In August of 2014, I organized a Hispanic Town Hall Meeting in Hybla Valley. I spent the first hour going over issues with constituents.
Then, I asked attendees for feedback – what was their #1 issue? Lack of government identification. Attendees said that they and their friends and family were weary of obtaining ID’s from Maryland or not having them at all.
In the past two weeks, I reviewed action on my legislation and the state budget. This column covers some of the major bills to pass the state legislature. (more…)
I am typing these words of good news on the night of Friday, March 11th, on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates in Richmond. We just adjourned the 2016 legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly with approval of a bipartisan two-year Virginia state budget. The good news: The budget is balanced, cautious, sensible, and doesn’t increase taxes or fees.
As a member of the 22-member House Appropriations Committee (HAC), I have been engaged since December with crafting the budget, along with two other Prince William County legislators, Del. Scott M. Lingamfelter (R-31st) and Del. Luke M. Torian (D-52nd). I serve on three HAC subcommittee (Public Safety, Transportation, and Higher Education), so I had a hand in developing these three parts of the budget.
The last week of the 2016 General Assembly session brought a flurry of activity on some of our most difficult bills, along with approval of a state budget. In this column, I will detail highlights in the final budget affecting our area. Next week, I will report on other important budget items. In the near […]
On Saturday, April 9, 2016 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. (rain date April 23, 2016), Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition (PWTSC), a 501(c)3 organization, is conducting its 7th annual clean-up of the upper Occoquan River, from nine different sites along 25+ miles of the Occoquan River.
The clean-up ranges from Cedar Run/Broad Run, through Lake Jackson, and from the base of Lake Jackson Dam to Hooes Run (south of Lake Ridge Marina). This cleanup is part of the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s (www.fergusonfoundation.org) Potomac River Watershed Cleanup. Friends of the Occoquan (www.friendsoftheoccoquan.org) will also be holding a cleanup at different shoreline parks along the Occoquan River on April 16, 2016.
Junior Library Guild (JLG) recently awarded the Sister Sally Daly Grant to Mary Gildersleeve, Director of Library Services for Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School near Dumfries, Virginia, to attend her first Catholic Library Association(CLA) conference this March.
The Catholic Library Association together with Junior Library Guild established a $1,500 grant in 2007 in memory of Sally Daly, SSJ, an ardent supporter of recruiting new members to CLA and its Children’s Library Services Section.
This weekend, the Occoquan District Boy Scouts are hosting their District Pinewood Derby in Woodbridge on March 12.
The derby will take place from 8:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Woodbridge Middle School gym at 2201 York Drive. Following the races with the Scout’s cars, awards will be given based on Scout rank, and overall speed.
On the evening of February 25, the Prince William Chamber of Commerce honored the nominees and recipients of their annual Business Awards at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. Winners of the 2016 Agnes L. Colgan Community Service Awards, who each receive a $1,000 check to continue their work, were also announced along with the recipient of the inaugural Charles J. Colgan Visionary Award.
Nominees included businesses large and small from a variety of industries, showcasing the diverse organizations that blend to make the Prince William region a national leader for jobs creation and economic growth. Northern Virginia Community College was the Presenting Sponsor of the event. Bernie Niemeier, Publisher of Virginia Business was Master of Ceremonies.
This week, the seventh of this session of the Virginia General Assembly, both the Senate and House of Delegates are considering the state’s two-year budget. After each house passes a budget, a joint conference committee resolves the differences. The Senate budget has good news and bad news. Good News Revenues have increased […]
