Falls Church News-Press 1-26-2023

BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

The demolition of that legendary carpet store at the intersection of S. West Street and W. Broad is now imminent, set to happen by the end of this week pending the weather.

Under the ownership of the carpet store operators there for many years, its large windows have been advertising varieties of “Going Out of Business” sale signs over the recent decades, only now it’s actually happening.

The demolition will be the work of Mill Creek Developers, the outfit now well underway with putting finishing touches on what’s known as Founders Row 1 catty-corner across the intersection.

Mill Creek developers of Founders Row 1 won a final OK from the F.C. City Council last March to develop Founders Row 2 where the carpet store and Rite Aid are. That property combines

BY CHARLIE CLARK

As the war in Ukraine nears its one-year anniversary, at least two Falls Churchians are following the tragedy with personal interest.

Olga Kosenko and Gennadii Zinchenko, a married couple who are both city employees, have

Check out the News-Press’s first real estate guide of the year! Stories about housing rates, what’s in and what’s out for home improvement in 2023, affordable apartments and more are featured.

friends and relatives who’ve been killed or have chosen to remain in the war zone. “Ukraine has reached the point where everyone has lost someone,” says Zinchenko, who is the City of Falls Church information technology manager. Her parents, age 76, are still in Kyiv and won’t leave “their land,” adds

They spoke to the News-Press at a time when the U.S. and NATO allies are pondering stepped-up delivery of heavy tanks to the battlefield in anticipation of a springtime offensive and new land grab by the stretched Russian forces.

probes of war crimes.

The couple, who commute from Fairfax, came for coffee

Kosenko, an archivist and assistant at the Mary Riley Styles Library.

And Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has continued the bombing of civilians that has destroyed whole towns and prompted international

PATRONS GATHER AT FALLS CHURCH’S EDEN CENTER

lot this past Sunday. (Photo: Graham Eddy)

BRIEFS

Area Equity Foundation Issues $200,000 in Grants

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has announced several grants made to organizations through multiple discretionary funds. These grants, amounting to more than $200,000 will increase equity by supporting educational opportunities, increasing access to social and economic support, and helping strengthen community resilience for residents across the region.

Here are the organizations funded:

Afghan Refugee and Resettlement Fund: 3 Grants Totaling 10,500; Annandale High School: $2,300; FAMIL: $3,200, Women for Afghan Women Business Women’s Giving Circlezz: 3 Grants Totaling $50,000

Sustainability Matters: Ecologigals ($20,000) Boolean Girl: Boolean Girl Clubhouse ($15,000) Black Girls Hack: We Got Next Cyber Training Program ($15,000) Healthy Kids Mental Health Grants: 6 Grants Totaling $9,781. Cherry Run Elementary School/ Fairfax County Public Schools: $1,695, Fairfax County Public Schools Early Child Identification & Services: $1,540; ort Belvoir Upper School: $1,977; Briar Woods High School/ Loudoun County Public Schools: $2,000, Orange Hunt Elementary School/ Fairfax County Public Schools : $1,519

Saratoga Elementary School/ Fairfax County Public Schoolszzzzz: $1,050.

Loudoun Impact Fund: 13 Grants Totaling $121,000; A Farm Less Ordinary : $7,000; All Ages Read Together: $5,000; A Place to Be : $10,000; Crossroads Jobs: $5,000; Dulles South Food Pantry: $7,000; LAWS Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services: $13,000; Friends of Loudoun Mental Health, Inc.: $5,000; Loudoun Cares : $7,000; Loudoun Hunger Relief: $9,000; Loudoun Education Foundation: $8,000; Loudoun Volunteer Caregivers: $9,000; The Arc of Loudoun : $10,000; Ryan Bartel Foundation: $12,000

3 Sentenced For Forced Labor Of Pakistani Woman in N. Va.

A federal court in Richmond, Virginia, sentenced three defendants this week for conspiracy to commit forced labor for compelling the domestic labor of a Pakistani woman for 12 years.

Zahida Aman, 80, was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison, Mohammed Rehan Chaudhri, 48, to 120 months in federal prison and Mohammad Nauman Chaudhri, 55, to 60 months in federal prison in the Eastern District of Virginia. Additionally, the Court ordered Aman and Rehan Chaudhri to pay the victim $250,000 in restitution for back wages and other financial losses she incurred as a result of the defendants’ criminal conduct.

Following a seven-day trial in May 2022, the jury convicted all of the defendants of conspiracy to commit forced labor, convicted two of the defendants of forced labor and convicted Aman of document servitude. Aman arranged for her son’s marriage to the victim in 2002, but even after the victim’s husband moved away from

the home, the defendants kept the victim in their Virginia home to serve the extended family.

“These defendants callously exploited the victim’s vulnerabilities and brutally coerced her labor through physical violence and emotional abuse,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to vindicating the rights of survivors and bringing human traffickers to justice.”

“Human trafficking is a global issue that cannot be tackled alone,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI will remain committed to investigating all forms of human trafficking and work with our law enforcement partners in combatting the problem.”

DOJ Sues Google for Advertising Monopoly

This week, the Justice Department, along with the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Virginia, filed a civil antitrust suit against Google for monopolizing multiple digital advertising technology products in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the complaint alleges that Google monopolizes key digital advertising technologies, collectively referred to as the “ad tech stack,” that website publishers depend on to sell ads and that advertisers rely on to buy ads and reach potential customers.

Website publishers use ad tech tools to generate advertising revenue that supports the creation and maintenance of a vibrant open web, providing the public with unprecedented access to ideas, artistic expression, information, goods, and services. Through this monopolization lawsuit, the Justice Department and state Attorneys General seek to restore competition in these important markets and obtain equitable and monetary relief on behalf of the American public.

As alleged in the complaint, over the past 15 years, Google has engaged in a course of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct that consisted of neutralizing or eliminating ad tech competitors through acquisitions; wielding its dominance across digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products; and thwarting the ability to use competing products. In doing so, Google cemented its dominance in tools relied on by website publishers and online advertisers, as well as the digital advertising exchange that runs ad auctions.

“Today’s complaint alleges that Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful conduct to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “No matter the industry and no matter the company, the Justice Department will vigorously enforce our antitrust laws to protect consumers, safeguard competition, and ensure economic fairness and opportunity for all.”

Carpet

Once

to make up 2.09 acres that will become home to 280 new rental units and a portion of groundfloor retail across the intersection from Founders Row 1.

The carpet store has a legacy of its own, being the one destination in the wider Northern Virginia region that was the temporary home of the Washington Football Team’s souvenir store in 1991, last time that team advanced to the Superbowl.

Then in the early part of this decade the site was leased to two creative and entrepreneurial partners, who retooled it for a renovation and conversion to a custom-made carpentry shop where stunning customized features were made on site.

The exterior of the site was also spiffed up in the process, and the men joined the local Chamber of Commerce and did a lot of advertis ing in the

their business right at the outset of the Great Recession, driven by a col lapse of the housing market.. The timing could now have been worse for them.

Home to Washington Football Team Souvenirs

ing to the News-Press, they soon had to declare bankruptcy. Such promise turned into such a disaster.

Well, we can only hope that’s now behind that property, although a perfunctory spiritual cleansing, or exorcism, could not hurt.

The Falls Church City Council’s Economic Development committee was slated to meet at City Hall this Thursday at 1:00 p.m..

According to committee chair, the items on the committee’s agenda include an update on the demolition plan at the Founder’s Row 2 site, including plans for an upcoming ribbon cutting. Founders Row 1’s schedule for ground-floor build outs, new leases and an update on the Paragon movie theater’s progress will be included.

At the former Stratford Motel site on W. Broad discussion to include updates on the assembly of proper-

the One City Center plans at Broad and Washington, the potential for assembly of the properties in the 900 block of W. Broad running from the Coin Exchange to Jess’ Haircuts, the buildout plans for 603 W. Broad, including for a Smoothie King drivethru and offices upstairs, the Halal

City Market at the West End Plaza, new openings at the Birch and Broad was scheduled to be discussed.

Also, the prospects for a restaurant 455 Tinner Hill, status for a “Corral Restaurant” at the former F.C. Distiller site, an update on the Insight Property’s Broad and

Washington project, festive holiday lighting along W. Broad during the next holiday season, a recap of the East End Small Area Plan listening session and some appeals for flexible parking in some retail spaces were slated to be among the matters to be discussed.

THE HISTORIC CARPET store at W Broad and S. Washington St. was slated for demolition to make way for Mill Creek’s ‘Founder’s Row 2’ with 250 rental units and ground floor retail. (News-Press Photo)

on West Broad St. with another Ukrainian couple they had met the day before at St. Andrews Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, Md. At that fundraiser for refugees, they viewed the film “Carol of the Bells,” which tells of the Christmas song popular in the United States based on a 1919 Ukrainian work.

Computer specialist Zinchenko, whose English was the more advanced of the two, planned his emigration to the United States beginning in 2013, just before Putin’s provocative annexation of the Crimean peninsula. After an IT career in Ukraine, he came to Northern Virginia with a green card, leaving their sons at home to finish their academic year. Within a month he was hired by Falls Church in July 2014 as an engineer, later to supervise digital services in all city departments (except Schools).

Wife Olga, who was less fluent but was an experienced archivist, joined him and began at the library in 2016 as a volunteer processing donations. Eager for a job and hardworking, she flagged some donated first-edition books as valuable. So four months later when a job opened in the history room, Library Director Mary McMahon hired her. “I’ve always gravitated to preserving local history, with old books, maps and deeds,” she says.

Zinchenko stresses that Ukraine’s volunteer organizations were organized back in 2014 as a “people’s movement” to support the military with food, medicine and communications. Today, he has a stepmother still in Brovary and a cousin’s family in Kviv. His wife has a friend who lost her hus-

band in 2015 in the conflict, and a best friend whose boyfriend died after volunteering at the front lines. Olga’s father, retired but volunteering with the neighborhood patrols, helped expose a saboteur disguised as a homeless person.

The fellow Ukrainians the couple brought to the interview are filmmaker Artem Kolubaev, producer of “Carol of the Bells,” and his wife Eka, a make-up artist and jewelry maker now raising their two daughters at a friend’s in Alexandria. She has temporary protected status while husband Kolubaev, who, as an industryelected leader of Ukraine’s Council for State Support of Cinematography, continues to travel from Ukraine to the U.S. on a work visa.

One friend, Pavlo Li, a noted actor who was killed in March 2022, will have a Ukrainian street named for him. Eka has a friend who lost her father in the fighting, and Artem has said farewell to many film industry colleagues, notably one pyrotechnics specialist who had volunteered, and who died last summer.

Together, the Kolubaevs described the scene on February 23-24, 2022, in their apartment in Kyiv near the airport. They had heard rumors of an invasion, and embassies were closing. But they worried about “the boy who cried wolf” and thought the likely target of Donbas too far away. On the night when they were distracted by the premier of a comedy film, a friend called at 1:00 a.m. insisting “100 percent” the invasion was starting. Artem’s job gave him a duty to be ready, but “no one accepted that the Russians would bomb.” Then at 4:00 a.m. came the voice over a loudspeaker that war had begun.

With sleep out of the question, the couple rallied their daughters (ages 11 and 15), who could hardly understand the situation, to pack clothing.

Knowing they might soon lose electricity and water, the family shopped at a grocery, but thousands had the same idea. After two hours, they emerged with protein bars and water. Next thing they noticed was that the parking lot of their 5,000-tenant building was emptying. Banks had stopped changing money.

Finally, when the noise and shaking of actual bomb drops removed all doubt, the husband and wife disagreed over whether to depart. (Though likely on a target list, he would stay.) They saw two Russian tanks destroyed. There was fear of checkpoints, where bandits might be operating. “It was unclear if Ukraine

would exist the next day,” Artem recalled.

