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LeesburgToday VOLUME 26
NUMBER 41
OCTOBER 9, 2014 Educa t io n
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE
LEGAL NOTICES 48
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OBITUARIES 59
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LETTERS PAGE 60
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WWW.LEESBURGTODAY.COM Bu s in e s s
First Same-Sex Couples Exchange Vows In Loudoun Danielle Nadler
C la ssif ie d O pi nio n
Leesburg Today/Danielle Nadler
Melissa Cooper and Dana Fikes, of Sterling, were one of the first in line to get their marriage license at the Loudoun County Courthouse Monday. By close of business Monday, five marriage licenses had been issued to same-sex couples in Loudoun.
ame-sex marriage became law in the Old Dominion Monday afternoon after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up cases from lower level courts, and by close of business that same day the Loudoun County Circuit Court had issued marriage licenses to five same-sex couples. Federal appeals courts in Virginia and four other states—Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin—already had struck down legislative bans against gay marriage as unconstitutional and those rulings will be allowed to stand. The news sent court clerks throughout the commonwealth hurrying to transition to new marriage license forms that read “spouse” instead of husband and wife, and had same-sex couples
canceling afternoon appointments and work meetings to rush to courthouses. Melissa Cooper and Dana Fikes, of Sterling, called each other and simply asked, “So, what are you wearing?” “That was the proposal,” Fikes said, standing in front of the Loudoun County Courthouse alongside Cooper, her partner of 12 years. Then they sent a Facebook message to all of their friends and invited those who could make it to an impromptu wedding ceremony in front of the Loudoun courthouse at 3:30 p.m. Monday—less than two hours after the marriage ban was lifted. Their friend Shalom Mulkey was working out at the gym in Washington, DC, when she saw the Facebook wedding invitation, and 20 minutes later she and her husband were in the car on their way
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Supervisors Seek Cost Of Serving Immigrant Children Although several supervisors raised concerns about enrolling the immigrant children in schools without items required of other students, including birth certificates and immunization records, the board did not press for information on the students because the were told privacy rules limit access to that information. Loudoun County Health Director Dr. David Goodfriend previously stated that each student undergoes a physical and is vaccinated before being enrolled in a school.
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Supervisors, however, did support an effort to document the public cost of providing services to the immigrants, with some holding out hope of winning a federal reimbursement in the future. Supervisor Geary Higgins (R-Catoctin) said the relocation program was an unfunded federal mandate. “This is a fundamental breakdown of the federal government and we’re getting to pay for it.” Supervisor Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn) said that Continued on Page 30
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influx of immigrants was initiated by Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) during the board’s Oct. 1 meeting. His original proposal not only sought to determine the impact of the relocated children on the county budget and service, but also raised concerns that the immigrants could pose a health risk in area schools. The staff report drafted by his office cited concerns over cases of enterovirus D68 found in Virginia and sought information on the immunization status of immigrants assigned to public schools.
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he Board of Supervisors wants to know how much it is costing taxpayers to provide services to unaccompanied minor immigrants who have been transported to Loudoun by federal authorities. More than 200 children crossing the border have been released to sponsors in Loudoun County between Jan. 1 and July 31 as federal authorities cope with a surge of Central American refugees. The proposal to assess the local impact of the
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