Falls Church News-PressOct 16

Following Tuesday’s court decision to dismiss the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s case against the breakaway Truro Church, supporters of the “Continuing Episcopalians” in the City of Falls Church told the News-Press that they remain hopeful, given the major historical and judicial differences between The Falls Church case

and Truro, that the court will rule differently for them.

Robin Fetsch, a member of The Falls Church Continuing Episcopalians, which does not recognize the decision of many Falls Church congregants to leave the Episcopal Diocese and join the Anglican Church of Nigeria, said that if the presiding judge, Randy Bellows, does not decide in favor of the diocese, they will appeal.

Judge Bellows convened

the court session at 10 a.m.

Wednesday to hear the opening arguments and initial testimonies from The Falls Church Anglicans and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

In the latest courtroom battle, the diocese said that The Falls Church Anglican trustees do not have rights to the church property. Attorneys for the diocese argued that there is a deed

It was scene unlike no other in memory for the City of Falls Church. On a pleasant fall day yesterday, approaching the Community Center at 10 a.m., swarms of people were seen streaming out of City Hall and walking over to the center.

Others were moving from the parking lot.

For the taxpaying citizens of Falls Church, these 200 people represented the planning, zoning, inspection, finance, street maintenance, water utility, arborist and many other functions that make the City’s 2.2 square miles work every day.

With City Hall officially shut down for an hour, they gathered on folding chairs on the cushioned gym floor of the Community Center, and were quiet and attentive as City Manager Wyatt Shields stood to greet them all. Never before had the entire workforce of the City been pulled together like this, apart from a celebration, to hear some sobering words about where the City is heading in the face of the continued, cascading economic crisis gripping the region, nation and globe.

The morning’s headlines in the Washington Post reported that neighboring Fairfax County is planning, facing a $43 million revenue shortfall in the current year, a one-day furlough of all county employees. Another headline reported that Prince George’s County in Maryland is planning furloughs of two weeks for its employees.

Shields opened his remarks by saying there is good news.

“There will be no reductions in force or pay cuts this year,” he

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October 16 - 22, 2008

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What started out looking like a disaster for fledgling Falls Church arts organizations, trying to get a performing and visual arts center built in the City, turned into a major mobilization of leading citizens making the case for the program at the City Council meeting Tuesday.

As strong and forceful a case as could be made for the Council to live up to its $50,000 commitment to the center was presented by three former City Council members, including two former vice mayors, and respected leaders of a wide array of civic organizations.

Laura Hull, executive director of Falls Church’s Creative Cauldron non-profit arts mentoring association, who is the “point person” getting the arts center built, said she was pleasantly surprised by the depth and scale of support for the effort that showed up to speak to the City Council Tuesday night. It was not lost on the Council, which wound up voting unanimously, 6-0 (Dave Snyder absent) to reinstate the $50,000. This was in the face of news of tough economic times ahead, which initially led some on the Council to consider de-funding the program at a work session last week. The Council will have to provide a final approval in a follow-up vote in a few weeks.

Strong petitions underscored the significant, positive economic benefits of a thriving arts presence in any jurisdiction, adding that a focus on nurturing the arts exactly corresponds to the type of community many want Falls Church to become known for.

Two other compelling arguments dealt with the Council keeping its promise, and the ability of the arts center, at a low cost to the City, to ameliorate the consequences of severe budget cuts to school, after-school and other arts programs that are anticipated in both Falls Church and Fairfax County in the coming year.

Many argued that the Council was obligated to keep its promise for the $50,000, which it voted to provide in 2006. It was only due to a clerical oversight that the money was not carried forward into the current budget, since the arts groups had up to three years to use it.

While the threatened loss of the money, even though Creative Cauldron and Falls Church Arts had begun to spent it on the project, generated a lot of heartburn among arts proponents over last weekend, the net result, at least through Tuesday, was an unintended consequence. The value of the program was passionately underscored from many pillars of the Falls Church community, which was not lost on the Council. “Do you see who showed up to support this tonight?”

Vice Mayor Hal Lippman commented. “These are the top and most committed leaders of this community.”

The resulting chorus of support, including confirming the project’s compliance with the City’s vision statement, provided a remarkable and unified affirmation for the City’s true, unique identity going forward.

The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 450 W. Broad Street #321, Falls Church, VA 22046. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2008 Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.

Editor, I am President of the Northern Virginia Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO. My local represents the clerks, maintenance and motor vehicle employees within the Northern Virginia area (excluding Woodbridge). I am writing this letter in response to the recent change in the operating hours at over 50 post offices, stations and branches starting October 4.

The most dramatic was at the Merrifield Post Office.

The Merrifield Post Office has been open from 8 a.m. to mid-

night (Monday – Friday) for over 30 years. The new hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Monday – Friday). This change will surely affect our customers who have praised the late night hours and our Post Office’s operations. There are many professions that need documents postmarked by the end of the day such as attorneys and accountants. By being open until midnight they were able to work longer into the night. Many customers come to the Merrifield Post Office late at night because of their work schedules.

This largely unadvertised

change will cause problems for many of our customers. Gerry Connolly, Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, was outraged that this new plan was not brought to the Fairfax Board of Supervisors attention. He submitted a motion at the recent Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting to send a letter of protest to Mike Furey, of the Postal Service, and our congressional representatives. This motion passed unanimously. There are changes in the other Post Offices that include closing during lunch, reduced hours of operations, or closing on Saturday.

None of the changes were discussed with me as the bargaining representative except in generic terms.

Douglas E. Sapp, President Northern Virginia Area Local American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO

Editor, One of the many benefits of being an American is the right to vote. Not only do we get the right to chose our President and other representatives, but we can also discuss our support or displeasure of any of the candidates, at any time. This is what makes our freedom so rich. This is what makes this country such a great place to live.

As a father of two elementary aged children, I have been trying to engage them in discourse and the emotion of elections. We talk a lot about why I support the candidates I do.

I explain why I don’t support other candidates. This is an More Letters on Page 6

October 16 - 22, 2008

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October 16 - 22, 2008

said. He added that the pension funds for City employees will be maintained at full value, even if City taxpayers have to make up for losses in the stock market. However, he cautioned that there will be “tougher news” coming in the next budget cycle, which is why he called everyone together to begin understanding the process.

Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner told the News-Press later that she felt the unprecedented meeting was a good idea, to bring everyone into the dialogue and to be aware of where things are headed.

Speaking to the group, Shields noted that property and sales tax revenues are down $800,000 below projections in the current fiscal year. He said it was only one percent of the City’s $76 million annual budget. Of the shortfall, the city’s school system will make up its proportional share, about $370 million, he said.

(Shields told the News-Press Tuesday that the schools have found a way to make up the shortfall without any reduction in service to their students).

For the City-side cuts of $430,000, Shields told the gathering that “this is a manageable problem,” and will be addressed by delaying computer refreshing, cutting back on storm water efforts, cutting overtime in some areas, reducing supply purchases and not filling vacancies automatically.

“This is not a hiring freeze, but we will use increased scrutiny in hiring,” he said.

With these moves, there will not be the need for reducing the City’s staffing, or imposing any pay cuts, he stressed.

Reasons for this, he delineated, include the fact that the City has actually begun spending less in the last three years, with the size of the budget down a million in absolute terms. “We saw the economic downturn coming and prepared for it,” he said.

Another reason is the consid-

erable economic development that has occurred since 2001, he said. The large-scale mixed use projects in the commercially-zoned areas of the City have already contributed ten cents annually to the overall real estate tax rate, or a value of $600 to every citizen in the City.

The third reason that things remain manageable in Falls Church, he said, was the fact that when housing values ballooned between 2002 and 2006, doubling their overall assessed values in that period, the City remained very prudent in its use of the fiscal windfall, limiting spending the additional amounts to equipment purchases and contract services, such that when the revenues began to decline, the City did not face untenable conditions for its operating budget.

“All this has been because of good stewardship by our City leaders,” Shields said.

But, “there will be a big challenge for next year,” he went on.

“We’re all in the same boat, all

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our City residents as well as City employees.”

In tough times, residents will demand the highest and most cost-effective services, and the best way to move forward, he stressed, is to improve service by having all City employees working the problems through together.

As the budget squeeze hits, he said, “It is not a time to hun-

ker down, but to step forward with leadership.”

“We all need to step up with better customer service, based on a vision and values shared by the entire community. It is a question of leadership,” he said, substituting an appeal to better communication, cooperation and service to any estimates of revenue or expenditure shifts for the time being.

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 5

Merrifield Garden Center The Dazzling Colors of Autumn showing it instead belongs to Episcopal Christ Church in Alexandria.

The two sides sparred over the same paperwork that addressed the property rights of The Falls Church and the church’s relationship with the Episcopal Church of America. More so, they addressed the same pair of 19th century U.S. Supreme Court cases – Terrett vs. Taylor and Mason vs. Muncaster – that dealt with the land rights of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia.

In a detailed presentation utilizing maps of The Falls Church’s property, previous court decisions and the stipulations of the original land deed, the court session began with an opening statement from attorney Gordon Coffee representing The Falls Church Anglicans.

Coffee argued that “there is no question that The Falls Church trustees are the record owners of this parcel.”

The parcel in question, a two-acre lot of land forming the original Falls Church on March

19, 1746, was drafted in a land deed before the Revolutionary War, between the original trustees of The Falls Church and the Episcopal Church’s predecessor, the Church of England.

Coffee pointed out that documents from the deed to the present-day show ownership on the part of Falls Church trustees.

“There’s a reason this never occurred to anyone for 184 years,” said Coffee, after he outlined numerous times throughout the 19th and 20th centuries when the Falls Church trustees dealt with the Fairfax Circuit Court and the Supreme Court on matters of church property and mortgages. As a result, Coffee said, it was evident that the trustees are the rightful owners.

Coffee derided attempts by diocese attorneys to challenge The Falls Church’s departure from the Episcopal diocese as failed plans, referring to the latest challenge as “Plan C,” where the diocese would try to establish that Christ Church had authority over The Falls Church. The courts, however,

have repeatedly recognized that “The Falls Church is owned and has been owned by the trustees,” said Coffee. “The declaration of judges has been accepted for 150 years.”

Representing the diocese, attorney Brad Davenport argued that The Falls Church must prove that there was a transfer of ownership from the Church of England in pre-revolutionary times to the individual church today. Davenport said, in fact, that there has been no new deed since the original 1746 dedication.

With the post-war divisions and reorganization, the newlyformed Episcopal Church, represented in Virginia by Christ Church, assumed the properties formerly owned by the Church of England, including the property of The Falls Church, Davenport said.

He cited Virginia statutes that stipulated “no estate of inheritance shall be conveyed except by deed,” a process that would

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important step in helping children understand the importance of their civic engagement.

This election season for the last 18 months has been especially fun. There was disagreement in our house during the primary whether Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton should be the Democratic Party nominee.

Listening to children discuss their opinions was not only wonderful and funny, it sounded a lot like some adults I know.

Finally, a few months ago, we all agreed that Barack Obama would be the candidate we would all support. The children got Obama buttons, bumper stickers and signs. They were all charged up. Then, a few weeks ago, our Obama sign was torn to pieces in our front yard. No clues, no explanation, just someone who didn’t want Obama.

Fast forward to October 10, it happened again. This time, two Obama-Biden signs were stolen from our yard. No clues, no explanation. My children are very angry and so am I. Here I am trying my best to teach my children about being politically engaged and some coward runs

October 16 - 22, 2008

around town stealing signs. It turns out, in talking to neighbors, that Obama signs are being stolen throughout Falls Church and McLean.

So, hey there big coward, hear my words: You are not only an opponent of freedom of speech, but you are demonstrating to two children what an ignorant coward does to demonstrate their “love of country.”

S.D. Klein McLean

Editor, During the presidential debates, Sen. Barack Obama stated that both political parties deserve some blame for the current economic crisis. Too much federal deregulation seems to be one of the main causes of our present problems. The political attitude regarding regulation in the U.S. has swung from one extreme to the other in the past 75 years. I think the ideal is somewhere in the middle.

During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted regulations on banks and the stock market in order to revive the economy and protect

investors. The business community howled. In more recent years, deregulation became popular.

My first memory of deregulation goes back to the Carter administration and the airline industry. Then Ronald Reagan came along, and he use to say “Government isn’t the solution to our problems; it is the problem.”

Naturally, business does not want extensive regulation.

However, we have recently witnessed the excesses of deregulation. Stockholders and the public’s interests necessitate some rules allowing for more transparency and oversight.

In order to make home ownership more available to low income Americans, Congressman Barney Frank (D – Mass), who is chairman of the House Banking Committee, introduced legislation, which passed Congress, loosening regulations on mortgages and credit. Although our elected officials’ intentions were noble, the consequences are catastrophic.

This, combined with outright fraud on the part of some lenders, have contributed to the current worldwide financial crisis.

Congress needs to pass new rules based on recent lessons learned from past mistakes to ensure these errors will not be repeated.

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F.C. Council Gives Prelim OK for Arts Funds By a 6-0 vote Tuesday, the Falls Church City Council voted to reinstate $50,000 in its budget for the construction of a 3,000 square foot performing and visual arts center on the street level of the new Pearson Square apartment condominiums on S. Maple Street. Its final OK will come at its Oct. 27 meeting, but a major outpouring of support for the funding and the project made a big impact. Former Falls Church vice mayors Marty Meserve and Lindy Hockenberry, former Council woman Jane Scully, Nikki Graves Henderson of the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation, Marty Behr and Michele Black of the Falls Church Arts, businessman Garrett Rambler of Vantage Fitness, Falls Church marketing company principal Matt Smith, also chair of the Business in Education Alliance, Jennifer Tibola, Murray Reinsdorf, Chamber of Commerce “Pillar of the Community” winners Barbara Cram and Nick Benton, owner-editor of the News-Press, and Laura Hull of the Creative Cauldron, all testified.

F.C. Council Moves to Limit Car Dealerships in City In an attempt to stem the expansion of low-yield car dealerships in the commercially-zoned areas of the City of Falls Church, the Council gave a preliminary OK Tuesday to a measure designed to ban auto dealership or car rental use in the City, with the exception of existing businesses. Eighteen such businesses currently occupy 21 acres in the City, a full 11 percent of the inventory of commercially-zoned land. Rick Goff, the City’s economic development czar, told the Council that car dealerships contribute only $49,000 per acre to the City’s tax coffers, compared to the first six large-scale mixed use projects built here since 2001 that yield $279,000 per acre. He said that unless a law is passed prohibiting further car dealerships, there are another 12 to 15 acres “at risk” of the low-yield use. (It is rumored there are plans for a Car Max dealership to go onto six acres on the former Noland Company property on Wilson Blvd.) Goff added that the prohibition would match similar laws already enacted in surrounding jurisdictions.

Hekemian Site on N. Washington Gets Site Plan OK The Hekemian Company’s Northgate mixed-use, rental residential project approved by the City Council for the site of the former Pearson Funeral Home on N. Washington St. received the approval of its site plan from the F.C. Planning Commission last week by a 3-2 margin. Despite objections from some neighbors to the site, the site plan went through the final significant hurdle to the construction of the project.

Deadline Extended for Halloween Painting of F.C. Businesses Falls Church Arts is urging all City residents, grade three through adults, to get into the holiday spirit by coming out to paint windows of City businesses downtown on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 8 a.m. – noon. To participate, families should fill out a form at 111 Park Ave. indicating the subject of their drawing. They should then attend a brief training meeting on Oct. 23, before going out to exhibit their creativity.

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‘Be the Change’ Club at GMHS Wins Award Shelby Taylor and Katie Potrykus, seniors at George Mason High School, told the F.C. City Council Tuesday that their “Be the Change” Club had been named a winner of a Fairfax Partnership for Youth award. The club, with 50 members from grades eight through 12, was set up following the first Challenge Days at GMHS, which sensitized students to respecting differences in each other. “Our theme is to respect each other and not judge,” Taylor said, noting that the club was set up to keep the spirit of the Challenge Days alive throughout the year. They will be presented the award at the Fairfax Partnership’s annual award banquet on Oct. 28 in Reston. .

Free Rides to City Hall for Absentee Voting Those wishing to vote in the Nov. 4 election by absentee ballot can call “Falls Church Votes” ride coordinator Kim Maller at 703-237-0106. The registrar office in City Hall is open Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. and all day the two Saturdays before Nov. 4.

Correction: Proposal Cuts 87 Jobs, Not 200 In last week’s News-Press, the article headlined, “Fairfax Family Services Face Severe Cuts,” it was erroneously reported that the Department of Family Services is proposing eliminating 200 jobs due to budget pressures. The correct number is 87.

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have passed ownership from the Church of England to the trustees had another deed been created. Instead, he argued, there has been no new deed since 1746 for The Falls Church, reaffirmed by the 1822 U.S. Supreme Court case Mason vs.

Muncaster.

In the landmark case for the Virginian diocese, the Supreme Court found that “the vestry of the Episcopal ‘Church of Alexandria,’ now known by the name of Christ’s Church, is the regular vestry, in succession, of the Parish of Fairfax,” which

October 16 - 22, 2008

had been a quasi-political entity dissolved by the revolution.

Davenport mentioned that witnesses for the diocese would corroborate his land right argument, including testimony from Ed Bond, a church historian, who, Davenport said, would show that the property of The Falls Church is a part of the Episcopal Church at Christ’s Church and not a separate entity under the control of Falls Church’s trustees.

Referring to the deed and court documents introduced by Coffee in his opening statement, Davenport also said that Coffee “highlights only what he liked in there,” and that the documents would prove that Christ Church is the rightful property owner of The Falls Church.

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We’re in the middle of a financial crisis, but most economists say there is a broader economic crisis still to come. The unemployment rate will shoot upward.

Companies will go bankrupt. Commercial real estate values will decline. Credit card defaults will rise. The nonprofit sector will be hammered. By the time the recession is in full force, Democrats will probably be running the government. Barack Obama will probably be in the White House. Democrats will have a comfortable majority in the House and will control between 56 and 60 seats in the Senate.

The party will inherit big deficits. David Leonhardt, my colleague at The Times, estimates that the deficit will sit at around $750 billion next year, or five percent of GDP. Democrats had promised to pay for new spending with compensatory cuts, but the economic crisis will dissolve pay-as-you-go vows. New federal spending will come in four streams.

First, there will be the bailouts. Once upon a time, there were concerns about moral hazard. But resistance to corporate bailouts is gone. If Bear Stearns and AIG can get bailouts, then so can car companies, airlines and other corporations with direct links to Main Street.

Second, there will be more stimulus packages.

The first stimulus package, passed early this year, was a failure because people spent only 10 percent to 20 percent of the rebate dollars and saved the rest.

Martin Feldstein of Harvard calculates the package added $80 billion to the national debt while producing less than $20 billion in consumer spending.

Nonetheless, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promises another package, and it will pass. Third, we’re in for a Keynesian renaissance. The Fed has little room to stimulate the economy, so Democrats will use government outlays to boost consumption. Nouriel Roubini of New York University argues that the economy will need a $300 billion fiscal stimulus.

Obama has already promised a clean energy/jobs program that would cost $150 billion over 10 years.

