3-12-2015 by Falls Church News-Press

March 12 - 18, 2015

Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free

Founded 1991 • Vol. XXV No. 3

Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads

Inside This Week Liberty Tavern Owners Eye Historic F.C. Site The owners of three restaurants in Arlington, successful with operating in older buildings, look to convert the oldest building in Falls Church into a cafe just a block from City Hall. See page 4

Fairfax Woman Struck & Killed on Lee Highway Pavithra Kenjige, 52, of Fairfax County, died late last week after being struck by a car while she was crossing Lee Highway near Stone Road.

Shields Recommends Budget to F.C. City Council With 4-Cent Tax Hike Schools’ Request Accounts for Entire Tax Rate Increase by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

See News Briefs, page 9

Maureen Dowd: Only the Shadow Knows

Somewhere in Smithsonian storage sits a portrait of Bill Clinton with two odd features: He is standing next to a shadow meant to conjure Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress, and he is not wearing his gold wedding ring. See page 13

Press Pass with Rare Essence

Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson, the only founding member of the legendary go-go band Rare Essence still regularly playing with the group says that even after nearly 40 years, he considers the band a new, indie act. See page 25

AT SATURDAY’S LEGISLATIVE Town Hall meeting in McLean were (l. to r.) State Sen. Janet Howell, Del. Marcus Simon, Del. Rip Sullivan, Del. Mark Keam, Del. Kathleen Murphy and Sen. Barbara Favola. (Photo: News-Press)

Democratic Legislators Zero In to Urge 4 McAuliffe Vetoes

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12-13 Comment........14-17 Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining ......22

Sports .................18 Press Pass..........25 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30

Democrats in the Virginia legislature are zeroing in on four bills passed by their Republicancontrolled bodies that they hope to persuade Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to veto this month. Speaking at a post-legislative session town hall meeting in McLean last Saturday, State Del. Marcus Simon, who

represents the 53rd District that includes the City of Falls Church, said the bills, if vetoed by the governor, stand a good chance of not being overridden by the legislature when it convenes for its veto session early next month. The four bills are: HR-1318, requiring applicants for an absentee ballot to attach a copy of a photo-ID to the application; HR-1626 (aka the Tebow

Bill) allowing home schooled students to participate on their local high school sports teams; SB-1237, an effort by Republican State Sen. Bryce Reeves to adjust the boundaries of his own district to make it slightly more Republicanleaning; and, SB-948, that prevents state police from sharing information about concealed

Continued on Page 4

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields having presented his full recommended budget to the F.C. City Council Monday night calling for funding the FY 2016 fiscal year budget with a four cent increase in the real estate tax rate, the public will have its first opportunity to issue its feedback at a town hall meeting this Saturday morning. The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. in the Community Center, 223 Little Falls St. Shields’ recommended budget issued Monday, which as by law included the total School Board request, would increase the real estate tax rate in the City from $1.305 to $1.345 per $100 of assessed valuation. The final decision on this, and all matters pertaining to the budget for the next fiscal year beginning this July 1, are now in the hands of the City Council, which has until the end of April to review all the options, hear from the public, and make its final decisions. While the size of the City’s operating budget grows by 1.59 percent in Shields’ proposed budget – as he is by law required to adopt in full the budget request from the School Board, which voted unanimously last week – it also includes the School Board’s request for a 5.3-percent increase. Thus, the overall budget with these aspects included comes in at $83,068,154, or a 3.1-percent increase over the current fiscal year’s budget. After this Saturday’s town hall meeting, the Council will begin its deliberations in earnest this com-

Continued on Page 5

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Dem Lawmakers Seeking 4 Vetoes from Gov. McAuliffe

Continued from Page 1

weapon permit holders with other states, a classic gun lobby bill. In addition, six Democratic House members have urged Gov. McAuliffe to “make substantial edits” to the conference report that passed the General Assembly just before it adjourned. Del. Simon said in a press release, “We were told that the bill that is now on the governor’s desk, while imperfect, was an improvement over existing law. After having time to read the details of the 48-page conference report, I don’t believe that is true.” Delegates Simon, Ken Plum, Patrick Hope, Sam Rasoul, Scott Surovell and Ron Krupicka put their names to the letter. “We must do more to address the systematic problems that lead to political corruption,” Del. Rasoul wrote. “Voters want lawmakers that can be trusted, and who face consequences when they engage in unethical behavior. Instead of plugging the leaks in the boat of ethics reform, we are simply using a slightly bigger bucket to bail out the corruption year after year. We need to fix it once and for all.” At the McLean town hall meeting Saturday, Del. Simon was joined by fellow Democrats

the

Sen. Janet Howell, Del. Rip Sullivan, Del. Mark Keam, Del. Kathleen Murphy and Sen. Barbara Favola. They all described their successes and frustrations during the just-ended 45 day “short” Richmond legislative session. Del. Simon said he was one of the few to vote against the final budget bill because it did not include money for the Medicaid expansion that was once again blocked in the house. The contingent included new legislators – Del. Murphy and Del. Sullivan – and one second-year “veteran,” Del. Simon. Sen. Howell quipped that all her colleagues in the event had combined tenures “slightly more than half of mine,” having been in the State Senate 24 years. “We messed up the ethics bill by adjourning a day early, in accordance with the Republican leadership,” she said. Given there was no time to address its contents “because of an artificial deadline,” she said, the product was “not a good resolution, and has been savaged by the press.” The frustration over the inability to bring Medicaid expansion to the state as 29 other states have, she and Del. Simon noted, has already led to one hospital closing in an area of the state that needs it the most, and another five hospitals may soon

follow suit. But Howell remains committed to “making a difference in people’s lives,” adding that “to serve in Richmond you have to be an incrementalist.” Sen. Favola said in her fourth year in Richmond, she was frustrated in her pushes for day care regulation and health care expansion, but felt that her bill on campus rape was effective, taking into account the wishes of female students on campuses seeking to “get the support for survivors in traumatic situations.” Rather than requiring police to be called in right away, she said, the bill that passed includes law enforcement to be on an initial investigative team and the identity of victims is kept confidential. “I believe we struck the correct balance,” she said. Otherwise, in addition to facing blocks on health care expansion at the committee levels, the biggest frustration was the inability to overcome gun lobby influence. It went so far this session as to cause a bill preventing someone convicted of sexual assault and stalking from buying a gun for a year to die in a house committee. This November, attendees at the town hall were reminded, every state delegate and senate seat is up for election.

THE BLUE AND GRAY building is the oldest surviving building in the City, having been built in 1797 on W. Broad, later moved to its current location at 205 Park Avenue. (Photo: News-Press)

Liberty Tavern Owners Look To Bring Restaurant to F.C. Site by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

The owners of three restaurants in Arlington, successful with operating in older buildings, are moving through the Falls Church Historic Commission and Historic Architectural Advisory Board with an aim to convert the oldest building in Falls Church into a cafe just a block from City Hall. Mark Fedorchak, a partner in the ownership group operating The Liberty Tavern, the North Side Social Club and Lyon Hall in Arlington that bought the old Blue and Grey Building at the corner of Park and Maple, told the

News-Press, “We truly love Falls Church and there’s no question that we hope to be operating there sometime very soon.” So far the response from the F.C. historical groups have been favorable, according to News-Press sources, because of the owners’ desire to preserve the integrity of the original structure. Their new Falls Church acquisition is also known as the “Old Cloverdale House” and is the oldest surviving in the City, having been built by Willson Clover in 1797 on W. Broad, later moved to its current location at 205 Park Avenue. It has been in disuse to all but critters in recent years, according to sources.

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MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 5

Shields Forwards Budget With 4-Cent Tax Rate Hike Continued from Page 1

ing Monday night with its first budget work session. That session will begin with representatives from all the City departments present to answer questions from the public in a sort of walk-around format for some time before the work session actually begins. The City Manager’s proposed four-cent tax rate increase means that for the 2015 median home value of $643,900 in the City, a $724 increase will be absorbed, including $467 due to assessment growth and $257 due to the fourcent tax rate increase. The budget proposes no increase in the storm water fees that citizens began paying this last year (a cost per average home of $250 a year). The sewer fee will increase by 3.5 percent to $9.73 per 1,000 gallons. Aside from these proposed changes, there are no other changes in tax rates pertaining to personal property, food, entertainment or the Business Professional Occupational Licenses, or BPOL, tax, a business gross-receipts tax that the local Chamber of

Commerce has complained is significantly higher than in surrounding jurisdictions. Monday, the School budget request, adopted by the School Board with a unanimous vote last week, was summarized for the Council by School Board chair Justin Castillo, with Board members Kieran Sharpe and Lawrence Webb and Superintendent Dr. Tony Jones in the room. The City’s capital reserves are now swollen to $12.9 million, including $11.3 milllion from the one-time sale of the City’s water system to Fairfax County last year, the leftover portion of the deal’s cash component once the Council determined to set aside about half of it to shore up its pension fund. The budget proposal shows $9.6 million of the residual reverse component being held for longterm capital improvements, and $1.7 million for immediate capital projects, such as improvements to the area around the intersection of Routes 7 and 29. The Council will adopt a final budget on April 27 after three public hearings and two town hall meetings. The 2016 fiscal year

runs from July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. In the budget document, Shields wrote, “The FY2016 Budget will require tough decisions given the gap between expenditure growth and revenues generated from economic growth in the City. As the Council and community work through these decisions, the City’s long standing financial policies will serve as a guide to keeping debt within manageable levels and avoiding the use of one-time money (such as the fund balance or sale proceeds) for ongoing expenses.” The City Manager’s proposed FY2016 Budget includes a General Government operating budget (not including debt service or pay-asyou-go capital projects) of $35.7 million. The 1.5 percent increase in spending upholds the Council’s official budget guidance for no increase in the tax rate to pay for general government expenditures (not including schools). The proposed budget also includes increased debt service of $816,000 per year for the Mount Daniel Elementary School expansion, which was approved by the

FALLS CHURCH CITY MANAGER Wyatt Shields presented his budget to the City Council Monday night. (P��: N��-P��) voters last fall. As the proposed budget fully funds the School Board’s adopted budget request of $38.8 million, a a 5.3 percent increase over the current year, the total School Division operating budget of $46.7 million represents a 4.7 percent increase. According to a City Hall state-

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ment issued Tuesday, “Absent an increase in tax rates, incorporating the School Board request results in a shortfall of $1.4 million. Accordingly, the proposed budget requires a four cent increase in the real estate tax rate to fully fund the Continued on Page 26

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Vol. XXV, No. 3 March 12 - 18, 2015 • City of Falls Church ‘Business of the Year’ 1991 & 2001 • • Certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia to Publish Official Legal Notices • • Member, Virginia Press Association •

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T� C�� N��-P�� : 703-532-3267 ��: 703-342-0347 ��: ��.�� .�� .�� .�� .�� WWW.FCNP.COM The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2015 Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.

E D I TO R I A L

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Why We’ve Supported F.C. Schools So Much

Over the years, reasonable folks have asked why it seems every year the News-Press takes the side of the School System in its tangles with the City Council to get the funding it feels it needs to sustain what is now almost universally recognized as one of the premiere school systems in America. We’ve followed closely the struggles of the schools virtually every year since our founding in 1991, and have always been persuaded that the funding requests the schools have forwarded to the City and its taxpayers have been reasonable and important. Of course, in most of the cases since then, almost a quarter-century by now, the schools prevailed to get most of what they asked for and, voila, the cumulative result is what we have now, a first rate system that is recognized as such. So, with between about 100 to 200 students graduating from the system every year, over two dozen years that’s a big impact on a lot of students, most of whom went on to college and more, and have been making their important contributions to our society ever since. The whole process is making the world a better place, and we can feel that happening. Few students coming through the Falls Church system wind up as bigoted and hateful, the vast majority are enlightened and compassionate. So, this is the first reason we can give for supporting the schools as consistently as we have over the years: it serves to make the world a better place. The second is perhaps the most narrow and pragmatic reason, from the standpoint of the City of Falls Church. That has to do with the “value added” a quality school system brings to the tax base of the City, as City properties command higher prices as a result of the schools, and therefore, more tax dollars can be derived from an equivalent property compared to the City’s neighbors. We are always reminding our readers about this, that there is what many real estate agents agree is a 10 to 15 percent “value added” on homes in the City due to the schools’ reputation. Then there is the third reason, which we’ve always been keenly aware of though we don’t always talk about it. This is the factor that speaks to the “soul” of the City, and of its residents. We feel that it makes for better people, and therefore a better community, to be persuaded to be considerate of the needs of others, especially of the young and others that cannot take care of themselves, and therefore be willing to reach a little deeper into their pockets to pay for good schools and services. So, more than any other single thing, we take pride for our role in helping to evoke the “higher angels of our natures,” as President Lincoln put it, against impulses to be grumpy and stingy, to make Falls Church a wonderful place to live and raise the next generation.

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Any Doubt from SCOTUS Over Citizens United?

