As a representative of the people of Fauquier County and the surrounding areas primarily served by Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC), I respectfully ask that the LFCC advisory board reconsider their decision to change the school's name. 

Recently on social media and in conversation with citizens, there has been speculation about the public library. Change needs to occur at the library, but the Library Board of Trustees (Board) is just beginning to research the potential scope of a library renovation and expansion project for the community.

One thing this past year has illustrated is the good that can be accomplished if we work together.  As a Community Foundation serving our Northern Piedmont region including Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison and Rappahannock, our goal is to strengthen our community resources through philanthropy.

Perhaps some have not read some of my commentaries in this newspaper about our precious  county and how it is, in fact, protected from the ravages of development that some warn might be our fate. For one, all the major roads depicted in the art I’ve attached (Routes 7, 50, 66, and 29) lead economic growth along those corridors, bypassing Rappahannock County (the star drawn) completely. 

I am writing in response to the wonderful article on the “hippie invasion,” written by Isaac Parish and published in last week’s edition. I was 14 or 15 when the hippies migrated to Rappahannock County in the early 70s. This occurrence had a significant impact on me, informing and influencing the trajectory of my life in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Many of the values expressed by the counter-cultural movement continue to resonate for me, some four decades later.

Can we accept a responsibility to protect this place, not just for us humans, but for our wild kin who were here first and whose habitat is increasingly diminished and threatened on all sides? Can our lives continue to be enriched by this close contact with nature if we unwittingly take part in its destruction — even if this destruction is ever so gradual? 

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer(s), not the Rapp News. Comment below or by writing a letter to the editor: editor@rappnews.com.

Remember, I’m not invested in whether the decision to release Vincent Martin was the right one or wrong one. And I’m not in a position to fully understand the procedures and policies that were or weren’t followed.

Mr. Maxwell’s criticism of the leadership of Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) is long on history but gets the fundamental question wrong. True, Lord Fairfax was a man of his time and cannot be fairly judged by today’s standards. But LFCC is a product of our times — it was founded in 1970, not 1770.

Follow Devin at @DevinSherwoodDraws

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer, not the Rapp News. Reply below or by writing a letter to editor: editor@rappnews.com.

In his presentation to the Rappahannock BOS last week, Ron Maxwell brilliantly refuted Mike Wenger’s claim in a recent Rappahannock News commentary that Lord Fairfax had, “left no significant contributions to the political development of colonial Virginia” [Feb. 25, 2021]. At that same meeting, LFCC President Kim Blosser said that, in part, the college’s students of today, and potential future students, have very little in common with Lord Fairfax, the man.

In a recent issue of the  Rappahannock News, I wrote an opinion piece in response to an attack on Supervisor Ron Frazier regarding his attendance at the huge Trump rally in the Ellipse park by the White House. Ron was being accused, without any evidence whatsoever, of being amongst that crowd of idiots who invaded the Capitol later that day. 

The time has come to draw a line. I have learned to eschew involvement in public debate because what currently passes for civil discourse is all too often anything but civil. I am especially reticent about commenting on matters pertaining to Judaism because it is my experience as a historian of Jewish descent that many people involved in these discussions do not appreciate the depth of historical Jewish suffering. Prima facie evidence of this issue can be seen in the growing tendency of commentators to use Jewish bodies as a currency for measuring an expressed sense of grievance.

The truth is that Lord Fairfax did work. As is well documented in the archives of the Commonwealth — he served as County Lieutenant and as Justice of the Peace.

The headlines can’t by themselves explain what’s been driving American politics. Always remember former House Speaker Tip O’Neil’s truism that “all politics is local.” So let’s look at America’s divisions narrowly, through a lens focused on how prominent politicians in our own congressional district have been dealing with the turmoil.

George Shultz, who passed away earlier this month at age 100, was a man about which any mother would be proud. He excelled in so many dimensions, and his strength of character was exemplary. 

After reading about the joint meeting of the School Board and the Board of Supervisors regarding the school budget (Feb 11), I suggest this paper investigate in greater depth the Local Composite Index (LCI), the calculation used by the state to allocate funding to school districts, and how it affects so adversely the funding provided by the state to Rappahannock’s schools.

How does “the newspaper” feel about (fill in the blank)? You will be hard pressed to know because “the newspaper” rarely writes editorials which express the newspaper’s viewpoint. That’s intentional: Why would you care what some newspaper thinks about anything?

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer, not the Rapp News. Reply below or by writing a letter to editor: editor@rappnews.com.

I am amazed at the energetic debate roused in our quiet county about changing the name of Lord Fairfax Community College. And gratified too — it shows how many of us love the college enough to have strong opinions about what is best for the students.

Rappahannock County Supervisor Frazier has every right to peacefully protest the results of the presidential election. Indeed, the history of my family would not permit me to affirm otherwise.