He’s vowed $60 billion in infrastructure spending over the same period. He promises a range of tax credits – $4,000 a year for college tuition, up to $3,000 for child care, $7,000 for a clean car, a mortgage tax credit.

Fourth, there will be tax cuts. On Monday, Obama promised new tax subsidies to small busi-

ness, which could cost tens of billions. That’s on top of his promise to cut taxes for 95 percent of American households. His tax plans aren’t as irresponsible as John McCain’s, but the Tax Policy Center still says they would reduce revenues by $2.8 trillion over the next decade.

Finally, there will be a health care plan. In 1960, health care consumed 5 percent of GDP. By 2025, it will consume 25 percent. In the face of these rising costs, Obama will spend billions more to widen coverage. Obama’s plan has many virtues, but the costsaving measures are chimerical. When you add it all up, we’re not talking about a deficit that is 5 percent of GDP, but something much, much, much larger.

The new situation will reopen old rifts in the Democratic Party. One the one side, liberals will argue (are already arguing) that it was deregulation and trickle-down economic policies that led us to this crisis. Fears of fiscal insolvency are overblown.

Democrats should use their control of government and the economic crisis as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make some overdue changes. Liberals will make a full-bore push for European-style economic policies.

On the other hand, the remaining moderates will argue that it was excess and debt that created this economic crisis. They will argue (are arguing) that it is perfectly legitimate to increase the deficit with stimulus programs during a recession, but that these programs need to be carefully targeted and should sunset as the crisis passes. The moderates will stress that the country still faces a ruinous insolvency crisis caused by entitlement burdens.

Obama will try to straddle the two camps – but the liberals will win. Over the past decade, liberals have mounted a campaign against Robert Rubinstyle economic policies, and they control the congressional power centers. Even if he’s so inclined, it’s difficult for a president to overrule the committee chairmen of his own party. It is more difficult to do that when the president is a Washington novice and the chairmen are skilled political hands. It is most difficult when the president has no record of confronting his own party elders. It’s completely impossible when the economy is in a steep recession, and an air of economic crisis pervades the nation.

What we’re going to see, in short, is the Gingrich revolution in reverse and on steroids. There will be a big increase in spending and deficits. In normal times, moderates could have restrained the zeal on the left.

In an economic crisis, not a chance. The over-reach is coming. The backlash is next.

WASHINGTON – Has anyone heard conservative critics complain about “socialism” as they watch Uncle Sam partially nationalize some of the nation’s big banks with an injection of $250 billion? President Bush announced the desperate move – which is completely alien to the free marketers of Republican Party – and stressed that the government’s role would be limited and temporary.

The move still represents “corporate welfare,” long resisted, but now welcome by Bush and his conservative colleagues. The goal is to restore public confidence in our financial system. The dramatic decision to have the public sector buy up part of the private sector ties in with the latest bank rescue plans adopted by European governments.

The two presidential candidates – Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama – are working to convince voters that they have the best solution to lead us out of the financial wilderness.

Obama proposes to eliminate the income tax on

unemployment compensation. He is also offering a 90-day moratorium on housing forfeitures.

Big deal. For millions of jobless, it will take longer than three months to begin paying their delinquent mortgages.

The ball is now in both presidential candidates’ court. They have to propose relief for taxpayers, for the auto industry, and many others, to win votes in November. In Detroit – my hometown and the center of the U.S. auto industry – unemployment stands at 9 percent. McCain told a rally in Pennsylvania this week that he would use tax cuts to create jobs. He also wants to make tax cuts for the super rich permanent. The candidates should tear a page out of the New Deal blueprint for economic recovery by putting people to work repairing the nation’s infrastructure – roads, bridges, harbors, and schools. The nation also should return to producing saleable items instead of outsourcing production – and American jobs.

Funny thing is that the privatizers and promoters of the “ownership society” are strangely silent these days. They would be laughed off the stage with their traditional panaceas for the economic debacle we now face. I don’t know how many Continued on Page 38

Has Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, saved the world financial system? OK, the question is premature – we still don’t know the exact shape of the planned financial rescues in Europe or for that matter the United States, let alone whether they’ll really work.

What we do know, however, is that Brown and Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to our Treasury secretary), have defined the character of the worldwide rescue effort, with other wealthy nations playing catch-up. This is an unexpected turn of events. The British government is, after all, very much a junior partner when it comes to world economic affairs. It’s true that London is one of the world’s great financial centers, but the British economy is far smaller than the U.S. economy, and the Bank of England doesn’t have anything like the influence either of the Federal Reserve or of the European Central Bank. So you don’t expect to see Britain playing a leadership role.

But the Brown government has shown itself willing to think clearly about the financial crisis, and act quickly on its conclusions. And this combination of clarity and decisiveness hasn’t been matched by any other Western government, least of all our own. What is the nature of the crisis? The details can be insanely complex, but the basics are fairly simple. The bursting of the housing bubble has led to large losses for anyone who bought assets backed by mortgage payments; these losses have left many financial institutions with too much debt and too little capital to provide the credit the economy needs; troubled financial institutions have tried to meet their debts and increase their capital by selling assets, but this has driven asset prices down, reducing their capital even further.

What can be done to stem the crisis? Aid to homeowners, though desirable, can’t prevent large losses on bad loans, and in any case will take effect too slowly to help in the current panic. The natural thing to do, then – and the solution adopted in many previous financial crises – is to deal with the problem of inadequate financial capital by having governments provide financial institutions with more capital in return for a share of ownership. This sort of temporary partnationalization, which is often referred to as an “equity injection,” is the crisis solution advocated by many economists – and sources told The Times that it was also the solution privately favored by Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman. But when Henry Passion, the U.S. Treasury secretary, announced his plan for a $700 billion financial bailout, he rejected this obvious path, saying, “That’s what you do when you have failure.” Instead, he called for government purchases of toxic mortgage-backed securities, based on the theory that ... actually, it never was clear what his theory was.

Meanwhile, the British government went straight to the heart of the problem – and moved to address it with stunning speed.

On Wednesday, Brown’s officials announced a plan for major equity injections into British banks, backed up by guarantees on bank debt that should get lending among banks, a crucial part of the financial mechanism, running again. And the first major commitment of funds will come on Monday – five days after the plan’s announcement. At a special European summit meeting on Sunday, the major economies of continental Europe in effect declared themselves ready to follow Britain’s lead, injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into banks while guaranteeing their debts. And whaddya know, Paulson – after arguably wasting several precious weeks – has also reversed course, and now plans to buy equity stakes rather than bad mortgage securities (although he still seems to be moving with painful slowness).

As I said, we still don’t know whether these moves will work.

But policy is, finally, being driven by a clear view of what needs to be done. Which raises the question, why did that clear view have to come from London rather than Washington? It’s hard to avoid the sense that Paulson’s initial response was distorted by ideology. Remember, he works for an administration whose philosophy of government can be summed up as “private good, public bad,” which must have made it hard to face up to the need for partial government ownership of the financial sector.

I also wonder how much the FEMAfication of government under President Bush contributed to Paulson’s fumble. All across the executive branch, knowledgeable professionals have been driven out; there may not have been anyone left at Treasury with the stature and background to tell Paulson that he wasn’t making sense.

Luckily for the world economy, however, Gordon Brown and his officials are making sense. And they may have shown us the way through this crisis.

October 16 - 22, 2008

Now that the U.S. government has moved to take ownership positions in nine major banks, among the next critical steps needed to ease the economic crisis’ recessionary impact on average Americans is to swap household debt relief for commitments to community service and national infrastructure and alternative energy development.

Such a program would not only help stabilize the banking system, but it would offer direct relief to the debt and mortgage-crushed American public, serving as a form of economic stimulus focused on the middle class. It would address the anticipated major growth in unemployment numbers, relieve foreclosure pressures and at the same time help in the effort to refocus the nation’s economic priorities toward new domestic development.

Under my plan, as I have devised it, through a clearing house mechanism, American citizens would have the opportunity to pay off their student loans and other debts by signing up for a full or part-time role in a national community service agency, hopefully utilizing their best skills and expertise in a constructive way to augment the domestic economy.

When I presented this idea to key political leaders in Northern Virginia this week, it was greeted as a new idea with considerable enthusiasm. Rep. Jim Moran and the chief of staff to Sen. James Webb offered positive initial responses to the concept. Democratic congressional candidate Judy Feder reminded me that a similar program is already in place for medical school graduates.

That program, the National Health Service Corps, allows young physicians to work off their student loan debt by spending time providing their services in areas where there are shortages of doctors.

Student loans are among the debts that are dragging on the solvency, much less the buying power, of average American households, along with mortgage and credit card debts. The overwhelming burden of consumer and household debts were both allowed and encouraged to snowball in the era of easy money, unregulated and predatory lending practices. That 28-year orgy that seduced far too many to live beyond their means had, in addition to its household debt component, had an even far more toxic derivative component, involving the sale of debt up to 40 times its base value on securities markets.

When the housing market began to cool off, and the initial round of resets on sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages followed, the first wave of foreclosures served as the first detonator of the derivative bubble that ballooned out of control since 2004, when five major investment banks were permitted to increase their limits on leveraging from 12 up to 40 times the dollar value of a base debt instrument.

The real cause of the global economic meltdown, whose true magnitude is still unknown, lies in the mass marketing of these derivatives around the planet. No one knows how many hundreds of trillions of dollars of uncollateralized debt instruments will go up in smoke, despite the coordinated efforts of governments everywhere to underwrite them by propping up their nominal values with public debt.

But while those moves are designed to avoid the collapse of the global banking system, there also needs to be aggressive and unprecedented steps to make sure there is relief where it is needed in average households. Extraordinary steps are needed to help people stay in their homes with a range of forms of debt relief.

This idea of swapping out student loan and some other household debt for community service dovetails with the growing interest in amassing an army of domestic service volunteers in the aftermath of the November election. Moran, for example, in remarks at a fundraiser this week, talked about refocusing the enormous energy of millions of young people who’ve mobilized for the Obama presidential campaign toward fixing the domestic economy.

The new national mobilization should be focused on alternatives to an oil-based national infrastructure, not only by spurring efforts at exotic new alternative energy forms, such as solar and wind, but by prioritizing national rail and water restoration, renovation and innovative development.

Rail delivers both people and products at a tiny fraction of the energy costs of automobiles, trucks and airplanes. Making urban rail systems as efficient as New York City’s, expanding rail routes criss-crossing states and introducing high-speed mag-lev technologies on a large scale is an appropriate focus. Also, water projects, to capture hydro-electric power and better deliver water for consumption, including for agricultural use, should also become a top national priority. Like rail, this involves the rediscovery of what had become forgotten energy technologies in the past half-century era of big oil.  Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.

Page 11

I’m not sending Paul Krugman Champagne.

He won the Nobel prize in economics this week, and while I’m sure that’s delightful for him, it has raised the bar to an impossible height for his fellow columnists at The Times. We used to strive for Pulitzers, or simply regional awards, or even just try to top each other on the paper’s most e-mailed list.

Now we’re supposed to compete for Nobels?

It’s a total disaster. Any minute, Krugman might swagger into the office wearing that big old 24-karat-gold-plated medal around his neck like a World Wrestling championship belt, talking about how beautiful Sweden is.

So I must aim higher. Much higher.

A Nobel in economics is out. I didn’t take economics in college because all the classes started at 8 a.m. Physics, chemistry and medicine are out. Literature? They’ve given up giving it to Americans. So it’s going to have to be the Nobel Peace Prize.

I tried to think of a horrible war going on that needed my mediation skills. And then it hit me: The conservative donnybrook over Sarah Palin, the peppery debate raging about whether she is an embarrassment who should fade away or an impudent but promising wine picked before its time.

Republicans have been slugging it out over whether Palin is dragging John McCain down or whether his campaign is mishandling her. The governor’s favorability rating is now 32 percent, according to the new Times/CBS News poll, plummeting 8 points from earlier this month, and her unfavorable rating soared 9 percentage points to 41 percent.

On Tuesday, Matthew Dowd, the former Bush strategist who offered a famous apologia for helping get W. re-elected, offered a scorching assessment of Palin not being ready, saying that McCain “knows that in his gut. And when this race is over, that is something he will have to live with. ... He put somebody unqualified on that ballot, and he put the country at risk.”

Christopher Hitchens endorsed Barack Obama on Slate on Monday, calling Palin’s conduct “a national disgrace” and writing: “Given the nasty and lowly task of stirring up the whack-job fringe of the party’s right wing and of recycling patent falsehoods about Obama’s position on Afghanistan, she has drawn upon the only talent that she apparently possesses.”

Christopher Buckley endorsed Obama on

The Daily Beast, writing of McCain’s embrace of Palin: “What on earth can he have been thinking?” (The endorsement led to Buckley resigning from The National Review, founded by his father.)

On “The Colbert Report” on Monday, the conservative columnist Kathleen Parker stuck by her assertion, which she said caused the base to treat her like a traitor, that Palin should have bowed out. She said she’d gotten some secret e-mails from Republicans in the White House agreeing with her.

William Kristol, a Palin fan who thinks she has been horribly managed, wrote in The Times on Monday that McCain should fire his campaign for malpractice. David Brooks, speaking at an Atlantic Magazine event, called Palin “a fatal cancer on the Republican Party,” bemoaning the fact that she did not fit in with the late William Buckley’s desire to have a party that celebrated ideas and learning.

I started my campaign to win a Nobel prize by trying to make peace between the two conservatives at odds on our Op-Ed page.

I called Kristol and asked him if he thought Palin could grow into the next Reagan, reminding him that he was outnumbered by conservatives recoiling from her.

“Conservative eggheads are my friends,” he said, “but politically they’re a contrarian indicator. If they’re down on Palin, things are looking up for her. With all due respect for my fellow eggheads, they are underestimating the importance of a natural political gift or star quality. It matters a lot.”

He suggested that she has a shrewdness and toughness beyond what you get with a Yale law degree or Harvard business degree “like Andrew Jackson. ... That may be hard for my conservative intellectual friends to grasp.”

I didn’t seem to be soothing the waters. I called Brooks, who conceded: “Her political delivery skills are incredible.”

So you agree with Kristol that she might be a star in the party? Could Palin be the nominee in 2012?

“The short answer is no,” Brooks said. “She has reinforced the worst of talk-radio culture.

The party will need a leader to strike out in a new direction, a fiscally conservative president more like a high-tech Teddy Roosevelt. Someone with gravitas.”

So much for a brokering peace accord. I’ll have to leave the eggheads boiling.

Page 12

In response to mounting criticism of gay conservatives, Dale Carpenter, a prominent gay writer, is threatening to bolt the movement.

In a recent column, he spoke of his “rising anger” with how gay advocates treat his ideological brethren. Of course, we know this is a bluff because Carpenter and other gay conservatives have nowhere else to go.

They are dependent on the very liberalism they condescendingly deride and rejected by the very political party they claim to be a part of.

What is notable about Carpenter’s tirade, is how it is at odds with his often intelligent columns. He regularly offers sharp legal critiques and prescient political analysis. However, when discussing gay conservatism, Carpenter uncharacteristically becomes irrational, falling into an undeserved victimhood that is a hallmark of gay Republicans.

For example, Carpenter is upset because Jonathan Crutchley, the cofounder of the gay cruising site Man Hunt, was skewered after giving a contribution to John McCain. Carpenter surmises that there is a witch hunt because of Crutchley’s political affiliation. This is not true. If he were just another gay business owner, no one would care whom he contributed to. However, it is preposterous for a man whose commodity is sodomy to give money to a candidate who wants to appoint Supreme Court Justices who would be in favor of outlawing gays from having consensual sexual relations. It is this type of cognitive dissonance that earns gay conservatives such deserved contempt.

Republicans in Congress have blocked gay rights progress for nearly three decades. It was President George W. Bush who stumped for a Federal Marriage Amendment. It was Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott who once compared gay people to kleptomaniacs and alcoholics. I could fill 10 columns with despicable acts and words lobbed at the GLBT community by members of the Republican Party. While the Democrats are not perfect (see Sam Nunn), anyone who compares the two parties is smoking something that has higher street, than political value.

The modern Republican Party was molded by President Nixon’s “southern strategy” and built by Ronald Reagan, a president who ignored the AIDS crisis. It has been home to horrendous bigots, such as Sen. Jesse Helms, Rep. Bob Dornan, commentator Pat Buchanan and Vice President Dan Quayle – who pushed the term “family values,” which notably did not include GLBT families.

In 1998, Republican Pat Robertson ran for president. Robertson lost, but he amassed a huge mailing list, which was transformed into the Christian Coalition. Under the leadership of Ralph Reed, this organization married the Republican Party and this list is today referred to as “The Base.”

As long as this crowd is on speed-dial to the White House, gay conservatives are a politically powerless sideshow. This group should be boisterously rooting for a collapse of the GOP, so the party can be rebuilt from scratch as an inclusive entity.

The core problem with Carpenter’s arguments, is that he invokes a mythical conservatism that is fighting a liberal straw man. The small government party that wants to keep out of peoples’ bedrooms is dead.

It has been replaced by a brand of Republicanism represented by Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Bush. Not only are these politicians anti-gay busybodies, but they aren’t even fiscally conservative. In 2009, America is projected to run a half-trillion dollar deficit, plummeting from the seven hundred billion surplus under Bill Clinton.

The issue I have with gay conservatives is that they consistently subjugate GLBT concerns. This is revealed when Carpenter says that “we disagree” with the movements “most visible activists… about how much weight should be given to purely gay issues in a time of economic and military turmoil.”

I wasn’t aware that Congress had to choose between the economy and protecting GLBT people from job discrimination. I had no idea that passing a hate crime law might hinder our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Apparently, Carpenter and other conservatives think they should get to the back of the line and wait for their rights to be doled out at a time of peace and prosperity (when Democrats are in the White House, I presume).

The truth is, I agree more with Dan Quayle than gay conservatives like Dale Carpenter. Family Values actually do matter and I will not apologize for placing the protection of my family above tax cuts for the very wealthy. Carpenter does not like it when gay conservatives are called self-loathing, but what else can one call people who don’t prioritize legal protection for themselves and the ones they love?

If Carpenter and other gay conservatives leave the movement, nothing will really change. Gay progressives will still be doing the lion’s share of the work, while conservatives will enjoy the privileges of their newfound freedom, while complaining about those who are largely responsible for their liberty.

October 16 - 22, 2008

As we enter the final stretch of the electoral season, what can be learned from the past eight years?—a period in our nation’s history marked by conservative control: Republicans had two terms in the White House and six years controlling the congressional levers of power.

In this time, conservative ideology was put to the test. It failed.

Given a tremendous opportunity to govern, Republicans have left our nation in a deep hole.

Take the economy; we are in a recession and our entire financial system is on the verge of collapsing.

Republicans had the opportunity to head off this crisis. They instead ignored the warning signs, failing to prevent the abusive lending practices at the root of the subprime debacle. They prided themselves as deregulators, taking the economic referees off the field when we needed them most.

At the same time, the Bush Administration saddled America with record deficits and debt, setting off a crisis of confidence in our financial system. The combined result of this recklessness has been a financial meltdown and deep economic uncertainty.

