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LeesburgToday VOLUME 26
NUMBER 44
OCTOBER 30, 2014 Educa t io n
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE
JOHN FOUST
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OBITUARIES 67
ED GILLESPIE
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LETTERS PAGE 68
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MARK WARNER
WWW.LEESBURGTODAY.COM Bu s in e s s
BARBARA COMSTOCK
LEGAL NOTICES 57
Sports
Mason, NVCC Partnership Adds Educational Opportunities dnadler@leesburgtoday.com
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Bond referenda
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Constitutional amendment
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New photo ID law
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Polls open 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday View the full ballot at Loudoun.gov/vote
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Hillsboro town elections
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U.S. Postage
Leesburg mayor and town council 37 xx
loud, arguably obnoxious, message has been targeted at Loudouners in the past six weeks through television ads, glossy mailers, radio spots and door knocks: Your vote matters. With Democrats and Republicans fighting over control of the U.S. Senate, one of the nation’s most competitive House of Representative races taking place in our backyard, a contentious battle for Leesburg Town Council seats and a bond question that could decide the future of advanced education in Loudoun, voters will have plenty of reason to go to the polls Tuesday. A few months ago, Loudoun County General Registrar Judy Brown submitted an order for General
Permit #78 Springfield, VA
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PAID
10th Congressional District
Election ballots with the anticipation that as much as 75 percent of registered voters would turn out on Election Day this year. She erred on the safe side not only because there is much to be decided this election cycle but also because one name will not appear on the General Election ballot for the first time in 40 years—Republican Rep. Frank Wolf. The last time he ran in a midterm election just 39 percent of registered voters in Loudoun cast ballots, in large part because Wolf became a practical shoo-in for the seat over the past decade. “With Wolf stepping down, I think more people will come out. Because when he’s on the ballot he always wins,” Brown said. “This election will be different.” While she now estimates voter turnout at closer to 50 percent because fewer than expected absentee bal-
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dnadler@leesburgtoday.com
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U.S. Senate
Danielle Nadler
O pi nio n
What you need to know
ounty leaders always have their oversized scissors handy in Loudoun, the stage of countless ribbon-cutting ceremonies each year. But few such events may have as great an impact on the locality’s education landscape and residents’ pocketbooks as one held Monday. A new partnership between George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College was formally christened with the slicing of a green ribbon—green being a school color for both institutions—and is being heralded as a union that will give more Loudoun students access to affordable, university-level education. George Mason University has moved its Mason in Loudoun Instructional Site to NVCC’s Loudoun Campus, at 21335 Signal Hill Plaza in Sterling. The university’s School of Business, College of Education and Human Development, and Volgenau School of Engineering are offering graduate and undergraduate programming at the new Loudoun site in subjects including ethics and leadership, statistics, interdisciplinary studies, database fundamentals, information security, and leadership theory and practice. In an interview with Leesburg Today shortly after classes started at the site in August, Una Murphy, director of outreach for Mason’s regional campuses, said collocating with the community college is not only efficient—Mason and NVCC share classroom space, services and some faculty training—but also gives more students opportunities to work toward bachelor’s degrees in Loudoun County. “The real winners are the students. We want it to be as seamless as possible for them,” Murphy said. “It’s about efficiencies, accessibility and coprogramming to create pathways for these students.” Kelley Flowers, a student from Lovettsville,
C la ssif ie d
Election Day November 4
Time For You To Decide
L if e s t yle s
Danielle Nadler
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