The legendary harness horse Foiled Again will celebrate his 20th birthday this Saturday, May 11, at Shenandoah Downs. The festivities will include a “Happy Birthday” singalong, free cake and cupcakes, and a Meet & Greet with the beloved equine star, where fans can snap photos with him.

The son of Dragon Again retired six years ago after a stellar career, earning over $7.6 million — more than any other standardbred horse. His legacy includes 109 victories and 225 top-three finishes out of 331 starts, with his 104th win occurring at Shenandoah Downs on September 29, 2018.

Foiled Again has made two post-retirement appearances at Shenandoah Downs, including a lap around the half-mile track with Hall of Fame driver John Campbell in 2019. Fans can also meet Montrell Teague, the driver who piloted Foiled Again to his 105th victory. Teague will make his debut appearance at Shenandoah Downs in a promotional role.

Shenandoah Downs, located at I-81, Exit 283 between Winchester and Harrisonburg, is steeped in a 106-year harness racing tradition at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds. Visit shenandoahdowns.com for more event details.

In response to my recent letter explaining some of the work of the Front Royal-Warren County EDA cleaning up the mess left by Jennifer McDonald, the former EDA executive director, I have received good questions from members of the public. All of the relevant information for answers is freely available, but the situation is more than a little complex. I’ll do my best here to summarize the financial impact of the McDonald thefts, and where we are today from my perspective. Rather than attempt to cover all the litigation, I want to focus on the money.

It has been established in court that the EDA lost approximately $21 million as a result of unlawful conduct by a group of individuals and entities working with Jennifer McDonald. Some individuals and entities admitted their culpability, while others reached financial settlements without admitting wrongdoing. Still others contested liability and were found liable by Warren County juries. Many claimed they were also duped by McDonald. McDonald herself confessed to a judgment of $9 million, which I understand cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. That amount will hang forever over McDonald’s life, until she pays back the citizens of the Town of Front Royal and Warren County.

The situation is indeed complex. How could it happen? In fairness to all who were around McDonald, at the heart of her schemes were a series of forgeries, some of which were very clever, and using the latest in online technology for the time. That’s something difficult for the best of us to keep up with.

The EDA filed lawsuits and claims against more than two dozen individuals and companies. In each case that went to trial, the EDA won, although one defendant’s debt was discharged in bankruptcy. Numerous defendants settled out of court either ending or avoiding a lawsuit. In some of those settlements the terms of the payments remain confidential. That kind of confidentiality is common in these types of financial settlements but perhaps not very satisfying to the public. In the interest of recouping as much public monies as feasible, the EDA has taken cash over the smug – but brief —  satisfaction of seeing a “scarlet letter” painted on the proverbial bad guy’s forehead in a public shaming.

To date of my leaving the EDA (April 2024) about $7.9 million in cash or property has been recovered from the EDA’s claims. Some of the recovered amount is cash, some is figured in the value of real estate returned to the County that can now be sold. Another $20 million was awarded by the court but has not yet been collected. Some of that amount is subject to appellate court review. Specifically, Truc “Curt” Tran” and IT Federal, LLC, the company he owns, are appealing the civil court judgments of more than $12 million in liability. And as a practical matter, some amounts awarded may never be collected.

In other twists and turns, amounts owed to the County by the Town of Front Royal are in dispute over issues including construction of the Town’s police station and improvements to Leach Run Parkway. (Together about $875,000.)  Also, interest costs continue to accrue related to loans which were tied to the original McDonald schemes. Potential disputes with banks have not yet been resolved. But for the sake of simplicity here, I will focus only on the McDonald-related misappropriations.

The cost of all this in legal fees paid by the County? Extremely high, but we are told that they are due to the length of litigation and its complexity, which the County wanted to pursue because of the impact of the McDonald actions. In my view, these were necessary expenses. Legal costs, including the forensic accounting to figure out what had happened, were about $9 million. It’s important to note that there would be no recoveries at all – we would not even know what happened – without the excellent legal representation by the firm of Sands Anderson. Pandak & Taves has represented the EDA in daily matters. Together, they have been brilliant. As I have stated before publicly, my personal view is that the County should continue to pay for the best lawyers and pursue these cases to their end.

