Falls Church News-Press 4-9-2020

April 9 – 15, 2020

Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. X XX N o. 8

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

F.C. Faces Severe Drop In Revenue Pandemic Has Council Mulling Economic Shortfall

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

At its first meeting since the onset of mandatory stay-at-home and other strong measures to mitigate the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Falls Church City Council met virtually, online, Monday night to deliberate on how to exercise its commitment to the safety and wellbeing of the Falls Church public, and how to move forward in this terrible and uncertain time.

Although it is only a very preliminary assessment, the City’s chief financial officer Kiran Bawa presented to the Council two possible scenarios for the fiscal conditions facing the City, moderate and severe estimates, with one having the City losing $1.3 – $3.9 million in revenues below earlier projections in the last four months of the current fiscal year, and $5.5

MANY OF FALLS CHURCH’S places of worship have moved their services online since the outbreak of the coronavirus, connecting with their congregations through pre-recordings or livestreams. For Holy Week and Easter this Sunday, Dulin United Methodist Church is hosting its own services online where pastor Dave Kirkland preaches to pews affixed with pictures of his parishioners. (Photo: J. Michael Whalen)

Continued on Page 5

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F.C. Places of Worship Go Virtual for Holy Week, Passover

by Matt Delaney

Falls Church News-Press

The presence of the novel coronavirus has required places of worship in and around the City of Falls Church to get creative with how they carry out this year’s

Holy Week and Passover. But material changes to this sacred time have local faith leaders seeing a renewed vigor made possible through the forced separation.

“We have created worship opportunities where we can be together,” Dulin United Methodist

Church’s pastor Dave Kirkland said. “Maybe not physically, but spiritually, so we’re together spiritually when we worship together online.”

Just as with everything over the past month, the virtualization of church gatherings has devel-

oped on the fly to keep congregations connected. That means a heavy dose of either pre-recorded or livestreamed services as well as Zoom classes for various small groups.

Inside This Week Northam Postpones Elections, Urges Face Coverings in Public

Local Providers Upended by Pandemic’s Daycare Dilemma

See story, page 4

See story, page 8

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the delay of the state’s June primary elections and that he is asking the General Assembly to postpone the May general election. The governor is also urging all residents to wear face masks when leaving their homes.

New rules in the state of Virginia for in-home daycare put both parents and providers in a bind, but some Falls Church area in-home providers are striving to work within the guidelines and stay in business.

Press Pass with Rockin’ the Suburbs

Northern Virginia’s own “Rockin’ the Suburbs” podcast from Falls Church’s Patrick Foster and Ashburn resident Jim Lenahan will take their show to Jammin’ Java’s stage next Wednesday.

See Press Pass, page 14

Index

Editorial........................................................ 6 Letters.................................................... 6,19 News Briefs................................................. 9 News & Notes.....................................10–11 Comment........................................7,12–13 Calendar....................................................14 Business News..........................................15 Classified Ads............................................16 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword..................17 Critter Corner.............................................18 Back in the Day.........................................18

PAGE 2 | APRIL 9 – 15, 2020

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PAGE 4 | APRIL 9 – 15, 2020

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SINCE THE FIRST CASE was reported in the Fairfax Health District on March 7, there have been nearly 600 con�irmed cases of Covid-19 in the district covering the City of Falls Church, City of Fairfax, Fairfax County and its towns. (C����: J��� F������/N���-P����; D��� S�����: F������ C�. H����� D����������, V������ D��������� �� H�����)

Northam Postpones State Elections, Urges Face Masks When in Public

BY JODY FELLOWS

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has delayed the state’s June primary elections by two weeks and is asking the General Assembly to postpone the May general election until November.

“No one should have to choose between protecting their health and casting their ballot,” Northam said while making the announcement at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Richmond.

Exercising his statutory authority, the governor is moving primary elections from June 9 back to June 23 and is asking Virginia lawmakers to move the state’s general and special elec-

tions scheduled for May 5 to Nov. 3.

In the City of Falls Church, only the U.S. Senate Republican primary in June will be affected by the postponements, the City’s registrar of voters confirmed to the News-Press.

On Monday, Northam urged all residents to wear face masks when leaving their homes, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its own recommendation of wearing cloth face coverings in public settings last Friday. Northam also recommended that face coverings get washed at least once a day.

At press conferences this week, Northam expressed frus-

tration with the federal government’s response to the pandemic, saying that states have been on their own in trying to procure supplies including personal protective equipment.

“The PPE market is chaotic and difficult due to the lack of federal direction,” Northam said Wednesday, adding that states are competing against each other for supplies.

While the governor said no hospitals yet have run out of needed supplies, according to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, 12 facilities in the state are currently experiencing difficulty in obtaining or replenishing personal protective equipment.

Northam said that Virginia, like other states, has not been able to get the required amount of testing materials as needed and the Virginia Department of Health cautioned that the number of cases in the state are “almost definitely” underestimated. That’s why officials stress the importance of maintaining social distancing practices.

There are currently 3,645 reported cases of Covid-19 in the commonwealth, according to the VDH. The first positive case in the Fairfax Health District was reported on March 7 and in the month since, the Fairfax County Health Department says close to 600 people in the district have tested positive for the virus. As of Wednesday, there were 570 cases (15.6 percent of the state’s total) of Covid-19 in the district which includes the City of F.C. along with the City of Fairfax,

Fairfax County and its towns.

Falls Church’s eastern neighbor, Arlington County, has 254 cases.

In Falls Church, there have been three reported cases — two residents at the Kensington senior living center and one City employee — but since Fairfax health officials are no longer releasing information on each individual case, the total is likely more.

“The City government does not know the exact number of cases,” the City wrote in its online newsletter this week.”But we assume there are many.”

In Virginia, 75 people have died from Covid-19, though at Wednesday’s press conference a VDH official said that 32 reported deaths at a Henrico County nursing facility had not been included in the total.

In Fairfax, officials have reported nine deaths in the district as of Wednesday.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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F.C. Council Mulls Economic Shortfalls Continued from Page 1

– $8.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2021 that begins July 1. But these are only preliminary projections and based on an expected ability of revenues from residential real estate assessments to hold. The Council determined to meet again next Monday to assess further data, including from things like how much the impact of loss of state revenue will have and how much, if any, impact federal economic stimulus funds may have.

There are expected to be new ordinances for consideration to loosen some zoning requirements forstruggling local businesses.

Revenues even for restaurants, for example, staying open for take-out business may be down 90 percent. One zoning suggestion under consideration would be to close westbound traffic on Broad Street between Applebee’s and Paisano’s Pizza to allow for curbside service from the string of small restaurants there in an effort to boost their bottom lines.

In addition, an allowance for more temporary signage, like the big red “Grab and Go” that Federal

Realty provided restaurants in its West End center, and sandwich boards is also being considered.

When the Council was briefed on some of the 30 day extension of deadlines on some tax payments being instituted in neighboring jurisdictions, Sally Cole, executive director of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, intoned that the cash flow crises facing local businesses will extend far beyond 30 days, at which time things are likely to be even worse. In addition, she said, these businesses don’t need more loans, not wanting to incur even more debt, but need cash.

Councilman Dan Sze said rather than deferrals, the City may have to be looking at forgiveness of payments due. “This will be needed for more than weeks and even months,” he said. “This is an existential problem for the City.

We will have no dry powder left.”

Bawa noted that the City’s large unassigned fund balance, now at 18 percent of annual expenditures and over 30 percent when other resources are included, could go a long way to mitigating the impact of this sudden steep revenue downturn for the City.

The first action of the Council Monday was to adopt an updated Declaration of a Local Emergency, following on the initial declaration passed at its March 12 meeting.

It stipulated that “the City Manager of the City of Falls Church, as the City’s Director of Emergency Management, declare and proclaim the existence of a local emergency and disaster in Falls Church, and it is further proclaimed and ordered that during the existence of said emergency and disaster the powers, functions and duties the Director of Emergency Services and the Emergency Services organization of the City shall be those prescribed by State law and the ordinances, resolutions and approved plans of the City in order to mitigate the effects of said emergency and disaster.”

Mayor David Tarter opened the meeting with a statement to the citizens of Falls Church saying, “It is our sincere hope that you, and your family, are safe and healthy.” He said, “We are living in extraordinary times that are testing each and every one of us every single day.”

In this context, he said, “We

see small acts of generosity, neighbor helping neighbor, friend assisting friend, and stranger coming to the rescue of the stranger....

Everywhere around the City we look, we find inspiration.”

He cited City Manager Wyatt Shields “working tirelessly on behalf of our community, done despite the fact that his own mother, Dorothy, contracted the coronavirus early on and passed away last week.

It takes a special type of person to fight through his own grief for the benefit of his fellow citizens.”

