BOCS protects first responders and libraries, neglects support staff

MoonHowler

Here we go again.  We are approaching budget time in Prince William County.  First of all, the 5 year plan has gone by the wayside.  There is only one new person on the BOCS so I am trying to figure out why the supervisors  voted in one thing and after a year, did a 180 and discarded their own plans.  Is someone  wimping out?  Sounds like it.  The county has a lot of catching up to do since the recession and it isn’t going to happen unless there is more revenue.  I see and hear Tea Party mentality.

I am trying to figure out where the 1.3% figure is coming from.  The COLA is 1.7%  That’s a long way from a 4% increase in revenue.  What baffles me is what happened to all the big talk about bringing the county back up to speed rather than going on the cheap?  What happened to that leadership I saw?  Has it vaporized?

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Terrorist attack on satirical newspaper in Paris

MoonHowler

terror

Washingtonpost.com:

Masked gunmen opened fire Wednesday in the offices of a satirical newspaper in Paris that has faced previous threats for Muslim-related cartoons, killing at least 12 people before escaping in what France’s president described as a terrorist attack.

French officials immediately raised the country’s terrorism alert to its highest level after the shooting at the newspaper Charlie Hebdo, where staff members and police were among the dead.

Across Paris, security was stepped at media outlets, transportation hubs and other sites as a massive manhunt was underway for the suspected assailants.

The weekly had drawn repeated threats for its caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed and other sketches and articles on Muslim figures.

French President Francois Hollande called the shooting a “terrorist attack without a doubt,” but authorities had no immediate comment on possible suspects or motives.

Two of the dead are French policemen, one of whom was executed outside on the streets of Paris at point blank range.   The magazine was attacked in 2011 because of its satirical cartoons depicting Muslim leaders.    The editor  of Charlie Hebdo is among the dead and was on ISIS’s version of a most wanted list.

What is to keep the USA from becoming the next stop for these terrorists?  Even if these are caught, how many wait to fill their shoes?

Terrorists target French police
Terrorists target French police

PWCS: Better school closing decision-making in the future, please!

MoonHowler

eli bus

Tuesday morning was a disaster in terms of the weather related traffic mishaps.  Despite snow and freeze warnings issued on all major news programs, the  major Northern Virginia jurisdictions chose to open school on time.  This decision did not bode well for Prince William County Schools and its students and faculty.  At least 12 accidents reported  across the county involved school buses.  Students waited in sub-freezing weather at bus stops for buses that never arrived.  Where were the thought processes of those making these decisions?

Apparently the NoVA schools  followed a  monkey-see, monkey-do  approach to decision -making in a sea of rather unwise monkeys rather than smartly assess the current weather situation of  rapidly falling snow and sub-freezing temperatures.

Students who even got to school  spent the day in cafeterias across the county watching movies.  Many of their teachers couldn’t get to school on time.   Classrooms doubled up.  In general, things were a mess and Prince William County wasn’t alone in what has to be one of the biggest blunders in a long time.  According to the Washington Post:

The first snowfall of the new year was heavier than expected, prompting apologies from several of the region’s school systems and wreaking havoc with the morning commute Tuesday as icy roads and hundreds of collisions snarled traffic.

With forecasts calling for one to two inches of snow, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties opened schools on time and later came to regret it. Students were left waiting for buses that never came. Schools reported that buses were stuck in traffic or unable to navigate icy hills. The decision to open infuriated parents, who accused school officials of being reckless and putting students in unnecessary danger.

 

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