Editorial: Sea Changes in Policing?
Report offers blueprint for transforming aspects of policing, jail and services for people with mental illness.
Yesterday, for the first time in the history of Fairfax County Police Department, a Fairfax County Police officer was charged in a shooting death.
Column: B.D. Versus A.D.
If my experiences as a cancer patient/ “terminal” “diagnosee” are at all typical, then the following generalization might in fact be true: certain situations and/or feelings that were once tolerated before diagnosis are nearly impossible to tolerate after diagnosis: traffic, waiting in lines, rudeness, compromise, sacrifice, delayed/deferred gratification, to list just a few. Life becomes so much more precious, that wasting some of it – or the perception of wasting some of it – on unpleasant, unrewarding, aggravating, stressful, menial tasks, obligations, duties, etc. becomes almost too much to bear; on a consistent basis, anyway.
Editorial: 'Our Community Deserves Better'
Strongly worded recommendations for police on transparency and public trust; FCPD has miles to go.
Outrage over the shooting death of John Geer of Springfield on Aug. 29, 2013, by a Fairfax County Police officer led the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to form of the Ad Hoc Police Practice Review Commission, which began meeting in March 2015. The Communications Subcommittee was the first to give recommendations to the full commission, and the report pulled no punches.
Column: Back on Track
Having reread last week’s column a time or two now, I’ve realized that I neglected to update you regular readers – especially those of you who read my most recent pre- and post-scan columns: “Abyssful” Ignorance and Scant Know For Sure Anymore – on the previous week’s scan results. Once again, I have defied the odds – maybe statistics would be a better word?
Column: On A Tangent
Not that I live day-to-day or even month-to-month, but I do live – in my head anyway – quarter-to-quarter; that interval representing the usual and customary time between my recurring diagnostic scans. The time when the rubber hits my road.
Column: 'Abyssful' Ignorance
Hopefully not. But you never know – per last week’s column, until you know. And the preferred pattern seems to be that waiting to be spoken to in person, a week or so post-scan, is the best the process can be; or at least, that’s the process that suits the doctor/HMO.
Editorial: What’s Special about Your Community?
Share tips in upcoming Newcomers and Community Guides.
The Connection’s annual Newcomers and Community Guides will publish Aug. 26. A bevy of interns, plus staff writers and editors, are preparing this year’s editions, but we need help from our readers.
Column: 'Scant' Know For Sure Anymore
After six years, four months and two weeks since being diagnosed with stage IV, non-small cell lung cancer (the “terminal” kind), I can say with certainty that I have no sense of what my next CT scan, scheduled for July 15th, will indicate. Previously (multiple scans over multiple years), I’ve felt something in my upper chest/lungs where the largest tumors are located and the subsequent scan showed nothing of consequence.
Editorial: Backpacks for All
Thousands of students will begin school this fall at a disadvantage; help now so they have the basics.
The first day of school each year is fraught with anticipation and anxiety. Many local students will be concerned about what they wear, who they will see, what it will be like. They’ve already had multiple shopping trips, online and otherwise, to be sure they have the supplies and extras they need.
Column: My Manifesto, Sort Of
Being diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer (no, they’re not all “terminal”) is “a heck of a thing,” to extrapolate a bit from Jim Valvano’s memorable 1993 ESPY Awards speech given a few months before he succumbed to his cancer.
Letter: Celebrating Marriage Equality
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: Today, we rejoice in the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the federal right of same sex partners to legal marriage in the cases of Obergefell v. Hodges, Tanco v. Haslam, DeBoer v. Snyder, Bourke v. Beshear.
Letter: Cooperative Spirit
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: The July 2-8, 2015 Springfield Connection article ("Coming Home to Queen of Peace") addressed an ongoing issue on how best to serve the needs of people in providing quality care services.
Editorial: Yes to Nonpartisan Redistricting
Politicians shouldn’t be choosing voters.
Virginia’s Congressional map is unconstitutional because African American voters are packed into District 3, according to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The problem will have to be remedied by drawing new boundaries.
Column: Quality of Life
Throughout my nearly six and a half years of cancer treatment, starting at the initial Team Lourie meeting on February 27, 2009, when my oncologist suggested I take that vacation I’ve always dreamed of (to which I exclaimed “WHAT!?”), my quality of life has always been important to him.
TJ Grad Hits Bulls Eye Against Lyme Disease
As a Thomas Jefferson High School student in 2010, Temple Douglas recognized the possibility for a better Lyme Disease test. Several members of her family had Lyme disease and “I recognized the need,” she said.