Opinion

Effective Policing, Not Profiling

August 14, 2025

By Frank Holtz, Chairman, Loudoun County Crime Commission In recent weeks we have witnessed a reckless effort by anti-public safety activists to undermine the outstanding work of Sheriff Chapman and our Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in keeping Loudoun the safest locality in the metro Washington area—and one of the safest major counties in the…

Don’t let affordable health insurance slip away

August 14, 2025

Dear Editor: If Congress doesn’t act soon to extend federal health care tax credits, 350,000 Virginians could lose access to affordable health insurance. That includes the hardworking individuals who power our small businesses, whether they provide child care, repair our vehicles, or keep our homes clean. I’m the President and CEO of You’ve Got Maids…

Justice shouldn’t be politized

July 30, 2025

Dear Editor: As Mayor, I cannot stay silent in the face of what’s unfolding in our town. Let me be clear, I stand firmly behind the principle that every individual is innocent until proven guilty. What we are witnessing today are serious charges, but they come at a time of deep political division and immediately…

Did Purcellville really pay $12K for a six-page organizational assessment report?

July 30, 2025

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…

Boneheads

July 30, 2025

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…

Are conservation easements truly permanent? Maybe not.

July 2, 2025

Density – overcrowding – has been a Loudoun problem for years. Some while back, voters rose up and tossed out the entire Board of Supervisors. That brought some help, but not for long. Since then, residential areas in eastern Loudoun have pretty much been built out.  The Transition Policy Area was to be an area…

Preserving Paxson-Airmont: A Rural Community at Risk

July 2, 2025

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…

Dirty-Coal-Powered Water-Sucking Sprawling Data Centers

July 2, 2025

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…

What does “revitalization” mean for Purcellville?

July 2, 2025

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…

Kudos, ear buds and the color brown

July 2, 2025

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…