February 27 — March 4, 2020
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXX No. 2
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Council Barely OKs $1.207M Cost Overrun on City Hall Project By 4-1-2 Vote, $ Already Spent Approved to Finish Job
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
In a vote with the narrowest possible margin for approval, the Falls Church City Council Monday night scraped together a four “yes” vote majority to approve the expenditure of an additional $1.207 million to finally complete
by mid-May what’s wound up being a $20.3 million project over the last decade for the renovation and expansion of City Hall. This was the second such close vote this month, coming after the Mary Riley Styles library renovation project was OK’d two weeks ago by a similar margin. Council member Letty Hardi
‘Super Tuesday’ Dem Primary in Virginia Attracts Hopefuls Here by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Candidates in next Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary in Virginia are zeroing in on Northern Virginia, including Falls Church directly, as their campaigns reach a fever pitch this weekend. With 14 “Super Tuesday” primaries around the U.S. Tuesday, the logistics of all the campaigns are being pressed to the max, with plenty of lastminute changes included. Shortly before press time Wednesday, the campaign of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced a rally at Falls Church’s iconic State Theatre at noon tomorrow, Friday. This is following what turned into a mass rally for former Mayor Pete Buttigieg in North Arlington last Sunday that drew almost
9,000, nearly identical to the number that showed up for him in Colorado the night before. The campaign of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders also announced late yesterday that a rally originally scheduled for Loudoun County has been moved to the St. James Sports Complex in Springfield at 4 p.m. this Saturday to, the campaign says, accommodate a larger crowd. The campaign of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced yesterday that its candidate will participate in a Northern Virginia rally Saturday morning titled, “Women for Mike Get Out the Vote” at 9 a.m. at a location yet to be determined. Bloomberg’s campaign says it has seven offices open around the state and over 80 staffers on the ground here.
Continued on Page 4
voted “no” and her colleagues Ross Litkenhous and David Snyder abstained to reduce the margin of approval to four for OKing what is essentially money already spent to finish the project, the final $1.207 million coming on an agreement between the City and Hitt Construction. In a bold move, City Manager Wyatt Shields told the Council just before the vote was taken Monday that he accepts personal responsibil-
ity for the problems that led to the need for the City to cough up the additional $1,207 million, confessing that as the person overseeing the project manager on the effort, he was ultimately responsible. “The plans were not as fully vetted in advance as they should have been,” he said, leading to a “long list of change orders on the need for IT networking capability, low voltage security, the sally port in the garage and masonry mold in
the 70-year-old original building. Hitt “absorbed costs as well,” Shields said. While the official cost of the project grew by the $1,207 million to $14,557,800, when the 10 years of preparation, staff time, rent for the temporary location while the renovation work was being done and moving and storage costs were added in, the price tag came to $20.3 million, Shields reported.
Continued on Page 5
Beyer Surveys F.C. Shelter
U.S. CONGRESSMAN Don Beyer (left) took a tour of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter last Friday to get better acquainted with the facility’s offerings and challenges. He was joined by shelter executive director Julene Jarnot (center) and board member John Krotzer. (Photo: J. Michael whalen)
Inside This Week Officials Schedule Urgent Call After News of Metro Closures
Former Resident Has a Message For the World: ‘Be Kind’
Press Pass with Rockin’ the Suburbs
See News Briefs, page 9
See story, page 15
See Press Pass, page 14
Falls Church’s Assistant City Manager will be on an urgent conference call with WMATA officials and officials in Arlington and Fairfax in response to the report of Metro parking closures months ahead of the closing of several stations for platform repairs this summer.
Former City of Falls Church resident Gini Bonnell is a creator of worldly signs which, over the short two-year life of her mission, populate 30 Virginia school districts – including the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County – all 50 states and even 35 countries.
Northern Virginia’s own “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast from Falls Church’s Patrick Foster and Ashburn resident Jim Lenahan will take their show to Jammin’ Java’s stage next Wednesday.
Index
Editorial........................................................ 6 Letters.......................................................... 6 News & Notes.....................................10–11 Comment........................................7,12–13 Sports........................................................16 Calendar.............................................18–19 Classified Ads............................................20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword..................21 Crime Report.............................................22 Critter Corner.............................................22 Business News..........................................23
PAGE 2 | FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4, 2020
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 3
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PAGE 4 | FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020
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Klobuchar in Falls Church Friday as Dems Hit Virginia Ahead of Primary Continued from Page 1
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has her Virginia campaign headquarters on W. Broad in the City of Falls Church, but the NewsPress has received no information about public events set for the next few days, although she drew over 4,000 at a rally in the Wakefield High School gym in Arlington on Feb. 13. Joe Biden announced late Wednesday that he will make a campaign stop in Norfolk Sunday. According to the City of Falls Church Voter Registrar’s office, all 12 of the candidates who qualified for the Democratic primary ballot here in December will appear on Tuesday’s ballot, although a number have since dropped out of the race. On the ballot will be Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, Michael Bennett, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Deval Patrick, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg. The Registrar’s Office at City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, will be open through Saturday for inperson absentee voting for the Tuesday primary. The high-profile endorse-
ment in this region came for Pete Buttigieg last summer from U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr. Beyer, who had been one of the earliest to endorse Barack Obama for president in 2007, hosted a lively event for Buttigieg at his townhouse home in Old Town Alexandria following the 9,000 rally Sunday night. Also present there was State Del. Mark Keam. State Sen. Adam Ebbin has also endorsed Buttigieg as has the Falls Church NewsPress. At the event in Beyer’s home, attended by 120 donors at $1,000 and up, Beyer said that Buttigieg’s brains (“He knows six languages, was a Rhodes scholar and likes James Joyce”), his story of military service, turning around a languishing midwestern town as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and character, remaining calm, even smiling, in the debates and demonstrating “the gifts of a healer.” Beyer said, “He may be the least wealthy and youngest of the candidates, but he’s the richest and most mature.” A guest of Buttigieg was State Del. J.A. Moore of Charleston, South Carolina, where the Democratic primary is scheduled to be held this Saturday. On Election Day Tuesday, the City’s three voting locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 5
F.C. Council OKs City Hall Cost Overrun
Continued from Page 1
“We need to know the lessons learned from this,” Snyder said, and “be sure we have the proper oversight going forward.” Mayor David Tarter added, “We have to be very smart with our money. I hate to see this, but the past is the past.” The $1.207 million will come from the surplus in the current fiscal year budget which totaled $3.178 million, leaving $1,971,000 of that surplus the Council voted to return to the City’s capital reserve fund. The surplus was the result of underspending and favorable interest rates compared to forecasts for the current Fiscal Year 2020 budget and also a delay by a year in the first projected debt service payment on the $124 million school construction bond. In the context of this issue, the Council voted unanimously to create an oversight committee to watch the progress of the Mary Riley Styles Library renovation and expansion, which is set to commence in two weeks.
Meanwhile, the City Council’s scheduled work session this Monday was cancelled in part because the presentation of the Planning Division’s West End Small Area Development Plan was pushed up to last Monday. That was for the purpose of allowing Council members to participate with their counterparts in Arlington and Alexandria in a joint discussion on the future of the regional Juvenile Detention Center in Alexandria. According to Shields, the center has been underutilized in recent years, even while Falls Church and the other participating jurisdictions pay their proportional shares to keep it functioning. Monday’s proposed meeting, which has yet to be finalized, would be to discuss possible alternative uses of the center, including proposals for merging the program with Fairfax County’s. As of press time, however, the meeting had not yet been formally set. The Council heard at Monday’s meeting from Chuck Bean, the executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council
of Governments (COG) and from Joshua Shokoor, the chair of the City’s Housing Commission, both focused on the issue of the fastdeveloping affordable housing crisis. Bean, who praised the City of Falls Church for “punching way above its weight class” in the regional organization, noted the recent COG study showing that economic development and employment trends among the region’s 5.7 million residents indicate the need for 320,000 new housing units by 2030, a number 70,000 higher than has been forecast. He noted the study’s conclusion that 75 percent of the new units will need to be affordable to low and middle income families, something that has not yet been seriously addressed by anyone. On top of that, in his commission’s annual report to the Council, Shokoor noted that the City’s stock of affordable housing is rapidly vanishing, with identified affordable units here down from 471 to 287 in the last seven years, and expected to decline
FALLS CHURCH City Manager Wyatt Shields (right) took responsibility for the problems that led to the $1.207 million in change orders on the City Hall project before the Council voted 4-1-2 to OK the expenditure Monday. (Photo: News-Press) by another 120 in the next eight years. In that context, it was noted that the City’s Affordable Housing Fund, which had about $500,000 a decade ago (capable of being leveraged for $2 million for an senior affordable living building then that was voted down by that Council), has been
totally depleted with, at best, suggestions for a modest infusion of funds in the coming fiscal year budget. The Founders Row mixed-use project now under construction at the corner of West Broad and North West Streets will include 23 affordable units, according to Shokoor.
