Column: General Assembly Halftime Report
If you haven’t been following the General Assembly this year, I thought it would be appropriate to fill you in on the first half of the session.
Column: Marking Time
As much as I don’t want to be ever-mindful of today’s date – relative to when I first learned of my diagnosis, that Thursday three years ago this very week, when my Internal Medicine doctor called me with the results of the biopsy (confirming the malignancy); and of course all that had preceded it and all that has happened since.
Editorial: Saving the Bay - A Good Investment
Cleaning up the water that runs into the Chesapeake Bay will help create jobs and economic activity in Virginia.
A plan to raise $300 million in bonds to upgrade wastewater treatment plants around the commonwealth stalled in a House of Delegates committee last week, a setback in meeting EPA requirements to clean up the water that leads to the Bay.
Column: "Diseased"
But not sickness. Not health, either, as last week’s column ended. At least that’s the way I characterize my having stage IV lung cancer. And I don’t know if I’m splitting hairs here, since I’ve never worked in a salon, although I do get my hair cut regularly; but I have been accused of speaking double-talk.
Editorials: Access to Activities for Home Schoolers; Action in Richmond; Changes in Gun Laws
Families who home-school their children in this area take a burden off crowded schools, and off taxpayers who pay on average between $12,000 and $16,000 per year per child in school depending on where in Northern Virginia.
Letter: Coming Forward On Child Sex Abuse
Letter to the Editor
I am a victim of childhood sexual abuse and a mother of four. I was very happy to see the article "Scandal Highlights Child Sex Abuse" [Connection, Feb. 2-8, 2012] by Victoria Ross which addresses an important issue that is close to my heart.
Column: Back On The Juice…
The chemotherapy juice, that is. Going forward now, every three weeks until I’ve completed six infusions, finishing sometime around mid May barring any foreseen – and previously experienced blips (meaning delays): levels, counts, readings, etc., that would compel my oncologist to stop åhe treatment and await results of a retest
Letter: Schools Have Too Much Power
Letter to the Editor
I just read an article by Michael Lee Pope ["Politics of Notification: Father takes his plight for increased parental notification to Richmond," Connection, Jan. 26-Feb. 1] It is simply wrong!
Letter: Benefits of Smaller Class Sizes
Letter to the Editor
We have a great school system in Fairfax County. Our test scores are high, our students are engaged in challenging educational curriculums, and our schools have received national recognition as being some of the best in the nation.
Column: "Progression"
There’s a word – in a medical context, anyway, that you don’t hear every day. And if you’re a stage IV lung cancer survivor – like me, 35 months post-diagnosis, it’s hardly the word you ever want to hear – or see – describing the most recent CT Scan of your lungs (Mediastinum) where your malignant tumors have been in "partial stable remission" going on two-plus years now. "Progression" means growth. Growth means the relative calm under which you’ve existed for the last few years is officially over.
Editorial: About Halfway
Always entertaining, the high-stakes session of the Virginia General Assembly reaches new heights this month.
The user-friendly website for the Virginia General Assembly plus live-streaming of the legislative sessions might make you believe that most of the important decisions in Richmond are being made out in the sunshine.
Letter: Welcoming the FBI
Letter to the Editor
As a high school senior there are many things that I am concerned about. Primarily, the anxiety associated with transitioning to college life.
Letter: Signs Needed for Burke Amtrak Station
Letter to the Editor
On Jan.18, Burke Centre celebrated its two-year anniversary of being an Amtrak Station after a 42 year gap of being an intercity train stop.
Column: For All I Know…
Skipping my monthly targeted treatment (Avastin) because my kidneys are under stress might be a good thing. It might mean my body doesn’t need (it certainly doesn’t want) to be infused.
School Board Needs Public’s Input
Recently, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack Dale presented the School Board with his proposal for next year’s budget.