3-5-2015 by Falls Church News-Press

March 5 - 11, 2015

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

Founded 1991 • Vol. XXV No. 2

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

Inside This Week ‘Black Hat Bandits’ Hit F.C. Bank Monday

The FBI says Monday’s armed robbery of Falls Church’s Wells Fargo Bank is the work of the Black Hat Bandits. The duo is wanted in connection with seven other bank heists in Virginia and Maryland so far this year. See News Briefs, page 9

Spring Real Estate Special Edition Inside

The News-Press’ special real estate edition is inside today’s issue with features on Falls Church’s new assessments, home renovations, the lightwood building trend and more.

Unanimous F.C. School Board OKs Teacher Competitiveness Budget 5.3% Hike Seeks to Up Salaries Closer To Arlington Levels by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

puted the proposal from the standpoint of realistic alternatives, and thus were in large degree feeling unwilling to expend the political capital to even entertain a bold new idea. Still, the latest iteration of the Mason Row project is ever bigger and more impressive, library or not. The City Council’s plan is to act on the special exceptions and zoning changes needed to win general approval of the plan by

By a unanimous 7-0 vote, the Falls Church School Board Tuesday night formally adopted its Fiscal Year 2016 budget that calls for a 5.3 percent increase in its request for a transfer from the City, nearly identical to the numbers they mulled a week ago. The budget is for $46,718,400 including a transfer of $38,693,900. The biggest component of the increase is in teacher salary hikes, based on a four-year schedule to bring them to a competitive level with the City’s neighboring Arlington County. Everyone on board, including Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones, concurred that keeping to the schedule is key to both attracting and retaining quality teachers. Structural increases and a more modest enrollment growth this school year account for the rest of the increase. Included in the 86-page budget document (that can be viewed in its entirety on the School Board’s website) are graphs which show that the City schools’ salary structures are behind Arlington in every single category, including by as much as $21,205 and $16,936 in comparable categories. The School Board’s support for its budget was buoyed by the results of a poll that was assembled and circulated beginning two weeks ago. It wound up attracting 997 respondents, and among the questions answered, 730 of them (80.43 percent) said that they chose Falls Church as their home because of its school system (respondents were invited to check

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See pull-out, pages RE1 - RE12

David Brooks: Leaving & Cleaving

So much of life is about leavetaking: moving from home to college, from love to love, from city to city and from life stage to life stage. See page 12

Press Pass with Jesse Cook

Jesse Cook is just starting the East Coast leg of his tour supporting his concert special “Live at Bathhurst Street Theatre,” which is currently airing on the Public Broadcasting Service. See page 21

AT A RECENT WORK SESSION, members of the Falls Church School Board hammered out the parameters of its latest budget and the request for a fund transfer from the City government. Their final budget, calling for a 5.3 percent increase over last year, is now headed to City Manager Wyatt Shields, who will make his budget recommendation to the City Council this coming Monday night. (Photo: News-Press)

New Library Plan at Mason Row Gets Tepid 1st Review by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index Editorial..................6 Letters................6, 8 News & Notes.10-11 Comment........12-15 Calendar.........16-17 Food & Dining ......18

Sports .................19 Press Pass..........21 Classified Ads .....24 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........25 Critter Corner.......26

At a joint Falls Church City Hall work session combining the minds of the City Council, Planning Commission and Economic Development Authority (EDA), the Spectrum LLC developers of the 4.3-acre proposed Mason Row mixed use project at the corner of N. West and W. Broad Streets saw their latest attempt to serve the interests of the City by providing 25,000 square feet of brand new

office space to sell the City a new public library fall short of cause for great delight. In fact, the 18 or so citizenleaders who listened to the details of the latest plan tonight and then offered their impressions were singularly underwhelmed by the notion. This came despite the fact most of them acknowledged that the current plan to spend $8 million on a renovation of the existing Mary Riley Styles Library location was also inadequate. Many had simply not yet com-

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F.C. School Board Approves Competitive Teacher Raises Continued from Page 1

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more than one category and also provided a strong score for “location” at 68.47 percent and “small town feel” at 50.61 percent). But most important to the

School Board was the question about whether the poll takers would be willing to pay more taxes to close the gap for the teaching staff and to keep classes small. This is the central issue for this budget, and 57.13 per-

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In Memory of Cynthia Murphy Elkin

May 11, 1949 - February 13, 2015

The optical community and friends and customers say goodbye to a leader in the community of Falls Church, Arlington, McLean and Northern Virginia. For the last 15 years, Cindy Elkin was the beloved leader of the Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade’s eye care team that provided general ophthalmology services & dispensed over 36,000 pairs of recycled eyeglasses to the under-served in Honduras. Her professionalism, dedication and hard work inspired the team to become one of the most productive and successful groups of volunteer eye care professionals serving in the Third World. Cindy Elkin served on the FCCPS Business in Education Partnership Council and as its chair for several years. She was always a kind and generous partner to the schools and our families, helping children who needed eye exams and glasses, volunteering to read at Mt. Daniel for Read Across America Day, and thinking of creative ways that business and school communities could work together. She truly understood the importance of all facets of the community coming together for the greater good. She will be missed! 701 W. Broad St. (Rte 7) Falls Church VA

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cent answered “yes” compared to 21.26 and 21.61 percent who said they “weren’t sure.” In terms of priorities, the poll takers placed “retaining and recruiting excellent teachers and staff” ahead of all other categories, including “strong curriculum” and “reasonable class size,” “small school system” and “modern facilities.” The budget document includes graphs comparing the City schools’ salary rates based on years in the system and levels of educational achievement to Arlington, graphs which show the City behind in most areas and very behind in many salary categories. The budget’s transfer request from the City must, by law, be taken whole by Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields as he now begins crafting his own budget recommendation to the City Council that he will present this Monday night. He and Chief Financial Officer Richard LaCondre told the School Board earlier that to avoid passing a tax rate increase onto citizens this year, the school board budget would have to be limited to between a zero and two-percent increase. Shields’ budget, with the size of the school board’s request, will be unable to propose a zero tax rate increase when it is presented this Monday, though the final decision will be up to the City Council that has until the end of April to finalize the next fiscal year budget. Tuesday night, School Board member Kieran Sharpe, who served on the City Council in the 1990s, said that he “disagrees with the ‘facts’ the City is focused on,” noting it is “very, very unrealistic to expect zero-growth,” and that “the commitment of the community to the schools” is an important fact, “even if it means a tax rate increase.” Other aspects of the community input survey affirmed the public’s strongly felt need for the construction of a new high school, and of the premier role of the Falls Church News-Press as a source of information about the school system. According to the poll, the FCNP is by far the number one source of information for community members with no children in the school system (including those who formerly had children in the system), and second only to the schools’ online “morning announcements” for those with children currently in the schools.

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 5

F.C. Policy Leaders Not Thrilled by Library Move

to Rick Goff in the Economic Development Office, up to $541,000 per acre “net net” for the 4.3 acres). The latest plan has no condominiums but all 340 residential units will be rentals, and there are no entrances for parking on the Park Avenue side. The commercial component of the project grows in the new submission from 25 percent to 32 percent of the total and the floor-to-area ratio (FAR) remains at 3.0. The project is bigger by virtue of having another element of real estate added, the office building at 916 W. Broad St., growing it from 3.91 acres to 4.3. The Council members, Planners and EDA members were skeptical of the six-story structured parking component for how it might look to the residences on Park Avenue behind it. But on balance there was as much praise as criticism of the new submission, notwithstanding the library component.

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sometime this summer, and then to take up the question of the library use after that. Overall, the project has grown since its latest modification last August from 519,000 square feet of residential, retail, hotel and office use to 565,000 square feet that includes 52,000 square feet for an eight-screen underground movie theater complex (not underground movies, but movies shown on screens one level below street level). Spaces provided for parking has increased from 684 to 947, and the novel market public square in the center of the project has been expanded from 5,840 square feet for 11,235. Even more impressive, the net tax revenue that the City calculates it would derive from the project, after subtracting the cost to the City of an estimated 112 new students in the school system, could readily exceed $2 million a year (according

BARRY BUSCHOW (standing) of the Falls Church Economic Development Authority spoke from the audience at a joint F.C. City Hall work session Monday night. (P��: N��-P��)

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Kick Ayn Rand Out Of Falls Church

To paraphrase a real estate agent quoted elsewhere in this edition, “There are two things that people recoil from: new ideas and higher taxes.” In both cases, immediate knee-jerk reactions need to be tempered by a deliberate exercise of reason, something that seems to be in short supply in national policy making circles in these times. There is an ugly current that has drifted into the national psyche in the last 30 or so years, which is a sense of angry individual entitlement spiced by the hateful theories of Ayn Rand and her ilk. Rand held that subordinating individual wants to a sense of a wider social responsibility is a sign of weakness, and anger is the best response to a society that seemingly imposes such a mandate. Therefore, for those who’ve embraced the Ayn Rand point of view, every tax is an evil and every suggestion of innovation and change is almost automatically suspect. We now know that Ayn Rand was an important asset of J. Edgar Hoover, his FBI and those it served, a great irony, for sure. In the name of the kind of “freedom” that Rand gave lip service to, the FBI threw a police-statelike blanket over American society after World War II and the McCarthy Era “Red Scare,” something which the National Security Agency has only continued to perfect, 1984-style, in the age of electronic intelligence. Rand and the NSA in bed together, who would have thought! So we see in the American society of the last 30 years that these ideas run parallel, of delusional “freedom,” on the one hand, and the NSA run amok on the other. Never have the tastes of Americans been more in lock step with conformity as defined by top-down mega-corporate control over the media and elections, and with choices between red and blue hair, or Steelers versus Packers loyalty, being considered expressions of “freedom.” This is also reflective of the “us versus them” mentality that accompanies all of this, from angry rivals in impotent sports fandom, to the growing sentiment to taking sides in everything from partisan politics, to red versus blue America, to police versus the communities they allegedly serve, as the Justice Department has found to be the case almost beyond belief in Ferguson, Missouri, but is equally true in many more places, as well. All this having been said, in a well-heeled, well-educated community like the City of Falls Church, one can hope that reason and good intentions, the countervailing forces and antidotes to all this madness, can hold sway, and that includes an ability to recognize the importance of a first-rate school system, not only in terms of its benefits in themselves, but for the stability of the wider community, also. Our City Council is too often paralyzed by the angriest, most “in your face” voices. Instead, they should be informed by the landslide school referendum outcome last November.

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We Need to Fix the F.C. Library, Not Move It

Editor, The general public needs to be aware that their favorite library is falling apart. Heating and air conditioning are a constant problem. The plumbing is grossly deficient, more lighting efficiency is needed, the electrical and data service must be upgraded, the elevator is over-age-in-grade and the aisles, stairways, halls, shelving and restrooms are all nonAmerican Disability Act compli-

ant. If we do nothing, we will soon be faced with a series of large bills for replacements and repairs. Thus, the Library Board now has a plan in the Capital Improvement Projects that has been recommended by the Planning Commission to the City Council for approval. Comments were made about this plan at the March 2 work session on Mason Row, with respect to a Council suggestion that the library be moved to Mason Row,

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and I have severe reservations about some of what was said about the library during the discussion. First, I have sympathy for the view that we should build for the long term. The Library Board tried that approach with its raze-and-rebuild plan which was turned down by the Planning Commission for lack of parking and expense (at $16 – 18 million). Second, a modern-design new building might be nice but would it be Falls Church? No. Besides, the suggestion to move to Mason Row is like putting a square peg in a round hole: not a good fit, and not in the right place. Third, the comments that the Board’s CIP plan could not pro-

duce a modern info-age library are wrong and almost insulting. The Library Board and its library architect consultant would never countenance a structure that did not enable full implementation of the info-age library. The Board’s plan will permit us to take advantage of all aspects of the information net and to be in a position to follow up on trends that we see coming in library management. The $8.4 million plan is not unduly expensive since we would wind up with an essentially new, more efficient, larger work space. Further, this should serve us for at least the 20 years that the senior

Letters Continued on Page 8

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Falls Church City: Just a Little Bit Quirky? B� K�� F��

First, thank you to Peg Willingham, chair of the Falls Church City Democrats, for her kind words about the GOP in her Feb. 26 News-Press Commentary. The simple fact is, without her predecessor, Betty Coll, the Community Issues Forum would never have become reality. Today, over a dozen civic, professional, veterans, neighborhood and political groups have participated in developing and conducting informative programs about Falls Church City issues. In addition to these Forums, the same groups have worked together in a charity production at Creative Cauldron to raise money for Inova’s Life with Cancer programs. Without Betty’s leadership, and the leadership of Sally Ekfelt and others at Citizens for a Better City, Harry Shovlin at American Legion Post 130, Carol Loftur-Thun of Citizens for a Sustainable City, and several others, nothing would have happened. But things did happen and will continue to happen because we realize that we have more common ground to work to improve together than partisan ground to defend individually. We realize, too, that the unique character of Falls Church – however we define it – makes the cooperation possible. What is that unique character? Perhaps we learned a bit about it at a recent Republican Committee meeting. As we concluded, a woman said to no

one in particular “thanks for another Falls Church quirky meeting.” Her comment elicited smiles, laughter and nodding heads. One man asked if he had heard right. “Did she say quirky? Or was it jerky.” “She said quirky,” another man replied. “We’re just a little bit quirky.”

“Is it quirky to live in a place that most other people just want to drive through as quickly as possible?” Quirky: Is that what makes Falls Church special, or does it just make us different? Could it be good to be quirky? Next morning, over coffee with two long-time Falls Church activists and volunteers, I asked what they thought about being quirky. One answered with his own question: Is it quirky to be happy living in a place that people who live nearby think is just a traffic jam and bottleneck? The other looked at the positive side and suggested that people in Falls Church might be a little more settled. We seem to have – or at least take – more time for community activities and volunteering. Perhaps, she

suggested, people have a little more control over their daily lives and how they spend their free time. That allows them to volunteer for one or more of Falls Church’s many boards, commissions and organizations. I asked more people. Here are some responses: “Yeah, we are a little different. We’re satisfied with our lot in life. Some guys at my office are over their head trying to make the mortgage payment and have a couple of fancy cars and the latest gadgets. We’re happy with what we have. It works, it fits.” “We get more out of our volunteer work than we put in, to be honest. Then City staff couldn’t keep up without volunteers pitching in. We have so many activities for our size.” “We all get along. We share whatever needs to be done, like the car-pooling to practices and games. We live for the kids.” These comments are beginning to sum up what Falls Church is. “If you let them, your roots can go deep quite fast around here. Most of us live comfortably, happy, busy, well paid, preoccupied with work and children, lots of things to do.” “We take Falls Church seriously. In other places, maybe it’s the people who take themselves seriously.” Children, good pay, fast-growing roots, volunteering and not taking ourselves too seriously: Is that quirky? Most people agreed that Falls Church

is buoyed by government salaries and high-tech jobs. Many people have money to spend on travel and other broadening exploits. People have rewarding careers and rising expectations. In one way or another, many suggested that Falls Church City’s leading product is educated children. We do not manufacture and ship cars or computers to the world; we send well prepared young people to the best universities in Virginia and beyond. If we were a “company town,” our product would be our students. Yes, some families struggle with mortgages and taxes that crimp their current lifestyle. They make that choice for their children. They could have a bigger house and lower taxes. Maybe they’re just a little bit quirky about their children’s educations. Is it quirky to live in a place that most other people just want to drive through as quickly as possible? Despite the traffic and high taxes, many find this a comfortable place to live, like an old sweater, close to the many nearby attractions. Falls Church seem to take advantage of the many museums, theaters, sporting activities and recreational opportunities, both here in Falls Church and within an easy drive. Are you just a little bit quirky? Come join us!  Ken Feltman is the Chair of the Falls Church City Republican Committee.

