LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 2, No. 35 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
Shake off that summer slump
30
[ July 13 – 19, 2017 ]
Supplier Convicted In 2016 Fatal Heroin Overdose BY NORMAN K. STYER
percent of the enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. And that’s the threshold the federal government wants to see before designating the school an “open site” for summer meals. Open sites mean anyone under the age of 18 can come and eat for free. No questions asked. “At first glance, you think 17 percent isn’t a big number,” Nutrition Services Specialist Greg Holmes said, referring to the percentage of Loudoun students from low-income families. “But that’s still thousands of kids who rely on the schools for meals. We want to make sure
For the first time since the opioid crisis swept into Loudoun, a drug supplier has been convicted in Circuit Court for causing an overdose death. Before Judge Douglas L. Fleming Jr. on Tuesday afternoon, Heather Nicole Timbers pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, distribution of heroin and possession of heroin—each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The pleas came just seven days before the scheduled start of a four-day jury trial. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30. According to evidence in the case, the 30-year-old Leesburg woman joined Dewitt Talmadge Black IV, a guitarist from Hamilton who regularly rented hotel rooms to work on his music, at the Clarion Inn in Leesburg on Sept. 29, 2016. The two shared beer, liquor and Chinese food during the evening. And then they shared something else. Timbers told Leesburg Police investigators that around 11 p.m. she cut two lines of heroin from a bag she had purchased from a dealer in the hotel parking lot. She snorted one; Black snorted the other. Police were called to the room at 8:13 the next morning. Black was dead on the hotel room floor. Black’s was one of 41 reported drug deaths in Loudoun County during 2016—29 of those were linked to opioids, including heroin. But the case was made more tragic because Black was not a known drug user. In numerous police interviews of family members, friends, acquaintances and even Timbers, “no one had ever known Black to be a narcotics user of any sort,” according to the proffer of evidence presented to Judge Fleming during Tuesday’s hearing. Timbers’ conviction is a rarity, although state and federal lawmakers increasingly are pressing legislation to make it easier to hold suppliers responsible for drug deaths. In Loudoun, a similar case was brought to trial in January 2016. James
STILL COOKIN’ >> 43
CONVICTION >> 35
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Students attending county-run camps and summer school at Ball’s Bluff Elementary line up for breakfast Tuesday. Loudoun school system’s goal is to provide more than 30,000 free meals to children by the end of the summer.
Still Cookin’ Cafeterias Ramp Up Efforts to Feed Kids Through the Summer BY DANIELLE NADLER
I
n school cafeterias throughout the county, it certainly doesn’t feel like summer vacation. They’re busy with an army of employees working early morning hours to make sure no child in Loudoun goes hungry. Loudoun County Public Schools is partnering with U.S. Department of Agriculture and its No Kid Hungry campaign to put on a summer meals program. Last year, the program, dubbed PowerFuel, served almost 30,000 meals—11,000 breakfasts and 16,000 lunches. Now, in its third year, they are rolling out a delivery program in hopes
of feeding more children this summer. “We’re working on offering as many kids meals as we can,” School Nutrition Services Director Becky Domokos-Bays said. “Because we know just because school stops, doesn’t mean hunger does.” It’s not easy for a county with a high average income to qualify for federal funding to pay for a program like PowerFuel, according to Domokos-Bays. In Loudoun, just more than 13,500 students come from families with an income low enough to participate in the federal free and reduced-price meal program. That’s 17 percent of the overall student population. But in nine schools, more than 50
! LE W A O S N N O
Where will you purchase your next mattress?
BAER’S Before you head to a large chain, MATTRESS DEN can we suggest another destination? www.baersmattressden.com
There’s a reason we’ve been family owned for over 30 years. Ask your neighbors or visit us and find out why?
Leesburg, VA
next to Ledo Pizza across from Target & Costco
703-777-1600
ECRWSS Postal Customer
Permit #131 Leesburg, VA
PAID
U.S. Postage PRESRT STD