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E D I TO R I A L
We Endorse Pete Buttigieg
In the Virginia Democratic primary next Tuesday, we endorse Pete Buttigieg. Next Tuesday is “Super Tuesday” when millions of votes in 14 states will be cast and the first clear sense of how the Democratic vote is trending will result. Between now and then, the South Carolina primary that occurs this Saturday could color how next Tuesday goes. The net result of outcomes in three small states so far, resulting in Bernie Sanders as the “front runner,” will be dwarfed by the flood of votes in the coming week. It is vitally important who the Democrats will select as their choice to go up against Trump this November. From an original field of some two dozen, the options have narrowed to about a half dozen, though more will technically be on the Virginia ballot Tuesday. Who would have predicted three months ago the remaining viable candidates by now? In addition to Sanders, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Mike Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren and Buttigieg now constitute a short list of viable options. Interestingly, a new poll by the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College shows all of them defeating Trump in Virginia by six to nine percentage points. This leaves us to consider which of these candidates is not the “most electable,” since it appears all may be, at least in Virginia, although “electability” goes more to how well the Democrats can get their own base activated (rather than draw from the other side). It is more a matter of which one represents best the direction voters hope to see the party, and the nation, heading as of next November. Who best represents the vision of the future they hope to see? An important collateral aspect of this is which candidate will best help, or potentially hinder, the “down ticket” Democrats also on the ballot. In Virginia, Sanders represents a serious concern in this regard. As with the election of Barack Obama in 2008 which was achieved by overcoming “electability” concerns with a positive vision for the kind of America we want to see, and allowing that to generate a groundswell of new, young voters to take America in that new direction, we see the best choice for leading this process in 2020 is the young, incredibly intelligent, articulate and brave Mr. Buttigieg, a proud gay man who will spur the kind of excitement and broadening ranks of optimistic Americans to take their nation to the next level of cultural healing, opportunity, inclusiveness, progressive solutions and hopefulness for all. It is a given to us that whomever the Democratic nominee will be to face Trump in the fall will have our full support and hopefully win. Now, however, as we still have choices among a half-dozen candidates, to us there is none finer as a representation of everything we hope the nation will become than Mr. Buttigieg.
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How Will City Respond to Metro Parking Closures?
Editor, With reference to your Feb. 20 News Brief regarding the planned closure of the East and West Falls Church Metro stations from Memorial Day to Labor Day 2020, it is important to note that the East F.C. parking lot will be completely closed as of March 15, and the West F.C. parking lot will be partially closed with WMATA
warning that the remaining West F.C. parking spaces likely will be filled by 7 a.m. weekday mornings. Those lots will be used as staging areas for the construction work. What this means is that for 10 weeks, from March 15 – May 25, there will be no parking at East F.C. metro station and limited parking at the West F.C. station, resulting potentially in literally hundreds of
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cars roaming our neighborhoods looking for parking spots just as our neighborhood school-age children are walking on our sidewalk-less streets and waiting at intersections for school busses. It also means substantially more cars parking in the neighborhoods. And it may continue past May 25 if WMATA offers bus shuttle service to Ballston. Requests for information from city officials about how the city administration will handle this have resulted in less than adequate responses. Apparently WMATA has been less than open with relevant information provided to the city. We need much better com-
munication from the city administration about this matter, including how commuters who typically park in those lots will be informed about parking restrictions and the need to be cautious as they search for parking opportunities. David McCloud Falls Church
[ LETTERS ] Email: letters@fcnp.com Mail: Letters to the Editor, c/o Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls Street #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 7
Does Creative Cauldron Have a Future in the City of F.C.? B� G��� C�����, M���� M������ � E�������� M����
There is another small and treasured Falls Church business with its future on the line in the Broad & Washington project — Creative Cauldron. Creative Cauldron’s founder and producing director, Laura Connors Hull, the board of directors, sponsors, donors, artists, and patrons have invested a significant amount of money and time to find a permanent home. This is our dream and we thought we had made it come true with the support of Insight Development and City Council. When we began in 2002, we promised ourselves that we would give back to the community, and we have succeeded in doing that. In everything we do, we are mindful of our mission to “make the arts accessible and affordable to the community we serve.” In addition to our regular programming, we have an on-going commitment to provide arts education opportunities to at-risk and underserved populations. Beginning with our work in local Title One Schools, and continuing with our scholarship and free workshop programs offered to Homestretch, we believe in the transformative power of the arts. We believe that creativity is a fundamental need of the human spirit and have worked to bring opportunities for learning, inspiration, community and enjoyment to all. Needless to say, to find out that all of
our work and efforts for the last 18 years could disappear in the City of Falls Church because of a temporary parking situation is frightening. We don’t think Creative Cauldron will be able to survive in the City of Falls Church if we don’t have the oppor-
“We shouldn’t have to pit the survival of one small business against another in our development quests.” tunity to move into our new space. Our current location, although we have achieved success there, has been a challenging effort for a locally grown non-profit theater to negotiate. We have been through four different landlords, had our rent increased by 25 percent rent this year, and have seen our CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges increase yearly. And now, unfortunately, we do not have assurance from our most recent landlord that we will be allowed to stay beyond our current lease, which expires in June 2021. We need the security of a long term lease at predictable rates which is what the Broad & Washington project will give us. The new space will also
have 2,000 more square feet for about the same price we are paying now. We shouldn’t have to pit the survival of one small business against another in our development quests. All three small businesses in question are success stories. Our productions have received 29 Helen Hayes Awards recommendations, 24 nominations and three awards. We are fans of Thompson Italian and Clare and Don’s, and we want them to be successful as well. We love having restaurant partners and it is our hope that the hundreds of patrons who like to dine before and after our productions will be introduced to and enjoy Clare and Don’s and Thompson Italian when we are in our new space. We are dismayed that the City isn’t showing the same respect and loyalty to our business as it is showing to others. We love being a part of The Little City. We know we bring value to the City. We bring dozens of actors, musicians, teaching artists and staff to Falls Church, as well as patrons from around the region. We work hard to bring the arts to everyone in our community, regardless of income. In 2019 alone, we provided over $12,000 in scholarships to young people for our camps and classes. We donated over $15,000 in tickets to local veterans and seniors through VetTix and the Fenwick Foundation. We honor every request from all Falls Church and other local non-profits, school organizations, PTAs, Chamber members and others
who ask for donated tickets. When permissible with our programming schedule, we make our theater space free and available to local teachers and other nonprofits. We thought Falls Church was focused on small, locally owned businesses that put community first as we do every day. Creative Cauldron chose Falls Church as its home many years ago, and we hope that Falls Church City has a similar commitment to Creative Cauldron. Creative Cauldron brings more heart and soul — and revenues — to the area than people realize. Office space is empty — and emptying — all over northern Virginia and the Washington region. There are currently 21 pages of office and retail vacancies listed on the Falls Church Economic Development Office website. Traditional retail businesses are closing across the country. Places that offer community and experiences — for example, theater and restaurants — are what create a place where people want to live and to visit. We want to be part of that space in Falls Church. Let’s work together to find a solution to the temporary parking challenges during the construction of Broad & Washington that will allow everyone’s dreams to come true. Gina Caceci is Creative Cauldron president, Marty Meserve is vice president and Elizabeth Meade is marketing director and board member..
