LAURA PETERS To whom it may concern, I am a staff reporter at the Loudoun Times-Mirror where I am covering the education in Loudoun County. I am also the features reporter and I am in charge of the faith column for the paper. I attend Loudoun County School Board meetings, cover elections on both the town and county level, produce video for our website, write features and breaking news stories and do investigative reporting within the county. I’ve gained an exuberant amount of experience within months of working for this weekly publication, not only with my writing but, with copy editing and pagination. I’ve also worked on our company’s magazine, NOVA Exec, that covers business in Northern Virginia. I graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010 where I have spent three years studying print journalism. In three years, I have expanded my horizons and made several good contacts. I have collected the skills in not only the print media, but broadcast as well. Prior to my move to Leesburg, I worked as a freelance writer for a weekly publication, The Chesterfield Observer. During my time with this publication I would write two to three articles per week, working on features, profiles and news stories. I was also a contributing writer to the Commonwealth Times and the Leesburg Today where I covered different events in the college community and in Northern Virginia. This has helped me branch out and keep contacts in the journalism world. In 2009, I started volunteering at WRIR Richmond’s Independent Radio as a board operator. Later that year I started my internship there and starting producing my own 3-4 minute segment of city council meetings as an outlet for the citizens of Richmond to be a part of their city and have a voice in democracy. In September 2009, I became involved with the local news team at WRIR. I was given the opportunity to cover the gubernatorial race in Virginia and even held a live on-air of election night coverage. The next year I became a part of the Capital News Service where I covered the 2010 session, by tracking bills, attending press conferences, and speaking with lobbyists, senators and delegates.At WRIR we had a 30 minute spot on the air of news coverage of the inauguration of Governor Bob McDonnell. While I look forward to your response, I hope that you will find my experience to be a promising addition to your team.
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LAURA PETERS EXPERIENCE! !
EDUCATION REPORTER Loudoun Times-Mirror, Leesburg, VA! Feb. 2011-present My first job as a full-time reporter within just a couple months I have gathered so much knowledge of the news business. Within a year I was promoted from covering towns and villages to the education reporter covering all of Loudoun County. I cover school board meetings and features within the entire school system. From covering half of Loudoun County on my own, I’m was charge of Leesburg and western Loudoun towns and any event or town council meeting or decision they make. I’ve also been contributing to crime coverage, feature writing, video production, photography and investigative reporting. I also copy edit and do pagination for sections of the paper and I’m was charge of the West Page, now the East Page in the A section of our weekly. With my work with NOVA Exec, I’ve been a contributing writer and a creative director on photo shoots. I’ve served as project editors on special tabs for the paper and I work very closely with my editors to make sure we produce high quality work.
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CONTRIBUTING ! WRITER Patch.com, Leesburg, VA! Dec. 2010-Feb. 2010 Moving up to Leesburg, I was immediately offered to freelance for Patch.com. I do an average of 5 articles a week on art, town events and politics, history, features, and opinion.
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CONTRIBUTING ! WRITER Chesterfield Observer, Chesterfield, VA! May 2010-Dec. 2010 I worked as a freelance writer where I worked on feature articles and news pieces. I wrote two to three articles per week.
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NEWS ! CORRESPONDENT Capital News Service, Richmond, VA! Dec. 2009-May 2009 One of my classes at VCU allowed me to work directly at the Capitol in Virginia as a news correspondent for two publications in Richmond, Virginia. I will be producing radio pieces for WRIR and writing articles for the Commonwealth Times. As well as for the Culpeper Times.
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BOARD ! OPERATOR/PRODUCER/NEWS TEAM WRIR, Richmond, VA! Jan. 2009-Dec. 2010 Board Operator I set up shows that go live on the air, announcing Public Service Announcements and Underwriting. Also, as the City of Richmond’s Emergency Broadcast Outlet, I also reported on breaking news in the area that directly affected the citizens of Richmond. Producer of the City Hall Calendar The City Hall Calendar was my internship project that had a direct connection with the City of Richmond, Virginia. The purpose of the City Hall Calendar is to inform Richmond residents of upcoming meetings of the City Council. The main mission is to empower citizens with the information required to get involved in the planning and decision-making of the city's legislative body. News Team As a part of the WRIR News Team, my first assignment was to cover the Gubernatorial Race in Virginia. I primarily focused on the candidate Creigh Deeds, and was in direct correlation with his press secretary Jared Leopold.