Sands-Anderson legal team of Cullen Seltzer and Kimberley Paulsrud outside the WC Courthouse where they have pitched a shutout on civil liability cases related to the EDA financial scandal. Royal Examiner File Photo

So, the addition of amounts stolen, and spent to find the losses, amount to about $30 million. Legal recoveries noted above are roughly $9 million. Yep, your math is right – that leaves a big hole of about $21 million blown through our public budgets. With additional recoveries after appeals the losses might be “only” $15 million.

I want to again applaud our Warren County Supervisors for moving toward tax increases. As a true Reagan Republican, I am not in favor of high taxes. But I am in favor of good government. Good government – like freedom – is not free. We cannot ignore the McDonald mess, and we cannot just sweep it under the rug. The cost to our teachers, our firefighters, our children, and our fellow citizens will be too high. Replacing much of the losses must come in the form of tax revenues.

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but exceedingly fine. At least that’s how the popular phrase goes. Here, our work may never be complete. Speculation runs rampant about other connections to the McDonald case. Rumors aside, I fear there were other related illegal acts that may never come to light.

And the lessons from all this? From my perspective, be vigilant. Be a good citizen. Pay attention to facts (alternative facts aren’t – they’re fiction). Take a little time to read and go to public meetings. Get to know your representatives at all levels of government. We can have smart economic growth in Warren County. I know some don’t want any growth – but that’s not happening. In my opinion, the only alternative to good economic development is bad development. That would mean ugly strip malls, silly proposals for deafening racetracks inside the Town, McLean slumlords running things, and maybe your grand-kids living on the dole for lack of local jobs after we are gone.

Warren County – and you – deserve a better future than that.

Jim Wolfe
Front Royal, VA

(The author served as treasurer of the EDA from April 2020 through April 2024, when he stepped down at the end of his term. Jim Wolfe is an Associate Professor of Management at George Mason University. He is a former consultant to the Prime Minister of Estonia on economic development, and previously was an aide to Republican US Senator Dan Quayle.)

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The run of county government administrative departmental staff defections continues to expand with a notice on the Warren County website about “Job Opportunities” now including the County’s in-house Director of Economic Development. It is a position held by multi-faceted County staffer Joe Petty since the position’s creation in early 2022. Petty verified that he was hired to the in-house County EDA Director’s position on February 1, 2022. The position was created in the wake of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority (FR-WC EDA, EDA) becoming unilaterally overseen by the County in the wake of the Town of Front Royal’s post-financial scandal withdrawal as it attempted to distance itself from financial liability for project costs or losses during the 2014-18 FR-WC EDA “financial scandal” time-frame under the EDA executive directorship of Jennifer McDonald.

Two perspectives of Joe Petty on the job, above reporting to the WC Board of Supervisors on work at the now unilaterally County-overseen FR-WC EDA; and below at an EDA Asset Committee meeting. Remember, Petty’s soon-to-be former position was with the County, not the EDA. By state law EDAs are an independent “quasi-governmental” entity of its creating municipality, or as in this case, municipalities. – Royal Examiner File Photo

Contacted about his departure, Petty verified that his last day will be Friday, May 17. “I’m happy to have been at the County for so long. I’m leaving on good terms. I have a new opportunity in the community, so, I’ll still be around. I’ll miss the people here,” he added of leaving the Warren County Government Center where he has been employed since January of 2018. His history with the Warren County government began the first month of 2018 when he was hired as Zoning Officer. In July 2019 he was promoted to Zoning Administrator and became Planning Director in April 2021, before being named Warren County’s first in-house Director of Economic Development in February 2022. He pointed out he initially held down double duty there, continuing his work with the Planning Department until Matt Wendling was hired as Planning Director in May of 2022.

