November 7 - 13,
WOMEN RULE IN F.C.
Harris Carried All N.Va. & State by Wide Margin
by Nicholas F. Benton
Locally, in the City of Falls Church, former F.C. School Board chair Laura Downs handily won election to an open seat on the Falls Church City Council, defeating former Board of Zoning Appeals chair John Murphy by a solid margin of 4,701 to 3,279, with 83 percent of registered voters here casting ballots, according to City Voter Registrar David Bjerke.
In her victory statement issued to the News-Press yesterday, Downs wrote, “I would like to thank the Falls Church City citizens who voted for me and thank my opponent, John Murphy, for a civil campaign that explored many ideas and issues in our city. John and I agree on many things, and we both love our city. I will do my best to listen to and address the concerns and feedback of his supporters. I am looking forward to serving the Falls Church City community and want to thank my family, friends, volunteers and supporters. The future is bright for our city and I am honored to be given the opportunity to help lead it.”
For the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate and U.S. president, Falls Church voters also returned overwhelming margins for the Democratic nominees, incumbents Don Beyer and Tim Kaine, and U.S. presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. In fact, the margin for Harris in Falls Church was 7,017 to
Continued on Page 3
In an exhaustive discussion at its work session this Monday, the Falls Church City Council mulled options for revisions in the City’s zoning code to allow for the building of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) here.
Properties with ADUs, being tiny second living units on existing residential properties,
average roughly a 15 percent greater assessed value, a study by the City’s Planning Division has determined, as reported to the Council Monday.
The Council plan is to officially adopt a preliminary “first reading” of a proposed new ordinance at its Nov. 25 meeting later this month, and for a robust round of hearings before a variety of volunteer
boards and commissions and prepared for final adoption by next March 2025.
The plan is for ADUs to supplement the housing stock in the City by allowing residential property owners to build second, smaller housing units either as separate structures or as integrated into a primary housing structure. Following a national pattern designed as one
option for addressing the severe housing shortage in the U.S., the ADU plan would allow for tiny living quarters that could be made available to inlaws or as rentals, either for long-term tenants but also as overnight alternatives to hotel rooms for visitors.
Jack Trainor, a City senior
WINNING ELECTION to fill a vacant seat on the Falls Church City Council, former School Board chair Laura Downs (second from right) was joined by veteran Council member Marybeth Connelly (left), F.C. Education Foundation executive director Suzanne Hladky, and Mayor Letty Hardi (right) at Clare and Don’s to celebrate Tuesday night. (Photo: News-Press)
Falls Church News-Press by Nicholas F. Benton Falls Church News-Press
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F.C. Council Advances ‘Saigon Boulevard’ Naming
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The Falls Church City Council Monday agreed to “reaffirm its 2005 honorary designation of the City’s portion of Wilson Boulevard adjacent to the Eden Center as “Saigon Boulevard.” It is slated to adopt a resolution affirming the “honorary designation” in a petition to the Virginia Department of Transportation and the measure will be accompanied by two signs to be placed on the Falls Church side of Wilson Blvd. in the 6600 and 6700 blocks that are modeled on the Vietnamese flag prior to the fall of Saigon in 1974.
2 New ‘Parklets’ to Get Names, F.C. Council Decides
Two new “parklets,” small areas that encourage social gathering along the lines of the popular Mr. Brown’s Park on W. Broad, have been completed by the City of Falls Church on S. Washington St. and a third one has been delayed pending construction of a senior living project next door.
The two completed projects are at 190 S. Washington St. (a triangle parklet at Washington and Annandale) and 430 S. Maple in front of the Cavalier Trail, and the F.C. City Council has been tasked by the City Planning Department with selecting names for them.
As such, the Council will be welcoming suggestions from the public, but not in the form of a vote. Names could be to commemorate an individual’s service or to identify a facility’s purpose or usage. The Council is slated to make a final decision next February.
F.C. to Prepare Role for U.S. 250th Anniversary
Formation of a citizen committee to plan for the City’s role in the planned 250th anniversary of the 1776 Declaration of Independence is now being considered by the F.C. City Council. The U.S. Congress and the Virginia General Assembly have already created commissions at their levels.
New Portraits Sought for Chambers in City Hall
A briefing on the process to contract for two original portraits of City of Falls Church legends – in this case, the late
Mayor Carol DeLong and Frederick Foote Jr. – based on Requests for Quote issued to local artists in September, was given to the F.C. Council by City Recreation Specialist Holly Irwin this week.
The F.C. Arts and Humanities Council is expected to vote on the choices at its Nov. 12 meeting next week.
Survey Warns of Tolerance For Attacking Journalists
A new survey from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) highlights a disturbing tolerance for political bullying of the press in the land of the First Amendment, according to a new report. The findings show that this is especially true among white, male, Republican voters.
The Conversation commissioned a nationally representative survey of 1,020 U.S. adults, which was fielded between June 24 and July 5, to assess Americans’ attitudes to the press ahead of this week’s election.
More than one-quarter (27 percent) of the Americans polled said they had often seen or heard a journalist being threatened, harassed or abused online. And more than one-third (34 percent) said they thought it was appropriate for senior politicians and government officials to criticize journalists and news organizations.
LGBTQ+ Candidates Gain In This Week’s Election
LGBTQ+ people have consolidated their power in Congress, according to the Fabrice Houdart blog. Emily Randall will be the first LGBTQ+ Latina sent to Congress and Sarah McBride “shattered the trans ceiling, the historical trans penalty in elections. The embattled Tammy Baldwin narrowly won her re-election race for Senate in Wisconsin, while two other candidates, Will Rollins and Evan Low are in tight situations.
Baldwin won a tight race in Wisconsin vs. GOP challenger Eric Hovde by 49.4 to 48.5 percent. Serving as the first openly LGBTQ senator following her election in 2012— as well as the first non-incumbent LGBTQ member elected to the House, where she represented Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District from 1999 to 2013 — Baldwin was targeted with homophobic and anti-trans attack ads by her Republican rival Hovde.
There are now LGBTQ+ nine incumbents plus McBride and Randall and possibly Rollins, according to the report.