!EDUCATION!
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY Richmond, VA - B.S. Mass Communications, Print Journalism 2007-2010
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NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Sterling, VA - General Studies 2006-2007
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! CELL (703) 725-4959 • E-MAIL
[email protected] LAURAEPETERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
LAURA PETERS
REFERRALS! Crystal Owens Staff Reporter Loudoun Times-Mirror 717-991-2121
[email protected] Christian Brown Editor Patch.com 571-969-9856
[email protected] Donna Gregory News Editor Chesterfield Observer 804-674-1772
[email protected] Jeff South VCU Associate Professor of Mass Communications Capital News Service 804-827-0253
[email protected] William Oglesby VCU Assistant Professor of Mass Communications 804-828-2260
[email protected] Marcus Messner VCU Associate Professor of Mass Communications 804-827-0252
[email protected] Liz Humes WRIR News Advisor 804-387-2953
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[email protected] LAURAEPETERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
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Potomac Falls woman removed from son’s Boy Scout troop Wednesday, Aug. 24 by Laura Peters | 317 comments | Email this story
146 From left, Jaden Steele, 9, Jackson Steele, 12, and mothers Denise Steele and Jackie Funk, load their plates with tacos for dinner in their Potomac Falls home. The couple has been together for 19 years and say they never encountered major problems with their homosexuality until Denise was removed from a leadership position in Jackson’s Boy Scout troop. Times-Mirror Staff Photos/Beverly Denny
Denise Steele has been living in Loudoun County for more than a decade, becoming involved with the community, especially through being part of her son’s Boy Scout troop for the past six years. Steele started out in Boy Scouts as a den leader for her son, Jackson, 12, for his school, Horizon Elementary. No other parent would step up to the plate to take on the responsibility of leading a Cub Scout troop. In retrospect, the situation was probably good – her son’s troop excelled at everything, including accomplishing badges and winning the Blue and Gold Award all five years, one of the highest awards for Boy Scouts. Above all, like any mother, Steele put her son first and wanted to make sure he had a great time in scouts. But in June, Steele’s chances to further bond with her son through scouting were dashed. The mother was removed from the troop after one of the other assistant scoutmasters discovered Steele is a lesbian.
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Steele has been in a domestic partnership with Jackie Funk for the past 19 years. The two reside in Potomac Falls with their two children, Jackson and Jaden, 9, and Steele’s nephew Will, 10. Steele’s homosexuality has never been an issue with her in the past in regards to leading her son’s Boy Scout troop – it may have even opened some eyes to it. “Some of the guys would come down and ask her advice,” Funk said. “Being a woman, forget about the gay part, it didn’t matter. They respected her for her committment and what she offered and how much she put into it. They respected her.”
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Funk describes Steele as an “uber leader” and said that Steele got really into scouting. “They made it fun and the boys wanted to stay in it. All the boys, except for like two who moved away, they all stayed the whole time. And scouting is just not cool anymore for a lot of people,” Funk explained.
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Phil Holliday, the executive pastor at Christian Fellowship Church and Esther Schaeffer, the charter organization representative, say they are simply following the rules. When a chartered partner agrees to sponsor a scouting unit, an annual charter agreement is signed, they explained. In the contract, they agree to provide a place for a meeting, select volunteer leaders and follow the policies and guidelines established by the Boy Scouts of America.
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“We are simply doing what we agreed to do in our charter,” Schaeffer said. Finding the right troop After graduating from Cub Scouts, the next step is to find the right Boy Scout troop. All boys are able to select which troop best fits them instead of being automatically placed based on the schools they attend. “It’s all boy led, it’s his choice, but you want to make sure you get the right troop,” Steele said. “I wanted to make sure the boys had all the options out there.” “It was like picking a college. You want to be surrounded by the people that are going to help you,” Funk added.
