Several projects are underway, completed, or in the design stage for facilities in Warren County Public Schools (WCPS) and property owned by the Warren County School Board.

For instance, all renovations at A.S. Rhodes Elementary School are now complete, WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Administration George “Buck” Smith told the School Board during its Wednesday, September 15 work session.

WCPS Assistant Superintendent for Administration George “Buck” Smith updates the School Board pn projects at various school properties. Photo by Mike McCool

New windows and roller shades have been installed, and the bus loop asphalt was resurfaced prior to the beginning of the new school year. HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems are now functioning as designed, said Smith, adding that Lantz Construction has received the full occupancy permit.

“A.S. Rhodes, as we know, is our smallest school,” Smith said, inviting members of the board to visit it to view all the improvements. “It’s a very beloved school, and it’s nice to see all the things done to it to make it more of a home for our students and our staff.”

Other completed projects include construction at Skyline High School of a greenhouse, which Smith said received its final building inspection from Warren County. At Skyline Middle School, the exterior painting of windows and the front entry columns for the historic part of the school are finished, as was the replacement of one set of concrete stairs and roughly 350 linear feet of sidewalk. There are also several upcoming and ongoing projects, according to Smith.

The Virginia Department of Education, for example, recently approved HVAC replacements at Blue Ridge Technical Center and HVAC replacement and renovations at Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School.

The School Board during its September 1 regular meeting approved the $1.04 million contract for architectural and engineering services to Grimm & Parker Architecture Inc. for both facilities. The projects will be funded through grants and funds available in the WCPS capital improvement plan. The contract also includes design and engineering work for renovations at Leslie Fox Keyser.

Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School. Photo by Kim Riley

The legal staff for WCPS is currently reviewing the draft contract for Grimm & Parker for the design of the upgrades and renovations, Smith said, noting that the goal is to have the final draft contract to Grimm & Parker this month.

Grimm & Parker was one of 11 architectural firms to submit a proposal in response to the Request for Proposal for Architectural and Engineering Services for the replacement of the HVAC systems at Blue Ridge Technical Center and the HVAC replacement and renovations to Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School.

The scope of the renovations includes replacement of all HVAC equipment and associated systems, including acoustical suspended ceiling systems and lighting at Blue Ridge Technical Center and the HVAC upgrades and replacements, restroom upgrades to meet federal handicap compliance regulations, new ceilings, lights, paint, flooring, demising partitions between classrooms, and enhanced physical security to include a new secured entrance vestibule at Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary School.

Blue Ridge Technical Center. Photo by Kim Riley.

Restroom study underway
Smith also provided School Board members with an update on a comprehensive study that’s being done throughout the school division on its restroom facilities. The study is focused on privacy enhancements for all students, as well as to ensure the school division remains in compliance with federal and state laws, he said.

The preliminary assessments of WCPS restroom facilities have been conducted at the secondary level by Smith, along with WCPS Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Alan Fox; WCPS Maintenance Director Greg Livesay; and WCPS Superintendent Christopher Ballenger, and the principals — who are part of the division’s comprehensive study team.

All available single-user facilities have been identified to enhance privacy for use by any student, said Smith, and signage for those restrooms has been ordered and will be installed soon. “It doesn’t change what we’ve done in the past,” Smith said, “but it provides an opportunity for our single-user restrooms that we may have had specified for just teachers or faculty.”

The study group also plans to further assess additional partitioning to enhance privacy for restrooms. Once preliminary information has been gathered, then the comprehensive study team will be called together for review, elaboration, and recommendations, Smith added.

Additionally, Livesay is looking into partitions for the larger restroom facilities “to increase privacy,” said Smith.

New amphitheater proposed
During the School Board’s September 15 work session, Samuels Public Library Director of Operations Eileen Grady provided members with an informational presentation on a proposed agreement to build an amphitheater that would be located on the hill between Ressie Jeffries Elementary School and Samuels Public Library.

Samuels Public Library Director of Operations Eileen Grady provided members with an informational presentation on a proposed agreement to build an amphitheater. Photo by Mike McCool, Royal Examiner.

The land lies on Ressie Jeffries property owned by the School Board. The lease agreements require the library to obtain approval from both the Warren County Board of Supervisors and the School Board for any renovations or improvements to the property. Library representatives also gave supervisors a presentation on the amphitheater during their June work session.

From a programming perspective, an outdoor amphitheater would offer many opportunities for not just the library, but also for the schools and the community, Grady explained. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need to be nimble,” she said. “We need to have multiple ways to approach services.”

Melody Hotek, who serves on the Library Board of Trustees and volunteers at the library, said money from the estate of her husband, Jeff Hotek, who passed away in 2018, was left to Samuels Public Library for the amphitheater. She told board members that both the Samuels Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Samuels Library Board of Directors support the project. “The vision for this is for library programs, school programs, and community programs,” Melody Hotek said. “I just think it’s going to be a tremendous asset.”