Q�� W�� Did the F.C. School Board make the right decision including teacher raises in its budget? • Yes • No

Last Week’s Question:

Should the F.C. library move to the new Mason Row development at N. West & West Broad streets?

• 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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TO LETTERS THE EDITOR Continued from Page 6 principal of Mason Row said would be the time for renovations in his development. These remarks are strictly personal, not Library Board policy. Chester W. De Long Falls Church

Mary Riley Styles Library is Not Overcrowded Editor, Each time I visit the library, usually in the evening, I think with puzzlement at the rumor – no, the assessment of paid consultants – that the library is too small! My experience is the opposite: it’s a quite uncrowded state that I usually find. (When the internet was down recently for a week, there were as many staff as patrons.) Yet, “it is already overcrowded” was the consultants’ assessment; amazing!

I do concur in the objection to the predatory towing that can occur in the area. Perhaps instead of expending millions of dollars on a gratuitous library, there could be a less costly arrangement to use some of the adjacent parking of the 300 Park Ave building – which is already used for farmers market parking (despite still having signs that expressly forbid this! And some letter here suggested that we have better signage?) Dan Lehman Falls Church

It’s Time to Rein In F.C. School Funding Editor, Regarding the schools funding, I offer the following statistics: 1.The student population in FY 2011 was 2,087; in FY 2015, the students totaled 2,455. This is a compounded increase of 4.1 percent/year.

2.The dollar transfer from the City to the schools was $27,435,800 in FY 2011; in FY 2015, the transfer was $36,746,200. This is a compounded increase of 7.6 percent/ year. 3.The taxes on our home (including the recent storm water fee tax) were $7,880 in 2011 and will be $9,731 in 2015 (if there is no increase in the tax rate). This is a compounded increase of 5.4 percent/year. Citizens have a right to expect that, over time, their taxes increase no faster than their income, whether they are retired or employed. With the obvious largesse shown to the schools by the above figures, it’s time to rein them in, give them no larger percentage increase than the enrollment and not increase the tax rate but reduce it. James Schoenberger Falls Church

After Assessment Rise, F.C. Should Lower Tax Rate Editor, Now that the News-Press has disclosed the happy news that our property values are not only

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

high but the growth rate this year exceeded that of neighboring communities, perhaps the City may consider lowering the rate. I doubt anyone wants to diminish the city budget but a small fractional decrease could relieve the taxpayers while still giving the city the funds it needs. Henry J. Gordon Falls Church Editor, I write this letter in tribute to Magda and Vincent Boylan, who passed away recently within three weeks of each other. To me, Mr. and Mrs. Boylan exemplify the kind of responsibility and kindness to community that we all should strive to emulate. Residents, since 1954, of Kennedy Street where they raised their four sons, they set a tone of hospitable neighborliness that we on Kennedy Street strive to continue today. In the years when our own children were growing up, Mr. Boylan often would remark on the joy it gave him to hear the neighborhood children playing. I know to pass that same sentiment on to the new family next door to us now. Their devotion to each other and their family was fundamental and exemplary. Many may know of their ser-

vice to their community – such as her work for the League of Women Voters, his on the City’s Planning Commission. Well read and informed, they were thoughtful, compassionate, and dedicated in their politics, from the local to the national level. In retirement, they continued to be active learners, often traveling abroad for classes. Mr. Boylan obtained a master’s from George Mason University, becoming its oldest graduate. I value the memory of their kindness, intelligence, commitment to duty, and delightful sense of humor. I’m sure Mr. Boylan’s service in WWII entitled him to full honors at Arlington Cemetery but he and his wife chose to remain at the corner of Kennedy Street in Falls Church. It gives me comfort to know they return to the neighborhood where they spent much of their lives together, raised their family, and set the tone of good citizenship and neighborliness that we still profit from and seek to maintain. I am sure I speak for many others in our community that their memory will be treasured with deep admiration and affection. Henry J. Gordon Falls Church

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NEWS BRIEFS ‘Black Hat Bandits’ Bank Robbers Hit F.C. Two men, armed with handguns, robbed the Wells Fargo Bank at the corner of West and Broad streets in the City of Falls Church Monday afternoon. Police say the suspects are known as the “Black Hat Bandits” and have robbed seven other banks in Virginia and Maryland so far this year. The suspects in Monday’s robbery are described as males in their early forties, between 5 ft. 7 in. and 5 ft. 9 in. tall, dressed in all black clothing with black ski masks. They entered the bank at 1000 West Broad Street around 12:42 p.m. Monday afternoon and brandished small firearms. Police say the suspects then fled the bank in a vehicle Bank survellience footage from Monday’s driving east on West Broad street. No injuries were robbery in Falls Church. (Source: FBI) sustained in the robbery. In addition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says the Black Hat Bandits have robbed banks in McLean, Fairfax, Vienna and Arnold, Md. Remarks on the FBI’s website about the Black Hat Bandits say, “In an escalation of violence, the Black Hat Bandits have become more brazen at each robbery having threatened bank customers and tellers, most recently holding a gun to a customer’s head, and jumping teller counters in attempts to gain access to bank vaults. During each robbery, the Black Hat Bandits have been described as carrying handguns and wearing winter coats, sunglasses, black hats (either a winter knit cap or wide-brimmed hat) and facial disguises such as ski masks or a fake beard.” The FBI is offering a reward of up to $30,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of these bank robbers. The FBI and the F.C. Police Department are investigating this robbery and request that anyone with information call the FBI at 202-278-2000 or Falls Church Police at 703-241-5053.

News-Press to Sponsor F.C Job Fair Aug. 11 The Falls Church News-Press will sponsor and host a Job Fair on Tuesday, Aug. 11, designed to bring together prospective employers and employees to share information and conversation. The event will be held at the Best Western at Route 50 by Annandale Road. While there will be a cost of registration for prospective employers, the event will be free to job seekers. For further information or to register early, contact Melissa Morse, advertising director of the News-Press, at mmorse@fcnp.com.

Beyer Appointed to Joint Economic Committee Freshman U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, the Falls Church businessman and past Chamber of Commerce president who was elected in November to represent the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, has been appointed by his party leadership to the prestigious and important bicameral Joint Economic Committee, it was announced yesterday. Rep. Beyer issued a statement saying, “I am honored to have the chance to serve on the Joint Economic Committee. I hope to use my 40 years of experience running our family business as we fight for the rights of working families to create a new, sustainable American economy. It is time we give our families and women – who make up half of the workforce and are breadwinners in over 40 percent of American households – the support they need. Ensuring women’s success in the workforce is the best way to jumpstart the middle class economy.”

New Gardner Trial Dates Set Sept. 21 & Nov. 30 The dates for new trials of Falls Church resident Michael Gardner were set in the Arlington Circuit Court yesterday on Sept. 21 for new charges of child molestation brought last year, and on Nov. 30 for a re-trial of the case where his earlier conviction on three counts of child molestation was thrown out by the Virginia Supreme Court.

Planners Djan, Hockenberry, Teates Re-Appointed Three of the seven-member Falls Church Planning Commission were reappointed by a unanimous vote of the Falls Church City Council last week. Kwafo Djan, Lindy Hockenberry and Melissa Teates were all appointed to new terms running through Dec. 31, 2018. New board and commission appointments went to Bob Young and John Sandoz to the Economic Development Authority, Marshall Jarrett to the Retirement Board, Christopher McCloud to the Environmental Services Council and Bill Ackerman to the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation.

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News-Press

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes F.C.’s King Wins Award for Cancer Fundraising Efforts Falls Church resident Francesca King won one of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Citizenship Awards for her team’s fundraising efforts for the cancer organization during its Student of the Year campaign. She was honored at an award ceremony last Saturday at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, D.C. Speakers at the awards ceremony included Mardith Christianson, who shared the story of her son Andrew’s battle with acute lymphocytic leukemia and illustrated the importance of the money raised by the student volunteers who participated in the campaign. All of the teams combined raised over $400,000 through their efforts during the Student of the Year campaign. King’s team Kings for a Cure won the Mission Award. Some of the

fundraiser events that King’s team organized for the campaign included a piano concert with Nikola Paskalov, a boxing event at Falls Church’s Title Boxing and a fundraiser night at Mad Fox Brewing Company. Each of the teams that won an award at the ceremony will receive a $2,500 college scholarship. For more information, visit lls.org.

Local Author Releases Book About Near-Death Experience Falls Church resident Karen Henson Jones released Heart of Miracles: My Journey Back to Life After a Near-Death Experience last Thursday, Feb. 26. The book, about Jones’ recovery from a sudden cardiac event at age 30 that took her to brink of death, was released with with Hay House, Inc. According to a press release about the book, “During an otherworldly experience, she pled to

stay here on Earth. When her request to live was granted, Karen was forced to come to terms with the life she had been living.” Jones’ book recalls her journey through India, Italy, Bhutan and Israel in search of a more meaningful life. Fashion designer Donna Karan praised the book, saying “In Heart of Miracles, Karen searches out the wisdom and lives the wisdom to put her mind, body, and spirit back together. “By practicing the concepts of meditation, yoga, and nutrition, she finds serenity and calm out of chaos. She is a new, powerful voice for a community of change in the areas of health care, well-being, and spirituality.” For more information, visit karenhensonjones.com.

FCCTV Announces New Television Production Classes Earlier this week, Falls Church Community Television

FALLS CHURCH’S FRANCESCA KING (second from left) stands with other winners of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year Campaign and presenters at an award’s ceremony held on Feb. 28. The ceremony was held at the J.W. Marriott to honor the student volunteers who raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. King’s team Kings for a Cure organized several fundraisers around Falls Church during the campaign. (Courtesy Photo)

announced a new slate of television production classes, the first of which is next week. All of the classes need to be taken in order to become a producer of a show for the local television station. Falls Church Community Television’s studio production class is next Tuesday, March 3 at 6 p.m. Prospective students who can not make that class can sign up for the studio production class on next Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m. The station’s video production classes are the following Tuesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. or the following Saturday, March 14 at 10 a.m. The final class in the series is field production, and students can sign up for the March 17, 6 p.m. session or the March 21, 10 a.m. session for that class. Falls Church Community Television will have the same classes available in April for

those who miss out on the March classes. In an e-mail announcing the classes, the station encouraged students of all ages to sign up for the classes, which are taught in the station’s full television studio and production facility, with computer editing on site. Classes cost $50 per student per class, training is required before camera use is allowed and annual membership of $20 is required at the time of registration. The station’s studio is in the lower level of George Mason High School at 7124 Leesburg Pike, near the circular driveway at the Haycock Road entrance. The number 20 is over the studio’s entrance. For more information, contact Michael Palmrose or Genevieve Llames at 703-248-5538 or e-mail Palmrose at palmrose@ fcctv.net.

CREATIVE CAULDRON SCENIC DESIGNER Margie Jervis paints one of the masks for the wolf pack in The Learning Theater’s production of “The Jungle Book.” The show, a musical adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic, opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. at ArtSpace Falls Church, located at 410 S. Maple St., Falls Church. It runs through March 29 with Saturday and Sunday daytime shows. For more information, visit creativecauldron.org. (Photo: Courtesy of Creative Cauldron)

Send Us Your News & Notes!

The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!

Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St. #508, Falls Church, VA 22046

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

F.C. Resident Starts Yahoo! Group for Local Parents

Falls Church resident Erin Gill started a Yahoo! group for parents who live in the City called Falls Church City Parents over the summer. Gill said that there are about 40 members of the group, but that more are welcome and encouraged to join. According to an e-mail Gill sent to the News-Press, there are wonderful groups that cater to moms in Falls Church, but there wasn’t “really” a resource that included moms, dads, parents with kids of all ages and working parents. She said that the group is a place for parents to share information about play groups, City schools, city planning, to buy and sell children’s gear and discuss issues around raising children in the City.

Local Author Signing Books at Tysons-Pimmit Library Local author Alan Rems will be signing and selling copies of his new book South Pacific Cauldron: World War II’s Great Forgotten Battlegrounds at Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library, located at 7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church next Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m. Rems’ book is a narrative history of the land, sea and air operations in the oceanic theater of World War II. Rems’ book also tells the tale of the little-known final Australian campaigns that continued until the Japanese surrender. For more information about the event, call 703-790-8088.

AWLA Launches New ‘Paws and Read’ Program The Animal Welfare League of Arlington announced the launch of its new Paws and Read program at its animal shelter at 2650 S. Arlington Mill Dr., Arlington, last Thursday. The program, which started on Monday,

March 2, allows schoolchildren in kindergarten – 5th grade to come to the shelter to read with one of the shelter’s cats during a 20 minute session between 1 – 5:20 p.m. According to a press release sent out by the welfare league the program was launched to coincide with Dr. Seuss’ birthday and to celebrate his world renowned book The Cat in the Hat. “The program is an AWLA education initiative designed to help children improve and enhance their reading skills, while at the same time providing shelter cats with socialization and TLC,” the release said. “As opposed to humans, the shelter cats are nonjudgmental, and animals can be a source of comfort and support for children as they learn.” The program runs on every weekday except for Tuesday and a parent is required to accompany the participating child. Children can choose from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington’s selection of stories or bring one of their own to read to one of the cats, which are labeled with a “Purrrfect Reader” label on their kennel. “Children who have difficulty reading are often self-conscious when reading in front of other classmates,” said Jennifer Pickar, the director of community programs at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. “Having a playful, purring companion around can make reading more fun and help to build the child’s self-esteem.” For more information about the program, visit awla.org.

Cox Va. Names Falk Interim Market Vice President Cox Communications announced last week that McLean native Kathleen Falk, who was previously serving as Cox Communications Virginia vice president of public and government affairs, is expanding her role to also serve as the company’s

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 11

FALLS CHURCH ROTARY CLUB newleyweds, Kevin Zimmerman and Rotarian Erica Brouillette, share a relaxed moment at the Rotary Club’s recent Sweethearts Dinner at the Harvest Moon Restaurant on Feb. 12. All Rotary members were encouraged to bring their sweetheart to the meeting. (P��: C�� J�� C. L�) interim market vice president for its Northern Virginia operations. The company’s Northern Virginia operations includes Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Vienna, Herndon, Clifton, Fredericksburg, and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Falk joined Cox Communications in 2002 as vice president of government affairs in Cox’s Northern Virginia operation. In 2011, she moved into her current role as vice president of public and government affairs for all of Virginia, which also includes the Hampton Roads and Roanoke markets. Falk is a graduate of Langley High School in McLean and earned her undergraduate degree from Randolph-Macon College. “Kathryn is a vibrant and engaging leader who is well known by employees and within the community,” said J.D. Myers, II, senior vice president and region manager for Cox Communications Virginia, in a press release from the company. “Her commitment and deep knowledge of the Northern Virginia market will enable Cox

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NVCC Looking for Part-Time Instructors Northern Virginia Community College is seeking part-time adjunct faculty to teach courses in accounting, business, economics, finance, law and marketing at all of its campuses. The community college is hosting a job fair on Thursday, March 12, from 5 – 8 p.m. at the Manassas Campus, located at 6901 Sudley Road, Manassas. Free parking will be available in the student parking lots. For more information or to submit a resume if unable to attend the job fair, e-mail Cathleen Cogdill at ccogdill@nvcc.edu.

The Trocks Return to The Alden this Thursday de

Les Ballets Trockadero Monte Carlo, affection-

ately known as “The Trocks,” are returning to the McLean Community Center’s Alden Theatre this Thursday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. for one night only. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, a dynamic and delightful ballet troupe, is celebrating its 40th anniversary season. Founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts who wanted to present a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classic ballet in parody form and en travesty, The Trocks quickly gained acclaim in New York City, where they are based. “The Trocks’ inspired blend of a loving knowledge of dance, their comic approach and the astounding fact that men can, indeed, dance – en pointe – without falling flat on their faces, has been embraced and noted around the world,” said a press release sent out by The Alden about the performance. Tickets for the performance are $40 for McLean tax district residents and $50 for everyone else. For more information or to buy tickets, visit aldentheatre.org or call 703-790-0123.