The starting salary for the County Director of Economic Development and Tourism position is advertised at $93,308.80 “depending on qualifications and experience, with an excellent benefits package.”

Asked about his new opportunity locally, Petty declined comment, saying he would let the announcement come from the organization that was hiring him. Asked if we should call a historical or perhaps “heritage” society for that verification, Petty was non-committal. At publication we were still awaiting a return call from the Warren Heritage Society from someone in position to verify their pending hiring of a new director, or not.

Petty’s departure follows a growing list of lost administrative staffers and institutional knowledge beginning about six years ago in the wake of the pressured resignation of long-time County Administrator Doug Stanley, whom some thought was being scapegoated by a newly-elected board for a lack of preventative County EDA oversight regarding the “financial scandal”. Offered Stanley’s job, then long-time Deputy County Administrator Robert Childress declined, choosing rather to leave for employment elsewhere. Following Childress eventually to other employment opportunities, not necessarily higher-paying ones, have been County Attorney Dan Whitten, also long-tenured Planning Director Taryn Logan, Assistant County Attorney Caitlin Jordan, along with several finance directors over a relatively short period of time as the county government has dealt with the financial and litigation aftermath of the FR-WC EDA “financial scandal” circa 2014-2018.

For an interesting perspective on the financial aftermath of the EDA financial scandal, check Royal Examiner’s OPINION page for a new Letter to the Editor from recent former EDA Treasurer Jim Wolfe, who left the EDA board when his four-year term expired at the end of April.

Having kept an eye on the restoration of the historic Mullen-Trout House at 12 Chester Street and its opening with the New Year as The Chester Street Tavern, we spoke with Tavern owner and retired US Army veteran Jim Justice about an upcoming event he alerted us to this coming Memorial Day weekend. That event is a Veterans Awareness “Salute to Service” slated for noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 25th, across Chester Street in the Gazebo-anchored Village Commons town park.

Dating to 1806 when it was built by Thomas Mullen, 12 Chester St., Front Royal, Va. has seen a lot of history unfold. This Memorial Day weekend it will participate in the inaugural Veterans Awareness ‘Salute to Service’ activities, including distribution of materials that assist veterans in Agricultural business pursuits, all to a wide-ranging musical backdrop.

“On May 25th, we’ve put together a memorial remembrance that is sponsored by the Tavern. It’s going to include a real nice live music lineup (beginning in the gazebo area), and we’ll have a number of exhibitors focused on veteran and agricultural-related support issues. They’ll be there with educational materials which will give them a platform to get exposure,” Justice began, adding a nod to the involved sponsorship team.

“We’re blessed to be doing this in partnership with Able Forces Foundation, led by ‘Skip’ and Kathy Rogers, who have become dear friends, and The Farmer-Veteran Coalition of Virginia (FarmVetCo), a national organization that does support for veterans in the farming and agricultural business. FarmVetCo is bringing their multi-band road trip show ‘Breaking Ground’ to support the entertainment at the Gazebo,” Justice said, adding that additional details are available on the Tavern website — www.ChesterStreetTavern.com — There’s a special event page for “Salute to Service” that has all the details.

It won’t be Able Forces Foundation’s Skip and Kathy Rogers first go-round at the Town Gazebo-anchored park remembrance of veterans and service, pictured from a 9/11 remembrance last year. – Oops, sorry to get your back to camera, Kathy. Below, a better shot of Kathy and Skip.

“One of the things that Kathy and ‘Skip’ have coordinated is for the participation of a special guest Sam Tate, a Grammy award winning singer-songwriter who has won the Country music Song of the Year. Sam is coming up from Nashville to be our VIP entertainer guest. He is a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, and we are honored to have him as our guest helping to support our community and this memorial,” Justice said of his musically inclined fellow veteran.

