A civil rights organization has filed a complaint against the Fairfax County Public Schools over the lack of diversity at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. We talked with Tina Hone of the Coalition of the Silence.

And in the wake of County Executive Rushern Baker’s acknowledgement that his wife has early onset dementia, we talked with Medstar Georgetown University Hospital neurologist Scott Turner about the affliction.

Watch the rest of today's show after the jump.

Friday at 10am: Pr. George's Co. Executive Rushern Baker

Janice Goldwater, executive director and founder of Adoption Together, discussed a bill to allow adoption agencies in Virginia to deny placements based on religious and moral beliefs.

We talked about what women should do to keep their hearts healthy with Dr. Roquell Wyche, a cardiologist at Medstar Washington Hospital Center, and heart attack survivor Gail Harris-Barry.

And Gerri Walsh, President of the FINRA Foundation, talked about financial planning for military families.

WATCH Thursday's interviews here:

I had spent Saturday morning watching the annual Christmas & Holiday Parade roll south on King. It was sunny, a comfortable 43 degrees. A Knights of Columbus pickup truck, in its bed a banner reading "Keep Christ in Christmas," dragged a trailer-hitched nativity scene of costumed young children and a woman singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." There were the usual marching bands, police and fire vehicles, church groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, beauty queen winners ("Miss Heart of America," read one sash) and dog-rescue organizations, and hawkers handed out summer-camp pamphlets, flyers for a "Live Drive-Thru Nativity," and coupons for a "free breakfast entrée" at the local Chick-fil-A. (Here, encampments form not to protest economic inequality, but in advance of a fast-food restaurant's opening.) All the while, the hand-waving never stopped, and neither did the dominant greeting of observers and participants alike: "Merry Christmas!"

It has not been entirely merry for all. The current edition of the Loudoun Times-Mirror, lying in coffee shops and newspaper boxes around town, featured the above-the-fold headline, "Skeleton Santa display vandalized by citizen," accompanied by a photo of a plastic skeleton lying face-down in the grass, its Santa suit pulled down to its waist (not visible in the photo: the cross on which it had been strung). "It’s that time of year again," the article begins, "when holiday cheer fills the air and the Loudoun County Courthouse lawn is scattered with potentially offensive displays and outraged citizens."

If the author sounds weary, it's because this annual controversy over the courthouse lawn — which fronts King Street downtown, along the parade route — is now in its third year. In late 2009, the Courthouse Grounds and Facility Committee, a citizen group appointed by the county's Board of Supervisors, prohibited displays on the lawn, including a Christmas tree the Rotary Club of Leesburg had been putting up for 50 years, and a nativity scene a local couple had been putting up for 20 years. Predictably, there was a public outcry, and the board overturned the decision and instead decided to allow up to 10 displays on the lawn, with applicants being accepted on a first come, first served basis. So that year, in addition to the tree and nativity scene, were displays by the Loudoun Interfaith Bridges, a parody of the "12 Days of Christmas," and a banner by local atheist Rick Wingrove reading, "Let reason prevail."

Last year, the board voted to continue the rules for courthouse lawn displays, and atheists secured seven of the 10 spots, according to Wingrove, a freelance Web designer with a number of extracurricular titles: CEO of Beltway Atheists, Virginia director of American Atheists, and an organizer for NOVA Atheists. (He's also a hang-glider pilot, motorcycle enthusiast, and bathroom remodeler.) This year, with only nine lawn spots available (owing to a sickly Sycamore tree), atheists again secured seven. But, Wingrove says, "One of our guys died. That [spot] went to the next person on the waiting list, which was a religious group.”

Make that six, then: two banners from NOVA Atheists/Beltway Atheists; a "tree of knowledge"; a sign equating Jesus with Santa and the Easter Bunny; "a holiday message from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster"; and a "letter from Jesus" that begins, "Many of you are upset that folks are taking my name out of the season. I don't care what the day is called. If you want to celebrate my birth, just get along and love one another."

Meanwhile, there will be two nativity scenes — the one that's gone up for 20 years, and another from Potomac Falls Anglican Church, which was first off the waiting list after the aforementioned death.

And then there's the skeleton Santa on a cross, which belongs in neither category.