Host Interns, Professionals in Transition? This Summer Host Interesting, Helpful People Receive $1,000+/Month/Bedroom

Would you like to meet and help very-interesting people, and receive real money for doing so? Our DC Area each year welcomes, from early summer, many professionals and advanced students for short working visits: • “Interns” with Congress, Foreign Service, Homeland Security, or other parts of the U.S. Government; • Travel Nurses & Physicians assigned to INOVA & Virginia Hospital Center; • Private-Sector Professionals & Academics for special programs & training. All need lodging for their stays, which run 1-4 months. Several of us – we’re Falls Church homeowners – have experience hosting “professionals in transition.” These professionals seek our help to find them find nicer quarters, such as in family homes that have a bedroom or two available. This year, we’re already flooded by requests from many individuals or small groups seeking to stay somewhere nicer, more comfortable than hotels/motels. To stay with you, they’ll pay you, each month, per bedroom, $1,000 or more. We do all vetting, then let you approve the candidate(s). This exercise fully allowed in City of Falls Church. If you’re interested to know more, please contact us immediately at:

InternsInFallsChurch@gmail.com

PAGE 12 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

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Leaving & Cleaving

So much of life is about leave-taking: moving from home to college, from love to love, from city to city and from life stage to life stage. In earlier times, leaving was defined by distance, but now it is defined by silence. Everybody everywhere is just a text away, a phone call away. Relationships are often defined by the frequency and intensity of communication between two people. The person moving on and changing a relationship no longer makes a one-time choice to physically go to another town. He makes a series of minute-by-minute decisions to not text, to not email or call, to turn intense communication into sporadic conversation or no communication. His name was once constant on his friend’s phone screen, but now it is rare and the void is a wound. NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE If you are like me you know a lot of relationships in which people haven’t managed this sort of transition well. Communication that was once honest and life-enhancing has become perverted – after a transition – by resentment, neediness or narcissism. We all know men and women who stalk ex-lovers online; people who bombard a friend with emails even though that friendship has evidently cooled; mentors who resent their former protégés when their emails are no longer instantly returned; people who post faux glam pictures on Instagram so they can “win the breakup” against their ex. Instant communication creates a new sort of challenge. How do you gracefully change your communication patterns when one person legitimately wants to step back or is entering another life phase? The paradox is that the person doing the leaving controls the situation, but greater heroism is demanded of the one being left behind. The person left in the vapor trail is hurt and probably craves contact. It’s amazing how much pain there is when what was once intimate conversation turns into unnaturally casual banter, emotional distance or just a void. The person left behind also probably thinks that the leaver is making a big mistake. She probably thinks that it’s stupid to leave or change the bond; that the other person is driven by selfishness, shortsightedness or popularity. Yet if the whole transition is going to be managed with any dignity, the person being left has to swallow the pain and accept the decision. The person being left has to grant the leaver the dignity of her own mind, has to respect her ability to make her own choices about how to live and whom to be close to (except in the most highly unusual circumstances). The person being left has to suppress vindictive flashes of resentment and be motivated by a steady wish for the other person’s ultimate good. Without accepting the idea that she deserved to be left, the person being left has to act in a way worthy of her best nature, to continue the sacrificial love that the leaver may not deserve and may never learn about. That means not calling when you are not wanted. Not pleading for more intimacy or doing the other embarrassing things that wine, late nights and instant communications make possible. Maybe that will mean the permanent end to what once was, in which case at least the one left behind has lost with grace. But maybe it will mean rebirth. For example, to be around college students these days is to observe how many parents have failed to successfully start their child’s transition into adulthood. The mistakes usually begin early in adolescence. The parents don’t create a space where the child can establish independence. They don’t create a context in which the child can be honest about what’s actually happening in his life. The child is forced to deceive in order to both lead a semi-independent life and also maintain parental love. By college, both sides are to be pitied. By hanging on too tight, the parents have created exactly the separation they sought to avoid. The student, meanwhile, does not know if he is worthy of being treated as a dignified adult because his parents haven’t treated him that way. They are heading for a life of miscommunication. But if the parents lay down sacrificially, accept the relationship their child defines, then it can reboot on an adult-to-adult basis. The hiddenness and deception is no longer necessary. Texts and emails can flow, not as before, but fluidly and sweetly. Communications technology encourages us to express whatever is on our minds in that instant. It makes self-restraint harder. But sometimes healthy relationships require self-restraint and self-quieting, deference and respect (at the exact moments when those things are hardest to muster). So today a new kind of heroism is required. Feelings are hurt and angry words are at the ready. But they are held back. You can’t know the future, but at least you can walk into it as your best and highest self.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

David Brooks

Wal-Mart’s Visible Hand In February, Wal-Mart, America’s largest employer, announced that it will raise wages for half a million workers. For many of those workers the gains will be small, but the announcement is nonetheless a very big deal, for two reasons. First, there will be spillovers: Wal-Mart is so big that its action will probably lead to raises for millions of workers employed by other companies. Second, is what Wal-Mart’s move tells us – namely, that low wages are a political choice, and we can and should choose differently. Some background: Conservatives – with the backing, I have to admit, of many economists – normally argue that the market for labor is like the market for NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE anything else. The law of supply and demand, they say, determines the level of wages, and the invisible hand of the market will punish anyone who tries to defy this law. Specifically, this view implies that any attempt to push up wages will either fail or have bad consequences. Setting a minimum wage, it’s claimed, will reduce employment and create a labor surplus, the same way attempts to put floors under the prices of agricultural commodities used to lead to butter mountains, wine lakes and so on. Pressuring employers to pay more, or encouraging workers to organize into unions, will have the same effect. But labor economists have long questioned this view. Soylent Green – I mean, the labor force – is people. And because workers are people, wages are not, in fact, like the price of butter, and how much workers are paid depends as much on social forces and political power as it does on simple supply and demand. What’s the evidence? First, there is what actually happens when minimum wages are increased. Many states set minimum wages above the federal level, and we can look at what happens when a state raises its minimum while neighboring states do not. Does the wage-hiking state lose a large number of jobs? No – the overwhelming conclusion from studying these natural experiments is that moderate increases in the minimum wage have little or no negative effect on employment. Then there’s history. It turns out that the middleclass society we used to have didn’t evolve as a result of impersonal market forces – it was created by political action, and in a brief period of time. America was still a very unequal society in 1940, but

Paul Krugman

by 1950 it had been transformed by a dramatic reduction in income disparities, which the economists Claudia Goldin and Robert Margo labeled the Great Compression. How did that happen? Part of the answer is direct government intervention, especially during World War II, when government wage-setting authority was used to narrow gaps between the best paid and the worst paid. Part of it, surely, was a sharp increase in unionization. Part of it was the full-employment economy of the war years, which created very strong demand for workers and empowered them to seek higher pay. The important thing, however, is that the Great Compression didn’t go away as soon as the war was over. Instead, full employment and pro-worker politics changed pay norms, and a strong middle class endured for more than a generation. Oh, and the decades after the war were also marked by unprecedented economic growth. Which brings me back to Wal-Mart. The retailer’s wage hike seems to reflect the same forces that led to the Great Compression, albeit in a much weaker form. Wal-Mart is under political pressure over wages so low that a substantial number of employees are on food stamps and Medicaid. Meanwhile, workers are gaining clout thanks to an improving labor market, reflected in increasing willingness to quit bad jobs. What’s interesting, however, is that these pressures don’t seem all that severe, at least so far – yet Wal-Mart is ready to raise wages anyway. And its justification for the move echoes what critics of its low-wage policy have been saying for years: Paying workers better will lead to reduced turnover, better morale and higher productivity. What this means, in turn, is that engineering a significant pay raise for tens of millions of Americans would almost surely be much easier than conventional wisdom suggests. Raise minimum wages by a substantial amount; make it easier for workers to organize, increasing their bargaining power; direct monetary and fiscal policy toward full employment, as opposed to keeping the economy depressed out of fear that we’ll suddenly turn into Weimar Germany. It’s not a hard list to implement – and if we did these things we could make major strides back toward the kind of society most of us want to live in. The point is that extreme inequality and the falling fortunes of America’s workers are a choice, not a destiny imposed by the gods of the market. And we can change that choice if we want to.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Netanyahu Fans Nuclear Threat

Add the extremely dissembling effect of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress Tuesday, famously organized by the Republican Congressional leadership behind the back of President Obama, to the growing chorus of voices demanding the U.S. get into another war in the Middle East. Lest anyone forget, Netanyahu was one of the most bellicose voices in 2002 demanding that the U.S. invade Iraq, reiterating his oft-repeated insistence over the last two decades that Iran is the real threat to the entire region and Israel’s security. Lest anyone forget, Netanyahu has always been a radical right winger, someone who made Gen. Ariel Sharon seem like a pussycat. He is not mainstream by anyone’s standard, except to sufficient FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS numbers of fearful Israeli voters to keep him in power. But the problem, to reiterate a point I’ve made once again, is not Netanyahu, notwithstanding this latest cynical attempt to use the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress as a backdrop for his stretch-run bid for reelection. The problem is the “military industrial complex” faction in the U.S. to which he feels he owes allegiance. Talk about cynicism! This faction has cynically used Israel as a pawn along with a lot of other things for its “perpetual war” policies in the Middle East and everywhere else they can fan the flames of military conflict. What worries me is that these people, those who orchestrated the unprovoked invasion of Iraq in 2003, exploiting sentiments in the U.S. following on the 9/11 attacks, care so little for the ultimate fate of Israel. For example, in the current scenario, should Netanyahu get his way in bending U.S. foreign policy to his wishes, little short of an all-out regional war would result, and the obliteration of Israel would be among the likely outcomes. If you think this is an outrageous notion, then consider the comments of Rep. Jason Chaffetz this week being interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN. Chaffetz, the son of a Jewish father who once married the current wife of Michael Dukakis and a former Democrat before converting to Mormonism and the GOP, brazenly argued for the American use of a preemptive nuclear strike against Iran as an alternative to a “bad deal” in negotiations with that nation. One can be assured that someone like Chaffetz is not speaking only for himself when he says this with such glib candor. What happens when nuclear warheads start flying? Even if Iran is not ready to fire any off, the Israelis are, harboring over 200 nuclear warheads of their own (a little known fact), and it would be Israel that the U.S. military-industrial complex would order to do the launching. After all, the U.S. war mongers would insist, “We provided you (the Israelis) with your Iron Dome,” an early-generation missile defense shield (also something that few in the U.S. knew the U.S. was footing the bill for until it was suddenly called into play in some bouts derived from Netanyahu’s recent “war” on Palestinians in Gaza). So, who can be expected to sit idly by while Israel is nuking Iran in such an hypothetical case? Even if the response were less than an instantaneous, not the old Cold War “War Games” scenario of an immediate launch-counter launch “mutual and assured destruction” (MAD), the world would be brought right back to the brink of such a potential inevitability. In a veritable blinking of an eye, the world would be right up against new Cuban Missile Crisis environment, with the primary adversaries once again being the U.S. and the Russians. (It’s why the perpetual war advocates of the west continue to insist that the worst threat is still represented by Russia, and Russian-Iranian ties are very strong through shared natural resource objectives, in this context.) Under an initial, new tit-for-tat, rather than MAD, approach to military conflict, the response would come as a limited nuclear counterattack against Israel, wiping it out, which is why the U.S. war faction would want Israel to strike against Iran, and not the U.S. Is it sheer madness to even consider such scenarios? Ask Rep. Chaffetz.

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

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

CPAC: Hackneyed & Hollow I never know how to set my expectations for the Conservative Political Action Conference, also known as CPAC. I try to approach it with as much of an open mind as I can muster, understanding that I am at odds, fundamentally, with many conservative principles and conservatives’ views about the role, size and scope of government, but also realizing that apart from a debate setting, this may be the best place to take the temperature of, and hear from, the broadest range of conservative leaders. I still think, perhaps naïvely so, that people can be ideologically opposed but intellectually engaged, that a good idea makes the best bridge. So I do my best to follow the speeches – from afar (thank you, live streaming!) – and wait to hear something that jolts my consciousness or challenges my sense of things. But once again this year, I was disappointed. There remains in the Republican Party, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE as evidenced by the speakers at this event, a breathtaking narrowness of vision and deficit of creative thought. The confab, for the most part, felt to me like a revelry of contrarians. Rather than presenting the party as one with a plan, many of the speakers seemed determined to cement it as the party of resistance and opposition. Where were the grand conservative thinkers? Where was the philosophical heft? Where was the vision of a future not built on transporting to the past? It was largely absent. In its place was too much rhetoric about defending, defeating, defunding, deauthorizing. There was so much anti-Obama and antiHillary obsessing that the “pro” alternatives – to the extent that a case could be made – were obscured. Furthermore, it was hard to skip over all the missteps. Scott Walker, the leader in a new and oh-so-early Quinnipiac University poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus participants, compared union protesters in Wisconsin to the savage members of the Islamic State. Rick Perry still couldn’t get his facts straight. He said the president “says that ISIS is a religious movement. Again, he’s simply wrong.” No, sir, you are wrong. The president has taken pains to make the opposite argument, and has taken some shots for that. Perry also said that “ISIS represents the worst

Charles M. Blow

threat to freedom since communism.” Really? Calm down, cowboy. Chris Christie hung much of his question-andanswer presentation on bemoaning his coverage in the media, skirting the obvious fact that previous media fawning is a large part of the reason he rose to national prominence. Live by the pen; die by the pen. Jeb Bush did his best before a somewhat hostile crowd – there were boos and hisses and some folks walked out (some in costume, of course) and reportedly shouted, “No more Bushes.” It must be noted here that CPAC is a particular kind of crowd: not exactly like the Republican electorate, and not at all like the national electorate as a whole. (Rand Paul has won the last three CPAC straw polls.) But Bush seemed awkward and uncomfortable, trying to set up camp on both sides of the ravine on some issues like immigration and the Common Core. At least he made the point that conservatives “have to start being for things again.” This is where the Republican Party continues to falter. The cavalcade of contra nothingness at CPAC barreled forward with more speakers who lacked vision and brio. I guess one could make the argument that if the Republican pool of candidates is wide but shallow, that’s good for Democrats. Indeed, it is. Republicans have done exceedingly well in the recent midterms – in part because of anti-Obama Tea Party animus in 2010 and the fact that voter turnout for the 2014 midterms was the lowest of any election cycle since World War II. But presidential election years are a different story: They are national elections with a different electoral profile and greater participation. And nationally, the Republican brand remains tarnished. A Pew Research Center report released last week found that “majorities say the Democratic Party is open and tolerant, cares about the middle class and is not ‘too extreme.’ By contrast, most Americans see the GOP lacking in tolerance and empathy for the middle class, and half view it as too extreme.” This, of course, does not mean Democrats will have it easy in 2016 or thereafter. In fact, history tells us that politics swing like a pendulum. But if this is the quality of candidates and discourse on the Republican side when that pendulum swings back, then that’s tragic. If the bulk of your message is about what you are against rather than what you are for, if it’s about dragging the country back rather than leading it forward, then we’ll all suffer.

