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

EDA

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 Day” 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.

WASHINGTON – Maryland federal and state lawmakers and local education groups are speaking out against allowing teachers to carry firearms in classrooms, adding that they are confident that a bill allowing such a practice won’t come to fruition in the state.

“The simple truth is that the vast majority of Americans want commonsense reforms like stronger background checks and an assault weapons ban to keep our schools safe from the epidemic of gun violence,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, said in a statement.

He added: “Despite that, some legislators continue to press for policies like this one in Tennessee to allow for concealed carry for handguns on school grounds. It’s a misguided and dangerous approach that undermines the safety and well-being of both students and educators.”

Maryland is one of 14 states, and the District of Columbia has some law preventing school boards from giving K-12 educators the authority to carry firearms, according to the nonprofit firearm training organization Faster Saves Lives.

Maryland law prevents anyone from carrying or possessing a firearm in public and private K-12 schools, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a nonprofit based in California.

The law was extended to higher education institutions in March 2023.

Tennessee is the most recent state to pass legislation in stark contrast to Maryland’s law.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law on April 26 allowing teachers and other school staff members to carry firearms on school grounds. The law was passed after three 9-year-old students and three adults were killed last March in a shooting by a former student at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

“There are no circumstances where educators should carry weapons on school property,” said Cheryl Bost, president of the Maryland State Education Association. “Our educators are trained professionals in the field of education. And that’s what we want to do in our classrooms and our work sites, whether that’s bus drivers, secretaries or teachers.”

Tennessee teachers still need approval from their school’s director and principal to carry firearms. Educators would also have to obtain a handgun permit and complete at least 40 hours of approved training from the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission in addition to the 40 hours of basic training.

“That is a pretty insignificant amount of time,” said Maryland Del. Jared Solomon, a Democrat. “Considering the amount of time that law enforcement has to train and create scenarios and figure out how to confront these kinds of situations.”

Solomon started his career as a high school teacher in Baltimore City before moving to the policy side of education. He believes that another problematic aspect of Tennessee’s bill is that it won’t allow parents to be notified if their students’ teachers are carrying guns.

“If you didn’t want your child in a classroom with a teacher that was carrying a gun, you wouldn’t have that option, which I think is not really parental choice,” Solomon said. “I know certainly, I would not want my child in a classroom where the teacher is carrying a weapon.”

Mark Pennak, president of the gun owners’ rights organization Maryland Shall Issue, doesn’t see Tennessee’s law as a problem.

Pennak believes that teachers serve as the “first line of defense for students” and that those willing to be trained and who can carry a gun should be allowed to.

“The whole idea of concealed carry is that the mass killer intruder does not know who is armed,” Pennak said in an email. “If the information is shared with parents, that advantage will disappear, and the armed teacher would be in the same position as the uniformed school resource officer – the first target.”

Pennak added that programs, like the nonprofit organization FASTER, help train school faculty to ensure that they are not risking the students’ safety.

“Trained teachers do not put their children at risk,” Pennak said.“That is what the training is for. And any such minimal risk is far outweighed by the protection that an armed teacher can provide right at the outset of a school shooting.”

The number of school shootings in K-12 schools in the United States has increased each year from 2021 to 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database created by data scientist David Riedman.

The database defines a school shooting as an incident where a “gun is fired, brandished (pointed at a person with intent), or a bullet hits school property, regardless of the number of victims, time, day, or reason.”

In 2021, 256 shootings were recorded in the database. That number jumped to 308 school shootings in 2022 and 348 in 2023.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, said he does not believe that allowing educators and other school professionals to carry guns would solve the mass shooting epidemic in schools.

“We do not need more guns in schools, and we do not need educators and other school professionals carrying guns,” Cardin said in a statement. “Teachers are hired to teach, not be security guards. The answer to stemming the epidemic of gun violence in our schools is not to bring more guns into the schools.”

Jaime Lennon, spokeswoman for Maryland Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, said that the possibility of a bill like Tennessee’s being introduced at the federal level is slim. Lennon added that no research suggests that arming teachers would solve the problem.

“Congressman Ruppersberger would strongly oppose it in any event, quite simply, because teachers have stated over and over that they do not want to carry guns into their classrooms,” Lennon said. “There is also zero scientific evidence that this is a realistic solution to an incredibly complex problem. If more guns equaled less violence, we would be the safest country on the globe.”

Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer said “Marylanders have long known that the answer to stopping mass shootings does not lie in increasing the number of firearms on American streets.”

“I’m disappointed to see this law passed in Tennessee, but I remain confident that under the leadership of Governor (Wes) Moore and our strong Democratic delegation – Maryland will continue to be a state that works towards ending gun violence once and for all,” Hoyer said.

Both Bost and Solomon said they were confident that the Maryland legislature would not allow teachers to carry guns in schools anytime soon.

“We’ve really instituted a lot of strong firearm safety standards and laws in the state that I think are a much better step forward than just saying we’re going to introduce more firearms into a school and leave that task to a teacher,” Solomon said.

