10/28/2015 King George VA Journal

Page 1

Opinion

Sports

Outdoors

election 2015 editorial letters Page 2

Field Hockey: Program is building a strong foundation and bright future

Youth Waterfowl Day goes off with a bang Page 7

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T he

POSTAL CUSTOMER

King George

Volume 39, Number 44

Wednesday, October 28, 2015 50 Cents

helping you relate to your community

Sisson, Brabo compete for At-large supervisor’s seat in King George Phyllis Cook Dahlgren Supervisor Ruby Brabo is challenging At-Large incumbent Supervisor Dale Sisson in the Nov. 3 election. The Board of Supervisors is a fivemember board with staggered terms of four years for each member with three new terms beginning on Jan. 1, 2016. The board is a policy-making body under state law and positions are part-time, with professional administrators hired for the hands-on work of implementing policies set by the governing body. Profiles of the two At-Large supervisor candidates appear below. Ruby A. Brabo Brabo, 47, moved to King George in 2006 from Germany, where her spouse had an overseas military assignment in Kitzengen. Prior to that, she resided in Stafford County for seven years. She was elected as the Dahlgren District supervisor in 2011.

“In 2012, I made a commitment to serve the Dahlgren District to my best ability. These past four years

Brabo have been incredibly enriching and have affirmed that I have a passion for serving my constituents,” Brabo said.

State to hold public hearing in King George on draft oil and gas drilling rules Phyllis Cook The Commonwealth of Virginia is seeking public comment on amendments to strengthen its existing regulations to govern drilling for oil and gas in this part of Virginia. A public hearing will take place at 2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, at the University of Mary WashingtonDahlgren campus, located behind the Walmart shopping center on the west side of U.S. 301. The amendments address the current practice of natural gas extraction referred to as “fracking.” Fracking is the method of drilling for natural gas via high-pressure injection of chemicals and water into rock formations thousands of feet underground, creating cracks in the ancient shale beds to allow the extraction of natural gas.

Instead of running for re-election to the Dahlgren seat, she instead decided to seek the At-Large position. “I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from the citizens of all four districts. They want to be heard. They want someone to understand their issues and consider their ideas. They want someone who will work with them to resolve those issues and respect their input,” Brabo said. Brabo is calling for a focus on using King George’s historical treasures to lure tourists to the county as part of an Economic Development Strategic Plan. Increased tourism dollars, she says, will help finance the county’s infrastructure needs. She has pledged to give voters a voice in setting government policy. “I promise to always treat you with respect,” she said. “For our citizens – to be heard, for our community – to enjoy a healthy quality of life, and for our county – to protect and preserve our rural character.” Brabo earned an Associate’s degree from Rappahannock Community

College in 2010. From 2001-03 she worked as a sales manager with the military division of Nestle. From 1998-2001, she was district manager, military division, with C. Lloyd Johnson. During her tenure on the board of supervisors, Brabo created and held annual candidate information workshops jointly with Registrar Lorrie Gump and Renee Parker, who previously served on the school board. The board of supervisors has appointed her to the Potomac Watershed Roundtable, the Northern Neck Tourism Commission, and the Dahlgren Joint Land Use Study Policy Committee, and to the Dahlgren Museum Board. She was appointed the alternate on the Civilian-Military Community Relations Council and also served from 2012-14 on the Ralph Bunche School Advisory Committee. Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed Brabo to the Local Government Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council, in 2014. She recently won appointment to the

Brabo’s community service includes times as a Smoot Library trustee and as a charter member on the Dahlgren Heritage Foundation board.

Dale W. Sisson, Jr. Sisson, 45, is a King George native who has spent all but a three-yearstint of his life here. He won election as the county’s At-Large District supervisor in 2003 and now serves as the board’s vice chairman. He has served as chairman or vice-chairman for seven of his 12 years on the board. “Over the last 12 years, I have had the honor of serving as the At-Large member of the Board of Supervisors. Under my leadership, King George County has made major strides in achieving fiscal success, performed major infrastructure upgrades, and assembled a top-notch county staff. Our rural character has not only been maintained but enhanced, and new economic development opportunities have been realized. All of this while keeping King George County’s taxes among the lowest in the region,” Sisson said. Sisson said the three most important issues in this race are preservaSee PROFILE, page 4

New Business

CCE Specialties up and running in industrial park Phyllis Cook

Photo by Leonard Banks

Fox cross-country standouts, Brian Greeley (left) and Brooke West (right) were honored as the 2015 King George High School Homecoming King & Queen.

Caledon Art and Wine Festival set for Nov. 7

CCE Specialties, LLC, a new business in King George, is up and running in the King George Industrial Park. The project was first announced by the King George board in April. Since then, the company has moved into the former warehouse occupied by American Glass. “They have done a wonderful job with the addition of over 12,000 square feet of Class A office space. The company currently has See CCE, page 4

Melson first to complete hybrid EMT program in VA Staff Report

Staff Report Caledon state park is hosting its annual art and wine festival on 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, rain or shine. The event takes place on the front lawn and the adjacent visitor center. The picnic shelter and gift shop will be open and hay wagon rides will be available for the kids. Visitors are invited to enjoy a fall day at the park and see area artisans’ unique creations while enjoying tastings of wine from area vineyards. Attendees can get a jump on holi-

Sisson

Homecoming crown

The draft regs for the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME) call for numerous changes to the existing regulations for this part of the state, referred to as “Tidewater,” which includes the localities in the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and areas further south. Regulation amendments include the following: • Applicants must list of all ingredients to be used in any hydraulic fracturing operations, including those for which trade secret protection is requested. • Prior to accepting an application, DMME and Department of Environmental Quality to convene a pre-application meeting to ensure the potential drilling applicant is See fracking, page 4

Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees and the Council for Rural Virginia.

Aof attendees at last year’s Caledon Art & Wine Festival enjoyed sampling wines and barbecue and other specialty foods, as well as seeing what the area’s finest artisans had to offer. day shopping while sampling local wines. Great food will also be for sale. A commemorative wine glass is included with the price of tasting. Admission for wine-tasting is $10

per person (21 and older - everyone must have ID to taste). The festival is free for non-tasting guests, but a $5/vehicle parking fee applies to all. Coolers and outside food are not

permitted within festival grounds. For more information: http:// www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/ caledon or call the park office: (540) 663-3861

Kim Melson is the first person in the Commonwealth of Virginia to successfully complete a new “hybrid” EMT program that combines both eLearning and inhouse/hands-on training. This non-traditional EMT program was developed and offered over the summer by LifeCare Medical Transports of Fredericksburg. Kim Meslon has been co-Leader of the Colonial Beach Volunteer Rescue Service Support Team since 2010. She has served as a junior adviser, chaired several fund-raising projects and served on various committees for the squad. Being a mother of four and wife to Rescue Chief Wesley Melson, it would have been hard to complete the conventional EMT training around her schedule. Typically, an EMT certification course requires students to attend more than 150 hours of in-house, instructor-led classroom edu-

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cation. This format often deterred many potential EMT candidates due to work or personal conflicts. LifeCare’s hybrid program utilizes an online learning system for the cognitive elements of the program, which offers more flexibility to fit with a student’s available time. Every Saturday, the EMT candidates attended mandatory training sessions and worked in teams to learn, practice and perfect their EMS lifesaving skills. “The ability to study and work on the cognitive portion, on my own time, made it more convenient than having to attend classes three or more times a week,” said Melson. “This allowed us to focus every minute in class on hands-on learning.” Sarah Emery, also with CBVRS, See Melson page 4


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