Falls Church News-Press 9-29-2022

Apartment Dwellers Dominate

F.C.

HIGH SCHOOL ALUMS

by Nicholas F. Benton Falls Church News-Press

A little noticed tipping point was reached in the City of Falls Church in the recent period, as for the first time ever, the majority of residences are now composed of units in multifam ily dwellings as opposed to single family homes.

So reported City Planning Chief Paul Stoddard in an informative brief ing to the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce last week. Dwellings in multifamily complexes now number 3,100 com pared to 2,300 single family homes and 258 townhouses, and the number of multifamily homes is only going to go up, or as some may prefer to state, explode.

That’s based just on projects that are now going up, including at the West End and in the center city, where deep holes have already been dug that any passerby can exam ine. The number of as-yet-to-be-built homes in multifamily structures already OK’d for construction in the next couple years is in the thousands.

by Nicholas F. Benton Falls Church News-Press

Thousands of high school students from throughout Virginia staged walkouts either during or following their class es Tuesday to protest the pro posed changes to official state

policy to limit schools’ abili ties to support transgender and other gender non-conforming students. Students from over 90 schools, including three dozen in Northern Virginia, took part.

The walkouts were coordi nated under the auspices of the Pride Liberation Project, which

describes itself as “a studentrun group of Queer students and allies in Virginia who advo cate for the empowerment of the LGBTQIA+ community.” It says it has “led campaigns to pass inclusive regulations and restore Queer literature, lob bied and testified in the General

Assembly, and even pub lished multiple op-eds in the Washington Post, ” and its web site encourages supporters to join its efforts.

According to State Sen. Adam Ebbin of Alexandria, the

Fall Senior Living And Retirement Issue

Our Fall Senior Living and Retirement Issue is here! This issue focuses on the health of our local senior citizens, and features articles on the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics, technological advancments and more!

tivities included a night of catching up and telling old stories at Solace Outpost, followed by a picnic in Cherry Hill Park where the kids of the former classmates joined in the fun! Kudos to the organizers for all their work in making it happen!

Voter Registration Drives Underway At College Campuses

The Fairfax County Democratic Committee has announced that voter registration drives are underway now at two college campuses nearest to the City of Falls Church, and is welcoming volunteers to join the effort.

George Mason University and the Annandale campus of the Northern Virginia Community College are the targeted sites. The deadline for voting in the November 8 midterm election (and early voting is currently underway) is end of the day of Monday, Oct. 17. Persons are eligible to vote in this election who turn 18 by election day.

New Meridian Sports Hall of Famers Feted Oct. 7 — 8

The Meridian High School Athletic Hall of Fame will be celebrating the achievements of its most recent class the weekend of October 7-8. On Friday night at the Homecoming football game, honorees will be recognized between the first and second quarters. On Saturday, there will be a reception at Meridian High School with beverages and light hors d’oeuvres beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the third floor Learning Stairs. Inductions will then follow at 6:15 pm. Admission is free.

Honorees include Coaches Tom Horn, Jenn Parsons Fees, and LaBryan Thomas, the 2014-16 boys’ soccer team, Kan Tagami, Kim Kenny, Claire Trevisan, Elliot Mercado, D’Montae Noble, Robert Tartt, and Lindy Hockenberry.

New Plans Filed for Virginia Tech Site at West End

A developer has officially filed new plans with Fairfax County to bring housing, retail, and new office and academic facilities to Virginia Tech’s campus adjacent the City of Falls Church’s 10-acre site currently under development at the Haycock Road/Route 7 intersection.

As a joint entity named Converge West Falls LLC, Rushmark Properties in combination with HITT Contracting are now proposing to replace the 283,000 square foot existing Northern Virginia Center at 7054 Haycock Road, built in the 1990s, with a combination 283,000 square foot office building, up to 440 residential units and a 2,000 square foot retail pavilion.

The new submission (filed Sept. 22) advances on an agreement between the development group and the City of Falls Church, owner of the 7.6 acre plot of land that it intends to sell to the developer group.

The project will “serve as a logical connection” between the 10-acre West Falls development on what was the site of Falls Church’s former high school and is now under active development, and a planned redevelopment

by WMATA at its West Falls Church Metrorail station, according to a statement by F.C. land use attorney and Chamber of Commerce board member Andrew Painter.

Converge’s Northern Virginia Center proposal features roughly 820,000 square feet of development. Proposed components include a 283,000-square-foot office and education facility that will house HITT’s corporate headquarters and a 40,000-square-foot laboratory space for Virginia Tech, called the National Center for Smart Construction (NCSC).

A second building will consist of up to 440 units and approximately 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. It will have a maximum height of 15 stories and 145 feet, providing parking in a 2.5-story underground garage.

A third building will be a 2,000-square foot one-story retail kiosk/pavilion.

If approved, the project would link the 10-acre “West Falls” development and the WMATA developments with a central, public West Falls Station Boulevard running through the center all three properties linking Route 7 to the West Falls Church Metrorail station.

“When constructed, this new neighborhood will function as one larger transit-oriented neighborhood,” Painter wrote. “The proposed NCSC facility will serve as a hub for research and testing of emerging construction methods, materials and technology that will inform Northern Virginia’s construction and real estate industries. Further, the proposal will attract individuals who think creatively, share ideas, and drive daytime demand.”

Progress on Alzheimer’s Research Hailed With New Study Result

This week, the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) applauded and welcomed Phase 3 study results on “lecanemab” for treating Alzheimer’s disease, marking an enormous milestone for millions of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

The positive trial results, released by Eisai Tuesday night, show that the novel drug helped slow cognitive decline by 27 percent after 18 months in people who are in the early stages of the illness by targeting amyloid plaque buildup in the brain. These results are significant.

“This study met all its endpoints, unprecedented in Alzheimer’s; it’s a landmark day,” said John Dwyer, GAP president. “The millions-strong Alzheimer’s community deserves access to treatments that improve their lives and slow progression of this insidious disease—now we have a great candidate.”

“These results will change the lives of those with Alzheimer’s, and I am proud that GAP and GAP-Net clinical research trial sites were integral in conducting this groundbreaking study,” Dwyer added.

The study results were based on 1,795 patients, 25 percent of whom were Hispanic and African American..

Some single family and townhouse residents are worrying that their interests may be subordinated to some others, including moves that could mimic the push now in neighboring Arlington to change the zoning in areas designated for single family homes to allow for a multitude of options, such as duplexes, triplexes and multiples of those on a single parcel of land.

The Arlington County Board is inclining to follow trends of other cities in the U.S. to address the needs of the so-called “missing middle” housing that is neither single family, in the area almost all of which are now going for $1 million and up, nor low-income, subsidized “affordable” units singled out for families earning only half or even less than the regional median income.

Exemplary of “missing middle” housing are the famous “Railroad Cottages” developed by Falls Church builder Bob Young to offer options for seniors in the $700,000 to $800,000 range that have been cited as exemplary in the debate in Arlington, and have been the sub-

ject of a lot of national attention.

The F.C. Council will be considering a minor version of the “missing middle” policy this fall in the form of a revision of the City’s so-called “transitional zone” rules that will allow for some multifamily options that would apply to literally only a handful of properties if adopted. The matter is slated to come before the Planning Commission next Wednesday.

But those worried of the “camel’s nose in the tent” impact of even such a modest change are vociferous in their opposition to even that. Votes on that by the F.C. City Council will come later this fall and some on the Council are nervous.

There are other developments that Stoddard cited last week that also indicate changes in the wider environment are producing favorable results for the City, such as the stunning 9.3 percent drop in vehicular traffic rolling through the City on a daily basis between 2007 and 2019, amounting to 50,000 fewer car trips a day.

This is causing some rethinking on the impact of cars here, overall, such as whether or not parking restrictions on areas near to new

multifamily developments will be required to protect the parking needs of nearby homes.

Now, Stoddard reported, half the City now lives within a 10 minute walk of the downtown Harris Teeter.

Still, 322 new residential units are planned for the Founder’s Row, 750 for the West End development, 310 for the Broad and Washington project; Founders Row 2’s planned 280 units and Atlantic Realty’s City Center’s 321 units at above the Ireland’s Four Provinces.

Stoddard added that there remains “a lot of interest” by developers to apply for more such housing in the City.

All of these have been accompanied by new requirements for affordable housing that increases the percentage of such units in new projects and allows the occupants to stay there with no time limit.

On the Council’s work plan, also, is the mulled expansion of the rights of homeowners in the City to develop accessory dwelling units on their land. Currently, such units are allowed only within existing home structures, but this might change to increase the availability

of more affordable homes adjacent existing ones, a concept known as “granny flats.”

Accompanying all this is the achievement by the City of its brand new, 1,500 capacity high school, of a motion picture theater complex at the Founders Row 1 (Council members met with principals of the theater company that intends to go in there this week in what was reported by one Council member as a favorable pow-wow), and a just completed S. Washington St. multi-modal transit plaza with historic narration panels focused on the civil rights movement, bus shelters, seating and bike racks.

There has also been the completion of double paths for cycling and walking on the W&OD trail that traverses the City, and now plans for up to four so-called “parklets” in the downtown area modeled on the popular Mr. Brown’s Park.

There are plans to use federal money to develop Park Avenue between the State Theater and new Mary Riley Styles Library as a “Great Street” with 34 new

trees, undergrounded utilities and pedestrian-friendly intersections, and new crossings on Broad Street, including four with Hawk signals, intersection bump-outs and sidewalk widenings.

Similar developments are slated for the S. Annandale at S. Washington intersection and W&OD trail crossings at N. Spring, N. Oak, Great Falls and Little Falls Streets.

CITY OF F.C. Planning Director Paul Stoddard spoke to the F.C. Chamber of Commerce last week. (N���-P���� P����)

FCCPS School Board: ‘We Value and Support Every Student In Our Charge’

state’s highest elected openly LGBT person, the thousands of students who walked out of their classrooms were in opposition to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposed “model policies” for the treatment of transgender students. “The governor’s decision to enact cruel policies is affecting students across the Commonwealth, and we must add our voices to theirs in opposing the proposed policies,” Ebbin stated.

The City of Falls Church School Board has already been one of the swiftest in the state to react against Youngkin’s move with a statement published in full in last week’s News-Press. It was a joint statement by F.C. School Board chair Laura Downs and Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan. In it, they stated, “The FCCPS School Board wants to assure our community that we value and support every student in our charge…We are committed to following the Virginia Human Rights Act and settled law…which requires respect for the gender identity of transgender students just like any other student in FCCPS.”

They added, “We believe all stu-

dents deserve a community that promotes inclusion and celebrates authenticity and we assure you that FCCPS will maintain consistency with settled law and our adopted non-discriminationa and antiharassment policies.”

In addition, Falls Church’s state delegate Marcus Simon, in fact the author of legislation in Richmond earlier this month to counter Youngkin’s move, wrote the NewsPress this week, the following:

“As the Chief Patron of HB145, the bill that mandated the Department of Education issue model policies for the treatment of transgender students, I can tell you the policies proposed by Governor Younkins Department do not meet the letter on the spirit of that law.

The policies, if enacted, would not only violate the civil rights of trans students, they would be extremely harmful to their mental health and physical well being.

“Today, in light of the now 10s of thousands of public comments, the overwhelming majority of which are in opposition to replacing the existing model policies, I have called on the governor to rescind the 2022 guidance document and encourage him to leave

the model policies adopted in 2021 in place.

“I hope that the governor will realize his mistake and reverse course. The model policies his Department of Education have published are not evidence based, are not best practices, and are not in compliance with state and federal law. Rather, they are a cynical political ploy intended to keep a small and vocal element of his far right wing base animated and motivated going into the 2022 midterm elections.

“I stand in solidarity with the thousands of students who walked out in support of their trans and gender expansive schoolmates today. We can not allow Virginia to be pulled backward.”

A public comment period for these proposed policies is now open and runs through October 26th. Citizens have been urged to submit comments asking the governor and the Virginia Department of Education to rescind the proposed policy on the state’s comment page (bit.ly/3AE2qH1J).

Youngkin’s new “model policies,” Ebbin wrote, are in flagrant violation of Virginia law, and will do serious harm to transgender

students.” He added, “They are not based in science or compassion and will lead to students being outed before they are ready, increased bullying and harassment of marginalized youth, and will require students to jump through legal hoops just to be referred to with their proper name.”

Fairfax County Public Schools said last week that it was “reviewing” the proposed policies and reiterated a commitment to supporting LGBTQ students.

At West Potomac High School in Belle Haven, an estimated 1,000 students walked out at 10 a.m. in protest. They filed into bleachers on the football field, while speakers shared their experiences and why they personally would be affected by the new policies.

“As a trans [person], I have been discriminated against for my gender identity and was told it was wrong. That I was wrong,” said a West Potomac High School senior. “These policies are just a new case of this happening.”

“Most of my friends are transgender and my sister is also transgender. So it affects people I love,” said Mara Surovell of West Potomac High. And I don’t

want any of my friends to feel like school is an unsafe place,” Surovell told Fairfax Now. “I don’t want to see…their mental health plummet because of these policies, and I really just want them to feel safe and loved, and I don’t think that’ll happen if these policies get approved.”

It’s well documented that transgender youth struggle more often with their mental health. A survey from May found that nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth have considered attempting suicide in the past year.

Rayan Afif, who organized the Marshall High walkout, said, if adopted, the guidelines would “ruin the relatively safe environment” they have at school. While most of their teachers use their name and some use their pronouns, that isn’t the case at home.

“Once the revisions are in place, everything will change. I will be forced to use a name and pronouns that do not align with me,” they said. “Additionally, if my parents are contacted due to any suspicion that I am queer, it could cause more tension in my family environment.”