Melody Hotek shares her vision of the amphitheater with the Warren County School Board. She motions to the perfect grade on the hillside for the amphitheater. Photo by Mike McCool, Royal Examiner.

Dan Hotek, a local engineer, and Jeff Hotek’s brother would assist on the project. He provided School Board members with details on the project, including current photographs of the proposed location, possible designs, cost estimates, safety considerations, uses, and fundraising possibilities.

For instance, one design of the amphitheater shows a covered 40-by-24-feet elevated stage area at the hill’s bottom, with five tiers of rock wall seating in the hillside facing the stage. The seating is about 40 feet in length and the rows would be built about six feet apart, Dan Hotek said. There would be seating to accommodate roughly 120 adults or 180 children. Additional grass seating would be permitted around the stage and stone rows.

Proposed amphitheater design. Watch the presentation on the video link below. Photo and video by Mike McCool, Royal Examiner.

“If we do it right,” constructing the amphitheater “should have some draw” for tourism, as well as musical groups looking for venues to play, said Dan Hotek. “Ultimately, we need your go-ahead,” he told School Board members.

Superintendent Ballenger said the WCPS attorney will review the proposed agreement and then bring it before the Warren County School Board for action at a future meeting.

Board members already seem on board with the idea. James Wells, for instance, suggested an informal straw vote be taken as he’s ready to say yes to the project.

To watch the School Board meeting in its entirety, watch the exclusive Royal Examiner video online here.

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In this Town Talk, we’ll have a conversation with Bill Wiley. Wiley is a candidate for the House of Delegates, District 29 (serves the northern section of Warren County) in the upcoming election on November 2, 2021. Bill is one of the three delegates we have in  Warren County.

Bill Wiley was born in Roanoke, Virginia. Wiley graduated from Episcopal High School in 1989. He served in the Virginia Army National Guard from 1990 to 1998.

Wiley earned a B.S. in economics and a master’s degree in education from George Mason University in 1993 and 1998, respectively. His career experience includes working in business development.

Bill says, “As your Delegate, I will fight for our fair share of tax dollars from Richmond, work to repeal unfunded mandates on our localities, create a better job climate, and push for common-sense policies that will make the Commonwealth a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

Some issues/position Wiley takes:

• Taxes – As your Delegate, I will oppose any new tax increases. Fight to protect our Right to Work status.
• Pro-Life – I will oppose planned parenthood and other special interests that believe taxpayer-funded abortion and abortion in the 3rd trimester should be legal.
• Pro Police – I will always support our Law Enforcement Officers. I will not support any attempt to defund our police.
• Second Amendment Rights – I will always be a NO vote on any legislation that infringes on our constitutional rights to bear arms and to protect our families.

Find out more about Bill Wiley on his website.

Meet the Candidates is a series on the Royal Examiner where we will sit down with each candidate in our local election and discuss issues that are important to all of us. All local candidates are invited to participate in this ‘Meet the Candidate’ series.

A reminder that early voting started September 17, 2021, at the Registrar Office located at 465 W. 15th Street, Suite 800, Front Royal. The hours are 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. Early voting is also available on Saturday, October 23 and 30, 9 am to 5 pm. The last day of early voting is October 30, 2021.

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During Constitution Week, the Colonel James Wood II Chapter conducted presentations on the United States Constitution at three senior living facilities. At each of these facilities, flags were posted and the Pledge of Allegiance recited with the residents. After a prayer, a presentation was made telling of the history of the Constitution.

In 1787, the government was a product of the Articles of Confederation, which proved to be weak and ineffective. A Constitutional Convention was convened in May 1787 with George Washington selected as President. 55 delegates were selected by 12 colonies to participate.

Rhode Island did not want a strong federal government and did not send delegates. On 14 May, opening day, only delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia were present. It was not until 25 May that a quorum of nine states was in attendance and the process to revise the Articles of Confederation began.

On 30 May, a proposal was adopted to create a federal government consisting of three branches, Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary. The process of writing the document then began with a committee chaired by Gouverneur Morris of New York. The majority of the writing was done by Virginia delegate James Madison, who became known as the “Father of the Constitution”.  After four months of discussion and compromise, the document was signed by 38 delegates on 17 September 1787.

Nine states needed to ratify the Constitution for it to become law. Delaware was the first, with New Hampshire the ninth. On 21 June 1788, it became the law of the land. It wasn’t until 29 May 1790 when Rhode Island vote for ratification that all 13 colonies had accepted it.

In 1791, the first 10 Amendments were added as the Bill of Rights to protect the rights of States and freedoms of individuals.

On 13 September, the Sons of the American Revolution were at Commonwealth Senior Living in Front Royal. Dale Corey emceed with Larry Johnson, Thomas “Chip” Daniel, Doug Schwetke, and Bill Schwetke assisting in the presentation.