What about the economic impact on families? A few months ago, President Bush said, “In the long run, our economy is going to be fine.” We all believe in a bright future for America, but that attitude glosses over the millions of working Americans who are hurting right now. Since President Bush took office, nearly six million more Americans are living in poverty. Last month, America lost 159,000 jobs, bringing us to three quarters of a million jobs

lost just this year.

What about energy? How that’s worked out really depends on your perspective. If you’re an oil company executive, their policies have been a tremendous success. Oil companies have made the biggest profits in American history, aided by billion-dollar government subsidies.

But the rest of us are stuck with gas prices that have more than doubled since President Bush took office. Every piece of legislation brought to the House Floor to confront high gas prices has been opposed by Congressional Republicans.

On healthcare, President Bush vetoed the very same Children’s Health Insurance Program expansion he called for when he was running for reelection.

Most House Republicans backed him up, and 4 million eligible low income children lost out on health insurance. In all, the number of Americans without health insurance has increased by more than 7 million over the last eight years.

Foreign policy, too, is a story of failed promises. As America began the Iraq War, Donald Rumsfeld predicted, “It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” Today, of course, that war has stretched on longer than World War II, costing us 4,168 American lives and some $600 billion while stretching our

military to the breaking point.

Meanwhile, we’ve lost ground in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda is known to be regrouping along the Afghan/Pakistani border.

Though our recently acquired majority is slim, congressional Democrats have focused on bringing change and a new policy direction. We enacted a 21st-century GI Bill to guarantee college for all of our veterans; raised the minimum wage for the first time in more than a decade; passed the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate; and implemented the 9/11 Commission recommendations making our homeland safer and more secure.

On energy, we boosted fuel efficiency standards for the first time in more than 30 years, and substantially increased investment in clean, renewable sources of energy.

To confront the recession, Democrats passed a job-creating stimulus package at the beginning of the year and a landmark housing rescue bill this summer.

We passed comprehensive lending reform to attack the root of the financial crisis. And when President Bush came to us last month with a flawed economic recovery plan, we improved it significantly by including strict oversight to protect taxpayer money, blocking golden parachutes for CEOs, and helping homeowners renegotiate their mortgages to stabilize home values for everyone.

In the next Congress, congressional Democrats will remain focused on bringing about change and the new direction our country so desperately needs after eight years of misplaced priorities and missed opportunities.

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 13

The Mason District Fall Town Meeting won’t have presidential candidates in debate mode, or Tom Brokaw as moderator, or be televised coast-to-coast, but it should prove interesting to Mason District residents nonetheless. The Town Meeting, to be held next Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., at the George Mason Regional Library, 7001 Little River Turnpike in Annandale, will feature a panel discussion about Fairfax County’s Lines of Business (LOBs) review in preparation for the Fiscal Year 2010 budget process. Fairfax County is projecting a budget deficit of more than $400 million for Fiscal Year 2010, which must be addressed through a combination of spending reductions and other strategies.

Braddock District Supervisor Sharon Bulova, the Board’s budget chairman, and Susan Datta, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget, and I will discuss LOBS, what they are, and how they relate to the budget process. A question and answer period will provide attendees with an opportunity to make recommendations of their own about services they deem necessary, or expendable. This meeting is not one of the 20 community dialogue sessions being held across the county, so no registration is necessary. I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.

Civic associations looking for a handy way to welcome new neighbors and give them information about rules and regulations, and gentle reminders about how we want to live in our community, might want to follow the lead of the Westlawn Civic Association in Falls Church which recently published a Neighborhood Guide for distribution with its regular newsletter. The handy little yellow fold-over guide outlines responsibilities as a Fairfax County resident, as well as information about the Zoning Ordinance and the Property Maintenance Code. The guide, available in English and Spanish versions,

outlines easy reminders about trash, noise, keeping your front yard neat, parking, dog walking, and many other neighborhood concerns. Congratulations to Westlawn residents for taking the initiative to reduce frictions and enhance their neighborhood.

Mason District has a new neighbor! Just Neighbors, a non-profit partnership founded by the United Methodist Church and serving the immigrant community of Northern Virginia, recently relocated from Arlington to their new office on Columbia Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads. Just Neighbors provides legal assistance for family unification and employment authorization, and for refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world. Just Neighbors’ clients come from 87 different countries, including El Salvador, Honduras, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Bolivia, Somalia, and Iran. Log on to www.justneighbors.org for more information.

Mason District’s Kaleidoscope, our monthly dialogue on diversity, is featuring something very special this month. Participants are reading Greg Mortensen’s book, Three Cups of Tea, a fascinating true story of an American mountain climber who got lost near the K2 peak in northwest Pakistan, and ended up building schools for girls in impoverished villages near the roof of the world. His passion, dedication, and sometimes craziness, makes for fascinating reading. The book’s title comes from a village chief in the Karakoram Mountains, who explained to the author that you drink three cups of tea to do business: first as a stranger, then a friend, and finally family. Kaleidoscope will meet on Wednesday, October 29, from 5:30 – 7 p.m., at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale. And yes, tea will be served.

Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov 

Our Man in Arlington I gave a lecture on the evolution of modern politics to the monthly meeting of the Day Alliance of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Arlington last Tuesday.

With that ichard group, it was a Barton bit like taking coals to Newcastle. Nevertheless, I thought I would share some of my words of wisdom with you on the eve of what will be one of the most important presidential elections in our lifetime.

Many of us older people like to look at election campaigns with both alarm and, occasionally, satisfaction saying things weren’t like this in the old days.

We shake our heads with disapproval at the great negativity of modern campaigns, we shudder at the partisan media, and we wag our fingers at the great costs of campaigns and the fundraising that of necessity follows. And we look with favor on the large number of young people activity involved in the campaign.

My main thesis was, nevertheless, Plus Ça Change, Plus C’est La Même Chose?

Yes, there is certainly an

R

uncomfortable amount of negativity in the campaign for president, but there always has been.

A couple of examples: In 1796, Jefferson was attacked for his “atheistic tendencies,” and his followers were “cutthroats who walk in rags and sleep amid filth and vermin.”

In 1800, Jefferson hired James Callendar to attack John Adams in print. Callendar obliged by writing that Adams was a “repulsive pedant,” a “gross hypocrite,” and a “hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” Adams had Callendar jailed for nine months under the short-lived Alien and Sedition Act, which forbade printed attacks on the President.

And it got worse from there.

Money, also, has been a major factor in political campaigns since the beginning of time, as have the people who raised it. It is much more so now, because of the massive cost of the various forms of the media, particularly television.

One of the problems, however,

is that many proposals to ameliorate or eliminate the impact of money could make things worse, rather than better.

And the levels of community organization are impressive all over the country, particularly among the Democrats. But many of these efforts are based on old principles of local political organization developed almost two centuries ago. In Arlington, for example, the Democrats and members of the ABC joined together in creating card files of most of voters in the county, along with personal notations.

All those on the cards were contacted in person at least once during a campaign. This is still going on in Arlington, though the technology is notably different.

These were just a few of the subjects we covered in my lecture, but you get the point. And as messy as it can get, we still have one of the greatest, if not the greatest, democratic electoral systems in the world. It works, even with its occasional flaws.

I know who is going to win in November. I will tell you on the day after the election.

National economic woes have come to the Commonwealth. Although Virginia’s economy is in better shape than in many other states, we are not immune to current trends.

State revenues are not meeting expectations for the current year and it is already clear that forecasts must be adjusted downward for the next fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009.

Governor Kaine recently announced revised forecasts for this year and next, and reductions to the current state budget. Reductions in spending for the following fiscal year will be included in his December budget revisions.

A total of $973 million must be reduced in this fiscal year in order to have a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, Virginia must keep revenues and expenditures in balance each year – no printing money or Treasury borrowing here!

Overall the shortfall will be addressed through state agency savings and spending reductions of nearly $350 million, a withdrawal of about $400 million from the Revenue Stabilization Fund, and conversion of cash capital projects to bonds.

Because Virginia already runs a pretty tight ship, any reductions have real consequences. However, the Governor has done a good job in minimizing the impacts.

For example, K-12 education is exempt from any direct cuts, though there are some administrative savings at the Department of Education.

Spread across many agencies, there will be 570 layoffs, the elimination of more than 800 additional positions that are currently unfilled, a continued freeze on new hiring, and the delay of a previously planned 2 percent salary increase for state employees.

Colleges and universities will have reductions of 5 to 7 percent. The schools themselves will determine how to

cope with the cuts, but it will obviously take some creative thinking to cope with changes now that the school year is underway.

Some savings have been accomplished without really affecting program delivery.

Almost $100 million has been saved with improved business practices and efficiencies; there were unexpended balances from the previous fiscal year that totaled over $40 million; and the Governor’s directive to agencies in August to implement a hiring freeze and eliminate discretionary spending has already resulted in $24 million savings.

As chair of the Natural Resources and Economic Development subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, I have pored over the pages of detailed cuts in those areas. Many reductions are administrative office savings and will have little impact; others are more farreaching.

The state parks budget offers examples. On the administrative side, computer equipment inventories will be reduced; the parks visitor statistical survey will occur less often; and some vacancies in the reservation center will not be filled. However, other reductions will be more noticeable. Openings of new state park facilities will be delayed for several months; maintenance projects will be postponed as will the purchase of new heavy equipment and vehicle replacements.

Resource management projects including tree replacement, shoreline erosion and trail maintenance will be postponed. Even support for state park volunteers will be reduced.

And this is only the beginning. Reductions in FY10 will be deeper and more painful.  Senator Whipple represents the 31st District in the Virginia State Senate. She may be emailed at district31@sov. state.va.us

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October 16 - 22, 2008

Elevation Burger Awarded for Going Green Elevation Burger was recognized at National Harbor’s GO GREEN Press Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 14 on the Waterfront Stage in National Harbor, Md. Hans Hess, the CEO of Elevation Burger and EnviroCab, the first carbon-negative Taxicab Fleet in the world, and finalist for Washington Business Journal’s “Green Innovation” Award, spoke on the GO GREEN projects being launched, including building LEED-Certified restaurants.

SEAN MCCREADY AND ERIN FULLNER of Seattle, Wash. announced their engagement and a Nov. 15 wedding in Lynden, Wash. Fullner, the daughter of Mel and Ann Fullner, graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2004. McCready, the son of Ronald McCready and Falaah Jones, and a 1996 graduate of McLean High School, attended the University of Washington before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. The couple met at the University of Washington. (PHOTO: COURTESY ERIN FULLNER)

RAISING APPROXIMATELY $750,000, the 2008 Passion for Caring Gala hosted by Falls Church-based Capital Hospice was a “resounding success,” according to organizers. The gala presented several speakers who discussed their experiences with and the importance of hospice care. (PHOTO: COURTESY CAPITAL HOSPICE)

Round Table Welcomes Prospective Members The Northern Virginia Knights of the Round Table invite potential members to a special Membership Luncheon at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at the Italian Cafe. During lunch, guests will learn about Round Table’s mission and the organization’s charities.

The Round Table is a member of the U.S. Tables in Round Table International based in Redlands, Ca., a non-sectarian service club serving local charities in member communities.

For more information on the Round Table or to make a reservation for this Wednesday’s luncheon, contact Lew or Marj Watson at 703-237-7973 or by e-mail at marjw@cox.net.

Teen Center Seeks Talent for Charity Event The Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFTC) (1440 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean) is looking for middle-school aged students

who sing, dance, act, perform comedy or know how to perform any other kinds of entertainment for its Semi-Annual Open Mic Night. Participants and audience members are being asked to donate gift cards in lieu of an admission fee, with proceeds benefiting a local women’s shelter. The event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 at OFTC. Students who are interested in performing must register and submit a gift card, and $5 for individuals, $10 for groups. Registration forms are available at OFTC or can be downloaded from www. mcleancenter.org. For more information, call OFTC at 703448-8336, ext. 711.

Falls Church Winery to Hold Oktoberfest Red White and Bleu (127 S. Washington St., Falls Church) will be holding Oktoberfest, from Oct. 17 – 19. Beer tastings will be offered on Friday from 5 – 8 p.m., Saturday from noon – 8 p.m., and Sunday from 1 – 5 p.m. Oktoberfest lagers, fall pumpkin ales – domestic and imported – will be offered to taste. All tastings are free.

For more information, call 703533-9463.

Choralis Presents German Romantics Concert Falls Church’s Choralis will show off its full breadth and talent with a selection of 19th century German music.

The concert features selections from piano literature, art song for solo voice and of course, breathtaking choral music, including Rheinberger’s Cantus Missae and Beethoven’s Choral

Fantasy, as well as selections

by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert and Wolff. The concert is at The Falls Church (115 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church) at 8 p.m. on Oct. 17. This performance was rescheduled from this past April. Choralis Maestra Gretchen Kuhrmann will take part in a pre-concert chat at 7 p.m. General admission is $25. For more information, visit www.choralis.org/pages/ home.php.

The Claude Moore Farm Hosts Market Fair Come enjoy a step back in time, at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm’s Autumn 18th Century Market Fair.

Attendees are invited to enjoy colonial period foods, beverages, candle dipping and items for purchase. Colonial farm families and community members will be present at the fair in costume and character. The fair will take place at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm (6310 Georgetown Pike, McLean), from 11 a.m.

– 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 – 19.

Admission is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children ages 3-12 and senior citizens. Free parking is available. For more information, visit www.1771. org or call 703-903-9330.

Art Workshop Offered to Families in McLean The McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean) is offering a family-oriented art workshop, “Mindscapes.”

The workshop incorporates the use of pastels, charcoal and

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 15

cutout shapes to tell a story.

Students will look at the paintings and drawings by Jo Smail in the gallery for inspiration.

The hour-and-a-half-long lesson will be instructed by Sharon Fishel, and is $10 per family. The workshop will take place from 10 – 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 18. For more information, visit www.mcleancenter.org.

F.C. Residents Named Marching Virginians The following Virginia Tech students and Falls Church residents have gained membership to the Marching Virginians at Virginia Tech: Mark Ferek, John Koussis, Jeremy Mauck, Alex Nette, Andy Twigg and Emily Whitesell. To qualify for the marching band, students must audition one week before the beginning of classes each fall.

Commonly known as “The Spirit of Tech,” the band this year is celebrating its 35th year of performances and musical entertainment for hundreds of nationally televised football games and parades.

They also performed at Virginia Tech’s recent bowl games, including the 2006 Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. and the 2007 Chick-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Ga. Dulin Church Holds Hospital Supply Drive Dulin Church (513 E. Broad St., Falls Church) and CrossLink International (427 N. Maple Ave., Falls Church), are working together this month to collect medical supplies and equipment to send to a United Methodist-supported, non-profit mission hospital in the Philippines. Many over-thecounter pain relievers, antihistamines and first aid items like bandaids are needed, as well as cash contributions to purchase stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors and thermometers.

Bring contributions to Dulin Church any Sunday morning in October at 8:30 a.m. or 11 a.m.

For more information, call 703532-8060.

McLean Rotary to Discuss Vintage Guitars Matt Baker will speak on “Collecting Vintage Guitars,” at the McLean Rotary Club meeting in the Fellowship Hall of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (1545 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean) at noon Oct. 21. For more information, visit www.mcleanrotary.org.

Capital Hospice Gala Was A Resounding Success The 2008 Passion for Caring Gala to benefit Falls Church-based nonprofit Capital Hospice was held on Oct. 4 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. It was a “great success,” says Malene Davis, Capital Hospice president and CEO. Davis says the organization raised approximately $750,000.

This year’s Passion for Caring honorees were Eleanor Clift, nationally-renowned journalist and author, and Marilynn and Ed Bersoff of McLean, champions for advanced training in pain and symptom management for physicians. Capital Hospice’s gala helps provide hospice care to those who are medically eligible for hospice services but are unable to afford care. For more information, call Capital Hospice Director of Communications Spence Levine at 703-531-6241.

LAST SUNDAY, the F.C. Chapter of the Victorian Society in America held their annual Victorian Ball at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, where they met for a sit-down dinner and danced the night away in Victorian-era gowns and suits. (Photo: News-Press)

CREATIVE CAULDRON entertained audiences last weekend with two concert readings of Creative Cauldron member Matthew Conner’s musical “Martin: King of Pizza.” (Photo: News-Press)

FALLS CHURCH HELD its annual Farm Day fall festival last Saturday, Oct. 18 at Cherry Hill Park, where visitors enjoyed music, crafts and fun. One of the festival’s more popular attractions was the horse-drawn carriage rides. (Photo: News-Press)

Economy Party Supplies & Costumes Countdown to Halloween Are you Ready?

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REP. JIM MORAN, left, delivered remarks and answered extensive questions at a Democratic Party fundraiser at the Larson home on E. Columbia in Falls Church Saturday night. Moran’s comments focused on the shaky economy. (Photo: News-Press)

Jessica Blair Szymanski September 5, 1984 - October 15, 2002

What though the radiance which was once so bright Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower.

- Wm. Wordsworth

Every day in our thoughts. Forever in our hearts.

Mom, Dad and Lauren

Page 16

October 16 - 22, 2008

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Acacia Federal Savings Bank is sponsoring two free shred events – one for the community and the other specifically for businesses. Individuals are invited to bring up to five standard size boxes of papers to be shredded free of charge on Saturday, Oct. 18 from 8 a.m. – noon in the front parking lot of 7600 Leesburg Pike. Businesses are invited to bring up to 10 standard size boxes of documents on Wednesday, Oct. 29 starting at 9 a.m. in the back parking lot of 7600 Leesburg Pike. For more information, visit www.afsbonline.com.

Of All The Beads is celebrating their first anniversary by hosting an open house from 2 – 6 p.m. on Oct. 18. Of All The Beads is a handcrafted artisan jewelry business owned and operated by Hazel BrutschÊ. Attendees will receive a 20 percent discount and refreshments and a 15 percent coupon good for one repair job, custom order, or future purchase. For location and other information, call 703-901-3738 or visit www.ofallthebeads.com.

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Red, White and Bleu Wine and Gourmet Shop in Falls Church hosts tastings every weekend. The weekend of Oct. 17 will include tastings of pumpkin ales and Octoberfest beers. A variety of cheeses, smoked meats, and gourmet snacks and cooking ingredients are available throughout the week in addition to micro-brewed beers and hundreds of wines. Artisan breads are also available Saturdays and Sundays. RW&B is located at 127 S. Washington St. For more information, visit www.redwhiteandbleu.com.

John McClain, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy will present on the economy and its impact on development at the Oct. 21 luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at the Italian CafÊ located at 7161 Lee Hwy. in Falls Church. Tickets are $27 for members, $32 for nonmembers. RSVPs are requested – 703-532-1050 or info@ fallschurchchamber.org. An additional $5 is added to the ticket price for walk-ins.

Visit us for more information. Tags, taxes, and processing fee ($349.00) are extra.

Ireland’s Four Provinces is hosting its weekly Pub Quiz with an 80s theme on Wednesday, Oct. 22. This special edition of the quiz, which starts at 9 p.m., will have 40 questions based on anything and everything that happened in the 80s.

