Wednesday, April 24, 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-Va.) 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 DC 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 outdoor …
Monday, April 8, 2013
Sequestration has impacted them, and more redevelopment options are needed.
The Bureau of Land Management's long-awaited decision on the Environmental Assessment for the aging stables at its The Stables At the Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area has been scrapped. The decision to seek alternative development options was revealed to the public Monday morning at the office of Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerry Hyland, who hosted U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8th), BLM executives, barn manager Allison Mills and barn supporters. "We've looked at the coming fiscal reality and determined that those three options in the EA (Environmental Assessment) are not enough," said BLM spokesman Bob Gillcash. "Hopefully we are no longer contained to option A, B or C. We're really looking for D, E, F and G, maybe H. We want …
Monday, April 1, 2013
Barn manager Allison Mills' business is going to stay.
The horse boarding program at the Meadowood Special Recreation Area will survive for at least another year. Barn manager Allison Mills signed a one-year lease for the Bureau of Land Management's Stables At Meadowood last Friday and is no longer tied down to her previous contract, which limited the number of horses allowed on the property to 15, as the Bureau makes its long-awaited final determination on future barn renovations. Mills was down to 15 horses at the barn, and has a waiting list of 34 horses. It will take several months to introduce the animals to their new home. "BLM has made every extraordinary effort to accommodate the community desire and the needs of the on-site businesses at the barn," said Mills to Patch. "And it's …
Friday, March 1, 2013
The March 1 deadline for sequestration is here.
Northern Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connolly (D-11th) and Jim Moran (D-8th) said Friday Congress is "dysfunctional," as the midnight deadline on sequestration steadily approached. President Barack Obama formally enacted the $85 billion spending cuts a few hours before Friday's midnight deadline. "It's a dysfunctional Congress," said Moran, who spoke with Patch at a ribbon-cutting Friday in Lorton. "I think it ill-serves the people of the United States today. It's very frustrating, very disappointing. It's an institution that is not serving its functions." Connolly does not expect a last-minute compromise on $1.2 trillion in debt reduction, and the U.S. military will be forced to cut $46 billion and domestic defense spending will be cut …
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, 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 …
Monday, January 21, 2013
... and who would he support in 2016?
U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., talks to Patch about why President Barack Obama doesn't get a honeymoon this time, obstruction in the House of Representatives, sequestration and other topics at the Virginia Inaugural Ball. More: Virginia Inaugural Ball: 'You Can't Help But Feel Optimistic' Photos: Virginia Inaugural Ball
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Officials from Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties met in Arlington to discuss six potential sites Thursday.
Local, state and congressional leaders met Thursday in Arlington to discuss six potential sites for a new FBI headquarters and to present a unified front in their commitment to landing the new federal complex somewhere in Northern Virginia. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, who called the meeting, said leaders from Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties had a "singular focus" in bringing the FBI headquarters to the Old Dominion. "We're all committed to finding a home for the FBI in the commonwealth of Virginia," Moran said during a news conference following the meeting. "We are all going to promote Virginia as the best place for this relocation." Arlington's role was simply as host. It has not put forth any potential sites …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Congressman says measure puts Northern Virginia 'on the chopping block.'
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday night passed HR 8, the Tax Relief Extension Act, a permanent extension of many Bush-era tax cuts by a vote of 257 to 167. The late-night vote was taken at 10:57 p.m. The legislation keeps the Bush era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and couples making less that $450,000. It also makes permanent the fixes for the Alternative Minimum Tax and delays government spending cuts for two months. Here's the breakdown of Northern Virginia's votes Tuesday on the so-called "fiscal cliff" legislation, which the Senate passed early Tuesday morning: The legislation came to a vote in the House Tuesday night after it was passed by the Senate in the early hours Tuesday morning. Webb and Warner …
Monday, December 24, 2012
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," the NRA's Wayne LaPierre said.
In an Friday morning press conference, the Fairfax-based National Rifle Association broke its weeklong silence following the horrific shooting of 26 people at a school in Newtown, Conn., and called for a surge of gun-carrying "good guys" around American schools. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre called for a new kind of American domestic security revolving around armed civilians, arguing that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." "We care about our president, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents," LaPierre said. "Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by Capitol Police officers. Yet, when it comes to our most beloved, innocent, and vulnerable members of the American …
T Ailshire
5:22 pm on Sunday, April 28, 2013
First - if it's a tax, it should be a tax on everyone. No exemptions; no subsidies. ALL or nothing. What is a good way? Pick them up. Don't just let it blow by you in the parking lot or on the street -- do YOUR part. And yes, I do use cloth bags. more ›