Falls Church News-Press 3 3-26-2015 by Falls Church News-Press

March 26 - April 1, 2015

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

Founded 1991 • Vol. XXV No. 5

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

Inside This Week Clark Makes Bid to Build New F.C. School

Clark Construction has come forward with a new unsolicited proposal for the construction of a new George Mason High School and develop the 39 acres the City received from its deal to sell its water system to Fairfax County. See News Briefs, page 9

Latest ‘Mason Row’ Submission Delayed

The Spectrum Group, developers of the so-called “Mason Row” project on 4.3 acres adjacent the intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets, have pushed back the date of their submission of new plans for the site to April 13.

Serious F.C. Budget Crunch Time Begins, First Council Vote is 4-3 C hamber C hamps

A Preliminary Vote Portends a Bumpy Ride in Next Month by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

to have a true champion, fighting the good fight in Richmond. Gov. McAuliffe has been courageous and relentless, and one day soon he will prevail, and the amount of human suffering he will banish is almost beyond imagination.” Gov. Terry McAuliffe told a group of health care professionals and advocates gathered in

By a narrow 4-3 vote Monday night, the Falls Church City Council gave a preliminary “first reading” OK to City Manager Wyatt Shields’ proposed four-cent tax rate increase — from the current $1.305 to $1.345 — to kick off formal deliberations on the new fiscal year budget. The budget process this spring will culminate with the final adoption of the budget, which will go into effect July 1, coming in late April. Only two of the seven Council members, however, tipped their hands on how they might vote on the final adoption of the budget, with Vice Mayor David Snyder suggesting he will go with the $1.345 rate because he’s been persuaded so far that it’s needed, and Council member Phil Duncan saying that he expects he’d go no further than a two-cent rate hike come late April. Ironically, the vote to OK the $1.345 rate tonight barely won out over an alternative plan initiated by Council member Nader Baroukh, who said that the Council needed the flexibility to add programs to the current recommended budget, so he proposed a $1.365 maximum rate. He was joined by Council members Dan Sze and Karen Oliver to vote for that option. Under the rules of a “first reading,” the Council can wind up lowering the rate that was advertised out of Monday’s meeting, but cannot raise it above the $1.345 level of Monday’s vote. In the public hearing portion of Monday’s meeting, three older

Continued on Page 5

Continued on Page 4

See News Briefs, page 9

Maureen Dowd: What’s New Pussycat? Meerkat!

Pity the poor cat. Somehow that creature of infinite detachment emerged as the symbol of incessant attachment here at South by Southwest. See page 13

Press Pass with The Machine

Tahrah Cohen, founding member of the Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine, said that the band has about 100 songs in their repertoire and keeps records of their set lists from each show – so that they can give the audience a unique experience everytime. See page 23

HONORED AS RECIPIENTS of special awards at this year’s annual Falls Church Chamber of Commerce Gala were (left to right), Tori McKinney, winner of the Pillar of the Community award, Christopher Fey, winner of the Carroll V. Shreve award, Sheila Newman, winner of the James S. Elkin award for humanitarianism, and Lisa D’Ambrosio winner of the Chamber Appreciation award. More Gala photos, page 16. (Photo: Brenda Schrier)

McAuliffe, Beyer Celebrate 5th Anniversary of Health Care Law by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial..................6 Letters................6, 8 News & Notes.10-11 Comment........12-15 Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining ......22

Press Pass..........23 Sports .................24 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30

At the outset of an event in Arlington marking the fifth anniversary, to the day, of the signing of the Affordable Care Act into law, Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr. introduced Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe by saying, “Historians will one day write that the Affordable Care Act was

the single most important act of moral leadership in the early 21st century: Emancipation, women’s suffrage, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act, each a bold move to expand upon the idea that all Americans have the equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Beyer added, “There is no denying that we badly need Medicaid expansion. We are lucky

PAGE 2 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

NOTICE OF PROPOSED REAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASE

(TO15-06) ORDINANCE SETTING THE RATE OF TAX LEVY ON REAL ESTATE, PERSONAL PROPERTY, MACHINERY AND TOOLS AND ALL OTHER PROPERTY SEGREGATED BY LAW FOR LOCAL TAXATION IN THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH VIRGINIA FOR TAX YEAR 2016. The City of Falls Church proposes to increase property levies. 1. Assessment Increase. Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, exceeds last year’s total assessed value of real property by 2.32 percent 2. Lowered Rate Necessary to Offset Increased Assessment. The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above would be $1.243 per $100 of assessed value. This rate will be known as the “lowered tax rate.” 3. Effective Rate Increase. The City of Falls Church proposes to adopt a tax rate of $1.345 per $100 of assessed value. The difference between the lowered tax rate and the proposed rate would be $0.102 per $100, or 8.21 percent. This difference will be known as the “effective tax rate increase.” Individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage. 4. Proposed Total Budget Increase. Based on the proposed real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total budget of the City of Falls Church will exceed last year’s by 3.12 percent. Public hearings on the increase will be held on April 13 and April 27, 2015 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as they may be heard, in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia. The hearings shall be open to the public. The City Council will permit persons desiring to be heard an opportunity to present oral testimony within such reasonable time limits as shall be determined by the City Council. For copies of legislation, contact the City Clerk's office at (703-248-5014) or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or visit www.fallschurchva.gov. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711). CELESTE HEATH CITY CLERK

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY’S REQUEST TO REVISE ITS FUEL FACTOR CASE NO. PUE-2015-00022 On February 27, 2015, Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Virginia Power (“Dominion Virginia Power” or “Company”) filed with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) its application (“Application”) pursuant to § 56-249.6 of the Code of Virginia seeking a decrease in its fuel factor from 3.018 cents per kilowatt-hour (“¢/kWh”) to 2.406¢/kWh, effective for usage on and after April 1, 2015, on an interim basis. The Company’s proposed fuel factor, reflected in Fuel Charge Rider A, consists of both a current and prior period factor. The Company’s proposed current period factor for Fuel Charge Rider A of 2.374¢/kWh is designed to recover the Company’s estimated Virginia jurisdictional fuel expenses, including purchased power expenses, of approximately $1.6 billion for the period July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016. The Company’s proposed prior period factor for Fuel Charge Rider A of 0.032¢/kWh is designed to recover approximately $21.9 million, which represents the net of two projected June 30, 2015 fuel deferral balances. In total, Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed fuel factor represents a 0.612¢/kWh decrease from the fuel factor rate presently in effect of 3.018¢/kWh, which was approved in Case No. PUE-2014-00033. According to the Company, this proposal would result in an annual fuel revenue decrease of approximately $512.3 million between April 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016. The total proposed fuel factor would decrease the average weighted monthly bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh of electricity by $6.12, or approximately 5.3%. Dominion Virginia Power also proposes a modification to the Commission’s Definitional Framework of Fuel Expenses for Virginia Electric and Power. The Commission entered an Order Establishing 2015-2016 Fuel Factor Proceeding (“Order”) that, among other things, scheduled a public hearing on June 18, 2015, at 10 a.m. in the Commission’s Second Floor Courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive testimony from members of the public and evidence related to the Application from the Company, any respondents, and the Commission’s Staff. Any person desiring to testify as a public witness at this hearing should appear 15 minutes before the starting time of the hearing and contact the Commission’s Bailiff. Individuals with disabilities who require an accommodation to participate in the hearing should contact the Commission at least seven (7) days before the scheduled hearing at 1-800-552-7945 (voice) or 1-804-371-9206 (TDD). In its Order, the Commission also allowed the Company to place its proposed fuel factor of 2.406¢/kWh into effect for usage on and after April 1, 2015, on an interim basis. The public version of the Company’s Application, pre-filed testimony, and exhibits are available for public inspection during regular business hours at all of the Company’s offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A copy of the public version of the Company’s Application also may be obtained, at no cost, by written request to counsel for Dominion Virginia Power, William H. Baxter, II, Esquire, Dominion Resources Services, Inc., 120 Tredegar Street, Riverside 2, Richmond, Virginia 23219. If acceptable to the requesting party, the Company may provide the documents by electronic means. Interested persons also may review a copy of the public version of the Company’s Application in the Commission’s Document Control Center, located on the first floor of the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. In addition, unofficial copies of the public version of the Company’s Application, Commission orders entered in this docket, the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”), as well as other information concerning the Commission and the statutes it administers, may be viewed on the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. On or before June 11, 2015, any interested person wishing to comment on the Company’s Application shall file written comments with Joel H. Peck, Clerk, State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. Any interested person desiring to file comments electronically may do so on or before June 11, 2015, by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case. Compact discs or any other form of electronic storage medium may not be filed with the comments. All such comments shall refer to Case No. PUE-2015-00022. Any person or entity may participate as a respondent in this proceeding by filing a notice of participation on or before April 24, 2015. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of the notice of participation shall be filed with the Clerk of the Commission at the address set forth above. A copy of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company at counsel’s address set forth above. Pursuant to Rule 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUE-2015-00022. Interested persons should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for further details on participation as a respondent. On or before May 8, 2015, each respondent may file with the Clerk of the Commission and serve on the Commission’s Staff, the Company, and all other respondents any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case. If not filed electronically, an original and fifteen (15) copies of such testimony and exhibits shall be submitted to the Clerk of the Commission at the address set forth above. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Commission’s Rules of Practice, including 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service; 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format; and 5 VAC 5-20-240, prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUE-2015-00022. VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 3

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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PAGE 4 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

At F.C. Budget Hearings, Council Hears Contrasting Points of View

Continued from Page 1

citizens spoke up against any tax increase, with one stating that all things taken into account — an increase in his property’s assessment on top of a proposed rate hike — his overall taxes will go up by 12.3 percent, to three younger women, all with children in the school system. Erin Gill, MaryKate Hughes and Letty Hardi spoke urging the Council to adopt the school budget portion of the budget with its plan to retain high quality teachers by making them more competitive with neighboring jurisdictions such as Arlington. A fourth pro-school budget advocate spoke up, being developer Bob Young, who said that while all his commercial properties (and his residence) in the City pay very high taxes, being as his late wife, son, daughter and daughter in law have all been teachers he therefore appreciates the value of quality teachers.

Since Monday, Duncan chose to use the comment section of the News-Press’ website to clarify his position, writing, “I believe it’s possible to craft a budget that promotes continued excellence in our public schools, provides quality municipal services, supports an ambitious program of infrastructure improvements for both City and schools, and maintains a level tax rate.” He provided a four-step approach to achieving this, including “1. no cuts in core service lines, just prudent restraint in spending growth on them, 2. investing the City’s reserve funds in the VACO/VML investment pool, a secure, liquid vehicle that pays more than the nearzero interest we earn now, 3. proper accounting of savings in the required contribution to the City pension fund, thanks to the Council’s 2014 decision to allocate a portion of water sale proceeds to the fund, and, 4. a stepped up pace of collections of overdue accounts, as planned by

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

the Treasurer.” Duncan’s second point went to legislation that passed the Council Monday authorizing the City Treasurer to transfer money in the City’s bank account – roughly $27 million at any given point – to the investment pool of the Virginia Association of Counties and Virginia Municipal League, which yields a much higher interest on deposits than the City is now getting, something which could be worth a couple million to the City that it doesn’t now have. Also, on Duncan’s third point, a careful monitoring of the $10 million from the water sale proceeds that the Council voted to use for an advance payment into the City’s pension fund could yield savings beyond the estimates currently being reported by the City’s financial office. The Council’s next public stab at the budget will come at a work session on Monday, April 6, the day after the end of spring break week for the City schools.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 5

Gains Cited in Anniversary Of Affordable Health Care Continued from Page 1

Arlington to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act that after this year’s election cycle, he’s “reasonably optimistic” that the state legislature will back his push to enroll the state in the Medicaid expansion component of the act. He said that the argument in favor of the expansion is too strong simply from an economic development standpoint for reasonable Republicans – who’ve joined with their party’s radical right wing to block it so far – to continue rejecting it. But he said that any reasonable Republicans in the legislature are now fearing for “being Tea Partied” in their own GOP primaries. If they came out for Medicaid expansion, radical anti-”Obama care” Tea Party types will run primary challenges against them. So, McAuliffe opines, they will wait until after this year’s elections. All state senate and house of delegate seats will be up for election this November. But in the meanwhile, over 400,000 Virginians are being kept from having health care coverage due to the Tea Party-inspired right wing opposition to expansion, with $1.7 billion in federal funds to Virginia to pay for it are being forfeited as a result. “In addition to the moral obli-

gation we have, expansion of Medicaid in Virginia will be a huge economic driver and job creator,” he said. McAuliffe was joined by Rep. Beyer, who serves the 8th District of Virginia that covers Falls Church, and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell to lead today’s event. It also included contributions from State Delegates Patrick Hope and Alfonso Lopez and State Sen. Barbara Favola and numerous state health advocates. Neil McNulty of the Virginia Business Coalition on Health said, “The business community needs to take the time to understanding the economic benefits” of the ACA and Medicaid expansion, adding that no business will want to go where there is no health care (referring to southwest Virginia, where one hospital has already closed and four others are on the brink). McAuliffe echoed the comments, saying that approving the expansion of Medicaid in the state “could turbocharge our economy.” He said when he is working to bring new businesses to Virginia, not having Medicaid expansion in the state “it is like having one arm tied behind my back.” He noted that other states under leadership more conservative than Virginia have opted for it, states like Utah, Kentucky and

U.S. REP. DONALD S. BEYER JR. (left), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (center) and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell (right) led a conversation and celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act at the Arlington Mill Community Center on Columbia Pike Monday. (Photo: News-Press) Tennessee. Right now, he said, a once-a-year team clinic held in Wise County is so overwhelmed with uninsured people seeking care that over a thousand are turned away and have to wait another year for medical attention. HHS Secretary Burwell said that the goals of the ACA are in three areas — affordability, qual-

ity and access. In all three areas, the impact of the ACA has been better than predicted even by its proponents. Between 2011 and 2013, the nation experienced the lowest per capita health care costs on record. Over 16 million Americans have gained quality, affordable health insurance since the

Affordable Care Act became law. More than 11 million were able to sign up or re-enroll through the marketplace during this year’s open enrollment. Nearly 80 percent of the 2015 marketplace customers using the HealthCare.gov website purchased coverage for $100 a month or less after tax credits, Rep. Beyer said.