There is no cost to enter and everyone gets the chance to win door prizes at 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Additional prizes will be awarded to the “Best Dressed� female and male bearing the theme in mind. The winners of the trivia quiz will receive a $100 gift certificate and be invited back to the Tournament of Champions. For information or to make reservations to try the new winter menu featuring Taste of Falls Church winning entries, call 703-534-8999.

CSI is inviting members of the Falls Church Community to “Elect to Visit� their Open House from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 23 and “Cast Your Ballot to Win an iPoD!� CSI (Composition Systems Incorporated) is a full service print shop specializing in large format, grand format, short-run color printing and trade show exhibits/displays with two locations in Falls Church (205 West Jefferson St. and 2916 Annandale Road). To learn more or for a free estimate, please e-mail Brian Lee at blee@csi2.com or call 703-564-5895.

Sunrise Assisted Living in Falls Church is hosting a free networking event for businesses that provide services to seniors. The event will take place from 5 – 7 p.m., on Wednesday, October 29 at Sunrise. Appetizers and drinks will be provided. RSVP to Myra Gourley-Robinson at 703-534-2700. Sunrise is located at 330 S. Washington Street in Falls Church.

The Falls Church City Economic Development Office, the Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center and the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce are cosponsoring Entrepreneur Express from 8:30 a.m. – noon on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the N. Va. Center. This half day of presentations and discussions are designed to help create new and help build existing businesses. The event is free but registration is required – go to www.vastartup.org or call 804-371-8131.

The Fairview Park Marriott recently completed a five and a half month, $3.5 million renovation of its lobby, lounge and restaurant. The lobby now offers an open air style, expansive seating and social and work space with high speed internet access. The Ellipse Restaurant and Lounge have been renovated and expanded.

The Fairview Park Marriott offers 18,000 square feet of total meeting space, 388 guest rooms and seven suites. For more on the Fairview Park Marriott, visit www.

MarriottFairviewPark.com. ď ľ The Business News & Notes section is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@ fallschurchchamber.org.

October 16 - 22, 2008

For weeks now the stock markets and commodity prices have been falling. Oil is currently trading around $76 a barrel which is close to a 50 percent drop since the middle of July. Large portions of the credit world’s markets are frozen, a situation which will lead to all sorts of economic problems if not freed up soon.

The world’s governments are thrashing around in an effort to revive the credit markets by throwing literally trillions of dollars at the problem, but so far there have been few readily observable results.

This week’s plan involves having the U.S. and European governments spend hundreds of billions in a coordinated plan to recapitalize the banks. The general theory is that if the government owns all, or part, or at least guarantees the banks and their loans, nobody should be afraid of a bank failing, no matter how many bad loans it has hidden on its books.

While the latest plan may eventually be enough to restore the credit markets, it seems unlikely to stem falling house prices, save Detroit, or reduce the steady increase in unemployment. If recent polls are valid, America’s voters are becoming increasingly terrified of the future and are in a mood for major changes.

Despite the dramatic drop in oil prices during the last three months, recent developments have only made the supply and demand situation worse. Oil consumption in the U.S. has fallen by 1.8 million barrels a day (b/d) or nearly 9 percent as compared to last year due to a combination of high prices, a slowing economy, and the shortages resulting from the hurricanes that tore up Gulf coast production and refining last month. During September, however, Chinese imports increased by 2 million b/d as Beijing took advantage of the low prices to start building its strategic reserves –so much for falling American demand. The major oil forecasting agencies are now saying that the increase in worldwide demand for oil will slow from rates seen in recent years, but that worldwide oil consumption is still forecast to increase this year and next.

U.S. gasoline prices are down by $1 per gallon as compared to last July. It will be interesting to see whether U.S. gasoline consumption begins to climb again due to lower prices and

Page 17

the end of the shortages across the Southeast. Although there is a lot of fear in the future, the American lifestyle and economy is still dependent on liquid fuels.

While reducing discretionary summer travel is easy, reducing fuel use in daily life is much more difficult.

So far there have been two major reactions to the rapid fall in the price of oil. First we are seeing numerous companies around the world cancel or slow oil and natural gas production projects because prices have fall-

en too low to make their projects profitable and the outlook for future oil demand is not all that good. The second shoe that will soon drop belongs to OPEC. The cartel has seen the average price it gets for its products drop from $138 a barrel in July to $78 a barrel last week. If the current weakness in oil prices continues, the average that OPEC gets for its oil will be in the $60s.

There have already been reports that OPEC has cut production in the last few weeks, and the organization has scheduled an emergency meeting for mid-November. Analysts are already talking about OPEC cutting production by another million b/d on top of the 500,000 b/d cuts they announced two weeks ago. A mid-November OPEC production decision takes any production-cut/renewedsurge-in-prices problem out of the hands of the Bush administration and leaves it to his successor.

Taken together, the developments of the last few months indicate that despite the steep decline in gasoline prices, the effects of peaking world oil production will still be with us. So far the recession we are entering has not been enough to actually reduce worldwide demand for oil, but the drop in oil prices and the overall economic situation is hurting investment in future oil production products.

When these developments come together, be it a few months or a few years from now, world oil production will decline more steeply than would have been expected. Whether this decline comes from a deep economic recession reducing demand or depletion simply getting ahead of new production does not matter – the results will be the same.

The bottom line for this week remains that there is little to cheer about. While oil is dropping in lock step with the equity markets, OPEC is already moving to halt the decline which will not last much longer. At least some of the recent drop in oil prices comes from hedge funds selling off assets to meet margin and redemption calls. If so, this is a one-time phenomenon. With the lower prices we should be seeing in the next few weeks, U.S. demand for gasoline seems likely to start rising again – at least until the economic situation gets much worse.

For now, there seems to be little more to say other than there will be many more surprises in all of this. If you are feeling that events are spinning out of control, you are probably right.

Welcoming to the 21st Century.

MEET AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR

DAVID MACAULAY

Monday, October 20 at 6:30 p.m.

Author and illustrator David Macaulay will introduce his newest book The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body. Mr. Macaulay’s other books include Castle, Cathedral (Caldecott Honors), Black and White (Caldecott Medal), The New Way Things Work and many more.Grades 4-adult.

MEET AUTHOR F.E. HIGGINS Tuesday, October 21 at 6:30 p.m.

2499 N. Harrison St, Suitee 10 Lee-Harrison Shopping Center Lower Level Entrance (Next to H&R Block)

703-241-8281

JF.E. Higgins, British author of the highly praised debut novel y rg The Black Book of Secrets, will introduce her newest book aladlamp@speakeasy.o Mon.-Sat. 10am - 8pm The Bone Magician. Audience members will have a chance Sun. 11am - 5pm to act out a short scene from the book, complete with costumes and props. A book signing will follow. Grades 5-8.

Book signings will follow.

Please call to register.

Aladdin’s Lamp Children’s Books, Arlington, (703) 241-8281.

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Page 18

F.C. Sisters Score Six Ice Skating Medals Hannah Schlesinger, 9, of Falls Church won gold in her prepreliminary free-skate qualifier, and silver in the final round, at the 2009 South Atlantic Regional Non-Qualifying Competition held at IceWorks in Aston, Penn. last weekend. Schlesinger skated in a field of 100 skaters in her level at this U.S. Figure Skatingsanctioned event, landing axel jumps and executing jump combinations, spirals and step sequences. Overall, she collected three medals in the competition, one gold and two silver, in her three events.

Schlesinger’s 5-year-old sister, Becky Schlesinger, skated in the Tots category, winning silver in the Tots free-skate qualifier, and bronze in the final round. Becky also collected three medals – one silver and two bronze – in her three events. The 2009 South Atlantic Regional Qualifying Competition began this Tuesday, leading to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January 2009.

V-ball Winning Streak Secured by McLean H.S. The McLean High School Girls Varsity Volleyball squad’s winning streak continued last Monday night, Oct. 6, when they faced the Edison Eagles.

They defeated Edison in three straight games (25-19, 25-18, 25-14), which improved the Highlander season record to 92. Their Liberty District record is 2-0. McLean will travel to Stone Bridge High School on Thursday, Oct. 16 to face anoth-

October 16 - 22, 2008

er Liberty District opponent.

This Tuesday, McLean fought cross-town rival Langley High at a “Dig Pink” match to raise money for the SideOut Foundation, which supports breast cancer research. McLean raised a total of $930, $370 of which was raised through a bake sale.

TJHSST Girls Outpace Lake Braddock, Take 1st Earning their fourth win, the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) Girls Varsity Cross Country Team overwhelmed the nearest competition in their 5K event at Bull Run Park with a score of 89-148. Three TJHSST girls earned medals in the top 15 places – freshman Sarah Stites from Reston placed second with a time of 18:43, Stephanie Marzen from McLean placed eighth with a time of 19:10 and Lisa Junta from Springfield placed 13th with a time of 19:18. Katherine Sheridan, Vienna, and Neesha Schnepf, McLean, placed 24th and 42nd respectively. Every girl on the team achieved either a season’s or personal best time.

Also placing first were the TJHSST freshman boys, who were led by Michael Wattendorf from Alexandria, who placed eighth, with Andrew O’Shea of Clifton placing a very close ninth. Both boys’ times were recorded as 18:05. Jacob Zucker of Arlington, Elliott Simon and Dylan Keightley, both of Alexandria, rounded out the team. The TJHSST varsity boys placed sixth in their event and the JV boys placed third.

TJHSST FRESHMAN Sarah Stites of Reston sprints to the finish line to win second place for the Girls Varsity Cross Country Team in their 5K event at Bull Run Park, during which every girl on the team achieved either a season’s or personal best time.

(Photo: Courtesy Victoria Linnell)

George Mason High School students and alumni left Moore Cadillac Stadium stunned on Friday night after witnessing a gut wrenching 27-21 double overtime loss in their Homecoming game against Manassas Park.

The Manassas Park Cougars entered the contest winless through five games, but came away with their first win of the season due to a clutch, gameending interception of Mason quarterback George Kalantzis in the second round of overtime.

Heading in a similar direction as Manassas, Mason had lost four straight games heading into Bull Run district play, and were in search of their first win since before the first day of school.

Kalantzis, a junior, made only his second career start as quarterback for the Mustangs, and managed the game well throughout regulation. He completed passes when called upon, and played a fairly mistake free game until the final stage of overtime.

“We’re a much better offense with him in there,” said Head Coach Tom Horn of his quarterback. “He’s handled everything very well given that he was unprepared [for the role].”

Senior running back John Mann opened the scoring with a first-quarter touchdown run

to give the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead. However, the scoring drastically slowed down after the quick touchdown, despite the offense moving the ball,well for the most part.

Mann and his brother Charlie led Mason through several long, periodic drives in the first half that failed to produce points. Despite handling the Cougar defense throughout regulation, they were only able to put up 14 points. Several periodic, time-consuming drives eventually stalled out due to turnovers and costly penalties. The inability to finish these drives ended up costing the Mustangs dearly, as the game was decided by yet another turnover in overtime.

“We don’t have the big play potential, but we dominated the defense,” noted Coach Horn.

“We’re just not scoring enough points.”

The patient Mason offense gave their defense plenty of time to rest as the Cougars were held to just thirteen snaps in the first half. While Horn’s poundit-out philosophy worked well, the inability to produce allowed Manassas to hang around, and eventually pull the game out.

“When you don’t have big play potential, you have to do everything right to be able to score. Our offense is not designed to pick up big chunks of yardage,” said the coach of his team’s scoring problems.

After the fourth quarter

ended with a 14-14 tie, the teams entered overtime with a clean slate. Similar to college overtime rules, in high school, each team is given the ball at their opponents 20-yard line and whichever team is able to score the most points in that possession wins.

Both Manassas Park and Mason were able to score touchdowns on their opening drives.

John Mann scored his rushing touchdown of the game on an outside run, before Manassas answered with the tying score at 21.

The Cougars promptly scored once again in the second overtime period, taking a six-point lead. On what could have potentially been a game winning drive, Mason committed yet another turnover. On a designed quarterback rollout, Kalantzis sensed a strong pass rush, and threw a game ending interception into the arms of a Manassas defensive back.

George Mason fell to 1-5 with the loss, and enters what will likely be the toughest part of their schedule. The team will play Eastern View on the road this Friday, the first-ever matchup between the two schools.

Despite having lost five consecutive games and a couple key players, Coach Horn has continued to observe his team’s improvement as a whole: “We’re a better team than we were back in August when we won a game.”

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 19

Mike,

J.E.B. Stuart H.S. – 6 Thomas A. Edison H.S. – 57 It was an ugly Friday night for area high school football teams. George C. Marshall was defeated at Thomas Jefferson’s Homecoming, McLean and Falls Church High Schools both secured their season losing streaks, and J.E.B. Stuart’s 1-5 record was taken down yet another notch to 1-6.

George C. Marshall H.S. – 7 Thomas Jefferson H.S. – 34 Coming off two consecutive victories, Friday night was an unfortunate change of pace for Marshall over at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The Statesmen fumbled the opening kickoff and the Colonials were determined to bounce back from their loss against Wakefield’s Warriors, which was made clear when QB Ben Daly recovered the kickoff right before scoring on a two-yard run with a successful PAT by Evan Burch. Perhaps the Thomas Jefferson alumni’s Homecoming spirit gave the Colonials the extra boost to snag the win. Unfortunately, the away game was too much for the Statesmen to handle.

However, Marshall’s Jamie Cleer made a notable interception in the second quarter and returned it about 45 yards. That second quarter also brought the single Statesmen touchdown, a run made by Dan McClain. Marshall takes on W.T. Woodson tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at home.

McLean H.S. – 7 South Lakes H.S. – 21 McLean High School added its seventh consecutive season loss to their season record on Friday during their home game against South Lakes High School. The Highlanders’ Homecoming game against Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is on the horizon, though the home turf advantage may have to work miracles to get this team out of the gutter. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at McLean.

Falls Church H.S. – 40 Mt. Vernon H.S. – 69 Coming off their Homecoming loss (24-14) against Washington-Lee High School, the Jaguars were unfortunately unable to bounce back this week, suffering a 69-40 upset at Mt. Vernon in Alexandria. Like McLean, this is the seventh consecutive loss for Falls Church, but their spirits remain high according to Head Coach Anthony Parker.

“The offense finally came to life on Friday night; we were able to score every time we reached the red zone against probably one of the best defenses we had seen all year,” said Coach Parker. “Our kids are continuing to play hard and won’t give up regardless of the score or our record.”

The Jaguars will face off against the Thomas A. Edison High School Eagles at home tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. Parker said, “This whole year, our defense was playing well enough to win, but our offense was sputtering in the red zone. We have been giving up too many points from our special teams and offense, [but] not the defense.”

Time will tell if the Jaguars’ offense can lock it down enough to defeat the 7-0 team.

After having a damper (49-0) put on their Homecoming game last week by the winning Mt. Vernon Majors, the Raiders were unable to secure a win over Edison last Friday, falling to 1-6 for the season. Head Coach Roy Ferri says the recent flops are due in part to team injuries among the upperclassmen.

“The past two weeks haven’t been kind to us.

Injuries have forced us to replace seniors with freshman and we’ve paid the price,” said Coach Ferri.

However, Ferri noted the upside is that five freshman Raiders are gaining the training to supply a starting line-up with an inevitable head start for next year.

“This week, we welcome the return of two-way starter Chris Ventura at running back and safety, which should stabilize our defense and energize our offense. Linebackers Antonio Eikenkotter and Charles Holloway will also return to the starting line-up, as will offensive guard Danny Lawrence,” he said.

Since a healthier team will be hitting the field on Friday, Coach Ferri went on to say that the team is excited and will do their best to win out and sneak into the playoffs this year.

The Raiders’ health will in fact be tested in tomorrow night’s home game against the Washington-Lee Generals (4-3) at 7:30 p.m.

You chirp about how the Redskins are going to cakewalk to wins in their next three games and then they immediately lose to the winless Rams. Thanks for the jinx, jerk.

Joe G. What are you, a Cubs fan?

The Rams are awful, but they’re coming off their bye week and wanted to put their best foot forward under their new coach Jim Haslett.

Even then, the game turned on a 75yard fumble return

by Oshiomogho Atogwe — who did so just to spite sportswriters who have to spell that name.

Is it a bad loss for the Redskins? Yes. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as the losses sustained by the Dallas Cowboys in Arizona on Sunday.

The Cowboys not only dropped the game, but will be without quarterback Tony Romo for a month (broken pinkie finger) and stud rookie running back Felix Jones for 2-4 weeks with a hamstring injury. To top it all off, Adam “Pacman” Jones violated the terms of his probation when he was involved in a scuffle with a Cowboys bodyguard last week, and was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday.

Those are tough losses to swallow. Losing to the Rams?

Let’s face it, the Redskins have had worse days.

Hume, Can we get some cleanup in aisle BCS? The national championship picture is a mess and hasn’t gotten any clearer as the season moves forward. What do you think about the season and what do you see as a potential title bout? And what about the Irish? Any shot for them?

Lou H. The Irish blew any BCS chances with a loss to North Carolina last Saturday. Before that, it would have been possible, but unlikely. Had the Irish run their schedule, which would have given them a final weekend win over USC, maybe — and that’s a very small “maybe” — there could have been some call for Notre Dame in a BCS game.

Personally, I think the Irish are going to have to work themselves back up the ladder before they’re again placed in a top bowl given their string of embarrassing losses on those big stages. Notre Dame is still having a great year for itself and next year they should

be in contention for a BCS game again ... if they can ever find a pair of cornerbacks capable of keeping up with the game’s elite receivers.

As for the rest of the bowl picture, whoever first spoke of Chaos Theory has to be loving this season. There have been three different No. 1 teams in the past four weeks. Only nine teams in the Top 25 remain unbeaten and four of them are from non-BCS conferences.

And there are still a whole lot of shake ups to come.

No. 3 Penn State established itself as the favorite in the Big Ten, and probably the conference’s only hope for a national title team, after it steamrolled Wisconsin 48-7 last week. Of course, PSU now has rivals Michigan and No. 12 Ohio State on tap in the next two weeks.

Three of the unbeaten teams are from the Big 12, where new No. 1 Texas meets both of the other unbeatens (No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Texas Tech) immediately after locking longhorns with oneloss Missouri (No. 11). If Texas Tech or Oklahoma State top Texas, they’ll meet up Nov. 8 for another huge showdown.

In the SEC, No. 2 Alabama is undefeated, but ... they’re in the SEC. Odds of them running the table from here out are about as good as me waking up on a bed made of money tomorrow. For the record, if those two are actually somehow intertwined, I am soooo pulling for the Crimson Tide.

This is what those killjoys in the BCS mean when they say a playoff will devalue regular season games. For at least 10 schools, everything is riding on the next several Saturdays.

Unfortunately, the system still may not produce a proper national championship.

Right now it looks like the winners of the Big 12 and SEC will play for the national title, but that excludes the Mountain West winner, where either No. 9 BYU or No. 14 Utah will probably be unbeaten at year’s end. Will they be forced out of the picture? If the winner of the SEC has two losses and Ohio State beats Penn State, will the Buckeyes again be title-worthy?