1,576 for Trump, so that among the 8,857 total votes cast, 79.2 percent went to Harris and only 18 percent for Trump. Three minor candidates got 147 total votes and there were 92 write-ins.
However, stunningly, the man with the support of only 18 percent of adults in Falls Church will be ruling over us all out of the White House, a mere seven miles as the crow flies, come January 20.
As political commentator David Frum of The Atlantic posted yesterday, “Trump won. We must now prepare to live in a different America. It is now a country where millions of our fellow citizens voted for a president who knowingly promotes hatred and division; who lies—blatantly, shamelessly—every time he appears in public; who plotted to overturn an election in 2020 and, had he not won, was planning to try again in 2024.”
This is who and what the majority in America chose this week, although Harris carried all the west coast and northeast (we can now call Virginia part of the northeast). The margin for Harris in Falls Church
and adjacent counties of Arlington and Fairfax was so pronounced that it turned Virginia blue overall.
U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat affectionately known as Falls Church’s “Native Son,” also won handily, with his vote in the City of Falls Church portion of his 8th Congressional District casting 6,825 votes for him to 1,562 for Jerry Torres, the Republican nominee, and a total of 303 for two minor candidates. His margin was 77 percent of the total ballots cast to 18 percent for Torres.
Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, whose Falls Church stop last week was followed by a surprise cameo appearance, along with Harris, on “Saturday Night Live” during its 50th season this last Saturday, won statewide by a comfortable 54.1 percent to 45.9 percent over Republican Hung Cao, and among Falls Church voters, received 76 percent of the vote to 19 percent for Cao.
Harris, in delivering her concession speech at Howard University yesterday, said, “The light of the American promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and keep fighting.”
She said, “Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place. We must not throw up our hands, but instead roll up our sleeves.” She is in service, she said, to “the Constitution, my conscience, and God” and her four watchwords are “optimism, faith, truth and service” and added, “Do not give up the fight that fueled the campaign.”
“Only when it is dark can you see the stars,” she added, while numbers of students in the audience were shown by TV cameras in tears.
U.S. Congressman Gerry Connelly, who won re-election in the 11th District adjacent Falls Church to the west, issued a statement saying, “Last night, the election didn’t go the way we wanted. I was hopeful we could finally put the madness of Donald Trump behind us, but that’s not what the votes said.”
He added, “I remain cautiously hopeful that when all the votes are counted, Democrats will win a majority in the House…Regardless of whether I’m in the minority or the majority in January, I will fight for Northern Virginia’s values and against Donald Trump’s far right agenda….I will continue fight-
ing for what’s important: protecting democracy here and abroad, standing up for a woman’s right to choose, and making sure the American economy works for everyone. I urge you not to despair, and don’t agonize, organize.”
The Rev. Burl Salmon, rector of the historic Falls Church Episcopal in downtown Falls Church, issued a statement yesterday afternoon in the context of the national election. He wrote, “As news of our nation’s elections becomes more real, many of us are grieving, some are rejoic-
ing, and a significant number of those within our parish are genuinely afraid…Fr. Matthew and I are as close as a phone call, a text, an email, or a visit, and we invite you to be in touch with us as you need to.
“We are citizens, friends, not of this temporal and temporary world, but of the Kingdom of God…in which there is only justice and equity, and we will work, proclaiming release to the captive and freedom to the oppressed.”
F.C. Council Mulls Plans to Allow Accessory Dwelling Units
planner who is the point man for this effort, told the Council of the study done that has determined residential properties with functioning ADUs qualify for the 15 percent value added, which would incentivize some local homeowners to seek the option beyond just the use value of having a place to house inlaws or to supplement incomes by becoming rentals, including for short terms. A Council debate on the short-term use aspect consumed a good portion of the almost three hour deliberation on the plan this Monday.
The Council, advised by City Attorney Sally Gillette, may have some latitude in restricting shortterm use, as provided by the state code, but it is circumscribed by basic property rights. It would have to be hammered out moving forward, it was suggested. “It is not legal to prevent rentals,” Gillette cautioned the Council.
Existing code requirements will provide for the safety and security of new ADUs, F.C. Planning Director Paul Stoddard
told the Council Monday. Fire and building code requirements will be supplemented by noise and other anti-nuisance code requirements to address the issues that could arise from short-term rental use.
It was noted that there is no data, except for tax payments from AirBnB and similar property rental companies, on how many residences in Falls Church are currently being rented out by owners here. Cases of rentals by long-term residents who get assigned overseas, for example, occur, and there are no ordinance or code restrictions on the practice, per se, at this time.
Curiously, the move to delay the development of this new ordinance came from Council member Erin Flynn, who argued that the Planning Commission, in fact, should have first crack at this plan before the Council goes ahead with its “first reading.”
She argued that only a small portion of the City has provided feedback to the Council so far, and a “first reading” by the
Council, now planned for Nov. 25, could “box in” the process and limit “more public buy-in.”
Council member David Snyder, attending the meeting remotely, chimed in that “there is legal and symbolic significance” to a “first reading.” He added that “only the positives and not the negatives” of the proposal have been provided by Trainor and the Planning Division.
But Council member Marybeth Connelly noted that “the public has already engaged,” adding that “community engagement has been very good so far.” Mayor Letty Hardi added that “a first reading is like a signal to the community of what is coming and sets basic parameters,” while the Planning Commission “will have three more bites at it, along with all boards and commissions prior to final adoption. “It’s already a long enough process,” Council member Justine Underhill noted.
Setback and tree canopy requirements are other variables that can still be hammered out between first and second read -
ings, it was also asserted.
Right now, the plan is to limit the new ordinance to R-1A and R-1B zoning districts, although Hardi said she would like them to be sanctioned also in R-M districts more amenable to multifamily projects.
Also, the current plan is to require no parking requirements on the notion that they would deter development and only create more impervious surfaces.
Council member Debora
Shantz-Hiscott, also attending the meeting remotely, said the key is to adopt new plans that “improve the community and will not make it worse.”