"Art work of Santa on a cross to depict society's materialistic obsessions and addictions and how it is killing the peace, love, joy, and kindness that is supposed to be prevalent during the holiday season" — that's how 15-year-old Jeff Heflin Jr., of Middleburg, described his display in his application, which was submitted by his mother, Jenelle Embrey, a NOVA Atheists member and author of the "letter from Jesus."

"[A]fter my son watched a show last week on how the materialistic addictions of today's society are killing the santa spirit, he did some research and found a display by an artist in Canada that he would like to take a shot at with something very similar," Embrey wrote in an email to a county administrator. "At first I discouraged it but upon discussion, I realize he is legal now and therefore has a right to his own display."

On Dec. 5, WUSA's Peggy Fox was filming a report about the skeleton Santa when a local woman, Mary Czarnecki, began tearing it down. The story went viral, appearing as far away as London's The Daily Mail, and comment sections everywhere became debate forums on the First Amendment, the separation of church and state, and rights versus respect. It was assumed, by some critics of the crucified Santa, that Heflin was another Godless heathen who was hell-bent on ruining the holiday season, a foot soldier in the atheist's war on Christmas.

Except that's not the case. Though his mom's an atheist, Heflin refers to himself as a Christian, according to several people close to him. (Heflin could not be reached for comment, and Embrey answered only a few questions by email before asking to be left alone.) "He is not a member of our group and he is not an atheist," Wingrove says. "He is a Christian.”

No matter. The controversy had begun.

Ken Reid, a Leesburg councilman and county supervisor-elect, said the atheists had no problem with the Christmas tree and crèche until recently. "They now want no one else to believe in God. They've taken a frontal attack on the whole thing in the name of free speech," says Reid, who is Jewish. "They're basically cowardly. They don’t attack my religion, they're not attacking Islam. All they want to do is put their finger in the eye of Christianity.”

And yet, talk to an atheist like Lydia Rice, the "tree of knowledge" applicant, and you'll hear a similar complaint about Christians — that whenever there are controversies of this kind (see: Hide/Seek), "it's always Christians against whoever else." Wingrove says "the local Christian community" only cares about "its own freedom of speech": "They’ve shown that they have nothing but contempt for the First Amendment anyway. They're separation deniers.”

These quotes are civil compared to the bile being spewed online, personal attacks so vitriolic that when I went to the courthouse lawn shortly after the Leesburg parade, I half expected something approaching a schoolyard brawl, or at least two camps of protesters shouting at each other. Instead, there was only a mother and her two young daughters. They were looking at the skeleton Santa, which lay on the ground, still attached to the cross. Its skull was missing.

"Is it God?" one of the girls asked.

"No, it's not God, honey," the mother said. "I'll explain it to you later."

The atheists weren't scheduled to put up their displays for another couple of hours. Maybe by then there would be warring sides? No. When I returned, I found about two-dozen smiling men and women, waving to passing cars and calling out both "happy holidays!" and "merry Christmas!"

These people did not seem to hate Christmas at all. One banner erected that afternoon read, "Celebrating Our Constitution: Keeping Church and State Separate Since 1787"; the other, "Season's Greetings: Peace, Love, Health, and Happiness to All." Rice's tree of knowledge, meanwhile, looked a lot like a Christmas tree, but with a sun at the top instead of an angel or star; alongside the typical glass-ball ornaments and gold tinsel were inoffensive laminated messages from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

"It just shows how much atheists get into the holiday season," Beltway Atheists director Jeff Wismer, who was dressed as Santa for the third year in a row, said. "We're very festive."

And they were showing restraint. Last year, Loudoun Atheist's Emmert Elsea put up his "Myths for Young and Old" sign, in which Jesus is flanked by Santa and the Easter Bunny. His application to put it up again this year was approved, but at the last minute he chose not to.

"I've got it in the Jeep, but I've decided not to put it up," he said. "It's gotten too controversial."

The atheists gathered for a photo in front of the tree of knowledge, a sign in front reading, "Hi Mom! I'm an Atheist." Afterward, many of them gravitated toward the skeleton Santa, which remained on the ground. I was told that Embrey had taken it home for repair and put it back up the previous day, and that it was vandalized overnight. (Her "letter from Jesus" sign, which she paid $1,100 to have custom made, was beyond repair, she told me. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office says the vandalizing of the skeleton "is a criminal incident now.")

