldn’t talk to her daughter about what happened, according to the complaint. But as she persisted, she became aware her daughter had been sexually assaulted. The complaint alleges there were several instances when the school failed to TITLE IX LAWSUIT continues on page 28
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
County Residents Line Up for Housing Voucher Program
Loudoun
BY HANNA PAMPALONI hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Loudoun County residents line up in front of the Department of Housing and Community and Development to submit applications for the county’s Housing Choice Voucher Program as the county experiences a spike in evictions.
Supervisors Approve ARPA Reallocation to Jumpstart Eviction Aid BY HANNA PAMPALONI hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
Loudoun supervisors Oct. 3 voted to reallocate $500,000 of funds received from the American Rescue Plan Act to help families facing evictions as soon as next month. The board allocated $12 million in April 2022 to support residents facing displacement and eviction from their homes, but so far the program has not been opened to the public. Assistant Director of Department of Housing and Community Development Brian Reagan said staff from his department had been meeting with local nonprofits periodically from June 2022 through July 2023 to learn about the specific needs facing the community. A statement delivered to protestors about the delay in June this year said that county staff members were working to put a system in place and hire a contractor to distribute the money. Reagan said that, in the meantime, evictions in Loudoun County had seen a sharp uptick. “Just Sept. 4 through the 15, there were 18 evictions and 15 default judgments,”
he said. Default judgements occur when a tenant does not attend the hearing and a ruling is made in favor of the landlord by default. Data reported by the Legal Services Corporation’s Civil Court Data Initiative showed a trend with multi-month increases in eviction filings and default judgments through May 2023, according to a staff report. Reagan said the $500,000 would be reallocated from $1.5 million that was specifically earmarked to help residents facing eviction filings. With the change, the assistance program applications could open as early as this week with funds dispersed as soon as November. County Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) said that with winter approaching more evictions could be expected so the board needed to take action right away. “This is the acute problem, it’s not the long-term problem. There’s another longterm problem that we really do need to address so that we do not find ourselves in the place over and over again,” she said. “… The community is coming together to really tackle the underlying problems and I will say we have to do that because this is a BandAid on the bigger issues that we have to face and if we don’t fix the bigger
issues, we’ll be back here next year at this time.” She said often those who were unable to afford housing were themselves not being paid for their work, being paid less than promised, and had landlords increasing their rent in the middle of lease periods. She said while unethical, that process was legal if it was included in the original lease signed by the tenant. Supervisor Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) asked why so much time was being spent on finding and hiring a contractor to manage the program as opposed to doing the work in house. “The simple answer is the staffing that is required,” Reagan said. “Having agencies that are already well versed and have the variety of resources in terms of legal and case management, that’s what we’re really looking to in order to serve these families.” Supervisor Michael R. Turner (D-Ashburn) said he was “baffled” that while families were struggling to make rent payments, the $12 million in assistance funding allocated a year and a half ago was not yet being used. The board voted 8-0-1, with supervisor Koran T. Saines (D-Sterling) absent, to approve the funding shift. n
Approximately 160 people gathered outside the county Department of Housing and Community Development office Thursday morning as the agency prepared to open the waitlist for the Housing Choice Voucher Program for the first time in over a decade. New Virginia Majority campaign coordinator Sofia Saiyed said residents gathered as early as 7 p.m. the day before and stayed the night, to stand in line for the 8:30 a.m. release of the applications. DHCD staff members were on hand to pass out paper applications available in English, Spanish, Dari, Farsi, Arabic, Mandarin, Chinese and Vietnamese. The applications closed again a little over an hour after opening, Saiyed said. She said that there are still a lot of residents who were not able to submit applications online but need the housing assistance. “There’s definitely still a need for more of these programs,” she said. “It’s great that these 300 slots opened up, but there’s still a need.” The HCV Program is a rental subsidy program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program pays a portion of participants’ monthly rent, based on household income. The Loudoun County Department of Housing and Community Development considers three factors when determining applicant eligibility for the waitlist: the date and time the preliminary application is received, qualification for one or all of the local waitlist preferences, and household income. Household income must be at or below 50% of the Area Median Income for an applicant to be eligible. The local waitlist preferences are provided to applicants with a disability, older adults (over 62 and head of household), families or homeless persons who meet all other qualifications for the HCV Program and who live or work in Loudoun County. There were a limited number of vouchers available. The county closed the waitlist and stopped accepting preliminary applications after reaching 300 applications. At that point applicants at the bottom of the list would be expected to have to wait at least three years before receiving a subsidy. Learn more about the details of the program at loudoun.gov/housingchoice. n
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
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Construction Finishes on George Washington Boulevard Bridge “This is really important,” he said. “Loudoun County is pleased to partner with VDOT on this project” Construction began on the project in November 2021 with the purpose of the completed bridge helping to relieve congestion at the Rt. 7 interchanges with Loudoun County Parkway and Ashburn Village Boulevard, improve operations on Rt. 7, improve accessibility for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians, and improve access to George Washington University Virginia Science and Technology Campus and the Strayer University Loudoun Campus. n
BY HANNA PAMPALONI hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
Loudoun County supervisors, county staff, and staff members of the Virginia Department of Transportation gathered last Wednesday to celebrate the completion of the George Washington Boulevard Bridge. Scheduled to open to traffic later this fall, the quarter-mile George Washington Boulevard extension from Research Place to Russell Branch Parkway is a four-lane bridge with a shared-use path along one side and a sidewalk along the other. “I feel like we have planned ahead here, and we’re not playing catch up,” Supervisor Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) said. “Which, I feel like we have done so often in this county, because we’ve grown so fast. … We’re planning ahead. Yay! It’s exciting news.” She said she was pleased that the project was completed by a union contractor and finished six to seven months ahead of schedule. “If that’s not an argument for what we’re doing in this county to support unions, I don’t know what is,” she said. “We now cut a ribbon on a bridge that
ON THE Agenda Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
From left: Deputy Northern Virginia VDOT Engineer Bill Cuttler, Loudoun County Supervisors Sylvia R. Glass (D-Broad Run), Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) and Department of Transportation and Capital Infrastructure Assistant Director Jim Zeller attend a ribbon cutting for the George Washington Boulevard Bridge Oct. 4.
will reconnect two sides of a highway beginning the next chapter of Rt. 7’s ever changing traffic flow,” Supervisor Sylvia R. Glass (D-Broad Run) said. Department of Transportation and
Capital Infrastructure Assistant Director Jim Zeller said the project was especially gratifying to him since he had worked on the project even before he began working for the county.
Briskman Announces Cancer Diagnosis BY HANNA PAMPALONI hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
The adoption of the Board of Supervisors’ typically routine Breast Cancer Awareness Month proclamation took on special significance for Supervisor Juli E. Briskman (D-Algonkian) Oct. 3 as she discussed her own experience with the disease. Briskman said she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June and underwent surgery in August. She said, while she did not need chemotherapy, she will begin four weeks of daily radiation treatments this week. “It’s an excellent prognosis,” she said. “With the type I have, [there’s a] 99% survival rate, 13% chance it might come back some day.” Briskman praised the care she had received, calling the technology and support from doctors “phenomenal.” “Life is life. It’s never a great time to get cancer, but you have to plow through,
Briskman
and you can’t do it without your team,” she said. She encouraged women to keep up with their regular doctors’ appointments and for women who were going through a cancer diagnosis to rely on the support of their family and friends. “Breast cancer is the second most com-
mon and second deadliest cancer in women. Each year hundreds of thousands are diagnosed with breast cancer and tens of thousands lose their battle with the disease,” the proclamation read. The proclamation also highlights a series of nonprofits and healthcare organizations in the county with services available to help those diagnosed with breast cancer including Loudoun Breast Help Network, Walk 4 Mountains, Step Sisters, Loudoun Medical Group Comprehensive Breast Center, Loudoun Medical Group Cancer and Infusion Center, and Inova Hospital. County Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) voiced her support for Briskman and encouraged her and other women fighting breast cancer to get the support they need. “It doesn’t mean that women are not fine and strong and wonderful, it just means that sometimes when you’re diagnosed with breast cancer, we all need a little bit of help,” she said. n
County Seeks Nonprofit to Distribute Child Care Fee Reduction Grants Loudoun County is accepting applications from nonprofits seeking to administer a local American Rescue Plan Act Child Care Fee Reduction Grant Program. The program is designed to help create a childcare supplementary reimbursement program to support families who are experiencing hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is anticipated that one nonprofit will receive funding and will use the funds to support Loudoun residents who do not qualify for a childcare subsidy through Virginia’s Department of Education programming, and whose income is at or below 80% of Loudoun County’s Area Median Income. Currently, that threshold is $121,700 for a family of four. The Department of Finance and Procurement plans an Oct. 10 webinar to brief nonprofit leaders on the program. Details on how to join the webinar are online at loudoun.gov/grantopportunities. Applications are due by 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 9. n
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Public Safety
Motorcyclist Dies in Harmony Church Road Crash The Sheriff ’s Office is investigating a fatal motorcycle crash that occurred Saturday in the Woodburn area west of Leesburg. According to the report, deputies were called to the scene in the 19200 block of Harmony Church Road just before 3:30 p.m. Oct. 7 for a report of a crash involving a motorcycle and a van. Investigators determined the motorcyclist crossed a double yellow line and was attempting to pass multiple vehicles at a high rate of speed when the driver of the van made a left turn into a residential driveway. The
motorcyclist struck the left front side quarter panel of the van. The motorcycle operator, Jorge Seminario, 65, of Florida, was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the van was not injured. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Investigator Alpy at 703-777-1021. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Loudoun County Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919 or submit a tip through the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office app. n
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Leesburg
Leesburg Diner Reopens Under New Ownership
nstyer@loudounnow.com
nstyer@loudounnow.com
After a nearly three-month closure, the Leesburg Diner has quietly reopened under the new ownership of husbandand-wife team of Gary O’Hanlon and Jennifer Demetrio. Since July, they have been working to give the 150-year-old King St. restaurant a fresh makeover and navigating the permitting process. Last Monday, they unlocked the door and turned on the “open” sign in the front window and began serving those who came through the door. “It took a little longer than we’d hoped, but honestly we prefer to take the little bit of extra time and make sure everything is buttoned up right,” Demetrio said. Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now The couple, who live in Sterling, Gary O’Hanlon and Jennifer Demetrio sit at the front counter of their newly reopened Leesburg Diner worked in the restaurant industry for restaurant on King Street. years before they opened Café Kindred in Falls Church in 2015. They’ve throughout. in the future. long wanted to open a restaurant in But traditionalists need not fear, the “People are happy that it is back open, Leesburg and jumped at the opportuni- hard-worn wooden booths remain. that’s for sure,” Demetrio said, although ty when it became available. And there are some familiar faces in the not everyone is on board with the new “It’s been humbling and fun—all restaurant, as several of the Diner’s for- offerings—yet. “Some folks like what the emotions just mixed into one big mer employees have returned to join the they like and don’t want it to change too bag and shaken,” O’Hanlon said of the new staff. much. We’re trying to win them over.” experience. “It’s still a diner. We’re not trying to “We love the town, so this is a huge Returning patrons will find more change what it is. We’re just trying to get opportunity for us,” Demetrio said. than just a brighter coat of fresh paint. it a little breath of fresh air,” Demetrio The Leesburg Diner, at 9 S. King St., The couple brought in new handmade said. is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 8 The diner is open for breakfast and a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Learn more tables for the rear dining room, tiled the front counter and updated the artwork lunch, with dinner service a possibility at leesburgdinerbyck.com. n
Author Talk Highlights Jewish Community Thomas Balch Library will host authors Susan and Shawn Dilles in a discussion of “Images of America: The Jewish Community of Northern Virginia” on Sunday, Oct. 15 beginning at 2 p.m. The book will be available for purchase at the event. The Dilles have been Fairfax County residents and active members of the Northern Virginia Jewish Community for almost 40 years, including at Congregation Olam Tikvah, Congregation Beth Emeth, and the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. Their book traces the roots of the local Jewish community from the establishment of the He-
Town Advances Sustainability Efforts BY NORMAN K. STYER
BY NORMAN K. STYER
AROUND town
OCTOBER 12, 2023
brew Benevolent Society in the 1850s to more than 120,000 members today. Pre-registration is required by calling 703-737-7195 or emailing balchlib@leesburgva.gov.
Zoning Ordiance Re-write Enters New Phase Representatives from Kendig Keast Collaborative will be in town next week to provide the Town Council and Planning Commission with updates on efforts to develop a new zoning ordinance. The consultants will present an audit of the existing zoning ordinance that identifies opportunities to align the regulations with the policies of the newly adopted Legacy Leesburg Town Plan, compares the current ordinance with modern zoning practices, and highlights state code provi-
sions that may have changed since the last update. They also will present an outline of their proposed new zoning ordinance. The meeting will be held starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in the lower-level banquet room at the Ida Lee Park Recreation Center. More information on the project is available at leesburgva.gov/ zoningordinancerewrite.