What should go into the final product, Trainor said, are those to “considering national best practices, input from public meetings and City boards and commissions, input from four house meetings, and analysis of proposed state code changes regarding accessory dwellings.”
AT MONDAY’S F.C. City Council work session, Planning Director Paul Stoddard and senior staffer Jack Trainor (left) led a robust discussion of accessory dwelling units. (News-Press Photo)
6 | NOVEMBER 7 - 13, 2024
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Vol. XXXIV, No. 39 November 7 - 13, 2024
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Downs Will Be Strong on Council
Congratulations to former Falls Church School Board chair Laura Downs on her decisive victory this week to fill an unexpired term on the Falls Church City Council. Her opponent, former F.C. Board of Zoning Appeals chair John Murphy ran a competitive campaign but fell short by the margin of 4,701 for Downs to 3,279 for Murphy. Downs will now join six other members of the F.C. City Council to fill for a year the seat formerly held by Caroline Lian, who resigned in September amid controversy surrounding her failure to have fully reported her employment history as a candidate for Council.
In a post-election statement Downs thanked her supporters and Murphy, and did not mention whether or not she would seek election to a full four-year term a year from now, and she is permitted to get her feet wet in the new job before committing to keep at it another four or more years. We expect Downs to be a very proactive member of the Council, however, if her role as a leader of the School Board is any indication. She cited her endorsement by the News-Press on yard signs, quoting the N-P, “She brings an avid commitment to open and reasoned communication that will enhance her work and that of the entire Council.”
Her election restores the lopsided advantage that women have in leadership roles in the Falls Church government at 6-1 on the Council. The only male is now David Snyder, and he will be up for election again next year.
The total turnout this year for registered Falls Church voters was 83 percent, according to City Voter Registrar David Bjerke, not as high as 87 percent which has turned out for previous presidential elections here in the past. But the robust growth in the population of the Little City may account for the slight deviation in the numbers.
Falls Church City voters expressed shock at the national presidential election result. The entire Northern Virginia region went for Harris over Trump in a very lopsided fashion that provided the margin by which the entire state of Virginia went for Harris. But it is too soon for this newspaper to fully sort out what happened overall in time for this week’s edition, but certainly will have a lot to say on the subject in the weeks ahead.
Again, we reiterate that it is at the local level, with Falls Church being a prime example, that the best way forward for the nation is demonstrated. On the local level, there is no room for the kind of ideological extremism to play any kind of a meaningful role, because there are too many potholes to fill, sidewalks to repair and dedicated employees to compensate while figuring out how to keep taxes at a reasonable level for residents.
Kamala Harris was apparently defeated by the general influence of male chauvinism nationally. Clearly, such factors don’t dominate in F.C.
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Congratulations, and thanks, to Nick Benton and his Falls Church News Press for covering our efforts to have our trash collected. Although the residents of Park Towers condominium pay taxes, the City of Falls Church hasn’t collected our trash. We have had to pay private trash collectors despite our repeated requests and petitions to have this situation redressed. Previous city governments have ignored or dismissed us for over thirty years. The
present city council, to their credit, are working with the City Manager to institute a number of sweeping changes to trash collection in the city. This will take some time, however, and we are still waiting to have our trash collected. An interim solution could be for the City Manager to use a portion of our tax dollars to pay the same private trash collectors who pick up from city dumpsters to pick up the trash from our dumpsters at Park Towers. Our tax dollars help pay to empty the city’s dumpsters; surely some of our tax dollars could be used to empty our dumpsters.
Peter Markham
Meridian Cross Country Fares Well, Volleyball Set For Playoffs
by Ryan McCafferty
Playoff season is in full swing for fall sports at Meridian High School, as this week saw a few more Mustang squads wrap up the scheduled portion of their campaigns while others continued their quests for some postseason hardware. Unfortunately, one of those teams expected to make a deep push towards the State Finals experienced an unexpected blow as field hockey was stunned by Culpeper County in the first round of the Regional playoffs, ending their season at 15-3-1.
On the bright side, though, a number of Meridian’s teams are still going strong, including cross country. Both the boys and girls traveled to Winchester last Tuesday for the District Championship meet, opening up their playoff run with some solid results. The girls placed fourth overall, behind only Kettle Run among fellow Class 3 schools, while Michelle Malheiro – who earned AllDistrict honors for the second
straight year – led the way with her overall 12th place finish.
The boys finished ninth, beating a few rivals in Brentsville and Manassas Park, with William Anderson placing highest individually in 20th. Both teams moved onto Regionals.
The boys’ volleyball squad had a week off after concluding its regular season, giving them plenty of time to prepare for their playoff opener at Atlee in the Regional quarterfinals.
The girls, on the other hand, had two more matchups as they traveled to Warren County on Tuesday and then hosted Maggie Walker the following Monday. Unfortuantely, both were losses – they were swept by Warren County and then lost in five sets to Maggie Walker – but now it’s a blank slate as they head to Kettle Run Tonight to begin their Regional playoff run.
Finally, the football team –the lone squad still playing out its regular season – fell on the road at Warren County in a 29-28 nailbiter. It’s been a campaign full of close losses for the
est
Mustangs, and this is their clos -
of them all, dropping them to 2-7. They’ll have one more chance to enter the win column in front of their home fans when they host Fauquier this Friday.
MUSTANG CROSS COUNTRY Teams Shine at District Championship: Girls Take 4th, Boys 9th. (Photo: Carol Sly)
Male Chauvinism Rears Its Ugly Head for Trump
Nicholas F. Benton
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
After all that went into all the last decade’s best efforts by so many of us to expose Trump’s sociopathic, grifter lack of character and honesty, he still gets reelected to the most powerful job in the land. As the former U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill and now TV analyst posted yesterday, “It’s official. He knew America better than we did. We thought we were better than fear and anger driven by lies. We weren’t.”
The failure to convince the American people about Trump means that something different has to happen. It couldn’t be more obvious, from my point of view, what Trump represents. He let it all hang out there on stage after stage in the closing days of the campaign, from his disconcerting 40-minute pauses to sanctioning brutally racist comments by co-speakers and effectively delivering death threats to Liz Cheney and the media. He’s become totally balmy.