In the ensuing months, his nongovernmental organization helped supply the military with 248 cars and 11 ambulances. He personally drove to the dangerous “gray zone” to deliver cargo. “It was a mess, like a movie,” he recalls. Artem, who would film President Voldymor Zelensky broadcasting in a studio, said it is clear “Putin doesn’t want the Ukrainian people, he wants territory on a map—just look at the Dnieper River.”

Whether the Russians succeed “depends on many things. They must destroy the whole country,” he adds. “There will be

partisan districts until the end.” Much depends on the European Union and the United States.

“We have shown we can fight.”

Olga Kosenko says what ultimately happens with Putin “doesn’t matter.” But she is optimistic “Ukraine will be won.” Though not all Ukrainians agree with everything Zelensky does, they acknowledge his leadership.

As for Falls Church, Olga Kosenko finds the people “open, honest, kind and willing to help.” Husband Gennadii Zinchenko calls them “beautiful, diverse, open, modern and thoughtful about the future.”

OLGA KOSENKO (left) and Gennadii Zinchenko (right) are a married couple who have lost family and friends due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. (P����: C������ C����)

McGonigal Arrest Reveals Role in 2016 Trump Win N������� F. B�����

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Of course, the timing of revelations like this is always an issue (such as in this case, the fact it awaited the transition to a new party in control of the House), but the arrest of perhaps the most consequential person at the FBI, Charlie McGonigal, for ostensible espionage on behalf of a hostile foreign power, the Russians he was supposed to be in charge of stopping, is shaping up to be perhaps the story of the century.

Hardly mentioned for this aspect in the coverage of his arrest this week is the extensive documentation via Twitter by highly-credible Presidential historian Michael Beschloss. It is drawing major attention for its amazing claim of the central role of McGonigal, acting as an insider Russian agent, to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Namely, if Beschloss is to be believed (and there is no reason not to), McGonigal’s elevation to a critical slot at the highest level of the FBI just weeks before the November 2016 election was pivotal in the last-minute decision by FBI Director James Comey to announce the relaunch of his investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails that threw her otherwise certain election in favor of GOP candidate Donald Trump at the proverbial 11th hour.

Comey’s inexplicable decision marked one of the most egregious cases of an intelligence agency’s intervention into a presidential election in history, one which subjected the nation and the world into its greatest crisis ever in the form of the four years of chaos the was the Trump presidency and that still represents the nation’s biggest threat to its democracy since the Civil War.

Beschloss has not minced his words in this. The arrest of McGonigal for acting as the agent of a hostile foreign power at the top of the FBI is the stuff of perhaps the most remarkable espionage case ever, one which, if true, has altered the course of history in favor of Russia’s Vladimir Putin against the

strategic interests of the U.S. It has been documented that Trump was Russia’s chosen agent of influence at the top of the U.S. government since 1987, and what he has done to weaken the Western Alliance as the American president has been perhaps irreversible, much less how he disenfranchised the American public since he was declared the winner of the presidential election in November 2016 despite coming up almost three million votes short in the popular vote, and continually insisting he won the 2020 election despite coming up over seven million votes short.

Perhaps this explains the historical essay that appeared in this Monday’s Washington Post that argued strangely that America’s strategic disadvantages since the 1930s only made it stronger. Are we supposed to believe that being wounded by McGonigal’s treachery only strengthened the U.S., notwithstanding the impact of Trump’s presidency?

No, the McGonigal arrest is hopefully only the first step in the Justice Department’s revelations about how Putin’s counterintelligence operations in the U.S. have brought our nation so close to ruin in a sequence of events that have damaged us and that remain far from over. The sabotage of the American national interest was greater than anything the Rosenbergs did in the 1940s that led to their capital punishment.

Curiously, this has now just begun to come to light just weeks after the Democrats had to relinquish power in the House to weaken their ability to bring the full consequences of this to the American public.

Beschloff tweeted that, as is entirely relevant, Trump attorney Rudy Guliani “boasted late in Fall 2016 presidential campaign about the contacts with the FBI’s New York field office and later said publicly that (FBI) director James Comey had responded to ‘pressure of a group of FBI agents.’”

In the final days of the 2016 campaign, Trump surrogate Giuliani said publicly that “help is on the way” for Trump. “He’s got a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about,” Giuliani said.

McGonigal resigned from the FBI in 2018 after his damage was done and he faced internal audits that were beginning to show over $200,000 in unaccounted for funds to him.

Our Man in Arlington

Transatlantic plaudits to the Arlington Heights Civic Association, for forging new ties with historical allies in the United Kingdom.

The “Friendship Community Relationship”—not as elaborate as the larger sister city program but still fun—was just announced by association delegate Mark Murawski. The goal is to “open the lines of communication” to create goodwill between the South Arlington neighborhood and the quaint Cotswold village of Bibury in the English county of Gloucestershire.

The reason: ancestral roots of the Custis family, whose scion George Washington Parke Custis created Arlington House, which is the source of our own county’s name.

As a biographer of Custis (17811857), I did my own examination of the once-prestigious family tree of this step-grandson of Martha Washington raised at Mount Vernon under THE Founding Father. That included a dive into the gentle dispute over exactly how Arlington derives its name (officially so-christened in March 1920 after decades playing second fiddle as the rural section of Alexandria County).

For those of you not keeping score, GWP Custis chose the name Arlington for his Potomac-side monument to George Washington to invoke his 17th-century ancestor John Custis II. Raised in the Netherlands as a wool trader, Custis immigrated to America and bestowed the name Arlington on his tobacco plantation on Virginia’s

(You can visit the Northampton County site near Cape Charles.)

In one 19th-century telling, John Custis was honoring a hero, Henry Bennet, a 17th-century Earl of Arlington, often spelled as “Harlington.” That’s an ancient town in the British county of Middlesex, near Heathrow Airport. To further confuse things, there is also an old English village called Arlington south of London in East Sussex.

But more common is the view that the older Custis was honoring his father’s birthplace in the Bibury, where 581 souls inhabit a picturesque village on the River Coln—with a splendid array of stone cottages called Arlington Row. At least one American Arlingtonian has visited the lovely Cotswolds with the express purpose of finding our county’s roots. That would be Arlington Historical Society president Warren Clardy, who wrote it up in the Arlington Historical Magazine in 1989.

Today, the Arlington Heights folks, says Murawski, would like to “dispel the rumor that we were named after” that long-gone earl (also called Baron Arlington). He put me in touch with Craig Chapman, chairman of the Bibury Parish Council, who knows the subject. Chapman assured me that his study of the 370-year association between our two hometowns shows no link to the other two British Arlingtons, only Bibury’s, as he wrote in an article in the local magazine Village Life. He is equally excited about

the new Friendship Community Relationship with the 1,000 households in the Arlington, Va., neighborhood off Columbia Pike and South Glebe Road.

Chapman looks forward to an “opportunity to build a relationship between our two communities, to explore our historical links, share ideas and promote further exchange.” He promised to scout for British descendants of the Custis family still in the mother country.

***

The county board Jan. 25 voted 5-0 to advertise for two months the disputed proposal to loosen zoning to allow more “Missing Middle” housing types. Nearly 200 speakers had given up their Saturday Jan. 21 to address the board and decry or praise the plan. The advertisement ruled out seven- and eight-plex units.

As opponents waved slogans on camera behind the microphone, advocate Christine Purka of the Yorktown neighborhood attacked existing zoning and economic inequalities as “opportunity hoarding.” Critic Elizabeth Grossman of Arlington Forest asked why the board is “more concerned about future populations than the people who live here now.”

Homebuilder Larry Smith of Arlington Green Homes challenged opponents’ assertion that the 8-plex units so upsetting to some would be common. More likely we’d go for duplexes, or townhouses with a common wall, he said.

YIMBY’s of NoVa estimated that 90 speakers favored the proposal, with 79 opposed. Organized opponents cited their 5,000 names on a protest petition.

26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2023 (Published by Benton Communications, Inc.)

FOUNDED IN 1991 Vol. XXXII, No. 50 January 26 - February 1, 2023

Our ‘Our Town’ & Our Newspaper

In Thornton Wilder’s powerful 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning play about small-town America, the narrator’s introduction showing the audience around a small New England town in 1901 includes the following: “In those days our newspaper came out twice a week—the Grover’s Corners Sentinel—and this is Editor Webb’s house.” The Sentinel, Editor Webb and the paperboy play central roles in the play.

In his 2021 book, “Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing,” Falls Church native Pete Davis’ paean to what poet Jack Gilbert described as “The beauty that is of many days, steady and clear, the normal excellence of long accomplishment,” is like in many ways Wilder’s “Our Town” applied to Falls Church. He wrote, “I grew up in a town – Falls Church, Virginia – that had a strong identity It had a small school system and a rich civic life, especially for children: Boy and Girls Scouts, Operation Earth Watch, youth soccer and Little League every Saturday morning, the Falls Church News-Press at everyone’s door every Thursday, the fall festival in October, the Memorial Day parade in May. Behind every beloved institution in town was a dedicated person. Howard Herman helmed the weekly farmer’s market. Nikki and Ed Henderson were in charge of the annual blues festival. Nick Benton kept the News-Press running. Barb Cram kept the local art shows going. Sue John kept the preschool open.”

What he described in a couple pages, including the roles of Annette and Dave Eckert who “somehow turned our town’s tiny recycling and litter prevention program into a fun community endeavor, complete with school clubs, picnics and t-shirts in which hundreds of us kids participated,” has a distinctly “Our Town” ambiance about it, This is underscored by viewing the City’s cable access channel to watch hours of videotape reruns of our town’s annual Memorial Day parades aired on weekends that ooze of local small town flavor.

Yes, Falls Church is a quintessential small town in America, with its 15,000 residents being acutely active in civil affairs, routinely boasting of the state’s highest voter turnout in elections, and having nurtured one of the finest school systems in the entire nation.

With this in mind, we should all lament the latest downsizing of the area’s one formidable daily newspaper, The Washington Post, which reported on scores of layoffs made just in the last week in its newsroom. “While such changes are not easy, evolution is necessary for us to stay competitive and the economic environment has guided our decision to act now,” executive editor Sally Buzbee is quoted saying. The latest blow comes amid the years’ long subordination of the news to investor demands, even as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos bought the paper in 2013.

Moreover, online alternatives simply cannot substitute for powering the informing, learning and remembering of news like a tactile product that can be held, folded, marked on, and set aside for re-reading can do.

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Being Stranded

Falls Church

Editor,

in

Monday, late afternoon January 23, around 4 p.m., I found myself unexpectedly in Falls Church, Virginia.

Shortly after leaving the Dunn Loring Metro station, the train conductor made an announcements to commuters that the train is headed back to Vienna.

Therefore all the riders exited the train at the West Falls Church station. I am learning it, but still unfamiliar with the all the Metro rail stations and its station stops.

But of course, there is a first time for everything. Even for those of us relying on public transportation service.

I am aware that mild unexpected situations happen in wintertime. I am very understanding of that, too.

The announcement at the station was shuttle buses had been requested. Then after over an hour of waiting for the buses outside the station, we were allowed to re-board the Metro train again.

We departed with much hesitation. I don’t have nor can afford an Uber account.

My only suggestion to the Metro system is to be more proficient in providing shuttle bus service and deliver on that request particularly in the cold weather.

Wayne Williams Washington D.C.

Pinewood Derby Races into 2023

Editor,

When asked what brings him back to the Derby each year, Craig Thor thundered above the echoey din inside Heller Hall at the 2023 Pinewood Derby, hosted by Troop 681 at St. James, “I did this with my dad every year and now I do this with my sons. It’s a way to stay connected for us.”

