Thursday, May 17, 2012
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate answered questions in appearance at AOL's Dulles office.
U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Kaine said the federal government should chip in for the Silver Line Phase 2 — but that the commonwealth also needs to pay a bigger share than the $150 million it has promised to ensure it gets built as scheduled. "What we are seeing in Washington is an anti-investment mentality," Kaine (D) told a group at AOL's Dulles headquarters Thursday. He said he worked with the Bush and Obama administrations to get $900 million for the first phase and the next phase has centered on who pays for it. "I believe it is a project of federal significance because it links Dulles with the most important capital city in the world," he said. "But when it comes to the state being a meaningful participant, Virginia has fallen short too. …
Follow along with our live blog.
Tim Kaine, a Democrat candidate for the open Virginia U.S. Senate seat, will appear at the AOL Dulles campus today at 1 p.m. to speak with Aol employees and other guests. Patch will be covering the event live and we invite you to join in on the conversation.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
The new law requires radiologists to send a letter to women who have dense breast tissue that could make it harder to detect cancer.
A Fairfax County breast cancer survivor's efforts mean women getting mammograms will learn whether they have dense breast tissue that could hide cancer. New legislation addresses the test’s failure to detect certain cancers in women with dense breast tissue. It goes into affect on July 1. Under the new law, if radiologists conducting mammograms find dense breast tissue, they must send the patient a letter noting that fact – and that dense breast tissue can hide cancer. The letter will urge women to talk to their physicians about the matter. The new “patient inform” law resulted from efforts by a breast cancer survivor, Cathryn Tatusko of Fairfax County, with support from an aptly named national awareness organization called Are You Dense. …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Superintendent Jack Dale proposes eliminating compensation adjustments in favor of meeting five-year state requirement within the next year
Though Superintendent Jack Dale presented his recommendation for adjustments to Fairfax County Public Schools' $2.4 billion advertised budget at a work session Monday, some school board members said they weren't satisfied his proposed changes fully met their priorities or produced a budget that best met the needs of the system. Dale returned to the board after the system's $1.68 billion transfer from the county Board of Supervisors, an amount 4.5 percent higher than what schools received last year but still short of the 8.4 percent increase board members asked for when they moved forward the approved advertised budget. Despite the school board's approval of the advertised budget in February, Dale and School Board Chairwoman Janie Strauss…
Republican primary election set for U.S. Senate candidates and 11th Congressional District; Democratic primary election scheduled for 8th Congressional District Democratic candidates.
In less than a month, Virginia voters will head to the polls for the Democratic and Republican primaries on June 12. Across Northern Virginia, voters will decide among candidates for the U.S. Senate as well as for the 8th and 11th Congressional districts. If your polling place is holding both a Republican primary and a Democratic primary, you can only vote in one primary. If you aren't registered to vote, you have until Monday, May 21 at 5 p.m. to register. Little known fact: If you are 17 years old now but you are turning 18 by the Nov. 6 general election, you can vote in the June 12 primary. If you plan to do this, call your voter's registration office ahead of time and be sure to bring official proof of your age. Polls will be open …
Former member of Congress held seat from 1995-2008 now held by Democrat Gerald Connolly
Former GOP Congressman Tom Davis, who once represented Virginia's 11th Congressional District, has endorsed Chris Perkins for his old seat. Perkins is facing fellow Republican Ken Vaughn in a Republican primary election June 12. The winner will challenge incumbent Congressman Gerald Connolly (D-11th) and independent Mark Gibson in a race for the 11th Congressional District seat. The new 11th District stretches from Dale City to Reston, including all or part of Woodbridge, Lorton, Burke, Springfield, Fairfax, Vienna, Centreville and Annandale. When Davis was in office, the 11th District did not include areas south of Dale City or north of Vienna, but included parts of Mount Vernon to the east and Clifton, Bristow and Haymarket to the west…
Monday, May 14, 2012
The candidate for U.S. Senate and former Virginia governor will answer questions in Dulles at AOL this Thursday. George Allen, Kaine's likely challenger, spoke at AOL May 4.
Tim Kaine, the Democratic candidate for the open Virginia U.S. Senate seat, will appear at the AOL campus in Dulles Thursday at 1 p.m. to speak with AOL employees and other guests. George Allen, a former U.S. Senator and former Virginia governor, appeared at AOL May 4, and Patch covered the forum, asked questions submitted by readers and invited a few readers to join the program. Patch will be covering the forum and inviting a few readers from each Patch to attend in person. If you'd like to attend the event, send an email to patchpolitics@aol.com with your name, address and telephone number. What Would You Like to Ask Tim Kaine? Tell Us in the Comments! Patch editors will be questioning Kaine at the event, and we'd like to know what we …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Will Obama's announcement hurt his chances to carry Virginia in 2012 as he did in 2008?
Facing pressure to take a stand, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he supports same-sex marriage. In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, Obama (D) described his “evolution” on the issue through talks with friends, and reflection on military personnel and members of his own staff who, he said, “are not able to commit themselves in a marriage,” adding that “at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.” Excerpts of the interview are scheduled to appear on ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer on Wednesday evening. The full interview is scheduled to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America on Thursday morning. …
Residents are encouraged to leave one bag of non-perishable food at their mailboxes on Saturday for their mail carriers to pick up and donate to a local food pantry.
Letter carriers all over the U.S. will be looking to pick up more than just mail this weekend. Saturday is the official day of the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, an initiative of the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers. Residents can do their part by leaving at least one bag of non-perishable food at their mailboxes or wherever their mail is normally left. The carrier will pick up the food and take it to a local food bank. To raise awareness for the event, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and National Association of Letter Carriers President Frederic Rolando are scheduled to appear at a press conference today at 9:30 a.m. in the District at NALC headquarters. More than 49 million people in America struggle …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Virginia U.S. Senate candidate talks small business, education, jobs in Vienna at Tuesday roundtable
For the last two years, Pallabi Saboo's firm has had 35 unfilled positions. The company has been ready to move forward with the hires since the jobs, largely software engineering positions, became open — it just hasn't been able to find the talent to fill them. The Chief Executive Officer of the McLean-based Harmonia, Inc., was one of 30 women minority business leaders who met with former governor and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine on Tuesday in the Tysons area of Vienna, many of whom said talent, education and access to capital were the biggest roadblocks to their companies succcess. "It's not sexy to be a engineer in high school," another woman said. "So how are they going to get into college [and pursue a career there]? We need to do …
Rob Jones
11:24 pm on Saturday, May 19, 2012
""We still have thousands of troops in Europe," he said. "That reflects an old reality. Let's scale back, and let's use technology and innovation to reduce some manpower needs."" Even better, how about replacing pandering politicians with robots. more ›