Opinion
Dear Editor: On July 26, I attended a Purcellville Town Council meeting to better understand current traffic and safety issues. Little did I know I was walking into a forum that would display a pitiful political stunt that is seen way too often at the national level right before my eyes in small town Purcellville,…
Dear Editor: Hung Cao has once again met the enemy, but this time the enemy is the domestic kind. Cao, a retired US Navy Captain—who swore an oath “to support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”—has previously met the enemy—the foreign kind—in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia, and his…
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…
Dear Editor: Starting in the spring of 2023 West Virginia plans to close Rt. 340 at the VA/WV state line for at least 90 days to complete a Rock Slide Repair Project. The WVDOT had three options: a total closure, one lane with traffic lights at either end to allow for alternating traffic, or two…
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: When a taxpayer and long-term resident of Loudoun County sends a letter of concern to a County official about a proposed development in their neighborhood, is it common practice for that letter to be forwarded to the developer’s consulting engineer? It wouldn’t seem so, but this is what we experienced. Just up the…
Dear Editor:May 10th is a big day! After a long effort, there’s some good news: Loudoun County Schools Superintendent Ziegler’s current budget proposal finally acknowledges the need to invest $3.6 million into the arts to provide adequate staffing for safety and to achieve equity with athletic staffing. BUT – he only wants to provide $1.2 million this year…
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…
By Adam Stevenson The Virginia Department of Transportation recently proposed improvements at the Rt. 7/287 interchange. The project scope “includes lengthened and widened ramps and expanded turn and through lanes along Rt. 287 between Eastgate Drive and the westbound Rt. 7 entrance/exit ramps.” It also includes “expanded pedestrian access to the W&OD Trail and traffic…