Loudoun Now for Jan. 26, 2017

LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE

[ Vol. 2, No. 12 ]

[ loudounnow.com ]

Longtime Loudoun educator donates $1 million

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Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017 ]

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

From left, Lincoln, Ammon, Erica, Lucas, Tenley and Eden Reck at their home in Lovesttsville. The family worries that Eden, who has a potentially life-threatening genetic condition, could lose her health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

‘WITHOUT THE ACA, SHE CAN LOSE HER LIFE’ Advocates Push Comstock to Defend Health Insurance Gains

BY RENSS GREENE

F

ifty-eight people from the western reaches of the 10th Congressional District crowded into Rep. Barbara Comstock’s Sterling office

last week to ask the congresswoman to protect the Affordable Care Act—and their lives.

Republicans have begun the process of repealing the law known as Obamacare, and have promised to replace it. They have pledged to maintain

Budget Outlook Surprisingly Rosy

BY DANIELLE NADLER AND RENSS GREENE Loudoun County has had its fair share of stormy budget seasons. School and county government leaders typically have an annual tug of war over whether taxes should be raised or services should be cut to balance the books in the growing county.

But it seems this budget season will be different.

News that the projected gap between the superintendent’s budget request and anticipated level of county funding has fallen to just $4.8 million caused celebration—and cautious optimism—during the Jan. 19 meeting of the Joint School Board-Board of Supervisors Committee.

County budget staff members cautioned that an actual revenue number will not be available for some time, and school Super-

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LE W A O S N N O

some provisions of the ACA, such as preventing insurance companies from refusing coverage to patients with preexisting conditions and allowing young people to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26.

President Donald J. Trump last week intendent Eric Williams reminded supervisors that the School Board has not yet made its changes to his proposed budget.

Still, the comparatively small budget gap is rare good news for the county since the beginning of the recession, and the lowest gap in recent years. The gap has recently been as much as $35 million.

Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) sounded a note of caution.

“It puts us in a good place, but I also want to set our expectations a little bit,” Buona

said he wants a plan that provides everyone with coverage, and on Friday, shortly after taking the oath of office, signed an executive order that could begin dismantling the Affordable Care COMSTOCK MEETING >> 34 said. He said because of budget constrictions, county government’s staffing has not kept up with county’s growing population. County departments have been briefing the Board of Supervisors’ finance committee on staffing and level of service shortfalls, and some of that relatively flush budget picture may go to catching up on neglected government positions.

The county’s budget picture will be clearer when Commissioner of Revenue Robert

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Two killed in crash after police chase

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Brewery will be Loudoun’s biggest

24

Are you ready for Cowboy Mouth?

Loudoun County Brewers Get Organized

BY RENSS GREENE

T

he Loudoun brewery scene has always been tight-knit, sociable and collaborative, but now it’s also official: The charter of the Loudoun County Brewers Association was adopted Monday at Ocelot Brewing Company.

“It started at the first-ever LoCo Brewfest,” said new LCBA Chairman Chris Burns, of Old Ox Brewery. “It gave us all an opportunity to promote ourselves as a group and show what Loudoun County can do, but it also gave us an opportunity to come together and brew a collaborative beer, which is a ton of fun.”

That collaborative brew tradition, by the way, continues this year with a milk stout. Each brewery will unveil its spin on the beer in February.

“Through that collaborative process, we got an opportunity to share our experiences,” Burns said. “A lot of them were

very similar, and it led to the idea that, you know what, we should do this more often.”

Now there are monthly meetings and an executive committee with members serving staggered two-year terms. Kevin Bills of Corcoran Company, one of the county’s oldest breweries, said that he expects that most of the 15 or 16 breweries present for Monday’s vote to join the association.

“It’s not going to be a dues-prohibitive organization, because our purposes aren’t as large,” Bills said. Instead, it will be a place for brewers to promote Loudoun beer as well as share information, tips, experiences, and laws.

Adrian Widman, who played host to the vote at Ocelot Brewing Company, said that same spirit helped him when he started Ocelot. Although it only opened in August 2015, Ocelot is now one of oldest and most recognized breweries in Loudoun’s booming beer scene.

“The community was just so cohesive and together and helping each other the whole time,” Widman said. “When I was getting the place open, I traveled to all the other brewers in the county asking for advice.”

“In my experience, the more brewers get together and talk, the better the beer gets,” said Dean Lake of Dog Money Restaurant and Brewery, one of the county’s newest breweries. “The more we share our experiences, our technical knowledge and our technical experience, the better the product is going to be. We’re going to be able to offer Loudoun County better beer, because we are together as a group of Loudoun brewers.”

Burns agreed the association will help market Loudoun’s brewery scene.

“Loudoun County is DC’s wine country, but there’s absolutely no reason on BREWERS >> 35

School Theater in Loudoun isn’t Child’s Play

INDEX Loudoun Gov..................... 4 Leesburg........................... 8 Public Safety................... 12

THEATER >> 11

Education........................ 14 Our Towns....................... 16

7 p.m. Jan. 26, 27, 28; 2 p.m. Jan. 28

Biz.................................. 20

Tickets: $10 online at rockridgedrama.org; $12 at the door

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Kevin Lacey dances during Rock Ridge High School’s dress rehearsal for its production of “Ghost” the musical. Rock Ridge is one several Loudoun high schools that consider drama more than just an extracurricular activity, but an opportunity to introduce students to potential careers in the entertainment industry.

LoCo Living..................... 24 Obituaries....................... 28 Classifieds...................... 29 Opinion........................... 32

loudounnow.com

GHOST THE MUSICAL

Rock Ridge High School in Ashburn

BY DANIELLE NADLER

School plays have become serious business in Loudoun County.

High schools have won permission to premiere big-time shows, like “Chicago” and, as of this week, the musical “Ghost.” Productions have been known to cost as much as $35,000 to put on and require the talents of 100 students and an army of parent and community volunteers. And many have gone from Loudoun school stages to win big state and national awards.

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Park name honors skater

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Loudoun Brewers gather at Ocelot Brewing Company in Sterling to share a pint and launch the Loudoun County Brewers Association.

8

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

4

School Board takes student input with grain of salt

3

[ LOUDOUN GOV ]

Loudoun Plans Floodplain Meetings, Sets Up Help Line

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OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

BY RENSS GREENE

Danielle Nadler/Loudoun Now

Freshmen practice football on Tuscarora High School’s artificial turf field.

Study Finds No Evidence of Cancer Risk from Crumb Rubber; Loudoun Board Looks for Alternative Infills

BY RENSS GREENE

long-awaited study from the Washington State Department of Health, released Wednesday, found no evidence of higher cancer rates among athletes who play on crumb rubber fields.

“The currently available research on the health effects of artificial turf does not suggest that artificial turf presents a significant public health risk,” the study stated.

Loudoun supervisors and school leaders spent much of 2016 debating whether to continue to use crumb rubber-based artificial turf to replace grass fields at high school stadiums.

The new report was based on a study of soccer players on crumb rubber fields in Washington State, and was conducted by that state’s Department of Health and the University of Washington School of Public Health. It found that the athletes in the study had been diagnosed with cancer at a rate 2 percent below the general population average.

“Based on what we know today, the Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who enjoy soccer continue to play regardless of the

A

type of field surface,” the Washington department of health concludes on its website.

“I do think that that Washington study is the one I’ve been waiting for,” County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) said. “It was in Washington that they thought they found the cluster, and this study has been going on for a very long time.”

But supervisors are looking for alternative infills all the same.

“I think we need to begin to wrap this conversation up,” said Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles), who has pushed for research into alternative infills, particularly thermoplastic elastomer, or TPE. Whereas crumb rubber infill is made of recycled rubber such as from car tires, TPE is made from new material and has been used for years in sports fields.

“I am appreciative that this Washington State study came back, but I want to make it clear I think it’s worth looking at TPE in particular because it has a long track record,” Letourneau said. He has suggested that although TPE was previously more expensive than crumb rubber, costs may have come down, especially over the life of a field.

“Even if there aren’t any health con-

cerns related to rubber crumb, there are still going to be issues related to the messiness, the maintenance, the fact that anybody whose kids play on this, you know they track it all over the place,” Letourneau said.

Supervisors on Thursday voted unanimously to direct the county staff to make a complete analysis of the Washington State Department of Health’s findings, as well as report back with pricing, playability and reliability information about other types of infill.

Randall said the board was committed to installing some type of infill at the four Loudoun high schools that still have only natural grass fields.

“The commitment to having some type of infill product is important,” Randall said. “What type of infill product that may be at this point may rely mostly on cost.”

Supervisors hope to have enough information to make a decision within a month, enough time to program it for construction this summer. County staff members are also watching for results from a study by the Environmental Protection Agency, although final results from that study may still be years away. rgreene@loudounnow.com

School Board, Supervisors Sound Caution on Students’ Envision Loudoun Plan Input

BY RENSS GREENE

When Tuscarora High School government teacher Wendy Yacoub brought an Envision Loudoun listening session to Tuscarora High School earlier this month, county planners

estimate she added 500 to 600 responses to the pool of more than 2,000 the county had already collected.

“I think they responded well to the opportunity to really engage, because I don’t know that they always are asked for their input,” said Tuscarora High School librarian Mary Pellicano that

day. “I think maybe after us spurring some of their ideas, I think that they were surprised that they could come up with ideas, because I don’t know that they’re always empowered to do that.”

STUDENT INPUT >> 6

Loudoun County planners will hold two public information meetings for landowners affected by proposed modifications to the county’s Floodplain Overlay District.

Additionally, the county is taking questions by email at floodmaps@loudoun.gov or on the Floodplain Help Line at 703-7378746.

A Planning Commission public hearing in December drew a large crowd of worried homeowners who had received notifications that their homes may be affected by floodplain changes, but were unclear what that meant. The county mailed approximately 8,200 notification letters. Speakers at the public hearing criticized the map included in the mailing as being unreadable, and others were confused by the language in the letter.

But adopting updated floodplain boundaries, prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is a fairly routine bit of business for the county. In fact, it is one of the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program; if the county does not adopt the new maps, every property owner in Loudoun with federally backed flood insurance could lose that insurance.

Staff members from the Department of Building and Development will be on hand at the informational meetings to answer questions from individual landowners whose property may be in the floodplain. Computer stations will be available to help landowners locate their property on the proposed Floodplain Overlay District map. Prior to the meetings, property owners may access an interactive map of the proposed Floodplain Overlay District, which allows the user to search by parcel identification number or street address. The mapping program and additional information are available online at loudoun.gov/FODZMap. The proposed Floodplain Overlay District affects in whole or in part about 3,700 parcels of land, or 21,000 acres, in the major floodplain and about 4,600 parcels, or 9,000 acres in the minor floodplain. The floodplain includes lands adjacent and near any stream that drains an area of 100 acres or more.

Both information meetings will be held in the Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St. SE, in Leesburg. They will be held Tuesday, Jan. 24, from 9 a.m. to noon; and Thursday, Feb. 2, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. rgreene@loudounnow.com

County Enacts Restrictions on LastMinute Developer Negotiations Commercial Real Estate Development Association, so developers would be aware of the new requirements as soon as possible.

“On the other side of this, I would hope that those of us on the Board of Supervisors also would try and limit any kind of last minute things,” Volpe said.

Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) said the adjustments would have to come from developers and land use attorneys, and that “there’s nothing like a deadline at a board meeting to get changes to an application, and to get warring parties to the table when there’s disagreement.”

“Quite frankly, I think we saw a little bit of that today with one of these applications that was just deferred, because there were issues with it that were just not being worked early enough,” Letourneau said. “So now we’re not going to bring last minute changes to the board on the day of the meeting.”

Letourneau did not mention a specific application, but a large and complicated application by One Loudoun, originally scheduled for a vote Thursday, was deferred to a future board meeting. Some supervisors have voiced skepticism both about the number of changes in the application and the number of additional housing units it would authorize.

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rgreene@loudounnow.com

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Putting ink to one of County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall’s policy priorities from December, the county staff has implemented new procedures to curb last-minute negotiations over development projects.

County staff members will now recommend supervisors delay action on land use applications that change after board agenda packets go out. Supervisors have often received last-minute revisions to applications and proffers as late as the night of the board meeting where they are scheduled to vote on that application.

In discussing the policy during Thursday night’s board meeting, Randall said it would give the county staff and supervisors enough time to review applications, and make sure the public has an opportunity to review what the board is seeing.

“Our constituents and citizens aren’t seeing ahead of time exactly what we’re going to vote on,” agreed board Vice Chairman Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn). “Our packets are put out several days before the meetings. They see what we receive then, but what they don’t see is all these supplements.”

Supervisor Suzanne M. Volpe (R-Algonkian), who chairs the board’s Transportation/Land Use Committee, asked that the staff distribute the new process to the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association and NAIOP, the

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Student input << FROM 4 But some supervisors and school board members are taking those opinions with a grain of salt.

The Envision Loudoun sessions are part of the county’s effort to gather public input on how it should go about revising its comprehensive plan, the documents that steer the county’s growth and development. Yacoub is the Leesburg District appointee on the 26-member stakeholder steering committee that is leading that work.

Over the course of several Envision Loudoun workshops, county planners and consultants gathered input from hundreds of participants, tracking the demographics of those who attended to check for underrepresented groups by ethnicity, age, income, and gender.

Unsurprisingly, young and low-income people were underrepresented. Yacoub brought the workshop to Tuscarora High School juniors and seniors.

School Board member Eric DeKenipp (Catoctin), during a report to the joint School Board–Board of Supervisors committee, asked whether the students’ answer would be weighted equally to all the others.

“My initial answer is they should be,” said project manager Chris Garcia.

“They are members of our community.

As I alluded to, they’ll be living with some of our decisions.”

Garcia said he expected the Tuscarora High School session to yield “some really good ideas from our youngest

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

School Board Chairman Jeff Morse (Dulles) and member Eric DeKenipp (Catoctin) at the joint School Board-Board of Supervisors committee meeting Wednesday January 18.

partner.”

“Overall, I think it was a very interesting and exciting aspect of what we did,” Garcia said.

DeKenipp worried that student submissions may be off-topic or unrealistic. Other School Board members and supervisors worried that because it was done at only one school, there may be a geographic imbalance in the results.

“When you do have 50 percent of your population responding in one small geographic area, it will sway the results,” Morse said.

“I think we should give weight to what the kids are saying,” said County Chairwoman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) after the meeting. “I do agree, though, that because that was only one school, we should think about the fact

that it would be kind of a heavy geographical understanding about that.”

