Monthly Archives: February 2018

Fear and Loathing

Guns_AR15_Bushmaster_ARImagine that you are Scot Peterson, 54, at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, north of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and you’ve been the School Resource Officer at that school for 9 years, you know the teachers and students, you care about them, and you know a great deal about law enforcement; you’ve been doing it for 33 years; you’ve been honored for your valor as an officer.

You have just called in, at about 2:20 pm, that you were outside the school on the west side of the building, and a boy, Nikolas Cruz, 19, you knew from the school, is inside the school with a weapon that is firing rapidly.

You can only imagine the possible pain and suffering.  You have four children yourself from your first marriage, and were re-married just last year.  You know what this massacre means to these families.

You likely know that at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012, 20 year old  Adam Lanza, took his mother’s Bushmaster XM-15 rifle and fired 300 rounds, drawing upon 10 thirty-round large capacity magazines, and in four minutes, 154 bullets struck and killed 20 children between 6 and 7, and six educators.

You are not armed with a semi-automatic weapon as you crouch outside the school.  You don’t know what armor the shooter has.  You can’t be sure if the shooter is at the other end of the school, or know that he went to 5 class rooms on two floors executing innocents, or how much ammunition he had or has, or how powerful a weapon he has.  You may have guessed he has an AR-15 from the sound, certainly he’s got at least a semi-automatic.

It didn’t feel like Valentine’s Day.

Not to Scot.

Nor to anyone else. Continue reading

Joe

Joe and Jo Ellen Keating

Joe and Jo Ellen Keating

What’s a good life?

Yeats said, “It’s an Irish curse, to dream things the world has never seen.”

Joe Keating dreamed things and fought to make those imaginings a reality, stimulated by an expansive curiosity, by his gift to tell a story, and joy at tapping out an apt phrase or declamation, motivated by his love of others, and his many passions, and in this way, he enriched not only his own life but those around him.

Joe was a bear of a man, strong physically, with a broad smile, a kind word and a great hug for friend and stranger alike.

Cate Magennis presided over a celebration of Joe’s life this past Saturday.  In preparation for the gathering, Cate asked Joe’s wife and partner in so many adventures for 35 years, his Jo Ellen, what might be Joe’s favorite scripture.  Joe Ellen simply rolled her eyes in reply. Continue reading

“Covering” Time Magazine – Rudy Hoglund

 “Rudy” Hoglund sketches Desiree Valentine – there are a thousand Time covers in Rudy’s past.

“Rudy” Hoglund sketches Desiree Valentine – there are a thousand Time covers in Rudy’s past.

Rudolph “Rudy” Hoglund, the former Art Director for Time Magazine, responsible for designing 1,000 covers in his long career with Time, has been camping out some days of late at Lovettsville’s Back Street Brews Coffee and Tea House.

Rudy sits with a sketchpad at hand, and several other pads and implements in a nearby soft satchel, returning to one of his first loves, Rudy says, “just drawing things.”

Desiree Valentine, one of his first subjects said, “I agreed to be one of Rudy’s subjects because he’s a very special person, and he has such an intriguing background.”

Maureen “Mo” Morris said, “his story is just fascinating.” Continue reading

Hate Literature in Lovettsville

A sample of the hate literature

A sample of the hate literature

The Southern Poverty Law Center has made it clear that “The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous — and oldest — of American hate groups. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan’s primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics.”

The KKK has found its voice in Charlottesville, Virginia and has been emboldened to circulate its hateful literature under dark of night in communities to the North, in Lovettsville and also Brunswick, this past weekend.

If Freedom of Speech is the KKK’s defense for its hate literature, the citizen’s response, in social media and public statements, is to speak up freely and warn friends and neighbors of the menace they know the KKK to be.

One comment was as direct as you could imagine: “So this racist crap storm has now hit my little town that begins with LOVE as well as our neighbors in Brunswick, MD. … If you are not outraged and remain silent, you are part of the problem. Gloves off racist cowards!!! Your hate is not welcomed here.”

Another remark spoke to the context of these hateful literature drops – “It’s as if these groups feel empowered by a national figure or something.”

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that KKK Propaganda flyers were reportedly located on various streets of the New Town Meadows community in the Town of Lovettsville, alongside driveways, near mail-boxes and on sidewalks in the community.

All of the flyers were placed in plastic bags containing birdseed.

The baggies circulated

The baggies circulated

There was another drop in the area of the 39000 Block of Catoctin Ridge Street in Paeonian Springs.

Lovettsville Realtor Kris Consaul argued the community should not treat this literature drop lightly just because the KKK has been “leaving their recruitment flyers in sandwich baggies weighted by birdseed.”

“Each one of those KKK Flyers,” Kris said, “contains the weight of the thousands of black bodies hung by a noose from trees and telephone poles. Each one of those flyers carry the weight of enraged whites screaming, no, snarling at black children going to school. Each one of those flyers carries the weight of burning crosses and terror in the night.”

Kris said, “I’m going to join our neighboring towns and communities in the ‘Love Your Neighbor’ Orange Ribbon Campaign. The first amendment covers my right to respond to cowardice and hate with courage and love. I invite you to join me.”

Councilman Nate Fontaine said, “The material does not reflect the values or thoughts of the people of Lovettsville. We are a close knit, caring community who will always support the people of our town and surrounding areas.”

(Anyone with any information regarding these cases or with possible surveillance video, are asked to contact Detective Joseph Hacay at 703-777-0475.)

A Caring Heart – Stephanie Burget

Stephanie Burget

Stephanie Burget

Stephanie Burget doesn’t just work on Lovettsville’s Octoberfest, and that’s fun for her, but from her youngest years she has cared to ease the way for those ill or at risk to be healthy.

This was most evident in her education at the University of Maryland where she earned her Masters in Public Health, followed by tours of duty and service in the Peace Corps and with USAID.

Of course, in order to attend Cornell undergraduate and the University of Maryland, Stephanie had to teach to underwrite her education and her dream of making a difference. Continue reading