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Steele says she and her son didn’t take into consideration the charter organization that backed the Boy Scout troop. Boy Scout troops are backed by a charter organization, like a sponsor. Under the charter organization is a committee, the scoutmaster and the assistant scoutmasters of the troup – one of which Steele was striving to become. The decision was made that Jackson would join Troop 761 – which was chartered by the Christian Fellowship Church, a relatively conservative church.
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The Boy Scouts of America organization says it believes that “open homosexuality is inconsistent with the values.” It also recommends that scout parents and sponsors share this belief.
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But, Steele still drove forward and as Jackson joined the troop, she completed her training to become an assistant scout leader. The training process to become a scout leader usually takes about a year. Steele completed it in three weeks. Steele approached the scoutmaster, Mike Tucker, to inform him of her partnership of nearly two decades with Funk. He told her there was no problem. The way Steele and Funk explain it is the reason why her homosexuality was overlooked was due to locality – local organizations can choose to overlook some of the Boy Scouting standards.
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Funk says that Steele being a girl has never been an issue, but the Boy Scouts don’t like what Funk calls “the three G’s – the gays, the girls and the Godless.” The weekend
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The issue of Steele being a lesbian didn’t arise until one weekend in June during a camping trip to Assateague Island. The camping trip was from a Saturday to a Monday, and Steele needed to work Monday so she asked Funk to pick her up from the campsite. After both departed, one of the other assistant scoutmasters, Skip Inabinett, started questioning who the woman was who had picked up Steele. After discovering that Steele’s partner had picked her up, Inabinett felt that she should be removed as an assistant scoutmaster. In an email that Inabinett sent to a close personal friend of Steele’s and whose son was also in the troop, he stated, “If what you said about Denise Steele being an active sexual is true, do you feel comfortable talking with her about stepping down/resigning as an ASM … as her friend, this may be an opportunity for you to share with her about Christ’s love and the need to believe that as sinners we cannot get to heaven on our own and that we need a savior.” The removal More communication between both Steele and Inabinett went on for the next couple of weeks. The conversations centered around how Inabinett thought Steele’s lifestyle choice was a sin. Funk described the situation between Steele and Inabinett as bullying, and it left Steele crushed and in tears through the many email exchanges. “But this guy, who’s demonstrated very much a bullying behavior, if boys bullied other boys or girls bullied other girls to get what they wanted the way this guy has bullied her in today’s school system you’d probably get kicked out of school,” Funk said about Inabinett. To bring up an issue, there are certain steps of going about it starting with the scoutmaster, then up to the committee and committee chair then to the charter organization. But, according to
Steele and Funk, Inabinett went straight to the Boy Scouts of America with his complaint to get her removed as an assistant scoutmaster – and it worked. “He didn’t go through those steps. He skipped over the scoutmaster, he skipped over the committee, he skipped over the district. He went straight to the highest level because that’s where he would get his answer. He went to the highest point to get me removed,” Steele said. “A lot of our issue is, I mean it is what it is, she is removed, the issue is while she may be removed because he went about getting her removed because of this policy issue. It’s a private organization and they can do what they want,” Funk explained. “And she is no longer allowed to be near these scouts. She can’t go camping with them and she can’t be in a position of participation with them.” But according to Deron Smith, the director of public relations for the Boy Scouts of America, Steele wasn’t removed from the national council and it may have been a troop decision. Units determine their own membership, Smith said. “The [Boy Scouts of America] recognizes that some do not agree with its position on this issue, but values the freedom of everyone to express their opinion and teaches its members to use courtesy and respect at all times,” Smith said in an email. “To disagree does not mean to disrespect. The [Boy Scouts of America] will continue to strengthen common interests, while respecting differences and will focus on its mission and on reaching as many youth as possible in order to help them grow into good, strong citizens.” Several attempts to contact Inabinett were unsuccessful. The aftermath “There is no next step for us. She’s removed permanently. Issues like this get awareness,” Funk said. “The only way the Boy Scouts are going to change is if it impacts your wallet, donations go down because of this or they continue to see a drop of enrollment. At some point, if they recognize that their beliefs and their lack of being open and inclusive is affecting them, eventually