Dentler Gets 5% Raise The Town Council last week approved a 5% raise for Town Manager Kaj Dentler, bringing his salary to $241,200. Dentler received 4% raises during the previous two years. This year’s town budget, provided for 4% average raises along with a 3% cost of living adjustment for the town staff. n
Solar panels and food waste composting are two Town of Leesburg environmental initiatives likely to advance, according to an Oct. 3 briefing to the Town Council. Sustainability Manager Deborah Moran, who started in the newly established staff position in April, has been working to get familiar with the town’s past and current sustainability efforts, assessing the energy and emissions profile of town operations, establishing a staff-level executive steering committee, and procuring software to track and manage sustainability programs. Among the baseline findings in her report is that town operations used 20.7 million kilowatthours of electricity in fiscal year 2021. The largest user is the wastewater treatment system at 7.36 million kWh, followed by the water treatment plant at 4.72 million kWh. The town’s municipal buildings, including Town Hall and the Police Station, use a combined 3.31 million kWh of electricity, according to the report, with park buildings using 2.19 kWh. The report estimated that the town’s fleet of 484 vehicles, which used 136,000 gallons of fuel in FY21, generated approximately 7,701 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions during that year. The town acquired its first electric vehicle, a Nissan Leaf S, in July. In addition to bringing more EV and hybrid vehicles into the town’s fleet, a preliminary study of area where solar panels effectively could be deployed found promise in the Town Hall garage. There, an array could generate 173,000 kWh of electricity, about 25% of the Town Hall power demand. Moran said more study will be done of that option. The council also reviewed the Environmental Advisory Commission’s recommendation to launch a food waste composting program. The staff estimates that the town spends more than $200,000 annually to dispose of food waste was part of its trash collection. The commission proposed an educational campaign to encourage residents to try backyard food composting and for the town to consider food waste drop-off stations. The City of Alexandria provides curbside food waste collection, while Fairfax operates collection sites, according to the report. Council members were supportive of the initiative. n
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Education
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Members of the Loudoun County School Board in December 2022.
School Board Panel Rebuffs Effort to Put Public Speakers on Camera BY ALEXIS GUSTIN agustin@loudounnow.com
For more than two years, public speakers addressing the Loudoun County School Board at its meetings have made their comments off camera from the recorded video record. That isn’t likely to change any time soon. Tiffany Polifko (Broad Run) last week sought to reinstate the board’s original practice of showing speakers on camera but failed to find support from any other board members. She raised the issue during an Oct. 2 meeting of the board’s Communication and Outreach Committee. Her motion failed to get support from Harris Mahedavi (Ashburn), the other committee member in attendance. Jeff Morse (Dulles) was absent for the discussion. The board stopped showing faces on June 22, 2021, the day of a highly charged School Board meeting that drew a large crowd to speak on a draft policy on trans-
gender student’s rights and the meeting where Scott Smith, the father of one of the girls who was sexually assaulted by a male student in a high school girl’s bathroom, was arrested. Mahedavi in an emailed comment said he believed the decision to start with that meeting was an operational one and not a board action. Polifko said her main concern was that speakers were being “deprived of their dignity and respect” by having the camera focus on board members instead of their faces. “I have received repeated written communication directly from a constituent in my district, noting how disrespectful it is to not film the faces of the people who pay our salaries. I have also heard public comment on the matter,” she said in an emailed response. Polifko noted in her email it appeared the decision to not show faces was made shortly after speakers were critical of the School Board and those remarks went
viral online. “The motivation for people to speak at board meetings varies. People come to advocate for their children. They may sign up to speak because they are teachers or other personnel within LCPS. Parents/ employees/taxpayers comment because they have concerns about funding, policies, practices, and/or curriculum. Whatever the reason (positive or negative), every single person deserves the dignity and respect of having their faces shown when they speak,” she said. She also raised the topic during the committee’s September meeting. Morse said the board decided to stop because people were showing up to speak “just to get their 15 minutes of fame.” “What started to occur was people would be coming to speak, not to speak to the board but to be seen and it became a visual tool for them to use whether they wanted to be on the local news or they wanted to take a clip of that and put it on social media, but it wasn’t intended for
that,” he said. “Their face and their presentation wasn’t intended as feedback to the School Board as much as it was an attempt to take advantage of the prominence of the School Board and the prominence of the community to put a message out to other people.” He said all nine board members recognized it at the time in 2021 and decided to take the spotlight off the speaker. “The community certainly wants to hear the voices and the concerns, but I don’t think seeing the individual’s face up there is the most prominent feature of the public comment period. It’s the comment itself,” he said. Morse noted that the comments are still broadcasted and stated the division has the most liberal public comment period in Northern Virginia and possibly the state. “The primary purpose of public comment is for members of our school community to provide feedback, express concerns, or share essential information to the School Board. I believe the current practice of not showing members on camera promotes the desire to keep the focus on the voices and feedback of our public,” Mahedavi said in an emailed statement. “My unwavering commitment to open and transparent communication remains a top priority, and I highly value the input and insights offered by our community members during these public comment sessions.” Both Morse and Mahedavi said they didn’t support going back to showing faces at the Sept. 11 meeting. Morse said he agreed a conversation with the full board would be good. Tensions were high during the June 22, 2021, meeting after parents, students and staff members packed the board room. The crowd which at times had become unruly leading to a brief recess near the beginning of public comment, erupted in cheers and shouting after comments were made by former State Senator Dick Black. The unruly crowd led to the board voting unanimously to end public comment. The board released new guidelines for public comment Sept. 28, 2021, that included requirements for speakers to be residents or business owners in Loudoun, Loudoun taxpayers, current or former students, parents of students who live outside of Loudoun and past or current division employees. Those wishing to speak need to provide proof they meet those criteria. n
OCTOBER 12, 2023
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 11
School Administrators Look to Expand Access to FOIA Documents BY ALEXIS GUSTIN
agustin@loudounnow.com
Loudoun County Public Schools administrators are looking into ways to share information requested by the public through Freedom of Information Act requests. During recent community listening sessions by new Superintendent Aaron Spence as well as listening sessions with Acting Superintendent Daniel Smith, parents asked why division-wide test scores are not accessible to the public and pressed for greater transparency. During an Oct. 2 briefing to the School Board’s Communications and Outreach Committee, division spokesperson Dan Adams said the staff is working to address those concerns. Adams said the division is looking at ways to share information with the public from FOIA requests that have been fulfilled through the GovQA system, the digital public records management platform used by the division to process FOIA requests. For example, if someone requests a budget item via FOIA, Adams can make that information publicly available so others can see it and avoid the same request being made again. “The idea of publicly providing responses to FOIA’s is very preliminary,” he said in an email noting policies would have to be created to make sure it’s done legally. Committee chair Tiffany Polifko asked what was being done to make division-wide test scores accessible to parents and community members. Adams said student test information contains personally identifiable information and can’t easily be shared publicly. “Testing data is one of those things that has to be looked at on a case-by-case basis because there are a number of exemptions under FOIA,” he said. “My primary responsibility is to follow the law and some of these things can’t be released. There are a number of exemptions regarding test data and even removing the personal information does not automatically make that data publicly available.” He said in an email that testing data is provided publicly when it’s allowed by law to do so. AP and SAT results are available on the division’s dashboard site, dashboards.lcps. org, under the assessments tab; however, MAP results have not been published
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Division spokesperson Dan Adams at a press conference in August.
yet according to Communications and Community Engagement Director Joan Sahlgren. During the 2020-2021 school year the division received 350 FOIA requests. That number jumped to 601 the next year and saw a slight decrease during the 20222023 school year with 405 requests. Adams, who is also the division’s FOIA officer, said the division is looking at ways to lower that number by trying by avoid repeat requests. There are five topics under which a
FOIA request through the division can be made. Those requests are made through the GovQA system and, according to Adams, are purposefully broad with the goal of not confusing requesters. Those topics are a bus incident, school incident, budget questions, human resource questions and other. He said requests are then put into categories based on what office would need to FOIA DOCUMENTS continues on page 12
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Hillsboro Charter Academy Takes Flight Hillsboro Charter Academy’s Flight Funday Fest celebrated the launch of the school’s aerospace curriculum Oct. 5. Students were welcomed by Mia Anderson, 16, a Loudoun County High School senior, ROTC Officer and reigning Miss Virginia Teen Volunteer. Anderson is also a skilled private and glider pilot. Students were treated to a surprise landing of an Inova Air Care Helicopter and given the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a Virginia Department of Aviation ICON-A5 airplane. Speakers included former Marine One helicopter pilot Steve Gaugler and air traffic controllers. Also on hand for the day was AT&T’s robotic dog, Scout. The annual event was developed by Hillsboro Charter Academy’s Dean of Curriculum/ STEAM Specialist Megan Tucker, who was recently named the 2023 National Aviation Hall of Fame Crossfield Aerospace Teacher of the Year. n
OCTOBER 12, 2023
FOIA documents continued from page 11
Above, Students from Hillsboro Charter Academy explored a Virginia Department of Aviation Icon-A5 airplane Oct. 5 as part of the celebration of the launch of the school's aerospace cirriculum. Right, Students check out AT&T robotic dog, Spot.
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
do to fulfill that request. According to Adams, the Department for Digital Innovation receives the most FOIA requests because it involves electronic communication including email, Microsoft Teams messages, and cell phone records. The superintendent’s office receives the next largest number of FOIA requests because the division’s legal office and safety and security offices fall under that office. He said the Blankingship & Keith report, recently released through a Loudoun County Circuit Court order, was the most requested document during the 2022-2023 school year. Another frequent subject of FOIA request is surveillance video from school incidents, also under the superintendent’s office, according to Adams. The third highest request fell under the business and finance office and involved requests for budget items including bids and contracts. n
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
Business
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Bluewater Cocina’s ‘Taco Hut’ Welcomed in Middleburg
first few months of the new year, they
BY HANNA PAMPALONI
they’ve ever had,” he said. n
hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
One of Middleburg’s newest restaurants opened over Labor Day and is serving up tacos and margaritas. Bluewater Cocina is the latest venture of Michael and Christina Kozich, who also run Bluewater Kitchen, a farm-totable catering and event company in Upperville. Manager Dan Snyder said the little shop located behind Middleburg’s Nature Composed is fondly referred to by staff as the “taco hut.” He said they were approached by Nature Composed owner Jenn Pineau, about opening a shop in the garden behind her business. “[We tried] to figure out something simple and easy, and figured tacos and margs would be a great little thing,” Snyder said. He said the special part about the little shop is how many of their items are made with ingredients right outside their door in Pineau’s backyard garden. “It’s kind of a symbiotic relationship,” he said. “And just from the whole vibe, this is something that you would find more in a traditional taco place in central America, where it’s something that’s in the backyard of someone’s house. So, it gives more of that traditional vibe.” The menu offers four varieties of tacos, including carnitas, braised beef, vegetable, and catch of the day. Snyder says the team works hard to have the fish or shrimp in a taco and on the table within 40 hours of it being caught. He said smoked chicken tacos will also be making their debut to the menu this week. They also offer taco salad and chips and dip with salsas, queso, and guacamole. All of the products are made on site. Snyder said the shop plans to stay open through the end of December before making a decision on whether to reopen in the first quarter of 2024. “We will also be winterizing the garden a little bit with some walls and table
PAGE 13
would still be offering products at their Upperville market. He said the Middleburg community has welcomed the “taco hut” with open arms. “We’re getting lots of compliments, with people saying it’s the best margaritas
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Bluewater Cocina opened in Middleburg on Labor Day and is serving up tacos and margaritas.
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
Nonprofits
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Division superintendent Aaron Spence stands with School Board members Harris Mahedavi (Ashburn), Jeff Morse (Dulles), Supervisor Kristen Umstattd (D-Leesburg), LEF Board of Trustees member Lynn Rubin and members of Loudoun Education Foundation’s Fueled on Oct. 5.
LEF Begins 10th Year of Feeding Kids, Celebrates New Name BY ALEXIS GUSTIN agustin@loudounnow.com
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Loudoun Education Foundation’s Fueled, formerly known as Backpack Coalition, held a kickoff event to formally introduce its new name and begin its 10th year of providing weekend meals to Loudoun schools Oct. 5. Although it has a new name, it still has the same student focused mission—a compassionate food security program that provides meals to more than 1,300 food-insecure students each week. Superintendent Aaron Spence was joined by School Board members Jeff Morse (Dulles) and Harris Mahedavi (Ashburn) as well as Supervisors Sylvia R. Glass (D-Broad Run) and Kristen C. Umstattd (D-Leesburg), Loudoun Hunger Relief President and CEO Jennifer Montgomery and 100WomenStrong founder and President Karen Schaufeld who spoke about the history of the program in the warehouse space donated by Loudoun Hunger Relief. “In that first year [2014], the program provided grocery essentials to 133 students at five schools by discreetly slipping meal bags into their backpacks,” she said. She said that same year she reached out to Backpack Coalition founder Barbara Mendoza with a proposition from 100WomenStrong to provide a matching grant of $100,000 if Mendoza could raise that amount in two years to provide weekend meals to any school that didn’t have a weekend meals program.