Currently accepting new patients

The midterm elections are fast approaching, and you should know about changes in Virginia Election Laws. First the upcoming election will only have one contest: The United States House of Represen tatives, 8th District. A short but im portant ballot. Election Day is No vember 8th, 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. at your normal polling place. Very soon, the Virginia Department of Elections will mail every active voter a new Voter Information postcard. Why? Because of redistricting. You will receive an updated postcard inform ing you which Virginia Districts have changed. In the City of Falls Church, we have a new State Sen ate District (37) and a new House of Delegates District (13). These new districts will be important in 2023 when those contests will be on the ballot. So, when you receive your new Voter Information postcard, hold it for next year.

There are other changes such as Preregistration of 16 and 17-YearOlds. Effective October 1, 2022, 16and 17-year-olds, who will not be 18 by November 8th 2022, may pre register to vote. The preregistered status is distinct from “registered” or “voter.” Pre-registration does not provide the right to vote, but it enti tles an otherwise eligible individual to the automatic processing of their voter registration application upon reaching the age of eligibility.

Same Day Registration (SDR) is a new law in Virginia also effec tive October 1st. However, eligible voters have until Monday, October 17th to register to vote or update their voter registration if they have moved. If an eligible voter misses this October 17th deadline to regis ter or update their registration, then SDR allows a voter to register to vote after the registration deadline and cast a provisional ballot during the early voting period, Tuesday Oc tober 18 – Saturday November 5, or on Election Day at the polling place they would otherwise be registered in. A provisional ballot will not be counted as part of Election Night Reporting, but will be considered after Election Day by the Electoral Board during the after-election Can

Election

vass. If the voter’s registration appli cation is filled out correctly and the voter is otherwise eligible to be reg istered, then the voter’s provisional ballot will be counted as part of the Official Results of the election that are certified in the days after Elec tion Day. If an individual who used SDR to cast a provisional ballot is determined to be ineligible to vote at that time, then the application will be denied and the provisional ballot will not be counted. The individual will be notified of the denial and have the chance to register after the election for all future elections. For individu als who need to use SDR to cast a ballot at a polling place on Election Day, it is extremely important the potential voter make certain their address belongs to that polling place ward or precinct. If the voter casts a provisional ballot in a polling place and the voter’s registered address does not belong to that polling place, the voter registration application may be processed and approved but the provisional ballot will be denied.

SDR is a useful new law for voters who forgot or were otherwise unable to register or update their voter reg istration by the deadline, but we still want to encourage eligible voters to register before the deadline.

Lastly, we will report our early and absentee ballots by precinct.

Voting during a pandemic has in creased our early and absentee vot ing percentages so that many voters are no longer voting in the polling place on Election Day. All of those ballots were counted in the Central Absentee Precinct (CAP) for a local ity. The General Assembly prefers to see election results at the precinct level. Therefore, early and by-mail voters will receive precinct- or wardspecific ballots. Over 7 percent of City voters are already signed up for permanent by-mail ballots. We will make sure each of them receives their ward-specific ballot. If you are one of the voters, or have already ap plied for a ballot by mail for the up coming election, you should receive your ballot no later than October 1st.

Contact us if you have not received your ballot by October 1.

Remember that by-mail ballots require a witness signature, and you have a variety of options to return your ballot, including the postage paid return envelope included with your ballot package, the drop box in the parking lot of City Hall, or inperson in our office.

Happy Voting!

By Charlie Clark

The county and school boards for our 21st century citizenry trundle along with a 90-year-old system of elections and gover nance.

Hence the all-volunteer Arlington Civic Federation, after two years of research and public forums by a task force, released recommendations for a “once-in-a generation” restruc turing aimed at improving citi zen participation and leader responsiveness.

The blue-skying effort comes at a time of national debate over how electoral winners are deter mined and proposed changes to the Senate filibuster and Supreme Court nominations. Arlington’s system of at-large, staggered elections and fivemember boards was created in the early 1930s. (Before it sepa rated from Alexandria in 1920, Arlington in the 19th century had a board of supervisors and a school superintendent govern ing three districts; Arlington, Jefferson and Washington.)

In a Sept. 14 preview of the federation’s report at the Arlington Committee of 100, past federation president Allan Gajadhar and former school board member Tannia Talento diagnosed the status quo’s prob lems.

Arlington’s governing bod ies remain the same size as in the 1930s even though the coun ty is larger and denser, Gajadhar said. Elected officials are “over worked,” there is “insufficient public engagement” and “inad equate public representation” for some groups. “Arlington doesn’t have sufficient political influence in the region, in light of its population and geogra phy,” he continued. And with school and county board chairs changing every year, we’re at a disadvantage in dealing with mayors or chairs in Alexandria and Fairfax.

The current system “does not adequately reflect the county’s diversity,” he continued—defin ing diversity as racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and “viewpoint.” Many on the outside “don’t feel represented.” Primaries and caucuses discourage candidate participation and voter turnout. Government is “not transpar ent,” and “many feel public engagement” efforts are “not authentic.”

So after studying reforms in such places as Fort Worth,

Texas, and Portland, Ore., they produced six recommen dations: Expand boards from five to seven members; retain countywide (not district) seats; increase the terms of chairs from one year to a minimum of two, with possible renewal; gradually increase salaries (recently done at the county board) to attract better candidates; introduce ranked voting in primaries (you specify your second choice); and stagger both boards’ elec tion dates by two years in a continual rotation.

Talento explained why the option of replacing county-wide candidacies with neighborhood candidates was examined but rejected. Though many believe district-based seats allow “more underrepresented voices,” geo graphically small Arlington has special challenges. It is 13 per cent Latino, 10 percent Asian, 9 percent African American. “The community is not as integrated as we would like, but it is not so segregated as to create vot ing blocs,” she said. Creating districts “might pit us against each other.”

Enlarging boards to more than seven was considered, she said, but might increase risk of violating Sunshine laws on informal meetings.

The advantages of ranked vot ing, Talento said, are that it can help minority candidates gain

a foothold, and might enhance civility. “You can’t attack the other candidate because you might want to be their No. 2.” (After the federation’s report, county board chair Katie Cristol said the board would vote in November to introduce rankedchoice voting in next spring’s primaries.)

Such reforms should “bring more viewpoints to the table,” Talento said, but will require voter education. “I believe you push and pull each other to greatness. You can get the best consensus for a compromise, to serve all people.”

***

Permit me to share a long-lost personal incident in Arlington:

On Oct. 21, 1956, accord ing to a travel diary I recently acquired written by my grandfa ther C.R. Clark, my father, then 33, was showing his visiting Oregonian parents around Fort Myer. During a ceremonial low ering of the colors, this future columnist—then an energetic three-year-old—ran out on the field in front of the marching column of uniformed soldiers. “Embarrassed father,” wrote the diarist. “Kid would not let [my father] Keith catch him.”

I’ve no memory of that mad dash. But new knowledge of such roots makes me proud to be an Arlingtonian at age 69.

So, the News-Press Expands ‘Outlook’

It is frightening to watch as, in the face of its gravest test of its commitment to democracy since the Civil War, key institutions designed to protect and strengthen democracy are now being shuttered. If ever this should not be happening, it is right now.

A couple weeks ago, CNN announced it was canning its “Reliable Sources” Sunday morning show. It had been running for years as a watchdog against undue bias in the media, led by the young and dedicated Brian Stelter. CNN didn’t wait to shut it down. The week the announcement was made, it was gone.

Now, the Washington Post is doing a similar thing with one of its most popular and poignant Sunday sections, The Outlook, a playground of commentators of different stripes speaking freely and often in a manner critically important to the political discourse in the nation. Again, the announcement, then gone, just like that.

We may think that losing this or that show or section still leaves the bulk of free speech and ideas intact. But don’t be so sure. There is a woeful lack of forums for thoughtful discourse in the nation right now. Instead, our means of shared communication are flooded with football games, tacky game and reality shows, all horribly packaged to focus on preset outcomes and fan favorites.

Even when we learn that Moscow decided by the 1980s that Donald Trump was going to be groomed and promoted as its preferred agent of influence in the U.S., and would be so cultivated as a presidential candidate, who has taken notice of how the media built him up from that point on. Who knows who the executives at NBC were who created the vehicle for Trump to gain national status as the star of a reality TV show, “The Apprentice?”

Who was it among the executives at Twitter who resisted pressure from whistleblowers in their own ranks to keep Trump’s account open despite the worst evidence of violating the company policies over and over?

In both cases, the excuse was given that ratings drove the decisions. But that does not hold. It has always been clear that powerful elites see the media, and cultural influencers, as key to their efforts to keep themselves at the top of the heap, and a majority of Ameicans from paying attention to how they are being so routinely fleeced. The media is very central to their efforts, including those now that Trump has advanced, to simply end democracy as we know it. This present period is being seen as an opportunity to slam the door shut on democracy, once and for all.

Don’t blame the media for complicity in this. The media is the wholly owned tool of it.

We must exploit the modicum of freedom afforded our speech now to stand against this with everything we’ve got. The News-Press will be expanding its own modest “Outlook” section to send a message in this regard.

L ������ Leading Pedestrian Indicators Crucial For Safety

Editor,

This is a response to the Sep. 14 “pedestrian safety” letter, and specifically the complaint about the crossing signal at the intersection of W Broad & Virginia Ave.

I believe some context will be enlightening. W Broad & Virginia Ave is a very heavily trafficked pedestrian intersection that has had a crucial safety feature in place for over a decade. It’s called an LPI — Leading Pedestrian Indicator.

An LPI works like this: when the light is due to change, the LPI triggers the pedestrian walk signal BEFORE the light turns green for car traffic to commence. This enables pedestrians to get a crucial head start of several seconds to establish position in the crosswalk before the green light enables car traffic to start in the same direction.

To quote from The National Association of City Transportation Officials, NACTO.org:

“LPIs enhance the visibility of pedestrians in the intersection and reinforce their right-of-way over turning vehicles, especially in locations with a history of conflict.

LPIs have been shown to reduce pedestrian-vehicle collisions as much as 60 percent at treated intersections.”

Last year the crossing signal at this intersection was accidentally reset for a number of months to

not have an LPI. I personally witnessed multiple frightening nearmisses when both the pedestrian signal and the green light activated simultaneously. It resulted in turning vehicles gunning directly for pedestrians — including parents pushing strollers — who had just taken their first steps off the curb into the crosswalk.

Without an LPI at this intersection, it would be only a matter of time until a pedestrian was severely injured or killed. I want to thank all of the City officials who ensured that this critical LPI was reestablished when I brought it to their attention.

Diane Bartley

Appreciation For Sustainable Gardening Piece

City of Falls Church Editor, Thank you for publishing the op-ed by Sandy Tarpinian regarding the use of native plants and sustainable gardening to reduce lawns and enhance beauty in the little city! Sandy is my neighbor and she along with my husband, Richard, have transformed our townhouse landscaping from an eroding hillside to a lush garden filled with native plants. It’s has truly been a labor of love! Readers can come check it out at the corner of Washington and Great Falls Streets.

Julia Bertoia City of Falls Church

We Want Your Feedback on Proposed Parking and Bus Bay Changes at West Falls Church Station

Metro is proposing parking and bus bay changes to promote transit-oriented development, increase ridership, enhance bicycle and pedestrian access, and modernize transit facilities.

Proposed changes include:

•Eliminating the south surface parking lot

•Reducing the total number of bus bays

•Reducing Kiss & Ride spaces

•Reducing hourly parking spaces

There are two ways you can provide feedback:

1.Share your feedback online.

Take the survey, provide written comments, or upload documents at wmata.com/plansandprojects Provide written comments by 5 p.m. Monday, October 31, 2022.

2.Participate in a Public Hearing.

On Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 6:30 p.m., Metro will host a hybrid Public Hearing with both in-person and virtual participation options. Metro staff will be on-site to answer questions before the Public Hearing.

Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center | 7054 Haycock Road | Falls Church, Virginia

To participate by phone: Call 855-925-2801 and enter meeting code 4773.

To participate via video: Advance registration is required.

To register, email speak@wmata.com by 5 p.m. on October 18.

Watch or Listen Live

Watch or listen to the virtual public hearing live at on wmata.com/plansandprojects, on YouTube, or by calling 855-925-2801 and entering meeting code 4773.

Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, gender, religion, disability, or family status. ASL interpretation will be provided.

To request other accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or other language interpretation services (free of charge), contact the Office of the Board Secretary at 202-962-2511 (TTY: 202-962-2033) or send a message to speak@wmata.com as soon as possible, so Metro can make the necessary arrangements before the public hearing date.

Trump’s Heartless QAnon Embrace

being shot in the back and legs, survived. Her mother and the dog did not.

NEW YORK TIMES

The title of the Reddit post this month seemed almost too shocking to be true: “My Qdad snapped and killed my family this morning.”

The post — by Rebecca Lanis, a 21-year-old from Michigan — was on a forum dedicated to people who’ve lost loved ones to QAnon, the sprawling conspiracy cult that imagines that Donald Trump is wag ing a secret war against blood-drink ing pedophiles who run Hollywood and the Democratic Party. As The Detroit News would soon report, Lanis’ father, 53-year-old Igor Lanis, had indeed gone on a murderous rampage.

Lanis described how her father had fallen down the QAnon rab bit hole after the 2020 election. He wasn’t violent, however, until the morning of Sept. 11, when he shot her mother, her sister and their dog, and was then killed in a shootout with the police. Lanis’ sister, despite

The killings weren’t the first to be linked to QAnon radicalization. Last year, a 40-year-old California man confessed to killing his two young children; in an affidavit, an FBI agent said he “explained that he was enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories” and had come to believe that his children had serpent DNA. In 2019, a QAnon devotee stabbed his brother to death after being convinced that he was a lizard. However bizarre, the idea that the ruling elite are really lizards or reptiles seeking to enslave the human race is an old conspiracy theory that has been subsumed into QAnon’s paranoid omnibus mythology.

All these men appear to have been mentally ill, but QAnon played a role in shaping and reinforcing their delusions, as it has for many committing lesser crimes. On Friday, an Iowa man named Doug Jensen became the latest QAnon follower to be convicted in connection to his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The existence of the Reddit forum where

Lanis posted, QAnon Casualties, is itself a testament to the way QAnon destroys lives.