Supervisor Ralph M. Buona (R-Ashburn) pointed out that the school workshop was conducted differently from other Envision Loudoun sessions.

“Let’s not forget that when we held these community events, every table had a staff member and a stakeholder member at it,” Buona said. “So the citizens at that table were being guided, and you’ve got to make sure that when you get the input from students, that they have that same type of guidance, because land use is complicated, and it’s not something that students think about every day.”

Buona also pointed out that the students do represent a specific age demographic.

“What’s important to 16- to 18-yearolds could be very different to what’s important to an 80-year-old, so to me you don’t just say it’s all equal, and you don’t write them off,” Buona said.

Supervisors will review the consultants’ summary of the input at the first round of Envision Loudoun workshops on Feb. 7. A second round of input sessions is scheduled for July will review recommendations for the comprehensive plan that will be made after considering input from the first round.

Yacoub said she saw the sessions at Tuscarora High School as a possible pilot program for workshops at all county high schools in the second round, although there are no formal plans to do that. rgreene@loudounnow

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[ LEESBURG ]

Town Council Votes to Rename Skate Park for Teenage Founder

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

I

n the mid-90s, before there were smartphones and social media, many area teens would take to the streets, just like Eric Brown.

Skating, BMX biking and skateboarding had their own subculture of teens enjoying the fresh air on two or four wheels. But their presence was thought by many to be a nuisance and being shooed away from parking lots, public plazas and the like was a common occurrence.

It was a day just like any other when Brown and his friend were kindly told by a Leesburg police officer to leave an empty parking lot.

“My frustration hit a tipping point,” Brown recalled. “Anywhere we’d go we’d get kicked out and told not to do this. We’re not causing harm to people, we’re not fighting, not doing drugs.

You just can’t do what you want to do.”

What Brown, then just 15 years old, did was take matters into his own hands, and lead the charge to bring a skate park to his hometown of Leesburg. Tuesday night, the Town Council voted unanimously to name it after the teenage founder.

After that fateful day when Brown and his friend again found their recreation interrupted, he knew the solution to the problem was, in a way, simple: Create a place where he and his friends, and others interested in skating, biking and skateboarding would be welcome.

A skate park.

So he went home to his mother,

Wannetta Langley, who suggested they reach out to his former baseball coach Frank Buttery, who at the time was serving on the Leesburg Town Council. Buttery, now a District Court judge, encouraged Brown to write a speech and come along with some of his friends to present his idea to the council. And he did, and would become a fixture at meetings for years to come.

And now, 20 years later, many in the community want the council to name the skate park after Brown in homage to the efforts he undertook to make the project a reality.

Leesburg resident Jim Kershaw recalls his early involvement in helping Brown raise money for the project. He caught wind of Brown and his friends’ pleas to the council through his then-girlfriend, a former clerk serving the council.

“She came home and said a bunch of kids organized themselves and did a presentation to the Town Council asking for funds to build a skate park. I said ‘that’s pretty interesting’,” Kershaw recalled.

He harkened back to his own youth in Hawaii when he was “one of the pioneers of skateboarding.” Kershaw said he and his brother would take apart his sister’s roller skates, attach them to a piece of wood and use that as a makeshift skateboard. So with that memory, and rekindled passion in mind, he reached out to then-mayor Jim Clem.

“I said, ‘if I can organize these kids and get some money will you support

Courtesy of KD Kidder

A passionate inline skater, 15-year-old Eric Brown was the driving force behind the skate park project in Leesburg more than 20 years ago. Now 36 and living in Hawaii, the Town Council is naming the park in his honor.

us?’ He said ‘of course I will,’” Kershaw recalled.

So a nonprofit was formed—Friends of Ida Lee—and Kershaw, Brown and many of Brown’s young friends began a

years-long fundraising effort.

“We did a couple battle of the bands. We started selling hot dogs, SKATE PARK >> 10

Police Chief Gives 100-Day Report

BY KARA C. RODRIGUEZ Much has been accomplished in the short time since Gregory Brown took the helm of the Leesburg Police Department in October, but many important priorities remain.

That was a key takeaway during the police chief ’s presentation to the Town Council Monday night, when he gave his 100-day report.

The presentation actually took place on his 113th day of service to the town, and provided a glimpse into the new path the chief has forged for his department.

Brown heaped praise on Deputy Chief Vanessa Grigsby, who he said helped to make his transition to his new role “seamless.” One of Brown’s initial priorities when joining the department from the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office was to take the time to meet with each of its employees for at least a 15- to 20-minute chat.

What has happened, though, is those sit-down meetings have sometimes

lasted upwards of an hour, so Brown has had to take a hiatus from those for the moment. However, he said he has learned a lot during those talks and thinks it important to give each employee as much time he or she needs to speak, so he looks forward to restarting those in the near future.

Brown reported some initial changes to the department’s organizational structure, with the creation of a police planner position that focuses on things such as emergency preparedness and strategic planning, as well as a public affairs specialist position that will better take into account some of the roles performed by longtime Lt. Jeff Dubé, who retired at the beginning of the month. Lt. Wesley Thompson was recently promoted to a captain’s position, and Brown said he hopes to have another captain installed by the end of February.

Brown also gave credit to Grigsby for helping to “stem the flow” of employee turnover the department had experienced previously. From June

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Leesburg Police Chief Gregory Brown takes part in the Martin Luther King Jr. march through downtown Jan. 16.

2015 to September 2016, the department had 25 separations. Since September, that number has dropped to two, with one being Dubé’s retirement.

“We’re working on making sure we keep our thumb on the pulse of police

officers, making sure they know we have their back and making sure we support them. The feedback we’ve received so far has been very positive,” Brown said.

100-DAY REPORT >> 10

With Hammler Out in Leesburg, VML Looks to Fill Leadership Post said this week. She also hopes to formally recognize Hammler for her years of service to VML at October’s conference.

“Katie was a strong leader who was an active participant in our board. We will miss her voice as we discuss and debate issues that affect localities at the state level,” Winn said.

Gordonsville Mayor Bob Coiner, the current VML president, was the one to nominate Hammler six years ago as chair of the towns section, a position that includes a seat on VML’s Executive Committee.

“I’d already identified her as a rising star in local government,” he said.

Coiner said he enjoyed working closely with Hammler on the executive committee and found her to be an asset to VML. “Katie was totally well read, a hard worker, asked intelligent questions,” Coiner said. Losing her as president elect, “it’s a loss for VML, and a personal loss to everyone on the executive committee.”

Already a “great ambassador” for Leesburg while serving on the executive committee, the position of VML president could have brought the town even more exposure, Coiner said. Of

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While the recent appointment of Hugh Forsythe to the Leesburg Town Council filled its vacancy, it created another in the state.

The council’s decision not to appoint former Town Council member Katie Sheldon Hammler to the interim council seat means that the Virginia Municipal League needs a new president-elect. Hammler was named to the post at the end of last year, and was expected to be appointed president for a oneyear term during VML’s annual conference in October. But the position requires an officer to be an elected official. Hammler lost out on her re-election bid for a fourth council term in November, finishing fifth out of a field of seven candidates for the three seats. And although she put her hat in the ring for the interim appointment in hopes of maintaining the VML seat for Leesburg, she was not chosen as one of the five finalists to present to the Town Council at its Jan. 9 organizational meeting. Only Councilman Ron Campbell selected Hammler as one of his top three candidates for consideration.

Now, ballots will be mailed to VML’s membership to fill the vacant officer position, VML Executive Kim Winn

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

KARA C. RODRIGUEZ

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Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

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VML vacancy

Skate park

<< FROM 9

<< FROM 8

his own experience, he said many he has served with on VML, as well as representatives he has networked with from localities throughout the nation, have come to visit Gordonsville because of him. The VML president can have access to important people and possibly secure grants for their town or rub elbows with the CEO of a big organization looking to relocate a business, Coiner said. Vacating the position could be a missed opportunity for Leesburg, he opined.

“When you’re a great ambassador for your town, wonderful things happen,” Coiner said.

“It’s just a shame people didn’t realize that.”

Since she was not tapped for the interim council appointment, Hammler seems to be hanging up her council shoes, at least for the moment. Reached Tuesday, she said she would not be running in November’s special election to fill the remainder of Mayor Kelly Burk’s council term. She has some time to change her mind, of course. The filing deadline for all candidates for the Nov. 7 election is not until June 13.

hamburgers and sodas at every major [town] event for four years. I would buy all the stuff and make the arrangements and [the kids] would do all the work. Those kids worked their butts off,” Kershaw said.

But none more so than Brown.

“Every time we didn’t have a fundraiser planned he would call me. After four years, it was hard for me to keep my consistency and energy up, but he would ask, ‘Jim, what are we doing next?’” he said. “It was his vision and his energy,” that made it happen, he said.

Steve Pangle has a similar recollection. He was one of Brown’s friends who also lobbied the council for the skate park project.

“He was the one that lead the way for all that were interested in board sports back in the day,” he said. When most of us kids were worried about being kids and just having a good time, he just genuinely cared.”

Through all their fundraising efforts, Kershaw, Brown and Brown’s friends raised about $16,000 for the project.

Their efforts were bolstered by $14,000 from the Loudoun County Parks and Recreation Department’s Make It Happen Fund, and the remaining funds were ultimately given by the Town Council. Town Manager Kaj Dentler, then serving as the town’s Parks and Recreation Department director, suggested the skate park be built on Ca-

toctin Circle to replace a pair of aging tennis courts. The Catoctin skate park opened to the public in 1998 and was a popular fixture for area teens, and even adults, up until its recent closure for renovations last year.

Of the efforts to name the skate park after Brown, Kershaw is in favor. “Eric was really quite a visionary and a leader for being 15 years old. He was way beyond his years. He’s always been like that,” he said.

KD Kidder agrees. The Photoworks owner recalls her initial interactions with Brown, also when he was 15. He came in looking for a job, but Kidder advised him that she couldn’t hire him until he turned 16. So he returned on his 16th birthday. He would work for Photoworks for two years and some of his photos are still displayed in the downtown shop.

“He was so brave then to go in front of the Town Council at that age,” Kidder said. “Most kids don’t think they can make any difference. That’s part of why I think it’s so important for it to be named after him.”

She credits her mother, Doris Kidder, with the initial idea of advocating to the Town Council that they name the skate park after Brown.

“This is no ordinary person,” Doris Kidder said of Brown. “We’re honoring a 15-year-old who kind of turned the town around. He left a legacy, a model for other teenagers. We’re honoring a kid who saw a need and went after it. I don’t think it was an easy thing to do.”

Councilman Marty Martinez was the first to bring the subject up on the Town Council dais last year. He is hoping his council colleagues support the idea.

“He was a rebel of sorts,” Martinez said. “It shows people that you can’t judge a book by its cover. I’ve got a real appreciation of all the hard work Eric had to do.”

Now 36 years old, Brown lives in Hawaii and recently found himself in a somewhat similar position to where he was 20 years ago. It was not so long ago that the fight for the skate park was renewed when the need for renovations,

and the high price tag associated with it, had some town leaders questioning the need for the project altogether, as well as whether the location on Catoctin Circle was the most appropriate.

“During that time, just from here living in Kauai I sent emails, made phone calls, rallied whoever I could,” Brown said. “So many people helped the park to live and now thrive that it’s going to be redone in a big way.”

With that battle seemingly won and the renovations now well underway, Brown said he was surprised, yet warmed, by the fact that so many in the community want the new park named in his honor.

“I really can’t express how deeply honored and grateful I am. I wish I could know everyone’s name so I could thank everyone personally,” he said.

On a recent visit with Langley and KD Kidder at Photoworks, the two put forward an armful of letters of support from those who hope the council supports the renaming. Even Clem, now retired from public service, has thrown his support behind the idea.

“Take a moment and think about the positive impact the naming of the skate park after Eric Brown will have on today’s youth. They will be influenced by the power youth can have on today’s elected officials and that their voices are important to the community’s future,” he said in a letter to the Town Council shared with Loudoun Now. Langley is visibly humbled at the many community members rallying together in support of her son.

“I’m still amazed at all of the things he has done,” proud mom Langley gushed. “He was just determined to make sure there was some place to go, not just for himself but for future kids.”

And that priority has not changed for Brown. As he awaited the council vote, he was hard at work on another community project in Kauai: A skate park project being undertaken by the Anaina Hou community organization.

100-day report

allow current employees to help with recruiting on a volunteer basis. He has also created some advisory committees within the department to increase “the sense of inclusion” as well as boost morale among department members, and is looking at how to provide additional training opportunities for his officers.

Two areas he identified as future priorities will be the eventual expansion of his department’s headquarters on Plaza Street, a space they have simply “outgrown.” When the building opened in 1997, it is believed that the department had around 45 staff members. That number now hovers around 103 and spaces that are designated for operational use are having to be used as storage, he said. Another budget item—the purchase of body-worn and dash cameras for officers—is on hold pending more research, to ensure that whatever products are bought mesh with the current technology in place at the department.

<< FROM 8 Noting wisdom imparted to him by his own mentors—“individuals don’t leave organizations, they leave leaders,”—Brown said he has instituted mandatory leadership training for all supervisory staff. Down the road, he is also looking at following the lead of departments in Alexandria and Arlington County in creating a succession plan to identify future leaders in the department.

The chief said he is hoping to “significantly reduce” the department’s vacancies—now at 17—by the fall. Five hires are headed to the police academy next week, and Brown said he hopes to have another six to eight recruits ready for the academy session in July. To help with the recruitment process, Brown has created a Supplemental Recruiting Team, akin to the one run by the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office, to

krodriguez@loudounnow.com

krodriguez@loudounnow.com

<< FROM 3

Rock Ridge High School’s theater department landed a big opportunity to premiere “Ghost” the musical this

Rock Ridge isn’t the only Loudoun high school setting its students on track for jobs in performing arts. Loudoun Valley, Stone Bridge, Heritage, Dominion, Tuscarora, Woodgrove and others have won or been nominated for Cappies, a regional critics awards program, for their overall performances, acting, dancing, stage design, sound and lighting.

Leanne Littman, a parent who helped form Heritage High School’s Drama Booster Association, said the school gave her daughter opportunities most young people don’t get until college. As a high schooler, she got an invite to the Virginia Theatre Association conference, where she auditioned

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Opening Doors

Making the Investment

in front of representatives from dozens of colleges. That helped earn her a spot at University of Virginia, where she’s double majoring in theater and American studies.

