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Shirley Ruhe

Stories by Shirley

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Senior Living: Life at Vinson Hall — Living the Difference

Mary DeMaris is headed down on the elevator at Vinson Hall with her black case of art supplies, an artist headed to a still life class out of the building. “There is a club here for everything — poetry, art, choral group, photography, book, gardening,” she said.

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Arlington: Life in America ... Heaven and a Half

Personal trainer analyzes people’s behavior.

It is mid-morning, and Mustafa Nazary sits on his living room couch. He had started the day at 6 a.m. with his first appointment at Ultimate Results, his fitness center in Georgetown, where he is a personal trainer. His 5-year-old son Idris, joins him on the couch. “He is hip-to-hip with me.”

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Arlington: Senior Olympics Opens with a Splash

The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics (NVSO) opened Sept. 10 with an afternoon splash at Yorktown Aquatic Center.

Never Too Old To Compete

800 expected to compete in Northern Virginia Senior Olympics.

Herb Levitan adjusts his goggles, pulls on his swimming cap and lowers himself into the pool. Levitan had been up at 7 a.m. to run three miles and had biked from home to the Ocean Dunes Water Park as he trains for the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics.

Arlington Snapshot: Exploring Vernal Ponds

The Campbell family participates in a class in vernal ponds at Potomac Overlook Regional Park on Sunday afternoon. Park Naturalist Emily Rarity has handed out small nets to Chris, Colin and Leo for scooping tadpoles out of the murky water.

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Arlington Snapshot: Clearing the Shelter

An exciting day on all sides at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Pets were available with waived adoption fees at shelters participating in the nationwide Clear the Shelter event.

Arlington: Room for a Human or a Horse?

Film focuses on solitary confinement.

Step into your room. It is 80 square feet, smaller than most horse stables. It has a bed, sink and toilet. This is your solitary confinement cell for weeks, months or years. Your only contact is with prison guards and your food is delivered through a slot in the door.

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Arlington: Kick Off Relay for Summer Reading

Ten-year-old Charley Hicks carries the summer reading Olympic torch on the first leg of the Summer Reading Relay on Saturday, June 4.

Arlington: Luke Sends Balloon to Heaven to Honor Dad

TAPS sponsors five-day event over Memorial Day.

Luke Carron sat at the edge of the astroturf waiting for the balloon release that will carry the note to his father in heaven.

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Arlington: Fashion Center Expands with Shake Shack

Rachad Alaour, general manager, cuts the wide green ribbon on Wednesday, May 4 for the opening of Shake Shack at Pentagon City. Laurie Van Dalen (left), general manager for Fashion Center, says they began the expansion of Fashion Center 20 months ago and Shake Shack is the first of five businesses to open in this new space. Megan Purtell, assistant general manager, is at far left.

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Arlington County Offers Summer Camps for Kids

Gulf Branch Nature Center features three different sessions.

Arlington County offers nine sessions of weekly summer camp beginning June 27 and running through the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 2. Times for the sessions vary. Some of the camp content is repeated at each location and different park locations so the camp brochure indicates campers should attend only one session.

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Responding to Teen Sex Trafficking

Comprehensive approach seeks to educate teens.

In 2012 Fairfax County Detective William Woolf discovered a 16-year-old girl being prostituted by the M-16 gang. At the time there was little recognition that the problem existed locally. The girl was recovered and since then Woolf has interviewed 300 recovered victims, some as young as 12-years old. After the initial shock, Northern Virginia businesses, faith communities and educational groups sought to understand the extent of the problem.

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Arlington: Panel Discusses Reinstatement of Virginia Parole

U.S. tops world incarceration rates.

Al Schuman says "three strikes and you're out," instituted in 1995, was one of the biggest mistakes of the country. Twenty years ago, the Commonwealth adopted legislation to abolish discretionary parole and adopted the Truth-in-Sentencing (TIS), which required offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Arlington Snapshot: Gulf Branch Blacksmith

Meyer Kachel is stretching out the hot metal to the size of his pinkie and will pound it “really thin and curl it into a key fob.”

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Becoming Aware of Child Sex Trafficking

The problem extends throughout northern Virginia.

She stands on the sidewalk outside the mall with her backpack full of 7th grade science and math books. An older man pulls up and she gets in the backseat of his car.

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