that’s going to be the only way they are going to change.” The big issue both Steele and Funk have with the situation is how it was handled by Inabinett. They both felt bullied, judged and put through emotional turmoil. “I think it’s disappointing – it’s a sad day for Boy Scouting. I think the actions are really out of sync of what scouting stands for,” Eric Ianson, a friend of Steele’s and an Eagle Scout said. The scout law says a scout should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind and obedient, thrifty, clean and reverent, Ianson said. “I mean, when the leaders of the troop hear that, how does it feel? Were they loyal to Denise? It certainly wasn’t kind what they’ve done to her,” Ianson continued. “It absolutely isn’t brave. The brave thing to do would be to take a stand here and say this isn’t right, this person has been great to our kids and it’s time to stand up for her and be great for her.” Even other assistant scoutmasters from Steele’s troop felt it was vindictive, like Joe Leonard. “I saw that he was vindictive and on a witch hunt because he asked her personal friends what her sexuality was. There’s no business in that. It’s a shame that a good leader for the boys has been removed because of one person who’s eccentric when it comes to his religious belief,” Leonard said. “It’s also a sad not that [Boy Scouts of America] has not or is not willing to entertain what other private organizations have done and their beliefs.” The future As for what’s next for Steele and her son, Jackson says he wishes to continue and make it all the way to Eagle Scout. Steele’s son currently holds 11 merit badges, quite an accomplishment for a 12-year-old. “Jackson is a very committed scout and doesn’t let his mother’s issue get in the way,” Funk said. A note Jaden Steele wrote for her mothers is on the refrigerator next to photos of her brother Jackson. Times-Mirror Staff Photos/Beverly Denny
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Potomac Falls graduates don’t stop believing for fallen soldier and friend Monday, Sep. 5 by Laura Peters | 6 comments | Email this story
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U.S. Army Spc. Doug Green wrote home a couple weeks ago, explaining his final wishes if anything were to happen to him while he was serving in Afghanistan. Green made a list of songs that were to played at his wake. But, for any family member, those final wishes aren’t something they want to have to go through with. On Aug. 28, Green was killed by an an improvised explosive device and small arms fire in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, he was 23 years old. Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, where Green graduated in 2006, opened its doors on Sept. 3 to more than 300 people who paid their respects to Green and his family. The memorial service held friends, family, teachers and members of the Army who spoke about the impact Green had on their lives. Each song Green chose played after each speaker spoke along with a collection of photographs that spanned his 23-year life. Within minutes of the ceremony starting, emotions ran high in the high school gym. Oasis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Coldplay echoed through the room. “He grew up to be a handsome, strong and wonderful man. He never gave me one day of heartache or trouble ... never,” Suni Erlanger, Green’s mother said at the ceremony. “When Dougie was a boy he was a fun, loving child and he grew up to be adored by his friends and family. He was especially close to his sisters, Krissy and Paige. He was always there for them. His strength and his bravery will remain an inspiration to everyone.” His family held strong through the ceremony, grasping each other’s hands, embracing one another and lending a shoulder to cry on. “I just want to tell him how much I loved him and how I adored him more than anything in this world,” his sister, Krissy Green, said. “He was my best friend and I tried to talk to him as much
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as I could while he was over there. He was my hero.” Green’s sisters were accompanied by their mother and stepfather Don Erlanger, Green’s father Doug Green and stepmother Donna Green. The crowd wore shirts that said, “Our hero, our friend” with a silhouette of Green on the back with the dates 1988 to 2011 and angel wings that spanned the back. Others were also wearing the color green in honor of Green’s last name. Green’s girlfriend Alicia Swamstrom knew him in high school because she was friends with his sister, Krissy. She said that she was never really interested in him in high school and always saw him as “Krissy’s little brother.” “When I finally saw him last December, there was something different about him. He had grown up, he was a man and despite all that he had seen [in] the Army he had still held on to all those wonderful qualities. He wasn’t Krissy’s little brother anymore. And with that smile of his … I was done for,” Swamstrom said. “The connection I had with Doug was unlike any other I would ever experience. I felt like we had been together for a lifetime already and that’s what was so great about him.” Swamstrom continued. “He was warm, safe and comfortable because he was so accepting and never judged anyone. I knew life with him the only way life could go was up. He showed me what true love is and life can be good. No one can or ever will replace Doug because he truly was one of a kind.”