Holy Week and Easter with The Falls Church Episcopal March 29th Palm Sunday

Blessing of the Palms & Holy Eucharist 9 am Main Sanctuary & 11 am Historic Church

April 2nd Maundy Thursday

Taizé Service with Holy Eucharist 7:30 pm Main Sanctuary

April 3rd Good Friday

Historic Church Open for Quiet Prayer Noon - 3 pm Children’s and Family Service 5:30 pm Historic Church Liturgy of Good Friday with the Duruflé Requiem 7:30 pm Main Sanctuary

1 1 5 E . Fa ir fa x S t r e e t

April 4th Holy Saturday

Area Episcopal Churches Combined Service for The Great Vigil of Easter The Rev. Dr. Justin Lewis-Anthony, guest preacher 7:30 pm Historic Church

April 5th Easter Sunday

Festive Eucharist with Children’s Chapel followed by an Easter Celebration on the Lawn 9 am Main Sanctuary & 11 am Historic Church

All are

w w w. The Fa l l s C h u r c h . or g

Welcome

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PAGE 6 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

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‘Mason Row’ is a Very Good Idea

There is a clear calculus operating here that does not require degrees in rocket science to figure out. It goes something like this: If you want quality schools then you have to support aggressive commercial development that will pay for them. It is our sense that most residents of Falls Church get this, but they are not the ones who are throwing up a loud fuss at City Hall. To oppose an amazingly lucrative project like the proposed “Mason Row” at the intersection of W. Broad and N. West streets, and then to turn around and complain about high taxes or the need to maintain quality schools (so that, if nothing else, residential property values don’t plunge by 20 percent), simply makes no sense whatsoever. But that doesn’t stop some noisy people from feeling they’re entitled to be against the “Mason Row” project, for example, and high taxes, while all the same time claiming they’re for quality schools. The math simply doesn’t add up. It is frustrating to us, observing this process, that more City officials don’t come right out and confront the nonsense by saying, as mama said, “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too!” The Falls Church public that we see is hopping up and down in favor of what the 4.3-acre “Mason Row” will bring. First and foremost it will bring enormous new tax revenues to help pay for the things the City needs and thereby to keep the tax rate down. Second, it will add some class to the City with more nice restaurants, a hotel and eight-screen movie complex. Third, it will bring down the City’s age demographic, with the rental apartments designed to appeal to the kind of younger, more energetic professionals that Arlington has attracted. (And fourth, in a proposal that is now apparently being withdrawn, we also were enamored of the plan that space for at least a portion of the City’s library be relocated at the “Mason Row” site, easing the pressure on renovating the existing library space including paying an exorbitant cost for a new parking deck there that the City Council, once again, began choking on this last Monday. It was noted that the plan for the parking deck at the existing library location would cost an outrageous $75,000 per net new parking spot.) One citizen at the Council meeting this Monday night, taking a fresh and unpolluted look at the options for the City’s capital improvement projects, quite reasonably pointed out that it might make more sense to combine the parking deck planned for the library and one planned for City Hall across the street instead of having them separate. Omigosh, that’s so simple, once you get outside the internal maze of assuaging all the preferences and prejudices of volunteer bureaucrats who think that simply by having been appointed to a little commission, that they’re entitled to having things their way.

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Why Not Compare Property Tax vs. Arlington, Fairfax? Editor, At the public budget meeting on March 13, our city manager, Wyatt Shields, emphasized that the comparison of City of Falls Church property taxes should be made to other smaller municipalities in Northern Virginia as opposed to Arlington or Fairfax counties. Yet at the same time the Falls Church school board maintains that teacher salaries need to be made competitive with those of Arlington school

system, with the resulting rise of four cents per dollar in the tax rate. This inconsistency needs to be noted and brought to the attention of Falls Church voters. What league is the Little City playing in? If the appropriate comparison of property tax rates is with other smaller municipalities, why is the teacher compensation not compared with the same of the other smaller municipalities? This disparity between the two types of

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comparison is less than honestly transparent. The small size of Falls Church means that we cannot afford the many municipal services offered by our much larger neighbors which have significantly lower property tax rates. Getting into an arms race with Arlington County over teacher salaries is not sustainable or sensible. Few lessons are more important to learn in life than is living within one’s means. If Falls Church schools lose current or prospective teachers to Arlington school system, that is the price for living within the financial means of a small jurisdiction. Other teachers who are fully qualified and competent will

be happy to receive the income offered by our school system. It is about time that Falls Church faces up to reality. Citizens here do not have pockets so deep that the tax rate may be increased indefinitely. Steve Wertime Falls Church

Thanks for Help With GMHS Mulch Drive Editor, On Saturday, March 21, more than 250 athletes representing 16

Letters Continued on Page 8

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 7

G � � � � C � � � � � �� Ranked-Choice Voting & Independent Redistricting B� C�� Z��

In our current political system, gerrymandering empowers elected officials to choose their voters rather than have voters choose the politicians. The result? Partisanship and polarization. Centrists are stymied and politics less civil due to an overwhelming number of non-competitive legislative districts. As a result, politicians have little incentive to forge thoughtful, practical solutions. Political polarization threatens the United States and does not represent the will of its people. There are, however, solutions. In its most recent mayoral contest, Minneapolis implemented Ranked-Choice Voting. Voters ranked their choices for Mayor on the same ballot – so if your first choice did not garner enough votes to advance in the contest, then your second choice would count, and so on. In the 33rd round, Mayor Betsy Hodges emerged victorious with 48.95 percent of the ranked vote. Throughout the mayoral campaign, she and other candidates did not merely ask for a vote, but instead to be as high as possible on a given voter’s list of choices. In developing a more civil approach to politics, ranked-choice voting is a way we can focus on building collaborative governance and attracting more women to run for elected office. To eliminate gerrymandering, reform advocates propose using Independent Redistricting Commissions, which would

give a group – a Commission – of citizens the power to draw district boundaries; the group would be selected to reflect the varied cultures and communities of a given state. It is imperative that politicians not draw the boundaries of the districts that they represent because it’s up to voters to

“Political polarization threatens the United States and does not represent the will of its people.” choose those who represent them rather than the other way around. While the legislative district boundaries drawn by Independent Redistricting Commissions would be drawn based on objective criteria like geographic features and compactness, a Commission alone does not solve the two structural problems inherent within the existing single-memberdistrict system. First, the system relies on First-Past-the-Post voting, which means that whichever candidate gets the highest percentage of the vote wins – whether that’s 50.1 percent or a plurality of just 13 percent – none of the other 49.9 percent or 87 per-

cent earn representation. All voters’ voices matter, yet neither the current system nor Independent Redistricting Commissions by themselves allot citizens the representation that they deserve. The second structural problem inherent to the single-member-district system is its inability to effectively offer minorities the varied representation that they are by law granted. Racial minorities, overwhelmingly Democratic, are naturally concentrated into particular neighborhoods, making it easy for them to be drawn into a small number districts, but preventing them from being reflected in legislative bodies in the proportion that they constitute of the overall population. This phenomenon, called unintentional gerrymandering, leads to some overwhelmingly Democratic districts, and many more marginally Republican ones. While racial minorities as a whole prefer Democrats, that doesn’t suggest that all African-Americans or Hispanic and Latino Americans share the same policy preferences, for after all city living and suburban residence demand different priorities. It is critical that to offer minorities the representation that they deserve, we move beyond an Independent Redistricting Commission quick-fix. An adequate system integrates Independent Redistricting Commissions and two other elements: multi-member districts and ranked-choice voting. Let’s take Virginia as an example: Currently,

the Commonwealth has 40 single-member State Senate districts. In this structure, we elect liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans with few moderates because our elected officials have no incentive to devote attention beyond primary elections in safe districts. Any effective solution must address this issue. If Virginia were drawn into eight Senate districts, each sending five Senators to Richmond, then the spectrum of political views in a given district would be reflected: the election wouldn’t be about getting more votes than anybody else, but about building a coalition of supporters of x percent of voters within a multi-member district. This would justly give the opportunity for the ideological left, center, and right, of each part of Virginia to gain representation, rather than just the ideological extremes as is the case now. Furthermore, gerrymandering would be curbed as multimember districts would be drawn by an Independent Redistricting Commission. Some are skeptical, insisting that a redistricting system relying on multi-member districts, ranked-choice voting, and independent commissions is unconstitutional. But nothing is unconstitutional about it. To get our problems solved in Richmond and Washington, we know that our legislators need to collaborate. A multi-member-district, ranked-choice-voting system is integral to stopping the polarization and having voters select politicians rather than having politicians select their voters.

Q�� W�� Should the City of Falls Church accept Clark Construction’s proposal for the new school site? • Yes

Last Week’s Question:

Do you plan to participate in City of F.C. budget deliberations this spring?

• No • 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

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PAGE 8 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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TO LETTERS THE EDITOR Continued from Page 6 spring sports delivered mulch to homes throughout our community in support of George Mason High School’s athletic programs. With the help of volunteer drivers and organizers, students delivered more than 3,000 bags of mulch in just four

hours. We would like to thank those students, family members and friends who volunteered their time, as well as those in the community who purchased mulch and made our 22nd annual mulch drive a big success. Steve Selby Rob Donovan Falls Church

BEST KEPT SECRET IN THE “LITTLE CITY” LEE SQUARE APARTMENTS WITHIN MINUTES OF METRO

“I’m a caregiver for my husband, who has cancer, and a writer. When my husband’s cancer spread to his brain last year, I stopped writing and focused completely on him. Amazingly, he’s doing reasonably well. I’ve discovered I’m pretty good in a crisis but seem to have a meltdown after each one. I am on the umpteenth rewrite of my �irst novel. The amount of time I can devote to the writing is in inverse proportion to how well my husband is doing. If another crisis happens, I won’t hesitate to drop the writing. He’s more important. His cancer has given me the ultimate excuse for procrastinating. But my goal now is to try to keep more balance even when I’m in crisis mode. We’ll see...” P��: L�� G��

Beautiful 800 sq ft 1 bdrm located in the heart of Falls Church City. Large walkin closets, swimming pool, individually controlled heating and a/c, dishwasher, microwave oven, gas cooking and wall to wall carpeting. Near East & West Falls Church Metro, walk to everything, restaurants, banks, post office, drycleaners, library, farmers market, and spa/fitness facilities. Rent is $1445 and includes heat. Call 703-533-8860 or email: leesquareapartments@srmgmtco.com Office hours M – F 9-5 Weekend showings by appointment only

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Got Beef? Send us a letter and let us know what you think. The deadline for Letters to the Editor is 5 p.m. Monday each week of publication. Letters should be 350 words or less. All letters printed in the News-Press become property of the Falls Church NewsPress and may be edited for clarity and length.

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MAGNIFICENT NEW CONSTRUCTION News•Photos Online Polls•Sports E-Issuu•Twitter•and More

Another Great Listing by Irene Xenos

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MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 9

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Latest ‘Mason Row’ Submission Delayed The Spectrum Group, developers of the so-called “Mason Row” project on 4.3 acres adjacent the intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets, informed the News-Press Friday afternoon that the date of their submission of new plans for the site has been set back from Monday, March 23, until April 13. Peter Batten of Spectrum also told the News-Press that a plan for relocation of a part of the City’s library to the new mixed-use site will not be in the new submission. Batten said that his group designed an option to include all or part of the City library on its “Mason Row” site at the request of the City as a possible option, but not at their own initiative. He said that a community meeting focused on transportation issues around the site is slated for the night of Monday, March 30, and that his group is in the process of re-energizing its contact with existing small businesses on the site to see if they can be integrated into it.

Beyer Named Dems’ National Finance Chair He’s been a U.S. Congressman for less than three months, but Falls Church’s Favorite Son, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr. is having many important responsibilities heaped upon him. He announced yesterday that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has appointed him its new National Finance Chairman. “As we build for the 2016 elections, I will be recruiting and guiding new Democratic candidates who will help us restore middle class economics – economics that help students, workers, small businesses, families, and communities. We will build a Party ready to meet the challenges of our changing world,” Beyer said in a statement. “Today I am one of 188 Democrats in the House of Representatives. This is the fewest since 1949. We have our work cut out for us, but there is great hope and energy. I am eager to get started, and look forward to being a part of the leadership over the next 20 months that helps achieve our goals.”

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Transit: Which Route Through F.C.? At a Falls Church League of Women Voters’ forum at the F.C. Community Center Sunday, panelists shared their views of options the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission will be making in the near future for an optimal route for light rail or bus rapid transit operations eventually coming through the City of Falls Church up the Route 7 corridor from Alexandria. Falls Church Vice Mayor David Snyder, who is the chair of the commission, said that the options before the group have been narrowed to light rail and bus rapid transit modes. Yet to be determined is the route through Falls Church, which could either be directly through Route 7 (Broad Street) or with a detour onto Sycamore St. to the East Falls Church Metro. If the latter option is chosen, then it will be critical for Falls Church to have the line go from the Metro station down Route 29 back down to Route 7, Snyder said. If the plan calls for the new line to terminate at the East Falls Church Metro, then City residents will gain no benefits.

