Stories for August 2013

Column: From Weak to Week

Eight days and seven nights. Not exactly the vacation I was planning. Nevertheless, admitted to the hospital on Friday, August 2nd. Discharged on Friday, August 9th: that was my hospital “staycation.” Though I definitely improved as the post-surgical week went on, the process itself – specifically, nearly four days in S.I.C.U. (Surgical Intensive Care) with round-the-clock monitoring, nursing and doctoring – was hardly restful. In fact, if you read the following prose, you’ll presumably develop an understanding of the cons.

Potomac Home Sales: July, 2013

In July 2013, 87 Potomac homes sold between $3,575,000-$298,888.

Potomac Home Sales: July, 2013

Best Educated, Most Diverse

If you are a new resident of Fairfax County, or an employee working for a company new to the county, welcome!

New Superintendent Relishes Opportunity

A fan of Baylor grad RG3 … not Cowboys

Here in Fairfax, not only do we have the talent and the expertise to solve the problems facing us in FCPS, but we are uniquely positioned to solve the most pressing issues facing public schools across the country. -Karen K. Garza, Ph.D., superintendent, Fairfax County Public Schools

Chamber Gives Voice to Businesses

The Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce (Fairfax Chamber), the Voice of Business in Northern Virginia, represents 650 member companies with nearly 500,000 employees throughout the region.

Northern Virginia Senior Olympics

Online registration for the 2013 Northern Virginia Senior Olympics is open Deadline to register online is Aug. 30. The fee is $12. Participants can register online at www.nvso.us. Events take place Sept. 7-19 at 17 venues throughout Northern Virginia. Call 703-228-4721 for more.

Chambers

Find a comprehensive online listing of county business resources at http://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/business-resources.

Editorial: About the Connection

As your local, weekly newspaper, the Great Falls Connection’s mission is to bring the local news you need, to gather information about the best things in and near your community, to advocate for community good, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in the community and people’s lives.

Classified Advertising August 8, 2013

Read the latest ads here!

About the Almanac

Newcomers and Community Guide 2013-2014

Newcomers and Community Guide 2013-2014; About the Almanac

Newcomers and Community Guide; Get To Know Elected Officials

Get To Know Elected Officials

What I Love About Living in Potomac

Environmental Perspective On Top Issues

Excerpts From King’s ‘I Have a Dream’

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the March on Washington 50 years ago next week, Aug. 28, 1963.

Excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

Reacting to Countywide Transit Corridors

On Friday [July 26], the Planning Board sent to our council its 130-page recommendations regarding the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system. It is recommending a network of 81 miles along 10 specific corridors.

Crime

Suspects Sought in Country Club Burglary

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police- 2nd District are investigating a burglary that occurred during the early morning hours of Aug. 1 at the Bethesda Country Club at 7601 Bradley Boulevard.

Classified Advertising August 14. 2013

Read the lastest ad here!

Is Your Home Ready for Back to School?

Local designers offer tips for creating functional and stylish homework spaces.

Summer will soon come to an end, and children everywhere will be heading back to school and coming home with homework. To keep students engaged and excited, some local designers offer suggestions for creating a space so fun and inviting that your children will want to hang out there — even if that means doing homework.

Outdoor Elegance Meets Cutting Edge Technology

A design/build team explores fine architecture in weather-resistant materials.

If anything in the summer of 2013 points to still evolving homeowner expectations, it may be the frequency with which locals are integrating screen porches, patios, fire pits, and outdoor kitchens into original landscaping schemes that artfully marry the house to its setting.

Geocaching Diversifies

Urbanites embracing new game.

Geocaching usually has been portrayed as someone with hiking boots and a walking staff gazing afar from a hilltop in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Not so anymore. Substantial numbers of those joining the sport are placing and hunting for caches in urban settings, and that includes Northern Virginia.

Will the Next Attorney General Defend Constitutional Ban on Gay Marriage?

Republican says he will defend amendment; Democrat is not so sure.

Virginia's next attorney general will have to stand in a courtroom and make a decision about whether or not the commonwealth's constitutional ban on marriage should be defended. Republican candidate Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-26) has been clear about his support for the amendment and his intention to provide a vigorous defense of marriage. Democratic candidate Sen. Mark Herring (D-33), on the other hand, has yet to take a position on whether or not he will defend the amendment.