But in a way that eclipsed the shameful promotion of the clearly mentally-compromised Hershell Walker in Georgia last year, the GOP establishment did not waver in its promotion of Trump despite the clear evidence of his diminished mental state, and, Mafia-style calls on the loyalty of major governmentcontract dependent moguls like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
In Bezos’ case it was to intervene egregiously against his own newspaper’s editorial board to block an endorsement of Trump’s opponent Kamala Harris on behalf of his selfish-self interests.
On the subject of Harris, she could not have done better in her short campaign to lay the basis for what should have been a landslide victory. She was amazingly eloquent and personable. What more could she have done, other than to not be a woman?
Alas, male chauvinism is remarkably alive and well in America. Even as women are getting elected around the world to top leadership roles, in the U.S. the assaults on the autonomy of women have been
extremely sharp in this period. The Project 2025 agenda that will be the cornerstone of a new Trump 2.0 mentions women 101 times and men fewer than 20, so it is evident who its authors deem is most important to control.
Extreme wealth inequality and worker wage suppression derive from this, fueled by a dumbing down for too many of education and our general culture.
Back from the onset of my adult political career in the anti-war and civil rights era of the late 1960s, it became clear to me and my best friends that insidious and brutal male chauvinism was the biggest political challenge of all.
That was why, as a pioneer of the just-beginning modern gay liberation movement in that era, I launched a newspaper with my friend the late Jim Rankin called The Effeminist in 1972. It addressed “gay men in the feminist revolution,” and I have to say that as of 52 years later now, I have not changed my mind one iota about the core values and issues involved in overthrowing male chauvinism and supremacy, and on behalf of the kind of values that Harris articulated so well in her campaign.
An anti-feminist counterrevolution was launched in the 1970s around the theme of so-called “sexual freedom,” making rape and coersion an acceptable male behavior and reducing the role of women through the proliferation of pornography and demeaning roles on television sitcoms.
Accompanying that offensive was the proliferation of so-called postmodernism in all its forms attacking reason and scientific method. A major influence in that period was the French fascist Michel Foucault, who stripped any genuine affection and respect out of human relations in favor of power and pleasure as their only actual ingredients.
The nihilism and disdain that accompanied that outlook, advanced by all the media outlets controlled by the cultural elites, formed the cesspool out of which Trump got his start and the cynical anti-values arose.
To turn the tide on our nation’s current slide into fascism and tyranny, we must get serious at a fundamental cultural level to overcome the nihilism that is instilled in the general population to fuel it.
The social engineers behind this advance extremes on both sides of cultural issues, and we have to stop being played.
A
Thoughts
The juxtaposition of the presidential election and Veterans Day is especially poignant this year. The early November dates always are close together, but rarely has military service been so maligned as in this year’s political atmosphere. Some candidates are hyping their own military service while denigrating their opponent’s service. A presidential candidate, and former Commander-in-Chief who used a “bone spurs” diagnosis to avoid the draft as a young man, has called soldiers who died or were captured “losers,” and said he wants “generals like Hitler had” if re-elected. He demeaned Medal of Honor winners as being “in very bad shape or dead” while praising the Presidential Medal of Freedom as “much better” than the Medal of Honor. The selection process for the Medal of Honor is extremely rigorous and requires multiple levels review. Since the Civil War, only about 3500 people, out of 40 million who served, have received the honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, on the other hand, can be awarded for any reason at the President’s choice. Although designed for outstanding contributions to American society, former President Trump rewarded political cronies, like Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Rush Limbaugh, and Miriam Adelson, with the medal.
My grandfather served in World War II even though he was well past the age of most enlistees; my father was career Army who served
in World War II and the Korean War; my brother served in the Air Force; my husband served a two-year stint as an Army MP, and our son served in the Army and the National Guard. Military service is a proud responsibility, and tradition, in my family, and in many families. Pride in service to one’s country, and upholding the oaths taken by each military member, should be celebrated, not belittled. Whether someone served for an enlistment or a career, their service deserves to be recognized, especially on Veterans Day.
Virginia has one of the largest populations of active and retired military in the nation. Buoyed on its southern border by the Navy in Norfolk and by the Army and Marines (and the Pentagon) on its northern edge, the Commonwealth is home to many veterans and their families. Department of Defense expenditures are huge in Virginia, contributing to its economy via active duty and government contractor employment. In 2022, the regional economic impact of defense spending in Northern Virginia totaled $54.5 Billion and supported more than 400,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of the region’s economy. The total impact statewide, in 2022, was $105.5 Billion.
Recognizing that Fairfax County is home to many veterans and military families, in March the Board of Supervisors created a county Commission on Veterans and Military Families to identify the unique issues and challenges faced
City of Falls Church CRIME REPORT
Week of October 28 — Novemeber 3, 2024
Wire Fraud, E Broad St, Oct 28, 10:44 a.m,, an incident of wire fraud through impersonation of a police officer was reported.
Identity Theft, W Broad St, Oct 28, 3:07 p.m., an incident of identity theft was reported.
Destruction of Property, W Broad St, between 6:45 and 7:15 PM, unknown suspect(s) slashed the tires of a men’s silver Marin bicycle which was secured to a bicycle post in an underground garage.
Shoplifting, W Broad St, Oct 21, between 1:50 and 1:58 PM, (Late
Report) unknown suspect entered a business and removed items of value totaling $811.09 without paying. Suspect described as a light/ medium skin toned male, between 5`09” and 5`10” in height, 175 to 185 pounds, shoulder length braided hair, long beard, and mustache. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt, blue jeans, and white shoes.
Wire Fraud, Langston Ln, Oct 31, 09:59 AM, an incident of wire fraud through impersonation of a police officer was reported.
Reckless Driving, E Broad St, Oct 31, 3:35 PM, a male, 63, of Woodbridge, VA, was issued a summons for Reckless Driving.
