By Judith Shamir: Donald Trump has always made it abundantly clear that his choice for the Supreme Court would be someone who, like him, is staunchly determined to overturn abortion rights as well as many other civil and human rights.…
Fairfax County struggles with high level of hoarding
By Susan Laume: Imagine sitting on your porch enjoying the gentle breeze of a pleasant summer evening… then being driven inside by odors when your neighbor opens his garage door… He’s a hoarder. What can be done? That’s a difficult…
Trump is out of step with Republican voters on environmental protection
By Vivian Thomson: My mother, who passed away in May at the age of 100, was a lifelong Republican. But she was also a conservationist and environmentalist who was deeply concerned about climate change. She could not abide pollution and…
Fairfax NAACP Recognized as Best Branch in USA
By M. J. O’Brien: The Fairfax County NAACP has been named the top branch in the country by the national organization. The branch will receive the prestigious Thalheimer Award, given annually to the branch with the most outstanding achievements, next week…
Review group questions police role in Fairfax schools
By Brad Swanson: What should be the role of cops in schools? Should armed police officers even be allowed in schools? These were among the issues that rose to the surface in a tense meeting Monday night of a community…
Photo Essay: Neighbor-to-Neighbor kicks off in Mason District
Sunday was a beautiful day to get together with neighbors, knock on doors and encourage people to vote for Democrats in November. It was the kick off of Mason District’s new “Neighbor-to-Neighbor” civic engagement campaign designed for neighbors to talk…
Right-wing funders pursue radical agenda at GMU
By Sheldon Friedman, reviewing Democracy in Chains: Nancy MacLean’s powerful book, Democracy in Chains, focuses on the decades-long alliance between billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and radical right-wing economist James Buchanan—set largely against the backdrop of George Mason University. Fueled by…
Time to change the role of police in Fairfax County public schools
By Kofi Annan: We have the opportunity in Fairfax County to change the role of police officers in public schools – to reduce the possibility of racial profiling and make policies more transparent and accountable to parents. The need for…
Photo Essay: Thousands rally to bring families together
Tens of Thousands of demonstrators rallied Saturday in Washington, D.C. to protest the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy and separating children from their parents. On a sweltering day in the capital, the crowd gathered at Lafayette Square across from the White…
Wexton ahead of Comstock by 10 points in new Monmouth poll
Jennifer Wexton is leading U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock among all potential voters by 10 points, 49 to 39, with 12 percent undecided or supporting someone else in Virginia’s CD-10 race, according to a Monmouth University poll released Tuesday, June 26. Half of the…
Jennifer Wexton draws stark contrasts with Comstock on issues
By Karen Kirk: “With Donald Trump in the White House, Scott Pruitt heading the EPA, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education and Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, I am very concerned about how much damage is going to be done…
Fighting for democracy and the soul of our country
By Karen Kirk: These are dark times for democracy. That was the theme of a few speakers at Saturday’s Women’s Summit 2018 who encouraged progressive activists to pull out all the stops to turn the U.S. House and Senate blue…
It’s cruel but not unusual for Virginia to execute the seriously mentally ill
By Paul O’Shea: The last person executed in Virginia was mentally ill. Yet Virginia, which has executed more people than any state except Texas, has no law protecting the mentally disabled from capital punishment. It’s time to change that. When…
School Board votes to make sex ed more LGBTQ inclusive
By Karen Kirk: The Fairfax County School Board Thursday night approved changes to the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum that are more inclusive of LGBTQ students, thwarting opposition from a national right-wing media campaign. The proposed changes include using the…