Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston....

Herndon continues to be a shining example for its less enlightened neighbor to the east.

First, they're doing gangbuster business in bringing in the convention trade, or at least the racist convention trade:

The biannual New Century Foundation convention is organized by Oakton resident Jared Taylor, who calls himself a "race realist" and publishes American Renaissance magazine, which he has done for nearly 20 years.

The 2008 convention will take place Feb. 22-24 in Herndon.

"Taylor is a Nazi pig," Jeff Adler, spokesman for the Jewish Defense Organization, a militant group not affiliated with the Jewish Defense League, said in a phone interview.

Now that doesn't sound very tolerant! Just because such luminaries as David Duke somehow show up to the group's meeting each year doesn't make them bad guys, right?

"Yes, David Duke has attended despite being asked to stay away, but it's like if you have a restaurant and David Duke eats there, does that make you a neo-Nazi?" Taylor said.

That sounds suspiciously like a Jeff Foxworthy joke, so let's move on. The folks at the Herndon Crowne Plaza hotel have heard all the ruckus, but see no reason to cancel the convention:

"I see no reason to breach our agreement with that client," Welliver said in response to the effort. "We do not discriminate or judge clients and that is not how we go about evaluating pieces of business. That's real life, I am not in the position to give an opinion. Business does not have an opinion. I am just trying to pay the rent. I am just a lowly hotel guy trying to get through the day."

Sounds like he's just following orders.

Meanwhile, Help Save Herndon, one of the groups that helped rid the city of the scourge of its day labor center and ensure that its residents would have free and unfettered access to the Elden Street 7-11 and the precious bodily fluids contained therein, is going statewide.

Just two years after its founding, Help Save Herndon has expanded into a regional organization dedicated to helping citizens oppose illegal immigration and has received national attention. Its growth has not been without controversy, but what began as a small group of concerned residents has become Help Save Virginia, an umbrella group of about 2,500 people that also includes chapters in Loudoun, Manassas, Hampton Roads and Fairfax, according to Jones. The Herndon group has about 150 active members, he said.

There is also Help Save Maryland with chapters in six counties and there are people interested in forming Help Save organizations in Alabama and Arizona, Jones said. He said the group is not anti-immigrant, racist or xenophobic. "We are pro-community and pro-family," he said.

"We think this small town will probably be remembered as the forefront for immigration reform," Jones said.

Or something like that. Meanwhile, the effects of the closing have definitely been felt.

Taplin announced in an Oct. 26, 2007, letter that the Minutemen have disbanded. He wrote that the immigration situation has improved and thanked the Minutemen volunteers and the Town Council for their efforts.

Judicial Watch withdrew its lawsuit once the labor site closed, according to organization president Tom Fitton. Fitton said the lawsuit led to the eventual closing of the day labor site and he is "pleased that the citizens of Herndon are no longer forced to subsidize illegal day labor."

Mukit Hossain, founder of Project Hope & Harmony, said day laborers are leaving Herndon, but it is because there is little work in Herndon, not because the site closed. He said day laborers have suffered the effects of the slow construction market and may have to move to places where there is more work and cheaper rent.

"They are leaving not because of some fictitious victory," Hossain said. Workers may be leaving because there is, "just not work in this area, not enough to support a large day worker community," he said.

In other news, there's no truth to the rumor that Elden Street will be renamed the Highway of Tolerance.