Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Williams-Sonoma in Reston Town Center to Close in January
2. Planned Reston Tower Still Seeking Tenants
3. Reston to Nearly Double in Size Over Next Quarter-Century
4. Darwin Martinez-Torres Pleads Guilty to Murder of Nabra Hassanen
5. Police: Reston Man Arrested After Firing His Handgun Into the Air

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

(Updated at 9 a.m. on Nov. 30) This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Amazon, which has made its way into just about every consumer’s home with its online goods and services, has announced that it is bringing its second headquarters — or at least half its east-coast headquarters — to Crystal City. The area — now being called “National Landing” — is actually in Arlington County. The other half of its headquarters, originally expected to be in one location, will be in Long Island City in Queens, New York.

There were few regrets in Virginia or the Washington, D.C. area at getting just half of the prize in the most competitive contest for an economic development project in recent times. Even half of the prize is expected to bring 25,000 top jobs to the region.

I attended the announcement of Amazon’s decision in an abandoned Crystal City warehouse that has in recent years fallen on hard economic times. The warehouse will be demolished to make room for the new HQ2. During Governor Ralph Northam’s remarks, I was thinking that we have truly reached a crossroads in economic development in the northern part of the Commonwealth. There will be little need for the structures like that warehouse.

Northern Virginia that includes Reston and Tysons Corner has fully moved into the arena of high technology and will be mentioned in the future as one of the centers of technological innovation in our country. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is just the latest of a long list of entrepreneurs who have seen the value of a NoVa location.

I am a skeptic of big pay-out deals that have been increasingly used by states and localities to lure companies to their locations. There seems to be almost unanimous agreement among economic development experts that Virginia may have pulled off one of the best deals they have seen in an economic development proposal in recent times.

There is cash to Amazon involved, but that cash is in the form of performance payments when Amazon reaches certain tiers of development and production of top-paying jobs. The math of the proposal shows that in the end, Virginia will be a substantial net winner from the economic activity coming from the new headquarters and supporting development and the new Virginia taxpayers it will include.

For many, the strength of the Virginia Amazon proposal goes beyond the location of a new headquarters. Governor Northam called Virginia’s efforts “a new model of economic development for the 21st century.” As he explained, most of Virginia’s partnership proposal consists of investments in education and transportation infrastructure “that will bolster the features that make Virginia so attractive: a strong and talented workforce, a stable and competitive business climate, and a world-class higher education system.”

The feature of the proposal that is getting the strongest kudos is the location of a billion-dollar extension of Virginia Tech that will offer graduate degrees in engineering, technology and innovation in the city of Alexandria. And yes, there will be transportation improvements to Metro and the highways to better accommodate the new residents who will be working at the new headquarters.

I believe Virginia was a really big winner in this announcement; even half the deal is certain to work to our region’s advantage!

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This story has been updated

This letter was submitted by Spencer Abraham. It does not reflect the opinions of Reston Now. We publish article and opinion contributions of specific interest to the Reston community. Contributions may be edited for length or content.

As a resident of McLean whose family owns a retail store in Reston, I was extremely excited to read the Nov. 21 article in Reston Now entitled “Crafthouse Donates Part of Bottled Beer Sales to California Wildfire Aid.”

The article indicated that Reston’s Crafthouse brewery was donating 10 percent of all bottled beer sales through Dec. 15 to aid in the cleanup of the areas that were destroyed by the recent wildfires in California.

Although my home is in Northern Virginia, I attend college at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. Fortunately, the area around my campus was not affected by the recent destruction, but we were close enough to smell the smoke from the fires and to understand, up close, just what damage had taken place.

A number of my friends from school live or have family members who live in the communities where the fires struck, and I know from them just how deadly they were and the incredible expense that will be incurred as the affected areas clean up after the infernos.

Therefore, it made me especially happy to read about the commitment made by Crafthouse and proud that businesses from my home area — a full continent from where the fires raged — were willing to help out. I salute Crafthouse and thank owner Evan Matz for his decision to help and the customers whose purchases and donations are providing the funds sent to California. Many thanks all around.

— Spencer Abraham

Photo via Crafthouse/Facebook

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Festivals of Thanksgiving have been celebrated throughout history with most centered around a time of harvest of food. Communities came together to support each other in the work of harvesting crops and to celebrate together the bounty of the fields. Early forms of religion gave significance to the harvesting process and to the gifts of their gods in providing sustenance to the people.