“It is her dream to end up working as a professional actress, and there are quite a few kids who have gone on from the Heritage program to performing arts schools,” Littman said. “Their productions are really sub-Broadway level. … We are so, so fortunate.”

A good next step, she suggested, would be increasing stipends for school theater directors, most of whom lead productions throughout the school year. “If you’re a coach, you get a stipend for each sport and if you’re a drama teacher, you get the one stipend for the full year, so it’s not necessarily equal and fair,” she said. “These teachers give and give and give, they basically don’t have a life.”

Cimino-Johnson said that Loudoun school leaders are showing that they are taking performing arts just as seriously as STEM education. “Loudoun County Public Schools is doing all the right things,” he said, noting that the division has hired talented, experienced directors and supported pathways to provide dual enrollment theater courses for students.

“People are asking how do we create the next generation of not only entertainers but technology and business leaders,” he said. “It’s by flexing their creative and innovative muscles early.

You do that every single day in theater class, and I think Dr. Williams and others are seeing that.”

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

The success of the school programs has been, in large part, a grassroots effort of the school drama teachers partnering with dedicated parents and students. But school system leaders want to invest more into the performing arts, with an eye on building a foundation for young people who want to pursue careers in the entertainment industry.

Superintendent Eric Williams and Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Cynthia Ambrose want to include $121,000 as part of next fiscal year’s operating budget to create a new position of performing arts specialist.

The specialist would provide support for drama programs from elementary through high school, as well as leadership in developing performing arts curricula.

Ambrose heard from parents that there was a need for more professional development for drama teachers and support for the theater programs in middle and high schools.

“We listened, we evaluated, and we saw that they had a lot of merit in what they were asking for,” she said. “Some may see theater as a hobby, but we also want to support the many students who see this as a viable career pathway.”

graduate high school with an edge over their peers also pursuing careers in the entertainment industry. Twenty-four students learned last week that they were the only high school students in Virginia to pass the National Occupational Competency Testing Institute’s performing arts certification exam, earning them three college credits. Those same students are enrolled in drama dual enrollment courses through Richard Bland College that allow them to earn as many as six college credits.

Plus, Noam noted with excitement, that next week he and his classmates will have the opportunity to meet and perform for representatives from 25 colleges and universities at the International Thespian Festival.

“Not all high school kids get opportunities like this,” the 17-year-old said.

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

Theater

week. The performance will be professionally recorded and played for some of the world’s theater industry leaders during the International Thespian Festival, held at Virginia Tech next week.

And drama teacher and director Anthony Cimino-Johnson has more or less entrusted his students with every aspect of the production. Teens from ages 14 to 18 are designing costumes, creating and building sets, overseeing lighting and sound, and choreographing the entire performance.

Cimino-Johnson, who was recently named Virginia Theatre Teacher of the Year, wants to give young people a glimpse of the variety of jobs in the industry, most of which are off stage.

“When we think about theater we only think about performing and a small pocket of celebrities, but the entertainment industry is actually the second largest industry in the world, only second to finance,” he said. “You have to think about the designers, marketers, technicians, scenic designers—there are so many possibilities.”

Noam Denenberg, a junior, doubts that he would have found his talent in scenic design if he hadn’t had access to a program like Rock Ridge’s.

He knew he loved performing, but Cimino-Johnson, who students call CJ, helped him discover he had a knack for set design when he asked him to employ his painting skills in a production his freshman year.

“CJ has a special way of finding skills that you’re good at and pulling it out,” he said. “I found that I love the technical aspect of theater. I like bringing the world to life—on stage.”

Many Rock Ridge students will

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[ PUBLIC SAFETY ]

Suspect Pleads Guilty in Fatal Leesburg Stabbing

A

23-year-old Lorton man faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2015 fatal stabbing in Leesburg.

Anthony Bryant Jr. on Monday morning entered an Alford plea in Loudoun County Circuit Court, meaning he acknowledged prosecutors had ample evidence to secure a conviction even

though he maintains his innocence.

The voluntary manslaughter charge stems from a March 28, 2015, fight in the parking lot of the Plaza Street 7-Eleven in Lees-

Bryant

burg. Bryant and his cousin, Ledeil Powell, were in a car when another vehicle pulled up beside them and started a fight.

Bryant said he was trying to stop the attack on Powell when he stabbed 22-year-old James R. Sealey in his upper leg. The incident happened just before 3 a.m. after both groups had been at the Bunkers bar nearby.

Sealey was transported to the Inova Loudoun Hospital and then flown to

Inova Fairfax Hospital where he died.

A Loudoun County grand jury last year indicted Bryant on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated malicious wounding, and stabbing during the commission of a felony.

The latter two charges were dropped as part of Monday’s plea.

Voluntary manslaughter is a Class 5 felony, punishable by up to 10 years in a state penitentiary. Bryant is scheduled for sentencing April. 27.

[ SAFETY BRIEFS ] Two Killed in Crash After Police Pursuit Two people died in a fiery crash in Arcola on Sunday morning after a driver fled from a deputy attempting a traffic stop for speeding, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office.

The incident began shortly before 1:30 a.m. Jan. 22, when a deputy was running radar and observed a speeding vehicle traveling northbound on Old Ox Road near Dulles West Boulevard. The agency reported that the deputy initiated a traffic stop and the driver drove through a red traffic light and continued to speed away.

After notifying dispatchers that he was in pursuit, the deputy lost sight of the vehicle and broke off the chase. A short time later, the deputy found the car crashed into a tree on Evergreen Mills Road at Stone Springs Boulevard in Arcola.

The deputy pulled the driver from the car, which became engulfed in flames.

There were two passengers inside. They died at the scene.

The driver, David G. Brown, 25, of Ashburn, has been charged with reckless driving.

One of the victims was identified as Kyle W. Youngblood, 29, of Berkeley Springs, WV. As of Tuesday, the identification of the second victim had not been confirmed by the Office of the Medical Examiner.

The crash remains under investigation by the Crash Reconstruction Unit and additional charges are likely, the agency stated.

Suspect Sought in Grubstake Lane Burglary Loudoun County detectives have released home surveillance video of a suspect in a residential burglary near Hillsboro that included the theft of a rifle.

About noon Jan. 10, a man drove up to a home on Grubstake Farm Lane and knocked on the front door. After waiting at the door and then determining nobody was home, the suspect forced entry through a rear door. The suspect left the scene with the firearm.

The surveillance video of the suspect and the vehicle he was driving can be viewed at sheriff.loudoun.gov/GrubstakeFarmBurglary. The suspect is described as a black man with a mustache. He left the scene in a four-door white sedan.

Anyone with any information regarding the case is asked to call Detective T. Sheffer at 703-737-8203 or

Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office

Investigators are searching for this man, who is suspected of a Jan. 10 break-in at a home near Hillsboro.

to submit a tip through the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office app, available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play.

NY Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty, Targeted Loudoun A New York man pleaded guilty in Federal District Court last week to charges related to distribution of heroin in Loudoun County.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, George Eric Stevens, 33, of Jamaica, NY, obtained heroin from a source in New York and traveled to Loudoun County to sell it, in hopes of achieving higher profits.

He was arrested on Nov. 16, 2016, in Loudoun County with approximately 170 grams of heroin.

In December, Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.

He faces up to 40 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 21.

Unattended Cooking Blamed in Middleburg Fire The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled that a common household hazard—cooking—was to blame for a house fire last Thursday in Middleburg.

At about 3:30 p.m. Jan. 19, Loudoun dispatchers were altered by multiple 911 calls about the fire on Foxhound Lane. Fire and rescue crews from Middleburg, Aldie, Philomont, Round Hill,

Earl Hower

County deputies joined Leesburg Police officers in Monday morning’s arrest of two suspects in a Leesburg burglary.

Two Nabbed in Leesburg Break-in, Car Theft A pair of alleged car thieves didn’t get very far Monday morning; they were arrested by a bevy of police officers in Leesburg within an hour of the report.

Officers were called to a home on Kalmia Square in Leesburg’s Potomac Station neighborhood at 8:07 a.m. for a report of a burglary and

South Riding, Purcellville, Hamilton and Fauquier County responded to the two-story, single family residence.

Firefighters quickly located and extinguished a small fire in the kitchen. The occupants were alerted by smoke alarms and were safely outside when crews arrived.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital for evaluation and then released.

There were no other injuries.

Damage was estimated at $5,000.

According to Loudoun County Fire-Rescue, cooking equipment is the leading cause of house fires and the third leading cause of home fire fatalities.

Ashburn Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge A 53-year-old Ashburn man faces up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receipt of child pornography.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement in Federal District Court, between February and

motor vehicle theft.

The stolen vehicle was spotted near the East Market Street and Catoctin Circle intersection, where officers from the Leesburg Police Department and the Loudoun County Sheriff ’s Office surrounded the car and arrested the two occupants.

The investigation is continuing.

March 2015, the FBI identified an IP address in Fairfax accessing child pornography. Based on that investigation, officers executed a federal search warrant on a business in Fairfax where Roger Wheaten Webb worked.

During the search, several electronic devices were located and reviewed, including a Dell computer and a flash drive that contained more than 5,000 image files and 300 video files of child pornography. The analysis of the computer confirmed that it had been used to download child pornography from the internet using peer-to-peer software.

When interviewed, Webb admitted that he had used the business’s computer to access, receive, and download child pornography and that he had transferred and stored child pornography to an external drive or flash drive he possessed, prosecutors said.

The charge carries a sentence of five to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 21.

Browne Retires as Dulles Manager; Leuck Appointed to Interim Post

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confident in his ability to manage the large, highly talented team at Dulles and to keep the airport, the Dulles Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road operating smoothly for the benefit of our passengers while the search process is completed.”

Dulles Airport serves more than 22 million passengers per year and is forecast to have a second straight year of domestic growth and a 13th straight year of international growth when 2016 passenger statistics are tabulated.

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Brian Leuck was named interim vice president and airport manager for Dulles Airport on Tuesday, succeeding Chris Browne, who is retiring to take (MWAA) on new responsiBrowne bilities as deputy director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Browne’s retirement becomes effective Feb. 3, and a nationwide search for his permanent successor is underway.

Browne joined MWAA in 1988 and took over as Dulles’ manager in 1998.

Leuck most recently managed the Dulles Engineering and Maintenance section, responsible for maintaining infrastructure and overseeing construction on the airport’s 12,000 acres.

Since 1988, Leuck has served in roles of increasing responsibility at Dulles including in Airport Operations and as airport security coordinator.

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[ E D U C AT I O N ]

Proposed School Budget Paves Way for More Digital Learning

[ BRIEFS ]

BY DANIELLE NADLER

T

he woman who heads up instruction for Loudoun’s school system has some new ideas in mind for next year.

During a Loudoun County School Board budget work session last week, Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Ambrose outlined the portion of the school system’s proposed $1.124 billion budget that she is in charge of.

For next fiscal year, her department is requesting $650,587 million, $51.25 million (8.2 percent) more than the current fiscal year. But much of that increase is tied to enrollment growth. By this fall, the school system is expected to grow by almost 3,000 and reach a total student population of 81,622.

Aside from serving more students, Ambrose wants to earmark more money to pave the way for more digital devices in the classroom and to make big strides toward setting up the Academies of Loudoun, which is slated to open in 2018.

On technology, Ambrose wants to restructure the job of technology assistants, training them to take care of routine tech support and troubleshooting in the schools. This would free up technology resource teachers to focus more on instruction, a must as the school division moves toward every student having access to a digital device—whether smart phones, tablets or laptops—in the classroom. It would also move them up two rings on the salary scale, to a starting rate of $14.73 per hour and as much as $32.25 per hour.

Technology assistant positions were created in 2004, Ambrose noted, when students did not use phones or tablets

Danielle Nadler/Loudoun Now

Briar Woods High School students present their findings on the negative effects of salt as a road deicer.

Ashburn Students Make the Case for Road Salt Alternatives

Loudoun Now File Photo

From left, Seneca Ridge Middle School students Brandon Holbert, George Egowrnov, Mikael Frey, Mathew Wang and Nehemiah Thomas use their smart phones to scan QR codes as part of an assignment in English class.

as part of instruction. “And at that time you didn’t have adaptive digital content like you have today.”

With an eye on more digital learning, Ambrose also wants to repurpose several positions. For example, the position of online librarian would change to digital resource specialist, and an English specialist position would change to a textbooks/digital resources and student publications specialist.

“This is part of our effort to get better communication. We need specific contacts for digital resources,” Ambrose said. “So teachers in the schools know who to call if they have a question.”

The fiscal year 2018 budget also calls for: Eight new positions for Academies of Loudoun (one Academy of Engineering and Technology director, six teachers, one secretary).

One new position to support and

provide expertise to secondary drama programs.

The use of existing funds to map out and streamline computer science curriculum from elementary through high school.

One new teaching position at Douglass School, Loudoun’s alternative secondary school. Ambrose said the school system has seen an increase in special education students and students needing to make up credits in time for graduation.

Expanding the young adult English Language Learners program, from serving nine students in the evening to creating day courses to serve as many as 40 students. $2 million to update textbooks. Some of the textbooks are a decade or more BUDGET DEBATE >> 15

Preschool Director Donates $1M to Longwood University

BY DANIELLE NADLER Longtime Loudoun County educator Jane Richardson Taylor recently gave $1 million to support a lifelong passion: educating young children.

She provided the hefty donation to Longwood University to establish an early childhood development center, which will open later this year.

Taylor is the director of St. John the Apostle Preschool in Leesburg. She’s worked at the preschool for 16 years, after a 20-year career in Loudoun County Public Schools.

For years she’d thought about donating money to further young people’s education in some way. She considered providing scholarships for graduates of Loudoun County High School, where she once taught and served as assistant principal.

But then, through her work at the preschool, she noticed a critical need for early childhood teachers. So she decided to target her donation toward bolstering Longwood University’s early childhood education program.

“I called Longwood up and said ‘I’d like to give $1 million—it just felt right,”

Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Jane Richardson Taylor works with a student at St. John the Apostle Preschool in Leesburg.

Taylor, who’s worked as an educator in Loudoun County for 36 years, recently donated $1 million to establish an early childhood development center at Longwood University.

she said.

While acknowledging it was unusual for a teacher to make such as donation, she said her family’s finances were private matters.

