On December 14, 2009, at approximately 6:55 p.m., the Warren County Sheriff’s Office responded to Henry’s Grocery on Strasburg Road for a 911 hang up. While deputies were responding to Henry’s Grocery a subsequent call was received from the clerk advising she had been robbed. The first Warren County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived at Henry’s Grocery within three minutes of the initial call for service. Deputies set up a perimeter and summoned a tracking K-9 from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

The clerk informed deputies that a white male entered the store wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his head, a blue bandana pulled up over his face, camouflage pants, and work boots. The clerk was sweeping the floor when the man entered and he told her to hurry up. The clerk looked up and observed the suspect at which time the suspect produced a brown paper bag and demanded the clerk to fill the bag with money. The suspect exited the store and headed west on foot. No weapon was displayed during the robbery.

Anyone having information in this case is urged to contact Investigator Chris Williams, Warren County Sheriff’s Office at 540-635-7100.

From a release.

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From ‘Reality TV’ fluff to a REAL state security scandal

National media frenzy follows White House ‘gatecrashers’ to Warren County (& us)

Tuesday, November 24 should have been a night about The United States and India, the latter a nuclear power of 1.1 billion people and the most populous democracy in the world. President Obama’s first White House State Dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a glitzy affair and the hottest ticket in the nation’s capital.

In attendance were two Linden, VA residents. Tareq Salahi, famous for a long-running feud with his mother over control of the family’s Hume, VA Oasis Winery and his wife Michaele, who is set to be a featured player in the coming season of Real Housewives of Washington, DC on the Bravo cable network and NBC-owned stations.

The big news story following the state dinner should have been about solidifying U.S. ties with a major player on the Asian subcontinent as regional political stability teeters outward from American-occupied Afghanistan into two nuclear-armed and traditionally hostile nations, India and Pakistan.

But that was not to be the case.

Salahis in court over unpaid lawn service debt

Warren County’s most famous socialite couple was in Front Royal on Friday morning for an event not likely to be found penciled in on their social calendar.

Rather than a state dinner for a foreign dignitary, on Dec. 4 White House State Dinner party crashers Tareq and Micheale Salahi were invited guests for the 9 a.m. docket of Warren County General District Court.

The couple faced legal interviews over non-payment of a year-old, $925 judgment against them for lawn care services at their Overlook Drive home in the Mosby Estates subdivision near Linden, in eastern Warren County. The couple’s total debt to A1A Home Improvement and Lawn Care Service is actually $2,063, including plaintiff legal fees, court costs and interest.

Jewelers deem Salahi watch a fake

A day after their own attempted ‘repo’ – watch valued at $100

An alleged Patek Philippe Geneve watch surrendered by Tareq Salahi to Warren County General District Court Dec. 4 has been deemed a fake by two jewelers asked to evaluate its authenticity. The watch was turned over to the court to be sold to satisfy a $2,063.35 judgment against the Salahis from a past due lawn maintenance bill.

Asked about the watch brand and value after the court seizure, Salahi attorney David Silek characterized it as making “a Rolex look like a Swatch.” As the watch seizure was discussed in court as a payment option to satisfy the unpaid judgment, Silek said his clients had informed him the watch’s value far exceeded the amount of the lawn service judgment against them.

Repo man says fled Salahis under threat of gun

Tareq to Michaele – ‘get gun’ according to court complaint

A 2006 Audi that got alleged White House State Dinner crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi an expired state inspection ticket while in an attorney’s office after a Dec. 4 court appearance in Front Royal caused even more headaches for the couple last year.

Documents show that Tareq Salahi was charged in 2008 with petty larceny for taking the keys of a tow truck driver who was sent to repossess the car because Salahi was over $5,500 behind on payments on an outstanding balance of $57,646.22. The monthly payment on the car is $1,771.39.

17-0 shutout cows Graham critics to silence (almost)

Three of kind can’t beat Front Royal Town Manager’s ‘Full House’

A move to oust Town Manager J. Michael Graham at the Nov. 23 Front Royal Town Council meeting died a nearly silent death in the wake of a public outcry of foul play and shameful behavior from a full house of town citizens at the Warren County Government Center.

“Petty and small minded personal agendas,” were among the assessments of motives for such a radical town personnel move offered by 17 of 17 speakers addressing council on the subject during the public concerns portion of the meeting.