Q������� �� ��� W��� Do you agree with the Council’s decision to approve additional funding for the Falls Church City Hall renovation project? • Yes
• No
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VIRGINIA MAYORS LIKE MIKE Endorsed by Mayors Allison Silberberg, Kelly Burk, Derrick Wood, Kenny Alexander and Paul Fraim
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JOIN THESE MAYORS IN SUPPORTING MIKE BLOOMBERG FOR PRESIDENT William Bell, Former Mayor of Birmingham, AL Mike Dow, Former Mayor of Mobile, AL Ethan Berkowitz, Mayor of Anchorage, AK Robert Uribe, Mayor of Douglas, AZ Dan Coody, Former Mayor of Fayetteville, AR Frank Scott Jr, Mayor of Little Rock, AR Patrick Hays, Former Mayor of North Little Rock, AR Shirley Washington, Mayor of Pine Bluff, AR Marco McClendon, Mayor of West Memphis, AR Veronica Smith Creer, Mayor of El Dorado, AR Harry Brown, Mayor of Stephens, AR Daryell Howell, Mayor of Strong, AR Mark Stodola, Former Mayor of Little Rock, AR Bill Hodge, Mayor of Calexico, CA Mary Casillas Salas, Mayor of Chula Vista, CA Marnie Mendoza, Mayor of Colfax, CA Aja Brown, Mayor of Compton, CA Tim McGallian, Mayor of Concord, CA Kuldip Thusu, Mayor of Dinuba, CA Efrain Silva, Mayor of El Centro, CA Lily Mei, Mayor of Fremont, CA Serge Dedina, Mayor of Imperial Beach, CA Racquel Vasquez, Mayor of Lemon Grove, CA John Marchand, Mayor of Livermore, CA Antonio Villaraigosa, Former Mayor of Los Angeles, CA Rob Rennie, Former Mayor of Los Gatos, CA Rob Schroder, Mayor of Martinez, CA Yxstian Gutierrez, Mayor of Moreno Valley, CA Matt Rinn, Mayor of Pleasant Hill, CA Rusty Bailey, Mayor of Riverside, CA London Breed, Mayor of San Francisco, CA Sam Liccardo, Mayor of San Jose, CA Pauline Russo Cutter, Mayor of San Leandro, CA Joseph Goethals, Mayor of San Mateo, CA Michael Tubbs, Mayor of Stockton, CA Eddie Neal, Mayor of Lemoore, CA Dave Potter, Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA Jesus Silva, Former Mayor of Fullerton, CA Heyward Robinson, Former Mayor of Menlo Park, CA Mickie Winkler, Former Mayor of Menlo Park, CA Wellington Webb, Former Mayor of Denver, CO Bill Finch, Former Mayor of Bridgeport, CT Toni Harp, Former Mayor of New Haven, CT Don Slesnick, Former Mayor of Coral Gables, FL Melissa McKinlay, Former Mayor of Palm Beach County, FL Enid Weisman, Mayor of Aventura, FL Stephanie Bruder, Mayor of Bay Harbor Islands, FL Manny Diaz, Former Mayor of Miami, FL Scott Brook, Mayor of Coral Springs, FL Neisen Kasdin, Former Mayor of Miami Beach, FL
Philip Levine, Former Mayor of Miami Beach, FL Bob Buckhorn, Former Mayor of Tampa, FL Sandra Freedman, Former Mayor of Tampa, FL Keith James, Mayor of West Palm Beach, FL Daniel Dietch, Mayor of Surfside, FL Michael Davey, Mayor of Key Biscayne, FL Hardie Davis Jr, Mayor of Augusta, GA Karen Freeman-Wilson, Former Mayor of Gary, IN Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, KY Adrian Perkins, Mayor of Shreveport, LA David Rollins, Mayor of Augusta, ME George Campbell, Former Mayor of Portland, ME Sam Zaitlin, Former Mayor of Saco, ME Victoria Jackson-Stanley, Mayor of Cambridge, MD Tracey Furman, Mayor of Kensington, MD Malinda Miles, Mayor of Mount Rainier, MD Petrella Robinson, Mayor of North Brentwood, MD Jeffrey Slavin, Mayor of Somerset, MD Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Former Mayor of Baltimore, MD Jim Berryman, Former Mayor of Adrian, MI Karen Weaver, Former Mayor of Flint, MI Byron Nolen, Former Mayor of Inkster, MI Virg Bernero, Former Mayor of Lansing, MI Kelly Garrett, Mayor of Lathrup Village, MI Linda Short, Mayor of Mayersville, MS Percy L. Bland, Mayor of Meridian, MS Jason Shelton, Mayor of Tupelo, MS John Moor, Mayor of Asbury Park, NJ Janice Kovach, Mayor of Clinton, NJ Collette Kennedy, Mayor of Keyport, NJ André Sayegh, Mayor of Paterson, NJ Douglas Palmer, Former Mayor of Trenton, NJ Adrian Mapp, Mayor of Plainfield, NJ Ken Miyagishima, Mayor of Las Cruces, NM Alan Webber, Mayor of Santa Fe, NM Kathy Sheehan, Mayor of Albany, NY Lovely Warren, Mayor of Rochester, NY David Dinkins, Former Mayor of New York City, NY Gary McCarthy, Mayor of Schenectady, NY Mike Spano, Mayor of Yonkers, NY Vi Lyles, Mayor of Charlotte, NC Don Hardy, Mayor of Kinston, NC Nancy McFarlane, Former Mayor of Raleigh, NC Charles Meeker, Former Mayor of Raleigh, NC Dan Horrigan, Mayor of Akron, OH Luke Feeney, Mayor of Chillicothe, OH Michael Coleman, Former Mayor of Columbus, OH Kathy Catazaro-Perry, Mayor of Massillon, OH Dean DePiero, Former Mayor of Parma, OH Jeff Fusco, Former Mayor of Akron, OH
Muhammad Robbalaa, Mayor of Fort Coffee, OK Kathy Taylor, Former Mayor of Tulsa, OK Dwan Walker, Mayor of Aliquippa, PA Bob McMahon, Mayor of Media, PA Michael Nutter, Former Mayor of Philadelphia, PA Joseph Brady, Mayor of Vandling, PA Rohan Hepkins, Mayor of Yeadon, PA Lornna Soto, Mayor of Canóvanas, PR Rosachely Rivera, Mayor of Gurabo, PR Jesús Edgardo Colón, Mayor of Orocovis, PR Steve Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, SC Jon Kinsey, Former Mayor of Chattanooga, TN Jim Strickland, Mayor of Memphis, TN Karl Dean, Former Mayor of Nashville, TN Mickii Carter, Former Mayor of Johnson City, TN John Cook, Former Mayor of El Paso, TX Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, TX Bill White, Former Mayor of Houston, TX Lucy Johnson, Former Mayor of Kyle, TX Andy Beerman, Mayor of Park City, UT Ralph Becker, Former Mayor of Salt Lake City, UT Peter Corroon, Former Mayor of Salt Lake County, UT Allison Silberberg, Former Mayor of Alexandria, VA Kelly Burk, Mayor of Leesburg, VA Derrick Wood, Mayor of Dumfries, VA Kenny Alexander, Mayor of Norfolk, VA Paul Fraim, Former Mayor of Norfolk, VA Mark Asmundson, Former Mayor of Bellingham, WA Victoria Woodards, Mayor of Tacoma, WA Brian Ebersole, Former Mayor of Tacoma, WA Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C. Steve Williams, Mayor of Huntington, WV
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presents
8th Annual
Urgent Call Set as WMATA to Close Lots Early Falls Church’s Assistant City Manager Cindy Mester will be on an urgent conference call with WMATA officials and her counterparts in Arlington and Fairfax Friday in an effort to mitigate the impact on neighborhoods in the City of Falls Church of WMATA’s plans, announced less than two weeks ago, to close the parking lots at the East and West Falls Church Metro stations months ahead of the closing of the stations for platform repairs over the summer. Mester told the News-Press that the sudden news has thrown officials in the City, plus Arlington and Fairfax, into a tizzy as it was announced without regard for any planning for its consequences on neighborhoods near the stations that may be flooded with desperate Metro users looking for places to park on the streets. The parking will shut down on March 15, only leaving the drop-off “Kiss and Ride” open at the East Falls Church station and a loss of 400 parking spots, and at the West Falls Church station, where only 50 percent of spaces will remain open while one of the two platforms there will be rehabbed for a time this summer. The closings will be due to the need to use the lot for the staging of the repair efforts. Also the West F.C. station is set to be the central staging location for all the Orange Line work, including the Dunn Loring station, further disrupting the situation there. Mester said an emergency email from her to WMATA officials resulted in the plan for a conference call Friday. She said she offered some alternative solutions in her email.
F.C. Man Arrested for Using Social Media for Underage Solicitation A Falls Church area man was arrested last week after police say he used social media accounts to solicit sex from minors. Fairfax County Police say 21-year-old James Gregory of Falls Church is facing two felony charges of carnal knowledge and the use of a communication device to solicit a minor after detectives say a juvenile victim told their parents of unlawful sexual contact with Gregory. After an investigation last month, detectives believe Gregory used several social media accounts with false names while also misrepresenting his age to solicit sex from minors. He was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 19, and is now out on bond.Victim specialists from the Fairfax Police’s James Gregory. (Photo: Fairfax Co. Major Crimes Bureau’s Victim Services Division have been assigned Police) to ensure that the victim is receiving appropriate resources and assistance. Detectives are seeking anyone who may have had inappropriate contact with Gregory to call their Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 3. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), by text – Type “FCCS” plus tip to 847411, and by web at www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.
‘Crowns’ Earns Hayes Award Recommendation The current run of “Crowns,” the award winning musical at Falls Church’s Creative Cauldron theater, has been named a Helen Hayes Award Recommended production, the Cauldron’s Laura Hull announced this week. Saturday’s performance is already sold out and a new show has been added Sunday night at 7 that will double as a fundraiser for the City’s Tinner Hill Foundation. The show is described as “inspirational, joyous, a musical celebration of love and redemption that will make your heart sing.”
Women’s History Walk Fundraiser Next Week The Falls Church Jazzercise is offering a fundraising opportunity for supporters of the Falls Church’s Annual Women’s History Walk set this year for May 3. Next week, all who sign up for a session at the Jazzercise at 513 W. Broad will find that all profits from the visit will be donated to the cause.
Little City. Big Eats. FCRestaurantWeek.com #FCRESTAURANTWEEK
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Community News & Notes F.C. Resident’s Art Exhibited At McDaniel College Falls Church’s Sheila Evans is one of four senior art students who will have their work showcased at McDaniel College’s student honors exhibition. Titled “Paraphernalia of Human Experiences,” this annual exhibition runs from March 5 – March 27 in Rice Gallery, Peterson Hall (2 College Hill, Westminster, Maryland). An opening reception takes place Thursday, March 5 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. with a gallery talk at 6 p.m. “From my perspective, it seems that the culture surrounding social media causes people to treat identity like it’s a form
of performance,” Evans said. “A lot of people post about their own lives on social media, either to share or to seem more accessible or relatable to their followers. However, whether intentionally or not, a lot of times people will only share appealing parts of their life, or purposefully share aspects to make them look better to their followers. The action of posting on social media blurs the lines between identity and performance, and I like to explore this concept with my art.” The exhibition and reception are both free and open to the public. Rice Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturday, noon – 5 p.m. For more information, call 410-
857-2595 or visit www.mcdaniel. edu.
