DISCOVERY PARK RESTORED

>> Remember Pearl Harbor

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the day Japanese warplanes bombed the American navy in Hawaii and the United States became part of World War II. There are some WWII vets still around in Sterling and Loudoun. Honor them and the memory of the fallen.

>>> "Stars" in the Sky
Earlier this week, on Monday at 6 p.m. I noticed 2 bright "stars" low in the early morning sky right under a slender crescent moonn. Those two stars still hang low in the sky even tonight, Sunday night. That was the conjunction of the moon, and planets Venus and Jupiter. I was on my way to a Board public input session. Both Venus and Jupiter will be bright in the sky through Jan. 1

To keep track, or to get more information
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/081128-ns-moon-jupiter-venus.html

>> DISCOVERY PARK RESTORED
The Jamestown Fort has been rebuilt, excluding any effort to replace the engraving or artwork. Certainly the expense and effort of LCPS facilities group in administering this contract is an improvement over the smelly pit that existed after the fire. Thank you to Loudoun County Public Schools for responding and restoring the children's science oriented playground. Most of the park was untouched by the fire. More cameras have been mounted.

A neighborhood watch is being formed called - East Holly Neighborhood Watch- and Sully and Discovery Park are in the boundary.

>>> RENT YOUR STERLING HOME FOR INAUGURATION?

For those of you in the market, consider renting your home or for brokers with empty properties this Obama Swearing in is an opportunity.

Condos in Sterling, townhomes in Ashburn, single-family dwellings in Leesburg and even a Bluemont cabin are just some of the offerings found on Craigslist, with rental fees for private LoCo homes ranging from $225 to $3,500 a night reports the Washington Post on line Living In Loudoun.

I think it is a great idea as long as you have somewhere to go and if you are renting out a vacant house, that the house actually belongs to you. Thank you.

>>>15 New Neighborhood Watches In Sterling Park

As I reported to you earlier, it is now official. In the past two months the Loudoun Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Unit has successfully initiated 15 new Neighborhood Watch programs in Sterling Park. The 15 new watches, in addition to the previously established watch programs, now cover more than 98% of the zoned residential areas in Sterling.

Earlier this year the Loudoun Sheriff's Office responded to two shootings and a stabbing in less than a week in Sterling raising serious concerns from the community. After several community meetings, residents repeatedly asked how they could help. At the meetings Sheriff Steve Simpson encouraged residents to become more involved by starting a Neighborhood Watch Program. The Sterling Park community responded.

These new watches need additional Sterling Americans to join.

Interested? .... please contact Deputy Specialist Nathan Payne at 703-777-0477 or Deputy Specialist James Spurlock at 703-771-5749 of the Loudoun Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Unit. If you have question you can also contact them by email at [email protected] or [email protected].

>>PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY CRIME DROPS 19 PER CENT!

PW Chairman Corey Stewart wrote me a report tonight. Chairman Stewart says "We have made progress in Prince William County in fighting illegal immigration. Since July 2007, the County has initated deportation against over 1,200 illegal aliens who committed crimes in the County. Our crime rate has dropped 19.3% in one year, with a 40% drop in homicides. We have taken our neighborhoods back." Our Board chairman Scott York has announced he will ask the board to reconsider its policies on illegal aliens and will meet with PW officials to see how they do it. I hope this happens soon.

>> OUR COUNTRYSIDE NEIGHBOR NEEDS HELP

Supervisor Andrea McGimsey, the Potomac District rep, is asking for help in writing the owner of the Countryside shopping center to request the preservation of the silo in Countryside Marketplace, just off Route 7 and Countryside Blvd. "Saul Centers" has the right to take down the silo, but McGimsey has started a petition and has promoted a drive on facebook the website, "Save the Countryside Silo".
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36832517010

"It really is a landmark of the community," said Rob Heckman, a CountrySide resident. "There's definitely some concern."


>>> S.O.S. from LINK VOLUNTEERS
>>> CUPBOARDS ARE BARE AT FOODBANK
In 9 years I have never recieved such an urgent message: (Quote) "LINK retains no paid employees. Volunteers do all the work, and most goods are received from local donations. This past year LINK spent less than $4,000.00 on operating expenses. Similar to the Gospel story of the loaves and fish LINK touched the lives of people 6,000 times with an annual budget of less than $50,000.00.

Additional food drives are necessary due to the significantly depleted food warehouse in Herndon. LINK seeks assistance from Townships, public schools, churches and local businesses in order to have enough food to distribute on Saturday December 20th. LINK has not been in this position for a very long time, so any help you can give us to spread the word is appreciated. We will also need over 3,000 new unwrapped toys to provide 1,640 children who pre-registered for our events. LINK gives two toys to each child at Christmas.

The LINK site at Christ the Redeemer has some boxes of dry pasta and cake mixes remaining and a little cereal. Other than that, at best, we have less than a single row of food covering the top of each table. We even ran out of canned food like tuna where we usually have lots of items left over. At Trinity Presbyterian, the cupboards are essentially bare. Anything that can be done to raise food for Christmas will be critical to the success of the LINK distribution. LINK has enough food to make its daily deliveries directly to people's homes but does not have food reserves for the big Christmas event on December 20 when we will feed 3,000. Thank you and God bless all of you for your efforts. " (unquote)

For more information Email [email protected]
The phones numbers below are for inquiries only. Betty Eidemiller LINK President 703-731-6938
Lisa Fagan Toy Coordinator 703-331-5626

>>> DRUNK TANK, DRUG COURT, hospitality training AND REDSKINS

This past Tuesday the board of supervisors considered reversing a long held policy against serving alcohol (wine, beer and spirits) in the public parks and public libraries. I strongly condemned the move to lift the "no alcohol" policy. The board narrowly rejected the measure five "no" to four "yes".

The board of supervisors voted 7 yes, Delgaudio opposed to the funding proposal for a Drug Court for 235,000 dollars in federal grant money that will have to be replaced with county tax payer dollars in the future. I felt it was untested and a go soft on criminals measure and an abolition of rights to a trial by jury since accused parties would be handed over to a judge under the "Drug Court" program. I compared the Drug Court to the $800,000 drunk tank for people charged with being publicly drunk rather than arresting them and putting them in jail.

The county awarded $156,000 in state tourist money (taxes charged on visitors) to the Hallowed Ground Journey program after they publicly testified they were not asking for money previously. I was joined in my "no" vote by Buckley, York and Waters. The money goes to hospitality training for 4,000 workers. There is no details on how this would all be accomplished.

The county rejected a proposal by the Redskin Football organization to promote Loudoun County and also rejected a proposal for a future Redskins Hall of Fame. I felt that for the first time in 9 years as a supervisor, the county was heeding my frequent calls to fill hotel rooms and attract real middle class and business crowds to Eastern Loudoun. Five supervisors voted "no" to both ideas: Sally Kurtz, Jim Burton, Stevens Miller, Kelly Burke, and Andrea McGimsey.

I think the proposal by the Redskins was extremely professional, well thought through and beneficial to the county. Business leaders were enthusiastic and the program would result in additional revenues to county businesses from thousands of tourists who attend the annual training camp and other events.