Which is why Trump’s embrace of the movement is not just danger ous, but cruel.

Trump has long played foot sie with QAnon, whose adherents prophesy an apotheosis, or “storm,” in which Trump is returned to power and his enemies rounded up and executed. “I don’t know much about the movement other than I under stand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” Trump said in 2020. When he was still on Twitter, he reg ularly retweeted QAnon followers.

But in recent weeks, as Trump’s legal troubles have mounted, his endorsement of QAnon has become more forthright. On Sept. 12, he reposted an image of him self wearing a Q lapel pin and the words “The Storm Is Coming” on his social media platform, Truth Social. An Associated Press analy sis, published Sept. 16, found that of nearly 75 accounts Trump has reposted on Truth Social in the past month, more than one-third have promoted QAnon.

Why Is The British Pound Getting Pounded?

Paul Krugman

NEW YORK TIMES

Financial markets usually give wealthy, politically stable nations a lot of fiscal space. In particular, a country like the United States, or for that matter Britain, can normally run quite big budget deficits without creating a run on its currency. This is because investors typically believe that nations like ours will, in the end, get their acts together and pay their bills; they also believe that central banks like the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England will do whatev er it takes to prevent deficit spending from setting off runaway inflation.

In fact, deficit spending in an advanced economy normally causes the value of that country’s currency in terms of other currencies to “rise,” because the collision between fiscal stimulus and tight money leads to high interest rates, and these high rates attract an inflow of capital from abroad. When Ronald Reagan cut taxes while increasing military spending during the early 1980s, the dollar surged against other major currencies, like Germany’s Deutsche mark (this was long before the cre ation of the euro).

But a funny thing (or not so

funny, if you’re British) happened over the past week, when Liz Truss, the new prime minister of the United Kingdom, announced a neo-Rea ganite “fiscal event.” (She didn’t call it a proper budget, because that would have required issuing fiscal and economic projections, which probably would have been embar rassing.)

It was already clear that the Truss government was going to have to increase spending in the short run, to aid families hit with higher energy bills stemming from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s de facto natural gas embargo. Rather than raising taxes to help cover this expense, however, Truss’ chancellor of the Exchequer — basically her Treasury secretary — announced tax “cuts,” notably a big reduction in taxes on the highest earners.

The parallel with Reaganomics was obvious. Interest rates duly rose. But in this case, rather than rising, the pound plunged.

This wasn’t the market reaction you’d expect for an advanced econ omy. It was instead similar to what you often see in emerging markets, where investors worry that govern ments will cover increased deficits by printing more money, causing inflation to accelerate.

Now, such things have happened in Britain before. Back in 1976,

Britain experienced a sterling cri sis, in which concerns about budget deficits caused a plunging pound, adding to already-high inflation. Humiliatingly, the government was forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a loan, which came on the condition that the gov ernment make deep cuts in public spending.

At the time, however, the Bank of England wasn’t the independent institution it later became. It was, in effect, just a branch of Her Majesty’s Treasury, and it accommodated the inflationary effect of deficits rather than acting to offset them. These days, the bank is not only independent, but it also has a mandate to keep infla tion low.

So why the sudden run on the pound? One answer I liked came from City of London economist Dario Perkins, who declared that the problem with the budget wasn’t that it was inflationary but that it was “moronic,” and that an economy run by morons has to pay a risk premium.

But while I like the idea of a “moron” premium, there may also be a more concrete concern. I’ve been in correspondence with other City of London economists, and they have expressed doubts about whether the bank will actually be willing to tighten enough to offset the inflation ary impact of Trussonomics.

“What he’s doing on Truth Social is a massive escalation,” said Mike Rothschild, author of “The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything.”

At a rally on Sept. 17, Trump spoke over mournful music that was, as The New York Times report ed, “all but identical” to a QAnon theme song; many in the audience raised a pointed finger in the air, a QAnon salute. On Friday, the for mer president reposted a video full of QAnon memes on Truth Social. (Some around Trump may believe it’s unhelpful for him to openly court an apocalyptic cult; at a rally Friday, staff reportedly made people giving the QAnon salute lower their arms.)

Many have speculated about why Trump is moving closer to QAnon. My own guess is that he’s deepening his connection with his most fanatical fans to more eas ily whip up a vigilante mob if he’s indicted on any of the many charges he appears to be facing. What’s clear, though, is how little he thinks of those fans, whom he is blithely encouraging down a ruinous path.

“We tend to see the danger that these movements represent, but we

These doubts were reinforced Monday, when the bank disappointed investors hoping for an emergency rate hike to stabilize the pound, limit ing itself instead to a rather vague statement that it “would not hesitate” to raise rates if necessary to limit inflation.

Yet I don’t see any reason to believe that Britain’s central bank has lost its political independence or that it will allow itself to be bullied into avoiding rate hikes by a government that apparently believes in the zombie idea that tax cuts will pay for them selves.

There may, however, be a Britainspecific reason the Bank of England might be hesitant to raise rates suf ficiently to contain inflation.

The more I look at current events in Britain, the more I find myself hark ing back not to 1976 but to the other sterling crisis of 1992. At the time, while the euro didn’t yet exist, many European nations, Britain included, were part of a system intended to keep the relative value of their curren cies stable — a so-called exchange rate mechanism. In 1992-93, how ever, the European ERM came under severe pressure from speculators, most famously George Soros, who began betting that many of Europe’s economies would give up on their targets and allow their currencies to fall against the Deutsche mark.

Defending against this specula tive onslaught would have required sharply raising interest rates for an

don’t talk about the people who are in them,” Rothschild told me. It’s easy to write off QAnon followers, he said, many of whom have rep rehensible beliefs. But “this move ment, and this philosophy, it finds an audience because it tells people things that they want to hear, and it creates a world for them that is much safer and makes a lot more sense than the world that we’re in now.”

It is deeply comforting for peo ple to feel that they’re part of an epochal battle between good and evil in which good is destined to triumph. The world of QAnon, said Rothschild, “becomes the only meaningful thing to them.”

Trump is making it much hard er for people to leave that world, because the man they admire most is endorsing all their wild, violent ly millenarian fantasies. “It blows away the doubt,” said Rothschild. Much was made in 2016 of Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters “deplorables.” But few have dem onstrated as much contempt for the people who love Trump as Trump has himself.

By Michelle Goldberg © 2022 The New York Times

extended period. And in the end, several countries, Britain included, proved unwilling to do that. Why?

Part of the answer was that Britain was suffering from high unemploy ment at the time and feared that rate hikes would deepen its slump. But there was another, perhaps even more pressing, concern. For a variety of reasons British homeowners, unlike their U.S. counterparts, tend to have either floating rate mortgages, whose interest rates vary with the market, or mortgages that will come due and need to be refinanced within a few years.

In 1992, this meant that defending the pound with higher interest rates would quickly translate into direct financial pain for millions. And after a few weeks of defiant rhetoric, poli cymakers caved to the pressure and let the pound fall.

I have no direct evidence that similar considerations are weighing on the Bank of England now. But it seems likely.

It’s still too soon to write Britain off; it’s a rich country with a lot of freedom to maneuver. On the other hand, if British monetary policy really is constrained in this way, going all in for zombie fiscal policy is even more irresponsible than it would be oth erwise. And you do have to wonder how long Truss will last, given this huge unforced policy error.

By Paul Krugman © 2022 The New York Times

Michelle Goldberg

Landslide Midterms Are Now Underway

N������� F.

With voting having begun in key states already last week, we are now in full midterm election mode for the next less than two months.

Pundits and polls are dominating the landscape, but this election will be different. This election was foretold by a referendum in Kansas months ago, when everyone was shocked that a ballot measure aimed at outlawing abortion in that notoriously conservative state blew right up. Women even in Kansas, in the privacy of the polling place, delivered a very important message. They handily defeated the anti-abortion measure.

Far too few even after that vote have grasped its significance, treating it like an anomaly. But the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that the Supreme Court decision this year to overturn Roe V. Wade has sparked something very deep and very personal in the hearts of every woman in America, and the men who support them.

As a result, we are in store for the biggest political upset in American history, an upset that even all the Republican efforts to rig elections will be unable to prevent.

It is stunning how clueless white males are concerning what’s going to happen. It is stirring in the hearts and souls of every woman, and if the objection is that it doesn’t apply to every woman, then that just blurs the point.

In Iran, this last week, the death of one woman has sparked an unprecedented outcry of women throughout that nation, against political odds far greater than here. The woman was killed by “morality police” in Iran for violating the law about women having to cover their heads in public.

News of that murder have led to mass demonstrations across that land in the face of consequences far more severe than here. And only because of something as relatively mild as a rule requiring the wearing of a hijab.

Mild that is, compared to the new U.S. laws being enacted in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling effectively forcing women to subordinate not their clothing,

but their bodies to an arbitrary authority.

We’ve all been hearing about the extremes the new anti-abortion push in the U.S. is causing to be inflicted on women. Collectively, these accounts and the pressure the new laws are imposing on all women have become one of the most horrid disenfranchisements of one class of human beings against another in our history.

Stupid men think the abortion issue is political, or a matter of policy. Not for women. It is a matter of acute personal violation, comparable and even worse than rape in the sense that it is not a one-time violation, but a lifelong one, a never ending one for the victims, who are not just one or two women, but all women.

It is hard to imagine a worse social injustice, forced upon a majority of all the persons in a nation, than this.

Yes, perhaps it can be likened to Putin’s edict this past week ordering all men in Russia between ages 18 and 60 to submit themselves to the deadly whims of the state, to face being sent to the front lines without adequate training or equipment to be butchered on a Ukrainian battlefield.

The men who are now fleeing Russia in the tens of thousands, and more, don’t like the idea of submitting their lives in such a suicidal manner. But their predicament is not unlike that facing all women in the U.S. now.

Do you not think this is going to find a reflection in the midterm elections in the U.S. this fall?

In Russia, those sad men are having to pile onto the roads out of their country to avoid Putin’s latest insanity. In the U.S. the relative advantage for women is that they need only show up at the polls, and brother, are they going to!

The downside of the tyrannical approach to government is that leading requires the tireless imposition of force against a vast majority of a population, and the end is seldom nice for the tyrant.

Republicans foisting their tyranny against women this fall will be lucky they will be facing only an orderly defeat.

We Still Don’t Know How the Ukraine War Ends

T����� L. F������� NEW YORK TIMES

Last week was an interesting week to be in Europe talking to national security experts, officials and business executives about Ukraine. Ukraine and its allies had just forced Russian invaders into a chaotic retreat from a big chunk of territory, while the presidents of China and India had seemed to make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the food and energy inflation his war has stoked was hurting their 2.7 billion people. On top of all that, one of Russia’s iconic pop stars told her 3.4 million followers on Instagram that the war was “turning our country into a pariah and worsening the lives of our citizens.”

In short, it was Putin’s worst week since he invaded Ukraine — without wisdom, justice, mercy or a Plan B.

And yet … maybe I was just hanging around the wrong people, but I detected a certain undertow of anxiety in many of my conversations with Ukraine’s European allies.

I learned long ago as a foreign correspondent that sometimes the news is in the noise, in what is being said and shouted,

and sometimes the news is in the silence, in what isn’t being said at all. And my interpretation of what wasn’t being said last week went like this: Yes, it is great that Ukraine is pushing the Russians back some, but can you answer me the question that has been hanging out there since the fighting started: How does this war end with a stable result?

We still don’t know. As I probed that question in my conversations, I discerned three possible outcomes, some totally new, some familiar, but all coming with complicated and unpredictable side effects:

Outcome 1 is a total Ukrainian victory, which risks Putin doing something crazy as defeat and humiliation stare him in the face.

Outcome 2 is a dirty deal with Putin that secures a ceasefire and stops the destruction, but it risks splintering the Western allies and enraging many Ukrainians.

Outcome 3 is a less dirty deal — we go back to the lines where everyone was before Putin invaded in February. Ukraine might be ready to live with that, and maybe even the Russian people would, too, but Putin would have to be ousted first, because he would never abide the undeniable implication that his war was completely for naught.

The variance among these

outcomes is profound, and few of us will not be affected by which way it goes. You may not be interested in the Ukraine war, but the Ukraine war will be interested in you, in your energy and food prices, and, most important, in your humanity, as even the “neutrals” — China and India — have discovered.

So let’s go under the hood of all three possible endings.

Outcome 1

No one expects the Ukrainian army to be able to immediately follow up its substantial military gains of the past two weeks by just sweeping the rest of the Russian army back across the border. But for the first time I could hear people asking: “What if the Russian army actually collapses?”

Surely more than a few Russian soldiers, and the Russianspeaking Ukrainians who threw in their lot with them, thinking they would win and stay forever, are now asking themselves the John Kerry Vietnam War question: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Everyone can now see just what a big lie this whole war was. Everyone hears the stories that some of the reinforcements Putin is sending to the front are convicts who bartered their way out of prison by agreeing to fight in Ukraine for six months. Many others are mercenaries from as far away as Syria.

Wait a minute. If Ukraine really had become, as Putin

Prepare for power outages today

Faces of Falls Church

COMMENT

A Penny for Your Thoughts News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

Has post-pandemic traffic been “driving” you crazy? Constituent complaints and personal observa tions seem to lament the return of traffic to pre-pandemic levels. Reports of speeding are increasing, and drivers seem to be more aggres sive -- running red lights, refusing to allow other drivers to merge on ramps or change lanes, failing to stop for pedestrians in marked cross walks. During the pandemic, many people turned to walking as an outlet and exercise, and pedestrian activ ity has increased in many of our neighborhoods; that’s a good thing — speeding and ignoring pedestrian safety is not.