Grants to Reduce Stormwater Runoff in Falls Church The Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) announces a new round of grants to City of Falls Church residents for projects to reduce stormwater runoff. Grants are available for projects to install rain gardens or conservation landscapes and for purchase of rain barrels to store rain water. The grants are part of the RainSmart Program implemented by VPIS with support from the City of Falls Church. The program is intended to help City of
Falls Church residents implement practices, such as rain barrels and rain gardens, that help rainwater soak into the ground on-site to prevent flooding and protect water quality locally and in the wider Chesapeake Bay watershed. The program also includes outreach programs to promote stormwater management. Funds for both rain barrel and rain garden grants are limited. Applications for rain barrels will be considered on a continuing basis until available funds for the year are committed. Applications for rain gardens and conservation landscapes require some initial design and are due by March 15. Applications will be considered and funded giving priority to
projects with the greatest stormwater benefits to the community. Applications received after the due date will be considered if funds are available. An easy step that local residents can take to manage stormwater is to install rain barrels to catch runoff from roofs. Under the RainSmart Program, City residents can apply for grant funds for up to two rain barrels with a limit of $50 for each barrel. Some residents may want to use this grant at rain barrel workshops in the region sponsored by the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District this spring (see: fairfaxcounty.gov/ soil-water-conservation/rain-barrel). Residents may apply for rain
MARY RILEY STYLES PUBLIC LIBRARY and the MRSPL Foundation co-sponsored a party earlier this month for one last night of celebration before the library undergoes its renovations. Librarian Steve Ingeman from Technical Services created five mini-golf holes out of books (right photo) and got a boost from Jefferson District Park’s mini golf staff lending some putters and golf balls. There was also a raffle table where local businesses such as Botanologica, Bikenetic, Art and Frame of Falls Church and Jefferson District Park donated items. Attendees were allowed to draw all over the large bay window by circulation (left photo) as it will be demolished during the renovation. (Photos: Courtesy Jessica Sabo/ MRSPL Foundation Development Committee)
Send Us Your News & Notes!
The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!
Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St. #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
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rel and rain garden applications, go to vpis.org/environment/ rainsmart-program/ or contact RainSmartFallsChurch@gmail. com.
Spring Book Sale Comes To Tysons-Pimmit Library Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church) will be holding its quarterly book sale for the spring season with a large selection of books and media for all ages and interests available next weekend, March 6 – 8. On March 6, the book sale will run from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; on March 7, it will run from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sunday, March 8 it will run from 1 – 4 p.m. On the final day of the quarterly book sale, all books and media will be half price and there is a special offer that allows customers to fill up a bag full of books for $10 per bag. For more information, call 703-790-4031 or contact tysonslibraryfriends@gmail.com.
Women’s Club Wins Grant For Book Distribution
THREE SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS at Congressional School in Falls Church wrapped up a shoe drive this week that accumulated more than 2100 pairs of shoes as part of a community service initiative with a global reach. The three students, Aaron Hjalmervik (left), Luke Pynchon (center) and Anderson Wexler pitched the shoe drive idea to their Congressional School classmates and administrators who quickly jumped in and supported the effort. The students partnered with a company called Funds2Orgs that distributes gently worn shoes to micro entrepreneurs in underdeveloped countries to help stimulate economic growth. (P����: C������� T�� C������������ S�����) barrel grants throughout the year and have the option of applying for a grant to support purchase of rain barrels from a commercial source. Residents are responsible for installing and maintaining rain barrels. Another opportunity to improve local stormwater man-
agement is to install a rain garden that is designed to help rain water soak into the ground and help reduce high volumes of runoff that carry sediment, nutrients, and other pollutants into local streams. Under the RainSmart Program, City residents can apply for grant funds to cover up to 50 percent
of the cost of a project or $1,500, whichever is less. Grants are also available for landscape conservation projects that have stormwater benefits. These projects need to be designed and installed by contractors approved by the program. For more information about the program and for rain bar-
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The New Dominion Women’s Club has received a $1,500 grant from the Express Lanes Community Grant Program, funded by Transurban, one of the world’s largest toll-road operators. The monies will support NDWC’s purchase of books that are distributed twice a year to every student at the Falls ChurchMcLean Children’s Center. Grant funds will also be used to pay for books the club donates annually to the Fairfax County Library. “We are very pleased to receive this grant from Transurban,” said Kim Marinus, president of the NDWC. “This generous award will help us grow the number
of books available at the children’s center while continuing our support of the Fairfax County Library.” The New Dominion Women’s Club is a first-time recipient of the Express Lanes Community Grant. Through fundraising and grants, the all-volunteer group helps support McLean-area programs, including SHARE, the Safe Community Coalition, Friends of Clemyjontri and McLean Project for the Arts in addition to Reading is Fundamental. For more information, visit NDWC.org or go to xpslns.com/ campaigns/supporting-communities-with-our-grant-program
Highlights of the World Of Bonsai Plant Growing On Sunday, March 8, the Old Dominion Chrysanthemum Society will present a colorful slide and discussion program with demonstrations and Q&A given by Michael James, curator of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The meeting will be held at the Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church) at 2:30 p.m. Free admission. Call Jim Dunne at 703-560-8776 for more information.
F.C. City Band Performs At Mason This Saturday The City of Falls Church Concert Band will be performing its fourth annual St Patrick’s Day Concert at George Mason High School Auditorium (7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church) on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 7 p.m. Admission is free. The band will be joined by the O’Neill-James School of Irish Dance.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM S:11.5”
A Penny for Your Thoughts
News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross
items from around the world. At the grand opening, the produce area alone had huge displays of familiar fruits and vegetables, along with more esoteric international delicacies. Cooks are sure to find all they need for a variety of tastes at the new Food Star. On Friday, March 6, at the Seven Corners Shopping Center, the Giant Food chain has renovated the former Shoppers Food store, maintaining a grocery at the iconic center. Longtime residents know that Seven Corners was the first modern shopping center in Northern Virginia, opening in 1956. It featured a Woodward and Lothrop (Woodies) department store, and a Garfinckel’s, so local residents did not have to travel all the way to Washington, D. C. for fashionable shopping. Seven Corners evolved from the original indoor mall as consolidation and corporate decisions made elsewhere closed longtime department stores in favor of the more industriallooking “big box” facilities. What had been Woodies became a Shoppers Food in the early 2000s, and will continue to serve the community as a Giant Food store, beginning in March. February marks the release of the Fairfax County Executive’s proposed FY 2021 county budget. Unfortunately, the timing of the budget release and the deadline for this column do not coincide, so I will discuss the county executive’s proposals in next week’s column. The Mason District Budget Town Meeting, featuring County Executive Bryan Hill and Chief Financial Officer Joe Mondoro, will be held on Thursday, March 12, at 7 p.m. at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale.
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The presidential preference primary in Virginia is next Tuesday, March 3. Also known as “Super Tuesday” because several states are holding similar primaries that day, voter selections will determine delegate counts and begin to winnow down the multi-candidate field. According to the State Board of Elections, there are 14 candidates on the Super Tuesday ballot, some of whom already have dropped out, but whose names remain on the ballot. Voters may cast a ballot at their regular polling place on Tuesday, from 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. In Fairfax County, in-person absentee voting will continue at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale, today and Friday from 3 to 7 p.m., and on Saturday, Feb. 29 (Happy Leap Day!), from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Democracy can be difficult to achieve, and even more difficult to hold onto. It’s not just about voting; it’s about listening to others; making a case for your point of view; finding that “sweet spot,” if there is one, and treating all persons with respect and dignity. It shouldn’t be us vs. them, or haves vs. have nots; it’s about everyone, working together to seek whatever commonalities we share and respecting differences. The former usually is much greater than the latter, and that’s what we should build on. On-line shopping and free delivery deals continue to change the retail landscape, here in Northern Virginia and across the country, and two new businesses are being welcomed to serve Mason District. Last Friday, a line of new customers wrapped around the building at the grand opening of the Food Star grocery store at 5521 Leesburg Pike, the former site of Toys R Us, in the Skyline area. Food Star, an independent grocery formerly located at Columbia Pike and South George Mason Drive in Arlington, is a long-time area business that specializes in food
Photo: Grant Delin
If you always store your firearm safely, no curious kids will put their fingers on it. And no gun will accidentally fire. Which means no screams of pain will be heard. And no 911 calls will be made. And no scars will be left. So please, always remember to keep your firearm stored safely. Visit ncpc.org to determine the best firearms safety solution for you.
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Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.
