Month: June 2021

FAUQUIER COUNTY, VA – A Manassas motorcyclist died Monday after a police chase in Fauquier County, Virginia state police said. Jose Manuel Delgado Alva, a 22-year-old Manassas resident, died after a motorcycle accident on Route 29.

Fauquier County MPs said they tried to stop a motorcycle traveling north on Route 29 on Monday, June 28. In a press release, authorities alleged that the motorcycle was “driven recklessly”.

Near Block 10600 on Marsh Road, a MP activated his emergency kit and tried to stop the motorcycle, the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook. Authorities said the motorcycle did not stop and the deputy started chasing the motorcycle.

The motorcycle continued on the James Madison Highway, where other police officers helped in the chase.

“As a result, the motorcyclist was involved in a traffic accident on the 7600 block of the east bypass,” the sheriff’s office wrote. The motorcycle, a 2007 Suzuki GXR, attempted to turn into a crossover near Comfort Inn Drive but lost control, according to Virginia State Police.

The motorcycle drove through the median and headed south on Route 29, where it encountered two cars: a 2017 Chevy Cruse and a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. The drivers of the two cars reported minor injuries, the sheriff’s office announced.

Delgado Alva, who operated the motorcycle, died at the scene of the accident, according to Virginia State Police. He was wearing a helmet.

The incident is currently being investigated by the Virginia State Police at the request of the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office. “The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an internal review of the incident as per our policy,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.

From 1996 to 2015, an average of one person died each day in an accident-related police persecution across the country, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Further Capital Bikeshare stations are in the works for the Tysons region, especially in Merrifield and Vienna.

The Fairfax County’s Department of Transportation has proposed adding 10 new stations at the following locations, including the first stand of the bike-sharing service at Vienna’s underground station:

• Caboose Commons
• Circle Woods Drive and Lee Highway
• Gatehouse Road and Telestar Court
• Hartland Road and Harte Place
• Inova Fairfax Medical Campus
• Javier Road and Arlington Boulevard
• Kingsbridge Drive and Beech Grove Drive
• Mission Square Drive
• Affluent housing
• Vienna subway entrance south

The expansion would bring the Tysons area up to 29 bike share stations, including 15 in Tysons and one at West Falls Church underground station. Fairfax County also has 16 stations in Reston, which will receive its own expansion starting July.

Fairfax County is looking to expand bikeshare in Merrifield as the three existing stations installed there in 2019 have proven successful and some of the most rides per location in the county prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to FCDOT spokesman Robin Geiger have generated.

Vienna has been a candidate for bikeshare since at least 2018, when the district worked with the city, the City of Fairfax and George Mason University on a feasibility study.

“There are plans to expand the Vienna Metrorail station to open up the surrounding community,” Geiger said by email. “The stations in the Vienna area will also help to provide access to the city of Fairfax, which is working to bring CaBi to its part of the region.”

Though not included in the Fairfax County’s expansion, Vienna city spokeswoman Karen Thayer said the Virginia Department of Transportation approved the city’s application for funding to add bike share stations in multiple locations, including the Town Green and community center , has granted.

The total project cost is $ 272,400 and includes engineering and design, equipment and installation.

“We are currently waiting for VDOT to complete its internal process and react with an agreement,” said Thayer.

For the district project, according to Geiger, the traffic officials considered a variety of factors when selecting the proposed locations, including the density of development and the potential to generate many journeys. The need for a bicycle infrastructure is also taken into account “to improve traffic fairness,” she says.

“On a more granular level, we like to place stations in areas that are already paved – parking lanes on the street are often easy for [installation] and future maintenance and has little impact on the available parking spaces, ”Geiger wrote, adding that docks typically don’t take up more than a parking space or two.

The Merrifield expansion is funded primarily by an I-66 Commuter Choice grant of $ 497,100, but this will not cover the full cost of the project, which Geiger says is currently estimated at around $ 600,000.

While bike share usage increased steadily in the Tysons area prior to the pandemic, COVID-19 declined system-wide in both rider and membership as people limited travel and many worked from home.

“In the worst case, membership at the beginning of the pandemic was around 20% of passengers compared to previous years,” Geiger said via email. “Most of the lost trips were made by annual members who commuted by bike.”

Fairfax County saw an overall 50% decrease in bikeshare riders in 2020 compared to 2019.

Geiger says passenger numbers increased again last summer, mostly from non-members, that is, people who used the service for a single trip or a day instead of receiving an ongoing subscription.

“Usage patterns have also changed system-wide, with fewer trips to subway stations and more to recreational facilities and grocery stores,” she said.

The BIAD event was founded in 1984 and is considered one of the largest and oldest events of its kind in the greater Minnesota area. BIAD recipients are selected based on the following factors:

• Impact of the company on the labor market.
• The company’s impact on the local economy.
• Capital investment; an indication of the company’s commitment to building community capacity.
• Community contributions; Evidence that the company is investing time, skills and resources in supporting community-oriented projects.

The newly created Legacy Award honors a former BIAD Award recipient for continuing to influence the community. Alomere Health (formerly Douglas County Hospital) received the BIAD Award in 1988. In the years that followed, the hospital has experienced extensive growth and numerous successes and is honored as this year’s recipient of the Legacy Award.

BIAD lunch will be held on Wednesday November 3rd at the Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center. This event will be a celebration of the success, growth and impact of Viking Bank and the continued commitment and impact of Alomere Health. Buy tickets online at https://livingalexarea.ticketleap.com/biad-2021/ or contact Abby Strom at the AAEDC, 320-763-4545 or astrom@alexmn.org.

