Mid March 2016 Warren and Frederick County Report

Page 1

Warren FREE County Report WarrenCountyVA.com

Volume X1, Issue 5 路 Mid March, 2016

FrederickCounty.com

High school wrestling standouts

Whale watching

Urgent Care moves

Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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Valley Health Urgent Care clinic moves to Riverton Commons, holds ribbon cutting

Valley Health Urgent Care has moved from Commerce Avenue in Front Royal to Riverton Commons north of town. Photo by Ken Thurman. By Timothy Ratigan Warren & Frederick County Report Valley Health Urgent Care and Occupational Health held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday March 1 for their new 4,700-square-foot facility in the Riverton Commons Shopping Center. The Urgent Care Clinic staff on Commerce Avenue will cease seeing patients on March 2 at 8 p.m., and the newly minted clinic out in the Corridor will take up that mission. The new facility will be open for patients at 8 a.m. on March 3. Mark Merrill, president and CEO of the Valley Health Systems,

thanked the crowd for attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility that will serve Warren County, Front Royal and the better part of the Northern Shenandoah Valley. “Our Mission at Valley Health is to serve our community by improving health and we do both inside the walls of our hospitals and new facilities like this new urgent care facility, but also outside the walls like at community fairs at schools and county fairs and churches etc. We help patients from the time of birth until patients are in the twilight of their years with our long term care facilities. So it is a pleasure to be here today to dedicate this facility to serve the community.

In addition to urgent care facilities across the region, Valley Health offers comprehensive cardiovascular services, oncology services, orthopedic and imaging and many more services to meet the needs of this community. We also offer trauma and emergency services as well. But our goal is not to just provide services but to promote the health of this community and to keep people well and ideally to keep people outside the walls of this facility,” he said. Merrill pointed out that urgent care facilities serve a crucial role by offering convenient, accessible, after hours and weekend access to services.

He added that the new urgent care facility will play an additional role. “This Urgent Care Facility will also offer occupational health services to help support employers in this region in keeping their employees healthy and if they are injured to get them back to work quickly,” he concluded. Floyd Heater, president of Warren Memorial Hospital, spoke next and said, “On a personal note I have had the pleasure of being cared for by the staff of the Urgent Care facility here in Front Royal. I would like to congratulate you on your new home.” President Christ Rucker of Valley Regional Enterprises thanked the center employees for their role and

hard work in getting the new facility ready for patients who will start arriving on Thursday. “I hope you appreciate that we’ve attempted to locate this at a very easily accessible location, very close to a major interstate, near community routes and near the places where people live, shop and work,” he said. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place after the public comments, and attendees were invited in for a tour of the new facility. During the tour I had the opportunity to get comments from several members of the county’s board of supervisors, including Chairman Linda See URGENT CARE,

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Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page

Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Valley Health Urgent Care Staff members and officials cut the ribbon to the new Urgent Care Clinic in the Riverton Commons Shopping Center URGENT CARE, from Glavis, who said the facility was a great thing for Warren County and its citizens. Shenandoah District Supervisor Tom Sayre also commented on the day’s event. “I think this is a wonderful thing. I would like to see the other clinic on Commerce Avenue kept at least partially open as it is a long drive out here for the citizens who live in town. But this is nice. It is going to serve a good part of the community. It would be nice to keep the other place open partially, after hours especially,” he observed. North River Supervisor Dan Murray said, “I think this is one of the best things to have happened to Warren County and especially North River District in years. Business is business but we have to take care of our people. And this is a big step in accomplishing that goal. In touring the new facility, the attention to detail is unbelievable. Everything is state of the art with the X-ray room and the

rest. The location will make it more accessible to the area industry and even folks coming off the interstate as well. With people traveling and they start to have a medical issue this facility is right off the interstate.” Pam Lambert, director of the Urgent Care facility, talked about the kinds of improvements in services people can expect at the new location. “We will be closing the Commerce Avenue facility on Wednesday March 2 at 8 p.m., and then open Thursday morning on the third of March at 8

Director Pam Lambert converses with one of the clinic’s nurses

a.m. We anticipate that there will be no interruption of services. We will continue to see our normal volume of urgent care patients and about a third of our volume will be the occupational health patients from the area. We expect that number to remain the same for the time being and then begin to grow in the future. “A lot of the businesses who will utilize our services are along the Corridor and closer to the town limits. We really feel that this location is going to be really good for our Occupational Health business partners.

We’ve been getting a lot of feedback from our patients from Commerce Avenue. We feel that we are going to be able to offer a better work flow here at the new location. “We will be able to get them in quicker and out quicker and we also have our new ‘Skip the Wait’ campaign where people can go on line at

vhurgentcare.com and reserve their appointment. It will be more convenient in that people will be able to wait at home or at work instead of waiting in a waiting room feeling bad. Instead they can wait where they will be more comfortable. They will also be able to manage their time information on their phones via text. By

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Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page

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Member Virginia Press Association Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Daniel P. McDermott editor@warrencountyreport.com General Counsel: Georgia Rossiter, Esquire (540) 535-2001 Managing Editor Carol Ballard: carol@areaguides.com (540) 551-0644 Copy Editor: Laura Biondi editor@warrencountyreport.com Reporters Tim Ratigan: tim@areaguides.com Teresa Brumback: brumback@areaguides.com Mario Orlikoff: mario@areaguides.com Sue Golden National & Agency Advertising: Alison Duvall: (540) 551-2072 alisond@warrencountyreport.com Advertising Sales Representatives: Alison Duvall: (540) 551-2072 alisond@warrencountyreport.com Billing Coordinator: Pam Cole billing@warrencountyreport.com Graphic Design & Layout: layout@warrencountyreport.com Contributors: Ken Thurman Ryan Koch, Cartoonist Extraordinaire Kevin S. Engle, Humor Columnist If you are interested in contributing articles to our paper, please e-mail: editor@warrencountyreport.com Press releases should be emailed to: briefs@warrencountyreport.com This publication is printed on 100% recycled paper with soy-based ink

North River Supervisor Dan Murray enjoys the tour of the new Urgent Care Clinic

A look at a Disney-themed treatment room at the new Urgent Care Clinic

this means we can let them know that we are ready to see them, or if there is an unexpected delay that they will need to know about. The process has become more tech savvy and streamlined. Patients will also be able to

Lambert gave a general layout of the staff and services offered at this facility. The clinic’s staff will include a registration specialist, nurses, radiology tech, health providers and physicians. Services to be offered include: treatment for minor injuries and illnesses; drug screenings; on-site X-Rays and lab services; vaccinations; travel health services; respirator fit testing and pulmonary

type in their location in their phones and they can see their wait times and also compare wait times in the other urgent care facilities and will also be able to show which facility is closer to them as well,” she explained.

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function screening. Patients can walk into the clinic at any time. No appointment is needed during normal business hours. Patients will also be able to save time by checking in online with the Skip the Wait feature at vhurgentcare. com. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. – tim@areaguides.com

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Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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When you can’t go fishing...Watch a whale

Whale watchers on the Rudee Flipper Tour boat see the last of a breaching whale as only the fluke is visible. Photo creditKristin Rayfield By Teresa Brumback Warren & Frederick County Report Out in the ocean this time of year, Virginia Beach’s elusive swimmy creatures largely remain hidden underneath the dark-greenish gray waters. Some, however, are large and easy to spot from a boat. Take whales. This time of year, the Rudee Flipper is busy taking tourists and locals out to see dark blue-black humpback whales with white bellies rising up from the waves long enough for a much anticipated flip or two, or to turn on their sides and flop back down. It’s a breathtaking sight, and the people who see them from the boat all seem to gasp in awe in unison. Humpback whales are known to come out of the water every five minutes to take two to three breaths, according to Kristin Rayfield, education coordinator and naturalist for the Rudee Tours in Virginia Beach. She coordinates a lot of her camera-based research with the Virginia

Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach as well as Allied Whales in Maine. There are believed to be 30 humpbacks as well as 1,500 grey Atlantic bottle-nose dolphins along the study area which stretches from the Eastern Shore of Maryland to North Carolina, she says. Humpbacks, so named for their shape, spanning 40 to 55 feet long, weighing 80,000 pounds and living to be 50 years are on the federal endangered species list. Dolphins are not endangered but like the humpbacks they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. That Act, among other things, includes bans on feeding and ensuring that the boats get no closer than 100 yards from the whales and dolphin feeding areas, company officials explain. Dolphins, however, are playful and engaging, often swimming up to the boat and riding alongside in the surf just inches from the boat at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. Due to their sensitive hearing via sonar, “They know we’re coming before we

A Bottlenose dolphin smiles its signature smile as it skims through the water. Photo creditKristin Rayfield get there,” says boat captain Maggie Whittemore. They’ll dart back and forth along the boat torpedo-style, spinning as they go, sometimes darting underneath the boat as it’s moving and then coming up on the other side. It’s a fast-moving show that keeps everyone, including a wheelchair-bound guest at the front of the boat, spellbound. Families of dolphins can be seen hanging out together and flipping around in the warmer months, identified by distinctive markings and shapes on their dorsal fins. Whale watching tours at Virginia Beach run from mid-December through March 13, so there’s still time to enjoy these ocean beasts.

While sightings are common, they are guaranteed only through Feb. 15 with Rudee Tours. “This winter we had 30 different whales,” says Whittemore, The dolphin tours will be starting up again around the end of March through October. Dolphin sightings have a money-back guarantee Memorial Day through Labor Day, according to Whittemore. Both tours are truly amazing, top priorities whenever I manage to get to the beach. Unfortunately, all I had was a disposable camera so I couldn’t capture the image of the whales that I saw. “It was fantastic, something I’ll never forget,” says Susan Jeffery of

Front Royal, a business manager for the Warren Heritage Society who has visited the beach for years and didn’t know about the tours until she heard about it from a friend. In the $20 range for an hour and a half to twohour tour of dolphins and whales respectively, she describes it as a great affordable way to see a natural wonder up close. “You see the mist coming up from the water. That’s when you know there’s a whale there.” The spray is caused when they breathe, according to tour boat officials. Sometimes the whales rise and flop over into the water; scientists aren’t sure why, says Whittemore. They also flop their tails, believed to be a feeding technique which stuns their

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com fish prey. Like dolphins, they jump up to have fun with each other, she says. The dolphins in particular like to show off, usually with each other during mating season. Both Whittemore and Rayfield say they are confident that the dolphins also like to show off for humans. The Flipper, and the Rocket, a much faster version which runs in the warmer months for a dollar more, are run by Rudee Tours at the Virginia Beach Fishing Center, located a block off the ocean at the southern end of Virginia Beach. The Flipper holds 149 people; the Rocket 117. The Rocket goes about 33 miles per hour; the Flipper around 10 miles per hour. While the Rocket is an open-air boat offering only water for guests, the Flipper is equipped with all the modern conveniences for year-round comfort. It has a heated interior for whale watchers in the wintertime; air conditioning in the summer, as well as a full bar and snack bar with hot dogs, popcorn and more. For those who don’t mind the outdoor temperatures or getting splashed, a large area with bench seating runs along the exterior of the boat. Families are welcomed, the boat has a live guided narration of the dolphins and whales with information on the latest research and conservation efforts. It’s a great first-hand educational experience for children. The best views depend on where the whales happen to be at any given time but the captain maneuvers the boat so that no matter where you are you can usually get a good view of the action. They follow the fish, generally feeding on small oily fish called menhaden. The boat tours are one of the best

bargains for stuff to do on or around the beach, on or off season. During a recent summer, the girls’ night out group I started, the Pink Flamingos, flocked to Virginia Beach to rest our feathers in a plush condo, and swim in the ocean mimicking plush-sized mermaids. We also enjoyed taking in the sand sculpture contest from the boardwalk, sans sand, and dining at my favorite place on the oceanfront, Waterman’s Surfside Grille, where you can enjoy big crab-stuffed omelets, homemade rum buns and fresh-squeezed orange juice on Sundays. We had no choice but to greet “King Neptune,� the gigantic sculpture of the sea god that dominates the boardwalk near the northern end while eating appetizers around an open fire pit at the Hilton Hotel. We also wanted to see dolphins--not in a tank, not in a show, but in the wild. Here you can do that. For just $21 for adults; $16 for kids and free for kids 3 and under, you get a boat ride that would be well worth the money even if you didn’t see any dolphins. But I’ve always seen them close up from the boat. Every time I go to the beach I go on a dolphin watch tour. Their fins can be seen popping up out of the water during the day especially early morning as they travel up and down the coastline in the warm months, but seeing them close up from the boat is beyond words. “It’s not the Grand Canyon but it’s a great experience,� says veteran Flamingo, Pam Henry-Sievert of Bentonville, a guidance counselor at Liberty High School in Warrenton. “It was early morning when we went. The sun’s rays glimmered on the blue water and off the dolphins

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page

A whale tour is the best place to see a breaching Humpback whale. Photo credit-Kristin Rayfield as they jumped in the water. It was a peaceful, calming experience besides getting windblown...My hair was a mess!� Every time I’ve gone out I’ve seen several bunches of them at different points along the trip. The boat travels parallel to the beach, sometimes south, sometimes north toward a lighthouse. Whether the goal is to see dolphins or whales, there are other sea creatures and birds along the way to enjoy. Giant sea turtles and stingrays can often be seen floating just underneath the surface. The sea turtles are known to be skittish. On one trip, we were further off shore and were surrounded by

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brown pelicans which flew high up in the sky, then dove straight down, Japanese bomber-style, to catch fish. It sounded like groups of missiles hitting the water until we realized the ruckus was caused by these strange birds that were once endangered due to DDT use in the 1960s, which was later banned. They obviously made a big comeback given the big splash they made that day. These birds dip down long enough to catch a fish underwater, then swim back up to safety and float along like ducks. During the Pink Flamingo outing, Henry-Sievert was delighted to capture lots of images of dolphins on her Nikon camera. She was flipping through images of Flipper and his friends until one strange image appeared that looked more like a whale or unidentified sea monster. We showed it to our server at Waterman’s Surfside Grille, a business grad from college who years later, cut off his hair, having worked his way up to manager at the same restaurant. He

had lived at the beach all his life, and wasn’t sure what the image was. We showed it to other locals including fishermen who disagreed on whether it was a dolphin, whale or sea monster. It’s a mystery to this day. One explanation, according to Rayfield, is that while whales or dolphins usually hang out with their own species, for reasons unclear sometimes a stray from another species will join them. Since we didn’t do any fishing on this trip, that was our fish story. But Rudee Tours also offers deep sea fishing year round. This time of year on the 17-hour trips they are catching sea bass, tile fish and groupers, officials say. For more information on any of the ocean tours and schedules, call Rudee Tours at 757-425-3400. For visitors’ information on Virginia Beach including lodging, call the Virginia Beach Visitors Center at 1-800VABEACH. – brumback@areaguides.com

Page • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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Food trucks coming to Front Royal

Craig Laird speaks out in favor of allowing food trucks to operate in Front Royal By Timothy Ratigan Warren/Frederick County Report All across the nation there is a food sensation coming to small towns and large cities.