The Median Has No Message

Political signs banished from roadsides as campaign season heats up.

Some people call them flowers of democracy. Others call them weeds of political pollution. Whatever one thinks of the campaign signs and placards that appear along the roads of Fairfax County, expect to see a lot fewer of them. Last month, county officials launched a new program in which nonviolent inmates at the county jail hit the streets four days a week to remove illegal signs. With apologies to Marshall McLuhan, the message is no longer in the median. Anger and resentment has been rising over the issue of roadside political signs for years, and campaigns frequently go to war with each other to see which side can plant or steal or deface the largest number of placards. Unlike Prince William County, which had an agreement with the Virginia Department of Transportation that allows the local government to collect the signs and fine violators, Fairfax was caught in a bind. Part of the Virginia code made it illegal for the county to remove the signs in Fairfax County until after an election.

Potomac Calender

Ongoing Mommy & Me (& Daddy, Too). Third Tuesday each month. 10 a.m. at Rockville Town Square. Meet for a morning out with active learning and creative play with lunch specials, story time, arts and crafts, sing-a-longs, prizes and more. Visit rockvilletownsquare.com/events/mommy-and-me. On the Square: Aug. 20, Sept. 17 and Oct. 15.

Bulletin Board

Through Aug. 9 Social Skills Summer Camp. Children in grades 1 through 6 can attend camp and learn friendly behaviors, working as a team, anger management and more. Held by the Jewish Social Service Agency and the McLean School of Maryland. All potential campers will be interviewed to make sure the camp is appropriate for their needs. Visit www.summeredge.org/ for more.

Family Adventures Before Summer Ends

Planning end-of-summer activities.

It’s less than one month before the onslaught of the new school year. Homework, after-school activities, athletics and schedules will soon begin and continue for the next 10 months. Right now is the time to be thinking about how to best pack in some end-of-the-summer day-trip activities for your family to enjoy. Here are some innovative, action-packed — but close-by ideas — for finishing off this summer with a bang.

School Notes

The latest winners of National Merit Scholarships in Montgomery County Public Schools are include: Elena Waidmann of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School; Montgomery Blair High School students Isaac Friend, Tony Liang, and Adam Lott; Winston Churchill students Felix Li and Sara Wang; Richard Montgomery High students Samuel Deutsch, Rachel Odessey, and Errin Saunders; Walt Whitman students Alison Foreman and Brandon Shapiro; and Thomas S. Wootton High students Amal Dadi and Austin Feng.

Local Author To Discuss Writing

Potomac Library to host book talk with Susan Keselenko Coll.

Looking for a way to beat the summer heat? On Aug. 8 at 7 p.m., the Potomac Library will be hosting a book talk with local author Susan Keselenko Coll where she will discuss her novels "Beachweek", "Rockville Pike", "karlmarx.com", "Acceptance" and her forthcoming novel "The Stager" which will be released next summer. "Acceptance" was made into a Lifetime movie.

Almanac Receives Press Awards

The Potomac Almanac won multiple first place awards from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association. Susan Belford won first place for her story, “Wounded Warriors Train Service Dogs for Vets,” in the feature story category.

Editorial: Protect Children, Animals in Hot Summer Weather

In light of recent incidents around the region, Fairfax County is reminding people of dangers involving children and hot cars. The combination of summer heat and humidity can mean life-threatening conditions for children left in vehicles or other unsuitable environments, even for short time periods. Here’s advice from the Kids and Cars organization:

Editorial: Identity Tips

Review Credit Reports and Avoid Ripoffs

Fairfax County police offer the following tips regarding identity theft and fraud: * Review credit reports annually; Experian: Fraud/credit history, 888-397-3742; Trans Union: Fraud, 800-680-7289; Credit history, 800-888-4213; Equifax: Fraud, 800-525-6285; Credit report, 800-685-1111. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com. * Opt out of receiving pre-approved, credit-card applications by calling 888-567-8688. * Monitor credit cards and bank accounts online for early fraud detection. * Don’t mail bills from home; use electronic banking, if possible. * Victims of identity theft should get a police report and secure a seven-year fraud alert or a credit freeze. * People 70 and older should contact the credit bureaus and obtain a credit freeze, even if they’re not currently identity-theft victims. * Never wire money to strangers online; these requests are scams.