Dale Corey, Dough Schwetke, Bill Schwetke, and Larry Johnson.

A brief history was given by the compatriots with a reading of the Preamble, an outline of the articles in the document, and the Bill of Rights.

On 14 September, the presentation was given to Hidden Springs Senior Living Facility in Bentonville by compatriots Corey, Daniel, D. Schwetke, and B. Schwetke.

Doug Schwetke, Dale Corey, and Bill Schwetke.

On 15 September it was presented to Greenfield Senior Living Facility in Woodstock by compatriots Corey, Daniel, and Dennis Parmerter.

Dennis Parmerter, Dale Corey and Thomas “Chip” Daniel. (Photos courtesy of Thomas “Chip” Daniel).

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Recently, the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue Services partnered with the Front Royal Moose Lodge 829 to increase the safety and accountability of our local emergency responders operating on structure fire-type incidents.

Over the past several months, Warren County has worked alongside the Winchester City and Frederick County Fire and Rescue Departments to develop a regional workgroup. This workgroup was tasked with focusing on safety, accountability, and standardizing responses to emergencies in a regional concept.

“One of the first initiatives implemented by the workgroup was a regionalized Incident Command and Personal Accountability System Program. This program will focus on standardizing emergency operations of a fire incident, establishing incident command and personal accountability of all individuals on the incident throughout the region” stated Captain Zachary Burrows, who serves as Warren County’s representative on this workgroup. This initiative will require an unfunded mandate to change the style and design of our incident command boards to become compliant with the regionalized concept. As such, our department turned to the local community to seek alternative ways to fund this potentially live-saving program” Burrows continued.

“Upon hearing the need of our local Fire and Rescue Department, Lodge 829 was eager to assist in ensuring the safety and accountability of our firefighters and emergency responders while operating on an emergency scene. We immediately approved the appropriation of $3,500.00 of our Heart of Community Funds to support the Fire and Rescue Department” stated Wayne Sealock, Front Royal Moose Lodge Treasurer who coordinated the efforts on behalf of the lodge.

WCFR Officials join Lodge 829 Officials in a check presentation ceremony

The safety and accountability of our emergency responders have been a top priority of Fire Chief James Bonzano and his leadership since taking over as Fire Chief of the department in January of this year. “These funds will be utilized to outfit all emergency response apparatus in our response system with regionalized incident command and accountability tracking boards,” stated Fire Chief James Bonzano. “Our career and volunteer responders have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to operate in a safe and accountable manner, these funds will provide the much-needed tools necessary to do just that” stated the Chief.

For more information on the Warren County Department of Fire and Rescue Service or to learn how to join your community fire station, visit www.warrencountyfire.com

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A fairly obscure tech term is becoming more commonplace as mobile networks upgrade to 5G technology. The word is latency, which is the time it takes for your data to travel across the mobile network to its destination and back again to your device.

Fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks offer significantly lower latency than older technology, according to CNET. Latency for 3G networks often crept into the hundreds of milliseconds, while 4G networks currently offer a range of 30 to 70 milliseconds. The new 5G networks range from five to 20 milliseconds, but experts and industry groups hope to push that all the way down to a single millisecond in the future.

The lower latency could provide a huge boost to services that require ultra-fast response time, like telemedicine, augmented reality, and self-driving cars. With almost instant latency, surgeons could perform procedures remotely using robotic surgical devices, while self-driving cars could communicate with instant response to prevent crashes. Mobile video games would also see a bump in response time between devices, leading to a faster-paced game for players.

5G networks offer significant benefits over older networks beyond just the improved latency. According to Forbes, 5G can transmit data as much as 10 times faster than older networks. And when a large number of mobile users cluster in one place, 5G networks are significantly less likely to experience those dreaded network slowdowns.
Of course, only 5G-compatible devices benefit from 5G network speed and latency, and according to PC Mag, only about 16 percent of Americans will have a 5G device by the end of 2021. If you’re still carrying a 4G phone, and it isn’t yet time to upgrade, don’t fret — those devices will still work in upgraded networks, and you’ll even see a bump in speed.

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Smartwatches are becoming increasingly popular. If you’re interested in purchasing one, here’s an overview of what you should know.

They have a range of features
Similar to smartphones, smartwatches are essentially tiny computers. In addition to displaying the time, these devices allow you to receive notifications, make calls, surf the internet, listen to music, track your sleep patterns, and more.

You can track your fitness habits
If you regularly work out, many smartwatches feature heart rate monitors, step counters, and calorie trackers to help you reach your goals. Many models also come with functions that allow you to create training programs and keep track of your performance. It’s important to do your research, as some watches are specifically designed for certain sports such as diving, golfing, or hiking.

Visit your local electronics retailer to find a smartwatch that suits your needs and budget.

There are several types of smartwatches available on the market. Some need to be paired with your cell phone via Bluetooth to take advantage of their full potential. Others, however, are completely autonomous devices.

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