CO MME NT

PAGE 14 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross

Power point presentations often can be long and wordy, but they also can outline and explain difficult issues with more clarity than the usual narrative does. Plenty of power point graphs were on display at the joint Fairfax County Board of Supervisors/School Board meeting about the proposed FY 16 budget last Friday. Both the County Executive’s budget presentation and the School Superintendent’s budget presentation echoed the same concern: resources are scarce, while demands for services continue to grow. Superintendent Karen Garza told both boards that the expenditure driver is student enrollment, which has increased by more than 13,000 students in the past six fiscal years. Special education costs are increasing, as are the number of students for whom English is not their native language. One of the most fascinating charts in her power point presentation was a comparison of Fairfax County’s student membership compared to the other 131 Virginia School Divisions. The sheer size of Fairfax County’s student enrollment makes other school divisions pale in comparison. Fairfax County is the largest school division in the state, with 185,538 students registered, followed by Prince William (86,641 students) and Loudoun (73,394 students). However, Fairfax County’s free and reduced lunch student population, at 52,654, alone would rank as the sixth largest school division in the Commonwealth, behind Chesterfield County and just ahead of Henrico County. Fairfax County’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), at 32,103, would stand in ninth place, barely behind Norfolk and just ahead of Newport News. Our special education student population (25,697), standing alone, would rank 11th, behind Stafford County and ahead of Arlington County.

In terms of school size, Patrick County, in southwest Virginia, has 2,900 students overall; Fairfax County’s largest high school, Robinson Secondary, has 2,829 students. Fairfax County’s largest middle school, Glasgow in Mason District, has 1,645 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders; only five students fewer than all of Northampton County’s enrollment on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. All of the Commonwealth’s school divisions share a common problem: a lack of state funding for our schools. Every year, school divisions and counties request more money from the state to augment local taxpayer dollars and conform to the mandate of the Virginia Constitution that “The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.” Former Fairfax County School Board member Chris Braunlich, in a recent column, noted that the time has come to look at how the Commonwealth funds education, since the system in use today was devised in 1972, when times were much different. He states “A system created in an age of mimeograph machines is ill-suited for the age of tablets, and the magnitude of change in four decades deserves a coherent and systemic examination.” A similar approach was advocated by members of the Virginia Association of Counties at its annual meeting in November. Local jurisdictions support the Constitutional mandate; the Commonwealth needs to do the same.  Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Congressman Beyer’s News Commentary

Answering the Mail By Donald S. Beyer

I certainly do not want to ruin great television, but after two months on Capitol Hill, I can finally tell you what I have long suspected: Congress is not at all like Frank Underwood would have you believe. I have not had time to bingewatch the latest season of House of Cards, and drink in more of fictitious politician Underwood and his evil schemes. Most likely I will not have time until the August recess. That is not because I have been too busy plotting and posturing, a la Underwood. It is because I have been answering the mail. In the last two months, nearly 700 constituents have written to me about the delisting of the grey wolf from the Endangered Species List. That is only a couple hundred more than have written to make sure I know of the potential harm from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Many other environmental issues fill the electronic mailbox, including offshore drilling in Virginia, policies to address climate change, concern over hydraulic fracturing, and pleas to further

enhance clean water policies, especially for the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River. I delight in hearing from so many of you about these critical environmental issues. I spoke a great deal last year while campaigning for this job about the need to stop the harmful consequences of global climate change. I view this as the existential crisis of our generation, and of course the preeminent environmental issue. Many of the pressing energy and environmental issues we face are spokes on the climate change wheel, such as changing habitats, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and a drive toward alternative energy. We must find wise, long-term policies that will reverse our damaging impact on the world’s ecosystems. Elsewhere the need for stronger environmental policies is obvious. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years on record have been in this century. Global temperature changes are causing prolonged droughts, extreme weather events and rising sea levels. More than 7,000 Americans lost their lives to climate change-fueled events last year.

Millions more are at risk unless we act to reverse the disastrous effects. Our legacy will be judged by the quality of the world we leave to our children and grandchildren. We can no longer keep our heads in the sand about the harmful impact our culture of waste is having on the world around us. I promise to use my positions on the House Committees on Natural Resources and Science, Space, and Technology to advocate for policies that leave this place better than it was when we inherited it. Every day I have the chance to hear from constituents like you. I get to listen to your concerns, learn about the obstacles you face, share your stories and celebrate your successes. I have not had the chance to respond to each of you yet, but I will. And I want you to know that every day that I walk onto the floor of the House I carry your insight and advice with me. Every vote that I cast, I cast because I hope that it will make your life, and our world, a little bit better. Frank Underwood might disagree with me, but this is what makes this the best job on earth.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Senator Dick Saslaw’s

Richmond Report The General Assembly concluded its regular business last week, a day ahead of schedule. This in itself was great progress considering the 2014 special session ended minutes prior to the opening of the 2015 legislative session. Despite attempts to better manage the number of bills introduced in a short 45-day session, over 3,000 bills came through the system. The Commonwealth is a vibrant, well managed state recognized as business friendly and one of the best in the nation to raise a child, and yet each year we find ourselves facing mountains of initiatives to fix some problem or another. To a large degree many bills originate in both bodies giving an issue effectively, two lives. Crossover gives the Senate a chance to review, amend and/or dispatch the House bills and vice versa. Amendments to the budget bill came to closure with both the Senate and House in bipartisan agreement. This was the last year the Senate Finance Committee would have the expertise of Senators Chuck Colgan, Walter Stosch and John Watkins. They are retiring and leaving a big void in institutional history as well as state finance expertise. Under their leadership, we have seen a fair and balanced budget that puts Virginia families first, entices businesses to the Commonwealth and attempts to address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens. I have recently shared the highlights of the budget conference in my weekly newsletter. If you missed that, you may go to dicksaslaw.com and follow the links to the adopted budget bill and the newsletter highlights. One of the most challenging bills of the session focused on the reporting of sexual abuse on our college campuses. Victim advocate groups weighed in on the right of an individual’s privacy versus the school’s ability to address criminal matters. The bill that ultimately emerged was a compromise that puts in place a memorandum of understanding with local advocate groups, creates an assessment team that includes law enforcement at the table and balances the individual’s privacy with the safety of the public at large. Once again, we saw several attempts to tighten up ethics reform that was started in 2014. In my opinion, the 49 page omni-

bus bill is complex and it may do more harm than good in the long run. I have stated many times, when in doubt, do without. The new measure calls for a $100 limit on gifts, including meals and trips. Additionally, it also creates a nine-member ethics council that will oversee enforcement of professional related travel that may be paid for by a lobbyist. The Governor has the opportunity to sign, amend or veto this measure, which nearly caused a stalemate to the General Assembly. I believe this issue will be revisited again in future years. It came as no surprise to see the assault on public education that is now standard operating procedure every year at the General Assembly. From vouchers to home school athletes wanting to play for the local school division, we fought hard to preserve our public education. How else do we expect to be competitive in the global economy? Our teachers will get a 3 percent pay increase if half of that is matched at the local level. State funding for public education continues to be at a level slightly below 2009 – this puts a lot of pressure on the localities when it comes to maintaining our world-class education. So when it comes to “creative” ways to syphon money out of our public schools, I will lead the fight to put a halt to that kind of math. I want to thank our page and messenger from Glasgow Middle for their service during the General Assembly. I also applaud their teachers for their efforts to accommodate these aspiring young students who in addition to their Richmond responsibilities, were able to keep up with their academic endeavors. This is a nationally acclaimed program and I am always proud of the students that I get to appoint. Many of you visited my office in Richmond. Thanks for making the trip and participating in the process. We had three town halls in January and early February. I appreciate all of you attending those and for staying in touch during the session. Once again, I am seeking re-election and am in your neighborhood to get petitions signed to get on the ballot. I look forward to seeing you soon.  Senator Saslaw represents the 35th District in the Virginia State Senate. He may be emailed at district35@senate.virginia.gov.

Special Edition

Real Estate

S�� 2015

Home Renovation Advice from The Little City’s Award-Winning Design Firm See page RE-8

ALSO INSIDE: F.C. Agents On the City’s Latest Real Estate Assessments PAGE RE-2

Lightweight Wood Construction PAGE RE-4

Home Sales & More: ‘By the Numbers’ PAGE RE-11

R EA L E STATE

PAGE RE-2 | SPRING 2015

New Real Estate Assessments Draw Mixed Reviews in F.C. BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

How are residents taking the news of the region’s highest increase in real estate assessments released by the Falls Church City Hall last week? Is it good news, or bad news, and is it an accurate reflection of value here? It depends on the infamous “eye of the beholder,” most might say. Three real estate agents interviewed by the News-Press and one prominent local developer rehearsed the upsides, the downsides, and some remaining questions, in particular regarding the valuation of the commercial components of the City’s real estate. According to Bob Young of the Young Group, Inc., a recent appointee to the City’s Economic Development Authority, despite the 2.37 percent increase in the overall assessed value of the City’s commercial properties, the City may still be ‘leaving a lot of money on the table” by way of under-assessing the true value of some commercial properties. By law, as City Manager Wyatt Shields reminded the F.C. City Council in unveiling the assessment data last week (with individual assessments being mailed to all property owners at the same time), F.C.’s Assessor Ryan Davis is required to provide assessments that are 100 percent of the market value of properties. Still, according to Young, the City uses “mass assessment techniques” that are “generally accepted,” and while assess-

ments of residential properties may be in line, there is a missing of the mark on commercial. “I know what my properties are worth,” he told the NewsPress, “and I know in some cases people pay considerably more than the market value for something. Still, that should be reflected in the overall assessments. The mass technique has got to be costing the City money. “The City has the luxury of being small enough that almost every property could be individually assessed without resort to a ‘mass assessment technique,’” he said. “It is like the IRS, where Congress has cut its budget to impact its ability to do audits and they can’t answer the phone,” Young added, “Even though it’s been shown that for every $1 spent on examinations, $6 is raised.” Among many popular local real estate agents, Louise Molton, Stacy Hennessey and Tori McKinney all concurred in their views about residential assessments in the City, saying they appear to be very accurate. “Historically, the City has been notorious for not having a close link between the selling price and the assessment of a home,” Hennessey said, but this year may be different. “Usually, the assessors don’t catch renovations and improvements to homes,” although she sensed assessments overall were “too high” last year. Annual assessments are clearly a “double-edged sword,” said Molton, just back in town from

a real estate conference in Las Vegas. “If you are looking to sell, higher assessments are a good thing. If you’re staying put, they just mean you’re paying more in taxes. It’s just human nature to be disgruntled by higher taxes, but people should realize that with 5.75 percent single-year jump in assessments of town houses, for example, they’re very lucky to live in the City.” “People don’t like change and more taxes,” she said. “But they need to look at the other side of the coin.” She said that property values “have been on an extremely good run,” with “great schools bringing people to the City.” She noted that it’s most common for families coming to the D.C. Metro area to look online to see where the best schools are. “They want the best for their children, no matter what,” and when they see how highly rated the City of Falls Church schools are, they are drawn here. Molton added that citizens need to be reminded that, while assessments and tax rates rise, the City’s programs of tax relief for seniors and disabled residents have become more robust. “I a lot of people still do not know about this,” she said. McKinney agreed with the view that assessments this year are “in line with market values and accurate.” “People don’t want taxes raised, but when values go up, so do assessments. They also have to respect the size of the community and its limited tax base.”

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

How Does The Little City Stack Up?

When it comes to real estate assessments and the tax rate, here’s how the City of Falls Church compares to the neighboring jurisdictions of Arlington and Fairfax counties. Annual Residential Real Estate Value Change Since 2010

Real Estate Tax Rates Since 2010

$2 $1.50 $1

$0.00

Source: City of Falls Church, Arlington County, Fairfax County

R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPRING 2015 | PAGE RE-3

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R EA L E STATE

PAGE RE-4 | SPRING 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Use of Engineered Wood Poses Benefits, Dangers by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

One of the trends in real estate construction over the last 30 years has been the use of engineered wood and other lightweight construction materials in the building of the structures that house residences, including apartments, and businesses. The advantages to using these materials – engineered wood trusses and I-joists used to build a house’s roof and floors – are that they are environmentallyfriendly and cheaper because less wood is needed to constitute these building supplies. But while this form of construction is completely legal, a tradeoff – highlighted by a January fire in Edgewater, N.J. that, according to The New York Times, displaced more than a 1,000 residents of an apartment complex built using engineered wood and other buildings surrounding the complex – is that fires in structures built using engineered wood spread faster. And the structures themselves are more prone to structural collapse. Out of the two major developments in Falls Church City – Rushmark’s Harris Teeter building going up on West Broad Street and Lincoln Properties’ The Reserve at Tinner Hill – only The Reserve at Tinner Hill is using engineered wood, according to the City’s building inspector Doug Fraser. The Harris Teeter building is a concrete structure. Another development on the edge of the City, Avalon Falls Church on S. Spring Street, also uses engineered wood, according to construction workers on the site. The property is owned and being developed by AvalonBay, the same company that owned the Avalon at Edgewater complex that was torched in the aforementioned January fire. That complex was also built with engineered wood, according to The Times’ account of the fire. Fraser noted in an interview with the News-Press that structures built with engineered wood can be more easily compromised in a fire. “If you take an I-joist and burn two inches off the I-joist you’ve lost most of the structural capacity of that I-joist,” Fraser said. “So that worries fire guys. If you get a real big house with I-joists and you have a fire in there it doesn’t take as much fire to compromise some of the structure of a house’s floor system or a roof system.” Falls Church City’s fire marshal Tom Polera said that “most fire folks hate” the use of engineered wood, and it has changed

how firefighters train and prepare for their job, in addition to changing how they fight actual fires. “It’s what’s being used in most construction nowadays. It became very popular in the 1980s and 1990s,” Polera said. “The problem with it is it reduces the time capability of the structure being able to withstand a fire when exposed to heat and fire and more of a potential for collapse.” He went on to explain more about the difference of fighting fires in structures made with engineered wood versus dimensional lumber, a material used in older homes. “If you take a wooden I-beam, for instance, if it’s a regular 2x12 piece of wood, there’s some meat to that but when you replace it with the I-beam type plywood that’s engineered for the original trusses, the meat of the wood is now gone away and it’s been replaced with, in best case scenarios, 2x4s,” Polera said. “And that creates a problem when it’s under heat and flame, where any component of that gives way you end up having structural collapse. So from a firefighter’s perspective what it’s done is pretty much change how firefighters respond to calls. Many years ago it was usual for fire crews to get on the roof of a house and cut a hole in the roof to ventilate it so the crews inside could put the fire out quicker. That’s when we had houses that were built of normal, full 2x8s or 2x10s being used in construction.” According to Polera, fire crews have had to learn how to respond to fires in buildings built with engineered wood. “From a training and preparedness perspective, we realize it gives us less time, so now we have to figure out if we will actually go inside the house to extinguish a fire or do we try to put the fire out from the outside,” Polera said. “Hopefully everyone’s out of the house and we may just extinguish it from the outside if we’re hitting that time zone of a potential collapse. So if we’re at new homes that were under construction and the actual fire was occurring in the attic space where we know those construction members are not protected, it would be very unlikely that whoever would be in charge of that fire scene that they would have their firefighters go into that house because of the danger of collapse.” Polera said that where older homes built with dimensional lumber may have given them a 20-minute time frame to extinguish a fire, newer homes might only a give them a four-minute time frame depending on the

AVALONBAY’S FALLS CHURCH LOCATION, on the edge of Falls Church City, is one of several developments under construction that uses engineered wood and lightweight construction materials. Another of AvalonBay’s development’s in Edgewater, N.J., which also uses engineered wood, was destroyed in a January fire. (Photos: Drew Costley/News-Press)

nature of the fire. According to Polera, the only real alternative to using engineered wood would be to go back to using dimensional lumber in building construction. There are some measures that can and are taken by some developers and construction companies who use this material, one of which being the use of residential sprinkler systems. According to Fraser, there were changes to the International Code Council’s building codes in 2009 that would require developers to install sprinkler systems in structures built with engineered wood, but that code was not adopted into the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code. Polera told the News-Press that the use of sprinkler systems can help extend the time engineered wood structures are able to withstand fires. Other measures that can be taken to shore up structures using engineered wood and lightweight construction materials include the use of firewalls to compartmentalize potential fires, protecting engineered trusses from fires using drywall.

