Op-Ed
By Charles Houston Years ago, I was a young project manager for a major Atlanta developer and one day was invited to join the partners’ meeting to report on my first big project. I kept it short: The infrastructure was almost finished, the first six-story building was halfway complete. That project is now UPS’s world…
By Charles Houston That translates to “Loudoun, where more is less” and refers to its government. I’m interested in the bureaucratic nature of entities as they get larger and attempt to do more and more things. This is a fantasy about an alternative way of doing things, using Loudoun as a template. My thoughts are…
By Charles Houston “Common weal” is the archaic term for the satisfactory general welfare of the citizenry. The “general welfare” is a critical concept that implies a satisfactory state of affairs. How do we obtain general welfare, and how does that concept relate to using one’s land? “My Farm is My 4.01(k) Plan.” I’ve often…
By Charles Houston My childhood breakfasts often featured milk that had soured. (Cue the bad memories.) Once away at college I had a chance to have breakfast my way, so I signed up for fresh chocolate milk every morning. The smooth sweet taste was a treat. A treat for about a week. By then I…
By Charles Houston Visit Loudoun has been meeting with various groups touting the importance of its mission – bringing more tourists to Loudoun. Its influential president, Beth Erickson, comes armed with a presentation focused on a survey it commissioned. VL also has a nifty booklet with a county map in the centerfold, locating the forty-five…
By Adam Stevenson Loudoun County has released plans for a recreation complex to be located at the Fields Farm property south of Woodgrove High School and directly west of the Mayfair development. The existing plans detail the inclusion of five soccer fields, two baseball fields and one softball field, maintenance structures, restrooms and concession facilities. …
By Charles Houston A lick-log is a hollowed-out tree trunk, filled with salt that cattle or horses can lick. That somehow led to its vernacular usage today, which means nearing the end of negotiations. In 1836 the Mexican general Santa Ana besieged the Alamo. After a 13-day encirclement, his army left its encampments for a…
By Adam Stevenson In the haze of not-so-distant childhood summer days, one image – or collection of images and memories – remains especially resonant. Walking into Nichols Hardware – after heaving the solidly heavy wooden door open – I would look down the counter at a line of old and wizened men. Looking back now…
By Charles Houston “Government of the people, by the people and for the people.” Lincoln is credited with this high-minded oration, but he was actually paraphrasing Plato from the Greek philosopher’s ca. 380 BC Republic. That declaration fits Loudoun County: Our county belongs to its people, not to business interests. Populism I’ve incorrectly used the…
Dear Editor: COVID opened the eyes of thousands of parents around the U.S. to the sad state of the American Public Education System. School Board meetings that used to be snooze fests became headline news. Parents began organizing groups so that their voices could be amplified, a voice that has been all but silent in…