The money will create an early childhood development center, which will bear the name of Taylor’s son who died at 13 months old. The Andy Taylor Center for Early Childhood Development will provide a cutting-edge early childhood education to children of Longwood faculty and staff, as well as community members not affiliated with the university.

It will use what’s called the Reggio Emilia method of instruction, which encourages children to explore their environment and express themselves through art, drama, dance and sculpture.

The goal is to create a pathway for Longwood students to earn a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.

“We don’t have that right now,” Taylor said. “There’s very little childhood education available at most state colleges, and the idea that I could help with a center that is actually going to work on that in a very innovative way and also provide classes and internships means so much.”

Sara Miller, the director and visionTAYLOR >> 15

Briar Woods High School students completed monthslong research projects this week aimed at raising awareness about the impacts of using salt as a road deicer.

The students researched the impacts of excessive use of salt on the environment, as well as the use of other options. Salt taints the water supply, dehydrates vegetation, and can be lethal to pets, the students said.

They created public service announcements in the form of cartoons, videos, websites and posters and presented their findings in class Monday.

“Although road salt is effective, it is not very environmentally friendly,” freshman Samyuktha “Sam” Sreeram said during her team’s presentation.

The students presented arguments for using alternatives such as beet molasses, cheese or pickle brine, or fireplace ashes.

Some of these options are just as effective as salt and are less expensive. One team mentioned that Chicago saved $14,000 in one fiscal year by using beet molasses instead of salt.

Chesterbrook Academy Opens New Preschool Chesterbrook Academy celebrated the opening of its new preschool in Aldie last week.

The preschool is at 42097 Braddock Road and is a part of Nobel Learning Communities, Inc., a national network of more than 200 nonsectarian private schools.

The new school held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Jan. 17. Families interested in enrolling in the school had a chance to tour the new facility and meet the principal and teachers. They also heard about Chesterbrook Academy’s Links to Learning curriculum, which includes monthly developmental skill summaries that closely involve parents.

U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA-10) spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Also in attendance were County ChairSCHOOL NOTES >> 15

[ SCHOOL NOTES ] woman Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large), as well as representatives from the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, the local fire department and nearby businesses.

For more information about Chesterbrook Academy Preschool, go to chesterbrookacademy.com.

Emerick Nominated as Blue Ribbon School

Liberty Named Finalist in STEM Competition Liberty Elementary School in Ashburn has been selected as a finalist for the STEM Excellence Award. The winners of these awards will be announced later this week at the 37th National Future of Education Technology Conference in Orlando.

Liberty Elementary was chosen as one of the three finalists from more than 100 applications. (The other finalists are Mountain View Elementary in Prince William County and Oxford Elementary School in Oxford, KS.) In its award application, Liberty’s staff outlined the ways science, technology, engineering and math are woven into every part of the school. Each of Liberty’s 1,082 students participate in its bi-weekly Smart Lab challenge, which showcases technology and design that is new to students and teachers each year. Students also collaborate with one another across grade levels as “STEM buddies,” while teachers present lessons in teams.

Liberty also offers free transportation and food for its free STEM community event, STEMmerday, planned for 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11.

Budget debate << FROM 14 old, according to Ambrose. It will take several years to fully update the school system’s books, since funding in this area has not kept pace with enrollment growth, Ambrose said. “But this chips away at it.”

Superintendent Eric Williams presented his recommended operating budget Jan. 12, kicking off Loudoun County’s four-month budget season.

The School Board will continue going over the details of Williams’ proposal in work sessions ahead of adopting a final plan Feb. 2. The budget is then sent to the county Board of Supervisors as a

Taylor << FROM 14 ary behind the early childhood development center, said it’s rare for a program like this to be backed by a major donation right from the beginning. “To have someone who believes so fully in our vision for this center support us so completely gives us great energy and momentum as we move toward launch,” she stated. “Dr. Taylor is an inspiration to all of us who have worked on this project, and her interest and support will have a significant impact on generations of children.”

Taylor taught at Loudoun County High School for two years and went on to serve as its assistant principal for

dnadler@loudounnow.com

SCHOOL BUDGET HEARINGS 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26 & Tuesday, Jan. 31 School administration building, 21000 Education Court, Ashburn Keep tabs on the budget discussion at loudounnow.com/ budgetdebate

eight years. She then served as assistant principal at J. Lupton Simpson Middle School for 10 years, before leaving public education in 1996 to stay at home with her daughter. After taking four years off, she returned to the classroom, when she took the lead at St. John the Apostle Preschool. She said she’s always had a soft spot for babies and toddlers.

“I love working with children,” she said. “The little ones have so much love to offer. Every one of them is eager and excited about learning.”

Taylor will join Longwood officials at the grand opening ceremony of the Andy Taylor Center for Early Childhood Development this fall in Farmville. dnadler@loudounnow.com

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Emerick Elementary School in Purcellville has been nominated as a National Blue Ribbon School.

The last Loudoun County public school to receive the Blue Ribbon designation was Belmont Station Elementary in 2011. Other local schools that have received the award include Meadowland Elementary (2003), Leesburg Elementary (2005) and Lincoln Elementary (2010).

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program was established in 1982 to honor America’s most successful schools. Emerick Elementary is one of seven 2017 Virginia nominees for the award.

The Virginia Department of Education selects nominees based on the eligibility criteria required by the U.S. Department of Education. To receive the “high performing” designation, schools at a minimum must have their students in reading and mathematics score in the top 15 percent of all schools in the state, and performance

of students in each of the school’s subgroups must be in the top 40 percent of all schools in the state.

Emerick now begins an application process that will end when the secretary of education announces the Blue Ribbon honorees in September.

15 Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

<< FROM 14

funding request. Supervisors are scheduled to adopt their budget April 4.

The School Board will hold two public hearings: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, and Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the school system administration building, 21000 Education Court in Ashburn.

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MIDDLEBURG Young Historians’ Take on Civil War

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Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now

Rain and fog set in along Hogback Mountain Road south of Leesburg on Monday. Thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures, the storm brought none of the heavy snow that paralyzed the region one year ago.

With Moore, a New Generation Leads Stewardship of Mosby Heritage Area

BY MARGARET MORTON

I

t’s almost a month since Jennifer Moore took over as executive director of the Mosby Heritage Area Association, following Rich Gillespie’s retirement from the top post at the end of the year.

Apart from the 1801 fieldstone chimney collapsing at MHAA’s Rector House headquarters over Christmas, “it’s going very much as we thought,” Moore said. Interviews of candidates for the new position of public program coordinator are ongoing. The new hire will assist Education Director Kevin Pawlak with educational outreach.

Moore came up through the ranks at the historical nonprofit, rising from an executive assistant in 2012 to be director of administration and Gillespie’s right hand person.

She leads one of the state’s largest preservation organizations geographically—extending from Bull Run Mountains to the east, Blue Ridge Mountains to the west, Potomac River to the north and Rappahannock River to the south—while seeking to extend its focus and sharpen its preservation message.

Mosby leaders are happy with Moore’s selection.

Board Chairwoman Wendy Bebie said Moore’s experience and enthusiasm “make her very well qualified to take on her responsibilities as MHAA’s new executive director,” expressing confidence in her leadership skills and ability to promote the nonprofit’s pres-

Mosby Heritage Area Association

Moore

ervation mission.

Gillespie, under whom Moore studied American history when he taught social studies at Loudoun Valley High School, is also enthusiastic about the transition.

“Jennifer Worcester Moore brings organization and self-discipline to an extensive understanding of the workings, mission, and institutional history of the Mosby Heritage Area Association, he said.

In particular, Gillespie praised Moore as “a great team player,” who

will continue the efforts begun early last year to increase the nonprofit’s scope and involvement.

As a Loudoun native, Moore possesses a deep love for and commitment to the heritage area region and its assets and history, Gillespie said.

“I live in the house I grew up in in Hamilton,” Moore said of the 1913 farmhouse in which she, her husband and two children reside. She attended Hamilton Elementary School, middle school at Blue Ridge and high school at Valley. She studied history and historic preservation at Mary Washington College from 1999-2003.

Moore’s first job was as executive assistant for the Waterford Foundation.

Following that, she did the same job at Journey Through Hallowed Ground.

An extra credit project she did in the 11th grade served her well when she came to MHAA. “I was taking photographs of different architectural styles in the area. That got me out into the historic landscape and looking at the bigger picture. I began to understand how buildings fit in their landscapes,” Moore said in a recent interview.

“That project was a turning point.

All of the sudden I realized history is not on the page, but here in my town.

People are case studies—not names and dates but part of a living community,” she said.

That is true of the Mosby Heritage Area, “which is full of it,” Moore said, STEWARDSHIP >> 18

Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Education Director Kevin Pawlak is focusing on up and coming historians during the nonprofit’s Feb. 12 presentation titled “Not Your Grandfather’s Civil War.” Pawlak will lead a panel of four “twenty-something” historians who will discuss their views of key turning points during the Civil War. Bill Backus, site manager at Bristoe Station Battlefield is co-author of “A Want of Vigilance: The Bristoe Station Campaign, October 9-19, 1863.”

Pawlak is author of “Shepherdstown in the Civil War: One Vast Confederate Hospital.”

Ryan Quint, park historian, at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, is author of the forthcoming “Determined to Stand and Fight: The Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864.” Dan Welch, park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park, is co-author of “The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign, 1863.”

The four historians, scholars and authors are members of the “Emerging Civil War” group, who aim to provide fresh perspectives on the war as seen from a view point of 152 years on from the conflict. The public is invited to hear more about new research and the latest opinions.

The program will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Unison Methodist Church at 21148 Unison Road. Built in 1832, the church served as a hospital for Union soldiers, whose graffiti scribbled on the walls during their convalescence following the November 1862 Battle of Unison can still be seen today.

For information, call 540-687-5188 or go to mosbyheritagearea.org.

Town Attorney Interviews Planned The Middleburg Town Council hopes to finalize its choice of a new Town Attorney at its Feb. 9 meeting.

Angela Plowman, who last year informed the council of her decision to step down, has continued to serve in the position until her replacement is selected.

Town Administrator Martha Mason Semmes said the council would be interviewing the top three candidates, all from Northern Virginia, during a closed session on Thursday.

TOWN NOTES >> 18

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Jan. 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Feb. 1, 2017

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18 loudounnow.com

Stewardship

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<< FROM 16

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adding one easily can understand the progress of the land’s use—farming, to horse country, then foxhunting and open space easements.”

She has several objectives. “I plan to be out in the community a lot, talking to various organizations, establish more partnerships, and focus more on Fauquier and Clarke,” Moore said.

When she began her career, Moore said, organizations didn’t really talk together.

“There’s no reason not to—we’re all working toward the same goal,” she said.

“Rich was integral in the ‘let’s get together’ movement—that’s something I want to develop further and pursue.”

Another goal is to offer educational workshops on the value of easements in the community at large.

She wants to make MHAA admin-

istratively more competitive so that younger people see it as a good place of employment.

“I also want to expand on the value of the heritage area,” Moore said, noting that a lot of people don’t understand the concept clearly.

The large scale of the heritage area makes it rather amorphous, but its features—historic architecture, newer buildings all set in open landscape, rural enterprises, wineries and breweries, stone walls, fences and bridges, and the history of the area—all are of value and appreciated by visitors, many of whom come out from the Washington, DC, area, Moore said.

“I want to sharpen the image, to create a brand that people can understand,” she said.

“I want to teach kids and adults that they need to care; they just can’t drive past a field or a house and not see that it was Gen. Lee who stayed in that house.” mmorton@loudounnow.com

[ TOWN NOTES ] << FROM 16

Town Files For Westward Boundary Expansion Town Administrator Martha Mason Semmes noted that the long-running effort to expand the western town limits is moving to the final stage.

On Friday, the Town Attorney and the County Attorney’s Office filed the boundary line adjustment petition in the Loudoun County Circuit Court.

The expansion would incorporate land on the west side of town that includes the town’s West End Pump Station on Windy Hill Lane and create a more cohesive town-county boundary at that end of town.

The videos, created at no charge to the town, were produced by CGI Communications with sponsorships and ads from Purcellville businesses and are intended to showcase the town and promote business growth and visitor attractions. Topics include homes and real estate, business and industry, shopping and dining, craft beverages, special events and recreation, and history.

The videos were filmed during the summer. Mayor Kwasi Fraser thanked EDAC for its leadership on the initiative, which he said would encourage viewers to learn more about what the town has to offer. To access the videos, go to purcellvilleva.gov/video.

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The Land Trust of Virginia has put out an early alert for its annual Virginia Garden Party, this year scheduled to be held on May 21 at Wind Fields Farm near Middleburg.

The 463-acre estate dates to pre-Revolutionary War America, and is home to the oldest restored lime kilns in Loudoun County. The event will again feature a “wet paint” auction, in which artists will create works from selected locations in the Wind Fields garden.

Guests will be able to bid on the paintings on May 21.

For more information, tickets and sponsorship opportunities, contact Kerry Roszel, development associate, at 540-687-8441 or kerry@landtrustva.org.

PURCELLVILLE Town Debuts Promotional Videos The Purcellville Town Council and the Economic Development Advisory Committee have launched a video series highlighting major aspects of the town.

Drew Babb

Greatest Ads of All Time Adman Drew Babb is planning a live, one-man show “The 100 Greatest TV Spots of All time.”

Babb calls his 4-6 p.m. presentation on Sunday, Jan. 29, “a 60-year romp through advertising history, which will be given at Magnolias at the Mill restaurant, 198 N. 21st St. There will be a cash bar and a $10 donation is requested to benefit Loudoun Habitat for Humanity. For information, call 540338-3200. mmorton@loudounnow.com

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Credit: JK Moving

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

JK Moving founder Chuck Kuhn is flanked by Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) and Economic Development Director Buddy Rizer during the Jan. 18 ribbon–cutting for the company’s new warehouse.

JK Moving Expands in Sterling Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Drew “Wiley” Wiles and Jon Humerick walk through their massive future brewery floor, currently under construction.

Find Your Solace at Loudoun’s Biggest Brewery

BY RENSS GREENE

J

on Humerick, Drew “Wiley” Wiles, and Mike Arms aren’t starting small.

They’re hard at work building Solace Brewing Company in a vast commercial building in Arcola, and they believe they have more floor space than any other brewery in Loudoun.

Solace Brewing Company began as much at Beltway Brewing Company as in their heads. Solace is among a number of new businesses who can trace their origins to Beltway in Sterling, and Wiles and Humerick were some of the first employees when Beltway opened.