Such is the claim for many of the dads, moms and kids who anxiously flock to the event each year and wait with bated breath for their times to be shown up on the big screen, measured to the 1000th of a second. The St. James Troop has been through a lot over the years and yet fathers and sons reunite their child-like excite-

ment and put their sweat, blood and tears into this friendly and painfully competitive contest of physics, artistry and drive each winter.

In fact, it was too much for this anxious mom this year. I took a back seat while I witnessed my husband and two oldest sons put their heads together. The Derby doesn’t just give our boys a chance to perform. It gave me the opportunity to instill a bit of craftiness to the science of speed. An opportunity that I missed by a little bit, thus sacrificing the key to aerodynamics for the sake of a beautiful creation.

But the lessons of sportsmanship, courage and craftsmanship will thankfully continue for my boys. For the Thor family, this may be one of their final Derbys. “We Be Loyal Scouts,” nicknamed “Webelos,” are the oldest stage of Cub Scout and next year they will leave the Derby to their younger fellow scouts. Frank Doherty, a former scout himself, said that “Webelos is a bittersweet year. You come of age but you’re still a boy. You say goodbye but you also lead the way.” Maybe that sentiment is what made us girls so jealous of our brothers.

Meaghan E. DeCelle City of Falls Church

Bring Vibrancy to Transitional Zones

Editor,

The City Council and Planning Commission are considering zoning changes for property in the zones known as Transition Zones, which provide for a transition between dense commercial and mixed-use zones and residential neighborhoods. The proposed changes would allow for neighborhood-serving commercial uses, denser residential housing, and a greater variety of housing types. F.C. City sorely needs new housing types because single family homes are out-of-reach for too many. The changes will enhance the downtown area and bring vibrancy to our community. The Transition Zones are adjacent to or close to major bus routes and Metro stations, which will promote public transportation and minimize the impact on traffic. Our community should support the proposed zoning changes to promote the vibrancy that this targeted new development will bring.

Allison Brown City of Falls Church

REAL ESTATE

Falls Church Apartments Few and Far Between

BY PATRICIA LESLIE

Anyone who’s looking to make a move soon in Falls Church knows that it’s not only homes which are in short supply here, but the inventory of apartments is low, too.

An online search for apartments found few available. Prices for some exceed large mortgage payments.

Apartments range from $1,515 to $2,953 for a one bedroom, and $1,750 to $6,704 for a two bedroom.

Modera Founder’s Row on West Broad has the highest price for a one bedroom, while the West Broad at the Harris Teeter building claims top prize for the priciest two bedrooms.

The less expensive units are found at Glen Apartments near West Street and Route 29 for the one bedroom, and at Roosevelt Towers on North Roosevelt for two bedrooms.

None of the high end apartments include utilities like what’s found at some lower-priced units, but pricier places offer amenities like a dog run, a pet spa, pet wash station, a pet park, complimentary moving assistance, a library lounge, fire pits in outdoor areas with TVs, and an upper deck for watching parades and fireworks.

Robert A. Young is the president of the Young Group which has 150,000 to 200,000 square feet of residential and commercial properties in Falls Church which are all leased up.

“We have no vacancy of any kind,” he said in a phone interview.

“It’s never happened in my 20 plus

years I’ve owned property.” Typically, an occupancy of 92 to 93 percent for commercial properties is considered “excellent by industry standards,” he said.

From a landlord’s perspective, apartments in Falls Church are in “very, very good shape.” His rent increases for them have been below inflation, at only two to three percent, but “we’ve just done an assessment and found we’re pretty far behind the market,” so his tenants may find a five percent adjustment coming this year.

With a different perspective, Edward P. Novak, Jr., an area real estate developer and president and founder of Nova Ventures, says the market has settled down from its covid highs.

There’s been “a fairly significant slowdown” since the peak of last summer. “It’s not dramatic, but rents were raised by a significant amount” to cover labor and construction costs, and soaring inflation and interest rates.

Now, some commercial developers are having a hard time finding money to build.

“Demand has dropped a bit to a more normal level.”

The National Apartment Association says renters are pausing on making moves and have begun to combine households to save money. Vacancy rates nationally are projected to increase through 2024 and records show rental prices dropped September through November, 2022, although Zillow, a national real estate marketer, says rents were 8.4 percent higher than a year ago.

800 WEST BROAD (pictured above), also known as the “flower building” is the home of Sfizi’s restaurant and Young’s offices. (P����: T�� Y���� G����)

REAL ESTATE

New Study Reveals VA Home Sales Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels

BY KYLEE TOLAND FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Two years after the Covid-19 pandemic affected the nation, local home buyers are now seeing more available options as the housing market slows down.

According to a December 2022 Virginia Home Sales Report by Virginia REALTORS — the largest trade association in Virginia, — Virginia’s housing market has slowed “considerably” in 2022 after two “very busy” years, almost returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The report stated that there were about 123,000 houses sold in Virginia in 2022, which is 20 percent fewer than the annual total in 2021. In December 2022, 7,492 houses were sold statewide, a “sharp” drop of nearly 38 percent from the same time last year. A “significant” role in this slowdown could be the rapid rise of interest rates over much of 2022.

Other factors for this decrease in the market is far fewer contracts occurring each month, houses stayed on the market longer and sellers were not getting their asking price, on average, as the year came to a close.

Ryan Price, the chief economist at Virginia REALTORS, said the company produces home sales reports monthly on the Virginia housing market conditions and economic conditions of the state. He stated the City of Falls Church’s housing market has slowed down “considerably,” along with 90 percent of other Virginia counties and cities.

“Smaller markets like Falls Church tend to be more volatile in terms of changes,” Price said. “Because there’s fewer home sales overall, just a few extra or few less can really tip the scales on whether or not it’s shrinking or growing.”

Overall, 87 percent of counties and cities

in Virginia had fewer home sales in 2022 compared to 2021, which from an annual perspective, statewide sales activity is back to pre-pandemic totals, near market levels seen in 2018. These shifts, paired with increases in inventory that remains “tight”, could come as “welcome news” to potential buyers active in the market as houses are taking longer to sell and supply is increasing.

The report also added that the December median sales price in Virginia was $359,000, up 2.6 percent from last year, an $9,100 increase. There was approximately $3.3 billion of sold volume in Virginia in December, which is $1.9 billion less volume than a year ago, a 36.9 percent drop.

Price further stated that the City of Falls Church has been slowing down “dramatically” in the housing market since the summer of 2022, which can be a negative thing for an economy such as the city’s because there’s “residual economic activity” generated from a home sale. However, a buyer in Falls Church can benefit from this as the market slowing can allow one to purchase a house in an easier fashion.

“Our outlook is continued moderation in the market,” Price said. “We expect that will continue in Falls Church.”

In Virginia, there were 16,115 active listings on the market at the end of December. This is a “supply jump” of nearly 20 percent over the same time last year.

The outlook of this report signals that sales activity will “likely be slower” than in 2022, net job growth will likely “flatten out” as economic conditions weaken and prices will remain “relatively stable,” though in some markets they will continue to climb, and prices declines are possible in some pockets of the state.

Nation Facing Record Breaking Housing Shortage

BY BRIAN REACH FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Across the Nation, a nearly four-million estimated housing unit shortage is keeping home prices steady despite interest rate hikes, while rent increases continue to outpace even current levels of inflation. Locally, the housing market is as competitive as ever — between December 2021 and December 2022, the median home sale price in 22046 more than doubled (from $682,000 to over $1,500,000). This is partly due to low inventory — last month only four new homes were listed for sale in the city. Rental inventory is extremely low as well; only six homes and two condos are currently listed for rent within City limits, and less than forty rentals are available across the City’s six apartment complexes — and only two of those go for less than $2,000 per month.

But what does 2023 have in store for

us? While inflation, mortgage rates, supply chain concerns, and worries of a pending recession have many predicting a housing decline in other areas of the country, there are some things to look forward to in our region. “Gone are the days of dozens of offers 10 — 20 percent over list price with no contract contingencies.” said Pam Micciche, realtor at HBC Group in McLean. She further described a more responsible market outlook for the coming year, “In 2023 we will experience more normal price appreciation along with contract contingencies that allow for important due diligence.”

Micciche said pent up demand and persistently low inventory make it an excellent time for a seller to take advantage and get top-dollar for their home. At the same time, those looking to purchase will experience less cut-throat competition, with homes staying on the market longer, allowing more time to find the right fit.

REAL ESTATE

What’s In & What’s Out For Home Improvement in 2023

BY KYLEE TOLAND FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

As people are still adjusting to the new year, some may be thinking about ways to improve their homes to keep up with the various housing developments, whether they be general and/or technological upgrades.

Luckily, both national and local organizations have their predictions of what will be “in” and will be “out” in regards to housing improvements and rebuilding/remodeling. They also have ideas about certain items that may make a “comeback” in the year 2023.

Craig Toalson, the chief executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, said the number of homes entering the “prime” remodeling years — 20 to 39 years old — will grow by 2.9 million by 2027. Kitchen and bath upgrades continue to “lead the way” as the “best return” on investment.

FRED is a home repair company that helps residents in the Washington D.C. metro areas, as well as parts of Maryland and Northern Virginia. Claiming they “do it all,” on their website, FRED specializes in upgrading bathrooms, kitchens and living spaces.

Chuck Khiel, the senior vice president of the FRED Division of Case Design, said the company has seen an increase in requests in wallpaper, something he said is becoming “huge” again. He also said people seem to be trading in their hollow core — fiberboard or laminated — doors for solid interior doors, as well as “luxury” vinyl flooring and LED lighting continuing to be popular additions to one’s home.

One “trend” he and his company have seen be requested by homeowners is “accent walls,” which is a wall whose design differs from the design of the other walls in a room or household. Khiel further stated both a different color paint or a different type of medium — such as tape paint pattern or even a stone laminate — have recently been sought after by homeowners in their dining or living rooms.

As for what he has seen become less popular over the years, Khiel stated carpet “seems to be a thing of the past,” since the company “tears out endless acres of carpet” to place a different kind of floor covering.

Outdoor spaces, such as hardscape patios or screened-in porches, will continue to be popular, according to Khiel. Since its “huge rise” during the pandemic, Khiel said as long as some people continue to work from home, the expansion and design of outdoor spaces will remain a large request among homeowners.

Rose Quint, the assistant vice presi-

home

improvement opportunities this year, remodeling one’s kitchen and bath seems to remain popular.

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dent of survey research at the National Association of Home Builders, said 2023 could see remodeling activity “slowing down” compared to 2022, but will still “outperform” new construction activity. Top remodeling jobs the organization has seen is kitchen and bathroom remodeling, followed by new room additions, basement finishes, window replacements and decks.

Home offices, whether they be renovated or newly constructed, are “increasing in popularity,” according to Quint, due to certain businesses continuing to implement working-fromhome policies. As for exterior improvements, Quint said homeowners and buyers “are looking to be able to spend time outdoors in the comfort and safety of their own home/community,” so patios and walking trails are increasingly being requested.

Claw bathtubs and the color gray are have seen a noticeable decline in popularity for home improvement and repairs, according to Andy Apter, the National Association of The Remodeling Industry’s (NARI) president-elect. He further stated kitchen and bathroom installations, repairs and improvements will continue to be wanted by homeowners, as well as fire pits and outdoor seating areas.

His advice for people who are thinking about improving their house in 2023 is to do research on the internet, especially on a website such as Houzz — a “Pinterest-like” online platform that allows one to search for the types of arrangements they want to have done. He also suggested people should consult with a remodeling professional before jumping into a home improvement situation.

Kathy Pippin, Realtor

Need compassionate, intelligent people to work with?

That’s our team.

Smart, with a passion for real estate and a focus on what’s best for our clients.

If you’re buying or selling your home, give us a call. We're here to help!