Despite the challenge of fighting fires in structures built with engineered wood and other lightweight construction materials, Polera recognized the costsaving benefits of using those materials. “I guess from a perspective of saving money using engineered wood, where is that money going to? If it’s going to adding decor or style to the home it doesn’t do a whole lot of good,” Polera

said. “But if we’re offsetting that and actually putting sprinklers in the home, saving money on one side to make the home safer, that would might be a benefit.” AvalonBay did not respond to requests for an interview for this story as of press time. A representative for Lincoln Property Company, who are developing The Reserve at Tinner Hill, declined to comment for the story.

R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPRING 2015 | PAGE RE-5

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R EA L E STATE

PAGE RE-6 | SPRING 2015

A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Meet Falls Church’s Real Estate Experts Mike Castorina code

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Capital Home Design and Construction, Inc. offers a wide variety of high quality onsite consultation and construction services for residential properties. Put us to work for you and we’ll be your “go-to” for any questions or concerns you may have during the course of your construction project. We’ll ensure the job gets done right, the first time, every time. You’ll be glad to know that you’ll be just as involved in the planning process as we are. We’ll work side by side with you every step of the way. At CHDC we believe in the synergy of a three-way partnership - client, design professional and builder, working together in the spirit of true collaboration. Residential building projects come in all shapes and sizes. From detailed renovation to large-scale construction, you want assurance that the job will run smoothly from start to finish. We pledge to each homeowner that each and every project will make both of us proud. Proud of the process and proud of the outcome. With over 30 years of experience in the DC Metro area we have the know-how to design/build any space you can envision large or small. Chance are that we’ve helped someone like you with a similar project. Let CHDC professionals put their experience to work for you. Capital Home Design and Construction, Inc. offers a wide variety of residential construction services to meet virtually every client need. Whether finishing your basement, remodeling the kitchen and bathrooms to additions and new construction to renovating an existing home the CHDC team will meet your goals. Capital Home Design and Construction, Inc. 703-599-7788 • capitalhomedesigninc.com

M�� C�� M�� K��, L�� F�� R�� E�� It’s called, “Sales.” But, what we actually do is to help people transition through the real estate changes in their lives. What a great job! We provide full service Real Estate Sales Solutions for you via our one stop shop L&F team in Residential, Commercial and International. Our business as usual is Top Service and Results for Clients. Our mission is Client Relationships for Life, and that we all Live The Good Life through Real Estate! Mike “MC” Castorina was born and raised in Arlington, and then Falls

Mike Castorina code

Melissa Klein code

Church. He is an Associate Broker and has Appraisal and Investment B�� J�� P�� V��, Property background. He RE/MAX ��

is an expert negotiator and really knows the neighborhoods, Property Valuation Melissa Klein code and The Contract. Melissa “MK” Klein started out in Arlington and ended up in New York City condo and coop sales before returning to her NOVA roots. She has broad marketing and diverse housing product expertise. MK has earned the Seniors Real Estate Specialist/SRES (only 1.5% of agents, nationwide) Designation to help you as you age and your older family members make better choices in staying put or moving to more accommodating housing. Mike Castorina & Melissa Klein, Long & Foster Real Estate 6299 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22044 703-966-4839 (Mike) • 703-201-4525 (Melissa) mikecastorina.lnf.com

S�� H��, M�E�� A�� While it doesn’t feel like spring, home buyers are anxiously awaiting the spring market. Falls Church City remains highly sought after and for good reason.... great schools, great location, and great people. I have lived and worked in “the City” for 24 years with my three kids starting in kindergarten at Mt Daniel and graduating from George Mason, owning a business, being president of the Falls Church Chamber and much more. I can honestly say, I know Falls Church - and love it. Whether you are selling your home or buying here, it is imperative to work with an agent that really knows the City. My background as a lawyer helps with the entire process. When you are dealing with what often is the largest and most important financial transaction in a person’s life, it is important to work with someone who knows the process, the ramifications and the ins and outs of the contract.It is also important to work with an agent that you will see in the grocery store and around town and that you know put your needs first and foremost and did an excellent job. An agent whose reputation is stellar. That is me. I also only advertise the houses I am selling..not the ones I have sold. Most of my business is based on referrals and repeat customers. I answer all calls right away and I am your partner throughout the process. Give me a call if you have any questions, I am always nearby! Stacy Hennessey, McEnearney Associates 4720 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207 703-395-4868 • mcenarney.com

Barbara has lived in Falls Church for over 20 years. She offers a winning combination of proven success, peer respect, professional strengths, background and experience. Barbara has a passion for building long lasting client relationships backed by unmatched enthusiasm. “It’s a great feeling to assist clients who want to live and work in an area that has so much to offer.” Peggy brings a wealth of knowledge to the real estate transaction. In addition to living in Falls Church for 25+ years, she & her husband have been investing in & developing real estate in North Arlington for 15+ years. Peg credits her no-nonsense approach to real estate to her Maine roots. Whether a buyer or seller her philosophy is that, “you can get there from here.” Her role is to help you to do so. Barbara Jones and Peg Veroneau, RE/MAX by invitation 4784 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207 703-867-6338 (Barbara) • 703-447-0634 (Peg)

M�� K��, K�� W�� R�� Real estate is not the same everywhere. You need someone who knows the area, someone who has up-todate information, someone you can trust. As an expert in the NOVA area, I bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise about buying and selling real estate here. My Accounting/Business MBA graduate degree, plus extensive work experience in different sectors give me an edge in understanding the residential real estate process, from contracts to market conditions and from first-time homebuyers needs to seasoned investors. Along with being a member of the Greater Merrifield Business Association, I actively support the PTA for my neighborhood schools and participate in sponsoring families at the “Our Daily Bread” organization. My company, Keller Williams Realty, is the largest real estate franchise in the world, and Training Magazine has named Keller Williams the #1 training organization across all industries. Here are some of the things I can do for you: Find Your Next Home- You need someone who knows this area inside and out! I can work with you to find the right home at the right price for you, including all the neighborhood amenities that matter - not to mention the essential criteria you have for your ideal home. Sell a Home- When it’s time to move, you need

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

R EA L E STATE A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

someone who will advertise your home, show it to prospective buyers, negotiate the purchase contract, arrange financing, oversee the inspections, handle all necessary paperwork and supervise the closing. I can take care of everything you need, from start to close. Consult on Home Selling Tactics- Often times, buyers don’t visualize living in your home the way you do. I can make your home attractive to its ideal audience - which can help you get top dollar. Things like staging the home, making repairs or minor improvements, or even simply painting the walls can be the difference between a home resting on the market and one that’s sold fast.”

Colin is also EcoBroker Certified, and believes there is a bright future for “Green” homes in the D.C. area, and particularly in Falls Church. With eight previous years of management experience in four- and five-star hotels and resort camping properties, Colin brings top-tier customer care to his client relationships. Colin also brings to bear cutting edge expertise in today’s online real estate landscape, merging great photography, video, storytelling, and targeted social reach. He is an active member of D.C.’s social media community and is proud of the national recognition his blogs have garnered. You can view Colin’s blog at FallsChurchLiving.com.

Monica Kumar, Keller Williams Realty 6820 Elm Street, McLean, VA 22101 571-317-1750 • mozaichomes.com

Colin Storm, Keller Williams Realty 105 W. Broad Street, Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046 703-638-9144 • fallschurchliving.com

RE/MAX �� RE/MAX by invitation is committed to providing the highest quality real estate services to buyers and sellers in Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland. Our exceptional customer service sets us apart from other real estate companies. Our team-based approach ensures that every client gets detailed attention and understands each and every step of the real estate transaction. RE/MAX by invitation agents pay attention to the details, and manage each home sale or purchase from start to finish and beyond! Agents receive the most current training to stay abreast of the everchanging real estate laws and expertly advise our clients on any real estate needs. Simple, effective, honest communication is the cornerstone of every home purchase or sale at RE/MAX by invitation.. RE/MAX by invitation 4784 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207 703-677-8730

C�� S��, K�� W�� R�� There are a number of GREAT choices when it comes to realtors in Falls Church. Well, now there is another one! Colin Storm and his family now call the City of Falls Church home, and with four small children, they plan to be here for decades to come! If you are looking to buy or sell a home (or both) you will want to hear about Colin’s approach and marketing plan. There is a right realtor for everyone, and there is a good chance Colin is the right one for you! Let him buy you a cup of coffee and find out if you and he are a fit. Since 2007 Colin has specialized in residential real estate inside the beltway of Virginia and Northwest D.C.

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K�� S��, F�� R�� Recently recognized in the top 1% of Fairfax Realty’s 400+ agents, Kathy Szymanski stands ready to help you make a move in 2015. With Kathy’s 25 years’ experience and keen knowledge of the local market, you can join these satisfied clients: “Thank you again, and again. I just can’t say enough about what an excellent adviser you have been. It will be a real pleasure to recommend you to anyone seeking to buy, sell or rent. Working with Kathy was the smartest move we’ve made in a long time.” “Your expertise, professionalism, patience and understanding of this market fit my needs perfectly! I appreciate your response to every detail whether it was curiosity or a serious financial decision. Your integrity, honesty and character make you stand out in this market.” “Thank you for your patience. As first time home buyers, we needed our hand held. You seemed to know when to hold it and when to let go so that we made the decision on our own, but with valuable input and background gained from all the houses we looked at! “ “Kathy is an exceptional Realtor. We’ve worked with her three times, buying and selling. She’s an expert. She works superbly in a time crunch, which is helpful to those - like us - moving overseas, or just returning from overseas.” “I used Kathy when I was looking for an investment condo in Arlington...Kathy provided me with more due diligence than I’d even hoped for. I love her way of presenting information and asking questions to lead me into making the right decision for me. It was a joy working with Kathy and I’ll call her again in a heartbeat.“ Give Kathy a call. You too will be glad you did. Kathy Szymanski, Fairfax Realty 7611 Little River Turnpike, Suite 101 W., Annandale, VA 22003 703-534-4630 • kathysellsvirginiahomes.com

E�� T��, R�� R�� Looking to buy or sell a home in the Northern Virginia area? I can help! Living and working in the Northern Virginia area, I’ve developed a keen sense of the area’s unique and complex real estate market. I pride myself on carefully listening to the needs and goals of my clients to help them navigate the market quickly, easily, and in ways that exceed their expectations. Selling a home? With access to the Internet Marketing Program I am able to generate broad online exposure through America’s leading real estate internet sites and portals – selling homes quickly and for the highest price. Buying a home? I use my contacts and market expertise to help you identify your dream home before you ever thought possible. My own home is located in McLean where I live with my wife, two children, dog and ever-changing number of fish. I am highly active in the McLean community, helping out with a number of local charitable organizations as well as volunteering at my children’s school as often as possible. I realize that a home is not just a house but a place to grow your family, engage in your community and create a beautiful life. I am committed to facilitating your real estate needs in a way that is as comfortable, professional, and stress-free; and fulfills the dreams you envision for your family. Contact me today; I look forward to working with you! Eric Tone, Redwood Realty 1711 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 703-528-8195 • erictonerealestate.com

T�� T��, TTR S��’� I�� R�� As a Falls Church City resident and proud parent of three children in our wonderful City schools, I am immensely proud to locally represent TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. Having been through many of my own, I appreciate the importance of every one of my clients’ real estate transactions and I treat each with the greatest of care. I have a passion for impeccably presented properties and a gift for finding homes that harmonize a client’s lifestyle with sage council for a wise investment. Clients of mine benefit from TTR Sotheby’s International Realty’s global reach, powerful marketing and superior professional service- regardless of price. In addition to our record sales, our firm sold $900 million worth of properties under $1 million in 2014. With approximately $2 billion in 2014 sales, we are the area’s leading luxury real estate firm. TTR Sotheby’s International Realty and I offer million dollar service in every price range. Theresa Sullivan Twiford, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty 400 S. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314 307-413-2872 • sothebysrealty.com

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Award-Winning F.C. Design Firm Talks Remodeling

BY PATRICIA LESLIE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Falls Church’s Foxcraft Design Group may soon have to remodel its trophy case to accommodate all its recent awards. It has received a national firstplace award from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for a residential bathroom project costing more than $60,000, two national magazine awards, and regional and districts awards, too. What did Foxcraft do, and what’s trending now in remodeling? Foxcraft’s Jim Lynch who designed and modeled the bathroom project in Great Falls, said the company’s winning design emphasized light and natural elements. Before improvements, the bathroom was “all cut up in little categories,” with two walk-in closets, two small vanities, a toilet in a compartment, and “an enormous whirlpool which nobody ever used” but which received all the natural lighting. Foxcraft increased the shower

size, combined the closets and installed shoji screens which hide the toilet and permit natural light to flow in the closet, giving the bathroom an Asian feel. Dan Dalrymple, Foxcraft’s project manager, said a popular bathroom trend is heated floors which may be found in all rooms in some houses. But the chief trend in remodeling these days is “the open concept” combining the kitchen, den, and living room, Lynch said. “In the past gentlemen sat in the living room while ladies cooked in the kitchen” which he compared to sterling silver and linens which “no one uses now.” New designs open everything up with a small room reserved for “quiet” or study. “We all have become less formal,” Lynch said. People are staying in their homes longer now, too, and master bedroom suites on the first floor are in demand. Another trend is bringing “the outside in. Now people like to walk right outside to decks or screened-in porches.” Lynch noted that today’s bedrooms often serve multiple pur-

poses and may contain exercise equipment and a computer, desk, and files to make a small office, in addition to the furniture intended for the room. The “real trend is to make closets and the bedroom more efficient.” By reducing the size of the bedroom to accommodate only a queen-sized bed, a chair, and a desk, and converting the closet into a dressing room, the bedroom meets its intended use. “If you can define a space for what’s it supposed to be, it becomes a lot more comfortable,” Lynch said. Rather than remodeling to increase a home’s value, many are remodeling to enjoy the space themselves. “The more they [homeowners] look at it as less an investment in cash, the happier they are when they invest more in their lives, and they are the happiest when they renovate.” Remodeling a child’s bedroom is tough since over ten years, a person changes a lot from age four to 14. “The room needs to grow with them [the children] as they grow.”

FOXCRAFT’S MICHAEL S. BLOOD (left) and Jim Lynch show off shelves in the bathroom of a house Foxcraft is renovating in Arlington. (P��: P�� L��/N��-P��)

703.867.6338

703.447.0634

barbarajones@mris.com

peggy@peggyveroneau.com

Associate Broker

Realtor

Working together to better serve you!

703-677-8730 4784 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22207

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Remodeling changes are found in garages, too, which “have almost become extensions of the home,” Lynch said. Garage pulley systems enable kayakers, for example, to lower and lift a kayak right on top

of the car. And garage pulleys are useful for storing garden tools, too. Renewable resources in home remodeling “have not taken off as much as we would have expected,” Dalrymple said, however, “tremen-

R EA L E STATE dous energy savings” are found in LED lighting which costs more but has an “expanded life span.” Also, foam insulation “is more costly on the front end,” but it saves money long-term, Dalrymple said. Another trend are on-demand water heaters, although they are “a little bit costly on the front end,” and may not be suitable for

large homes since the water has to be “pushed” long distances, he said. Gas and propane are the most efficient. Modern security changes such as keyless entry and battery-operated key pads are popular trends, including “the ability to monitor whether the garage door is open,” which is “very easily done over

SPRING 2015 | PAGE RE-9

your smartphone,” Dalrymple said. Remodeling is “driven by how long you plan to stay in your home,” Dalrymple said. Are you making changes for yourself or someone else? “When you come home to something inviting, it makes life a lot more pleasant,” said Lynch.