The official holiday of Thanksgiving as celebrated in America today has little resemblance to the early feasts. There are certainly foods that are associated with the holiday, but the attention to Thanksgiving today is divided among consumer sales specials, football games, and a prelude to the bigger holidays that follow later in the year.

President George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation to bring attention to the blessings the new country enjoyed. President Thomas Jefferson did not follow through probably believing it was too much like a religious act with which the government should not be involved. It was not until President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation to bring attention to the blessings the country had even during the Civil War that the tradition was revived and continues with some small tweaks to today.

The tradition of celebrating the harvest as a custom continued in many cultures and communities apart from the government naming it a holiday. The Commonwealth of Virginia celebrating its red-letter year of 1619 when the first representative assembly met in the new world and women and Africans were brought to the Virginia colony also points out that in 1619 an act of Thanksgiving took place at Berkeley Plantation on the James River when a new group of colonizers arrived. For many, what happened at Berkeley was the first English Thanksgiving in America and should be recognized as such. After all, the English on the James River in Virginia were celebrating a Thanksgiving before the Puritans left England for Massachusetts.

To learn more about Virginia’s plans to celebrate the “first” Thanksgiving and the other very significant events in a quadricentennial celebration of 1619, visit americanevolution2019.com.

Recognizing the long and multi-faceted celebrations of Thanksgiving, how can we cut through the commercialism of the holiday and give it meaning in today’s complex world? There is much that causes me and others a great deal of distress from our government’s loss of a moral compass to the rise in acts of hate to the hunger and poverty around the world. Within that, however, there are many wonderful people doing great deeds and communities of diverse people living together and looking out for each other in harmony and mutual respect.

Sharing foods as part of the tradition of Thanksgiving is good but should not be the end result. Thanksgiving offers a time for reflection. It can be less a time of acquiring or wishing for what we don’t have and more a time of appreciating what we do have. Find time to be grateful today. I am thankful for you!

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Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. With Amazon’s HQ2 Decision, A Windfall Expected for Reston, Northern Virginia
2. Dulles Toll Road Hikes to Start in January
3. Breaking: Boston Properties, Jackson’s Settle Lawsuit Over Paid Parking
4. Fairfax County Public Schools to Open Late Tomorrow
5. Breaking: Four Men Arrested After High Speed Chase

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

Photo courtesy Crystal City BID

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Thomas Jefferson’s election as President of the United States is referred to as a “bloodless revolution” because in the major shifts of power in world history it occurred without the violence that marked previous changes in who controlled government. While electing a president has caused some consternation over time, the rule of law has been followed rather than having a resort to physical engagement determine the outcome.

While I and others had hoped for a giant blue tsunami wave to occur with the outcome of the 2018 mid-terms elections, a more apt description of the outcome might be that a wave of blue change came upon the land. Leading that change was the first outcome announced by the media with the election of Democrat State Senator Jennifer Wexton to the House of Representatives defeating incumbent Republican Barbara Comstock by a landslide and flipped a district that had been Republican for nearly forty years. Not only did Congresswoman-elect Jennifer Wexton get an overwhelming share of the popular votes, but she assembled an army of volunteers like that seldom seen in elections. She won in the best tradition of the bloodless revolution with volunteers who carried her message door to door.

Downstate in Congressional District Seven an earlier voter revolution had swept the Republican House Majority leader out of office in a primary and replaced him with a true-blue Tea Party candidate. That candidate went on to win the general election only to find himself defeated this year by a first-time Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger. The incumbent Republican Dave Brat has spent most of the campaign seeming to dodge any engagement with Spanberger who would challenge his right-wing economic theories that had left most people shaking their heads to understand him.

Joining Wexton and Spanberger as winning Democratic candidates was Elaine Luria who won in District Two in the Virginia Beach area against former Navy Seal and incumbent Scott Taylor. In a district that has a strong military presence, Luria was able to flip the district from red to blue.

At the end of the evening of vote counting, Democrats that had been outnumbered in Virginia’s congressional delegation seven to four found themselves in a majority of seven to four. A state that was once considered red has Democrats not only in all of its statewide offices but now as seven of its congressional representatives. A congressional delegation that had only one woman ended with three.

In the Senate, former Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine who represents Virginia along with Senator Mark Warner in the United States Senate easily defeated a strong Trump advocate, Corey Stewart, by landslide numbers. The next step for Democratic gain comes with the state elections in 2019. With the State Senate and the House of Delegates being controlled by a single vote in each, it is reasonable to expect that the blue wave will continue throughout the state.

