After eight years and more than $20 million in cost overruns, the trouble-plagued upgrade of Loudoun County’s aging financial management systems encountered more problems in a critical test last week.
The Washington Post, August 6, 2017
Tag: Loudoun County
Loudoun Museum is straightening out finances
One year after the Loudoun Museum faced the possibility of having to close because of the potential loss of county funding, museum officials say they have taken the necessary first steps to straighten out the organization’s finances.
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors directed the museum’s trustees to make fundraising a top priority, officials said. So in May, the trustees hired Leslie Mazeska, who has a professional background in fundraising and grant-writing for nonprofit organizations, as the museum’s executive director.
The Washington Post, July 30, 2017
Loudoun board approves salary increase
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 4 Thursday to approve a salary increase of about 62 percent for its members, a raise that will take effect after the next election.
The Washington Post, July 23, 2017
Loudoun Supervisors consider raising Board salaries
A proposal to increase the salaries of members of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors drew little opposition at a public hearing Wednesday evening.
The three members of the public who spoke at the hearing said they supported higher pay for the board. The only objections to the raises — which would take effect when a new board is seated in January 2020 — came from supervisors who expressed concerns about the amount of the increases and the timing of the proposal.
The Washington Post, July 16, 2017
Science Center finds home in Loudoun
When visitors enter the Children’s Science Center, they are greeted by two distinct sides of the small museum.
To the left is the Experiment Bar, where children conduct science experiments, assisted by family members, staff members and volunteers. To the right, mounted on the wall, is an enormous periodic table of elements showing the names of the museum’s major benefactors.
The Experiment Bar is one of the most popular features of the center, which offers interactive scientific activities for children and their families. The element wall honors the donors who helped open the center, marketing director Dorothy Ready said.
The Washington Post, July 9, 2017
Solutions sought for Rt. 15 congestion
About 100 people gathered in Leesburg on Monday evening at the first of three public input sessions to discuss potential solutions to alleviate traffic congestion on Route 15 north of town.
Loudoun County officials scheduled the meetings to gauge public reaction to a consultant’s recommendations for reducing traffic backups. Participants met in small groups to discuss possible solutions and to offer their priorities for the highway corridor between Leesburg and the Potomac River bridge at Point of Rocks.
The Washington Post, July 1, 2017
Board approves controversial contract for inmate medical care
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved a two-year, $4.7 million contract with Correct Care Solutions to provide medical and psychiatric services to inmates at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
The Nashville-based company has been providing those services at the jail for more than a decade. However, several supervisors expressed frustration with the selection process, saying they had little choice but to stay with the current provider, even though two competing firms submitted proposals with lower price tags.
Supervisors also questioned whether the process of reviewing the proposals had been tainted because Correct Care Solutions has made campaign contributions to Sheriff Michael L. Chapman (R), who is responsible for overseeing the contract.
The Washington Post, June 25, 2017
New business promotes artists with autism
Brightly colored paintings decorate the home of Harish and Sandhya Bikmal, an Ashburn couple with two teenage sons.
Their older son, Saket, 17, is a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. Himal, 15, who will attend Briar Woods High School in the fall, was diagnosed with profound autism when he was 2.
As Himal’s parents came to terms with his diagnosis, they worried about his future.
The Washington Post, June 18, 2017
Historical marker for Ashburn School
Less than nine months after vandals defaced the Ashburn Colored School by spray-painting it with racist graffiti, a Virginia historical marker has been installed near the front entrance of the gleaming white building.
The marker came about through the efforts of a group of seventh-grade students at Farmwell Station Middle School who selected it as a project for their social studies class in the fall. They cleared hurdles at local and state levels to obtain grant funding for the marker and win approval from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, which installed the marker Monday.
The Washington Post, June 11, 2017
Uncertain future for Round Hill jam sessions
On the last Friday of every month, musicians converge on the Old Furniture Factory in Round Hill, toting stringed instruments of all sizes, from mandolins to upright basses. Before long, they are standing in small clusters, picking and singing, filling the room with strains of bluegrass and old-time country music.
For 14 years, the informal sessions have attracted singers, instrumentalists and fans from the Washington area and beyond. But the future of the jams is uncertain. The Old Furniture Factory is for sale, and bluegrass enthusiasts fear the music will end when the building changes hands.
The Washington Post, June 4, 2017