Many Mason District neighbor hoods have traffic calming devices (speed humps) on their local streets, and more residents are petitioning for similar consideration. Unlike the independent cities of Falls Church, Fairfax, Alexandria, and Arlington County, roadways in Fairfax County are controlled and main tained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), a state agency. Some of the familiar devices in other jurisdictions, such as flash ing pedestrian crossing signals, gen erally are not permitted by VDOT for use in Fairfax County. One program that has had some success is the Residential Traffic Administration Program (RTAP), which includes traffic calming, cut-through mitiga

tion, $200 Fine for Speeding Signs, Watch for Children Signs, and Through-Truck Restrictions.

Many Mason District neighbor hoods have used the RTAP process successfully. If you drive over a speed hump on a Mason District roadway, you can be sure that it was installed there after a vigorous review of traffic and speed counts, a neighborhood task force to deter mine types of devices, engineering reviews for safety and, finally, a community vote. Most neighbor hood efforts are successful, although some neighborhoods do not reach consensus. Of course, if all driv ers took responsibility and drove the speed limit – 25 mph on most residential streets – traffic calming devices would not be necessary. Speed humps are self-enforcing; no police officer needed, and a reminder that residents care about safe streets. Slowing down in neighborhoods also protects pedestrians, either on side walks or road shoulders. Drivers and pedestrians both need to be aware of their surroundings. Drivers, turn on headlights as dusk approaches earlier now. Pedestrians, wear something white or light-colored when walking at night. For more information about the RTAP process for your Mason District neighborhood, please send an email to my office at mason@ fairfaxcounty.gov.

The Art in the Mason District

Governmental Center program fea tures Lee Jaworek, a young artist with autism, who tries to express his perception of the world through his art. Lee has trademarked his art as Artism – seeing the world through the prismatic lens of autism. Lee is a graduate of the Art Institute of Washington, has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and has exhibited at the State Capitol in Richmond, the Four Seasons Hotel, and now, in Mason District. Lee’s brightly colored canvases on dis play range from a triptych of the State of Liberty against a brilliant sunset, a very cocky rooster, and a bluebird gazing at a bright yellow background. My favorites are two canvases of a jaunty honeybee – one that shows the bee in a larger gar den setting, and a smaller painting that brings the same honeybee into sharper focus on a multi-faceted yellow flower. The honeybee has such a personality, you are tempted to reach out and feel the fuzzy brown and yellow bands for your self. The Lee Jaworek art show can be viewed at 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale through the end of October.

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

Weapon Law Offenses, W&OD Bike Trail/Little Falls St, September 19, 8 AM, a male, 51, of no fixed address, was reported to be walking along the trail swinging a knife. He was located and issued a summons for Carrying a Concealed Weapon.

Burglary, S Washington St, September 20, 6:46 AM, it was dis covered that the front door of a busi ness was shattered and items of value were taken. A majority of the stolen items were later recovered in Manassas, VA, and Howard County, MD. Investigation continues.

DUI/Assault, E Broad St/Noland St, September 20, 7:35 PM, a male, 35, of Annandale, VA, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence, Assaulting a Law Enforcement Officer and Assaulting a Health Care Worker (x2).

Larceny, W Westmoreland Rd, between September 2 and noon on September 20, unknown suspect(s) took a black, custom Diamondback bike with motor attached, from an unsecured backyard shed.

Trespass, Wilson Blvd, September 21, 9:35 PM, a male, 55, of no fixed address, was issued a summons for Trespass.

Larceny of Vehicle Parts, Roosevelt Blvd, between 9 PM, September 21 and 8:30 AM, September 22, unknown suspect(s) broke the driver’s side window of a Honda Fit and removed the steer ing wheel airbag.

Driving Under the Influence/ Refusal, Wilson Blvd, September 24, 12:06 AM, a female, 48, of Dumfries, VA, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence and Refusal.

Assault and Batter, Destruction of Property, E Fairfax St, September 25, 5:46 PM, a female, 51, of the City of Falls Church was arrested for Assault and Batter and Destruction of Property.

by Kylee Toland Falls Church News-Press

Let’s face it, technology can be confusing, especially for senior citizens. However, technological advancements are being made for people 55 and older; some of them making their lives easier, while others can save their lives altogether.

Nowadays, there are a variety of technological products for senior cit izens to keep them active, as well as ensure safety. Whether it be a mobile scooter, a GPS shoe or an automatic walker, the City of Falls Church and surrounding areas are providing a variety of services, businesses and products for those who are older in age.

Bennet Helfgott is the owner and director of Mobility City in Alexandria. Helfgott stated the tech nological improvements for senior citizens has always “been there,” but rather there has been a lack of educa tion for seniors to understand how this technology can “change their lives on a daily basis.”

Due to some senior citizens not knowing about the technological advancements being made for them, Helfgott said that “the minute they get into one of those technologically

advanced scooters or wheelchairs,” their attitudes change and they often leave the store “with a smile on their face.”

The store offers mobile scooters and transport chairs, lift chairs, rol lators and more, with Helfgott stating it’s a “rewarding feeling” to see senior citizens using and enjoying their new product.

“They’ll look at me and say ‘You just changed my life,’” said Helfgott.

As technology for helping senior citizens is growing, The Kensington Falls Church provides the Insight Memory Care Center, a non-profit adult day health and resource cen ter providing specialized care, sup port and education for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other memory impairments. Along with this program is innovative technol ogy provided to the patients and their caregivers.

One of these technological inno vations recommended by Kensington is the GPS shoe, which can allow a senior citizen to locate help when lost or a caregiver to find a senior citizen suffering from a memory impair ment.

Another resource the facility provides is the MedicAlert program partnered with Medical Guardian.

Medical Guardian specializes in medical alert devices, which can be set up in one’s home, while they are “on-the-go” and on their mobile phones. If one is having a medical emergency, the push of a button can alert emergency services to respond to the incident. According to their website, 95 percent of customers sur veyed said that Medical Guardian made “aging in place and maintain ing independence easier.”

In Fairfax, two Chantilly High School seniors have designed an automatic walker that helps improve the mobility of people living with Parkinson’s Disease and senior citizens. Kaavya Karthikeyan and Akanksha Tibrewala were inspired to create their product “AutoTrem” after Tibrewala saw her great-grandmoth er suffer paralysis on one side of her body. She said it was “super difficult” for her great-grandmother to walk and “do simple tasks” like eating and sitting down.

Karthikeyan and Tibrewala focused the product on Parkinson’s patients and how it would give them the motivation to exercise. They both state that one of the main symptoms in Parkinson’s patients is the loss of motivation to do things, thus result ing in their muscles degenerating. If

a patient is able to exercise, muscular strength can be restored.

“Our goal is to help [Parkinson’s patients] exercise and motivate them to have that safety net of an automatic walker,” said Karthikeyan.

AutoTrem allows patients to not have to push the walker to get around, but rather “walk with the walker.” There are safety features which ensure that patients will not run into something, such as an ultra sonic sensor. The walker has been tested at multiple rehab centers in the local area, with Tibrewala stat ing that the people using the walker were “impressed by the features that it had” and were “encouraging about the walker” when it made exercising for them “easier and more fun.”

John Bagely, the Interim Director at The View Alexandria by Goodwin Living, said two of their campuses recently completed an upgrade to their health security system that fea tures a motion sensor in independent resident apartments that triggers a daily check-in.

This new upgrade has helped both campuses ensure their residents’ safety as well as provide “psychoso cial comfort” to residents who are ensured someone will check in on them if an emergency arises.

These are just a few of the many examples of technological advance ments being made for senior citizens. As more elderly citizens become aware of these new products, it shows that there is hope for them to live out the rest of their lives being active and staying safe.

AUTOTREM was designed by two Chantilly High School students for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. (Photo Courtesy: Kathleen Miller)

BY KYLEE TOLAND FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

In 1982, an athletic event for adults over the age of 50 to participate in was created with only 80 competitors. Forty years later, the number of competitors has grown 10 times larger with about 800 participants and more than 70 events.

The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics (NVSO) celebrated its 40th anniversary by hosting hundreds of participants at 25 different venues throughout Northern Virginia. What started out as a small athletic event based in Fairfax County has grown to include nine jurisdictions in the Northern Virginia area, including the City of Falls Church, Arlington, Loudon and more.

This year, the NVSO started on September 10th and ended two weeks later on the 24th, offering participants a chance to become active with both newer and older athletic events, as well as working together and socializing.

In order for one to participate in the NVSO, they must

his wife found an article about it and suggested that he try it out. He said being a part of the Senior Olympics is “contagious” and what started out for him as a “modest” try at the event became something he annually participates in.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Levitan said. “It encourages me in particular to train throughout the year and thereby stay healthy and engaged.”

Over the years, the Senior Olympics have had various

activities participants can compete in. Whether it be track, cycling, swimming, bowling, tennis, scrabble or more, athletes can sign up for any event they deem fit for their abilities. This year, NVSO introduced a new event focused on weight lifting. Back squats, shoulder presses and deadlifts were three of the activities offered in this

new event that athletes could compete in.

This year, the City of Falls Church had 70 individuals participate in the NVSO, with two Falls Church participants breaking records in freestyle swimming and diving.

Jonathan S. Ruskin is a Falls Church resident who has been a competitor in the Senior

Olympics for several years. Ruskin was inspired to take part in the NVSO after retiring from the Federal Government in 2015, wanting to focus “heavily on maintaining both my physical and mental fitness.” He said his longtime personal trainer made him aware of the NVSO.

in

pickleball match.

City Of Falls Church Aging Services

A wide variety of services targeted to senior adults are available, including information and referral, links to resources, advocacy, com munity education, limited case management, counseling / consultation for persons with mul tiple needs, home visits, access to affordable assisted living, dental services, and more.

Fairfax Division of Adult & Aging Services

Through contract arrangements with the Division of Adult and Aging Services, City of Falls Church residents may access home-based care, Meals on Wheels, employment services, insurance counseling, volunteer opportunities, mandated adult protective services, and more.

www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/olderadultservices/

Call the Adult and Aging Services at 703-324-5411, TTY 703-449-1186.

Assisted Living Programs

Through agreements with the City of Falls Church, Sunrise Senior Living offers set-aside beds and The Kensington offers subsidized assisted living to low and moderate-income City residents or members of their immediate families.

Sunrise Senior Living Set-Aside Program

City of Falls Church residents or immediate family members of City residents considering assisted living may be eligible for a program that offer participants 62 and older with low and moderate incomes, a reduced rate for room and board at Sunrise Senior Living, located in the City of Falls Church. Based on needs, different levels of services are available. Any and all costs beyond the basic monthly room and board fee are exclusive of this program and charged at market rate. Person under 62 with disabilities may also be eligible.

Frequently Asked Questions on Sunrise SetAside Program

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/14285/Sunrise-Frequently-Asked-Questions

Policy and Procedures for Assisted Living Programs www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/14284/City-Assisted-Living-ProgramsPolicy_Sunrise-and-The-Kensington Interest List Application for Assisted Living Programs

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7464

The Kensington Subsidized Program

Through an agreement between The Kensington and the City, Housing and Human Services is offering eligible seniors the opportu nity to participate in a subsidized assisted living program at this facility. You may qualify if you are a resident of the City or have a family mem

ber who is a resident, are age 62 and older, and meet income eligibility guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions on The Kensington Program

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/14286/The-Kensington_Frequently-AskedQuestions

Policy and Procedures for Assisted Living Programs

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/14284/City-Assisted-Living-ProgramsPolicy_Sunrise-and-The-Kensington

Interest List Application for Assisted Living Programs

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/7464

Senior Center

The Recreation and Parks Department offers a consolidated program of activities including social activities, recreation programs and trips for area seniors at the Senior Center located in the Community. More information on Senior Center

http://www.fallschurchva.gov/seniorcenter

Need Help

If you are a resident who needs someone to perform a job such as yard work or snow shoveling, contact the Recreation and Parks at 703-248-5307 (TTY 711)

Relief Programs for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities

The City of Falls Church provides Real Estate Tax Relief, Personal Property/Auto Decal Relief and Rent Relief to City resi dents who are either 65 or older, or per manently and totally disable, and meet the income and asset eligibility requirements. Applications are available beginning in midFebruary of each year with a deadline date of April 15th.

Eligibility requirements:

- Applicants must be residents of the City of Falls Church as of December 31st

- Applicants must be 65 year of age, or permanently and totally disabled

- For Rent Relief you cannot be receiv ing a rent subsidy

- Income and asset requirements vary from program to program

Resources

Other City Programs for Seniors

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/5883

Assisted Living Programs and Senior Housing Information

www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/ View/7377

Care ID Is Conducting Two New Trials:

Could you be par t of the nex t vaccine break through?

mRNA vaccines have changed the way we f ight infec tious diseases Introducing P f izer ’s phase 3 research s tud y for an inves tigational f lu vaccine using mRNA technolog y.

Research is ongoing to evaluate an investigational mRNA flu vaccine. By participating in this study, you can help us learn if this investigational vaccine is safe and can help the body produce antibodies which may help fight off the flu. When you participate in a study, you’re helping to represent both your community and all people who are affected by the flu and other infectious diseases. Your participation could make a difference. This research study is enrolling people who:

Are at least 18 years of age

Ready to learn more?

Contac t the study team: Clinical Alliance for Research & Education –Infectious Diseases, LLC (CARE-ID) 3289 Woodburn Road, Suite 250Annandale, VA 22003 www.careidresearch.com PHONE: 703-560 4821

visit [ww w.f luvaccinestudy.com/mrnaphase3]

Have not received an investigational or licensed f lu vaccine in the last six months

more information ]

Are generally healthy or have stable chronic conditions

Participation lasts for about six months

There will be other study requirements the study team will discuss with you if you participate in this study.

investigational vaccine

MVA-BN-RSV and

seriously ill from Respiratory Syncytial Virus,

able to

• Are 65 years

• Are healthy or have one or more chronic medical conditions, including mild to moderate underlying illnesses such as chronic cardiac diseases, lung disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus

• Are willing and able to use a smartphone or tablet application to record information during the study

criteria will need to be met to con rm your eligibility for this study.