SU O N PE D N AY H ,3 O /2 US 9 E • 14

Clark Construction, the mega-developer who participated in the public-private partnership deal to build the City of Falls Church’s Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School a decade ago, has come forward with a bold new unsolicited proposal for the construction of a new George Mason High School and develop the 39 acres the City received from its deal to sell its water system to Fairfax County last year. Clark submitted the proposal to the surprise of everyone at the F.C. City Hall last week, and the City followed by issuing a press release saying it and the City schools had received the proposal “for the construction of a new George Mason High School and the commercialization and redevelopment of portions of the campus that currently houses George Mason High and the Henderson Middle School.” The City’s press release did not identify the developer who made the submission or any details of their proposal, but the News-Press independently learned it is Clark, described as a company with the resources and the familiarity with Falls Church to make it happen. The City’s statement said only that “Acceptance of the unsolicited proposal for further evaluation is not a commitment to proceed with the project and the City and Schools may reject the proposal at any point.” As background, the City statement added, “Last year, the Falls Church City Council and School Board created a joint task force which has served to guide the effort to plan for future projects on the campus.” Of the nearly 40 acres that have been annexed from Fairfax County by the City, 30 are dedicated to educational use, and approximately 10 may be developed commercially, with the close proximity of the West Falls Church Metro station being a lucrative incentive.

DuNN lOriNG

C U O N N D TR ER A C T

Clark in Unsolicited Bid to Build F.C. School Site

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PAGE 10 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

News-Press

Community News & Notes Stifel and Capra Hosts Shopping Fundraiser Stifel and Capra at 260 West Broad Street is hosting a fundraising kickoff for the Friends of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter’s biennial fundraising auction this Thursday, March 26, from 6 – 9 p.m. The event is a special shopping night when a percentage of proceeds that are purchased benefit the homeless shelter. There will be a wine tasting and light fare at the fundraiser. Tickets to the April 11 auction, which cost $50, will also be for sale at the Stifel and Capra event.

Criminal Justice Public Safety Career Fair Set for Today Marshall Academy, located at 7731 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, is hosting its annual Criminal Justice Public Safety Career

Fair today from 8 – 11:30 a.m. The event, in which participants can get an overview of available careers in the field of law enforcement, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact one of the event liaisons, Shelli Farquharson at 703-714-5581 or smfarquharso@fcps.edu or Chuck Posnart at 703-714-5554 or caponsart@fcps.edu.

Cherry Hill Farmhouse Hosts Old-Fashioned Cooking Class Cherry Hill Farmhouse at 312 Park Avenue is hosting an old-fashioned cooking class on March 31, while Falls Church City children are on spring break, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. In the class, recommended for children ages 8 – 12, participants will learn how to grind corn, make corn bread, churn butter and make

their own lemonade. For more information or to enroll in the class, call 703-248-5027.

James Lee Community Center Releases 2015 Program Guide The James Lee Community Center, located at 2855 Annandale Road #101, Falls Church, released its 2015 spring program guide earlier this month. SATonSat, a program held every Saturday and sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Cultural Arts Foundation, aims to help students in grades 6 – 12 build strong math, reading, vocabulary and writing skills to prepare for the Scholastic Aptitude Test and was highlighted in the guide. For more information about the program, e-mail Dr. Amy Trang at apacaf@gmail.com. James Lee Community Center also has an Earth Day

MAKE MY DAY C:PA, a new tax preparation company located at 450 North Washington Street, hosted a ribbon cutting on Saturday, March 14. Boris Boxman, owner of the company, and Falls Church City Mayor David Tarter cut the ribbon on the store with the company’s investors, Falls Church City Vice-Mayor David Snyder, City Councilmembers Phil Duncan and Marybeth Connelly in attendance. (Courtesy Photo)

Celebration planned for April 25 and health fair sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women on May 16. Among the classes listed in the program guide are a Botball Educational Robotic Program for children between the ages 6 – 18 and a Beginners’ Computer Class for adults age 55 and up. Hard copies of the program guide can be picked up at the community center. For more information, call 703-534-3387.

Author Harper Reads From New Book ‘Daydreamers’ Falls Church-based author Jonathan Harper will read from his debut short story collection Daydreamers at One More Page Books at 2200 N. Westmoreland St., Arlington, this Saturday, March 28, at 5 p.m. The reading will be followed by a wine reception.

Daydreamers, a collection of nine stories, received praise from novelist Genevieve Valentine (author of The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and Mechanique). She said that Daydreamers is “A catalog of suburbia’s petty desolations and meditations on lost chances; Harper makes for a keen archivist of his characters’ flawed, unfinished manifestos.” Harper, who has worked for the Lambda Literary Foundation from 2002-2005 and the NewsPress from 2005-2007, has had his fiction and essays featured in multiple literary magazines including The Nervous Breakdown, Chelsea Station, Big Lucks, The Lambda Book Report as well as anthologies like Homewrecker: An Adultery Reader, The Lost Library and Best Gay Stories 2013. For more information, visit jonathan-harper.com.

Don Beyer Volvo at 1231 West Broad Street hosted Girl Scout Troop 4438, and their girl scout cookie booth, on Saturday, March 14. The scouts (l to r) Sofia Arriaga, Casey Sloan, Caroline Doyle and Nora Rice in the photo above with Don Beyer assistant service manager Will Hurdle are all fourth graders at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. (Photo: Courtesy of Kayleen Fitzgerald)

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

FCA Extends Deadline for All-Members Show

classes, visit fallschurcharts.org/ class-registration.

Falls Church Arts has extended the deadline for its 12th Annual All-Members Show to midnight next Monday, March 30. The All-Member Show opens on Friday, April 10, at 7 p.m. and will feature at least one work of art from each member who enters. On Thursday, April 23, Falls Churchbased attorney Erik Pelton will give a presentation on copyright and intellectual property as it relates to artists as a prelude to the Falls Church Artsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; all-member meeting. An artists reception with surprise entertainment will follow the meeting. Also, the Falls Church Arts is opening the entry period for the 6th Annual Falls Church Arts Plein Air Festival on Thursday, April 16. For more information on how to enter a painting in the festival, visit fallschurcharts.org/ pleinair. New classes offered by Falls Church Arts are also open for registration. Seth Haverkampâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Still Life and Backgrounds Workshop will be held on April 11 and 12 from noon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 6 p.m. Bobbi Pratteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Studio Landscape Painting Workshop will be held on April 25 and 26. On Saturday, April 25, the class will be held from 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 p.m. and will be from 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. There will also be one day Landscape Painting Workshops taught at Falls Church Arts on May 23 and May 30 from 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 p.m. Rajendra KC will be teaching Outdoor Watercolor Classes at the Falls Church Farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Market beginning in April. For more information or to register for

Mason U. Offers Mini-Course on Abrahamic Religions The College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University announced earlier this month a not-for-credit seminar for the local community in the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which will take place every Saturday in April. Two professors in the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s department of religious studies, Maria Dakake and Randi Rashkover, will be teaching the course. Dakake is the chair of Masonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s religious studies department and co-director of the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies and Rashkover is a faculty member in the department and director of the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Judaic studies program. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of the things that this course will do is show people how these histories, both their political histories, clerical histories, as well as their intellectual histories, are intertwined,â&#x20AC;? said Dakake in a press release announcing the class. They are joined â&#x20AC;&#x153;not only at their origin and at their roots in the Near East, but also in the general intellectual context and climate in which they evolved and developed.â&#x20AC;? The course is part of a new project in the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, designed to share the insights of its faculty in deeper and more sustained ways with the local community around Mason. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done this kind of community outreach for a long time,â&#x20AC;? said Robert Matz, senior associ-

LO CA L ate dean in the college, in the press release. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Masonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s President Cabrera has rightly stressed how important sharing faculty scholarship with the community is, and we agree. We love the idea of creating mini-courses that people can take just because they want to learn, and meet and talk to others who share their passion for learning.â&#x20AC;? For more information about the course, visit to.gmu.edu/ abrahamic traditions.

NVCC Summer Course Registration Opens March 31 Registration for summer session classes at Northern Virginia Community College begins next Tuesday, March 31. Students must register by 11:59 p.m. on the day before a session begins. Classes in the 12-week summer session begin May 18 and end Aug. 9. There are also two six-week summer sessions, which start on May 18 and June 29. For help with registering, visit a campus in Alexandria, Annandale, Loudoun, Manassas, Springfield or Woodbridge during regular business hours. Students can register early to lock in their classes without paying tuition until April 27. Starting April 27, tuition is due by 5 p.m. on the next business day after enrolling. College students home for the summer can earn credits at Northern Virginia Community College that transfer to their fouryear residential colleges. Most colleges and universities accept credits from Northern Virginia Community College, but students should consult their residential college before registering. For more information or to register, call 703323-3000 or visit nvcc.edu.

THE MCLEAN YOUTH BASKETBALL fifth grade team, the Little Blue Devils, won the regular season championship and the playoff tournament earlier this month. In the photo above, the Little Blue Devils celebrate their season with coach Kathy Carey. (Photo: Courtesy of Beth Ann Hellert)

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How to Fight Against Anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism is rising around the world. So the question becomes: What can we do to fight it? Do education campaigns work, or marches or conferences? There are three major strains of anti-Semitism circulating, different in kind and virulence, and requiring different responses. In the Middle East, anti-Semitism has the feel of a deranged theoretical system for making sense of a world gone astray. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, doesn’t just oppose Israel. He has said its leaders “look like beasts and cannot be called human.” President Hassan Rouhani of Iran reinstated a conference of Holocaust deniers NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists. Two of Iran’s prominent former nuclear negotiators apparently attended. In Egypt, the top military staff attended a lecture on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The region is still rife with the usual conspiracy theories – that the Jews were behind 9/11, drink the blood of non-Jews, spray pesticides across Egyptian lands. This sort of anti-Semitism thrives where there aren’t that many Jews. The Jew is not a person but an idea, a unique carrier of transcendent evil: a pollution, a stain, a dark force responsible for the failures of others, the unconscious shame and primeval urges they feel in themselves, and everything that needs explaining. This is a form of derangement, a flight from reality even in otherwise sophisticated people. This form of anti-Semitism cannot be reasoned away because it doesn’t exist on the level of reason. It can only be confronted with deterrence and force, at the level of fear. The challenge for Israel is to respond to extremism without being extreme. The enemy’s rabidity can be used to justify cruelty, even in cases where restraint would be wiser. Israeli leaders try to walk this line, trying to use hard power, without becoming a mirror of the foe, sometimes well, sometimes not. In Europe, anti-Semitism looks like a response to alienation. It’s particularly high where unemployment is rampant. Roughly half of all Spaniards and Greeks express unfavorable opinions about Jews. In the current issue of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg has an essay, “Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” He reports on a blizzard of incidents: a Jewish school principal who watched a Frenchman of Algerian descent pin his 8-year-old daughter down in the schoolyard and execute her; a Swedish rabbi who has been the target of roughly 150 anti-Semitic attacks; French kids who were terrified in school because of the “Dirty Jew!” and “I want to kill all of you!” chants in the hallway; the Danish imam who urged worshippers in a Berlin mosque to kill the Jews, “Count them and kill them to the very last one.” Thousands of Jews a year are just fleeing Europe. But the best response is quarantine and confrontation. European governments can demonstrate solidarity with their Jewish citizens by providing security, cracking down – broken-windows style – on even the smallest assaults. Meanwhile, brave and decent people can take a page from Gandhi and stage campaigns of confrontational nonviolence: marches, sit-ins and protests in the very neighborhoods where anti-Semitism breeds. Expose the evil of the perpetrators. Disturb the consciences of the good people in these communities who tolerate them. The United States is also seeing a rise in the number of anti-Semitic incidents. But this country remains an astonishingly non-anti-Semitic place. America’s problem is the number of people who can’t fathom what anti-Semitism is or who think Jews are being paranoid or excessively playing the victim. On college campuses, many young people have been raised in a climate of moral relativism and have no experience with those with virulent evil beliefs. They sometimes assume that if Israel is hated, then it must be because of its cruel and colonial policies in the West Bank. In the Obama administration, there are people who know that the Iranians are anti-Semitic, but they don’t know what to do with that fact and put this mental derangement on a distant shelf. They negotiate with the Iranian leaders, as if anti-Semitism was some odd quirk, instead of what it is, a core element of their mental architecture. There are others who see anti-Semitism as another form of bigotry. But these are different evils. Most bigotry is an assertion of inferiority and speaks the language of oppression. Anti-Semitism is an assertion of impurity and speaks the language of extermination. Anti-Semitism’s logical endpoint is violence. Groups fighting anti-Semitism sponsor educational campaigns and do a lot of consciousness-raising. I doubt these things do anything to reduce active anti-Semitism. But they can help non-anti-Semites understand the different forms of the cancer in our midst. That’s a start.

NATI O NA L

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

David Brooks

This Snookered Isle The 2016 election is still 19 mind-numbing, soulkilling months away. There is, however, another important election in just six weeks, as Britain goes to the polls. And many of the same issues are on the table. Unfortunately, economic discourse in Britain is dominated by a misleading fixation on budget deficits. Worse, this bogus narrative has infected supposedly objective reporting; media organizations routinely present as fact propositions that are contentious if not just plain wrong. Needless to say, Britain isn’t the only place where things like this happen. A few years ago, at the height of our own deficit fetishism, the American news media NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE showed some of the same vices. Allegedly factual articles would declare that debt fears were driving up interest rates with zero evidence to support such claims. Reporters would drop all pretense of neutrality and cheer on proposals for entitlement cuts. In the United States, however, we seem to have gotten past that. Britain hasn’t. The narrative I’m talking about goes like this: In the years before the financial crisis, the British government borrowed irresponsibly, so that the country was living far beyond its means. As a result, by 2010 Britain was at imminent risk of a Greek-style crisis; austerity policies, slashing spending in particular, were essential. And this turn to austerity is vindicated by Britain’s low borrowing costs, coupled with the fact that the economy, after several rough years, is now growing quite quickly. Simon Wren-Lewis of Oxford University has dubbed this narrative “mediamacro.” As his coinage suggests, this is what you hear all the time on TV and read in British newspapers, presented not as the view of one side of the political debate but as simple fact. Yet none of it is true. Was the Labour government that ruled Britain before the crisis profligate? Nobody thought so at the time. In 2007, government debt as a percentage of GDP was close to its lowest level in a century (and well below the level in the United States), while the budget deficit was quite small. The only way to make those numbers look bad is to claim that the British economy in 2007 was operating far above capacity, inflating tax receipts. But if that had been true, Britain should have been experiencing high inflation, which it wasn’t.

