LoudounNow LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
[ Vol. 3, No. 3]
[ loudounnow.com ]
Nov. 30 – Dec. 6, 2017 ]
‘Tis the season for festive flicks
34 Purcellville Police Chief Reinstated, Back on Leave BY PATRICK SZABO
Loudoun Pediatric Obesity Collation, Loudoun Valley Homegrown Markets Cooperative, Real Food for Kids and A Farm Less Ordinary. “We were trying to pull together a network of local nonprofits to be able to get this program off the ground,” said Erika Huddleston, associate director of Loudoun Hunger Relief. For the past six months, the 25 families who were enrolled in the program received weekly deliveries of produce boxes, brimming with fruits and vegetables. The boxes were stocked with produce from A Farm Less Ordinary, a nonprofit farm in Bluemont that employs adults with developmental disabilities,
The Thanksgiving holiday did little to slow the drama in Purcellville’s town hall. Just before the town offices closed for the long weekend, Police Chief Cynthia McAlister was reinstated to her position, nearly three weeks after Interim Town Manager Alex Vanegas fired her. The re-hiring is designed to allow the town to commission and complete an independent audit of the investigation of McAlister’s conduct before she continues to pursue re-instatement as part of the town’s grievance procedures. The original investigation was led by Vanegas and human resources consultant Georgia Nuckolls, who was hired to assist in that process. That investigation became tainted when information surfaced that Nuckolls had a previously undisclosed criminal history and amid allegations that Vanegas and Nuckolls had a personal relationship. McAlister’s reinstatement came one day after Vanegas was placed on administrative leave while the Town Council reviews his conduct since being appointed to the position in May to replace longtime town manager Rob Lohr, who retired amid friction with the council. According to McAlister’s attorney, John V. Berry, the police chief will receive back pay, but will remain on paid administrative leave until the audit is complete. “We are very pleased with the town’s decision and will work with them through the audit process,” Berry said. “Chief McAlister is pleased with this decision.” In response to the events, Mayor Kwasi Fraser this week addressed the community in a letter to the editor. “Over time, all communities experience change … with change, however, comes challenges,” he wrote. “I am confident that we are still on a path to improve our government and move Purcellville forward. I am very proud of our successes as a community thus far and remain focused on the positive even in the most challenging times.” When asked directly what his message
OBESITY >> 19
CHIEF REINSTATED >> 40
Douglas Graham/Loudoun Now
Asia Thomas, 12, helps her grandmother, Sheron, prepare vegetables for dinner in their Sterling home. They were one of 25 families who took part in a pilot program that provides locally grown fruits and vegetables, along with cooking classes to make sure the fresh produce gets on kids’ plates.
Pass the Peas, Please Fighting Youth Obesity with a Helping of Fresh Produce and Education
O
BY DANIELLE NADLER
f the 7,000 young patients who the pediatricians at HealthWorks for Northern Virginia in Leesburg see, almost half are clinically diagnosed as overweight or obese. That’s roughly 3,500 Loudoun kids whose health is at risk because of their weight. The doctors offer verbal nudges to encourage kids to stay active and for their parents to serve them healthy food, but all that talk doesn’t always stick. So, they decided to partner with the county’s largest food pantry, local farms and farmers markets to come up with a program that provides low-income families with veg-
etables and fruits—and pair them with cooking classes and nutrition lessons to make sure that fresh produce gets on kids’ plates. “The rate of pediatric obesity in our low-income patient population is roughly double that of the county’s population as a whole,” said Carol Jameson, CEO of HealthWorks, which serves Loudoun’s uninsured and underinsured residents. “We want to give families the tools to recognize when weight may be creeping up.” The pilot program is called Integrated Pediatric Care and is made possible through a $60,000 grant from the Northern Virginia Health Foundation, plus the help of an army of local charities, including Loudoun Hunger Relief, the
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