What Baby Boomers Want: Options! Senior Housing Delivers

by Linda Baker New York Times

The pandemic crushed the senior housing market, cutting occupancy rates and stalling construction. Now, as the mar ket begins an uneven rebound, developers are adapting to the coming wave of aging baby boomers with a new crop of liv ing developments.

Specialized housing for older Americans has been around for decades. But shifting demo graphics are forcing the indus try to diversify more rapidly across rates and services, yield ing increasingly lavish residenc es for upper-income Americans as well as a growing number of affordable housing models.

For example, Trillium, a high-rise under construc tion in Northern Virginia near Washington, features restau rants, a wellness spa, and other boutique-hotel-style amenities and finishes. And in the Boston area, Opus Newton, a more modest development, will rely on resident volunteers to help reduce costs.

Developers are also experi

menting with nontraditional models. In Loveland, Colorado, Kallimos Communities is plan ning a multigenerational devel opment featuring 100 subsi dized rental homes clustered around shared green spaces and offering dining, arts and well ness opportunities.

The aging of more and more baby boomers (an estimated 65 million in total) is creating “a big surge,” said Beth Mace, chief economist for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, a data ser vice provider for the elder care industry.

Other changes are reshaping housing, from pandemic-fueled safety concerns and labor short ages to trends favoring more personalized and communitybased solutions. Housing for older Americans offers three general options: independent living, for active lifestyles; assisted living, which includes some medical care; and memory care. (Nursing homes provide nursing care and typically do not fall under the category of senior housing.)

“Everybody is trying to fig

ure out the secret sauce — what the senior housing consumer wants,” Mace said. “Bottom line: You’re going to see a lot of options.”

Developers are banking on the fact that if they build enough variety, they will be able to draw the next generation of aging Americans.

“We have to design commu nities that cater to what boom ers want, and that’s a differ ence between senior housing today and housing developed 10 or 20 years ago,” said Bobby Zeiller, vice chair and co-CEO of Silverstone Senior Living, the developer behind the Trillium.

After focusing on subur ban-style senior communities, Silverstone is expanding into urban environments, Zeiller said. The industry, he said, “is evolving very fast.”

The average occupancy rate for the nation’s 31 largest senior housing markets was 81 percent in the first quarter of 2022, up from a low of 78 percent in the first quarter of 2021 but below the prepandemic level of 87 per cent in 2020, Mace said.

The numbers are starting to for example, construction as a share of inventory amounted to

on Page

HIGH END 55+ PROPERTIES offer seniors a lot of luxury. (Photo: News York Times)

The Northern Virginia Senior Olympics Helps Seniors Stay Active

events, such as competitions in board games, jigsaw puzzles, dominoes and more.

Ruskin said his favorite event that the NVSO has to offer is Scrabble, which he won a silver medal in this year. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded after each event.

The “main impact” the NVSO has had on Ruskin was the “intense training” he went through to prepare for the bas ketball shooting competition. He said he spent “hours every day, both indoors and outdoors, day time and at night, taking hun dreds of shots, breaking only to have a drink of water.” However, Ruskin stated he enjoys partici pating in the events as it presents a “rare opportunity” to test his fitness against his peers.

As for the impact of NVSO on the local senior citizen com munity, Levitan said the event is a “friendly way” of encouraging seniors to stay healthy. The event allows opportunities for those who are more or less mobile to “stay engaged with their fellow senior citizens.” “Mild” activi ties are offered for those unable to participate in more athletic

For former participants in the NVSO, being a part of the event had an impact on both their physical and mental health. Falls Church resident Tom Gittins said taking part in the event kept him “sane” when he first took part in it. He was inspired to get involved with the NVSO due to his love of swimming throughout his youth and adulthood. Not surprisingly, he said his favorite event was the “100 [meter] backstroke.”

Along with the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics, Gittins has also participated in the National Senior Games, which allows senior citizens around the country to take part in athletic events and competi tions. Although he hasn’t par ticipated in the NVSO for a while, he said the health aspect of the event is beneficial for local senior citizens.

Katie Murphy is a first time participant of the NVSO. She first learned about the event while playing pickleball at the Thomas Jefferson Community & Fitness Center in Arlington.

Her love of the sport is what got her involved in the NVSO, and said it impacted her life because she was able to meet people that she now plays pickleball with.

As a Falls Church resident, Murphy recommends other local senior citizens become involved with the NVSO because “it’s a

solid competition without being too intense.” She also gave a shout out to the volunteers who helped with the event, who were “really nice people.” Although at times she got “nervous” when it came to competing against others, she said it was “kind of fun” to put herself “in a harder

situation where it doesn’t really matter.”

“It’s good to continue to chal lenge yourself,” Murphy said. “We’re always asking children to challenge themselves, but for seniors, there’s room for growth, fun and achieving higher excel lence in your life.”

The Kensington’s

Gather with Us in the Heart of the Little City of Falls Church

invited to our Family Forever Neighborhood Fall Fest!

At The Kensington, our promise is “to love and care for your family as we do our own.”

includes our neighbors in and around the Little City of Falls Church. We are grateful to call this charming community our home and hope you’ll join us to celebrate family, friendship and fall fun. Stop by for an afternoon of food trucks seasonal treats, live music, arts and crafts, a petting zoo (until 12 noon) and more!

RSVP or learn more, contact Kayla Peters at kpeters@kensingtonsl.com

NORTHERN VIRGINIA SENIOR OLYMPICS offers activies like scrabble that aren’t physically strenuous. (Photo Courtesy: Tom Urman)

Senior Housing is Growing

of the spectrum is Sacramento, California, where construction fell to about 1 percent, down from 17 percent in 2019.

Even before the pandem ic, only about 11 percent of Americans older than 75 lived in senior housing. Strong pref erences for aging in place is one reason for the low rate.

The high cost of housing is another factor, especially for the 8 million middle-income Americans who do not qual ify for subsidies but cannot afford to pay out of pocket. The national median monthly rate for assisted living was $4,300 in 2021, according to a sur vey by Genworth, an insurance holding company. And the aver age monthly cost of memory care is $7,277, according to the National Investment Center.

Developers of luxury proj ects are betting on larger units, sophisticated design and ameni ties, and a heightened focus on social engagement and active living.

Coterie Cathedral Hill, a 208unit development that opened in San Francisco in April, features five restaurants, an outdoor pool, and landscaped court yards and terraces. Wellness staff receive training through the Mayo Clinic, and an on-site care coordinator helps residents meet a broad range of mental, emotional and physical health goals, including assistance with social and philanthropic objec tives.

A joint venture between real estate developer Related Cos. and Atria Senior Living, one of the nation’s largest senior liv ing providers, Coterie focuses on affluent urban dwellers who

seek “consistency between the lifestyle they were accustomed to when they were living in a traditional high-rise,” said Joanna Mansfield, general man ager of Coterie Hudson Yards, a second development that will open this fall in New York.

At Coterie Cathedral Hill, monthly rental rates range from $7,900 for a studio to $16,660 and up for two-bedroom resi dences.

At Coterie Cathedral Hill, monthly rental rates range from $7,900 for a studio to $16,660 and up for two-bedroom resi dences.

A new spate of thrifty business models focus on middle-income Americans. Opus Newton, for example, will require residents to volunteer 10 hours a week, giving them a stronger sense of purpose and community while “meaningfully reducing staff overhead costs,” said Amy Schectman, president and CEO of 2Life Communities, a non profit organization that is devel oping the project.

Other cost savers include outsourcing care and provid ing discounted memberships at the nearby Jewish Community Center, eliminating the need for in-house recreational facilities. Schectman expressed confidence in the future of congregate senior living, despite lingering pandem ic concerns.

“Coronavirus revealed a pan demic of loneliness and isola tion,” she said. “Aging in place harms society by presenting the choice to live with others as a failure. We are creatures of com munity.”

Upfront costs for Opus Newton’s 174 units start at $391,000, a fee that many of the residents will pay by selling their

homes.

Repurposing existing build ings is the key to solving the middle-market challenge, said Fee Stubblefield, CEO of The Springs Living, a developer in Portland, Oregon, with 18 prop erties serving seniors across the income spectrum.

The Springs Living has two luxu ry high-rises under construction, one on the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington. The properties will include firewalls to cordon off floors in the event of a disease outbreak, and they will be certified to meet new health and wellness standards regarding design and operations.

Starting rents in the new build ings range from $3,700 to $10,000 per month.

There are two types of senior housing residents, Stubblefield said: those who want to live there and

those who have to. Those who want senior living are “a big portion of our society,” he said. “The social and wellness component is underbuilt for that population.”

Labor shortages add to the economic challenges fac ing developers of senior hous ing. Employment in long-term care declined 6.7 percent from February 2020 to December 2021, according to a recent anal ysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

“Work-force stability is the most important factor in the future of housing and service for older adults,” Stubblefield said, adding that operators have an “obligation” to create career pathways for the entry-level staff who sustain the industry.

Bill Thomas, a co-founder of Kallimos Communities, offers

another solution to the vari ous challenges tied to the future of aging and retirement in the United States.

“The very best thing you can have for helping you stay inde pendent is damn good neigh bors,” he said.

The first Kallimos community, a partnership with the Loveland Housing Authority, is rooted in the idea that older Americans can be supported in homes designed for elder living in communityoriented mixed-age neighbor hoods.

“Young people and elders have been living together and support ing each other for many millen nia,” Thomas said. “The idea that we’ve wandered into a cul-desac of history where young peo ple don’t see any merit in being around old people is just wrong.”

SENIORS HAVE NEW OPTIONS where they CAN LIVE in luxury. (Photo: News York Times)

SENIOR LIVING

The Tricky Math of Retiring Into a Downturn

by Tara Siegel Bernard New York Times

Most Americans finance their retirement with a certain amount of faith: Investing will help their savings keep pace with inflation, institutions will continue to work as they always have, it will all work out in the end.

It’s challenging to maintain that optimism in moments like these, when it seems just about everything is at stake and nothing is certain. You could call the American approach to retirement gambling, and you wouldn’t be wrong.

Of course the future has always been uncertain. It was unknowable in 1973, during one of the highestinflation periods; in 2000, when the dot-com bubble burst; and again in 2008, when the housing and financial markets collapsed. And it’s opaque now, when the markets are down about 11.6 percent year to date while inflation remains high, at 8.5 percent in July, although it slowed slightly from the previous month. Bonds usually provide some cushion when stocks plummet, but they haven’t provided much of a buffer, either.

“This year has been unnerving for retirees because it has been a tri ple whammy — falling stock prices, falling bond prices and high infla tion,” said Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar.

Unlike younger workers, retirees don’t have the luxury of waiting it out. Timing matters. Market declines that occur during the first five years of retirement can do significant and permanent damage, making it more likely a portfolio will be depleted — largely because there’s less money left intact for when the market (eventually) recovers. It’s less risky to experience such a decline further into retirement simply because the money no longer has to last quite as long.

T. Rowe Price recently peered into the past half-century to see how people who retired into different downturns fared, even in periods of high inflation. The good news: Their portfolios performed well, or are expected to. The less good: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The firm’s research is rooted in the widely known 4 percent rule of thumb, which found that retir ees who withdrew 4 percent of their retirement portfolio balance in the first year, and then adjusted that dol lar amount for inflation each year thereafter, created a paycheck that lasted 30 years.

Using that framework, T. Rowe

Price analyzed how investors with a $500,000 portfolio — 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds — would fare over 30 years had they retired at the beginning of the year in 1973, 2000 and 2008. (The latter two periods are still running.) They would all start withdrawing $1,667 each month — or $20,000 annually — and then increase that amount each year by the previous year’s actu al inflation rate.

Let’s rewind to 1973, which, given the oil embargo and high inflation rates, echoes the present. Retirees then would have had to watch their portfolios shrink to $328,000, or nearly 35 percent, by September 1974, and inflation rise by more than 12 percent by the end of the same year, the analysis found. An incred ibly painful one-two punch.

The retirees had no idea at the time that circumstances would turn around, but within a decade into retirement, the portfolio balance had reached $500,000 again. And even after the downturn of 2000, at the end of 30 years, the portfolio had soared to well over $1 million.

“It all kind of pins on starting out with that 4 percent withdrawal rate,” said Judith Ward, a senior finan cial planner and thought leadership director at T. Rowe Price.

She conceded that retirees don’t actually spend in straight lines, and that they tend to spend more ear lier in retirement. But the study, she said, underscores the importance of starting with a conservative spending plan when a portfolio is down.

“That lever of how much you are spending is really a strong lever that works,” she added.

Using the same approach with those who retired into more recent bear markets — in the periods after 2000 and 2008, when the stock mar ket lost roughly half its value — the portfolios were also projected to be sustainable, even though retirees still have roughly eight and 14 years to go before they hit 30 years of retire ment. (Ward’s conclusions also held for other scenarios, including one in which inflation persisted at 9% per cent for the remainder of the 30-year retirement periods.)

“These scenarios assume the investor didn’t adjust their behavior due to the inevitable anxiety steep market losses likely caused,” Ward said. “It’s human nature to adapt and adjust, and retirees would likely want to modify their plans in some way.”

That adds an even stronger mar gin of safety, she said.

Other experts caution retirees not to take too much comfort in the past results because the future — always

uncertain! — might have something else in store.

“Using the past provides false confidence,” said David Blanchett, head of retirement research at PGIM, the asset management firm part of Prudential Financial. “The U.S. and Australia have had two of the best capital markets over the past 100 years. That is useful, but you have to look forward.”

That’s why financial experts sug gest taking a flexible approach to withdrawals, focusing on what you can control in that moment as condi tions change.

Here are some strategies that may help.

Reframing. One approach is to think about your withdrawals in terms of needs, wants and wishes. How much of your basic needs are covered by predictable sources of income like Social Security or pensions, and how much more do you need to withdraw to cover the remainder? Maybe the withdrawal rate to cover your basics is 3 percent to 4 percent, but your wants might be somewhere from 4 percent to 6 percent.