Food trucks are cropping up in office complexes, construction sites, around main streets and where visitors and tourists gather. They’re serving everything from burgers and hot dogs to gourmet sandwiches

to meals. Gone are the days of the dreaded roach coaches that you only ate at as a last resort and later paid the price by sitting up for the rest of the night. Now you have shiny new and brightly colored trucks that hold small efficient, clean and modern kitchens. These trucks are manned with as many three workers sending out fresh hot meals or fresh salads and unique and delicious desserts as fast as they can make them. Each of these trucks goes through rigorous health, electrical and plumbing inspections. Each truck is required to get some sort of license from the town or city they want to do business in, depending on individual ordinances. In the State of Virginia, you will find these eateries in Richmond by simply going to a website titled ‘Food Trucks in Richmond’ and you will find over thirty different trucks selling everything from frozen treats to BBQ dinners. In fact, in most major cities in the commonwealth you will find that the governing bodies have established some sort of guidelines or ordinances that apply to ownership, maintenance and safe and sanitary operations of food trucks. Some of the other major cities in the commonwealth that have made this new industry welcome are Fairfax, Alexandria, and the City of Norfolk. Interestingly enough there are even ‘Food Truck Rodeos’ being hosted around the state where vendors can come in and compete for bragging rights and cash prizes. So like it or not food trucks are here to stay for

the foreseeable future and it seems that at least some on the Front Royal Town Council have been bitten with the food truck bug. At the February 22, council meeting, a public hearing was held to lay the groundwork for establishing a town ordinance to allow the food truck industry to come to Front Royal. Two local residents and business owners spoke at the hearing. First to speak was Craig Laird. Laird owns three businesses within the town limits and one of them is a brick and mortar food establishment, Main Street’s Shenandoah Confections. “I’ve looked over and listened to the work sessions about the food truck issue. I and other members of FRIBA (Front Royal Independent Business Alliance) are in favor of this. One of the conditions of this is that we need to look at other localities. We need to make the process streamlined so that we can get these trucks here. There are rumors that some of our local food truck owners may not want to come to Warren County/Front Royal due to the way this ordinance is currently written. It may be constrictive in how the fees are assessed and how much the fees are. We have been in contact with the town manager and he has given us figures and fees on other localities. We hope that you do your due diligence in this and look at what other localities are charging. For instance in Shenandoah County they are not charging anything. In the town of Strasburg they are only charging $75 a year. So these are very

low figures. The $500 figure that our ordinance is currently calling for may be too high. The city of Winchester is charging $250 a year. Perhaps the town can look into that $250-$300 range. Perhaps you can even talk to the owners of the food trucks and ask the question, ‘What will bring you here to Front Royal?’” He stressed that the town of Front Royal needs this new industry because competition breeds excellence, and believes that if there are more food establishments it will bring more people to the town. He also said that with IT Federal being built, he looks forward to having one or more food trucks out there. “It’s just a natural extension of having workers there that want to have food at noon time. So let’s be as easy as possible to get this done. Let’s make it easy, fair and let’s bring these food trucks to town,” he said. George McIntyre, county resident and owner of the popular Apple House in Linden, spoke next. “My family is getting ready to put a food truck on the road. This is something that we have debated out for many years and we’ve found the explosion in that industry to be pretty amazing, so we are hoping to jump into it. We are a little concerned with the attitude that Front Royal has had with food trucks. At one point there was a comment made from the administration that they didn’t want them in this town. Hopefully that attitude has changed. I recently spoke

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com with a lady who very recently paid a $500 peddler’s fee for a food trailer that sits on her property and she is required to move the trailer once a week. I don’t get that. “I think that is foolishness. I object to that kind of message being sent out. I think that we have a great community. We are trying so hard to do some things in a good way. Reinventing the wheel is not the way to go. Look at your competition, look at the other localities out there and just be fair about it. It’s a good busi-

ness and it will stimulate interest in our community. This industry is in the billions of dollars now so it is not a fly by night roach coach that you used to hear them being referred to.” Mayor Timothy Darr reminded the council and citizens that this was a first reading and that changes could be made to the ordinance between the first reading and second reading. Councilwoman Bébhinn Egger opened the council discussion by saying, “I had inquired about doing a lower fee for the license because I

do feel that $500 is slightly high. Perhaps we can look at some of our restaurants at what they pay each year. I know it is going to change from year to year based on what they sell each year. I think part of the concern was that the brick and mortar places would be upset with us if we lowered the fee. I don’t want to appear to favor the food trucks but I do want to make it easy for them.” Councilman John Connolly added, “I am comfortable with this measure to allow the food trucks to come here. If it is not at the right level, meaning the cost, I think the council should come back and lower the level. We do want to have something fair.” Councilman Bret Hrbek asked for clarification that food trucks will be collecting the meals tax as well, and the town manager confirmed that. Hrbek also pointed out that though the brick and mortar places do have to pay real-estate taxes, the food trucks would also have to pay personal property taxes if their trucks are registered in Front Royal/Warren

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Page 10 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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Council moves forward on new police station project

Front Royal resident Mike McCool voices concerns over budget request for new Front Royal Police Station By Timothy Ratigan Warren & Frederick County Report Front Royal Town Council members voted to move ahead at their February 22 meeting with plans for the new police headquarters despite concerns raised by a Front Royal resident and two council members. Business owner Mike McCool raised several concerns regarding the funding changes for the new station. “We are looking at what you have proposed in a budget of $4 million to now a budget of $8 million. That is a tremendous increase in a budget. I know in my business if I budget for something costing $4 million dollars,

I have to justify spending $8 million. I’m not sure how it works with the town but to me that seems like an excessive amount of money. I don’t think we need to follow the leadership that the county has been doing with building their great ‘castles in the sky’ sheriff department and their other buildings. I am paying for those. I don’t think we need to add on paying for the police department that is built to last 500 years.� He talked about plans to build a one story building at first, and then a secondary building. He pointed out that it’s cheaper to build a two story building than a single building when proposing to build for the next forty

years. He said that an elevator can be installed to assist people moving from floor to floor and commented on the fact that police officers really didn’t need to use an elevator and could and should be using stairs. “Our police officers need to using the stairs and if they can’t do that then we need to hire new police officers,� he said. McCool advised the council to instruct the architect to go back to the drawing board and come back with a $4 million building. “$4 million is still too much for a 15,000 square foot building. We need to be a little more realistic in our efforts. We wasted $500 on an i-Pad and now we are going to waste $3-4 million on a building. We need to think about who is going to pay for it and where the money is going to come from,� he said in closing. The proposed new police station, to be located at Kendrick Lane and Monroe Avenue, would serve the projected needs of the department until at least the year 2040. Moseley Architects presented council with plans for a new station at a previous work session at an estimated cost of nearly $8 million, roughly $2.5 million more than an earlier estimate. During council discussion, Councilman Eugene Tewalt spoke first. “I just got the numbers from Town Manager Steve Burke on the changes to the police department. I did look at them and if we go with the 25 years or the 2040 plan it is going to jump the price per year to up to $400,000. That is 4 cents or better on real estate that we will have to add to that tax

in order to cover that cost. I would like to move as a proposal to take this back to a work session at the first meeting in March and discuss how we are going to pay for this after just hearing a councilmember say that he doesn’t want to raise a cent to help cover the cost of this. Before we approve anything I would like to know where we are going to fund it from because I don’t do this in my home, if I buy something I know where the money is coming from. If I have the money I buy it. If I don’t have the money I don’t buy it. I would really like to discuss how and when we are

going to pay for this.â€? Councilwoman BĂŠbhinn Egger made Tewalt’s motion official by seconding it. Bret Hrbek disagreed, saying , “Mr. Mayor I am going to oppose the motion to send this back to a work session. There is no necessary commitment right now. This is just an indication as to where the architect wants to go. I think it is important for us to be looking out into the future. If we decide to prepare for 2016, it will cost us around $5.5 million. If we plan for 2040 its $7.8 million. If we do the 2016 plan now, by

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com 2040 we will have almost $9 million for the department to get it what it needs. That is assuming that there is a 2.5 percent increase in construction cost in the next 25 years. I don’t believe that a 2.5 percent increase in construction costs is a realistic number. This county has a history in the past 30 years of building schools and the next year putting a trailer on it because we don’t prepare for the future-we prepare for what is necessary next year. “What I think we need to do is pre-

pare for our future. That means that we need to spread out the cost and that we need to take advantage of the interest rates that are in place now. I have faith and confidence in the Economic Development Authority that things are going to happen that will enable us to do this without raising taxes. We need to move forward on this now. We’ve been waiting already for 9 months to get this police department started. We are spending $5,000 a month on rent for our police department to be housed. They are

separated between two buildings,” he said. Tewalt said he agreed with Hrbek, but stressed that he wanted to know where the numbers are and how the town would raise the money. Councilman John Connolly added to the discussion. “Mr. Mayor I feel the need to point out that this town is growing and we expect it to continue to grow and we expect a lot of new businesses to come in as well as a lot of new workers coming into the town with the Avtex site being developed. With new population, it is going to put new growth potential on our police department. All the growth we have talked about it is going to go hand in hand with the new police department and their needs and how they are going to accommodate for that new growth. That growth could come quite soon. It could actually come within 10 to 15 years. If we build for the today plan, not only does it run us an additional $3-4 million going back and adding to the structure we are building. It means we are outgrowing the new facility from the word go, from the moment that we finish the construction. I am going to vote against moving this back to work session. I believe the funding is there if we try hard enough to find it. We need to build for 2040. We need to build for the future for the town. We need to get the police department what they need to keep this community safe,” said Connolly. Egger brought the discussion back around, saying, “Mr. Mayor, we need

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 11

Sheriff Daniel McEathron reacts humorously to McCool’s comment about “castles in the sky” sheriff department buildings to keep in mind what this is. This is a budget request from a department. We have been presented with a proposal from an architectural firm that is going to make a lot of money off of this. We are in charge of the money; we are the purse holders of the town of Front Royal. We are requested lots things from departments and it is our job to decide whether or not it is a good use of money. When I was running for this seat I was against building a new building. I thought we could’ve gotten a great building for our police department by renovating a building at another site. We have the $5.5 Million in funds because of tax increases that have already happened. We do not have $8 million

funded. I am supporting Mr. Tewalt’s motion to bring it back to work session. I need to know where we will be getting the funding from so I can decide whether or not to support this,” she commented. And for the first time, Front Royal heard from Councilman Jacob Meza, a recent appointee who took the place of former councilman Daryl Funk. “Mr. Mayor, just for clarification, we are not saying tonight that we are going to necessarily spend $8 million. We are deciding a direction that we are willing to vet out and see if there is an opportunity cost to go ahead and to commission for the $8 million and a 2040 build. I just want to make sure that tonight’s vote for approval is to continue vetting out the 2040 build to a potential of up to $8 million. We would obviously have to figure out a funding source if we decide at a future date that we want to move forward with this. Is that correct?” Mayor Timothy Darr confirmed that was correct. Egger added to her earlier statement, “Mr. Mayor, I do think we are putting the cart before the horse if we approve them to go ahead and design an $8 million building that we have not discussed as a council how we are going to pay for, and whether or not we support paying $8 million for a building. I think this is a little bit backwards,” she said. The motion to postpone and bring it back to a work session failed, by a 4-2 vote. Egger and Tewalt voted against the motion. Town Council voted to adopt the original resolution and move forward with the 2040 plan. Before the vote was called, Egger voiced one final opinion, “Mr. Mayor I think we are wading into dangerous waters by getting the ball rolling on this when we haven’t decided on how we are going to pay for it. We may very well have to raise taxes as Mr. Tewalt said. A penny every year for the next five years or five pennies for five years. I think it is a little imprudent of us to give Mosley the go ahead to start designing an $8 million building when we don’t have the funds to pay them,” she objected. – tim@areaguides.com

Page 12 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Unplug me! A simple ‘Yoo Hoo!’ works wonders By Teresa Brumback Warren & Frederick County Report I’m unplugged. And odd as it may seem, I’m still kicking and loving life to the max. Freedom is precious to me. That’s why I live in America. That’s why as a general rule I do things my way, not necessarily the easiest, the most fashionable, or popular way. Perhaps I’m out of touch. Or maybe I’m just “touched.” It’s a personal choice to live without cell phones, smart phones, PCs, laptops, i-pads, tablets, notebooks, e-readers, the Internet, videoconferencing, live video chatting, and whatever else is out there in the cloudy, ever-expanding universe of communications technology. Forget Skype; the rest is all hype; most of it is junk and I have no room in my life for any of it. I have a hard enough time cleaning junk out of my closets. After all, even an old badminton racquet with some missing strings--it could be remade into something useful, perhaps a snowshoe for a child... Unless I need technology to do a specific job such as writing or editing, I have absolutely no use for it, no tolerance whatsoever. Just having a land-line phone can be a pain. After much soul searching, hours of routine haggling with the phone company over errors in pricing and promotional “packages” as well as an order for an extra line that I never placed, I’m on the verge of having my home phone service discontinued altogether. My family and now I have had the same phone number since 1971, so it’s a tough choice to get rid of the phone line, but after I do the math, I realize the reasons I’ve kept the service are more rooted in nostalgia than anything else. My boyfriend, a real-life Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies, despises phones even more than I do. We had our own style of communication. When we were younger and I needed to get in touch with him I’d pull up to his field and holler “Yoo-Hoo! Yoo-

Hoo!” until his hound dogs barked up a storm. Hearing them, he’d slowly, carefully open his cabin door. Then, recognizing my “Yoo Hoo!” echoes, he’d make the long trek up his very rocky road or nearby field to greet me. For those of us with phones in the 1970s, there were party lines. It was easy to remember everyone’s number since every phone number in Page County started with 743, so when someone asked you for your phone number, you just told them the last four digits. When the population started to grow they added “843” as the first three digits. That still riles me to no end. Now I have to spell out my entire number if people don’t know it already. As a bored teenager I would occasionally listen in on our three-family party line. I remember hearing our good neighbor Nannie Frances Sours of Rileyville talk about how many peaches she had canned that day.

farm joke and was willing to lend a helping hand to anyone. I never heard him speak unkindly of anyone, even of people who deserved it. He and his wife were friends of my folks as were his parents and my grandparents, and probably mine and Marceline’s great and great-grandparents. Our families have lived and farmed across the road from each other for generations. I just hope my son and her son will also continue to stay friends, as well as future generations. One thing’s for sure: neither Marceline’s parents nor mine would have gone for the modern faceless communication such as texting and social media. She and I agreed on that point this week. They just wouldn’t have had any use for it. Instead they

enjoyed getting together over dinner, at church, running into people at the country store, etc. Both families were passionately frugal. They would have fussed and fumed over the price of the Internet and smart phones. “Don’t waste your money,” my father would tell me if he were alive. A cheap, “dumb” phone fits the bill. Aside from its high costs, communications technology is just plain cold and impersonal. Case in point: Attending a wonderful women’s networking event in Winchester last year, I noticed that many of the women at our table and surrounding tables had their faces buried in their smart phones. They were not talking to others at the table; they were texting to whomever, possibly the per-

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For more information or to register contact Warren County Community Center 538 Villa Ave. Front Royal, VA 22630 540-635-1021 • www.warrencountyva.net Dear Stewart: What’s been going on with the Tree Stewards this past year? It would be great if you could review what you all have been accomplishing. – Jeff Hey Jeff!

Ask Stewart

She must have heard me pick up the phone, but she never let on. She and her friend never shared any juicy gossip; just mostly talk about their gardens as I recall. Proud of her young daughter Marceline, she bragged about Marceline’s math skills, honed from adding up different items in the Sears Roebuck catalogue. In her adult years Marceline became a contracts specialist for the federal government, so I guess those early days plus good grades in school and at Bridgewater College paid off. When Marceline moved back to her farm several years ago, we renewed our acquaintance and hopefully will stay lifelong friends. Her father Maurice Sours was the unofficial mayor of Rileyville, an outgoing and goodhearted robust man who always wore the same, well-weathered straw hat. He was always smiling even when he was seen driving alone in his old pickup truck. Ever so jolly, he could always be depended on for a good

2015 was an exciting year for The Front Royal/ Warren County Tree Stewards. We welcomed new Tree Stewards to our organization and the group as a whole reported 1784 hours for a total volunteer benefit of $40,194 to our community. Arbor Day was celebrated at the town Gazebo on April 25th with Councilman Hollis Tharpe reading the proclamation and the planting of an American Beech tree near the Visitors Center. We can proudly say that Front Royal was designated a Tree City USA for the 16th consecutive year and thank the Town for recognizing the importance of Trees to our community. The All About Trees class this Fall had 20 actively engaged students. The classes are taught by Certified Arborists and conclude with planting a

class tree. “Dancing with Trees” a short program about best practices and tree basics was offered at Samuels Library in August. At the beginning of each year Tree Stewards sit down with the Town’s Horticulture Department, and develop a plan for the coming year. In 2015 the Tree Stewards pruned trees and removed vines along Happy Creek Arboretum, Eastham Park, the Royal Shenandoah Greenway, Virginia Ave, Main Street and North Royal Ave. Preparation work was done in Miss Florence Smith Park for trees to be planted this Spring and many trees along the Royal Shenandoah Greenway were affixed with identifying labels. A Memorial Tree was also planted along the Greenway. With the announcement of the new Children’s Garden at Samuels Library, the Tree Stewards joined other local organizations to lend support. We planted 3 new trees inside the Garden purchased by the Front Royal Beautification Committee. Other work in the garden included relocating a tree and planting a whimsical pom-pom. Tree Stewards participated in many community festivals and the Farmer’s Market handing out information and answering questions. We prepared

displays at the Library and Kiosks and articles for the newspaper column “Ask Stewart.” In an effort to improve mulching practices, the Tree Stewards began contacting local businesses to educate and remove/re-adjust “volcano mulching”. Children’s Events included reading-and-craft times at Samuels Public Library in March and October with special appearances by our Mascot ‘Stewart the Squirrel’ and, an annual Earth Day walk at the Happy Creek Arboretum for preschoolers. The Trees R Cool educational program was incorporated at the festivals and a Tree Steward participated as a judge at the 2015 Envirothon Contest, a natural resources competition for high school students. Tree Stewards also participated in the planting of three maple trees at the Hilda J. Barbour Elementary School in memory of a wellloved teacher. We look forward to seeing you around town in 2016 as we continue to volunteer for our community forest! If you see us, stop and say hello and tell us about your trees!