Recognizing and “sending heartfelt thanks” to doctors, nurses, police, EMS and other first responders as well as “our residents who are helping to end this scourge in their own right simply by complying with the directives and advice of our health experts,” Mayor Tarter said, “This pandemic can only be defeated by citizens who care enough to voluntarily do the right thing and lay low at home.”

Tarter also put his signature with those of his regional counterparts to two letters, one to the City’s federal congressional delegation and the other to Virginia Governor Northam.

The 13 mayors and county board chairs wrote to U.S.

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 5

Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and regional U.S. Reps.

Gerald Connolly, Don Beyer and Jennifer Wexton expressing “our collective concern and support for a new stimulus package that helps local governments in the region that have had our collective budgets negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.”

The letter to Gov. Northam cited the “vital importance of our efforts to ensure the continuity of government and provision of essential services” and calling for ongoing state funding for local health departments, community services boards and schools.

The Chamber of Commerce’s Cole cited two local cases of help by landlords, with the Lincoln complex relaxing payment deadlines and Bob Young of the Young Group hiring an expert to help his business tenants apply for Payroll Protection Act relief.

Councilman David Snyder said the two most critical priorities for the City are to “maintain financial solvency and core services.”

Shields said that a Long-Term Planning Team has been assembled to address the problems that will most certainly arise and “to make the process more predictable for citizens.”

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E D I TO R I A L

Bracing for The Surge

Following on the remarkable virtual meeting of the Falls Church School Board last week, the Falls Church City Council followed suit with its own lengthy virtual online meeting this Monday, with everyone plugged in via the internet to carry out vital business of the City as the terrible coronavirus pandemic sweeps over the globe, bringing mass illness and death in its wake.

Only a few weeks into the more severe restrictions on social distancing that have been put in place in most places, citizens of all ages are confronted with the radical changes to their lives, their families and their communities even as this historic scourge is far from having run its course. If there is any silver lining to an unprecedented situation like this, it has to be the new and more passionate ways that people are willing to help others in any of the ways they can. There should be no sugar coating of the situation, but there can be powerful expressions of love, empathy and compassion that arise from it.

The strongest wave of the virus’ spread has not yet hit this area. Still, numbers of new infections and deaths are steadily rising, despite the very serious efforts at the kind of social distancing measures key to restricting its spread at this point. We are deeply saddened by the news last week of the passing of the mother of Falls Church’s City Manager Wyatt Shields as an early victim of this cruel pandemic, and we know without a doubt that the entire Falls Church community shares this sentiment and holds its deepest sympathies for Mr. Shields and his family. While Mr. Shields, as a precaution, put himself into a voluntary quarantine as a consequence of even an only indirect contact with his mother in her final days, he’s continued to bravely and importantly remain in his critical leadership role in this community, and played his usual extensive, central role in the meeting of the Falls Church City Council last Monday night.

While the Council under his leadership deftly addressed the most pressing issues before it at this point, the conversation pointed toward a largely unknown yet certainly challenging future, including onset of the worst yet to come from the virus itself and the longer-term consequences of the necessary shutdown of the economy as we brace for the virus’ surge to peak here.

Yet, it is heartening that even in the midst of this terrible storm, a lot of the City’s work is continuing to get done. As we report in this edition, all of the remarkable array of development projects continue to be built, from the Founders Row to the library renovation, the considerable transportation projects at either end of the City and ongoing planning for the City’s West End project and, this week, the resubmission of the Insight Group’s latest plans for Broad and Washington, and still more.

Our spirit shall not be broken.

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Closing Schools Early is A Loss for F.C. Students

Editor, What a shame that the superintendent of Falls Church City schools felt that it was necessary to close the schools early. Was there ever a time when students needed the structure their teachers provide and the knowledge they impart more? The superintendent’s comment — and partial justification for the closing—that students didn’t

need to prepare for SOLs and IB exams seems to entirely miss the point of education. Does he really think that the students haven’t lost a great deal of ground during this lockdown, and that any opportunity to gain some of that back is precious? We have wonderful teachers in Falls Church, as demonstrated by their response to the request for high-quality, 20-day lesson plans.

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Whenever time with those teachers is reduced, it is a loss for the students. The superintendent may say he always puts the interests of students first, but in this case, I don’t think he did.

Ellen Gross Falls Church

Something Special About the Way Things Happen in F.C. Editor, Falls Church is a special place full of happy surprises. Unless

newcomers are not trying to meet their new neighbors and explore the local businesses, they soon feel at home. There used to be a term for it: The Falls Church Way. Still, sometimes we need to be reminded of the helpfulness of the folks down the street and the creativity and hard work of our neighbors in the business community.

My wife Nancy and I looked and called all over trying to find masks to help ourselves and some friends through the coronavirus. Then I read a Falls Church News-Press article and learned

Letters Continued on Page 19

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 7

G � � � � C � � � � � �� �� Stressful Times Can Increase Risks for Child Abuse B� N���� V������

For the past several years, the City of Falls Church has recognized the month of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month — and 2020 is no different. Over the next several weeks, we’ll continue to remind City residents and neighbors of the many ways they can help protect children from neglect and harm in our community and beyond.

But this year’s Child Abuse Prevention Month is unique, for obvious reasons.

Covid-19 has disrupted our ordinary lives.

We greet each day with new challenges.

All of us have a new sense of fragility — including the parents and families who are now under more stress than ever.

While we celebrate the many homes where children are able to thrive, as individuals, as families, and as a community we should be concerned, supportive, and vigilant about those who may be experiencing difficulties or mistreatment. Even in families that normally have low-stress and a great support network, parents may lash out due to the unusual pressures of these uncertain times.

We ask that you be mindful of your neighbors who may be struggling. As a community, we have to fill the gaps of the mandated reporters (such as teachers, counselors, and child-care providers) who are no longer in frequent contact with children and families. Pay attention to the children in your neighborhood, and watch for signs of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse that might go unnoticed or underreported.

It’s not just the adults who are worried about Covid-19; children and young adults have anxieties about this deadly disease, too. Even small children, while they might not know exactly what’s happening, can sense something’s wrong. As children look to us for guidance, let’s do our best to model

“Pay attention to the children in your neighborhood, and watch for signs of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse that might go unnoticed or underreported.” mature coping skills. Show them patience, empathy, and resilience. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. We all deserve it. We all need it.

Parents, that means you, too. Treat yourself with respect and kindness. Practicing and prioritizing self-care is essential for your own well-being and benefits your whole family. Be intentional about creating space to recharge and decompress. Set realistic expectations for yourself, at home and at work. Turn off the news if it gets overwhelming. When you take care of yourself, you’ll

be in a position to offer comfort and care to your children when they need it most.

For practical advice, HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences), recommends the following to reduce stress during the Covid-19 pandemic: 1. Continue to nurture close relationships with friends and relatives online and on the phone.

2. Talk with your children. Children may be fearful or simply missing their routines. Ask them about their concerns.

Their answers will guide you on how to talk with them.

3. Reach out for support, particularly if you have an infant at home. Infants exhaust and frustrate their parents. If your baby won’t stop crying and it’s getting to you, put the baby down, and gather yourself.

Maybe call a friend, put on headphones, and wait it out. If you have a friend or relative with infants at home, check in with them. Try to listen without offering advice.

4. Address concrete family needs. Stay at Home orders may lead to families struggling to meet basic needs. Offer to help by getting diapers, cook a meal, or drop off food.

5. Address parental mental health needs.

Recognize common signs of depression: anger and irritability, loss of energy, loss of interest in daily activities, and feeling helpless and hopeless. Family doctors are well trained in recognizing and treating signs of depression.

6. Check in with the children in your life. Teachers can recognize signs of abuse or neglect. Children who are out of sight

because their schools are closed are more vulnerable.

7. Be on the lookout for family violence.

Many professionals expect an increase in family violence due to changes in routines, economic stress, and simply being cooped up together. Reach out to the National Domestic Violence hotline (800-799-7233) for advice.

8. Engage with your community in whatever ways are possible. Helping others gives adults and children a sense of purpose that can help counter stress.

9. Create positive moments. Go for walks, play games, or bake something together. Many families are growing closer as we face this crisis together. Look for those moments that will create happy memories.

For this year’s Child Abuse Prevention Month and beyond, remember that for the rest of their lives, today’s children will recollect how their families and communities pulled together through unprecedented times. Let’s look out for others and lead the way.

If you witness or suspect child abuse and neglect, report it to Child Protective Services (CPS) at 703-324-7400. Fairfax County’s CPS hotline workers support Falls Church residents and can provide families with help, guidance, and referrals to supportive services.

Nancy Vincent is the director of Housing and Human Services for the City of Falls Church.

Q������� �� ��� W��� Do you wear a face mask or covering when going out in public?