Commercial Burglary, W Broad St,
by veterans, military retirees, and their families. The Commission, which I have the privilege of chairing, is reviewing county services and supports, gaps in services and opportunities, and other issues, and will make recommenda-tions to the Board. Commission members include representatives from schools, veterans’ groups, applicable county departments and agencies, and a half-dozen At-Large members from the community. Commission meetings are held every other month (next one is Thursday, November 14, at 6 p.m. in Room 206 of the Pennino Building, 12011 Government Center Parkway in Fairfax).
Other work on military and veteran issues has been undertaken on a regional level by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission. Its Community, Military and Federal Facility Partnership has been working together with military installation leadership for more than a decade. Fort Belvoir, Quantico, and Fort Myer/Henderson Hall may have guarded gates, but inside the installation, many issues are the same as those outside the gates – schools, housing, jobs, traffic, mental health. Working together, local jurisdictions and military commanders are able to identify and help resolve community issues.
The wait for election results to be counted and verified may take some time, but thanking a veteran for their service, flying the American flag on the Veterans Day holiday, and attending veterans observances can, and should, be done now. Millions of American military personnel faced unspeakable horrors to defend democracy. Let’s say “Thank You,” now and always.
Nov 1, 1:30 AM, five unknown suspects forced entry into a business. Preliminary investigation suggests they were disrupted by the police response and quickly left without taking anything. Investigation continues.
Larceny of Vehicle Parts, Roosevelt Blvd, between 10 PM, Nov 1 and 5:15 PM, Nov 2, unknown suspect(s) removed lug nuts from a gray Subaru Forester.
A Hauntingly Fun Halloween Celebration In The Little City
(Photos: News-Press)
Sonya Subbaya Sutton leads the choir and instrumentalists Friday night at the Falls Church Episcopal at the inaugural Hannah Knudsen Memorial Concert for All Saints’ Day. They performed Maurice Durufle’s “Requiem,” and Michael Lodico played the organ. Hannah Knudsen was a member of the church and 11 years old when she was killed in the city in a bicycle accident in 2000. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)
| NOVEMBER 7 - 13, 2024
CALENDAR
THIS WEEK AROUND F.C.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 7
Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare’s timeless story of star-crossed lovers is also a story of the politics of warring families and the violence that consumes them. When all the systems meant to protect and guide a pair of young lovers—familial, religious, and governmental—fail them, can they find a way to safeguard their future despite the chaos around them? Folger Theatre, October 1 –November 10, 2024. 201 E Capitol St SE, Washington, DC 20003
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8
Alice in Wonderland
"Curiouser and curiouser" Down the Rabbit Hole we go! Come join Alice on her fantastical journey through Wonderland. The White Rabbit, The Cheshire Cat, The Caterpillar, The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, all your favorite characters are here in this musical adaptation of the classic Lewis Carroll tale. Alice gives the entire family a chance to spend an utterly "Mad, mad day" at the Cauldron, enjoying one of the most famous and enduring children's classics of all time in a new bi-lingual format. Creative Cauldron, 410 S Maple Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046. Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.Sundays at 2:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m.
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9
Farmers Market
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM @ City Hall Parking Lot Shop the awardwinning market every Saturday, year-round!
Civil War and Militaria Show and Sale
The show and sale will be held
on from 10:00-4:00 at The Arlington-Fairfax Elks on Rt. 50. Vendors are welcome. Admission is $5.00 per Person. For vendor registration or additional information please call Bud Mayo, 703-3891505, mayo5304@cox.net
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10
The Beauty of Diversity
Artists explore the beauty and strength that diversity, whether of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, experiences, abilities, or opinions, brings to our lives. Falls Church Arts. 700-B W Broad St, Falls Church, VA 22046 October 5 – November 17, 2024. Tuesday-Friday - 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday - 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday - 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 11
Veterans Day Gratitude Ceremony
We are thrilled to invite you to our annual Veterans Day Ceremony, a special event to honor and express our gratitude to the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces. This day is an opportunity for us to come together as a community to recognize and celebrate the sacrifices and contributions of our veterans. No fee to attend and open to all! 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m..
The Kensington Falls Church 700 W Broad Street Falls Church, VA 22046
Veterans Day in the City of Falls Church
The City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department will host the annual Veterans Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. outside the Community Center (223 Little Falls St.) The keynote speakers are Commander Kenneth Huffman, United States Navy (Ret.), and his spouse, Melena Huffman. Veterans Day Operating Status: Monday,
November 11. CLOSED: City of Falls Church government programs and se vices, including City Hall CLOSED: The Mary Riley Styles Public Library OPEN: Community Center, 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Veterans Day Open House
Honoring all those who served. Visit us at VFW Post 9274 for food, community awards, local leader remarks and comradeship. 7118 Shreve Rd. Falls Church.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 12
Annual Nonprofit Forum Luncheon
Each month there will be a networking opportunity over lunch. Meet other chamber members, community members, business owners, and civic leaders to enjoy an informative presentation and a delicious meal. This month is our Nonprofit Forum. We are delighted to have Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen and Falls Church resident, as our speaker. Chamber nonprofit members may reserve tables to share marketing materials and speak to guests about their mission and more, during the networking time, 11:30 am - 12:00 pm. Guests are encouraged to learn more about over 30 local organizations and the opportunities to volunteer, donate, partner and serve on their boards and committees. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. The Falls Church Episcopal, 115 East Fairfax Street, Lower Level, Falls Church, VA
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 13
Architectural Advisory Board Meeting
Council Chambers/Court Room. 300 Park Ave. Main Level Falls Church, VA 22046. 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
THE EMBASSY of the Czech Republic brings the magic of the season to its annual Czech Christmas Market on November 9, 2024, from 9:00 am to 6 pm. (Courtesy Photo)
Falls Church Business News & Notes
Nonprofit Forum for the Community
The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting the annual Nonprofit Forum on Tuesday, November 12, 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. at Falls Church Episcopal lower level. This showcases the great work that over 30 nonprofits do in Falls Church and the opportunities to support them. The community is invited to visit their tables, learn about their mission and consider volunteering, serving on a board, or partnering with your business or organization. Lunch follows with Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen and Falls Church resident, speaking: No Profits Without NonProfits. This is sponsored by Alison Miller of KW United and Frank Dillow of KW Commercial. This is open to the public and reservations can be made on the chamber website: https:// business.fallschurchchamber.org/events/details/chamber-event-annual-nonprofit-forum-luncheon11-12-2024-73120?calendarMonth=2024-11-01
Veterans Day Gratitude Ceremony
The Kensington Falls Church is hosting its annual Veterans Day Ceremony on to honor and express gratitude to the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces. This is an opportunity to come together as a community to recognize and celebrate the sacrifices and contributions of our veterans. During the ceremony, there will be speeches and individual acknowledgments to thank the residents who served. There will also be live music throughout the event and refreshments. Guests are invited to socialize and share experiences with fellow veterans and members of the community.
