The students at Mountain Laurel Montessori School conducted a book drive to honor the memory of Kathy Jacob, the children’s librarian from Samuel’s Public library who passed away earlier this fall.

Kathleen “Kathy” Ruth (McGillen) Jacob

The children collected some of their favorite books and donated them to the library. The books will be used as prizes for the children’s reading club. They are hopeful that the books will help cultivate the love of reading, just as Kathy did through her work. Kathy Jacob worked with many teachers, staff, and children from Mountain Laurel, whenever they visited the library.

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RICHMOND (November 30, 2021) – Attorney General Mark R. Herring has filed an amicus brief in Ohio v. Becerra in support of the new Title X rule promulgated in 2021 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that removes harmful restrictions put in place by the Trump Administration. The new rule will result in the distribution of Title X funds to a greater number of family planning and related preventive health service providers that deliver care to millions of low-income or uninsured individuals and others. Attorney General Herring has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing the amicus brief.

Title X is the only federal grant program that funds family planning and counseling programs to help patients access contraception, as well as breast and cervical cancer screenings, screenings and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, and other related health services.

“Title X has been instrumental in giving women in low-income communities access to family planning programs, and preventative and reproductive healthcare, but unfortunately, with its ‘gag rule’ the Trump Administration worked hard to limit a woman’s ability to make her own choices about her body,” said Attorney General Herring. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s new Title X rule will remove those harmful Trump-era restrictions and distribute Title X funding to a greater number of healthcare providers, in turn helping more families across the country. I am proud to join my colleagues in supporting this new Title X rule that will give low-income and uninsured individuals in Virginia and around the country better access to healthcare.”

Attorney General Herring’s brief supports the new HHS rule, issued in 2021, that broadens the scope of federal grants under Title X, in part, by eliminating the harmful provisions of the 2019 Trump Administration rule — also known as the “gag rule.” The 2019 rule 1) imposed onerous requirements for physical separation between abortion and non-abortion services at clinics that provided abortion services and 2) prohibited clinicians from providing referrals to abortion providers, even when directly requested by the patient. By contrast, under HHS’s new 2021 rule, Title X funds can, once again, go to clinics that do not physically separate non-abortion and abortion services, and that provide referrals to abortion providers at a patient’s request. The coalition’s brief argues for the court to reject a request by a group of plaintiff states for a preliminary injunction of the 2021 rule.

Attorney General Herring and his colleagues argue that the plaintiffs’ proposed injunction would put patients and providers in harm’s way by returning to the 2019 Trump Administration rule, which caused dramatic loss of Title X providers and a substantial decrease in patient visits and health care services provided. Underserved communities were especially impacted by the loss of essential care, particularly low-income individuals, minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals living with disabilities, minors, and those living in rural areas.

The 2021 HHS rule allows lost providers to reenter the Title X program and improves client outcomes by providing greater access to and a wider range of health care services and promotes health equity by emphasizing efforts to reach underserved communities.

Attorney General Herring and his colleagues have fought hard to protect Title X funding. In March 2019, Attorney General Herring sued the Trump Administration challenging the constitutionality of its Title X “Gag Rule” that restricted healthcare providers that receive certain federal funds from counseling or making referrals for abortion. After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the new “gag rule”, Attorney General Herring filed a petition that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Separately, Attorney General Herring filed an amicus brief in a different lawsuit brought by the city of Baltimore against the Trump Administration’s Title X rule. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down the rule – enjoining it in Maryland while it remained in place across the rest of the nation – after which the Trump Administration filed its own petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the case. In March 2021, the coalitions in both cases joined with the Biden-Harris Administration to ask the Supreme Court to dismiss both cases, while the Biden-Harris Administration acted to rescind and replace the rule. In May 2021, the Supreme Court entered the order to dismiss both cases and denied efforts by additional parties to step in and defend the gag rule. At the same time, Attorney General Herring sent a comment letter to HHS applauding the agency’s proposed rule to undo the harmful, Trump-era Title X “gag rule.”

Joining Attorney General Herring in filing today’s amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

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n this Town Talk, we’ll have a conversation with Lori Oaks. Lori has started a new community event called ‘Lori Loves Homes Front Royal Light Fight’. If you have ever watched Christmas Vacation, you’ll understand the concept.