Paul Krugman

Still, wasn’t Britain at risk of a Greek-style crisis, in which investors could lose confidence in its bonds and send interest rates soaring? There’s no reason to think so. Unlike Greece, Britain has retained its own currency and borrows in that currency – and no country fitting this description has experienced that kind of crisis. Consider the case of Japan, which has far bigger debt and deficits than Britain ever did yet can currently borrow long-term at an interest rate of just 0.32 percent. Which brings me to claims that austerity has been vindicated. Yes, British interest rates have stayed low. So have almost everyone else’s. For example, French borrowing costs are at their lowest level in history. Even debt-crisis countries like Italy and Spain can borrow at lower rates than Britain pays. What about growth? When the current British government came to power in 2010, it imposed harsh austerity – and the British economy, which had been recovering from the 2008 slump, soon began slumping again. In response, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government backed off, putting plans for further austerity on hold (but without admitting that it was doing any such thing). And growth resumed. If this counts as a policy success, why not try repeatedly hitting yourself in the face for a few minutes? After all, it will feel great when you stop. Given all this, you might wonder how mediamacro gained such a hold on British discourse. Don’t blame economists. As Wren-Lewis points out, very few British academics (as opposed to economists employed by the financial industry) accept the proposition that austerity has been vindicated. This media orthodoxy has become entrenched despite, not because of, what serious economists had to say. Still, you can say the same of Bowles-Simpsonism in the United States, and we know how that doctrine temporarily came to hold so much sway. It was all about posturing, about influential people believing that pontificating about the need to make sacrifices – or, actually, for other people to make sacrifices – is how you sound wise and serious. Hence the preference for a narrative prioritizing tough talk about deficits, not hard thinking about job creation. As I said, in the United States we have mainly gotten past that, for a variety of reasons – among them, I suspect, the rise of analytical journalism, in places like The Times’ The Upshot. But Britain hasn’t; an election that should be about real problems will, all too likely, be dominated by mediamacro fantasies.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

NATI O NA L

Netanyahu Tips U.S. Public Opinion Shift

Oh, those pesky “unintended consequences!” A really big one accompanied the recent controversial address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, organized behind the back of President Barack Obama. What has come to pass as a result of that ham-handed move is a qualitatively greater differentiation, in the minds of the American public and many political leaders, on the Israeli issue, of Israeli-American relations and of Israel’s role in the world. This is a huge break from what had been, for so many years, a socially-reinforced rejection of any point of the view but support for “Israel right or wrong” in the U.S., a view that organizations like the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) veritably FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS enforced with the blanket charge that anything less, any criticism of Israel, was tantamount to “anti-Semitism.” Any criticism of Israel was met with such a stinging charge, which carried with it implied racism and insensitivity to the victims of the Jewish Holocaust of World War II. But now Prime Minister Netanyahu’s rude, bullying and inappropriate move to slight the president of the U.S. has called forth a serious re-evaluation of all that, a development that runs much deeper in the U.S. population than most in Washington, D.C. insider circles, including media pundits, appreciate. Since that speech, Netanyahu has moved to make matters even worse for American public opinion with another re-election stunt, this one to torch decades of arduous and often tortured U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East aimed at a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He vowed never to accept a two-state solution apparently in an effort to garner a few extra votes from the radical right inside Israel. Then there was the Wall Street Journal report that Israeli intelligence has been secretly spying on U.S.-Iranian negotiations. The popular opinion is that Netanyahu has soiled U.S.-Israeli relations by getting President Obama’s nose bent out of joint. But it goes much deeper. He’s alienated a huge chunk of the U.S. population, and not just the president or elements of official Washington. That’s going to become a big factor for how politicians in the U.S., including presidential hopefuls, are permitted by their constituencies to deal with Israel going forward. So the shaky electoral victory that Netanyahu was able to pull off last week, a narrow sewn-together parliamentary majority that shows the world a deep and abiding political schism within the Israeli electorate, was a Pyrrhic one. He may have won a battle but at the expense of the proverbial war. Netanyahu committed the fundamental blunder of making U.S. support for his nation a partisan matter within the U.S., and now, except on a most superficial level, no one, not all the king’s horses or all the king’s men, is going to be able to piece that Humpty Dumpty back together again. Still, no political leader in the U.S. is going to suggest abandoning support for Israel. That’s because, behind the figureheads of Netanyahu and his right-wing Republican counterparts in the U.S., there are the strings attached to those puppets choreographed by the U.S. military and industrial complex. These are the architects of the catastrophic U.S. invasion of Iraq and the rise of ISIS and related terrorist operations. Such forces are hellbent to make endless war the hallmark of the U.S. posture in the Middle East, and the big potato has been Iran. They really don’t care if Israel survives all the wars they’re intent on provoking. Ironically, the peace faction cares much more. Had a Republican remained in the White House after 2008, the U.S., despite the Iraq fiasco, would have been in all-out war with Iran long before now. Reports by Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker about covert U.S. military plans against Iran during the W years made that clear. An online report by “The Intercept” cited how a January conference call between a major bank and a major U.S. arms manufacturer assessed the “depressed weapons sales” that would result from an Obama-negotiated Iran deal. It was noted that a lot of residual instability in the region would remain “growth areas” for the U.S. manufacturer.

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

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

What’s New Pussycat? Meerkat! AUSTIN, Texas – Pity the poor cat. Somehow that creature of infinite detachment emerged as the symbol of incessant attachment here at South by Southwest. In this festival of interactivity, connectivity, sharing and Tinder-ing, the two big stars were Grumpy Cat, who groggily greeted an endless stream of fans, and Meerkat, the live-streaming video app pounced on by presidential candidates eager to seem hip. (The meerkat is actually from the mongoose family.) Animal shelters hosted “yappy hours” with free beer, and Friskies cat food set up the Haus of Bacon, where Internet cat stars took photos with groupies. There was even an attempt to rebrand cats to be less snobby and more in tune with the huggy Internet age. Jackson Galaxy, the tattooed, pierced, catwhispering host of “My Cat From Hell,” on Animal Planet, held a standing-room-only session called “CATastrophe: Good, Bad and Ugly of Internet Cats.” He advised the crowd – some wearing orange cat ears – that, rather than calling cats “aloof,” it might be betNEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ter to describe them as “freethinkers,” “Zen masters” and “Buddhists.” Galaxy’s attempt to warm up the image of cats was undercut by research suggesting that the only species that seems to show no regret or forgiveness after spats are cats. “I would hesitate to call cats domestic animals,” he told me, adding that he liked the fact that they are not “slavish,” but rather “no compromise” creatures who “kill stuff really well.” The focus on felines made me wish I could roam the festival with Tobermory, the barbed British cat with the “velvet tread and studied unconcern” from the Saki short story. In the 1911 yarn, a member of Lady Blemley’s house party teaches Tobermory, or Toby for short, to talk. Indifferent to the feelings of humans, Toby is brutally honest, exposing the guests’ dalliances, deceptions and foibles. I needed someone like Toby to help me cut through the verbal clutter and Panglossian spin in a world where celebrities are “influencers,” people are “users,” news is “content,” “platforms” are not shoes, the “Deep Web” is no place for Charlotte, and virtual reality trumps plain old reality. Toby would glide coolly past the drones in the Robot Petting Zoom but make quick work of Yik Yak co-founders Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington. They tried to push

Maureen Dowd

back against criticism that their anonymous, locationbased social app used by students is a magnet for crude sexual hazing, bomb threats and bullying: the intimidating “Wild West of anonymous social apps,” as a law professor put it in a Times article. Droll and Buffington said they wanted to create a site that would offer “a level playing field for content,” no matter your race, gender, ethnicity or popularity. “Do you think we’re so feebleminded that we believe this flimflam about Yik Yak?” Toby would say serenely. At a Marie Claire dinner for “Veep” at The Spotify House, I asked Tyler Winklevoss, who is developing a stock market for Bitcoin with his twin brother, to explain the invisible currency. “Bitcoin is Internet money,” he said. “It’s a value transfer protocol.” When I asked about the nefarious Bitcoin transactions in the Internet netherworld, Winklevoss protested: “People use cash every second of the day to do illegal things. Bitcoin is traceable and cash is anonymous.” If Toby deigned to accept the Marie Claire invitation, he no doubt would interpolate: “Bitcoin more transparent? Balderdash! We don’t even know who invented it. It’s Disney dollars for tech nerds.” Then there was my interview with Alex Winter, who graduated from playing Bill in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” to create an Epix documentary about the Darknet, where the Silk Road marketplace operated with Bitcoin, called “The Deep Web.” “It’s like looking under the hood of the Internet,” Winter said, arguing that the Deep Web is “largely used for good” by government agencies, dissidents and journalists. But Toby would certainly beg to differ, scoffing, “It’s a first-rate bazaar for drug dealers, child pornography peddlers, illegal arms salesman and Bitcoin burglars.” If I dragged Toby to the panel with Dan Rather and the former Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer, he would twitch at the exuberance of Pfeiffer predicting a Meerkatting “revolution” in coverage. And Toby would put his paws together, as many in the audience did, when Rather advised prudence during this tech “orgy of delight” and insisted that journalists will always be needed to separate the “brass tacks from the bull shine.” Toby would sniff that South by Southwest was more social than media and prowl off to catch up with Judd Apatow. Not one to pussyfoot, Toby would offer his biting commentary as he left: “People at South By are not aiming higher anymore. They aren’t looking to do anything larger than themselves.”

CO MME NT

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

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For nearly 20 years, parcels along the southern I moved to defer the application indefinitely, which frontage of Leesburg Pike in Culmore, between will allow the developer to work with county staff Charles Street and Washington Drive, have been on the requirements for resubmission of an updated the subject of discussion in the community about plan. The new plan probably will not be available for redevelopment possibilities. The block long area was review until late spring or early summer. replanned in 1994 for townhouse office uses, but the As noted, this site needs redevelopment to abate plan also called for dedication of significant land for its longtime blighted condition. While there were future improvements to the vehicular crossing from many good parts to the plan that was under conCharles Street to Glen Forest Drive. That require- sideration by the Board of Supervisors, the deferment stymied most inquiries about development, and ral will allow time for a thoughtful and balanced the properties continued to decline, both in appear- approach to the issues identified by my office, ance and value; at least one parcel was the subject of the community, and county staff. When the new a zoning violation for commercial vehicle parking. proposal is available for review, I will host a comLast year, Spectrum Development LLC came munity meeting to review it. No date has been set forward with a proposal to rezone several parcels for that meeting. for a small shopping center, including a drive-thru Good news for fitness enthusiasts! The Providence pharmacy. During community consideration of the RECenter, located in Mason District near Falls proposal, there was both support and opposition Church High School, announced a new Providence expressed by residents, and the proposal continued Power Hour program, beginning on Wednesday, to be changed and refined to meet neighbors’ con- April 1. This is not an April Fool’s joke! Many cerns. County staff and the Mason District Land Use RECenter users have asked for later hours, and Committee recommended denial of the application, RECenter staff responded. During a two month pilot the Planning Commission recommended mitiga- program, Providence will be open an extra hour, tions and additional proffers before recommending from 9 to 10 p.m., on Mondays, Wednesdays, and approval, and the Board of Supervisors held a lengthy Fridays, for lap swimming and fitness center use. public hearing on March 3. During the intervening General admission rates apply; there is no additional weeks, Spectrum made additional changes to reflect fee for RECenter passholders. If your New Years’ their response to the concerns expressed at the hear- resolution needs reinvigorating, the Power Hour ing. However, those changes did not go far enough might be just the ticket! and, because I understand the community’s concerns, I asked the developer to go back to the drawing board  Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in T: 5.6875 in Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be and rework the design of the proposed shopping the center. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

