n LOUDOUN
4 | n LEESBURG
VOL. 10, NO. 21
8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY
14 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
Community-Supported News. Free to all.
27
APRIL 3, 2025
Fight Against Lanternflies Continues BY HANNA PAMPALONI AND NORMAN K. STYER
hpampaloni@loudounnow.org nstyer@loudounnow.org
Hanna Pampaloni/Loudoun Now
Project and county leaders celebrate the construction commencement milestone at the planned Northern Virginia Science Center in Sterling Monday morning.
Construction Begins on Northern Virginia Science Center
BY HANNA PAMPALONI hpampaloni@loudounnow.org
Families, students, seniors, and more are one step closer to experiencing an interactive, expansive Northern Virginia Science Center after county and project leaders gathered at the Sterling site to celebrate the building’s groundbreaking Monday morning. The center has been a years-long
endeavor and took collaboration, investment and support from both public and private entities. Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation CEO Nene Spivy praised the ongoing support from the Board of Supervisors and private investors. “This project proves that anything is possible when community comes together to meet a critical need,” Spivy said. “Borrowing another perfect tagline from our friend, Buddy Rizer, in Loudoun
Economic Development – this is what Loudoun Possible looks like. This is what NOVA Possible looks like, and this is quite literally what Virginia Possible looks like.” The 70,000-square-foot center is designed to be a world-class, interactive science museum dedicated to inspiring a love for science, technology and mathematics and serve as a hub for discovery, SCIENCE CENTER continues on page 39
Hundreds of Loudouners dispatched across the county Saturday to help stop the spread of the Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive, crop-damaging insect found in ever-growing numbers over the past few years. Teams worked at 12 locations including Bluemont Vineyard, 868 Vineyard, Bleu Frog Winery, Willowsford Conservancy, the Exeter neighborhood in Leesburg and Ida Lee Park, to find egg masses and scrape them off trees and posts. Preliminary numbers show at least 118,425 egg masses equating to approximately $3.5 million fly eggs were destroyed during the first day of the campaign. The campaign was created by Visit Loudoun, in partnership with the Loudoun Invasive Removal Alliance, Loudoun County Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association. This is the second year for the program, which expanded to more locations and to three days. “We will have over a thousand volunteers by the time it is over and LANTERNFLIES continues on page 37
ECRWSSEDDM Permit #1374 Merrifield VA
PAID
PRESRT STD U.S. Postage