By Richard Cramond: The top personal concern for Fairfax County senior Democrats is healthcare, with environment number two, according to a survey by the Senior Affairs/Advocacy Committee of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC). The survey in July went to almost 1,000 FCDC members aged 50 or more, of whom about 1/3 responded. Health care was overwhelmingly selected as top…
Category: Social Issues
Longterm No.Va immigrants in TPS program face expulsion
By Brad Swanson: Organized labor and allies rallied Saturday morning against Trump Administration plans to deport an estimated 20,000 protected status immigrants from northern Virginia. “This is a cruel and vicious attack on families,” said Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO. Many of these immigrants have been in the USA for a generation and have sunk deep roots…
Trump threat to reverse air quality gains risks thousands of lives in No.VA and elsewhere
By Vivian Thomson: Tens of thousands of Americans – including several hundred in northern Virginia – are spared from premature death by power plant air pollution limits that are under threat in the Trump Administration, according to a recent study by my University of Virginia research team. We wondered what might happen if the Trump Administration abandons two Clean Air…
Virginia could put the ERA over the top
By Linda Sperling: (Ed. Note: The author is a Democratic candidate for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Springfield District) The Equal Rights Amendment could finally become law in 2019, if the Virginia legislature ratifies it. The amendment needs approval from 38 states to become effective, and 37 have done so already. As most people know, the ERA would ensure that…
Sex trafficking: a mother’s story
By Wallicia Gill and Brad Swanson: Part II of a three-part special report on teen sex trafficking in northern Virginia. Part I gave background on the problem. Read it here. Janet B. has lived through a nightmare that no parent who has not experienced it can imagine: her teenage daughter Sophie (the family’s names have been changed) was trapped into…
Fairfax Democrats explore racism within their party
By Brad Swanson: Fairfax Democrats looked inward on Wednesday night – and were not too happy with what they saw. About 60 members of the Fairfax Democratic Committee (FCDC) attended a Racial Equity Workshop and most gave their party low grades on a self-evaluation for racism. Nevertheless, the Dems ended the evening on an upbeat assessment, recognizing that the first…
Time for Dems to reclaim mantle of patriotism
By Holly Hazard: PHILADELPHIA — Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu gave a rousing speech urging Democrats to reclaim the mantle of patriotism from the Republican Party this past weekend at The Arena Summit, a symposium designed to train progressive grassroots activists and political candidates that several Fairfax Democrats attended. Landrieu said it’s the Democrats who support workers, children, community,…
Virginia could be the 38th state to ratify the ERA
By Susan Laume: Virginia’s vote could be the last state vote needed to allow the United States Congress to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would become the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. VAratifyERA Sunday — Women’s Equality Day — kicked off a campaign to press Virginia lawmakers to approve the amendment in January by holding screenings around Virginia…
Fairfax Democrats prepare to challenge themselves on race
By Sean Perryman: Following the election of Donald Trump, the Democratic Party at both the local and national level continues to grapple with race and the role it should or shouldn’t play in its platform and organizing. In that vein, on September 12th, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) will hold a Racial Equity Workshop for its membership. The workshop…
Suffragist memorial in Fairfax County halfway to funding goal
By Diane Weeks: A new memorial in southern Fairfax County celebrating the courage of suffragists under brutal treatment by prison guards at Occoquan Workhouse (later known as Lorton Reformatory) is halfway to its funding goal, and on track for completion by August 2020 – the 100 year anniversary of women’s voting rights in the USA. The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial…
ICE has no place in Fairfax County public schools, says school board member
By Karen Keys-Gamarra: No parent should ever have to fear that sending a child to school is risking immigration enforcement. In fact, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency better known as ICE, has no place in Fairfax County public schools. This view is reflected in the revised agreement between the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and the Fairfax County…
Special Report: The reality of teen sex trafficking in northern Virginia
By Wallicia Gill and Brad Swanson: FIRST IN A 3-PART SERIES Teen sex trafficking in northern Virginia happens every day, but most people know very little about this horrific crime, even though experts say that our region is a hotspot and the practice is growing. Scare stories are easy to come by. But hard data is hard to find. How…
Hoarding hurts animals, too
By Susan Laume: Hoarders don’t restrict their obsession to inanimate objects. In Fairfax County – a “hot spot” for hoarding, as we reported previously — animals have been freed from hoarders on numerous occasions. Fairfax County’s worst animal hoarding case on record was in 2005, when 500 cats were confiscated, according to Animal Protection Police Officer Sgt, Alena Swartz. However,…
Netroots Nation Day 3: A bold vision for our country
By Diane Weeks: NEW ORLEANS — The Netroots Nation Conference wrapped up its third and final day Sunday with rousing speeches, planned and unplanned, from elected officials, political hopefuls, and spontaneous protestors. And the big reveal – Netroots Nation 2019 will be July 11-13 in Philadelphia, Pa. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio laid out a vision for the country…