Editor, It’s easy to admire individuals and organizations that examine their past behavior when the negative impact of such behavior is pointed out by others. The negative impact on Democracy by the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision has been widely criticized since it came down five years ago. Two national elections since Citizens United have offered com-

mentators an opportunity to assess its impact, which has been predominately negative. Has there been any speculation about Court members expressing doubt about their decision? Any words overheard at cocktail gathering, by a waiter serving lunch, a neighbor, a spouse speaking too freely, a loose tongued maid or gardener? Nothing! Jerry Barrett Falls Church

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Big Industry Lobbying Smothers Virginia Voters Editor, As Congress is poised to attack a rule that would restore federal protections to 57 percent of Virginia’s streams, Environment Virginia’s recent report titled “Polluting Politics” touches on a salient topic for all Virginians. The report establishes a link between some of the nation’s largest polluters, including Honeywell International Inc., which operates a chemicals and resins plant in Hopewell, Virginia, and their enormous lobbying expendi-

tures and campaign contributions. According to the report, the Hopewell plant spewed more than 170,000 pounds of toxic pollutants into the James River Watershed in 2012 alone. In 2014, the corporation spent over five million dollars to advance their political agenda. Big industries like Honeywell are using their vast financial resources to smother Virginia’s voters and protect their damaging practices. As citizens, it is our duty to make our voices heard and to demand that our decision-makers do what’s right for all Virginians, and not what’s right for a few dirty industrialists. Julia Keane Environment Virginia, Richmond

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MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 7

Falls Church is Losing Teachers to Arlington B� J�� B��

As we enter the City’s budget season for the schools, I think there is a fact all Falls Church City citizens should know. We are losing teachers to Arlington. We are losing some of our best teachers to Arlington simply because they pay more. And we aren’t getting the best teachers each year to replace them, because Arlington is getting them, too. It is true. They pay so much more it makes that much of a difference. On average, these teachers saw an $8,000-$12,000 increase simply by making the move. In the last six years, I can personally name two special education teachers, two math teachers, one science teacher, one speech pathologist, two guidance counselors and one principal that we have lost to Arlington just from the building that I worked. All other schools in Falls Church City Public Schools are losing teachers to Arlington, also. I love Falls Church City schools. I care about my students and I concern myself with anything that gets in the way of their learning. Right now, Arlington County is getting in the way. It wasn’t always this way. In my 13th year of teaching, it was so competitive to get a job in Falls Church City I sat through a day-long job fair just to get a chance to interview. There I was, a veteran Fairfax

County teacher, the Oakton High School Teacher of the Year and department chair, just hoping there was enough time in the day for Falls Church City Schools interviewers to get through the line to reach me. Now, because of the pay gap, the wait-

“I care about my students and I concern myself with anything that gets in the way of their learning. Right now, Arlington County is getting in the way.” ing line is at the Arlington Job Fair, and they are ten times the size of Falls Church City Schools. That line doesn’t take place in Falls Church City any more. And even some our new hires are looking to leave us for Arlington on their first day. At Mary Ellen Henderson we trained a student teacher in math, offered him a job, and lost him to Arlington. Because of the trouble filling this one math position the students

are on their second teacher of this year. We haven’t even been able to fill a foreign language position this year because we can’t find quality people to apply. There are stories like this in all of our schools. Our pay gap with Arlington is so extreme we need a four-year plan just to catch up with where their pay scale used to be. I have been extremely lucky. I am old enough that tuition prices didn’t cripple my future nor control my career path. I was lucky enough to work in the corporate world, at a corporate salary before entering teaching. When I made the choice to leave accounting and become a teacher, I didn’t have student loans and other debt to pay. I was lucky to buy a house before rents and home prices in our area became so prohibitive many teachers can no longer afford to live here. Yet, even a lucky guy like me works seven days a week; five in our schools and the weekend days at my second job. That’s in addition to the school work I take home. This is what a lucky older teacher needs to do, just to make ends meet in Falls Church. Our younger teachers went to college knowing they wanted to teach and took out student loans to make it possible. They have debt and every dollar makes a difference. More of them than you can imagine now have to commute over an hour each way to homes they can afford on a Falls

Church City salary. Think about that when we make an announcement about a delay or closing because of the snow, many were already on their way to work. This is where the proverbial buck stops. These are major deciding factors for everyone, not just educators; quality of life, time on the road, time with family. If I worked in Arlington, I would earn more than both of my jobs; two fewer days for more money. That’s a big choice for a teacher to make and especially a big choice for a parent to make. Actually it’s a big choice for anyone to make. I have chosen to stay because I love Falls Church and our schools. Although, it is getting financially difficult. It’s no secret Falls Church City schools are at the heart of Falls Church City. The high quality of education and small classes define this town. This is not the time to let the teacher flight to Arlington redefine the legacy of this “Little City.” It is time to keep our teachers with commensurate pay to other jurisdictions so we can keep them in Falls Church where they belong; making Falls Church City Public Schools great.  Joel Block is an eight grade math teacher and chair of the Falls Church City Public Schools Professional Educators Advisory Council.

Q�� W�� Will the F.C. City Council adopt the recommended 4-cent tax increase? • Yes • No, it will adopt a lower tax increase

Last Week’s Question:

Did the F.C. School Board make the right decision including teacher raises in its budget?

• No, it won’t increase the tax rate • Don’t know

Log on to www.FCNP.com to cast your vote

FCNP On-Line polls are surveys, not scientiﬁc polls.

[WRITE FOR THE PRESS] The News-Press welcomes readers to send in submissions in the form of Letters to the Editor

& Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks. Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published. All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.

Email: letters@fcnp.com | Mail: Letters to the Editor, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church 22046 | Fax: 703.340.0347

PAGE 8 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

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CHAMBER SPOTLIGHT

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Sislers Stone

7139 Lee Highway, Falls Church sislerstone.com • 703-532-0169 Sislers Stone is a family owned and operated stone and masonry supply shop that has served the greater Falls Church community for over 78 years. Sislers specializes in the procurement of natural stone and manufactured products for patios, walkways, driveways, sitting walls, retaining walls, fire pits, fireplaces, and outdoor living areas, as well as stone veneer products for interior use. What caused you to open and develop your business in Falls Church? It may seem strange to many of today’s residents, but when Sislers first opened in 1937, Lee Highway was just a two lane road, and Falls Church was considered a rural area. Consequently, land was significantly less expensive, and our founder, W.D. Sisler, and his sons saw the property as a great opportunity for growth. Seventy-eight years later, our company lives on, and our business is growing faster than ever! What do you offer the community that makes you stand out in your industry?

Established 1985

Healthy Smiles Begin Here Family, Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry

Sislers offers unparalleled customer service. Many of our sales staff are trained and certified in a variety of installation methods and are able to offer advice and recommendations tailored to our customer’s unique needs. While we do not offer contracting services ourselves, we work with a wide network of contractors that we are able to match to an individual’s project. Sislers Stone and the Sisler family have been active members of the Falls Church community for generations. The Sisler family has been a mainstay of the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department for three generations, and our company makes a point to involve itself in community events from providing the fireplaces for First Night, to sponsoring plays at Creative Cauldron, to sending staff to the Mary Ellen Henderson career day. Sislers, led by our CEO, Steve Sisler, was also instrumental in the founding of local charity, Decorate A Vet, which provides support to veterans and their families around the holidays. Why did you join the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce and why do you continue to maintain your membership?

We joined the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce in 2008 as part of our overall growth strategy. Active chamber membership is a great way to keep abreast of current issues impacting the local business community, access amazing networking opportunities and find ways to contribute to the greater community as a whole.

The Chamber Spotlight is a paid monthly feature sponsored by the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 9

Fa l l s C h u r c h

Quinn’s Auction Galleries of Falls Church will be auctioning off papers, letters and artifacts related to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They have a treasure trove of primary source documents from the Civil Rights era at their Falls Church business. Last week, they opened their doors for George Mason High and Henderson Middle School students to see the items in person, including a letter that President Johnson wrote to Coretta Scott King after her husband’s assassination. The auction will be held today, March 12, from 6 – 10 p.m.

Powdered Alcohol Banned in Va. Given the news this week that “palcohol,” or powdered alcohol, has been approved by the federal government, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and Del. Alfonso Lopez issued a statement noting that the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation this session to ban palcohol in Virginia because of the potential dangers for abuse and misuse. Attorney General Herring issued the following statement on the recently passed legislation: “We moved to keep this potentially dangerous product out of Virginia because we knew that federal approval was pending and it would be difficult to address the problem after the fact. I’m glad the General Assembly agreed it was the right move to protect Virginians, especially young people, because the risk of abuse and misuse is just so high with this product.” Del. Lopez added, “Thanks to the work of AG Herring and the General Assembly, this week’s decision by the federal government will not endanger Virginia’s citizens. While I am disappointed that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau would approve this dangerous substance with such a high potential for abuse, I am proud that we were able to take action this session to protect our young people and ban powdered alcohol in Virginia.”

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NVAR Says Area Housing Market Thriving “This may have been the winter of discontent, but the region’s 2015 housing market has survived it just fine. Low interest rates and strong employment growth point to a sound local market,” said the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors in a statement issued yesterday. “Considering our record-breaking cold and snowy conditions, the fact that 1,075 homes successfully closed in February is a victory,” said Mary Bayat, the 2015 NVAR chair of the board and owner of Bayat Realty in Alexandria. “With average sales prices up four percent and median prices up 6 percent compared with 2014, our 2015 market is off to a strong start,” she said. The increased inventory and relatively stable prices, as well as low interest rates compared to those just last year, create a good opportunity to buy or sell properties in Northern Virginia,” she explained. “Another local indicator is that active listings have risen more than 25 percent,” Bayat said. “That is a sure sign of seller confidence.”

Warner Wins IRS Safety Officer Exemption In a letter to U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the Internal Revenue Service announced this week that firefighters and police officers will not be expected to pay taxes on common clothing items that they are required to wear while on duty. “I am pleased that the IRS has clarified its policy on taxing police and fire department uniforms,” said Sen. Warner, in a statement issued yesterday. “Now our firefighters and police officers can stop worrying about getting taxed for their clothing and concentrate on what they do best: keeping us safe.” Arthur Townsend, president of the Virginia Sheriff’s Association, stated, “On behalf of the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association, I want to thank Sen. Warner for standing up for our members all across Virginia. He continues to demonstrate a clear understanding of our needs and a willingness to support the sheriffs and deputies who put their lives on the line and protect the public.” Last year, Botetourt County, Va., was audited by the IRS and found to owe $91,000 in back taxes, stemming in part from an IRS finding that the locality erred in not taxing deputies for the value of certain common clothing items that are part of their uniforms, according to the statement.

Fairfax Resident Dies in Lee Highway Accident Pavithra Kenjige, 52, of Fairfax County, died late last week after being struck by a car while she was crossing Lee Highway near Stone Rd. last Wednesday, Mar. 4, according to a Fairfax County police report. She was crossing the road in the Metro parking lot just east of Stone Rd. when she was struck by a Toyota Camry. Kenjige suffered severe, life-threatening injuries in the crash and was transported to Fair Oaks Hospital where she died. The driver of the Camry was a 39-year-old man from Culpepper. Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives are investigating the crash, but neither speed nor alcohol appears to have factored into the crash.

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PAGE 10 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

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FORMER ABAARSO STUDENT MUBARIK is one of several students from the northwest Somalian school to attend an American university. He is currently a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (P��: C�� B�� P�� M��)