Learn How to Register Your Business in VA & DC
Joanna Schindler, Esq. and Tammy Hui, Esq. of The Geller Law Group, will lead a webinar on Tuesday, November 12, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. for those interested in registering a business. They will walk you through the steps that are needed and outline the process of becoming a legal business entity. This workshop guides you through legal entity forms, and federal, state and local registrations and learn the benefits and drawbacks of choosing from the various entity structures and how to start a business while also addressing intellectual property matters for business owners and other legal questions relating to contracts and legal business matters. This is free and the link will be shared upon registration https://wbcnova.centerdynamics.com/workshop.aspx?ekey=10440142
Candy Buyback: Toys for Treats
The Toy Nest is holding its annual Halloween candy buyback, Toys for Treats until November 9. Kids may swap their excess candy for toys on loan. The unopened candy will be donated to the Falls Church Public Works Operations Department – a sweat treat to those who collect the leaves, plow the snow and do much more.
Health Insurance for Small Businesses
The Falls Church Chamber has completed due diligence on an opportunity to offer healthcare coverage for small businesses with 2-50 employees. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce and other Virginia Trade Associations have partnered with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield to provide small employers (2 to 50 employees) with another choice for providing health care to their employees, Wise Choice Healthcare Alliance. The Falls Church Chamber has often been asked about the ability of small employers to band together with other small businesses to obtain favorable rates. Up until now, no such arrangement has existed. Karen Hammond of the Hammond Agency will join the chamber for breakfast at the Original Pancake House on Thursday, November 14, 8:00 – 9:00 to share information. The chamber will adopt the program if there is enough interest among members in good standing, a requirement for joining the Alliance. Prospective members are always welcome to attend the breakfast and may find this a top benefit of membership.
Saigon Boulevard
A resolution is expected to come before the Falls Church City Council on Tuesday, November 12 to designate the section of Wilson Boulevard in front of the Eden Center as “Saigon Boulevard.” The name will cover the 6600 to 6700 Wilson Boulevard portion within the City of Falls Church. Falls Church had already designated the road in front of the Eden Center as Saigon Boulevard in 2005, and this extends the area. Larger signs will be posted and will include Vietnamese words. This is an honorary name and isn’t recognized by the U.S. Postal Service.
Business News & Notes is compiled by Elise Neil Bengtson, Executive Director of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at elise@fallschurchchamber.org.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on November 14, 2024 at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers, located at 300 Park Avenue, for consideration of the following items:
-Variance application
V1655-24 by Harjote Randhawa, applicant and owner, for a variance to Section 48-263(3)(a) to allow a front yard setback of 15 feet instead of the 25 feet minimum along Walnut Street to construct a second-story addition at premises known as 1200 Lincoln Ave, RPC #52-214-026 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1B, Medium Density Residential.
-Variance application
V1656-24 by Linda Valentino, applicant and owner, for a variance to Section 48-238(3)(a) to allow a side yard setback of 12 feet instead of the 15 feet minimum to construct a second-floor addition at premises known as 411 E. Jefferson Street, RPC #53-101-132 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1A, Low Density Residential.
-Variance application V1658-24 by Chad Price, applicant, on behalf of West Broad Holdings, LLC, Owners, for the following variances:
-Section 48-1265(2) to allow projecting sign area, location, and quantity above the maximum (10 square feet, one sign per tenant, not extending above the lower sill line of the second-floor windows and extending more than 4 feet from the wall).
-Section 48-1265(10) to allow building identification sign quantity above the maximum (1 building identification sign per development).
-Section 48-1265(1) to allow wall sign quantity above the maximum (2 wall signs maximum per business); at the premises known as 1033 West Broad Street, RPC #52-102-070 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned B-1, Limited Business District.
Public comment and questions may be submitted to zoning@fallschurchva.gov until 4:30 pm on November 14, 2024. Agenda and application materials will be available the week prior to the scheduled hearing at: http://www. fallschurchva.gov/BZA
Information on the above application is also available for review upon request to staff at zoning@fallschurchva.gov.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
The following were given first reading at the October 28, 2024 City Council meeting. Public hearings, second reading, and possible City Council action are scheduled for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard.
(TO24-15) ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 2073 REGARDING THE BUDGET OF EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2025: GENERAL FUND, SCHOOL OPERATING FUND, AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FUNDS
The proposed ordinance would amend the City of Falls Church’s FY2025 Budget to add and appropriate a portion of FY2024 revenue surplus and underspending, unobligated ARPA funds, and various other grants and donations in the following amounts: $5,885,414 - General Fund; $1,249,000 - School Operating Fund; and $5,010,425 - Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Fund.
(TO24-16) ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 40, “TAXATION,” OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH TO CODIFY THE
LOCAL TAX RATE ONLY FOR TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX
The proposed ordinance would make a technical correction relating to the collection of the local transient occupancy tax (TOT), commonly referred to as the hotel tax. This correction would clarify the rate for the local (TOT) by separating the portion of the TOT that is locally-imposed from the portion of the TOT that is state-imposed. The clarification would not change the City’s local tax rate of six percent.
All public hearings will be held in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia. All persons desiring to present their views on the items will be heard. Comments may also be sent to cityclerk@fallschurchva. gov. Remote participation information at www. fallschurchva.gov/publiccomment. For copies of legislation and other information, contact the City Clerk’s office at (703-248-5014) or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or visit www. fallschurchva.gov/councilmeetings. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711) or e-mail cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov.