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Enlightenment Vs. Postmodernism, Part 2
Donald Trump is the fever dream of postmodernist apologist Michel Foucault. This 21st century monster of a twisted and horrifying id, much like the invisible monster of the classic sci-fi film of the 1950s, “Forbidden Planet,” is the product of a devious post-World War II social engineering effort that became known by the 1970s as “postmodernism,” a pervasive term that covered all areas of arts and culture in the West. Its essence lies in a denial of the efficacy of reason and science. “Postmodernism” is more than a Soviet or Russian form of cultural warfare against the West. It was promoted and encouraged by anti-democracy forces worldwide eager to trash progress as enjoyed by the masses of people. The goal is to darken the minds FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS of the masses by promoting a reversion to superstition and myth, thereby keeping the advances in science due to the exercise of reason to small covens of the elites. If it sounds downright medieval, it is. This “tradition” goes back a lot further than that. Its enemy in the modern era has been the European Enlightenment of the 18th century and the Enlightenment’s primary achievement, the American revolution and founding of a Constitutionally-based democracy. The world’s elites have been working since the late 1700s to undermine and reverse the impact of those developments with mixed results globally. But the power of the American experience, grounded in reason, science and law, has been so great that moving against it has been proven difficult. With the rise of industrial capitalism in the late 19th century, these fossilized elites reverted to the dual tracks of proto-fascism, on the one side, and ideologically rigid Marxism on the other, as one of our nation’s primary scholars on the subject of the Enlightenment, the recently retired Dr. Joshua Israel of Princeton University, has expounded in his latest work, the just-completed tome, “The Enlightenment That Failed.” It is important to understand that Israel, and Dr. Steven Pinker of Harvard, author of “Enlightenment Now,” do not clearly attribute the anti-Enlightenment socio-cultural currents like postmodernism to the dark forces of the political enemies of democracy. While their scholarship is invaluable, it remains largely cloistered by virtue of being limited to the realms of relatively obscure academia. But there desperately needs to be a global socialization of the results of their studies to give the world’s billions a full disclosure of the devious nature of the postmodernist offensive against their self-interests. The “national socialist” brand of Naziism and fascism that the world encountered in the last century was the outgrowth of philosophies promoted by the elites deriving from the “superman” theories of Frederich Neitszche and other late 19th century thinkers. So were the theories of Karl Marx because they amounted to the superimposition of mental constructs — his theories of class warfare and the need for state control of the means of production — onto reality. In both cases, they involved the superimposition of false mental and social constructs as alternatives to actual reality. In America, these forces were countered during the 1930s by the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt who tempered capital-driven progress in science and technology, including their applications to the public good, with pragmatic programs aimed at alleviating poverty and injustice. The “New Deal,” including the introduction of Social Security, was not a socialist program in any way associated with Marxist dogma. It was a set of pragmatic solutions to real social problems. As such, they represented a continuation of the Enlightenment spirit of the American revolution, promoting its simple concept that “all men (and women) are created equal” and advocating for “liberty and justice for all,” with the emphasis on the word, “all,” in both cases. As such, the “New Deal” programs were anathema to the devious elites that promoted both Hitler’s fascism and Stalin’s communism, both elite statist forms of oppression of the masses. So, after World War II, the elites continued in their efforts by launching witch hunts ostensibly against communist influences in America as a way of garnering public support for what really was an assault on “New Dealers” who sought to continue the spirit of those programs. (To be continued). Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.
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Nicholas F. Benton
Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark
Teens during my youth thought it was cool to light up Kools in the school bathroom. Today’s kids, as young as 6th grade, feel peer pressure to indulge in modern-tech flavors delivered through vaping. Sneaking doses from e-cigarettes or, “juuling,” has emerged as “the No. 1 offender at Arlington Public Schools,” according to substance abuse counselor Jenny Sexton, speaking at the Feb. 12 exploration of the hot topic at the Arlington Committee of 100. As illicit customers in a new $30 billion new market, kids can sometimes inhale — directly or secondhand — one Juul pod’s equivalent of 20 cigarettes of nicotine. It’s a tricky discipline challenge, said Sexton, who is “stretched thin” counseling populations at 24 elementary schools and two Arlington middle schools. Vaping devices resemble an easily concealed flash drive or an inhaler, “and they are marketed like ice cream or candy,” she said, displaying samples of colorful packaging. Some kids “are going into the bathroom every hour,” emerging smelling “like a fruity lotion — so you wonder, did they put on hand lotion?” One in nine high school kids vapes daily, she reported; 1 in 20 have used in the past 30 days, 17.2 million nationwide. Her survey at Williamsburg Middle School showed that 100 percent of students knew where to buy a vaping device (7-Eleven, for example).
The reason kids are attracted is that “doing it makes them feel different,” Sexton said. “Studies show that within six months, most who use these products are using cigarettes.” The school system, following a nationwide warning of risks of lung cancer from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a policy last October iterating that possession of tobacco or vaping products is prohibited on school property. So far, the national toll is 33 deaths and 1,500 related illnesses. “Combatting vaping in our schools is a community-wide effort,” it said, citing collaboration among police, health officials, school staff and parents. “If your child is vaping, and they need support to quit, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the substance abuse counselor.” The good news for worried parents is Arlington’s Second Chance program. For first-time perpetrators, it’s an alternative to suspension that substitutes counseling and erasure of the charge from a kid’s record. But there are larger policy complications. Reuben Varghese, the county’s public health director, said counseling and preventive education are among the least effective remedies. “Risk-taking behavior is part and parcel of being a teenager.” But the “anxiety” that leads kids to experiment with vaping “occurs in the larger context.” That favors a focus on changing
policies and socioeconomic conditions, Varghese said, citing past successes in fluoridation of water and tobacco taxes. Insight into the politics was provided by Dylan Bishop, lobbyist for the Virginia Smoke Free Association. Vaping, he said, while never advisable for children, is 95 percent safer than smoking. Vaping products “don’t contain most of cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco,” he said. Rather than imposing higher taxes or flavor bans that cause “ham-fisted damage to a legitimate industry,” his business group favors banning online sales and cracking down on fake IDs in convenience stores. There’s talk of smoke detectors in bathrooms, but they are expensive. Sexton is delivering presentations on “peer pressure refusal skills” to health classes as early as 5th grade. Parents “understand,” she said, “we’re there to support their student.” *** Lots of white was worn at the soiree put on by Arlington’s League of Women Voters in Clarendon on Feb. 18 at Ms. Peacock’s Champagne Lounge. Remarks by officers Joan Porte, Nancy Tate and Seema Jain honored both the league’s 100th anniversary and the centenary of the constitutional amendment giving women the vote. Also enjoyed was a black-belt suffrage movement trivia contest. We were tested on knowing the difference between Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Harry Burn.
PAGE 14 | FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
with
Rockin’ The SubuRBS
FEBRUARY
27 AY
SD THUR
Brian Franke Dogwood Tavern 6:30 p.m.
132 W. Broad St., Falls Church 703-237-8333 • dogwoodtavern.com
28 AY
FRID
Shartel & Hume JV’s Restaurant 6 p.m. 6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church 703-241-9504 • jvsrestaurant.com
Brook Yoder Falls Church Distillers 8 p.m. 442 S. Washington St., Falls Church 703-858-9186. • fcdistillers.com
29 Y
RDA U T A S
Battle of the Bands
BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Fans all across the nation are packing their favorite music venues to listen to...a podcast? That’s right. The trend that’s sprouted up in the past couple years has a reach that gives even the more niche productions their time in the spotlight. Northern Virginia’s own “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast done by Falls Church’s Patrick Foster and Ashburn resident Jim Lenahan will look to ride that wave by taking their show to Jammin’ Java’s stage as they countdown The Who’s top 10 songs of all time. Live podcast recordings hold a similar style to late night talk shows — just without the suits, band or commercial breaks. But Foster and Lenahan aim to bring some extra flair outside of the straightforward countdown on Wednesday by mixing in audience giveaways, a quiz and inviting attendees to come up and share their thoughts on the mic. The show is as much a celebration of the podcast’s success as it is the community the founders have cultivated in their three-ish years and just over 800 episodes they’ve put out. “There are a lot of people that...hit a certain point where you get married, start a family or get a new job and you suddenly stop finding new music,” Foster said, while adding that their listeners “still go to shows and buy records and still keep up with new music as well as still being passionate about older bands like The Who. That’s the niche that’s been a hit and it seems to be a little underserved.” Now listeners are as global as they are colorful. Fans hail from Hong Kong to Sweden to the United Kingdom and few match the expressive endurance of Echo Park Jimmy’s marathon voicemails. Not bad for a project that started out as
PATRICK FOSTER (RIGHT) AND JIM LENAHAN from the “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast. (P����: C������� R�����’ T�� S������) “Dad Rock” while both worked at USA Today five years ago and has since transformed into a jovial tribe of indie, punk and classic rock lovers. The two career journalists love for music led them to the recording booth, but when changes at their former employer caused them to seek opportunities elsewhere, they decided to carry on with the project solo. Once learning curves on the production side were smoothed out and the two realized that 30-minute episodes were more digestible than the original hour-plus recordings, their trajectory pointed up. Lenahan’s idea for the “Perfect Pop” segment about a song considered flawless helped drive engagement early on. The duo then had a bit more weight behind their interview requests with a growing following, whether it was with local indie rock band Kid Brother or with keyboardist Ricky Peterson of Fleetwood Mac and Prince fame. Soon enough, the podcast became
a routine part of their fans’ lives. The listeners have become so dedicated that it’s eased some of the pressure on Foster and Lenahan to come up with ideas for their fiveday-a-week recordings. “They’ve started this really cool thing [on the Facebook page] where they don’t really need us and they’ll create a weekly playlist and handle the coordination and everything. It’s really wonderful and we just run that as an episode,” Foster said. He also mentioned that with the help of content creation platform Patreon, fans can make a small donation and pick a show topic every three months, allowing them to have a voice in the direction of the show. Expect listeners to make their presence felt — and heard — at Wednesday’s show. The “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast counting down The Who’s top 10 songs will be recorded live at Jammin’ Java on March 4 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, visit jamminjava.com.
Finals Jammin’ Java
7 p.m. 227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna 703-255-1566 • jamminjava.com
These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week: Nicholas Benton – Mahler’s 5th, Adadgietto by Gustav Mahler
Jody Fellows – Things Are Looking Up by Classified
Matt Delaney – Wait in Vain by Bob Marley
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 15
Mason Grad Spreads Kindness Locally & Globally with Free Signs BY PATRICIA LESLIE
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Former City of Falls Church resident Gini Bonnell is a creator of worldly signs which, over the short two-year life of her mission, populate school districts, every state in the U.S. and 35 countries. Her message? “Be Kind.” The George Mason High School grad shuns publicity, promotion, status or recognition for what she does. And what seems weirder about all this is her signs are free. They cost nothing, and that’s the way Bonnell wants it. No money; no online fundraising. The message is what’s important here, she explains, not the messenger. It all started back in Dec. 2017 with, as Bonnell said, “all the negativity surrounding us between the toxic politics, the bullying in schools and I just wanted to do something, to try something, so I came up with this idea and one day, I went out to my garage.” “I pulled out a piece of wood and put positive aspirations on a white board and stuck it in my yard. It was the dead of winter, and I knew it wouldn’t last long, but I knew there was something about a message.”