Skeleton Santa and its cross were lifted upright and steadied. A man wearing a Santa hat, white wig, and reflective aviators stood behind the display on the tips of his toes, his head where the skeleton's would've been. He bared his teeth to resemble a skull, and several people, including me, chuckled and took pictures. The display was no longer — or at least not at the moment — a provocative work of art, or a daring defense of our freedom of speech, or even much of a crime scene. It was merely an amusing photo op.

In our last segment, DC Councilman Phil Mendelson discussed his proposal to amend the city's gun laws, ethics reform, internet gambling and more.

WATCH today's interviews here:

Monday at 10am: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.)

The county manager has proposed buying the property to help redevelopment in the courthouse area while addressing the challenges of the emergency winter shelter.

Emergency winter shelter operated by the nonprofit Arlington Street People's Assistance Network close on April 1.

“We have over 70 people leaving who go back out onto the streets,” said Kathleen Sibert, the group’s executive director. “Really there are no options other than [our shelter] for many of these people.”

The group wants to offer help to homeless clients year round by 2013. The proposal by the county manager could make that a reality.

“The county manager is going to recommend to the county board that it authorize the purchase of this building 2020 14th Street North,” said county spokesperson Diana Sun.

The proposal includes transforming two floors of that building for a comprehensive homeless services center.

“It will be a year-round shelter for individuals to have a place to sleep, but it also will offer wraparound services for those individuals during the day,” Sibert said.

The seven-story, 70,000 square foot facility is part of a larger plan to redevelop the courthouse area, where more government office space is also needed.

“This move of purchasing the building will also help us fulfill a longterm vision that has been in place since the 1980s, to make this courthouse area into a vibrant mixed-use area,” Sun said.

About 23 tenants currently occupy the existing building.

“A number of them will stay and we will unfortunately have to ask some of them to vacate, so we can move our space needs in there,” Sun said.

The county board will consider the resolution on Dec. 13.

The town council voted 6-to-1 in favor of re-naming the "holiday parade" the "Christmas and holiday parade” last week.

“We're going to recognize Christmas -- for both secular and spiritual reasons. It’s an important part of American culture, it’s part of our heritage,” said Mayor Kristen Umstattd.

Someone petitioned the council this fall to include Christmas in the parade's title.

Some worry the change could re-ignite a controversy started two years ago when a disagreement over Christmas decorations at the Loudon County courthouse led to a ban on all displays.

After nearly a year of debate, fiery public meetings and legal action, the county board agreed to accept applications for any type of holiday displays on a first-come, first-served basis.

“This has been a special privilege provided to the religious community for a long time and I believe it's an inappropriate collaboration between religion and government,” one said.

The Leesburg mayor stands by the decision, pointing out there would be no parade if it weren't for Christmas, a federal holiday.

"We try to make sure we are very (affirmative) to all religions and we are in Leesburg, we're very inclusive. But we shouldn’t be expunging Christmas from what is the Christmas season,” Umstattd said.

This year's parade -- with it's new name -- is set for Saturday, Dec. 10th.

The region jumped to first place thanks to a $99 rise in the median household income, combined with falling income in the San Jose, Calif. region, which ranked second in 2009. Loudoun County topped the wealthiest county list with a median household income of $119,540 — a jump from $112,021 in 2009 — and Fairfax County was second, despite an income drop.

The other counties are Montgomery, Howard, Arlington, Stafford and Prince William, which explains why Maryland was first, and Virginia 8th, on a list of the country's wealthiest states. Despite not being a state, D.C. placed 9th on that list.

[Examiner]

“True, commutes can be abysmal,"CNN Money's Pieter van Noordennen writes about Leesburg. "But residents say that the tradeoff to live in this pretty town, which has seen more history than a Ken Burns film, is worth it. Many antebellum red-brick buildings still stand, now filled with restaurants and art galleries. On the negative side, there are some run-down neighborhoods."

Several other Virginia towns made CNN's "Rich and Single" list: Tyson's Corner, where 32.1 percent are single and median family income falls at $143,749, ranked 2nd; Arlington was 7th (42.1 percent, $119,427) Herndon was 20th (33.2 percent, $102,758); and Alexandria was 23rd (38.6 percent, $100,957).