Madden: Sayre still no conflict on FRLP

Facts as presented allow councilman’s ‘fair & objective’ participation

On Dec. 9, Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Madden issued an opinion on a second request by Front Royal Town Councilman Tom Sayre on a potential conflict of interest regarding the Front Royal Limited Partnership rezoning proposal currently before council.

Madden has already issued one opinion, on Sept. 21, that Sayre did not have an apparent and irreconcilable conflict on the FRLP residential rezoning request impacting 149 acres of land west of, but not adjacent to his family home property. That initial inquiry involved the inclusion of an East-West Connector Road, a portion of which would run adjacent to Sayre’s property and serve as an entrance access to the proposed residential development of 320 units, in the FRLP proffer package.

A time for healing: 50 years beyond division

WCHS’s Class of ’59 recalls the hard times of ‘Massive Resistance’

On Dec. 1, 2009, a state Special Subcommittee on the 50th Anniversary of Public School Closing in Virginia convened for a work session and Town Hall meeting in the auditorium of the new Warren County High School. Joining local officials and state legislators were both black and white members of the WCHS Class of 1959, a class often referred to as the “Lost Class of 1959.”

If lost they were, it was because in that tumultuous school year of 1958-59 students found themselves embroiled in the middle of the Virginia State Government’s attempt to avoid U.S. Supreme Court upheld and federally-ordered racial integration of the nation’s public school systems.

Locals join statewide call for health care reform

Pro reform advocates say the true atrocity is business as usual

Despite the threat of a pending nasty wintry mix of precipitation, on Dec. 1, locals joined others demonstrating for meaningful Health Care Reform across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

If it is not clear to those in the U.S. Congress or the White House what is at stake for the average American, they needed to only listen to the stories told by citizens gathered on Front Royal’s Main Street and other literal or figurative Main Streets across Virginia.

Callahan plans appeal of brandishing conviction

Neighborhood dispute leads to 4 misdemeanor firearm convictions

On Dec. 9, a woman accused of brandishing a firearm at several people gathered near a garage she has claimed they are using for illegal commercial vehicle repairs, was convicted on four of the five misdemeanor counts stemming from an Aug. 21 incident.

Contacted on Dec. 10, Patricia Callahan said she plans to appeal the General District Court convictions. She has 10 days in which to file an appeal. She declined further comment on advice of her attorney, John Bell.

What now? – Town loses round one of corridor case

Judge Hupp rules for restaurants on basic challenge of meals tax fees

Where do we go from here? – was without a doubt the focal point of a Dec. 3 Closed Session of the Front Royal Town Council.

The 7 p.m. Closed Session “to consult with the Town Attorney on the lawsuit styled Applebee’s Restaurants, etc., et als v. Town of Front Royal, Virginia” was added to council’s list of things to do on Tuesday, Dec. 1, not coincidentally we would imagine, one day after Judge Dennis L. Hupp dropped the first bombshell in what has become commonly known as “the corridor lawsuit.”

Brooks urges county support of town corridor stance

Former mayor urges county to see mutual interest in preserving fees

The day after an initial summary judgment went against the Town of Front Royal in its defense of the inclusion of its meals tax in calculating fees attached to 522 North Corridor utility bills, former Front Royal Mayor and Town Councilman Stan Brooks urged the county to stand with the town as the case proceeds.

“This agreement will fall to pieces if this [meals tax component] is taken out,” Brooks told the Warren County Board of Supervisors during the Public Presentations portion of the 9 a.m., Dec. 1 meeting. “How will the town survive” the loss of one of its primary revenue sources enabled by the now challenged 1998 Route 522 Corridor Agreement? Brooks asked county officials.

Athey describes ‘bleak’ state economic outlook

Delegate promises fight for continued state commitment to regional jail

“Bleak would be an understatement,” 18th District Del. Clifford L. “Clay” Athey told the Warren County Board of Supervisors of the state’s economic outlook during a Dec. 1 Legislative Report on the coming session of the Virginia General Assembly.

Athey said that the past two budget years as the U.S. plunged into what has been described as its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930’s, were the first time within his experience that the commonwealth had faced year-to-year reductions in state revenues. Athey said the legislature’s focus would be on enabling core services to be provided – “after that there will be substantial cuts,” he said.

Goodbye Kevin King

Kevin King was a fixture in my professional life here since my first go-round at The Warren Sentinel beginning in 1992. Even during my first hiatus from local journalism in the late 1990’s due to a family illness, I would run into Kevin on either visits to the newspaper’s office, or on the street as he was making his weekly circulation rounds.