Meet Your Home Experts

Julie Andre, Senior Mortgage Loan Officer

Julie Andre is an area native and highly experienced Senior Mortgage Officer with UNFCU, lending in all 50 States. She provides valuable solutions and education for all home loan types and sizes. Julie provides individualized attention to borrowers from pre-approval through closing. First-time buyers, move-up buyers, downsizers, self-employed, investors, second homes, cash buyers seeking delayed financing, foreign nationals and more. In addition to weekdays, Julie is available evenings and weekends. Feel free to reach out by phone/text (703) 237-0333 or email jandre@unfcu.com. 703.237.0333 • JAndre@unfcu.com

Albert Bitici, Realtor, The Bitici Group

Is it a good time to sell my home?… Increasing interest rates are impacting affordability and as a result, buyer demand is falling. The majority of observers expect the U.S. to enter into a recession sometime in mid-to late-2023, but there is little agreement on the depth or duration of an economic downturn. Continuing tight availability of homes and a resilient labor market have provided a perfect window of opportunity to sell your home. If you want to extract the maximum value from the sale of your property, time is of the essence… Contact our award winning real estate team, The Bitici Group at Keller Williams Metro Center 571.775.0468 - albert@thebiticigroup.com

Mark Donnelly, N-Hance of Fairfax

electricians, plumbers, and more). If you’re looking to find a new home, build your dream home, get market statistics for your home or neighborhood, sell your existing home, make improvements to your current home, buy or sell an investment property or need answers to any real estate questions, make Bethany Ellis your real estate resource.

703.307.7003 • buyandsellwithBethany.com

FOXCRAFT Design Group

FOXCRAFT Design Group is in their 34th year as an award-winning design/ build firm and general contractor. What is the secret to longevity in such a competitive marketplace? “We understand adapting homes for growing families and the importance that a neighborhood plays in family life,” explains FOXCRAFT president and owner Chandler Fox. FOXCRAFT is among the most creative, experienced design/build firms in the region, specializing in meeting clients’ budget expectations and overcoming ever changing national and county codes, regulations and guidelines. “We’ve done it all,” Fox says. “Clients come back to us many times for additional projects. We are problem solvers and trusted advisors.”

703.536.1888 • www.FOXCRAFT.com

Marshall Roofing, Siding & Windows

Mark Donnelly, owner of N-Hance of Fairfax, NW, a local franchisee of the #1 Cabinet Refinishing Company in the US.We offer our clients affordable options to update their homes. Whether you are looking to renew aging cabinets, want to brighten your kitchen with a lighter color, or follow the latest color trends, we can help bring a whole new look to your kitchen. Furthermore, if your cabinet boxes are solid, but your doors are dated, we can also do a re-dooring to a more modern style (like Shaker), without the mess, expense or duration of a traditional remodel.My team and I look forward to hearing from you and seeing how we can help to create the kitchen of your dreams.

®

703.345.3100 • NHance.com/FairfaxNW

Bethany Ellis, Long and Foster

Bethany Ellis owns and operates a highly successful real estate business in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. She is an experienced Realtor® whose goal is to exceed your expectations. Her knowledge of the local market, attention to every detail, excellent negotiating ability, and effective communication ensures that your real estate transaction will go smoothly from start to finish. Bethany has direct access to lenders, home inspectors, new home developers, settlement groups, and local service providers (painters, plumbers, carpet suppliers, handymen,

Marshall Roofing, Siding & Windows has been servicing the Northern Virginia area for over 43 years. We specialize in Roofing, Siding, Windows, Entry Doors, Repairs, Skylights and Attic Ventilation. We pride ourselves on the highest level of customer satisfaction which has been the pinnacle principle of our company. We are a family-owned business that is centered on customer service, quality, and workmanship at an affordable value for all.

703.550.0055 • www.MarshallRoofing.com

The Mather

The Mather, opening in 2024, is a forward-thinking Life Plan Community for those 62+. It’s smack dab in the middle of it all in Tysons, VA, bordering a three-acre urban park and within walking distance of rail service, retail, and restaurants. The Mather’s apartment homes feature expansive views, luxury finishes, and smart-home technology. The community will feature 38,000+ square feet of amenities, including restaurants, spa, fitness center, indoor pool, rooftop clubroom, art studio, and more! Life Plan Communities are lifestyle communities in which people can pursue new passions and priorities, with a plan in place that supports aging well.

703.348.8522 • themathertysons.com

REAL ESTATE

A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

Meet Your Home Experts

Tori McKinney - ROCK STAR Realty Group, KW Metro Center

We all need some calm, confidence, and joy with one of life’s biggest decisions. That’s where my ROCK STAR Realty Group and I come in — to help our buyers find the homes they love and provide our sellers with a seamless sale. With interest rates stabilizing from the 2022 spike and strikingly low inventory, having a trusted real estate team is vital to succeed. Our expert team, with 60+ years of combined experience, have conquered markets similar to what we are experiencing today and are here to coach you to the finish line. How can I help with your next move? Give me a ring at (703) 867-8674 to talk about your plans!

703.867.8674 • RockStarRealtyGroup.com

Pam Micciche, Keller Williams

Pam Micciche is a valued member of the HBC Group at KW. Put her background in brokering business partnerships, managing and negotiating multiyear, multi-million-dollar agreements for companies including AOL and National Geographic to work for you! She is a pro in establishing trusted relationships, negotiating toward a meeting of the minds, and always keeping clients’ best interests and budget front and center.

A resident of Falls Church City for almost 20 years, Pam is a native Washingtonian who grew up in McLean and has especially strong ties to Great Falls and Arlington. Through her involvement with PTAs, youth sports, and school fundraisers Pam has made volunteerism a hallmark of living in and giving back to her community.

703.371.9343 • HBCGroupKW.com

Peake Management & Realty

A passion for real estate, this Northern Virginia native leads a team of exceptional colleagues in helping clients navigate through buying and selling property. While specializing in identifying good investment property, Lindsey works with all types of properties and is proud to have the company named the top property management company in Falls Church four years in a row. It speaks to the level of competence of the entire staff. An avid investor herself, Lindsey can share first-hand experience and guidance to make the transaction experience as easy as possible.

703.408.2153 • www.peakeinc.com

Kathy Pippin, Samson Properties

“We got in touch with Kathy and explained to her that we plan to buy a new house and sell our current house at the same time. Kathy was very patient and listened to our plan and needs. She started offering her knowledge and expertise well before we signed the actual contract. We talked to a couple of other real estate agents and some work for big names. But we decided to work with Kathy because we felt

that for the amount of details and attention we needed, Kathy was the one, and we made the right choice.” said the Li family.

703.408.0838 • KathyPippinProperties.com

Reico Kitchen & Bath

Your dream, our ideas and expertise. Reico Kitchen & Bath takes your dated, tired kitchens and bathrooms and transforms them into spaces you love and want to spend time in.

Established in 1952, Reico Kitchen & Bath is your onestop for kitchen and bathroom design and remodeling. We offer cabinets, countertops, appliances, sinks, fixtures and everything you need to create your new kitchen or bathroom. It is our goal to have every customer recommend us at our Falls Church, VA showroom or at any of our 23 showrooms throughout the Mid and South Atlantic.

703.748.0700 • reico.com

Kelly Milspaugh Thompson, Stylish Patina

Kelly Millspaugh Thompson is a Falls Church City native and small business owner. Kelly opened Stylish Patina, Home + Gift Boutique in Falls Church in 2013. A few years ago she expanded her service offering to include Real Estate. She now melds her love of Real Estate and Interior Design into a one of a kind full service offering for her clients. This has proven to be a unique and highly sought after combination of skills. Her extensive experience in home decor, interior design and home renovation provides a broad area of expertise that she can bring to her clients both on the buying and selling side of the equation. If you are looking for a Realtor with a designer’s eye contact Kelly for your no obligation consult!

703.303.3700

Zimmermann Homes, est. 2007

My family and I live in Falls Church, where we take pride in building leading-edge custom homes that increase energy efficiency, require minimal service, and are very durable. All Zimmermann Homes come standard with upgraded products and building techniques designed to add value and make the home more comfortable to live in. We are passionate about working together with our clients to build these innovative homes that combine a level of performance and beauty that is tough to find elsewhere.

SALES@ZIMMERMANNHOMES.COM • WWW.ZIMMERMANNHOMES.COM Visit

On Monday the Wall Street Journal quoted national rental increases of 17.6 percent for 2021 and 3.8 percent last year.

The city’s website has a public document which lists 2021 apartment rents. Comparing those figures with 2023 for nine buildings with prices found online, average rental increases of 23.5 percent for one bedroom and 19 percent for two bedrooms are found for the two years. In all cases, the lowest prices were used for comparisons.

Mia Barnes is the property manager at Merrill House Apartments on East Fairfax Street who says everything there is leased up. Rental pricing usually increases about three to five percent a year, she said. Figures from the city’s 2021 list show Merrill House was leasing a one bedroom starting at $1,409 and $1,749 for two bedrooms.

Falls Green Apartments on Roosevelt Boulevard has a current vacancy rate of about six percent, Nicole Herrera at the management office said. The owners “and the market” determine rent increas-

es which she did not know for 2023. A two-bedroom now starts at $2,352 at Falls Green when it was going for $2,045 in 2021, an increase of 15 percent.

Two of Young’s favorite buildings are mixes of residential and commercial uses, the “flower building,” as he calls 800 West Broad and the Read Building, the red brick at 402 West Broad where there’s a branch of PNC Bank.

For the Read, the Falls Church City Council has just approved the extension of restrictive covenants, making some apartments more affordable for teachers and support staff.

These apartments will be reserved at lower rates for those earning between 60 to 80 percent of the area median income through the end of 2032. (The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines the area median income as up to $63,000 for one person.)

Many tenants are sitting tight, waiting for the growing number of layoffs to end, inflation to slow, and units to open up as the market turns more in their favor. Their days seem to be coming.

COMMENT

Falls Church Business News & Notes

Intellectual Property Fundamentals

The Virginia SBDC is offering a Patent and Trademark Series. The first session is Intellectual Property Fundamentals and will be held on Tuesday, January 31 at 12 noon. In collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, speaker Elizabeth Dougherty will give an overview of intellectual property types and discuss the reasons to protect an IP, and the process to protect your IP from idea to product. The webinar link will be shared upon registration. https://clients.virginiasbdc.org/ workshop.aspx?ekey=900430006

Commuter Connections Employer Recognition Awards

For 25 years, the Employer Recognition Awards have honored employers in the Washington, DC metropolitan region who initiate, enhance, or expand outstanding commuter benefits programs that encourage the use of alternative transportation methods. The program is an excellent opportunity to share how your organization improves the work day for your employees, covering commuting and teleworking along with alternative transportation methods, such as vanpools, carpools, clean energy vehicles, bicycling, and walking. Learn more and apply for the 2023 Employer Recognition Awards by visiting Employer Recognition Awards – Commuter Connections (https://www.commuterconnections.org/employer-recognition-awards/) or emailing Douglas Franklin at webmaster@commuterconnections.org.

Nominations for Women in Leadership

Virginia Business will feature top women leaders in their July issue. The magazine has issued a call for nominations due by 11:45 pm on Friday, April 14. Nominees must be in C-suite or senior executive level positions or be the owner or co-owner of a business. Nominations may be made at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VBWIL2023.