- Stewart

The Front Royal/Warren County Tree Steward program began in 1997 with volunteers dedicated to improving the health of trees by providing educational programs, tree planting and care demonstrations, and tree maintenance throughout the community. The group now consists of over 30 active members with several interns working toward becoming certified tree stewards from our annual “All About Trees Class”. Each month Stewart will answer a question from our readers. Please forward it to “Stewart” in care of: frwctreestewards@comcast.net and we may publish it in a future issue. Please visit our website at:

www.treesfrontroyal.org

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 13

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Engle’s Angle:

“More Than You Ever Wanted To Know” By Kevin S. Engle A friend of mine likes the classic rock band Led Zeppelin. I didn’t know that until recently. As it turns out, neither did his wife of 30+ years. I guess the topic never came up. I knew he’s a fan of Josh Groban and Lionel Ritchie, but Led Zeppelin? My friend is a polo shirt-wearing, oatmeal-for-breakfast every day, go-to-Church every weekend kind of guy. Straight-laced. An eye doctor for God’s sake. Not your typical “Stairway to Heaven” kind of guy. A few years ago we discovered his wife is a big Elvis fan. My wife had no clue, even though they’ve been best friends since their early teens. Ah, the things you don’t know about the people you do. You’ve been reading this column for almost nine years. Well, some of you. Ok, a handful. All right, just my wife. How well do you really know me? How much do you really care? Don’t answer that. Today’s your day. The day I give you a peek behind the glass. Everything you always wanted to know about me. And more. Buckle up because you’re in for a wild ride. As a little kid, I had a hard time learning how to tie my shoes. Being a lefty, my brain couldn’t figure it out when right-handed people showed me how. In fact, it wasn’t until I watched my left-handed cousin that it finally clicked. I’m not good with knots to this day. That’s just one reason why I never would’ve made a good Boy Scout. In first grade, I had a crush on a girl named Barb. I thought she was a hottie. The Brady Bunch was my favorite TV show. Every Friday night at 8:00, we’d watch it at my grandmother’s house. I liked The Partridge Family too, at 8:30, but not as much as The Brady Bunch. And yeah, Marcia Brady was definitely a hottie. When I was eight or nine I had my tonsils removed. The surgeon told my mother they were the smallest he’d ever seen. Some have said

the same thing about my brain. Frosted Cherry Pop Tarts® are my favorite. Why anyone would eat Pop Tarts® without frosting is beyond me. When I graduated from high school, sometime that summer, Sue, a friend of a friend, loaned me a book. The Catcher in the Rye. I never gave it back. I’m not sure why. It’s on my bookcase right now. I feel bad about not returning it. On our first date, Judy and I saw the movie Flashdance. That’s what she tells me. I honestly don’t remember. I was too nervous. I prefer sleeping on my back. Sometimes I try on my side but it just doesn’t feel right. I cross my legs when I’m sleeping, just like my dad did. I think my brother does too. I chew pudding. And yogurt. My wife makes fun of me because of it. Whatever. Isn’t that why we have teeth? And speaking of chewing, I’m a loud gum chewer. My wife can’t stand it. If I unwrap a piece of Bazooka Joe, she’d rather not be around me. I’m a slow eater. Always have been. Probably because I chew everything too much. The only exception to that is milk chocolate m&m’s®. I could suck down an entire 42 ounce Party Size bag without even trying. I’m a crier too. Chick flicks, videos of military folks coming home and surprising their families, and weddings, even if I don’t know the bride or groom. And stories about dogs. They get me every time. And like my good friend, I also like Led Zeppelin. And AC/DC even more. And I was a fan of Lionel Richie. Back in the day. I eat oatmeal for breakfast as well. Two to three times a week. It’s good for your cholesterol. That’s it. Everything you ever wanted to know about me. More than you ever wanted to know about me. I’ll share some juicy tidbits about my wife next time. If she’ll let me.

son seated next to them. Texting in that atmosphere is so common but I think it’s still so rude to do it, whether it’s at a function, store or restaurant. A familiar sight to many families nowadays is every member, young and old, not engaged in board games or conversation, but rather sitting around the couch texting or playing videogames, or e-mailing or playing around on the Internet. In other words, they are not engaged with each other. It’s sad. A visitor or family member who shows up may barely get a grunt or a nod. It’s a cold and impersonal world

and there is no more bitter a reminder of it than communications technology. The Internet carries with it dangers that are obvious, relentless and sometimes fatal. On a personal level, the costs seen in losses in human interaction and family togetherness are deep, painful and long lasting and seem to far outweigh any benefits that are gained in using electronic communications for social or recreational needs. Back in the day, we had one corded phone and were sparing with that. For recreation, my folks and brothers and I would curl up with our dog and

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sit by the fire while my mother fixed endless meals and snacks. We just talked and talked and ate and ate and laughed and petted our dog. Most weekends at JMU and later University of Maryland I came home just to hang out with my family. No kidding! I used to play piano while my incredibly gifted father, a tenor, sang operas by Verdi and Puccini and schmaltzy 1940s tunes. My mother chased me out of the kitchen, which was good for both of us. She didn’t enjoy having flour on the ceiling and all over the black rotary-dial phone and I hated being indoors. My family and I had a lot more fun than I did in college. We had more memorable experiences than the beer drinking or spiked “Kool-Aid” parties and worse that seemed to dominate college life for many fellow students. Had the Internet and texting and e-mailing been around at the time, we still wouldn’t have had time for it. We were usually out feeding cattle, fixing fences, fishing or swimming in the river, or hauling firewood off the mountain. When we weren’t busy we’d do plenty of target shooting. That was our fun time, but it also was a furthering of safety, steadiness, and self-discipline, whether it was paper targets we were using or old watermelons at the end of the summer garden. At the end of the day our reward was a simple Dr. Pepper, chocolate “Yoo-Hoo” or root beer from the former Wood’s country store along US 340 in Rileyville. Life was good then. When it snowed we didn’t stay indoors as most kids nowadays seem to do. We’d have to get hay for the cattle and make sure their water hadn’t iced up. For fun we’d go sled riding in the gully, formed when my great-grandfather dug clay out to make the bricks for big brick house he built right after the Civil War. It wasn’t fancy, but another fun thing when it snowed: Our father would tie a long rope to the pickup truck and hook an inner tube or plastic sled up to it, then drive wildly through the snowy fields as we held on for dear life, while our English setters huddled in the bed of the truck or ran to keep up. Those were the days. No, I don’t have much use for the Internet or computers except for sending a few of these stories to my editors from a public library. As for smart phones and the like, I don’t miss what I never had. I have what I need and what I want. – brumback@areaguides.com

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Page 14 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com

Warren’s champion wrestler Beckner grapples with the future “Persona on and off the mat, with teammates, classmates, makes him more than a star athlete,” says Coach Wada

Zach Beckner: 159-4 at Warren County By Mario Orlikoff Warren & Frederick County Report He won two consecutive state wrestling championships. He won three consecutive regional championships. He compiled a 49-2 record in his senior season. In 163 career matches, wrestling at 106 pounds, 113 pounds, and then 126 pounds, he lost four times. That’s right – 159-4. All of those are school records. But Zach Beckner, arguably the greatest athlete in Warren County High School’s 76-year history, truly believes that he can give his school even more. “I have a lot of people here who look at me as a role model,” he said, “and that inspires me even more to want and go and do some more with it. I have Division I programs that want me to come. I have D-II and D-III colleges who want me to come. And they know I have the potential, and I know I have the potential. It’s just whether or not I want to do it or

not.” Four days after defeating and perhaps out-psyching Cave Spring’s Sam Ring, 12-3, in the 3A state final in Salem at 126 pounds, Beckner was doing what comes naturally for him: happily grappling. But he was grappling not with an opponent but the future, and what it holds for him. Virginia Tech and Old Dominion, both nationally-ranked NCAA programs, have shown interest. There is a college wrestling future if he wants one. But part of him, he admitted, just wants to be a regular college student. Then, as quickly as one of his moves on the mat, came the reversal. “Then again, I love the sport, so I can’t really see myself wanting to drop it. So I feel as if wrestling in college is definitely something that is in my future. … I am definitely going to pursue wrestling in college. I have a lot of people who look up to me, and too many people who see great things in my life. And I see it, too.” He said all of that without a hint of the bravado and intensity that he

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brings to the mat. Beckner is probably one of the smallest-in-stature big men on campus, but the 17-yearold with the dyed blonde hair and big brown eyes seems to pull it off because of his sincerity and personality. He’s bright, expressive, and all laid-back exuberance. All of that – his persona on and off the mat, how he reacts with teammates and classmates – have made him more than a star athlete, according to his coach. “The legacy he is leaving is more than just the greatest wrestler in Warren County history,” Warren County head coach Matthew Wadas said. Beckner has benefitted from and prospered in the program. He has succeeded beyond anybody’s expectations, except for perhaps his own. But Zach has also given back, and that is what his coach was alluding to, the fact that Beckner is as comfortable bonding with and supporting the freshman who is in tears at the state meet as he is practicing like a maniac with his long-time running mates and celebrating his state title with two victory signs as some of the Cave Spring fans boo him. He’s not so much a leader as a role model. A sometimes brash, active role model. “This year, I’ve been top dog in the room, but I felt like it was my job to help everyone,” Beckner said. “When we got ranked in the state, I felt like, not pressure, but I felt like expectations were there then. I was like, ‘All right, boys, we haven’t been ranked in the state, team-wise, since I’ve been at Warren County. So this means something to me, so we need to step it up.’ Each guy did. Sent the most we’ve ever had at state. We had three in the state finals.” His approach and leadership during practices was basic and maybe even brutal at times.

“I wrestle them, plain and simple. It’s easy to show them technique, but the bigger guys, they wrestle different from the smaller guys. But I’ll grab hold of anyone. I’ll wrestle our heavyweight who placed in the state final and I’ll wrestle the 106-pound guy. I know a bunch of different positions, and I know technique points, so like, it’s easy for me to help show them different things.” “Yeah, we’ll be talking about certain things but then he’ll just jump out there and do the move,” Wadas confirmed. “I was trying to be like a little minicoach, I guess,” said Beckner. “We have a lot of kids with potential but they go in there and goof off. I tried to set an example. You can do that. I’m just as goofy as you guys, but when we get on the mat, and it’s time to go, it’s time to go. We’ve got to put our head in the zone and get down to business.”

His first year with the Warren County wrestling program is not exactly a pleasant memory, even though he went undefeated during the regular season. “My freshman year, I was coming in like, ‘I’m going to get my butt kicked by those guys.’ But I just said to myself that I’m going to keep going out there and keep trying to get better every day. And then first wrestle-off I only lost to the kid by three points, so then I was like, ‘Hey, I can beat this kid,’ And I started working even harder. It went good, though. I went 17-0 on varsity my freshman year.” But he fell short of the state tournament. And for maybe the first time in his athletic life, something burned. Something hurt. And then something changed inside of him. “I had to sit back and watch, and that hurt me, but it made me come back and want to work harder,” he said.

The start

Incredible journey

None of this might have happened if not for a friendly wager back in eighth grade. “I used to be a baseball player and a runner – cross country and track,” he said as he leaned back in his chair during a break at school and stared back into the past. “And my sister played basketball for Warren County, so I was like, ‘I’m going to try out for the basketball team.’ And I made a bet with my friend – our 182pounder who got third at states this year – that if I made the basketball team, he owed me 20 dollars … and he needed to join the track team. If I didn’t make the team, then I had to wrestle. And I made it to the second day of try-outs, but I didn’t make it and I ended up trying out for wrestling and that’s pretty much how it all got kicked off.”

As a sophomore, Beckner broke through and won the regional title at 106. Beckner and teammates Tyler Barisciano (113) and Terrace Thompson (120) formed an opening 1-2-3 punch that few teams could match. Beckner shook his head and smiled as he recalled that season. “We had a thing called ‘Murderers’ Row.’ We had a combined record of like, 81-1,” he said. If you go by their overall records, it was actually 134-7, with Beckner going 44-1, but the nickname, also used by the 1927 New York Yankees, among others, was indeed suitable. The numbers started piling up during his junior and senior seasons and ended up as one of the small mountains in Front Royal: 69 points, 244 takedowns, 443 near-fall points, 687 team points, 20 career titles.

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Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 15

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Warren County senior Zach Beckner dominates against Cave Spring’s Sam Ring in the 3A 126 Wadas, a former Pennsylvania high school wrestler who has seen his share of tough guys, was quick to answer when asked to describe Beckner’s style on the mat. “He’s relentless,” Wadas said. “He never stops coming. The opponent’s plan was always to slow him down.” The coach appreciated that drive during practices, as well. “We have grueling practices,” he said. “Wrestling is a grind. But he always was out there driving himself and others.” “It’s been crazy,” Beckner said when asked to talk about his wrestling journey. “It’s been more than me going to Warren County High School and practicing. It’s been me going to Hagerstown, Md., to Mer-

cersburg, Pa., to Fredericksburg, Va., all around the place to get with some of these different groups of wrestlers. Not every one of our kids wrestles in the off-season all the time, so I was traveling to go and get that experience and get that training I needed. I’ve been doing it forever now it feels like. It’s the same thing now. Wherever I go, it’s a workout.” Pledge of allegiance So what does it take to become a state champion, and then stay on top for an entire year? “Loyalty,” he said. How so? “You need to be loyal to the sport,” he explained. “Wrestling isn’t just

like any other sport. You need to be in tip-top shape. You need to cut weight. You need to teach yourself different, weird positions and stuff that your body isn’t naturally used to being in. You need to be dedicated to the sport. You need to want it if you want to be great at it. That is why I was going to all of those different places, all these different things, because I aspire to be the best, and I wanted to be the best, and I still want to be the best.” Several times during the interview, Beckner seemed to have the ability to step back from the success and humble himself. That’s tough for a guy who almost never loses. It’s not as if he doesn’t like talking about himself or that he shies away from success, but in that self-criticism and selfchecking might lie the reason he’s so successful. “I’m kicking a lot of butt now but I’m still not where I want to be,” he said. “My goal this year was to be ranked in the country, and I’m not ranked in the country. Some people look at it and say, ‘Zach, you won your second state title and you’re doing awesome right now,’ and I’m thinking, ‘I haven’t met expectations.’ If you get to a point, and you’re satisfied with it, then you’re done.”

• • • • •

Zach Beckner finishes his Warren County career with a 159-4 record Winning Wildcats It wouldn’t be unfair to say that at least some of Beckner’s success stems from his involvement in the Wildcats’ program. Warren County, led by Wadas and assistant coach Chad Billy, a former Pennsylvania state champion and West Virginia University wrestler, posted its best wrestling result of all time this season. The Wildcats were 22-1 in dual meets and finished fifth as a team at states, placed six of seven wrestlers at states, and 12 of 14 in the top six of regionals. Beckner was just one of three seniors in the starting lineup. “With only three seniors, you don’t know what you have at the beginning of the season,” Wadas said. “But the guys really came through.” As if the wrestling world couldn’t be better, Wadas will travel to Harrisburg, Pa., in April to help celebrate his father’s induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

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Psyched up Beckner hasn’t decided on where he will go to college. The dream season just ended and he’s sorting out a lot of things. But make no mistake – he’s anxious and excited all at the same time. “It’s a big transition for me because I’m a little kid at heart, and I’m getting tossed into the real world basically. So, I mean, it’s a big transition for me and I just want to make sure that whatever I do, I do what’s going to make me happy.” Beckner mentioned human and health science as one of his potential academic interests up the line. There’s also psychology, which he didn’t take in high school. Well, at least not in the classroom. There was plenty of psychological study going on at the wrestling meets. “At the state finals, I’m sitting there staring, and this kid’s death-staring me,” Beckner said. “He was walking back and forth and they were like, giving the 120-pound awards, and I was just standing in the dead-center just watching, going back and forth staring at him. As I was doing that, I thought, ‘I wonder what this kid’s thinking about right now?’ I’m interested in how people think.” The wrestling world has been good to Beckner. After all, his mother, Melissa, and his step-father, Scott Asher, met at the first big wrestling tournament he entered. But he’s been good right back. He’s given wrestling and Warren County High School just about everything he has. He’s holding up his end of that bargain with out-and-out greatness. There’s no reason to think that will change anytime soon. – mario@areaguides.com

Page 16 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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Sherando junior wants to win “Beast of the East” John Borst’s 12-6 victory over T.J. Allen of Hanover in 182-pound final the mega stuff of Va. High School League legend “I think that was his approach – that no one was going to out-train him, or out-practice him, and derail his goal, and that was to be a state champion. Heading into the season, he knew that there was another state champion that was going down to his weight class, and instead of John trying to go all the way up to 195, he stayed right there at 182.” On the mat

John Borst: 149-17 at Sherando By Mario Orlikoff Warren & Frederick County Report After defeating his friend and rival to win the 4A wrestling state championship at 182 pounds, after standing atop the podium for the second year in a row, Sherando High School junior John Borst went crazy and broke all the rules. He ate some Oreos. Mega Stuffs. By the next morning, sanity had returned. He was working out in the weight room. “It never really stops for me,” Borst said with a shrug. Borst is the essence of steadfastness. He’s confident, outgoing and well-spoken. He’s driven but measured in everything that he does. Even-keeled. This is a guy who obviously not only has a clue, but a plan. So what does one do for an encore after becoming the first person in Sherando history to repeat as a state champion? “For next year, I’ve got high expectations for myself,” he said during a break after lunch at school last week. “I do want to complete the undefeated season. I want to win Beast of the East. I want to pin my way through the state tournament. There’s a lot of things I haven’t accomplished yet. So it’s all about going out there and doing it now.” Borst insists that his approach, even with a target on his back, will be the same. “I’ve started to realize that you can never really underestimate anybody,” he said. “You’ve got to look at everybody as an Olympic champ. Like, they’re gonna be good. So, if you go out there thinking that he’s going to be an Olympic champ, your technique is going to be up to that level.” Storybook finish Borst’s 12-6 victory over T.J. Allen of Hanover in the 182-pound final was the mega stuff of Virginia High School League legend. Allen, who met Borst in eighth grade and has trained and traveled with him in the off-seasons for four years, actually took down the Sherando star. A real

shocker. In 57 matches this season, that had only happened three times before to Borst - twice in the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament and once in the regular season on a surprise fireman’s carry dump. “Over the past two years, we’ve both grown so much and just developed into something that is totally different from each other,” Borst said of his relationship and rivalry with Allen, who will be wrestling on scholarship at Virginia Tech next season. “I’ve known him forever. It was a surreal moment having to wrestle him in the finals.” Allen, the 195-pound state champion in 2015 who had moved down to 182 – Borst’s weight class - for his senior year, is one of those guys who adapts to everything for every match, one of those guys who puts in the work he has to, and Borst commends him on that quality. But with the match tied 5-5 deep into the second period, Borst felt good about his chances. He has figured out a way to make fatigue part of his comfort zone. “He didn’t push the pace. I pushed the pace the whole entire match,” Borst explained. “I held myself to higher standards. And I came into the match knowing I was going to have to do that. I was going to have to be not scared to get tired. And I’m not afraid to get tired in matches, and that’s what kind of sets me apart from everybody else.” Borst’s head coach, Pepper Martin, agrees, but he can tick off a number of other ways that Borst separates himself from the pack.

