Tuesday, December 11, 2012
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will receive award Tuesday from the Dulles Corridor Rail Association.
The Dulles Corridor Rail Association board of directors will present an award to US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at its annual meeting Tuesday in Tysons Corner. LaHood, who stepped in to form a compromise among stakeholders to reduce costs for the Silver Line's Phase 2 in 2011 and to keep Loudoun County from pulling out of the project in 2012, will also be the guest speaker at the event. DCRA Chairman Del. Kenneth Plum and Vice Chairman Del, Thomas D. Rust will present the award to the Secretary, according to a news release. Fairfax County Board Chairman Sharon Bulova will provide welcoming remarks. The Silver Line Phase 1 is on schedule and more than 80 percent completed. It is scheduled to open in December 2103. For more on the…
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Reston Del. Ken Plum takes a look at what happened at the Virginia General Assembly this week.
Far-reaching social issues were amended, approved and shelved until 2013 during a busy week in Richmond. Del. Ken Plum wraps up the week in state legislation.
Monday, February 20, 2012
A place where Personhood is not going to fly? That would be Reston.
The culture war battle is firmly in Virginia this month as bills regarding Personhood and mandating sonograms for all pregnant women seeking an abortion make their way through the Virginia General Assembly. Northern Virginia has long sung a different political tune than the rest of the state, as longtime Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston) often points out. One of the centers of liberalism? That would be Reston, which Plum has represented consistently since 1982. Plum met with citizens on Saturday at Reston Community Center Lake Anne. He held an informal community meeting to hear what was on constiuents' minds. They did not mince words. "I want you to sue," said one man, his voice breaking. "Mandating sonograms has got to be against the Constitution…
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
A look at some Virginia General Assembly highlights with a Reston connection.
A bill co-sponsored by Del. Ken Plum (D-36) that would make fox and coyote penning a misdemeanor was tabled in committee last week, but the Virginia Senate will vote on a similar bill on Thursday. Plum was a co-sponsor of HB695. He said the issue was brought to his attention by several Reston-based members of The Humane Society. Fox pens are fenced enclosures where dogs are released in competitions to chase down and torment captive foxes, often killing them. In just three years, nearly 4,000 foxes were subjected to these events, says the Humane Society of the United States. Plum says the Senate version (SB202), sponsored by Sen. David Marsden (D-37), has a good chance of passing. The Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources…
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Who is behind those hand-lettered signs? And which Ken is the writer against?
In the last several weeks, hand-lettered signs have popped up on and near Reston Parkway saying such things as "Ken's Against Reston" and Ken = High Tols (sic)." Who - or what group - is behind the signs? And who is Ken? The signs are a project of Restonian Rod Koozmin, a 2010 Reston Association board candidate and 2011 Reston Community Center Board of Governors candidate. Koozmin also recently created the Reston Citzens Community Center. Koozmin says he is against longtime Virginia Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston), the founder of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, because of his involvement in the effort for rail to Dulles, as well as Plum's stance during a grassroots efforts to gain town status for Reston more than five years ago. "The …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Supervisor John Cook, Del. Ken Plum against reducing school department that serves 40,000 residents.
While the Fairfax County Public Schools' proposed $2.4 billion budget touts faculty expansion and teacher compensation, it leaves out its plan to cut the staff of the county's adult and community education program, then forcing them to reapply for half as many positions. Last week, Adult and Community Education (ACE) staff received notice that 50 percent of their jobs will be eliminated. Only a hint of reorganization is mentioned in the proposed budget, which is open to resident comment in a public hearing Monday night. A reorganization chart is expected to be released Thursday, several employees of the department told Patch. FCPS Superintendent Jack Dale presented the proposed budget to the school board Jan. 12. "In an effort to provide …
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Del. Ken Plum recaps what happened this week in Richmond.
Del Ken. Plum (Reston) has been providing weekly recaps of his week in Richmond. Here is the most recent installment, for the week ending Jan. 20.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Education, uranium mining and budget on legislators' and citizens' minds as 2012 General Assembly session approaches.
Citizens came to the Reston Community Center on Thursday to tell Sen. Janet Howell (D-32) and Del. Ken Plum (D-36) what is on their mind as the 2012 Virginia General Assembly session begins next week. The longtime legislators host this public meeting annually to get a feel for what constituents are thinking. Howell and Plum will be busy at the 60-day session. There are some 3,000 bills — as well as the $85 billion budget for 2012-14 — on the docket. Howell, in her sixth term, is part of a Senate that is split evenly among Democrats and Republicans, with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) purportedly being able to cast the deciding vote. Howell says she is looking forward to meeting with the Senate Democratic Caucus to figure out Bolling's limits…
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Longtime delegate says he wants to concentrate on policy, not partisan politics.
Del. Ken Plum, re-elected last week to his 16th consecutive term representing Virginia's 36th District, says he will not seek another term as Chair of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus. Plum has been in that position for three years. "It is an incredibly time consuming and thankless job," said Plum. "So we ought to pass around the opportunity to do it. When the house Democratic Caucus reorganizes, I will not be seeking re-election as chairman." Plum serves on the agriculture, conservation and natural resources committee, as well as the science and technology committee and the rules committee. He says he would prefer to work on issues rather than partisan leadership. "My passion is really policy," said Plum. "Issues like the economic …
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Reston's short lines, long list of reasons for casting a vote.
Election Day in Reston started with beautiful weather and light-but-steady poll traffic as voters went to the polls Tuesday to vote on new school board members, state legislators and a $252 million bond referendum. In 2009 -- a year in which many local races were contested -- voter turnout was 40.4 percent statewide, according to the state board of elections. But "I'll be surprised if we break 30 percent countywide," Cameron Quinn, in charge of elections, told Patch Tuesday morning. That figure is consistent with voter turnout in 2007. The county, as of Nov. 1, had 640,689 "active" voter registrations. That figure would be just a little lower than four years ago, she said. This year, some citizens voted the ticket, as they said they …
Bob Bruhns
12:05 pm on Friday, December 14, 2012
Mr. LaHood thinks this double-priced rail ripoff is so great, that it should be a model for similar projects across the country. Unfortunately, people actually fall for this nonsense - so the only thing that is likely to stop that from happening, is national bankruptcy, or maybe the sequestration that is cutting MAP-21 funding of Tifia loans, or Virginia's growing bipartsan unwillingness to waste… more ›