Op-Ed
By John Ellis A core principle of public service is that officials should not personally profit from the decisions they make in office. In the early 2000s, the then head of Loudoun’s Planning Commission voted to approve development applications submitted by a firm from which he received substantial personal business. In 2004, a former County…
By Charlie Houston Yes, this is all about me, from way back when to today. About fifteen years ago I was walking my horse to let him—and myself—cool down after a riding lesson, when my trainer said, “You live an interesting life.” I just smiled but that’s been on my mind ever since. A few…
By Charlie Houston Those words popped into my head one morning with a poetic ring—love, death, autumn’s crisp days, tenderness. They seemed rich with meaning. Maybe they could even make me rich and famous. I tried turning them into a song, scribbling stanzas without music to guide me. My wife said that couldn’t work. A…
By Delegate Geary Higgins You’ve probably heard the phrase “parental rights” a lot lately. Maybe you’ve even seen it dismissed by pundits, the school board, or activists as some kind of dog whistle. But here’s the truth: there’s nothing extreme about believing that moms and dads—not bureaucrats, not activists, and certainly not politicians—should be the…
By Lloyd Harting In March of 2025, the Town of Purcellville awarded a $12,000 service contract to perform a comprehensive organizational assessment of the Purcellville Police Department. What the town received instead was a six-page report, and one of those pages was the consultant’s biography. This so-called “organizational assessment” was performed by Major Consulting and…
By Charlie Houston Dictionaries define “bonehead” as a dumb or foolish person. My definition is broader and includes people or organizations which have done things that turn out to be glaringly wrong, such as athletes, actors, politicians, governments and others. Athletes Shaquille O’Neill on visiting the Parthenon in Greece said, “I really can’t remember all…
By Larry Campbell, Vice President on behalf of Friends of Paxson-Airmont, a 501(c)(3) Charitable organization Western Loudoun County—including the Paxson-Airmont community—is one of Virginia’s most valued rural landscapes. It is defined by open pastures, historic farmsteads, stone walls, and a way of life shaped by conservation and responsible land stewardship. That character is now at…
By John P. Flannery, II Multi Gigawatt Data Centers in Loudoun County exist in large numbers, operate at high speeds, full time all the time; they’ve altered forever the residential, farmland and small business community that defined the Loudoun we once enjoyed. From 1997 to July 2024, the expansion in square feet for the County’s…
By John Ellis Those who use political buzz words and those who are listening may have widely different interpretations of what the words actually mean. Take the word “revitalization.” As one of many who hopes Purcellville will maintain its charming small town character, I was taken aback when the Mayor objected to the following proposed…
By Charles Houston Kudos Phyllis Randall, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, gets kudos for her attentiveness and engagement with a large delegation of citizens protesting the ill-conceived proposal to link Waterford and Paeonian Springs with 2.5 miles of new water and sewer lines along Clarkes Gap Road. (If this is new to you, check…