If USC weathers its remaining schedule of unranked Pac-10 opponents (though Cal is still No. 25), will that be enough to counter a loss to Oregon State?

It’s chaos and in my mind, with so many title-worthy teams out there, it only enhances calls for a collegiate playoff. The more teams the BCS slights through exclusion, the louder that call will be.

Page 22

October 16 - 22, 2008

upstairs are J.W. Mahoney, Kathryn McDonnell and Lynn Putney.

J.W. Mahoney is the D.C. correspondent for Art in America magazine. Like most art critics, he’s also an artist. His collages play disparate and disconnected elements off each other. Quotes and text provide a framework or a jumping off point for the viewer to sort out what it all means for them.

Kathryn McDonnell provides small, near-minimalist acrylic abstracts worked to a paint density similar to encaustic work. Lynn Putney shows her small colorful graphic paintings. Floating somewhere between illustration and abstraction, with qualities of both, while fully at home with neither concept.

A map of Pass Gallery and other details are available at community-2.webtv.net/ PASSGALLERY/FallGroupShow2008.

(The map is highly recommended for first-time visitors.) To contact the gallery, call 202-745-0796.

“Fall Group Show 2008,” at the Pass Gallery (rear alley of 1617 S St. NW, Washington, D.C.). The exhibit runs through Oct. 28, and the gallery is open two days a week, Tuesday and Saturday, 1 – 5 p.m., with other hours by appointment.

Richard Siegman’s Pass Gallery exhibit shows six area artists in their Fall Group Show. Fairly small and reasonably priced works are the norm at this exhibit.

You’ll find the work of John M. Adams, Pat Goslee and Matt Sesow downstairs.

John M. Adams continues his extensive series of abstract paintings featuring horizontal stripes. These images return to his earlier notion of more subtle and playful treatments, as opposed to some of his more exuberant and heavy-handed later works. These canvases display a textural and visual delicacy, as well as a sophistication missing from his works displayed of late. One hopes that we’ll see work of this caliber in his upcoming spring solo show at the Greater Reston Arts Center.

Pat Goslee, whose work is currently “Arts Afoot,” at the Falls Church Arts on view at McLean Project for the Arts Gallery (111 Park Ave., Falls Church) is (through Oct. 25; visit www.mpaart. calling for art works 12 by 12 inches or org), has several more of her pieces on smaller. Up to three works may be subview here at Pass Gallery – the McLean mitted for consideration before the Oct. Project for the Arts displays her works 24 deadline. The theme for this show is on paper, while canvas paintings can be the confluence of Art and Science. For seen at Pass. Goslee’s work features free- complete details and to download an entry wheeling layers of colorfully biomorphic form, visit www.fallschurcharts.org. shapes, interspersed with spray painted geometric grid work. The richly colored  The Northern Virginia Art Beat is comlayers in these works often offer little piled by Kevin Mellema. See www.fcnp. more than snippets for our inspection, yet com for photos and more. To e-mail subthe overall layered effect has the inscru- missions, send them to kevinmellema@ tably fascinating presence of wristwatch gmail.com. mechanics. The images get better and better the more and more heavily they’re worked.

While Goslee sees them as representations of energy waves, they can be taken as metaphors for virtually any incomprehensibly complex system or state of affairs. As such, interpretations are highly personal, with viewers crafting their own interpretations of what it’s all about.

Matt Sesow offers another round of characters treated to his trademark exuberant Brutalism. My favorite here is Sesow’s “Lost Bunny,” a black canvas painted with a grid work of blue eyed bunnies rendered in thin white lines.

One bunny is lacking the ocular blue of his neighbors. That lone bunny has been manically encircled with a fat red line.

It’s not clear if “Lost Bunny” is headed for expulsion or extermination, but we can be fairly sure that its presence is not going to be tolerated by its homogenized blue-eyed neighbors. It’s a wonderful telling of man’s tribal tendencies, and our deeply ingrained desire to cloister ourselves off with people like us. It speaks to our insecurities and our need to feel safe “TRICKSTER TWICE REMOVED” is one of Pat Goslee’s works now showby associating with people like us.

The three additional artists ing at McLean Project of the Arts.

October 16 - 22, 2008

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October 16 - 22, 2008

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October 16 - 22, 2008

THE GERMAN ROMANTICS Music of Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rheinberger and more Friday, October 17 - 8 pm Concert Director’s Insights, 7 pm The Falls Church 115 East Fairfax Street, Falls Church, VA Tickets/info: www.choralis.org

703 237-2499

Oliver Stone’s “W.,” a biography of President Bush, is fascinating. No other word for it. I became absorbed in its story of a poor little rich kid’s alcoholic youth and torturous adulthood.

This is the tragedy of a victim of the Peter Principle. Wounded by his father’s disapproval and preference for his brother Jeb, the movie argues, George W. Bush rose and rose until he was finally powerful enough to stain his family’s legacy.

Unlike Stone’s “JFK” and “Nixon,” this film contains no revisionist history. Everything in it, including the scenes behind closed doors, is now pretty much familiar from tell-all books by former Bush

George W. Bush . .... Josh Brolin Laura Bush . .... Elizabeth Banks Barbara Bush ....... Ellen Burstyn George Sr. . .... James Cromwell Dick Cheney . Richard Dreyfuss Donald Rumsfeld .... Scott Glenn Karl Rove ................ Toby Jones Rev. Earle Hudd ..... Stacy Keach George Tenet ........ Bruce McGill Condi Rice ...... Thandie Newton Colin Powell ........ Jeffrey Wright Tony Blair ............ Ioan Gruffudd

aides, and reporting by journalists such as Bob Woodward.

Although Stone and his writer, Stanley Weiser, could obviously not know exactly who said what and when, there’s not a line of dialogue that sounds like malicious fiction. It’s all pretty

“QUITE POSSIBLY THE BEST HORROR FILM THIS YEAR.” Brad Miska, BLOODY-DISGUSTING.COM

NOW PLAYING

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Washington Suburban Press • Thu 10/16 • 2x8’’ Name:

JobID#: 371491 1016_Bol_WashSP.pdf #98

*371491*

Lionsgate presents a film directed

by Oliver Stone. Produced by Bill Block, Moritz Borman, Paul Hanson and Eric Kopeloff. Written by Stanley Weiser. Photographed by Phedon Papamichael. Edited by Julie Monroe. Music by Paul Cantelon.

Running MPAA

time:

131

minutes.

Rating: PG-13 (for language including sexual references, some alcohol abuse, smoking and brief disturbing war images).

much as published accounts have prepared us for.

The focus is always on Bush (Josh Brolin): his personality, his addiction, his insecurities, his unwavering faith in a mission from God, his yearning to prove himself, his inability to deal with those who advised him.

Not surprisingly, in this film, most of the crucial decisions of his presidency were shaped and placed in his hands by the Machiavellian strategist Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss) and the master politician Karl Rove (Toby Jones). Donald Rumsfeld (Scott Glenn) runs an exasperated third.

But what made them tick? And what about Colin Powell (Jeffrey Wright) and Condoleezza Rice (Thandie Newton)? You won’t find out here. The film sees Bush’s insiders from the outside. In his presence, they tend to defer, to use tact as a shield from his ego and defensiveness. But Cheney’s soft-spoken, absolutely confident opinions are generally taken as truth. And Bush accepts Rove as the man to teach him what to say and how to say it. He needs them and doesn’t cross them.

In the world according to “W.,” Bush always fell short in the eyes of his patrician father (James Cromwell) and outspoken mother (Ellen Burstyn).

He resented his parents’ greater admiration for his younger brother Jeb. The film lacks scenes showing W. as a child, however -- probably wisely. It opens at a drunken fraternity initiation, and “Junior” is pretty much drunk until he finds Jesus at the age of 40. He runs through women, jobs and cars at an alarming speed, and receives one angry lecture after another from his dad.

While running for Congress for the first time, he meets pretty Laura (Elizabeth Banks) at a party, and love blossoms. She was a Gene McCarthy volunteer. Did she turn conservative?

I imagine so, but the movie doesn’t show them discussing politics. She is patient, stead-

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 27

M Opening in Theaters

A

SECRET (Unrated, 105 minutes). Centers on a teenager who is a disappointment to his parents because he has no athletic skill at all. This is crushing to young Francois (Quentin Dubuis) and con-

tinues to haunt the adult Francois (Mathieu Amalric, star of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”). When he is 14, a family friend who lives across the courtyard (Julie Depardieu) tells him some things he seemed to be the last to know. Heart-rending. Rating: Three stars.

AMERICA’S # 1 MOVIE TWO WEEKS IN A ROW!

“HILARIOUS AND TOTALLY FUN!”

T

“A WONDERFUL FAMILY FILM!” Jim Ferguson, ABC-TV/TUCSON

T

GEORGE W. BUSH (Josh Brolin, right) with Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss, background left) in “W.” (PHOTO: © 2008 LIONSGATE)

sun, misses a turn, and assures them it’s only a half-mile back.

Cheney, after three heart attacks, and Rice, wearing inappropriate shoes, straggle along unhappily.

His parents are apparently even more disturbed by his decision to run for governor of Texas than by his drinking. Cheney is lectured at a private lunch to remember who is president. He quietly forgets.

Many of the actors somewhat resemble the people they play.

The best is Dreyfuss as Cheney, who is not so much a double as an embodiment. The film’s portrait of George Senior is sympathetic; it shows him giving Junior the cufflinks that were “the only real thing” his own father, Sen. Prescott Bush, ever gave him. The name and the Oedipal Complex were passed down the family tree.

One might feel sorry for George W. at the end of this film, were it not for his legacy of a fraudulent war and a collapsed economy. The film portrays him as incompetent to be president, and shaped by the puppet-masters Cheney and Rove to their own ends. If there is a saving grace, it may be that Bush will never fully realize how badly he did. How can he blame himself?

He was only following God’s will.

M

OVING M I D WAY (Documentary, not rated, 98 minutes). A doc doing three things: (1) recording the journey home to North Carolina of the film critic Godfrey Cheshire, and his discovery of his family’s secret history; (2) documenting the ordeal of moving a 160-year-old Southern plantation house to a new location miles away, not by road but overland; (3) demolishing the myth of the Southern plantation. Fascinating and provocative. Rating: Three stars.

HE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (PG-13, 110 minutes). A heartwarming parable based on the much-loved novel by Sue Monk Kidd.

Queen Latifah presides over an idealized rural household that provides refuge for a 14-year-old runaway (Dakota Fanning) and her nasty father’s housekeeper (Jennifer Hudson). With Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo. Defies harsh reality, but in a good way, if you see what I mean. Rating: Three and a half stars.

Bryan Erdy, INSIGHT CABLE

fast, loving, supportive and a prime candidate for Al-Anon, the 12-step program for spouses of alcoholics. After Bush quits cold turkey, the movie shows him nevertheless often with a beer in his hand, unaware of the jocular AA curse for someone you hate: “One little drink won’t kill you.”

Dried out, Bush is finally able to hold down jobs. The movie is far from a chronological record, organizing episodes to observe the development of his personality, not his career.

Even several spellbinding scenes about the run-up to the Iraq War are not so much critical of his decisions as about how cluelessly, and yet with such vehemence, he stuck with them through thick and thin. At a top-level meeting where he is finally informed that there are no WMDs in Iraq and apparently never were, he is furious for not being informed of this earlier. Several people in the room tried to inform him, but were silenced. Colin Powell spends a lot of time softly urging caution and holding his tongue. There is no indication that he will eventually resign.

The movie’s Bush is exasperating to work with. At his Texas ranch, he takes the inner circle on a march through the blazing

AX PAYNE (Action, PG13, 100 minutes). Mark Wahlberg does the stoic thing as the titular character in this consistently mediocre action-noir thriller based on a video game.

Many scenes play like an imitation of similar scenarios in better thrillers. The slow-motion, “bullet-time” photography, the twists you can see coming a mile away, the tattooed villain with seemingly superhuman strength and a lust for blood -- yawn.

We’ve seen it all before. Rating: One and a half stars. (Richard Roeper)

©DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.

For Theatres and Showtimes: CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS OR TEXT BEVERLY WITH YOUR ZIP CODE TO 43KIX (43549) OR VISIT DISNEY.COM/CHIHUAHUA SORRY, NO PASSES

VISIT

Bring your GIRLFRIENDS, SISTERS, MOTHERS and DAUGHTERS.

Washington Sub. Press Wed 10/15 “THE BUZZ IS OUT, 2x5 ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ is AlliedDc RL

SMART, SASSY

and deliciously sweet.”

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“A JOYFUL film that will leave a lump in your throat.

It’s ALTOGETHER WONDERFUL, and E H you’ll want to T FROM TED BRA E L E G bring a friend.”

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STARTS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATRES AND SHOWTIMES

Wash Sub Press 2x5 Thu 10/16 Allied DC AC

OOTS (Documentary, not rated, 85 minutes). In the 1940s and 1950s, Toots Shor at “51 West 51” was the most famous saloonkeeper in the world. Toots, a huge man with a sloppy grin and a big bear hug, presided over a nightly revel that could include Sinatra, DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe, Nixon, Rocky Graziano, Jackie Gleason and the New York mob boss Frank Costello. His granddaughter Kristi Jacobson had access to all the archives, and has directed a fascinating documentary of a place that wasn’t the center of the universe, but felt like it after a few drinks. Plays like a film noir version of Entertainment Tonight. Rating: Three stars.

W

HAT JUST HAPPENED? (R, 107 minutes). Robert De Niro stars as a big-shot producer with two troubled projects and a messy private life. All-star cast (Catherine Keener, Robin Wright Penn, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis), but the Tinseltown expose plays more like a sitcom than a satire. Rating: Two stars.

New on Video & DVD

T

HE STRANGERS (Horror, R, 90 m., 2008). Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as a couple with romantic difficulties who go for the night to their deserted summer cottage and are terrorized by home invaders. Competently acted and directed, but what a despairing exercise in nihilism. Rating: One and a half stars.

T

HE INCREDIBLE HULK (Action, PG-13, 114 m., 2008).

Less psychology and more action than the 2003 Ang Lee version, and not to its advantage: The

Continued on Page 28

Page 28

Continued from Page 27 movie sidesteps the fictional dilemma that when Bruce Banner (Ed Norton) becomes the Hulk, he doesn’t much know who he is, and thus his actions are simply anarchic. Lots and lots of CGI-generated action sequences, but a flimsy story. With Liv Tyler as Banner’s love interest, William Hurt as her father the general, Tim Roth as a Hulk clone, and Tim Blake Nelson as a scientist. Directed by Louis Leterrier.

Rating: Two and a half stars.

I

NDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (Adventure, PG-13, 124 m., 2008). Nineteen years after the previous Indy adventure, a film in the same tradition, involving man-eating ants, sword fights between two people balanced on the backs of speeding jeeps, subterranean caverns of gold, vicious femme fatales, plunges down three waterfalls in a row, and the explanation for flying saucers.

Harrison Ford holds up well as Indy, Cate Blanchett is a sublime femme fatale, Karen Allen is back as Indy’s first love, Shia LaBeouf is the boxer

October 16 - 22, 2008

with the ducktail. “Same old same old,� Indy says, but that’s why I liked it.

Rating: Three and a half stars.

you go for nonstop carnage. Rating: Three and a half stars.

Chriqui. Rating: Three stars.

W

OU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN (Comedy, PG-13, 113 m., 2008). Adam Sandler’s new comedy is shameless in its eagerness to extract laughs from every possible breach of taste or decorum, and why am I even mentioning taste and decorum in this context? He plays a Mossad counterterrorist who sneaks out of Israel to become a New York hairdresser. His superhuman abilities make him a super-warrior and lover, in a movie that’s a comic hymn to vulgarity. Co-starring John Turturro, Lainie Kazan, Nick Swardson, Emmanuelle

Y

HE HAPPENING (Drama, R, 91 m., 2008). One day in Philadelphia people start killing themselves. The survivors flee the city, although the cause of this “event� may also be ahead of them. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel find themselves trekking with the child of a friend through Pennsylvania farmlands, while the thought develops that the planet’s vegetation may be taking its revenge on man. Thoughtful, oddly compelling; too uneventful for some, I suppose, but it wove a spell for me. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense�).

AR, INC. (Comedy, R, 106 m., 2008). Brave and ambitious but chaotic attempt at a political satire. John Cusack stars as a hit man sent to a Middle Eastern country to protect the interests of an American super-corporation. Marisa Tomei is a liberal journalist, Hilary Duff is a Mideast teen idol (!), Ben Kingsley is a shadowy manipulator, Joan Cusack is a P.R. whiz, and Dan Aykroyd seems uncannily like Vice President Cheney. The elements are here, but the parts never come together. Still, an honorable attempt.

Rating: Two stars.

T

Rating: Three stars.

T

HE VISITOR (Drama, PG-13, 103 m., 2008). Richard Jenkins is superb, playing a professor who has essentially shut down all his emotions when he is unexpectedly stirred by meeting interlopers, the man Syrian, the woman Senegalese, in his Manhattan apartment. Betraying little emotion, the professor becomes involved in their lives and reawakens his own. Written and directed by Tom McCarthy. Rating: Three and a half stars. (c) 2008 The Ebert Co.

M

ONGOL (Drama, R, 126 m., 2008). A ferocious film, blood-soaked, pausing occasionally for passionate romance and more frequently for torture. As a visual spectacle, it is all but overwhelming, putting to shame some of the recent historical epics from Hollywood. If it has a flaw, and it does, it is expressed succinctly by the wife of its hero: “All Mongols do is kill and steal.� At the end of two hours, its hero, not yet known as Genghis Khan, has two more movies to go. Awesome, if

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October 16 - 22, 2008

Anthony’s Restaurant 309 W. Broad St., Falls Church • 703-532-0100 • Type of Food: Greek, American & Italian Cuisine • Features: Breakfast (Sat. & Sun. Only) • Hours: Mon. - Thur. -10 a.m. - 11 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m. -12 a.m., Sat. 8 a.m. - 12 a.m., Sun. 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Argia’s Restaurant 124 N. Washington St., Falls Church • 703-5341033 • www.argias.com • Type of Food: Italian • Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants, Zagat Rated, Full Bar, No Reservations • Hours: Lunch: Mon. - Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Dinner: Mon. - Thur. 5 - 9:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 5 - 10:30 p.m., Sun. 5 - 9 p.m.

Bear Rock Cafe 2200 Westmoreland St. (Westlee Condominium Building), Arlington • 703-532-0031; Catering: 703-532-0118 • Type of Food: American • Features: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Kids' Menu, Alcoholic Beverages; Catering, Free Indoor Parking • Hours: Mon. - Sat. 7 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Bubba’s BBQ & Catering 7810-F Lee Hwy, Falls Church • 703-560-8570 • Type of Food: American/Family, Salads w/ Meat & Ribs • Features: Best BBQ East of Mississippi • Hours: Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Dogfish Head Alehouse 6363 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church • www.dogfishalehouse.com • 703-534-3342 • Woodgrilled food, speciality ales • Hours: Mon. - Wed. 11:30 a.m. - 11 p.m., Thu. - Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Harvest Moon Restaurant and Lounge 7260 Arlington Blvd. (Graham Center across from Loehmann’s Plaza), Falls Church • 703573-6000 • www.theharvestmoonrestaurant. com • Type of Food: Chinese • Features: Lunch / dinner buffets, banquet facilities up to 700 people • Hours: 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Hoang’s Grill and Sushi Bar 502 W. Broad St., Falls Church • 703-536-7777 • Type of Food: Pan-Asian • Features: Single and Mingle Thursday Nights. • Hours: Mon. - Thur. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. - Sat. 11 a.m.