• Yes • No

Last Week’s Question:

Do you think Falls Church residents are complying with the governor’s stay-at-home order?

• Sometimes

Visit www.FCNP.com to cast your vote

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

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

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PAGE 8 | APRIL 9 – 15, 2020

DESPITE THE PANDEMIC LOOMING in the background, children carry on with their daycare activites at Little Cottage Montessori in Falls Church. Enrollment has dropped sharply for Little Cottage as well as other area daycares, with some providers worried staff will move on to new jobs if the dip in child care persists. (Photo: Courtesy Little Cottage Montessori)

Local Providers Upended By Pandemic’s Daycare Dilemma

by Christopher Jones

Falls Church News-Press

The state’s new rules for inhome daycare providers put both parents and providers in a bind, but some local in-home providers are striving to work within the guidelines and stay in business.

From her home on Allan Avenue in Falls Church, Sharika Ismael runs Little Cottage Montessori, an in-home school she founded in 2013, after receiving certification from the Association Montessori Internationale, the school founded originally by Dr. Maria Montessori in 1929.

With close to 20 years of intensive training in Montessori education, two hired teachers and a full complement of 12 enrolled children, Ismael built and directed one of the only in-home Montessori programs in the area, specializing in creating what Dr. Montessori termed, in Italian, the “Nido” or, in English, the “nest” environment, for her young pupils (from newborns to three-year-olds).

Over the last few weeks, however, as enrolled parents have kept their children at home, the num-

bers in her Nido have dropped from 12 to only two or three children per day.

The dip is due to the Virginia Department of Social Services’ (VDSS) recently updated regulations for in-home daycare providers in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. VDSS is seeking to safeguard public health during the crisis, however, the financial viability of home-based daycare businesses in the area could be jeopardized by the new guidelines.

On March 20, the VDSS website announced that state authorities are “closely monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic and all guidance being distributed to child care facilities at the federal level.” The agency recognized that it will be “very challenging for programs to remain open, given the circumstances and federal and state mandates.”

Under federal and state guidelines, licensed in-home providers who used to be allowed as many as 12 children in their programs now have to limit capacity to “10 individuals per room, including staff.”

In addition to limiting enrollments, in-home daycare providers will have to implement a raft

of new safety and instructional measures under the department’s’ revised guidelines.

Posting signs and instructing children and adults about the requirements of social distancing of six feet or more between all individuals is required.

“If items are being shared, remind children not to touch their faces and [to] wash their hands after,” the guidelines stipulate.

“Physically rearrange the room to promote individual play,” the site suggests, and try to “eliminate large group activities.”

Protocols for monitoring students’ daily health and temperatures upon entry, having students eat separately, keeping touchable surfaces disinfected, requiring frequent hand-washing throughout the day, providing proper disinfectant cleaners for staff, and how to handle sick children, workers, and parents, are all established.

“This is an evolving situation and the circumstances change daily,” said Amanda Rogers, the Communications Director for the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, which supervises the

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

City of Falls Church’s in-home daycare services. “It is currently at the discretion of individual child care programs to remain open.”

The City of Falls Church has four registered in-home daycare providers, while Fairfax County has 1,500, she relayed. Of those, 557 participate as critical U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food “vendors in the state child care subsidy program.”

“I think for smaller providers, the guidance to have 10 individuals or fewer in a classroom is going to put them in a bit of a situation where they’re going to have to determine if they’re going to stay open,” said Sakina Jackson, Deputy Director of Child Care Aware of Virginia.

Some of the larger providers in and around the City of Falls Church, including The Falls Church Montessori and For CommuniKids Preschool and Children’s Language Centers, are closed until April 10 and 24, respectively.

The CommuniKids’ 120 students will be receiving “remote learning” instruction using Google Hangouts, “following best practices from the National Association for the Education of Young Children,” according to Raul Echevarria, President and Co-Founder. While Echevarria feels confident the school has the tuition base and strong community needed to weather the epidemic’s storm, he and his staff are quite concerned about what might happen if tuition drops off significantly in the coming weeks.

“This is a scary time,” he said, “Our school relies on tuition to be able to continue to pay our teachers and keep the lights on.

Fortunately, we have a community that is rising to the occasion and helping us by continuing to pay tuition and providing much needed emotional support to our team.”

To be cautious, however, the school administration has submitted a Small Business Administration disaster relief application and is looking into whether the CARES Act [Congress’s recent relief package] might provide relief should enrollment decline precipitously.

Falls Church Montessori could not be reached for comment, but on March 28 it informed followers of its Twitter feed that if tuition dries up, large numbers of staff will have to be let go.

“Our school will not survive, if we all collectively aim to ‘pause in place,’” the tweet read.

“Ultimately staffing down can be brutally quick. However, rebuilding will not be so…To assemble this group has taken decades. If we lose our people, we will likely not get them back....”

Since the VDSS and federal guidelines were put into effect, Ismael decided to remain open despite her drop in daily attendance and parent fears starting to spike. She, too, is uncertain about receiving any aid from the $2 trillion relief package that Congress passed last week.

“I have spoken to a couple of other providers and they are just taking the bullet right now,” Ismael said, “I heard from one in Springfield and they have just totally shut down. The others are only half open, and only for the emergency personnel.”

Even before the regulations were made official, however, Ismael had notified parents of new health and safety protocols she would implement on her own.

“They all said, ‘Sharika, you do whatever you have to do.’ So, they are very supportive — thank God!” Ismael said after she announced her new protocols by email.

For example Matt Quinn, the owner and operator of Quinn’s Auction Gallery in downtown Falls Church, and his wife are highly appreciative of Ismael’s protocols as well as the outstanding schooling their two-and-a-half year old daughter has been receiving.

Many parents are choosing to keep their children at home and are unsure about continuing their monthly tuition payments.

According to Ismael, they are “taking it week by week.”

“I would say that Sharika has been pretty strict with her guidelines, even quite ahead of what the county decided, and I appreciate that,” said another parent client, who wished to remain anonymous, “...she closes early each day to allow her and the teachers to do a deep cleaning, so, definitely I appreciate that, given the circumstances.”

When this client’s four-year old daughter became panicked over how the coronavirus might impact her family, Ismael helped reassure the girl, a touching moment this mom will never forget.

The school’s current health and safety protocols are instituted right when parents drop off their children in the mornings.

As they drive up, Ismael greets each car on the sidewalk to take children’s temperatures, parents are then asked about whether the child has had medications to lower fever and questions are posed about the health of others at home. If any illness is presented, even seasonal allergies, children may not attend until cleared. As soon as the children arrive, all shoes are kept outside, and the many hand-washings and complex safety rituals are undertaken for the learning day to begin.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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NEWS BRIEFS City Asks Residents to Minimize Waste Like Arlington Co., City of Alexandria and Fairfax Co, the City of Falls Church is asking its residents to limit the amount of trash they leave out at the curb each week due to a surge in residential trash over the past month. Virginia’s stay at home order, combined with self-quarantining, non-essential business closures and other social distancing measures have contributed to as much as a 40 percent increase in residential trash tonnage and is putting a strain on the region’s waste management systems, officials report. Guidelines for residents to assist waste management crews include the following: Dispose of used wipes, tissues and paper towels in trash bags that are tied shut; minimize setting extra bags outside the cart; refrain from generating large amounts of waste – keep spring cleaning pile in the basement, attic or garage until normal operations resume; flatten cardboard boxes to create more room in recycling carts; consider backyard composting or “grasscycling” lawn clippings. The City also announced this week its provider has suspended its electronics recycling program.

Falls Church Grocery Stores Enforce Stricter Precautions Three grocery store chains with locations in Falls Church announced this week plans to introduce stricter precautionary measures to avoid the potential spread of the coronavirus.

Giant Food, Harris Teeter and Safeway will all now limit the amount of customers allowed in the store at one time. Starting this week, Giant, with locations at Bailey’s Crossroads (3480 S Jefferson St.), the City of F.C. (1230 W Broad St.) and Seven Corners (6360 Seven Corners Center), is limiting occupancy to 20 percent of each store’s overall capacity, Harris Teeter (301 W. Broad St., Falls Church) will max stores out at 50 percent capacity and Safeway (7397 Lee Highway in the Shops at West Falls Church and in the Willston Center at 6118 Arlington Blvd.) is limiting its stores to one person per 150 square feet during normal business hours and one person per 300 square feet during hours limited for seniors and other at-risk customers. In addition, Giant and Safeway are implementing one-directional shopping up and down aisles in stores.

All Park Amenities in City Shut Down The City of Falls Church has shut down its tennis and basketball courts along with its skate park in the west end, joining previously closed playgrounds, it annonuced Wednesday.