She was right about the white board not lasting long, so she made another sign which her neighbor, a teacher, had spied and then requested one for her classroom. From there, demand for the handmade signs has grown to the point where they fly out of Bonnell’s garage at a completion rate of more than 100 a week. “Be Kind” they say, in bold, black letters accompanied by hearts of pink or red. Bonnell resists credit for the idea “which flowed through me,” leading her to apply muscle to mind. “Kindness Angels” throughout the nation help spread the words and the work. They supply wood and paint. They cut the wood, attach hooks and twine. Some make note cards describing the mission of “the movement,” as Bonnell calls it, which accompany every sign. She pays nothing for shipping. The Angels do it, mostly by hand, carrying the signs in luggage to places they visit, and Bonnell takes the signs on trips, too. It’s all in the message, broadcast by word of mouth. The effort has always been “very, very grassroots,” she
GINI BONNELL shares her “Be Kind” signs at a nursing summit. (P����: C������� G��� B������) explains. She eschews advertising and promotion. “God takes care of that,” she says Bonnell attended George Mason High School where she still keeps in touch with 60 to 80 of her classmates whose names and years of their graduations are listed on the back of the sign at George Mason. She attends sign-making parties at schools and assisted living centers where students and residents have fun painting and being kind to each other.
When giving out one recently, a volunteer learned that the recipient was a woman whose mother had just died. The retiree from the Virginia Association of Realtors who now lives in Richmond, opined: “People today don’t talk to each other anymore; they text or they email or they go on Facebook. With these signs, you must communicate. The signs are given without expectation of any return. They are God’s way of getting us back to one on one.” She continued, “‘Be kind’ is
huge. Don’t you watch ‘Ellen?’ A lot of people are doing things like this. The city of Philadelphia has a whole initiative going on. This is not unique to me. A lot of people are trying to spread kindness.” She likes to leave people with “what I’m doing and why. By choosing kindness, we can change the world. It’s full of kind people. If you can’t find one, be one.” In her latest appearance at a school sign-making event, Bonnell spoke and helped launch “Random Act of Kindness Week,” which took place Feb. 16-23.
PAGE 16 | FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Boys, Girls Swimming Finish 8th at State Tourney by Ari Autor
Special to the News-Press
The George Mason High School’s boys and girls swim teams placed 8th out of 30 teams at their first-ever berth in the Class 3 State swimming and diving championship last weekend in Richmond. The boys team scored 128 points compared to first place Western Albemarle High School with 391. Longtime rival Maggie Walker, which also moved up to Class 3 with Mason this year, placed 4th with 198 points. Mason’s girls finished swimming events in 9th place although moved up to 8th with 116 points thanks to the success of diver Natalie Burke. Mason’s first diver to go to states in four years, Burke competed in a separate diving meet Saturday, finishing in 11th place after regional winter weather caused postponement of events on Thursday. Western Albemarle’s girls finished first with 257.50 points. Maggie Walker’s girls finished
in 10th place overall with 101 points. Individual medal performances were turned in by junior Ryan York, placing 2nd for the boys in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Junior Ellen Chadwick finished 5th in the 50 Yard Freestyle and 8th in 100 Yard Freestyle. Junior Marie Roche earned 4th place in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Depth of the Mustangs’ team in Freestyle paid off during team relay events. The boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Juniors Ian McCracken, Jack Lindly, Alec Autor and Ryan York medaled in 3rd place, while the girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Freshman Anna Dickson, Juniors Maddy Dubois, Marie Roche and Ellen Chadwick finished in 5th. In the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, Mustang boys Juniors Ian McCracken, Ian Fry, Alec Autor and Freshman Carson Ruoff placed 5th. Mustang girls Ellen Reithinger, Marie Roche, Maddy Dubois and Ellen Chadwick, all Juniors, also took 5th place in the 200 Yard Medley Relay.
JUNIOR RYAN YORK (left) finishes second during the 50 Yard Freestyle event last weekend. Freestyle was Mason’s strongest event as both the girls and boys finished in the top 10 in multiple races focusing on that style. (Photo: Courtesy Ari Autor)
Girls & Boys Basketball
FULL STEAM AHEAD for George Mason High School’s girls basketball team, which tore through the first two rounds of the Region 3B tournament. That included a 50-16 blowout of Manassas Park High School on Friday at home and a 58-36 thrashing of Goochland High School on the road Tuesday night. Now its back on the road to face William Monroe High School tonight in the Region semifinals. The winner will advance to Region finals, and more importantly, earn a berth in the Class 3 state tournament. (Photo: Carol Sly)
IT WAS ONE-AND-DONE for George Mason High School’s boys basketball team in the playoffs as a 72-62 loss to Manassas Park High School ended their season. Optimism was present early on with the Mustangs trailing 10-5 after the first quarter and down 21-19 by halftime. A lopsided third quarter, however, where Manassas Park outscored Mason 38-22 and took a 59-41 lead into the fourth proved too much for the Mustangs to overcome. (Photo: Carol Sly)
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FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 17
FOR THE PAST FEW WEEKS, students in Physical Education classes have been learning the jumping, sliding, and moving skills needed for the activities at the seven different stations as a part of the annual Kids Heart Challenge at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. (P����: FCCPS P����/C����
S��)
F� � � � C � � � � �
S����� N��� � N���� New Principal Announced At Cooper Middle Lisa Barrow has been selected as the new principal of Cooper Middle School, effective March 2. Barrow served as principal at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School and assistant principal at Marshall Road Elementary School and Frost Middle School. She has teaching experience in special education; having served as a middle school emotional disabilities department chair. At the district level, she coordinated the division equity and cultural responsiveness team and was a member of the Fairfax County Public Schools’ Virginia tiered systems of support team, providing support in the development and implementation of the divisionwide multi-tiered systems of support for students.
Marshall Academy Glams Up Davis Center Students Students in Marshall Academy’s Cosmetology program hosted Davis Center students for a day of glam for their Valentine’s Day dance. Cosmetology students provided an array of services including hair styling, manicures, hand exfoliation treatments and make-up for the Davis Center students. It was an opportunity for the budding cosmetologists to gain practical experience while preparing the Davis Center students for their special day. The Davis Center plans to work with
the Cosmetology students again in April before their annual formal. The Davis Career Center is one of two centers in Fairfax County Public Schools designed to serve students with disabilities ages 18-22 who require instruction through a modified curriculum focused on life and career skills. The cosmetology program teaches about the history of and opportunities in the cosmetology industry along with hair, nail, and skin care; how to present a professional image; cosmetology sciences; life skills and the business aspects of managing or owning a salon. Students engage with industry professionals through career speaker series, demonstrate the latest hair styling and make-up trends, and showcase new products.
Retired Teacher Returns for Black History Month Activity Although Robin Rubio retired from Fairfax County Public Schools after 24 years of teaching, she continues to be an active member of the community. This month, she returned to Beech Tree Elementary School to create a bulletin board for Black History Month. Rubio says, “I think it’s important because so little is known about the contributions of Black people here in the U.S.” This year, Rubio focused on Black authors and illustrators; reading and writing are two of her passions. A few people she highlighted include Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds and Langston Hughes.
She said, “I wanted the children to know about black authors whose books they can read, or maybe have read. They can aspire to be readers and writers, as well as illustrators, too.” Rubio also added an interactive part to the bulletin board, inviting students to contribute a fact about Black History Month. Students have been adding facts throughout the month.
Mason High Mulch Sale Deadline Coming Soon The annual mulch sale by the George Mason High School’s Athletic Boosters has an order deadline of March 18 with delivery by student-athletes on Saturday, March 28. It is the Boosters’ biggest fundraiser of the year. The funds from mulch, as well as from spiritwear and from the concession stand, help the athletic department and the athletes. In recent years, funds have paid for: A new speaker system for the stadium and the Mustang Gym at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School; lacrosse nets, preventing the balls from hitting athletes and community members using the track; a golf cart for the athletic trainer to bring supplies from the school to the fields; paying down the loan for lights on the baseball and softball fields and athletic scholarships of $1,000 each to seven recipients annually. Those interested in supporting the sports programs can do so with a purchase at the mason-fan-shop. myshopify.com.
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FALLS CHURCHCALENDAR Falls Church). 7 – 8 p.m.
COMMUNITYEVENTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Amy Klobuchar Rally. Democratic presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar will hold a rally in Falls Church ahead of Super Tuesday primary that Virginia is a part of. Visit mobilize.us/virginiaforamy/ event/251814 to sign up for this event. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 11:15 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Chess Club. Interested attendees can learn chess from coach Ashley Xing, a member of the U.S. delegation to the 2018 World Youth Chess Championships. Participants can come to play chess, meet other chess players and learn. Players of all ages and levels are welcome. Boards and sets are provided. Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. 703-790-8088. Amateur Writers Group. A group for aspiring writers. Attendees can share their work, give and receive feedback. All kinds of writing considered. Attendees are encouraged to bring something that they’re working on. Meets the last Thursday of the month at Panera Bread (450 W. Broad St.,
3-on-3 Basketball Shootout. Free basketball activity for Grades 4-8. No registration necessary. All skill levels are welcome. Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 3:30 – 5 p.m. 703-2485027. Midnight Madness. Grades 5-8 take over the Teen Center as they hang with friends, play dodgeball, compete in eating contests,
have a dance party, join in an air-hockey tournament, play Xbox or Wii and other things middle schoolers generally like to do. Cost is $5 per person. Pay at the door or register early online at fallschurchva.gov. Pizza and sodas are available for sale. Participants must be signed out by a parent or guardian. Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. – midnight. 703-248-5027.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29 Winter Farmers Market. The award-winning, year-round market is filled with fresh, local produce, meat, dairy, flowers & plants, honey, music and much more. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 9 a.m. – noon. 703248-5034.
