Editorial: On Transportation
Compromise, in the works, should include indexing the gas tax to inflation.
Virginia needs more options, not fewer, in developing revenue to pay for roads and transportation. Compromise on a plan to increase transportation revenue should not include making Virginia the only state in the nation without a gas tax. The current, ridiculously low gas tax should be indexed to inflation. The last thing the commonwealth needs is to do away with an existing, major source of money for roads.
Editorial: Extreme, But Brief, Volunteering
More than 150 volunteers needed to survey chronic homeless for three days in February.
The real solution to homelessness is housing. This week in Northern Virginia, a point-in-time survey will record all of the “literally homeless” individuals and families in the region. Last year, on Jan. 25, 2012, there were 1,534 people who were literally homeless in the Fairfax-Falls Church Community; 697 of them were single individuals and 837 were people in families. A third of the total number of homeless were children. Nearly 60 percent of the adult members of the homeless families were employed.
Editorial: Expanding Medicaid Good for Virginia
Real health coverage for an additional 400,000 people is in reach.
Virginia has an opportunity to expand Medicaid in a way that could extend health coverage to more than 400,000 residents who currently have no health insurance while the Federal government picks up the tab; Virginia would pay 10 percent of the additional cost after 2020.
Editorial: Transportation Money
Eliminating the gas tax makes no sense.
Virginia, and especially Northern Virginia, is woefully short on funds for transportation. One reason is that its gas tax, a logical way to fund transportation infrastructure, is one of the lowest in the nation, and has remained flat since the ’80s, since it is not indexed for inflation. So the buying power of the gas tax has been dwindling.
Editorial: More Fodder for Comedy?
2013 session of the Virginia General Assembly will tackle serious issues.
The 2013 30-day session of the Virginia General Assembly begins on Wednesday, Jan. 9. We can only hope that the various legislative proposals do not provide as much fodder for comedy as last session. The Virginia House of Delegates and the Senate of Virginia will offer live streaming video of the 2013 Legislative Sessions, and it is well worth tuning in once or twice.
Happy New Year, Keep in Touch
Reflecting and reinforcing the sense of community.
As local, weekly newspapers, the Connection’s mission is to bring the news you need about your community, to give you the information you need to enjoy the best things in and near your community, to advocate for community good, to call attention to unmet needs, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in community and people’s lives. To succeed at any of that, we need your help.
Editorial: Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas
We are a nation of immigrants, to invoke the title of John F. Kennedy’s posthumously published book; undeniably a nation descended from immigrants and a nation greatly augmented by immigration. From this perspective, with the first immigrants motivated by the search for religious freedom, even Christmas is a religious holiday of immigrants.
Editorial: Holiday Revels With a Safety Net
A serious backup, but seriously, make a plan ahead of time.
You know the drill, the five-to-seven or six-to-eight drop-in happy hour, you've been invited to five of them, and you could attend an infinite number of these between now and the second day of 2013. And there are many other varieties of holiday festivities, many involving more than a drink or two. So make a plan.
Editorial: Learning in a Global Community
Students in Fairfax County speak 160 languages.
This week our ongoing series about immigration in Fairfax County takes a look at county schools, and some of the joys and challenges of having a diverse student body that speaks as many as 160 different languages at home.
Editorial: Diversity Growing
Tune in to our series on immigration.
This week, the Connection kicks off a series about immigration, diversity and the growing population of foreign-born residents in Fairfax County. County reporter Victoria Ross opens with a story that captures vignettes and statistics of the changing population. It is a topic consistent with the original Thanksgiving story. More than 28 percent of Fairfax County's population is foreign born; that's 317,000 residents.
Editorial: Shop Locally, Give Locally
Small business Saturday isn't enough; don't wait until then, and don't stop after that.
An effort to support locally owned businesses has resulted in the recognition of Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year that is Nov. 24. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is a day of national zeal for shopping. Presumably the next day shoppers can focus on local shopping.
Editorial: As Sandy Rolls In, Still Plan to Vote
Variety of choices in political landscape.
Hurricane Sandy means that the week preceding the election will not be what we were expecting. This editorial is being written Sunday night, Oct. 28, as forecasters predict five inches of rain and 65-mile-per-hour winds over the next two days.
Editorial: Cancer Awareness
Success with breast cancer awareness should help other cancers.
October is breast cancer awareness month. Anyone connected to media of any variety already knows this. A massive marketing success, we all know that pink shows support for breast cancer prevention, especially in October.
Editorial: Last Week to Register to Vote
To vote on Election Day, you must be registered at your current address no later than Oct. 15, 2012. Registered voters should have received a new voter card in the mail by now. You can check your registration status online by visiting the State Board of Elections website at www.sbe.virginia.gov. There you can also download a voter registration form and mail or fax it to your elections office address.
How To Register, Vote and Vote Early
Election Day is Nov. 6, but you can vote as early as Sept. 21.