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A nyt hing

b ut

S traigh t

Harvest the Nuts

In front of a captive audience of trapped college students in Lynchburg, bombastic Texas Senator, Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, announced he was running for President of the United States. Although, judging by his divisive, narrow-minded remarks, it sounded more like he was running for president of Liberty University. The interesting thing about Cruz is that he’s not selling a set of policies or offering an innovative new platform. He doesn’t have a record of legislative accomplishment to run on either. He is essentially a professional lawmaker who doesn’t have the skill-set to pass laws. Out of 112 bills that he has sponsored or cosponsored, only one has become law. Would anyone have noticed had he not shown up for work? Cruz’ rationale for running is that he is the purest conservative on the planet. He promises not fresh ideas, nor solutions, but that he can reliably shake up the establishment. The subtext of his campaign: “Wouldn’t it be historic to have a rabble-rousing class clown sitting in the Oval Office? I promise not to let my ascension to power stop me from being disruptive, even if it means the classroom is no longer functional.” The heart of what Cruz is peddling is a dreary disposition, a sullen contrarian attitude, and a perpetual sour mood. But he’s bamboozling his base by promising to “stick it to Washington,” even as this consummate creature of Washington vies for the city’s top job. So far, the reviews have not been pretty. The New York Times editorial board wrote a take-down titled, “Imagine President Cruz”: “‘Think just how different the world would be,’ said Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday, in a speech so packed with vision-spinning and the word ‘imagine’ that it seemed as if John Lennon had returned, as a Hispanic Texan running a hard-right, anti-establishment, Christian-themed campaign for the White House. Weird. But weird is the essence for Mr. Cruz.” The Chicago Tribune’s Rex W. Huppke wrote a scathing piece, “Fire-andBrimstone Strategy by Cruz only Creates Smoke.” According to the author: “If you like straight marriage, God (the Christian kind, not one of those off-brand deities) and the good old days (circa the Revolutionary War), then I’ve got the presidential candidate for you…He is the first candidate in American history whose primary accomplishment is forcing the U.S. government to shut down while reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. If Cruz has a chance of winning he must capitalize on the Squirrel Strategy: Harvest the nuts. His immediate goal is to become the last extremist standing to challenge the GOP establishment candidate. A March 13-15 CNN/ORC poll shows that Cruz has some work to do. Only 4 percent of GOP voters would support his candidacy. The top vote getters in the poll are Jeb Bush at 16 percent, followed by Scott Walker at 13 percent, and Rand Paul at 12 percent. The key to an historic upset is for the nasally voiced Cruz to become the undisputed King Crackpot. Before he can take on Bush and Walker, he must take out Mike Huckabee (10 percent), Ben Carson (9 percent), Rick Perry (4 percent), and Bobby Jindal (1 percent). If voters loyal to these cranks gravitate to his campaign, he can effectively serve as a spoiler. This is much more difficult than it sounds. Cruz’s loony tune tactics have been so effective at exciting Tea Baggers that they are being aped by his competition. They are all competing for who can veer furthest to the right. Soon, they will be so far outside the mainstream that we will need a telescope to see them. For example, Dr. Ben Carson just told GQ Magazine that Obama is a “psychopath.” This comes a few weeks after Carson claimed that homosexuality was a choice because straight men go to prison and often come out of jail gay. Marco Rubio still says that climate change is a hoax and he can’t comment on it because he is “not a scientist.” Mike Huckabee, when he’s not ripping off Christians by hawking bogus snake oil cures for diabetes, is also in the competition for Supreme Crazy. Today, he claimed, “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.” This is a novel way to make peace. Just pretend one of the warring parties doesn’t exist. Instead of Nixon going to China, he could have saved time by pulling a Huckabee and declaring, “there is no such thing as China.” Ted Cruz is no dummy. He is an Ivy League educated U.S. Senator who clerked for former Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He is cunning and crafty and should not be underestimated, even though his campaign announcement was underwhelming. One gets the sense, however, that Cruz and his cuckoo compatriots aren’t really auditioning for President, but for a future job as a Fox News talk show host.

Wayne Besen

CO MME NT

Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

The 105-year-old Wilson School may soon be reduced to rubble – to allow construction of Arlington’s first high-rise urbanized school, for the H-B Woodlawn secondary program. Unless preservationists pull off a miracle. Last Saturday I visited that underused utilitarian structure on Wilson Blvd. in upper Rosslyn and perused some documents to learn why passions have risen in this latest feud between Arlington’s heritage and its future livability. After years of hearings and debate about overcrowded Arlington schools, the school board voted on Feb. 17 to press on with the Woodlawn move over objections from the Radnor/Fort Meyer Heights Civic Association and a unanimous vote this January to restore Wilson by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board. The building facing the wrecking ball was constructed in 1910 as Fort Myer Heights School, designed by noted Richmond architect Charles Robinson. It was the fruit of planning as far back as 1902 by neighbors concerned that children were attending school using second-hand furniture in a former saloon in Rosslyn. The two-story neoclassical structure boasted columns, portico and a cupola, and was renovated in 1925 to add a septic tank and athletic field. That was also the year it was named for the recently deceased President Woodrow Wilson, who had spent happy hours cruising the newly paved Wilson Blvd. in his PierceArrow greeting the school’s stu-

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 15

dents. (The boulevard itself, previously known as Awbury’s Road and Georgetown Falls Church Road, was also renamed in his honor.) The Wilson elementary school became a beloved alma mater and community gathering place in August 1930, the ArlingtonFairfax Volunteer Firemen’s Association hosted its annual carnival, parade and supper there. The structure was modernized again in 1957 (the fancy portico and columns were later removed) before elementary school classes there were ended in 1968. Ensuing decades saw the school used for employment training and temporary offices when not vacant. (It currently is home on Saturdays to the Mongolian School of the National Capital Area, which, a staffer told me, is seeking a new site from the county.) Civic association president Stanley Karson has been publishing letters arguing for a restoration of the “glorious building in its prime” to its 1910 appearance. It was he who approached the landmark review board after feeling “stampeded” by advocates of new high-rises. Review board chair Joan Lawrence has called for a blending of new and old, perhaps through reuse of ceiling tiles and bricks and historic signage in an imaginative new structure for middle and high-school students. Preservation Arlington last year placed Wilson on its endangered historic places list, calling it “the longest operating school building in the county that is still owned by the county.” The site certainly embodies a fascinating and well-documented history. When I visited, the

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

CRIME REPORT Week of March 16 - 22, 2015 Urinating In Public, 100 block W. Broad St. On Mar. 16, a male, 36, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested and released on summons for Urinating In Public. Stolen Vehicle, 500 block Roosevelt Blvd. On Mar. 16, a motorcycle was stolen sometime overnight. Larceny from Vehicle, 200 block N. Washington St. On Mar. 16, police received a report of a stolen license plate. Larceny from Building, 400 block W. Broad St. On Mar. 17, police

received a report of a stolen bicycle from a storage room. Public Drunkenness, 201 S. Washington St. On Mar. 17, a male, 53, no fixed address, was arrested for Public Drunkenness. Domestic Assault, 700 block Highland Ave. On Mar. 17, a male, 50, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested for Assault on a Family Member. Driving Under the Influence,300 block N. Washington St. On Mar.18, an officer conducted a traffic stop for a motor vehicle violation. The driver, a male, 29, of Arlington, was arrested

hallways and the multi-purpose room made of old ceramic brick brought back memories of my own Arlington school days. But the school system’s current pressures make use of its existing land an imperative. And for preservation of Arlington school design circa 1910, one could point to a better example in the former Maury School further west on Wilson, now the Arlington Arts Center. The issue is now before the planning commission, with the county board slated to consider it April 18. Karson has been lobbying board members, telling me, “A building doesn’t have to be beautiful to be historic.” *** A definite success story for local preservationists was the county board’s move last November to declare Broadview as Arlington’s 36th Historic District. That farmhouse built in 1881 by civic activist and former Union Army Maj. Robert Stinson Lacey is sandwiched between modern homes on a hill at 5151 N. 14th St., near Washington Blvd. and George Mason Drive. Its three-story tower and Queen Anne gingerbread motifs in attractive yellow and blue are what’s left of a 220-acre farm on which Civil War canteens and belt buckles were found, according to Eleanor Lee Templeman’s Arlington Heritage. The house may have inspired the 1941 young-adult novel “The Secret of the Old House” by Margaret Leighton. The historic designation, approved by the planning commission, Landmark Review Board and county manager, was sought by owners Alex Deucher and Angela Guzman. Their commanding view of Lacey Park, however, may soon be blocked by some pending new homes. for Driving Under the Influence. Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Mar. 19, a male, 35, of Bowie, MD, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area. Trespass, 6700 block Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Mar. 19, a male, 57, no fixed address, was arrested and released on Summons for Trespassing. Shoplifting, 1212 W. Broad St. (Virginia ABC Store) On Mar. 20, police received a report of stolen liquor which occurred on Mar. 19. Domestic Assault, 200 block E. Fairfax St. On Mar. 21, a male, 46, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested for Assault on a Family Member. Public Drunkenness, 200 block E. Fairfax St. On Mar. 22, a male, 19, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested for Public Drunkenness.

PAGE 16 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

LO CA L

F.C. Chamber of Commerce Hosts ‘Bright Lights, Little City’ Gala

THE FALLS CHURCH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE hosted its annual gala and live auction, called “Bright Lights, Little City,” last Saturday night at The Westin Tysons location. Karl Stoll & The Danger Zone provided live entertainment for the event. (Photos: News-Press/Brenda Schrier)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 17

F� � � � C � � � � �

B�� N�� N�� Hot N Juicy Crawfish Plans April Opening in Falls Church Seafood restaurant chain, Hot N Juicy Crawfish, is coming to Falls Church next month. Taking over the former Pilin Thai space at 119 West Broad Street in the City, a representative for the crawdad purveyors says the location hopes to open in the beginning of April. Hot N Juicy has eight restaurants nationwide, including one on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C. In addition to crawfish, the restaurant also serves oysters, crab, lobster, clams and shrimp in a variety of seasonings and spice levels. Coincidentally, Hot N Juicy’s new Little City location will be only half a mile away from another crawfish restaurant, Chasin’ Tails, on N. Westmoreland Street, just outside City limits in Arlington.

Pancake House Hosting Benfit for F.C. Education Foundation The Original Pancake House is hosting a “Dine Out Day” to benefit the Falls Church Education Foundation on Thursday, March 26 from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. A percentage of proceeds will benefit the No Holidays for Hunger Program and operations for the Foundation. The Original Pancake House is located at 7395 Lee Highway in Falls Church. For more information, contact Debbie Hiscott at dhiscott@fcedf.org or visit www.fcedf.org.

Fundraiser for F.C. Homeless Shelter Set for Thursday Stifel & Capra is hosting a fundraising kickoff event for the Friends of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter Cabaret and Auction on Thursday, March 26 from 6 – 9 p.m. The event includes a wine tasting, light food, and shopping with a percentage of proceeds will benefit the Falls Church Emergency Homeless Shelter. Additionally, tickets to the Friends of Falls Church Homeless Shelter Cabaret and Auction taking place April 21 will be available. Stifel & Capra is located at 260 W. Broad Street. For more information, visit www.fallschurchshelterfriends.org.

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Donate to The Arc of NoVa, Get Free Pizza in March Donors interested in contributing $15 or more to The Arc of Northern Virginia during the month of March, “Intellectual and Development Disabilities Awareness Month,” will receive a certificate for a free large pizza from Vocelli Pizza of Falls Church. The Arc of Northern Virginia supports people and families living with cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities by providing services, education, information, referrals, as well as special needs trust programs, self-advocacy empowerment opportunities, and special events. For more information, visit www.thearcofnova.org.

Former F.C. City Manager Lasso Joins Law Firm The Law Offices of Baskin, Jackson and Duffett, P.C. has announced that David Lasso has joined the firm as a principal. Lasso has been in practice for 38 years with a focus on municipal and state law matters including land use planning and development, procurement matters, state and local regulatory compliance requirements, legislative affairs, civil rights, and general litigation cases arising from such matters. Previously with Venable, Lasso is a former Falls Church City Manager and spent two decades in government service in the City. The firm, located at 301 Park Avenue in Falls Church, will continue the practice of law under the name Baskin, Jackson and Lasso, P.C. For more information, visit www. baskinjackson.com.

Unpaid F.C. Business Licenses Are Now Past Due Current 2015 business licenses in the City of Falls Church that have not been paid are now past due and are subject to a 10 percent late payment fee or $10, whichever is greater. The Falls Church Commissioner of the Revenue’s office suggests that businesses that have not yet renewed yet do so as soon as possible to avoid the accumulation of penalty interest which starts on April 1st, 2015. Operating a business without a current business license is a violation of city code. For more information, call the Commissioner’s Office at (703) 248-5450 or email the office at: Commissioner@fallschurchva.gov.  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.

The Arc of Northern Virginia Corporate Team Challenge 8K

Go the Distance for People with Disabilities Inviting companies and community groups to the area’s premier team race.

Sunday May 3, 2015 9:00 am

SPONSORS/TEAMS INFO:

www.TheArcofNoVA.org/TeamChallenge ad_fcnp.indd 1

Healthy Smiles Begin Here Family, Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry

703-208-1119 3/20/15 5:12 PM

PAGE 18 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

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The Official Student Newspaper of George Mason High School The Falls Church News-Press has partnered with George Mason High School’s award-winning newspaper, The Lasso, to bring its readers some of the top articles appearing in the student-run digital paper. This regular feature will appear monthly in the News-Press during the school year. The Lasso can be found online at www.fcpps.org/lasso.

Trampling On Tradition BY DANIEL DONOVAN THE LASSO

Every summer, the juniors/ seniors of the Mustang Ambassadors club at George Mason host an orientation for the incoming freshmen class of students to welcome them, give a tour of the school, and answer any questions they might have. I don’t remember much from my tour, over five years ago now; in fact I only remember one thing: “Don’t step on it.” Four short words my Mustang Ambassador, Ben Tran, told my group on that summer morning. The “it” Tran was referring to is the marble mosaic of a Mustang, embedded in the hallway floor outside the library and front office. This area is where the three main hallways of the school intersect,

and hundreds of students walk through this portion of the school in between classes every day. As was once a tradition, and still is as far as I’m concerned, students are never supposed to step on this mosaic. Stepping on the mustang was supposed to mean that GM student might not graduate, or at the least bring them bad luck. I tried to track down the origin of this superstition, so I immediately went to Mrs. Dorothy Clinton, a 1975 graduate of GMHS and the current secretary to the assistant principals in the front office. “Oh yes of course!” she replied when I asked her if she knew about it. “When I went to school here, it was like gold. No one would dream of stepping on it.” This confirmed that the super-

stition has been alive for at least 44 years. I knew that it has lost importance, but how much? I asked the youngest (and shortest) freshman in my sight, Carlos Mercado, if he knew about the mosaic or the superstition: “Uhhhh sure…” he replied. Mercado is only one student in the freshman class, but I think his response gives a pretty good idea of how important – or unimportant – this is to students at Mason in 2015. I conducted a survey of over 150 students of all grade levels throughout the week, and the results were (unfortunately) not surprising: 65 percent of students answered that they knew about the tradition, yet only 22 percent said they will avoid stepping on it when they walk through the hallway.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

We know it was important 40 years ago, and we know it has lost a great deal of that importance now. But when was it lost in translation? And why? I was also curious about what recent alumni thought of the tradition. “I definitely avoided it purposefully my first few years,” said Genevieve Jordan, a 2012 graduate. “Though I think as I got older, if I was in a rush, I wasn’t paying much attention.” Rand Walter, a 2013 graduate, had a similar perspective: “I don’t think I ever took extra precautions to walk around it, but if someone reminded me not to step on it then I usually didn’t. I don’t think it was a big deal for most people.” Honestly, it’s impossible to find precisely when the tradition lost its meaning, and more likely than not it was a gradual transition over time. But I’m graduating this year, and this tradition seems to be tiptoeing the border of extinction. I have gone out of my way to never step on it in my five years, why? Not because a senior made my mind race about thoughts of what could happen to me as an eighth grader if I did. Or because I actually think I won’t graduate if I do (I have a serious case of senioritis to threaten that). No, to me it’s because of what that 2 by 2 marble

mosaic means, what it represents. Is the literal tradition of not stepping on a marble mosaic on the floor kind of stupid? Sure it is. But aren’t all traditions/superstitions stupid? I sat in my lucky spot on the couch for every Redskins’ game this year and they still went 4-12. This mosaic represents school and community pride, a connection to alumni that goes back over 40 years, and a cliche high school tradition that is unique to students of George Mason High School. All high schools have these special traditions, but this mosaic is really the only one we have. And if it’s important to graduates from 40 years ago, I feel that it should be important to students now. When I took my freshmen on their tour this past August as a Mustang Ambassador, I made sure to stop outside the library and tell the story of the mosaic. My hope is that they will pass it on and the tradition will eventually come back to Mason. Who knows, maybe they don’t pay any attention to it right now and walk on it every day to class. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as they find something unique to Mason that matters, and they can take with them after they leave the place where we all spend so much of our teenage lives.