The shift in power in the U.S. House of Representatives was a bloodless revolution with a major shift in power. Looking ahead, the Senate seats up for election in 2020 could bring the tipping point.

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This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

If the 91 scientists from 40 countries who analyzed more than 6,000 scientific studies on climate change are to be believed, the dire consequences of climate change will be felt as soon as the next couple of decades, within the lifespan of most of the readers of this column.

Do exaggerated weather conditions of hotter temperatures, excessive rains and winds with more hurricanes and tornadoes, droughts over many years for some regions, wildfires covering thousands of acres as well as the death of the coral reefs and some wildlife sound familiar along with recurrent flooding and disappearance of some beaches? All of these are signs of climate change.

The warning from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the second in as many decades. Will it be heeded? Many policymakers will not be around to feel the consequences of inaction, but what about the old-fashioned notion that we have a responsibility for future generations including our own progeny? Should we try to save the planet for them? Any one action by an individual will not change the course we are on with changes to our climate, but the serious and collective actions on the part of most citizens have the potential to make a difference.

I have heard arguments from those who take a religious view of the issue that they do not believe that the god they worship as the creator of the world would let humankind destroy it. Could it be that the same God who gave humankind dominion over the planet would have an expectation that we would be good stewards of the resources and protect them?

I support a total reversal of the insane policies on climate change of the current federal administration. I abhor this administration’s policies and practices to ignore the clear warnings and to pursue environmental rules based on personal and corporate strategies to make a monetary profit or to gain votes from a constituency. As I discussed in this column in prior weeks, I plan to provide leadership on issues at the state level that will curtail and reverse actions furthering climate change.

Now it is up to us individually to live our lives in a way that shows our mindfulness of the effects of climate change and our willingness to make changes ourselves that will start to reverse the damage. As consumers, we need to reward businesses that pursue climate awareness policies and actions and to not deal with those whose manufacturing processes and actions contribute to climate change.

We need to buy energy from renewable sources even if may cost more. We need to live in such a way that enhances the health of the natural elements around us. We need to plant more trees that can have a great impact on greenhouse gases. We need to walk or bike more and drive internal combustion engine vehicles less.

Who’s in with me? Let’s prove the scientists wrong by changing the way we live in order to preserve our planet. If it is too late for you, what about your grandchildren and their children?

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Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Giant Food is Coming to Centreville Road in Herndon
2. Famous Toastery Coming to RTC West Early Next Year
3. Crime Roundup: Parking Lot Fight Ends in Arrest of Herndon Man
4. Photos: Demolition of Tall Oaks Village Center Underway
5. Reston Association Board Mulls Assessment Increase, Employee Benefits

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip. We’re also looking for photos of Reston submitted by readers.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

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Before we head off into the weekend (which finally feels like fall!), let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Some Members Decry Poor Upkeep of Hidden Creek Country Club
2. Decision on ‘Midline’ Delayed to November Again
3. Renovations Proposed for Sheraton Reston Hotel
4. CVS Pharmacy to Open in Reston Station
5. Final Vote on Residential Project at Reston Arboretum Expected Next Week

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip. We’re also looking for photos of Reston submitted by readers.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

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Before we head off into the weekend (which finally feels like fall!), let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Fairfax Real Estate Developer Accused of Multimillion-Dollar Real Estate Fraud in Herndon
2. Mile 20 Brings Beers On Tap to Downtown Herndon
3. Crime Roundup: Stranger Found in Reston Home
4. County Mulls Longterm Improvements to Fairfax County Parkway
5. Tuesday Morning Notes

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip. We’re also looking for photos of Reston submitted by readers.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Governor Ralph Northam took two significant steps last week related to Virginia’s energy future. In a word, both could be summed up as “conserving.” One action of the Governor was to announce the 2018 Virginia Energy Plan. Later in the week, he announced his signing of an executive order establishing a conservation cabinet.

The Virginia Plan makes recommendations in five areas: solar, onshore and offshore wind, energy efficiency, energy storage, and electric vehicles and advanced transportation. The goals within each of these areas are ambitious, but they are essential in shifting energy use in Virginia to a more environment-friendly direction. In a press release on October 2, the Governor is quoted as saying that “the clean energy sector has the power to create new business opportunities, expand customer access to renewable energy, and spark the high-demand jobs of the 21st century.”

Among the goals of the plan are achieving at least 3,000 megawatts of solar and wind energy by 2022, expanding net metering and community solar programs, and doubling the state’s renewable energy procurement target to 16 percent by 2022. The plan recommends that the state support Dominion Energy’s planned 12-megawatt offshore wind turbine demonstration project with a target of 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2028.