MONDAY, MARCH 2 Monday Night Yoga (Space Limited). Interested residents can
THEATER&ARTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
join instructor Casie Anderson for a free one hour yoga class. Attendance limited to 35 people due to high demand, so participants to arrive early for tickets. Attendees should wear comfortable clothes and bring a mat and towel. All levels welcome, participants are encouraged to arrive on time. Class is for teens and adults. Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 703790-8088.
“A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini (“Kite Runner”), the lives of two Afghan women are inextricably bound together. In the war-ravaged Kabul, Miriam and Laila become unlikely allies in the face of the insurmountable odds of a brutal and oppressive way of life. Hopes of a new life lead to an unselfish and shocking decision, changing the course of their futures forever. Arena Stage (1101 Sixth Street, SW Washington, D.C.) $76. 8 p.m. arenastage.org.
TUESDAY, MARCH 3
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29
Election Day: Presidential Primary. The Democratic Party primary election for President of the United States will be held today. Registered voters who are waiting in line to vote when polls are supposed to close at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Wards 1, 2 or 3 (visit fallschurchva. gov/140/Polling-Locations to find out which one). 6 a.m. – 7 p.m.
“Ordinary Days.” On a regular, ordinary day, uptight graduate student Deb loses her most precious possession — the notes to her graduate thesis — somewhere on the streets of New York City. To her surprise, she strikes up an unexpected friendship with Warren, the optimistic but struggling artist who finds and returns her notes. Meanwhile, Jason
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and Claire, a couple struggling to understand each other, learn how to share an apartment and move forward with their lives together. With hope and soaring songs, Ordinary Days shows how the smallest acts can sometimes have the most profound effects on your life. NextStop Theatre (269 Sunset Park Dr., Herndon) $40 – $55. 8 p.m. nextstoptheatre.org. “Crowns.” When a Brooklyn teen goes to live with her grandmother in South Carolina after the death of her brother, she learns the beauty, ceremony and symbolism of hat-wearing from her resilient, southern sisters. The musical has played to acclaim in theaters around the country, including sold out runs at Arena Stage. Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church) $35. 8 p.m. creativecauldron.org.
SUNDAY, MARCH 1 “Shear Madness.” First seen in Boston in 1980, and opening here at the Kennedy Center in 1987, the show reinvents itself every performance — pulling from the news of the day, and on-goings of the DMV, to improvise timely witticisms and gags. Set today in the Shear Madness hairstyling salon, this record-breaking comedy is Washington’s hilarious whodunit. After more than 12,000 performances, the show has stayed in great shape. Kennedy Center (2700 F St. NW Washington, D.C.) $50.Check kennedy-center.org for showtimes.
LIVEMUSIC THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Brian Franke Live and in Concert. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 6:30 p.m. 703237-8333. Karaoke. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-8589186. Dave Chappell Band Live and in Concert. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
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FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 19
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
Jehovah’s Favorite Choir. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 North Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283. Happy Hour: Shartel & Hume Duo. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-241-9504. Arol Guthrie’s 20/20 Tour featuring Alice’s Restaurant with Folk Uke. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $65. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. Brentano String Quartet — Chamber Music at The Barns. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $42. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1900. Brook Yoder. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-858-9186. Drive-By Truckers with Buffalo Nichols. 9:30 Club (815 V St. NW, Washington D.C.) $35. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. Wicked Jezabel (Kevin’s Birthday Celebration). JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-241-9504. David Lange & the Others. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703237-8333.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29 40 Dollar Fine. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504. Big Tow. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 North Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-5329283.
WICKED JEZABEL will be at JV’s Restaurant tomorrow. (Photo: WickedJezabel.com) Street, Ste A Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-858-9186. Jose Ramarez Blues Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-2419504. The Legwarmers — D.C.’s Biggest 80s Retro Dance Party. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $20. 9:30 p.m. 703237-0300. Karaoke. Mark’s Pub (2190 Pimmit Dr., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-356-3822.
Battle of the Bands Finals. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $20. 7 p.m. 703255-1566.
Maria & The Sons of Moog. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703237-8333.
Kiran Ahluwalia. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $24. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900.
SUNDAY, MARCH 1
Blue Book Value. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington
Sunday AcaFunday feat. Impitched + TBD + The District. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $15. 1 p.m. 703-
255-1566. Acoustic Open Mic @ the Distillery. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 5 p.m. 703-8589186.
St. NW, Washington D.C.) $25. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. Free Acoustic Open Mic, hosted by Rachel Levitin. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $15. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566.
TUESDAY, MARCH 3
Joan & Joni: A Tribute to Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell feat. Allison Shapira + Kipyn Martin. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $20. 7:30 p.m. 703255-1566.
The Bachelor Boys Band Live and in Concert. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). 8 p.m. 703-255-1566.
Hayes Carll (Solo) with Allison Moorer Live. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.
The Majestic: Drag Show and Weekly LGBTQ Night at the lounge. The Diva Lounge (6763 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 571-234-2045
Karaoke. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
MONDAY, MARCH 2 of Montreal with Lily’s Band Live and in Concert. 9:30 Club (815 V
Live Podcast Recording — Rockin’ The Suburbs: Who’s Best (Countdown of the best “The Who” songs). Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566.
Calendar Submissions Email: calendar@fcnp.com | Mail: Falls Church News-Press, Attn: Calendar, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
Be sure to include time, location, cost of admission, contact person and any other pertinent information. Event listings will be edited for content and space limitations. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for the current week’s edition.
PAGE 20 | FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4, 2020
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AMERICAN WHISKEY/BOURBON BOTTLES OR DECANTERS, sealed and unopened. The older, the better. No Beam or McCormick. Cash. 540-845-6107 or email: majiddk@comcast.net
Public Notice Invitation For Bids (IFB) IFB 0317-20-SWSI South Washington Street Transportation Improvements Project City of Falls Church SEALED BIDS will be accepted by the City of Falls Church at the City’s Purchasing Office, 300 Park Ave., Room 204E, Falls Church, VA 22046 for the provision of South Washington Street Transportation Improvements project. Due date for the receipt of Bids is Tuesday, March 17, 2020 @ 11:00 AM. A NonMandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held on March 4, 2020 (see the IFB for details). A copy of the IFB which includes all details and requirements may be downloaded from the City of Falls Church’s procurement website: www.fallschurchva.gov/Bids . Notice of the IFB may also be accessed via eVA, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s electronic procurement portal for registered suppliers: www.eva.virginia.gov. For more information and/or questions regarding this IFB contact the City’s Purchasing Agent; (703) 248-5007; purchasing@ fallschurchva.gov. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703 248-5007 (TTY 711).