The Conductor of George Mason High School BY MELISSA JOHNSON THE LASSO

Within George Mason High School, there is a large, supportive staff (beyond the teachers), that take care of all the logistics in making any school day flow like a well oiled machine. If there is one staff member who pulls the strings behind the curtains every day to make GM that much better, it is easily Admin Assistant Mrs. Debbie Flanigan. So I sat down with Flanigan, and got to know a little more about this extraordinary staff member at George Mason High School. When I walked into the interview, I immediately realized just how busy Flanigan is: I saw right off the bat that she was hard at work reading a long Excel spreadsheet. Looked confusing to me. As soon as she saw me, Flanigan greeted me with a warm smile, wearing a grey sweater with blue and black lining throughout and black slacks. Before I knew it, Flanigan ran off to grab me a chair before the interview started. As we settled into the rhythm of conversation, I learned a great deal of how long Flanigan has been a part of the GM staff. This year will be Flanigan’s 20th year. Let me put that into perspective: that means

that Flanigan has been able to see five sets of GM classes graduate. Flanigan has also worked as the principal’s secretary her entire career here at GM, and has worked with three principals thus far. If you don’t already know Flanigan, she is one of those people who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Unlike, most of the staff members at GM, Flanigan is contracted as an employee all 12 months of the year. The months of September through June may be typical for students and teachers to be the busiest months, but for Flanigan all 12 months are busy. While students are relaxing at the beach all summer, Flanigan along with a select number of staff members are here all summer getting ready for the next school year. So yes, the schedules, the red folders, and all those documents distributed at the beginning of each school year are organized during the summer months. Typically during the school year, Flanigan’s days are kept busy with multiple tasks. From helping other administrators get their jobs done, to answering phones, and also keeping up with Principal Byrd’s schedule… it is a busy job to say the least. “[My daily tasks] are basically based on where we are in the semester, and the different things that

GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOl admin assistant Debbie Flanigan. (P��: M�� J��) come up, regardless of who is principal or secretary,” said Flanigan. Flanigan’s day is no walk in the park and getting to GM to start her day is no easy drive. Flanigan daily includes a 64-mile commute, constituting about 90 minutes each way, to and from GM. I have to say, when I complain that my 10-minute drive on Broad Street is treacherous, after hearing Flanigan, next time I will be a little more thankful. “It is a long commute, but it is

a great way to wind down after the day, and I really like what I do,” said Flanigan. “I love the people I work with and it’s a good place to be, and a lot of people can’t say that about their job.” During our interview, I was reminded again just how important Flanigan is, even for the small things: Midway through the interview Principal Byrd popped his head into the door asking Flanigan a question. She juggled the two tasks seamlessly. After the interruption, continuing through the interview, I realized how much love Flanigan has for her job, and the joys that she finds throughout the year. “I look forward to the beginning, I like the enthusiasm that students bring into the building on the first day of school, it’s a lot of work getting it ready… then I love graduation, because it is then the end of something that took a lot of work to put together,” said Flanigan. “I like everything about a school system, and it keeps you young!” Being a junior at GM and being here for three and a half years, I hear all the time Principal Byrd, stating that Flanigan is the “real principal of GM” and his boss. I wanted to know what Flanigan’s reaction was to that, and I have to say how humbling she is.

“I have to say that every time he says that I just say I am his secretary and that I just sit next to him, because that’s what I am,” Flanigan says with a laugh. “It’s his building, it’s his school, and I am just fortunate enough to be part of it, and even though I just sit in the office next to his, but it really is sweet of him to say that.” As the interview started to wind down, Principal Byrd opened up the door connecting his and Flanigan’s office, and I got a chance to ask Principal Byrd, what he thought of Flanigan, and he wasn’t hesitant in his response at all. “She’s my everything. I’m telling you, I am not kidding when I introduce her to people as my boss,” said Byrd. “She runs this building and there are few and certain people in every establishment and if they were gone there would be a ripple effect upon everyone and it would get down to every kid in this building if Ms. Flanigan wasn’t here for a couple of days.” After finishing the interview, Flanigan gave me a hug at the end, and I have to say it is one of the few interviews that I have ever come out of with such a happy and warm feeling. It was such an honor to be able to recognize an incredible person within our GM community.

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MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 19

Fa l l s C h u r c h

School News & Notes

A THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL fifth grader paints their Pacific Northwest Clay Totem Pole. The Jefferson Grade 5 Art Exhibit is currently on display at Mary Riley Styles Public Library for the next few weeks. Mary Riley Styles Public Library hosted an open house for the exhibit on Tuesday night, at which the Jefferson Chorus performed. (Photo: Juls Rathje/FCCPS Photo)

A STUDENT AT MARY ELLEN HENDERSON Middle School gets busy with the Makerspace in Hendeson’s Library. The middle school hosted an open house for Makerspace, which was funded through an Falls Church Education Foundation Super Grant, on Tuesday night. (Photo: Lori Fogle/FCCPS Photo)

4 F.C. Students to Compete in Nat’l Geographic State Bee Four students from Falls Church City and the Falls Churcharea of Fairfax County are gearing up to compete in the National Geographic Geography State Bee this Friday, March 27, at The Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives in Washington, D.C. Haycock Elementary School sixth-grader Sathya Gnanakumar, Luther Jackson Middle School eighth-grader Jacob Radomsky, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School fifth-grader Liam TimarWilcox and Longfellow Middle School seventh-grader Justin Young will compete for a slot in the national competition, which is slated for May 11 – 13 in Washington, D.C. and will be moderated by Soledad O’Brien. The winner of the national competition will receive at $50,000 college scholarship. For more information, visit press. nationalgeographic.com/geo-bee/.

Goodwin and Tartt Make All-State Basketball Team Two George Mason High School students, senior Katie Goodwin and junior Robert Tartt, were named to the Virginia High School League’s Group AA All-State team for their performances during the 2014-2015 season. Goodwin was named as

a first team All-State player and Tartt was named as a second team All-State player. For more information about the Virginia High School League’s All-State basketball teams, visit vhsl.org.

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. Andrea Annand, Tracie Crawford, Negar Deyhim, Stephanie Dyer, Maribel Gonzales, Evelyn Guandique Gonzalez, Mariah Khan, Michael Medlej, Mary Margaret Mubiru, Margaret Nash, Ainsley Van Over, Vanesa Quispe-Arnez, Sara Riad, Taya Riad, Tyler Roth, Leticia Zelaya and Pablo Enriquez Zurita made the dean’s list at Marymount University, where students must earn at least a 3.4 grade point average while taking 12 or more credits in order to make the list. Sam Lebryk and Luke McCartin, two sophomore basketball players at Swarthmore College, were named to the Centennial Conference’s Winter Academic Honor Roll. Also, Amanda Renee Copeland graduated from Radford University at the end of the fall 2014 semester. She earned

a Master of Science degree in special education.

MPA Hosts 34th Annual Youth Art Show The McLean Project for the Arts is currently hosting its 34th Annual Youth Art Show, which began with an exhibit of work from what the arts organization calls The McLean Pyramid (the elementary, middle and high school in the district of McLean High School) from March 12 – 22 at the McLean Project for the Arts, which is housed inside of the McLean Community Center, located at 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean. Now exhibiting at the McLean Project for the Arts is what the arts organization calls The Langley Pyramid (the elementary, middle and high school in the district of Langley High School). The show’s opening reception was last night, and the show will be on display through April 5. For more information, visit mpaart.org.

ture, and the most historically significant figure of the 18th century. At George Mason High School, the Mathletes are running March Math-ness, in which Mason students compete in a bracket-style tournament by solving math problems. Also, the Mustang Student Council Association is running a traditional bracket competition, selling brackets as a fundraiser for the annual Fire Drill Picnic. Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School students have been getting the chance to vote for their favorite piece of popular fiction in a March Madness Tournament of Books that Henderson’s library staff organized. And students in Ms. Ritchey’s class at Mt. Daniel Elementary School are debating the historical significance of different 18th century figures in Colonial Madness, which pits the Loyalists versus the Patriots in opposing brackets.

FCCPS Seeking Career Fair Volunteers Falls Church City Public Schools is looking for volunteers for the annual career fair at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, which was rescheduled to April 30 due to winter weather. Volunteers will set up displays next to others in similar careers and students will come up to the displays and ask questions about the volunteers’ career, their education and their interests. The school system needs 100 volunteers to fill up the Henderson gym. For more information, contact Marybeth Connelly at connellym@fccps.org. For those who would like to share information about their career with Henderson students, but are not able to volunteer for the career fair, contact Matt Sowers at sowersm@fccps.org.

FCCPS Students Compete in ‘March Madness’ Tourneys Students at nearly every level of the Falls Church City Public School system is putting their own spin on March Madness, by competing, or participating in tournaments to determine the best math problem solver and piece of litera-

MARY ELLEN HENDERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL’s Tournament of Books, a competition in which Henderson students vote on their favorite popular fiction book, is just one of a few March Madness bracket competitions currently taking place throughout the Falls Church City Public School system. (Photo: Courtesy of FCCPS Photo)

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PAGE 20 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

Community Events

THURSDAY, MARCH 26

Preschool Storytime. Stories, ﬁnger plays and songs for children ages 2 – 5 on Monday and Thursday every week. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11 a.m. & 3 – 3:30 p.m. 703-248-5034. 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. Barry Brown, Author of A Journey to Balance - Making Sense of it All will speak at the Falls Church Rotary club’s weekly dinner meeting. Harvest Moon Restaurant (7260 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). $15 dinner. 6:30 p.m. Teen Knitting Club. Children in grades 6 – 12 come together to share projects, ask advice or learn how to knit. All skill levels welcome. Scrap yarn and needles available for beginners.

Registration required. Limited to 15 participants. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7:30 p.m. 703-2485034.

FRIDAY, MARCH 27

Campﬁre: Songs of Spring. The whole family is invited to come together at the Gulf Branch ﬁre ring for old-fashioned fun – including s’mores – while learning common frog calls and bird songs. Registration required. Gulf Branch Nature Center & Park (3608 Military Road, Arlington). $5. 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. 703-228-3403.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28

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. Irish Music with Ms. Maddy. Join Ms. Maddy of Music Together for a morning of Irish music for young children and their families. An interactive program of songs, jigs, instruments, and movement. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 11 a.m. 703-248-5034.

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.

Author Talk. Falls Church-based author Jonathan Harper will read from his debut short story collection Daydreamers, with a wine reception following the reading. One More Page (2200 N. Westmoreland St. #101, Arlington). Free. 5 p.m. onemorepagebooks.com.

SUNDAY, MARCH 29

Author Talk. Ralph Peluso will discuss and sign 512, his biography of baseball icon Babe Ruth. One More Page (2200 N. Westmoreland St. #101, Arlington). Free. 12:30 p.m. onemorepagebooks.com. Seashell Workshop: Jingle Shells. Children ages 7 – 12 can learn about ocean invertebrates and study shells and the interesting animals that live in them. Registration required. Gulf Branch Nature Center & Park (3608 Military Road, Arlington). $12. 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. 703-2283403.

MONDAY, MARCH 30

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. 703-

248-5034.

TUESDAY, MARCH 31 Spring Break Fun at Cherry Hill. Children ages 8 – 12 can learn how to grind corn, make corn bread, churn butter and make lemonade. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave., Falls Church). $30. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. 703-248-5027. cherryhillfallschurch.org.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1

NARFE Meeting. Lori Young, Goodwin House, will present an “Aging in Place” program and Kimberly Palmese will talk about the Fairfax 2015 World Police & Fire Games at a meeting of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. Mason District Government Center (6507 Columbia Pike, Annandale). Free. 10 a.m. 703980-6831. Exercise is Medicine. Instructor Christina Vink will teach how exercising as little as 30 minutes a day can drastically reduce your risk for developing serious illness (also reducing your medical expenses) and greatly improve your quality of life. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 p.m. 703-2485034.