“The most important thing is to have your needs covered,” Blanchett said.

A cash bucket. The big idea here is to keep at least a year’s worth of basic expenses — not covered by predictable income sources, like Social Security — in cash or something equiva lent, so that retirees experienc ing a downturn can spend out of this bucket instead of having to touch their portfolio, giving it more time to recover.

This approach requires some planning, but it can ease anxiety for retirees who find comfort in compartmentalization. Critics have said keeping a meaning ful amount of a portfolio in cash may pose a drag, hurting returns over the long run, but for many retirees it may provide a plan they can stick with — and that’s the most important factor.

Guardrails . This strategy, created by financial planner Jonathan Guyton and com puter scientist William Klinger, encourages retirees to be flex ible, increasing their withdraw als when the market is doing well and pulling back when it is not.

Their research found that retirees are usually safe start ing out with a withdrawal rate of roughly 5 percent for the first year (then adjusting that amount up each year for infla

cent or more, up from 5 percent, retirees would need to cut their withdrawal dollar amount by 10 percent.

For example, consider a retiree who in the first year collects 5 percent, or $25,000, from a $500,000 portfolio. If inflation was 9 percent, the next year’s withdrawal would nor mally rise to $27,250. But if a guardrail was tripped — that is, if the portfolio plummeted to roughly $415,000, making that $25,000 now equivalent to a 6 percent percent withdrawal rate — the amount withdrawn would instead need to decline to $24,525 (or 10 percent less than $27,250).

Conversely, if the portfolio grows, causing the withdrawal rate to shrink to 4%, the retiree can increase the dollar amount withdrawn by 10 percent and adjust for inflation thereafter.

This rule is generally applied until the final 15 years of retire

Let’s say you’re retiring at 70 and you decide you will probably need your money to last until age 95. Divide one by 25 (the number of years you need the money to last): That translates into a 4 percent withdrawal rate for that year. With a $500,000 portfolio, that’s $20,000.

But if you’re on track to pull out $30,000 that year — or 6 percent — you may want to pull back.

“It’s an ongoing gut check,” Blanchett said. “Is this going to work long term? And that is a really simple way to get an answer.”

And if you don’t adjust? Just understand that you may have to make more drastic changes later.

“You are just trading money with yourself over time,” Blanchett added.

By Tara Siegel Bernard © 2022 The New York Times

MARKET DECLINES during the first five years of retirement can have a significant effect on a financial portfolio, but remaining flexible can mitigate the damage. (Photo:New York Times)

Falls Church School News & Notes

Marshall High Seniors Named Semifinalists

Seniors from Marshall High School will be eligible for National Merit Scholarships in 2023 after being named semi finalists.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation named over 16,000 semifinalists for its competitive scholarship pro gram in 2023.

The annual program awards scholarships to top-performing high school seniors to continue their studies in an undergradu ate program. Semifinalists rep resent less than 1 percent of high school seniors in the U.S.

Marshall High School semi finalists include Suhani P. Desai, Dale C. Devinney, Natalie Ghofrany, Aakashi Jain, Deborah S. Kim, Eujin Lee, and Charles J. McDermott.

College Fair and Post Secondary Week

High school students and their families are invited to attend the annual FCPS College Fair and Postsecondary Week events.

The College Fair, which will feature admissions repre sentatives from more than 250 colleges and universities from across the United States and abroad, will be held at George Mason University’s Eagle Bank Arena on Sunday, October 16, from 4 to 7 p.m. Postsecondary Week will be held virtu ally Monday, October 17, to Thursday, October 20, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Postsecondary week will fea ture virtual workshops related to the college admissions process, financial aid, and other postsec ondary educational opportuni ties.

Students are highly encour aged to register in advance for these events.

Secrets of Paying for College Webinar

On average, tuition tends to increase about 8 percent per year. An 8 percent college infla tion rate means that the cost

of college doubles about every nine years.

Planning for these expens es has become essential. Navigating the savings and pay ing path has become more com plicated.

Some families have children attending college next year, and others have years to plan, but the fears of tackling these mon umental and rising costs are the same.

The College Funding Coach is helping families figure out how to pay for it and still retire one day. Please join Meridian High School via Zoom webinar on September 29th at 7:00 p.m.

Touch a Truck Event For All Students

Join the Mary Styles Public Library in the library parking lot for an afternoon exploring vehi cles from the City Department of Public Works.

This program is open to all ages and does not require reg istration. All ages are welcome. The event goes from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 5th.

FCCPS School Board Proposed Calendar

The Board continued its months-long work of refin ing and tweaking its proposed Policy CC, establishing guide lines for building an academic calendar.

The policy includes starting two weeks before Labor Day and ending no later than June 10, with most breaks scheduled around federal holidays.

The policy also calls on the Superintendent to adopt a reg ulation that instructs staff to refrain from scheduling exams and special events on religious holidays.

Look for an update to the draft Policy CC, including tonight’s tweaks, and a draft of the Superintendent’s Regulation in the coming days.

The School Board is sched uled to vote on Policy CC dur ing its October 11 meeting. The

Board continues to receive feed back from the community. You can email the School Board.

Meridian High Hosts School Softball Clinic

The Meridian Mustangs Softball Coaching Staff and Players are offering a softball skills clinic for youth softball players in 3rd to 7th grade. The clinic will focus on the various softball fundamentals such as Fielding, Throwing, Baserunning, and Batting.

Participants need basic equipment and should wear ath letic clothing, including softball or long pants, for possible slid ing drills.

Equipment needed are gloves, helmets, bats and ath letic clothing/softball pants. Equipment recommended are cleats and a fielder’s facemask.

The clinic will take place on Saturday, October 1st from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Registration opens from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 1st.

The cost is $30 cash or check payable to Meridian High School (Softball in Memo Field)

Questions can be emailed to Coach Thys at thysm.coach@ fccps.org.

Hispanic Heritage Month on Oak Street

Señor Miguel Gonzalez has taught Spanish at Oak Street Elementary School for twenty years.

He says that exposing stu dents to the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture is essential at the elementary school level. He encourages the students to have fun in his class and makes every student’s cumpleaños special by singing “Happy birthday” in Spanish.

Each grade level is work ing on a different project for Hispanic Heritage Month: third grade: animals in South America, fourth grade: famous Americans from Hispanic heri tage, and fifth grade: research on a Spanish speaking country.

Students Take Part in Trangender Protest

On Tuesday, September 27th, over 12,000 students at 100 Virginia Schools walked out to oppose Glenn Youngkin’s LGBTQIA+ Guidelines. Walkouts took place at Justice High School, Marshall High School, Mclean High School and more.

Meridian Field Hockey Routs Liberty, Gets Back in Win Column

BY RYAN MCCAFFERTY FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

After taking its first loss of the season in a shootout against Fauquier last week, the Mustang girls’ field hockey team saw a fresh opportunity to bounce back as they hosted Liberty for a Tuesday night showdown. Prior to the main event, the Junior Varsity squad cruised to a 4-0 win with one goal scored in each quarter – Cailyn Murphy was the first to find the back of the net about three minutes in while Anjali Virmani added the next tally midway through the second frame. Ellia Shin then got on the

board late in the third quarter and Molly Rose Cloutier capped things off with only a few minutes to spare.

Varsity then took action at just past 7:30 and saw several good chances to open the scoring in the opening minutes, but it wasn’t until late in the first quar-

ter that they finally got one into the back of the net courtesy of Catherine DuBois. The Mustangs then broke it open in the next frame, with Mia Mayer and Lila Deering both adding tallies, and then Grace Calabrese continued the blowout after the halftime break. Lucy Hladky tacked on

one more less than a minute in the final quarter to make it 5-0, while Brianna Corry did her job in net, preventing the few chances Liberty was able to muster.

The team will be back in action once again tomorrow evening as they travel to Kettle Run, whom they beat 3-1 last week.

Falls Church Area High School Sports Weekly Roundup

BY RYAN MCCAFFERTY AND NICK PORR

Meridian High School:

The Mustangs’ Varsity football team lost 55-2 at Brentsville on Friday, scoring only a safety. They are now 0-5 on the season with their next game this Friday at Skyline.

Meridian’s Varsity field hockey team beat Kettle Run 3-1 on Monday the 19th, but then lost 1-0 in a shootout to Fauquier on Wednesday, snapping their perfect season as they fell to 7-1.

Meridian girls’ volleyball beat Warren County 3-1 on Thursday before heading to Alexandria City over the weekend to compete in a tournament, where they lost 0-2 to both West Springfield and McLean. That brings their season record to 4-10.

The Meridian co-ed golf team took home the biggest headlines this past week, winning the Northwest District championship by ten strokes over William Monroe as Ethan Bartlett led the

way with a score of 74. the meridian golf team won the Region 3B championship on Tuesday by one stroke over Goochland High. The team will play in the Class 3 State championship on October 11th.

Meridian cross country found success this past week, with both the boys and girls winning their matchups in the Manassas Park Tri-Meet, while Jackson Funk and Grace Crum both scored individual victories. They then competed in the Oatlands Invitational against more than 90 other schools, with the girls placing 39th out of 79 and the boys 57th out of 94.

Falls Church High School:

Falls Church High School Football fell to 1-4 this week in rough fashion, losing 67-0 to the Fairfax Lions. The loss comes as the Jaguars’ fourth straight, leaving them with a lot to work on. They’ll have plenty of time to practice, as the team has the week off. They return to action Friday October 7th against Thomas Edison (3-2).

Field Hockey (2-7) has begun to turn their season around.

Entering last week winless, the Jaguars took a two game homestand as an opportunity to put up back to back victories. The Jaguars first downed Pope John Paul the Great 3-0 Tuesday night for their first win of the season before beating Thomas Edison 5-1 on Thursday. They play just once this week, traveling to face the Annandale Atoms.

Three games and three wins for Volleyball this week propel the team from 3-3 to 6-3 on the year. The victories are made even more impressive with all three being away, downing Pope John Paul the Great 3-1, Justice 3-1 and John R. Lewis 3-0. They have another busy week ahead of them playing host to Hayfield Wednesday and traveling to Thomas Edison Friday.

Coed Golf (4-3) split a pair of matches this past week, defeating Justice 186-173 and falling to Hayfield 171-152. Monday morning the team will play in the District Tournament where their golfers will compete to qualify for regionals.

Boys Cross Country contin-

ues to impress, dominating in a meet at Burke Lake that featured all seven teams in their District. Impressive performances from Peter Kratz (3rd place), Robbie Porter (4th) and Samuel Ross (5th) powered the team to victory. The Girls’ competed well also, finishing fourth out of seven behind a meet winning 19:21 from Junior Haley Heironimus. Both will run again in a meet on Tuesday.

Justice High School:

Football (0-5) remains winless following a 61-6 drubbing at the hands of the South County Stallions this past Friday. They’ll get a much-needed week off before facing the Hayfield Hawks (2-3) next Friday.

Field Hockey (2-5) defeated Hayfield at home 5-1 in their second win in three tries. They will play a road game for the first time since August 31st this Wednesday when they travel to play Thomas Edison.

It was a long week for volleyball, who between regular play and an invitational played eight times this week. They went 4-4 in that stretch, with notable results coming in a 3-1 loss to Falls Church and a 2-1 victory over Meridian. They have a pair of games awaiting them this week, facing Mount Vernon on Wednesday and Hayfield on Friday.

Golf’s results from the District Tournament have come in, and the Wolves will be sending Jackson Ross to the Regional Tournament after he qualified Monday morning. Regionals will be held next Monday at Twin Lakes Golf Course.

Girls Cross Country won their meet at Burke Lake, led by impressive times from sophomore Ella Galway (20:24, second place) and freshman Mica Karotkin (21:50, fourth place). The Boys team finished sixth out of seven. Both teams will run again Thursday.

Marshall High School:

Marshall football dropped their third straight, losing 19-42 to Chantilly High School (3-1). A pair of touchdown connections from quarterback Jeff Ryder to wide receiver Jake Peksens was not enough to help Marshall overcome, as the Chantilly offense tied their season high in points. Unlike Falls Church HS and Justice, the Statesmen will not have this week off. They will face James Madison (1-3) Friday night.

A split week for field hockey brings their record to 5-3. After a tough loss to Wakefield 3-2 at home on Monday, they bounced back to down Mt. Vernon 3-0 Wednesday night. They will play Washington-Liberty Wednesday and compete in an invitational this weekend.

Volleyball (13-4) continued their dominance throughout the week, beating Wakefield 3-0 on Tuesday and Yorktown 3-0 on Thursday. Their weekend featured another invitational, with losses to Alexandria City and Forest Park and a win against Mount Vernon. They play twice more this week: against Langley (12-0) on Tuesday, and Herndon (2-5) on Thursday.

The District Tournament for Golf (2-0) ended in a fourth place finish for the team. Michael Stanford, Leo Perez Sino and Harris Lechtman advanced through District play and will compete in the Northern Region Tournament starting on Wednesday.

Cross Country competed in the Oatlands Invitational on Saturday, with the Varsity A Boys finishing 10th of 94 and the Varsity A Girls finishing 47th of 79. Haley Spoden led the girls finishing 33rd and Sean Sanders led the Boys finishing 29th in the massive meet. They will run again Wednesday at Burke Lake Park.