CELESTE HEATH, CITY CLERK
Volunteers who live in the City of Falls Church are needed to serve on the boards and commissions listed below. Contact the City Clerk’s Office (703-248-5014, cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov, or www.fallschurchva.gov/BC) for an application form or more information. Positions advertised for more than one month may be filled during each subsequent month.
Architectural Advisory Board
Aurora House Citizens’ Advisory Committee
Board of Equalization
Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Transporta-
tion
City Employee Review Board
Economic Development Authority
Historic Architectural Review Board
Housing Commission
Planning Commission
Public Utilities Commission
Urban Forestry Commission
Board of Zoning Appeals
Regional Boards/Commissions
Community Criminal Justice Board
Continuum of Care Board
Coordinating Council for the Aging and Adults with Disabilities
Fairfax Area Commission on Aging
Fairfax Area Disability Services Board
Virginia Career Works Northern Region
AUCTIONS
Equipment Absolute Auction! November 14 at 11AM! Trucks, Trailers, Equipment, Tools, Office Supplies and more all offered at auction! See Woltz.com for complete inventory list and more information. Auction representatives will be onsite for previews on 10/26 and 11/9 from Noon to 3PM. 3321 Shenandoah Ave NW, Roanoke, VA 24017. Call Woltz & Associates, Inc., Real Estate Brokers & Auctioneers. (VA #321), 800-551-3588. 10% Buyers’ Premium.
ATTN. AUCTIONEERS: Advertise your upcoming auctions statewide and in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions reaching your target audiences. Call this paper or Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net HOME IMPROVEMENT
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Prepare for power outages today with a Generac Home Standby Generator. Act now to receive a FREE 7-Year warranty with qualifying purchase. Call 1-844-947-1479 today to schedule a free quote. It’s not just a generator. It’s a power move.
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SERVICES
DIVORCE-Uncontested, $475+$86 court cost. WILLS-$295.00. No court appearance. Estimated completion time twenty-one days. Hilton Oliver, Attorney (Facebook). 757-4900126. Se Habla Espanol. BBB Member. https:// hiltonoliverattorneyva.com.
DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details! 1-888-550-3083 www.dental50plus. com/virginia #6258
Portable Oxygen Concentrator May Be Covered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and longlasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 888-608-4974
We Buy Houses for Cash AS IS! No repairs. No fuss. Any condition. Easy three step process: Call, get cash offer and get paid. Get your fair cash offer today by calling Liz Buys Houses: 1-844-216-5028
Switch and save up to $250/year on your talk, text and data. No contract and no hidden fees. Unlimited talk and text with flexible data plans. Premium nationwide coverage. 100% U.S. based customer service. For more information, call 1-855-262-5564
We are pledged 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 hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are avail-
NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF A PETITION BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR AUTHORITY TO DEFER INCREMENTAL ELECTRIC GENERATION CAPACITY EXPENSES UNDER CHAPTER 10 OF TITLE 56 OF THE CODE OF VIRGINIA CASE NO. PUR-2024-00193
On October 15, 2024, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) filed a petition (“Petition”) with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) for authority to defer up to $145 million of electric generation capacity expenses to be incurred in 2025 and not reflected in current rates for future recovery. The Company further requests a Commission ruling on the Petition by December 16, 2024, “to facilitate its budgeting process.”
In support of the Petition, Dominion states that it is a member of the PJM Interconnection, LLC (“PJM”) regional transmission organization (“RTO”) and the Company’s service territory is served by the Dominion Energy Load Serving Entity located within the broader Dominion Energy Zone (“DOM Zone”) in PJM. As a member of PJM, Dominion has the option to participate in the capacity market either (i) through the reliability pricing model (“RPM”) forward capacity market or (ii) through the fixed resource requirement (“FRR”) alternative. The Petition states that on May 2, 2024, the Company announced its intention to leave the FRR alternative and return to PJM’s RPM auction process to meet its capacity and reserve requirements as of the 2025/2026 base residual auction (“BRA”). Dominion states that for the DOM Zone, PJM’s 2025/2026 RPM BRA planning parameters indicated that it would be modeled as a constrained Load Deliverability Area in upcoming auctions. As a result of the 2025/2026 planning year BRA, Dominion states that the DOM Zone separated, with a clearing price of $444.26/MW-Day, the maximum allowed under a price cap. Dominion states that this price is 65% higher than the RTO clearing price and 15 times higher than the previous 2024/2025 RTO clearing price of $28.92/MW-Day.
Dominion states that the Company, as a vertically integrated utility owning significant electric generation resources, is largely hedged by the ability to bid this generation into the capacity auction, to the benefit of customers. Due to its net short capacity position for the 2025/2026 delivery year, however, the Company states it will incur significant capacity expense beginning in 2025 in order to satisfy its obligation as a load serving entity. The Petition states that the Company’s five-year average historic capacity expense level for the period 2020 to 2024 was break even, meaning an average of no cost. Based on the July 2024 capacity auction results, the Company projects that its actual generation capacity expense for the 2025 rate year will be approximately $145 million.
The Company proposes to defer up to $145 million of capacity expenses as incurred in 2025, along with ongoing carrying costs, for future recovery, with the Commission addressing the disposition of this regulatory asset in connection with the Company’s 2027 biennial review. Under the Company’s proposal, in the 2027 biennial review, if the Commission determines that the Company has available earnings from the 2025-2026 combined historic test years, then the Commission may deem a portion of the regulatory asset, in an amount up to the Company’s authorized return on equity, to be recovered over those periods. The Company proposes that any remaining balance of the regulatory asset and associated carrying costs be amortized for future recovery through the Company’s rates for generation service ratably over the subsequent 2028-2029 rate years.
In further support of its Petition, Dominion states, among other things, that the magnitude of the capacity price increase was unexpected and unprecedented. The Company asserts that the BRA auction was substantially delayed and that under typical course, the Company would have had adequate opportunity to build future capacity expense into its projected cost of service in a biennial review. Dominion also asserts that the capacity costs are beyond the control of the Company and the capacity costs will materially and negatively affect the utility’s financial results if expensed currently.