- 10:30 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Hunan Lion 2070 Chain Bridge Road, next to J. Koons Buick Pontiac, Tysons Corner, Vienna, Va. • 703-734-9828 • www.hunanlion.com • Zagat Rated Best Peking Duck in Town, Top 100 Asian Fusion Restaurants in USA • Type of Food: Chinese • Featuring: Banquet Facilities, Catering, Carry-out • Hours: Mon. - Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Ireland’s Four Provinces 105W.BroadSt.,FallsChurch•www.4psfallschurch. com • 703-534-8999 • Type of Food: Irish • Features: Full Bar, Live Entertainment, Sunday Brunch • Hours: 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. daily.

Ledo Pizza Restaurant & Pub 7510 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church • 703847-5336 • Type of Food: Pizza & Pasta, American/Family • Features: Full Bar, Wine Menu, 5 TV’s-Sports • Hours: Mon. - Thur. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Fri. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.; Sun. 12 - 10 p.m.

Narita Sushi & Rice Bowl 8417 Old Courthouse Road (accross from Residence Inn), Vienna • 703-893-2008 • Type of Food: Sushi • Features: Lunch & Dinner Box specials • Hours: Mon.–Thur. 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., 4 - 10 p.m.; Fri. 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., 4 - 10:30 p.m., Sat. noon - 10:30 p.m., Sun. noon - 9:30 p.m.

The Original Pancake House 370 West Broad Street, Falls Church • 703891-0148 • www.originalpancakehouse.com • Type of Food: American/Family • Features: Breakfast, Weekday Specials - Breakfast & Lunch • Hours: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. daily.

Panjshir 924 W. Broad St., Falls Church • 703-5364566 • Features: Authentic Afghan Cuisine • Hours: Lunch 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Dinner, 5 - 10 p.m.

Pie-tanza 1216 W. Broad St., Falls Church • www.pietanza.com • 703-237-0977 • Dine-in, Carryout and Catering • Gourmet Wood-fired Pizza and Italian Fare • Hours: Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Pilin 116 W. Broad St., Falls Church • www.pilinthairestaurant.com • 703-241-5850 • Features: Authentic Thai Cuisine • Hours: Mon. - Thurs., 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., 5 - 10 p.m., Fri. - Sat., 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., 5 - 11 p.m., Sun. 5 - 9 p.m.

Sign of the Whale 7279 Arlington Blvd. (Loehmann’s Plaza), Falls Church • 703-573-1616 • Type of Food: American • Features: Seafood Night and Steak Night • Hours: 11:30 a.m. - 2 a.m., 7 days a week.

Sweet Rice Thai Restaurant 1113 W. Broad St. (next to Don Beyer Volvo), Falls Church • 703-241-8582 • Type of Food: Thai Cuisine • Features: Free delivery ($15 min., limited area) • Hours: Mon. - Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Dinner: 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.; Fri. 11:30 am - 11 p.m.; Sat. Noon - 11 p.m.; Sun. Noon - 10 p.m.

CAFE OGGI DELIVERS an authentic and sophisticated experience with a menu that carries patrons to the kitchens of Italy. (Photo: News-Press) Within a whirlwind of contemporary and gourmet flair, one can taste the traditional roots of Café Oggi’s inspiration. This eatery is far from the ordinary Italian restaurant found around Northern Virginia – the mom and pop pizzerias and commercialized restaurant chains one usually finds. Pulling out all the stops, Café Oggi is an experience for the connoisseur as well as the culturally curious.

As I walked through the heavy wooden doors, McLean disappeared behind me and I found myself in Italy: sensuous Italian music filled the romantic dinning hall – small tables scattered about the intimate space, covered with crisp white tablecloths.

The menu was not even opened when my adventure into Italian delicacies began. The waiter detailed the specials in fluent Italian, and I – not knowing a word of Italian – asked for his suggestion. Placed before me was the Scaloppine alla Salsa di Limone ($21.95), sliced veal layered with spinach and fontina cheese, drizzled with lemon sauce, served with soft squash and soft-whipped garlic mashed potatoes. The thick layer of moist spinach was surprisingly complementary to the tender veal. The soft melted cheese added to the texture of every bite, which led me to wish the plate was endless.

My guest, who had taken the time to open his menu and see the translation within, ordered the Borsini di Ricotta ($13.95): round pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach in a cream sauce. Not being able to resist sneaking a bite, I found the thick ricotta and cream sauce intermingled nicely. Each taste was perfect.

The Branzino al Forno ($21.95) was another eye-popping specialty. This fresh Italian striped bass filet, baked with artichokes in a white wine sauce, arrived at the table whole, where one can witness the authentic touches of the Café Oggi waiters as they take special attention to remove the head, tail and scales at the table for their mouth-watering guests. The delicate act was impressive.

For dessert, I ordered tiramisu ($7.95), an Italian specialty and one of Café Oggi's own recipes, consisting of layered mascarpone cheese with savoiardi cookies, which are much like lady fingers, dipped in espresso. The dish was completed by a serving of white chocolate sauce and a dusting of dark chocolate powder.

However, having had sweeter expectations, I was slightly let down by the tiramisu. The cheese and cookie combination topped with mild white chocolate sauce was not very sweet, and the powdered dark chocolate left my mouth dry.

Café Oggi would be great for those special occasions like birthdays, graduations or even wedding parties. The restaurant is also well suited for big engagements with its private dining room and bar. The room is secluded and, for the most part, out of sight to regular patrons.

Although Café Oggi tries to serve walk-in guests to the best of their ability, reservations are suggested on their website (www.cafeoggi.com), and can be made over the internet or by phone.

Another interesting aspect to Café Oggi is its openness to input through its online forum, where patrons can suggest new concoctions and recipes for the restaurant to take into consideration.

For a change of pace from the everyday, typical Italian fare found around Northern Virginia, Café Oggi is an indulgence that wakes up the palate and leaves one feeling like they’ve been transported to a far off land.

Page 32

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- The grape harvest on the five Russian River Valley ranches supplying grapes to the winemakers at Sonoma-Cutrer wrapped up several weeks early this year, a testament more to good old-fashioned manpower than to the quality of the growing season.

Under the watchful eye of Javier Torres, the senior vineyard manager his colleagues refer to as “The Marlboro Man” because of his attire, 12-man crews made their way through the grape fields, wielding nothing more than a curved cutting knife and a lot of plastic boxes to take down an astounding one ton of grapes every 15 minutes.

“They’re really amazing to watch,” David Perata, SonomaCutrer general manager, told me during a final-day harvest tour of the 1,100-acre complex. “They make it look effortless, but it’s quite a skill to be able to work that fast that long, and without damaging the fruit.

“They work in 12-man teams -- eight to do the cutting, one to drive the tractor and three or so to handle the collection baskets, take care of any other tasks that need doing. Some of them have worked together for quite a while, so they make it a smooth operation.”

It is difficult to envision the precision and speed the harvest workers use to get the delicate little chardonnay grapes from vine to the washing and sorting station. The workers practically are a blur as they move from vine to vine, cutting and dropping grape clusters into collection bins in one sweeping motion.

This is the last year the scene at Sonoma-Cutrer will be seen only by employees and invited guests. The company, which is owned by beverage industry giant Brown-Forman of Louisville, Ky., is targeting a spring 2009 opening for visitors.

At that point, visitors will get to see the actual work depending on what season it is -- pruning, planting, harvesting, trimming back the vines at the end of the season -- tourists will see whatever is going on as they are taken through the complex on special motorized carts.

Sonoma-Cutrer, which had been a “white house” until producing a pinot noir harvest four years ago, is best known for wines created under winemaker Terry Adams, such as its Russian River Ranches cuvee crafted from several estate vineyards, and its Les Pierres and the Cutrer chardonnays.

They’re a bit different than a lot of other Sonoma County appellation wines, since the various ranches into which the complex is divided provide a variety of soils virtually side by side. The Cutrer vineyard, located about a dozen miles from the Pacific Ocean, is planted on what once was an ocean floor.

While management at Sonoma-Cutrer has expressed satisfaction with its harvest, that is not a unanimously-held opinion in California. Some areas report a shortage of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes after a growing season of erratic weather.

Coastal vineyards such as Sonoma-Cutrer’s have had to endure hard frosts, little rain and very hot spells.

“This is one of the strangest weather patterns that I have seen in more than 30 years of farming,” Andy Beckstoffer, the largest independent grower on California’s North Coast, told the Los Angeles Times. He said it is likely there will not be enough grapes to meet all the needs of wineries. That likely will be reflected in higher retail prices for finished wines.

In addition to the weather problems, the numerous wildfires that spread a blanket of smoke over much of the wine country has created some concern over impact on the quality of grapes.

Companies such as Winesecrets, in Sebastopol, Calif., remove unwanted substances from wine through filtration.

If grapes are affected by smoke, the wine could have off-flavors, depending on the level of exposure. The extra filtration removes that taint.

October 16- 22, 2008

The Right Time To Flip a Coin All fans of televised poker have heard a commentator use the terms coin flip and race situation to describe a big allin altercation. These terms are typically used when a player with a pair risks it all against another player with two overcards, like pocket sixes versus A-K. While that’s a traditional type of coin flip, a race can occur any time there’s an all-in pot where the odds are even close to 50-50. In this column, I’ll explain why it’s usually a better idea to gamble on a coin flip after the flop as opposed to before.

The most important reason why it’s dangerous to risk all your chips pre-flop is that you simply can’t be certain that you are even in a coin flip situation at that time.

You could actually be a much bigger underdog than that. Say you’re playing pocket sixes against a higher pair, like 9-9. The outlook is dismal in this situation as you would have just a 19% chance to win the pot. That’s not a coin flip; you’re a 4-to-1 underdog!

You see, even a lowly starting hand like pocket sixes is a favorite against a seemingly strong hand like A-K. But the real problem with playing the sixes is that you’re banking on the best case outcome to win the pot before the flop.

Either you’re in a coin flip as a small favorite or you’re a massive underdog against a bigger pair.

Rookies often make this mistake. They’ll overplay these hands before the flop by calling big all-in bets, or even worse, they’ll reraise all-in.

Professionals, on the other hand, dread the idea of shoving all their chips into the pot in coin flip situations. Once they push their chips in, they understand that skill is no longer a factor. Instead, they’re simply at the mercy of Lady Luck.

That’s why pros wait to take their chances with coin flips until after the flop.

It’s often said that to win a poker tournament you have to win your fair share of coin flips. That’s true. But it’s not often mentioned that you can choose when to do your gambling. You’ll be much safer to delay moving all-in until after the flop, especially if you hit a two-way draw like a straight and flush draw, a pair and a draw, or a draw and overcards.

Okay, say you hold 4h-6h and the flop comes Jh-6d-3h giving you a pair and a flush

draw. It’s impossible to be drawing dead against your opponent in this situation. If he has three-of-a-kind, you can still hit your flush.

And if he’s on a better flush draw, well, you’re still in the lead with a pair of sixes.

This is the kind of situation where you can gamble aggressively because you can’t be a massive underdog. Even if your opponent holds As-Ad, you’d still be the favorite with a 51.6% chance to win. If he has Ah-Kh for the better flush draw, you’d be favored to win a little over 52% of the time.

And in the worst possible case, if he has three jacks, you’d still manage to win the pot 30% of the time.

D o what the pros do and wait until after the flop to try to win a race. That way you can be fairly certain that you’re in no worse shape than a coin flip situation. Also, by playing aggressively after the flop, you might actually force your opponent to fold his stronger hand, thus winning the pot without even having to see the next two cards.  Online poker training is now available from Daniel Negreanu.

Visit www.PokerVT.com. © 2008 Card Shark Media. All rights reserved.

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 33

Level: 1 3

2 4

SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

10/19/08

© 2008 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.

1. “Diary of ____ Black Woman” (2005 film) 5. Henry James title character 11. “____ a long story” 14. Exclusive 15. Hesitant 16. Fannie ____ 17. What Edmund has on his mind for the better part of a play by Shakespeare?

19. “The Situation Room” airer 20. Gave it a shot 21. Sprees 22. Place pieces of scouring pads on a clothesline?

28. Spinning 29. Bumper car, at times 30. Take to the sky 31. Gobbles 35. Help a beloved children’s book character prepare for a test?

40. Given experimentally 41. Symbol of sanctity 43. Quit the group, maybe 47. Cad 48. What happened after the singer of “Superstition” yelled “This stinks!” during a performance of “The Iceman Cometh”?

53. Tributes in verse 54. “That’s ____ off my mind” 55. One of a pair of scuba equipment 56. Apt description of 17-, 22, 35- and 48-Across 62. “Monk” airer 63. Trawler’s catch 64. Gutter site 65. An agt.’s take 66. Samples 67. Pull an all-nighter

Down 1. Request 2. “Excusez-____!”

3. Every last bit 4. Actor Benicio ____ Toro 5. Short story author Alice 6. Prefix with -plasty or -gram 7. Keys 8. Glove material 9. Radio host Glass 10. Suffix with musket 11. “No need to relax me”

2

3

4

5

14

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8

9

10

15

17

23

24

13

19 21

25

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27

29

28 30

31 35

43

12

16

18 20

22

11

44

45

32

33

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41

38

39 42

47

46

48

49

53

50

51

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54

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62

63

64

65

66

67

Across

12. Hair problem

58

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60

61

© 2008 David Levinson Wilk

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk

1

42. “____ the land of the free ...”

1. of ____ Black Woman" (2005 13."Diary Detection device 43. film) Err 5.

James titlefly!” character 18.Henry “____ never

44. Digitally recorded 45. Witnessed in the area of 22. Suffers from 46. Grafton’s “____ for 14. Exclusive 23. Yank who wears #13 Outlaw” 15. Hesitant 24. Close 47. City near Sacramento 16.

25. Fannie Spice ____ Girl Halliwell 49. Ends 26. What UCLA athletehas on his mind for50. a Tony Bennett 17.

Edmund theStart betterofpart of a play

by Shakespeare?

27. "The Totally absorbed classic 19.

Situation Room" airer 31. Major daily in Mexico City 51. Chef’s hat 20. Gave it a shot 32. Sports drink suffix 52. Cries shrilly 21.

33. Sprees “Dracula” director 56. Acct. increase 22.

Place pieces of scouring pads on a57. clothesline?

Browning Meadow 34. Spinning ____-mo 58. Muscle mag topic 28.

36. Bumper Downtime 59. Something to shoot for 29. car, at times 37. Fund-raising suffix 60. Mendes of “Ghost Rider” 30. Take to the sky 38. Praise 61. Nancy Pelosi, e.g.: 31.

39. Gobbles “What ____ can I say?”

Abbr.

21. "____ Beama in a bar?

11. long story"

35. Help a beloved children's book character prepare for a test?

Last Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

40. Given experimentally

S T O P A T

C S T A A A

C H R O M E

R E P L A N

J O Y O U S L Y

O N R U S H E S

A W H I T A N T I C S

P E R C O I R E A N D R U O L S H A N D I O N A S S T S A T H A N I C A A N A N H A N D G P O V H A N D C E L Y L H M M E

B O G E Y S

S O S

N I C D E I N N E O M R A I M M E

W A S H M E W A F E R

T A K E S A I M

P R I S T I N E

D E L T A S

O V I E D O

K E N Y D S

D E A D E N

© 2008 N. F. Benton

Page 34

October 16 - 22, 2008

Yard Sales

News-Press Classifieds

MULTI-FAMILY YARD SALE Sat.,

$20 for up to 20 words

Oct. 18, 8am to 1pm, 222 Little Falls St. Proceeds benefit PEO Educational Projects.

50¢ each additional word Add a box - $10

For Sale BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

TOOLS RENTAL

(703) 531 4700 1103 W. BROAD ST. FALLS CHURCH VA

10% DISCOUNT

FOR ALL YOUR RENTAL NEEDS 2 BLOCKS FROM DON BYER VOLVO RT. 7 Limited 1 Coupon Per Customer

www.eztoolsrental.com

A Growing Business That's Come of Age: Seniors represent the fastest growing segment of the population. Our client, a leading provider of comprehensive, non-medical home care services for seniors in the Northern Virginia region, is currently entertaining buyer inquires. Ideal buyer candidate is a hands-on, locally based manager with a strong desire to make a difference and the wherewithal to acquire a business with owner discretionary profit of approximately $400,000.00 To learn more call, Call Bob Cusack at 314-862-6655 x 333 or email him at bcusack@pritchardosborne.com www.poequityventures.com

Deadline: 2 p.m. Tuesdays

(two days before publication)

Fill out our Classified Ad form online at www.fcnp.com Phone: 703-532-3267 • Fax: 703-342-0352 E-Mail: classads@fcnp.com Mail: 450 W. Broad St. #321, Falls Church, VA 22046

Please include payment (check or money order) with your ad or call us to arrange payment by credit card.

For public & legal notices, please email legalads@fcnp.com

The Falls Church News-Press accepts no financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements. Advertising which has minor discrepancies such as misspelling or small type transposition, but which do not affect the ability of the reader to respond to the ad will be considered substantially correct and full payment is required. The Falls Church News-Press is not responsible if the original copy is not typewritten or legible and clear. The Falls Church News-Press is not responsible for copy changes made by telephone.

Help Wanted HOUSE DENTAL RECEPTIONIST for general dentist in Falls Church (near Tyson Corner); flexible part time hours; computer skills required. Call 703.533.1733.

DRIVERS: Exp’d & Inexp’d - Local CDL-A Career Training Swift Transportation Trains and Employs!

Dedicated, Regional & OTR Fleets.

800-397-2423

HELP WANTED Sheet Metal Mechanic or experienced helper. Dixie Sheet Metal. 703-533 -1111.

For Rent EZ WALK TO METRO Huge 2

Bedroom Falls Church City Condo for Rent. $1350/mo includes heat, water and cooking. Nice kitchen, separate dining room, XL Living room. 1 bath.Balcony. Call Kathy, Fairfax Realty, 703-534-4630 to see. For additional information and photos www.

Kathysellsvirginiahomes.com

NEWLY REMODELED HOUSE FOR RENT 2 BR/1.5 Bath, lots of living &

storage space. $2200+utilities. Will consider shortterm lease. No pets. 703-237-5307

ONE BEDROOM New kitchen and bath.

Sun porch. Immidiate occupency. Showing October 17, 18 & 19th 12-5pm $980. 302 Shirly St. FC 22046. (703) 380-1000

CLEANING

SERVICE

Available 7 days a week. Week, biweekly, monthly or one time. Good references in Falls Church City.

10 years experience. For further information call me at 703-901-0596. Senior discount, Ask: Susy.

HOUSE CLEANING SERVICES. Low rates. Good references. Call Dolores 571/232-1091.