Bost added that a deeper investment in school counselors and psychologists to help students deal with trauma, along with reducing class sizes to help teachers better cultivate relationships with students, could help prevent situations where students feel the need to resort to violence.

“Guns have never been, and will never be an answer, whether it’s in our society or our schools,” Bost said. “It’s actually getting into our classes and providing the resources. We are doing a good job with that here in Maryland. We can always do better.”

Maryland Del. Susan McComas, a Republican, agreed that the state would never pass a law similar to Tennessee’s legislation, adding that Maryland should consider using resources officers who can work with students.

“There are just too many what ifs and scenarios where a teacher might be attacked by a distraught student or a group of students to get the gun,”  McComas said, referring to Tennessee’s law.

By TORRENCE BANKS
Capital News Service

The week has finally arrived, and Reaching Out Now is thrilled to launch the Safe At Home event! We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Dr. Chris Ballenger, Warren County Schools, and the Warren County Athletics Department (Mr. Cupp, Mr. Hall, and the varsity baseball and softball coaches) for joining us to promote mental health awareness and its impact on our community. We warmly invite you to be part of this important event.

Nationwide, individuals and organizations are raising awareness of the challenges faced by those living with mental health conditions. Learn more about these efforts at the National Council’s Mental Health Awareness Month page: National Council – Mental Health Awareness Month.

We’re advocating for expanded access to mental health and substance use care while highlighting the value of mental well-being. Here’s how you can get involved:

JOIN US:

• Bring your families
• Sign up to play in one of our alumni games
• Volunteer or share information on how to contribute

Helpful Links:

Event Tickets:

• Event Tickets

Volunteer Opportunities:

• May 9th
• May 11th
• May 25th

Alumni Games:

• Baseball
• Softball

The weather looks perfect for baseball on the 11th, so bring your friends and family. Let’s raise our voices, support mental health awareness, and make a positive impact together.

See you at Safe At Home!

WASHINGTON – Since 1790, the Census Bureau has taken a head count of every person, regardless of citizenship, in the United States so Congress can determine how votes are distributed among members of the House of Representatives and Electoral College.

House Republicans want to make this process a thing of the past.

The House Tuesday voted 205-195 along party lines to consider a bill that could add a citizenship question to the decennial census and exclude non-citizens from the population used to calculate congressional district representation.

Then, President Donald Trump pushed to add the citizenship question to the 2020 census but was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2019 due to concerns about dishonest disclosure of the reason behind asking the question.

The census last asked the entire population about citizenship status in 1950. Since then, the government has presented a citizenship question to a sample of households through the American Community Survey and an occasional added survey to the census.

The census is not only used to determine the number of House members and Electoral College votes per state but also to decide how to distribute federal resources across the country.

Democratic lawmakers, including New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, said the citizenship question could make non-citizens afraid of filling out the census, decreasing federal funding and representation.

“These counts would have devastating implications for not only our electoral system but the well-being of our families and communities,” Stansbury said Tuesday during a debate on the House floor.

Republicans, such as New York Rep. Nick Langworthy, argued that including non-citizens in the population for apportionment rewards illegal immigration and is unfair to U.S. citizens.

“Allowing non-citizens to vote dilutes the voice of the American citizen and opens the door for manipulation and exploitation of our electoral system,” Langworthy said.

Removing the weight of non-citizens in federal representation distribution could change the House’s party divide.

States with large immigrant populations – namely California, Texas, and Florida – would each have had one less representative if “unauthorized immigrants” had been excluded from the post-2020 census apportionment, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center report.

The 14th Amendment states that the apportionment of representatives is determined by a count of the “whole number of persons.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D–Maryland, said during a House Rules Committee meeting Monday that the bill was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, adding that the bill would exacerbate the undercount of the Hispanic population.

“This bill would destroy the accuracy of the census,” Raskin said.

According to Census Bureau reports, the 2020 census had a statistically significant undercount of Hispanics in the United States, with almost 5% not counted. This undercount has been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and fears that answers to census questions could be shared with other agencies.

The Census Bureau cannot legally share identifiable information with anyone, including law enforcement.

However, Rep. Erin Houchin, R–Indiana, said Tuesday that since the proposed legislation would still allow counting non-citizens in the census, the change would not greatly impact federal assistance or an accurate population count, calling such claims a “red herring.”

A 2019 Census Bureau report said a citizenship question is sensitive for non-citizens and could affect the self-response rate.

Beyond the impacts of political representation, Johnny Zuagar, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Census Council 241, told Capital News Service that the bill, even if not passed, could complicate the jobs of census employees and the underfunded Census Bureau.

Bringing up the possibility of a census citizenship question again, Zuagar said, will likely make immigrants unsure if they can trust the Census Bureau not to report them to immigration authorities.

Census workers would have to take time to explain the citizenship question and the safety of the responses, Zuagar said, complicating their work.

During the 2020 census, he said, census employees had to work with immigrant communities to regain that lost trust.

“We’re just here to measure the country and follow the Constitution. You can trust us,” Zuagar said.

The House will likely vote on the bill this week. If passed in the House, the measure would move to the Senate, controlled by the Democrats.

By KATHARINE WILSON
Capital News Service