How important is it for Virginia voters to turn out on or before Nov. 6? As a critical “battleground” state, Virginia will be key in determining who will be the next President of the United States. Who will represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate is also too close to call. Since polling shows that there are very few undecided voters in the Commonwealth, every eligible voter will want to be sure to cast a ballot.
Opinion: Mindless Slashing
Automatic cuts set to kick in January would harm Northern Virginia more than any other region.
While reducing the federal deficit is critical to the nation's economic health in the long run, the knee jerk, slash and burn method based only on cuts that is coming at us like a freight train will do immense damage to the economy nationally. But no place would feel the pain more intensely than Northern Virginia.
About the Connection
The paper you're reading, the Arlington Connection is one of 15 papers published by the independent, locally owned Local Media Connection LLC, serving the suburbs of Metropolitan Washington in Northern Virginia and Potomac, Md.
Editorial: Readers Respond on TJ Admissions
"Stop making smart 8th graders feel inferior because they are not admitted."
Readers responded to last week's editorial, which cited a civil rights complaint about the apparent lack of access to gifted and talented programs and admission to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Editorial: Leaving Millions on the Table
Virginia should embrace opportunity for more health care coverage for poor residents.
Chances are that if you are reading this, you have employer-provided health insurance. While you might worry about the young adults in your family or the lower wage workers in your organization, you also know that if you are sick, you can go to the doctor.
Editorial: Every Vote in Virginia Will Count
Top presidential donor zip codes in this area show Virginia is purple; Romney or Obama to be decided on Election Day.
If you wonder if presidential politics really matters in this area, consider that Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland hold some of the top zip codes for contributions to the two major party candidates.
Editorial: New Laws, Assault on Freedom?
oting restrictions, abortion restrictions, DUI restrictions, fewer gun restrictions, more go into effect July.
A plethora of new laws will go into effect in the Commonwealth on July 1, including restrictive new procedures for voting, and the loosening of multiple gun regulations.
New Laws, Assault on Freedom?
Voting restrictions, abortion restrictions, DUI restrictions, fewer gun restrictions, more go into effect July 1.
A plethora of new laws will go into effect in the Commonwealth on July 1, including restrictive new procedures for voting, and the loosening of multiple gun regulations.
Editorial: Case Closed. Why the Secrecy?
No reason for police to exercise "blanket" approach, shielding every document in every case.
Connection readers know that we respect and appreciate our public safety professionals.
Editorial: Summer Projects
Reader input needed for community guides, Pet Connection.
The summer is in full swing at the Connection, with many interns and staff members focused on some light and some more serious summer projects.
Editorial: Partnerships That Make a Difference
Strategic partnerships with businesses, community organizations, benefit public good and fill gaps since government cannot do it all.
A few weeks ago, the Connection was lucky enough to be included in a group of Fairfax County organizations honored for their efforts in giving back to the community.
Editorial: Primary Voting
Statewide primary on Tuesday, June 12.
On Tuesday, June 12, Virginia will hold a statewide Republican primary for U.S. Senate, plus numerous more local primaries for U.S. House of Representatives and localities.
Editorial: Reminders to Press Ahead for Housing
Spring discussion on hypothermia shelters could help preparations for winter.
In February, 2007, 59-year-old Robert Bruce Miller was found dead outdoors in Chantilly. Miller was homeless, known to businesses and residents in the area. He died of hypothermia, exposure to the cold.
Connection Wins Public Service Award for Homeless Coverage
VPA Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service; plus 44 other awards.
The Connection Newspapers was awarded the Virginia Press Association Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service last Saturday, April 21, "for exhaustive coverage of homelessness in the newspaper's circulation area."
Editorial: On Funding the Silver Line
Commonwealth will collect the dividends, but refuses to invest; Northern Virginia pays.
Northern Virginia localities should together commission a study now to determine how much growth is stimulated by the opening of the Metro stations in Tysons and along the toll road out to Dulles, how many new jobs created, quantify how much that growth leads to increased income and sales tax, and how much revenue (taxes) would get shipped off to Commonwealth coffers.
Nutty: Squirrel Jams Transmission
A customer had his nearly new 2011 Toyota Camry towed into Alexandra Toyota because the transmission would not shift.
Editorial: Interrupting Harassment and Bullying
Empowering bystanders to intervene, students to set boundaries.
With a controversial and much discussed new movie, "Bully," coming out this week, local school districts continue to wrestle with the issue of bullying in the schools.
Editorial: ‘Practices That Undermine Trust’
Virginia gets a failing grade on ethics rules.
The State Integrity Investigation is "designed to expose practices that undermine trust in state capitols — and spotlight the states that are doing things right."
Editorial: So Hard to Imagine?
Poor families face challenges that officials and many of the rest of us have trouble envisioning.
The Commonwealth of Virginia and even Northern Virginia includes many poor families and individuals. But officials seem to have trouble wrapping their brains around some of the difficulties this can cause.
Editorial: Reenacting a Dark History?
Turning back the clock in Richmond.
Who could have anticipated that our elected officials would take African-American History month and Women's History month so seriously that they would literally try to turn back the clock?
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.
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.
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