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Green’s squad leader, Staff Sgt. Bryan Eulle of the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, told stories of how Green’s personality was so uplifting to the other soldiers. Green would quote Hans Solo and make up songs and routines for the next big musical he would produce, Eulle said. But Green wasn’t always the jokester, those who knew him said. He took his job seriously and would often volunteer himself to lead his squadron on missions.
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“He accepts the most danger and responsibility than anybody, because what’s on the other side of that door is unknown,” Eulle said. “It showed his kind of courageous character.” is an interactive, digital replica of the printed newspaper.
Eulle even told a story about when they were stationed in Iraq, Green said how much he wanted to be drinking daiquiris with everyone. So, Green’s mother sent over daiquiri mix and a blender.
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“All of sudden Cinco de Mayo was an official Iraqi holiday,” Eulle said. “That small gesture, it snapped everybody out of this trance, this auto pilot they were on.” A group of Green’s high school friends reminisced about the crazy stunts they did growing up. One story was about how they all crowded into a car with a bunch of cartons of eggs. The arrived at a house, piled out of the car and egged the home. Not only did Green propose the idea, but the house they chose to egg was his own. “We immediately became best friends. There’s so many great stories about Dougie it’s almost impossible to pick out just one great memory. Growing up we always found a way to have fun or get into trouble. I saw my first rated ‘R’ movie at Dougie’s house and his sister Krissy was one of the first girls I asked to be my valentine,” Green’s friend, Ben Spear said. “The word empty does not even begin to describe the hole that has be left by the loss of Dougie. I feel honored and blessed that he was a part of my life for so long and I’m sorry for the people who did not get to know him.” The ceremony closed out with Green’s best friend Micheala Ottenberg telling of the days they had sleepovers and how Green always protected her. “I have known Doug Green for 18 years. I don’t remember my life before him. A lot of people say things like that, but I mean it in the most literal sense. I actually do not remember a time in my life that Doug Green is not a part of,” Ottenberg said. When Ottenberg learned that Green had enlisted she said she wasn’t surprised. She said she was proud that he could do such a selfless thing, but that’s just what Green did. “Losing great people isn’t fair, especially when they are so young. We cannot think of the times we have lost with him, but cherish the times we were so incredibly blessed to have,” Ottenberg said. “Most people will go their whole life never meeting, never knowing, never loving someone like Doug Green. But what’s even worse is that most people will never get to be loved by someone so amazing. “He wasn’t just my best friend, he was yours too, he was ours.” As her words faded, the last song played. The piano sounded out through the PA system and it was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and everyone stood up and sang. Spc. Douglas Jay Green’s funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 14 at Arlington Cemetery. Krissy Green, left, and Suni Erlanger, sister and mother of U.S. Army Spc.
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11/20/11
Defendant describes ʻmercy killʼ | LoudounTimes.com
BREAKING NEWS: Combs-LaFleur convicted of first-degree murder Mobile Website | Login | Register
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Defendant describes ‘mercy kill’ Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011 by Laura Peters | 4 comments | Email this story
4 It took less than a minute for Catherine “Cacey” Combs-LaFleur to die on the night of Sept. 18, 2010, according to her husband, Steven Combs-LaFleur, who took the stand in his own defense Nov. 17 during day four of his murder trial. The 61-year-old husband is accused of hitting his wife seven times with a sledgehammer. His defense attorney, Matt Snow, says her death was a “mercy kill.” If a Loudoun County jury convicts him of first-degree murder Steven Combs-LaFleur faces life in prison. “I had to stop her agony, I felt I just had to,” the defendant said on the stand. “She was in total pain. Agony is the only word for it. I couldn’t stand it for her. I couldn’t stand it for me. It was horrible.” Steven Combs-LaFleur said he was doing repairs on his home in Leesburg on the night of his wife’s death when something knocked the ladder over he was standing on. When he became conscious, he saw his wife laying in the fetal position on the deck and stairs. Steven Combs-Lafleur
“All of the sudden the bottom of the ladder knocked out. I looked down and saw Cacey below me with her hands above her head,” the defendant said. “I don’t remember falling.” Throughout Steven Combs-LaFleur’s testimony on Nov. 17, there were many inconsistencies. Assistant Commonwealth Attorneys Russet Perry and Nicole Whitman presented to the jury the 911 call Steven Combs-LaFleur made the night he killed his wife. In the call, the defendant said he had been performing CPR on his wife for more than 30 minutes. But in his testimony on Nov. 17 he said he did not.
