Easy read this week in Loudoun papers

It was an easy read this week, mainly because the hefty Leesburg Today never landed in my mailbox, and because the Easterner got its act together in a major way.

The Independent continued its provision of information in "mashup" style - though came through with a couple of local meeting announcements... Meetings include Poisson's mid session town hall 2/10 at 10AM at the Inova Loudoun Hospital, a Rt. 7 improvement meeting 2/8 at the Sr. Center in the Cascades (though they don't say who's hosting it), Supervisor Snow's Dulles North town hall, 2/7 at 7PM at the Broadlands Nature Center, and Stephanie Smith checks in with the list of upcoming South Riding Committee meetings (can be found on the SouthRiding.net site.) Interesting the meetings are spread throughout the paper, in a "calander" section, in the news, in a "schools calendar" section - fairly rigorous to track down all and keep organized. Once again, confusion over where the real estate news goes - evidently the Dulles Area Association of Realtors opposes a "granter's tax" hike - but this wasn't newsworthy for the Real Estate section - it was buried elsewhere.

WAPO comes through with a "Home Construction Hits 10-Year Low" article (evidently "the bloom is off the rose in Loudoun County, and it could indicate a shift regionwide"), and some news on no funding but good ideas for Route 15, plus the Rt. 66 widening controversy - fairly light reading by WAPO standards this week.

The Easterner wins...lots of good content, including new campaigns (Phillips and Andrews contesting the State Senate District 33 race), a review of the Greenway Toll-raising issue, an excellent update on Internet Youth Safety in Virginia (see http://www.dadministrator.blogspot.com), some very local and opinionated feedback in the Community Forum (anti-Republicans from the editor, and pro-cellphone-tax-to-raise-transportation-funds from a disgruntled citizen), a good bit of research concerning Loudoun's growth leadership in the state (Loudoun County added 100,000 residents since 2000!), and about 35 following pages of advertising. Hefty issue.

Tally:

Easterner - 7
WAPO - 5
Independent - 4