Saturday, February 16, 2013
Legislators join activists, fellow lawmakers in Richmond to call for change.
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Saturday, February 16
By Amber Galaviz, Capital News Service State officials joined gay rights activists at a press conference Thursday to discuss their disappointment in Virginia's failure to repeal the state's constitutional ban against same-sex marriage in this year's General Assembly session. “I believe that marriage is about loving, committed couples wanting to make lifelong promises to each other – take care of each other, be responsible for each other and support each other,” Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) said at the event at the General Assembly Building. “And I think that if anybody – gay, straight – wants to stand up in front of their family and friends and make that commitment to grow old together, it’s not for me, or the judge or the state to …
Friday, February 15, 2013
Senate Committee Kills ‘Tebow Bill’ on Thursday night, but some Patch readers think proposal should be voted into law.
Virginia's Senate Education and Health Committee shot down a bill Thursday that would have allowed home-schooled students to participate in public schools’ sports teams. Committee members killed House Bill 1442 — also known as the “Tebow bill" — on a 7-8 vote, shelving it for the remainder of this legislative session. But should the bill have reached the full Senate floor? In a Patch blog post, Fairfax County School Board member Ryan McElveen highlighted the defeat of the bill as one of the three most important actions residents could advocate for this session as Richmond pressed on with what he called an "educational extremism." The school board voted to advocate against the proposal, McElveen wrote, "because, in short, the bill would …
Saturday, February 9, 2013
The group will meet from 9-11 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax on Hunter Mill Road.
Nearly two months after the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., a local committee against gun violence has gained resident support across Vienna, Reston, Oakton and Herndon, gaining momentum for a "Week of Action" later this month. Saturday morning is the second meeting of the Community Committees Against Gun Violence (CCAGV), a group that formed in January as a result of the shootings. The meeting will run from 9-11 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, on Hunter Mill Road in Oakton. The group first met Jan. 17 in Oakton, as well as an additional meeting in Reston. More than 80 local residents attended the January meetings to discuss what action can be taken locally to reduce gun violence. The local groups began …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Stay on the line to talk to your state delegate about issues important to you.
When your phone rings at 8 p.m. on Thursday, it could be Del. Ken Plum calling. Plum, who has represented Reston for more than 30 years, is hosting a conference call with constituents, so stay on the line to discuss the current Virginia General Assembly session. Plum said as the session got underway on Jan. 9 that his priorities would be public funding — and restoring funding cut during the recession — for K-12 and higher education; meeting and funding the mental health recommendations that were made after the Virginia Tech shootings; closing the gun show loophole that allows gun purchases without criminal or mental health background checks; obtaining additional state cash to go to Phase 2 of the Silver Line that will help keep tolls down…
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Reston's legislators hosting annual pre-session forum on Thursday.
It is nearly time for the Virginia's 2013 General Assembly to begin, and Reston-area legislators want to know what is on your mind. Del. Ken Plum and Sen. Janet Howell will hold their annual pre-session public meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods. Come with your questions and comments for Plum and Howell. The legislative session begins on Jan. 9. Plum is the co-sponsor of pre-filed house legislation that prohibits discrimination of any state employee for race, gender, medical conditions and sexual orientation. Howell is the chief sponsor of senate bills that loosen restrictions for absentee voting could factor in child support calculations. She is also a co-sponsor of the senate bill barring …
JoeOvercoat
8:25 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Actually, encouraging marriage among the homosexual demographic may *reduce* HIV/AIDS infections by reducing promiscuity within that demographic, possibly. Your children are not going to be turned gay by someone else: either they are or they aren't homosexual, already. So let people different than you be...that's what your children could be learning. more ›