WO

IN ODB

After winning a state title as a sophomore at 170 pounds, Borst trained hard during the off-season and stormed into his junior year – 12 pounds heavier and motivated beyond measure. He pinned 43 of 57 opponents. Martin said that out of 120 that Borst has pinned in three years, around 80 have come as a result of Borst’s devastating arm-bar series, where the wrestler on top places his bicep below the elbow of his opponent and then drives the elbow into the back. “He just eases that other shoulder to the mat,” Martin said with a grin, “and then the referee smacks it.” Did he just say 120 pins? Many high school wrestlers would be happy with 120 wins in four years. Borst, who is fifth on the all-time victories list at Sherando with 149, needs 36 more to top Matt Fletcher at No. 1. Borst is a very physical wrestler, but also very technically sound. That combination, with the right mental approach, is almost unbeatable. “He’s a relentless competitor,” Martin said. “When the whistle blows and the match starts, he’s on the attack. A lot of wrestlers will be a little bit methodical on their feet, like they’re basically trying to feel out their opponent a little bit. He’s always in the attack mode. What makes him so successful is that he’s outstanding wrestling on his feet. He not only gets a lot of takedowns, but on a lot of occasions, he takes his opponent down to their back. He’s incredible on top, as evidenced by the amount of pins that he’s had.” On the flip side of wrestling, the bottom, he’s the great escapist. “On bottom, he’s very quick and he is very difficult to keep on bottom,” Martin said. “He will usually go with one of his stand-up series moves, and then go to work on his feet again.”

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John Borst takes down friend and rival T.J. Allen of Hanover in the 182-pound state final Martin, a former wrestler at James Madison University and the head coach at Sherando for 23 years, admits that it will be difficult to come up with new ways to coach and motivate his star pupil. “It really is a challenge because he’s so advanced and so talented, but there are still occasions when we can help him,” Martin said. “There are occasions where we might see a little something opening up on feet. If he’s trying certain pinning combinations on top and we think he should go back to the old standby – his arm-bar series. That kind of thing.” But the head coach is not worried about Borst’s end of the deal. “In general, he’s driven to be the best. Winning back-to-back state titles did not happen by circumstance or chance. They happened through the way he approaches his training. He’s earned those state titles by the way he’s trained not only in the regular season but the off-season.” A lot of athletes have aspirations of

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being a state champion but they don’t pay the price to get to the top of that podium. Borst is paid in full so far. “As far as his mental and physical preparation for matches, as far as high school athletes we’ve coached, it’s unparalleled.” Martin said. “He’s doesn’t get uptight or nervous, but he’s also very focused, like he’s relaxed. And he has a plan when he goes out there and he does everything he can to execute it.” Winning Warriors Borst wasn’t the only story for Sherando this season. Martin, the only wrestling coach in Sherando’s history, recorded his program’s 500th victory. Sherando finished with a 271 record in dual matches this season. Seniors Curtis Guthridge (52-6 at 145), Mike Duffy (51-8 at 126), Ben Avery (39-5 at 285) and Kendell Helsley (41-13 at 170) formed the steady core of the team along with Borst. Duffy finished second in regionals

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com and fourth at states. Guthridge finished his career with 160 victories, third on Sherando’s all-time list and two ahead of his big brother, Jacob. Avery, a standout football player who was the state runner-up at 285 last season, battled an asthma condition for much of the season before getting back on track for the championship run. Then, two days before the Region 4A West tournament, Avery went down with a fractured fibula during practice and his star-crossed wrestling career ended short of the state podium. But he was a huge part of the Warriors’ recent success. “He started out wrestling at 285 as a freshman, and that’s hard to do,” Martin said. Borst will miss Avery and the other departing seniors but he is optimistic about next season. “We’re going to be dangerous,” he said. “We won’t be taken lightly.” Family support Borst’s father, John, is a former head wrestling coach at Millbrook High School. He never wrestled a day in his life because of bad knees and other factors, but his father wrestled at NCAA Div. I Millersville University in Pennsylvania. So wrestling has been a big part of the Borst family for

three generations. “He’s kind of like my best friend,” the younger Borst said of his father, who is a vocal but dignified presence in the stands during matches. “Eighth grade year – we traveled all season long to tournaments, just me and him on long car trips. I miss that more than anything, but you know, everybody’s got to grow up eventually. I mean, he’s still there every step of the way. I can tell him things I can’t tell, like, my friends now. He plays a huge part in kind of keeping me based, and kind of keeping me focused on where I need to be.” His dad still offers critiques after matches, “but he kind of realizes that I’m starting to develop my own style, and he kind of just lets me go and do my own thing with that, and work on my own.” Borst’s mother, Elizabeth, “is my caretaker. She’s always helping me with food and nutrition and stuff like that. Yeah … she always gives me warm hugs. I love my mother and the way she treats me. She always helps me out, because when I’m losing weight during the regular season, I’m not the happiest, so she’s always putting a smile on my face.” To his sisters, seventh-grader Ella, and fourth-grader Anna, young John is less a wrestling champion and

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 17

John Borst of Sherando flexes after another triumph in the state tournament more your average big brother. But they come to the matches. “As much as they don’t want to be there at times, they’re there,” he said. Vision quest Not even a week after conquering the state, Borst is getting ready for something perhaps bigger: competing at a couple of national

tournaments. He’ll travel to the FloNationals at Indiana University of Pennsylvania at the end of March and then the National High School Coaches Association Junior Nationals in Virginia Beach at the beginning of April. National rankings are the goal, but the tournaments will also give him a chance to see how a new diet is working. “Instead of eating wholesome foods to keep your weight and body fat down, I’ve started taking in bigger meats and more vegetables, leaner stuff, to the point where I can get big, but still keep that lean atmosphere.” Two questions seem to keep coming at Borst: Where will he wrestle in college? What weight will he wrestle at next season? Borst, who would like to study kinesiology (the scientific study of human movement), addressed the college question.

“It’s a giant toss-up,” he said. “A lot of ACC schools are interested. I’ve had so many people ask me where I’m going to college. Honestly, I kind of like keeping it a secret, letting people think about it.” As for the weight, Borst realizes that the next best competition in 2016-17 is most likely Jeffrey Allen of Amherst at 195 pounds. Like Borst, he’s a state champion as a junior. “Of course I want to challenge myself and go up and beat the best, so that’s definitely an option” at 195, he said. “I might stay at 182 to get a better ranking in the country, to crack the top 10 probably.” “Then again,” he added. “I could hit a growth spurt and be at 220 in two months.” If that ends up being the case, hide the Mega Stuffs. – mario@areaguides.com

Page 18 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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2nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Irish Spring Festival

By Ken Thurman Warren County Report More food, more fun, and more entertainment highlight the 2nd annual Irish Spring Festival in Front Royal, VA. This family friendly event features over 50 vendors and admission is FREE to the public and is entirely indoors. Last year’s festival was the most colorful and entertaining festival I have ever attended and this year’s is shaping up to be even better! Let’s start with the entertainment which features the “Jig N Jive Irish Dancers, Irish medleys by the “Sweet Adelines”, Irish tunes by Elvis impersonator Richard Parker, and Doodle Bug the Irish Clown with her balloon animals. Want more? Don’t forget FREE face painting (sponsored by City Bank) for kids of all ages and the popular best costume and best themed booth contests plus, you can even kiss the Blarney Stone and even enter a raffle (sponsored by Union Bank & Trust) to win your own pot of gold. Can you say food! Well, this festival has barbecue, fish fry, hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, and of course Irish dishes. Plus, the event features a wide variety of baked goods from Irish Soda Bread to donuts, pastries, ice cream treats, and even Apple Strudel. Need something to drink? The Festival has everything from domestic and craft beers to coffee, tea, water, and soda. For beer drinkers you can purchase beer tickets that include three beers (coffee, tea, or hot chocolate also available) and their signature lighted souvenir pilsner glass all for only $15! Additional beers are just $5.00 each. A true community effort, festival sponsors include, the Front Royal Volunteer Fire Department, 92.5 FM, 95.3 FM, Americana Signs, State Farm, The Apple House, Shenandoah Ford/GMC, City National Bank, Union Bank & Trust, Virginia Eagle Distributors, the Front Royal Farmer’s Market, Tony Ts Apple Farm, Allison James Estates & Homes, Aire Serv, Jack Evans Chevrolet and a host of others. The festival will be held at the Front Royal Volunteer Fire Department on 221 North Commerce Avenue in Front Royal, VA 22630. The event is scheduled from 11 am – 6 pm on Saturday March 12th. For more information about the Festival visit www. IrishSpringFest.com or email info@

IrishSpringFest.com. For more information about POPA visit http://www.FrontRoyalPOPA. com or emailed them at info@FrontRoyalPOPA.com. The festival is the brain child of the Power of Partnerships Alliance (POPA) which is itself a community and business partnership dedicated to promoting tourism and hospitality in the area. All

funds collected go to support the Front Royal Volunteer Fire Department, marketing the event, promoting tourism and hospitality, and to support local charities. If you are interested in being a vendor, a booth space costs only $50 but there is a limit of 50 booths available. Applications and additional information are available on the web.

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winter dull-drums and have a great time.

Eastham Park playground

The Police Benevolent Foundation and Virginia PBA set to aid the families of three Prince William County police officers affected by shooting The Police Benevolent Foundation and the Virginia Division Police Benevolent Association are rallying behind the family of fallen officer, Ashley Guindon, as well as wounded officers, Jesse Hempen and David McKeown. On Saturday, February 27, 2016 officers Hempen, McKeown and rookie officer, Guindon responded to the home of Army Staff Sergeant, Ronald Hamilton. Hamilton had just shot and killed his wife and proceeded to shoot at police as they arrived. All three officers were injured and Guindon died a few hours later from her injuries. Officers Hempen and McKeown are expected to survive, but remain hospitalized. These officers have proudly served the Prince William County community for a great number of years. Officer Jesse Hempen, 31, is an eight-year veteran of the force. Officer David McKeown, 33, is a ten-year veteran of the force. Rookie officer Ashley Guindon was working her first shift as an officer when she was shot and killed, but had a long history with the Prince William County Police Department. While only an officer for a short time, Ashley served with a passion and will be greatly missed. Wounded officers Hempen and McKeown are expected to recover and will continue to serve their community with bravery and class. In honor of the life of fallen officer Ashley Guindon and injured officers Hempen and McKeown, Crossfit Woodbridge and the Virginia PBA are hosting a Hero Workout. On March 19, 2016 at 10AM, participants will come together in a Hero Workout (which

will consist of a 1 mile run, 50 pull ups, 40 wall balls, 30 toes to bar, 20 burpees, and 10 deadlifts – all while wearing a 20 pound vest or tactical vest!) The workout and fundraiser will take place at Crossfit Woodbridge in Woodbridge, Va. Please join us and show your support for our public safety professionals and that this community appreciates them. If you would like to help, but are unable to attend the Hero Workout, please consider making a donation. The Police Benevolent Foundation has established the “Prince William County Police Officer Memorial and Recovery Fund” to aid the family of Ashley Guindon and officers Hempen and McKeown during their time of need. Donations can also be made through the Police Benevolent Foundation’s website at www.pbfi.org. Virgina PBA Executive Director Sean McGowan said, “Our thoughts, prayers, and support go out to Ashley’s family, Jesse, David and their families during this difficult time. We are now calling on the community that they serve to step up and help their families in this time of need. These officers are true heroes.” The PBF and VAPBA now ask for the help of the community, both locally and nationally, to aid in efforts to provide much needed support to these officers and their families in this time of distress. All funds donated will be divided evenly between the family of Officer Ashley Guindon and officers Hempen and McKeown. Thank you for your consideration. – from a release

Front Royal Rotarians and County Staff Spread Mulch for the New Playground Equipment Warren County is proud to announce the completion of the Eastham Park Playground project. The project was completed in partnership with the Rotary Club of Front Royal. The playground equipment was purchased at a cost of $15,321 and was installed by Warren County Parks and Recreation Department. The project was completed with the installation of mulch by members of the Rotary Club and County Parks and Recreation Maintenance staff. Jim Eastham, President of the Rotary Club and a member of the Eastham family that donated the land for the park, noted that he and his wife walk the Trail at the Park several times a week. During these walks he happened to notice that a lot of smaller children were at the Park with their parents while older siblings were practicing soccer or flag football. “All they had to do was play by the river which did not look particularly safe.” Through a club contribution and a Rotary District Grant, the Club was able to provide $4,000 towards the cost of the project. Warren County Board Chair Linda Glavis, whose district includes Eastham Park stated, “We want to thank the Front Royal Rotary Club for partnering with the County to

fill this need. I also want to take the opportunity to thank Jim and his family again for leaving this legacy for future generations to enjoy. Eastham Park is truly one of the gems of our Parks and Recreation system and is enjoyed by many; young and old and those that walk on two and four legs! I also want to thank Brandy Rosser, our Special Projects and Grants Coordinator, for taking the lead on this project.” Warren County’s Eastham Park is located off of Luray Avenue in Front Royal. The Park includes several facilities for the public to enjoy including: • Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Public Boat Launch • Town of Front Royal Park • Public parking area • Three multi-use athletic fields • Warren County Dog Park • Large outdoor classroom • Interpretive signage • Eastham Park Trail The Park is operated and maintained by the Warren County Department of Parks and Recreation and is open from dawn until dusk each day. Eastham Park is quickly becoming one of the County’s most used facilities due to the variety of activities offered and it will only improve as Phase Three of the Eastham Park Trail is constructed in the spring of 2016.

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Warren County Report D’Londre Tyrell Minifield Virginia State Police to investigate apparent Winchester suicide The Virginia State Police are investigating an apparent suicide at the request of the City of Winchester Police Department. On February 28, 2016, at approximately 4:05 PM, the City of Winchester Police Department received a report of a fight in progress with the possible involvement of a firearm. Officers responded to the 2200

block of Roosevelt Boulevard. Upon arriving at the scene, officers made contact with two male individuals. One of the individuals fled on foot and officers pursued. The individual stopped and, as officers approached, he discharged a firearm. The individual died from an apparent selfinflicted gunshot wound. No law enforcement personnel discharged a firearm during the incident. At the request of the City of Winchester Police Department, the incident is being investigated by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Culpeper Field Office. The investigation remains ongoing at this time. The deceased individual has been identified as D’Londre Tyrell Minifield, Age 20, who had ties to the Richmond and Winchester areas. His remains have been transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Manassas for autopsy and examination. All other related questions to this incident will be handled by the Vir-

ginia State Police as to not hinder or jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 19

pounds of Marijuana with the intent to distribute. Mr. Riley was held at the NRADC without bond.