“That initial donation grew like a seed planted in rich soil. The program now called Fueled raises more than $300,000 a year to reach more students at more schools,” she said. Fueled serves students both through meal bags and in-school pantries and delivers to more than 40 public schools throughout the county. They recently partnered with the Bainum Family Foundation Farm—a Middelburg farm that has worked with communities experiencing racial and economic disparities for over 50 years—to provide fresh produce at three Loudoun schools. About 34,215 meals were distributed by Backpack Coalition now Fueled in 2022-2023, a 25% increase from the year before. Executive Director of LEF Danielle Nadler said they will always accept donations of food as well as monetary donations. She said because of their partnerships with other organizations they can usually make the donated dollars go a little farther, allowing for greater savings when purchasing items. Fueled Coordinator Kirslyn SchellSmith said they recently received over 1,700 pounds of food and hygiene items from several drives held July-August including one hosted by the Dulles Town Center. Snack and hygiene drives are always welcome, for information on how you can support the organization including a link to flyers you can download to host a drive visit LoudounEducationFoundation.org. n
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
OCTOBER 12, 2023
PAGE 15
Towns
Purcellville Commission Backs Rezoning for B&B Operation
LUCKETTTS It’s Fall Vintage Market Weekend for the Old Lucketts Store The Old Lucketts Store is a regional destination for antique treasure hunters but this weekend owner Suzanne Eblen will be attracting customers to the Clarke County Fairgrounds for her annual Fall Vintage Market. Celebrating its 25th year, the event features more than 200 vendors from all along the East Coast. There also will be live music, a Vanish Brewery beer garden, and food trucks. The sale runs from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. General admission tickets are $15 at the gate. For more details, go to luckettsmarkets.com.
BY HANNA PAMPALONI
hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
The Purcellville Planning Commission on Oct. 5 voted to recommend approval of a zoning amendment request to clear the way for a new bed and breakfast on South 20th Street. The home, owned by William Hombach, contains a carriage house that he is hoping to open to visitors. The land is zoned R3, duplex residential, and the request is to rezone it to R-3A, historic office and residential, to allow the business. While the town staff recommended approval of the application, some commissioners expressed concerns over the change during a public hearing in September. Commissioner Nedim Ogleman said during the Oct. 5 meeting that he liked the idea of using the property as a bed and breakfast, but said he didn’t think the town’s comprehensive plan supported the change and worried it would set a precedent for other residents to rezone their properties. He suggested Hombach apply for a special use permit instead. “Our town doesn’t have any R-3A uses at present,” Ogleman said. “There’s only
AROUND towns
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
The property at 200 S 20th Street. The Purcellville Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of a zoning amendment request to allow it to function as a bed and breakfast.
two properties that were zoned R-3A. Neither of them is using R-3A and they were developed within the last three years. The comp plan doesn’t envision any specific thing related to R-3A ... The use is desirable but rezoning one property in the con-
text of no properties having that use just doesn’t make sense to me and looks like spot zoning.” B&B REZONING continues on page 16
Crowds Gather for 79th Annual Waterford Fair
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
A potter lets a young girl try her hand at wheel throwing during the Waterford Fair Oct. 6, 2023.
The 79th annual Waterford Fair took place over the weekend as crowds flocked to the historic town’s streets to tour local homes, shop from local artisans, experience “living history” and try local food and drinks. The event ran Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and offered a variety of experiences for young and old. Visitors had the opportunity to tour inside select historic homes and gardens, see more than 65 national, juried crafters; Colonial and Civil War-era reenactors; listen to music and enjoy children’s actives. The fair’s entertainment lineup included The Danny Knicely Trio, Tupelo, The Plate Scrapers, Fiddlin’ Dave Van Deventer and Morgan Morrison, and acclaimed fiddlers 12-year-old Maxwell Brown and, his 7-year-old sister River Brown. n
ROUND HILL Water Conservation Efforts Continue Town of Round Hill administrators are closely monitoring the performance of its groundwater wells that are continuing to have lower production because of the summer drought. Although the wells have not significantly recovered in the weeks since the Town Council formally enacted voluntary conservation measures, Town Administrator Melissa Hynes said the shift to cooler weather and recent rains have taken much of the stress off the system. The staff also is continuing to monitor accounts to identify high-volume customers, both to ensure they don’t have unseen leaks and to encourage conservation.
MIDDLEBURG Meeting Planned for Development Trends The Town of Middleburg will hold a public community workshop AROUND TOWN continues on page 16
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 16
Obituaries Betsy Ross Jarvis
Betsy Ross Jarvis of Harrisonburg, VA passed away peacefully into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on October 4, 2023. Born Betsy Vail Ross on June 29, 1924 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the Lord blessed Betsy with a life rich in faith, family, friendships, abundant adventures, and much laughter. She married Robert E. (Bob) Jarvis in 1942, which began a beautiful love story of more than 50 years. Betsy was a devoted wife and mother and her life was committed to serving the Lord through the local church as well as caring for her family’s spiritual and physical well-being. Betsy was preceded in death by her loving husband Bob who passed away in 1993 in Rockingham County, VA. Also, preceding Betsy were: her parents Willis Rushton Ross (1950) and Josephine E. Ross (1968), her three brothers James H. Ross (1992), Thomas E. Ross (2005), W. Norman Ross (2022), and her sister Grace R. Brandis (2012). Betsy was a loving, and supportive figure in the lives of her family and friends. She was a beacon of light and joy as the family grew, welcoming generations to her home with a warm hug, comforting food, and her hearty laugh. Betsy leaves us with countless wonderful memories of holidays and travel adventures together. Betsy was much-loved by her family: Carol J. Stuart, daughter, and her husband, Jimmy Ray, (d, 2016); Kenneth Y. Jarvis, son, and his wife Ellen Gail; three grand-children and eight great-grandchildren, Jennifer V. Stuart, and her husband
Marsha Freeman
Marsha Freeman, author and space historian, passed away on September 20. A long time Leesburg resident, Marsha authored
Matt (Gracie, Evan, Anna); Christopher Y. Jarvis, and his wife Elizabeth (Solomon, Judah); Mary Katherine (Jarvis) Burbach, and her husband David (Gideon, Winter Grace, John-Moses). Betsy also leaves behind many loving nieces, nephews, and friends, who will mourn Betsy’s passing and celebrate her life, along with the rest of the family. In her long lifetime, Betsy enjoyed many interests including her participation in local garden clubs, creating floral arrangements, watching, and feeding the song birds that graced her yard, knitting, reading, trying her hand at painting, listening to music, baking, long chats on the phone, and she especially loved celebrating Christmas and Easter with her family. Betsy dedicated her life to Jesus Christ as a teenager, was a faithful believer throughout her entire life, building her house upon the rock of salvation. Wherever life took her, Betsy was active in a local church community, including Massaponax Baptist, Berkeley Springs Presbyterian, Orange Presbyterian, Leesburg Presbyterian (ordained deacon), and First Presbyterian in Harrisonburg. Matthew 7:24-25- (ESV) “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday October 14, 2023 at First Presbyterian Church, 17 Court Square, Harrisonburg, Virginia, with the Reverend Scott Thayer officiating. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in memory of Betsy Jarvis, to First Presbyterian Church-17 Court Square, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 22802. (Memo: Local Missions Committee) Condolences may be shared at kygers. com. three books on space exploration and hundreds of articles on space, fusion, and MHD. Marsha is the author of “How We Got to the Moon: The Story of the German Space Pioneers” and has been a long-time active member of the History Committee of the International Astronautical Federation. On her passing, she received a commendation letter from NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer for her work, and particularly for her book, “The Challenges of Human Space Exploration.” She is survived by her husband, William Jones.
OCTOBER 12, 2023
B&B Rezoning continued from page 15 Attorney to the commission Gifford Hampshire said the commission must examine all the possible uses, not just those that are being used. “Spot zoning is something that is foreign to the jurisdiction, something that is unique, something that is kind of coming out of the blue, that has no relation to the regulatory structure of the zoning ordinance or comprehensive plan,” he said. Vice Mayor Christopher Bertaut said the commission would not be creating a new zoning district by rezoning this one property since the zoning ordinance did have an R-3A district, even if those properties decided to not use the zone’s possibilities. “It’s an expansion of an existing R-3A area,” he said.
AROUND towns continued from page 15
on Monday to discuss recent construction trends in the established neighborhoods, including the Ridgeview area. In recent years, town leaders have been working on zoning ordinance revisions aimed at discouraging the tear down of older homes to build larger ones. The town has placed new limits on lot coverage and impervious surfaces in the residential R-2 District, but those regulations have not curbed the redevelopment trend. The Oct. 16 community workshop is intended to gather more input on the concerns and discuss alternatives. The meeting will be held starting at 6 p.m. at American Legion Post 295, 111 The Plains Road.
Ogleman said that he thought the comprehensive plan intended for the area designated as R-3 to remain as single-family detached residential neighborhood, not a mixed use or commercial one. “I don’t think there is something in the comprehensive plan that supports a rezoning of that one property,” he said. Vice Chair Ed Neham said the R-3A district was distinct from others because it was designed to be a “spot district.” “The idea or concept was that somebody with a historical property … would want to open an office facility in that building and it would be wherever it happened to be in town. And so, it wasn’t envisioned, I don’t think, to be a contiguous district,” he said. The vote to recommend approval of the rezoning passed 4-2-1 with Ogleman and Jason Dengler opposed, and Chair Nan Forbes absent. The application now moves to the Town Council for final action. n
PURCELLVILLE Train Station Holds Logo Contest The Purcellville Train Station Advisory Board and the Purcellville Arts Council are holding a contest to design a logo for the town’s train station. The logo will be used online, in videos, on print materials and on merchandise. It will also be displayed at the 2024 Purcellville Music and Arts Festival. The winner will receive $500. The deadline to submit a design is Feb. 1, 2024 with winners to be notified March 31, 2024. Individuals may submit up to three entries. Applications can be found at the town website. n
PUBLISHER’S NOTICE We are pledged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-9753.
fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov • www.fairhousing.vipnet.org
OCTOBER 12, 2023
T U O T E G
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
PAGE 17
LIVE MUSIC TOMMY BOUCH 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane, Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com JUSTIN SUEDE 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg. spankyspub.com ELECTRIC SIX & SURFRAJETTES 8 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg. $25 to $50. tallyhotheater.com LUCAS MASON 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg. spankyspub.com NATE HADLEY 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts. vanishbeer.com NATHANIEL DAVIS 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Quattro Goombas Brewery, 22860 James Monroe Highway, Aldie. quattrogoombas.com CHRIS BONE 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights. harpersferrybrewing.com BILLY & THE CURLEY BROTHERS 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Dirt Farm Brewing, 18701 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont. dirtfarmbrewing.com SUMMER & ERIC 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. lostbarrel.com MARK CULLINANE 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Harvest Gap Brewery, 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro. harvestgap.com DAVE MININBERG 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Otium Cellars, 18050 Tranquility Road, Purcellville. otiumcellars.com NOAH “RED” HAWES 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Flying Ace Farm, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville. flyingacefarm.com
LIVE MUSIC continues on page 20
STOMPIN’
Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now
Dancers from Misneach Irish Dance Academy practice in Purcellville.
