Op-Ed
By Floyd Nelson Shortly after 6 p.m., a single bullet fired from a high-powered, big-game hunting rifle split the early evening air in Memphis, Tennessee and found its intended mark. But it wasn’t a deer, elk or bear that lay mortally wounded on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968, it was…
By Loudoun County Catoctin District Supervisor, Caleb A. Kershner It’s budget season in Loudoun County so you may have heard that the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to remove the annoying $25 Vehicle License Fee (VLF) on motor vehicles, motorcycles and any trucks located in the County outside of a Town. Eliminating the county VLF…
The Missing Billions By Charles Houston How much does the Board plan to spend? It’s hard to know. There’s an adopted budget of $6.9 billion on the County website, but Supervisors now bandy about a much lower budget, $4.7 billion. The $2.2 billion difference needs to be explained. I’ll try. Is the $2.2 billion difference…
By John Ellis Citizens living on a narrow gravel road on the east side of Short Hill Mountain recently learned that a developer is planning to build a 20-unit “cluster subdivision” on an adjacent property. The development will increase the daily traffic on that road from about 60 to over 250 vehicle trips per day. …
By Charles Houston The vet and I were chatting as she gave our horses their spring shots. I mentioned that my wife and I were shortly leaving for a vacation in Austria. When the vet heard that, she exclaimed, “You have to see Hallstatt! You absolutely must!” I believed her and marked it boldly on…
By Charles Houston Years ago, I was driving a rental car near Nice, when I came upon something I’d never seen: A floral traffic circle. Not a plain, generic traffic circle, but an over-the-top extravagance filled with thousands of flowers all abloom. It made me smile. Later it made me think, and I came up…
By Kwasi Fraser, former Town of Purcellville Mayor Here we go again. The politicians are at it once more, spinning dreams of housing affordability while conveniently ignoring the true costs of their promises. No mention of paying people more to keep pace with housing prices. No acknowledgment of the economic strain these plans will place…
By Charles Houston The Board recently approved a $1.7 million “wayfinding” program but directed Staff to rethink a proposed 40.5-mile western Loudoun route. I applaud the Board of Supervisors for hitting “Pause” on that ill-considered portion of Staff’s “Wayfinding” proposal. I also thank Supervisor Briskman for pointing out that a 40.5-mile route is simply too…
By Kwasi Fraser, former Purcellville Mayor Let me be perfectly clear: the Town’s recent bill insert attempting to justify the current and future double-digit water and sewer rate hikes by blaming prior Town Councils is not just disingenuous—it’s downright deceptive. This politically motivated propaganda insults the intelligence of every resident who has faithfully paid their…
By Charles Houston My last Op-Ed mentioned ADUs, but here’s more detail and skepticism. I had a difficult time coming up with a title to this jeremiad about Loudoun’s Affordable Housing programs, which is now called “Attainable Housing.” I thought of possible titles for this piece: Developers Outsmart Government; ADU’s – Developers’ Scam; The False…