It is hard to understate the revulsion and anger I felt when reading the commentary “Some good must come of this” by Thomas G. Storch of Sperryville. In any partisan political debate, especially among friends and neighbors, there is a line that should not be crossed. Mr. Storch has crossed that line.

After several weeks of scrambling to get the COVID vaccine before current supplies give out, I got mine last Saturday at a Valley Health site in Winchester

Some months ago, I wrote an article for this paper and the next week a letter appeared in the paper saying that I had dipped my pen into the poison well of politics, or some such. Maybe that was true; maybe it wasn’t. I happen to have opinions and views about a large number of issues. Most of them I keep to myself. The one I write about today has been on my mind for some time.

With no evidence other than Mr. Frazier’s own account of attending the festive gathering at the Ellipse and the March to the Capitol along with 85,000 other Americans, Ms. Willis sinks to the lowest form of McCarthyism to imply that Ron Frazier was one of several hundred fringe radicals who attacked and ransacked the nation’s Capitol Building.

It is extremely painful to share the news that on the evening of January 13th, we lost a member of our Rappahannock and Wakefield community, Tony Huff. Coach Huff was our middle school assistant basketball coach as well as the varsity girls' and boys' basketball coach.

All too often these days, the good works of people trying to do their jobs get drowned out by the accusations, the innuendos, and the feverish atmosphere of the moment. Rather than see the negativity, I see the hard work and earnest endeavor to get construction underway and headed toward completion.

This is although Frazier’s potentially insurrectionist behavior is not even on the agenda. That’s because he has yet to account exactly for what he did that day, relying on surrogates to do the talking for him.

So was that all it was, Mr. Frazier just attending a peaceful speech and taking a civics lesson from Donald Trump? Or did Mr. Frazier respond to calls by Donald Trump made over several weeks to attend this event and march on the Capitol on that particular day to forcibly pressure Congress to reverse those democratically determined results? 

Why is a three-month siege of a federal court house [in Portland, Ore.], with scores of law enforcement wounded (some permanently), murders, rampant burning and looting, and that “CHOP” zone, labeled “peaceful protest,” but a couple-hundred people entering the Capitol is an “insurrection?”

There is ample evidence that there was some corruption of the recent voting processes, yet no evidence proven that it was enough to have overturned the election results.

Were Mr. Frazier ever to join us in the many hours it takes to ensure that every vote counts, he would not have challenged either Ms. McKiernan or Ms. [Denise] Chandler as to their integrity in the handling of any votes or voters in the county. 

So many of you have reached out — while the Capitol attack was going on and in the days since — to ask how I am and express your deep concern over what you saw happening. Rather than respond briefly to each, I thought I would write up my thoughts to share with you all.

The latest MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index Survey confirms that small businesses remain concerned about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.

As we look towards 2021, we’ve been reflecting on all the challenges and changes the past year has brought us. From cancelled Scouting activities, online merit badges, to virtual pack, den, and troop meetings, the COVID-19 pandemic this year has tested our limits and reaffirmed our values 

The late Phil Irwin has been fondly remembered and eulogized by nearly everyone here. Though he can’t speak tonight, we do know what he did say over the years. 

Our Rappahannock dark skies have been filled with a huge canopy of twinkling stars I continue to enjoy. How lucky we are to live in this magical place which, in this New Year 2021, seems to be filled with even more promise in what I consider the well deserved Rappahannock Recovery.

Sadly many Rappahannock residents in 2020 with COVID-19 have also had a horrible year. Let all pray, hope and wish that 2021 will be a “annus mirabilis” or wonderful year.

As 2020 mercifully winds to a close, we think of celebrations missed or postponed, unimagined cancellations, and time missed with friends and family. So many people have faced painful situations like illness, loss, economic instability, and mental health concerns. In short, 2020 has offered anything but clear vision.

Tailgaters, the bane of courteous drivers … how to cope? Apply for vanity license plate: BACK OFF (not available). Maybe U2CLOSE? Bingo! To clarify meaning, I have a bumper sticker. Top line: NO TAILGATING; bottom line: THE CLOSER YOU GET, THE SLOWER I GO … with caricature of impish turtle.

At Sunnyside, they’ve had a tremendous impact — running a consistently profitable organic vegetable operation; hiring, training and mentoring a remarkable cadre of farm staff; and implementing a comprehensive and rigorous set of regenerative agricultural practices that have improved the soil, enhanced biodiversity and reduced the farm’s carbon footprint. 

Say, in ordinary times, your grandmother was sick in the hospital and for family to visit they had to wear masks around her. Anyone who refused to do this would be laughed out of the room.

By the time this is printed, the votes will have been cast so it will not change any minds, but hopefully it will result in a better understanding of what it will take to get our economy back on track in a responsible way. 

Slavery was not “the fault” of the South. In fact, it was a northern enterprise, funded by northeastern interests. It produced Southern cotton for immense Northern profits.

Comment articles reflect the opinion of the writer, not the Rapp News. Reply below or by writing a letter to editor: editor@rappnews.com.