News and notes from Reston (tm).

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Fire Breathing Felony Charges Dropped, Plus a Grand Union Conspiracy to Add a Fluoridated Drinking Fountain to a Day Labor Center

evil spock.jpegWhen we last visited our tolerant fire-fearing neighbor to the west, two bartenders were facing decades in prison for a trick right out of a forgettable 1980s Tom Cruise movie. Fortunately for common sense and all involved, those charges have been dropped.

Fairfax County prosecutors have filed a motion to drop felony arson charges against two fire-breathing bartenders who were facing more than 35 years in prison apiece for performing flaming bar tricks.

Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh confirmed to The Washington Examiner on Tuesday that he dismissed three felony charges because he couldn't find any evidence that the Jimmy's Old Town Tavern barkeeps were trying to hurt anybody. Nobody was injured the night the men were arrested, but there was evidence that a paper airplane hanging from the ceiling caught fire and burned, Morrogh said.

"I'm not saying it wasn't dangerous, but they weren't trying to burn anything," Morrogh said. "They were just trying to do tricks."

Mixologists Tegee Rogers, 33, and Justin Fedorchak, 39, still each face three misdemeanor charges through the Herndon municipal court. The men could get up to a year in jail for each misdemeanor. A trial date has not been scheduled.

The bar, which sits across the street from the Herndon Fire Station, had been performing the fire-breathing act for 13 years, owner Jimmy Cirrito told The Examiner last week. He said fire officials had never warned the bar to stop them. Fire officials said they investigated after receiving a letter and photo of the flaming act.
All's well that ends well. So now Herndon can return to what it's been best known for in recent years: fun and games involving its attempts to harrass enforce laws involving its largely Hispanic immigrant community. The last time outside agitators decided to stick their nose into the town's business, it was the Minutemen, with predictable results. But this time? Lock up your children, as it's a hippie-sounding group "with ties to labor unions" (scary!) that supports "African-Americans, immigrants, progressive whites, youth, women and the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered and questioning community" (scarier!)
The Virginia New Majority, an Alexandria-based political action group with ties to labor unions recently targeted Herndon, attempting to fuel political change within the town.

This past spring, VNM ran an advertisement on the website www.Hispanic-Jobs.com, looking to recruit organizers for what it called its "Herndon campaign." VNM Executive Director John Liss, who also is the director of Tenants and Workers United, said the "Herndon campaign" is in full swing.

"We are trying to politically engage Herndon voters against the climate of hate that has been created over the last four years," Liss said. "We are trying to rescind the anti-solicitation ordinance that the previous town council enacted as they were going out the door."

That ordinance, which took effect on July 1, prohibits "the solicitation of contributions, the distribution of hand bills and the sale of merchandise or services on public streets by pedestrians to occupants of motor vehicles." According to town officials, the ordinance was enacted as a public safety measure. But Liss maintains the ordinance unfairly targets day laborers, the majority of whom are Hispanic.
Been there, done that. But when VNM decided to hold a meeting in Herndon earlier this month, things got ugly:
On Aug. 4, VNM had a private meeting in the Herndon community center to meet with 45 or so recent recruits.

Former Herndon council member Ann Null, a passionate opponent of the now-defunct Herndon Day Labor center, attended the meeting and was asked to leave by members of the VNM.

"She refused to leave after being told repeatedly that it was a private meeting," said Herndon police spokesman Lt. Jeff Coulter, who added that Null was taken away in handcuffs.

According to court records, Null was charged with trespassing. Her hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29. She was released on a $1,000 bond.
Anyway, there have been some unpleasant letters going back and forth, plus charges of some giant union conspiracy to reinstate a day labor center -- because under-the-table, minimum-wage work is good for unions! -- and then, in its most sinister effort yet, force all Herndon residents to drink fluoridated Mountain Dew from the 7-11 on Alabama Street, but we're depressed enough as it is so we're just going to stop here.

17 comments:

  1. because under-the-table, minimum-wage work is good for unions!
    ---
    Best one liner I've read all day!

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  2. Imagine that. VNM had a person with differing point of view arrested for trespassing when they are advocating for the biggest trespassers of all. Could the irony be richer?

