News & Notes

PAGE 14 |JANUARY 6 - 12, 2022

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Plastic Bag Tax Begins April 1 in City of Falls Church

Beginning April 1, 2022, a fivecent tax on single-use disposable plastic bags will go into effect for grocery stores, convenience stores and drug stores in the City of Falls Church. The same tax went into effect in Arlington and Fairfax Counties and the City of Alexandria on January 1. The City of Falls Church Council adopted the plastic bag tax as a step to reduce the negative environmental impacts of singleuse plastic bags.

To support the transition, all of the jurisdictions have been working closely with the Northern Virginia Regional Waste Management Board to align outreach, education, timelines, and common language for the localities to ensure consistency and clarity. A regional informational website contains answers to frequently asked questions and multilingual outreach materials for retailers. Reusable bags have also been distributed with information about the plastic bag tax to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefit recipients over the past few months.

The tax would not apply to plastic bags intended for reuse, plastic bags solely used to wrap, contain or package certain items (ice cream, meat, fish, poultry, produce, unwrapped bulk food items or perishable food items), plastic bags for dry cleaning or prescription drugs; multiple plastic bags sold in packages for garbage, pet waste or leaf removal.

Collected taxes may be used for environmental cleanup; providing educational programs designed to reduce environmental waste, mitigating pollution and litter; or for providing reusable bags to benefit recipients of either Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC).

Hearing Doctors Giving the Gift of Hearing in 2022

Hearing Doctors is donating over $75,000 worth of hearing aids to members of the Washington, DC Metro community who are in need. In partnership with ReSound, Hearing Doctors is providing 11 pairs of hearing aids to those who cannot afford hearing devices.

As part of that effort, Hearing Doctors is now seeking nominations of people with hearing loss who are experiencing financial difficulty and would benefit from receiving a free pair of hearing aids. The rechargeable ReSound ONETM hearing aids are one of the top hearing devices available on the market today. Hearing Doctors is waiving initial fitting and follow-up care fees for recipients.

“The holiday season is upon us and we want to give back to our community. We know how difficult the past couple of years have been for so many, and we are delighted to be able to give the gift of hearing to those in need in our community,” says Dr. Ana Anzola, principal of Hearing Doctors.

Nominations are made by filling in the form online at https:// www.HearingDoctors.com/gift. Nominations must be received by January 31, 2022.

Nominees must reside within 15 miles of a Hearing Doctors location to qualify. Only selected nominees will receive a pair of hearing aids. Recipients will be notified by Hearing Doctors on or after February 4, 2022.

FALLS CHURCH’S SIMON and Shelly van Steyn took to the grand marquee at the State Theater to announce the imminent arrival of their second child, due in May, putting little Cameron out of the ranks of an only child. (P����: S���� ��� S����)

Passport to the World of Music Begins Friday

Join Creative Cauldron on a musical tour of the world in their intimate cabaret space, with a diverse musical line up specially curated by Ken Avis and Lynn Veronneau of the WAMMY Award-winning jazz samba group Veronneau. Enjoy blues, jazz, Latin, fusion, bluegrass, folk and a musical experience only the well travelled know. The 11th installment of the “Passport to the World” concert series promises another first rate music festival that allows you to travel the world without ever leaving Falls Church. The event takes place January 7 — February 5.

Weekend one will focus on bluegrass, folk and country traditions

Weekend two will include artists who are new to Creative Cauldron.

Weekend three will focus on world traditions.

Weekend four includes performances of jazz and song .

The final weekend of the event will conclude with finale performances by Irene Jalenti and Veronneau.

For more information about this event and to purchase tickets for inperson performances or live streaming, visit Creative Cauldron’s website at creativecauldron.org/passport. html or call 703-436-9948.

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Final Verdict: Peterson to Be State Senator Representing Falls Church

The redistricting maps finally approved by the Virginia Supreme Court last week placed State Sen. Chap Peterson as the City of Falls Church’s new state senate representative, replacing veteran Sen. Dick Saslaw in a newly configured 34th District.