This event is open to all Warren County residents. This event blossomed from Lori Oak’s love for her Warren County community and her desire to create an annual event that all could look forward to.

Participating in this event couldn’t be easier! Simply decorate your home with as much Christmas spirit as possible, sign and return your Waiver of Liability, take photos of your home, submit the photos to be entered, and wait until December 31st when our CASH prize winners will be announced. All voting will take place online, and there will be first, second, and third place winnings selected by our judges, as well as a fan favorite selected by… well you!

Judges picks:
1st place – $1,000
2nd place – $500
3rd place – $300
Fan favorite – $500

Stay tuned for specific timelines to be announced, more information on our generous sponsors, and other fun community events involving the Front Royal Light Fight! More information on her website.

The Front Royal Light Fight is all made possible by its wonderful sponsors; Green to Ground Electrical, LLC, Compass West Realty, LLC, Royal Examiner, National Media Services, Inc., Clatterbuck Home Inspections, LLC, 3 Dave’s Moving and Storage, The Apple House, Finance of America Mortgage, Shenandoah Valley Axe Throwing Co., Nicholls Construction, Inc. Quality Title, LLC, and C&C Frozen Treats. All of these businesses are staple parts of this community and bring so much value to our daily lives. Thank you!

Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied, but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com

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Governor Ralph Northam announced on November 30, 2021, the completion of the largest oyster restoration project in the country, in Virginia’s Piankatank and the Great Wicomico rivers. Oysters are a critical natural component of Virginia’s work to clean the Chesapeake Bay, as one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day. The Bay is the largest estuary in the United States with a watershed that encompasses six states that are home to more than 18 million people.

Thanks to investments made under Governor Northam, Virginia now provides more funding for the Bay than under any previous Governor, investing more than $756 million in funding to help farmers, localities, and wastewater treatment operations reduce pollution from nutrients and sediment.

Virginia has been working to restore the native oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay with one of the largest and most elaborate plans in the nation. Virginia has fully restored four tributaries: the Lafayette, the Eastern branch of the Elizabeth, the Piankatank, and the Great Wicomico. Oyster populations are restored by constructing new reefs and planting young oysters to create new ecosystems.

“As someone who grew up on the Chesapeake Bay, I could not be more proud of the progress Virginia has made,” said Governor Northam. “This administration has invested $10 million for oyster restoration during the past four years. Several years ago, Virginia joined other states on the Chesapeake Bay watershed and agreed to conduct a series of clean-up measures by a deadline of 2025. Today’s announcement is a major step in achieving the goals in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. The investments we make in our natural resources—and our environmental stewardship—are paying off.”

Over the past two years, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission deployed more than 50,000 tons of rock and nearly 100,000 bushels of shell to restore 127 acres of oyster habitat in the Piankatank. The Virginia Marine Resources Commission also deployed more than 12,000 tons of rock and 14,000 bushels of shell to restore 24 acres of oyster habitat in the Great Wicomico River.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission set a record this year with 100 acres for the most oyster reef acres restored in a single year. The Piankatank River oyster restoration effort is the largest restoration project that has been completed in the country.

“We can all be grateful for Governor Northam’s historic investment in oyster restoration efforts across the Chesapeake Bay,” said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Ann Jennings. “Thanks to his leadership and committed partners, our goal to restore native oyster habitat in the Bay is a reality. This success also stems from a diligent, science-based plan and a coalition of dedicated partners. The continuing improvement in water quality and an increasing number of oysters in these rivers shows what we can do when we all work together as partners.”

The Commonwealth worked collaboratively on oyster restoration with federal, non-profit, and shellfish industry partners including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Elizabeth River Project, Lynnhaven River Now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Nature Conservancy, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and W.E. Kellum Seafood.

“These restored rivers will provide hundreds of acres of habitat for not just oysters but various other commercially and recreationally important fish and wildlife that depend on a thriving Chesapeake Bay including Virginia’s striped bass and blue crabs,” said Virginia Marine Resources Commissioner Steve Bowman. “What we have been able to accomplish will benefit Virginia for future generations to come.”