Share Your Career with Students

Meridian High School has scheduled four dates for students to hear from people in all types of careers and professions. These Career Chats are an opportunity to share professional expertise and career path with youth as they contemplate their fields of study and future careers. The sessions run 9:30 – 11:30 am on November 14, February 6, March 20 and May 15. To learn more, contact Regan Davis, Community Outreach Coordinator at davisr@fccps.org. To register, visit https:// docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdN26e8tCfSZWygEj3eEge_64ftGX2ltAiXr8wLkoo6iwu 7Wg/viewform

IRS Resources

Anika T. Pompey, our Internal Revenue Service Stakeholder Liaison for Area 3, has shared the following resources for businesses in the area: The IRS offers several e-News subscriptions on a variety of tax topics, found here. (https://www. irs.gov/newsroom/e-news-subscriptions)

To receive weekly emails on topics of importance to small businesses, payroll professionals and tax professionals, you may subscribe to the e-News for Small Businesses (https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/subscriber/new)

To keep your clients, employees, customers, constituents, partners and even families connected to useful, tax-related information and materials for tax topics and issues that affect them, you may subscribe to Outreach Connection here. (https://service.govdelivery.com/accounts/ USIRS/subscriber/new)

 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@ fallschurchchamber.org.

A Penny for Your Thoughts News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

Volunteers are not paid – not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless! Fairfax County has 10 elected members of the Board of Supervisors and a large, experienced, and pro-active staff to provide services to the millionplus residents who call Fairfax County home. Some of those residents also are volunteers, appointed by the Board to serve on various boards, authorities, and commissions (BACs), and provide policy recommendations for consideration by the Board. Terms of the BACs vary from one year to four years, and most BACs meet monthly, either in-person or virtually. Most BACs have no special requirements, other than a desire and commitment to volunteer service.

The Mason District “team” has added some new members recently, and I’d like to introduce them to our readers. Daren Shumate is the new Mason District Planning Commissioner, succeeding Julie Strandlie, who had served for eight years. Daren is a long-time resident in the Parklawn area, an engineer and small business owner, who chaired the Lincolnia Plan Task Force, and previously served on the Small Business Commission and Building Code Board of Appeals. His four-year term commenced on January 1, 2023.

Sabrina Rose-Smith will represent Mason District on the Commission for Women, succeeding Jane Materna. Sabrina is a financial services attorney, mother of two young sons, and an outdoor enthusiast. Her Commission term is three years. Julianne Mueller, an architect with expertise in historical preservation, will begin service on the History Commission this month. The History Commission is charged with promoting the public interest on all matters bearing on the history of Fairfax County. It is especially important that more recent history be captured by collecting oral histories from longtime residents who still reside here. Likewise, the History Commission may need to

devise a process to collect and highlight the contributions of our diverse community during recent decades.

Julian de Phillips is a Mason District native who grew up in Sleepy Hollow Woods and now is raising his young family in the Pinecrest area. Julian will serve on the Advisory Social Services Board (ASSB), which advises the Board about social welfare programs and community needs. ASSB terms are four years, and members are limited to two full consecutive terms per Virginia Code Sec. 63.2-305.

Suzanne Holland recently retired from the Fairfax County Park Authority, where she was a guiding presence at Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Annandale. Her long service as a county employee provides just the right perspective for appointment to the A. Heath Onthank Award Selection Committee. The committee is one of the oldest in the county, created in 1965 to grant recognition for outstanding service to merit employees. It is named for Col. A. Heath Onthank, the first chairman of the county’s Civil Service Commission. Terms are one year, and meetings are held annually to select recipients of the award, which includes a small honorarium for each awardee.

Service on BACs rotates, and it is not unusual for vacancies to arise throughout the year. If you are a Mason District resident, and would like to be considered for appointment to a volunteer position on a BAC, please contact me at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov. If you live in another magisterial district, contact your local Supervisor. Current vacancies in Mason District include the Airports Advisory Committee (three-year term), Small Business Commission (three-year term), Affordable Housing Advisory Council (two-year term), and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Citizen Advisory Council (two-year term).

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

City of Falls Church CRIME REPORT

Week of January 16- 22, 2023

Trespass, W Broad St, January 18, 7:50 AM, a male, 52, of no fixed address, was issued a summons for trespass.

Destruction of Property, S Washington, St, between 6 PM, January 17 and 8 AM, January 18, unknown suspect(s) cracked the front window of a business.

Larceny from Vehicle, W Broad St, January 19, between 4:20 PM and 8:20 PM, unknown

suspect(s) broke the passenger side front window of a 2009 Toyota Corolla and took items of value.

Larceny from Vehicle, Hillwood Ave, January 19, between 6 PM and 9:30 PM, unknown suspect(s) broke the rear passenger side window of a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander and took items of value.

Driving Under the Influence, W Broad St/S West St, January 22, 1:52 AM, a male, 60, of Falls Church, VA, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence.

A Multicolored Experience at Falls Church Art Gallery

by Mark Dreisonstok

“Beautiful was the world, colorful was the world, bizarre and enigmatic was the world!” Thus writes Hermann Hesse in his novel “Siddhartha,” and such is the spirit and ideal of the “ColorLove” exhibition, an allmedia show at Falls Church Art Gallery which, according to the gallery’s press release, “invites viewers to feast on brilliant, bold, and beautiful color.”

These various watercolor, oil, acrylic, digital, and glass works show us the multicolored world around us vibrantly, from the leaves of autumn in Noreen Brunini’s watercolor “Leaf Pile #1” and Stephanie Lamore’s digital photo on acrylic “Fall Cover” to colorful barns in Donna Grone’s oil painting “Dairy.” This last was “inspired by a dairy farm [the artist] visited in Wisconsin about 20 years ago. The family farm is becoming a thing of the past,” the artist notes wistfully. Family and communal life are saluted as well in Alejandra Pineiro’s oil painting “Andres’ Houses,” depicting “the colorful houses of the Caribbean with their chaotic ensemble and narrow paths.” The exhibition card quotes Paul Cézanne: “We live in a rainbow of chaos.” In Michele Sheedy’s acrylic “Picasso in Color,” a famous artist is not merely quoted but also depicted—with potions of his face in red, yellow, blue, green, and pinkish beige.

An especially effective (and

colorful!) canvas we noted was Roxanne Kaylor’s work in acrylic “Jalopy in the Woods.” Here the artist depicts an orange-toned abandoned vehicle in the middle of nature. The subject here is painted in defined shapes while the background is instead more abstract with long dark lines representing trees and branches in the distance. Shattered glass pieces which can be seen at the bottom right side of the canvas are painted in the same color palette as nature, a striking choice. The shards of glass from the car’s windshield show that nature has successfully claimed the object. A pile of leaves on the left almost branching towards the car covers a headlight and further testifies to the unrelenting power of nature over human machinery and ingenuity.

In Sheila Gotti’s digital painting “The Garden,” a woman is petting a tiger beside her while peacefully gazing directly toward the viewers. This may be a reassembling of the Adam and Eve narrative in the Garden of Eden, for there is a snake appearing out of a tree at the upper right side of the painting. Both wild animals seem to be tame and to eschew wild, animalistic behavior, causing us to think how life would have been if human beings had not been “sent … forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground” in worldly misery (Genesis 3: 23). We would then have been in the garden of paradise with all living things living in harmony.

Then perhaps what colors we would see!

Various artistic styles are represented in the ColorLove exhibit, such as Teresa Brunson’s tranquil pastel of irises called “Purple Reflections.” Also calm and arresting is an image of “Songbirds of the Andes” (watercolor by Cecelia Capestany). A much splashier watercolor may be found in “Joy!” Artist Noreen Brunini informs us: “This is a backlit peony from my garden— the challenge was to ‘get the glow’ of sunrise using lighter colors in watercolor.”

Abstract painting enters the fray via the mixed media work “Purple Stairs Carry You Far” of Beth Cartland, who won the Juror’s Choice Award for her efforts. Rendered more in an Impressionistic style is Suzanne McIntire’s photography of “Car Wash Full Service,” which splashes blue water drops at the viewer as a car goes through a mechanical car wash treatment. Patterns prevail in acrylic Deco-like designs in Eric May’s “Gem,” in glass in Robert Wiener’s “Summer Salsa,” and in block print and collage of repeating colorful fish images in Elisabeth Rhyne’s “Fishy Color School.”

All these and many more artworks celebrating color in this drab period of winter appear through February 26 at Falls Church Art Gallery. For further information on the ColorLove exhibit, please visit www. FallsChurchArts.org

“FISHY COLOR SCHOOL” by Elisabeth Ryne. (Photo: Elisabeth Ryne)

“SONGBIRDS OF THE ANDES” by Cecilia Capestany. (Photo: Cecilia Capestany)

“DAIRY” by Donna Grone. (Photo: Donna Grone)

“JALOPY IN THE WOODS” by Roxanne Kaylor. (Photo: Roxanne Kaylor)

SCHOOLS

Falls Church School News & Notes

FCEF Employee Award Nominees Announced

The FCCPS Prize Patrol, consisting of FCCPS & FCEF Leadership surprised the nominees for the FCCPS employee awards at school. The winner of each award will be announced in April. All nominees and winners will be recognized at the FCCPS Celebration of Excellence in May.

MHS Environmental Club Collecting Plastic

The Meridian Environmental Club asks the FCCPS Community to collect Plastic Film Waste and drop it off at the Meridian main entrance.

Please help keep plastic out of waterways by collecting plastic film for the NexTrex Challenge — a challenge from Dec — April to collect and weigh as much plastic film trash as possible. Students are asked to set up plastic film collection spaces in their homes and bring them into collection bins at school periodically.

Students Work With Habitat for Humanity

Meridian students traveled to the Groveton, Alexandria, Virginia Habitat for Humanity site for a community service project. On the site, Habitat for Humanity is building three homes, all four bedrooms, ready for families to move into this summer. Students on this trip helped the volunteer crew, including a future homeowner, hang drywall and frame a porch ceiling.

MHS Scholastic Bowl Finishes Regular Season

The Meridian Scholastic Bowl team traveled to William Monroe this past week to take on the undefeated Dragons in the final matches of district play. Meridian came out on top in both games by scores of 280175 and 255 - 150 to finish their regular season at a perfect 10 - 0 and claim the district crown. The team was led in scoring by seniors Ailene Neal, Zander Werner, Alex Steinbach and Daniel Fried, and got great contributions from freshmen Anna Goldenberg and Rori Jackson. Next up is the regional com -

petition at Maggie Walker on February 4th.

Fire Marshall Visits Chem II Class at MHS

Fire Marshal Henry Lane showed students in the Chemistry II class the steps of a fire investigation through crime scene pictures from an arson investigation. In addition, Deputy Sheriff Andy Verdon and Matt Parker brought in an explosive-detection canine, who was ready to work a case, to discuss how they train them, what procedures they follow when conducting an investigation, and cases they have worked on in different counties. The students learned what fire investigators do to support their hypotheses of how the fire started and progressed and the explosives canine, Umar, sniffing and searching around the classroom, and how he plays a crucial role in explosive investigations.

Opportunity to Share Career Experience

The next Career Chat at

Choral Department present “A Dessert on Broadway” on Friday, February 3rd at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, February 4th at 2:00 p.m. at the Meridian

ing adult. Soon-to-be graduates from the 2023 Senior class will be the audience on this day. All professions are welcome. Please get in touch with Regan Davis at davisr@fccps.org or complete the form below to sign up to share one’s career experience.

Choral Department Present Show

The Meridian High School and Henderson Middle School

Admission is $5 and includes a fancy dessert and beverage served at Intermission.

Order Mulch by March 15

One can order mulch by March 15, which will be delivered by March 25. Bags of mulch will be $6.00 per bag, with a free delivery if one buys 20 bags or more to a local Falls Church City address. All others available for pick up. Buy now at www.mustangfanshop.com

Meridian Girls Stay Hot in Balanced Effort Over Skyline Meridian Boys Go 4-1 On the Road, Begin

by Ryan McCafferty

Meridian’s girls’ basketball team played host to Skyline High School on Tuesday night, looking to stay unbeaten at home as well as in conference play. Maureen Tremblay got things off to a fast start with two early buckets, and then Peyton Jones, who returned to the starting lineup, hit a three to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead. The opening run would increase to nine before Skyline finally got on the board with a free throw, and the home team led 11-2 after the first quarter. Skyline scored the first four points of the second period, but then a 10-0 Meridian run gave the Mustangs a 15 point lead, and they would hold a 21-8 advantage at the end of the half.

