Monday, April 29, 2013
Patch is happy to consider opinion articles for publication. We reserve the right to edit for accuracy, clarity and brevity.
The following opinion column was submitted by U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. Moran is a member of the Congressional Autism Caucus. We recognize the month of April as Autism Awareness and Understanding month. Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is the fastest growing serious developmental disorder in the United States, affecting nearly two million Americans. One in 88 children is on the autism spectrum by age 8, and boys are five times more likely to have an ASD. A new survey by the Centers for Disease Control indicates that the instance of ASD may actually be higher. And here in Northern Virginia, we are experiencing the prevalence of ASD firsthand. Arlington Public Schools released a report showing a 52 percent increase in enrollment of …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
The Virginia lawmaker introduced the measure on Earth Day, saying the fee would reduce littering and encourage use of reusable bags.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th District) on Monday introduced a measure that would impose a 5-cent fee on plastic and paper bags at grocery and retail stores in the commonwealth. The fees would go toward supporting the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Trash Reduction Act of 2013 is modeled after a policy implemented in 2009 in Washington, DC. Montgomery County, Md., also has a similar policy. The number of single-use plastic bags in D.C. dropped from the 2009 monthly average of 22.5 million to just 3 million per month by the end of 2010, according to a news release from the lawmaker's office. The Land and Water Conservation Fund Program provides matching grants to states and local governments for the acquisition and development of public …
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Longtime Virginia congressman moving back to the same Alexandria neighborhood where he launched his political career more than 30 years ago.
U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th) is returning to live in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, the same community where he launched his political career more than 30 years ago. “It’s about coming home,” said Moran, who announced he was moving to Del Ray at Monday’s Del Ray Business Association luncheon. “I’ve always appreciated the way the community embraced me as a single father and supported me when I first ran for council in 1979 coming out of the Del Ray Citizens Association.” Moran, who served as mayor of Alexandria from 1985 to 1990, is currently living in Arlington County’s Shirlington neighborhood. The 12-term congressman, who also represents Falls Church, said his son, Patrick, recently moved out of the apartment, leaving Moran on …
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran recently introduced legislation that would study the extension of Metrorail into Centreville, Woodbridge and the Richmond Highway corridor.
Pipe dream or forward-thinking? Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th district) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th district), who represents Falls Church, have introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would authorize studying Metrorail's possible expansion beyond Vienna into Centreville and other areas of Northern Virginia. The Northern Virginia Metrorail Extension Act (H.R. 907), which is now before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, specifically cites the idea of extending the Orange line into Centreville. It also proposes studying the possibility of extending the yellow line along the Route One corridor and the blue line along the I-95 corridor to Woodbridge. “Residents in Prince William and western Fairfax …
Monday, February 25, 2013
Sequestration could affect every traveler at airports nationwide, say U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine speaking from Reagan National Airport Monday.
Federal sequestration could mean fewer flights and increased wait times at airports, Virginia lawmakers said Monday. Further, it threatens to close small- to mid-sized airports across the country. The massive, indiscriminate spending cuts Congress put in motion to force a budget compromise would cut $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration if they go into effect Friday. Jobs on the Line Under sequestration, the FAA would have to furlough employees for 11 days — with as much as 10 percent of its workforce furloughed on any given day — and the agency would be unable to hire replacements for the 30 percent of its workers eligible to retire. Up to 2,200 air traffic controllers would be furloughed, forcing airports to reduce the …
Friday, February 22, 2013
Falls Church resident Robert Foster—like many of his co-workers—is cutting back on spending as the March 1 deadline for sequestration approaches.
When Northrop Grumman moved its headquarters to Falls Church more than a year ago, Robert Foster moved with his job from California. He had heard jobs inside the Beltway were pretty safe, but with the threat of billions of dollars in federal cuts coming March 1 if Congress doesn't quit its squabbling and reach a budget compromise, Foster is already cutting his personal spending. He is not buying as much clothing. He is eating out less. The new car he wanted will just have to wait. So, the retail stores don't have his business, the restaurants where he eats suffer, the dealership where he would have taken his business keeps another unsold car on its lot. “I think everyone in harm's way is trying to spend a little less,” Foster said Thursday…
Friday, February 8, 2013
Northern Virginia NORML chapter would like to see marijuana laws handled on the state level, not the Federal level.
Howard “Cowboy” Wooldridge, a former police officer who is now a national lobbyist for repealing marijuana laws, turned his beliefs into a T-shirt that he proudly wears everywhere: “Cops Say Legalize Pot. Ask Me Why.” Wooldridge wore the shirt Thursday night when speaking to more than 20 people at the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) meeting in Falls Church. For the last 15 years—the last eight full time—Wooldridge, a retired 18-year police veteran in Michigan, has traveled the country spreading his opinions that the prohibition of marijuana should be repealed. Some NORML members at the meeting shared Wooldridge’s thoughts on the issue. “The national polls say 54 percent of the…
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Connolly writes letter to Postmaster General, asking for legal justification; cites study that says reducing mail volume will lead to revenue loss of $5.2 billion in first year.
Stopping the mail on Saturdays? Not so fast say two members of the Northern Virginia congressional delegation. Northern Virginia's U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-8th) and U.S. Rep Gerald Connolly (D-11th) expressed concern Wednesday afternoon about the U.S. Postal Service's announcement that it plans to suspend delivery of first-class mail service on Saturdays beginning in August. The USPS released a fact sheet Wednesday. “I have great concerns about eliminating Saturday mail delivery," Moran wrote in an email to Patch. "The Postal Service is grappling with major forces outside of its control: an economy increasingly relying on email and the Internet for communication, and a Congress that refuses to address the redundant pension pre-funding …
Monday, February 4, 2013
What will it mean for the Northern Virginia economy?
Sequestration — $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts to defense and civilian programs over the next decade — will likely happen and it will mean thousands of layoffs, program eliminations and near-certain economic devastation for Northern Virginia, said Virginia Congressmen Jim Moran (D-8th) and Gerry Connolly (D-11th) on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Mount Vernon. "You need to be aware that this is probably going to happen," said Moran, who spoke at an annual meeting conducted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland. "It's a democracy and things will ultimately play themselves out, but things are not going well right now (in Congress)." Congress averted the fiscal cliff crisis at the beginning of the year, and …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Activist who released Patrick Moran video would not cooperate with investigation, according to police.
Patrick Moran, the congressman's son who was caught on tape seemingly giving advice on how to skirt voter identification laws, will not face any criminal charges, the Arlington County Police Department announced Thursday. Authorities have concluded their three-month investigation into election offense allegations against Moran, son of U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat who represents parts of Northern Virginia. The allegations stemmed from a video released in late October by conservative activist James O'Keefe, whose methods and productions have been called into question in the past. The younger Moran resigned from his father's reelection campaign within hours of the video's release. Moran, 23, lives in South Arlington. Patrick Moran and his …
Mises
1:56 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
You said that when you drink, you "feel like crap the next morning and typically black out." In terms of cheeseburgers, I was referring to the possible long-term health risks associated with each item, not the immediate high they produce. Unhealthy eating habits are actually more deadly than using drugs...statistics show that more people die prematurely from eating unhealthy and not exercising … more ›