When I finally parted ways with the Sentinel in 2006 and began this endeavor with Dan McDermott, the pattern of unplanned connections continued, often over our dueling circulation duties at our respective papers. As with most staff at the Sentinel, our journalistic competition remained friendly and good natured. We’d often trade papers out of our vehicles – hey, WCR wasn’t always free – and compare notes. If our schedules allowed we’d sit down and revisit old times or new over a cup of coffee.

Remembering My Friend ‘Chigger’

The shows all sound different without him now. We started out together sometime in 1992. He was playing the drums then. I wasn’t to sure he was going to work out on the drums. He was a rock drummer and I was looking for more of a country drummer. He said he didn’t know that much about playing country music. Chigger began collecting a lot of country music and started learning quickly. – Man, he was like that. Once he set his mind to it, he was going to do it. I’d say within a couple of months, we had enough songs down that we could start going out to play. We had Dean Smith on Bass/Vocal, Mark Calhoun on piano, Chigger on Drums and myself on Lead Guitar/Vocals, known as From the Heart. That was the name I came up with because of Chigger.

Town, Barros set to butt heads over Afton Inn?

In the wake of a perhaps ironically dated Dec. 7 work session, the Front Royal Town Council appears poised to drop a communications “bomb” on Afton Inn owner and Northern Virginia developer Frank Barros.

While that bomb won’t be delivered on Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, it should come within four to six weeks, at one of council’s regularly scheduled January meetings.

Wagner Shelter gets perfect score from state vet

Chairman Archibald Cox of the Warren County Board of Supervisors and Vice Mayor Bret Hrbek of Front Royal congratulated the Julia Wagner Animal Shelter staff at an open house November 21 on obtaining a 100% compliance report from an unannounced annual inspection by the state veterinarian’s office just 48 hours earlier. The state inspector stated to director Jane Johnson that “the shelter had never looked better or been more organized.”

Johnson later elaborated on the parameters of the inspection.

Area youth perform ‘A Christmas Carol’

With the holiday season upon us a group of local children are working hard to bring joy to our community. This Saturday and Sunday the theatre troupe who call themselves, The Kings Players will perform a version of the classic, “A Christmas Carol” on stage at the Strasburg Theater.

After months of practicing, these children have put together an incredible performance. The main character, Uncle Scrooge, is played by 11 year old Aiden Dowell of Stephens City, who leads a phenomenal show. Aiden’s mom Jennifer Dowell reported, “This was the first play he’s ever been in, and he was brave enough to accept the lead role.”

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

A Patek Philippe watch surrendered by Tareq Salahi to Warren County General District Court Friday has been deemed a fake by two jewelers asked to evaluate it’s authenticity. The watch was transferred to the court to be sold to satisfy a $2,063.35 judgment against the Salahis from a past due lawn mowing bill.

Ray Cosey of R. E. Jewelers Watch & Clock in Chambersburg, PA said he is absolutely sure it is a fake. “You can tell by looking at the back of the watch. It’s see-through. I could tell by the grade of the movement that it isn’t a genuine watch. You can buy them on the streets of New York for a little bit of nothing.”

A genuine Patek Phillippe can fetch up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In a document filed with the court, Cosey estimates Salahi’s imitation to be worth $100.

On Tuesday, the Salahis presented the court a check for the full amount to satisfy the debt and retrieve the watch. Afterward, in a brief courthouse encounter with Warren County Report, the Salahis and their attorney David Silek appeared agitated that the watch was not immediately available for retrieval. Silek said “The watch isn’t here. They sent it away.” This writer explained that it had been sent out for verification of authenticity, appraisal and repair. Mr. Salahi replied that the watch wasn’t broken but had to be worn for a period to begin working again. I replied, “Well you’ll get back a nice clean, working watch. Every cloud has a silver lining.” Mr. Salahi laughed.

Jean Plauger who has owned Jean’s Jewelers on Main Street in Front Royal for 12 years was given the watch by the court to evaluate and have repaired if necessary. “As soon as I saw it I thought it was a fake. We sent it to Chambersburg to be sure.”

Plauger worked at McDaniel’s Jewelers in Front Royal for 13 years before opening her own shop. Mr. Cosey has 36 years experience in the jewelery and watch business.