JEWELRY REPAIRS Broken clasp?

String stretched out? Call Hazel (703-901-3738) for a costume jewelry repair estimate. Visit www. ofallthebeads.com

MORALES LANDSCAPE & LAWN CARE LLC Fall Clean up, Leaf removal, Brick patios, Aeration, Seeding, Mulch & More.

David (o) 703-502-3990 or (c) 571-221-4330

ROBERT ADAMS THE TREE FROG Full tree service - pruning, take down & yard clean-ups. 703-309-6489. Insured

ROOM FOR RENT in City of Falls Church Mature lady, no smoking. Call 571-216-7012.

TOWNHOUSE IN FALLS CHURCH CITY 2 bd 1 1/2 b in Winter Hill Condominium $1650.00 per month Contact 703 380 8051.

Services CHILD CARE Experienced childcare provider provides quality care for your infant in F.C. home. (703) 241-0605.

FALL SERVICES Aeration, Dethatch, Seeding, Limestone, Planting, Leaf Removal, Yard Clean Uo & Tree Service. Free Est. Phone 703691-2351 Gabriel

GIT RID OF IT For Removal of Junk, Trash, Yard Debris, Appliances, Furniture & Estate clean-ups. Call 703-533-0094. We will beat most competitors prices!

GREAT CLEANING SERVICE Residenttial and Commerical, affodradble rates, great references, excellent job call Maria 703.277.1098/703.626.0665

HANDYMAN SERVICE Windows, doors,

15.2-1720, the public is hereby notified that the Falls Church Police Department has recovered the following listed bicycles: Blue/White Schwinn “Ranger” Pink/White Magna “Pretty Lady” Purple Roadmaster “Rockharber” Red Magna “Glacier Point” Red/Black trek “MT-220” To claim any of these items please provide proof of ownership to: Falls Church Police Department Property/Evidence Unit 300 Park Ave. Falls Church, VA 22046 703-248-5275 (please call for appointment)

TAKE AN HOUR FOR YOURSELF TO RELAX The Student Clinic at the National

Massage Therapy Institute, at 803 West Broad Street in Falls Church is open to the public. One hour sesions of Swedish massage are available at $35.00 per session ($25.00 Senior Citizens).

The clinic operates Monday - Sunday. To schedule an appointment, or for more information call 1703-237-3905.

THE ALL AROUND ARTISAN Handyman/ Home Repairs/ Remodeling meticulous work/ reasonable rates.

Greg Wright 703-217-7253

Public Notice

PRIME SUBLET OFFICE SPACE in Falls Church available for small business (1,837 RSF) Contact Syed @ 703-207-0933 ext 112 or sali@jdgcommunications.com

PUBLIC NOTICE In accordance with VA

CBIRT PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE Wednesday, 22 October 2008 – 9:00 AM City Hall – Planning Conference Room (G-4) The City’s Chesapeake Bay Interdisciplinary Review Team (CBIRT) will review the following project for compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Protection Ordinance’s (CBPO) General Performance Criteria to ensure that the development disturbs the environment and water quality as little as possible.

Application CB08-12, proposal to construct several additions to the side and to the rear of an existing single-family home, to construct a new garage, and to construct a new driveway at 434 East Columbia Street within the City’s Resource Management Area (RMA) The CBIRT will not review aesthetics, construction scheduling, massing, or functionality. Concerns other than CBPO General Performance Criteria should be directed to the appropriate City staff prior to the meeting.

rotted wood, petdoors, lighting, fans, faucets, fences, bath, Flat screen TV installation and kitchen remodeling. Insured Free estimates. Call Doug (703) 556-4276 www.novahandyman.com

NAME CHANGE I Ranijita Madhukar

www.fcnp.com

classads@fcnp.com

Joshi solemenly delcare and affirm that Ranijita Madhukar Joshi would henceforth be known as Aditi Amrut Pimparkar

We are pleged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap.

All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.”

This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are herby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 3679753.

Email: fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov.

Web site: www.fairhousing.vipnet.org

October 16 - 22, 2008

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Page 35

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HOME IMPROVEMENT Since 1981

OTHER SERVICES

VA License #2705 023803

Grand Opening!

(571) 330-3705

HENRY HASSAN, MSFM, EA

TAX ACCOUNTANT – IRS ENROLLED AGENT

Driveways • Steps Sidewalks • Patios Small Jobs Welcome

YASMEEN HASSAN JONES PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT

SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING PAYROLL SERVICES INDIVIDUAL AND BUSINESS TAX PREPARATION BUSINESS CONSULTING

Licensed and Insured. Free Estimates.

With Personal Service

703-241-7771 www.hassansacctg.com

MOTTERN MASONRY DESIGN

Walsh & Assoc.

PC Attorneys

Specializing in custom firplaces, patios, walkways, walls, driveways.

Small and large repairs.

Free estimates Licensed and insured.

6404-N SEVEN CORNERS PLACE FALLS CHURCH VA 22044

•Injury cases & Death cases •Medical/Legal malpractice •Breach of contract •Commerical/Insurance • Car accidents Free Consultation 703-448-0073 Hablamos Español 703-798-3448

CGA IMMIGRATION ASSOCIATES Family and Employment Based Immigration Petitions Skyline Plaza Falls Church

703.578.3556

www.motternmasonry.com

CLEANING SERVICES

We’ll help you find the perfect paint color!

Mike’s Carpet Cleaning 5 Rooms deep cleaned only $98 •Stretching•Mold Remediation •Oriental Rugs•Upholstery•Pet Problems • 24 Hour Emergency Water Damage We Clean the White House!

Call Mike 703-978-2270

Liberty Chem Dry

Superior Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Residential and Commerical

Fast

Benton & Potter, P.C. www.bentonpotter.com

Joseph

Licensed Work

Cell 703-507-5005 Tel 703-507-8300

Seven Brothers Landscaping Service

Licensed & Insured

RE/MAX Allegiance 5100 Leesburg Pike, Suite 200 Alexandria, VA 22302 mobile. 703-868-5999 office. 703-824-4800 ShaunMurphy@remax.net

JOSEPH HOME IMPROVEMENT Drywall • Paint Exterior / Interior, Bath & Kitchen Remodeling, Basements, Handyman, Moving, Clean Garage, All kinds of hauling

Direct Cleaning Services

See all of the Falls Church listings as soon as they hit the market!

703-858-4589 703-909-9950

One Hour Dry Time

Deep Clean Pile Lifting Technology Safe for Children & Pets Pet Odor & Stain Removal Experts Convenient Appointments The power of oxygen is undeniable; Mother Nature has used oxygen to naturally purify the Earth for thousands of years. Now let the power of oxygen clean your carpets!

®

703.652.0675

www.oxifresh.com

ROOFING

DOORS

SIDING & TRIM

GUTTERS

WINDOWS

REPAIRS

Make a Joyful Splash! with

Eileen Levy

703-560-7663

ShinerRoofing.com/FallsChurch

WILLIAMS PLUMBING

Create unique art masterpieces using acrylics, water-based oils, pencils and an innovative variety of tools and brushes.

Held at 111 Park Avenue Falls Church on Tuesday Evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Cost: $90 On-going monthly enrollment

Carpentry, Painting, Electrical, Plumbing & Tiles Licensed and Insured Free Estimates & Senior Citzens discount Call:

Enroll on-line at www.creativecauldron.org Or call 571-239-5288

571/263-6405 571/274-6831 (cell)

703-241-8548

LAWN & GARDEN

12 Years Experience • Weekly • Bi Weekly • Monthly • Home • Apartments Great References

109 Park Avenue, Falls Church

(703)532-2221 FCSchoolofBallet.com

ArlingtonColorConsultants.com

703-533-0239

Drier. Cleaner. Healthier.™

www.FallsChurchListingMap.com

All work guaranteed.

703-496-7491

Ballet • Jazz • Tap • All Ages

Spring Cleanup, mulching, mowing, edging, trimming.

Residential & Commercial Tree Service & Snow Removal

703-241-4990

Serving Falls Church & Northern V.A. •Yard Cleanup •Mulching • Edging • Trimming • Pruning • Planting & Removal • Lawn Care • Power Washing • Deck • Siding • Painting • Hardscapes • Other handyman services

ADDITIONS • GARAGES FOUNDATIONS RETAINNING WALLS KITCHENS & BATHROOMS TILE/HARDWOOD FLOORS WOOD TRIM/PAINTING • DRYWALL

Free Estimates Call 703-503-0350 Licensed and Insured

FOOD & DINING

Ledo Pizza Caterers

Gutters Cleaned

Tysons Station • 7510 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA

Powerwashing Screening and repairs Estimates by phone Licensed and insured Tom. 703/855-3031

(703) 847-5336

Pizza • Pasta • Wings • Subs • Salads • Desserts

REMODELING & ADDITION, CERAMIC, TILE, FINISHED CARPENTRY, CROWN MOLDING, CHAIRS, DECK RAILS, STAIR, WINDOWS, DOORS, CONCRETE, SIDEWALKS, DRIVEWAYS, BRICK INSTALLED & REPAIRED

Free Estimates

703-508-3976 or 703-323-9251

Weaver Enterprises

CSA 2009 Membership Community Supported Agriculture Fresh, local, wholesome, quality fruit & vegetables, flowers, more 1-240-353-8408 dffarms.com limited shares available Sign up asap!

Government contract law, all areas of business and corporate law.

Phone # Cell Number

703-848-8322 703-901-2431

Put Your Business & Service Directory Ad ONLINE!

Just

In Falls Church 703-992-9255, in D.C. 202-416-1660

Business & Service Directory

$125 for 3 months $200 for 6 months $325 for 1 year w/ 3 mo. , 6 mo. or 1 year print ad

www.fcnp.com

Business & Service Directory

Page 36

Mayor Robin S. Gardner . . . . . . . . . .

Vice Mayor Harold Lippman. . . . . . . . . . .

City Council Nader Baroukh. . . . . . . . . . . .

Daniel Maller . . . . . . . . . . . . .

David F. Snyder. . . . . . . . . . . .

Daniel X. Sze . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lawrence Webb . . . . . . . . . . .

City Manager Wyatt Shields. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Home Page <www.fallschurchva.gov>

October 16 - 22, 2008

The Week

703-534-8644 703-237-9089 703-992-9433 703-731-8433 703-241-0419 703-538-5986 703-532-1043 703-248-5004*

* Indicates TTY 711 Accessibility

city calendar

OCTOBER 16 Story Hour, 10:30 a.m.

Human Services Advisory Council, 7 p.m.

Environmental Services Council, 7:30 p.m.

Board of Zoning Appeals, 7:30 p.m.

18 Farmers Market, 8 a.m.-Noon 19 Food for Fines Week Begins 20 City Meals Tax Due (Commissioner of the Revenue) Yard Waste & Special Collections Story Hour, 10:30 a.m.

City Council Work Session, 7:30 p.m.

Planning Commission, 7:45 p.m.

21 Story Hour, 10:30 a.m.

Historical Commission, 7:30 p.m.

22 General District Court in Session Story Hour, 7 p.m.

23 Story Hour, 10:30 a.m.

Historic Architectural Review Board, 7:30 p.m.

24 Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court in Session (Special Session, Begins at 2 p.m.)

Armchair Travel Group, 10:30 a.m.

Leaf Collection Schedule City crews are collecting loose leaves through Dec. 12, 2008. Residents who wish to have their loose leaves collected by the City are advised to rake their leaves to the curb, but avoid gutters and sidewalks wherever possible.

Please allow one week (weather permitting) to finish each zone. Crews will continue to pass through areas until the Dec. 12 cutoff date.

• Wednesday, Oct. 15 through Friday, Oct. 24. Areas south of Broad Street (Tuesday and Wednesday Collection Zones) • Monday,Oct. 27 through Friday, Nov. 7. Areas north of Broad Street (Thursday and Friday Collection Zones) Residents must keep all other collection material at least 5 feet away from leaf piles. Do not mix brush or other items with leaves. These items may injure City crews, damage equipment, damage private property, and cause delays.

For more information and to view the complete collection schedule, visit www.fallschurchva.gov.

Register for the City’s Online Newsletter at www.fallschurchva.gov

Register to Receive Emergency Alerts

provided as a public service by the city of falls church

Questions or Comments? City of Falls Church, Harry E.Wells Building, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church,VA 22046 703-248-5003 (TTY 711) The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act.This document will be made available in alternate format upon request. Call 703-248-5003 (TTY 711).

FOR THE WEEK of

Mayor Accepts Voter Turnout Classes and Events Not so Scary Things Event Challenge from Charlottesville Special Wednesdays, Oct. 22 & 29, 2-4:30 p.m.

Halloween Carnival City of Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner has accepted a friendly challenge by Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris to see which city has a larger voter turnout rate in the November 4 election.

In the 2004 Presidential election, the City of Falls Church had the largest voter turnout rate of any city in the Commonwealth with nearly 81 percent of registered voters casting a ballot. By comparison, Charlottesville’s voter turnout rate was less than 67 percent. To increase turnout in this November’s election, Mayor Norris issued the public challenge. The winning city will receive a prize from the other city. Charlottesville is putting up a souvenir bust of Thomas Jefferson from Monticello and Falls Church is offering a sapling of its 2008 Tree of the Year, the sassafras.

“As soon as I received the challenge from Mayor Norris I said “bring it on!” I have complete confidence in the citizens of Falls Church that they will not only meet our record of 81 percent, but exceed it. Falls Church citizens have always recognized the importance of voting and of being counted,” said Mayor Gardner. “Think of how nice that bust of Thomas Jefferson will look in City Hall!”

Election Day is November 4 and polls will be open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m.

Absentee voting is now underway.

Most registered voters unable to go to the polls on Election Day may vote by absentee ballot by mail or in person for the following reasons: • student or the spouse of a student attending a school outside Falls Church City • away from Falls Church City on business • working and commuting for 11 or more hours between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• away from Falls Church City on personal business or vacation • unable to go to the polls because of illness, disability or pregnancy

• primary caretaker of a confined family member • religious obligation • confined awaiting trial • confined having been convicted of a misdemeanor • election official

• active duty in the military outside Falls Church City • spouse or dependent residing with a member of the military outside Falls Church City • overseas citizen whose most recent United States residence was in Falls Church City To vote absentee in person, go to City Hall, 300 Park Ave.. Suite 101 East, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Voters will fill out the absentee ballot application and vote on the City’s electronic equipment in the Registrar’s office.

To vote absentee by mail, obtain an Absentee Ballot Application from the Registrar’s office or download the form from the State Board of Elections website: www.SBE.Virginia.gov.

Voters should be aware of the following important dates: • Tuesday, Oct, 28, 2008: deadline for receipt by the General Registrar of absentee ballot applications sent by mail or by fax.

• Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008: Final day to vote absentee in-person at the General Registrar’s office.

• The office will be open for absentee voting Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., and Saturdays Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

For more information or to sign up to serve as an Officer of Election, please contact: Tom Smolinski, Chair, Electoral Board; Renee Andrews, Vice Chair, Electoral Board; Ann Murty, Secretary, Electoral Board; Debbie Taylor, General Registrar, City Hall, 300 Park Ave., Suite 101 East, 703-248-5085 (TTY 711), vote@fallschurchva.gov

Thanks For Helping Us Save Lives Falls Church City Meter Reader Ronnie Jenkins gave the gift of life at the City blood drive on Friday, Oct. 10. Forty-five City employees and two area residents boarded the Inova Bloodmobile to donate blood. The current blood shortage is so critical there is less than a one-day supply of most blood types. If you can, please donate to give patients in our community the chance to stay alive. To schedule an appointment to donate or for more information, please call 1-866-BloodSaves (866-256-6372).

Saturday, Oct. 25 Community Center, 223 Little Falls St. Infants through fifth graders are invited to enjoy carnival games, a moon bounce, face painting, crafts, and candy! Event festivities are open to infants through second graders from 6-7 p.m.; and from 7:30-8:30 p.m.the event is open to third through fifth graders.A live Creepy Creature Show featuring the spookiest reptiles in nature will be held at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. for all ages. Call 703248-5077 (TTY 711) for more information.

Classes & Activities Paid registration required. All classes meet at the Community Center (223 Little Falls St.) unless otherwise indicated.Call 703-248-5077 (TTY 711) for fees and more information.

Let’s Make a Story (Ages 4-6) We’ll read and make up stories; interact to music connected to the topic of that session.

Thanks for Things Wednesdays, Nov. 12 & 19, 2-4:30 p.m.

Sparkly & Shiny Things Wednesdays, Dec. 3 & 10, 2-4:30 p.m.

Twoosy Doodlers (Ages 20 months-3 years) Little fingers will experiment with painting, gluing,sticking,printing and creating,while developing fine motor, language and self-help skills. Call 703-248-5077 (TTY 711) for dates and times.

Fear Fest Saturday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Kings Dominion Kings Dominion Fear Fest brings haunts and horrors that include the Maze of Madness and Blood Shed. Cost is $40 and includes admission to park.

City of Falls Church Farmers Market Every Saturday from 8 a.m. - Noon

Growing Green Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event Nov. 1 On Saturday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., the City of Falls Church will hold a collection event for Household Hazardous Waste at the Property Yard, located across from the Recycling Center at 217 Gordon Road.

This event is free of charge and is open to City of Falls Church residents only (no business use). Proof of residency must be provided (utility bill, driver’s license, Falls Church vehicle decal, etc.).

Many types of household, automotive, and lawn care products contain toxic or hazardous chemicals that require proper disposal. A licensed contractor will collect your items for free, transport them, and properly dispose of them according to local, state and federal regulations. Bring items in original containers if possible and make sure containers are leak-proof.

Visit www.fallschurchva.gov for a list of items accepted at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event.

Never throw hazardous waste in the regular trash, on the ground, down the drain, or into storm drains.

Doing so may result in injury to sanitation workers; increased risk of accidental poisoning or injuries to children, pets, and wildlife; and degradation of the water, air, and soil.

“Food for Fines” Week Begins Sunday The Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s annual “Food for Fines” initiative provides patrons the opportunity to help those in need by donating nonperishable groceries as payment for fines on overdue items. This year’s “Food for Fines” Week runs Sunday, Oct. 19 through Saturday, Oct. 25.

“Food for Fines” is a great opportunity for patrons to clear their records of library fines by donating food for local community organizations that work with the City’s Housing and Human Services Division to provide aid to families in the Falls Church City area. This optional program is a one-for-one exchange: a single grocery item (can of fruit, cake mix, etc.) will cover the fine for a single overdue item, including books, vid-

Sign up for e-FOCUS Today!

The e-FOCUS is the City’s online newsletter that highlights the City’s financial, environmental, transportation, economic development, public safety, and housing issues.

Check it out or subscribe online at www.fallschurchva.gov.

eos, DVDs, audiocassettes, or CDs. There is no limit on the number or amount of fines that can be cleared or the quantity of overdue materials that can be returned. Bills for lost or damaged library materials cannot be paid by this program.

Glass jars, opened containers, bulging cans, items past their expiration date, or sample or trial sized-items cannot be accepted for donation due to safety reasons.

For more information, contact 703-248-5030 (TTY 711) or visit www.falls-church.lib.va.us.