The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Comment that, among other things, directed the Company to provide notice to the public and provided interested persons an opportunity to comment on the Company’s Petition. In addition to any issues the parties may desire to address, and the legal issues raised by the Company’s Petition, which the Commission is considering, the Commission particularly invited comments addressing the following:
1. A comparison of the Company’s proposed recovery of the $145 million regulatory asset to other options, including but not limited to the advantages or disadvantages of considering recovery of it through rates set in the Company’s 2025 Biennial Review.
2. There are a number of potential deferrals that can happen pursuant to Code § 56-585.1 A 8. Some of those costs can be deferred to the bottom of the return on equity (“ROE”) band and others can be deferred to the authorized ROE. If the Commission approves deferral treatment of certain expenses like those proposed by the Company in this case, how could this impact the operation of the statutorily
defined deferrals from case to case? Specifically, to the extent the Company has earnings below the authorized return in a relevant earnings test, how would eligible A8 costs be treated in conjunction with the proposed $145 million deferral?
The Commission further directed the Company, through a supplemental filing to be made by no later than November 8, 2024, to respond to these questions and file workpapers in this docket showing the monthly customer bill impacts of recovery of the $145 million, both including and excluding carrying costs, over one year and also if it were recovered over two years. The Commission specifically directed the Company to provide such customer bill impacts for a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (“kWh”) per month, a GS-1 customer using 6,000 kWh per month, and a GS-4 customer with a monthly demand of 10,000 kilowatts and usage of 6,000,000 kWh per month.
To promote administrative efficiency and timely service of filings upon participants, the Commission has directed the electronic filing of testimony and pleadings, unless they contain confidential information, and required electronic service on parties to this proceeding. In accordance therewith, all pleadings, briefs or other documents required to be served in this matter shall be submitted electronically to the extent authorized by 5 VAC 520150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, 5 VAC 5-20-10 et seq. (“Rules of Practice”). Confidential and Extraordinarily Sensitive Information shall not be submitted electronically and should comply with 5 VAC 5-20-170, Confidential information, of the Rules of Practice. Any person seeking to hand deliver and physically file or submit any pleading or other document shall contact the Clerk’s Office Document Control Center at (804) 371-9838 to arrange the delivery.
An electronic copy of the Petition may be obtained, at no charge, by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company: Elaine S. Ryan, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or eryan@mcguirewoods.com Interested persons may also download unofficial copies of the Petition and other documents from the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
On or before November 22, 2024, any interested person may file comments on the Petition by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. Those unable, as a practical matter, to submit comments electronically may file such comments by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00193.
On or before November 22, 2024, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation with the Clerk of the Commission at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation, or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00193. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Comment.
On or before November 22, 2024, any interested person or entity may file with the Clerk of the Commission at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling a request that the Commission convene a hearing on the Company’s Petition. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file electronically may file a request for hearing by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such request for hearing shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. Requests for a hearing shall include: (i) a precise statement of the filing party’s interest in the proceeding; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; (iii) a statement of the legal basis for such action; and (iv) a precise statement why a hearing should be conducted in this matter. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2024-00193.
A copy of any notices of participation and requests for hearing shall be sent to counsel for the Company at the address listed above.
The Company’s Petition and other documents filed in this case, the Commission’s Rules of Practice and the Commission’s Order for Notice and Comment may be viewed on the Commission’s website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information
SAMMY
(Courtesy Photo)
Fly alone
A short time
Hauls
PUZZLE
PUZZLE NO. 265
PUZZLE NO.
‘Fidelio’ Sends Strong Message for 2024
by Nicholas F. Benton Falls Church News-Press
Two better times in our collective human history are on display in the Washington National Opera’s production of Beethovern’s only opera, “Fidelio,” whose run at the Kennedy Center concluded last weekend.
The first period was the Enlightenment with which Beethoven was fully identified and consumed by, the era that produced the American revolution and some of the greatest artistic and political achievements in human history, not the least of which were those of Beethoven himself.
The story behind the opera is best derived not so much as a generalized expression of the French Reign of Terror but as an allegory associated with the life of a genuine hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette, who was jailed by the Austrians in a conflict with the French in the 1790s and freed largely due to the efforts of his wife, Marie, and Thomas Jefferson, for that matter.
The second period was the post-World War II era following the defeat of the Nazis when
the United Nations was founded and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was unanimously adopted in 1948.
In the current production of “Fidelio,” quotes from various of the 30 articles of the Declaration, championed by Eleanor Roosevelt as America’s representative to the U.N., were displayed on the stage curtain before the show and at its intermission.
Among them is Article 19 which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression: this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The two periods and Beethoven’s work are interconnected by the primary role of women, Lafayette’s wife as Leonora in the 1790s in the opera and Eleanor Roosevelt at the U.N. in 1948. As well it is the fact that Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence was the model for a similar document on human rights that Lafayette helped to write during the French revolution and the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights which only differs in its scope, not speaking
on behalf of a nation but for humanity as a whole.
Sadly, these impulses do not prevail in our current society, as evidenced by the re-election of Trump this week but also by the fact that the Kennedy Center opera house was barely half-full for last Saturday night’s performance. It seems like democracy and a primary role for women in society are not in fashion among whole factions of what constitutes Washington, D.C. culture these days, thus the less-thandeserved reception of this current performance of “Fidelio.”
It is noted that program notes by this production’s director Francesca Zambello that the marginal role of the Prime Minister at the end of the show whose presence as a woman played by soprano Denyce Graves represented “a departure from Beethoven’s initial ideas about the role,” but is firmly in line with his Enlightenment ideals. The statuesque woman of color, who remained on the stage after everyone else had left, clearly signaled where America could have gone in this week’s election (but didn’t).
The WNO’s next production, of Verdi’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” commences on Nov. 13.
QUOTES FROM ARTICLES in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights was displayed on the curtain before and during the intermission of the Washington National Opera production of Fidelio. (News-Press photo)