NW Reg’l Drug Task Force Apprehends Winchester Man On February 19th, 2016 Agents with the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug and Gang Task Force obtained a Felony arrest warrant for Kevin Riley of Winchester, Virginia for Distribution of Marijuana. Agents located Kevin Riley operating his vehicle in the area of Kent Street and Cork Street in the City of Winchester. Agents followed Riley to the 700 block of South Kent Street in Winchester and when Riley parked his vehicle he was apprehended by Drug and Gang Task Force Agents without incident. A search of Mr. Riley and his vehicle revealed approximately twelve pounds of high grade Marijuana and approximately $18,000.00 in U.S. Currency all of which was seized by Task Force Agents. Mr. Riley was transported to the NRADC where he was charged with Distribution of one pound of Marijuana and possessing more than five

R-MA Student from Winchester Wins National Award Randolph-Macon Academy senior Jake Branham of Winchester, VA, has been awarded the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the U.S. (AMCSUS) Leadership Award, College Prep Category, for 2016. Branham was nominated for this national award by Randolph-Macon Academy President Brigadier General David C. Wesley, USAF, Retired. Nominees were judged in the areas of Leadership, Character, Service, Academics, and Athletics. Branham has proven himself in all of these areas, as evidenced by his selection for this award. Branham’s GPA is

just under 4.0. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the National German Honor Society, and the Vice President of the National Social Studies Honor Society. He has demonstrated natural leadership abilities; he is the Operations Group Commander, which is one of the top five positions in the Air Force Junior ROTC program at R-MA. In this position, Branham is responsible for the planning and execution of all drill team activities as well as the appearance and discipline of 250 cadets. He also attended Virginia Boys State 2015 last summer. Those leadership skills have displayed themselves on the athletic field as well, where Branham is also recognized for his good sportsmanship and athletic prowess. His athletic honors have included earning varsity letters in cross country and lacrosse every year of his high school career. In cross country, he was the captain in his senior year, was named to the Delaney Athletic Conference First Team All-Conference Team, received the school Coach’s Award, and was named Athlete of the Week. Branham’s character shone through in his work as a member and instructor on both the R-MA Color Guard and Drill Team for the last two years. “He is eager to volunteer for a performance and his ‘can do’ attitude is a driving force behind the professionalism and attention to detail of these units,” Wesley wrote in Branham’s nomination letter. “He works extremely well with younger cadets, instilling pride and the desire to do their best. His character and deportment are unquestionably exceptional, and his appearance is always outstanding.” Branham has impressed Wesley and other school personnel with his consideration for others and his exceptional work ethic. He is involved in community service projects at school, in the local community and abroad. Last summer he spent two weeks in Peru, building greenhouses, digging ditches for irrigation systems, and teaching English in local Peruvian communities improving the health and education of local children. He has been an active member with the R-MA Color Guard in numerous ceremonies honoring veterans and MIAs. He has marched in over 30 parades during his cadetship and recently participated in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns. “I was very honored to receive this award along with Randolph-Macon Academy,” said Branham. “This award shows not only how I have succeeded, but the wonderful support I have had throughout my four years at R-MA. The core values of knowledge, leadership and character have resonated with me and as a result, I am becoming a better leader and citizen of our world.” House of Hope event Join us at our 2016 Empty Bowl See BRIEFS, 20

Page 20 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016 BRIEFS, from 19 Supper to benefit the “House of Hope,” Warren County’s unique Rehabilitative Homeless Program for Men on Friday, March 18, from 4:306:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 14 West 1st Street, Front Royal, VA For those of you who have never experienced this event, you will be in for a treat! We have wonderful soups, prepared by six local chefs, a variety of home-made breads, lots of cookies for dessert, and a one-of-a-kind take home handmade bowl that has been lovingly painted by professional potters, school children and others in the community. The popular “Skyline High School Jazz Band” and “Heavenly Notes” from Buckton Presbyterian Church will once again provide musical entertainment. This is truly a community gathering and a community-wide effort to support the House of Hope, our unique Men’s Rehabilitative Homeless Program, and this is our major fundraiser for the entire year. Arline Link, from the Kiln Doctor is once again overseeing the preparation and hand painting of the bowls. There will be a Silent Auction and a Basket Bonanza with items donated by local businesses and private individuals. A variety of gourmet soups, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, will be offered by chefs from six local restaurants: Apple House, Blue Wing Frog, Cristina’s Café, Griffin Tavern, Joe’s Steakhouse, Soul Mountain Restaurant. We are extremely grateful to all the sponsors, businesses, restaurants and individuals who support us in raising funds for the House of Hope. As in past years, this promises to be another lively and enjoyable afternoon outing. We hope you can join us on March 18, at the beautiful First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. For more information, contact Maryann At 540-252-8479. Raffle to benefit the Humane Society of Warren County’s Hand in Paw Fund Walt Disney World Passes & 24” Olaf Raffle. 4 one day hopper passes to Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida. Proceeds benefit the Humane Society of Warren County’s Hand in Paw Fund. Value $640. Only 100 tickets will be sold! Chances $10 each! Winner announced no later than May 4, 2016. Stop by the shelter located at 1245 Progress Drive to get your ticket today! Accident Fatality Around 11pm on February 29, 2016, police responded to the 800 block of Remount Road for a single vehicle accident. Officer’s observed a gray passenger vehicle over the east side of the road lying against a large tree. Warren County Fire and Rescue were summoned to the scene and began to administer aid to the occupants of the vehicle, identified as Trevor Bryant Lee, 28, and Brandi

Nicole Cook, 23, both residents of Warren County. Brandi Cook was pronounced dead at the scene and Trevor Lee was airlifted to Winchester Medical Center for further treatment. The cause of the single vehicle crash is still under investigation by the Front Royal Police Department and the Virginia State Police. Anyone with further information is asked to contact MPO Steve Mauck of the Front Royal Police Department at (540) 635-2111 or smauck@frontroyalva.com. Special thanks to the Warren County Sheriff ’s Office, Warren County Fire and Rescue and the Virginia State Police for their immediate response. Adult Open Basketball This program is held on Wednesdays at the Warren County Health and Human Services Complex Gym, 465 W. 15th Street, Front Royal, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. for those ages 16 years of age and older, March 2, through April 13. The cost of the program is $3.00 per participant. Registration information can be obtained at the Warren County Community Center. Defensive Firearms of Virginia, LLC Class The Warren County Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the National Rifle Association will be holding a Defensive Firearms Class for those interested on Saturday, March 19, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Warren County Community Center, 538 Villa Avenue, Front Royal. This class is open to anyone 10 years of age and older; those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The class is a complete program covering the basics of firearm safety and is designed for individuals using all types of firearms. This course will cover: gun education; gun safety; hand to hand combat; aiming and firing a gun; and gun cleaning. The cost is $75.00 per participant and is limited to 35 participants; preregistration is required. For more information about the course contact Rex King at DFV357@yahoo.com Registration information can be obtained at the Warren County Community Center. Next Level Wrestling Club The Warren County Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with the Warren County High School wrestling team will be sponsoring the Next Level Wrestling Club, for those in grades K through 12. This club will be held at Warren County High School Wrestling Room, Monday through Thursday, March 8 through October 27, from 3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. There is no cost for this club. For more information contact Coach Wadas at (540) 635-4144 ext. 44179 or via email at mwadasl@wcps.

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com k12.va.us Registration forms are available at the Warren County Community Center. Volunteers Needed for Therapeutic Riding Blue Ridge Center for Therapeutic Horsemanship (BRCTH) invites enthusiastic and caring individuals to become lesson volunteers for our 8week spring session which begins the week of April 11. Volunteers must be at least 14 years of age. Equine experience required for the position of horse leader, and is preferred, but not required for side-walkers. Trainees attend Orientation at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, March 23, and then one of several hands-on trainings being offered the next week at the farm at 644 Lime Marl Lane in Millwood. Please contact Margie Youngs at brcthinc@hotmail.com or at (540) 533-2777 to register or for more information. EDA and Warren County Sheriff announce new Regional Training Academy The Economic Development Authority and the Warren County Sheriff announced today that a new regional criminal justice training academy will be built at the Happy Creek Technology Park. The $8 million project will be fully funded by a private developer, according to Jennifer McDonald, Executive Director of the Warren County Economic Development Authority. “We were approached about nine months ago by an investor who was interested in developing a facility that would serve the community,” said McDonald. “We were aware that Sheriff McEathron was interested in building a local training facility. So, we put the two together – and it has resulted in a great partnership and opportunity for the community.” The academy will be located on eighteen acres at the end of Progress Drive in the Happy Creek Technology Park, and will be comprised of two components: a 15,300 square foot training academy and a 14,000 square foot indoor firing range. The academy will annually serve about 730 law enforcement and correctional officers from around the region, including Berryville Police Department, Clarke County Sheriff ’s Office, Frederick County Public Safety Communication, Frederick County Sheriff ’s Office, Front Royal Police Department, Lord Fairfax Community College Police Department, Middletown Police Department, Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center, Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail, Stephens City Police Department, Strasburg Police Department, Warren County Sheriff ’s Office, Winchester City Police Department, and Winchester City Sheriff ’s Office. “This is a valuable project and a great opportunity for our region,” said Warren County Sheriff Danny McEathron. “Jennifer told me about the investor; we met a number of times and

evaluated several parcels of land. We selected the Happy Creek site primarily for its accessibility. Having a local academy will eliminate the need to travel for training and will bring others into the community who will generate some revenue while here.” “I’m glad we could put these two entities together,” said McDonald. “While the project does not create many new jobs, it offers an opportunity for an investor to give back to the community and for our law enforcement officers from around the region to train locally and to spend time in our community. We are very pleased about the project and its positive impact on the community.” United Way of Front Royal reached 80% of 2015 goal The United Way of Front Royal recently called an end to the 2015 campaign for 2016, and is pleased to report that more than 80% of the goal was reached, despite the goal having been set at its highest level EVER in the county, $166,000. This ambitious goal was based on the United Way’s strategic plan drafted by its volunteer Board. This strategic plan, available from the United Way for anyone who might be interested, calls for this United Way to be raising $225,000 by the year 2020. As of January 31, 2016, almost $135,000 was raised to fund our health and human service agencies that are members of our United Way coalition. In addition, the United Way is hopeful of funding Community Impact grants again this year, having successfully launched this new initiative last year with four Community Impact grants, two of which went to non-member agencies the Warren Coalition and the Humane Society of Warren County. “I’m very proud of our community and its efforts to help our United Way raise over $130k in our campaign,” noted current United Way President Bret W. Hrbek. “Unless otherwise designated, all money raised in Warren County stays in Warren County to help our neighbors struggling to provide the basic human needs for themselves and their families.” “Our campaign efforts prove that when hundreds of people from all walks of life pool their resources we can make a real difference. Thank you, Front Royal and Warren County for helping us have a successful annual campaign.” As always, our one-county United Way serves our neighbors here in Warren County only. Part of this year’s campaign funds will again go to our newest initiative, Community Impact funding. “These new Community Impact grants are determined by the current needs to be identified here in Warren County that fall under one of our five priority areas for service: basic needs, abuse and neglect, health and mental health, dependent care (youth and elderly) and youth development/ juvenile delinquency,” reiterated Executive Director Lee Smith Osina. If your agency wants to launch a

new program in any one of these areas, consider asking for a Community Impact grant for 2016-17. Applications for funding will be available in May, and any nonprofit 501 (c) (3) agency serving the people of Warren County is eligible for consideration. Contact the United Way for more information. Your United Way needs YOU!! Impact funding, like allocation funding, both depend on your donations to our United Way, and we need you to continue this vital effort. When you give to the United Way campaign, you are helping to provide the means to improve, direct and enhance health and human services here in Warren County. Remember: if only ½ of the citizens gave $52 to the annual United Way campaign, we would have more than a million dollars to assist our neighbors. It all depends on you! Please make your donation today…visit our web site to make an online donation, send a check or ask to be billed…any way you want, you can give to your neighbors. The Front Royal United Way supports the effort of 11 health and human service agencies that provide services to Warren County residents. They are: Blue Ridge Housing Network, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Blue Ridge Opportunities, Concern Hotline, Front Royal Women’s Resource Center, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Healthy Families of the NSV, House of Hope, Mental Health America – Warren County, St. Luke Community Clinic and our newest initiative – the Phoenix Project. For more information, or to make a donation to the United Way, please call (540) 635-3636, email at: info@ frontroyalunitedwway.org, or visit our web site at: www.frontroyalunitedway.org. Annual Dare to Dream Breakfast The Front Royal Women’s Resource Center will hold its annual Dare to Dream breakfast on March 24th, from 8 - 9:30 a.m., at the Shenandoah Valley Golf Club. RSVP by March 18 through our website, frwrc.org; email, wrc@frwrc.org; phone (540) 636-7007; or check in the mail, FRWRC, P.O. Box 1748, Front Royal, VA 22630. Cost is $36 per person which includes a plated breakfast and donation. Grant winners will be announced and will share their inspirational stories of dreams to enrich their lives. Members and nonmembers are invited to attend. Front Royal Kiwanis names Barber its member of the year The Kiwanis Club of Front Royal has named Wayne Barber as its Kiwanian of the Year for 2015. Barber is a former club president, who has helped organize a number of club activities, including a wine tasting and Salvation Army Bell ringing. He has been a member of the club since 2009. He joins a long list of distinguished Front Royal Kiwanis members who have won the award in recent years

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com – including Barbara Tringali, Tom Curry, Melanie Stull, Terry Leckie and others. The Kiwanis Club of Front Royal is a service organization devoted to helping the youth of our community.

The club’s next big event will be a 5K run on May 21 to raise funds for the Warren County Special Olympics. For information on the club, or if interested in becoming a member, please call (540) 252-2137.

Samuels Library AuthorCon 2016 Samuels Library in Front Royal is calling all local, published authors to register for our free writers’ conference, Samuels AuthorCon 2016,

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 21 which will be held on Saturday March 19 from 1 to 5pm at Samuels Library. Authors will get free table space to sell their books, as well as a seat at our special “Genre Meet-and-Greet” where authors will sit with other local authors in their genre and speak with attendees. We’re excited to connect local authors both with others in their genre and also the aspiring writers who will be most interested in their work. Table space is limited, so local authors who wish to participate should register right away at http://bit.ly/authorcon2016-register We welcome both traditional and self-published local authors, whether of books or shorter pieces. This free conference is geared towards aspiring writers, and will include short workshops on writing-related topics. For questions, please contact Bill Powell at http://billpowell.org/contact. Samuels Public Library Receives Grants from local Elks Club Samuels Public Library today an-

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nounced the receipt of two grants from Elks Lodge 2382, for use in the Youth Services department. “The Elks Lodge has been very generous to the Children’s department of this library for many years, and this year they gifted us $1,000 which will be used to build and diversify our picture book collection, and another $500 which will be used in the children’s garden. We are so grateful for their ongoing support,” remarked Michal Ashby, Youth Services Supervisor. “This will certainly benefit the children of this area as they develop a love for books and the library. Subsequently, they can learn about gardening and enjoy the unique outdoor space made just for them.” Samuels Public Library is a community resource that enhances the quality of life for residents of Warren County/Front Royal by fulfilling their personal, occupational and recreational needs through services, programs, and a collection of materials that is current, balanced and responsive to those needs. The Library strives to stimulate and broaden comSee BRIEFS, 22

CRIME OF THE WEEK

Frederick County Crime of the Week On February 28, 2016, the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office responded to Stroehmann Bakeries located at 124 Marathon Drive, in response to a call from a delivery driver who noticed the doors to the office were open and the lights were on. Upon arrival, deputies were advised that the business had been entered. Once inside, unknown suspect(s) rummaged through drawers, broke into one safe that contained money to be deposited and removed an unknown amount of U. S. Cur‑ rency. If you have any information regarding a suspect or a suspect vehicle in this incident, please contact the the Crime Solvers Hotline at (540) 665‑TIPS (8477). Information leading to the arrest of a suspect may result in a reward of up to $1,000. Incident #16000978. Investigator Holmes D. Smoke.

