INSIDE
7
10
Check out what’s up locally
13
It’s more than just calling for a fastball
Be on guard when walking your furry one
VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 8
75¢
MAY 6, 2016 WWW.INSIDENOVA.COM
NORT HE RN V I R G I N I A M E DI A S E R V I C ES
School board’s Fallon indicted for embezzlement
A TRADITION CONTINUES
New member resigns earlier for medical problems TRACY BELL
S
tbell@insidenova.com
tafford County School board member Emily Fallon suddenly resigned from her position on the board Friday, citing medical problems. Three days later, a Stafford grand jury indicted her on embezzlement charges. Fallon was indicted Monday on six felony counts, including three embezzlement charges and three charges of obtaining EMILY FALLON money by false pretense. She will be arraigned July 25 in Stafford County Circuit Court. The allegations against Fallon stem from June 2013 through June last year when she served as president of the Moncure Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization. Moncure’s PTO serves as a nonprofit of parents supporting teachers and students at the school. According to a press release from Stafford Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen, the complex investigation started in 2015 when PTO members alerted the Stafford County Sheriff ’s Office to significant bookkeeping irregularities during Fallon’s tenure. The commonwealth’s attorney’s office, working with the sheriff ’s office, then gathered enough significant evidence of criminal wrongdoing to present the information to the grand jury. The indictments are related to a time period prior to when Fallon served on the school board. Fallon is not being accused of misusing county funds during her time on the school INDICTED board, the press release PAGE 12 states, but notes that the
Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent W. Bruce Benson, at lectern, presents a display of the last flags flown at the old Stafford High School during the dedication of the new school building on April 28. FOR MORE FROM THE DEDICATION, PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 5. ALEKS DOLZENKO | INSIDENOVA
Teenager reflects on lessons of love and service JENNIFER ERICKSON for INSIDENOVA
I
t was about 2 o’clock on a blustery, cold morning when Gabriel Cummings was awakened by his aunt with heartbreaking news: His mother had just died. The 13-year-old knew it was only a matter of time and had asked his aunt, Traci Abramson, to tell him the news, regardless of the hour. His mother’s decade-long battle with breast cancer was over Feb. 17, 2015. Although he was grateful his mother, 48-year-old Rebecca Abramson Cummings, wouldn’t have to suffer any longer, he longed for her; she was the kind woman who was a supreme example of love and service. After he wept, Abramson asked if he wanted to go to his home to see her. Without a doubt, he said, “Yes.” Abramson and Gabriel drove through the 6 to 7 inches of snow that blanketed the streets of their Stafford
Gabriel Cummings
neighborhood. When driving through Hampton Oaks, they saw a car stuck in the snow. One man was behind the wheel while another was trying to push the vehicle out. Concerned for Gabriel’s emotional well-being, Abramson asked if he wanted to stop and help. At first, he was not sure. Abramson drove slowly past the car, and then shifted in front of it to cut a path for them. When they were barely at the top of the
hill, Gabriel said, “Aunt Traci, I think we should stop. That’s what Mum would want us to do.” Abramson agreed, and they turned around and went back. One of the men was a local deputy sheriff and had just finished his shift. For the next 15 minutes or so, Abramson and Gabriel helped dig them out of the snow. Then, they drove ahead of the other vehicle so SUBMITTED there was a path to follow. By the time they arrived at his home, his sister, Amanda Abramson; and brother and sister in-law, Matthew and Anne Abramson, were waiting. “That service rendered had helped this then-13-year-old boy find joy in what was most certainly his darkest hour,” Traci Abramson recalled. Reflecting on Mom Gabriel is now 14, actively involved in his LOVE church, Boy Scouts and PAGE 12 eighth-grade at H.H.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY INSIDENOVA.COM/ SUBSCRIBE STAFFORDNEWS@ INSIDENOVA.COM
8
57144 00401
8
(571) 208-8059