NoVa Filmmakers Travel to Somalia to Shoot Documentary BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Something had changed in Harry Lee, who had just gotten back from three years working at Abaarso School of Science and Technology, a boarding school in a tiny village in northwest Somalia. Opened in 2009 by a former hedge fund manager named Jonathan Starr, Abaarso had just become the first school in the country to send Somali students to American universities in over three decades. “For me, it was a life-changing experience...I think there’s a lot of international aid projects where they’re working towards something that sort of has this far-off goal,” said Lee, a 28-year-old alumnus of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria. “And that is true at Abaarso. The school’s really trying to change and develop the country by producing these students, who are going to be the future leaders. But working in a school you also get that immediate gratification of helping students and seeing them develop everyday as young people. So it was really an incredible experience.” So Lee – inspired by the Academy Award-winning 2011 film “Undefeated” – reached out to George Mason High School alumnus Ben Powell, a filmmaker friend of his older brother, for help telling Abaarso’s story. “After watching that right around graduation, it gave me the idea that the Abaarso story is something that people would really care about, something that

people would want to see,” Lee said. “That the school has the type of students that people want to root for and want to hear their stories and better understand them.” Lee pitched the idea of making a documentary on Abaarso to Powell and, after some planning, they took an exploratory trip to Somalia last summer to check out the school, interview some of the students to figure out who to focus on and see if the project was feasible. Powell said that’s when he was sold on doing the film, which has a working title of “Abaarso” and is being produced by Powell’s company Ben Powell Media. “These kids are really special,” Powell said. “And there’s something that you can’t really communicate without meeting them. And that’s something that hopefully we’ll be able to tell through the movie.” Lee and Powell spoke to the News-Press a day before flying out to Somalia, where they just began the final phase of filming the documentary. They will be there for three weeks, joined by Kate Griendling, an independent filmmaker who co-produced “Capturing Oswald” for Discovery Communications in 2013. Griendling, an alumna of W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, went to Robert Frost Middle School with Lee. A high school classmate of hers reconnected her with Lee when they found out what he was trying to accomplish and saw the experience she was gaining through her television work. She started talking to Lee about the doc-

umentary in late 2014 and eventually joined the project as a producer. “The more and more Harry and I talked...the more I became committed to the project,” Griendling said. “You know, obviously pro-bono, I just wanted to help a friend and I started to really believe in what Harry’s trying to do and the story he’s trying to tell. And so eventually it became a full-time thing.” Griendling told the News-Press that she joined the project in part because she believed in his vision for the film, but also because she felt a sense of duty to pay forward the education she gained in Fairfax County. She said she also believes in what the Abaarso school is trying to accomplish. “I think that in the worst case scenario the school can be a learning tool and in the best case scenario it can be a blueprint for other developing countries to follow in terms of prioritizing education, interacting with the tribe and clan and culture and making sure there’s this meeting of West and East based in compromise and understanding when so much of what we see on television now and the media is clashing and this idea that they can’t coexist,” Griendling said. So far, Abaarso has been a success story. Students from the school have earned scholarships to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown University and Carnegie Mellon University. Starr had been privately funding the school until it recently received a $300,000 grant from USAID. But people have raised concerns over the potential impact of the school and the school’s safety. Lee said that one of the topics he hears most often when telling people about Abaarso and the documentary he’s working on now is whether or not the school will contribute to the decades-long brain drain of the African continent. “I think it’s especially magnified in this situation because these are the first students from the country to get access to get U.S. education in over 30 years,” Lee said. “There are some American-run schools in Africa that will have contracts that the kids need to sign saying they will go back, but Starr and the staff at Abaarso have really gone out of the way to establish an identity and a culture so that the students understand that they’re all working towards the same mission. They’re all working towards building the country.” He acknowledged the possibility that the Abaarso alumni could “ditch the plan,” of helping to develop the country, but said that, because of the tribal, clan-based nature of the society, there’s a greater emphasis on staying connected to the country. “Everyone is interconnected and Somalis, whether they’re in Somalia or Minneapolis or Toronto or Norway or Australia, all know what’s going on in their community back home,” Lee said. “And they all are very tied together and close-knit, so, for our kids, even if they come to the U.S. for education, they still have this strong pull back home... and they feel this responsibility to their people.”

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Also, Somalia, plagued by news stories about the presence of pirates and Al-Shabaab, was the number one failed state in the world until recently. And it only fell to the number two failed state in the world in 2014, behind war torn South Sudan. Lee, Powell and now Griendling said that family members have expressed concern for their safety in Somalia, a country that has not had an American embassy since the 1990s and has no American military presence. According to Lee, the school has been identified by Al-Shabaab as a potential target. But Powell said that the weeks leading up to his first trip to Abaarso were nerve-wracking, because of his preconceived notions about violence and danger in Somalia. “My dad is in the foreign service and even he was like ‘Do you really know what you’re doing?’ and ‘I don’t know if you should really be going’ but in the area where the school is in Somaliland, violent crime is virtually non-existent,” Powell said. “While I was there I felt very safe and granted it was a third world country, which is a very different experience, but it’s not like I was scared for my life out there.” Griendling said ahead of the trio’s flight to Somalia last weekend that she was afraid, but has been reluctant to admit that because of how much trepidation her family’s expressed. “I’m scared, I am. And it’s something that I try to hide a lot of the time because of my loved ones,” Griendling said. “I’d like to ease the fears of my loved ones, but I think most of what I carry comes from everyone else. I personally feel that I will be okay. But the part of me that’s scared is that if something were to happen, I would be devastated by what that would do to my family.” Still, Griendling said that she knows what she’s getting herself into by going over there and is still compelled by the aforementioned sense of duty. While they’re in Somalia, the “Abaarso” production team will be blogging about their experiences behind the camera and providing commentary about the development of the film and its central characters. Powell said that once they return there will be about another year of post-production to finish the film. Lee said he hopes that the project will help Americans relate to people from a far away place that they will probably never travel to. “We hope that it will be a good experience to hear about a far off place that you don’t hear a lot about through the eyes of local kids,” Lee said. “We all grew up in the local area, went to local high schools, went to universities inside Virginia...and I think for the vast majority of Americans and Northern Virginians who will never set foot in Somalia, I think we can really give them this experience through our own eyes and have them relate to these students’ experiences.”

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 11

F.C. Volunteer Fire Dept. Celebrates 90th Anniversary by Patricia Leslie

Falls Church News-Press

The “great majority” of firefighters have a personal link to saving lives and property, says Ian Weston, the president of the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in late February. “We want to help people.” Weston was 15 when his grandfather suffered cardiac arrest, and it took emergency workers 35 minutes to reach him. En route, paramedics gave Weston’s grandmother CPR instructions over the phone, but it wasn’t enough to save his grandfather’s life. Two years later Weston became a volunteer firefighter, and after he moved to the area, he joined the Falls Church force. Firefighters “have a real passion for what we do,” Weston said. ”Firefighting gets in your blood.” The chief of the Falls Church volunteers is Kevin Henry who says “we are always looking for new members” who can act as emergency operations volunteers for fire and rescue, or help on the administrative side. “Volunteers can support the fire department in 100 different

ways, based on your interest and experience,” said Weston. Right now the department has 63 volunteer members, including nine women, seven of whom work in emergency operations. That membership Is “a huge commitment,” Henry said, generally requiring two years to complete the approximately 800 hours of training, plus more than 200 hours annually for continuing education, attendance at public events, and mandatory meetings. Applicants must be in good physical condition and pass a physical exam. When attorney Paul Melnick joined the force in 1999, training “basically lasted about six months with a few classes in CPR, and radios,” he said. Since 9/11, training is “a lot more stringent,” said Weston, especially in the national capital region with its high standards. Members may shift roles at the fire department like Melnick did when he went over to administration from the operations side, due to his young children. Once his children get older, he said he hopes to return to operations. He serves as a pro bono attorney for the department.

IAN WESTON, president of the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department, describes the parts of a fire engine at the fire hall at 6950 Little Falls Road in Arlington. (Photo: Patricia Leslie/News-Press) “This is a very serious mission,” Henry said, “a very serious activity which requires a lot of time upfront,” and he reiterated the department’s mission: To aid

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Continued on Page 30

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PAGE 12 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

News-Press

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes Sylvan Learning Center of F.C. Offers Free Reading Events Sylvan Learning Center of Falls Church invites the community to nominate local school classrooms for a free reading event hosted by the center throughout the entire month of March in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. The center will host a fun reading event in the nominated classroom for the students and invite them to take a reading pledge. The goal of the National Education Association, the organization promoting March as National Reading Month, is to have every child in North America reading this month in support of Read Across America and Dr. Seuss. “Read Across America provides an ideal chance for parents, teachers and staff to introduce reading as the enjoyable, entertaining activity that it can be,” said Matt Weiske, center director at Sylvan Learning Center of Falls Church. “In addition, studies have shown that the more reading a child does

at home, the more it enhances that child’s performance at school.” For more information or to nominate a classroom, e-mail Weiske at center@sylvancenterfallschurch. com.

C.A.T.C.H. Foundation Receives $10,000 Grant The Little City C.A.T.C.H. Foundation received a $10,000 visioning grant from Falls Church’s Lethbridge & Associates, the foundation announced last week. Several members of The Little City C.A.T.C.H. Foundation participated in the second of three visioning sessions to set the course for 2020. Moira Lethbridge is the founder, trainer, coach, speaker and organizational guide of Lethbridge & Associates, LLC. In her previous position as president and chief economic officer of Paltech, Inc., she grew the young professional services firm from five to 250 employees and increased revenue from $3 to $35 million. She was awarded Washington SmartCEO

Magazine’s “Smart 100” in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Now she draws on her 25 years of organizational experience to increase the productivity and improve the performance of individuals and companies. For more information about the The Little City C.A.T.C.H. Foundation, visit thelittlecity.org.

Falls Church GOP Features Presentation on Putin The Falls Church City Republican Committee is featuring a presentation on Russian President Vladimir Putin next Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 a.m. at the American Legion Post 130 at 400 North Oak Street. Ekaterina Egorova, Ph.D, the political adviser to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, will give a presentation featuring research she’s done offering an explanation for Putin’s recent actions in Eastern Europe. Egorova has published several books, including One Cannot be Born a Politician: How to

MEMBERS OF THE THE LITTLE CITY C.A.T.C.H. Foundation with Moira Lethbridge (fourth from the right), founder of Lethbridge & Associates, at the second of three visioning sessions to help the foundation set the course for 2020. The foundation received a $10,000 visioning grant from Lethbridge & Associates, LLC, it announced last week. (Photo: Courtesy of Barb Cram)

become an Effective Political Leader, published in 1993, Games with Toy Soldiers: The Political Psychology of Presidents (2004) and In the Fog of War: Offensive Military Communicative Technologies (2010). According to a press release from the Falls Church City GOP about the event, Egorova said a year ago at Washington’s National Press Club that President Obama may have made a mistake in not accepting Putin’s invitation to attend the Sochi Olympics and predicted that Crimea or Moldova might be targeted for military action. Next Thursday’s presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a Falls Church GOP meeting at 8:15 p.m.

WRAP Offers Free St. Patrick’s Day Cab Rides in Falls Church The Washington Regional Alcohol Program is sponsoring free cab rides in Falls Church next Tuesday, March 17, for St. Patrick’s Day. The 2015 St.

Patrick’s Day SoberRide program will be in operation from 4 p.m. on March 17 – 4 a.m. on March 18 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday. “According to government figures, nearly three-fourths of U.S. highway deaths on St. Patrick’s Day involved drunk drivers operating at twice the legal limit,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s president. During the SoberRide program area residents who are celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number, 1-800200-TAXI (8294), and be afforded a free (up to a $30 fare), safe way home. Loc al taxicab companies throughout the Washingtonmetropolitan area provide this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking. For more information, visit soberride.com.

VIRGINIA SUN (front, second from the left), a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and winner of the Falls Church Rotary Club’s Speech Contest, won the Rotary Area Speech Contest on March 4. She advances to the Rotary District Finals this Saturday, March 14, in Fredericksburg. She is shown in the photo above after the March 4 competition. (Courtesy Photo)

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

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

League of Women Voters Hosts Forum on Route 7

The League of Women Voters of Falls Church is hosting a forum on the future plans for route 7 on Sunday, March 22, from 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4:30 p.m. at the Falls Church Community Center at 223 Little Falls St., Falls Church. Speakers at the forum include Mason District supervisor Penny Gross and Falls Church Vice Mayor David Snyder. For more information, visit lwvfallschurch.org.

Columbia Baptist Offers First-Ever Spring Break Camp Columbia Baptist Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Camp Columbia is offering its first ever Spring Break camp for children in grades kindergarten â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6. The camp will be held March 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April 3. Activities planned for the camp are art, cooking, sports, large group games, a visit from the Game Truck, walking field trips to the Mary Riley Styles Public Library and Sweetfrog in the City. The Camp runs from 7:30 a.m. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 p.m. daily and two snacks and a hot lunch will be provided. Registration costs $250 per child for the week and spots are limited. For more information or to register, visit columbiabaptist.org/springbreak.

VCE Hosting Several Gardening Clinics in March The Virginia Cooperative Extensionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Arlington County office is hosting several gardening clinics throughout the month of March, which were scheduled to start last Saturday, March 7, with a clinic on how to propagate perennials taught by Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Bob

Lund, but it was postponed due to the cold weather. That clinic has been rescheduled to March 21 at 9 a.m. at the Sunny Demonstration Garden in Bon Air Park, on the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Lexington Street in Arlington. This Saturday the Virginia Cooperative Extension is hosting two gardening events. First, the Master Gardeners of Arlington/ Alexandria are hosting a program called Preparing a Vegetable Garden from 9:30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11 a.m. at the Fairlington Community Center at 3308 S. Stafford St., Arlington. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the second in a three-program series on vegetable gardening at which participants can learn how to start plants from seeds, how to transplant vegetables into the garden and how to sow seed directly into the soil. It will also cover basic gardening tools and how to care for them. Also on Saturday, Arlington County Extension Agent Kristen Buhls will lead a workshop on winter pruning from 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 p.m. at 2614 Ridge Road Dr., Alexandria. The workshop will address what shrubs, plants and trees to prune in late winter and early spring as well as teach participants how to prune, what tools to use and how to care for them. On Tuesday, March 16, the Master Gardeners of Arlington/ Alexandria will present a program covering the basics of creating a beautiful, sustainable yard using native plants as well as methods that reduce resources, time and money. The program will be held at Fairlington Community Center from 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 8:30 p.m. Next Saturday, March 21, the Master Gardeners of Arlington/ Alexandria will present a program called Container Gardening for Parents and Children from 1:30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3:30 p.m. at Burke Branch Library at 4701 Seminary Road,

LO CA L Alexandria. The program will focus on the types of plants that can be combined in a container, creative ideas for containers and soil selection and maintenance techniques to keep container gardens flourishing. On Monday, March 23, Master Gardener Sally Baker will present a program on combining purchases from the grocery store with herbs from the garden to create healthy and appealing dishes from 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 8:30 p.m. at Burke Branch Library. All of the programs are free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested at mgnv.org.