“We both worked at Beltway because we both wanted to own a brewery one day, but both felt like we needed the experience,” Humerick said. “I started business planning—jeeze—back in like 2000-ish, somewhere in that timeframe, so a couple years before I even started working at Beltway I was business planning.”

Humerick and Wiles both knew they would need industry experience to get started.

And that foresight is typical of Solace’s founders. Humerick has a degree and experience in business administration, Wiles is a microbiologist whose family opened Paradise Springs Winery in

Clifton, and Arms is a Certified Public Accountant. They ran the numbers for production at other breweries to figure out what they could expect to produce, and they’re building to grow.

“What I like about this space is we have space to add tanks,” Wiles said.

“We’re building it structurally to add tanks.” He has oversized much of his equipment too, so it will be ready to support a much bigger operation. “We’re not going to have to pick up and sell our old equipment and buy new equipment just to grow. We’ve made the numbers work.”

“I feel it has to be meticulously planned these days, especially if you’re going to do something this size,” Humerick said.

They’ve planned out their business for years into the future, and have a vision to be more than a tasting room.

“I still think that as saturated as people might think Loudoun County and the Northern Virginia market to be, there’s so much room on the shelves for packaged product that people don’t really understand,” Humerick said. “There’s tons of awesome great Loudoun County beer, there’s stuff from Baltimore, from DC, from Maryland, from southern Virginia, but when you look at your Harris Teeters, your Giants, your grocery stores, you might see Lost Rhino. You might see Old Ox now. And that’s about

it when it comes to packaged beers.”

While Humerick plans the business in meticulous detail for years in advance, Wiles brings a similarly precise ethic to his work. He credits that in part to his scientific training and part to his work at Beltway.

“We’re taking care of somebody else’s baby here,” Wiles said of his time at Beltway. “We’ve got somebody’s image at stake, we don’t want to make a bad batch here.”

He has space in his building and in the budget set aside for lab equipment.

All that brewing equipment is American-made in Detroit. They went to Detroit, met the welders, and tested out all their equipment before it was put on a truck and transported to Virginia.

Maybe the only part of the business that wasn’t planned out in meticulous detail: the name. Humerick said a previous name wasn’t working out well— people couldn’t spell or pronounce it.

“Literally it happened one night, it was the middle of the night, and I woke up out of a dead sleep and I said, ‘find your solace,’” Humerick said. “And I was like, Solace Brewing Company. That’s it.”

Solace Brewing Company hopes to start brewing as soon as April, and they hope to open in May. rgreene@loudounnow.com

Rizer Named Among Top 50 Economic Developers

BY RENSS GREENE Loudoun County Department of Economic Development Executive Director Buddy Rizer has been named among the top 50 economic developers in North America, according to consulting firm Consultant Connect.

Rizer credited the award to the economic development program in the county, which he has headed for 10 years, more than himself personally.

“We are a very proactive economic development organization, and we are a very responsive economic development organization,” Rizer said. “When these brokers and site consultants need their information, they need it, and we are

very responsive.”

According to its press release, Consultant Connect is an agency designed to bridge the gap between economic developers and site consultants. The economic development professionals selected for the list were nominated by their colleagues in both the economic development industry and the site consultant community for excellent practices, innovation and success in building the communities they serve.

Rizer said halfway through fiscal year 2017, the county has already seen $1.3 billion in new commercial investment, and can expect another billion by the time the fiscal year closes in July.

“We’re excited,” Rizer said. “Never in

the time I’ve been here has our pipeline been bigger or more diverse. … We’re seeing a lot of things coming in with office locations that we hadn’t really seen before. The future of having Metro here has really put us in a lot of discussions that we weren’t in before.”

Rizer joins only four other people in Virginia named to Consultant Connect’s list, and no others in the Washington, DC, metro area.

“It’s a great little club, and you know, I think it shows that Virginia is really a great place to do business,” Rizer said. rgreene@loudounnow.com

JK Moving Services last week celebrated the completion of its new 75,000-square-foot warehouse, marking a continued investment in Loudoun County.

“While we are already one of the top employers in Loudoun County, the opening of this new facility will create more than 100 new jobs and it couldn’t come at a better time,” said Chuck Kuhn, the company’s founder, president and CEO. “Typically, moving and storage companies ramp up with staff in late spring and early summer to support the traditional ‘moving season.’ With the opening of our new warehouse, JK will create significant workforce momentum throughout the first and second quarters of 2017.”

The new facility is located at 44083 Mercure Circle. Learn more at jkmoving.com.

Ramey Earns National Recognition for Service The National Association of Realtors’ board of directors has awarded Barbara Ramey the status of Realtor emeritus.

Ramey, an associate broker with Keller Williams-Loudoun Gateway in Ashburn, was recognized for serving the industry for more than 40 years. During her career, Ramey served as the Dulles Area Association of Realtors’ board chairman in 1984, a member of DAAR’s board of directors for several years and on many committees. She lives in Leesburg with her husband James.

Ekofo to Address Iberian Peninsula Conference B i l l y Ekofo, the director of leads management at Century 21Redwood Realty, has been invited to speak at Century 21’s Iberian Pen- Ekofo insula Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The two-day event opens Feb. 9 and is one of the brand’s largest, with BIZ NOTES >> 23

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Services and programs provided by LAWS include: • 24-hour domestic and sexual violence hotline • Emergency shelter • Domestic violence services for adults and children, including counseling, support groups, and advocacy • Sexual assault services for adults and children, including counseling, support groups, and advocacy • Legal assistance • Teen violence prevention and education • Community outreach and education • Loudoun Nurturing Parenting Program • Loudoun Child Advocacy Center • Resourceful Woman Thrift Store LAWS continues to see increases in requests for services such as shelter,

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legal assistance, housing, counseling and support. To help LAWS meet those needs, Loudoun residents can consider supporting the organization in many ways. Financial contributions sustain the organization’s ability to provide all of its services free of charge. LAWS also maintains “wish lists” of items frequently needed at the shelter and for its programs, available on the organization’s website. Donating items from these wish lists helps LAWS assist victims with items they need while rebuilding their lives.

Community outreach, which includes providing educational information about domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse, as well as outreach about the organization’s services, is a critical part of LAWS’ mission. Domestic violence affects 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men in their lifetime, and can affect anyone regardless of age, race, ethnicity, income, education level, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

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David Norton, of Round Hill, is a self-taught, full-time potter at his local studio Potterosa.

Norton’s studio will be part of the new Loudoun County Artisan Trail, that guides people to the area’s studios, farms and other agri-tourism-based businesses.

Arts, Beverage Communities Blaze Path for Artisan Trail

BY MARGARET MORTON The early showing of those interested in establishing a Loudoun County artisanal trail has been “beyond our expectations,” according to artist Lisa Strout, who serves as the local coordinator or “trail boss,” for the venture.

About 100 people showed up for a Jan. 17 “Lunch and Learn” event formally kicking off the initiative. A second meeting to spur interest in eastern Loudoun is planned for 11:30 a.m. Feb. 8 at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn.

The trail is intended to promote local artist studios, galleries, farms, wineries, craft breweries, farmers’ markets, distilleries, cideries, restaurants, hotels, boutiques and other artisanal and agri-tourism-based businesses.

The majority who attended last week’s meeting were artists, along with a strong showing of representatives from Loudoun farms, wineries and breweries.

Strout said 23 people signed up on the spot to become members, paying a $40 set-up fee, plus an annual fee of $60 that will be charged once the trail map is printed in September. Every member will have a page on the trail

website.

“They’re happy to see it’s finally here; they like it that we’re pulling together all the aspects to form a cultural destination,” Strout said, adding that each stop on the trail represents an opportunity to spread the word about other Loudoun offerings.

The final launch reception will be a “name the trail” event, to be held at 6 p.m. March 15 at Stone Tower Winery near Leesburg. So far the trail has been known as the Loudoun Artisan Trail, but Strout said organizers are open to other ideas.

The project is being managed through the Artisans Center of Virginia, whose Executive Director Sherri Smith spoke at the Jan. 17 event. The center helps communities form artisan trails all across Virginia. New trails are networked to the existing ones, Strout said.

To reserve space for the Feb. 8 or March 15 events, email kathy@artisanscenterofvirginia.org.

For more information, contact Strout at 503-467-8026 or lisastrout@verizon. net. mmorton@loudounnow.com

Lost Creek Wine Wins Top Honors in Prestigious Competition Lost Creek Winery brought home a Best in Class award from the 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. It is one of only three Virginia wineries to win the award since 2001.

The Vineyards and Winery at Lost Creek is a 50-acre winery near the Potomac River northeast of Leesburg. Owners Todd and Aimee Hinkle produce 2,500 cases per year from its 16 acres of vineyard.

The Lost Creek 2015 Reserve Chardonnay, made by winemaker Todd Henkle entirely from estate-grown Virginia grapes, also won a gold medal. The wine is barrel-fermented and aged in French oak for 10 months.

The competition, billed as the “largest competition of American wines,” featured more than 7,000 en-

tries from 28 states.

“We are thrilled to be among a handful of Virginia wineries who have received a Best of Class recognition from the San Francisco Chronicle competition,” co-owner Aimee Henkle said.

She said that to demonstrate wine excellence in a competition with thousands of wines from the top wine-producing regions in the country not only validates the work she and her husband are doing at Lost Creek, but also showcases Virginia as a high-quality wine region.

Todd Henkle said he changed some aspects of the winery’s Chardonnay program in an effort to take it to the next level and it was satisfying to see the results recognized on a national level.

Artisan Exteriors Awarded Best of Houzz Award

NAI KLNB Inks 8 New Dulles-area Leases NAI KLNB completed eight leasing transactions comprising of more than 170,000 square feet of space in Loudoun County. The leasing activity brought East Severn Way Business Center to 100 percent occupancy and enabled Airport Commerce Center to remain 100 percent occupied.

The firm brokered a 33,940-squarefoot lease with AutoBahn and a 20,364-square-foot lease with Windy City Wire at East Severn Way Business Center, a 68,726-square-foot flex/industrial building in Sterling. Built speculatively in 2015, the building is owned

by The Maven Group and is now fully occupied.

In addition, NAI KLNB negotiated five renewals and one new lease totaling 115,723 square feet of space with XPO Logistics, Simplex Grinnell, Savannah Solutions, Site One Landscaping Supply, Immediate Mailing and Turner Associates. With the signing of these transactions Airport Commerce Center maintained its status as 100 percent occupied.

The five-building, 408,000-square-foot industrial park is owned and managed

by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management.

Windy City Expands with Frederick, MD Resaurant After eight years of serving authentic Chicago-style food in Loudoun County, Windy City Red Hots has opened a third location.

The family-owned eatery, which operates a food truck in Ashburn and a restaurant in downtown Leesburg, is now serving Frederick, MD. Owner Angel Miranda said he has been considering a third location for quite a while. “We were looking all over the Virginia, Maryland, and DC area but a lot of customers were talking about Frederick because they were coming right down [Rt.] 15,” Miranda said.

Miranda, who was born and raised in Chicago, moved to the area in 2008.

Homesick and craving the food, he and his wife, Pia, decided to introduce their favorites by opening a food truck. About two years later, they opened their first restaurant on King Street in Leesburg.

To learn more, go to windycityredhots. com.

Elias Promoted at Redwood Heather Elias, Century 21 Redwood Realty’s vice president of industry engagement, has been promoted to the role of vice president of marketing.

In her new role, she will lead the firm’s marketing and branding efforts across all 12 offices.

“I am thrilled to get started in my new role,” Elias said. “Redwood has created an amazing culture for our agents with outstanding people, innovation, and support. I am honored to help our agents and our clients through our marketing initiatives.”

Elias has a degree in journalism and public relations from the University of Maryland at College Park. Beginning her career as a full-time real estate agent in Northern Virginia, she was one of the first to have a locally and nationally popular blog and website, LoCoMusings.com. Her tenure at Redwood began in 2008 as an agent, and by 2011 she had instituted Redwood’s first educational classes as the company’s training and technology coordinator. From 2012 to 2014, she ran the social business strategy for the National Association of Realtors and then returned to Redwood.

loudounnow.com

Representatives of Dulles Airport and Sunoco LP last week formally celebrated the opening of a new fuel, food and convenience store complex.

The new on-airport gas station and convenience store includes 28 fueling positions, with auto diesel at every pump. The 8,600-square-foot APlus convenience store features both Laredo Taco Company and a Subway sandwich shop.

Customers inside can check flights on live monitors, charge devices with USB power and use free Wi-Fi to get work done. The store has seating for 51 peo-

John Burns Real Estate Consulting Group, a national real estate research organization compiles lists of the top national communities, has recognized Willowsford for its sales volume.

Willowsford sales increased by 44 percent over 2015, earning the single-family home community a spot among much larger communities with higher density and multi-family units.

It was also the only community in the northeast to make the list and one of only three in the mid-Atlantic region.

New Sunoco Complex Opens at Dulles Airport

Willowsford Sales Earn National Ranking

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Artisan Exteriors of Lovettsville has won Best of Customer Service by users voting on Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design. The customer service honors are based on factors that include the number and quality of client reviews received during 2016.

Artisan Exteriors started as a referral-based company with a focus on high quality design and implementation of landscaping projects.

Learn more at houzz.com/pro/artisanexteriors/artisan-exteriors.

ple inside, plus 38 outdoors. The threeacre complex at 44950 Rudder Road is located just off the Dulles Airport Access Highway, adjacent to the former airport gas station and the Economy parking lot.

During the grand opening event, Sunoco officials presented a $5,000 donation to the Capital Area Food Bank.

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

more than 1,500 members expected to attend.

Ekofo spoke at the 2016 Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco, where he shared his story of moving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Virginia and how he spreads his infectious positivity.

“The Century 21 brand has had a profound impact on my life both professionally and personally, and the opportunity to share just how amazing my journey has and continues to be with Century 21 Redwood Realty is a great honor,” Ekofo said.

23 Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

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Courtesy of Cowboy Mouth

Fred LeBlanc, second from left, and Cowboy Mouth promise to bring a rockin’ New Orleans-style party to Leesburg’s Tally Ho Theatre on Feb. 4.

New Orleans Rockers Headed to Leesburg

BY JAN MERCKER

O

nce upon a time in New Orleans, a rock band shook off the grungy conventions of the ’90s alt-music scene with its raucous energy, edgy humor—and a drummer as front man.

