Don McCown, land use field representative for the Piedmont Environmental Council, will speak to the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club on October 8 about the impact of recent industrial proposals on life in Orange County.
The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Classroom 1 of the LOW Community Center. A meet-and-greet session will proceed the presentation at 1 p.m.
McCown joined the Environmental Council in 2022 and is responsible for addressing land use and transportation issues in Orange and Madison counties.
Prior to his present position, he served for more than 20 years in a variety of community service roles, including as a supervisor in Virginia’s magistrate system and as AmeriCorps program director for Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina.
Originally from West Texas, McCown and his family have lived in the Piedmont for more than 15 years. McCown received his B.A. in sociology from the University of Oklahoma and his J.D. from The Catholic University of America.
The Piedmont Environmental Council is a locally based, donor-supported 501(c)(3) nonprofit and an accredited land trust. Its mission, according to its web site, is to “protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia Piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities.”
The Council recently urged Virginia’s political leaders to declare a moratorium on data center development in the Commonwealth, saying more time is needed to implement protections for residents and natural resources. The organization is helping to organize a march on Richmond on October 24 to encourage legislators to support the moratorium.
The Council is also actively fighting an unprecedented expansion of high-voltage power lines driven by the boom of data center construction in Northern Virginia. Most notable is a massive 115-mile proposed transmission line — jointly backed by Dominion Energy, Transsource and FirstEnergy Transmission — running from Joshua Falls in Campbell County to a new Yeat substation in Culpeper County. The line would cut a wide swath through the heart of Orange County.
Both these issues have been of considerable concern for property owners in Lake of the Woods.
The Piedmont Environmental Council
Updating the Constitution
Virginia’s 2026 General Election ballot will include three Constitutional Amendments that will enshrine important civil rights into the state Constitution — marriage equality, reproductive freedom, and protections for the right to vote.
The LOW Democratic Club will devote its September 10 meeting to a discussion of the three proposed amendments. The meeting will take place at 1:30 p.m. in Classroom 1 of the LOW Community Center. All are welcome to attend.
Yard signs urging “yes” votes on the three measures will be available for distribution at the meeting.
The actual wording of the ballot measures will be presented as well as explanations of why the amendments are necessary.
Brief synopses of the background of the three amendments follows:
Marriage Equality: In 1967, in Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned laws banning interracial marriage and struck down Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
In 1996 the U.S. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman, banning federal recognition of same sex marriages, and allowing states to refuse recognition of same sex marriages granted in other states.
In 2006 Virginia voters passed a Constitutional Amendment that defined marriage as “only a union between one man and one woman”.
In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on same sex marriage are unconstitutional. This decision nullified the language in the Constitution of Virginia.
If the Supreme Court were to overturn its 2015 decision, the language in the Constitution of Virginia would then be in effect again. Therefore, the proposed amendment of 2026 would remove the 2006 same sex marriage ban language and officially recognize that any two adults “may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race.”
Reproductive Freedom: The proposed amendment of 2026 would add a new section to the Constitution of Virginia guaranteeing an individual’s reproductive freedom as a fundamental right. The new language upholds a person’s ability to make and carry out decisions related to their own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care. It protects healthcare workers and other individuals who assist in such care. It allows for restrictions on abortion in the third trimester, but not when a physician determines it is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient or that the fetus is not viable.
Protecting the Right to Vote: The Constitution of Virginia enacted in 1902 imposed a lifetime ban on voting for anyone convicted of a felony. Restoration of the right to vote could only be obtained from the governor.
In recent years, Governors Bob McDonnell, Terry McAuliffe, and Ralph Northam all created forms of automatic restoration to applicants, but Governor Glenn Youngkin ended automatic restoration and returned to a process of evaluating individual applicants.
The proposed amendment of 2026 adds language making it clear that voting is a fundamental right for all who meet the basic citizenship, age, and residency requirements; automatically restores the right to vote to convicted felons upon completion of their incarceration; and updates language currently used to disenfranchise anyone adjudicated to be mentally incompetent with language referring instead to a lack of capacity to understand the act of voting (people requiring assistance in managing their financial affairs can frequently still understand voting).
Early in-person voting begins September 18 at the office of the Orange County registrar, 130 N. Madison Road, Orange, VA. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
LOW turns out to welcome Rep. Vindman
More than 100 Lake of the Woods voters turned out July 18 to welcome U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman and to support his re-election as congressman from Virginia’s 7th District. The Congressman described his accomplishments during his first term and his plans for the future and answered questions on a variety of topics. The General Election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
Summer fun
Our Flag Day picnic
The LOW Community Center was buzzing when a large crowd of happy Democrats showed up on June 19 for the LOW Democrats’ annual Flag Day picnic. Guest speaker for the occasion was Shannon Mort of the Orange County African-American Historical Society, who spoke about Gordonville’s “waiter-carriers,” the ladies who sold chicken and other food to to train passengers in the mid to late 19th Century.
Pay your 2026 club dues
Membership dues for the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club are $35 per person for the calendar year. Your 2026 membership is due for renewal on January 1, 2026.
This fee covers expenses of running club events and donations to the campaigns of Democratic candidates supported by club members.
Dues may be paid conveniently online by clicking the “Pay Now” button below or by mailing a check for $35 to The Lake of the Woods Democratic Club, P.O. Box 1351, Locust Grove, VA 22508. If you prefer, you can bring your check to any LOW Democrats’ meeting or event and give it to the treasurer directly.