The McLean Orchestra Presents Amadeus The McLean Orchestra, under the direction of maestra Miriam Burns, will present â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amadeus,â&#x20AC;? March 14 at 8 p.m. at the Oakcrest School at 850 Balls Hill Road, McLean. The concert will feature flute and harp duo, Duo Rhone. Flutist Julietta Curenton and harpist Bridget Kibbey began performing together at the International Chamber Music Competition in Arles, France where they won the premier prix. They will be performing Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular Concerto for Flute and Harp. Also, on the program are Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Symphony No. 25, Adagio from the Serenade No. 10 and a work by Mozartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cinematic rival, Antonio Salieri. The orchestra will perform his Sinfonia in D (Veneziana). Tickets for the concert are $40 for adults, $30 for seniors and $15 for students and education professionals. A cake and champagne reception will follow the concert in the lobby. For more information or to buy tickets, visit mclean-orchestra.org or call 703-893-8646.

GIRL SCOUT CADETTE TROOP 3014, from Service Unit 55-2 of the Girl Scout Council of the Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Capital hosted a very fun World Thinking Day event at Falls Church High School on Friday, February 27th. (Pďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝: Cďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ ďż˝ďż˝ Sďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ Uďż˝ďż˝ďż˝ďż˝)

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 13

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PAGE 14 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

NATI O NA L

The Cost of Relativism

One of America’s leading political scientists, Robert Putnam, has just come out with a book called Our Kids about the growing chasm between those who live in college-educated America and those who live in highschool-educated America. It’s got a definitive collection of data about this divide. Roughly ten percent of the children born to college grads grow up in single-parent households. Nearly 70 percent of children born to high school grads do. There are a bunch of charts that look like open scissors. In the 1960s or 1970s, college-educated and noncollege-educated families behaved roughly the same. But since then, behavior patterns have ever more sharply diverged. High-school-educated parents dine with their children less than collegeeducated parents, read to them less, talk to NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE them less, take them to church less, encourage them less and spend less time engaging in developmental activity. Interspersed with these statistics, Putnam and his research team profile some of the representative figures from each social class. The profiles from high-school-educated America are familiar but horrific. David’s mother was basically absent. “All her boyfriends have been nuts,” he said. “I never really got to see my mom that much.” His dad dropped out of school, dated several women with drug problems and is now in prison. David went to seven different elementary schools. He ended up under house arrest and got a girl pregnant before she left him for a drug addict. Kayla’s mom married an abusive man but lost custody of their kids to him when they split. Her dad married a woman with a child but left her after it turned out the child was fathered by her abusive stepfather. Kayla grew up as one of five half-siblings from three relationships until her parents split again and coupled with others. Elijah grew up in a violent neighborhood and saw a girl killed in a driveby shooting when he was 4. He burned down a lady’s house when he was 13. He goes through periods marked by drugs, clubbing and sex but also dreams of being a preacher. “I just love beating up somebody,” he told a member of Putnam’s team, “and making they nose bleed and just hurting them and just beating them on the ground.” The first response to these stats and to these profiles should be intense sympathy. We now have multiple generations of people caught in recurring feedback loops of economic stress and family breakdown, often leading to something approaching an anarchy of the intimate life. But it’s increasingly clear that sympathy is not enough. It’s not only money and better policy that are missing in these circles; it’s norms. The health of society is primarily determined by the habits and virtues of its citizens. In many parts of America there are no minimally agreed upon standards for what it means to be a father. There are no basic codes and rules woven into daily life, which people can absorb unconsciously and follow automatically. Reintroducing norms will require, first, a moral vocabulary. These norms weren’t destroyed because of people with bad values. They were destroyed by a plague of nonjudgmentalism, which refused to assert that one way of behaving was better than another. People got out of the habit of setting standards or understanding how they were set. Next it will require holding people responsible. People born into the most chaotic situations can still be asked the same questions: Are you living for short-term pleasure or long-term good? Are you living for yourself or for your children? Do you have the freedom of self-control or are you in bondage to your desires? Next it will require holding everybody responsible. America is obviously not a country in which the less educated are behaving irresponsibly and the more educated are beacons of virtue. America is a country in which privileged people suffer from their own characteristic forms of selfindulgence: the tendency to self-segregate, the comprehensive failures of leadership in government and industry. Social norms need repair up and down the scale, universally, together and all at once. People sometimes wonder why I’ve taken this column in a spiritual and moral direction of late. It’s in part because we won’t have social repair unless we are more morally articulate, unless we have clearer definitions of how we should be behaving at all levels. History is full of examples of moral revival, when social chaos was reversed, when behavior was tightened and norms reasserted. It happened in England in the 1830s and in the U.S. amid economic stress in the 1930s. It happens through organic communal effort, with voices from everywhere saying gently: This we praise. This we don’t. Every parent loves his or her children. Everybody struggles. But we need ideals and standards to guide the way.

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David Brooks

Partying Like It’s 1995 Six years ago, Paul Ryan, who has since become the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the GOP’s leading voice on matters economic, had an Op-Ed article published in The New York Times. Under the headline “Thirty Years Later, a Return to Stagflation,” he warned that the efforts of the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve to fight the effects of financial crisis would bring back the woes of the 1970s, with both inflation and unemployment high. True, not all Republicans agreed with his assessment. Many asserted that we were heading for Weimar-style hyperinflation instead. Needless to say, those warnings proved totally wrong. Soaring inflation never materialNEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ized. Job creation was sluggish at first, but more recently has accelerated dramatically. Far from seeing a rerun of that ’70s show, what we’re now looking at is an economy that in important respects resembles that of the 1990s. To be sure, there are big differences between America in 2015 and America in the ‘90s. TV is much better now, the situation of workers much worse. While stocks are high and there is talk of a new technology bubble, there’s nothing like the old euphoria. There is also, unfortunately, no sign that the great productivity surge of 1995-2005, brought on as businesses adopted information technology, is coming back. Still, we’re now adding jobs at a rate not seen since the Clinton years. And it goes without saying that low inflation combined with rapid job growth makes nonsense of all those predictions that Obamacare, or maybe just the president’s bad attitude, would destroy the private sector. But pointing out yet again just how wrong the usual suspects on the right have been about, well, everything isn’t the only reason to note parallels with the 1990s. There are also implications for monetary policy: Recent job gains have brought the Fed to a fork in the road very much like the situation it faced circa 1995. Now, as then, job growth has taken the official unemployment rate down to a level at which, according to conventional wisdom, the economy should be overheating and inflation should be rising. But now, as then, there is no sign of the predicted inflation in the actual data. The Fed has a dual mandate – it’s supposed to achieve both price stability and full employment. At

Paul Krugman

this point price stability is conventionally taken to mean low but positive inflation, at around two percent a year. What does it mean to achieve full employment? For the Fed, it means reaching the NAIRU – the nonaccelerating-inflation rate of unemployment, which is consistent with that inflation target. The Fed currently estimates the NAIRU at between 5.2 percent and 5.5 percent, and the latest report puts the actual unemployment rate at 5.5 percent. So we’re there – time to raise interest rates! Or maybe not. The NAIRU is supposed to be the unemployment rate at which the economy overheats and an inflationary spiral starts to kick in. But there is no sign of inflationary pressure. In particular, if the job market really were tight, wages would be rising quickly, whereas they are in fact going nowhere. The thing is, we’ve been here before. In the earlyto-mid 1990s, the Fed generally estimated the NAIRU as being between 5.5 percent and six percent, and by 1995, unemployment had fallen to that level. But inflation wasn’t actually rising. So Fed officials made what turned out to be a very good choice: They held their fire, waiting for clear signs of inflationary pressure. And it turned out that the U.S. economy was capable of generating millions more jobs, without inflation, than it would have if the Fed had reined in the boom too soon. Are we in a similar situation now? Actually, I don’t know – but neither does the Fed. The question, then, is what to do in the face of that uncertainty, with no inflation problem yet in sight. To me, as to a number of economists – perhaps most notably Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary – the answer seems painfully obvious: Don’t yank away that punch bowl, don’t pull that rate-hike trigger, until you see the whites of inflation’s eyes. If it turns out that the Fed has waited a bit too long, inflation might overshoot 2 percent for a while, but that wouldn’t be a great tragedy. But if the Fed moves too soon, we might end up losing millions of jobs we could have had – and in the worst case, we might end up sliding into a Japanese-style deflationary trap, which has already happened in Sweden and possibly in the eurozone. What’s worrisome is that it’s not clear whether Fed officials see it that way. They need to heed the lessons of history – and the relevant history here is the 1990s, not the 1970s. Let’s party like it’s 1995; let the good, or at least better, times keep rolling, and hold off on those rate hikes.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

NATI O NA L

Are 47 GOP Senators ‘Traitors?’

The appalling development of the week: Did you see that 47 Republican Senators were filmed riding a bus in Oklahoma singing outrageously racist lines? Oh, wait! Well, you can understand why I might mix those two events up. They bore a lot of similarity to my mind. As for the 47 Senators who decided they’re now determining U.S. foreign policy, and not the president, by sending a letter to the Iranian mullahs usurping the president’s authority, you’d think it might occur to them that they’d “crossed the line” when a major U.S. daily newspaper, the New York Daily News, by the way also a critic of the president’s negotiations with Iran, reacted to the letter by screaming on its front page Tuesday, “Traitors.” FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS Also on its front page, the editors of the Daily News quoted from their editorial, saying, “Regardless of President Obama’s fecklessness in negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, 47 Republican U.S. senators engaged in treachery by sending a letter to the mullahs aimed at cutting the legs out from under America’s commander-in-chief. We strenuously condemn their betrayal of the U.S. constitutional system.” While plenty of Democrats, including the President and VicePresident, had lots of things to say about this treacherous move, having such strong words come from a conservative newspaper editorial accounts for something. The Daily News editorial, entitled “Un-Patriot Games,” said, “The participants represented the bulk of the Republicans’ 54-member senatorial majority, vesting their petulant, condescending stunt with the coloration of an institutional foreign policy statement. They are an embarrassment to the Senate and to the nation.” In this negotiation with Iran, “there will be no place for juvenilia, and should not have been at this expectant juncture,” the editorial went on, adding, “Horrendously, every member of the Republican Senate leadership signed the letter...only seven Republicans showed enough sense not to go along...The process should play out as envisioned by the Founding Fathers, not as executed by faith-breaking frauds.” I mentioned this outrage in the same sentence as the University of Oklahoma racist scandal – fraternity students lustily belting out lyrics using the “n” word and pledging that a “n” will hang from a tree before being allowed into the fraternity – because of the similar sentiment involved in the two incidents. The incident caught on tape on the bus was, sad to say, not an isolated one, as students on the campus told reporters, just as with the report of rapes on the University of Virginia campus last fall. Enough furious blow-back in that latter case has everyone pretending it just never happened, or anything like it. The “good old (white) boy” middle-American culture is clearly passing on its values to the younger generations, into the hands of those obsessed with preserving their inherited entitlement to dominion over women and racial minorities. That lies at the heart of the matter for them; most everything else is secondary. What gets them most upset, dating back to the slave trade days and as reflected in the words of the racist chant on the bus, is not someone’s color, but that a person of color presumes to be an equal, to join a whiteboy fraternity. That leads to lynching, just as it did countless times in the old South. Why the irrational hatred of all things Obama, then? Fox News leads the drumbeat for universal Obama hatred in every way except for thinveiling its racist appeal. So we have all those Republican Senator white boys feeling completely entitled to usurp the reins of foreign policy from President Obama, and to do so without apology. They feel compelled to take this approach because the president has gotten so “uppity” in recent months. Instead of bowing before his masters after the mid-terms last November, he’s awakened to his own power, inherent in his office, and is exercising it. So the gloves are off on both sides now, though the right wing will have to go to even greater extremes to undermine the Constitution to get its way, especially if it loses the next election. Few in America are in any mood for a coup, however.

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 15

Nicholas F. Benton

 Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.