Meridian continued to dominate after

the break, scoring nine of the first twelve points of the third quarter to gain their largest lead of the night at 30-11. They led 34-16 heading into the fourth, though Skyline wouldn’t go down without a fight, and it wasn’t until the last few minutes that head coach Chris Carrico finally felt safe pulling his starters. The final score was 50-24 in favor of the Mustangs, who moved to 15-1 on the year and 4-0 in conference play with a road game at William Monroe awaiting them on Friday.

It was a balanced attack for the winning team, with eight players scoring but none with more than Elizabeth Creed’s 11. Ellie Friesen also got into double figures with ten, while fellow starters Jones, Tremblay, and Nora Shifft all had at least six.

Homestand on Friday

by Ryan McCafferty

Meridian’s boys’ basketball team played five consecutive road games to begin league play in the Northwestern District, and won four of them in what was overall a successful trip. It began with a 66-25 win over Trinity Christian on January 10th, which was followed by an equally dominant 83-46 victory over Warren County on the 13th as Will Davis made six three-pointers and Wyatt Trundle added 17 points.

The Mustangs then added wins over Manassas Park on the 17th (67-32) and Brentsville on the 20th (72-53), with Trundle scoring 25 against Brentsville while the Manassas Park game was a balanced scoring attack with no one tallying more than Grant Greiner’s 12.

However, things ended on a low note as Meridian was dominated 69-34 by Skyline on the 24th. Skyline is the team to beat in the conference, per assistant coach Rusty Payne, and the Mustangs were simply outmatched. They’ll have a great chance to get back on track this Friday, though, as they’ll play host to William Monroe for the first of what will now be five consecutive home games between now and February 10th. The other four matchups during the homestand will be rematches against Warren County, Manassas Park, Brentsville, and Skyline.

THE MERIDIAN SCHOLASTIC BOWL finished their regular season by taking on the William Monroe Dragons, coming out on top in both games. (Photo: Jon Pepper)

New Vehicle Charging Fees Coming Soon

Starting February 1, 2023, the City will implement a new fee structure for its electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. This new fee structure is intended to encourage EV use (first hour free), recoup costs to the City (per kWh charge after the first hour), and increase turnover to make stations available to other users (move vehicle fee after charging is complete).

Access to the charging stations will require the SemaConnect app, which can be downloaded to your smartphone (iOS or Google).

TV Series ‘American Pickers’ Comes to Virginia

American Pickers is coming to Virginia in March and they’re looking for leads throughout the state. The way they find people and collections for their show is through spreading the word far and wide so that people know they’re coming to town.

American Pickers is a documentary series that explores the fascinating world of antique “picking” on The History Channel. The hit show follows skilled pickers in the business, as they hunt for America’s most valuable antiques.

The American Pickers TV Show is looking for leads and would love to explore Virginia resident’s hidden treasure. If someone has a large, private collection or accumulation of antiques that the Pickers can spend the better part of the day looking through they would love to hear from you. Please note, the Pickers do not pick stores, flea markets, malls, auction businesses, museums, or anything open to the public. They are open to traveling all over the state to meet with potential collectors

If interested, please send one’s name, phone number, location, and description of the collection with photos to: americanpickers@cineflix.com or call (646) 493-2184.

Mary Riley Styles Public Library Named a Star Library

The Mary Riley Styles Public Library (MRSPL) was named a “star library” in Library Journal’s recently released Index of Public Library Service 2022.

This is the 15th year the Library Journal scored U.S. public libraries on the LJ Index of Public Library Service and awarded Star Library ratings. MRSPL has received a star designation for 14 of the 15 years.

Nominate the Grand Marshal of Memorial Day Parade

The 2023 Memorial Day event is Monday, May 29. Nominations should be submitted to Scarlett Williams in the Recreation and Parks Department at sawilliams@ fallschurchva.gov by March 3. Nominators should send the nominee’s name and describe why that person deserves the honor of Grand Marshal. Nominees have contributed significantly to the City of Falls Church community, and previous Grand Marshals are not eligible.

Businesses, organizations, and vendors interested in sponsoring or setting up a booth at the Memorial Day Parade and Festival can find more information online or contact Scarlett Williams at sawilliams@ fallschurchva.gov.

Little City Gift Cards Still Available

Shopping locally is easy with the Little City Gift Card program which directly supports local businesses. The City of Falls Church will match up to three gift card sales for shoppers until January 31. To learn more and purchase cards, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/

three bonus gift cards per per son. The Little City Gift Card does not expire and can still be redeemed at participating businesses after January 31, 2023.

After January 31, 2023, customers will still be able to purchase The Little City Gift Card but will no longer receive a bonus gift card with their purchase.

2023 Special Events Application Out Soon

The Recreation and Parks Department just announced that all 2023 Special Event Vendor and Sponsorship applications are now posted online. Not sure what vendor category to fall under? Take a look at their vendor categories sheet. If one has any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Scarlett Williams at sawilliams@ fallschurchva.gov.

3rd Annual Mayors’ Fitness Challenge Coming Soon

Join the Recreation and Parks Department for the 3rd Annual Mayors’ Fitness Challenge between the City of Fairfax, the Town of Vienna, and the City of Falls Church. This 8-week

challenge will run from March 18 — May 13. It’s open to all City of Falls Church residents. All one has to do is submit the number of minutes one exercises each week — any physical fitness counts. Once registered, one will get an email with directions on how to submit minutes. www.fallschurchva.gov/MayorsChallenge

Ways to Care for Native Plants Garden

In response to requests from viewers of sustainable landscaping programs, Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills will discuss gardening techniques with a focus on gardens with native plants. Following the cycle of the seasons, she will cover such tasks as dealing with winter storm damage and salt; doing a soil test and interpreting results; winter and summer pruning of native trees and shrubs; planting, dividing, and cutting back native perennials, grasses, and sedges; dealing with summer flooding and drought; and making use of fall leaves. She will also share information on making wise selections of plants and choosing lawn alternatives as well as year-long practices to encourage and support local wildlife. Free. RSVP at https://mgnv. org/events/ to receive a link to participate.

recently released Index of Public Library Service 2022. This is the 15th year the Library Journal scored U.S. public libraries on the LJ Index of Public Library Service and awarded Star Library ratings. MRSPL has received a star designation for 14 of the 15 years. (Photo: David Keith Photography)

NOMINATE THIS YEAR’S Grand Marshal for the 2023 Memorial Day Parade. Pictured above is 2019’s Grand Marshal Rob Donovan. Nominators should send the nominee’s name and describe why that person deserves the honor of Grand Marshal. (Photo: City of Falls Church)

PAGE 24 | JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2023

THIS WEEK IN THE LITTLE CITY

26

THURSDAY JANUARY

FC Economic Development Committee Meeting

Falls Church City Council Economic Development Committee. Contact City Clerk’s office at cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or (703) 248-5014 (TTY 711) for questions. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Oak Room, Falls Church), 1:00 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.

Business Networking

iCommunity Business Networking. Free parking. Intelligent Office Tysons (1934 Old Gallows Rd. Ste 350, Vienna, VA), 5:30 p.m. — 7:30 p.m.

Brian Franke

Brian Franke performs. Settle Down Easy Brewing (2822 Fallfax Dr., Falls Church), 6:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

FC Historical Commission Meeting

Regular meeting of the Falls Church Historical Commission. Contact cgahres@fallschurchva. gov or (571) 419-7366 with questions. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Dogwood Room, Falls Church), 7:00 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.

Solace Outpost Trivia Night

Every Tuesday and Thursday. Gift cards to first and second place. Solace Outpost (444 W. Broad St., Falls Church), 7:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

FRIDAY JANUARY 27

FC Legislative Committee Meeting

Falls Church City Council Legislative Committee. Con-

tact City Clerk’s office at cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or (703) 248-5014 (TTY 711) for questions. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Laurel Room, Falls Church), 10:00 a.m. — 11:00 a.m.

Coffee: An Outreach Show

Coffee—a color study—gives Black women artists an opportunity to explore the deeper meaning behind the color Brown. Studio Gallery DC (2108 R St. NW, Washington, DC), 1:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Women's NCAA Lacrosse Virginia vs. Johns Hopkins

Watch the preseason #13 Virginia take on #21 Johns Hopkins. The St. James Sports, Wellness and Entertainment Complex (6805 Industrial Rd., Springfield, VA), 6:00 p.m.

Bobby Thompson Acoustic Blues Trio

Bobby Thompson Acoustic Blues Trio performs. Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church), 7:30 p.m.

Brook Yoder

Brook Yoder performs. Clare and Don's Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church), 5:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.

The Dave Matthews Tribute Band

The Dave Matthews Tribute Band performs. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church), 9:30 p.m.

David Andrew Smith

David Andrew Smith performs. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church), 9:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

JANUARY 28

Smithsonian Lunar New Year Celebration

Annual celebration featuring Chinese and Korean traditions, including performances, crafts, food, and more. A special menu

in honor of Lunar New Year will be offered by the Courtyard Café. Smithsonian American Art Museum (8th and G St. NW, Washington, DC), 11:30 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.

Lunar New Year Celebration

Tysons Corner Center in partnership with the Asian American Chamber of Commerce brings in another year of hosting the Lunar New Year. This free event will include an array of artists and performances to celebrate the year of the rabbit. Tysons Corner Center Fashion Court (1961 Chain Bridge Rd, Tysons, VA), 1:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m.

Men's NCAA Lacrosse Virginia vs. Navy

Watch the University of Virginia take on the Navy Midshipmen. The St. James Sports, Wellness and Entertainment Complex (6805 Industrial Road, Springfield, VA), 1:00 p.m.

Encanto Winter Family & Cider Festival

Grab a hot drink from a special winter menu and enjoy activities for all ages. Live music and events, cozy fire pits, and vendor tables. Shipgarten (7581 Colshire Dr., McLean, VA), 1:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

Pop Up Shop

Pop-up shop featuring up-andcoming brands showcasing collections of clothing, art, music & more. Pop Up Location (5139 Langston Blvd., Arlington, VA), 2:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Womens Basketball

Patriots

vs. Davidson College

EagleBank Arena (4500 Patriot Cir., Fairfax, VA), 3:00 p.m.

CREATING A NEW WHOLE COLLAGE EXHIBITION

Whole exemplify collage’s invitation to what Myers Bulmash has recognized as “a process of purposefully taking things out of context.” Morton’s (52 O St. NW #302, Washington, DC)

The Virginian Quartet Winter Concert

A Wintry Mix: The Virginian Quartet's first concert of 2023. Potluck optional — bring along a favorite dish/ drink to share if desired. Lyon Park Community Center (414 N. Fillmore St., Arlington, VA), 4:30 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

We PAUSED!

exhibit continues:

Artists and writers will engage guests in two interactive sessions making creations which invite responses to the artworks on display in Gallery 3700. The creations will then be added to the show. Gallery 3700 (3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr. Room 127, Arlington, VA), 5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Groovejet

Groovejet Band performs Funk, Latin Jazz, and R&B. Clare and Don's Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St, Falls Church), 5:30 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.

Hot Club of Baltimore

Hot Club of Baltimore performs w. Alexis Tantau. Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church), 7:30 p.m.

The Legwarmers

The Legwarmers: DC's Biggest 80's Retro Dance Party. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St, Falls Church), 9:30 p.m.

The Artimus Pyle Band

The Artimus Pyle Band performs. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St, Falls Church), 9:30 p.m.

Herb & Hanson

Herb & Hanson performs. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St, Falls Church), 9:30 p.m.