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The defendant said he had moved his wife to lay her on her back on the deck. He said he didn’t notice any wounds on her head until he attempted to do CPR.
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“I sat back and said, ‘oh my god, she’s dead.’ I felt horrible,” Steven Combs-LaFleur said. “At the time I thought the ladder hit her head. I felt horrible, here’s Cacey, she’s dead. I was crying. There was no response from her all this time. Her head was bashed in … crushed.”
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The defendant said he had straddled over his wife to attempt CPR, then, after being pressed by his attorney, changed his story, saying he instead crouched next to her. Then he heard her gasp.
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“I still think she came back to life. She was not moving, her eyes were not opening,” he said. “She was making a very loud sound. It was the sound of pure pain. I knew she was in absolute pain and I couldn’t stand it. I had to stop it.” “There was a hammer at my fingertips. I picked it up and hit her with it. I did it because I loved her. It was mercy,” he continued. “This was Cacey, in horrible pain and I had to do something and that was my reaction. I was not thinking clearly.”
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When questioned by Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Lead Investigator Kelly Poland Steven Combs-LeFleur said he didn’t tell her the entire story. He said he told the story up until the point
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1 /2 0D e fn d a te scribʻm e rcykilʼ|L o u d n T im e s.co m Combs-LeFleur said he didn’t tell her the entire story. He said he told the story up until the point when his wife started to make a “horrible sound” and then he struck her. “I started to feel pretty stupid on how to respond,” Steven Combs-LaFleur said. “I had to say something. As the night went on I got more and more scared about what really happened.”
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When on the stand, the defendant said his wife’s hand was in her hair when he repositioned her. He then moved her hands to her sides. Whitman pointed out that this was new information that wasn’t presented to investigators and that it was said after the blood spatter analyst had said there was blood on the palms on her hands that came from her head wounds.
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Perry presented the court recorded conversations the defendant had with his mistress, Devi O’Connell, while at the Loudoun County Detention Center. Steven Combs-LaFleur told O’Connell Snow had come to see him and they went over the case. “He questioned me like we were in court and he said that I did a good job. He said I looked real sincere,” the defendant said to O’Connell. “ He said we’re going to be good.” During another visit at the detention center the defendant discussed another conversation he had with Snow with O’Connell.
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“I didn’t cry when I told the story. He said I’ll probably be more emotional in court,” the defendant told O’Connell. “He said that when I tell the jury that I should try to cry. I’ve never tried to make myself cry … so maybe I should practice that.” Money troubles On Nov. 16, prosecutors presented the jury with a taped conversation between Steven CombsLeFleur and his insurance company. During the conversation, the defendant kept asking what the couple’s policy was on accidental death.
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According to prosecutors, he kept pushing the insurance company on how much money he would receive if his wife would accidentally die.
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The defendant worked on and off as a handy man and for the U.S. Census Bureau, but his wife had a steady job. Still, money was tight for their family and they had dipped into their life savings and his wife’s 401k. “We were looking at things getting better real soon,” the defendant said. “[Cacey] was more upset about our financial status. She was more concerned than I was. I thought things would turn around and get better.”
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Comments Fri, Nov 18 at 09:57 AM by Suzanne Cottone | Report this comment
No one could possibly believe the story he is telling! He is SUCH a scumbag, and deservs to rot in prison for the rest of his life.
w .lo u d n tim e s.co m /in d e x.p h /n e w sa rticle /d fn a t_ d e scrib _ m e rcy_ kil1 2 3 / 2 /3 Fri, Nov 18 at 08:18 AM by FeedUpDude | Report this comment
Sicko, I hope he rots.
Fri, Nov 18 at 01:48 AM by Andrew Jackson | Report this comment
Hang Him from the County Courthouse
Fri, Nov 18 at 01:42 AM by Loudoun Citizen | Report this comment
Jury, please don’t let us down on this one! Sooooo much BS - first degree, please.