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS CITY OF FALL CHURCH, VIRGINIA The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on March 12, 2020 at 7:30 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, to consider the following items: Appeal application A1612-20 by Rani Doyle, appellant, to appeal a determination by the Zoning Administrator dated December 12, 2019, and amended and corrected in a letter dated December 13, 2019 in response to a request for determination regarding the subdivision application for 807 Villa Ridge Road, RPC #53-207-048 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1A, Low Density Residential (continued from previous hearing); Variance application V1613-20 by Margaret L. Schwartz, applicant and owner, for a variance to Section 48-238(3)a, to allow rear yard setback of 36 feet instead of 40 feet, for the purpose of constructing a 1-story addition on premises known as 313 Lincoln Avenue, RPC #51-116-031 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1A, Low Density Residential; and Election of Officers Information on the above application is available for review at: Zoning Office 300 Park Avenue, Suite 103 East Falls Church, VA. 703-248-5015 (option 1) zoning@fallschurchva.gov This location is fully accessible to persons with physical disabilities and special services or assistance may be requested in advance. (TTY 711)
OTHER SERVICES NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The ordinance referenced below was given first reading by the City Council on February 24, 2020; second reading and public hearing are scheduled for Monday, March 9, 2020 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as may be heard. (TO20-03) ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCES 1995 AND 1996 AS PREVIOUSLY AMENDED BY ORDINANCE 2003 AND ORDINANCE 2004 REGARDING THE BUDGET OF EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020 FOR THE GENERAL FUND AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM FUNDS This ordinance proposes to reprogram the General Fund Budget and increase the Capital Improvements Program Fund appropriation for FY2020 to provide additional funding for the City Hall Project in the amount of $1,207,000 using FY2020 savings on debt service. All public hearings will be held in the City Council Chambers, City Hall, 300 Park Ave., Falls Church, VA. For copies of legislation, contact the City Clerk’s office at 703-248-5014 or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov. 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). CELESTE HEATH CITY CLERK
Auction AUCTION ALERT! SOUTHERN STATES COOPERATIVE Multi state Fleet Realignment Auction. Farming Equipment Including Spray Trucks, Fertilizer Trucks, Rogators & more! Bid online 2/28 – 3/5 at 11 a.m. at www.motleys. com. Motleys Industrial. 877-MOTLEYS. VA16
AUCTIONS ATTENTION. AUCTIONEERS Advertise your upcoming auctions statewide or 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
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KIDS LOVE SCALLIWAG By Eileen Levy We love to go outside And see the lovely plants From A to Z. Have to tell her not to paw Those lovely flowers by the door. She barks hello to the other pets
A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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1. Aspiring MD’s hurdle 5. Unit of bacon 10. Reaction to a bad pun 14. Hitch together 15. “____ my reasons ...” 16. Song often sung in Italian 17. “Come ____, the water’s fine!” 18. Shrine in Moscow’s Red Square 20. Harsh critic’s favorite anagram? 22. Mazda model 23. Cuba, por ejemplo 24. Maidenform product 27. Nos. on wine labels 28. “Everybody Hurts” band 31. Exhaust 33. Netflix lover’s favorite anagram? 37. James in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 40. The Hunter constellation 41. Not so much 42. Japan traveler’s favorite anagram? 45. Mere smidgen 46. ____ Lanka 47. “Who’s a good boy?” response 50. “I agree” 51. “The Matrix Reloaded” actress Pinkett Smith 55. “That’s the truth!” 57. Crossword enthusiast’s favorite anagram? 60. Bronze producer 63. Gusto 64. Talk show host whose first name is Mehmet
STRANGE BREW
Across 1. Aspiring MD's hurdle
FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 21
65. Book that’s the basis for the movie “What’s Love Got to Do With It” 66. Cockney greeting 67. PlayStation maker 68. Purge, Pied Piper-style 69. Piece of classroom furniture
DOWN
1. “Good heavens!” 2. 1997 film with the tagline “They were deadly on the ground. Now they have wings.” 3. Husky relatives 4. Article of faith 5. River delta deposit 6. Baseball exec Epstein 7. “Amazing” magician 8. Octet of elite schools 9. Kind of colony or code 10. “Do the ____!” 11. Spanish Olympian’s quest 12. Purpose 13. Slap the cuffs on 19. Rusty whose #10 was the first number ever retired by the Montreal Expos 21. Have the audacity 24. “Molto ____!” 25. Toupees, in slang 26. Bonobos, e.g. 29. “Grand slam” of showbiz awards 30. “Dog Barking at the Moon” painter Joan 32. Storage unit on a farm 33. Large inlets
JOHN DEERING
Sudoku
34. Suffix with beat or neat 35. Messes around (with) 36. ____ about (approximately) 37. Online crafts seller 38. It’s a drag 39. Ali had more than 20 of them in his career 43. Sarcastic “Great!” 44. Sardines containers 47. Mutated gene 48. Coke and Pepsi, e.g. 49. “How you holdin’ up?” 52. Steer clear of 53. Al ____ 54. Showing signs of life 56. Went like molasses 57. Like a couch potato 58. Lake ____ (Blue Nile source) 59. Go ____ great length 60. ‘60s activist grp. 61. Expert 62. Guitarist Wood of the Rolling Stones Last Thursday’s Solution S P E C
C U F F S P J S
N O A H
A L V A
P O S A H I F E E Y E A R L E S R S L A T R I C H A R H A A N S W O O V W E B O W E D R A N C I N E Y R I A C L A R E H A Y O G O U U L O T E P A S T Y E
M I S E
A S T A D I D W R A I G S I E
P I N E R S
R O C K I E
D O R E M I
A T A X E N E N T
A G E O A N O S E L E E P A T R I L C O
C H A S E
S T R U T
G O L D
E T S Y
By The Mepham Group
Level 1 2 3 4
5. Unit of bacon 10. Reaction to a bad pun 14. Hitch together 15. "____ my reasons ..." 16. Song often sung in Italian 17. "Come ____, the water's fine!" 18. Shrine in Moscow's Red Square 20. Harsh critic's favorite anagram?
1
22. Mazda model 23. Cuba, por ejemplo 24. Maidenform product 27. Nos. on wine labels Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle
28. "Everybody Hurts" band NICK KNACK
© 2020 N.F. Benton
1
3/1/20
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 sudoku.org.uk. © 2020 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.
LO CA L
PAGE 22 | FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020
dog. lazy ick qu The fox sly p e d j u m the over dog. lazy is the Now for all time cows good co me to aid to the the ir of t u r e . pas
20 s Yearo Ag
is the Now for all time cows good co me to aid to the the ir of t u r e . p a s is the Now for all time cows good me to to coaid of the their.
BACK IN THE DAY
20 & 10 Years Ago in the News-Press Falls Church News-Press Vol. IX, No. 51 • March 2, 2000
It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the p a s their ture . * * * Throw * * Pour it up. it up
Falls Church News-Press Vol. XX, No. 1 • March 4, 2010
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Critter Corner 10 Year s Ago
It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the the ir pas ture . * * * Throw * * Pour it up. it up
Mabry To Run Again and Neighborgall, Holran Also Plan to Run
F.C. School Board ‘Keep Cuts Away from Classes’ in Budget
Falls Church Vice Mayor Sam Mabry made public for the first time last weekend his plans to seek re-election to the Falls Church City Council this May. Two current members of the City’s Planning Commission — Linda Neighborgall and Peter Holran — also announced their candidacies for City Council.
Holding out their commitment to “keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” members of the Falls Church School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to forward a FY11 budget to the City Manager that is $1 million, or 3.6 percent, less than the amount it was granted for the current fiscal year.
C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h
CRIME REPORT Week of Feb. 10 – 16, 2020 Larceny From Building, 1000 blk E Broad St, Between Feb 8 and Feb 16, unknown suspect(s) took an item of value. Larceny From Building, 7100 blk Leesburg Pike, Feb 19 between 11:30 AM and 3 PM, unknown
suspect(s) took items of value. Check Fraud, 6700 blk Wilson Blvd, Feb 20, it was reported that three (3) bad checks had been written since July 2019. Drunk in Public, 300 blk W Broad St, Feb 20 1:10 PM, a male, 26, of no fixed address, was arrested for Drunk in Public.
Commercial Burglary, 500 blk S Washington St, Feb 21 3:53 AM, Unknown suspects broke the main door and attempted to take items of value. Shoplifting, 1100 blk W Broad St, Feb 21 8:21 PM, Unknown suspects took items of value. Assault, 400 blk S Spring St, Feb 23 9:22 AM, a male, 35, of Falls Church City, VA, was arrested for assault. Larceny from Building, 200 blk N Washington St, Feb 22 between 8 and 11 PM, unknown Suspect(s) took items of value.
SODA, with her piercing green eyes and beautiful tabby stripes, is currently in foster with Feline Foundation of Greater Washington and is ready to find her forever home. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.
I asked what kind of family Amina wanted. She said, ‘A family like yours.’ That’s when I knew I had to adopt her.
It’s time to talk about
Alzheimer’s.
Denise, adopted 17-year-old Amina
LEARN ABOUT ADOPTING A TEEN YO U C A N ’ T I M A G I N E T H E R E WA R D
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FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4, 2020 | PAGE 23
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George Mason High Students Start Glass Pick-Up Recycling Service Two enterprising George Mason High School students, junior Jonathan Oppenheimer (right) and freshman Danny Oppenheimer (pictured), have started a glass recycling service for City of Falls Church residents in response to the City’s announcement that it would no longer collect glass in its weekly recycling pick-up service. For $5 or $10 a month, depending on frequency, they will provide curbside pick-up on the first and/or third Wednesday of each month to save residents a trip to the glass recycling container at the City’s Recycling Center, 111 Gordon Road. The service is also available, with a different pricing structure, for local businesses. Payment can be made through Venmo at @GlassHouseFCC or, if necessary, other payment options as mutually agreed upon. For more information, email glasshousefcc@gmail.com or visit shorturl.at/qET27.
Capital Caring Health Expands In-Home Care Capital Caring Health has expanded its nonprofit services to provide primary care at home to people age 65 and older who are home-limited. This new program provides medical house calls by a team that includes a physician, nurse practitioner and social worker who specialize in the care of older adults with advanced illness. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for urgent needs, the new service’s team-based approach helps elders age at home safely and with dignity. Capital Caring Health, which accepts Medicare and other insurance for the doctor and nurse practitioner visits, also provides patients and their families with hospice, grief support, palliative care, veterans health and support services, and patient pet services. For more information call 800-869-2136 or visit www.capitalcaring.org.
Gregory Washington Named New George Mason University President Dr. Gregory Washington has been named the eighth president of George Mason University. Washington is the dean of the Henry Sameuli School of Engineering at the University of California-Irvine. He will join the university on July 1, 2020. For more information, visit www2.gmu.edu. Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.
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Settle Down Easy Wins Gold Medal for Chili Pepper Beer Settle Down Easy Brewing Company has been awarded the best Chili Pepper Beer in the United States by winning gold at the 2020 Best of Craft Beer Awards. The Falls Church nano-brewery was also named best new brewer in Virginia for 2019 by www.ratebeer.com on the same day. Settle Down Easy has grown from 50 barrels to 80 barrels since opening at 2822 Fallfax Drive in November 2018. For more information, visit www.settledowneasybrewing.com.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
PAGE 24 | FEBRUARY 27 - MARCH 4, 2020
THE NIRO EV IS HERE! BEYER KIA IS THE EXCLUSIVE NIRO EV DEALER IN VIRGINIA 1125 W. Broad St., Falls Church, VA
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