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, MARCH 26

FRIDAY, MARCH 27

SATURDAY, MARCH 28

“Soon.” It is the hottest summer in human history and, in a few short months, all water on earth will evaporate. In response, twenty-something Charlie has taken to her couch with only her beloved possessions: peanut butter, Wolf Blitzer and Herschel, the �ish. Her mother, roommate and sometimes-boyfriend all attempt to persuade her to leave her apartment and enjoy life. However, as Charlie’s memories take over, more complicated reasons for her self-in�licted hibernation emerge as she confronts her deferred dreams and considers the possibility of life and love just outside her door. This is the world premiere of this play, which was written by Nick Blaemire. Through April 26. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $39 – $80. 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. 703-425-6782. providenceplayers.org.

“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.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, MARCH 26 P�� T�� M�� D��, R�� L��, S�� D�� E��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 in advance. $15 day of the show. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. L�� N�� M�� Y�� B��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. T�� S�� R�� F��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $25. 7:30 p.m. 703-5497500. E� Q��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8:30 p.m. D�� C�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.

FRIDAY, MARCH 27 D�� C��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283. T�� M�� P�� F��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $20 in advance. $23 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. B�� 90’� �� G�� T�� B��, P�� L�� I�’�… �� D��, J��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 – $15 in advance. $13 – $15 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566. D�� V��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

T�� C�� C�� L�� F�� A�� S��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 9 p.m. A�� P�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-241-9504. A 1000 R�� D��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.

K�� E��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141. C��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $35. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. B�� D�� O� � O� �� C��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $16 in advance. $18 day of the show. 8:30 p.m. 202667-4490. A� E�� W�� R��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 9 p.m. C�� L��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-241-9504.

SUNDAY, MARCH 29

SATURDAY, MARCH 28 R��, T�� G�� Z��, R�� R��, G�� N�� M�. G��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10. 10 a.m. 703255-1566. T� B�� T�� L�� I��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4:30 p.m. 703241-9504. S�� S�� R�� C��, N�� T��, W�� I� S�� R�� S��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $20 in advance. $25 day of the show. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. K�� S��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-532-9283. T�� D�� B��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

H�� R�� L�� C�� B��, T�� M�� Y��, J�� J�� I�� J��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $5 in advance. $8 day of the show. Noon. 703-255-1566. S�� R�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504. A� E�� D�� R��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $20. 5:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. M�� M�D�� J�� W�� D�. R��’� F��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8 p.m. M�� G�� A��-S�� J��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504. J�� S�� A�� B��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646.

MONDAY, MARCH 30 T�� S�� L��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $22 in advance. $25 day of the show. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490.

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 21

C�� Y�� T��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 8 p.m. 202337-4141. M�� N�� B�� J�� W��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. L�� A��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646.

TUESDAY, MARCH 31 J�� W�� . T�� P�� H�� B�� T�� C�� P�� S�� B��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $12 – $15. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. J�� T�� M��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $13 in advance. $15 day of the show. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. R�� H��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.). $40. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141. J�� J�� H�� T�� R�� S��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. S�� J�� B�� B�� B�� L��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 F�� Y�� H��, S�� H��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15 in advance. $25 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566.

P�� A��... Saturday, April 4 – Leaf Mulch Loading Day. City staﬀ uses heavy equipment to load

open bed vehicles with our high quality, free double-ground leaf mulch and hardwood mulch. Participants must sign a waiver prior to loading. Recycling Center (217 Gordon Road, Falls Church). Free. 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/429/Leaf-Mulch.

f you’ve been doing it right, you should already have three days of Little City wining and dining under your belt. The best part, however, is that there’s still four more days left in Falls Church Restaurant Week so there’s plenty more eating to do. On the menu, there’s tacos, steaks, barbecue, pasta, epic burgers, pizza (BOGO pizza, too. FYI, that’s the second best pizza behind free pizza), buffets, three-course lunches and dinners and a whole lot more. We highly suggest a doubling up on a meal or two in order to hit all the participants but if that’s just too much for your belly, we completely understand.

What: Falls Church Restaurant Week When: Now through Sunday, March 29 Where: Participating restaurants in and around Falls Church

See fcrestaurantweek.com for full list of participants and deals

Saturday, April 11 – DATE CHANGE: FY 2016 Budget Town Hall. City Manager Wyatt

Shields will make a presentation on and answer questions about the proposed ﬁscal year 2016 budget. The meeting was originally scheduled for April 4, but rescheduled to better accomodate events at the Falls Church Community Center and FCCPS spring break. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 10 a.m. – noon. 703-248-5014; TTY 711. fallschurchva.gov/Budget.

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

PAGE 22 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

FO O D &D I NI NG

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Restaurant Spotlight

Get your free Eden Center magnetic bumper sticker at:

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Teaism 682 N. St. Asaph St., Alexandria 703-684-7777 • teaism.com Monday – Friday: 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Saturday - Sunday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.;

the

presents the 3rd Annual

FALLS CHURCH RESTAURANT WEEK

MARCH 23 - 29

Little City. Big Eats. FCRESTAURANTWEEK.COM

Teaism mainly markets itself as a “collection of Asian-inspired tea houses,” as it says on one part of the “About” page on its website. But it’s also one of D.C.’s coolest regional restaurants. The tea house-eatery franchise, which has four locations in the region – three in D.C. and one in Old Town Alexandria, has a vibe that resonates across cultures despite borrowing heavily from Asian and English tea houses for its vibe. Most of the locations are dimly lit, relying heavily on natural light coming in from the outside: that’s because you are supposed to chill out, be at peace, when you dine there. Each of the four locations has its own look, but my personal favorites are the locations in Dupont Circle and Old Town. The Dupont location is cozy and quaint, while the Old Town location is expansive and comfortable. Teaism’s location in Penn Quarter, just south of Chinatown, is a little touristy for my tastes. Speaking of tastes, Teaism serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant serves breakfast on weekdays from when it opens until 11:30 a.m. and serves lunch and dinner, from the same menu, from 11 a.m. until close. On the weekends, Teaism serves breakfast from when it opens until 2:30 p.m. Among Teaism’s diverse menu selection – for example, the eatery serves Buckwheat & Hempseed Pancakes ($9.50), Seitan Stir Fry ($9.75) and Tea-Cured Salmon Naan Pizza ($12) – are several vegan and vegetarian options. In fact, Teaism’s Dupont Circle location used to participate in Meatless Monday, in which it featured the vegetarian version of the Okonomiyaki ($9.50), a Japanese cabbage pancake dish that’s served with sauteed spinach and portabella mushrooms. And as far being vegan/vegetarian-friendly goes, Teaism’s website features a dietary information PDF that lists which dishes are suitable for those with nut, shellfish or gluten allergies and which dishes are suitable for those who prefer vegan, vegetarian or non-GMO dishes. Also, it lists how to modify dishes in order to suit specific diets. But let’s start with Teaism’s breakfast menu. It features only two vegan options – the Steel Cut Organic Oatmeal ($4.75) and the Flax Organic Tempeh Scramble ($9.25) – but the Ginger Scones ($3) can be made vegan if they’re ordered with coconut spread. The Flax Organic Tempeh Scramble, with flax and tempeh bits on a bed of kale and tomato that’s prepared with garlic, ginger, cilantro, sesame and tamari, is earthy and sweet, and hearty but light. Teaism’s lunch and dinner menu has several more vegan options. On their Big Dishes menu, there’s the Lemon Maple Grilled Organic Tempeh Burger ($10) and the Seitan Stir Fry. The Lemon Maple Grilled Organic Tempeh Burger is tasty, but, like a lot of vegan/vegetarian burgers, can get messy or fall apart. The Seitan Stir Fry, with kale, broccoli, pu’er tea-glazed walnuts on a bed of brown rice and topped with balsamic drizzle, is Teaism’s lunch/dinner answer to its breakfast tempeh scramble. Like the tempeh scramble, the stir fry is earthy, sweet and hearty without being too large of a meal. In addition to serving food and tea in house, Teaism also sells tea online and for people to take home. Teaism’s Loose Leaf Tea menu features 50 teas, including the intriguing Pu’er Round Cake ($22), the earthy Dragon Well ($6.25 for 2 oz.) and my personal favorite, Berry Beauty ($6.75). The Berry Beauty, with dried elderberries, currants & hibiscus with a creamy note, is sweet, with a slightly bitter depending on how much sugar you take in your tea. Opened in 1996 by Michelle Brown and Linda Neumann, Teaism isn’t only a great tea house and shop, but a delicious restaurant with great ambiance.

— Drew Costley

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 23

March

26 y

sda Thur

Todd Snider with Reed Foehl The Birchmere 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria

703-549-7500 • birchmere.com

27 y

Frida

The Machine State Theatre 7 p.m. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church

703-237-0300 • thestatetheatre.com

Big Data with On & On Black Cat 8 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

202-667-7960 • blackcatdc.com

30 nday

BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Tahrah Cohen, a founding member of the Pink Floyd tribute band The Machine, said that the band has about 100 songs in their repertoire and keeps records of their set lists from each show – so that they can give the audience a unique experience every time. “We know what we did last time, we know what we did the time before last and we keep the songs in rotation,” Cohen said. “We do a unique show every time we play. We’re not just going off of a programmed set list because of this or that reason….We want the fans to hear something that they haven’t heard us play. “Maybe we haven’t been to a venue in a year, so they haven’t heard us play something from Obscured by Clouds in two years. So we want to give the audience the opportunity to hear a really deep cut that they haven’t heard, so that’s why we keep records – to keep it interesting for the band and the fans.” The Machine are coming to Falls Church tomorrow night, March 27, to play a unique combo of Pink Floyd cuts at The State Theatre. Cohen said the group is really happy to play at State, which they’ve done several times. “We love playing The State Theatre. It’s a great time. The energy of the crowd is always fantastic,” Cohen said. “I think they way they set up the venue is perfect. There’s general admission so as a performer you get the energy from the fans and then there’s seating for the older demographic that want to sit down and relax. I think it feels good to know that everyone is accommodated.” Cohen said that fans of The Machine are “a zealous group of people,” always wanting to share their memories of the legendary 1970s rock band to which Cohen and her group regularly pay tribute. “They’re very passionate about the music, so everyone wants to share with you when

THE MACHINE (C�� P��) they saw Pink Floyd in the ‘70s or the ‘80s, or when they saw Roger Waters on his last tour,” she said. “So everybody really wants to share their experiences with the band members.” The Machine includes Cohen, who plays drums, Ryan Ball, who’s played guitar for the group for 17 years, keyboardist Scott Chasolen, who’s played with the group for seven years, and Adam Minkoff, the group’s lead vocalist and bass player who joined up in 2013. Cohen said that Minkoff is “amazing.” “He’s one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met. He can really do a lot, it’s outstanding what he can do,” Cohen said. “He’s a great singer, he’s a great musician, and the fans really embraced his entry into the band immediately. He’s wonderful.”

Obviously, Cohen counts herself as one of Pink Floyd’s legion of fans – The Machine started out of common respect for Waters and his band in 1988. Her favorite albums to play songs are all from the era preceding Waters’ exit from the band in 1985, but she favors Dark Side of the Moon in particular. “I love playing Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. It’s just one beautiful composition. That’s the way I look at it. Just one seamless song and it’s incredible,” Cohen said. “It’s timeless, it’s beautiful, it’s such an [strong] amalgamation of art. Lyrically it’s beautiful, musically it’s beautiful, conceptually it’s so profound and that still reveals itself to me in [different] ways.” • For more information about The Machine, visit themachinelive.com.

Last Armistice Galaxy Hut

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

9 p.m.

 Nicholas Benton – Life’s Been Good To Me by Eagles 

2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington

703-525-8646 • galaxyhut.com



Jody Fellows – Passin’ Me By by The Pharcyde

Drew Costley – All These Things That I’ve Done by The Killers

PAGE 24 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

SPO RTS

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Mason Boys Lax Opens Season With 16-2 Victory George Mason High School’s boys varsity lacrosse beat Rock Ridge High School 16-2 in the first game of the 2015 season on Monday night. The resounding win was the first game under new head coach Mark Mesmer, who took on leading the program in fall of 2014. “I’m proud of the effort of all the players last night. Their energy and commitment to the program is paying real dividends,” Mesmer said. “We had contributions from players deep into the roster, our defense was sharp and our offense showed the execution we need to compete with some of the top teams in 2015. “While there are things we need to work on, this win was a great way to kick in a new season for Mason boys lacrosse.” The Mustangs were led by junior attackman Brandon Ward, who had six goals, two assists and seven ground balls. Sophomore midfielder Brendon Smith scored four goals and one assist and contributed 12 face off wins and ten ground balls. Senior midfield Jackson Jost added two goals and one assist in strong play on both the offensive and defensive sides. Freshman defenseman Reed Bond had an excellent defensive performance with seven ground balls, two caused turnovers and two clears. The scoring was com-

pleted by senior Patrick Field, sophomore Rory O’Hanlon and freshmen Cy Contessa and Craig Hagigh, each of whom scored a goal. Mason boys lacrosse has taken a new step forward under coach Mesmer. Along with assistant varsity coach Will Stewart and junior varsity coaches Randal Moran and Bennett Pribulka, Mesmer has built upon the accomplishments of Mason boys lax last year, bringing an improved offense and strategic approach to the program. With a strong freshman class contributing at both varsity and JV levels, Mason boys lacrosse fields 43 players this year – 22 players on varsity and 21 junior varsity players – a significant step up from 2014, when the weren’t enough players to field a junior varsity team. Stewart started helping out with Mason’s lacrosse program in 2013, a year when the team was only able to field a junior varsity team because of a lack of players trying out for either team. “I’m very happy, very proud to see it turn around like this,” Stewart said. “My first year here was the year when we only had a JV [team]. I think turning things around, staying positive and recruiting people to come out for lacrosse, along with our great

MASON’S BOYS LACROSSE TEAM opened up their 2015 campaign with a 16-2 rout of Rock Ridge High School. (Photo: Courtesy of David Smith) freshman class and eighth grade class, it bodes well for the future. We have a lot of youngsters coming up.”