A New Generation Drawn to Irish Dance BY ALEXIS GUSTIN agustin@loudounnow.com
Nestled among the Blue Ridge mountains in western Loudoun County lie two Irish dance studios that have an open invitation to the community to come try some new steps. Misneach Irish Dance Academy, pronounced mish-nah, in Purcellville is owned by internationally awarded Irish dance competitor Ariel Raguso. Celtic Rhythm School of Dance in Lovettsville is owned by Stephania Sengpiehl. Both offer Irish dance classes for all ages and allow people to try their first class for free. If you aren’t familiar with Irish dance, the quickest way to become familiar is to google “Riverdance” and view the myriad heel clicking, high kicking, high energy videos that pop up demonstrating the culture and athleticism of the dance. “Riverdance” debuted in 1994 at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin and has since taken the world by storm with traveling performances and videos. There is a lot of folklore surrounding
the history of Irish dance, but what is recognized today as Irish dance began in Ireland in the 17th century. Traveling “dance masters” went from village to village teaching locals technique and style and locals would dance after church in their Sunday best. The quickest way to learn more is to try it out at a local studio. Irish dance combines rhythm, quick feet and sounds with curly wigs, vibrant costumes, and straight arms. There are two types of shoes in Irish dance—a hard shoe, known as “heavies,” and soft shoes, also known as “ghillies” for ladies and “reel shoes” for men. With Irish dance you learn how to dance in both sets of shoes, rather than learn in soft than progress to heavies, you have to be practiced in both, which makes it a very unique dance form, according to Raguso. The heavies resemble tap shoes but are elevated under the toes in addition to the heel. The tips and heels are made of fiberglass and make the tapping sound effect of the dance. Soft shoes are made with black leather and suede and are similar to a ballet slipper. Studios offer differ-
ent programs from recreational classes to performance and competitions. Raguso said competition classes focus on technique and do a lot of drills to improve small aspects of dancing. With performance classes there is a certain level of focus on technique, but the main focus is to put on a show and to make sure the dancers are in unison and the audience is entertained. Sengpiehl opened the first Irish dance studio in Loudoun County to 80 students in 2000. That number grew to over 150 students over the years. Sengpiehl grew up dancing, even performing a tap number with Gregory Hines and being invited to join the National Tap Ensemble. She saw “Riverdance” and loved how it combined elements of ballet and tap and decided to bring Irish dance to the Loudoun School of Ballet where she was the director. “I liked how anyone could do it,” she said of the reason she decided to open an Irish dance studio. “In ballet you have
STOMPIN’ continues on page 19
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21 Score Gold in Wine Awards The Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association on Sunday announced the medal winners in the eighth annual Loudoun Wine Awards competition, with the top winners to be celebrated during an Oct. 20 grand tasting event at Lansdowne Resort. In this year’s competition, judges evaluated 113 wines. They rated 21 as gold medal winners and presented 75 silver medals. The top awards—including the Grand Award for the best-in-show wine and the best-in-class by varietal selections—will be announced at the awards ceremony. Also, during the annual celebration of Loudoun County, wine industry awards will be presented to the Winemaker of the Year, Winegrower of the Year and Wine Ambassador of the Year. The awards ceremony is open to the public and tickets are on sale. Bob and Loree Rupy’s October One Vineyard set the pace in this year’s competition, earning three gold medals and three silvers. Their gold medals were awarded for three 2022 wines: Albariño, Viognier Stainless and Viognier Barrel Fermented. Five wineries earned two gold medals:
• Hillsborough Vineyards, for its 2022 Opal and 2021 Ruby; • Iron Will Winery for its 2021 The Arrival and 2020 Vitraux; • Walsh Family Wine for its 2021 Twin Notch Red and 2022 Bethany Ridge Sauvignon Blanc; • The Wine Reserve at Waterford for its 2022 First Harvest and 2021 Gila; and • Zephaniah Farm Vineyard for its 2021 Twin Notch Red and 2021 Petit Manseng Late Harvest. Other gold winners were: • 50 West Vineyards: Vidal Blanc 2022; • Bluemont Vineyard: Petit Manseng 2021; • Carriage House Wineworks: Petit Verdot 2021; • Fabbioli Cellars: Cabernet Franc Reserve 2019; • The Vineyards & Winery at Lost Creek: Allure 2019; • Two Twisted Posts Winery: Petit Verdot 2019; • Williams Gap Vineyard: Petit Manseng 2022; and • Willowcroft Farm Vineyards: Rosé of Sharon 2022. n
Morven Park
The public is invited to watch some of the nation’s top riders compete in three days of the Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials starting Thursday.
Celebrating Eventing Excellence: Top Riders Compete at Morven Park The Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials celebrates its 50th year of eventing competition Oct. 12-15. Featuring dressage, show jumping and cross-country, each discipline demonstrates the horse and rider’s grace, bravery, and athleticism against the backdrop of the historic Davis Mansion near Leesburg. The event is free and open to the public, giving visitors an up-close look at some of the top riders in the world. Morven Park is one of only six locations in the U.S. to offer an Olympic-level equestrian course. Visitors are invited to bring a picnic and make a day of the experience. Spe-
cial tailgate tickets are available as are VIP hospitality tent passes for all three days of competition. The Equestrian Center grew out of the renowned Morven Park International Equestrian Institute, one of the world’s most prestigious riding academies. In addition to holding competitions and events, Morven Park also welcomes riders and show managers to rent facilities such as the indoor and outdoor arenas, stalls, and show office space. For more information, go to morvenpark.org/Equestrian. n
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
Best Bets
OCTOBER 12, 2023
LEESBURG CAR SHOW 12 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 Downtown Leesburg lcps.org/carshow View classic cars and hot rods during the 35th Annual Leesburg Car Show presented by the Academies of Loudoun. All profits from the event directly support students at the Academies. $3 donation requested.
Stompin’ continued from page 17 to have a certain body type to go far, but anyone can do Irish dance, it doesn’t matter your body type and I wanted a school for everyone.” And she means everyone. She offers ballet and Irish dance classes from age four to 90 at the Blikken Hut in Lovettsville several nights a week. Kate and River Bryan, a mother and daughter from Round Hill, were introduced to Irish dance after watching the Celtic Rhythm School of Dance perform in 2020 at a Renaissance Fair in Winchester. River, 9, immediately fell in love with the dance and was impressed at how quickly they moved their feet and how happy everyone seemed. Kate reached out to Sengpiehl about classes and shared her own dancing experience as a youth. Sengpiehl told her adults can dance, too, and invited them both to a free class. The two have been dancing together ever since. “As a mom of three I’ve sat through every kind of lesson you can imagine. It was so great to actually get to do the thing with my daughter instead of sitting on the sidelines watching,” Kate Bryan said. “I came home on cloud nine, it was the most fun I had had in a long time.” The two began dancing during the COVID-19 pandemic and said it offered that sense of community that they had been missing. “It made me feel happy and I forgot about everything that felt so sad during
LADIES BOARD RUMMAGE SALE 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 15 Loudoun County Fairgrounds ladiesboard.org They’ll be bargains galore at this weekend’s 84th annual Ladies Board Rummage Sale that raises money to support programs and nursing scholarships at Inova Loudoun Hospital.
COVID. I enjoyed it and forgot about the quarantine that was going on,” River Bryan said. “It’s something I realized I could just go and have fun and not worry about everything else in life that might have been sad.” River said performing Irish dance makes her feel happy and she wants to help the audience feel that joy, too. “I told my mom once that if I ever ask to stop doing Irish dance, take me to the hospital because there is something wrong with me,” River said. Sengpiehl began scaling back the number of classes she taught starting in 2011 after being diagnosed with a genetic condition called Mitochondrial Disease. But said she felt it was important to keep doing something she loved and to not let it stop her. “I learned my limits, but I also learned it’s important to keep doing what I love and to set that example for my students; that life can be hard but to not let it stop you,” she said. Today, her classes focus mostly on performances and recreational with a scaled-back schedule. She said there is a great sense of community in Irish dance and in their studio. “We have a very family feel at our studio, we aren’t just a dance school, we are close, we are friends,” she said. River Bryan said she likes how there isn’t added pressure to be the very best or to compete. She enjoys performances but knows if she ever wanted to compete Sengpiehl would help her reach that goal. When Raguso opened her business in 2019 in Ashburn, she chose the name Misneach because it means courage
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YARN 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 Tally Ho Theater tallyhotheater.com Led by Blake Christiana, Yarn brings their bluegrass-infused Americana to the Leesburg stage.
in Gaelic. “I chose it because it’s a very scary thing to do a performance in front of people, it takes courage,” Raguso said. She said she also chose the name because it’s amazing to watch the transition of a shy and not- so-confident dancer evolve into a very confident and capable dancer. “I wanted to make sure all my students had that, not just in competition but in all aspects of life, dancing or speaking,” she said. Raguso has over 15 years of teaching experience and 25 years as a dancer including traveling to England and Ireland to compete. She moved to a permanent studio in Purcellville the summer of 2022 and hopes Irish dance takes hold in the community. Misneach classes are in Purcellville, Ashburn and Inwood, WV, and offer five levels that range from young kids up to adults and range from recreational to competition. The highest level is the champion level. She said she offers both performance classes and competition classes because she feels there are benefits to both. She said its important to find your dance community and said different studios focus on different aspects of the dance. Misneach, for example, focuses on posture while others may focus more on being on your tip toes. “If you try a class and its not the right environment, try a different studio. Each one is slightly different Irish dance, you just have to find the right fit,” Raguso said. She also loves the notion that Irish dance is for everyone.
“If you are interested come try it. You’ve got to be able to move your legs, that is the biggest thing. You don’t need to be coordinated; you just need to have rhythm. Come try it, there’s a place for you,” she said. Several of Misneach’s dancers have experience in other types of dance but really loved Irish because it’s so fast and they can improve their form quicker because they can apply changes right away. Mary Polcha, 18, has been doing Irish dance for 11 years and followed Raguso from a studio where she previously taught. She started with ballet, but it didn’t work out for her. So she began looking for an alternative dance form and Irish dance stuck out. She prefers to do performance classes over competition. “I just dance for the love of the dance itself,” Polcha said. “I Love the rhythm and counting and I usually lose track of everything else because I have to focus on the dance.” Erin Blood, 23, has been dancing since she was seven and has now qualified to be a champion. She started with ballet then moved to Irish dance. She also followed Raguso when she moved to her own studio. She said she loves getting ready for the competitions with the makeup, wigs and costumes, doing her best and constantly working toward a goal. “It’s the one thing I feel the most comfortable with, the most safe with,” she said. Both studios offer a free trial class, for more information go to misneachirishdance.com and on Facebook look for Celtic Rhythm School of Dance. n
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JASON MASI 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Doukenie Winery, 14727 Mountain Road, Hillsboro. doukeniewinery.com BRAD DOGGETT 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane, Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com ROWDY ACE BAND 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Sunset Hills Vineyard, 38295 Fremont Overlook Lane, Purcellville. sunsethillvineyard.com DYLAN WOELFUL 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville. monksq.com JONATHAN SLOANE AND JENNY LANGER 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Bourbon Bayou Kitchen, 44184 Ashbrook Marketplace Plaza, Ashburn. thebourbonrestaurant.com LAURA CASHMAN 1 to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Stone Tower Winery, 19925 Hogback Mountain Road, Leesburg. stonetowerwinery.com CHRIS TIMBERS 9 p.m. midnight, Sat., Oct. 14 Red Horse Tavern, 118 W. Washington St., Middleburg. redhorsetavern.net THE RAY HUME BAND 5 to 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts. vanishbeer.com TODD BROOKS AND POUR DECISIONS 12 to 3 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Harvest Gap Brewery, 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro. harvestgap.com FOR SURE 12 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Cana Vineyards and Winery of Middleburg, 38600 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. canavineyards.com LINDA ANDERSON AND FRIENDS 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards, 16804 Hamilton Station Road, Hamilton. thebarnsathamiltonstation.com CLARK PEKLO 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Fabbioli Cellars, 15669 Limestone School Road, Leesburg. fabbiolicellars.com
OCTOBER 12, 2023
FLASHPOINT 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts. vanishbeer.com MELISSA QUINN FOX 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Otium Cellars, 18050 Tranquility Road, Purcellville. otiumcellars.com JOE DOWNER 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Firefly Cellars, 40325 Charles Town Pike, Hamilton. fireflycellars.com DAVID THONG 1 to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane, Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com ERIC CAMPBELL 1 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 868 Estate Vineyards, 14001 Harpers Ferry Road, Hillsboro. 868estatevineyards.com JOEY BAUER, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Sunset Hills Vineyard, 38295 Fremont Overlook Lane, Purcellville. sunsethillvineyard.com CHRIS BONE 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 50 West Vineyards, 39060 Little River Turnpike, Middleburg. 50westvineyards.com KERRY MCCOOL 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 8 Chains North Winery, 38593 Daymont Lane, Waterford. 8chainsnorth.com JIM STEELE 2 to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Quattro Goombas Brewery, 22860 James Monroe Highway, Aldie. quattrogoombas.com GARY SMALLWOOD 2 to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Two Twisted Posts Winery, 12944 Harpers Ferry Road, Neersville. twotwistedposts.com DEANE KERN AND ERIC SELBY 2 to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Doukenie Winery, 14727 Mountain Road, Hillsboro. doukeniewinery.com ROWDY ACE 3 to 6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Harvest Gap Brewery, 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro. harvestgap.com JOEY HAFNER 3 to 6 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Flying Ace Farm, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville. flyingacefarm.com RAY HUME BAND 5 to 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts. vanishbeer.com ANNA P.S. 5 to 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14
Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Purcellville. harpersferrybrewing.com CRAZY JANE BAND 5 to 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. lostbarrel.com SIDETRACKED 6 to 9 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Harvest Gap Brewery, 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro. harvestgap.com JOE DOWNER 6 to 9 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane, Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com ’90S REWIND WITH NO MERCY AND TURBO B EX SNAP 7 to 10 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Ion Arena, 19201 Compass Creek Parkway, Leesburg. $10 to $99 ionarena.com ’80S NIGHT WITH THE REAGAN YEARS 8 to 11 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg. $20 to $55. tallyhotheater.com CROOKED JAWS 8 to midnight Sat., Oct. 14 Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg. spankyspub.com YINZ 8 to 11 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Monk’s BBQ, 251 N. 21st St., Purcellville. monksq.com MO & MARY MAC 1 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. lostbarrel.com JASON MASI 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Bleu Frog Vineyards, 16413 James Monroe Highway, Leesburg. bleufrogvineyards.com MIKE JONES BAND 2 to 6 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. lostbarrel.com ZAC QUINTANA 2 to 6 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Bluemont Station Brewery & Winery, 18301 Whitehall Estate Lane, Bluemont. facebook.com/BluemontStation BreweryandWinery CHRISTOPHER RALL 1 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Fabbioli Cellars, 15669 Limestone School Road, Leesburg. fabbiolicellars.com
HAPPENINGS continues on page 21
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
GET OUT LIVE MUSIC
continued from page 20 THE SIDELING HILL STOMPERS 1 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery, 42245 Black Hops Lane, Lucketts. vanishbeer.com JOSH SOWDER 1 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Firefly Cellars, 40325 Charles Town Pike, Hamilton. fireflycellars.com BRENT FUNKHOUSE 1 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Creek’s Edge Winery, 41255 Annas Lane, Lovettsville. creeksedgewinery.com NATHANIEL DAVIS 1 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane, Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com MIKE JONES 1 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Lost Barrel Brewing, 36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg. lostbarrel.com JOE DOWNER 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Sunset Hills Vineyard, 38295 Fremont Overlook Lane, Purcellville. sunsethillsvineyard.com PETE LAPP 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 50 West Vineyards, 39060 Little River Turnpike, Middleburg. 50westvineyards.com STANLEY WHITAKER 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 8 Chains North Winery, 38593 Daymont Lane, Waterford. 8chainsnorth.com MIKE TASH, MARY SHAVER AND BOB MALLARDI 2 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards, 16804 Hamilton Station Road, Hamilton. thebarnathamiltonstation.com DOIN’ TIME 2 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights. harpersferrybrewing.com ZACH JONES 2 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Flying Ace Farm, 40950 Flying Ace Lane, Lovettsville. flyingacefarm.com ADRIEL GENET 2 to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 868 Estate Vineyards, 14001 Harpers Ferry Road, Hillsboro. 868estatevineyards.com ADAM PHELPS 6 to 9 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Bear Chase Brewing Company, 33665 Bear Chase Lane,
Bluemont. bearchasebrew.com GOOSE CREEK VILLAGE LIVE 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 Goose Creek Village, 21030 Sycolin Road, Ashburn. goosecreekvillage.com BIG BAND NIGHT 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 Trungo’s, 2C Loudoun St. SW., Leesburg. facebook.com/Trungos HOMEY DON’T PLAY DAT 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18 Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg. spankyspub.com WILL BASKINS 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 Spanky’s Shenanigans, 538 E. Market St., Leesburg. spankyspub.com YARN 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 Tally Ho Theater, 19 W. Market St. SW., Leesburg. $19.50 to $45. tallyhotheater.com
purcellvillefire.org
HAPPENINGS
BIRDING BLES PARK 8 to 11 a.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Bles Park, 44830 Bles Park Drive, Ashburn. loudounwildlife.org
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 7:30 Friday, Oct. 13 2 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Seneca Ridge Middle School, 98 Seneca Ridge Dr., Sterling. $18. sterlingplaymakers.org LOUDOUN’S GOOSE CREEK & LITTLE RIVER NAVIGATION COMPANY 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 Aldie Mill Historic Park, 39401 Little River Turnpike, Aldie. novapark.org. LUCKETTS FALL VINTAGE MARKET 12:30 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds, 890 W. Main St., Berryville. $15 luckettstore.com BIRDING BANSHEE 8 to 11 a.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, 21085 The Woods Road, Leesburg. Loudounwildlife.org DESCENDANT’S DAY AT OATLANDS 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Oatlands Historic House & Gardens, 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg. $10. oatlands.org FALL FESTIVAL BY JOSHUA’S HANDS 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14, 39550 Meadowlark Drive, Hamilton. joshuashands.org PURCELLVILLE FIRE-RESCUE OPEN HOUSE, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 500 N. Maple Ave., 500 N. Maple Ave., Purcellville.