Page 22 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016 BRIEFS, from 21 munity interests in literature, reading and learning, and has been doing so for more than two centuries. The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks is a proud fraternal American organization that believes in God and the United States of America. Their principles of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity guide them in their endeavors to assist our government, citizens, and community in any way they can. Further information about Samuels Library is available at www.samuelslibrary.net or by calling (540) 6353153. Samuels Public Library March Events English as a Second Language: register and attend the English as a Second Language course. This course will be every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. The ESL course is completely free. Learning English will not only enhance your quality of life but open many doors and present new opportunities. General Education Development: register and attend the General Education Development course. This course will be every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 A.M-12:30 P.M (except on school holidays or closings). The GED course is completely free. Let this course be the stepping stone to your success. Wired Wednesday: Whether you’re new to computers or someone with intermediate skills wanting to increase your computer skills and knowledge, this club is for you. Not just a class or a support group, each week we will come together to help each other answer computer questions while becoming more computer savvy in a fun and supportive environment. Each meeting will typically feature a topic of interest, a time to share questions and answers, followed by free time to explore and play on the computer. Come join us

– you too can be a computer user, not a computer loser! Classes will be every Wednesday at 1:00 P.M. TnT Book Club: attend the TnT (Twenties and Thirties) Book Club! On Saturday, March 5th at 12 P.M. we will discuss Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Miri lives on a mountain where, for generations, her ancestors have quarried stone and lived a simple life. Then word comes that the king’s priests have divined her small village is the home of the future princess. In a year’s time, the prince himself will come and choose his bride from among the girls of the village. The king’s ministers set up an academy on the mountain, and every teenage girl must attend and learn how to become a princess. Miri soon finds herself confronted with a harsh academy mistress, bitter competition among the girls, and her own conflicting desires to be chosen and win the heart of her childhood best friend. But when bandits seek out the academy to kidnap the future princess, Miri must rally the girls together and use a power unique to the mountain dwellers to save herself and her classmates. Crochet Group: come out and learn how to crochet or share your talents on Wednesday, March 9th at 10 A.M. The group will meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month. All ability levels welcome. The Shenandoah Valley Civil War Era Dancers: join us in learning early American period dancing! The dances include line, circle, square sets and waltzes. The dance class will be on Thursday, March 10th, music starts at 5:00 P.M. and dancing starts at 6:00 P.M. No prior experience is necessary. Young folks and those with two left feet are most welcome! Northern Shenandoah Valley Master Gardeners: attend the Master Gardeners Speaker Series on Saturday, March 12th at 2:00 P.M. For more information, contact the Adult Reference Department. Books and Beyond Book Club: attend the Books and Beyond Book

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com Club! On Wednesday, March 16th at 10:00 A.M., we will discuss The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. He lives alone, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. But when a mysterious package appears at the bookstore, its unexpected arrival gives Fikry the chance to make his life over and see everything anew. Free Android Device Training: Tired of hitting the wrong buttons on your Smart Phone? Are you constantly coming across things on your phone that you have no idea how to use? Samuels Public Library invites you to learn the ins and outs of your Android device with one-on-one assistance for all phone carriers on Wednesday, March 16th at 5:30 P.M. During the course for beginners, you will learn email setup, use of the play store, sending pictures and videos, and much more! All participants will receive a FREE stylus for their device. Registration is required and don’t forget to bring your Android phone. Alzheimer’s Association: Dementia Conversation: join Bob Bell for a workshop that offers tips on how to have a honest & caring conversation with family members about issues related to Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia, including going to the doctor, deciding when to stop driving and making legal & financial planning. Find out more on Wednesday, March 16th at 6:00 P.M. Registration required. Tech Thursday: Computer Security: join Bob Way, Web Design Developer & Computer Tutor, to learn about different ways to safeguard your computer against intruders. Come out on Thursday, March 17th at 6 P.M. to find out more information. Registration Required. Tech Thursday: Social Network Privacy: join Bob Way, Web Design Developer & Computer Tutor, to learn about internet safety and pri-

vacy concerns with Social Media. Come out on Thursday, March 24th at 6:00 P.M. Registration Required. Environmental Cleanup of the Cold War- It Affects Us All: join guest speaker, Barry Gaffney, retired Senior Executive of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Program, for an educational program on the nation’s largest environmental clean-up program and how it impacts all of us. Mr. Gaffney will discuss the atomic age and the environmental cleanup program, the program’s successes and its challenges on Thursday, March 17th at 6:00 P.M. Vibes at the Libes: Irish Tunes: enjoy a free lunch time performance. Join us for a special musical lunch break with octogenarians Ralph and Fred. Bring your lunch, tell a friend and spend some time listening to Irish tunes on March 18th at 12:30 P.M. Samuels Annual Local Author Fair: Local published authors are invited to register for Samuels Library Writers Conference on Saturday, March 19 from 1 to 5pm. Authors will get free table space to sell their books,

as well as a seat at our special “Genre Meet-and-Greet”, where authors will sit with other local authors in their genre and speak with attendees. We’re excited to connect local authors both with others in their genre and the aspiring writers who will be most interested in their work. Table space is limited, so local authors who wish to participate should register as soon as possible. We welcome both traditional and self-published local authors. This free conference is geared towards aspiring writers, and will include short workshops on writing-related topics. For questions, please contact Bill Powell at http:// billpowell.org/contact, (540)3056824 or Nicki Lynch at nlynch@samuelslibrary.net Substance Abuse: Myth vs. Reality: An Introduction to How Someone Becomes Addicted: join Northwestern Community Services to learn about the biological and medical mechanisms of addiction on March 31st at 6:00 P.M. Find out about substance use, addiction and more information about what you can do to spread awareness.

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com Shenandoah University to Host Am Tryke Road Show in April Shenandoah University’s divisions of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) have partnered to bring an Am Tryke Road Show to the Winchester area from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 2. This is a free opportunity for children with special needs to try out a variety of adaptive tricycles. “It can be challenging for children with special needs to acquire medically necessary equipment, much

less a piece of equipment for their leisure,” said Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy Bonnie Riley, O.T.D. “An adaptive tricycle offers the opportunity for children with special needs to engage in recreation activities with their peers and family members, while promoting their overall physical and psychological health.” At the event, each child will have the opportunity to ride several adaptive tricycles and will be measured and fitted by a team of students from the Shenandoah University PT and

OT programs in order to determine the adaptive tricycle that will best meet their needs. Interested individuals should call (540) 535-3471 for an assigned time slot (in order to prevent extended wait times). The event will be held on Shenandoah University’s main campus in Parking Lot E, below the Health & Life Sciences Building (HLSB). In the event of inclement weather, the Am Tryke Road Show will be held in the basement of HLSB. For more information about the Am Tryke Road Show event, contact Dr. Bonnie Riley at briley@su.edu. Those who would like information on how to acquire funding for an adaptive tricycle should contact AMBUCS, a nationwide organization that works to provide Am Tryke adaptive tricycles to individuals unable to operate a traditional bike. Students in Shenandoah’s PT and OT programs are launching a Northern Shenandoah Valley AMBUCS chapter, so keep an eye out on the AMBUCS website in the next few months to obtain contact information and events for this new local chapter. AMBUCS fulfills its goal of “Creating Mobility and Independence for People with Disabilities” by working through local chapters. These chapters work to fundraise in order to provide free and low-cost adaptive tricycles to children who are unable to use traditional bicycles or tricycles. They also work to fit children with tricycles and determine the appropriate adaptations. For more information on acquiring funding for an adaptive tricycle, visit ambucs.org. Goodlatte Announces 2016 Congressional Art Competition Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) announced today that the Congressional Art Competition for high school students throughout the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia is now underway:

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 23 “A walk in the woods, buildings from our past, and scenes from still life – these are just a few pieces of art from the Sixth Congressional District that have greeted visitors to the U.S. Capitol in recent years. Whether it’s drawing, painting, or photography, the Congressional Art Competition is a great opportunity for students to showcase their talents. Each year I am impressed by the skills of young artists in the Sixth Congressional District, and I look forward to reviewing this year’s submissions. I encourage all interested students to submit their artwork, and ask others to help pass information about this opportunity along.” Background: The Congressional Art Competition is open to all high school students who reside in the Sixth Congressional District. The winner of the Sixth District’s competition will be on display for one year in the U.S. Capitol. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The format for the Sixth District’s Congressional Art Competition is as follows: Students or instructors may deliver their artwork in-person to one of Congressman Goodlatte’s Sixth District offices located in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Staunton, and Harrisonburg. Students or instructors may also arrange for a member of Congressman Goodlatte’s district staff to pick up the artwork at a designated location. Students or instructors may take a digital photograph(s) of the artwork and send it via e-mail to Michael Ambrose at Michael.Ambrose@mail. house.gov. To review the official rules and guidelines for the 2016 Congressional Art Competition and access the student release form, please visit Goodlatte.House.Gov. Model Railroad Club Events The Winchester Model Railroad

Club is sponsoring two events on Saturday March 12, 2016. The first is the Spring Train / Hobby / collectible flea market at the Winchester Moose Lodge 1283. It is located at 215 East Cork St. in Winchester right next to the railroad tracks. The event begins at 9:00 AM till 2:00 PM. Admission will be a $4.00 donation and children under 12 are free. Breakfast and lunch will be available. For more information about the club, or becoming a vendor at this event, please contact Larry Sullivan at (540) 533-3389. The second event that same Saturday will be an Open House to view our extensive HO scale operating model railroad from 10:00 AM till 2:00 PM. Our clubhouse is located at 430 N. Cameron St. in the old CSX freight house. There is no admission for this event. Members will be available to answer questions about the club, membership, and any questions about the layout or rolling stock. For information about the Open House please contact Roger Murphy at (540) 323-7009 or leave a message on the club phone (540) 665-9898. Outstanding Students Martin Lee Ilderton of Winchester has been named to the Dean’s List at Clemson University for the fall 2015 semester. Ilderton is majoring in History. To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must have achieved a grade-point average between 3.50 and 3.99 on a 4.0 scale. Virginia Members React to NPS Memorial Bridge Announcement The National Park Service (NPS) today announced that Arlington Memorial Bridge will need to close by 2021 absent funding for a full rehabilitation. The bridge has been undergoing emergency repairs since last year. Northern Virginia Reps. Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, and Barbara Comstock, along with Senators See BRIEFS, 24

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Page 24 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016 BRIEFS, from 23 Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, reacted to the news with urgent calls to fund repairs, estimated to cost as much as $280 million. “Memorial Bridge was built to symbolize the coming together and reunification of a fractured nation following the Civil War. Today, unfortunately, it also symbolizes the neglect of our nation’s transportation system.” said Rep. Don Beyer. “The prospect of a shuttered Memorial Bridge is one we cannot live with. This challenge demands a solution and the regional delegation will work together to find it.” NPS devotes much of its $20 million DC area transportation budget for repairs to the aging Memorial Bridge. This continued funding allotment severely hinders its efforts to sustain other regional transportation and infrastructure projects. “To the tens of thousands of Virginians, DC residents and visitors who travel across the Potomac River every

day, Arlington’s Memorial Bridge is a critical piece of our regional transportation system,” said Sen. Mark Warner. “The extended closure of this major commuter artery will be devastating to the economy and quality of life in the capital region. We will work together as a delegation to identify the necessary resources so the National Park Service can keep Memorial Bridge open.” “Arlington Memorial Bridge is a key transportation link for thousands of daily Northern Virginia commuters as well as visitors to our nation’s capital,” said Sen. Tim Kaine. “It speaks to the state of our nation’s infrastructure that replacing this ‎National Park Service-owned bridge would cost as much as the entire yearly budget for Park Service bridges across the country. My colleagues and I in the National Capital Region’s congressional delegation took steps in last year’s transportation bill to make it easier to fund major projects like this. It is critical that we take the next step toward a new bridge before we

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com reach the point at which it becomes unsafe to use the current one.” Over 68,000 vehicles cross the bridge between Washington, D.C. and Arlington, VA every day. Closing the Memorial Bridge would cost local governments a projected $168,000 per day ($75 million per year) by 2021 in transportation outlays alone according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Transit studies suggest that traffic from the bridge would spill over onto other area bridges, particularly the 14th Street Bridge and Roosevelt Bridge. The impact on an alreadystrained transportation system could likely produce new, extreme levels of gridlock in the nation’s capital and its Northern Virginia suburbs. “The potential closure of Memorial Bridge, a major commuter route for many Northern Virginians, will have a profound negative effect on all our regional roadways,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly. “It is disheartening this announcement comes as we celebrate the National Park Centennial. I can think of no better way for Congress to celebrate the Park’s 100th birthday than to redouble its efforts to invest in our Park system. This is a federally-owned bridge, and thus a federal responsibility that Congress must address.” “Arlington Memorial Bridge is a national treasure as well as a major thoroughfare for Northern Virginia commuters,” said Rep. Barbara Comstock. “It’s used every day by 68,000 vehicles as well as people coming and going to our airports, local landmarks, and work. We must ensure proper funding for the bridge so that this critical piece of infrastructure remains safe and usable. The alternative would cause serious traffic problems for my constituents and the region and harm the local and

national economy.” I-66 slow-roll closures March 6 in Warren County Motorists should be alert for eastbound and westbound slow-roll lane closures on Interstate 66 in Warren County during the morning of Sunday, March 6. This will allow crews to replace utility lines over I-66. Closures are scheduled between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., but each one is expected to take no more than 15 minutes. The eastbound slow rolls will begin at mile marker 2.6. The westbound slow rolls will begin simultaneously at mile marker 8. All work is weather permitting, and slow-roll times are subject to change. The VDOT Staunton District serves Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rockingham, Augusta, Highland, Rockbridge, Alleghany and Bath counties. Traffic alerts and traveler information can be obtained by dialing 511. Traffic alerts and traveler information

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also are available at 511Virginia.org. Citizens can dial 1-800-FOR- ROAD (1-800-367-7623) from anywhere in the state to report road hazards, ask transportation questions, or get information related to Virginia’s roads. Barns “Estate Sale” Offers Consignment and Donation Opportunities The Barns of Rose Hill in Berryville will hold its second annual “Estate Sale – Fine Art and Home Furnishings” at the Barns on April 9 and 10. People may consign their artwork, antiques, furniture and home furnishings, or they may want simply to donate a good item to help the Barns raise funds. Diana Kincannon, Chairman, noted that “It’s a win-win opportunity – folks can get some cash and tax deductions for items they don’t want or need, and support arts programming at the Barns at the same time. It’s a great way to downsize.” Items must be clean and in good repair. Complete information is available on the Barns website, www.barnsofrosehill.org, on the “Donors and Consignors Form”, or by calling Brett Hoag at 540-955-2004 between noon and 3PM, Tuesday through Saturday.

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VIRGINIA The Last Dragons: Appalachian Hellbenders is among 20 films featured in Friends of the Rappahannock’s Wild & Scenic Film Fest at the Daniel Technology Center Adventurers will love the Wild & Scenic Film Fest Lights! Camera! Adventure! The Wild & Scenic Film Festival showcases a different kind of action movie: environmental action. Adventurers who love spending time outdoors share their passion on film as they bike, climb or paddle across some of the world’s most beautiful places. Local residents of environmentallythreatened or affected communities realize what’s at stake and stand up for their rights and the places they love. Friends of the Rappahannock’s (FOR) 5th Annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival comes to the Rappahannock headwaters on Sunday, April 3, at the Daniel Technology Center on

the Germanna Community College campus in Culpeper. Doors open at noon and the films run from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. FOR is a non-profit, watershed advocacy group in its 31st year of protecting the Rappahannock River, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay. Festival tickets are $10 in advance and $5 for students. Special prices are available with the purchase of an FOR membership. An earlier showing in Fredericksburg will be held Saturday, March 19, at Paragon Village 12/Splitsville. Doors open at 8 a.m. and the festival concludes at noon. Tickets for both events can be purchased online at www.riverfriends. org. For more information, call (540) 373-3448 or e-mail woodie.walker@ riverfriends.org Unlike Elders, College Students Favor Sanders, Rubio By Matt Chaney Capital News Service While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each carried Virginia in their respective presidential primary elections Tuesday, voting results among college students were quite different. A computer analysis of election results from polling locations on or

near university campuses in Virginia showed that college students strongly favored Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination and Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination. The analysis aggregated the vote tallies for eight polling precincts that, according to the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project, contain large numbers of college students. VPAP, which makes campaign finance and other information available to the public, identified precincts associated with the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, James Madison University and Liberty University. In Super Tuesday’s Democratic primary, Sanders received more than 74 percent of the votes cast in those college-associated precincts. Clinton won about 25 percent. In contrast, among all voters statewide, Clinton beat Sanders, 64 percent to 35 percent. In the Republican primary, at polling precincts on or near college campuses, Rubio took just over 50 percent of the vote, followed by Ted Cruz with 20 percent, Trump with almost 11.5 percent and John Kasich with about 8 percent. That order differed significantly from the statewide results. Overall, 35 percent of Virginians who voted

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 25

in the GOP primary favored Trump; 32 percent, Rubio; almost 17 percent, Cruz; and 9 percent, Kasich. VPAP identified one precinct as closely affiliated with VCU. Capital News Service expanded the analysis by examining four precincts that include VCU student housing. At those four locations, in the Democratic primary, 76 percent of the voters cast ballots for Sanders and 24 percent for Clinton. And in the Republican primary, 46 percent of the voters favored Rubio; 22 percent, Trump; 17 percent, Kasich; and 8 percent, Cruz. One student supporter of Sanders said the Vermont senator’s message resonates with young people. “Students vote for Sanders because they see a vision for the future with him ... more social welfare and student debt relief,” George Knight, a VCU student advocate who worked the phones leading up to the election, said Wednesday. “With Clinton, there’s no overarching vision of what America could be. It’s just a continuation of the status quo.” One Rubio supporter also expressed hope about the future while exiting the polls in Richmond on Tuesday. “I voted for Marco Rubio because he’s a very optimistic candidate. He’s very articulate about a lot of values that I believe in,” said Chelsea, a VCU student who didn’t share her last name. “And so I really wanted to get my voice out there for a positive candidate who has a real vision for America’s future.” Not every student who voted in Tuesday’s primary voted for the candidate that they thought represented their best opportunity for a bright future. “I voted for Marco Rubio, not necessarily because I wanted him, but I

just wanted someone beyond Donald Trump,” Jamie, also a VCU student, said at her polling place at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond. “I don’t really care between Hillary or Bernie Sanders. So I didn’t vote for either of them because I’d be fine with either one of them.” Law Center to appeal Dominion’s coal ash permits By Julie Rothey Capital News Service The Southern Environmental Law Center plans to appeal the State Water Control Board’s decision to allow Dominion Power to release treated wastewater from coal-ash ponds into the James River. The law center filed the notice to appeal on behalf of the James River Association. The official appeal will be filed by mid-March. The permits, granted in January, allow Dominion to release treated wastewater from ash pits on the site of the Bremo Power Station in Fluvanna County, about 60 miles upstream from Richmond. The ash pits are filled with a mixture of water and coal ash left over from when the station was coal-fired. The James River Association expressed concern about the levels of wastewater toxins, including arsenic and cadmium. “There are technology standards that can get lower levels of arsenic and these other pollutants,” said Jamie Brunkow, the association’s riverkeeper for the lower James. “There’s precedent in other states, like North Carolina, to get those concentrations much, much lower.” The river association wants these stricter standards in the permit. See VIRGINIA, 26

Page 26 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016 VIRGINIA, from 25

mo station until a ruling is made in court. Brunkow said the river association is especially concerned because these permits could be the first of many as Dominion seeks to decommission coal-ash pits across the state. He said the river association wants to set a precedent with this appeal, so future permits will have higher standards.