Dan McDermott: editor@warrencountyreport.com

How the congressional subpoena process plays out.

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

At 2 pm today the House Homeland Security Committee will meet to consider issuing subpoenas for Tareq and Michaele Salahi.

So what’s next?

According to a former congressional investigator who spoke on the condition he not be named, here is what happens:

- The subpoenas are written up by the counsel for the committee and available for the members of the committee to review prior to the vote.

- The committee will vote on two resolutions authorizing the issuance of a subpoena ad testificandum for each of the Salahis.

- Some committees require the full committee to vote on subpoenas and others allow the chairman to issue them without a vote. In this case, the committee, comprised of 21 Democrats and 13 Republicans will vote.

Assuming the resolutions pass:

- Presumably after the meeting, Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi will physically sign each subpoena. There may be several copies since different delivery methods may be used.

The softball delivery:

- The counsel for the committee will deliver or have delivered the subpoenas to the Salahi’s law firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf of New York and/or the Salahi’s home in Linden, VA.

The hardball method:

- If the law firm can’t guarantee that the Salahis appear and the Salahis don’t answer their door, the committee counsel will turn the subpoenas over to the U.S. Marshals Service. Then they hunt the Salahis down.

What if they don’t show up?

- The Salahis have to appear at a hearing on the date specified on the subpoenas. If they don’t show up then the committee can turn the matter over to the full house who can vote on whether the Salahis are in contempt of congress. This is a big hurdle to climb. If the House votes to cite them for contempt, the U.S. Attorney would prosecute and the Salahis could be jailed for up to a year.

What if they do show up?

- The Salahis have indicated through their attorneys that they will exercise their constitutional 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination and not answer questions.

- They still have to appear and sit their while each committee member asks presumably long TV-friendly statement-questions. They can reassert their 5th Amendment rights each time and the committee members can express shock and disgust each time for the cameras. Rephrased question, refusal to answer, feigned incredulity, repeat.

- If the Salahis refuse to answer simple questions like “How old are you” then the committee could technically try to vote on a contempt charge and send it to the House but no one thinks this is likely.

What about immunity?

- The Salahis could be granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony. This is doubtful and rare.

Other options:

- A subpoena is one step in the negotiation process for the committee to get information. After it is delivered, the Salahis may be eager to compromise to avoid having to repeatedly refuse to answer questions on national television. The lawyers for the committee and the Salahis could get together and discuss what the committee really wants. At any time the subpoenas could be withdrawn if the committee is satisfied with what it has heard or what arrangements have been made. Some possibilities are a closed door deposition, a transcribed interview with committee staff or perhaps a written statement or affidavit in lieu of testimony.

Dan McDermott: editor@warrencountyreport.com

Charges may be dismissed ‘dependent on good behavior’

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

Honey, I’ll get the keys, you get the gun

A 2006 Audi that got alleged White House State Dinner crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi an expired state inspection ticket Friday caused even more headaches for the couple last year.

Documents show that Tareq Salahi was charged in 2008 with petit larceny for taking the keys of a tow truck driver who was sent to repossess the car because Salahi was behind on payments.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Warren County General District Court, Edward R. Beal, then of L & K Recovery in Centerville, VA, pulled up to the Salahi’s Linden, VA home on August 14, 2008 and hooked the Audi up when Tareq and Michaele came out of the home and argued with Beal. Beal said Mr. Salahi told his wife to “get the gun.” Beal said that he ran down the driveway to call police and Mr. Salahi took the keys out of the tow truck and the couple then ran into the house and shut the garage door.

Beal said he was afraid. “I felt trapped. I couldn’t leave. I had to run and get away from him. He literally screamed at his wife. He yelled ‘Get the gun, get the gun.’ She didn’t go at first but then he screamed ‘Get the gun. Get the gun now! I said now!’”

He said, she said

A county dispatch call log says that Michaele Salahi called 911 a few minutes after the driver called to report that the driver had assaulted her husband.

But in a typed supplemental filed with the court, Warren County Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Phillips said that Mr. Salahi claimed that the driver had assaulted his wife.

“During a conversation with Mr. Salahi after the incident was over I explained to Mr. Salahi that I did not appreciate him not telling us the truth when he calls us to his house and he asked if I was calling him a liar. I said I guess I am,” read Deputy Phillips’ statement.