CREATING A NEW WHOLE artists use collage to draw connections oustide the original context(s). On display at Morton's DC through Saturday. (Pictured: Sonder Gardens by Michael Andrew Booker, provided with per -

EVENTS, MUSIC, THEATRE & ART

JANUARY 29

Feathered Ink

Explores how Japanese artists have experimented over several centuries with different brush techniques in depictions of avian subjects. National Museum of Asian Art | Freer Gallery (1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC), 10:00 a.m. — 5:30 p.m.

Underdogs and Antiheroes

Japanese Prints from the Moskowitz Collection focis on captivating stories and urban legends of individuals living on the fringes of society in early modern Japan. National Museum of Asian Art | Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC), 10:00 a.m. — 5:30 p.m.

Raven and the Box of Daylight

Features works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary. National Museum of the American Indian (4th Street & Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC), 10:00 a.m. — 5:30 p.m.

11th Annual McLean Chocolate Festival

Taste the specialties of area chocolatiers and enjoy fun for the whole family. $2 admission. McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA), 11:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.

Grand Princess Show And Character Experience

A royal experience with princesses, a live royal show, and a Twirl on the dance floor. Call or text (301) 848-9935 with any questions. The George Washington Masonic National Memorial (101 Callahan Dr., Alexandria, VA), 11:00 a.m.

I Dream a World

Featuing photographs by Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Prize-win-

ning photographer who published I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America. National Portrait Gallery (8th and G Streets NW, Washington, DC), 11:30 a.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Mens Basketball Patriots vs. Saint Joseph’s

EagleBank Arena (4500 Patriot Cir., Fairfax, VA), 12:00 p.m.

January: Piloting Our Plans

Join other DMV locals looking to succeed in the goals they set for 2023. Le jardin Hookah (5800 Seminary Rd., Falls Church), 12:00 p.m. — 2:00 p.m.

Watercolor Cake Decorating Class

Participants will receive a cake to learn with. For beginner cake decorators or for those who need a refresher. Fran's Cake & Candy Supplies (10927 Main St., Fairfax, VA), 2:30 p.m. — 4:30 p.m.

Brickyard Afghan Art Exhibit

This Afghan Art Exhibit displays art rescued from Afghanistan when the Taliban took over in August 2021. Meet on 2nd floor by Macys. Tysons Corner Center (1961 Chain Bridge Road Tysons, VA), 3:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m.

Stitch & B*tch

Buy a cross stitch kit to learn or bring any project to work on! Turn happy hour on and stitch & b*tch the night away! Caboose Commons (2918 Eskridge Rd., Fairfax, VA), 6:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

Roscoe Tripp

Roscoe Tripp performs. Jammin' Java (227 Maple Ave E, Vienna), 6:00 p.m.

DC Guitar Greats

DC Guitar Greats perform. Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church), 3:30 p.m.

Anthony Pirog & Janel Leppin

Anthony Pirog and Janel Leppin perform. Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church), 7:30 p.m.

Wolf's Blues Jam

Wolf's Blues Jam performs. JV's Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church), 8:30 p.m.

MONDAY JANUARY 30

TJ Klune Book Release

One More Page Books welcomes TJ Klune to celebrate the paperback release of Under the Whispering Door. Arlington Central Library (1015 N Quincy St., Arlington, VA), 7:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

TUESDAY JANUARY 31

FC Budget and Finance Committee Meeting

Falls Church City Council Budget and Finance Committee.

Contact City Clerk’s office at cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or (703) 248-5014 (TTY 711) for questions. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Oak Room, Falls Church), 9:00 a.m. — 10:30 a.m.

FC Government Operations Committee Meeting

Falls Church City Council Government Operations Committee. Contact City Clerk’s office at cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or (703) 248-5014 (TTY 711) for questions. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Oak Room, Falls Church), 12:00 p.m. — 1:00 p.m.

West Falls Church Metro Community Meeting

A virtual community meeting on the rezoning application in the

West Falls Church Transit Station Area. An update to the county Comprehensive Plan encourages mixed use development including residential, commercial, and retail of a scale that respects the stable residential communities. A rezoning application will be presented. The staff report is available at bit.ly/3H9WVrB. Zoom meeting (bit.ly/FCNPjan31fcgp, Password 2023, or (888) 2709936, code 9557261), 7:00 p.m.

The Voices on Blackwell Island

Inspired by Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Packard, and featuring a cast and crew of area high school students with award-winning actor Holly Twyford, the production descends deep into the horrors of Blackwell Island, the notorious women’s asylum. Signature

Theatre (3200 Campbell Ave, Arlington), 8:00 p.m. — 9:05 p.m.

CONNECTails: Lively Networking

Network, imbibe, and relax in a lively professional atmosphere. Saigon Noodles & Grill (1800 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA), 6:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 1

Gap Year Fair 2023

Learn about gap year planning from an expert counselor, then speak directly to counselors and alumni at the fair. West Springfield High School (6100 Rolling Rd., West Springfield, VA), 6:30 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

The Diplomatic Reach

by Brian Reach

New Falls Church Senate District Becomes Primary Battleground

On Tuesday, Falls Church resident Saddam Azlan Salim announced a primary challenge to State Senator Chap Petersen, to represent Virginia’s newly drawn 37th Senate District, which now includes Falls Church. Only about 44 percent of the new district is within the current district.

Falls Church residents will first weigh in on who represents the new district with the primary this June, followed by the general election in November, in which the entire Virginia legislature is up for grabs.

Considered one of the least progressive Democrats in the Virginia legislature, Petersen, first elected as Delegate in 2002, is completing his fourth term in the Virginia Senate. You may remember Petersen for his bowties, being a founding member of the “Redskins Caucus,” rushing schools to reopen and end mask mandates or, if you’ve followed his earlier career, enthusiastically voting for a 2004 bill (HB751) despite an

existing law banning same-sex marriage at the time that referenced “beneficial health effects of heterosexual marriage, as contrasted to the life-shortening and health compromising consequences of homosexual behavior,” amongst other claims that even in 2004 were considered appalling.

We’ll see what happens when the newer, bluer district weighs in this Summer.

Partisan Gridlock Looms in Richmond

The Legislative Session in Richmond continued this week, with Republicans primarily blocking bills by Democrats in the House of Delegates, and Senate Democrats passing bills likely doomed for failure in the House. There are four weeks of legislation remaining before adjourning until 2024.

Other than emblematic commendations and celebrations, a handful of judge nominations, and (of course) approving the schedule and salaries for the lawmakers, legislation has not yet been sent from one chamber

to the other, so no bills have been passed. Despite this, several moves are being made that are worth taking a look at.

Voting, Reproductive Rights Under GOP Attack

House Republicans voted to dramatically roll back voting rights in the Commonwealth: reducing absentee voting to 10 days, requiring an excuse, ending ballot dropboxes, repealing same-day registration, and bringing back photo ID laws.

In the Senate, Democrats were able to block three Republican abortion bans in subcommittee (SB1284, SB1385, and SB1483) while passing out of subcommittee a proposed constitutional amendment enshrining reproductive freedom (SJ255).

The house also passed bills to repeal vehicle emissions standards (HB1378) and pay youth less than the minimum wage (HB1669), both along party lines.

A Silver Lining for LGBTQ+ Virginians

Democrats were able to defeat some bills in subcommittees and committees within the house - in particular unanimously defeating

HB1343, which would have forced trans students to receive a court order before school staff could update their name in educational records.

In the Virginia Senate, SB1096 was passed, which allows marriage regardless of the sex of the parties, with strong bipartisan support. The Senate also passed SB835 which removes “homosexuality” from the definition of “sexual conduct” for the purpose of prevent-

ing books to be sold or displayed to minors.

Little Change, Big Criminal Justice Reform

The Virginia Senate also passed SB929, which reduces the maximum possible sentence for misdemeanors from 365 to 364 days (yes, you’re reading that right). This small change will protect non-citizens from deportation for minor offenses.

The Multiple Costs of Our Food Waste: What One Can Do

by Sandra Tarpinian

It happens to all of us. We forget the spinach in the fridge and get more; we buy avocados that go bad before they get eaten; we cook a huge holiday spread to show love to friends and family and then can’t finish it all. Currently the United States wastes more food and more food per person than most any other country in the world. Households account for 39 percent of the food waste in the United States, more than restaurants, grocery stores or farms. When food is wasted, it also wastes the water, gasoline, energy, labor, pesticides, land, and fertilizers used to make and deliver the food.

When we throw food in the trash, we’re throwing away much more than food. We are throwing away our money and harming the environment. According to the USDA, the average family of four spends about $1500/year on food that ends up uneaten. According to the EPA, in 2018 the majority (66 percent) of the residential sector’s wasted food was landfilled. Thirty-five million tons of food scraps went into landfills, making food the single largest category of material sent

to municipal solid waste landfills. When food rots in landfills, the nutrients do not break down and never return to the soil. Without the oxygen necessary for decomposition, wasted food produces methane gas, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide.

You can be part of the solution: Reduce and Compost!

The best approach to reducing food loss and waste is not to create it in the first place. Changing habits like making meal plans, shopping with a list, buying only what you need, freezing leftovers or taking them for lunch are among ideas often suggested that can help us limit the food we discard. But even with better planning and shopping, there are parts of our food that are not considered edible – vegetable peelings, apple cores, seeds, eggshells, orange rinds. So, what is the best way to keep our food waste out of the landfill? Composting it!

When food scraps are composted, either in a home composter or in a commercial facility, the nutrients break down into a substance that can be put back into the soil to enrich it. And harmful gases are not released into the atmosphere.

In the City of Falls Church,

homeowners have started to embrace composting their food scraps through the variety of programs the City makes available. Food scraps, spoiled food, and food-soiled paper comprise around 25 percent of the waste inside an average City of Falls Church resident’s trash cart. But in 2021, residents kept 105.25 tons of food waste out of the landfill by composting it. And those numbers keep growing as more households get on board.

The City offers two programs to consider. The first is a free food waste drop-off located in an enclosed area by the tennis courts behind City Hall, available 24/7, 365 days/year. See https:// www.fallschurchva.gov/Compost for a list of the foods that can be deposited here.

The second program, the Curbside Compost program, is a voluntary, fee-based service open to any City of Falls Church resident receiving curbside solid waste services through the City. The program consists of weekly (Wednesday) curbside pick-ups of food scraps and other organic matter by a contracted commercial composting company.

Participants get an airtight bin and compostable liners to help

keep everything tidy. After collection, the contractor gives the bins a quick cleaning, replaces the compostable liner and takes the food waste to a composting facility where it is turned into a high-quality soil amendment. Participants who opt-in with the contractor have been rewarded with free finished compost each spring.

Currently, the cost is $6 per month or $66 per year. There is a one-time fee of $10 to cover the setup and bin. This is a deal compared to the average price of $32/ month in the DC/VA/MD region. To celebrate this innovative program — the first in Virginia — all new participants will receive 6 months free! Register online at www.compostcrew.com/fallschurch. This program allows for a broader variety of waste so see

their list at https://www.fallschurchva.gov/2022/Compost

Want to learn more about composting food and backyard waste at home? Register for the free Composting Workshop offered on April 30, 2023, from 2-4 p.m. in the Cherry Hill Park picnic pavilion. Register by email at shoptarp@gmail.com

If you are unsure of eligibility, want a free, small scrap collection container appropriate to keep in the kitchen or have any questions at all about composting, email the City’s Solid Waste Coordinator at recycling@fallschurchva.gov, or call 703-248-5160.

Reducing and composting wasted food is a triple win; it’s good for the economy, for communities, and for the environment. You are an important part of the solution!!!