Falls Church Recreation & Parks Division 223 Little Falls Street Falls Church, VA 22046 703-248-5077* Phone Numbers Open Gym/Weather Hotline 703-248-5125* Special Events Hotline 703-248-5178* Fax 703-536-5125 Senior Center 703-248-5020*/21* Community Center Hours Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. - Midnight Saturday 8:30 a.m. - Midnight Sunday Noon - 6 p.m.

Open Gym Hours Open Gym hours are updated on a bi-weekly basis and are also posted on the Open Gym Hotline, 703-248-5125*. All hours are subject to change. * Indicates TTY 711 Accessibility

October 16 - 22, 2008

Page 37

ly Focus

Chairman: Ronald Peppe II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vice Chairman: Susan Kearney . . . . . . . . . . .

School Board Rosaura Aguerrebere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kathryn Chandler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Charlotte Hyland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kieran Sharpe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Joan Wodiska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Superintendent: Dr. Lois Berlin . . . . . . . . . . .

government and the falls church city public schools

october 16-22, 2008

For more news about the Falls Church City Public Schools visit: www.fccps.org

Here’s how the FCCPS compared to other school divisions in the region:

“This is a tremendous achievement for our school division,” Superintendent Lois Berlin said. “This means that nearly all of the seniors in our school division graduated with a diploma in four years. Our hope is that those who did not graduate on time will remain enrolled. The value of the diploma is not diminished by the time it takes to earn it. The important thing is to finish.”

Among individual high schools in the state, George Mason High School’s on-time graduation rate was the fifth highest in the state:

School Division FCCPS Loudoun County Fairfax County Arlington County Alexandria City

Individual School

On-time Graduation Rate 97.6% 92.6% 91.2% 81.9% 76.2%

On-time Graduation Rate

Thomas Jefferson High (Fairfax Co.) 100.0% Open High (Richmond City) 100.0% Langley High (Fairfax Co.) 98.6% Richmond Community High (Richmond City) 98.0% George Mason High 97.6%

FCC-TV Spotlight: In The Fight Tune in to Falls Church Community Television (FCC-TV) to watch In The Fight, a monthly half-hour program showing the latest action from the field from all branches of the US Armed Forces. In The Fight airs on FCC-TV at the following times: • Tuesdays at 11 a.m. • Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. • Sundays at 7:30 a.m.

FCC-TV airs on Cox Channel 12, Verizon Channel 35 and RCN Channel 2. For more information about FCC-TV, or complete schedule of the variety of community programs on FCC-TV, visit www.fcctv.net or call 703-248-5538.

BIE Partner of the Week

Thomas Jefferson is a public Governors school specializing in science and technology. All others listed are regular public high schools. Virginia has 327 public high schools and 131 public school divisions.

The Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate is a cohort graduation rate that indicates the percentage of students who earn a Virginia Board of Education-approved diploma within four years of entering ninth grade for the first time. It is calculated using a formula endorsed in a 2005 compact signed by the nation’s governors and subsequently adopted by the Virginia General Assembly and Board of Education.

FCCPS Embarks on Facilities Study The Falls Church City Public Schools is conducting a facilities study to determine future needs, which could include options ranging from school renovations to major construction. This study comes on the heels of a similar Falls Church City study of government facilities. Any recommendations resulting from both studies will be coordinated and will tie in with the Falls Church City Comprehensive Plan.

All information regarding the process, the steering and design committees, the preliminary Facility Master Plan and the meeting calendar can be found online at www.fccps.org/board/facilitystudy.

Carlos Munoz

School Board Seeks FCC-TV Volunteer

Trader Joe’s, Tysons Station

Would you like to get involved in our local television station? The Falls Church City School Board is seeking candidates to serve as an appointed member of the Falls Church Cable Access Board. This volunteer board manages the financial resources for the Public Access arm of FCC-TV and authorizes independent programming for the community television station. Board members must be Falls Church City residents.

Letters of interest should be directed to Mrs. Marty Gadell, Deputy Clerk of the School Board, 803 W. Broad Street, Suite 300, Falls Church, Va., 22046.

School Involvement: Donated pizza dough to Thomas Jefferson fourth grade teachers for Virginia-shaped pizzas; donated Trader Joe’s canvas bags filled with appetizers for GMHS All Night Grad Party Why Carlos is a BIE partner: “Trader Joe’s is committed to being an active member of the Falls Church community. We all need to work together to make our neighborhoods great places to live and work. We’re pleased to support the TJ fourth grade team’s unique project to teach students Virginia geography.”

For more information about sharing your expertise through the BIE Partnership, visit www.fccps.org or contact Marybeth Connelly at connellym@fccps.org.

Foundation Footnotes

Who’s on the Falls church Education Foundation board?

The Falls Church Education Foundation is guided by a dedicated board of directors comprising local business and community leaders. Members include: Bill Andrews, Pete Behr, Nick Benton, Dan Gardner (President)*, Mona Johnston, Lori LaFave, Jamie Martin, Dick McCall*, Moira Lethbridge*, Susan Pollack*, Tom Smolinski and Bob Young*. Ex-officio board members include: Dr. Lois Berlin, Rosaura Aguerrebere, and Marybeth Connelly. In addition to board responsibilities, these volunteers also serve on one or more of the foundation’s working committees. *Members of the Executive Committee

The Foundation is registered as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. For information about the Falls Church Education Foundation, visit www.fcedf.org or contact Donna Englander at denglander@fcedf.org.

School content published in The Weekly Focus is written and edited by the Falls Church City Public Schools. For more information, contact the Falls Church City Public Schools Communications Office. Phone: (703) 248-5699 Fax: (703) 248-5613.

703-536-8638 703-536-7564 703-237-6993 703-536-3130 703-533-1248 703-248-5601*

* Indicates TTY 711 Accessibility

School Division Achieves Highest On-Time Graduation Rate in VA Falls Church City Public Schools finished first among all school divisions in the state in the number of students who graduated on time with a diploma, according to data reported last week by the Virginia Department of Education. The 2008 FCCPS graduation rate was 97.6 percent, well above the state average of 81.3 percent.

703-534-4951 703-532-0321

SCHOOL CALENDAR DATES ARE SubjEcT To chAngE Testing now – 10/31

now – 10/17 now – 11/7

DRA Testing (grades 1-2) Q/SRI Testing (grades 3-5) cogAT Practice, Test (MD) PALS (Kindergarten)

October 16 7:30 a.m. Student Health Adv. Board (CO) 7:15 p.m. Strasburg @ Mason (Volleyball) 7:30 p.m. JV Show (GM) 17 All Day Make-Up Picture Day (MEH) 7:30 p.m. JV Show (GM) 7:30 p.m. Mason @ Eastern View (Football) 20 7:30 p.m. Gifted & Talented Adv. Board (TJ) 21 5:30 p.m. PTA Book Fair (TJ) 7:15 p.m. Mason @ Madison Co. (Volleyball) 22 3:00 p.m. Mason @ Rapp. Co. (Cross Country) 5:30 p.m. PTA Book Fair (TJ) 23 7:15 p.m. Clarke Co. @ Mason (Volleyball) 7:30 p.m. Family Life Adv. Board (CO) 24 5:30 p.m. Model UN (GM) 7:30 p.m. Madison Co. @ Mason (Football) 25 9:00 a.m. Model UN (GM) 28 7:00 p.m. School Board Work Session 8:30 p.m. School Board Regular Meeting (MD) Mount Daniel School (TJ) Thomas Jefferson Elementary (MEH) Mary Ellen Henderson Middle (GM) George Mason High Check the FCCPS Web site for more calendar information. www.fccps.org

George Mason Royalty

2008 White House Ornament Sale Only two weeks remain to place your order for the 2008 White House Christmas ornament. The George Mason High School All Night Graduation Celebration (ANGC) committee is offering the ornament as a fundraiser again this year.

The 2008 Official White House Ornament is a beautiful Christmas tree laden with toys under the tree and flags crossed at the top. It honors the presidency of Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, who started the tradition of decorating the first Christmas tree in the White House in 1889.

Ornaments are $20 each with all profits from 2008 White House Ornament the sales to be used to support the 2009 ANGC, a safe and alcohol-free aftergraduation event.

Order forms available at: www.fccps.org/ornament. Deadline for orders is October 31st.

GMHS students Sunny Kim (left) and Katie Potrykus are crowned the 2008 homecoming king and queen during the halftime festivities at last Friday’s Mustang – Manassas Park football game.

Page 38

laz y The dog. c k q u i fox sly p e d jum e r o v lazy the g . d o is Now time the all for o d g o to cows

15 s Yearo Ag

to come aid the ir of there. pa stu is Now e the timall for o d g o to cows to come aid the ir of there. pa stu

October 16 - 22, 2008

Falls Church News-Press Vol lll, No. 31 • October 21, 1993

Falls Church News-Press Vol VIII, No. 32 • October 22, 1998

that leaving the American people with two wars is two too many. Bush’s father, President George Herbert Walker Bush, ordered the invasion of Somalia in 1992 and left incoming President Bill Clinton holding the bag in the middle of a brutal civil war. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard M. Nixon departed their administration with plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba on the drawing board.

Their successor, John F. Kennedy, followed through with the plan to use Cuban defectors against Fidel Castro’s Cuba. We all know how that turned out.

To paraphrase philosopher George Santayana: If we do not learn the lessons of the past, we are bound to repeat them in the future. Today we are learning that even in a free society, regulation of business and banks is not only needed, but also indispensable.

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SABER TALKS when he is happy, making a “woo woo” sound, typical of the Akita, according to his Falls Church owner. The Akita is a Japanese breed and actually designated as a national monument in its native land. A statue of an Akita may be given to a family when a child is born as a symbol of happiness, health and a long life. In ancient Japan, only the Imperial family and aristocracy where allowed to own the regal breed. Now, Akitas are owned all over the world and are known to be loyal and docile companions, although originally breed to hunt. The only thing Saber hunts is his stuffed pheasant. He also loves to be told that he is handsome and has a nice curly tail, “woo woo.”

If you would like to see your pet here, e-mail us at crittercorner@ fcnp.com or send a picture and a short description to Falls Church News-Press c/o Critter Corner, 450 W. Broad St., Suite 321, Falls Church, VA 22046.

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“The Falls Church Episcopal, home to the oldest standing historical landmark in the City and to over 2,500 members, unveiled architectural plans to its congregation earlier this month for an ambitious building project on two parcels of commercially - zoned land adjacent the church. The church is already under contract to purchase the land at a cost of $2.5 million, including 36,000 sq. ft. of parking on the Tower Square ...”

“Falls Church only opportunity to witness candidates in the Nov. 2 election face off in a public debate will occur here next Tuesday night. Candidates and issues on the ballot in Falls Church in the general election here Nov. 2 will be in the spotlight at a public debate in the Council chambers of the Falls Church City Hall next Tuesday, Oct. 26, at ...”

people have told me they are thanking their lucky stars that Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security was blocked. As it is, many of the elderly depend on that monthly check for survival. Unfortunately, neither of the presidential candidates has shown “the way forward,” the oft-repeated Bush slogan.

During the New Deal era, people were motivated by their dream of helping revive the promise of America. They came to Washington in droves – teachers, social workers, engineers and artists. They were recruited for their skills and their dedication. Where are such people now?

President Bush can do a lot, even as a lame duck president burdened by low popularity polls. He should think twice about the legacy he is leaving his successor, especially in foreign policy. This is not the time to provoke new confrontations that can only burden a new president. Bush is moving in the right direction by lifting the “terrorist” designation from North Korea and moving to establish a start-up diplomatic relationship with Iran. Perhaps it means that Bush is beginning to realize

10 Year s Ago

‘Church Will Ask to Close City Street’

‘LIVE TV COVERAGE - Local Candidates Debate At City Hall Tuesday Night’

Continued from Page 10

It is no the timw e for g o all o cows d to go to the aid of the ir pa stu re. *** **

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October 16 - 22, 2008

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Accounting

Diener & Associates, CPA. . . . . . . . . 241-8807 Eric C. Johnson, CPA, PC . . . . . . . . 538-2394 Hassans Account & Tax Services . . . 241-7771 Mark Sullivan, CPA . . . . . . . . . . . 571-214-4511 Walsh & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448-0073 Hahn & Associates, PC, CPAs . . . . . 533-3777

chiropractor

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GUTTERS & SIDING

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Cleaning Services

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health & FItness

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home care

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music

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pet services

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plumbing

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real estate

ANTIQUES & cOLLECTIBLES

Falls Church Antique Company . . . . 241-7074 Antique Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-9642

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Arts

Falls Church School of Ballet . . . . . . 532-2221

Computer services

Attorneys

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Counseling

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Dentists

Bose Law Firm: Former Police . . . . . 926-3900 Mark F. Werblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9300 Janine S. Benton, Esq. . . . . . . . . . . . .992-9255

Automotive

Beyer Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5000 Swedish Motor Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-0988

banking

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. . . 519-1634 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-3505 Acacia Federal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506-8100

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BUSINESS SERVICES

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carpet CLEANING

BCR Binders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9181 Jon Rizalvo, PAYCHEX . . . . . 698-6910 x27045 Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning . . . . . . . . 652-0675 Mike’s Carpet Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . 978-2270

catering

Bubba’s Bar-B-Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560-8570

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NADsys - Computer Sale & Repair . . . . . 534-3800 Systems Management Technology . 891-1491 x14

ASSisted living

book Binding

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Direct Cleaning Services . . . . . . . . . 858-4589 Pressure Washing/Deck, Siding . . . . 980-0225 Liberty Chem Dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-0239 Maid Brigade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823-1922 Carpets, Ducts, Windows . . . . . . . . . 823-1922

Construction

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Dr. Solano, solanospine.com . . . . . . 536-4366

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Sunrise of Falls Church . . . . . . . . . . . 534-2700

Healthy by Intention, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 534-1321 Sheraton Premiere Women’s Massage 403-9328

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Alba Construction, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . 204-0733 Carol S. Miller, LCSW . . . . . . . . . . . . 395-4980 Josette Millman, APRN . . . . . . . . . . . 855-0396 Drs. William Dougherty, Julie D. Tran 532-3300 Drs. Mark A. Miller, Melanie R. Love . . 241-2911 Dr. Nimisha V. Patel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-1993

Equipment REntal/Sale

VA Outdoor Power Equipment . . . . . 207-2000 EZ Tool Rental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531-4700 Ace Tool & Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . 532-5600

Eyewear

Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-6500

FLorists Framing

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Gifts

Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536-0140 Sacred Well Yoga and Healing . . . . . 989-8316

Dr Gordon Theisz, Family Medicine . 533-7555 The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy . . . 536-4042

Human Touch Home Health . . . . . . . 531-0540

home improvement

Arlington Color Consultants . . . . . . . 241-8548 Courthouse Kitchens & Baths . . . . . . . 352-3011 Andy Group Construction . . . . . . . . . 503-0350 Joseph Home Improvement . . . . . . . 507-5005 FC Heating & Air Service . . . . . . . . . 534-0630 Shiner Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560-7663 J & S Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448-1171 The Vinyl Touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 793-3111

medical

Academy of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938-8054 World Children’s Choir . . . . . . . . . . . 883-0920 Columbia Institute - Fine Arts . . . . . . 534-2508 Foxes Music Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-7393 Dog Trainer - Nicole Kibler . . . . . . . . 593-6340 Williams Plumbing 571-274-6831,800-501-2710 Merelyn Kaye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .790-9090x218 www.helpfulmortgage.us . . . . . . . . . . 237-0222 Casey O’Neal - ReMax . . . . . . . . . . . 824-4196 Rosemary Hayes Jones . . . . . . . . . . .790-1990 Leslie Hutchison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .675-2188 The Young Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .356-8800 Shaun Murphy, Realtor . . . . . . . . . . 868-5999 www.TheJeffersonatBallston.com . . . 741-7562 Susan Fauber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395-8741

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immigration services

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insurance

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interior design

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jewelry

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tailor

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lawn & garden

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Travel

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Tutors

Galleria Florist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536-0770 Falls Church Florist, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 533-1333

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Thomas Most - Gutters Cleaned . . . . 855-3031

Art and Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-4202

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Stifel & Capra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-0770

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CGA Immigration Associates, LLC. . . 578-3556 Bob Snyder - Life/Health/Disability . . . 449-0117 State Farm Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5105 design2follow llc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-1610 www.ofallthebeads.com . . . . . . . . . . . 901-3738 Caliber Mower Service & Repair . . . . 691-2995 Dragon Fly Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . 240-353-8404 Weaver Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323-9251 Lawn Care Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . 691-2351

masonry

Tailor Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-8886 All Travel & Cruises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970-4091 Your Computer Tutor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204-2821 TCY Learning Solutions, LLC . . . . . . 371-9067

Mottern Masonry Design . . . . . . . 571-212-1711

massage

Massage & Hair Removal . . . . . . . 571-282-4522

All numbers have a ‘703’ prefix unless otherwise indicated.

Boot Camp

Register for our exciting, results driven 5-week Group Indoor Boot Camp Dates: Oct 21. 23. 28. 30. Nov 4. 6. 11. 13. 18. 20.

Roll Call: 6:05pm

Contact: Sergeant Lauralynn to receive your orders - lljansen@ihcoach.com VANTAGE FITNESS www.VANTAGE-FITNESS.com

703-241-0565

Vantage Kids Training Our exciting group oriented youth training program guides your son or daughter through fun effective exercises designed for all ages and fitness levels.

Register for the 5 week Vantage Kids Training 7-11 years of age / 4:00-4:45pm 12-16 years of age / 5:00-5:45pm Dates: Oct 21. 23. 28. 30. Nov 4. 6. 11. 13. 18. 20.

Contact: Personal Trainer - Alyssa Aiken / anaiken@gmail.com

VANTAGE FITNESS www.VANTAGE-FITNESS.com

703-241-0565

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October 16 - 22, 2008

Two in Falls Church City - Open Sunday 1-4

Spacious 4 BR, 2.5 Bath all brick Colonial on large beautifully landscaped lot within walking distance WFC Metro. Lovely 24 foot Living room with FP, formal DR, updated kitchen/ family room combo has door to deck & patio. Gleaming HW flrs. Daylight Rec room w/ FP. Sunny, well-cared home. Now $699,950 Dir: Tysons E. on Broad St., R on S. West to 411

Merelyn Kaye Selling Falls Church Since 1970

Life Member, NVAR TopProducer Member 20+ Million Dollar Sales Club Top 1/2% of all Agents Nationwide

Pristine 4 Bedroom, 2 bath charmer located on 15,448 Sq Ft lot. Loads of updates! Kit with marble counters, HW floors, sunny LR w/FP and built-ins, stunning WO lower level w/large nearly new Rec Rm, BR & full bath. Private screen porch overlooks peaceful, lovely yard. Walk to express bus to Metro. $749,950 Dir: 7-Corners West on Rt 7, L on Berry St to 711

Home 241-2577 Office 790-9090 X418 Mobile 362-1112

Just Google â&#x20AC;&#x153;Merelynâ&#x20AC;?

For Your Real Estate Needs

1320 Old Chain Bridge Road McLean, Virginia 22101