LEESBURG CAR SHOW 12 to 4 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Downtown Leesburg, $3. lcps.org/carshow
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Legal Notices ORDER OF PUBLICATION
TEMPLETON THOMPSON: WALK-TROT-DECANTER 4:30 to 7 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Loudoun Therapeutic Riding, 14490 Berlin Turnpike, Lovettsville. $40. ltrf.org LOUDOUN CARES 5TH ANNUAL ART AUCTION 5 to 10 p.m. Sat., Oct. 14 Center for Innovative Technology, 2214 Rock Hill Road, Herndon. $125. loudouncares.org DONUT SUNDAY 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Saint Theresa Catholic Church, 21370 Saint Theresa Lane, Ashburn. sainttheresaparish.com
ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION FUNDRAISER 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 ResQ BBQ, 528B E. Market St., Leesburg. resq-bbq.com LOVETTSVILLE VFRC OPEN HOUSE 12 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Lovettsville Fire & Rescue Co. 12, 12837 Berlin Turnpike, Lovettsville. lovettsvillevfr.org ASHBURN VFRD OPEN HOUSE 12 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Ashburn Fire and Rescue, 20688 Ashburn Road, 20688 Ashburn Road, Ashburn. ashburnfirerescue.org ROCK 4 VETS FALL FUNDRAISER 12 to 8:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Harpers Ferry Brewing, 37412 Adventure Center Lane, Loudoun Heights. harpersferrybrewing.com ARCOLA VFD OPEN HOUSE 1 to 4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Arcola Volunteer Fire Department Annex, 24300 Stone Springs Blvd., Sterling. arcolavfd.org PROFS & PINTS NORTHERN VIRGINIA: SPIRITS AROUND THE PLACE 4 to 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 15 Crooked Run Fermentation, 22455 Davis Drive, Sterling. $13.50. profsandpints.com
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316 Case No.:
JJ046179-05-00
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Starh Rahimi Loudoun County Department of Family Services /v.
Shop LoCo
Mohamad Wali, putative father
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The object of this suit is to hold a second permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1-281 for Starh Rahimi. It is ORDERED that the defendant(s) Mohamad Wali, putative father appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his or her interests on or before November 15, 2023 at 3:00 pm 10/5, 10/12, 10/19 & 10/26/23
NOTICE OF ABANDONED BICYCLES Notice is hereby given that the bicycles described below were found and delivered to the Office of the Sheriff of Loudoun County; if the owners of the listed bicycles are not identified within sixty (60) days following the final publication of this notice, the individuals who found said bicycles shall be entitled to them if he/she desires. All unclaimed bicycles will be handled according to Chapter 228.04 of the Codified Ordinances of Loudoun County. Description
Case Number
Recovery Date
Recovery Location
Phone Number
WHITE WITH BLUE “NEXT” BRAND BIKE (S/N: LWLF027857)
SO230012921
7/10/23
FRIENDSHIP ST/ JUSTICE DR
517-367-8400
1 GENESIS 26 WOMENS BICYCLE
SO230013624
7/21/23
TALL CEDARS PKWY/SOUTH RIDING BLVD
571-367-8400
SILVER MOUNTAIN BIKE, SCHWINN BADGER, MISSING SEAT (S/N: 16C53225)
SO230015082
8/14/23
24950 RIDING CENTER DR
517-367-8400
10/12 & 10/19/23
ORDER OF PUBLICATION COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316 Case No.:
JJ044816-05-00, 06-00
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Alexander Beers Loudoun County Department of Family Services /v. John Beers, father The object of this suit is to hold a hearing on Petitions for Termination of Parental Rights of Cathryn Beers, mother, and John Beers, father, pursuant to Virginia Code §16.1-283 for Alexander Beers. John Beers, father, is hereby notified that failure to appear on the hereinafter noticed date and
time may result in the entry of an Order approving the termination of residual parental rights with respect to Alexander Beers. John Beers, father, is hereby further notified that if their residual parental rights are terminated, they will no longer have any legal rights with respect to said minor child, including, but not limited to, the right to visit Alexander Beers; any authority with respect to the care and supervision of Alexander Beers; or the right to make health related decisions or determine the religious affiliation of Alexander Beers. Further, John Beers, father, will have no legal and/or financial obligations with respect to Alexander Beers, and the Department of Family Services of Loudoun County, Virginia may be granted the authority to place Alexander Beers for adoption and consent to the adoption of Alexander Beers. It is ORDERED that the defendant John Beers, father appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before November 17, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. 10/12, 10/19, 10/26 & 11/2/23
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
Legal Notices PUBLIC AUCTION This proceeding is for the judicial sale of real properties located in Loudoun County, Virginia, for payment of delinquent taxes pursuant to the provisions of Virginia Code §§ 58.1-3965, et seq. Pursuant to Orders entered by the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, Virginia, the undersigned Robert J. Sproul, Special Commissioner of Sale of said Court, will offer the real properties described below for sale at public auction to the highest bidder on the steps of the Historic Courthouse of Loudoun County, in Leesburg, Virginia on:
TERMS OF SALE:
October 12, 2023 3:00 p.m. RAIN OR SHINE Registration Starts at 2:30 p.m.
1. The sale of any real property is subject to the approval and confirmation by the Circuit Court of Loudoun County. 2. The Special Commissioner of Sale reserves the right to withdraw from sale any property listed and to reject any bid by declaring “NO SALE” after the last bid received on a property. 3. Any person who wishes to bid on any property during the auction must register with County staff before the start of bidding. As part of the registration process, potential bidders must: (i) have sufficient funds on hand to pay the Minimum Deposit required for each parcel on which they want to bid; and (ii) sign a form certifying that they do not own any property in Loudoun County for which any delinquent taxes are due, or for which there are zoning or other violations. 4. The Minimum Deposit required for each parcel is specified below, as part of the property description. The full amount of the Minimum Deposit must be paid by cashier’s or certified check made payable to Gary Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, at the time the auctioneer declares the sale. 5. In lieu of attending the auction, bidders may submit written bids to Robert J. Sproul, Special Commissioner of Sale, at the address listed below. All written bids must be accompanied by the applicable Minimum Deposit, which shall be paid by cashier’s or certified check made payable to Gary Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County. Written bids must also be accompanied by a certification that the bidder is not the owner of any property in Loudoun County for which delinquent taxes are due, or for which there are zoning or other violations. A written bid form, which includes the required certification, can be obtained from the Special Commissioner of Sale or the Treasurer’s website. 6. Written bids (with the required deposit and certification) will be received by the Special Commissioner of Sale at any time prior to the date of auction and held under seal until the date of the auction. If a written bid exceeds the highest live bid received from the audience during the auction, the audience will have an opportunity to bid against the written bid. If a higher bid is not received from the audience, the Special Commissioner of Sale may declare the sale to the proponent of the highest written bid or may reject all bids by declaring “NO SALE.” 7. If either a written bid or a live auction bid is approved by the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, the balance of the purchase price must be paid in full within 30 days of Court approval. 8. Once a submitted written bid or a live bid has been accepted during the auction, it cannot be withdrawn except by leave of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County. Any bidder who attempts to withdraw his/ her bid after it has been accepted by the Special Commissioners of Sale may be required to forfeit his/her deposit. 9. Properties are offered “as is,” with all faults and without warranties or guarantees either expressed or implied. Prospective bidders should investigate the title on properties prior to bidding and are encouraged to review the case file for the civil actions in the Circuit Court. The sale of the properties is not subject to the successful bidders’ ability to obtain title insurance. The sale of the properties is made free and clear only of liens of defendant(s) named in the respective judicial proceeding, and of those liens recorded after the County filed a lis pendens with the Circuit Court of Loudoun County. 10. All recording costs (including but not limited to any grantor’s tax/fee) will be at the expense of the purchaser. All property will be conveyed by Special Warranty Deed from the Special Commissioner of Sale. 11. Announcements made on the day of sale take precedence over any prior verbal or written terms of sale. 12. The Special Commissioner of Sale represents that information regarding the property to be offered for sale, including acreage, type of improvements, etc., is taken from tax and/or land records, and is not guaranteed for either accuracy or completeness. Bidders are encouraged to make their own investigation to determine the title, condition of improvements, accessibility, and occupancy status of each property and to bid accordingly. The sale will be made subject to matters visible upon inspection, and to restrictions, conditions, rights-of-way and easements, if any, contained in the instruments constituting the chain of title. Any costs incurred by a bidder to inspect or investigate any property are the bidder’s responsibility and are not reimbursable. 13. The owner of any property listed below may redeem it at any time before the date of the auction by paying all taxes, penalties, interest, costs (including the pro rata costs of publishing this advertisement and attorney’s fees) incurred through the date before the auction. Below is a brief description of each property to be offered for sale at the auction. More detailed information may be obtained by examining the files in the Clerk’s office of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, or by contacting Robert J. Sproul, Special Commissioner of Sale at (703) 777-0307; or N. Rebekah Long, Deputy Treasurer for Collections at (703) 771-5656.