Brunkow also said Dominion’s Concept Engineering Report showed the power company could reach lower toxin concentrations than are required in the permit. The notice of appeal, filed on Feb. 10, also cites concern over the mixing zone allowed in the permits. It said the river would be used to dilute the pollutants to water quality standards, leaving a “mixing zone” area with higher levels of pollutants. Brunkow said he is concerned about the pollution’s effects on animals living in what would be the mixing zone. “These are the kinds of things that don’t break down. They build up in the food system,” Brunkow said. “It puts people at risk when they eat fish out of the river.” Under Virginia anti-degradation laws, mixing zones are permitted only when socially or economically necessary. The environmental law center and river association argue there isn’t a social or economic need for a mixing zone in this situation. Officials at Dominion Power say the treated wastewater would not hurt the environment. “We believe that the permits issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality are among the most strict permits they have ever issued,” said Dan Genest, Dominion senior communications specialist. “We believe that they (the permits) will protect the James River and the Potomac River, and we intend to proceed with our work.” Genest said decommissioning the ash pits by draining the water would protect the river from the possibility of a leaking ash pond. The appeal will have no effect on Dominion or its plans for the Bre-

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Primary By Rachel Beatrice Capital News Service I personally sent for an absentee ballot for the Virginia primary election. However, I quickly became ambivalent. I have to have a witness? Wait … can this witness be anyone? Then came the paranoia: Will my ballot actually arrive at the election office on time, or even at all? Will my vote actually count? The pressure was too much. I had to vote in person. The instructions clearly stated that if I changed my mind and wished to vote in person, I could still do so as long as I did not open envelope A – the actual casting of my ballot. I followed the instructions for when one changes their mind. On Tuesday morning – Election Day – I was in line at the Earlysville Fire Department, at 283 Reas Ford Road in Albemarle County, ready to vote. I had my absentee envelope ballot in hand and unopened. “State your name and address,” the woman declared. I did so as I handed her the envelope and explained the situation. She nodded and smiled and said I needed to speak to the chief election official. I sat in a chair next to another vot-

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Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com er who had his back to me. The chief was next to him on the phone. Another woman was on the other side of the chief. I asked myself, are they both waiting for the chief? This seemed to be taking longer than I expected. Much longer. And I needed to get back to Richmond and to class. After about 10 minutes, I asked, “Excuse me, what exactly is happening here?” The chief muttered something, half-glanced at me, then got back on the phone. This time it was about my voting, or lack of voting, situation. I quickly realized that the chief election official at the Albemarle County District 5 polling office had no idea what he was doing. Neither did three other election officials who were present. “Maybe it’s this bottom,” one official asked the other –referring to the computer screen in front of them. Apparently, according to their computer, I had already cast a ballot. “Will that vote count then?” I asked. “No.” I have to admit that I did not maintain complete composure. It had been 20 minutes. The election official told me to calm down and that he was trying to figure out the situation. “People face disenfranchisement in this country, and this is starting to border on that,” I told him. By this time, another woman at the polling station also was denied the right to vote and asked to sit where I was sitting. Is this the twilight zone? I asked myself. The election officials were smiling and not really concerned that I am concerned that I may not get the chance to exercise my right to vote. It seemed that no one in the entire building could figure out a glitch in the computer matrix to allow me to actually cast my ballot in-person at this very moment. After 30 minutes, the chief was more livid at the situation than I originally was. Turns out the tech guy was overwhelmed with calls and wasn’t available. After 45 minutes, I was finally able to cast a provisional ballot and assured that it would count in the election results that day. And the chief election official ended up hugging me. It’s a happy ending to my voting nightmare, but many others are not as lucky. I just hope my vote counted. Chamber of Commerce Joins Suit Against EPA Rules By Margaret Carmel Capital News Service The Virginia Chamber of Commerce has joined 166 other business organizations in supporting a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s Clean Power Plan, which would require states to cut carbon emissions.

The move puts the chamber on the opposite side of the issue from Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. He has joined 17 other states in filing a brief supporting the regulations. Since its unveiling by President Barack Obama in August 2014, the Clean Power Plan has been a contentious issue across the nation. It aims to reduce carbon emissions in the United States by 30 percent by 2030, mostly by regulating coal-burning power plants. Like many other business groups, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce worries that the regulations would hurt economic development, especially in rural areas. The plan “threatens to drive jobs overseas and force businesses to close, causing harm to communities that provide the workforce for this industry,” the chamber said last week in a friend of the court brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. “Poor and rural communities will suffer disproportionately because they are served by smaller utilities that will be compelled to shut down or purchasing allowances and credits in renewable energy technologies, the costs of which will be borne by their relatively small base of ratepayers.” In November, Herring filed a friend of the court brief in support of the regulations, which would be implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “I’m proud to stand up for cleaner air and cleaner energy in Virginia,” Herring said. “Our pollution reduction goal is ambitious and achievable, and it gives us a real opportunity to improve the health of our people, our environment, and to grow jobs and businesses in our clean energy sector. We should seize this opportunity.” Fighting climate change and sea level rise has been a priority of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration. Officials have been especially concerned about Hampton Roads, home to Norfolk Naval Base and Langley Air Force Base. In the Virginia General Assembly, Republicans overwhelmingly oppose the Clean Power Plan, while Democrats generally support it. Voting along party lines, legislators passed a bill requiring the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to get the assembly’s approval on any state efforts to implement the federal rules. McAuliffe has until midnight Tuesday to sign or veto the legislation (Senate Bill 21). Legislators representing Virginia’s coalfields fear that the plan would put many miners out of work. Another major concern is that the regulations would cause a spike in electricity rates. According to an independent study commissioned by National Economic Research Associates, the Clean Power Plan could push electricity prices up between 11 and 14 percent nationwide. West Virginia and 28 other states have sued to block the plan. On Feb. 9, in an unprecedented move, the

U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the regulations until the D.C. Court of Appeals rules later this year. The case is expected to return to the Supreme Court. Panel Kills Bill to Keep Officers’ Names Secret By Margaret Carmel Capital News Service After nearly an hour of debate, a legislative panel killed a bill that would have exempted law enforcement officers’ names and training records from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. A subcommittee of the House General Laws Committee tabled Senate Bill 552 for the General Assembly’s current session. State officials plan to study the issue as part of a review of the state’s FOIA law. FOIA allows any citizen to gain access to government documents, including names and salaries of public employees. Currently, personal information such as health records, home addresses, Social Security numbers and bank account information is exempt. SB 552, proposed by Sen. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, would have exempted the names and other information about police officers as well. Cosgrove said his measure sought to protect law enforcement officers. “Once this information is received by a media outlet, a lawyer or anybody, there’s no controlling that information anymore,” Cosgrove told the subcommittee. “Anybody can FOIA information. It can even be the council of MS-13,” or Mara Salvatrucha, a notorious criminal gang. Speaking on the behalf of the Virginia Press Association, attorney Craig T. Merritt stressed the importance of transparency and emphasized the safeguards in existing law to protect police officers. “The express purpose of this bill is to take away names produced in bulk – to take away the ability for the public to associate with individual officers with the information that you can get everybody else,” Merritt said. “If you take all of the names out of the database, you can’t tell what a particular officer’s position is or what they’re being paid.” Current Virginia law already exempts the identities of undercover officers, mobile phone numbers and tactical plans from FOIA. Several high-ranking law enforcement administrators and officers came to speak in support of the bill. Kevin Carroll, president of the Virginia Fraternal Order of Police of Virginia, expressed concerns about someone using FOIA to get a database of officers’ names digitally in bulk and then posting it on the Internet. “I agree the public has a right to know who their police officers are,” Carroll said. “My concern goes beyond Chesterfield County. This is the World Wide Web when this stuff gets posted.” Carroll described several unsolved

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com shooting deaths of off-duty police officers – all assumed to be in retaliation for arresting or testifying against gang members. But Merritt said FOIA wasn’t involved in such incidents. “One thing we know for sure is, it could not have been because of a FOIA request, because had there been a FOIA request, there would have been a record,” Merritt said.

“The idea that people would use FOIA to accomplish that outcome and identify themselves doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” M. Wayne Huggins of the Virginia State Police Association cited the need to protect law enforcement officers from new threats, both international and domestic. “I never thought I would see the day when a terrorist attack in Paris,

France, would cause police officers in Virginia to be threatened,” Huggins said. “I also never thought I would see the day when American citizens marched in the street chanting for dead cops.” Poll: Virginians Think Prisons Cost Too Much By Sarah King Capital News Service Most Virginians agree that the prison population costs too much money, according to a recent poll by the Charles Koch Institute, an educational public-policy organization, and Prison Fellowship, a Christian nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice reform. On Wednesday, the two groups hosted a panel of experts to discuss the poll results and fiscally responsible ways to both reform the prison system and make communities safer. “In Virginia, there are actions that can be taken in the short run to dra-

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 27 matically improve our current justice system,” said Vikrant Reddy, senior research fellow at the Koch Institute. “We can improve public safety, reduce costs and respect each individual’s dignity.” According to the poll: • 36 percent of Virginians rate criminal justice reform among the top five issues most important to them. • 75 percent agree or strongly agree that the prison population is costing too much money. • 80 percent believe people with felony records should have the right to get work certification licenses after their release. • 80 percent agree that the theft of $200 of goods from a retail store should be a misdemeanor offense (not a felony, as under current law). • By a 3-to-1 margin (64 percent to 21 percent), Virginians support reinstating a parole system. • Self-described conservative or very conservative Virginians support reinstating parole by a 2-to-1 mar-

gin. Virginia Secretary of Education Anne Holton and Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran were among the attendees at Wednesday’s panel. “We’ve been working on these issues since we took office with Gov. (Terry) McAuliffe,” Moran said. “We’ve had a number of legislation before the General Assembly, and the governor appointed a parole review commission.” The discussion was moderated by Christian Braunlich, vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, a former member of the Fairfax School Board and a past president of the Virginia Board of Education. “For a long time, criminal justice reform was considered something center-left, but recently there’s been some morphing on this issue,” Braunlich said as he opened the panel discussion. “Why are conservatives shifting, and how did Ken Cuccinelli and the ACLU end up in bed together?” Braunlich’s question garnered laughs around the room, but Joe Luppino-Esposito had a straightforward answer. “A lot of these ideas are based on civil liberties and public safety, which are issues I don’t think anyone’s going to oppose,” said Luppino-Esposito, a policy analyst for the conservative criminal justice initiative Right on Crime. Luppino-Esposito pointed at the 75 percent recidivism rate among juvenile offenders at the cost of $150,000 per juvenile. “The ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric doesn’t work anymore,” Luppino-Esposito said. Eric Alston, the senior policy and research analyst for the Charles Koch Institute, agreed. He cited the added difficulties of re-entry into society when job opportunities are scarce following a conviction. “There’s a startling consensus for the need for reform on this issue,” Alston said. “There are 854 collateral consequences for a conviction in Virginia,” Alston said. “For felons alone, there are 404 collateral consequences – 404 routes of opportunity that are now closed.” Alston said that he’s not suggesting the elimination of all collateral consequences but that the number of them severely limits an individual’s ability to secure gainful employment. “I’m not going to want to invest with someone convicted of a ponzi scheme, but 404 things you generally can’t do? That’s a driving force behind recidivism,” Alston said. Craig DeRoche, senior vice president for advocacy and public policy at Prison Fellowship, referred to the 75 percent recidivism rate among juveniles as a “failure rate” and stressed the importance of smaller, more accountable facilities to rehabilitate offenders. “This is a values discussion,” DeRoche said. “Money is a value, but more importantly is the value of huSee VIRGINIA, 28

Page 28 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016 VIRGINIA, from 27 man life. These polling results tell us that the commonwealth has an appetite for a system of criminal justice that truly restores.” Martin Brown, former commissioner for the Virginia Department of Social Services and special advisor to the governor, said services must be more family-oriented and help offenders transition back into living their best lives. “Fathers, in particular,” Brown said. “There are things I would do for my daughters I would never do for myself. And incarcerated individuals are no different.” Brown said it is important to reform the corrections system so it respects both the perpetrators and victims of crime. “The state gets everything they can out of the offender,” Brown said. “Often, the victim is looking for a restorative process while the state plays this kabuki dance.” The Koch Institute and Prison Fellowship poll was conducted by Survey Sampling International in December. All participants were Virginia residents and were surveyed by use of an opt-in Web-based panel. The survey had 1,000 total respondents with a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Analysts: GOP May Regret Gridlock Over Scalia Replacement By Diana DiGangi Capital News Service Virginia political analysts say Republicans in the U.S. Senate may have regrets if they refuse to even consider President Barack Obama’s appointment to fill the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court vacated with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The public may see such a move by the GOP as obstructionist and accuse the party of causing gridlock in government, the analysts said. “President Obama has a constitutional authority to nominate replacements to the Supreme Court. Last I checked, he has a four-year term. He is the president,” said Laura van Assendelft, political science professor at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton. “So for the GOP to say the president shouldn’t do his job – that’s very political, and that may backfire in the public opinion.” Immediately after Scalia, 79, died while vacationing in Texas on Feb. 13, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared, “This vacancy

should not be filled until we have a new president.” Other senators said the Senate should refuse to hold hearings on whomever Obama may appoint to replace the conservative justice. A few GOP senators have broken ranks from that view. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina cautioned his Republican colleagues last week against appearing obstructionist. Political experts in Virginia said the Republicans’ initial reaction was a gamble. “It’s pretty extraordinary. ... This is a whole new level of gridlock. I think it’s going to be hard to sustain ‘no vote, no hearing’ as an approach,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of political science and international affairs at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg. “The Republican senators who are up for election are not going to feel like it’s a great idea to risk losing their seats.” It has been 76 years since a Supreme Court vacancy had a replacement nominated and confirmed in an election year. That is because such vacancies have rarely occurred during an election year. Since 1900, there have been only six outstanding vacancies in an election year, and all were filled. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who still sits on the court, was unanimously confirmed during President Ronald Reagan’s last year in office in 1988. (Unlike current circumstances, however, Kennedy was nominated to fill a vacancy that had occurred the previous year.) “I think it’s very unlikely that Obama is going to get a judge through,” said Bob Holsworth, a leading political analyst and former dean at Virginia Commonwealth University. “And the question is, somebody has to be willing to accept an appointment with a very small chance of being confirmed, and that they’re going to have their entire life history exhumed in the process.” Holsworth said that with the pressure of congressional elections in November, some Republicans will be concerned about voter response to the hard line taken by the GOP. “I think politically, it was a mistake,” he said. “They could have achieved the same goal without appearing to be obstructionist about the process.” Farnsworth agreed that more senators may agree to consider Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia. “There’s a lot of Republican senators going up for re-election this year in swing states that may find it hard, individually, to not do their job,” Farnsworth said. “States like New