Speaking of musically inclined guests, we noted that local, even neighborhood-generated, live music has become an integral part of the Chester Street Tavern’s business model, with Justice himself sitting in on harmonica on occasion. Would that continue with this event in addition to the imported entertainment, we asked.

“Yes, I think we have five or six bands that are going to play that day. Sam Tate, Nashville CMA Songwriter of the Year, Sunny Lane & The Dirty Hippies, FarmVetCo Breaking Ground will be joined by a number of local musicians that have played and supported the Tavern, helping us launch and build the live music program we have today,” Justice assured us of what will be a mix of familiar and not so familiar faces.

John Landis, right, and From the Heart at the Chester Street Tavern’s New Year’s Eve opening. Below, two shots of another gathering of five familiar musical faces at the Tavern, from left James Vaughan, Hank Gorecki, Dewey Vaughan, then Ralph Fortune and Shae Parker, the latter two perhaps wondering if they are playing from the same song list as the trio to their right.

Among those familiar musical faces to Tavern patrons are John Landis, whose barbershop is about four doors down from the Tavern, the Vaughan brothers Dewey and James, whose family owns the adjacent building in which John’s Barbershop and the New Creations Hair Salon are housed. Others include Shae Parker, Hank Gorecki, Ralph Fortune, Lee Cameron, Bev Williams and The Sidemen, Passage Creek Rising, Shortness of Breath, among others including relative newcomers “Captain” Rich Coon and Michelle Beall, also known as The Hobo Mariners due to their time spent at sea in their sailboat sailing into coastal ports in search of local entertainment venues from Florida to Virginia.

Bruce Townshend often drops in to lend a Celtic, Irish feel to the evening’s musical mix. Below, the Hobo Mariners Rich Coon and Michelle Beall have become a Thurs. night fixture. Here, Michelle seems to be acknowledging a nice ending chord by ‘Captain’ Rich.

“Richie and Michelle are the duo that make up the Hobo Mariners, and they’re the ones who introduced us to the opportunity to do this fundraiser. Michelle and Richie have been a driving force in getting this event organized and introduced to folks we want to support, the Farmer-Veteran Coalition in particular. The Hobo Mariners have done veteran-supporting fundraising through their singing-songwriting for many years,” Justice pointed out of the duo that has become a regular part of the Tavern entertainment rotation on Thursdays in recent weeks.

With the Gazebo Park area entertainment, vendors, and informational booths slated to run from noon to 7 p.m. the Saturday before Memorial Day, we asked Justice how that would impact the Chester Street Tavern’s hours of operation and entertainment. “The Tavern will be home base for the bands, and we are blessed to be right across the street from the Gazebo. We will have an area to support their logistics because there’s a lot involved with folks setting up and rotating to play. The setup for the day of the event is 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Saturday the 25^th for our exhibitors and the bands – and we will have a couple of food vendors, a veteran-owned pizza company and a veteran-owned barbecue company.”

Justice noted the Chester Street Tavern’s regular open to public schedule is Thursday through Sunday, running from 3 p.m. to closing Thursday and Friday, and noon to closing Saturday and Sunday, with closing determined by when the crowd thins out.

“The Tavern will be open that day supporting everyone,” he said of the “Salute to Service” scenario. The plan is we will have an after-event party once we close down at the Gazebo,” as noted above at 7 p.m. “That week we will have our regular show on Thursday evening with the Hobo Mariners. Then on Friday we’ll open at 3 p.m. I expect with all the bands coming into town we will be doing some special stuff here at the Tavern,” Justice said of an improvised schedule of musical interactions.

Justice stressed the importance of live musical entertainment to his business model: “A lot of what I want to do here is support the live music scene” — which he has evolved to do with live music each day he is open on a weekly basis Thursday through Sunday. He traced the start of that commitment to live music to a private party hosted by the Tavern in its earliest days. “John (Landis) came down when we were having a little Friday night private party and said, ‘Hey, you mind if I set up and play for tips?’ The next thing I know the crowd is doing a sing-along. It reminded me of how important live music is to the spirit of the Tavern. I play a little harmonica, so I told John he can play as long as he includes a song I can blow harmonica to and “he better make me sound good,” Justice joked of the Tavern’s longest tenured musical relationship.