Deputy Phillips said that Tareq Salahi made a payment over the phone but that the loan officer told deputies that the tow driver could still take the car if he wished. Deputies told the driver that the car would have to remain at the home due to a “breach of peace” and advised the Salahis and the driver that they could “seek the services of the magistrate” for actions that occurred before the deputies’ arrival.

A repossession order for the vehicle shows that it was titled to Oasis Enterprises Inc. and was $5,579.88 behind in payments. The document showed the balance due to be $57,646.22 with a monthly payment of $1,771.39.

Hard to prove

On October 28th, the case was continued with the commonwealth and Salahi’s attorney agreeing that the case would be dismissed with no finding of guilt and no costs assessed “dependent on the good behavior” of Mr. Salahi through April 28th.

Warren County Commonwealth Attorney Brian Madden said that good behavior meant no criminal charges filed for acts committed during the six months the case is being continued.

In an interview with Warren County Report, Beal said he completely disagreed with the decision to dismiss the charges. But Madden said there were problems with proving the case since the commonwealth would have to establish that Salahi intended to steal or permanently deprive Beal of the keys. Madden also said that if Mr. Beal had an issue with the decision to dismiss for good behavior it was news to him since he had never expressed it with anyone in his office.

No gun was produced during the incident.

Front Royal attorney Jerry Talton, who represented Mr. Salahi in the incident, declined to comment.

The Salahis may be issued a subpoena tomorrow to appear before congress to testify about their alleged crashing of the White House State Dinner Nov. 24th. Their attorney’s in that case told Bloomberg News that they will refuse to testify if forced to appear.

Dan McDermott: editor@warrencountyreport.com

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

Tareq and Michaele Salahi were in the Warren County Courthouse at 2 pm this afternoon to deliver a certified check to pay an approximately $2,000 overdue bill to a landscaper who had sued them. The Salahis were forced to surrender a watch Friday that Mr. Salahi was wearing when the landscaper’s attorney rejected a payment plan proposed by the Salahis.

The landscaper’s attorney, J. Daniel Pond III, confirmed that he had received the funds and said he would release the check to his client once the the watch had been returned to the court.

Yesterday, the watch did not appear to work and was sent to a facility for verification of authenticity, appraisal and repair, if necessary.

Today, Tareq Salahi told Warren County Report that he did not think the watch was broken but had to be worn for about 30 minutes to start ticking again.

The Salahis were not aware that the watch had been sent away and their attorney David Silek said that they would not pay the cost for the shipping or evaluation and appraisal.

Dan McDermott: editor@warrencountyreport.com

Warren County Report’s Dan McDermott joined the Reporter’s Roundtable today to discuss the North Corridor Agreement and the Salahi controversy. The program aired on The River 95.3 FM, WFTR 1450 AM and Comcast TV 23.

Listen to the podcast.

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

Warren County Report has learned that a watch forfeited  by White House gatecrasher Tareq Salahi Friday to settle an approximately $2,000 judgment against him and his wife does not appear to work but upon examination seems authentic.

The watch was delivered to UPS in Front Royal approximately  2 pm this afternoon to be overnighted for repair, evaluation of authenticity and appraisal.

Sources who saw the Patek Philippe Geneve timepiece described it as having a leather wristband and a clear crystal back which allowed the inner workings to be viewed.

It appeared to be genuine, they said.

A quick check on Ebay shows similar used watches currently priced between $1,600 and $135,000.

Dan McDermott: editor@warrencountyreport.com

Warren County Report Managing Editor Roger Bianchini and Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Dan McDermott discussed Tareq and Michaele Salahi’s court appearance live on the News at Noon Friday on The River 95.3 FM.

Listen to the podcast.

By Dan McDermott
Warren County Report

[Greetings to our visitors from the Asia News Network.]

White House party crashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi, of Linden, VA, were played by cast members on Saturday Night Live crashing a speech by President Obama.

During the skit which began the show, Secret Service agents were shown to approach the couple and were asked by Front Royal’s newest celebs to take a few snapshots.

SNL’s Joe Biden then joined the group behind the president and the actress playing Michaele interrupted the president’s speech to ask him to take their picture with the “vice president” and the agents. “President Obama” obliged twice.

News of the skit was first published on the web by Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post.

Tareq Salahi was coy and merely smiled at us when asked in the Warren County, VA General District Courthouse Friday about whether he would appear on SNL tonight.

Rumors surfaced during their court appearance that the Salahis would appear in person.

Watch video.