“Use of these amenities does not allow for adequate social distancing, and they draw too many people together,” the City said. City parks remain open for residents to walk through, though the City urges people to maintain a six-foot distance from others. If the park is too crowded, people should leave the park, the City says.

F.C. Schools Go to Pass-Fail Grading In 4th Quarter In a lengthy update memo from Falls Church City Schools’ Superintendent Peter Noonan last Friday, included a decision to grade all students in the system on a pass-fail basis for the fourth quarter. In the update, posted on the Schools’ website, he wrote that the new grading plan will be in place for the resumption of online education on April 14 through the new end of the school year on June 4. A complicated grading system will, in general, integrate letter grades achieved through the third quarter to remain the same for the semester if students earn a “pass” in the fourth quarter. As part of this, students will be able to turn in missing work due from Jan. 27 – March 12 (the last day of classroom teaching) without penalty and students can retake summative assessments in International Baccalaureate programs. The IB program as it is “still has authentic student assessments to base final grades upon.” Noonan stated that school divisions must upload all of the Internal Assessments and all student coursework to the IB by April 20. He added, “We expect all of our students to be engaged in their school work during this time of distance learning and we will do everything in our power to keep them engaged. Passing grades will be based on a mastery of work, work completion, daily participation and active engagement in online learning for the fourth quarter.” Noonan’s report added that “the FCCPS has worked exceedingly hard to ensure our families are supported throughout this public health crisis.

This is especially true in the area of Nutritional Support. We distributed over 130 boxes containing two-weeks of non-perishable food at the onset of our closure to ensure our Free and Reduced Meals Program (FRM) families were supported. Each family also, through the generosity of the Falls Church Education Foundation received a $50 grocery gift card per child to purchase additional food and items needed.”

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 9

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News-Press

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes Changes for F.C. City’s Student Rep Program Due to the closure of George Mason High School this year, the Citizens for a Better City application process for the 2020-2021 Youth Representative Initiative has been changed.

All applications will now need to be filled out and submitted online at youthrepsinitiative.net. Each application will only be viewed by the CBC Youth Representative Initiative Committee.

The application deadline has also been deferred to Friday, May 1 with the student in-person-interviews being conducted after Aug. 24. Applicants will be contacted

when a specific date is set.

All Falls Church City high school-aged students (current 9th – 11th graders) are eligible to apply including homes-schooled and private school students. The selection process focuses on each students’ interest and commitment.

For more information, contact fallschurchcbc@gmail.com.

Symphony Orchestra of NoVa Asks for Assistance The Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia’s maestro Jeffrey Dokken announced that the orchestra will cancel the rest of its season due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The orchestra is seeking financial support to be able to stay intact following the pandemic’s conclusion.

Due to having to cancel the remainder of its season, SONOVA will lose between $30,000 – 40,000. For an arts organization such as itself, that financial hit could be crippling to SONOVA’s ongoing ability to provide concerts throughout the area in the future.

The vast majority of the local, state and federal Covid-19 relief money is going to help corporations, small businesses and nonprofits that directly help underserved communities, youth, senior citizens, those who are sick and the unemployed.

SONOVA agrees that prior-

RIGHT BY Washington-Liberty High School on Quincy St. is a drive-thru coronavirus testing site.

Testing at the site, run by Arlington County and Virginia Hospital Center, is by appointment only.

(Photo: News-Press)

ity must be given to these organizations and individuals, but also believes that the arts play a significant and important role in the community and in the lives of its audience members and musicians.

Furthermore, staff members whose work for SONOVA support their families, and the orchestra provides income for other organizations by paying rent, purchasing music, paying performance fees, putting guest artists up in hotels, purchasing food and drinks from local businesses, and hiring local musicians.

The Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia has become a prominent part of the arts community in the greater Washington, D.C. region and is asking for the public’s support now in a time of desperate need.

Those interested in donating can do so securely by visiting sonovamusic.org/donate.

Jefferson Village Groups Updates Community The Jefferson Village Civic Association announced that it has been in communication with the Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik and her office, verifying information and asking a few questions on the neighborhood’s behalf.

Palchik and her staff have also asked if there is anything the neighborhood needs. The association’s board hears a decent amount of hyper-local issues but is offering its services to the larger community during this time. If there are any situations or pressing issues that residents are aware of and would like to bring to Palchik and/or her office’s attention, feel free to send an e-mail to chairperson@jefferson-village.org or contact Supervisor Palchik’s

NEWS-PRESS READERS Joe and Tina Earman checked in from their home on Noland Street in the City, reporting that they are both staying safe during the pandemic, along with their pig cookie jar, Smiley, who has been checking out on all the latest from the News-Press online. (Photo: Joe and Tina Earman)

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

office directly at: providence@ fairfaxcounty.gov.

Another local organizational response has been Nextdoor which created an Assistance Map, to allow individuals offer and seek help. This is located at: nextdoor. com/helpmap.

If any JVCA remembers or residents are able to contribute grocery trips or phone check-ins, this is an ideal way to do so.

Registration for NOVA Summer Sessions Monday Registration for summer sessions at Northern Virginia Community College, or NOVA, will begin on Monday, April 13.

All classes will be held remotely.

May 18 is the start date for the 12-week and first six-week sessions. The 10-week session starts on June 1, with the eight-week session starting on June 15 and the second six-week session starting on June 29.

To begin the registration process, visit nvcc.edu/admissions.

Students must register by 11:59 p.m. on the day before the session begins. For more information on the time sessions, visit nvcc.edu.

Also, a student enrolled at another college or university can take summer classes at NOVA while they are home and can save time and money on their tuition by registering as a visiting student with the credits transferring to the student’s home college or university. Information about that possibility can be found at nvcc. edu/admissions/apply/visitingstudents.html.

NOVA is an open enrollment institution, so everyone who applies is accepted. Course descriptions can be found in the NOVA catalog at nvcc.edu/catalog/index.html.

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 11

Dulles Toll Road Removes Attendants from Toll Booths Starting this past Monday, the Dulles Toll Road will remove all personnel from toll booths and suspend cash-exchange toll collections in order to slow the spread of Covid-19. Only electronic and exact change coin payments will be accepted. Motorists without E-ZPass, other electronic forms of payment or exact change will receive bills through the mail.

All lanes and toll booths on the Dulles Toll Road are equipped with electronic tolling features.

Any lane can be used with a valid E-ZPass account or other form of electronic tolling. Customers can visit E-ZPass Virginia at ezpassva. com for information on how to obtain an E-ZPass, or the GoToll mobile phone app at gotoll.com.

Booths will be unattended in exact change lanes and will exact payment to pass through these lanes. Customers without a form of electronic payment will be required to have exact change coins of $3.25 at the main plaza and $1.50 at each ramp exit.

Motorists passing through the cash lanes without exact change will be sent a payment notice by mail. While these will be labeled violations, the administrative fees will be waived. If toll-lane cameras identify a license plate associated with an E-ZPass account, that account will be charged for the transaction.

Customers are encouraged to visit tollroadsinvirginia.com/ ViolationToll/PayViolation for information on paying toll violations in Virginia.

Vietnam Veterans Meetings Canceled Indefinitely The chapter including Association of Vietnam Veterans

FALLS CHURCH DISTILLERS second batch of hand sanitizer was delivered and picked up on Sunday. By the third week of April, the distillery will have produced over 3,000 gallons. The third and fourth batches are planned for the next two weeks and the distillery hopes to produce another 3,000 gallons in early May. Young volunteers who helped out are Zachery and Madison Copper and Madison Corwin, who are using their off-school time to give back. (P����: C������� M������ P������/F���� C����� D���������)

of America members is cancelling chapter meetings and events until further notice due to the current public health crisis, which includes local chapter VVA 227.

Cash grants and other assistance will continue during this time as the board deems necessary.

Don Drunsic has secured access to a teleconference service so that the board meetings can be conducted. The newsletter discontinues publishing too and hopes to resume normal activity

by Memorial Day. The technical feasibility of conducting televideo membership meetings is being

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investigated.

Member communications will be conducted through the chapter’s website at vva227.org or its Facebook page at facebook.com/ VVA227 as well as its Minuteman Alert emails. All members are being asked to provide their email address or a family member’s contact information to facilitate the distribution of important news.

If any members have a question or comment, they should call Jay Kalner, chapter president at 703346-2013 or Len Ignatowski, vice president at 703-255-0353.

Household goods collection

is suspended until further notice.

This vital income will cease during the business shut down as of now. The collection truck travels from the New Jersey store to Northern Virginia. VVA is also funding the annual dues rebate of $9 per member and the last quarter of household goods earnings.

VVA National and the chapter are revising their budgets to reflect this income loss.

