Loudoun Now

12/04/2025

Purcellville’s Public Works Director Jason Didawick resigned from the position this week after 15 years with the town.

Didawick, who was hired by the town in 2010, has been leading Purcellville’s water and wastewater facilities through a series of challenges, including delayed capital projects and aging infrastructure and most recently a water main break that resulted in a multi-day water boil notice for customers.

The team was able to repair the leak the same day, earning praise from Mayor Christopher Bertaut who said it was “outstanding work.”

But Didawick said on Tuesday he was scheduled a last-minute meeting with Assistant Town Manager Diana Hays and Human Resources Director LaDonna Snellbaker to talk about restructuring the Public Works Department. They said they were looking to bring in a “senior” public works director.

Purcellville’s Public Works Director Jason Didawick resigned from the position this week after 15 years with the town.

12/04/2025

Delegates from FIFA yesterday toured Loudoun Soccer Park to highlight a new partnership designed to expand access to soccer for underserved youth across the U.S.

The Get on the Bus program this past year received funding from US Soccer and FIFA’s Innovate to Grow grant. The organization’s Loudoun Chapter is slated to begin its services next spring through a partnership with Loudoun Soccer.

It is part of a national goal to reach 10,000 new unregistered players before the start of the World Cup that will be held in North America starting in June. The funding will provide kids with transportation, gear and an hour of after-school enrichment with a mental-health focused curriculum. GOTB operates in 10 states and Mexico.

Delegates from FIFA yesterday toured Loudoun Soccer Park to highlight a new partnership designed to expand access to soccer for underserved youth across the U.S.

12/04/2025

After nearly 100 years, the Gilbert's Corner gas station has been razed; the family of a man who died by su***de at the Loudoun Adult Detention Center sues. For Thursday, December 4, 2025, it's your Loudoun Now Morning Minute!

12/03/2025

Here’s your Dec. 3 update from our newsroom!

12/03/2025

The Loudoun County School Board has directed its finance chief to request $17.5 million in additional funding from the county to help cover operational and health insurance costs.

At Tuesday’s School Board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Sharon Willoughby brought the request as an action item. It had previously been brought to the board as an information item.

It is not unusual for the school division to request additional allocations from the county’s fund balance, but it is unclear how much surplus funding will be available and how much supervisors will shift to schools.

The Loudoun County School Board has directed its finance chief to request $17.5 million in additional funding from the county to help cover operational and health insurance costs.

12/03/2025

On Tuesday, the last remnants of the gas station and restaurant that William Gilbert opened in 1927 were demolished following a years-long effort to salvage the structure.

When the station opened, the intersection was just a corner—today’s Rt. 15, built as the post-Civil War toll road, did not extend south of Rt. 50 until 1941.

After the gas station closed in 1982, community efforts focused on preventing large-scale commercial development at the rural crossroads. Today, the lot is part of some 300 acres around the intersection owned by the Piedmont Environmental Council.

PEC took ownership of the Gilberts Corner Farmers Market in 2019 and raised funds for an archaeological study to identify any significant historic or cultural resources on the site and for a study to restore the gas station building.

On Tuesday, the last remnants of the gas station and restaurant that William Gilbert opened in 1927 were demolished following a years-long effort to salvage the structure.

12/03/2025

The Loudoun County School Board has approved changing its Equity Committee to an administrative panel.

At its Tuesday meeting, the School Board voted 7-2 to approve the change, which was suggested by Equity Committee Chair Linda Deans (Broad Run). Deana Griffiths (Ashburn) and Kari LaBell (Catoctin) opposed the measure.

Deans said at the previous board meeting that the committee was originally established as an ad hoc panel and then made a select committee and that she believes it has done all it can do in its current form.

“There is a sense that the Equity Committee has achieved the purpose for which it was created, such that the charge to examine and report on one specific issue is no longer applicable,” Deans said.

The Loudoun County School Board has approved changing its Equity Committee to an administrative panel.

12/03/2025

Catch up on the headlines with the Morning Minute! For December 3, 2025.

12/03/2025

After President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday announced that he would like to rebuild Dulles International Airport, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said he is launching a new initiative to explore revitalizing the airport.

“We’re also going to rebuild Dulles Airport because it’s not a good airport,” Trump said during a Dec. 2 meeting of his Cabinet members at the White House. “It should be a great airport, and it’s not a good airport at all. It’s a terrible airport.”

Trump called the airport "incorrectly designed,” but said he approved of the iconic main terminal building originally designed by Eero Saarinen and expanded in the 1990s.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is inviting proposals and public-private partnerships plans from developers, architects and engineers to construct new terminals and concourses at Dulles. The structures would replace or build on the existing main terminal and satellite concourses, according to the announcement.

After President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday announced that he would like to rebuild Dulles International Airport, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said he is launching a new initiative to

12/02/2025

The estate of a man who died by su***de at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in 2024 is suing the Sheriff’s Office for $15 million, alleging the agency violated its own policies and failed to take actions that would have saved the inmate’s life.

The family of Luis Michael Santamaria Ferrufino stated in a September filing in the federal Eastern District of Virginia that Ferrufino was arrested for a non-violent crime by sheriff’s deputies on Aug. 29, 2024 and booked into the ADC. The suit names the LCSO, Sheriff Michael Chapman, and the Loudoun Adult Detention Center as defendants.

This article discusses su***de. If you or someone you know needs mental health help, call the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

12/02/2025

After a dramatic dip in ridership during COVID, Metro usage has risen back to its pre-pandemic levels, but funding the regional transit system is still a challenge for area leaders and they’ve been working on a plan to address that issue since last year. Now, they’re looking for local and state governments to endorse that plan.

The transportation system spans Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia.

DMVMoves, led by the WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments was formed to develop a new funding plan for the organization's capital budget. Over the past year and a half, the task force has been meeting to address the problem.

A big part of the lift involved garnering agreement across a wide range of stakeholders—chambers of commerce, state senators and delegates, county administrators including Loudoun’s Tim Hemstreet, local officials including Loudoun Chair Phyllis Randall (D-At Large) and transportation experts.

After a dramatic dip in ridership during COVID, Metro usage has risen back to its pre-pandemic levels, but funding the regional transit system is still a challenge for area leaders

12/02/2025

Here’s your midday update from our newsroom!