As much as money matters, I'm skeptical of a list that disregards how much gridlock traffic affects our mental health. All those wealthy loners in Tyson's are probably too busy commuting to have time for dating.

[Herndon Patch via CNN]

Fairfax County has developed a system to purify sewage, pump it through a three-mile pipeline, and spray 25 million gallons onto the Laurel Hill Golf Course in Lorton. Another 700 million gallons of the treated water will be used for a cooling system at a waste-to-energy facility. The $17 million project, $6.5 million of which came from the feds, will make the county the largest provider of treated wastewater in Northern Virginia.

Reusing treated sewage is common in water-deprived states like Texas and California; one Texas town even turned its sewage into drinking water. Perhaps we're not ready to go that far, but it's nice to see our piss and bowel movements being recycled for one of the world's most environmentally destructive sports.

[Examiner]

The DoD is urging its employees to brown-bag their lunches because the center's cafeteria only seats a few hundred; eventually, some 6,400 employees will move into the building. Worse still, the nearest restaurants aren't exactly affordable lunch options: Clyde's, Finn & Porter, and a sushi bar at the Hilton. No Chipotle or Cosi here, folks!

Around 2,200 workers are expected to move in on Sept. 15, and no one expects new restaurants in the area anytime soon. Suddenly, we're feeling pretty good about our options here in Rosslyn.

View Larger Map

[Examiner]

[WTOP]

Politico reporter James Hohmann offered analysis of the fight for the Republican presidential nomination, which intensifies this week in Iowa, where candidates will debate on Thursday, two days ahead of the closely-watched Ames straw poll.

More after the jump:

And DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton discussed the impact the debt debate and the downgrading of U.S. debt is having on Wall Street. Also – efforts to get Congress to approve back-pay for FAA workers who were furloughed recently.

Tuesday’s interviews can be seen here:

We then offered the first in our series of Vote 2011 candidate debates, featuring the Democrats running for the District 30 Senate seat in northern Virginia. Del. Adam Ebbin, Arlington School Board member Libby Garvey and Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka are vying to replace veteran legislator Patsy Ticer. It was a spirited encounter, one observer calling it the best of the campaign so far.

In our last segment, Boston University occupational therapy professor Karen Jacobs talked about the risks of over-weight backpacks. She said that parents must monitor their kids’ packs to make sure they’re not causing strain.

Watch today’s show in its entirety here:

It's already a crime to lure a child under age 15 into a car or house to commit a sex offense, or to kidnap them, but Delegate Rob Bell (R) says there needs to be a law for intent, too. But how do you distinguish between the creepy guy cruising past bus stops and the suburban mom just trying to be nice? That's the challenge. If passed, this law could provide us with hilarious news stories for years to come.

[via WAMU]

The City Council's considering a proposal that would allow encampments for homeless people, arguing that it'd be easier to provide services and keep an eye on them. Andrew Friedman, director of the Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Department, told the Virginian-Pilot that they're evaluating issues such as policing, sanitation, and the duration of the cities.

Mayor Will Sessoms, though, isn't convinced. "I just don't see it happening," he told the Pilot. "I could not recommend it because I do not want to encourage homelessness. I want to work to keep people from being homeless."

As of January, there were 453 homeless in Virginia Beach, which is already home to a number of unauthorized tent cities. And so is Northern Virginia, by the way.

[via AP]

The $4.5 million buildling has an environmentally friendly kitchen and other green features, they said. The interior is lined with LED lighting, which saves energy and reduces energy costs. The lights can transition from white to red during emergency calls.

Firefighters said that transition allows their eyes to adjust when they're woken up in the middle of the night. Alarms gradually increase in volume - rather than starting with a blaring horn - which can reduce stress on sleeping firefighters.

Instead of group quarters, each firefighter sleeps in his or her own designated dorm room. Because they sleep in separate rooms, the station's alarm system can wake up specific battalions or firefighters for emergency calls rather than waking the entire station.

Located at Old Dominion Drive and Lee Highway, the new station replaces Station No. 3's previous space down the block leased from the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department. As the local population grew, county officials said the station staff needed to grow as did the station space.

Arlington County will host an open house at Station No. 3 Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The address is 4100 Old Dominion Dr, Arlington, VA 22207. Parking is limited. For more information, click here.