If any veterans are experiencing stressful or despondent feelings, they are encouraged to call the Veteran Hotline at 1-800-2738255 and press 1.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

When Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill released his proposed FY 2021 county budget on Feb. 25, it seemed like any other budget year. The proposed budget addressed some Board priorities — affordable housing, environmental initiatives, bodyworn cameras for police, expanded library hours, and compensation increases for county employees. Mr. Hill recommended a real estate tax rate increase of three cents to fund expanded programs, and balance the budget, as required by state law. Budget town meetings were scheduled in each district, and it still seemed like most other budget years, with pros and cons of budget spending voiced by taxpayers.

Then life changed. Just 16 days after Mr. Hill’s televised presentation, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued an Executive Order declaring a statewide emergency because of the coronavirus, now known as Covid-19. Coincidentally, that day, March 12, also was the date of the Mason District Budget Town Meeting. Chairs were placed farther apart in the meeting room, as the concept of social distancing began to be understood and observed. On March 17, in a special emergency meeting, the Board of Supervisors followed the Governor’s lead and formally declared a countywide state of emergency.

Many county employees could telework from their homes and, eventually, county buildings were closed to the public. Vital county services continued in this strange new world situation.

But what about the budget? Despite Covid-19, the Board of Supervisors must approve a budget this spring, well before the July 1 beginning of the 2021 Fiscal Year. It took months to put the proposed budget together; now it would have to be revised, amended, and rewritten in days, not weeks or months.

Late on Tuesday, Mr. Hill released his amended proposed budget, including projected revenue losses of well over $100 million from decreased sales and business taxes, interest on investments, and fee losses because of virus-related closures. Gone is the recommendation for a three-cent real estate tax increase. All proposed tax rate and fee increases have been eliminated to alleviate pressure on the county’s taxpayers. Gone are employee compensation increases. Gone are expanded library hours.

Gone are affordable housing initiatives. Gone is the

expansion of body-worn cameras for police officers.

Gone are most of the new positions recommended earlier, from 177 to 20, and 19 of the 20 are designated for the Health Department. Gone also is the proposed increase for county refuse collection customers; the rate will remain at FY 2020 levels. Sewer rate changes also are deferred. The proposed annual increase in the transfer for school operations has been reduced drastically from $85.7 million to $7.5 million; the total transfer remains at 52.7 of General Fund disbursements.

The pain of the proposed budget reductions is shared across all agencies of Fairfax County, and uncertainties remain as to what the lasting effects of the pandemic emergency might be on both local and state revenues. Although life, as we know it, has been altered significantly, Fairfax County’s basic services are maintained in the amended budget. Items not gone are the strong foundation already built across the years, and the commitment of our community to weather the storm together.

The budget schedule also is changed. Public hearings about the budget have been moved from the original April 14, 15 and 16 dates, to April 28, 29 and 30. In order to protect residents and staff, in-person participation will not be permitted, but online, phone, and video testimony is being arranged.

Approval of the county’s Strategic Plan, originally planned to coincide with budget adoption, will be delayed, as the pandemic emergency makes it impossible to have the planned community meetings for additional input into the plan. Mark-up of the proposed budget will happen on May 5, which was the original date for adoption of the budget. Adoption now will be on May 12. Approval of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP), usually done in tandem with the budget approval, will be moved to sometime in June. One date has not changed: Fiscal Year 2021 still begins on July 1, 2020.

The updated proposed budget, with information about how you can register to testify, can be reviewed on-line at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/budget.

THE MORE YOU UNDERSTAND HER WORLD, THE MORE POSSIBILITIES YOU SEE. For Julia’s family, early screening for autism made a lifetime of difference.

Find out more at ScreenForAutism.org

 Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

YOU DESERVE TO LIVE SAFE FROM SEXUAL HARASSMENT. Sexual harassment by a landlord or anyone related to your housing violates the Fair Housing Act. If you receive unwelcome sexual advances or are threatened with eviction because you refuse to provide sexual favors, you may file a fair housing complaint.

hud.gov/fairhousing 1-800-669-9777

To file a complaint, go to or call

If you fear for your safety, call 911.

FAIR HOUSING IS YOUR RIGHT. USE IT. A public service message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in cooperation with the National Fair Housing Alliance. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. For more information, visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing. © 2019 Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Now We Know Who Really Matters

The formidable Jim Cramer, market analyst and commentator on CNBC, was very conflicted Wednesday morning in a manner totally unlike his usual strident and confident manner. It was in the context of interviewing U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin by phone. Cramer praised Mnuchin for working aggressively to get the Payroll Protection Program and other urgent federal relief elements of the $2 trillion federal response to the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic up and running in short order.

Hanging up the phone, Cramer then said it is time to stop pointing fingers of blame for what has or hasn’t been done, and to focus on going forward with solutions from here, acknowledgFALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS ing that the enemy is not a political faction, but the virus, itself.

But he couldn’t help but express the same utter frustration of so many that so little preparation and such a tepid federal response to the killer pandemic has characterized the effort so far, and that includes huge hitches and obstacles in the execution of the PPP and related emergency financial relief programs. The frustration facing this writer’s small business — the “essential service” of a community newspaper, no less — is a testament to this, a frustration also shared by the person in charge of the local branch of the bank where we’ve been trying unsuccessfully to submit papers (the latest iteration requiring 160 pages of documents) for almost two weeks.

The plan was designed to keep small businesses in business even as 97 percent of the U.S. is in shutdown mode to stem the spread of the virus. The idea is that if these small businesses have to close under these conditions, that the feds will cover the cost of keeping their workers on payroll so that underneath the current crisis, a functioning economy can resume once the crisis is passed.

It’s a great idea, but there’s a big difference between talking and messaging and the nitty-gritty reality of whether millions upon millions of Americans have enough money for bare necessities or not. Already it is being reported that fully one third of rents due on April 1 were not paid. The ripple effect of all of this on the wider economy is impossible to fathom.

The same goes for the reports that a majority of the front-line workers in the war against this horrid virus barely make enough, themselves, to make ends meet as it is. Many don’t even have health insurance, if you can believe it.

It is going to be a long and tortured slog to get through this, to tame the virus, first of all, including as it takes aim in the developing sector where there are so few protections against it, and then to cope with the economic consequences of the shutdown that will ripple through the society for God knows how long.

This comes in the context of a society that has suffered from many years of an orgy of greed by the top one percent, leaving most of society living from paycheck to paycheck, one paycheck from homelessness.

We are now finding those who make up this significant majority of our society are being revealed our heroes — as health care workers, first responders and essential employees. They are the glue of our essential society.

If there was ever a moment in our history as a species when a revelation has been provided about the discrepancy between the core values of our human culture and the perversions caused by greed and cruelty, it is now.

While humanity has struggled daily over eons to elevate the good, especially among compassionate, empathetic and honest social servants, there is a class of persons who’ve exploited the good will of the rest of us to shamelessly cheat, brutalize and plunder to accumulate wealth to themselves. Their deceit is often aimed at increasing their power over others by securing political and military advantage.

Now we see who matters to our future, and who is a parasitic drag on it, almost like a deadly virus, ironically enough. In our democracy, now is the time to translate this revelation into passionate support for those who really do matter and for mobilizations to the electoral polls.

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APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

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

Our Man in Arlington

By Charlie Clark

“Sears has everything!” The old jingle today rings quaint. The once-pre-eminent U.S. retailer now has no space at the mall.

April 12 will be the final day for the Seven Corners Sears, which had occupied the old Lord & Taylor building in Falls Church since 1998. The closure — accelerated by the coronavirus — was announced in February by the private Transformco firm.

The news stirred many memories of the Arlington Sears that stood at the heart of Clarendon from 1942 to 1993. After years as the Arlington Education Center at N. Edgewood St. and Wilson Blvd., that old building is today under renovation to be Market Common Clarendon. Sears’ former garden center is now Whole Foods.

News clippings on this Sears’ opening during World War II were recently unearthed by those birddogs on Facebook’s “I Grew Up in Arlington, Va.” The Sears group manager of the D.C. area advertised that he was looking to hire full-and-part-time sales people in hardware, draperies, rugs, paint, wallpaper, building materials and “ready to wear.”

Arlingtonians of all walks responded, as the nostalgia buffs recently proved. Sue Meeder’s mother worked there in “the ‘50s and early ‘60s,” she posted.

“She was a cashier upstairs in the main offices.” Sydney Simmonds “worked there before I went into the Army, setting up and adjusting

TVs and stereos on the top floor.”

Judy Munden “worked at that Sears in the late ‘70s for almost three years. Mom and Dad used my employee discount all the time. Dad with his tools and my mom with her appliances.”

Gloria Moren told me her uncle David Oddenino worked the Clarendon Sears as a jeweler/ salesperson. “I would take my broken watches to him. After many years in the jewelry department, he sold appliances downstairs.”