*************************** THE COUNTY OF LOUDOUN v. JAMES V. BARRETT, et al. CIVIL ACTION NO. CL 23-4219 LOUDOUN COUNTY TAX MAP NO. /48///215/338/ PIN 188-28-2869-024 Robert J. Sproul, Special Commissioner of Sale Minimum Deposit Required: $24,0500.00 The subject property is a residential condominium which contains 0.0 acres, more or less, with improvements, located at 79 Hancock Place NE, Leesburg, Virginia 20176 and is further described among the land records of Loudoun County, Virginia as: Unit 338, Phase 15, Block 2, HERITAGE SQUARE, a Condominium, TOGETHER WITH the undivided interest in the General Common Elements and Limited Common Elements which attach to said Unit as described in that certain Declaration with attached plats designating the relative location and identification of each Unit and General and Limited Common Elements located in the Town of Leesburg, Virginia, and recorded in Deed Book 642, at Page 183, as amended in Deed Book 668, Page 759, Deed Boole 683, Page 775, Deed Book 710, Page 85, Deed Book 727, page 785, Deed Book 740, Page 102, Deed Book 752, Page 599, Deed Book 756, Page 404, Deed Book 762, Page 92, Deed Book 768, Page 543, Deed Book BOO, Page 478, Deed Book 815, Page 1579, Deed Book 826, Page 29, Deed Book 836, Page 1191, Deed Book 836, Page 1761, Deed Book 858, Page 1634, Deed Book 865, Page 223, Deed Book 881, Page 1943, and any subsequent amendments thereto among the Land Records of Loudoun County, Virginia. *************************** THE COUNTY OF LOUDOUN v. MELISSA PHILLIPS, et al. CIVIL ACTION NO. CL 23-4171 LOUDOUN COUNTY TAX MAP NO. /82/J/1PE5424/ PIN 007-479-996-024 Robert J. Sproul, Special Commissioner of Sale Minimum Deposit Required: $41,946.00 The subject property is a residential condominium unit which contains 0.0 acres, with improvements, located in the Central Parke at Lowes Island Condominium, with an address of 20804 Noble Terrace, Unit 424, Sterling, Virginia, 20165 and is further described in a Deed among the land records of Loudoun County, Virginia, conveying the Property to Debra L. Phillips on May 5, 2015 as: Condominium Unit 424, Land Unit 5, CENTRAL PARKE AT LOWES ISLAND CONDOMINIUM, together with an undivided interest in the common and Limited common elements and all other rights and privileges which attach or are appurtenant to said Unit, all as described in the Declaration of Central Park at Lowes Island Condominium, with Plats and Plans, and Exhibits attached thereto, , as Instrument Number 20030212-0012719, with Plats following as Instrument Number 20030212*0012720 and amended as Instrument Number 20050311-0025452 and the Condominium Plat as Instrument Number 20050311-0025453, among the Land Records of Loudoun County, Virginia, and any amendments thereto, whether now or existing or hereafter recorded as permitted by aforesaid Declaration. AND BEING the same property conveyed to Lester Sablosky and Anne Sablosky, Trustees of the Revocable Living Trust of Lester Sablosky and Anne Sablosky by Virtue of a Deed dated March 30th, 2005 and recorded March 31, 2005 as Instrument Number 20050331-0033018 among the aforesaid land records. Lester Sablosky departed this life on December 16, 2012, leaving Anne Sablosky as Surviving Trustee of the Revocable Living Trust of Lester Sablosky and Anne Sablosky. Anne Sablosky departed this life on October 24, 2014. Per the Third Cumulative Amendment to Marital Trust under Living Trust of Lester Sablosky and Anne Sablosky, Richard G. Sablosky, Robin G. Sablosky and Craig S. Sablosky were appointed as Successor Co-Trustees of the Revocable Living Trust of Lester Sablosky and Anne Sablosky. Robert J. Sproul Special Commissioner of Sale Assistant County Attorney Office of County Attorney 1 Harrison Street, S.E. P.O. Box 7000 Leesburg, Virginia 20177-7000 (703) 777-0307
9/21, 9/28, 10/5, 10/12/23
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
OCTOBER 12, 2023
PAGE 23
Legal Notices ORDER OF PUBLICATION
ORDER OF PUBLICATION
Case No.:
Case No.:
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA VA. CODE § 8.01-316
JJ046599-04-00
JJ046598-04-00
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
Loudoun Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Briston Love
Commonwealth of Virginia, in re Chloe Love
Loudoun County Department of Family Services
Loudoun County Department of Family Services
/v.
/v.
Shakita Love, Mother, Emanuel Cobb, putative father, and Unknown Father
Shakita Love, Mother, Willie Huff, putative father, and Unknown Father
The object of this suit is to hold a second Permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1-281 for Briston Love.
The object of this suit is to hold a second Permanency planning hearing and review of Foster Care Plan pursuant to Virginia Code §§ 16.1-282.1 and 16.1-281 for Chloe Love.
It is ORDERED that the defendant(s) Shakita Love, Mother, Emanuel Cobb, putative father, and Unknown Father appear at the abovenamed Court and protect his or her interests on or before November 8, 2023 at 2:00pm
It is ORDERED that the defendant(s) Shakita Love, Mother, Willie Huff, putative father, and Unknown Father appear at the above-named Court and protect his or her interests on or before November 8, 2023 at 2:00pm
9/28, 10/5, 10/12 & 10/19/23
9/28, 10/5, 10/12 & 10/19/23
LOUDOUN COUNTY WILL BE ACCEPTING SEALED COMPETITIVE BIDS/PROPOSALS FOR: CHARTER BUS SERVICES - REISSUE, IFB No. 639812 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, November 3, 2023. DEFERRED COMPENSATION SERVICES, RFP No. 639809 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, November 3, 2023. PROMOTION PROCESS FOR FIRE AND RESCUE PERSONNEL, RFP No. 638809 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, November 6, 2023. SYSTIMAX CABLING SERVICES, RFP No. 627791 until prior to 4:00 p.m., local “Atomic Time”, November 9, 2023. Solicitation forms may be obtained 24 hours a day by visiting our web site at www.loudoun.gov/procurement. If you do not have access to the Internet, call (703) 777-0403, M - F, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. WHEN CALLING, PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR ANY TYPE OF DISABILITY IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCUREMENT.
PUBLIC HEARING The LOUDOUN COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION will hold a public hearing in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room on the first floor of the County Government Center, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. to consider the following: LEGI-2023-0069, Philomont Fire and Rescue Station: CMPT-2023-0003 and SPEX-2023-0014 (Commission Permit & Special Exception)
Philomont Volunteer Fire Department has submitted applications for a commission permit and a special exception for approximately 7.03 acres of land located east of Snickersville Turnpike (Route 734) and south of Philomont Road (Route 630) in the Catoctin Election District (the “Subject Property”). The Subject Property is more particularly identified as: 37180 Snickersville Turnpike, PIN 530-17-5737-000, Tax Map # /56////////22/. For CMPT-2023-0003, the applicant seeks to allow a fire and rescue station use, pursuant to Section 6-1101(A) of the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. For SPEX-20230014, the applicant seeks a special exception for a fire and rescue station use, pursuant to Section 2-504(H) of the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance.
LEGI-2023-0058, BAYS DULLES INDUSTRIAL PARK: ZRTD-2022-0008 (Zoning Map Amendment)
Superior Investments LLC has submitted an application for a zoning map amendment for approximately 1.5 acres of land located south of Moran Road (Route 635) between Powers Court (Route 875) and Pacific Boulevard (Route 1036), in the Broad Run Election District (the “Subject Property”) and more particularly identified as: PIN 044-18-1028-000, Tax Map # /94///5/////2/. The applicant seeks to rezone the Subject Property from the PD-IP (Planned Development – Industrial Park) zoning district under the 1972 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance to the PD-IP zoning district under the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance, in order to permit the development of all principal and accessory uses permitted in the PD-IP zoning district at a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 0.6.
LEGI-2023-0067, GOOSE CREEK RETAIL LLC: SPEX-2023-0011 (Special Exception)
Goose Creek Retail LLC has submitted an application for a special exception for an approximately 0.51 acre portion of a 15.92 acre property located on the northwest corner of Belmont Ridge Road and Sycolin Road in the Ashburn Election District (the “Subject Property”), and more particularly identified as: 42810 Creek View Plaza, Ashburn Virginia, PIN 153-18-6338-000, Tax Map # /78//86/////D/. The applicant seeks special exception approval to allow a restaurant with drive-through use, pursuant to Section 4-204(B)(9) of the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. Copies of the proposed plans, ordinances, or amendments for each item listed above may be examined at the Loudoun County Government Center, Office of County Administrator, Information Desk, First Floor, 1 Harrison Street, S.E., Leesburg, Virginia, from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday or call
703-777-0246 (option 5), to request hard copies or electronic copies. Additional project files related to land use applications and land use ordinances may be reviewed electronically at loudoun.gov/landmarc. Additionally, documents may be viewed and downloaded electronically the week before the hearing at www. loudoun.gov/pc. For further information, contact the Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-777-0246 (option 5). Planning Commission work sessions and public hearings are held in the Board Room of the Government Center. Public hearings and work sessions are televised on Comcast Government Channel 23 and Verizon FiOS Channel 40, and are also are livestreamed at loudoun.gov/meetings. Members of the public desiring to do so may appear and present their views during the public hearing. Public comment will be received only for those items listed for public hearing. Members of the public who wish to provide public input, whether electronically or in person, are encouraged to sign-up in advance; however, speakers may sign-up during the hearing. If you wish to sign-up in advance, please call the Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-777-0246 (option 5) prior to 12:00 PM on the day of the public hearing; however, speakers may also sign-up at the public hearing. Written comments concerning any item before the Commission are welcomed at any time and may be sent to the Loudoun County Planning Commission, P.O. Box 7000 Leesburg, VA 20177-7000, or by e-mail to loudounpc@loudoun.gov. If written comments are presented at the hearing, please provide ten (10) copies for distribution to the Commission and for the Clerk’s records. Members of the public may also submit comments on land use items electronically at loudoun. gov/landapplications. Any individual representing and/or proposing to be the sole speaker on behalf of a citizen’s organization or civic association is encouraged to contact the Department of Planning and Zoning prior to the date of the public hearing to request additional time to speak on behalf of such organization. Regularly scheduled Planning Commission public hearings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month. In the event the public hearing cannot be conducted on that date due to weather or other conditions that make it hazardous for members to attend the hearing, the public hearing will be continued to the next day (Wednesday). In the event the public hearing may not be held on that Wednesday due to weather or other conditions that make it hazardous for members to attend the hearing, the public hearing may be continued to the first Thursday of the next month. Hearing assistance is available for meetings in the Board of Supervisors’ Meeting Room. FM Assistive Listening System is available at the meetings. If you require any type of reasonable accommodation as a result of a physical, sensory, or mental disability to participate in this meeting, contact the Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-777-0246 (option 5). Three business days advance notice is requested. BY ORDER OF:
MICHELLE FRANK, CHAIR LOUDOUN COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
10/12 & 10/19/23
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
Legal Notices OFFICIAL VOTING INFORMATION
NOTICE OF IMPOUNDMENT OF ABANDONED VEHICLES
The Constitution of Virginia requires that you be registered in the precinct in which you live to be qualified to vote. For the convenience of the citizens of Loudoun County, the Voter Registration Office at 750 Miller Drive, SE, Suite 150, Leesburg, is open each week Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. To be eligible to vote in the November General & Special Election to be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, you must register no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 16. Please note: Voters may register through Election Day, and vote using a provisional ballot under new Same Day Voter Registration legislation.
This notice is to inform the owner and any person having a security interest in their right to reclaim the motor vehicle herein described within 15 days after the date of storage charges resulting from placing the vehicle in custody, and the failure of the owner or persons having security interests to exercise their right to reclaim the vehicle within the time provided shall be deemed a waiver by the owner, and all persons having security interests of all right, title and interest in the vehicle, and consent to the sale of the abandoned motor vehicle at a public auction. This notice shall also advise the owner of record of his or her right to contest the determination by the Sheriff that the motor vehicle was “abandoned,” as provided in Chapter 630.08 of the Loudoun County Ordinance, by requesting a hearing before the County Administrator in writing. Such written request for a hearing must be made within 15 days of the notice. YR.