Fast-forward a couple of decades and Cowboy Mouth is still delivering high energy rock ‘n’ roll with a New Orleans twist and a big dose of joie de vivre.

The band, still led by charming, mercurial drummer Fred LeBlanc, brings the party to Leesburg’s Tally Ho Theatre on Feb. 4.

“It’s a rock ‘n’ roll band per se, but the energy and the enthusiasm and ‘enjoy yourself now because life is short’— that’s definitely a New Orleans kind of attitude and point of view,” LeBlanc said in an interview with Loudoun Now. “There’s such a celebration of life going on in our shows.”

Launched in the Crescent City in the early ’90s, Cowboy Mouth went on to national fame with their 1997 hit “Jenny Says.” That song and other freshly recorded versions of old favorites are featured on a new best-of album “The Name of The Band is…” released last year.

The new album is a great listen for longtime fans—and LeBlanc’s voice appears to have only gotten richer over

COWBOY MOUTH 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4 Tally Ho Theatre, Leesburg Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 day of show More info: tallyholeesburg.com the years. And the often rowdy front man very humbly says he thinks guitarist (and fellow founding member) John Thomas Griffith’s voice is even better than his own.

“I’m a much better singer now than I was back then. If you do something over and over again, you either get better or stop. Hopefully I’ve gotten better at it,” he said.

And while the new record is gorgeously produced and satisfying, the band’s live shows are still the tonic Gen X fans are looking for.

“That generation of fans that form our core, they still have that itch to get out and stir it up,” LeBlanc said. “Coming to a Cowboy Mouth show is a good way to blow off some steam.”

For LeBlanc, a New Orleans native, the urge to make music has been in his bones since childhood when the greats like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis inspired him with their soul-stirring tunes.

“These guys were fresh out of the church and there’s that celebratory element—the need to relieve one’s burdens. That’s what rock and roll music

did for me as a youngster,” LeBlanc said. “When I first heard Bo Diddley, all of a sudden I saw the world in color for the first time.”

But in the music world, a drummer as front man is unusual to say the least: It took fans by surprise in the ’90s and surprises them still.

“I just wanted to be up where the fun was,” LeBlanc said with a laugh, adding that he had to change up his drum set (and lose a cymbal) to make eye contact with fans.

Cowboy Mouth has maintained an active touring schedule for more than two decades, with the longest break being a two-month hiatus in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And although they’ve scaled things back a bit since LeBlanc’s children, now 5 and 2, were born, they still play 100 shows or more a year.

When the band is at home in New Orleans, it tends to focus on larger festivals and special events. They’ll play a festival at New Orleans Riverwalk as part of the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations next month and take the stage for their 27th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (the world-renowned event known as Jazzfest) performance in May. But the band often hits smaller venues on the road and occasionally schedules a small club show in New Orleans—a big treat for old fans.

“There’s nothing like the feeling of a sweaty bar,” LeBlanc said. “It’s like the

old-time gospel shows where the audience is right in your face and there’s that definite tangible transfer of energy back and forth.”

And while the band’s heart and soul is in New Orleans, members have a special connection to the DMV. Their 2000 album “Easy” was recorded in Falls Church with legendary producer Jim Ebert (best known in Loudoun for his Cancer Can Rock fundraising concerts). Rhythm guitarist Matt Jones (formerly of the Annapolis-based altrock band Jimmie’s Chicken Shack) hails from Maryland, and the new best-of album was recorded at Frank Marchand’s Waterford Digital Studios in Anne Arundel County.

LeBlanc says DC’s 9:30 Club is one of his all-time favorite venues, but for this tour the band decided to spread things out, hitting Virginia and Maryland instead of DC. (Cowboy Mouth plays Annapolis’ famed Ram’s Head On Stage the night before the Leesburg show).

And wherever folks go to check out these Big Easy rockers, a little sweat will likely come into play.

“We had a fan come up to us recently who gave us the best compliment ever,” LeBlanc said. “He said, ‘Man, you guys are like a southern gospel revival without the religion.’ I always look at rock ‘n’ roll shows as celebratory experiences.” jmercker@loudounnow.com

CYCLELUV is appropriately named...I've visited spin studios in multiple states and even on the high seas. I LUV this place...the others not so much. Whether you're looking for a place to fly solo during indoor workouts or join a group of like mind individuals for outdoor rides as part of Team CYCLELUV you will find a home here. The staff is awesome, friendly and VERY knowledgeable about safe indoor cycling techniques (none of that dancing in the stirrups and bouncing off the saddle that looks like a dude ranch experience gone bad that you get at some of those other places). Give it a go...you won't be disappointed! -Doug R

COME JOIN THE BEST FITNESS PROGRAM IN LOUDOUN COUNTY AND SEE HOW MUCH FUN WORKING OUT CAN TRULY BE!

I consider CycleLuv my second home! I started last year and because of the wonderful instructors, great music and fun atmosphere I was able to stay committed and lost 50 pounds! This is a place where the instructors are here to inspire you while providing safe training techniques. "RESPECT THE BIKE, LUV THE RIDE!" -Ramona R

A great, no impact workout for ALL fitness levels.

I joined this studio a few months ago and it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. The staff, led by Iris, are extremely procontracts, joining fees fessional but not rigid or intimidating--itNo is one of the most welcoming gymsor I'veupsells! encountered. The workouts are challenging and never boring. What I appreciate the most about CycleLuv, is it is always about the ride--no theatrics or dancing in the saddle. I look forward to each class, and always feel great when I leave. Highly recommended. -Royce G

THE FIRST CLASS IS FREE!

I recently moved to Virginia and a friend invited me to join her for a free class. I never thought I’d like cycling, but Owner/instructor Iris and her infectious enthusiasm and awesome taste in music got me hooked. All of her instructors are encouraging, class is always fun, and I burn more than 600 calories in a class! I’m so glad I found Cycleluv-- it’s the best gym/exercise class ever! -Aileen H

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Awesome fun for everyone! I’ve been going there for over a year now, its always fun, we have a blast working out to tunes by several different instructors. The owner is passionate about being inclusive and entertaining. Highly recommend it:)! A great atmosphere, and the first class is free!

Best Indoor SPIN studio I’ve found, plus its great preparation for outdoor biking too. Best use of compressed ‘time in the saddle’ to get fit having fun. There’s a place for everyone at CycleLuv, from the newest beginner at any age, to the hard core athletes training for their next big event. Everyone feels welcome, everyone has fun. The level of fitness you attain while there? Now that’s up to you:) But everyone has fun at CycleLuv. It doesn’t hurt that all the coaches are well trained, fun ‘people persons’ and highly motivating. -Susan W

Love Cycle Luv! I was invited to take a class by a friend, and after the first class I knew I would be coming back for more. Iris is a great instructor and makes class so much fun! She inspires all who attend classes, and is always making sure the beginners know to take the class at their own level. You really get so much more out of the classes here Sign upa beginner now atorwww.CycleLuv.com at Cycle Luv then at a larger gym. If you’re more advanced, there’s a class for everyone. Come on out and give it a try! You’ll get hooked for sure. I spin 3-4 times a week and I’m seeing results and feeling great. -Lulu M

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

At the suggestion of a couple other friends, I took advantage of the free class offered the first weekend that CycleLuv opened.... two years ago! A small, dynamic studio, with equally dynamic instructors, I am a regular. I've attended as many as six days a week....you could say I'm addicted!

The studio's owner, Iris, is intensely motivating, and all of her instructors follow suit. More importantly, one feels like a member of a fitness family. Encouragement is as close as the bike on your left or on your right. I have never participated in an organized outdoor ride, and yet I'm considering my first road bike AND participation in the MS Century ride this spring. Now, it's out there!

Love CycleLuv!! -Barbara S

25 Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

Cycleluv saved my life. After having triplets last year and a full knee replacement in May I never thought I would ever get back into shape again especially at the age of 41, that was until I found Cycleluv and Iris the owner. I've never felt better, my husbands says I've never looked better and you won't find a better place to workout and have fun with some of the craziest people in Virginia. It's more than a cycling gym, it's a cycling family. #iamcycleluv -Allison M

[ THINGS TO DO ] WINTER TUNES ROUND HILL BLUEGRASS JAM Friday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m.-midnight; The Old Furniture Factory, 6 W. Loudoun St., Round Hill. Details: theoldfurniturefactory.com Enjoy great bluegrass, folk and oldtime music at this monthly jam. Bring an instrument or just tap your toes.

Barbecue from Savoir Fare, wine and beer will be available for sale. Proceeds benefit Genesis International.

Suggested donation is $5.

SONGS, STORIES AND GAS MONEY: CAL EVERETT Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m., doors open, 8 p.m., music begins; Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyard, 16804 Hamilton Station Road, Hamilton.

Details: thebarnsathamiltonstation.com The popular singer-songwriter series continues with the buoyant, pop-loving Everett, known for his role as front man for ’80s band 4 Out Of 5 Doctors and the prolific solo songwriting career that has followed.

Wine and light fare will be available for purchase. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Advance tickets are available at picatic.com.

LUCKETTS BLUEGRASS: JOE MULLINS AND THE RADIO RAMBLERS Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; Lucketts Community Center, 42361 Lucketts Road, Leesburg.

Details: luckettsbluegrass.org Whether singing gospel or secular songs, the band thrills audiences with their tight harmonies and heartfelt singing. Admission is $15 at the door.

LIVE MUSIC: TIMOTHY JAMES Saturday, Jan. 28, 1-5 p.m.; Hidden Brook Winery.

43301 Spinks Ferry Road, Leesburg. Details: timothyjsongs.com Country, Americana, rock and reggae from this local singer-songwriter. No cover.

LOCO CULTURE FILM SCREENING: ‘SAVING PLACE, SAVING GRACE’ Friday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m., meet and greet, 6:30 p.m., movie begins; The Hill School, 130 S.

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Madison St., Middleburg.

Details: landtrustva.org.

The Village, 1601 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg; Details: artsinthevillage.com

The Land Trust of Virginia, in cooperation with the Goose Creek Association and Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, hosts a free screening of “Saving Place, Saving Grace,” a documentary capturing the struggle of monks at Holy Cross Abbey to preserve their land and lifestyle along the Shenandoah River. Event is free but advance registration is recommended.

Arts in The Village’s latest show features top students from Tuscarora, Loudoun County, Heritage, Stone Bridge and Broad Run high schools.

Saturday’s reception is free and open to the public and includes an awards ceremony. The show runs through Feb. 28.

AUTHOR TALK: JAMES MORGAN

HISTORY TALK: THE B&O RAILROAD DURING THE CIVIL WAR Sunday, Jan. 29, 2 p.m.; St. James United Church of Christ, 10 East Broad Way, Lovettsville. Contact: 540-8229194

Saturday, Jan. 28, 1-4 p.m.; Loudoun Museum, 16 Loudoun St. SW, Leesburg. Details: loudounmuseum.org Loudoun resident James Morgan discusses his book “A Little Short of Boats: The Battles of Ball’s Bluff & Edwards Ferry, Oct. 21-22, 1861.”

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE ARTS POP-UP

The Lovettsville Historical Society presents a talk from Daniel Carroll Toomey, curator and designer of the acclaimed exhibit “The War Came by Train,” at the B&O Museum in Baltimore on the impact of the railroad as a link between Washington, DC, and the Union states.

Saturday, Jan. 28, 1-4 p.m.; 106 Loudoun St. SW, Leesburg. Details: leesburgpublicarts.org

HISTORY TALK: RICH GILLESPIE’S LOUDOUN HAUNTS

Friends of Leesburg Public Arts sponsors an arts pop-up event with art from Leanne Fink, Remington Restivo and Constance Ivana; jewelry from Dana Jansen; and a book signing by Danielle Nadler, whose nonfiction adventure tale “Without A Trace” was released in December.

ARTISTS’ RECEPTION: NEXT GEN ART Saturday, Jan. 28, 4-7 p.m.; Arts in

Sunday, Jan. 29, 2 p.m.; Purcellville Library, 220 E. Main St., Purcellville.

Details: mosbyheritagearea.org Historian Rich Gillespie’s program “Haunts On the Loudoun Landscape” delves into the inexplicable—and sometimes uncomfortable—elements of the area’s history with Gillespie’s own experiences and tales shared by friends and colleagues.

MORE THINGS TO DO >> 27

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[ MORE THINGS TO DO ] LIVE MUSIC: EMMET SWIMMING

NIGHTLIFE LIVE MUSIC: TEN—THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE TO PEARL JAM

Thursday, Feb. 2, 10 a.m.-noon; Thomas Balch Library, 208 W. Market St., Leesburg. Contact: 703-737-7195

Friday, Jan. 27, 8:30 p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com

Archivist Cara Griggs discusses methods and resources for African-American genealogy before the end of the Civil War. Attendees will learn about ways of determining whether an individual was enslaved or free and what types of records will be useful for further research. Program is free, but advance registration is recommended.

Go back to the ’90s with this super authentic tribute to grunge giants Pearl Jam. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show.

With legions of loyal fans around the DMV, these Fairfax-based rockers still pack houses after more than 20 years.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show.

MIX AND MINGLE

Enjoy a networking happy hour and shopping from local vendors. Admission is free.

PRE-VALENTINE SIP AND SHOP Saturday, Jan. 28, 5 p.m.; Blend Coffee Bar, 43170 Southern Walk Plaza, Ashburn. Details: blendcoffeebar.com Enjoy drinks and snacks while you shop for jewelry, books, clothing, and other unique items for your sweetie.

‘THE EMPRESS’S NEW CLOTHES’ Saturday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 11, noon and 3 p.m., Cascades Library; Saturday, Feb. 4, noon, Purcellville Library. Details: stagecoachtc.com StageCoach Theatre Company presents an original children’s play based on the classic fairy tale. Empress Regina needs a new dress for the upcoming summit and when two wandering swindlers spin a yarn, the empress allows herself to be taken in, along with everyone else, for fear of being thought a fool. Admission is free. Seating is on a first come, first served basis.

DESSERTS ON BROADWAY

SAVVY BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENT Thursday, Jan. 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; D.C. Prime, 20120 Lakeview Plaza, Ashburn. Details: savvybusinessnetwork.com

ON STAGE

Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m.; Tuscarora High School, 801 N. King St., Leesburg. Contact: 571-252-1904.

Courtesy of Smokehouse Live

Courtesy of Tally Ho Theatre

LIVE MUSIC: RON HOLLOWAY BAND Saturday, Jan. 28, 9 p.m.; Smokehouse Live, 1602 Village Market Blvd., Leesburg.