Jim Justice adds a little harmonica to the offering of Shae Parker, Hank Gorecki, and Ralph Fortune. I guess they got the ‘make me sound good’ directive too. Area musicians Dave Elliott, back to camera, and Rick Nowell, share a no-doubt musical memory and laugh during a break in that evening’s entertainment. And further below, “the King” has found his way back to the stage and yet another lineup from, as Jim Justice describes it, “this beautiful local community of musicians”.

Speaking of long-tenured musical relationships, Justice acknowledged Dewey and James Vaughan and family, as noted above owners of the adjacent building to the south. “The Vaughans have become great friends of the Tavern. Dewey, James, sister Beth, and the rest of the Vaughan family have just really supported me in a lot of different ways. We are neighbors and good friends,” he said of the second of what he estimated as six to eight groupings of local musicians that have become part of the live music rotation at the Chester Street Tavern — “Just this whole, beautiful local community of musicians.”

But refocusing on what is on the horizon in his fifth month in business, that May 25th Veterans Awareness “Salute to Service”, Justice observed, “We’ll see how things flow and let people do what we always do in the Tavern, which is let folks come and spend time together. Our motto is: ‘We welcome friends old and new’ and it’s really played out that way, with new visitors socializing with a great group of locals.”

‘Friends new and old’ – this cheerful crowd was from the Tavern’s opening day, in fact we believe they were the first table seated New Year’s Eve day. Jim at work at the taps of Virginia-brewed/distributed craft beers. And more friends new and old, Jim greets a couple from Charlottesville, Martha and Bob, to the Tavern on May 5. Justice, a retired Army Ranger, discovered that his new guest Bob is a retired Marine.

Justice also singled out Town of Front Royal Director of Community Development and Tourism Lizi Lewis for her role in bringing the Town on board with the May 25th “Salute to Service” event.

So, don’t forget to mark your calendar this month, not only for Monday, May 27, traditional Memorial Day events here, but Saturday, May 25, for the Salute to Service beginning with a noon “soft opening” in the Town of Front Royal Village Commons Park, and continuing across Chester Street at the Chester Street Tavern into the later evening hours. And if you’re mobile you can also swing by the Humane Society of Warren County Julia Wagner Animal Shelter for the also noon-convened, May 25th Salute to the Dogs of War, which ‘Skip’ Rogers will help kick off before returning to Chester Street for the 1 p.m. official Opening Ceremony of Salute to Service.

A Chicago man is in custody after fleeing from law enforcement on Saturday (May 4). Marco A. Cruz-Monroy, 27, faces multiple charges in Frederick County, including assault on a law enforcement officer and driving under the influence of drugs (DUI/DUID).

Around 9:45 a.m., motorists on I-81 reported a Dodge pickup driving recklessly, with objects being tossed from the vehicle. Virginia State Police located the truck near the 304-mile marker and attempted to stop it for reckless driving. Despite initially slowing and moving to the shoulder, the truck sped off, prompting a pursuit.

During the chase, the Dodge intentionally rammed a trooper’s vehicle, forcing it off the road. The pursuit continued to the Exit 315 ramp, where Cruz-Monroy’s truck struck a civilian vehicle, causing both vehicles to crash. Cruz-Monroy then barricaded himself in his truck, refusing to comply with commands before eventually surrendering.

While being evaluated by EMS, Cruz-Monroy became combative and bit a trooper, who suffered minor injuries and was treated at Winchester Medical Center. Cruz-Monroy is now in custody at Northwest Adult Detention Center, held without bond, with additional charges pending.

No civilians were injured during the chase or the crash.