Only the Shadow Knows WASHINGTON – Somewhere in Smithsonian storage sits a portrait of Bill Clinton with two odd features: He is standing next to a shadow meant to conjure Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress, and he is not wearing his gold wedding ring. As we have been reminded by a recent wild cascade of stories, everything about the Clintons is convoluted. Nothing is simple, even a celebratory portrait. Nelson Shanks, picked by Clinton to do his portrait for the National Portrait Gallery, revealed to the Philadelphia Daily News that he had used a blue dress on a mannequin to evoke the shadow of the Lewinsky scandal in the portrait. I called the 77-year-old artist to ask about his devilish punking. “It’s an extra little kick going on in the painting,” he said. “It was a bit humorous, but there was also a sort of authenticity to it. To do a Pollyanna, basically meaningless, symbolically neutral painting of somebody that has had a powerful influence on society is really copNEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ping out.” He said that Clinton’s lack of a wedding band has no ulterior meaning, noting: “I just forgot the ring.” He said when the omission first made news after the portrait was unveiled in 2006, Hillary Clinton sent him “a lovely little note saying don’t worry about it, this is just a tempest in a teapot.” In a blog post last week, Eugénie Bisulco, a Clinton administration staffer who led the search team for a White House portrait artist, said it wasn’t Shanks’ attempt to put in “a moral compass” that grated. (The Clintons didn’t even know about that.) Bisulco said it was that the portrait made Clinton look like “a disheveled Ted Koppel.” Shanks said it was “like an ice pick going through my back” when he learned that his portrait was “exiled to the dark recesses” in 2009. On a visit to the museum a year and a half ago, he heard a docent telling a tour group that the Clintons put the kibosh on the painting. He asked Kim Sajet, now director of the National Portrait Gallery, and she confirmed his darkest fears in an email, saying that they took it down because the Clintons disliked it. But, in response to a query, Sajet admitted that she was “repeating unfounded gossip,” according to a spokeswoman, and insisted that the painting is merely in rotation.

Maureen Dowd

Shortly after the art imbroglio broke, an email imbroglio broke. The Times’ Michael Schmidt reported that, as secretary of state, Hillary did not preserve her official correspondence on a government server and exclusively used a private email account. She used a private server linked to her Chappaqua home, only turning over cherry-picked messages in December at the State Department’s request. Given the paranoid/legalese perspective that permeates Clintonland, this made sense: It’s hard to request emails from an account you don’t know exists. And your own server can shield you from subpoenas and other requests. If you want records from the Clinton server, you have to fight for them. Instead of warning the secretary that she could be violating regulations, her aides fetishized her clintonemail.com account as a status symbol. Chelsea took on the pseudonym Diane Reynolds. Near midnight on Wednesday, Hillary tweeted that she had asked the State Department to release the emails she had coughed up when pressed, noting: “I want the public to see my email.” Less true words were never spoken. Schmidt’s scoop followed The Wall Street Journal revelation that at least 60 companies that lobbied the State Department when Hillary was in charge had funneled more than $26 million to the Clinton Foundation. Certainly, Hillary wants a lot of control. She has spent a lifetime cleaning up messes sparked by her overweening desire for control and her often out-of-control mate. Everyone is looking for signs in how Hillary approaches 2016 to see whether she’s learned lessons from past trouble. But the minute this story broke, she went back to the bunker, even though she had known for months that the Republicans knew about the account. The Clintons don’t sparkle with honesty and openness. Between his lordly appetites and her queenly prerogatives, you always feel as if there’s something afoot. Everything needs to be a secret, from the Rose Law Firm records that popped up in a White House closet two years after they were subpoenaed to the formulation of her health care plan. Yet the Clintons always act as though it’s bad form when you bring up their rule-bending. They want us to compartmentalize, just as they do, to connect the dots that form a pretty picture and leave the other dots alone. But, given all the mistakes they’ve made, why do they keep making them? Why do they somehow never do anything that doesn’t involve shadows?

CO MME NT

PAGE 16 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross

The impacts of the recent snowstorms had a brighter, even humorous, side, in the artistic talents of Mason District resident Walter Crain. Falls Church News-Press readers may recall a photograph, published a couple of weeks ago, of a snow sculpture of a three-quarter size Volkswagen “Beetle.” It was eerily accurate, reflecting a lot of effort on the part of the artist, and brought smiles to the faces of those who saw either the photo or the actual snow sculpture. Following last Thursday’s snow storm, I checked out Walter’s latest effort. The VW had thawed, but there was Walter, garden trowel in hand, creating a giant flower bud in the snow. About four feet across and two feet high, the snow bud appeared to be pushing its way up through the snow, like a crocus or tulip stirring from winter slumber. Using snow as his medium, Walter brings delight to his neighbors with his artistic creations. His sculptures may be fleeting (the flower bud melted in the warmer weather), but the beauty of his designs makes one yearn (almost) for more snow to see what develops next. Thank you, Walter! Several important meetings are happening in Mason District during the next several days. On Wednesday, March 18, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Annandale is hosting a meeting to discuss the problem of teen human trafficking in the region. Fairfax County Police Detective Bill Woolf has been involved for many years in rescuing teens from sex trafficking, and working to educate the public about this growing problem for our young people. The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m.; St. Barnabas is located at 4801 Ravensworth Road

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From the Front Row: Kaye Kory’s

Richmond Report

in Annandale. The Mason District Budget Town Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale. County Executive Edward L. Long, Jr., will discuss his recommendations for the FY 2016 budget, and will take questions from the community following his presentation. The Board of Supervisors will hold public hearings about the budget proposal on April 7, 8, and 9 at the Fairfax County Government Center. Don’t forget to bring canned goods and non-perishable foods to re-stock ACCA’s food pantry; you can drop them in the bin provided at the meeting. The long-awaited reopening of the renovated and expanded Woodrow Wilson Library will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, March 21, at 10 a.m., at the library, 6101 Knollwood Drive in the Culmore area of Bailey’s Crossroads. The new library was completed on time and within budget. Major building systems were upgraded, and the building on target to attain a LEED Silver certification. The facility is gorgeous, with lots of natural light, new quiet study rooms, a large community room. Entertainment throughout the day will include a Lion and Dragon Dance at 11:30 a.m., and a Kaydee Puppet Show at 3 p.m. No RSVP is necessary; bring the whole family and enjoy! I look forward to seeing you there.

Open Letter to Governor McAuliffe: I am in complete support of the intent of the ethics reform bill HB 2070. However, after careful reading of the final version which was presented at the end of the very last day of this session, I have serious concerns about a number of points and urge you to amend HB 2070 with the following in mind: 1) The composition of the Ethics Council; • Membership consists solely of legislators and one retired judge, who could well have been a legislator; • Members are not required to have specific expertise, training or experience; • Members are appointed by small group of legislators without the input or approval of the Governor, General Assembly or the public; 2) There are no operating procedures or guidelines for the Ethics Council operating pro Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in cedures. If the driving goal of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be ethics reform is to rebuild the emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov. now-shaken public trust, the nuts and bolts of how the Council will function is key. As always, the devil is in the details and the details need to be vetted in the sunshine. Let’s see answers to these questions: Non Repro Blue • How will decisions be made? majority vote? unaniCLIENTS 1 127599 02:18 5/22/02 mous consent? how many members must be present for business to be conducted? • What is the role of the Executive Director? as a voting Council member or purely advisory? • Are meetings open to the public? agendas published? votes recorded? minutes posted? • Are Council documents/

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records available under FOIA? HB 2070 covers not only members of the Legislature, but all locally elected governing bodies as well, including school boards. Provisions in this bill allow these local officials to exempt any of their members, appointees and/or employees from filing disclosure forms, and the disclosure forms that are filed locally are required to be stored only at the local level – no longer will continue to be submitted to the state and made public electronically. Undefined terms such as ‘reasonable amount of time’ for many required disclosures and “substantially similar forms” used for such disclosures weaken the bill and offer very tempting loopholes. HB 2070 also contains provisions which exempt the deans and chairs of public institutions of higher education from disclosure. How is this special treatment justified? There is no clear limit on reporting of aggregate gifts to any elected representatives. Finally, I am particularly concerned that HB 2070 is silent on the so-called Revolving Door for legislators, i.e. the ability to resign office and accept highpaying state government positions without penalty or sanction. WV 85 all DOLEV Governor, Virginians are looking to you to approve only the most ethical of Ethics Reform legislation – please reform HB 2070.

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 Delegate Kory represents the 38th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. She may be emailed at DelKKory@house. virginia.gov.

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Forward vs. Backward

It is ironic that those who often pose as patriots and extol themselves as “real” or “traditional” Americans are the most likely to be a drag on our nation. There really are two Americas, forward and backward, and the Republican Party and its apparatchiks have a monopoly on the latter. It is not that the Democrats are pure and beyond reproach. But the GOP has cast its lot with seedier special interests known as “the base.” Nefarious lobbies that are in favor of pollution, tax cuts for the greedy at the expense of the needy, perpetual war, intolerance and religious extremism, represent this coalition of crackpots. It ensures that the GOP is bound to backwardness, bigotry, and irrationality. For example, Florida’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, has instituted a Soviet-like policy where the state’s environmental agencies are not allowed to use terms such as “global warming,” “climate change,” “sea level rise” or “sustainability.” Scott’s Orwellian command is shortsighted and reckless, when one considers that a large swath of Florida may be swallowed by the rising sea. Another example of “Backward America” is conservative views on gay marriage. A Wall Street Journal poll released this week showed record high support for same-sex couples marrying (59 percent). The only group that is stuck in the past is “core Republican voters,” with only 29 percent in favor of marriage equality. This antiquated mindset will be a terrible anchor on Republican presidential nominees, turning off Independents and young voters. The anachronistic reputation of the Republican Party was cemented by the behavior of the Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who is defying the federal court on gay marriage. It is remarkably tone deaf for Moore to pull his George Wallace-like grandstanding stunt on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma march for voting rights. Making matters worse, the GOP leadership in Washington came across as allergic to appearing at the historic tribute in Selma. They did everything in their power to avoid the festivities. Indicative of the corrosive mindset of modern conservatism is Glenn Beck, who used his radio show on Monday to rant against Google. He was incensed because a team of computer scientists at this company had discovered a way to rank search results by a web page’s factual accuracy, rather than by popularity. Beck actually said that this was a bad idea because people can’t agree on what the facts are on issues such as climate change. Like many conservatives – such as serial FOX fabulist Bill O’Reilly – Beck doesn’t comprehend the notion of “facts” and believes they are merely political opinions open to debate, spin and make believe. Such foolishness represents the tragic dumbing down of the conservative movement. Emotional exploitation has been substituted for critical thinking, while the GOP scrapes the bottom of the barrel to attract America’s most gullible and easily manipulated voters. Another conservative talk radio host, Michael Savage, may have hinted at the future direction of America’s right wing. He touted French reactionary Marine Le Pen’s party, The National Front, as a model for American conservatism. His warped vision is to have a nationalist party that is virulently anti-Muslim, socially conservative, and committed to deporting immigrants. His barbaric vision could become a reality if a perceived pro-immigration moderate, such as Jeb Bush, gets the GOP nomination. Having suffered through the alleged indignity of Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney as nominees, it’s possible that conservatives may finally abandon the Republican ship and start a new party modeled on Europe’s growing totalitarian movements. In some ways, Republicans are already charting a brazen new course. House Speaker John Boehner audaciously hosted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Capitol Hill. This was followed by a chutzpah-laden letter, signed by 47 Republican Senators this week, warning Iran against signing a deal to halt its nuclear program. This unprecedented usurping of presidential power is beyond disrespectful. It attacks the very legitimacy of Obama, violates the separation of powers, confuses our allies, emboldens our enemies and borders on treason. Today’s radical GOP has no shame and is dragging America in a dangerous, unpredictable direction. Modern Conservatism has devolved into a pathological mutant movement of unstable, tantrum throwing contrarian extremists with no discernable philosophies other than selfcentered opportunism and nihilistic obstruction. To function properly, America needs two viable political parties, but one has ceased to be a reasonable alternative. The GOP proudly represents “Backward America” and in doing so may rob us of our future.

Wayne Besen

CO MME NT

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 17

Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

Arlington’s talented pool of painters is peopled by joiners as well as loners. Among the latter – and among the most commercially successful artists nationwide – is longtime Arlingtonian Paul McGehee. Known for his deeply researched historical flavor, McGehee has sold hundreds of oils in his “luminist” style. His works hang in the collections of presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush as well as those of well-known entertainers, athletes, corporations, government agencies and local historical societies. (I recently toured the chambers of Arlington Juvenile Domestic Relations Court Judge George Varoutsos, who displays McGehee’s work.) Two years ago I was shown McGehee’s rendition of “Arlington House,” showing Robert E. Lee out front, a slave behind him tending a carriage. Soon I was helping induct McGehee, a member of the class of ’78 whose family I grew up with, in the Yorktown High School Hall of Fame and Inspiration. McGehee’s canvas reaches our entire region, but some of his best work, in my untutored opinion, features Arlington.

A most recent painting is titled “Potomac River Vista – 1955,” an Arlington-centric aerial portrait of Key Bridge showing the old Hot Shoppes in Rosslyn. The artist retains fond child memories of that local chain’s orange freezes and “teen twist” sandwiches, he told me. After taking courses at the Corcoran Gallery after high school, McGehee began selling his work in 1981 in Ballston. Since 1995, he has run things from his gallery in Old Town Alexandria, now with a staff of three. He has 250 paintings in print, “a lot of art for one guy,” he says. Large originals go for $55,000 to $75,000, smaller ones in the $8000-$12,000 range. He sells prints for $200 and “remarques” – prints with an added original pencil drawing – for $800. As for inspiration, “it’s like a shark, I have keep moving forward, thinking of the next idea or two,” McGehee says. “Occasionally I get a commission, the historical angle being primary for me, and I flesh out a story based on bits of information. Asked whether he belongs to organizations such as the Arlington Artists Alliance, which launched the Northern Virginia Art Center at Crystal City Underground, MaGehee says, “I

C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h

Wilson Blvd. On Mar. 4, a male, 31, of Arlington, was arrested for Possession of Cocaine.