Peterson, based in the City of Fairfax in a Senate district that also includes Vienna, Oakton, Idyllwoodll and Tysons Corner, in addition to Falls Church, will maintain the role until facing the election in November 2023.

Del. Marcus Simon will continue to represent the City of Falls Church in the House of Delegates under the new district boundaries, and it is speculated by some that, whereas he was contemplating running for Saslaw’s Senate seat in 2023, he may run for Peterson’s seat now.

Updated Fiscal Impact Model for Falls Church Proposed Projects Presented

An updated fiscal impact model for the City of Falls Church, aimed at better projecting the net revenue consequences of development projects, was presented to the City’s Economic Development Authority by Julie Herlands of TischerBise at the EDA’s meeting this Tuesday. The new model will come to the City Council for evaluation and approval next month.

The model currently under use was developed in the early 2000s, and the new model includes many more factors that contribute to the net worth of projected projects, including ranges from 25 plus-or-minus students in a project, online retail sales tax revenue, and retail and restaurant spending.

F.C.’s EDA Approves Acquisition of 310 S. Maple to Affordable Housing Roster

By a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Falls Church Economic Development Authority board approved the acquisition of the four-plex at 310 S. Maple, being the fifth affordable four-plex in the Virginia Village complex acquired for use by the City. The sale price was $975,000 with credits and closing costs.

Deputy City Manager Cindy Mester told the group that with funds coming from Amazon and other sources, the City’s Affordable Housing Acquisition Strike Fund will grow to an excess of $8 million this spring.

Founder’s Row Announces Michelin Star Restaurant & Cuates Grill Opens

New elegant restaurant openings in Falls Church announced this week include the Ellie Bird, announced coming to the Founder’s Row (see story, Page 19), with six more restaurants to follow in that complex (three in the senior housing and three more facing along Broad Street) and the Cuates Grill, finally opened in The Broadway in the location of the former Locker Room.

Another new highly-anticipated restaurant, Harvey’s, is due to open in The Byron soon, no specific date yet given.

Beyer Assails Youngkin’s Appointment Of New State Resource Secretary

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Falls Church, who serves on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, issued the following statement yesterday on reports that Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin intends to appoint former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler to serve as Virginia’s next Secretary of Natural Resources:

“Andrew Wheeler is one of the worst people the Governor-elect could have chosen for this job,” Beyer said. “Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, led the implementation of an EPA dirty air initiative his own agency estimated would lead to 1,400 premature deaths and breathing problems in thousands of people, many of them children. He led the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle environmental protections, selling out the American people and the EPA’s very mission to benefit corporate polluters. He violated the Trump Administration’s ethics pledge.

“After the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol one year ago, numerous senior Administration officials publicly condemned President Trump’s role in inciting the violence, including several Cabinet Members who resigned in protest. Andrew Wheeler stood by Trump and refused to criticize him.

“Putting an anti-environment ideologue in this important position would be a far cry from the kind of consensus-based, pragmatic leadership the Governor-elect promised. There are others with defensible records on environmental protection who would not compromise our natural resources or the moral and ethical standards Virginians expect and deserve. Governor-elect Youngkin can do better than this.”

Rep. Connolly Recounted His Experiences From Jan. 6 Insurrection

In an article entitled “It Was an Attack on Our Hometown, How 11 Washingtonians Remember the Insurrection” in DC List, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Northern Virginia was “defiant,” he said, when “waiting on the House floor as a mob pounded on the door outside the chamber.”

According to his account, “Part of me, the Irish in me, didn’t like this… like ‘who is this mob to interrupt the workings of the House?’” as he saw dozens of angry faces, bodies slamming against the door. “And I’ll be damned if I was going to be intimidated by that crowd.”

The DC List report continued with Connelly’s recollection, “Many members of Congress stayed away from the floor that day — leaders asked those not involved to be elsewhere because of COVID concerns. But Connolly had never missed the counting of Electoral College votes in his 13 years as a representative.

“I was coming here, no matter what, and I was going to witness the counting of the ballots, given Trump’s assault on the legitimacy of the election, and his lies and false assertions,” he said. JANUARY 6 - 12, 2022 | PAGE 15

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