George Dodge recalled that in the early ‘70s that Sears “was virtually the only place remaining open after 6 p.m. for department store merchandise.” It also maintained “an automotive area for oil changes (pre-Jiffy Lube).”

David Ruiz remembered “walking to and from Sears with my mom from Lee Garden apartments.

Everything was calm during [the ‘80s]; we didn’t feel any fear.”

Even before Sears bricks-andmortar emporiums began to shutter, the national company dating to 1893 had become for some an object of derision. A bad driver in the ‘60s might hear a shout, “Where’d you get your license, Sears?” But my household in recent years has continued to rely on Sears for kitchen appliances and services such as duct and carpet cleaning.

My personal memories of the Clarendon branch trace to the musical instruments section. In particular, the Sears Silvertone twin-12 amplifier provided reverb and tremolo to my well-intentioned electric guitar.

When I was an 11-year-old, that was my idea of Sears having everything. *** County leaders, Facebookcasting April 3 from their homes and private offices, bravely pulled off their virtual town meeting to highlight the feats of improvisation Arlington has been plunged into to fight the coronavirus.

Chair Libby Garvey and county manager Mark Schwartz assured listeners that specialists and regional authorities are maintaining mutual consultation. I was most awed by the reports from Arlington Public Schools, whose buildings are closed, but whose team provided, at five drop-off schools, a week’s worth of “grab and go” meals to needy students’ families designed to cover the April 6-10 spring break. More coming.

Kudos to Arlington Public Libraries for running a supply donation center and showcasing citizen online art reflecting the crisis.

Sen. Kaine on April 7 led a Q&A with statewide chambers of commerce (including Arlington president Kate Bates), whose leader asserted that “business will lead us through this crisis.” Kaine lamented that the United States is “six-eight weeks behind where it should have been” in responding.

In the citizens milieu, residents of Maywood neighborhood were cheering each other nightly at 6:00 with porch-front singalongs of such standbys as “Lean on Me.” The ritual ended, however, with Gov. Northam’s March 30 stay-athome order.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

FALLS CHURCHCALENDAR In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affecting the globe and policies enacted to avoid social gatherings, the News-Press will publish a list of virtual events weekly in lieu of its regular listings.

If you have a virtual event you’d like to see listed, please email calendar@fcnp.com.

Deadline is 5 p.m. Monday weekly.

CITYEVENTS SATURDAY, APRIL 11 Falls Church Farmers Market To Go. The Falls Church Farmers Market has converted to a preorder, to-go event. All orders must be placed in advance of Saturday’s market which will be open from 8 a.m. – noon for pre-order pick-up only in front of City Hall (300 Park Ave.).

A list of participating vendors and information on preordering can be found at www. fallschurchva.gov/547/FarmersMarket-To-Go.

VIRTUALEVENTS THURSDAY, APRIL 9 Library Storytime Live. Join Mary Riley Styles Library staff at 10:30 a.m. on for a live storytime on the Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Facebook page at www.facebook. com/mrspl.

SUNDAY, APRIL 12 Virtual Services at F.C. Churches.

Churches throughout the City of Falls Church and greater Falls Church area will be posting either pre-recorded or live-streamed services for Easter Sunday at various times. Most churches make their posts available via their web-

site or their Facebook page, which parishioners should check for more information on when and how those services will be delivered.

MONDAY, APRIL 13 City Council Virtual Meeting.

The Falls Church City Counil will discuss matters related to the Covid-19 emergency. Public comment should be submitted by 8 p.m. on April 13 to cityc l e r k @ f a l l s c h u r c h v a . g o v.

Meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. and can be viewed online at www. fallschurchva.gov/ CouncilMeetings and on FCCTV (Cox 11, RCN 2, Verizon 35).

DAILY Bloom Cam for Cherry Blossoms. While the coronavirus pandemic has closed off visitation to Washington, D.C.’s Tidal Basin to see the cherry

blossoms in person, an alternative has been offered thanks to the Trust for the National Mall in the form of the Bloom Cam. The live feed will allow those who are interested to remotely observe the cherry blossoms in peak bloom from the comfort and safety of their homes.

The camera runs 24/7 and is viewable at nationalmall.org/ bloomcam.

Virtual Tour of The Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum. The Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, roomby-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at the Smithsonian’s satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display. To start the tour, visit naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-

tour.

Lunch Doodles with children’s author Mo Willems. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks.

Participants should grab some paper and pencils, pens or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together.

Daily at 1 p.m. Visit kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems to watch.

Yellowstone Park Virtual Tour.

Interested browsers can see the Norris Geyser Springs, Mud Volcano, Mammoth Hot Springs and more in this virtual tour of Yellowstone National Park.

This park features everything from canyons to alpine rivers, lush forests and, of course, the famous geyser Old Faithful, which erupts about 20 times a day. The virtual tours will also give viewers information about what else to look for and do when the park eventually does re-open. To “visit” the Yellowstone National Park, go to nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm.

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Fa l l s C h u r c h

Business News & Notes 30 Day Fund Assisting Virginia Small Businesses Technology entrepreneur and CEO of Disruptor Capital, Pete Snyder, and his wife, Burson Snyder, have created the Virginia 30 Day Fund to provide Virginia-based small businesses that employ between three and 30 people with immediate financial assistance of up to $3,000 to meet payroll, preserve healthcare coverage for employees and save jobs while they await recently approved federal funding. The program is designed to be quick and easy to help small business owners keep employees on board in the near term. The program was seeded by the Snyders with an initial $100,000 of capital with business and philanthropic leaders making additional pledges, to expand the Fund’s reach and impact. For more information, visit www.va30dayfund.com to complete the one-page form and submit a brief video.

Covid-19-related Signs Available for Sale Master Engravers is now offering a line of engraved acrylic Covid19 related signs that are easy to sanitize and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The signs include messages about hand washing, sanitizer use, and social distancing. Available for $20, most signs are 8” x 8”.

Master Engravers is located at 121 Rowell Court. For more information, visit www.your-master-engravers.com.

Emergency Dental Appointments Offered Falls Church Modern Dentistry is open for emergency appointments. The dental office is located in Falls Plaza at 1212 W. Broad Street in Falls Church. To make an appointment, call 703-519-6697. For more information, visit www.FallsChurchModernDentistry.com.

Kaiser Consolidating Facilities, F.C. Site Remains Open Kaiser Permanente is consolidating facilities and expanding its virtual care services, converting all possible in-person appointments to virtual via phone or video. The Falls Church location is one of seven that will remain open. Additional Northern Virginia locations include Tysons Corner (24/7), Woodbridge (24/7), Reston, Manassas (no urgent care), Fredericksburg (no urgent care), and Burke. Kaiser has closed its optical departments. For more information, visit www. kp.org.

Hackers Disrupt Local Online Fundraising Breakfast Hackers disrupted an April 2 online fundraising breakfast hosted on the video call platform Zoom by OAR of Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church, voicing and posting racist comments at the beginning of the event. Organizers acted promptly to mute all guests, deactivate the chat function, and “eject” as many of the hackers as possible. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, last Thursday’s video call replaced OAR’s Annual Second Chance Fundraising Breakfast, an in-person event that typically brings together 600 members of the community to learn more about OAR’s work. Zoom bombing is a form of cyber-harassment that is increasing rapidly as more people utilize video call technology to communicate at this time of social distancing. OAR is a community-based nonprofit working with men and women returning to the community from incarceration and offering alternative sentencing options through community service to youth and adults. For more information or to donate, visit www.oaronline.org.  Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.

LO CA L

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 15

Holy Week, Passover Services Go Virtual

DULIN UNITED pastor Dave Kirkland preaches to empty pews affixed with the photos of parishioners for the church’s virtual Holy Week services. (Photo: J. Michael Whalen) Continued from Page 1

For Columbia Baptist Church, senior pastor Jim Baucom, who gives roughly five live sermons himself each week, advised his parishioners to keep things as regular as possible by attending their usual service time. Baucom was able to get the jump on the pandemic after reading “The Great Influenza” while preparing for their Christmas play at the church last year. Once he saw that Covid-19’s transmissibility pattern was similar to that of the Spanish flu of 1918, he began putting a plan in place to cover six to eight months of services back in February.

Saint James Catholic Church also made sure to do their services live to help congregants get a sense of normalcy, according to pastor Paul Scalia. And rabbi Amy Schwartzman of Temple Rodef Shalom said that the congregation will host a larger version of the Passover Seder tonight after they held a family-oriented Seder on Passover’s first night yesterday.

Others have opted to tape their services in advance. Interim pastor Andy Anderson at the Falls Church Episcopal said that his clergy recorded their Easter Sunday mass the previous week on Palm Sunday, and Dulin recorded theirs on Tuesday morning in order to polish the final broadcast prior to it being pushed out Sunday morning.