THE INAUGURAL SEASON OF THE MERIDIAN BOY’S VOLLEYBALL CLUB TEAM got off to a terri�ic start with some exciting matches this past weekend. The team went 3 -1 with wins against Chantilly, South County, and Lewis High School. (P����: S������ H�����)

News-Press

Community News & Notes

Plein Air Festival Announces Winners

The 2022 Falls Church Arts “Scenes in the City” Plein Air Festival and Quick Draw com petitions took place under sunny September skies on Saturday, Sept. 24. Juror Andrei Kushnir selected the following prize winners at the close of the twoweek outdoor festival:

Beyer Auto Group Plein Air Grand Prize: “Northside Social” by Rajendra KC (Falls Church, VA)

Founders Row Prize: “Clare and Don’s Beach Shack” by Vicky Zhou (Oakton,VA)

June Beyer Art Quick Draw Prizes: 1st – “First Punkins” by Lynn Lewis (Kensington, MD), 2nd – “Beach Shack” by Glen Kessler (North Potomac, MD), 3rd – “Happy to See You” by Yik Chek Chan (Bethesda, MD)

New Editions Consulting Prize - “Tinner Hill Golden Hour” by Christina Blake (Annandale, VA)

The Kensington Senior Living Prize: “Same State” by Jill Banks (Great Falls, VA)

Barbara Cram Plein Air Prize (Falls Church Arts) : “Morning on North” Fairfax by Lynn Lewis (Kensington, MD)

The Young Group Prize: “To Keep My Heart in Tune” by Marci Green (Ashburn, VA)

Peoples’ Choice Award: “Beautiful Oakwood” by Valentina Yannotti (Geneva, NY)

Juror: Andrei Kushnir

The event drew more than 1,000 visitors with over 400 of them casting votes for the People’s Choice Award. “Beautiful Oakwood” by Valentina Yannotti (Geneva, NY) was the winner. Falls Church Mayor, David Tarter, welcomed guests to the event, and was very complimentary of how the event has grown big ger and better during the past 13 years. Other notable guests included Councilman Phil Duncan, Stacy Fierce, who pre sented the Barbara Cram Plein Air Prize, and Amy Feather, who presented The Kensington

Goodwin Living Hosts Citizenship Celebration

Last Friday, Goodwin Living, a not-for-profit, faith-based, regional senior living and health care services organization in the National Capital Region, host ed events at its two Life Plan Communities, Goodwin House Alexandria and Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, to cele brate team members and their family members who recently achieved their U.S. Citizenship or started on their path to citi zenship through the Goodwin Living citizenship grant pro gram.

The celebratory events fea tured panel discussions with team members and their family members who have participated in the program, a video mes sage from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and congratulatory let ters for team members from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) attend ed the celebration at Goodwin House Alexandria to extend his personal congratulations to the team members who have recently achieved their U.S. citizenship and those pursuing citizenship.

The Goodwin Living citizen ship grant program was cre ated in 2018 as a joint effort between residents and the Goodwin Living Foundation to provide team members inter ested in becoming U.S. citizens with grants to cover the cost of the application fees. Goodwin Living residents also offer tutoring services to help prepare team members for their citizen ship exams. In 2021, Goodwin Living developed and launched an official playbook,“A Guide to Establishing a U.S. Citizenship Program for Employees” to show other organizations how to create their own citizenship programs.

In 2022, Goodwin Living announced that the citizenship grants would also be available to one immediate family mem

ber for every team member who has served at least one year.

The Kensington Falls Church Hosts Fall Festvial

Local citizens are invited to the Kensington’s Family Forever Neighborhood Fall Fest on October 1st at The Kensington Falls Church.

People can stop by for an afternoon of food trucks, sea sonal treats, live music, arts and crafts, a petting zoo (until 12 noon) and more. They are grateful to call this charming community their home and hope people will join them to cel ebrate family, friendship and fall fun.

At The Kensington, their promise to citizens is “to love and care for your family as we do our own.” That includes neighbors in and around the Little City of Falls Church. People can meet their Frontline and Leadership Team of experts, who are the “heart and soul of their community—”ready and willing to lend support toward one’s way, if and whenever needed.

As specialists in all aspects of both Assisted Living and Memory Care, The Kensington offers services and programs that are “thoughtfully designed, clinically comprehensive an highly personalized.” According to their website, they improve the quality of life for their resi dents to the greatest extent pos sible.

If one has questions about their events or services, please contact Kayla at kpeters@kens ingtonsl.com.

LGBTQIA+ Students Across Va. Condemn Guidelines

On September 16th, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released its revised model transgender policies. Passed in 2020, the model transgender policies were intended to protect Queer stu dents against discrimination.

These new revisions betray the original intent of the law,

Senior Living Prize.

SERVING IN her final F.C. City Council meeting this Monday before retiring, City Attorney Carol McKoskrie was hailed by her Council colleagues. The Council voted to retain Brian Lubkeman as interim city attorney.

THE FALLS CHURCH ARTS GALLERY is featuring a paint ing memorialzing the passing of the artist’s daughter. The painting, called “Annelise’s Garden,” is featured in the gal lery’s “Wild” and has won the People’s Choice award of the gallery. (Photo Courtesy: Greg Skritic)

LOCAL

instead attacking LGBTQIA+ students across Virginia.

“As a closeted student, I wouldn’t be able to come home if my parents found out that I was Queer. I am terrified that these draft regulations will take away one of the few places I can just be myself,” said one student from Fairfax County.

“School is one of the few places where my Queer friends and I can feel safe to be our selves. Turning that affirming space into a place of fear and bigotry is abhorrent and only hurts students,” said another LGBTQIA+ student from Prince William County.

The Pride Liberation Project, a student-led LGBTQIA+ advo cacy organization in Virginia stated: “These revised guidelines will only hurt students in a time when students are facing unpar alleled mental health challenges,

and are a cruel attempt to politi cize the existence of LGBTQIA+ students for political gain. We call for the VDOE to revoke its draft revisions and for school boards to affirm their commitment to protect all students by rejecting these big oted proposed guidelines.”

Award Winning Painting Memorializes Daughter

A stunning painting memori alizing the passing of an artist’s daughter has won the People’s Choice award at the Falls Church Arts gallery.

“Annelise’s Garden,” a 34-inch by 52-inch acrylic by Greg Skritic, won the award sponsored by Cuates Grill, a Mexican food restaurant at 502 W. Broad St. in Falls Church. The painting’s in the “Wild” show at the gallery, which continues through Oct. 2.

“When my daughter passed, our family created a memorial garden. This is how I dream of her in her gar den – bleeding hearts and Japanese Maples with an Arabesque design that encircles the sun-lit stained glass windows that frame her like a halo,” Skritic said. “On her right wrist is a rose bracelet, while on her left fore arm a golden serpent ascends.”

The $8,400 painting was chosen by visitors at the Falls Church Arts gallery at 700-B W. Broad St., Falls Church. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Juror Tara Barr, a painter with a studio in Alexandria’ Torpedo Factory, said the “Wild” show fea tures 45 artworks illustrating “wild locations, wild plants and animals, wild characters, wild stories and lots and lots of frenzied, untamed energy.”

THE 2022 PLEIN ART FESTIVAL announced this year’s winners of various prizes. Pictured here is the juror of the event Andrei Kushnir with the winner of the New Editions Consulting Prize Christina Blake and her piece “Tinner Hill Golden Hour.” (Photo Courtesy: Roxanne Kaytor)

STORM DRAINS are the latest canvas for public art in Falls Church, with two more murals completed recently in Berman Park by the Fiddy family. (Photo Courtesy: Letty Hardi)

GOODWIN LIVING hosted an event on Friday, September 16th to celebrate team members and their family members who recently achieved their U.S. Citizenship or started on their path toward citizneship. (photo Courtesy: Emily Chavez)

CALENDAR

FALLS CHURCH CALENDAR

FCNP Featured event

LOCAL EVENTS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

SUNSET CINEMA. Bring the whole family out to enjoy a free movie on the big screen in Historic Cherry Hill Park. All you need is a blanket and bug spray. Popcorn, candy and drinks will be available for purchase. Cherry Hill Park Ave. 7:45 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

FALLS CHURCH FARMERS MARKET. Every Saturday, every week, the Falls Church Farmers Market has fresh, local pro duce, meat, dairy, flowers & plants, honey, and so much more. City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave.,Falls Church) 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

RECYCLING EXTRAVAGANZA. The City of Falls Church is pleased to announce that almost all the recycling offered at an Extravaganza is now offered every day of the year. The long-running Extravaganza has made a tremendous impact over the years — thousands of residents served and hundreds of thousands of pounds diverted from the waste stream. 217 Gordon Road Falls Church. 9:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m.

ART ON THE AVENUE. A regional multi cultural arts and music festival, the Art on the Avenue festival held in the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria will be

on October 1. Attendees will be greeted by more than 300 artists, musicians and food vendors, along with kids activities. 10:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m.

THE MCLEAN 5K. Hosted by the McLean Community Center with the support of sponsors, Century 21 New Millennium and the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, the race features a USATF certified course through the heart of McLean and is designed to appeal to runners of all abilities. McLean Square Shopping Center, 6631 Old Dominion Dr. Race begins at 8:00 a.m.

SILENT DANCE PARTY. Reston Station is hosting the first ever Silent Dance Party on Reston Metro Plaza. Bring friends and family and dance like nobody’s watching and enjoy other activities for kids of all ages. 5:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

VIENNA OKTOBERFEST. The Vienna Oktoberfest takes place on the Town Green and historic Church Street in the heart of Vienna. The festival features live entertainment on three stages: Main Stage, Kid’s Stage and Acoustic Stage; a primary and secondary beer garden, access to beer and wine at all food locations, multinational food vendors and more. 131 Church St NE, Vienna. 11:00 a.m. — 7:00 p.m.

FALL FEST 2022. It's Fall Fest time! Fall Fest is back once again with a northern VA family

fave. Bring the kids and join Fall Fest for loads of fun games, activities, pumpkins music and more. Reston Farm Garden Market (10800 Baron Cameron Ave). 10:00 a.m.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

FRESHFARM FARMERS MARKET Located in the thriving shopping district of the Mosaic neighborhood in Fairfax, this family-friendly market is the perfect spot to shop for locally grown fruits and vegetables, dairy products, sweet and savory baked goods, pas tries, cold-pressed juices, coffee, ice cream, handmade dog treats, and more! Located on District Avenue in Fairfax. 9:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. p.m.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4

FAMILY FUN NIGHT. The community is invited to join the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce for mini golf, a picnic dinner, dessert, children's activities, entertainment, and much more! Bring your friends, neighbors and colleagues to enjoy the outdoor fun. Jefferson Falls Mini Golf (7900 Lee Highway). 5:30 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

U.S. CITIZENSHIP PREPARATION CLASS. This ten-week in-person class will prepare you to take and pass the U.S. Citizenship Interview and Civics and English tests. Regular attendance and registration are required. Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library. 1:00 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.

is a holiday that falls on September 29. It is the country's favorite drink, and many people can't start their day without drinking a cup of joe. The smell of freshly brewed coffee in the morning is irresistible to almost everyone. Whether you love the classic Americano or prefer the trendy Flat White, make sure to have the perfect cup (or cups) of coffee today! National Coffee Day was created by the National Coffee Association. The earliest records that can be found of the celebration are on the National Coffee Association's social media accounts and dates back to September 2013, although some claim the celebration began as early as 2005. As well as being a day when coffee lovers can enjoy their favorite drink, National Coffee Day also aims to help independent coffee shops around the country. It also promotes specialty coffee from struggling coffee farmers around the world, and helps them to make a living wage. Celebrate this holiday at a local shop such as Northside

T HE RECYCLING EXTRAVAGANZA will be held on October 1st. The long-running Extravaganza has made an impact over the years by allowing residents to help clean up waste. The event will begin at 9:00 a.m. at 217 Gordon Road Falls Church. (Photo Courtesy: Maggie Redden)

THE MCLEAN 5K features an USATF certified course. The event is at the Mclean Square Shopping Center on Saturday, October 1st and starts at 8:00 a.m. (Photo courtesy: Sabrina Anwah)

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

BLUES CITY SHAKEDOWN. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N Washington St, Falls Church) 5:30 p.m. (703) 532-9283

DAVE CHAPELL & HIS BAND. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA). 8 p.m. (703) 241-9504

KICK: THE INXS EXPERIENCE. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St, Falls Church, VA) 8:00 p.m. (703) 237-0300

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

DL FUNKBAND. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N Washington St, Falls Church) 5:30 p.m. (703) 532-9283

BROKEN ARROW: A TRIBUTE TO NEIL YOUNG. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St, Falls Church, VA) 8:30 p.m. (703) 237-0300

THEATER & ARTS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

WHILE THE COFFEE GROUNDS SETTLE: STORIES FROM WOMEN IN THE UAE. Presented by the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC and Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, an Abu Dhabi-based creative incu bator, While the Coffee Grounds Settle: Stories from Women in the UAE features artworks by a diverse group of female artists from across the UAE who span nationalities, generations and artistic styles. It celebrates and honors women who have contributed immensely to the development and progress of the UAE's vibrant and diverse creative landscape, while examining how indoor social spac es, like the living room, can foster com munity-building among women. Fathom Gallery in Georgetown (1351 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC) 11:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m. Admission is free. p.m.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT MASON: MOMIX. Wish MOMIX a “Happy Birthday!” with

VIVA MOMIX, a compilation of the com pany’s most dazzling vignettes from the past 40 years of inventive dance and acrobatics. The program is a mix-andmatch variety of sections from Botanica, Alchemia, Remix, Opus Cactus, and Lunar Sea. Expect the unexpected as athletic bodies morph into wondrous shapes and create illusions with the help of clever props, stunning costumes, art ful lighting, and astonishing imagination.

Formed by visionary choreographer Moses Pendleton, MOMIX has earned an international reputation for its inge nious, carefully crafted, and physically gorgeous productions—keeping audi ences of all ages on the edge of their seats. CriticalDance gushed, “one of the most beautiful and entertaining eve nings of dance I can recall seeing, pre sented with consummate artistry by a talented and engaging cast.” Center for the Arts, Concert Hall at George Mason University. 8:00 p.m.

