Thursday, May 16, 2013
Holland worked for the Washington Examiner before taking his new position with McKay's office.
Although he's no longer the person wielding the voice recorder or the pen and notepad, Taylor Holland — the new chief of staff for Supervisor Jeff McKay — is still a journalist at heart. Born in Florida, Holland said his family moved to Atlanta where he spent his high school years. He attended University of Alabama where he earned a degree in journalism. Before covering Northern Virginia news for the Washington Examiner, Holland previously reported for the Selma Times-Journal and the Tuscaloosa News in Alabama and takes his new position after Mike McClanahan held the position for a little more than a year. Three weeks into his new position, Holland sat down with Patch to discuss his experiences, local projects and what he's looking forward…
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Childcare Assistance and Referral program provides tuition assistance on a sliding fee scale for working families with low to moderate income in the Fairfax County area.
During the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, the board passed a joint matter concerning the sliding fee scale for the county's Childcare Assistance and Referral program. Supervisors Jeff McKay and Cathy Hudgins and Chairman Sharon Bulova were joined on this matter. The board has agreed to send a letter addressed to Dr. William A. Hazel, secretary of health and human resources, expressing their concerns about the possible changes in the sliding fee scale for Fairfax County. For more than 15 years, Fairfax County has had a waiver from the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) to use a local sliding fee scale, instead of the state fee scale to determine parents' childcare co-payment. The fee scale, specific to the …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Democratic gubernatorial candidate laid out platform at George Mason's Arlington campus.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe said Thursday he would push to reform the state's Standards of Learning, or SOL, tests if he is elected in November. "The current, once-a-year, high-stakes, multiple-choice testing isn't working for students, parents or teachers," he told a crowd of more than 300 people at George Mason University's Arlington campus, to rousing applause. Under the current system, a fifth-grade teacher who raises a child from a first-grade reading level to a fourth-grade reading level is considered a failure, he said. Teachers who want to break up the test into smaller portions, or test at different levels based on student achievement should be encouraged, he said. McAuliffe also said he would establish a "…
ABC News: About half as many Virginians vote in gubernatorial elections as in presidential years.
Anyone familiar with Terry McAuliffe knows he can tell a good story. The story he told Thursday in Arlington, at George Mason's campus as he was wrapping up a five-day tour of the state, was about this past November. It was Election Day. McAuliffe, at the request of the campaigns of Barack Obama and Tim Kaine, was asked to head to a polling station in Henrico County, where voters were still waiting in a long line as darkness fell. He said he went there and handed out coffee, hot chocolate and hand warmers. And everyone got to vote. And then he asked everyone in the room to mobilize for this year's election. [McAuliffe: Reform Virginia's Standards of Learning Tests] Turnout, often, is key. But now more than ever that isn't lost on Northern …
Presented by Patch, the theme is 'Fairfax Is Beautiful.'
UPDATE: The deadline for the first annual Celebrate Fairfax Photo Contest has been extended to May 15. Enter today! Your photo could be on display at Celebrate Fairfax! --- Are you a natural photographer or just enjoy capturing snapshots of the world around you? Celebrate Fairfax is looking for the best photographs of the natural beauty of Fairfax County and announces their 1st annual Photo Contest! In order to enter, you must submit a photo of something beautiful you see in nature around Fairfax County. You have until May 1 to get your entry in! Let the county be your inspiration — the top 75 entries submitted will be displayed during the Celebrate Fairfax! Festival, which will be held June 7-9. Individuals will compete in one of two …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority officials say despite high number, sequestration will cause job growth to slow down.
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) helped bring more than 1,400 jobs from 27 different companies during the first quarter of 2013. Salient Federal Solutions, a company that provides information techonology support to government and commercial customers, created the most opportunity countywide, adding 530 jobs in Fairfax, FCEDA officials said Friday. “In today’s environment, any business growth is remarkable,” FCEDA President and CEO Jerry Gordon said in a statement. But the number of new jobs was still down from the first quarter of 2012, when the FCEDA worked with 46 different businesses to bring in nearly 2,000 jobs. Gordon told Patch the slowdown was caused by cold feet from business owners, who hesitated to grow…
A former police officer for airports authority claims she was wrongfully dismissed while others face little or not penalties for more egregious violations.
A former Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer filed suit in federal court earlier this year against the agency, alleging discrimination, retaliation and nepotism, and asserting that her 2012 dismissal has stymied her career. Attorneys for Isabel Smeal said in a recent interview that Smeal’s case demonstrates a sour atmosphere at MWAA that protects insiders and punishes those who question authority or the lack thereof. “It is our belief that the culture of being opaque and not listening to employees is agency-wide and has leaked into the police department as well,” said Michael L. Vogelsang Jr., one of Smeal’s attorneys. MWAA has come under investigation for some of the practices of its administration and board, and in…
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Holland worked for the Washington Examiner
Taylor Holland, formerly of the Washington Examiner, has been hired as the chief of staff for Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay. Holland covered Northern Virginia, and was formally hired on April 2. “Taylor will be a tremendous asset to our Lee District team and I am glad to have him on board,” said McKay in a press release. Holland, who takes the job from Mike McClanahan (who held the position for just over a year) previously reported for the Selma Times-Journal and the Tuscaloosa News in Alabama. He received his degree in journalism from the University of Alabama. “I’m very grateful for this opportunity,” said Holland. “This is an exciting time for Lee District and South County, especially with construction of the Springfield Town …
The Virginia Republican Party will nominate its candidates during a convention in two weeks, and some experts have weighed in on the system.
When Virginia’s Republican Party made a last-minute decision to nominate candidates for the 2013 election in a convention instead of a primary, as originally planned, it prompted Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling to withdraw his name from the race for governor. The move made the especially conservative Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s current attorney general, the GOP’s de facto nominee for governor. He's expected to be officially nominated during the Virginia Republican Convention on May 17 and 18 in Richmond. (See our guide to the convention right here.) See Also: Poll: Does the Virginia GOP Convention Represent True Democracy? Bolling said he dropped out of the race because he didn’t agree with the convention system, arguing that it made the nomination …
Monday, May 6, 2013
McDonnell recently wrote a letter addressed to the director of the FBI and the acting administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration.
In a recent letter, Gov. Bob McDonnell urged FBI Director Robert S. Mueller and U.S. General Services Administration Acting Administrator Dan M. Tangherlini to carefully consider the GSA Warehouse located in Springfield for the FBI's relocation. McDonnell wrote: We know that as you seek to save over $44 million in lease payments per year, locating the FBI headquarters at the GSA-owned warehouse property will allow the FBI to save the expense of purchasing a considerable parcel of land. Because the GSA owns the warehouse property, the transaction mechanism that guarantees federal government ownership of the campus is both clean and easy. Finally, the GSA Warehouse property satisñes Interagency Security Committee guidelines for Level V …