THE GREAT FALLS BATHROOM that won Foxcraft Design a renovation award, before the renovations. (Photo: Courtesy of

THE GREAT FALLS BATHROOM that won Foxcraft Design a renovation award from National Association of the Remodeling Industry after the company’s renovations. (Photo: Courtesy of

Foxcraft Design Group)

Each office is independently owned and operated.

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PAGE RE-10 | SPRING 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

How to Handle a Moisture Problem in the Attic by Rob Robillard The Boston Globe

Q. I’m hoping you can help me with a problem I’m having in my attic. My condo is only two years old, but there is quite a bit of condensation on the roof boards (they are damp/wet almost all the time). I had an insulation person look at it. He said the baffles that are supposed to direct the air up from the soffit vents were not installed properly, so there is not sufficient air flow. He said it’s hard to take them out and reinstall them correctly, however, as the drywall for the ceiling is already in place. Any advice as to how to remedy this? We do have a furnace/ air-conditioning unit in the attic for the second floor as well as two bathrooms that have venting running up through the attic to the outside (west side). The south wall is our neighbor’s, so there is no ventilation possible on that side. – Carl A. You’re describing a common problem that leads to mold and sometimes rot. The primary cause of your attic moisture prob-

lems results from warm air escaping from the heated portion of your home into the unheated attic space. Heat escapes around penetrations in the wall and ceilings made for items such as light fixtures, wires, vent pipes, and fans. This warm air condenses on the cold roof sheathing, causing frost and moisture issues. The first step is to control moisture in the house by ensuring that the dryer and all baths vent to the exterior. Ventilation plays some role in keeping attics dry, but controlling indoor humidity is more important. Dryer exhaust pipes running through unheated spaces should

be installed inside an insulated sleeve, and ALL bathroom fans should be on timers to ensure that the fan runs a least 15 minutes after someone takes a shower. I have written a lot on proper bath venting and attic sealing on my website, AConcordCarpenter.com. Let’s go back to the ventilation question. Increasing the attic ventilation is not always the right solution because it would allow more air to escape, pulling in additional warm, moist air from the living areas. The real solution is to seal off your attic access points, install adequate levels of insulation, and plug ALL air leaks. It’s possible your ventilation

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could be improved, but you should really be looking to eliminate the warm air leaking into your attic. This can be done by locating and sealing all open penetrations with expanding foam, high-temp insulation, (Roxul, Rockwool, or ceramic) and sheet metal, if necessary. Sheet metal and high-temp insulation are commonly used to cover the two-inch framing gaps around masonry chimneys. These gaps are a major source of air leaks. Focus on chimneys and recessed lighting. Chimneys should be air-sealed to stop a home’s moisture from getting into the attic. If you have a metal chimney, check the manufacturer

recommendations. After air sealing, you can insulate around masonry chimneys with high-temp insulation or fiberglass batts – do not put foam or cellulose directly against the chimney. On metal chimney flues, you will need to use sheet metal and high-temp caulking around the flue. You can’t insulate against any metal chimneys that I know of, and that is why the sheet-metal shield is required. It stops air leakage but maintains the two-inch open space required by code. TIP Remember: Insulation does not stop air leaks; it simply insulates. Air will get through, so look for blackened insulation.

BUILDING LOTS Unique opportunity in City of Falls Church, a single parcel with over 29,000 sq ft sub-dividable into two residential building lots. Utilities at site. Existing home must be removed. A bargain at $1,200,000. For more information contact John W. Purvis Sr THE PURVIS TEAM Remax Xecutex 703-937-0341

R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Real Estate

SPRING 2015 | PAGE RE-11

Top Falls Church Home Sales

December-February #3 $1,425,000 #1 $1,450,000

#4 $1,420,000 #2 $1,430,000 Top 5 F.C. Home Sales December 1, 2014 - February 28, 2015 Address BR #1 102 Dulany Pl. 7 #2 209 Midvale St. 4 #3 229 Midvale St. 5 #4 6607 Placid St. 5 5 #5 211 W. Cameron Rd. 6

6 3 4 4 7

1 1 1 1 0

List Price $1,500,000 $1,430,000 $1,425,000 $1,449,000 $1,389,900

Sale Price $1,450,000 $1,430,000 $1,425,000 $1,420,000 $1,375,000

Zip 22046 22046 22046 22043 22046

Date Sold 1/5/15 12/15/14 1/20/15 1/20/15 2/27/15

Source: MRIS, Inc.; Photos: Falls Church News-Press

#5 $1,375,000

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Falls Church Area Housing Market — 4th Quarter 2014 Report Zip Code

Area

Average Price

Number of Homes Sold

Average Days on Market

22046

Falls Church City

$708,888

22041

Bailey’s Crossroads

$358,379

22042

Sleepy Hollow

$467,405

22043

Pimmit Hills

$558,401

22044

Lake Barcroft

$479,087

Home Sales Vs. 1 Year Ago

Home Prices Vs. 1 Year Ago

Change in # of Homes Sold: 4Q ‘14 vs 4Q ‘13

Change in Average Home Price: 4Q ‘14 vs 4Q ‘13

+13.33%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

+2.11%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

-15.63%

Change in Bailey’s X-roads (22041)

-4.73%

Change in Bailey’s X-roads (22041)

+10.71%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

+4.39%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

+1.33%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

-5.70%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

-3.13%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

+9.05%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Netanyahu Go Home

I am a fervent supporter of Israel, yet I bitterly oppose Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in front of Congress. This disgraceful talk is the result of political collusion between House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Netanyahu to humiliate President Obama, sabotage nuclear talks with Iran, and help the Israeli leader win reelection. Netanyahu and his Rapture-seeking supporters in Congress claim that they are pro-Israel. Yet it is perplexing to see how this unauthorized congressional address helps Israel, when it has profoundly frayed relations between the two allied nations. The Iranian Ayatollahs themselves could not have invented a better scenario to undermine the once-strong U.S. and Israeli bond. Netanyahu should go home and give peace a chance. Secretary of State John Kerry is working on a deal to scuttle Iran’s nuclear ambitions. We should try smart diplomacy and exhaust every option before we blindly rush into another costly and bloody war. Netanyahu’s urging of the U.S. to prematurely spill blood and treasure is reckless. If Israel succeeds in pressuring our nation into war, this will surely embolden every conspiracyloving anti-Semite to come out of the woodwork and blame the Jews. Netanyahu should mind his own damn business and keep his face out of our domestic politics. If the Israeli leader wants to bomb Iran before peace talks are exhausted – he should do it himself. Israel’s great strength is that it has bipartisan support. Netanyahu has squandered this advantage by snubbing President Obama and turning Israel into a satellite of the Republican National Committee. Lest he forget that 70 percent of American Jews voted for Obama and find the politics of the modern GOP repugnant. I applaud Democrats, such as Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for skipping Netanyahu’s petulant and partisan screed. Israelis should vote Netanyahu out of office. His absence of vision, deployment of fear, lack of commitment to the peace process, undermining U.S. and Israeli relations, and destructive pandering to Israel’s extreme right makes him unfit to continue leading. What is the rationale for another Netanyahu term? Unless voters are happy with the precarious status quo, where an increasingly delusional, ultra-religious nation happily dances to patriotic songs while plummeting into the abyss, otherwise known as the future. The curious part of the “Cult of Netanyahu” is that his supporters pretend to be the ultimate patriots who are protecting Israel. Meanwhile, under this “tough” leader, peace talks with the Palestinians have floundered and provocative settlements have expanded in the West Bank. I have yet to hear one lucid explanation on how these arrogant and oppressive settlements have helped Israel. They have done nothing but marginalize peace-seeking Israelis and Palestinians, created worldwide outrage at Israel, which has helped fuel a rise in global anti-Semitism and isolate Israel. I could understand enduring such backlash if it was necessary for the security of Israel. For example, I favor Israel keeping the Golan Heights for strategic military advantage. I’m fine with the blockade on Gaza because instead of importing goods to better the lives of civilians, Hamas has used the sea to smuggle in arms and materials to build terror tunnels. Until the people of Gaza understand that a non-violent peace movement is the answer, instead of indiscriminately lobbing missiles at innocent Israeli families, they will be in a prison of their own making. But the combustible settlements in the West Bank are in a different category. They are completely superfluous and do nothing to enhance Israel’s security. They are a sop to hardcore Israeli fundamentalist settlers who dream of a Greater Israel with borders from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River. These settlements are also a bribe to America’s evangelical Christians, some of who believe that the Jews must control all of Israel for Jesus to return. The substitution for rational, clear-eyed domestic and foreign policy with kowtowing to religious extremists is what truly threatens Israel’s security. I’m an American supporter of the Jewish State, but I refuse to drink Netanyahu’s tainted Kool-Aid. I’m not going to buy into his irrational, war-mongering, fear-based apocalyptic warnings – so he can appease the fantasies of paranoid religious zealots. Israel needs forward thinking leaders who will genuinely pursue peace because it is in the long-term interest of Israel’s national security. If durable peace could be achieved with Israel’s archenemies, Egypt and Jordan, it could also happen with the Palestinians. In the meantime, as a U.S. citizen I’m appalled by Netanyahu’s brazen speech. The George W. Bush of Israeli politics should be criticized and ultimately snubbed. Then he should go home and lose his election. That would be the most pro-Israel gift imaginable.

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Arlington became a little less hip last Saturday at 11:20 p.m. It happened on the top floor of Ballston Common, when 40 improv players dressed in blue and black paraded out like in a Fellini movie to applaud spectators after the final performance at the Comedy Spot. The edgy club for a decade has been sandwiched between the more antiseptic Radio Shack and Regal Theater. But with the coming makeover of the struggling central Arlington mall, the Comedy Spot capitalized on an expiring lease to decamp for the D.C. Improv. Liz Demery, owner and artistic director since 2001, felt well treated by Ballston mall, which in 2005 built her group – originally housed in a small section of Macy’s -- a 180-seat facility in the space used by Victoria’s Secret (now one floor below). Through the years, she and the performers (nearly all of whom have day jobs) filled it at half or two-thirds capacity with unrehearsed shows for weekend date nights, kids’ birthdays and corporate events. The Feb. 28 finale was the “Blue Show,” meaning audience

and players 18 and up were free to let the wordy dirds fly. (The early evening show, offered under the brand ComedySportz, was family fun.) Dan, the audio-visual staff, showed me the keyboard and sound board with which he pumps up improvisers’ energy with sound effects, percussion or throbbing rap music. “Tonight there’s a massive amount of performers on stage, while there’s usually four or five,” he said. Many flew in from California and Florida, where some do professional acting. Lots of hugs at this reunion of players from the Comedy Spot’s glory days. They performed in sneakers and shirttails untucked. They sweated as they braved rejection for their efforts at instant humor as they uninhibitedly reveal inner thoughts. Improv relies on split-second free association, playing as an ensemble, tossing other performers a verbal trapeze. The spare stage, with a few blue and red lights, is empty but for four stools. Host Mike Gregorek blew a whistle like a referee – he’s a pro performer in New York City but hosted in Arlington from 2004-07. He divided the can’t-be-shy audience into sec-

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CRIME REPORT Week of February 23 - March 1, 2015 Larceny from Building, 200 block E. Fairfax St. On Feb. 24, personal items from a storage locker were reported stolen. Narcotics Violation, 800 block W. Broad St. On Feb. 24, a 15 year-old male, of Falls Church, was arrested and released on summons for Possession of Marijuana. Trespass, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Feb. 27, a male, 39, no fixed address, was arrested and released on summons for Trespassing. Larceny from Building, 200 block E. Fairfax St. On Feb. 27, a bicycle was reported stolen from storage locker. Larceny from Building, 115 Hillwood Ave. (Anime Pavilion)

On Feb. 27, trading cards were reported stolen from a customer. Smoking In a Non-Designated Area, 6795 Wilson Blvd. #52 (Café Dang) On Feb. 28, a male, 28, of Springfield; and a male, 40, of Falls Church, were cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area. Residential Burglary, 100 block N. Cherry, St. On Feb. 28, police received a report that an individual

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 15 tions – “you guys are my C Section” – and exhorted us to “go wild,” preparing us to vote on the player teams’ performance by applause. Gregorek called for suggested prompts in categories like “foods” or “scandals.” To which the players held forth while the emcee egged them on or cut them off for lame-o results. One topic was “cheap funeral.” Response: “Let me empty out the cooler so we can put the body in.” Another involved creating pick-up lines spoken by different players one word at a time. Some of it is clever, some too obvious. I found it refreshing that not all the players are conventionally beautiful. “It’s all about making each other look good, trust, and the group mind,” Demery told me. Marking the troupe’s final Arlington appearance, the emcee said, “We’re finally getting out of this [unprintable] mall…” But to the director, mocking the mall is just “an easy joke” – shopping center comedy is a proven convenience in modern suburban life. Downtown, the Comedy Spot will continue to perform for children and adults. But it will also still teach improv classes at Ballston mall, Demery said. “We may come back for an outdoor performance to thank them.”

forced entry into the residence and stole various items. Public Drunkenness, 100 block Park Ave. On Mar. 1, a male, 33, of Arlington, was arrested for Public Drunkenness. Smoking In a Non-Designated Area, 6779 Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Mar. 1, a male, 34, of Falls Church, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area. Smoking In a Non-Designated Area, 6795 Wilson Blvd. #2 (Café Gio) On Mar. 1, a male, 43, of Springfield, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area.

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PAGE 16 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

Community Events

THURSDAY, MARCH 5

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. Harvest Moon Restaurant (7260 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). $15 dinner. 6:30 p.m. Book Signing. Local author Alan Rems will be selling and signing copies of his book South Paciﬁc Cauldron: World War II’s Great Forgotten Battlegrounds. TysonsPimmit Regional Library (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-790-8088. Thursday Evening Book Group. The Thursday Evening Book Group will be discussing Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. Mary Riley Styles

Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. mrsplbookgroup.blogspot.com.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6

Employee of the Year Nominations Due. The Falls Church Human Resources Division is accepting nominations for the 2014 “Employee of the Year” award. For more information about the nomination process, visit the City’s website. Falls Church City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). fallschurchva.gov/EOY. 703248-5127.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7

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.

protecting the local environment from invasive plant species. This is a ongoing project that occurs the second Sunday of every month to reclaim the natural area in Gulf Branch Nature Center & Park. Free. 2 – 4:30 p.m. 703-228-1862. The Alturas Duo. The Alturas Duo will play a concert for music lovers of all ages. Rock Spring Congregational UCC (5010 Little Falls Road, Arlington). 4 p.m. rockspringucc.org.

MONDAY, MARCH 9

F.C. Farmers’ Market. Vendors oﬀer fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants and wine. City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 9 a.m. – noon. 703248-5077. Town Hall. Virginia State Delegate Marcus Simon is participating in a town hall this Saturday where he will discuss the 2015 General Assembly and listen to comments from constituents. McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean). 2 – 4 p.m. delmsimon@house.virginia. gov. 571-327-0053.

Tax Prep for Seniors. AARP Tax-Aide will oﬀer to help seniors ﬁll out their federal income tax returns. Culpepper Senior Garden Senior Center (4435 N. Pershing Dr., Arlington). Free. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 703-228-4403. Classical Music Appreciation. Join David Gray in exploring some of the most popular and important pieces of the classical music genre with historical background and information to help appreciate the genre. Langston-Brown Community & Senior Center and Park (2121 N. Culpepper St., Arlington). Free. 1 – 2:30 p.m. 703-228-6300.