CRIME REPORT Week of March 2 - 8, 2015 Robbery, 1000 W. Broad St. (Wells Fargo Bank) On Mar. 2, two subjects were armed and described as males in their early forties between 5’7” and 5’9” in height. Both subjects were dressed in all black with black ski masks covering their faces. There were

no injuries sustained during the bank robbery. Graffiti, 500 block N. Washington St. On Mar. 4, graffiti were found on an elevator. Vandalism to Vehicle, 1300 block Robinson Pl. On Mar. 4, police received a report of slashed tires which occurred on Feb. 21. Narcotics

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enjoy seeing those exhibits, but they’re kind of outside my field of art and print publishing.” Having painted for printmaking since high school “put me on a different path, so I do oneman shows,” McGehee says. “It’s a different tangent of the art world.” *** Living on a cul-de-sac is a blessing because we’re spared the heavy traffic. But the price we pay is being last on the Arlington snowplow priority list. During the snowstorm I asked county folks whether it helps if my neighbors and I send emails demanding faster service. “We focus on keeping main arteries passable first for emergency vehicles, school routes and public transportation and then move into residential streets,” replied Jessica Baxter, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Services Department, referring to the phases laid out on the county website. “I’m sure you can imagine that this winter season has been very difficult on all of us, including our crews,” added her colleague Diana Sun. “They are working around the clock to clear roads, and the particulars of this storm have not helped (very cold weather, ice, sleet, freezing). Cul-de-sacs are always problematic’ they are very tough to plow.” I’ll buy that.

Trespass and Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Mar. 5, a male, 41, of Falls Church, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area and was arrested for Trespassing. Public Drunkenness, 100 block Park Ave. On Mar. 8, a male, 29, of Arlington, and a female, of New 1.812 in. York, NY, were arrested for Public Drunkenness.

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LO CA L

PAGE 18 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

Fa l l s C h u r c h

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

School News & Notes

QUINN’S AUCTION GALLERIES are gearing up to auction off papers, letters and artifacts related to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They have many primary source documents from the Civil Rights era at their Falls Church business. Last week, Paul (left) and David Quinn opened their doors for Falls Church City Public Schools students to see the items in person. The auction will be held tonight from 6 – 10 p.m. (Courtesy Photo)

THE THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHORUS performs for some of Falls Church’s senior citizens at the Falls Church Community Center earlier this week. Choral director Marie Harbison led the students through a program that included songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Recycle Rap.” (Photo: Courtesy of Marybeth Connolly/FCCPS Communications)

Jefferson Chorus Entertains At Falls Church Senior Center After three cancellations due to weather, the Thomas Jefferson Elementary School chorus performed for an appreciative audience of Falls Church senior citizens at the Falls Church Community Center at 223 Little Falls Street earlier this week. Choral director Marie Harbison led the students through a program that included classics (“Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and “Simple Gifts”); modern (“Recycling Rap,” and “LOL”) and patriotic (“The Star Spangled Banner.”)

Longfellow MS Wins Va. Middle School Science Bowl Despite snow, sleet and freezing rain all 14 schools registered to participate in the Virginia Regional Middle School Science Bowl made it to the event at Jefferson Lab on March 7. At the end of the day Longfellow Middle School, which is in the Falls Churcharea of Fairfax County, prevailed and will represent Virginia at the National Science Bowl finals to be held in Washington, D.C., April 30 – May 4. The day kicked off with Jefferson Lab Director Hugh Montgomery welcoming the students, their coaches and many of the students’ family members in

the CEBAF Center auditorium. “Math and science is both important and fun,” he commented. And that it helps us “understand how our world works makes it even more amazing.” He was delighted to see so many excited young faces, and he acknowledged the importance of the many parents in the audience as well as teachers and coaches for encouraging their students and providing that beginning spark of interest for science and math. The teams spent the morning in a series of fast-paced round robin matches before all 14 teams progressed to the double-elimination finals. In round four, Longfellow fell to Nysmith School for the Gifted from Herndon. However, Longfellow went on to win its matches in the Challengers’ Bracket and, at the end of the day, faced off against Rachel Carson Middle School from Herndon, who made it undefeated through round six in the no-loss bracket. While Rachel Carson was leading at the half, Longfellow pulled ahead in the second half and won 92-68, and forcing the two teams into one final match for the day. Questions covered topics ranging from mathematics and general science to physical science, earth and space, life science and energy. Longfellow won its second match with Carson, 104 – 92. The Longfellow team, coached by Jim Bradford, took home a

$750 check for its school, a team trophy, individual medals and the regional banner that the team will carry to nationals, in addition to earning a place in the Washington, D.C. National Finals.

F.C. Students Earn Academic Honors Across the Nation Several students from Falls Church earned academic honors at colleges, universities and other academic institutions across the nation during the fall 2014 semester. Fahad Althalabi made the dean’s list at Davis & Elkins College, where students must earn at least a 3.6 grade point average. Matthew Beer, a third-year student in the game design and development program in Rochester Institute of Technology’s B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, made the dean’s list at the school, where students must earn at least a 3.4 grade point average. Noelle Elizabeth Darling and Noah Joseph Bardash made the dean’s list at Washington University of St. Louis. Ramzi Adam Dridi, a senior finance and accounting major, Johnny Huynh, a freshman finance major, and Mary Margaret McGinn, a sophomore recreation, parks and tourism, made the dean’s list at Radford

University, where students must earn at least a 3.4 grade point average to make the list. Kathryn Colarulli made the dean’s list at Lafayette College, where students must earn at least a 3.6 grade point average. Maria Come made the dean’s list at Washington College in Chestertown, Md., where students must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average to make the list. Heba Edrees, a student in MCPHS University’s School of Pharmacy, was named to dean’s list at the school, where students must earn at least a 3.5 grade point average to make the list. Madeline Johnson and Alexander McAuliffe made the dean’s list at the University of Deleware. Charlotte Lathrop, a senior majoring in International Affairs at James Madison University, made the dean’s list at that school.

Evan K. Maxwell graduated from Boston University with a Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics during the fall 2014 semester. Andrea Robles earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the end of the same term.

Mason Winter Champions of Character Winners Honored The Falls Church School Board recognized and congratulated the winter sports Champions of Character winners – a student from each team who epitomizes the values of a well rounded student athlete. This season’s winners are Lee Hagler – wrestling, Michael Lin – boys basketball, Ethan Keck – swim, Sarah Miller – swim, Haley Zullo – girls basketball, and Heather Torres – cheer

THE FALLS CHURCH SCHOOL BOARD recognized and congratulated George Mason High School’s Champions of Character for the winter season at this week’s board meeting. The season’s winners are (l to r) Lee Hagler, Michael Lin, Sarah Miller and Haley Zullo. Heather Torres, who was not present for the photo, was also honored. (Courtesy Photo)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPO RTS

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 19

Adam Rippon Aiming to Create Magic Again at Worlds

by Lois Elfman

Special to the News-Press

In the sport of figure skating, people wait to see a performance that comes out of nowhere and lifts the audience out of their seats. The best ones have beautifully landed jumps, fast spins, exquisite musical interpretation and an undeniable energy level. At the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, that is precisely what Adam Rippon delivered. “I reminded myself throughout the program, ‘Stay in the moment.’ Before I knew it, all the jumps were over and everything was done. It was a great moment for me and for my coaching team. It was great to have my mom there as well. Culmination of a lot of years of hard work,” said Rippon. “The event was incredibly skated by everybody,” he added. “Regardless of placement, it was the moment. I think every skater, they strive more so for those moments than anything else.” Rippon won the free skate and finished second overall behind first-time champion Jason Brown. It was not Rippon’s first time on the senior podium – he also finished second in 2012 but this time – it was a breakthrough after a rather long period of frustration. A two-time World Junior Men’s Champion, Rippon, 25, has

struggled to find his footing at the senior level. Eighth at the 2014 U.S. Championships, he didn’t skate well on the Grand Prix circuit last fall, leaving people wondering why he was continuing to compete. He admitted he was one of his own worst critics, even wondering about his age and motivation, until he focused on the positives. “I don’t feel old and I don’t think that I am old,” said Rippon. “I have more to give. I definitely feel my age and the experiences that I have had make me a better competitor. Being an adult and doing things on your own – paying for your own training, scheduling your own things and driving yourself places – you get a lot of confidence from being accountable for all of those things and making them happen. You feel like you can kind of deal with everything, deal with whatever circumstances you’re handed. That gives you confidence as well.” Rippon said he wondered if he was still improving, and realized he was. Together with his main coach, Rafael Arutunian, assistant coaches and trainer, he worked out a plan six weeks prior to the U.S. Championships, to which he strictly adhered. He never thought past the nationals, so when he went to compete shortly after at the ISU Four Continents Championships,

World Police and Fire Games Begins 100-Day Countdown With March 18 Celebration The Fairfax 2015 World Police and Fire Games announced on Tuesday that it will be holding a celebration kicking off a 100day countdown until the games kickoff on June 26. The 100-day countdown celebration will take place next Wednesday, March 18, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at Tysons Tower in Tysons Corner Center. At the celebration, the Games’ organizing committee will announce the status of the games, including currrent milestones and sponsor updates. Also, the 100 Days Celebration will provide a unique opportunity to experience some of the first responder-specific competitions of the Games, including the stair climb event and K9 competitions. The celebratory news confer-

ence will be followed by a catered lunch. The World Police and Fire Games are are one of the largest multi-sport events in the world, expected to draw more than 12,000 athletes from police, fire and other public safety agencies representing 70 different countries. Athletes will compete in more than 60 sports ranging from traditional Olympic events like flag football, basketball, soccer, track, golf, tennis, swimming and rugby to police- and fire-specific competitions like honor guard, ultimate firefighter competition and the aforementioned K9 competitions. The Games will have a significant economic impact on the greater Washington metropolitan area in the ten days it slated to take place in late June and early July.

he wasn’t in perfect form, finishing 10th. Thankfully, the World Championships in Shanghai, China, aren’t until the end of March, so despite a bout of flu, Rippon has ample time to prepare physically and mentally. “I said, ‘I’m going to give 100 percent [at Nationals],’” Rippon said. “I’m not going to think about what I am going to do after this competition. I’m just going to think about this one competition. “Hindsight is always 20/20,” he continued. “I probably should have reconsidered Four Continents because of how emotional and how much energy Nationals took from me. I did my best, but there was a lot that happened.” Last year, Rippon and close friend Ashley Wagner, who won her third U.S. Ladies title in Greensboro, attended the Academy Awards. This year, he watched from home, which suited him just fine. Now living in Los Angeles for nearly two years, he saw how the city virtually closed down for the Oscars. Feeling he’s in some of the best shape of his life, Rippon is now putting his laser focus on Worlds. “Four Continents wasn’t a reflection of [my conditioning], but my confidence isn’t hurt from it because I know everything that Nationals was,” he said. “It was hard to come back from that. I

FIGURE SKATER ADAM RIPPON will be competing in the World Championships in Shanghai later this month. (Photo: Courtesy of Jay Adeff/U.S. Figure Skating)

came home, I’m refocusing and getting a plan together. “The end of the season is a culmination of a lot of hard work,” he added. “If you can learn some-

thing from your disappointments, then you can continue to grow. There’s no one set script as to how your career is supposed to pan out. It’s all a mindset.”

A ll S tars

THE FALLS CHURCH RECREATION AND PARKS fourth and fifth grade recreational league All-Star girls basketball teams watched the George Washington University women’s basketball team clinch an Atlantic 10 Conference championship over George Mason University on March 1 at the Charles E. Smith Center. After the game, the girls took to the court and played a game of their own. The All-Stars were voted on by recreational league coaches. (Photo: Courtesy of Tom Clinton)

CA L E NDA R

PAGE 20 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

Community Events

THURSDAY, MARCH 12

Early Literacy Center. Explore educational and manipulative items to teach early literacy through play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. This program is for ages birth to 5 years. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 11 a.m. – noon. & 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. 703-248-5034. F.C. Rotary Club Meeting. Ed Ryan, Fairfax County Government’s Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator, will speak about preventing gang violence at the Falls Church Rotary club’s weekly meeting. Harvest Moon Restaurant (7260 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). $15 dinner. 6:30 p.m. Pre-Festival Chorus Concert. George Mason High School’s chorus will present a pre-festival choral concert. George Mason High School (7128 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 7:30 p.m. 703-2485500. fccps.org/gm. Middle School Book Club. Children in grades 6 – 8 will discuss Memory Boy by Will Weaver. Registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7:30 –

8:30 p.m. 703-248-5034.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13

DMV2Go. The Department of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV) mobile customer service center, DMV 2 Go, will be available to Virginia residents. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. 703-248-5019. fallschurchva.gov/DMV2Go.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14

F.C. Farmers’ Market. Vendors oﬀer fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants, and wine. City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 9 a.m. – noon. 703248-5077. Town Hall: FY2016 Budget. Falls Church City’s City Manager Wyatt Shields will make a presentation and answer questions on the proposed ﬁscal year 2016 budget. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). Free. 10 a.m. – noon. fallschurchva. gov/Budget. 703-248-5014. Winter Pruning Workshop. Virginia Cooperative Extension agent Kristen Buhls will lead a workshop on winter pruning. This handson workshop will address what shrubs, plants and trees to prune in late winter and early spring as well as teach participants how to prune, what tools to use and how to care for them. Registration

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Send community event submissions to the News-Press by e-mail at calendar@fcnp. com; fax 703-342-0347; or by regular mail to 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.

requested. Private home (2614 Ridge Road Dr., Alexandria). Free. 1 – 3 p.m. mgnv.org. Tween Creative Writing Workshop. Students in grades 5 – 7 can engage in descriptive writing by picking out an object and, through a series of activities, write a ﬁrst draft paragraph or poem. Registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 2 p.m. 703-248-5034. Celtic Music Concert. A lively evening of Irish music in the intimate atmosphere of the farmhouse parlor. Reservations recommended. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave., Falls Church). $15 in advance. $20 at the door. 8 p.m. cherryhillsfallschurch.org. 703248-5027.

