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Castillo Indicted For Wife’s Death Erika Jacobson Moore
emoore@leesburgtoday.com
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he Ashburn man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife was indicted by a grand jury Monday, only days after a Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court judge ruled there was enough evidence for the case to move forward. After a preliminary hearing that continued into the early evening Thursday, Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court Judge Pamela Brooks sent the first-degree murder charges against Braulio Castillo on to the grand jury. Castillo was indicted for first-degree murder, breaking and entering
with the intent to commit murder and violation of a protective order. With the grand jury concluded, Castillo’s case will be sent to Circuit Court for trial. Castillo, 48, has remained in jail since his arrest in early April, despite a $2 million bond set by a Circuit Court judge. Thursday, Brooks denied a motion from the Commonwealth’s Attorney to revoke the $2 million bond. A $1 million bond had previously been set in Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court, but prosecutors successfully appealed that decision leading to the higher bond amount. Castillo is charged in the death of his wife, Michelle, who was found hanging
Braulio Castillo
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One Loudoun Celebrates Restoration Of Century-Old Ashburn Barn O pinio n
Norman K. Styer
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be done and was put under a tight deadline to dismantle, temporarily store the pieces and then rebuild the structure at its new location.
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May found support from someone who shared his “soft spot for barns” in Allen Cochran, of Cochran’s Stone Masonry and Timberframing in Lincoln. Cochran confirmed it could
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Ashburn Today/Norman K. Styer
The restored barn at One Loudoun sits on open space that will serve as the community’s planned amphitheater. Developers of One Loudoun last week celebrated the barn’s completion.
PAID
he developers of One Loudoun last week celebrated the completion of the years-long effort to rebuild a historic Ashburn-area barn on the property, giving it new life as an integral element of its amphitheater entertainment area. One Loudoun Managing Director Bill May discovered the dilapidated barn on a property being prepared for development along Shellhorn Road several years ago and convinced his partners of the merits of moving it to the One Loudoun project. “I could see this old barn as a focal point at One Loudoun and I couldn’t let this historical gem get away from us,” May told the crowd gathered inside the structure for the dedication ceremony.
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OPINION 44
Cla ss if ie d
he more than eight-month investigation into allegations that Loudoun Valley High School administrators bullied teachers and pressured them to inflate students’ grades has found the complaints to be unfounded, Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick told employees in a staff meeting at the high school Monday afternoon. In a prepared statement he read to the school staff and later sent to Leesburg Today, Hatrick called the grievances raised by current and former Loudoun Valley employees rumors. “I have concluded that your principal’s instructional and administrative leadership is solid, well-founded, and heads your school in the right direction for all students,” he said. Responding to teachers’ complaints that they had been asked to change students’ grades or give students answers on state standardized tests, Hatrick said, “I have concluded that allegations of grades being changed by persons other than the teacher of record are not borne out by fact. That is not to say that some of you do not feel pressure to help students achieve higher grades.” Hatrick’s office initiated an investigation last August after the Loudoun Education Association, and individual employees, submitted a round of complaints against Principal Sue Ross, stating she and other administrators had berated them and threatened to give them negative evaluations if students received poor grades. The investigation was launched at the request of the LEA, an advocacy group that represents 3,400 Loudoun school employees. Complaints alleging a hostile working environment have been filed by Loudoun Valley teachers with the association since Ross was first hired to lead the school eight years ago, according to LEA Director Patsy B. Layer. Over the years the association submitted the employees’ concerns, as well as a staff survey that indicated 80 percent of employees responding did not feel comfortable bringing concerns to school administration without fear of reprisal, to the school division’s top administrators. Last summer, the LEA submitted a new round of complaints from Loudoun Valley employees, which prompted the latest investigation.
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Danielle Nadler
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Superintendent: Loudoun Valley Allegations Unfounded
LEGAL NOTICES 30
Bu s in e s s
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE
MAY 22, 2014
NUMBER 50
Educa t io n
VOLUME 7
2014 MAY
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