A week before the event, a publication on Viking Bank’s performance will be distributed through Echo Press. If you want to promote the publication and congratulate the BIAD 2021 winner, contact Jess Ptacek of ALACC at 320-763-3161 or jess@alexandriamn.org.

BIAD previous awardees

3M Abrasive Systems Division plant, 1984

American Spirit (formerly Foxglove), 1985

Alexandria Technical University, 1986

Douglas machine, 1987

Douglas County Hospital, 1988

Alexandria Extrusion Company, 1989

Continental Bridge, 1990

Juno Inc, 1991

ITW Heartland, 1992

Donnelly Custom Manufacturing, 1993

Food and Dairy Products of the North, 1994

Brenton Engineering, 1995

Pro-Tainer Inc. / Palmer Industries, 1996

Cellular 2000 (Rural Cellular Corporation), 1997

Henry’s Groceries, 1998,

Widseth Smith Nolting, 1999

Tastefully simple, 2000

REA-ALP Internet services, 2001

School District 206, 2002

Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center, 2003

Pete’s County Market, 2004

Intimidating Robards, 2005

SunOpta Companies of Alexandria, 2006

Knute Nelson, Inc., 2007

Cullen’s Home Center, 2008

The Aagard Group, LLC, 2009

Gardonville Cooperative, 2010

Elden’s Food Fair, 2011

Douglas Scientific, 2012

30th anniversary of BIAD, 2013

Ecumenical Bethany, 2014

Trumm Drug, 2015

Carlos Creek Winery, 2016

Anderson Funeral Home, 2017

Bergholz, 2018

Geneva capital, 2019

(The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.)

[Sun Gazette Newspapers provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.]

Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) has received a $ 38,000 grant from the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation to pilot the hospital’s OB Connect program, which gives patients the flexibility to do prenatal care from home receive.

The initiative “represents a new age in medicine where we are using technology to make care more convenient for patients while giving them better access to their healthcare providers,” said Amanda Rohn, MD, of the VHC Medical Group.

“Just as people have become used to tracking their health with watches and other wearable devices, our patients have easy-to-use home monitors to keep their gynecologist informed of their vital signs,” said Rohn.

Instead of going to the practice for each appointment, OB Connect patients set up some remote appointments via secure video. The program provides participants with devices to check their baby’s heart rate and their own blood pressure; Patients then report these readings to their nursing staff two days before each appointment.

The OB Connect program “is a critical step in the movement for accessible prenatal care for vulnerable mothers,” said Neal Lawson, founder and chairman of the Jennifer Bush-Lawson Foundation.

“With virtual appointments, patients don’t have to take time off work, pay for childcare or parking, or rush to appointments,” he said. “We hope that by funding this program we can reduce the financial burdens and added stress that so often come with seeking care during pregnancy.”

Virginia Hospital Center is the first hospital in the region to offer such a service to patients. The program is now in full swing and recently welcomed the first new arrival of a mother enrolled in the program.

A Halifax teenager looks forward to testing his new lungs at summer camp.

Tahlia Ali is a double lung transplant recipient and practically skips to Brigadoon Village in Aylesford, NS. It is a traditional summer camp that offers programs tailored to different health conditions.

“This camp really helped me because it gave me the opportunity to talk to people about some things that I couldn’t talk to other friends who weren’t like me,” she said.

Like other camps in the province, Brigadoon was forced to cancel its nightly programming last summer due to COVID-19 public health restrictions.

Nova Scotia enters phase 3 of its reopening plan on Wednesday. At this point, public health facilities can begin resuming overnight campers.

Ali couldn’t go to camp last year because the pandemic shut everything down. Knowing that she can swim with her new lungs for the first time this year adds extra excitement. (CBC)

Ali looks forward to jumping in the lake the most. It’s something she couldn’t do before her lung transplant because she was on a subcutaneous pump.

“And swimming is an activity I’ve always loved since I was a kid,” said the 16-year-old. “Swimming gives me freedom.”

As a child, Ali was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension, a disease that reduces the flow of oxygen to the blood vessels in the lungs. It’s a life-threatening condition that gets worse over time.

Like all Nova Scotians in need of a lung transplant, Ali had to move to Toronto for the procedure. She left Halifax on May 20, 2020, but did not receive her new lungs until November due to delays caused by COVID-19.

Ali has been going to Brigadoon for six years. In 2019, she formed a friendship that extends beyond the camp.

CharlLee McKay is also 16 years old and lives with several chronic health problems such as a connective tissue disorder and various heart conditions.

A life changing experience

“Before I went to Brigadoon, I felt like all my life because I didn’t know anyone who had what I had,” she said. “But then I went to Brigadoon and suddenly there are all these people like me who have similar conditions.”

It’s easier to talk to friends at the camp because they understand what they’re going through, she said.

“It’s a really good support system. When I go through things in the hospital, I know I have someone to talk to.”

Ali and CharlLee McKay sit on the jetty of the lake in Brigadoon Village. (CBC)

After a year of mostly staying at home, McKay said she had some nervousness about being around people again.

“I got my vaccine and I feel safe the way Brigadoon is limiting the numbers,” she said.

Storage restrictions

Earlier this month, the province published guidelines for overnight camps. Some of these requirements include adhering to mask protocols and operating with consistent cohorts of up to 15 campers.

Mat Whynott is President of the NS and PEI Camping Associations. He said the group worked with the government to create the guidelines and he was confident the measures will keep campers safe.

“I believe in my soul, my heart and everything I do that this camp is needed now more than ever,” he said. “It changes lives.”

He said up to 11,000 children attended overnight summer camps in Nova Scotia prior to the pandemic.

“Children who have gone to camp in the past need to know that the camp may not look like it always did, and they should be prepared for it,” he said.