SUNDAY, MARCH 15

Author Panel. One More Page will host a Young Adult author panel featuring Leah Cypress, Lisa Maxwell and Caroline Tung Richmond. One More Page Books (2200 N. Westmoreland St. #101, Arlington). Free. 3 p.m. 703-3009746. onemorepagebooks.com.

MONDAY, MARCH 16

Introduction to Sustainable Gardening. The Virginia

Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardeners of Arlington/Alexandria will present a a program covering the basics of creating a beautiful, sustainable yard using native plants as well as methods that reduce resources, time and money. Fairlington Community Center (3308 S. Staﬀord St., Arlington). Free. 7 – 8:30 p.m. mgnv.org.

TUESDAY, MARCH 17

Preschool Storytime. Stories, ﬁnger plays and songs for children ages 18 – 36 months every Tuesday. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11 a.m. 703-248-5034. Storytime with Language Stars. A fun, interactive storytime in a foreign language (Spanish, French, or Mandarin). Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 1:30 – 2 p.m. 703248-5034. Legos in the Library. Children ages 6 – 11 years can join a Lego club with a theme. Tickets will be given out starting at 4:30 p.m., and are limited to 15 participants. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 5 p.m. 703-248-5034.

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, MARCH 12

“Much Ado About Nothing.” Benedick, a bachelor, and the equally-spirited and single Beatrice spar, court and conspire in 1950’s Las Vegas in Synetic Theater’s 11th Wordless Shakespeare adaptation, which follows Synetic’s production of “Twelfth Night.” Through March 22. Synetic Theater (1800 S. Bell St., Arlington). $10. 8 p.m. synetictheater.org.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13

“Kid Victory.” Luke, a seventeen-year-old, returns home after vanishing a year before in the world premiere of this musical from composer John Kander and playwright Greg Pierce. Profoundly altered by his time away from home, Luke and his parents struggle to adjust to life following his disappearance and homecoming. Through

March 22. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $36.80 – $80.35. 8 p.m. signature-theatre.org.

“Other Desert Cities.” From the Providence Players and recently, one of the hottest tickets on Broadway and a 2012 Tony nominee, this latest play from Pulitzer Prize �inalist Jon Robin Baitz (creator of TV’s Brothers & Sisters) is a funny and smart family drama �illed with witty repartee that both dazzles and decimates. Brooke Wyeth returns to her politically conservative parents’ glamorous Palm Springs home to spend the holidays with them. But the warm desert air turns chilly when news of her upcoming memoir threatens to revive the most painful chapter of the family’s history. James Lee Community Center Theater (2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church). Through March 28th. $17 – $20. 7:30 p.m. 703425-6782. providenceplayers.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 “The Jungle Book.” Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater turns to one of the most well-loved books in the English language, presenting an original musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Danger lurks everywhere for the lost little boy Mowgli. He learns the “laws of the jungle” from his good friends Akela, the wolf, Baloo, the bear, and Bagheera, the panther, who warn him that Shere Khan, the tiger, wants to eat him. But when Mowgli is forced to leave his friends and return to the village from which he came, he soon learns that man is the most dangerous creature of all. With sensitive themes about loyalty, honor, courage, and persistence, the Jungle Book stories have irresistible appeal for audiences of every generation. Through March 29. ArtSpace Falls Church (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church). $13 – $15. 2 & 7:30 p.m. creativecauldron.org.

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 21

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, MARCH 12 M�� M�� L�� B�� L�� A�� W��’� S�� T�� W�� S��, S�� H��, A�� T�� W�� K��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15 – $18. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. L�� K��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $39.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. C�� D��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 T�� B�� D�� G��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $12 – $15. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. Z��: T�� U�� L�� Z�� E��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $17 in advance. $20 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. D�� A�� P�� A�� T�� G�� O�� T�� F�� W��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. B�� W�� D��. Art’s Tavern (2190 Pimmit Dr., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-356-3822. F��. Whitlow’s On Wilson (2854 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 9 p.m. 703-276-9693. T�� L�� P��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 9 p.m.

8�8 �� C�� F��, A�� B��, I�� H��, D�� I��, J�� J��, M�� P��, M�� R�� M�� S��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 9:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. T�� D��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703237-8333.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14 H�� S�� M�� A�� R�� 2015. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. E�� B��. Bohemian Caverns (2011 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $18 online. $23 at the door. 8 p.m. 202-299-0800. F��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8 p.m. DMV ��. E�� JDVBBS, A�� Y� S�� B�� R��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 – $15 in advance. $13 – $15 day of the show. 9:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. M�� DJ� S�� V�� H�� M�� B��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 9:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. O�� L��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333. H�� R�� DJ P��, T�� J�� L. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $5. 10 p.m. 202-667-4490.

SUNDAY, MARCH 15 “O�� V��” C�� P�� B� C�� C�� M�� W��, E��, H�� T�� K�� P��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 in advance. $13 day of the show. 1 p.m. 703-255-1566. P�� M��. Bohemian Caverns (2011 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 online. $20 at the door. 8 p.m. 202-299-0800. G�� B�� H��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. C��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8 p.m. 7 D�� S�� T�� Y��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 16 S�. P��’� D�� E�� P�� P�� D�� B��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $12 in advance. $15 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� E�� R�� S��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $49.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. P�� P�� S�� P�� B�� B�� B�� T�� A��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $13. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. J�� L�� F�� Q��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141.

B�� B��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). Free. 8 p.m. I�� H�� N��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 17 S�. P��’� T�� C�� M�� P�� B��. Whitlow’s On Wilson (2854 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 5 p.m. 703-276-9693. H�� “K��” F��. Bohemian Caverns (2011 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 online. $20 at the door. 8 p.m. 202-299-0800. M�� M��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $65. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. P�� G�� J�� H��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 in advance. $17 day of the show. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. R�� S�� B��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141. O’T��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 T�� H�� H��T�� A�� A��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $12 – $18 in advance. $15 – $18 day of the show. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. L�� L�� B�� W��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $20. 7:30 p.m. 703-5497500.

P�� A��... Saturday, March 21 – Northern Virginia Housing Expo. The 5th annual Northern

h, how I miss “Flight of the Conchords.” The HBO series featuring Bret and Jemaine, two New Zelanders living in New York City, and their crazy, fish-out-of-water adventures. And how could I forget Murray, the clueless deputy cultural attache at the New Zealand Consulate who also doubled as the duo’s band manager? So, so good. Well, even though the gone-too-soon series is but a memory, I can still get my Kiwi fix this weekend when Rhys Darby, aka Murray, comes to the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse. The ginger actor and comedian will take the stage for two shows on both Friday and Saturday nights. Tickets are $25 each with showtimes at 7:30 and 10:15 p.m. Friday and 7 and 10 p.m. on Saturday.

What: Rhys Darby at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse When: Friday-Saturday, March 13-14 Where: Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse

2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington See arlingtondrafthouse.com for tickets and more info

Virginia Housing Expo, hosted by the AHOME Foundation in cooperation with representatives from municipalities around the region, will showcase Northern Virginia’s ﬁrst-time buyer and rental opportunities. Herndon High School (700 Bennett St., Herndon). Free. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. novahousingexpo.org.

Saturday, April 18 – Build Your Own Composter. Learn how to create a 55-gallon

tumbler style composter. All tools and materials will be provided. Registration is required and limited to 15 people. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). Free. 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. fallschurchva.gov.

C�� S�� 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.

Email: calendar@fcnp.com Fax: 703-342-0347; Attn: FCNP Calendar Mail: 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046

FO O D &D I NI NG

PAGE 22 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Mixing Bowl is a lowkey storefront in Tysons Corner Center’s lower level food court. It’s the first location of the Korean eatery, so those unfamiliar with the brand might overlook it for the Cinnabon next to it, or the Wasabi Japanese Cuisine that occupies prime real estate across from it in the center of the food court. But it’s a tasty original amidst the Tysons restaurants that are either major franchises, carbon copies of those chain spots or just plain mediocre. It follows the mold of Chipotle-style fast casual restaurants but Mixing Bowl has a Korean cuisine twist. Mixing Bowl specializes in the signature Korean dish bibimbap, which literally translates to “mixed rice.” My guess is that it borrows from that translation and plays on the nearby Springfield Interchange for its brand name. And my second favorite thing about Mixing Bowl is that it has a lane for vegans and vegetarians (I’ll reveal my favorite thing later). We’ll get to the particulars in a second, let’s start with the first step in creating a dish at the orange storefront. As stated before, the Bibimbap bowl is the most popular dish at Mixing Bowl, but diners can also order a Ssam (a lettuce wrap), a Burrito or Tacos. The differentiation in prices comes with the next step: protein. Mixing Bowl has five protein options: Beef ($8.99), Spicy Pork ($8.49), Mild/ Spicy Chicken ($7.99), Mild/Spicy Tofu ($7.59) and Vegetarian ($6.49). Extra protein can be ordered for $1.99 and a fried egg can be added for .99 cents. The Spicy Tofu, which is marinated in spicy chili sauce, isn’t that spicy, so fire eaters will have to order more in order satiate their palettes. But it’s so delicious. A lot of places that serve tofu don’t get it right, which usually means it’s bland or textured like it’s undercooked. That’s not a problem at Mixing Bowl, the tofu is flavorful and tough enough to feel like you’re actually biting into something. The next step of the dish-creation process at Mixing Bowl is choosing vegetables. The store allows diners to choose up to four vegetables, but extra vegetables can be added for .50 cents per extra veggie. For vegetarians, cheese can be added for .99 cents. Mixing Bowl’s vegetable offering is actually my favorite thing about the eatery. The vegetable offerings include shelled edamame, radish salad, kimchi (which is made with shrimp sauce) and a complete original for a restaurant that seems to be angling for mainstream appeal: roasted seaweed. Roasted seaweed is one of my favorite snacks. Despite the effect on my breath (bleh), I can eat roasted seaweed anytime. And the fact that you can get it as a lightly crunchy garnish in the dishes at Mixing Bowl is exciting, to say the least. The last step in creating a dish at Mixing Bowl is choosing one of four sauces – Gochujang, Soy Sesame Ginger, Cilantro Lime and Mixing Bowl Sour Cream – to give your meal some extra flavor. The Gochujang and the Soy Sesame Ginger are the favorites, but the Soy Sesame Ginger is my favorite out of the two. Whereas the bowl (in Mixing Bowl’s case, the bibimbap bowl) has become the “dieters” choice at places like Chipotle, Mixing Bowl takes it a step further with the lettuce wrap. It’s an even lighter alternative to the bowl, which was meant to be a lighter version of the burrito. With Mixing Bowl’s Ssam, diners can have the best of both worlds. Which is kind of where Mixing Bowl operates as a brand. Without knowing the intentions of the owners of the spot, the eatery, which has a friendly, patient and accommodating staff, has the potential to put Korean cuisine on the map.

— Drew Costley

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LO CA L

F� � � � C � � � � �

B�� N�� N�� Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken Coming to Falls Church Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken is opening a second restaurant in Idylwood Plaza at 7501 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church. The menu will be very similar to that of the downtown G Street location, but will feature more sides, sandwiches and breakfast options. Doughnuts and fried chicken will of course be available, as will Astro’s popular sandwiches, chicken fingers and freshly brewed coffee from La Colombe (drip and cold brew only). Expanded catering and private event options will also be available from the Falls Church location. Co-owners Elliot Spaisman and Jeff Halpern have tapped local architects, HapstakDemetriou, to design the 1200 square foot space, which will incorporate limited seating. Opening is expected in summer 2015. More details on the Falls Church location, menu and opening specials, will be made available closer to opening. The original Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken opened in April 2013, and the company launched a mobile food truck in January 2014. For more information, visit www.astrodoughnuts.com.

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 23

YOUR LIFE. YOUR HEALTH. YOUR SMILE.