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Illinois – these are all states that Obama carried twice, and they all have Republican senators up on the ballot this year.” Congress, which saw sweeping gains by Republicans in the 2014 elections, has drawn fire in recent years for obstructionist actions such as the government shutdown in 2013 to protest the Affordable Care Act. That shutdown was orchestrated by Ted Cruz, then a freshman senator from Texas and now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. “The GOP is trying to mobilize their base; they’re trying to tap into anger that the American public has right now,” Van Assendelft said. “I see it as a political maneuver to mobilize their base. Will that work? Will that not work? We have seen recent conflicts between the executive and the legislative, and it does not always work in the favor of the party that launches those attacks.” Although Obama has not indicated whom he might name to the high course, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and federal appellate Judge Sri Srinivasan have been mentioned as potential appointees. Both are liberal picks who would likely rally Democrat support but face opposition from the GOP. Farnsworth suggested alternative routes that Obama could use to get a nomination through. “One would be to select a popular senator, as senators tend to like other senators,” he said. “Another option is an appeals court judge who has already received a lot of support from Republicans in the past. It’s going to look particularly nasty and partisan if somebody who was confirmed 95 to nothing for an appeals court position can’t get a hearing or an endorsement from the Senate a few years later.” Farnsworth also said that despite talk about Republicans of blocking a hearing, “President Obama will get a hearing for any nominee he puts forward.” Van Assendelft said public opinion may turn against GOP leaders not only due to perceived obstructionism but for how quickly they rallied against an Obama nomination after Scalia’s unexpected death. “I feel very bad for Scalia’s family – for the politics of it hitting the media literally before this man was

even buried,” she said. “That, I think, is very unfortunate. I don’t think the public appreciates that at all.” No Decrease in SOL Testing This Year By Margaret Carmel Capital News Service Until two years ago, Virginia thirdgraders were required to take four Standards of Learning exams per year. Students were tested across all disciplines and asked to demonstrate skills taught not just in third grade, but going back to kindergarten. Only five states tested young elementary school students this much. Now, Virginia third-graders are tested only in math and reading with less cumulative material from previous grade levels. Testing was reduced in other grade levels, too. From a high of 34 SOL tests, students in the commonwealth now must pass 29 such exams before receiving a high school diploma. A bill proposed by Sen. John Miller, D-Newport News, would have taken this a step further. Senate Bill 203 sought to roll back SOL testing to the federally mandated minimum of 17 SOLs before graduation. This won’t happen as quickly as Miller hoped, however. The Senate Health and Education Committee voted unanimously to postpone consideration of the issue until 2017. Miller believes reducing testing will help students think critically, not just remember facts and figures. “We are raising a generation that is good at memorizing material,” Miller said. “We have students who can tell you when we went to the moon, but they have no idea why.” The standards students, schools and teachers are held to are in flux as the federal government shifts from the No Child Left Behind Act under the George W. Bush administration to the Every Student Succeeds Act that President Barack Obama signed late last year. In 2014, the General Assembly created the SOL Innovation Committee to help develop initiatives to improve the Virginia education system. Steve Roberson, who chairs the committee, stressed the importance of moving slowly to study the impacts of recent federal changes. “Right now we’re in a period of

limbo,” Roberson said. “Our recommendations maintain the rigor of Virginia public schools while striking a balance with appropriate testing.” Miller wasn’t the only legislator seeking to reduce SOL testing this year. Similar bills also were proposed by Democratic Sens. John Edwards of Roanoke and Jeremy McPike of Woodbridge, as well as Republican Sen. Glen Sturtevant of Midlothian. The Senate Education and Health Committee folded all of the proposals into SB 203 and then put off that bill until next year. Besides SOL testing, legislators and the SOL Innovation Committee have been focusing their attention on another issue: high school curriculum. SB 336, also introduced by Miller, aims to emphasize internships and industry certifications for high school students. Miller said Virginia can serve students more effectively by changing how they earn their high school degrees. “This redesign will help better prepare students for a career,” Miller said. “Be it operating a crane at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, or programming computers in Northern Virginia, we need to help students who don’t want to just go on to college.” SB 336 is moving swiftly through the legislative process. It was passed unanimously by the Senate on Feb. 9. And on Wednesday, the House Education Committee voted 19-3 in favor of the bill. The full House of Delegates is now considering the measure. Roberson said big changes are on the horizon for Virginia’s schools. “There is more bold legislation to come,” he said. Taxpayers cautioned on tax scams Tax scams have proliferated recently, and this tax year is no different. So far this tax season, the IRS has seen an approximate 400 percent increase in phishing and malware incidents. Liberty Tax Service of Front Royal reminds consumers to be on guard for email phishing scams or phone calls from imposters pretending to be IRS agents. “The people who want to steal taxpayers’ information are skilled at what they do, so consumers really need to pay attention to safeguard their information.”

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Monday, March 7 8am – 4pm Sneaker Sale fundraiser. Warren Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, 3rd Floor conference room, Front Royal. Wide variety of sneakers for the whole family at great prices. Bring your friends and neighbors. Proceeds benefit the hospital. Cash, credit cards and payroll deduction for Valley Health employees. 10:30am - 11am Preschool Time. Handley Library. No registration is required. Most appropriate for preschoolers age 3 and up. Free and open to the public. 11am - 11:30am Toddler Story Time. Bowman Library. For those three and under. A program of stories, songs, finger plays, flannel boards and movement. 11am - 1pm VA Free File Briefing and Demo. Handley Library. The Free File public briefing and demo highlights the IRS and VA Free File programs which offer free online tax prep and e-filing for lower and moderate income taxpayers. Reservations may be made by contacting John Borrelli at johnborrelli2015@gmail. com. 4:30pm - 5:30pm Coloring Club. Handley Library. Tweens and teens join us every Monday to color and unwind. 4:30pm - 5:30pm Lego Club. Bowman Library. Calling all elementary and middle school Lego builders! Design and construction themes are different each week. Free, no registration required. 5pm - 6pm UFAC Meeting. Front Royal Administration Building, 102

E Main Street, Front Royal. 5:30pm - 6:30pm Coloring Club. Bowman Library. Join us for coloring enchanting designs that feature hidden objects and fun mazes. Discover the magic! This program is designed for our tweens and teens, but is fun for the whole family. 5:30pm - 6:30pm Manga Art, Bowman Library. Bring your sketch book to create your manga drawings. Get tips from other artists and share your work. For Tweens and Teens at Bowman Library. Tuesday, March 8 7am – 3pm Sneaker Sale fundraiser. Warren Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, 3rd Floor conference room, Front Royal. Wide variety of sneakers for the whole family at great prices. Bring your friends and neighbors. Proceeds benefit the hospital. Cash, credit cards and payroll deduction for Valley Health employees. 10:30am - 11am Baby Story Time. Handley Library. Bring Infants (birth to 15 months) to enjoy stories, finger plays, and songs. Stay afterwards to socialize and play! 10:30am - 11am Preschool Story Time. Clarke County Library. Hear great stories and fun with Mary! Clarke For ages 3 and up. 12:30pm - 1pm Tourism Tuesdays. 95.3 - the River radio station. Hear the latest tourism related news and events every Tuesday at 12:30! 2pm - 5pm Tapestry Committee. Handley Library. 6pm - 6:30pm Twilight Tales. Bowman Library. A family event at Bow-

man Library. Stories, music, finger plays, movement and a craft. 6pm – 9pm Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League open meeting. 6401 Howellsville Rd, Front Royal. Join the local chapter of Earth Allies in the Shenandoah Farms POA Building to discuss protection of our land, public lands, and rivers in Clarke, Warren, Rappahannock, Shenandoah & Frederick Counties, and the proposal of enforceable antifracking local ordinances. A presentation will be provided and refreshments and snacks will be served. All are welcome. For more info please contact Maya White Sparks at spiralgr@shentel.net or (540) 868-2664. 7pm - 8pm BAR Meeting. Town Administration Building, Front Royal. Wednesday, March 9 11am - 2pm AARP Free Tax Help. Bowman Library. AARP will be offering free tax help. No Reservations needed. Sign-up begins when the library opens at 10 A.M. For more information call AARP At (540) 2476479. This is not a library program. 11am - 11:30am Preschool Story Time. Bowman Library. For ages 2-5. A lively 30-minute program of stories, puppets, dancing and songs. 3:30pm - 5pm Chamber Board Meeting. Chamber Office. 4:15pm - 4:45pm Spanish with Angela. Bowman Library. Using games, songs, puppets and picture books children and their parents will learn the Spanish language. 4:30pm - 7:30pm Chess. Handley Library Open chess games. 1-on-1 instruction for new players. At 5:30 PM a lecture is available on Chess Basics and Strategy. Families, adults, kids -- all ages and skill levels – are welcome to come and play. Bring your board or just yourself. This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information, visit Shenandoah Valley Chess Club. http://www. winchesterchess.com. 6pm - 8pm Shenandoah Poetry Alliance. Handley Library. For all poets. 6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open at 4:30. Early birds at 6:30. Food available for purchase. Door prizes,

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 29

progressive games, queen of hearts, progressive pull tab, and brand new electronic pull tab games. Find us on Facebook. (540) 636-7152. Must be 12 to play. No smoking. Thursday, March 10 10:30am - 11am Preschool Story Time. Clarke County Library. Hear great stories and have fun! For ages 3 and up. 10:30am - 11am Toddler Time. Handley Library. An Early Literacy program designed specifically for active toddlers, ages 3 and under. This program is a developmentally appropriate transition from our “Baby Time” program to “Preschool Time.” We are growing readers here! Programs are free and open to the public. 11am - 11:30am Baby Story Time. Bowman Library. Story time for Infants (birth to 15 months). A program of songs, stories, clapping and tapping. Friday, March 11 10:30am - 11am Dance Party! Handley Library. Toddlers, Preschoolers, & their grown-ups are welcome to boogie down! 11am - 12pm Eat, Grow, Live Healthy with Winchester WIC. Handley Library. Listen to stories about living healthy and talk with staff from the Winchester WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program to see if you are eligible for benefits. Find out what the Virginia WIC program can offer you. This event is free and open to the public. Saturday, March 12 9am - 12pm Used Book DropOff Morning. Bowman Library and Handley Library. Make donations to the spring used book sale. Drive to Bowman or Handley with your books, DVDs and CDs. Your donations help your libraries. 10am - 2pm Kids Chess Tournament. Handley Library. The Shenandoah Valley Chess Club’s 2nd Annual Kids Chess Tournament is open to all students in grades K-6. Register now – forms are available at the Handley Library. This event is FREE and open to the public. 11am - 11:30am Story Time. Bow-

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man Library. For ages 3 and up. A 30minute program of stories, puppets, dancing and songs. 12pm - 2pm Family Film. Handley Library. Join us for a family picnic and movie event. Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch. Programs are free and open to the public. No registration is required. March 12: My Neighbor Totoro (G). 1pm - 2:15pm Paws for Reading. Bowman Library. Read a favorite book to a reading tutor. It is Paws for Reading! These canine listeners are patient and love kids. Come meet our certified therapy dogs. 6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo. North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open at 4:30. Early birds at 6:30. Food available for purchase. Door prizes, progressive games, queen of hearts, progressive pull tab, and brand new electronic pull tab games. Find us on Facebook. (540) 636-7152. Must be 12 to play. No smoking. Sunday, March 13 Daylight Saving Time starts Monday, March 14 10:30am - 11am Preschool Time. Handley Library. No registration is required. Most appropriate for preschoolers age 3 and up. Free and open to the public. 11am - 11:30am Toddler Story Time. Bowman Library. For those three and under. A program of stories, songs, finger plays, flannel boards and movement. 4:30pm - 5:30pm Coloring Club. Handley Library. Tweens and teens join us every Monday to color and unwind. 4:30pm - 5:30pm Lego Club. Bowman Library. Calling all elementary and middle school Lego builders! Design and construction themes are different each week. Free, no registration required. 6pm - 7pm Teen Advisory Board. Bowman Library. Teen Advisory Board for Bowman Library Open to Middle and High School students. Plan and present events, advise on library materials, advise on tween and teen library events, assist with other library events and activities. 7pm - 8pm Council Meeting. County of Warren Government Center 7pm - 8pm Council Work Session. Town Administration Building, 102 E. Main St, Front Royal. Tuesday, March 15 10:30am - 11am Baby Story Time. Handley Library. Bring Infants (birth to 15 months) to enjoy stories, finger plays, and songs. Stay afterwards to socialize and play! 10:30am - 11am Preschool Story See CALENDAR, 30

Page 30 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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Time. Clarke County Library. Hear great stories and fun with Mary! Clarke For ages 3 and up. 12:30pm - 1pm Tourism Tuesdays. 95.3 - the River radio station. Hear the latest tourism related news and events every Tuesday at 12:30! 6pm - 6:30pm Twilight Tales. Bowman Library. A family event at Bowman Library. Stories, music, finger plays, movement and a craft. 7pm - 8pm BZA Meeting. Front Royal Administration Building, 102 E Main Street, Front Royal. Wednesday, March 16 11am - 2pm AARP Free Tax Help. Bowman Library. AARP will be offering free tax help. No Reservations needed. Sign-up begins when the library opens at 10 A.M. For more information call AARP At (540) 2476479. This is not a library program. 11am - 11:30am Preschool Story

Time. Bowman Library. For ages 2-5. A lively 30-minute program of stories, puppets, dancing and songs. 4:15pm - 4:45pm Spanish with Angela. Bowman Library. Using games, songs, puppets and picture books children and their parents will learn the Spanish language. 6pm - 6:30pm Pajama Story Time. Handley Library. Can’t make it during the day? The whole family is invited! Put on your pajamas and slippers and join us for bedtime stories. Bring your favorite snuggly. 6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo. North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open at 4:30. Early birds at 6:30. Food available for purchase. Door prizes, progressive games, queen of hearts, progressive pull tab, and brand new electronic pull tab games. Find us on Facebook. (540) 636-7152. Must be 12 to play. No smoking. 7pm - 8pm Planning Commission

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Thursday, March 17 10:30am - 11am Preschool Story Time. Clarke County Library. Hear great stories and have fun! For ages 3 and up. 10:30am - 11am Toddler Time. Handley Library. An Early Literacy program designed specifically for active toddlers, ages 3 and under. This program is a developmentally appropriate transition from our “Baby Time” program to “Preschool Time.” We are growing readers here! Programs are free and open to the public. 11am - 11:30am Baby Story Time. Bowman Library. Story time for Infants (birth to 15 months). A program of songs, stories, clapping and tapping. 5pm - 8pm Third Thursday Art Walk. Downtown Front Royal. Friday, March 18 10:30am - 11am Dance Party! Handley Library. Toddlers, Preschoolers, & their grown-ups are welcome to boogie down! 5:30pm - 8pm Game Night. Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Stephens City. Get Your Game On! Gamers rotate throughout the electronic, card and computer games. This program is intended for middle school and high school students. It is free with no registration required. Saturday, March 19 7am - 11am Country Breakfast. North Warren Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 10, 89 Rockland Road, Front Royal, VA. Join us for pancakes, biscuits, sausage, bacon, sausage and chip beef gravy, scrambled eggs, baked apples, coffee, juice, and hot tea. Adults $8, 4-12 years old $4, under 3 free. 9:00 am– 3:00 pm Indoor flea market. Front Royal Church of the Brethren. 106 W. 13th Street, Front Royal, VA. Over 20 tables of trea-

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Meeting. County of Warren Government Center

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540-636-9875 and 540-683-1045

Mid March, 2016 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Page 31

Read full issues FREE on www.WarrenCountyVA.com & www.FrederickCounty.com sures! Lunch available for purchase. To benefit the American Cancer Society. Sponsored by Connie’s Crusaders. 10am - 11:30am Chess Club. Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Stephens City. Become a chess champ! Develop another winning move! Learn and play! Led by members of Shenandoah Valley Chess Club for all ages and all skill levels. 11am - 1:30pm Genealogy Program. Handley Library. Margaret

McMahon will present a program on genealogical research. 11am - 1pm Preschool/Daycare Open House. Handley Library. Come browse different preschool and daycare options and talk with staff from a variety of schools and centers. 11am - 11:30am Story Time. Bowman Library. For ages 3 and up. A 30minute program of stories, puppets, dancing and songs. 1pm - 2:30pm Family Film. Bowman Library, 871 Tasker Road, Ste-

phens City. Join us Saturdays at the Bowman Library for a Family Picnic and Movie event. Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to the show. Popcorn and lemonade will be served. The movie showing is free. March 19: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. 1pm - 2pm Tour the library. Handley Library. Staff members and volunteers will give tours of Handley Library, concentrating on the archi-

tecture and history of the library. The tours will take you behind the scenes to all floors of the library, including the famous glass floors and the well under the stage. The tours are free, but making reservations is helpful. To make reservations or for more information, call (540) 662-9041, ext. 11. 1pm - 5pm Benefit Bingo. John H. Enders Fire Hall, 9 S. Buchmarsh St, Berryville. Event benefits the non-profit Blue Ridge Center for Therapeutic Horsemanship. Tickets are $20 advance sale or $25 at the door. 14 prize-filled games. Raffles for very special Thirty-One prize, 50/50 and themed baskets. Chili, snacks and beverages available. Proceeds will provide scholarships for

students with special needs and funds to help care for our therapy horses and ponies. For tickets or for more information, contact Margie Youngs at (540) 533-2777. Tickets can be purchased online at http:// marchbingofundraiser.bpt.me. 6:30pm - 9:30pm Bingo. North Fork Resort Associates, 301 North Fork Road, Front Royal. Doors open at 4:30. Early birds at 6:30. Food available for purchase. Door prizes, progressive games, queen of hearts, progressive pull tab, and brand new electronic pull tab games. Find us on Facebook. (540) 636-7152. Must be 12 to play. No smoking. Send your calendar items and briefs to briefs@warrencountyreport.com

Humane Society of Warren County

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Walt Disney World Passes & 24” Olaf Raffle! Four one-day hopper passes to Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida. Proceeds benefit the Humane Society of Warren County’s Hand in Paw fund. Value of $640, Only 100 tickets will be sold! Raffle tickets are $10 each. Winner will be announced no later than May 4, 2016. Jazzi is a sen‑ sational senior girl looking for the perfect home to retire in! She is very affectiona te, house trained, and does well with other dogs and older chil‑ dren.

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Ferdinand is a very affec‑ tionate 3 year old pit mix that loves to get all the attention he can get! He does great with other dogs and loves to wrestle with his best shelter friend Aubree all the time. He is a sweet heart and once he falls in love with you, there is no keeping him away!

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Aubree is a very spunky 4 year old pit mix looking for her new best friend! She LOVES to get hugs and kisses, and does great with other dogs and with cats.

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With your help we have been able to place thousands of animals in good homes. Contact Alison @ 540-551-2072 if you would like to become a pet sponsor too!

Page 32 • Warren & Frederick County Report • Mid March, 2016

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