n LEESBURG
Pg. 8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY
Pg. 12 | n BUSINESS
Pg. 16 | n OBITUARIES
Pg. 23 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
Pg. 25
DISCOVER LOUDOUN PULL OUT SECTION INSIDE
VOL. 5, NO. 44
We've got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com
OCTOBER 1, 2020
Airport Braces for Prolonged Recovery BY NORMAN K. STYER nstyer@loudounnow.com
the doorknob, rings the doorbell and then steps back beyond six feet to chat. And during the pandemic, it turns out, people are home and looking for someone to talk with. “People have been very generous about coming out and talking,” Burk said. “I’ve been very surprised by that. There’s a lot of people who are very interested and
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was humming along at the beginning of the year. MWAA President and CEO Jack Potter said operations at Dulles and Reagan National airports were trending over 2019’s strong year and beating the budget forecasts. Then COVID-19 hit. Flights to and from China stopped in January. In March, European flights were grounded. By April, daily air traffic at Dulles was down 95%. Concessionaires had shuttered their stores in the empty terminals. For a period, most flights were simply carrying U.S. citizens being repatriated from lockdowns overseas. Operations have rebounded a bit over the ensuing months, but industry experts are projecting it will take at least three years to return to 2019 levels. “We took an economic dive and we’re going to have to climb our way up one step at a time,” Potter told members of the Committee for Dulles last week. By July, traffic grew to 20% of the daily average, but he characterized
COVID CAMPAIGNS continues on page 39
SLOW RECOVERY continues on page 38
Renss Greene/Loudoun Now
Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk knocks doors as she campaigns to be re-elected. Door knocking, a traditional campaign staple, comes with new precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 Changes Local Campaigns BY RENSS GREENE
rgreene@loudounnow.com
Door-to-door canvassing, fundraising dinners, crowded rooms of phone banks, shaking hands and kissing babies—all hallmarks of running a local campaign that present new dangers in the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the strategies on which candidates for office have relied to get out their message and meet potential voters have
had to change to avoid passing along a virus with that message. That has politicians and their campaign staff rethinking how to reach voters. “The biggest thing is not being able to have events to meet people one-on-one,” said Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk, is who is running for re-election in November. “That’s tough.” She is still going door-to-door to speak to potential voters, but with new precautions—she wears gloves, hangs flyers on
Come in and see why we’ve been voted Loudoun’s Favorite Mattress Store, 4 years in a row! Family Owned for 37 years Guaranteed Low Prices All the top brands & bed in a box
www.baersmattressden.com Across from Target & Costco, next to Ledo Pizza MATTRESS STORE
1035 Edwards Ferry Rd., NE Leesburg 703-777-1600
ECRWSS Postal Customer
Permit #1374 Merrifield VA
PAID
PRESRT STD U.S. Postage