No matter whether they do it live or record it beforehand, all churches keep their services available online either on a Facebook page or website. And all churches reported that their viewership numbers are on par, and in some cases even better, than the live masses they would hold throughout the week.

The advantage of technology is that it allows the different denominations to keep their parishioners

up to date, while also leaving some room for flair.

For instance, Saint James does a theological talk show where Scalia and another parochial vicar will answer and discuss questions that members send in via email, phone or over social media.

Temple Rodef Shalom created a pop up website called the TRS virtual community. The site offers members to get together virtually every day for 30 minutes where temple staffers will host various members doing something they want to share — such as a lesson on a Jewish figure in professional baseball or safe practices in the time of the virus.

Dulin’s director of music ministries has instructed each choir member to record their part in a song separately, which he then splices together and plays when the service airs. Even cheekier, Dulin had its members send in photos so that Kirkland could stick them to the pews while he “preaches” to them.

The churches aren’t letting the distancing remove the interactive elements of this week either.

On Palm Sunday, Saint James posted a picture of a palm on the church’s Facebook page that parishioners could print out for themselves and Dulin put its palms outside in a bucket for people to drive up and grab them as needed.

And the Falls Church Episcopal told its congregants to go outside and cut some branches down to serve as palms, and wash each others’ hands instead of washing each other’s feet as Jesus did. Anderson told parishioners nearby brush would suffice and also said they could process around their homes and bless certain rooms and items if they wanted. He’s even recruited lay people to read scriptures over Zoom for certain Sunday services.

At Saint Philip’s, father Denis

Donahue said that the 14 stations of the cross have been placed along the outer edge of the parking lot (at safe distances apart, of course) so that congregants could see the progression leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion on Calvary.

This isn’t to say that the digital elements adopted by the places of worship could replace the loss of the physical connection.

“There’s a certain sadness and disappointment around the fact that we won’t be in our usual configuration of family and friends,” Schwartzman said.

It’s brought a sense of grief, in Baucom’s words, to this year’s Holy Week. People are missing the eucharist, as Donahue noted, which is receiving communion or the body of Christ during Easter Sunday mass.

But Anderson feels that amidst the melancholy is a chance to provide a new perspective on what faith actually is.

“We love that the walls of the church help people connect to God, but God is present everywhere,” Anderson said. “In the gospels we hear that Jesus says the true place of worship is in the spirit and in truth... we’ll experience [faith] in deeper and more real ways and perhaps in ways that people can carry it forward.”

A return to religion’s roots has come about, as Anderson said. In the earliest days of Christendom people worshipped at their homes.

And it’s also called upon those who are a part of the faith community to look out for fellow members in a way they may have not before.

Group leaders and deacons at Columbia Baptist will call families at least two times a week to see if they need assistance in any way from the church. The same goes for the Falls Church Episcopal, which started a parish phone tree to check in on members — one of which had lost their grocery store delivery connection, motivating a group of parishioners to swoop in and help.

A smidgen of that community bond help make this crisis manageable, and also leaves people with a taste of what more could come once return to church or temple is possible.

“Because of the absence, the yearning and the love and devotion has been heightened,” Donahue said. Scalia added separately, “One of the wonderful things of the antiquity of our faith is we’ve seen everything — times before where we’ve had to make some pretty serious adjustments because of plagues or something else — but here we are.

We have to adjust to it and make the best of it that we can.”

PAGE 16 | APRIL 9 - 15, 2020

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

2

3

4

5

7

17

18

20

21

23

9

10

25

26

40

49

36

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© 2020 David Levinson Wilk

Across

1. President’s annual delivery to Cong.

5. Undesirable roommate 9. Barrymore and Carey 14. “Cien ____ de Soledad” (Gabriel García Márquez novel) 15. Designed to minimize drag 16. Update to reflect new routes 17. 1958 Buddy Holly hit 19. Catherine of “Schitt’s Creek” 20. Tarzan creator’s monogram 21. “The fierce urgency of now” speaker, familiarly 22. ____ B’rith 23. Early role for Neil Patrick 25. 1986 Madonna hit 29. In different places 30. Boxing brothers Max and Buddy of the 1930s 31. Abolish 32. Legendary source of large footprints 33. Bread for burritos?

34. Hairstyles 35. 2000 Sisqo hit 38. Some IRA investments 41. Gazillions 42. Eldest Stark son on “Game of Thrones” 46. “Tell me more!”

47. Big Apple stage honors 48. Vaudeville show 49. 1998 Faith Hill hit 51. John of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” 52. One-on-one Olympics event 53. Director Van Sant 54. Out of active mil. service

STRANGE BREW

1. President's annual delivery to Cong.

55. Provider of green energy?

57. 1987 Ice-T debut album whose title applies to 17-, 25-, 35- and 49-Across 60. Recognize silently 61. Baby ____ 62. Thingamajig 63. Twin Mary-Kate or Ashley 64. Wee 65. Relinquish

DOWN

1. Even faster than overnight 2. Like some soap 3. Plaything whose name is famously hard to say five times fast 4. Thumb drive port, for short 5. Expensive dark fur 6. Plumbing woe 7. Spherical shape 8. “Whew!”

9. Talks monotonously 10. It’s a sobering process 11. Worked on some screenwriting?

12. Newspaper headline of 12/8/1941 13. Place to get pampered 18. Give off 22. Pack animals 24. Moxie 25. Comb challenges 26. ____ Pieces 27. Card game with suits of four different colors 28. Harris and Helms 30. Dots on some Hindu women’s foreheads

JOHN DEERING

Sudoku

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 17

33. Rock’s ____ Brothers 36. Obsessed with 37. Earl ____ tea 38. Guest’s bed 39. “What was I thinking?!”

40. Protects 43. Had thirds, maybe 44. Agog 45. “Heck if I know” 48. Climbed 50. Sudden rush 51. Like roads with many potholes 53. Spots for dumbbells 55. ____-Caps (concession candy) 56. Verizon acquisition of 2015 57. Slugging stat 58. Simple shelter 59. Insta upload

Last Thursday’s Solution A L L I L E A N F I X T E K I N T A F T O T S M Y O W E I R M A M O O N F A N I R I S N I E T E N S U

F I H E A R G I G A N P C O L T A A R H O E

L A B A T E C A T C N T H O R A I A R I V P E O S E B E R T U G H S E A E E L

D R U R I E D L O E A T N S

R A B S A V E L S E N O N I T O U G H L E N S D E I D O D I N S O R E N A C L E A N A I N G G A S L G O N E S S O D A

By The Mepham Group

Level 1 2 3 4

5. Undesirable roommate 9. Barrymore and Carey 14. "Cien ____ de Soledad" (Gabriel García Márquez novel) 15. Designed to minimize drag 16. Update to reflect new routes 17. 1958 Buddy Holly hit 19. Catherine of "Schitt's Creek" 20. Tarzan creator's monogram

1

21. "The fierce urgency of now" speaker, familiarly 22. ____ B'rith 23. Early role for Neil Patrick 25. 1986 Madonna hit

Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

29. In different places 30. Boxing brothers Max and Buddy of the 1930s NICK KNACK

© 2020 N.F. Benton

1

4/12/20

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk. © 2020 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

LO CA L

PAGE 18 | APRIL 9 – 15, 2020

dog. lazy ick qu The fox sly p e d j u m the over dog. lazy is the Now for all time cows good co me to aid to the the ir of t u r e . pas

25 s Yearo Ag

is the Now for all time cows good co me to aid to the the ir of t u r e . p a s is the Now for all time cows good me to to coaid of the their.

BACK IN THE DAY

25 & 10 Years Ago in the News-Press Falls Church News-Press Vol. V, No. 3 • April 6, 1995

It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the p a s their ture . * * * Throw * * Pour it up. it up

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XX, No. 7 • April 15, 2010

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Critter Corner 10 Year s Ago

It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the the ir pas ture . * * * Throw * * Pour it up. it up

Surprise Endorsement: Chamber of Commerce Backs Full Funding for School Budget

Schools Spared F.C. Council Budget Knife in Countdown to Final Vote

In a surprise development, the Board of Directors of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting Tuesday where it voted unanimously to support the full School Board request of $12,783,457 for Falls Church schools in the FY96 budget currently being hammered out by the City Council here.

Now less than two weeks from the deadline for final adoption of its Fiscal Year 2011 budget, the Falls Church City Council has narrowed its options over the course of three morning meetings in the last seven days, but is still far from decided on some tough decisions that will lead either to higher taxes or deeper service cuts.

Let’s not Party

Meet up Bro-hug Defy

Let’s

Stay put Binge watch Video-happy-hour Save lives

SAFETY FIRST. A family on Seaton Lane is known for giving out dog treats during the good times, but given how transmissible coronavirus is, they’ve had to suspend their doggie philanthropy until things return to normal.