Details: smokehouse-live.com

COMEDY NIGHT WITH LIZ MIELE

The Ron Holloway Band delivers sax-driven funk jams with soaring female vocals, emotive guitar and hard hitting grooves. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

Cat enthusiast, comedy nerd and lover of all-things sweet Liz Miele makes comedy cute again. Rahmein Mostafavi opens. Tickets are $10 in advance $15 day of show.

Thursday, Feb. 2, p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com

The Tuscarora High School Choral Department hosts its annual fundraising event featuring choral and musical theater students performing solo, duet and ensemble selections from a variety of Broadway shows.

Desserts and beverages will be served during intermission. Tickets are $15 for reserved seating; $10 for general admission and students. Children 5 and younger are free. Emergency snow date is Feb. 4.

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Saturday, Jan. 28, 8:30 p.m.; Tally Ho Theatre, 19 W. Market St., Leesburg.

Details: tallyholeesburg.com

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

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[OBITUARIES] Russell left a rich Christian heritage to his descendants having come to faith in Christ shortly after experiencing the horrors of WWII. He set in motion several generations of Christ followers and we will be forever in his debt.

Visitation were held on Friday, January 20, 2017 at Blue Ridge Bible Church, Purcellville, VA. Services were held on Saturday, January 21, 2017, at the church.

Burial will follow in the Ebenezer Cemetery.

Matthew Lewis Maxwell Harper Hamblet of Jefferson, Maryland, age 58, passed away peacefully in the company of friends and family at Frederick Memorial Hospital on Saturday, January 14th. He was born in Washington, DC on December 22, 1958 and was raised in Reisterstown, Maryland and Leesburg, Virginia.

Matthew had a zest for life, learning, and history. He was a businessman, a real estate speculator, an antique dealer, a car aficionado, a musician, a retired farmer, and an avid hunter.

Please visit hallfh.com to express online condolences to the family. Arrangements

by Hall Funeral Home, Purcellville, VA.

Matthew was preceded in death by his mother, Mary Elizabeth Harper Hamblet and his father, James Darwin Hamblet.

He is survived by his spouse of 33 years, Samuel H. Rogers III, his sister, Susan Harper Hamblet of Leesburg, his brother, his sisters-in-law, and beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, and godsons.

Friends and family are welcome on January 28th to a graveside service at 11 AM at Union Memorial Cemetery (323 N. King St, Leesburg, VA—use the Union Street gate) in Leesburg, Virginia. Following, there will be a memorial service at Noon at Hall Funeral Home (hallfh.com) in Purcellville, Virginia.

After which, there will a reception at the Loudoun Golf and Country Club (loudoungolf.com) in Purcellville, Virginia.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Rifle Association NRA.org or The Salvation Army, 223 West 5th St, Frederick, MD 21701.

Please visit hallfh.com to express online condolences to the family. Arrangements

by Hall Funeral Home, Purcellville, VA.

Russell Jenkins,

Russell was a D Day survivor and served on Omaha Beach at age 18. A graduate of UVA School of Architecture, Russell owned a firm that specialized in designing Churches, and designed over 200 during his career. Originally from Radiant Va., Russell spent the majority of his life in McLean, Va. Before moving to Purcellville and eventually into Ashby Ponds Retirement complex in Ashburn, Va.

Harrison Witt Santaolalla Pollock He passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Saturday, January 21, 2017.

Loving son of Erik and Sofia Pollock.

Brother of Apolonia Pollock. Grandson of Ernest Pollock and the late Audree Pollock and Francisco and Maria Salazar.

Nephew of Greg Pollock, Francisco Salazar, Elizabeth Salazar Evans and also survived by numerous cousins and friends.

Friends may call on Friday, January 27, 2017 from 2-4pm & 6-8pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapel 158 Catoctin Circle, SE, Leesburg, VA. Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday, January 28 at 10am at St. Theresa Catholic Church 21371 St. Theresa Lane, Ashburn, Va.

Matthew attended McDonogh Military Academy, the Hill School, Loudoun County High School, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

beloved husband of Claudine for 67 years, (father of Warren, Russ, Joe, Rob, Janine (deceased), and Tammy), went home to be with the Lord Jan. 17, 2017 at age 91 after a short, but severe fight with cancer. He is survived by 5 children, 15 grandchildren, and 27 great grandchildren.

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

If you are inclined to offer a donation, memorial gifts to Shepherd’s Home for special needs in Russell’s name would be welcomed (1805 15th Ave., Union Grove, WI 53182).

Wendy enjoyed shopping with her girlfriends at Nordstrom; a warm chocolate chip cookie, M&M’s and an occasional margarita. She traveled extensively and cherished every opportunity to appreciate a beautiful sunrise.

Donations to celebrate Wendy’s life can be sent to Tiger Haven, 237 Harvey Road, Kingston, TN 37763, where a domestic cat sanctuary will be built in her honor.

Wendy Weiss Newman passed away on November 25, 2016, at the age of 64, after a valiant, three-year battle with cancer. She spent the days preceding her death in the comfort of her home with care and support from her loving son, Michael Newman, her steadfast boyfriend, Rick Johnson, her closest friends and her beloved cats.

Wendy was born in Cedarhurst, New York to Lenore Bilinsky and Bertram David Weiss. In addition to her son, she is survived by her brother, Dr. Robert Weiss (Susan), of Maine, and their sons, David and Matthew.

She is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia, Class of 1974, which was the first group of women admitted to the College of Arts & Sciences.

Wendy devoted her career to fundraising for many worthy non-profit organizations, especially animal welfare and animal rescue groups, which were her passion. She was a Senior Account Executive at Fund Raising Strategies, Inc., in McLean, Virginia, where she raised more than $47.5 million dollars for clients across the nation, including Habitat for Horses, Tiger Haven, Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, Noah’s Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary; and Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue. She received numerous awards in recognition of her innovation and creativity, including several Data & Marketing Association International ECHO® Awards and numerous MAXI Awards from the Direct Marketing Association of Washington.

Her marriage to Michael’s father, Bud Newman, ended in divorce in 1993. Although her relationship with Mike Brittingham ended with his untimely death in 2005, his daughter, Susan, remained close to Wendy’s heart. She embraced Rick Johnson’s family as her own and delighted in the affection of every grandchild.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association or S.O.M.E. 71 O Street NW, Washington,DC 20001

Olusegun Akinyemi Oduolowu, Ph.D. Dr. Akin Oduolowu, 73 departed this life on Jan. 19, 2017.

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. with viewing at 10:00 a.m. at Heritage Fellowship Church, 2516 Fox Mill Road, Reston, VA 20190.

Interment at Chestnut Grove Cemetery, Herndon Va. Arrangements by Lyles Funeral Service of Purcellville, Virginia.

Joyce Juniata Palladine On January 21, 2017, passed peacefully at the age of 86 at Woodland Retirement Home in Lovettsville, Virginia with family and her care providers attending her.

She was predeceased by her husband, Daniel N. Palladine, her mother and father, Arabella (Rutt) Levan and Anthony Levan, as well as her brother, Don A. Levan.

She was born in Woodstock, New Jersey, raised in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and lived in Willingboro, New Jersey from 1957 through 2007 when she moved to Leisure World in Lansdowne, Virginia.

She is survived by her daughter, Danell Joyce Palladine and her fiancé, William Nadeja, of Virginia and her nieces and nephews, Lori Don Levan, Tony Levan (Kathy), David Levan (Christina), Shaun Levan, Michal (Levan) Kauffman and Donita Jo (Levan) Mundis (Kyle).

Memorial service arrangements will be arranged at a later date but will take place in New Jersey. Mrs. Palladine will be interred with her husband at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Burlington, N.J. Her daughter requests that those wishing to do so donate to Capital Caring Hospice in Virginia or Samaritan Hospice in Marlton, N.J. in lieu of cards or flowers.

To Place an Obituary, Death Notice or Memoriam Contact Lindsay Morgan lmorgan@loudounnow.com 703.770.9723

Call To Worship In Print & In Our Online Resource Directory

29

FT Cake Decorator

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Please send your resume to lgray@lmgdoctors.com or fax to 703-726-0804, attention Lisa.

In Print & Online One Low Price Email: classifieds@loudounnow.com to place your employment ad

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Part Time Visitor Center Host The Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association (Visit Loudoun) is seeking a part-time visitor center host, approx.

20 hrs/wk whose primary role will be to assist visitors in its state certified Visitors Center located at Market Station in Downtown Leesburg.

Position will also work with sales team to fulfill group service needs, staffing mobile visitor centers and delivery of welcome bags and promotional literature throughout the County as needed. Knowledge of Loudoun County and its towns & villages is desirable. Proficient with Microsoft Office software package is a plus.

Position closes Jan 27, 2017. Please submit resume/bio along with cover letter to Jennifer Christie at Christie@ VisitLoudoun.org. For more information, including a job description, go to: www.visitloudoun.org/tourism-industry/about-us/jobs/

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Delivered in mailboxes & newstands in Loudoun County

Please apply online at http://www.icareabouthealth.net

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Busy Home Healthcare Agency established in 1993 with offices in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties looking for CNA, HHA or PCA. Nursing Students also Encouraged to Apply! for immediate work for all shifts.

Small business in Leesburg, VA seeking a full-time cake decorator.

Looking for a reliable, self-motivated, passionate employee who works well in a team environment. Must have experience in both buttercream and fondant decoration.

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Jan. 26 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Feb. 1, 2017

Employment

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW

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30

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FIVE STAR GENERAL CONTRACTOR & HANDYMAN SERVICES

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Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

HANDYMAN

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31

[ OPINION ]

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

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32

Beyond the Distractions Eight years ago, the nation welcomed a new president who was elected to make the government more responsive to the people. On Friday, we did it again.

President Obama called for hope and change; President Trump offered hope that his changes will make America greater. From there, the similarities may be few.

The months ahead will bring debates over health care regulations, immigration policies, trade pacts, tax reform, and other aspects of government that could change the quality of life for a whole generation. The talks will be complex, divisive—and important.

That work won’t be successful if it is mired in paranoia and pettiness that the new administration needlessly displayed during its first days on the job. It doesn’t matter how many people were—or weren’t—at the inauguration.

And every president has been targeted by critics staging protests and marches outside the White House doors.

The presidency is not under siege; democracy is churning along as it has for nearly a quarter century with the tools at hand.

To tackle more substantive issues, the administration must lead the way beyond these types of unproductive distractions and find elements of common ground on which to begin solving the real problems facing the country.

This week, much of the government’s energy has been wasted on sparring over facts and the absurdity of “alternative facts.”

There are a few “actual facts” that can form the foundation of the debates ahead: Mr. Trump wants to be a great president and the nation needs him to be one.

Let’s start there.

LoudounNow

Published by Amendment One Loudoun, LLC 15 N. King St., Suite 101 • Leesburg, VA, 20176 PO Box 207 • Leesburg, VA 20178 703-770-9723 Norman K. Styer Editor nstyer@loudounnow.com

Contributors Jan Mercker

Danielle Nadler Managing Editor dnadler@loudounnow.com

Advertising Director Susan Styer sstyer@loudounnow.com

Margaret Morton Senior Writer mmorton@loudounnow.com

Display Advertising Tonya Harding Katie Lewis

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Kara C. Rodriquez, Reporter krodriguez@loudounnow.com Douglas Graham, Photographer dgraham@loudounnow.com

Production Electronic Ink Leesburg, VA 20175

[ LETTERS ] Support Needed for Emergency Responders Editor: When is our Loudoun County Board of Supervisors going to stop giving away our tax dollars and stop being so terrified of T-shirt-wearing advocates storming our chambers to ensure our teachers match or top the salaries of surrounding jurisdictions while ignoring the fact that our fire and rescue members remain among the lowest paid in the area?

It’s time for all our taxpayers to storm the board’s chambers wearing T-shirts supporting our fire and rescue workers before we have to go back to the days of hand-tubs and bucket brigades.

All the residents of Loudoun County are very fortunate to have such dedicated men and women who continue to protect us, provide professional EMT and paramedic care, and do so knowing they could go to another jurisdiction and enjoy the pay scale they deserve.

This old firefighter gets madder than a hen laying square eggs every time I read in our local newspapers that our school superintendent is asking for additional funds for raises for all.

Our local charities, which must be recognized for the good work they do, continue to seek more and more funds each year. And the list of those receiving tax breaks gets longer every year.

It is time for our Board of Supervisors to adjust its “give-away” glasses and take a realistic look at the pay

scales for our local fire and rescue personnel.

I ask taxpayers the question of 2017: Do you really care about the men and women who serve every one of us at one time or another?

If you do care, write your district supervisor and tell him or her so. Apparently, they will not do it on their own until we senior citizens and all taxpayers start raising a little thunder as others do.

— Lou Gros Louis, Lansdowne

Above the Law? Editor: The Republican-controlled Congress assumes it is the people’s voice, even with a deficit of 3 million votes in favor of Democrats. A current poll reflects that only 37 percent of those interviewed support the demise of the Affordable Care Act and those appointees who have predetermined views defying the people’s will. Under oath, they have indicated some minor deviations from the president’s views, but if they are his choices, they follow his policies.

The FBI investigation, the Russian hacking, the distorted comments against Hillary further compound this election as an exercise in defamation by paid surrogates.

Every candidate must be transparent with the usual tax returns and other documents that remove any conflicts, why does Trump think he is above tradition and the law?

—Norman Duncan, Ashburn

Share Your Views Loudoun Now welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should include the name, address and phone number of the writer and should be a maximum of 500 words. Letters may be sent by email to letters@loudounnow.com or by mail to PO Box 207, Leesburg, VA 20178.

Schools Are Missing the Mark in Civic Education

A

Based on what we have seen in the past year, American schools are failing these tests. Voters make political decisions based on conspiracy theories and “fake news.”

Deep Sran, founder of Loudoun School for the Gifted in Ashburn, has been on a mission to improve formal education for two decades. Contact him at dsran@ idealschools.org.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap.

All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”

This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-9753.

fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov • www.fairhousing.vipnet.org

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have completed a high school diploma or a GED certificate, and a vast majority have spent at least 13 years of their lives in school (with almost 13,000 hours in a classroom). By comparison, George Washington spent 5 or fewer years in school, and his formal education ended by the age of 15. Benjamin Franklin also spent less than 5 years in school. Alexander Hamilton was tutored for a few years before arriving in the Colonies as a teenager, and probably spent about the same amount of time in school as Washington and Franklin. Abraham Lincoln spent the equivalent of only about one year in school. If these Framers (our school mascot) could learn civic skills and responsibilities in just a few years in school, or on their own without school, we certainly have enough time today to teach for citizenship in primary and secondary schools.