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Arlington Motorcar Merges With British & Classic Car Doctors Arlington Motorcar Service located at Tysons has merged with British & Classic Car Doctors, formerly located in Upperville, Maryland and acquired a body and paint shop. AMS, which is also the major ARB Mid-Atlantic representative capable of fitting 4x4 off road needs and accessories, is owned and operated by Falls Church resident Shaun Van Steyn. It is located at 8590 Leesburg Pike in Vienna.

Robert E. Beach’s Nick Valdez Earns Architect Status Falls Church’s Robert E. Beach Architects, LLC announced that staff member Nick Valadez completed the Architect Registration Examination to become a registered architect in the Commonwealth of Virginia and correspondingly his membership in the American Institute of Architects has been advanced to architect status. The Architect Registration Examination is the professional architecture licensure examination and assesses candidates for their knowledge, skills, and ability to provide the various services required in the practice of architecture. The ARE is a seven-section, computer-based exam that concentrates on those architectural services that most affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Valdez is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and has more than 10 years of professional architectural design services experience. He also maintains a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional standing with a Building Design and Construction (BD+C) specialty through the US Green Building Council. For more information about the Falls Church based architecture firm, visit www.rebarchitects.com.

Bechtel Corporation to Relocate 700 Jobs to Fairfax Co. Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that Bechtel Corporation, one of the world’s largest engineering, construction and project management companies, will relocate 700 jobs to Fairfax County from its Frederick, Md., operation as a result of global restructuring. The company will invest $10 million in the Fairfax County location as a result of the move. Bechtel will lease up to 175,000 square feet in the Reston area of Fairfax County for the expansion. Headquartered in San Francisco, Bechtel is an engineering, project management, and construction company founded in 1898 with 58,000 employees in nearly 40 countries. The FCEDA worked with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McAuliffe approved a $500,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to assist Fairfax County with the project.

BJ’s Donates $1,700 to F.C. Homeless Shelter BJ’s Wholesale Club of Falls Church donated $1,700 in goods to the Friends of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter for the winter emergency shelter and its residents. The nonprofit Friends organization was created in 1996 to address the critical need for emergency housing in the community, especially during the winter months. In partnership with New Hope Housing, the “Friends” manage and operate the Shelter providing warm beds, meals, and counseling to the homeless in Falls Church from December through March, and offer year round case management for Shelter residents. For more information, visit www. fallschurchshelterfriends.org.  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.

PAGE 24 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

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MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 25

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BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson, the only founding member of the legendary go-go band Rare Essence still regularly playing with the group, told the News-Press that, even after nearly 40 years, he considers the band a new, indie act. Rare Essence plays tons of shows in the metropolitan region every year. But now they are playing a D.C. music showcase at a festival typically frequented by much less experienced acts: South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Johnson said his group has been “dying” to play the festival for years. “In the regional area, we’ve been known for decades. But on a national level, they’ve heard a few songs like “Overnight Scenario,” “Work The Walls,” and “Lock It,” but they haven’t really put all of that together with us as an act,” Johnson said. “And we are an indie act... so we thought we would try to get down there because there are a lot of people down there. Important people – record companies, film companies, a lot of booking agents, publicists – that could spread the word on the group. That’s what we’re hoping for.” Johnson said that he is honored that Rare Essence was booked to play the showcase, which takes place next Tuesday, March 17, at The Bungalow in Austin and is being presented by the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership. Another D.C. music legend, DJ Kool, will be featured on the set. “It’s great. It’s a tremendous honor,” Johnson said. “We’ve been dying to get to South by Southwest for years now, so for us to get invited and then to be a part of a D.C. music showcase is really a tremendous honor. We’re eternally grateful for that.” When asked what he thinks has changed about D.C.’s music scene, heavily dominated by go-go and punk music since Rare Essence was founded in 1976, Johnson chuckled while

RARE ESSENCE (C�� P��) saying, “That’s an awful long time.” But he said a lot has changed. “For one, back in the day, the group size was a whole lot bigger. Back then, we had 14 or 15 members. Now we’re traveling with 10 or 12 members,” Johnson said. “Also, the pace of the music has slowed down. If you listen to the tapes from the ’80s, the pace that we were playing at was a lot faster back then. But what we’ve been able to do is keep the integrity of the percussion aspect of go-go alive and consistent. “So as soon as that beat comes on, anyone who is familiar with go-go will know that’s a go-go record, from that distinctive sound. Those are part of the changes, as well as the lyrical content. We try to stay with whatever is current so people can really relate to what’s going on.”

Rare Essence released a new single called “Cups to the Floor,” which features Killa Cal, at the end of February. It’s the lead single on a new album, Turn It Up, that Johnson said the band just finished. Johnson said the album, the band’s first full-studio offering in over a decade, was created with all new and original material to try to give the band the same reach as they got out of their biggest singles in the 1990s. “We felt like doing a studio record, since we haven’t done it in a while, it was time for us to do it and the audience outside of D.C. gets with go-go better if they hear it in a studio form,” Johnson said. “But that helps us to get to that market and then be able to bring them in for the live show. And once we get ‘em in the building at the live show, we got ‘em.” • For more information about Rare Essence, visit rareessence.com.

Girl Band with Hemlines Black Cat

These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week:

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 Nicholas Benton – Ballerina by Van Morisson  

Jody Fellows – Sky’s The Limit by The Notorious B.I.G. Drew Costley – Everyday Struggle by The Notorious B.I.G.

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PAGE 26 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Council Gets Shields’ Budget Tax Hike Recommendation

Continued from Page 5

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School Board request.” The Capital Improvement Projects, also known as CIP, component of the proposed budget contains significant projects in FY2016 and the subsequent four year planning period. The CIP includes funding next year for a replacement of the turf field and track at George Mason High School, Howard Herman Park Improvements, and reinvestment in the City’s Commercial Downtown with improved streetscape, lighting, and pedestrian crosswalks. “Over the coming weeks, the City Council will thoroughly review and consider the City Manager’s proposal and listen to input from the community,” Mayor David Tarter said in the City’s press release. “We encourage our residents and business owners to attend the upcoming City Council and Town Hall meetings and to offer your thoughts to your elected officials.” The complete text and charts

included in the City Manager’s FY2016 proposed budget can be viewed on the City’s website and at the Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave.). The schedule of budget meetings and public hearings is also available on the website and in the budget document. Town Hall meetings are scheduled for Saturday, March 14 and April 11, both at 10 a.m. in the Community Center. Public comments can also be sent by mail or email. Some citizens did not wait until this Saturday to begin weighing in on the budget, among them former Council member Ira Kaylin. As for brief Council member comments, Vice Mayor David Snyder said that the presentations by Shields and Castillo were “very professional,” adding that, “While I will not sacrifice the quality of the schools and services, I will want to know why our costs appear to be so different from surrounding jurisdictions.” Councilman Dan Sze said he wished to “associate myself with Vice Mayor Snyder’s remarks.”

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MARCH 12 - 18, 2013 | PAGE 27

The Peak Oil Crisis

An Update by Tom Whipple

Falls Church News-Press

A lot has happened to the global oil industry in recent months. First it is important to understand that the concept of “peak oil,” the time when global oil production starts to decline, is alive and well despite the current, and very temporary oil glut. Conventional oil, the kind that comes shooting out of wells at thousands of barrels per day, stopped growing about ten years back. However, nonconventional oil (fracked shale, tar sands, deep water) is increasing. These very expensive “oils” gave many the illusion that all was well despite the steep climb in oil prices, which had to be on the order of $100 a barrel or more before they made economic sense to produce. The technology of horizontal oil drilling and fracking, which had been known for many years, only played a part in the shale oil “miracle.” It took lots of money to get shale oil out of the ground and a selling price of less than $70 or $80 a barrel was not enough to make it happen. Only

China’s rapid economic growth and ability to pay high prices forced them to unprecedented levels. Moreover, the Federal Reserve and its very low interest rates made the shale oil revolution possible by permitting the drilling of unprofitable shale oil wells using cheap money. Note that most of the shale oil is under North Dakota and south Texas, where the local landowners and governments don’t mind letting drillers tear up the roads and countryside for lucrative fees and taxes. Last summer, however, the bonanza came to an end: too much shale oil was being produced; the Chinese and other Asian economies slowed their demand; Europe ground to a halt; a glut developed and high oil prices were over – at least for a while. Starting in June of last year and continuing into January, oil prices fell steeply until oil was going for some $40 or $50 a barrel and less in North Dakota where getting oil to markets is difficult. Now these prices were OK for those selling oil from oil wells that only cost $10 or $20 to

extract, but for the shale oil, tar sands, and even new deep water drilling projects, prices around $50 or $60 a barrel are a disaster. It takes oil well over $100 a barrel to justify new drilling for unconventional oil. Currently the world is waiting to see if prices fall back to $40 or $50 as the supply continues to outpace demand and nobody seems willing to cut production. The massive losses most shale oil and other non-conventional producers are facing have resulted in a major cutback in the drilling of new wells and other energy production facilities. Within six months to a year these cutbacks in investment in new production will clearly result in a decline in global production of oil, which may not be possible to recover from. We just may be seeing the arrival of peak oil – conventional and unconventional – sooner than most believe. Tom Whipple is a retired government analyst and has been following the peak oil issue for several years.

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We are pleged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are herby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.

We are pledged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of Email: fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov. Website: www.fairhousing.vipnet.org race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 3678530. Toll free call (888) 5513247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.

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A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

20 24

39 41

55 58

59 64

Across

1. Keebler cracker brand

1. Keebler cracker brand 6. “If ____ believe ...” 10. Call it a day 14. “Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is ____”: Barack Obama 15. Trendy NYC neighborhood 16. Sledding spot 17. Common musical symbol 18. 1040, e.g. 19. Finales 20. CD-____ 21. “Goodbye, Gerard!” 23. Veep before Al 24. Historical periods 26. Some voters: Abbr. 27. “Fear of Flying” author Jong 30. Oscar winner for “Life Is Beautiful” 32. Some printers 34. Smidgen 35. Keats and Yeats, for two 37. They’re often uttered by bored people 39. 70-Across that often goes away on its own after four to ten days 41. “The Lion King” character voiced by Whoopi Goldberg 43. Where dos are done 44. “Norma ____” 45. Picnic pest 47. Play after some snaps, in brief 51. Collar attachment 53. Fats Domino’s “It’s ____ Love” 55. Where George W. Bush went after getting 1206 on his SAT 56. “Isn’t ____ bit like you and me?”

MARCH 12 - 18, 2015 | PAGE 29

DOWN

1. European capital 2. “More! More!” 3. Author Rushdie 4. Knot 5. ____ Romeo 6. Carmaker with Q40 and Q50 models 7. Was heard from the herd 8. 70-Across that is an infection of the mouth 9. “____-Pah-Pah” (“Oliver!” tune) 10. Cut 11. 70-Across often caused by exposure to loud sounds 12. Aged 13. Texter’s “I beg of you!” 22. Eats at home 23. Old Chrysler makes 25. Nurse 28. Web video gear 29. Some are personal

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

6. "If ____ believe ..."

31. Spokane university 33. TV personality who wrote the 2000 book “Who Wants to Be Me?” 36. Some Mercedes-Benzes 38. Cross of a male horse and a female donkey 39. 70-Across that usually begins around six months of age 40. Holiday Inn alternative 41. ____ Lanka 42. Possessed 46. 70-Across that was treated with garlic during World War I 48. Locale in a 1987 Cheech Marin title 49. Lye, for one 50. Singles out as important 52. Insurance giant 54. Speechify 58. Pucker-producing 60. UFO crew 61. Org. in “Breaking Bad” 62. E-file preparer 64. Admit (to)

(Beatles lyric) 57. It may be fine 59. Blue hue 60. Trim, as text 62. Jackie of “Shanghai Noon” 63. Sub for 65. It’s south of Ky. 66. Green stroke 67. Rich kid in “Nancy” comics 68. It’s a long story 69. Voyaging 70. Grammy winner with the debut album “Rappa Ternt Sanga” ... or an apt description of 39-Across, 8-, 11-, 39- or 46-Down

10. Call it a day

Sudoku Level:

14. "Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is ____": Barack Obama

Last Thursday’s Solution C E T E R A

A D O R E S

M U N I C H

S A T T E S T

P R O R A T A

T E M P O R A L

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

K O K O

R O O M Y

C A R O O N E D R Y D E H I T Y O D O E O J A J O R S E Y N E Z S T E V A B O O E T D O L I I T V E S E

L A R A M I E

S Y S T E M S

E R A S E S

S E T T L E

By The Mepham Group

1 2 3 4

15. Trendy NYC neighborhood 16. Sledding spot 17. Common musical symbol 18. 1040, e.g. 19. Finales 20. CD-____

21. "Goodbye, Gerard!" 23. Veep before Al

LOOSE PARTS

24. Historical periods

DAVE BLAZEK

26. Some voters: Abbr. Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

3/15/15

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk. © 2015 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

LO CA L

PAGE 30 | MARCH 12 - 18, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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BACK IN THE DAY

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20 s Yearo Ag

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Falls Church News-Press Vol XV, No. 1 • March 10, 2005

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

10 Year s Ago