N ational C hamp

FALLS CHURCH WRESTLER FELIX CHANG (left) won first place in the AAU National Tournament in the nine year-old 103 pound division at the Buck Van Huss Dome in Kingsport, Tenn. on Saturday, March 14. Leading up to the national tournament, Chang also won several open tournaments, including the Season’s Beatings tournament in December 2014, the Hanover Open and the Wildcat Open in January and the Shalick and Lenape Opens in February. (Photo: Haener Elie)

The Mason varsity boys’ next game is April 9 against Brentsville High School, and junior varsity starts their sea-

son with a contest against the Brentsville junior varsity squad the same night. Both games will be played at Mason.

Northern Virginia Ice Dogs U-12 Team Wins the Pony Tail Hockey Tournament The top-seeded Northern Virginia Ice Dogs U-12-AA girls ice hockey team defeated the number two seeded Carolina Lightening from Raleigh, NC and won the top U-12 division of the 12th Annual Pony Tail Ice Hockey Tournament on Sunday, March 15, at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Md. The Ice Dogs won 5-1, and Gwen Eichfeld of McLean had a hat trick for the game. Ice Dogs Head Coach Peter Townsend of Alexandria said “These girls are some of the hardest working players I have ever coached. They truly earned the Gold in this tournament.” The following players are on the Ice Dogs U-12-AA team’s roster: Brooklynn Briguet, Sara Burr, Julia Buzacott, Gwen Eichfeld, Rachel Hinkley, Mikaela

Langbacka, Rachel Meighan, Morgan Oglesby, Tegan Pentek, Mariya Rauf, Sara Rider, Jalen Samkoe, Caroline Schuler, Lucy Stanley, Emily Townsend, and Nicole Walutes. The players hail from Alexandria, Arlington, Ashburn, Fairfax, Lorton, McLean, Vienna, and Washington DC. The team played in a boys travel division in the national capital area during its regular season. The NoVa Ice Dogs club fielded teams in seven divisions in the tournament and four of them played in their Division Championship games. Tryouts for next year’s girls teams will be held April 30 to May 7 at Mt. Vernon Rink in Alexandria, Va. For more information, contact Townsend at novagirlshockey@comcast.net.

LO CA L

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 25

FCPD Presents Program on Teen Human Trafficking by Patricia Leslie

Falls Church News-Press

Area residents who may think human trafficking is not a big problem in Fairfax County would be wrong. Offenders can be found almost anywhere that teens congregate: in malls, at parties and at most county high schools. In the U.S., Fairfax County ranks fifth in this trade, based on calls to a national hot line, said detective Bill Woolf last week at a public presentation at St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church in Annandale. “It’s going on here right in front of our faces,” Woolf said. About 100 attended his presentation where he emphasized repeatedly that girls and boys targeted by “pimps” are not to blame. “They are not prostitutes, but victims. We’ve got to change that mindset, or they view themselves as the offenders, and they won’t ask for help.” Woolf and one analyst comprise the Fairfax County Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit. He’s been an officer for 13 years and is the father of five, including three girls, and he’s

scared, too. “The community is not standing up to address this issue,” he said. But talking to one another about teen trafficking in the county will make a difference, Woolf said. “They won’t believe you [initially],” he said. It’s easy for traffickers to find prey. (After the program a representative said the elevator bay at Tysons Corner Mall is a notorious pickup point.) Traffickers scout the Web and learn about personal problems. Unknown to parents, their child may be eating and sleeping at home but working for a pimp on the side, not knowing how to escape them. Some “parents have disengaged from their child’s life and have left the child vulnerable to traffickers,” Woolf said. Parents are busy with jobs, smart phones, and leave children in the care of televisions, X boxes, and computer games, all activities the trafficker finds out about on social media. Many children with “issues at home” go elsewhere for the love and attention they need, making them susceptible. The criminal promises love, money, and a future.

“Parents play a key role,” Woolf said, and “must become engaged in their children’s lives. The trafficker knows who is weak, who is strong and who has low self-esteem, Woolf said. Woolf enumerated and dispelled many human trafficking myths. For example, victims are not necessarily poor or immigrant. About 85 percent are U.S. citizens (although he said later “a large number of Chinese women are being exploited in Annandale.”) Victims are not neccesarily drug addicts, but they can become addicts once they fall into the trafficker’s trap. Boys, lesbians, gays and transgender individuals are not immune to the trafficker’s schemes. In Fairfax County prostitution generally starts for girls between the ages of 15 and 17. In Northern Virginia Woolf has seen a victim as young as nine. When they are rescued, “the path to rehabilitation is long, very, very long. Once they are damaged, they are damaged,” Woolf said. Victims suffer physical injuries, disease, and neurological trauma since they may have been with a pimp for 10 years and find it hard to live in today’s society.

FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE DETECTIVE Bill Woolf talks to a crowd about teen human trafficking in the area. (Photo: Leslie Poster/NewsPress)

After exiting the business, average life expectancy is seven years. Victims “are ashamed and they feel they have nowhere to turn,” Woolf said. Enter “Just Ask,” an assistance program and prevention project, designed to expose the region’s growing teen sex trafficking through public awareness. At Fairfax County schools, sixth through twelfth graders learn about trafficking in the nation’s only public school curriculum.

Jodi O’Hern is a mother and “Just Ask” educational liaison who also addressed the group and said hearing Detective Woolf a year and a half ago “changed my life.” She could not believe what she heard and now urges citizens to talk to others and make them aware of the crime. “If we don’t talk about it,” O’Hern said, “the bad guys are going to win. We need to get involved.”

The Providence Players Community Theater Presents

Up Next for PPF at

James Lee Community Center Theater PERFORMING AT

Closing Weekend!

The James Lee Community Center Theater 2855 Annandale Rd Falls Church LAST CHANCE!

An Audience and Critical Hit – Don’t Miss! “The Providence Players find both delightful comedy and poignant drama in this beautifully written piece. Skilled, seasoned actors make this beautifully written play a laugh-filled, enjoyable evening that you will be talking about for some time. Don’t delay, and get your tickets now to Providence Players of Fairfax’s superb Other Desert Cities” from DcMetroTheaterarts.com

Final Three Performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday 7:30 PM Adults: $20 Students/Seniors: $17

“The script, acting, set, everything was so well done. Such a bargain for a night’s first class entertainment!” – Audience Member

Tony Nominated Best Play “Literate, funny and emotionally enthralling”

Hilarious mash-up comedy parody of some of Tennessee William’s most popular plays. What do you get when you put the characters of A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the same room? LAUGHTER!!!

Come Laugh with Us! – Opens May 29th Tickets on Sale Now

FULL ONLINE TICKET ORDERING AND AT THE DOOR

www.providenceplayers.org

Email: providenceplayerstickets@cox.net Phone: 703-425-6782

Community Theater At Its Finest! LAST CHANCE Final Three Performances

Thurs – Sat 7:30 PM

Contains mature themes and strong language

PAGE 26 | MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

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SE NI O R L I V I NG

SENIOR LIVING

S�� N�� L��

A Woman’s Guide to Social Security BY MATILDA CHARLES

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

Sixty percent of people receiving Social Security are women, and the Social Security Administration has put together information that is specific to us. Here are a few things from its booklet, What Every Woman Should Know: • Women who haven’t worked can be covered by a spouse’s benefits as early as age 62. • Women who are divorced can claim benefits on their former spouse’s Social Security. File for both your own and his to see which will get the most money. If your divorced spouse is still working, you can claim your own benefits now and then see which are higher when he retires. Or you can claim his benefits now if he is retired and continue working, letting your own credits add up until you retire. (Beware: You’ll pay $1 for every $2 over the

allowed maximum earned, which is $15,720 for 2015.) • The number of years a woman has to have been married before divorce is 10 years. You must wait two years to claim his benefits. • If you’re a widow, you can get benefits at age 60 or older as long as you don’t remarry before reaching that age. • If you’re been abused and need to flee and hide, Social Security will issue you a new number as long as you have proof. • Be absolutely certain that your name, Social Security number and earnings are correct on your W-2 form. When you receive your annual statement, check it carefully, especially the earnings. For more information, read and print out the 24-page booklet online at www.ssa.gov/pubs/ EN-05-10127.pdf to make sure you don’t miss any benefits, or see www.socialsecurity.gov/women. You also can call 1-800-772-1213.

*** The FBI website has a list of scams that are aimed at seniors. Many of these swindles have been going on for years, and the scammers still are finding plenty of victims. Why do they target seniors? Because they think we have money. Because they think we won’t report the crime. Because we were raised to be polite to callers. Here are some examples: • Medicare and insurance fraud: Scammers posing as Medicare representatives call to try to get personal information. Or, even more brazen, they set up fake mobile clinics and entice seniors to provide their Medicare information. • Reverse mortgage scam: Seniors can lose all their home equity to scammers or even be conned into aiding the scammers in stealing equity from a flipped property. Beware reverse mortgages, and don’t sign anything without expert advice. Be wary of investment semi-

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 27

nars, even those hosted by churches. • Funeral and cemetery scams: Scammers read the obituaries and pounce on the spouse to try to collect money that the deceased didn’t even owe. Or, shady funeral-home operators will try to pad the bill. • Telemarketing: Seniors make twice the average number of purchases over the phone, so we’re a handy target. Don’t buy anything from anyone who calls you. If you want something, make the call yourself. • Charity scams: Especially after a natural disaster, the scam-

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mers are looking for money. If you want to donate to an organization, make the call yourself. Clip this column and share it with your friends the next time you get together. Maybe you’ll keep one potential victim away from the scammers. To read about more senior scams, go online to www. fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors.  Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Send email to columnreply2@gmail.com.

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newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

Public Notice ABC LICENSE

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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

14 17

19 21

28 31

30 33

39 41

20 22

58 61

59 62

60 63

Across

1. 2010 Nobelist Mario Vargas ____ 6. 2014 #1 Iggy Azalea hit 11. H.S. courses for coll. credit 14. Politico who named his dog Senator before he became a U.S. senator 15. Feudal lord 16. Ruckus 17. Plumber’s advice for a clogged up sink? 19. “Special Agent ____” (animated TV show about a teddy bear) 20. “1234” singer 21. Kind of sax 22. Billboard’s Hot 100? 28. The 1 or 2 in 1 + 2 = 3 29. Terrestrial 30. Homeowner’s debt: Abbr. 31. Since way back when 33. 12/31, e.g. 34. Nonwinner ... or a two-word tip to solving 17-, 22-, 46- and 52-Across 36. Officer’s title 39. Favre of the NFL and Hull of the NHL 40. Actress Anderson 41. Tattooed name Melanie Griffith removed from her arm in 2014 44. Seizes (from) 46. Sequel to a 2011 Johnny Depp film in which the title character is a prospector? 49. Pairs 50. Modern party summons 51. Contractor’s fig.

1. 2010 Nobelist Mario Vargas ____

MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 | PAGE 29

DOWN

1. War on Poverty prez 2. Lucy who plays Watson on TV’s “Elementary” 3. Has way too much, briefly 4. Emancipate 5. Like native llamas 6. Hooch container 7. “____ a stinker?” (Bugs Bunny line) 8. Prefix with realism 9. Staple of sci-fi filmmaking 10. Thus far 11. Brewer Coors 12. Prop in a western 13. Comics character known to write “It was a dark and stormy night” on his typewriter 18. Orange exterior 21. Talk show times: Abbr. 22. Sans spice 23. Samsung product 24. Rim 25. Gets closer to 26. Lady ____ 27. Opera conductor Daniel 31. Schoolyard rejoinder

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

6. 2014 #1 Iggy Azalea hit

32. “Just kidding!” 34. Florence’s river 35. First name in exploration 36. Meh 37. Worldwide: Abbr. 38. Sch. attended by David Byrne and Gus Van Sant 39. Swamps 40. Some are urban 41. Full of gusto 42. Vertigo symptom 43. One- to ten-yr. investments 44. Fan sound 45. Sell in stores 47. Fix, as a skirt 48. Super Bowl highlights, to some 52. Texter’s “You’ve overshared” 53. Bomb’s opposite 54. Barely make, with “out” 55. Indian tourist haven 56. Final: Abbr. 57. Suffix with lion

52. What a person about to be scolded can expect? 58. Born: Fr. 59. Ready for an on-air interview 60. Autograph seekers’ targets 61. Univ. figures 62. Bullet points 63. Exams with analytical reasoning parts: Abbr.

11. H.S. courses for coll. credit

Sudoku Level:

14. Politico who named his dog Senator before he became a U.S. senator

Last Thursday’s Solution G E T S M A D

O P E N T O

A C O L Y T E

H A L O E D

R U N S A T A B O R A T E D

R A G U S M A C R R A A R S T L T E E S N S S

D E E P A K N C A A S

A T T Y S L S A T S W H A

Z E O N E D S D P E L A B A D U U R G D E B E D O P E A H E R E R D W E S

C O W P O K E B A K E

E A S E

S C H L E R P E O N R A G U S E W A A T N E

T H E L M A

S E A S O N

G N A W S A T

U S E R I D S

By The Mepham Group

1 2 3 4

15. Feudal lord 16. Ruckus 17. Plumber's advice for a clogged up sink? 19. "Special Agent ____" (animated TV show about a teddy bear) 20. "1234" singer 21. Kind of sax

22. Billboard's Hot 100? 28. The 1 or 2 in 1 + 2 = 3 29. Terrestrial

LOOSE PARTS

30. Homeowner's debt: Abbr.

DAVE BLAZEK

31. Since way back when Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

3/29/15

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 26 - APRIL 1, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

C�� C��

BACK IN THE DAY

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

20 s Yearo Ag

e c o mthe to of aid i r t h e re. pastu w N o the is e t i m all for o d g o to cows e c o mthe to

20 � 10 Y�� A�� N��-P�� Falls Church News-Press Vol V, No. 2 • March 30, 1995

Falls Church News-Press Vol XV, No. 3 • March 24, 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