AFTER THE STORM. The tornado

CALENDAR

THE SILENT CRITICS. Solace Outpost (444 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA ). 8 p.m. (571) 378-1469

WILLEM DICKE. Dogwood Tavern (132 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA) 9:30 p.m. (703) 237-8333

BROOK YODER. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA). 4:00 p.m. (703) 241-9504

ROADDUCKS. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA). 8:30 p.m. (703) 241-9504

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

SOUTHERN ACCENTS. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St, Falls Church, VA) 8:30 p.m. (703) 237-0300

PATCHWORK DOROTHY. Dogwood Tavern (132 W Broad St, Falls Church, VA) 9:30 p.m. (703) 237-8333

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

ROGER CLYNE AND THE PEACEMAKERS. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St, Falls Church, VA) 8:00 p.m. (703) 237-0300

CHERYL WHEELER & CHRISTINE LAVIN. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria) 7:30 p.m. (703) 549-7500

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4

(227 Maple Ave E, Vienna) 7:30 p.m. (703) 255-1566

MILTON NASCIMENTO. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria) 7:30 p.m. (703) 549-7500

WILLIAM FITZSIMMONS. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave E, Vienna) 7:30 p.m. (703) 255-1566

destroyed their house. Their home was already wrecked. Join NOVA Nightsky Theater for "After the

Storm" by Ward Kay. September 29th30, Oct 1st, Oct 6th-8th. Show starts at 7:30pm in the parking lot of the

Falls Church Presbyterian. Tickets are $18 online or $20 at the door. Bring your own chair and a picnic!

THE CACTUS BLOSSOMS. Jammin’ Java

BROKEN ARROW performs the music of Neil Young, featuring both the rockin’ electric Crazy Horse tunes and the more acoustic, pedal steel driven country rock material. Broken Arrow has audiences on their feet singing along and demanding encores at every show. Broken Arrow will be performing at The State Theatre on Friday, September 30th at 8:30 p.m. (Photo: Lorissa Lock)

AFTER THE STORM is being performed by NOVA Nightsky Theater from September 29th to September 30th, October 1st and October 6th to October 8th. Written by Ward Kay, the play is about a family whose home is destroyed by a tornado. (Photo Courtesy: Jaclyn Robertson)

FOR SALE

National Memorial Park cemetery Falls Church. Four (4) choice sites in desirable Block “F”. Reg $10,995 each Sale $4995 each OBO. Phone 1-814-592-1554 for more information.

FOR RENT

Single office sublet in a small creative com pany in Falls Church. Broad Street - Great location. Office: 169 SF, Common Area 484 SF. 2nd floor w/ elevator. Contact brandon@ thebiscuit.tv or 703-532-5066.

AUCTIONS

ATTN. AUCTIONEERS: Advertise your upcoming auctions statewide and in other states. Affordable Print and Digital Solutions reaching your target audiences. Call this paper or Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net

FARM EQUIPMENT

Landowners – Leasing Your Land ToHunt ers? Double your income with Base Camp Leasing’s hunters & reduce risk with FREE $5M liability insurance. Call for a free quote (888) 871-1982

HOME IMPROVEMENT

American Standard Walk-In Tubs. Buy from a brand you trust. Patented Quick-Drain® technology. 44 hydrotherapy jets. Lifetime warranty on tub and installation! FREE in-home consultation at your convenience. Limited time offer - $1,500 in savings includes a FREE rightheight toilet. Call 1-855-864-5500

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protec tion. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 15% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-877-614-6667

GENERAC Standby Generators provide backup power during utility power outages, so your home and family stay safe and com fortable. Prepare now. Free 7-year extended warranty ($695 value!). Request a free quote today! Call for additional terms and conditions. 1-877-636-0738

The Generac PWRcell, a solar plus battery storage system. SAVE money, reduce your reliance on the grid, prepare for power out ages and power your home. Full installation

services available. $0 Down Financing Option. Request a FREE, no obligation, quote today. Call 1-833-688-1378

Replace your roof with the best looking and longest lasting material – steel from Erie Metal Roofs! Three styles and multiple colors avail able. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer - $500 Discount + Additional 10% off install (for military, health workers & 1st responders.) Call Erie Metal Roofs: 1-844902-4611

The bathroom of your dreams for as little as $149/month! BCI Bath & Shower. Many options available. Quality materials & profes sional installation. Senior & Military Discounts Available. Limited Time Offer - FREE virtual in-home consultation now and SAVE 15%! Call Today! 1-844-945-1631

Safe Step. North America’s #1 Walk-In Tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-theline installation and service. Now featuring our FREE shower package and $1600 Off for a limited time! Call today! Financing available. Call Safe Step 1-877-591-9950

RECRUITMENT

HIRING? Promote job listings regionally or statewide! Affordable Print and Digital Advertising Solutions reaching potential candidates. Call this paper or Landon Clark at Virginia Press Services 804-521-7576, landonc@vpa.net

SERVICES

DIVORCE-Uncontested, $395+$86 court cost. WILLS-$225.00. No court appearance. Estimated completion time twenty-one days. Hilton Oliver, Attorney (Facebook). 757-4900126. Se Habla Espanol. BBB Member. https:// hiltonoliverattorneyva.com.

Up to $15,000.00 of GUARANTEED Life Insurance! No medical exam or health ques tions. Cash to help pay funeral and other final expenses. Call Physicians Life Insurance Company- 844-509-1697 or visit www.Life 55plus.info/vapress

Portable Oxygen Concentrator May Be Cov ered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and longlasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 888-608-4974

DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details! 1-888-550-3083 www.dental50plus. com/virginia #6258

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

2022

BACK IN THE DAY

Falls Church News-Press Vol. VIII, No. 28 • September 25, 1997

No Level Playing Field: New Sod Is No Go on GMHS Field

Continuing problems with the new sod on the George Mason High School football/soccer field will force the move of the third straight home football game to another field and could result in the loss of the entire home football season if repairs cannot be made in time.

LOCAL

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XXIII, No. 31 • September 27, 2012

F.C. School Enrollment Leaps By 4.5% For 2nd Straight Year, at Record High

Although the deadline for reporting official enrollment numbers is not until Friday, Falls Church City Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones offered a snapshot to the News-Press yesterday showing a whopping 4.5 percent overall enrollment increase.

Outcomes On How Ukraine War Ends

from Page 9

claimed, a state led by “Nazis” and the spearhead of a NATO plan to push farther east toward the Russian motherland, how could Putin not ask the Russian people to mobilize for that fight? If the cause was so just and the war so necessary, why did Putin have to pay criminals and mercenaries to rise up and expect the middle classes of Moscow and Leningrad to just shut up?

People talk, and every Russian soldier or Russian-speaking Ukrainian who sided with Putin has to be thinking: “Do I stay? Do I run? Who will protect me if the front breaks?”Such an alliance is highly vulnerable to cascading collapse — first slowly and then quickly. Watch out.

Why? Because Putin has already alluded several times to being willing to contemplate using a nuclear weapon if Ukraine and its NATO allies start to overwhelm his forces and he is staring at complete humiliation. I sure hope the CIA has a covert plan to interrupt Putin’s chain of command so no one would push the button.

Outcome 2

I cannot imagine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accepting a cease-fire or something near it right now, with his forces currently having so much momentum and his having committed to recovering every inch of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. But keep this outcome in the back of your mind as winter sets in and Putin’s refusal to sell natural gas to Europe drives up energy prices so high that it forces more factories to close and poorer Europeans to choose between heating and eating.

Even though it would mean Putin’s war gains fell far short of his goals, he may be interested in seizing this outcome, so he has at least something to show for all his losses and

avoids total humiliation.

A lot of European leaders would grab this deal, even if they will not say so out loud. Here is how a retired senior European statesman, who spoke on condition of not being quoted by name, explained it at a business and politics seminar that I attended.

The goal of Ukraine is to win, he said. The goal of the European Union is a bit different. It is to have peace, and if there is a price for that, some leaders in Europe would be ready to pay the right price. The U.S. is far away, and for the U.S., he added, it is not the worst thing to keep the war going to weaken Russia and make certain it doesn’t have the energy for any other adventures.

To be sure, he added, the EU is more united than before the war started. However, in the next few months things will get quite difficult. There will be a big divide in the EU — and it will get more and more difficult because the goals will become more and more different, the former statesman said. Even if the public statements are the same, the EU is divided on how to deal with the war — not on the big question of whether Putin is right or there is a threat, but on how to deal with the whole situation, especially where the populist backlashes emerge when people get totally stressed this winter.

Some European leaders will begin to ask, “Is there a way out through negotiations?” Sure, some like the Baltic countries will 100 percent support Zelenskyy. But others will not care about freezing for Donetsk or Luhansk, he concluded.

As Michael Mandelbaum, the author of “The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy,” put it to me: Putin may smell this and

decide that his best move to save a shred of dignity and “expose the divisions in the EU is by announcing that he is ready to negotiate a cease-fire in place and would resume gas shipments to the EU if a deal can be done. But this would surely require providing Zelenskyy with the inducement of permanent, binding security guarantees — perhaps full NATO membership.”

This outcome is dirty because it would mean that Putin got away with both murder and grand larceny, showing that he can change the borders of Europe by force. But if you don’t think some Europeans (and more than a few MAGA Republican members of Congress) wouldn’t seize it and press for it if the war stretches to winter, you are fooling yourself.

I also would not rule out an Outcome 2-B, where Putin doubles down to ensure that he can unilaterally take home at least a bite of Ukraine, by trying to do more damage to Ukrainian towns he doesn’t control and by having his puppet parliament pass legislation to enable four Russianoccupied Ukrainian regions to hold “referendums” on joining Russia. The moves this week to hold referendums appear to have two aims: stopping the panic in these regions among pro-Russia Ukrainians that they could be abandoned and signaling to Kyiv, America and the EU: “I’ve still got lots of rockets and no conscience. If you don’t give me some face-saving slice so I can justify this war to my people, I will really destroy this place. Remember Grozny and Aleppo.”

Outcome 3: This IS a less dirty deal, but with the Russian people, not Putin. In this scenario, NATO and the Ukrainians propose a cease-fire on the basis

CMILO IS FOUR YEARS OLD and was adopted in Sofia, Bulgaria. People like to guess what breed he is, but his DNA test says he is 100% Eastern European Village Dog. He loves laying on the couch, boat rides, squeaky toys, and treats.

Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

of the Feb. 24 lines: where Russia and Ukrainian forces stood before Putin’s invasion. Ukraine is spared more destruction, and the principle of the inadmissibility of changing borders by force is upheld. But Putin would have to admit to his people: “We suffered some 70,000 casualties, lost thousands of tanks and armored vehicles and experienced terrible economic sanctions — and I got you nothing.”

Of course, it is impossible to imagine him saying that. But such a deal could be in the interest of the Russian people. So, as far as I can imagine it, Putin would probably have to be ousted by a popular mass protest movement, or by a palace coup.

All blame for the war could be pinned on him, and Russia could promise to be a good neighbor again if the West lifted its sanctions. Zelenskyy would have to give up his dream of recovering those areas of Ukraine seized by Russia in 2014, but Ukraine could begin healing and at least resume the process of joining the European Union, and maybe even NATO.

All of this helps explain the undertow I detected in Europe last week, the sense that this war could end in many different ways, some better, some worse, but none easy.

And that’s even without Outcome 4 — something no one can predict.

Falls Church Business News & Notes

Greenspur Highlighted

Northern Virginia Magazine has highlighted Mark Turner, owner and founder of Greenspur, a Falls Church-based design/build firm which focuses on building places that inspire gatherings. The article features the LOST Whiskey Club, which he co-founded with Nick Cioffi, and how stories play a role in renting a property they designed – somewhere overlooking Fairfax County and Fauquier County – which is described as an “environmentally sustainable, barely on the grid, luxury sanctuary.” Their bourbons are produced locally, in the Mosaic District. Read more in the September issue of Northern Virginia Magazine.

Community Family Fun Night

The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting another Family Fun Night for the community on Tuesday, October 4 at Jefferson Falls Mini Golf. The event runs 5:30 – 7:00 pm and features dinner, mini golf, face painting, a moon bounce, and more. Bolay Kitchen is providing the dinner giving the community an advanced taste before the restaurant opening. Other local business sponsors include Family Medicine of Falls Church, Modera Founders Row, Great Outdoors Landscaping, Apple Federal Credit Union and the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department. Tickets are available online at https://www.fallschurch chamber.org/events/details/chamber-event-family-fun-night-65472?calendarMonth=2022-10-01.

Small Business Survey

How would you rate the financial condition of your business? The Virginia SBDC Network is partnering with the Federal Reserve to conduct a Small Business Credit Survey. By taking the survey, you contrib ute to data that directly informs the Fed, federal government agencies, service providers, policymakers, and others—ultimately benefiting your business and other businesses like yours. The survey is open to businesses currently in operation, those recently closed, and those about to launch. All responses are con fidential. The survey closes November 4, 2022. Take the survey online at https://frb.co1.qualtrics.com/ jfe/form/SV_emJrBt1qbghCA3Y?orgid=SBDC_Virginia&parentid=&reserve_bank=RIC. Contact Grace Guynn at grace.guynn@atl.frb.org with any questions.

Enabled Intelligence, Inc. Expands

Governor Youngkin recently announced the expansion of Enabled Intelligence, Inc., a provider of secure and accurate data labeling services to enable artificial intelligence applications. The $1.4 million invest ment necessitates the expansion of its classified and unclassified office space on Arlington Boulevard in Falls Church and the addition of 117 new jobs. Enabled Intelligence, Inc. was founded in 2020 and specializes in the creation of accurate data labeling, training, and testing data sets, and building artificial intelligence technologies for defense, intelligence, law enforcement and other government missions. The workforce included veterans, people with differing abilities and subject matter experts.

Black Business Leaders Nominations

Virginia Business magazine is holding its first annual Black Business Leaders awards. Leaders from senior managers and vice presidents to company owners and C-suite executives are eligible. Nominees will be featured in the February issue of Virginia Business . Visit https://bit.ly/BLEADER23 to nominate an executive by the deadline, October 7.

 Business News & Notes is compiled by Elise Neil Bengtson, Executive Director of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at elise@fallschcurchchamber.org.

granite