The plan also recommends that the state-sponsored efficiency programs and financing set a 16 percent renewable procurement target and a 20 percent energy efficiency target for state agencies, moving state agencies in the direction of greater efficiencies and the use of renewable energy in a lead-by-example approach. The plan seeks also to increase the annual dollars of investments by utilities in energy efficiency programs. Recommendations also call for action to promote alternative-fuel vehicles with the development of an Advanced Clean Cars program with targets for charging stations and the state’s vehicle fleet.

The Commonwealth and utilities in the state have started efforts in many of these areas as a result of legislation passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. The plan reflects an underlying goal that the strategy not unfairly impact low-income and minority communities. Review the plan at Virginia Energy Plan.

In a separate action, Governor Northam issued an Executive Order establishing the Governor’s Conservation Cabinet, a new initiative “to better protect Virginia’s vulnerable natural resources and improve environmental quality across the Commonwealth.” The Governor stated that “this effort will strengthen our inter-agency coordination and allow us to bring all of our resources to bear in addressing environmental threats and ensuring best practices across state-driven conservation initiatives.” The initiative will seek to work with state agencies, localities, nonprofit land trusts, and willing landowners as well as partners in both public and private sectors, according to the press release announcing the Governor’s action.

Members of the Conservation Cabinet include the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, Commerce and Trade, Finance, Natural Resources and Transportation. The full text of the Governor’s announcement can be found at Governor’s Conservation Cabinet.

While some will criticize state government for moving too slowly and not being bold enough in the areas of energy and the environment, I am pleased that we are at least moving in the right direction as it relates to Virginia’s energy future.

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Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now in recent days.

1. Report: Metro Garage in Herndon is ‘Sinking’
2. Reston Corner Redevelopment Plan Heads to Planning Commission
3. Plan to Redevelop Hidden Creek Country Club Draws Opposition
4. County Board Supports Proposed Soapstone Connector Route Amid Concerns about Historic Resources
5. Memorial Walk to Remember Slain Reston Couple Set for November

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip. We’re also looking for photos of Reston submitted by readers.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

Photo via handout/Fairfax County Government

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

Beginning on October 1, Virginians will be able to obtain through the local offices of the Department of Motor Vehicles a REAL ID that complies with federal regulations to prove their identity. While having state-issued, federally-approved identification to prove who you are is offensive to many, the practical use of the REAL ID will result in most if not all complying with its requirements.

The REAL ID came about from recommendations of the 9/11 Commission studying ways to improve security to prevent other horrible terrorist acts from happening. Half of the September 11 hijackers had received driver’s licenses in Virginia. Congress passed an act to help prevent terrorist attacks and to reduce the number of licenses issued to undocumented residents. It established the requirements for states to follow in issuing driver’s licenses, and the program is implemented by the Department of Homeland Security. Under the congressionally passed law, states are required to issue licenses only to applicants who provide in-person proof of their identity and legal U.S. residency. The new cards must use the latest counterfeit-resistant security features.

Half the states are now in compliance with the new federal law, and others like Virginia have been working hard to put the new system into place. Beginning in the fall of 2020, persons who want to board a commercial flight must present a REAL ID or an alternative form of acceptable identification. Likewise, persons entering federal facilities must present a REAL ID. The DMV-issued credential will meet the requirement of REAL ID and will allow holders to access federal buildings, including military installations, and board commercial flights.

Obtaining a REAL ID when you renew your driver’s license is voluntary. That is what I intend to do. I do not want to have to remember to make a special trip to the DMV in the future to prove my identity for a REAL ID when I can do it as part of renewing my driver’s license.

To get a REAL ID you must apply in person and provide DMV with physical documentation of identity, such as an unexpired U.S. passport or a U.S. birth certificate and provide your legal presence through the same documentation. And yes, there is an additional one-time fee of $10 to help pay for the new cards. Hopefully you can visit a DMV office when they are not too busy. But you do need to go in person and take the time to meet the requirements.

Important news for those who do not drive and hence do not have a driver’s license: You can get a REAL ID through the same process just described to use for entering federal facilities, boarding commercial flights and voting.

Need more information? The DMV website is filled with full details. Check my interview with Commissioner Rick Holcomb of the DMV on YouTube after October 10 or watch it on Reston Comcast Channel 28 for public service programming or Verizon Channel 1981 at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23 or at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24.

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