MAKE
MODEL
VIN
STORAGE
PHONE#
2021 UNK 2004
HYUNDAI BIG JOHN KAWASAKI
ELANTRA FLAT BOTTOM TL ZX6R
5NPLM4AGXMH019300 LWN30316E787 JKBZXJH16NA012666
ROADRUNNER TOWING ROADRUNNER TOWING AL’S TOWING
703-450-7555 703-450-7555 703-435-8888 10/12 & 10/19/23
You are encouraged to make application for voter registration. Please call us at the number shown below should you have any questions. Remember, a good citizen registers and votes! Judith Brown, General Registrar 750 Miller Drive, SE, Suite C Leesburg, Virginia 20175-8916 Email: vote@loudoun.gov Telephone: 703-777-0380
TOWN OF HAMILTON PUBLIC HEARING
Online - Eligible citizens of the Commonwealth can submit a voter registration application or update their registration information on-line if they have a Virginia driver’s license. To apply online go to www.elections.virginia.gov Department of Motor Vehicles – You can apply or update your information online at the DMV when completing a driver’s license transaction. Mail-in voter registration applications are also available at all Loudoun County libraries and community centers and can be downloaded at https://www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/voter-forms/ You can also go to www.elections.virginia.gov to verify your registration address and find out what’s on your ballot and where you vote. 10/12/23
ORDINANCE TO AUTHORIZE THE REMOVAL OF A STRUCTURE AT 25450 LIZZIO CENTER DRIVE, CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA An ordinance requiring the removal of a structure that might endanger the public health or safety of other residents of the County and authorizing the County to remove the structure if the owner and lienholder have failed to remove the structure after reasonable notice and a reasonable time to do so. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Loudoun, Virginia, finds that the there exists a structure (the “Structure”) located at 25450 Lizzio Center Drive, Chantilly, Virginia, PIN 097-27-4045-000 and Tax Map # 107////////47/, (the “Property”) that has remained in the same unfinished and vacant state since 2008; and The Board of Supervisors of the County of Loudoun finds that the Structure might endanger the public health or safety of other residents of the County on account of it being perpetually vacant and unmonitored, obstructed from the view of surrounding properties, without lighting or any other modern security features, easily susceptible to entry by breaching the fence surrounding the Structure, and being such a place that carries great potential for injury to occur; and NOW, THEREFORE, having found that the Structure might endanger the public health or safety of other residents of the County, BE IT ORDAINED THAT the Owner of the Property shall remove, forthwith, the Structure referenced herein; and BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED THAT if the Owner and lienholder (if a lienholder exists) of the Property, after reasonable notice and a reasonable time to do so, have failed to remove the Structure, the County Administrator, in conjunction with the County Attorney, is hereby directed to proceed in accordance with § 15.2-906 of the Code of Virginia to remove the Structure referenced herein, however, no action to remove the Structure shall be taken by the County for at least 30 days following the later of the return of the receipt of the mailing or newspaper publication; and BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED THAT in the event the County, through its own agents or employees removes the Structure, the cost or expenses thereof shall be chargeable to and paid by the owners of such property and may be collected by the County as taxes are collected, and that every charge with which the Owner of the Property has been assessed and that remains unpaid shall constitute a lien against such property ranking on a parity with liens for unpaid local real estate taxes and enforceable in the same manner. 10/5 & 10/12/23
The Hamilton Town Council will hold a public hearing in the Town Office at 53 E. Colonial Highway, Hamilton, Virginia on Monday, October 16, 2023, beginning at 7:00 p.m. for the purpose of receiving comment and considering action on SUP 2023-01, a special use permit application by T-Mobile to upgrade/install telecommunications antennas and equipment on and adjacent to the Town water tower at 41 S. Rogers Street, Hamilton, VA Tax Map Number /37/A/1////89B; PIN 418299026000. The proposal would replace existing antennas on top of the water tower with new, taller ones and would add additional equipment to the existing equipment pad next to the tower. Documents regarding the special use permit application are available for review at the Town Office, 53 E. Colonial Highway, Hamilton, Virginia from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday, holidays excepted and on the Town website at hamiltonva.gov. All members of the public are invited to present their views on this matter at the public hearing either in person or remotely, by following the instructions on the Town website Meeting Calendar/Livestream Meetings. The Hamilton Town Council regular monthly meeting will begin after the public hearing. If you require any type of reasonable accommodation because of a physical, sensory or mental disability to participate in this meeting, contact Sherri Jackson, Town Treasurer at 540-338-2811. Please provide three days’ notice. Kenneth C. Wine, Mayor
10/5 & 10/12/23
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE MIDDLEBURG PLANNING COMMISSION The Middleburg Planning Commission will hold public hearings beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 23, 2023 to hear comments on the following: Special Use 23-02 - Request of The Museum of Hounds & Hunting, North America for a Special Use Permit for a museum at 11 W. Washington St. zoned C-2 Town Commercial District. Special Use 23-03 - Request of Lizanne White Driskill for a Special Use Permit for two upper-story apartments at 5 E. Federal St. zoned C-3 General Commercial District. Zoning Text Amendment 23-04 - An Ordinance to Repeal and Reenact Article VI of the Middleburg Zoning Ordinance pertaining to Advertisement and Notices of Hearings for Plans, Ordinances, Amendments, Appeals and Applications. The hearings will take place at the Town Office, 10 W. Marshall Street, Middleburg, Virginia. The application materials may be reviewed online at www.middleburgva.gov/313/Public-Hearings or in the Town Office from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, holidays excepted. Questions may be directed to Deputy Town Manager Will Moore at (540) 687-5152 or by email at wmoore@middleburgva.gov The Town of Middleburg strives to make its hearings accessible to all. Please advise of accommodations the Town can make to help you participate in the hearings.
10/12, 10/19
LOUDOUNNOW.COM
OCTOBER 12, 2023
A message to Loudoun County Property Owners regarding the Land Use Assessment Program
Public Notice The Town of Leesburg Board of Zoning Appeals The Town of Leesburg is soliciting applications for an appointment to serve on the Board of Zoning Appeals. This position is appointed by the Loudoun County Circuit Court to a five-year term ending December 31, 2028. The Board of Zoning Appeals meets as necessary the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in Town Hall, 25 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA. Additional information concerning this quasijudicial board is available from the Clerk of Council during normal business hours (Mon – Fri 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) at 703-771-2733, eboeing@leesburgva.gov, or the Town of Leesburg website at www.leesburgva.gov. If interested, complete an online application on the Town Web site: https://www.leesburgva.gov/ government/boards-and-commissions. Online applications are due by 5:00 p.m., October 27, 2023. All applications will be forwarded to the Loudoun County Circuit Court for consideration and appointment. 10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26/23
Loudoun County Public Schools Fall 2023 Elementary School Attendance Zone Process for Dulles South Area Henrietta Lacks Elementary School (ES-32) will open in fall 2024, with the start of the 2024-2025 academic year. The school is co-located on the Lightridge High School/Hovatter Elementary School campus at 41125 Collaboration Drive in Aldie.
PAGE 25
Robert S. Wertz, Jr. Commissioner of the Revenue The Land Use Assessment Program provides for the deferral of real estate taxes on property that meets certain agricultural, horticultural, forestry, or open space use criteria. •
First Time Applicants: must submit an application and the required fee no later than November 1, 2023. Applications are available online, in my office, or can be mailed directly to you.
•
Existing Land Use Program Participants: if your property is currently enrolled in the program, you are only required to renew your land use status every 6th year. Existing Land Use Assessment Program participants must submit a renewal form, documentation supporting the bona fide production income for agricultural and horticultural land use, and the required fee, no later than November 1, 2023. Participants who are up for renewal will be mailed their forms the first week of September (you may check your renewal year at www.loudoun.gov/parceldatabase by entering the property’s address, or parcel identification number, and selecting the LAND USE STATUS tab). Properties showing a Reval/Recert Year of 2018 are up for renewal this year.
An additional deferral of taxes may be available to current Land Use Program participants if they sign, and record, an agreement to keep the property in its qualifying use for more than 5 years, but not exceeding 20 years. The commitment must be filed with my office no later than November 1, 2023, and recorded in the Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court´s office no later than December 15, 2023.
DEADLINES
The Loudoun County School Board has scheduled a series of meetings to facilitate the review of Dulles South area elementary school attendance zones in conjunction with the opening of the new school. The current boundaries for Aldie, Arcola, Buffalo Trail, Cardinal Ridge, Elaine E. Thompson, Goshen Post, Hovatter, Hutchison Farm, Liberty, Little River and Pinebrook Elementary Schools will be reviewed in the attendance zone process.
Applications submitted between November 2, 2023, but prior to December 5, 2023, are subject to a $300 per parcel late filing fee in addition to the standard filing fee.
Date
Time
Elementary School Attendance Zone Meeting
Applications will NOT be accepted after December 5, 2023.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
7:00 p.m.
School Board Attendance Zone Overview
Monday, October 23, 2023
7:00 p.m.
School Board Attendance Zone Public Hearing & Work Session
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
7:00 p.m.
School Board Attendance Zone Public Hearing & Work Session
Tuesday, November 28, 2023*
6:30 p.m.
School Board Review of Elementary School Attendance Zone Recommendations (Information Item)
Monday, December 4, 2023
7:00 p.m.
Staff Briefing & School Board Attendance Zone Public Hearing
Tuesday, December 12, 2023*
6:30 p.m.
School Board Adoption of Secondary School Attendance Zones
*Regular School Board Business Meeting The meetings will be held at the Loudoun County Public Schools Administration Building (21000 Education Court, Ashburn) and broadcast live on Comcast channel 18 and Verizon Fios channel 43, as well as viewable via simultaneous webcast on the Loudoun County Public Schools website (www. lcps.org/webcast). Attendance zone information and data, as it becomes available (including potential attendance zone plans being considered or reviewed by the School Board), will be posted on the ‘Fall 2023 – Dulles South Area Elementary School Attendance Zone Process’ webpage (www.lcps.org/Page/236731). Detail on how to sign up to speak at the identified public hearings is provided at www.lcps.org/ Page/223425. In-person sign-up will also be available between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., on the evening of each attendance zone hearing. Those who need translation/interpretation assistance or a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability in order to participate meaningfully in the School Board meetings or public hearings should contact the Superintendent’s Office at 571-252-1020 at least three (3) days prior to the meeting. Beverly I. Tate, Director Loudoun County Public Schools Division of Planning & GIS Services 21000 Education Court, Ashburn, Virginia 20148 Telephone: 571-252-1050 Email: LCPSPLAN@LCPS.ORG 10/5/2023, 10/12/2023, 10/19/2023, 10/26/2023, 11/2/2023, 11/9/2023, 11/16/2023, 11/23/2023, 11/30/2023, 12/7/2023
Applications must be submitted no later than November 1, 2023, to avoid late filing fees.
FILING FEES Received, or postmarked, by November 1, 2023 • $125 plus $1 per acre or portion thereof Received, or postmarked, between November 2 and December 5, 2023 • $125 plus $1 per acre or portion thereof plus a $300 per parcel late filing fee
Online: www.loudoun.gov/landuse Email: landuse@loudoun.gov Hours: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, M - F Phone: (703) 737-8557 Mailing Address PO Box 8000 MSC 32 Leesburg, VA 20177-9804 Overnight Deliveries 1 Harrison Street, SE, MSC 32 Leesburg, VA 20175-3102 Leesburg Office 1 Harrison Street, SE 1st Floor Leesburg, VA 20175 Sterling Office 46000 Center Oak Plaza Sterling, VA 20166 9/28, 10/5, 10/12, 10/19 & 10/26/23
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PAGE 27
Post your job listings at NowHiringLoudoun.com Town of Leesburg Employment Opportunities Please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs for more information and to apply online. Resumes may be submitted as supplemental only. EOE/ADA. Regular Full-Time Positions Position
Department
Salary Range
Closing Date
Assistant Director of Capital Projects
Public Works & Capital Projects
$91,202-$171,917 DOQ
Open until filled
Communications Technician (Police Dispatch)
Police
$53,000-$97,651 DOQ
Open until filled
Engineering Technician, Engineer I or Senior Engineer
Department of Community Development
$58,241-$140,614 DOQ
October 20th, 2023
Finance Director
Finance
$116,815-$220,197 DOQ
Open until filled
Laboratory Technician
Utilities
$53,000-$98,050 DOQ
Open until filled
Police Officer
Police
$65,000-$104,000 DOQ
Open until filled
Project Manager for Construction
Public Works & Capital Projects
$81,012-$152,707 DOQ
Open until filled
Recreation Center Supervisor
Parks & Recreation
$55,650 - $104,900 DOQ
Open until filled
Senior Engineer – Capital Projects
Public Works & Capital Projects
$74,596-$140,614 DOQ
Open until filled
Utilities Process Engineer
Utilities
$87,979-$165,840 DOQ
Open until filled
Utility Field Service Trainee, Technician or Senior Technician
Utilities
$52,000-$104,900 DOQ
Open until filled
Utility Instrumentation/SCADA System Technician
Utilities
$63,248-$119,223 DOQ
Open until filled
Position
Department
Salary Range
Closing Date
Library Associate or Senior Library Associate
Thomas Balch Library
Post your job listings anytime at
Flexible Part-Time Positions
NowHiringLoudoun.com NHLEmployerCard2.pdf
Meridien Group, LLC is seeking a motivated, qualified individual to handle all aspects of construction project management. Duties include Preparing, scheduling, coordinating and monitoring the assigned projects. Monitoring compliance to applicable codes, practices, QA/QC policies, performance standards and specifications. Interacting daily with the clients to interpret their needs and requirements and representing them in the field. We are looking for an accountable project engineer/project manager to be responsible for all engineering and technical disciplines that projects involve. You will schedule, plan, forecast, resource and manage all the technical activities aiming at assuring project accuracy and quality from conception to completion.
Contact Info:
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Katherine Hicks 305 Harrison Street STE 100 Leesburg, VA 20175 Send Resume to: khicks@meridiengroupllc.com (703) 777-8285
9/3/19
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$21.20-$37.55 DOQ Open1 until filled 10:58 AM NHLEmployerCard2.pdf 9/3/19
To review Ida Lee (Parks & Recreation) flexible part-time positions, please visit www.leesburgva.gov/jobs. Most positions will be filled at or near the minimum of the range. Dependent on qualifications. Construction Manager/Project Engineer All Town vacanciesProject may be viewed on Comcast Cable Channel 67 and Verizon FiOS Channel 35.