MY SHELTER PETS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS

Visit coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and information from the CDC.

#AloneTogether OLIVIA MUNN WITH CHANCE AND FRANKIE: ADOPTED 2014 AND 2016.

They’re a little bit of a lot of things, but they’re all pure love.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LO CA L

APRIL 9 – 15, 2020 | PAGE 19

LETTERS Continued from Page 6

FALLS CHURCH’S SARA FITZGERALD shared her new book, “The Poet’s Girl,” to a crowd at Arlington’s One More Page Books in February. (Photo: Courtesy Cathy Johnson)

F.C.’s Sara Fitzgerald Pens New Novel About ‘The Poet’s Girl’

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Long-time Falls Church resident and civic activist Sara Fitzgerald, a former Washington Post editor and among the staunchest of League of Women Voter promoters, reveals a rich literary side with a novel about a long and painful love story rooted in the true lives of poet T.S. Eliot and his first love, a woman who supported and sustained him mostly from a distance with correspondences over more than two dozen years as he went through two wives and insisted he never really loved her. Fitzgerald’s novel published this January, “The Poet’s Girl: A Novel of Emily Hale and T.S. Eliot,” is the fact-based story of Eliot and Emily Hale, his first love in college.

The occasion of Fitzgerald’s work was a somewhat famous event on Jan. 2, 2020, when 1,131 letters that Eliot wrote to Hale between 1930 and 1957 were unsealed after being famously sealed at Princeton University for 50 years after the death of Hale in 1969. Fitzgerald was

there with a handful of Eliot scholars for that Jan. 2 unsealing and much more about Eliot began being known.

As for the many letters from Hale to Eliot, those were destroyed

by Eliot in 1960. However, a statement from Eliot was included in the cache of his letters unsealed in January stating that his relationship with Hale was not a love affair. That may have been for complex reasons, scholars think, given it was written just prior to the onset of Eliot’s second marriage to a woman 30 years younger.

While Eliot and Hale spent their summers together from 1935 and 1939 in England, interrupted

by World War II, Hale’s expectation that they would marry following the death of Eliot’s divorced first wife in 1947 was dashed when Eliot informed her it couldn’t happen. The two seldom met after that, even though they continued to correspond until shortly before Eliot’s second marriage.

Eliot and Hale met in 1912, when Eliot was a graduate student at Harvard, and later wrote he’d fallen in love with her. By

1914, Eliot moved to London and never returned to the U.S., and married in 1915, While prior to his marriage, he and Hale had begun a steady correspondence. It ceased during the first decade of what became Eliot’s increasingly unhappy marriage. In 1930, it resumed through Eliot’s divorce a few years later. Between 1930 and 1957, Eliot wrote her more than 1,000 letters.

Fitzgerald’s challenge in her novel was to bring this complex, lifelong relationship to life, from the time of their first meeting at a stunt show charity event. The sharing the two engaged in during their many correspondences was undoubtedly a powerful source of strength for them both, but made bittersweet at best by Eliot’s ultimate unwillingness to marry.

Hale’s emotional investment into the life and fame of Eliot took its toll once the chances for an ultimate marriage became evident to Hale. Elliot’s last letter to Hale was in 1957, and Hale spent the last 12 years of her life engaged with local community groups.

Eliot died in 1965 and Hale died in 1969.

that, along with some other local businesses, Zoya’s Atelier had switched from creating beautiful bridal gowns to making masks to help their Falls Church and vicinity neighbors through the pandemic. With weddings delayed, switching to mask-making kept employees on the payroll, even though many of the masks would be given away.

When I called to inquire, ownermanager Amy Bitici answered on the first ring with a happy voice.

She said, yes, we could get masks and asked if I would mind answering a few questions. She asked our ages and when I answered, she said we each qualified for a free mask.

(Getting old has some advantages besides the grandchildren usually going home with their parents. You may get a free mask in a pandemic.)

She asked for our address and when I said the house number and “Hillwood Avenue” she said that she would drop off the masks in about 20 minutes. I said she need not make a special trip. She explained that she and her family live in the next block of Hillwood Avenue. It turns out that they are the young couple with the growing family. She was about to leave for home and would stop at our house on the way. To the minute, she arrived and we followed the sixfeet rule as she passed the package to me.

The next day, as Nancy and I took a walk, we saw them in their yard and chatted for a bit, keeping at least six feet apart. We realized that we had met at Falls Church Chamber of Commerce meetings. So in the midst of a national crisis, Nancy and I have received free masks and made new, young friends. Sure, that could happen anywhere — but maybe there’s something special about the way things happen in Falls Church.

Ken Feltman Falls Church

Look Out for Others During This Stressful Time Editor, Two of my neighbors died by suicide in recent years. One I didn’t know; the other had bor-

rowed a cup of sugar one month earlier, and we’d visited with him and his child at the playground the week before. Both were devastating. They were only two of at least seven middle-aged men to die by suicide in the City of Falls Church since 2009. Any local reader likely knew or interacted with one of those men. Suicide, the 10th leading cause of U.S. deaths, is highest in middle-aged and older white men (2.91 per year per 10,000 aged 45-64, in 2016 (CDC)). I’m especially thinking of men, who may be conditioned to believe it is weak to cry, to express vulnerability and sadness, to ask for help. But all ages, genders and ethnicities are vulnerable.

Today’s pandemic and precautions are understandably leading to feelings of grief, anxiety, hopelessness, confusion, boredom, incompetence, restlessness, loneliness, and more. We must be vigilant, especially at home where we are self-isolating, and in our video chats, phone calls, walks and other settings. Fairfax County-Falls Church City statistics for 20032011 show 56 percent of people who committed suicide disclosed intent and/or had prior attempts. At this strange and stressful time, let’s turn to each other and tune in to the warning signs: talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves; feeling hopeless or having no reason to live; talking about being a burden; increased use of alcohol or drugs; acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly (more at suicidepreventionlifeline.org).

Asking, “How are you feeling?

Have you had thoughts of hurting or killing yourself?” and speaking directly do not increase suicides or suicidal thoughts.

PsychologyToday.com and GoodTherapy.org have therapistfinder databases searchable by zip code, specialty, treatment modality, cost, insurance, etc. Falls Church has many highly qualified mental health clinicians, most now offering video or phone sessions. The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board offers Emergency Services 24/7: 703-572-5679; INOVA has a walk-in Psychiatric Assessment Center: 703-289-7560.

If you are considering suicide or know someone who is, call 1-800273-TALK (8255) or text HELLO to 741741. This national hotline will connect you with a trained volunteer who will listen and help.

Let’s look out for the men in our lives, others who may be especially burdened or overwhelmed at this time, and ourselves.

Bridget Kraft Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

PAGE 20 | APRIL 9 - 15, 2020

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6902 Turner Ave., Falls Church

Beautiful Colonial built in 2007 in sought after McLean School Pyramid - 4 Bedroom/4.5 Bath w/ Open floor plan.

Grand two story Entry Foyer opens to Formal Living Room, Study/Office area and Kitchen. Kitchen Opens to Eat-In Breakfast area, and Family Room w/ Fireplace. Separate Formal Dining Room off of Kitchen. Sliding doors open from Eat-in Kitchen area to large private Deck overlooking private wildlife sanctuary. Located close to West Falls Church Metro Station, with easy access to I-66 & I-495. Open 1-4pm.

Offered at $949,000.

7306 Gordons Rd, Falls Church

New Construction - Modern Farmhouse in the heart of Falls Church ready in Spring 2020. Over 6,000 sq ft of living space situated on 1/2 acre lot in sought after Falls Hill neighborhood. 6BR/7BA w/ Open floor plan and elegant finishes throughout – Offered at $1,795,000

7534 Lisle Ave, Falls Church

LD SO

New Designer Craftsman Home 6 Bedrooms, 5 Bathrooms w/ over 4,000 sq ft of living space.

Gourmet Kitchen opens to large Family Room w/ Gas Fireplace.

Large flat fenced yard. Offered at $1,249,700

View Virtual Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlTTVfm9_1g&feature=youtu.be

** COVID-19 Safety precautions will be in place for showings **

PLEASE STAY SAFE Please Support your

COVID-19

COMING SOON Falls Church City • 5 Bedroom, 4.5 Bathroom

• First Responder's • Local Falls Church Businesses

All guidelines followed as per State, Fedral and CDC recommendations to provide safety from COVID-19 Disease

Also, buildable lot in Falls Church City

If you are looking to Buy, Sell, or Rent in 2020 please call Chris for a no obligation consultation.

Chris Earman

Member NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club Residential Top Producer

(703) 628-4541 | Chris@EarmanRealEstate.com

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

®

REALTOR

Your Local Falls Church Realtor 703-760-8880 Falls Church/McLean