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NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 13
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VIEWPOINTS PAGES 8, 9 | PUZZLES PAGE 10 | CLASSIFIED PAGES 10, 11
Bill Howell gets GOP nod for another run
Susan Stimpson could not pull off a Dave Brat-like move and wrest the GOP nomination from Speaker of the House Bill Howell. Howell garnered 4,746 votes in the 28th District to Stimpson’s 2,899 in the primary election June 9. Howell got 78.04 percent of the votes, and Stimpson got 21.96 percent. The 28-year veteran of the General Assembly, Howell won all but 5 of the 23 precincts in the district that includes southern Stafford County and Fredericksburg. Stimpson won the Griffis, Barrett, Aquia and Hampton precincts. Howell and Stimpson tied in Whiston. On his website, Howell wrote after the unofficial votes were announced: “Cessie and I are so grateful for the support we received today and throughout this entire campaign. It’s been a privilege to represent this community in the House of Delegates. “I deeply appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve and am honored to have the trust of my fellow citizens. “I am immensely proud of the positive, grassroots campaign we ran. This was truly a team effort from the very beginning. We are blessed to have made so many friends over the years.” Stimpson came at Howell from the right side of the GOP with support from the tea party. U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated from the right by
AMANDA MOTLEY
Use of technology in school and reallocation of funds for No Child Left Behind took center stage at Wednesday’s meeting of the Stafford County School Board. The use of cell phones and other electronic devices at school, or BYOD, was a carryover from the previous meeting when
INSIDENOVA.COM
Maureen Waller takes back her photo id from election officer Chuck Berkman as she registers to vote at Brooke Point High School on Tuesday afternoon. Poll watcher Glenn Trimmer, right, takes notes while election officer Stephen Klein waits to register another voter. Aleks Dolzenko/InsideNoVA.com
Dave Brat, who had tea party support in a 2014 Virginia GOP primary. Howell had the support of many of the county’s incumbent Republican politicians, including Supervisors Gary Snellings, Bob Thomas, Cord Sterling, Jack Cavalier and Paul Milde. Stimpson had the support of former county party officials and had been endorsed by Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform. She ran on a platform of “cutting taxes and passing fiscally responsible budgets.” A month before the primary, Stimpson filed a suit charging the State Board of Elections changed rules in the middle of
the absentee balloting process. Stimpson alleged that Howell asked the State Board of Elections to allow online applications with electronic signatures after the voting period had started. A retired judge called in for the case denied Stimpson’s request for an injunction to stop the online absentee ballot applications.
Incumbent Eric L. Olsen outdistanced Jason M. Pelt Incumbent Eric L. Olsen outdistanced Jason M. Pelt for the GOP nomination for Stafford County commonwealth’s attorney
School board eyes penalty for BYOD misuse For the Stafford County Sun
JUNE 12, 2015
the board was split on the issue, including the punishment for misuse of tech devices. At the last meeting, the board discussed extending for a second year a pilot program permitting cell phone and electronic device use by students. Most of the board agreed that extending the program beyond the 2015-16 school year would require an addition to the Code
of Conduct to set punishment for misuse. “I would like to see a Code of Conduct that has a more severe penalty for violation during the instructional time,” said George Washington District board member DeWayne McOsker. “That puts some serious teeth into our Code of BYOD Conduct with regards to cell PAGE 9 phone use and violating the
during the primary Tuesday. Olsen pulled in 6,354 votes, or 59.08 percent, to Pelt’s 4,401 ballots from the 28 precincts in the county. Pelt won in Ruby, Widewater, Harbour, Barrett, Aquia, Courthouse, Brooke, Government Island, Grafton and Hampton. The candidates tied in Griffis, according to unofficial results. The clerk of courts contest went to Kathy M. Sterne, who got 5,392 votes, or 50.73 percent. Darrell E. English pulled in 3,993 ballots, or 37.57 percent. GOP Sterne received the majority PAGE 9 of votes in most of the 28