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PAGE 28
Title IX lawsuit continued from page 3 take the incident seriously, including the school insisting it would handle the investigation in house without contacting law enforcement and the school resource officer not questioning the girl properly about the incident. This led to her father confronting staff members in the main office of the school and then being escorted off school property by law enforcement, according to the complaint. According to the Blankingship & Keith report the father arrived at the high school saying, “someone raped my daughter,” and “where is this kid?” and was grabbed by the School Resource Officer after taking an aggressive step toward the principal. The special grand jury report that was unsealed in Dec. 2022 stated the father was initially denied entry into the school because he lacked proper identification. After a call to his wife to get in he learned what happened and became angry inside the school and was escorted
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off the grounds. An email sent out later that day by the division to the Stone Bridge school community informed parents of the incident with the father but did not notify them of the sexual assault or that the suspect had gone missing at school for three hours. The girl returned to school June 1 with the assurance from law enforcement a safety plan was in place, however none was in place, according to the complaint. She was hospitalized June 2 for two weeks for physical, mental, and emotional trauma as a result of the sexual assault, according to the complaint. The father, Scott Smith, was banned from Stone Bridge and later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at the June 22, 2021, School Board meeting where the board was discussing model policies that offered protections for transgender students, including allowing a student to use the pronoun they identified with and allowing students to use restrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity—later known as policy 8040. Gov. Glenn Youngkin in September
granted an absolute pardon to Smith. The June meeting was also the session where then-superintendent Scott Ziegler said, “to my knowledge we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms,” when asked by a board member if assaults happen in restrooms and locker rooms regularly. A special grand jury was impaneled in April 2022 to investigate criminal activity in Loudoun County Public Schools after it became known the student who sexually assaulted the girl was transferred to Broad Run High School and assaulted another student Oct. 6, 2021. According to the report written by the special grand jury and the Blankingship & Keith report, Ziegler was aware of the assaults. Both reports stated the second assault could have been prevented if the division had handled the situation better and the special grand jury report stated it seemed like the division was looking after its own interest rather than the interest of the students involved. The grand jury also issued a misdemeanor indictment against Ziegler, alleg-
OCTOBER 12, 2023
ing his statement that there had been no assaults in bathrooms violated Virginia’s law against false publication. The lawsuit states the division’s decision to not acknowledge what happened to the victim resulted in the School Board’s failure to “take remedial, supportive measure to provide her with a safe school environment after the sexual assault.” It also alledges the division’s claim it couldn’t conduct a Title IX investigation at the same time as law enforcement or discipline the student until after the Sheriff ’s office investigation was complete was false. It lists several dates in which the victim was the target of sex-based threats and physically assaulted during the 2021-2022 school year and times the division allegedly failed to address them in a timely manner or forced her to change her schedule. It also states that the division knew the assailant previously had engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with another student on school grounds. The suit seeks $30 million in damages, including the paying of expenses resulting from of the sexual assault. n
Prayer vigil continued from page 3 “Today, I come with a message to the enemies of our people,” he said. “A message we all must have. ‘Our love is stronger than your hate. You look at a group of men and women gathering together, and you see weakness. We look a group of men and women gathering together and we see strength.’ … When we encounter darkness, we must counter act with light.” Rabbi Neil Tow said those who attended the prayer ceremony were gathered in unity against hatred and terrorism. “Never in my 45 years of life have I seen people say sexual assault of a woman is justifiable or acceptable and yet over the past days we saw the glorification of such assaults on a woman. Israel’s enemies parading her around, seem to them to be able to say such a thing is justified. We come here today to say no,” he said. Yehudis Cohen encouraged Jews in Loudoun County and across the world to not hide and not be afraid. “There is no room for fear. Hamas wants us to be afraid. They know we’re watching. They want us to hunker down. … Don’t let them win,” she said. The service, held at the Murray Hill
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Members of Loudoun’s Jewish community gathered on Monday to light candles and pray following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
event center near Leesburg, was organized by Chabad of Loudoun County and at-
tended by approximately 100 community members who sang songs, prayed, and lit
candles for those who have died and are missing in Israel. n
OCTOBER 12, 2023
School budget continued from page 1 to use the $12 million for a greater pay raise was to keep the division at the top of the pay scale in a competitive market especially with teacher shortages. Jeff Morse (Dulles) spoke out against using all of the county-allotted money to go to pay raises. “Back in May we were pretty desperate, we had a $13 million hole in our budget and we thought the state wasn’t going to fill that,” he said, noting the Board of Supervisors stepped in to fill the budget gap. The final state budget allocated $3
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million to the division to support an additional 2% raise on top of the 5% already given to teachers from the state’s budget, but it requires a match from the locality. The division gave an average 5.8% raise earlier this year but it requires an additional 1.2% increase, or $7 million, receive the additional state funding. The staff recommended giving a full 2% raise, resulting in a district-wide average salary increase of 7.8%. Morse said the idea that the division wouldn’t return that unencumbered money gave him heartburn as he believed the amount belonged to the county. Superintendent Aaron Spence said he wouldn’t have presented the option if he hadn’t had conversations with the coun-
PAGE 29
ty staff and that they were comfortable with the division choosing the option. The School Board approved the option 6-1-2, with Tiffany Polifko (Broad Run) opposed and Ian Serotkin (Blue Ridge) and Denise Corbo (At-Large) absent for the vote. The board’s decision will now go to the Board of Supervisors for action. The board decided to table a vote on the staff proposal to allocate an additional $13.6 million in one-time flexible funds from the state be used for the governor’s ALL in VA initiative. Members said they wanted more information on how the grant funding would be used. The original plan by division staff was to have the board hear the division’s plan for the grant money during its Oct. 24
Sweet Run continued from page 1 from around the commonwealth and from around the nation and around the world to experience what we all know: That there is no place like Virginia on this planet,” Youngkin said. “Sweet Run Park will showcase its magnificent outdoors. It will be a gateway into Loudoun County, but also a gateway into the fabulous Appalachian Trail.” “Loudoun County will also see visitors come and stop at wineries and breweries and enjoy the great, great opportunity to live work and play in Loudoun County,” he said. Youngkin said the opening of Sweet Run was a rooted effort nearly 90 years ago by state leaders to establish a park system. “Virginia did something that no other state had done. We opened up an entire park system, not just a park, but an aspiration to have multiple destinations to celebrate God’s glory to celebrate this creation, to recreate and to conserve. And that’s what 1936 was all about. And so, we all stand on the shoulders of giants, who had vision in 1936,” he said. He pointed to the visions of the Leggetts, as well. “I’m really proud. I’m proud of the Virginia that I see. I’m proud of the people who I see doing extraordinary things. I’m proud of the statement that is made when a couple comes together and says there are lands that we should preserve and conserve and create a pathway to turn them into a wonderful state park,” Youngkin said. “I’m humbled by the work that has
Norman K. Styer/Loudoun Now
Park Interpreter Meg Doppee leads a tour telling visitors the story of the early settlers who made their homes at the confluence of Pine Run and Sweet Run at the base of the Blue Ridge in northern Loudoun.
gone into making today happen and I’m excited about the future experiences, the memories that will be formed right here at Sweet Run.” Director of Virginia State Parks Melissa Baker highlighted the history of the property, where settlers in the late 1700s established the Waters community at the confluence of two creeks, Piney Run and Sweet Run. Property was part of the original land grant to Lord Fairfax in 1649. Early settlers leased land and later bought plots. The land provided timber for shipbuilding and charcoal to fuel the armory operations at nearby Harpers Ferry. “It’s indeed important and inspiring to be able to see these historic features that go back to the nation’s early days. And it’s gratifying to know that the history here will remain here. In that area in many places, it looks like it did to those
who lived and worked this land centuries ago,” Baker said. “Virginia state parks play an important role in connecting the community to these wonderful outdoor recreation and historic spaces. And we’re proud to expand that great legacy.” Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Travis A. Voyles highlighted the positive economic impact park operations can have. “In addition to protecting all those natural wonders and more, Sweet Run will build on the incredible legacy that our state park system had here in Virginia. In recent years, we’ve seen visitors to our state parks spend over $300 million annually. And of that total nearly $25 million was generated by out of state visitors. Sweet Run will only add to that.” Director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Matthew S. Wells highlighted the community part-
meeting. Both Willoughby and Spence said the date was pretty optimistic based on how complicated the process was. Spence said he felt a plan could be presented to the School Board in late November. The ALL in VA Initiative is a collaborated effort with the Virginia Department of Education to accelerate learning as students continue to catch up after the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes three focus areas: attendance, literacy and learning. The plan also establishes a statewide chronic absenteeism task force, an intensive statewide tutoring initiative, and continued emphasis on implementing the Virginia Literacy Act. n
nership over the past 25 years that made the park possible. That started in 1999 when the Leggetts purchased the land and established the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship to manage the property and provide public access. In 2014, working with the Old Dominion Land Conservancy and Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration, they donated 600 acres for park use with a vision for the park to eventually grow to 1,500 acres. In 2018, the Loudoun County government contributed $2.9 million to purchase an additional 281 acres to be added to the park property, a transaction championed by then-Catoctin District Supervisor Geary Higgins. The 2019 state budget aurthorized the acceptance of the donation. Finally, in 2022, the General Assembly approved funding to open and staff the park. Sweet Run officially became a state park on May 26, 2023. “All of our parks rely on volunteer friends to run them, and this will be no different. We’re incredibly lucky that the Between the Hills Conservancy will continue their support of this park and its friends group bringing over 50 volunteers to support all aspects of its operation,” Wells said. Wells noted the park is only in its beginning phase, with its future to be determined by a master plan that will be developed with input from the community in the months ahead. The park, located at 11661 Harpers Ferry Road, is open from 8 a.m. to dusk. It is not yet open for overnight activities. Learn more at dcr.virginia.gov/ state-parks/sweet-run-sp. n
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PAGE 30
OCTOBER 12, 2023
Opinion Published by Amendment One Loudoun, LLC 15 N. King St., Suite 101 Leesburg, VA, 20176 PO Box 207 Leesburg, VA 20178 703-770-9723
NORMAN K. STYER Publisher and Editor nstyer@loudounnow.com EDITORIAL ALEXIS GUSTIN Reporter agustin@loudounnow.com HANNA PAMPALONI Reporter hpampaloni@loudounnow.com
The Double Dip In May, the Board of Supervisors approved an unusual supplemental appropriation to the School Board to provide an additional $13 million to address a state funding shortfall that resulted from a gridlocked General Assembly that had been unable to adopt its own budget. At the time, it was viewed as an emergency measure— and a temporary one. Once our elected representatives in Capital Square got their act together and provided the expected level of funding, there was an expectation the additional local allocation would be returned to Harrison Street. Fast forward a few months and an entirely new plan is on the table—one in which the School Board both gets its expected funding from Richmond and keeps the extra county money. And the school division staff gets another round of pay raises—one that will cost $12 million starting in January and $24 million annually thereafter.
School Board member Jeff Morse appropriately raised concerns about the optics of the shuffle. He was worried that the Board of Supervisors would view it as a bait-andswitch maneuver. Concerns on that front seemed to wane with assurances from the superintendent that the approach had the support of senior members of the county staff. But how should taxpayers feel? $12 million is an infinitesimal part of the School Board’s $2.2 billion budget. It seemed reasonable in May to think the schools could make up that small funding gap in the unlikely scenario that state leaders would remain at loggerheads. And it seems reasonable now to believe that the funding needed to maximize the state’s pay raise could be found in there, as well. But, we are reminded, that’s not how our government does budgeting anymore. n
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LETTERS to the Editor Very Sad Editor: Two tumultuous weeks have passed since Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton announced that she would not be running for re-election. Two weeks that the crazy conference (affectionately known), masquerading as the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, first tried to shut down the government. Failing that, they shut down their conference by getting rid of their speaker. Jennifer’s announcement was devastating and disappointing for
her constituents regardless of party. In a few short years representing the 10th Congressional District, Jennifer Wexton, by all accounts making a positive difference in people’s lives, established herself as a bright, shining light, a representative’s representative to be emulated by all who aspire to run for office. She has been fighting a rare disease that has affected her speech and movement, but as a fighter all her life, she was determined to overcome. As time passed, she decided with no cure and treatment not working, not to stand for re-election. She deserves heartfelt thanks from her
constituents for all she has done, putting them first. Serving on the Appropriations Committee, by bringing manufacturing and infrastructure to her district to create jobs and improving transportation and housing, to name a few. Her legacy will show a fighter to protect health care and a strong supporter for victims of domestic abuse and violence and for children’s cancer research. Juxtapose Jennifer’s public service with the chaos and mayhem consuming the majority in the House of Representatives. How very sad. — Fariborz Fatemi, McLean
Send us your letters to the editor at editor@loudounnow.com Find more letters online this week at LoudounNow.com
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OCTOBER 12, 2023
READERS’ poll
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CHIPshots
LAST WEEK'S QUESTION:
What is your top concern in the General Assembly races? My party •• 40.8% winning majority control Fiscal •• 32.2% responsibility •• 15.8% Abortion laws •• 7.2% Education •• 2.6% Environment •• 1.3% Transportation THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
What is the best use of your local tax dollars?
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