Invasive Plant Removal. Join community volunteers in

Preschool Storytime. Stories, ﬁnger plays and songs for children ages

SUNDAY, MARCH 8

TUESDAY, MARCH 10

18 – 36 months every Tuesday. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11 a.m. 703-248-5034. Senior Book Discussion. The senior book discussion group will be discussing The Girls of the Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. 703-248-5034. Paws to Read. Children ages 5 – 12 years can sign up to read with a therapy dog. Registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 5 p.m. 703-248-5034. Great Books Discussion. The Great Books discussion group will be discussing The Devil Baby at Hull House by Jane Addams. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 9 p.m. 703-248-5034.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11

Bingo at the Library. Play bingo at Mary Riley Styles Library. Ages 5 – 11. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8 p.m. 703-248-5034.

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, MARCH 5

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

FRIDAY, MARCH 6

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

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

“Children of Eden.” From Stephen Schwartz, the composer of Wicked, Godspell and Pippin, comes a beautiful re-telling of the most ancient of stories; humankind’s struggle to understand the source of creation and the meaning of life. Based on the book of Genesis, “Children of Eden” explores these universal themes through the perennial clash of generational strife between parents and children. With its gorgeous score, featuring some of Schwartz’s most beloved songs, this uplifting musical explores love, desire, choice, rebellion, second chances, reconciliation and promise. Through March 15. Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (4444 Arlington Blvd., Arlington). $15 – $20. 7:30 p.m. uucava.org.

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

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 17

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, MARCH 5 L�� M�� S�� U��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. P�� G�� J�� A�� B�� H�� M��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $35. 7 p.m. 202265-0930. A�� L�� L��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $25 – $27. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. D�� K�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. R�� E��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15. 8:30 p.m. J�� M�L��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 A�� R�� C�� H��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15 in advance. $18 day of the show. 6:30 p.m. 703-2551566. G�� J�� M�� C��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-532-9283. T�� T��’ M�C�� B�� N�� T�� J�� A�� B��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 8 p.m. 202265-0930. P�� E�� I�� C�� F�� N�� S��. Iota

Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 9 p.m. S�� H�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-2419504. A�� G��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 Y�� U��’� “L�� S��” A��C�� R�� E��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 in advance. $15 day of the show. 1:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. K�� D��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. M�� F��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $20 – $22. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. �� M�� Y�� G��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. V�� M��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $50. 8 p.m. 703-2551900. T�� C��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15. 8:30 p.m. M�� D�� O’D��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $17 in advance. $20 day of the show. 9 p.m. 202667-4490. B�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-241-9504.

S�� R�� R�� WAX. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $12 – $15 in advance. $15 day of the show. 9:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� A�� S�� B��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333. L�� C�� B��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15. 10:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, MARCH 8 D�� H��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. T�� L�� K�� S��, M�� D�� T�� C��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. R�P��’� D�� R��: B�� S��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $35 – $65. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. P��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m.

MONDAY, MARCH 9 K�� D�� A�� E�� M�� H��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 in advance. $15 day of the show. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� C�� T�� S�� T��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $35. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. E�� T�� I�� A�� T�� M��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490.

L�� S��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15. 8 p.m. M�� N�� B�� J�� W��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. T�� C�� J�� S�� T�� D�� F��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10 P�� B�� A��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $15 – $18. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. J�� G�� L�� D�� S�� S��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $18. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. 19�� S�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 U��: A 311 D�� T�� T�� E�� P�� C�� O��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna). $10 – $15 in advance. $13 – $15 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566. G. L�� S�� S�� M�� C��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. R�� D�� J�� T�� W�� O�� M��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $12. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-4490. B�� Z��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $28. 8 p.m. 703255-1900.

P�� A��... Saturday, March 14 – Town Hall: FY2016 Budget. Falls Church City’s City Manager

Wyatt Shields will make a presentation and answer questions on the proposed ﬁscal year 2016 budget. Falls Church City Hall 2nd Floor (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). fallschurchva.gov/Budget. 703-248-5014.

y the time this edition hits the streets, Falls Church will be hit by another blanket of snow. Come on, Old Man Winter, it’s March. Enough already. If there ever was a time to make lemonade out of lemons, this is it. This weekend, thingstododc.com is putting together an adventure in downhill skiing and snowboarding outing, complete with lessons, at Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania. The event kicks off at 11:30 a.m. and begins with lessons – no mater your skill level – on skis or snowboard and then it’s time to hit the slopes with an all-day pass to carve up the mountain. The $85 fee includes lesson, equipment, lunch and the all-day pass.

What: Adventures in Downhill Skiing and Snowboarding Lessons When: Saturday, March 7, 11:30 a.m. Where: Whitetail Resort 13805 Blairs Valley Road, Mercersburg, PA See thingstododc.com for tickets and more information

Tuesday, March 31 – Spring Break at Cherry Hill: Old Fashioned Cooking for Kids.

Children will have the opportunity to grind corn, make corn bread, churn butter and make their own lemonade. Recommended for children age 8 – 12. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave., Falls Church). $30. 703-248-5027. cherryhillfallschurch. org.

C�� S�� Be sure to include time, location, cost of admission, contact person and any other pertinent information. Event listings will be edited for content and space limitations. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for the current week’s edition.

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

FO O D &D I NI NG

PAGE 18 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Restaurant Spotlight

Get your free Eden Center magnetic bumper sticker at:

www.edencenter.com/blog/news-events/free-bumper-stickers

www.edencenter.com

Founding Farmers 1800 Tysons Boulevard, Tysons 703-442-8783 • wearefoundingfarmers.com Monday: 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Tuesday - Thursday: 7 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday: 7 a.m. – 12 a.m.; Saturday: 9 a.m. - 12 a.m.; 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

It’s easy to get overwhelmed at Founding Farmers, the new restaurant in Tysons at the corner of Galleria Drive and Tysons Boulevard. The local, mini-chain (additional locations are in D.C. and Rockville) is barely a month old but it’s already jam-packed on a daily basis, with reservations a commodity be it lunch, dinner or breakfast. And not only are the crowds intimidating, but so is the space itself – it’s quite expansive – and its myriad of menus. Yes, menus. There are six of them. My first visit to Founding Farmers was on a Sunday morning for brunch, and when I walked in the door at 9:30 a.m., it was already filled to capacity. Now, Falls Church has its share of quality brunch options but nothing in The Little City can compare to this production just up Route 7. Combining dinner, breakfast and dessert into one, big well-oiled smorgasbord, the Farmers Market Brunch ($30) is a sight to behold. On one corner, there’s a madeto-order pancake bar slinging buttermilk and blueberry flapjacks and on the other, a butcher’s table with pot roast, ham, baskets of fried chicken and all the usual sides including mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, shrimp and grits and more. Between the pancake-and-meat bookends, there’s typical breakfast options of scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon and sausage but also more unique items like maple-burnt oranges, poached egg hashes and even a make-your-own parfait bar filled with yogurt, berries and granola. Along with the get-it-yourself lineup, servers also cruise the dining room with passed hors d’oeuvres like fried green tomatoes and fried shrimp. Last but not least, a fantastic dessert station that looks like something out of a movie. Towers of cookies, pastries and doughnuts line the table and this is one case where, without an exception, everything tastes as good as it looks. Standouts included an amazingly light vanilla cream-filled chocolate iced doughnut, wonderfully soft snickerdoodles and a key lime pie-in-a-jar creation. What’s particularly impressive is that despite the variety and sheer volume of food presented in the buffet, nothing gets overlooked or neglected. The restaurant staff is on point with its upkeep, resupplying each station without delay. For lunch and dinner, Founding Farmers goes a la carte, with some of same dishes found at brunch but also a whole hell of a lot more. For starters, there’s more than ten varieties of bread baskets, three different types of deviled eggs, two types of raw oysters, three kinds of baked oysters and six different oyster shooters. And we haven’t even gotten to the entrees. Our favorite app of the bunch was a creamy corn crab dip ($15) served with fresh toasted bread. The variety continues with entrees with six types of chicken dishes (everything from beer can chicken to pot pie) as well as a signature dish that marries two pieces of spicy fried chicken with a doughnut ($16) and throws in some mac and cheese and green beans for good measure. Sandwiches include six burgers, a lineup of hot dogs, turkey, grilled cheese, pit beef and even a Uruguayan chivito. Plus, there’s seafood, 10 different salads, pasta, meatloaf, ribs, pot roast and a whole meatless section, too. Like I said, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Adding to the near-endless list of options, Founding Farmers opens at 7 a.m. during the week for breakfast including special grab-and-go options for those on the run.

— Jody Fellows

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPO RTS

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 19

Mason’s Thomas Celebrates Another Winning Season

by Liz Lizama

Falls Church News-Press

The George Mason High School girls varsity basketball 2014-15 season ended last Tuesday after falling 46-56 to Robert E. Lee High School of Staunton in the Virginia High School League’s 2A East regional tournament. While Mason was eliminated in the first round, the girls program is no stranger to winning and has seen much success under head coach LaBryan Thomas, who announced at the beginning of the season that it would be his last year. The Lady Mustangs earned the No. 2 seed for Conference 35 with an overall 18-6 record this season. “The girls program has not had a losing season for 24 years, and Coach T has been a huge part of it,” assistant coach Lori LaFave said. Thomas, originally from Pensacola, Fl., began playing basketball at the age of 5 and continued the sport through his time in the U.S. Army where he coached recreational league. His last tour in the military brought him to Fort Belvoir after which he decided to stay in Northern Virginia. Shortly after, he began working for the City of Falls Church in the community center, and so he began coaching the recreational league. In 1998, Chris Madison, then head coach of Mason’s girls varsity basketball team and recreation coordinator for the city, offered Thomas an opportunity to serve as assistant coach for the high school

girls junior varsity team. It was not long before Thomas took over as head coach. Two years later in 2002, he then took his talent to the boys program and served as head coach of the junior varsity team until 2006 when he returned to the girls junior varsity squad. He then assumed the head coach position of the girls varsity program in 2008. Under Thomas’ leadership, the Lady Mustangs have gone 15934 over the past seven seasons and reached the VHSL 2A Group semifinals five times, resulting in three state championships in 2009, 2010 and 2012. The first state championship win was special for Thomas not only because it was his first year as varsity head coach and Mason’s first since 1998, but his daughter Chantal Thomas was a junior on the team. “We had great talent on the team plus my daughter,” he said of what was one of his most memorable moments coaching for Mason. The state title did not come easy for the father-daughter duo though. “It was a challenge,” he said. “ Living in the same household, you try not to bring basketball home. We had an understanding that basketball stayed in the gym. We didn’t try to discuss at home, especially when we had a bad game.” Upon graduating, Chantal Thomas and teammate Nicole Mitchell went on to play Division III basketball at Christopher Newport University. Mitchell,

MASON GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH LaBryan Thomas (center) in a huddle with his 2013 team, which made a run to the state championship game. (Photo: FCCPS Photo) now a Graduate Assistant at Hood College in Frederick, Md. coaches the women’s basketball team there. “I have definitely derived some of my coaching style from Coach T,” she said. “Coach T is more than a basketball coach. He is a friend, mentor and inspiration.” Former Mustang player, Stephanie Cheney, who played for Thomas from 2009-2013 and

then continued on to play for the University of Pennsylvania, echoed those sentiments. “Being a coach was more than just on the court,” she said. Thomas would help with college applications and acted as a mentor for the players on and off the court. While Cheney said winning the state championship her freshman year in 2010 was memorable, the state championship finals in 2012

stood out most. Cheney fouled out with 4:23 minutes remaining. Devastated, she said she ran off the court crying while Thomas remained calm and was the stability she needed in that moment. Although she of course wanted to play, she said she was proud to watch her teammates clinch the state title.

Continued on Page 26

Mustang Boys Basketball Season Comes to an End

by Liz Lizama

Falls Church News-Press

The George Mason High School varsity boys basketball season came to an end this Tuesday with a 64-52 home loss to Brunswick High School in the Virginia 2A East quarterfinals. Mason’s Mustangs led 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, but the Brunswick Bulldogs closed the lead to 22-21, trailing Mason by just one point at halftime. Brunswick dominated the third quarter 20-9, which gave the Bulldogs a 10-point lead over the Mustangs.With Brunswick going 23-21 in the fourth quarter, Mason could not recover from the third quarter slump despite their efforts in the last period. Although Brunswick put much

pressure on Mason’s offense, junior guard Josh Allen managed to score a season high of 18 points, including four of Mason’s six three pointers. Junior forward Robert Tartt scored 9 points, and junior guard Elliot Mercado added 15. The 12-point deficit would end Mason’s season with a 24-2 overall record. Brunswick became only the third team this season to score 50 points on the Mustangs. And while the team hoped to make an appearance in their first state tournament since 2012, the 2014-2015 season far exceeded the 11-12 record they finished with last season. This year’s Mason team was the first to go undefeated in the Bull Run District and notch 20 wins in the regular season. Next year, the Mustangs will return all of its starters in what looks to be a promising season.

MUSTANG JUNIOR FORWARD Robert Tartt attempts to finish on a fast break during the first quarter of the Mustangs’ 64-52 loss to Brunswick High School. Tartt, Mason’s leading scorer throughout the season, scored nine points in the loss. (Photo: Drew Costley/News-Press)

LO CA L

PAGE 20 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

703-533-9013

Fa l l s C h u r c h

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

School News & Notes

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MT. DANIEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL students got a visit from the dental team at Amazing Smiles on last Friday. The dental team reminded students of how they should care for their teeth and gums as part of dental health month. They also gave students a special dental hygiene bag with toothpaste, a toothbrush, stickers, floss and dental information. (Photo: Courtesy of Sharon Lightbourne/FCCPS Photo)

F.C. Students Earn Academic Honors at Wake Forest U. Five students from Falls Church earned academic honors at Wake Forest University. Rachel Croxton, Nathaniel Jones, Sarah Mellor, Ann Nguyen and Amy Weinstock made the dean’s list and had to earn a 3.4 grade point average with no grade below a C to make the list.

Corpus Cristi School Holds Open House Corpus Cristi School, located at 3301 Glen Carlyn Road, Falls Church, is holding an open house next Friday, March 13, from 9 – 11 a.m. for parents of students entering kindergarten – second grade. For more information, visit corpuscristischool.org or call 703-820-7450.

Hughes Heads to NCAA Swim And Dive Championships

STARTS FRIDAY, MARCH 6 IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE Check Local Listings For Theatres & Showtimes

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Arlington resident Nathaniel Hughes will go to Shenandoah, Texas with Worchester Polytechnic Institute’s swimming and diving 800-yard freestyle relay team to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday, March 20. It is the first relay team in school history to earn an invitation to the national meet. The men’s 800-yard freestyle relay quartet of Hughes, David Smallwood, Alex Powers and

MASON’S SCHOLASTIC BOWL TEAM (above) came in second place for the second year in a row at the Virginia High School League’s state championship last weekend. They were topped 275 – 115 by Maggie Walker’s Governor’s School. (Photo: Courtesy of FCCPS) Andrew Bauer posted its qualifying time of 6:45.47 just this past Thursday en route to winning the event for the second straight year at the New England Men’s and Women’s Athletic Conference championships. The time was also a school and pool record for the Engineers.

Mason’s Donovan Receives Scholarship from Ashland U. George Mason High School senior Daniel Donovan has been accepted to Ashland University for the fall 2015 semester and received a Director’s Scholarship from the school, according to a

press release the school sent out late last month. The scholarship is worth $7,000 annually.