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  3. Thomas Paine in the AssAugust 25, 2010 at 2:04 PM

    Just goes to show that left wing-nuts are as bad as right wing-nuts.

    VNM must worship at the altar of St. Nancy Pelosi -- "let's investigate who's funding the opposition to the mosque at Ground Zero."

    Damn, that First Amendment is pesky.

    And by the way, what the hell is "the questioning community"? Wait -- by my asking the question, does that make me an honorary member?

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  4. Fluridation! I can only quote General Jack D. Ripper:
    "..You know when fluoridation began?...1946. 1946, Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works."

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  5. Wait a minute -- if the Herndon Community Center is publicly funded, the law is that people can only use its rooms for meetings as long as the meetings are open to the public. That's the law with County Buildings, like the library...

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  6. 10:50 so when I rent a room at the community center for my kid's birthday party any one can crash the party? Really?

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  7. Somehow, I think meeting rules established by the Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees aren't binding county-wide. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/services/meetingrooms/meetingroominformation.htm
    Book your rooms now, they are limited! ;-)

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  8. Perhaps the difference is the meeting rooms at HCC are *rented*, i.e. money changes hands -- and the gov't buildings are not rented, but shared? Which would mean that you couldn't use the county meeting rooms for your kid's bd party for the exact reason (that you wouldn't WANT someone crashing it)...similar to renting a park pavilion so you can have exclusive use for that time period?

    Still, back to the original point...what is VNM so afraid of?

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  9. Take back our Town...and let's give it back to the Native Americans who we stole it from to begin with. Let them deal with the immigration issue for good.

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  10. wow.. Herndon really has way more racist xenophobes per capita than any other Northern Virginia destination

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  11. racist xenophobe = believer of border integrity

    Just wait until your kid gets run over by a drunken illegal without a driver's license or insurance. You'll sing a different song then.

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  12. A recent letter to the Fairfax Times:

    http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/cms/story.php?id=2026

    "While the majority in the U.S. supports stronger enforcement laws against criminal aliens, Herndon is slipping rapidly backwards to a sanctuary town, as evidenced by crime and filth left behind by day laborers seeking work on private property. On more than one occasion and multiple nights, we routinely find Coronas, plantain chips, Best Way ceviche and, more alarming, human feces and used condoms in our backyards.

    With the recent death of a beloved nun in Prince William County by an illegal alien, we as a community should be pushing for stronger enforcement. We should not be so quick to forget our neighbor Joseph Passarelli, who was killed by an illegal alien on Herndon Parkway. I, like many of us in Herndon, are reminded daily as we pass his on-site memorial decorated with the holy cross and American flag. The mayor of Herndon must immediately address the worsening quality of life for many of us affected by illegal aliens. Our children are accosted daily by foul-mouthed unknowns while visiting 7-Eleven. Others of us dodge jay-walking drunk laborers while they take over our sidewalks and streets. The mayor should immediately petition Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to release the list of criminal illegal aliens released back into Herndon awaiting deportation. It is a well-known law enforcement position that areas with a large illegal alien population leads to prostitution, gangs, human trafficking and drugs. If you do not think illegal alien gang members are students at Herndon schools, just ask the Herndon Police Department and the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force."

    Yeah, those racist xenophobes who don't want crime and filth in their town. What's wrong with them, anyway?

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  13. I'm more afraid of those sophisticated Lexus drivers speeding through my neighborhood on their way to work hitting my kids, but I'll be sure to watch for the illegals in thier beat up pintos as well.

    Oh, and sorry, those plantain chip bags were mine. I just love those things!

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  14. Anon 6:09

    So, in other words, it was a claptrap crap rap? A fool's stool tool? A specious feces thesis?

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  15. border integrity?, come on we live in 2010.. in the era of globalized liberal capitalism where free trade rules the world, right? money and goods can move anywhere without any restrictions but when we talk about people.. oh no, no way. What a hypocrisy.

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  16. And yet, 1:35, I'll bet you don't and won't live in the same neighborhood as the illegals.

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  17. Yes I do live around undocumented people and I don't mind, just like you don't mind when they prepare your food at the local restaurant.

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