“The success of the Piankatank River oyster restoration project is a great testament to the positive benefits of environmental interest, Commonwealth of Virginia, and Federal partners working side by side with the Virginia oyster industry to enhance the sustainability of the oyster resource,” said Kellum Seafood Vice President Tommy Kellum. “The Virginia oyster industry is very proud to have been a part of this important effort.”

“Oysters are a keystone species in the Bay,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Executive Director Peggy Sanner. “Restoring oysters in Virginia’s rivers is an investment in clean water and healthy fisheries that will benefit our children and future generations. This dramatic progress is an important example of what can be achieved with successful partnerships among local, state, and federal agencies and other stakeholders. We are grateful for the leadership of Governor Northam and for the General Assembly’s long-standing bipartisan commitment to the Chesapeake Bay, which has made the success of oyster restoration on these rivers possible.”

“The Nature Conservancy engages in shellfish restoration around the world,” said The Nature Conservancy State Director Locke Ogens. “From Australia to Europe, our global shellfish restoration colleagues and partners look to the Chesapeake Bay as the model for how to get the large-scale restoration done, and done right.”

This milestone marks the third and fourth Chesapeake Bay tributaries in Virginia to reach the goal for full restoration of the oyster habitat as part of the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. Under the agreement, Virginia committed to restoring five tributaries. Recently Governor Northam added a sixth Bay tributary, the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth, so Virginia will exceed its restoration agreement.

Governor Northam’s term has also seen improvements in striped bass numbers through tough limits on recreational and commercial fishing and a shift in the management of menhaden to the state’s fishery experts. In addition, Governor Northam’s leadership has ensured that climate change will be taken into consideration by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s Tidal Wetlands Protection Program and that living shorelines are now mandated as the preferred shoreline protection method.

Governor Northam is the chair of the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council. The Council will meet next on December 15.

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In this Town Talk, our publisher Mike McCool speaks with Bryan Keyser from the Love Revival Ministry Center. On December 4, 2021, Love Revival Ministries will be holding a Downtown Winter Bazaar at 119 Chester Street in Front Royal.

Love Revival is located at 119 Chester Street in Front Royal. For more information on this event, please check the Facebook page, or call them at (540) 216-4437.

Love Revival Ministry Center is a multi-church regional hub for believers to come together and worship and seek revival for the area.

Town Talk is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will introduce you to local entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profit leaders, and political figures who influence Warren County. Topics will be varied, but hopefully interesting. If you have an idea, topic, or want to hear from someone in our community, let us know. Send your request to news@RoyalExaminer.com

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Lindsey Ann Cole, 42, went home to be with our Lord on Thursday, November 25th at her home. Lindsey’s love of life didn’t come to an end with her death, as her caring and giving spirit will live on through her two sons.

Lindsey Ann Cole

Lindsey was born on October 16th, 1979, in Bloomington, IL to Sharon Helms and Tony Scaduto. She was the oldest of her siblings.

Lindsey was preceded in death by her father, Tony Scaduto, and her Uncle Billy.

She leaves behind her two precious sons, Aiden Joseph Anthony Horvath and Landen Lee Tres Reed. She also leaves behind her loving mother, Sharon Helms. Other survivors include her brothers Logan Matthew Scaduto and Anthony Michael Scaduto (Ali), and sister, Sarah Lynn Carter (Alan). She also leaves behind several aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who will miss her deeply.

Lindsey was a giving soul and would spend time helping others who were in need. She wanted everyone in her life to feel loved and supported. She also enjoyed being a mother to her two sons. The love and support she provided to them will never be replaced.

In leaving this world too soon, she leaves behind two young sons who will need support, both emotionally and financially. So, in lieu of flowers, her family is asking to donate to a fund for her two boys. You can donate by going to gofundme.com/LindseyColeMemorialFund.

A visitation will take place from 6-8:30 pm on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at Maddox Funeral Home, 105 W Main St. Front Royal, Virginia 22630.

A celebration of life will take place at 10 am on Saturday, December 4, 2021, at Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center, 1600 John Marshall Hwy Front Royal, Virginia 22630.

The interment will be private.

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