Byrd Feeder Auction Donations Sought The George Mason High School All-Night Graduation Celebration is holding its annual Byrd Feeder on Saturday, April 25 at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack and auction items are needed for the event. Prior years have included unique items like college dorm baskets, concert and sports tickets, senior portrait sessions and a beach house week. To donate, e-mail Kate Nesson at knesson@gmail.com.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 21

March

sda Thur

Austin Lounge Lizards Wolf Trap 8 p.m. 1645 Trap Road, Vienna

703-255-1900 • wolftrap.com

day

Satur

of Montreal with Yonatan Gat 9:30 8 p.m. 815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.

202-265-0930 • 930.com

Bluestone Band JV’s Restaurant 9:15 p.m. 6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church

703-241-9504 • jvsrestaurant.com

esday

Wedn

BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Canadian guitarist, composer and producer Jesse Cook has been on the road supporting his concert special “Live at Bathhurst Street Theatre,” which is currently airing on the Public Broadcasting Service. He’s been touring in Oregon, California and Washington and is just starting the East Coast leg of his tour, which stops in Alexandria for a March 9 performance at The Birchmere. He said the concert special airing on PBS has been helping him get exposure to music lovers he might not be able to reach otherwise. “Well, it’s been quite remarkable. The music that I’m making, it’s a little off the beaten path. It isn’t pop music that you’re going to hear on the radio everyday,” Cook said. “So we’ve always had to rely on word of mouth for people finding out about us, or somebody hearing us on Pandora or some satellite radio station or something like that. To be on PBS and to get JESSE COOK (C�� P��) that kind of exposure has been fantastic.” Cook and his band have been able to play larger venues as a result of the PBS concert which will be released in April. He said workspecial. For example, they went from playing ing on the album was “fun.” “Every album is a little bit different,” Cook a jazz club to playing sold out nights at a big said. “This one was less of me working with theatre in Boston. He’s played The Birchmere many times a lot of different people. On this record it was before and said that the club is a great and sto- more of a project that I did mostly on my own. ried venue. “It seems like everybody’s played I had a few guests like Tommy Emmanuel, a great guitarist, join me on a song and members there at one point or another,” Cook said. “For people who come out to see the show, I of my band played on certain tracks.” For the most part, Cook said, creating One hope they bring their dancing shoes. By the end World was “a reclusive experience.” “It was, we can have a bit of a rumba party.” Cook, one of the purveyors of the “nuevo perhaps, more personal. It was just me in the flamenco” movement, has been at it for years, recording studio working on most of the problending influences and sounds from all across duction.” Although Cook said that it was hard to the auditory landscape to try to create somedescribe his new album, he called it a “world thing “completely new.” When he spoke to the News-Press, Cook music tour.” “You know Constantinople, that city that, said he and his team were working on the album art for his upcoming release One World, for thousands of years, people had to pass

through when they were going to the East from the West, the trade routes, the Silk Road from China, everything seemed to pass through there,” Cook said. “And it was a place where all of those cultures would come into contact with each other in a way that they wouldn’t in other parts of the world….But in Constantinople the whole world was passing through there. I wanted to create the Constantinople of our time with the music of our time, with not just musical instruments from different parts of the world and musical cultures from all over the world, but also electronica and ancient sounds and modern sounds all passing through the eye of a needle.” • For more information about Jesse Cook, visit jessecook.com.

Buckwheat Zydeco Wolf Trap

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

8 p.m.

 Nicholas Benton – xxx 

1645 Trap Road, Vienna

703-255-1900 • wolftrap.com



Jody Fellows – Go! by Soft Swells

Drew Costley – A Song for Assata by Common featuring Cee-Lo

PAGE 22 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 23

Healthy Smiles Begin Here Family, Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry

Rainbow Massage Opens on N. Washington Street Rainbow Massage Center has opened at 98 N. Washington Street in Falls Church. The new Chinese massage practice, offers a variety of beauty products and services including single or couples massage, acupressure, reflexology, Swedish massage, sports massage, and Tui Na Massage. The spa is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. For more information visit www.rainbowmassagecenter.com.

Happy Tart Bakery Coming to Pearson Square The Happy Tart Retail Bakery and Café has secured space and started construction in the Pearson Square building at 410 S. Maple Avenue, Eater DC reports. The gluten free patisserie offers classic French pastries, cupcakes, cookies, breads, pies and full sized cakes in a gluten free kitchen, using eggs, butter, cream, premium chocolate, fruit and unique blends of 100 percent gluten free flours. Owner and executive chef Emma Cech also operates The Happy Tart Retail Bakery in Del Ray (2307a Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria). For more information, including a listing of additional locations where The Happy Tart items can be found, visit happytartbakery.com. The new location in Falls Church is expected to open this summer.

F.C. Chamber Orientation Meeting Next Tuesday

The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Chamber orientation meeting on Tuesday, March 10 from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Businesses interested in learning more about the benefits of membership are invited to attend as are current members interested in maximizing their involvement with the community. For more location information or to reserve a seat, visit www.FallsChurchChamber.org, email info@FallsChurchChamber.org, or call 703-532-1050.

Art & Frame, Sislers Sponsoring Creative Cauldron’s ‘Jungle Book’ Art and Frame of Falls Church and Sislers Stone are sponsoring Creative Cauldron’s latest Learning Theater production, a musical adaptation of “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling. The show will run weekends from Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 29 at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Avenue in Falls Church. For more information or for tickets, visit www.CreativeCauldron.org.

Play (Tee)Ball! Looking for a Spring sport? Play Little League baseball with us!

Solano Spine & Sport Now Offering Massage Therapy Options Solano Spine & Sport Chiropractic is now offering medical, deep tissue and Swedish massage therapy. To introduce the new service, the first visit during the month of March is $59 for one hour. Located at 313 Park Avenue, Solano Spine & Sport is owned and operated by Raymond Solano, DC, CCSP. The practice provides specialized treatments for neck pain, headaches, shoulder/arm pain, upper back/rib pain, lower back pain, hip/sacroiliac pain, sciatica, muscular strains, shoe orthotic prescriptions and sports related injuries. For more information, visit www.solanospine.com.

Annandale Dental Clinic Awarded $10K in Supplies & Equipment The Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation has awarded Annandale’s Northern Virginia Dental Clinic with $10,000 to purchase dental supplies and equipment. Twenty four Virginia community and free clinics and the health foundations received grants totaling $515,500 to improve access to dental care for Virginians who are either under- or uninsured. Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation grants will provide for dental supplies and equipment, dental services, delivery of care, dentures and mobile dental equipment for rural areas. In 2014, Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation grant award recipients were able to provide dental care to more than 39,575 children and 11, 203 adults who had previously been unable to afford or access care. The Foundation was created with an initial $2.5 million donation from Delta Dental of Virginia in 2012. Information regarding grant eligibility and application can be found online at http://deltadentalva.com/ddvafoundation.aspx.  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.

Falls Church Kiwanis Little League’s 2015 Spring season remains open for registrations. Boys and girls ages 4* - 7 are eligible. The levels and registration fees are: Tee-Ball Sluggers ~ages 6 - 7 $175 Tee-Ball Rookies ~ages 4* - 5 $175 If you have a group of friends or classmates, let us know and we’ll place them all together on the same team.

www.fckll.org Click on the “Spring 2015 Registration” tab to register. Drop us an e-mail if you have any questions: FCKLLPlayerAgent@gmail.com www.facebook.com/fckll.va For 66 years, our Little League, the oldest in Virginia, has been helping children learn lifetime skills — leadership, sportsmanship, and teamwork. The Greater Falls Church community has benefited from this program’s camaraderie and community spirit since the Kiwanis Club helped found the League in 1948.

Join Us!

* Children whose 4th birthday occurs anytime in 2015 are eligible!

PAGE 24 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

Cleaning Services

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Medical and Sports Massage Andre Halasz , LMT www.Inhousemassagedc.com In house visits available Call Andre : 281-221-1158

www.acleaningserviceinc.com

Colleges Ask about SCHOLARSHIPS for: Certificate, Bachelor or Master Degrees in: Business, Accounting and IT ACCT is Certified to operate by SCHEV Apply this or next quarter by contacting the Admissions Office at 703-942-6200 150 South Washington St. Falls Church VA, 20046 www.acct2day.org

Make a Joyful Splash! with Miss Eileen Create unique art masterpieces using acrylics, water-based oils, pencils and an innovative variety of tools and brushes. Held at Creative Cauldron 410 S. Maple Avenue On-going enrollment easternder22046@aol.com Enroll on-line at www.creativecauldron.org Or call 571-239-5288

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The Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on March 12, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, for consideration of the following subjects: a. Variance application V1568-15 by Jeff Henrikson to allow a side yard setback of three feet instead of ten feet on the north west side of the house, to permit the enclosure of an existing screened-in porch on premises known as 916 Park Ave, RPC #51-203-008 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1B, medium-density residential, said property owned by Jeffrey and Susan Henrikson. Information on the above items is available at the Zoning Division, West Wing, City Hall, Suite 300W.

ABC LICENSE

Asian 54 Group LLC, Trading as Shori Sushi, 8603 Westwood Center Dr, Suite 100, Vienna, VA 22182. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer on Premises, Mixed Beverage Restaurant (1100 seats). Piamsiri Ratanaprasith President. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

VOLUNTEERS WHO LIVE in the City

of Falls Church are needed to serve on the boards and commissions listed below. Contact the City Clerk’s Office (703-2485014, cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov, orwww. fallschurchva.gov/BC) for an application form or more information. Requests for

reappointment must be made through the City Clerk. Applications are accepted until the end of the month. Vacancies advertised for more than one month may be filled during each subsequent month before month’s end. Architectural Advisory Board Board of Equalization Board of Zoning Appeals Environmental Services Council Historic Architectural Review Board Historical Commission Human Services Advisory Council Library Board of Trustees Public Utilities Commission Retirement Board Tree Commission Regional Boards/Commissions: Fairfax Area Disability Services Board Fairfax Area Commission on Aging Fairfax Partnership for Youth Long Term Care Coordinating Council Workforce Investment Board

Moving Sale HOUSEHOLD MOVING SALE: Saturday, Mar 7, 8-12. Beds, sofas, chairs, office desk, file cabinets, tools, garden and yard tools. 2334 Oak St., Falls Church.

Announcements Canada Drug Center is your choice

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Benton Potter &

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Government contract law, health law, civil litigation, and all areas of business law. In the City of Falls Church: 703-992-9255 In D.C.: 202-416-1660

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Contact Pete 571-243-6726

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Employment

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Garden Center Merchandiser

Bell Nursery, a nationally recognized grower/ vendor is looking for hardworking people to stock our products at a garden center near you. Must be flexible for weekend work. For job descriptions and locations go to: www.bellnursery.com/ careers

We are pleged to the letter and

We are pledged the letter and spirit spirit of to Virginia’s policy for equal housing opportuof Virginia’sachieving policy for achieving equal nity throughout the Commonhousing opportunity throughout the wealth. We encourage and support advertising and Commonwealth. We encourage and supmarketing programs in which port advertising marketing there areand no barriers to obtainingprograms housing because of race, color, in which there are no barriers to obtaining religion, national origin, sex, housing because race, status color, elderliness,offamilial or religion, handicap. All real estate advernational origin, sex, elderliness, familial tised herein is subject to status or handicap. real adverVirginia’s fair All housing law estate which illegal to advertise “any tised hereinmakes is itsubject to Virginia’s fair preference, limitation, or housing law which because makesof race, it illegal to discrimination color, religion, national origin, advertise “any preference, limitation, or sex, elderliness, familial status or discrimination because race, color, handicap or intentionof to make any such preference, limitation, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, or discrimination.” This newspafamilial status or nothandicap or intention per will knowingly accept advertising for real estate that to make any such preference, limitation, violates the fair housing law. Our or discrimination.” Thisinformed newspaper will readers are herby that all dwellings advertised in this not knowingly accept advertising for real newspaper are available on an estate that equal violates thebasis. fairForhousing law. opportunity more or to file a housing Our readersinformation are hereby informed that all complaint call the Virginia Fair dwellings advertised in this are Housing Office at newspaper (804) Toll free call (888) available on367-8530. an equal opportunity basis. 551-3247. For the hearing For more information or367-9753. to file a housing impaired call (804) complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Email: fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov. Website: www.fairhousing.vipnet.org Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.

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A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

14 17

22 25

19 21

50 54

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52 55

56 60

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1. Suffix with spy or web

1. Suffix with spy or web 4. Fashionable, some say 8. Joyful tunes 14. Academic e-mail address ender 15. “____ calling!” 16. Eventually 17. Mute 19. Some rental trucks 20. La Salle of “ER” 21. Xbox alternative 22. Try to whack 23. Edit for TV, say 25. Where baseball’s Yomiuri Giants play their home games 28. More pallid 30. LBJ’s antipoverty agcy. 31. Huck’s raftmate 32. “The Matrix” hero 33. Letters on a perp’s record 34. Montana and Namath 35. Bandleader who signed teen singer Frank Sinatra in 1940 38. Eyewear, in ads 40. ____ school 41. Pince-____ 42. Pitcher’s asset 43. ____ Aviv 44. Apple cofounders Jobs and Wozniak 48. Maximum amount being paid 52. “The secret of being ____ is to tell everything”: Voltaire 53. Band 54. Doves do it 56. Caroline du Sud, e.g.

MARCH 5 - 11, 2015 | PAGE 25

DOWN

1. Peter with the 1986 #1 hit “Glory of Love” 2. Flips over 3. It lost to “Crash” for Best Picture 4. Young chap 5. Declare frankly 6. Namely 7. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” composer Morricone 8. One of two N.T. books 9. “Moving on then ...” 10. Overhauled 11. The official anthem of the European Union 12. Wyoming college town 13. Digestive and respiratory, for two 18. Semiannual event 24. Swarm (with) 26. Gorilla pioneering in sign language 27. Pines (for) 29. German commander at the invasion of Normandy

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

4. Fashionable, some say

33. Interject 34. Feminist blog with the tagline “Celebrity, Sex, Fashion for Women. Without Airbrushing.” 35. ____ lobe 36. Hardly one’s inside voice 37. ____ good example 38. High school senior’s hurdle, redundantly 39. How some wages are calculated 43. Talking points 45. Kind of candle 46. Clears the board 47. Agree out of court 49. “Death Be Not Proud” poet 50. Behaved 51. Like limousines 55. “Garfield and Friends” character 58. “What ____?!” 60. NFL extra periods

57. How to make money “the oldfashioned way” 59. Agenda exemplified by 17-, 25-, 35- and 48-Across 61. Stop the flow of 62. Send out 63. Speed: Abbr. 64. New Journalism pioneer Gay 65. Salon tints 66. Suffix with Taiwan

8. Joyful tunes

Sudoku Level:

14. Academic e-mail address ender

Last Thursday’s Solution B I B B

Q U A R T E T Y R H O L A M Y

S U D S

B O E R S

S U Z I E

A R I S E

S S N P A R I E L A D A M F O Y I I R F K

B L A N K S

E L S I E

L O T T A

L E S Y D S E U R

P E D O N C A N D A N E S N Z T A I N M O I G H T I L I A N O T T

O V A L E T H Y L S

M A C T A S E U I L T C E T O I N O N S S O U S L O U A S T S E

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By The Mepham Group

1 2 3 4

15. "____ calling!" 16. Eventually 17. Mute 19. Some rental trucks 20. La Salle of "ER" 21. Xbox alternative 1

22. Try to whack 23. Edit for TV, say 25. Where baseball's Yomiuri Giants play their home games 28. More pallid

LOOSE PARTS

DAVE BLAZEK

30. LBJ's antipoverty agcy. Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

3/8/15

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.

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PAGE 26 | MARCH 5 - 11, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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20 � 10 Y�� A�� N��-P�� Falls Church News-Press Vol IV, No. 51 • March 9, 1995

Falls Church News-Press Vol XIV, No. 52 • March 3, 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