We must go beyond talking about school choice, test scores, STEM courses, AP and dual-enrollment options, and college admissions, and must recommit to the core, civic purpose of schools. We need to do this for the sake of our republic. What exactly teaching for citizenship would entail is the subject for a separate piece, but, at a minimum, it requires an open and constructive conversation at school about current social, economic, and political questions, so students are equipped to deal with such issues as

power the Constitution gives them to decide the course and conduct of politics in America.

pioned publicly funded “Common Schools” for all students in the middle of the 19th century, he did so by arguing that republics cannot survive without educating students to be citizens.

He noted that, “Education is our only political safety.” As explained by Michael J. Steudeman, “Mann concluded that the system of education and the survival of the American republic were utterly fused. Unless America could find political leaders who would work ‘at all times and in all places, for the culture and edification of the whole people,’ the very survival of the American republic would be at risk.” I believe we have forgotten the connection between schools and the republic, and now focus on far less important educational goals.

Public schools exist to educate citizens; it is the most important thing they do. So I propose we judge American schools by looking at our democratic elections, institutions, and engagement. When judging schools, we should ask: Are our political candidates the best among us? Are political campaigns civil, honest, and deep, in that they are about substantive issues and not about sound bites and cheap shots? Are citizens engaged as voters, are they testifying in public hearings, are they discussing politics with their neighbors, and do they seek to influence policy decisions; or do citizens simply complain about what happens

voters. Do we want students dealing with difficult questions in a collaborative educational environment, or do we want students to find their direction from resources on the world wide web?

If you don’t do the former, students will do the latter, and their knowledge, reasoning, and participation as citizens will be diminished.

In conclusion, we must put civic education back at the top of our national and state-level educational priorities, with the goal of ensuring that citizens are prepared and disposed to wield the

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS | PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

re America’s schools failing or succeeding?

To answer this question, we first have to decide what is the most important thing schools do. Usually, we evaluate schools using standardized test scores, including tests that are state-level (SOL), national (NAEP), international (TIMSS), or for college admissions (SAT or ACT). But this only makes sense if the most important thing schools do is to produce high scores in English and math. Similarly, while preparing students for college or for employment are important goals, neither is the most important.

When thinking about what is most important, we need to move beyond a short-term view of educational outcomes—beyond test scores, college admissions, and filling jobs in STEM fields. The state does not provide a free education to every student just so they get good scores on math and English tests, or so they get into Virginia Tech. We provide free schools so students can be effective citizens; quoting Thomas Jefferson, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

When Horace Mann first cham-

without actually getting involved? Do voters hold incumbents accountable for policies that are not in the public interest? The quality of our public conversations about policy and the role of government, the quality of our candidates and institutions, and the extent to which Americans engage as citizens, are, in effect, “tests” of how well Americans schools are fulfilling their primary purpose.

Based on what we have seen in the past year, American schools are failing these tests. Voters make political decisions based on conspiracy theories and “fake news.” Both major party candidates for president were widely disliked and distrusted, even in their own parties. Our president regularly embraced mistruths during the campaign and after his election (e.g., about winning the popular vote, President Obama’s birth certificate, or global warming being a Chinese deception to undermine U.S. manufacturing).

Only 55 percent of voting-age adults voted in 2016, and even fewer vote in non-presidential election years. Congress has an approval rating below 20 percent. These are appalling “scores” for the world’s great democracy, and all of this has happened even though 9 out of 10 American citizens 25 or older

Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

BY DEEP SRAN

33

34

OPINION | CLASSIFIEDS | LOCO LIVING | BIZ | OUR TOWNS | EDUCATION | PUBLIC SAFETY | NEWS | LOUDOUN NOW Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

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Comstock meeting << FROM 1 Act, although its actual effects are still unclear.

While Comstock (R-VA-10th) publically distanced herself from Trump during his presidential run, even called him to drop out of the race, she has opposed the ACA since its inception and called for a more affordable replacement.

“We appreciate that there are people who this has worked for, and what we’re saying is that we can still have flexible, portable plans that also work for you that don’t also disrupt the whole health care system,” Comstock said in an interview. She said she is aiming for a “patient-oriented, patient-focused system” that follows people when they change jobs.

“When you change jobs, you don’t lose your car insurance, right?” Comstock said. “So why would you lose your health insurance?”

But Comstock and her Republican colleagues have not yet provided any definitive answers on how they will replace the ACA, and the push to repeal Obamacare without a replacement ready has many people who have come to depend on the care provided through the seven-year-old law nervous. On Friday, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Susan Collines (R-ME) introduced a bill that would allow states to either keep the ACA, create tax-free Health Savings Accounts with the federal funding and Medicaid expansion money, or reject any federal assistance.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates 40,100 people in the 10th District have enrolled in Obamacare through the ACA marketplace.

‘She Can Lose Her Life’ Although Comstock was not in her Sterling office to meet with the community delegation during the Jan. 18 session, her staff heard stories from people whose lives and the lives of their family members have been saved by health care made possible through the Affordable Care Act. One of those is 10-year-old Eden Reck.

Reck, of Lovettsville, has a genetic condition that results in a missing enzyme used to store sugars in her liver.

She has to eat every two to three hours to keep her blood sugar from dropping so low that she could have a seizure or die.

The condition comes with a host of difficult side effects. If she vomits, she has to go to the hospital. She has already been hospitalized 40 times in her life, including surgery when she was 7 years old to remove her appendix. She has a severe learning impairment, and she is being evaluated for another potentially life-threatening genetic condition, Ehlers-Danos syndrome, which affects connective tissues.

She had already been hospitalized several times before ACA. Her mother, Erica Reck, said when ACA became law, it caused controversy among her family members, many of whom are politically conservative.

“I saw pros and cons of it, but at the same time, I recognized immediately what the pros for our family were,” Er-

Jan Hyland

Meeting attendees crowd into the hallway ahead of the meeting with their signs.

ica Reck said. “In my husband’s family, we have some very, very conservative members of our family, and we were very, very vocal about how positive this was going to be to our child, and they really didn’t have anything to say back to us.”

Without the ACA, which prohibits lifetime caps on insurance coverage, the family worries Eden is already approaching her lifetime cap—previously around $1 million—even though she is only 10.

“We could end up, as a family of six— we have four children—we could end up with one of our children not having health insurance,” Erica Reck said.

“They could deny coverage to one family because of the lifetime maximum.”

Erica’s husband and Eden’s father, Lucas Reck, said he was a lifetime Republican from a Republican family until just last year, when he switched to independent. He said repealing the ACA completely, instead of working across party lines to fix it, isn’t the right answer.

“There’s been more and more of a divide being drawn, and I think that’s where we’re having a lot of problems,” Reck said. “We’re not willing to work with each other. We’re not willing to say ‘yeah, you’re different than me, but let’s work together and get this stuff figured out.’ We just say ‘No, it’s called Obamacare, and because it’s affiliated with Obama, then it’s horrible.’”

Marge Landis’s daughter Robin, of Centreville, also suffers from a genetic condition that requires her to see a battery of specialists—a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, a gastroenterologist, a neurologist, an orthopedic specialist, and an ophthalmologist, among other doctors. Before the ACA, Landis said, there would have been no way for Robin to purchase health insurance as an adult.

“Robin is 14 years old and she is starting to think about her career choices,” Landis wrote to Comstock. “I know that you have hosted several events that encourage young girls in their careers, and I would ask you to consider this: How do you give career advice to a child who has to make her employment choices based on a dependence on employer-sponsored health insurance plans?

Can she really ‘grow up to be anything she wants to be?’”

Erica Reck said even her daughter’s serious health problems are relatively mild for her condition.

“We consider ourselves to be lucky,” Reck said. “That’s what’s amazing. We really feel blessed, but at the same time we know that without the ACA, these protections, she can lose her life. And

that’s scary.”

Beating Back Addiction Others worry about losing provisions of the health care law that ensure insurers cover addiction and recovery treatments.

Years ago, before the ACA, Lisa Holliday was swept up in the heroin epidemic, one of Comstock’s signature issues. Holliday battled addiction, and without the ACA, she said she had the good fortune that her family could pay $20,000 for inpatient treatment.

Having been treated for addiction, she was labelled as having a pre-existing condition, and was uninsurable.

She needed an emergency appendectomy, which cost her $21,000, and left the hospital only eight hours after her surgery.

“They told me not to go,” said Holliday, who lives in Boyce. “I said, ‘I can’t afford to stay here.’ So I left, went home in agony, worst night of my life. And I still got a bill for $21,000.”

Holliday said her husband stayed up with her all night that night.

“I was in such agony, because you can’t manage the pain orally right after a major surgery like that, with oral medications,” Holliday said. “So I was passing out from the pain, and he stayed up with me all night. It was horrible. Horribly painful. But if I had stayed another four hours, I would have been billed another $10,000, approximately. So I left.”

Now, Holliday is an activist for sobriety, helping battle the crisis of addiction, and said she worries the threat of losing the coverage under the Affordable Care Act is already having impacts among people struggling with drug dependencies. She said it’s “a disaster for the war on addiction,” and that people who are considering treatment are shying away.

“They are now thinking, ‘maybe I better not do that, because I’ll get saddled with a preexisting condition if they repeal ACA, and I’ll never be insurable again.’ They’re scared. And they’re also dying of heroin overdoses all over our area,” she said.

Finding Common Ground “Let’s step back, everyone take a deep breath, and work together on how we can make this work,” Comstock said in an interview.

But although the congresswoman’s staff asked that the discussion during last week’s meeting be off the record, people who were in attendance said they left the discussion frustrated.

Ayala Sherbow openly describes her-

self as a “bleeding-heart liberal,” and said the meeting showed her there was little room for common ground and conversation. One of Comstock’s staff members, she said, rolled her eyes when Sherbow brought up a report by CNN. “What upset me is that a nice percentage of mainstream America gets their news that way,” Sherbow said. “If we can’t have anything in common from which we can talk about facts, then how are we going to make any progress?”

The staff member apologized to Sherbow after the meeting, but without even a common base of facts to work from, Sherbow said, a conversation can’t begin. “So that eye roll was very telling to me about how far we have to go in order to even just find a space where we agree on basics, like up is up and down is down.”

Attendees also left feeling they had been given no answers. Some were outraged when they were handed a prepared statement from Comstock part way through the meeting. Sherbow said that was “just devastating.”

“It’s basically just bland rhetoric, it doesn’t speak to anything we said, and she wrote it before she even heard from us,” Sherbow said.

Lovettsville Organizes Many of the people at the meeting were part of a new organization: Indivisible Lovettsville 20180. Guided by a document written by former Capitol Hill staffers on how to best influence Congress, the organization is one of many popping up around the country seeking to influence national policy with local activism.

It’s not an apolitical organization— the guide’s website explicitly states it is “a practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda.”

One of the Lovettsville group’s organizers, Kris Consaul, said the 2016 election was a wakeup call for her.

“I know for me personally, I had always kind of felt somebody else will do that, and somebody else will say that,” Consaul said. “Now I know to my bones it’s my turn, I must say it, I must do it, and I’m only sorry that I did not come to that realization much, much sooner.”

Comstock has called for a dialogue about the ACA and its replacement.

“I think what both sides need to understand is not to impugn the motives of the other side,” Comstock said. “They need to understand those of us who are repealing and replacing want to have a health care system that is working for our friends, families and constituents.”

“We’re listening, we’re ready to engage in a conversation about a plan, but I can’t talk about data that I haven’t seen,” Consaul said. But she said her questions—especially about what the Republican replacement plan will be— have not been answered.

“The [Congressional Budget Office] has told us that 18 million people will lose coverage in the first year of repeal,” Consaul said. “If the Republican answer is ‘yes, but you’re not taking into consideration our plan,’ I can’t take it into consideration if I don’t know what it is.’”

“There were no answers,” said Kristen Swanson, another group organizer.

“No details, no policies, no plan, no evidence of any plan. And that’s because there is no plan.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

County budget

Brewers << FROM 3

rgreene@loudounnow.com

ciation’s first event is already planned: At the end of DC radio station DC101’s FeBREWary event, Loudoun breweries will unveil the products of the collaboration brew begun at Beltway Brewing Company. Each brewer’s take on the milk stout begun in Beltway’s tanks in December and will be served at this year’s LoCo Brewfest in May. “I think any opportunity that we have to get together and share stories is always a good time, and something that we all look forward to,” Burns said. “And having a structured way to do that—a structured way to grab a pint—is always important.” rgreene@loudounnow.com

PUBLIC SAFETY | EDUCATION | OUR TOWNS | BIZ | LOCO LIVING | CLASSIFIEDS | OPINION

earth we shouldn’t be DC’s beer country,” Burns said.

The association includes current breweries, breweries that are soon to open in Loudoun, and associate members from supporting businesses like hops farms and malt wholesalers.

Members of the newly formed LCBA credited the Loudoun Wineries Association for guidance on their bylaws, and Visit Loudoun for bringing them all together at the first LoCo Brewfest.

The Loudoun County Brewers Asso-

dnadler@loudounnow.com

LOUDOUN NOW | NEWS |

S. Wertz Jr. finalizes tax assessments.

Plans to finish that work late last week were delayed by countywide computer problems. County Administrator Tim Hemstreet will present his proposed operating budget Feb. 15.

It’s still too early to know what tax rate the county Board of Supervisors will ultimately adopt and how much they will send over to the public schools. But early signs point to fiscal 2018 being a rare year of revenue growth keeping pace with population growth.

E. Leigh Burden, the school system’s assistant superintendent of financial services, reported the good news to the

35 Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2017

<< FROM 1

School Board last week. She said she had received an email from Hemstreet stating that he is basing his budget on the equalized tax rate of $1.14, a half cent decrease from the current rate.

If all goes as planned, that will nearly cover the superintendent’s budget, which requests $64.5 million more in county funds for the school system next fiscal year. Burden added with a smile and a wave of her hands, “Jazz hands.”

The School Board will likely make tweaks to Williams’ budget ahead of adopting a final draft Feb. 2. From there, the document is sent as a formal funding request to the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors are scheduled to adopt their budget April 4.

loudounnow.com

36

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