SADDAM AZLAN SALIM of Falls Church has launched a primary challenge to State Senator Chap Petersen. The two will compete to represent VA-37, a newly drawn district that now includes the City of Falls Church. (Photo: Courtesy of Salim for Senate )

If I could get a memo onto President Joe Biden’s desk about the new Israeli government, I know exactly how it would start:

“Dear Mr. President, I don’t know if you are interested in Jewish history, but Jewish history is certainly interested in you today. Israel is on the verge of a historic transformation — from a fullfledged democracy to something less, and from a stabilizing force in the region to a destabilizing one. You may be the only one able to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist coalition from turning Israel into an illiberal bastion of zealotry.”

I’d also tell Biden that I fear that Israel is approaching some serious internal civil strife. Civil conflicts are rarely about one policy. They tend to be about power. For years, the fierce debates in Israel about the Oslo Accords were about policy. But today, this simmering clash is about power — who can tell whom how to live in a highly diverse society.

The short story: An ultranationalist, ultra-Orthodox government, formed after the Netanyahu camp won election by the tiniest sliver of votes (roughly 30,000 out of some 4.7 million), is driving a power grab that the other half of voters view not only as corrupt but also as threatening their own civil rights. That’s why a 5,000-person antigovernment demonstration grew to 80,000 over the weekend.

The Israel that Biden knew is vanishing and a new Israel is emerging. Many ministers in this government are hostile to American values, and nearly all are hostile to the Democratic Party. Netanyahu and his minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, had plotted with Republicans to engineer Netanyahu’s 2015 speech in Congress against Biden’s and President Barack Obama’s wishes and policies. They would like to see a Republican in the White House and prefer the support of evangelical Christians over liberal Jews and that of MBS over AOC.

Have no doubts about this. The president should not be misled by their “our old friend Joe” pablum.

The current crisis in Israel may be presented to Biden as an internal constitutional matter that he

should stay out of. To the contrary.

Biden should wade right in (just as Netanyahu did) because the outcome has direct implications for U.S. national security interests. I have no illusions that Biden can reverse the most extreme trends emerging in Israel today, but he can nudge things onto a healthier path, and maybe prevent the worst, with some tough love in a way that no other outsider can.

The most pressing crisis is this: Israel’s courts, led by its Supreme Court, have largely been ferocious protectors of human rights, and particularly the rights of minorities. These minorities include Arab citizens, LGBTQ citizens and even Reform and Conservative Jews who want the same freedom and rights of religious practice as Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews enjoy. In addition, because Israel’s Supreme Court reviews the actions of all executive branches, including the military, it has often protected the rights of Palestinians, including providing protection from abuses by Israeli settlers and illegal expropriation of their private property.

But this Netanyahu government seeks to radically alter the situation in the West Bank, effectively annexing it without officially declaring to do so. And the plan has just one big obstacle: Israel’s Supreme Court and legal institutions.

As The Times of Israel summarized, the judicial overhaul that Netanyahu intends to ram through the Knesset, or parliament, would “grant the government total control over the appointment of judges, including to the high court,” replacing a much less partisan and professional judicial appointment process. The overhaul would also severely limit “the high court’s ability to strike down legislation” — especially legislation that might curb the rights of Israel’s minorities — “and enable the Knesset,” now controlled by Netanyahu, “to relegislate” laws that the court strikes down.

The overhaul would also diminish the independence of the legal watchdogs at each government ministry: Instead of reporting to the attorney general, they would become appointees of each minister.

In short, Israel’s executive branch would assume control of its judiciary. This is right out of the Turkey-Hungary majoritarian playbook, especially when you consider one more thing: This is all being done at a time when Netanyahu himself is being tried on charges of

bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases brought by his own attorney general.

Early this month, a former Netanyahu right-wing defense minister and former chief of staff of the Israeli army, Moshe Ya’alon, tweeted that Netanyahu’s judicial “reforms” revealed “the true intentions of a criminal defendant” who is “ready to burn down the country and its values ... in order to escape the dock. ... Who would have believed that less than 80 years after the Holocaust that befell our people, a criminal, messianic, fascist and corrupt government would be established in Israel, whose goal is to rescue an accused criminal.”

Netanyahu, of course, says this is the furthest thing from his mind — God forbid.

Israel, because it does not have a formal constitution, is governed by a very complex set of legal checks and balances that have evolved over decades. Legal experts tell me that there is an argument for some changes to the judiciary. But to do so in Netanyahu’s way — not by a nonpartisan national convention, but with the Supreme Court being stripped of powers by the most radical government in Israeli history and knowing Netanyahu’s criminal case could end up before the high court — stinks to high heaven.

To put it in American terms, it would be as if Richard Nixon tried to expand the U.S. Supreme Court with pro-Nixon justices during the Watergate criminal investigation.

The current president of Israel’s Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, declared last week that Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul “will shatter the judicial system and is in fact an unrestrained attack.” In addition, groups of retired air force pilots, high-tech executives, lawyers and retired judges from the left and the right, including some retired Supreme Court justices, have all signed letters saying basically the same thing.

The U.S. has given Israel extraordinary amounts of economic assistance, sensitive intelligence, our most advanced weapons and virtually automatic backing against biased resolutions in the United Nations. I support that. We also have long opposed any legal action by international institutions, based on the argument that Israel has an independent judicial system that — not all the time, but plenty of times — credibly enforced accepted norms of international law on Israel’s government and army, even when it meant protecting the rights of Palestinians.

Before Netanyahu succeeds in putting Israel’s Supreme Court under his thumb, Biden needs to tell

him in no uncertain terms:

“Bibi, you are riding roughshod over American interests and values. I need to know some things from you right now — and you need to know some things from me. I need to know: Is Israel’s control of the West Bank a matter of temporary occupation or of an emerging annexation, as members of your coalition advocate? Because I will not be a patsy for that. I need to know if you really are going to put your courts under your political authority in a way that makes Israel more like Turkey and Hungary, because I will not be a patsy for that. I need to know if your extremist ministers will change the status quo on the Temple Mount. Because that could destabilize Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and the Abraham Accords — which would really damage U.S. interests. I will not be a patsy for that.”

Here is my guess of how Netanyahu would respond:

“Joe, Joey, my old friend, don’t press me on this stuff now. I am the only one restraining these crazies. You and I, Joe, we can make history together. Let’s join our forces

not to simply deter Iran’s nuclear capabilities, but to help — in any way possible — the Iranian protesters trying to topple the clerical regime in Tehran. And let’s, you and me, forge a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. MBS is ready if I can persuade you to give Saudi Arabia security guarantees and advanced weapons. Let’s do that and then I’ll dump these crazies.”

I applaud both foreign policy goals, but I would not pay for them with a U.S. blind eye to Netanyahu’s judicial putsch. If we do that, we’ll sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

Israel and the U.S. are friends. But today, one party in this friendship — Israel — is changing its fundamental character. President Biden, in the most caring but clear way possible, needs to declare that these changes violate America’s interests and values and that we are not going to be Netanyahu’s useful idiots and just sit in silence.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN © 2023 The New York Times

City Council scheduled public hearing and final action for the following items for Monday, February 13, 2023 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard.

(TR22-34) RESOLUTION AMENDING SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS SE03-0136 AND SE03-0137, FOR 513 WEST BROAD STREET (THE BYRON) AND AS AMENDED THROUGH RESOLUTION 2011-25, TO ALLOW FOR ADDITIONAL PERMITTED SERVICE AND OFFICE USES FOR THE FIRST FLOOR COMMERCIAL SPACES CURRENTLY RESTRICTED UNDER THE VOLUNTARY CONCESSIONS, COMMUNITY BENEFITS, TERMS AND CONDITIONS (VCs)

This is a request to allow uses other than restaurant/retail in the western most ground floor spaces of 513 West Broad St. while maintaining restaurant/retail uses in the eastern most spaces and adding a parking management plan to clarify spaces available for commercial uses.

All public hearings will be held in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia. Remote participation information at www.fallschurchva.gov/publiccomment.

Comments may also be sent to cityclerk@ fallschurchva.gov. For copies of legislation, contact the City Clerk’s office at (703-2485014) or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or visit www.fallschurchva.gov/councilmeetings.

The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711).

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advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All

estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

CELESTE HEATH, CITY CLERK

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE FAMILY COURT FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF HORRY | 2022-DR26-2446

Nur Abushakra Plaintiff, versus COMPLAINT Yaser Mahmoud Elkhatib, Defendant

The Plaintiff would respectfully show unto this Honorable Court as follows:

1. The Plaintiff is a citizen and resident of the County of Horry, State of South Carolina and have been so for more than one (1) year prior to the filing of this action. Further, the parties’ minor child is a citizen and resident of Horry County, South Carolina for at least six (6) months prior to the filing of this action. The Defendant is a citizen and resident of the State of Virginia. Therefore, this Court has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter in this action and venue is proper herein.

2. The Plaintiff and Defendant were married on April 15, 2012 and were subsequently divorced in 2016 in Brunswick County, North Carolina. The parties have one (1) minor child, to-wit: MKE, age 8. No other children are now expected between the parties.

COUNT I

(Modification of Custody, Visitation & Child Support)

3. The Plaintiff would show that under the current Final Order that the Plaintiff registered in Horry County, South Carolina under cause number 2021-DR-261127, the parties entered into an Agreement that was approved on August 16, 2016, a copy of which is attached hereto.

4. The Plaintiff would further show that since the date of finalization, there have been material and substantial changes in circumstances to warrant a modification of both custody and visitation to the Defendant.

5. The Plaintiff would show that the Defendant has not seen or had contact with the minor child since March of 2016, some five (5) months prior the Agreement being finalized.

6. The Plaintiff would further show that the Defendant has voluntarily relocated to more than one location well outside of the State of North Carolina, putting himself geographically farther from the minor child, without consideration of her or his time with her.

7. The Plaintiff would show that after the Defendant’s relocation outside of the State of North Carolina, she and the minor child moved to Horry County, South

Carolina in 2019.

8. The Plaintiff would show that the Defendant is quite literally a stranger to the minor child; that he has voluntarily removed himself from her life and abandoned any responsibilities regarding the minor child as it pertains to decision making, day to day events and activities or any involvement in her life at all. The Plaintiff would further show that the current custodial arrangement is not in the minor child’s best interests because of the Defendant’s actions or lack thereof.

Therefore, the Plaintiff requests that the terms of the parties’ Agreement be modified to reflect what is in the minor child’s best interests, that of sole custody to the Plaintiff and visitation at her discretion. She is making this request both pendente lite or permanently.

9. The Plaintiff would further show that it is not in the minor child’s best physical, emotional, or mental wellbeing to be required to operate under the current custodial and visitation arrangement, either in the Agreement or in practice, temporarily and on a permanent basis.

10. The Plaintiff would show that child support was ordered in the parties’ current Final Order of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per month paid through the Clerk of Court’s office. The Plaintiff would show that the Defendant has never any child support pursuant to the Order. Therefore, he has a child support arrearage in the amount of Thirty-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($37500.00) as of November 1, 2022.

11. The Plaintiff would respectfully request that the State Disbursement Unit transfer the child support obligation from North Carolina. The Plaintiff would further request that upon such transfer, a 02 account be opened placing the Defendant’s arrearage amount in such account and modifying the Defendant’s child support obligation such that he remits One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month toward the arrearage in addition to the ongoing monthly child support obligation of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). She makes this request both pendente lite and permanently.

COUNT II (Restraining Orders)

12. The Plaintiff requests a restraining order that restrains the Defendant from coming about her or her family’s persons, bothering, harassing, contacting, or otherwise persecuting her at her home, place of employment, worship, or any other place and by any means, both pendente lite and permanently.

13. The Plaintiff requests that the Defendant be restrained

from exposing the minor child to non-age-appropriate materials or mediums, any members of the opposite sex not related by blood or marriage on an overnight basis; abuse of alcohol or prescription drugs; use of illicit drugs; and violence, profanity, or immoral environments or conduct of any sort. She makes these requests both pendente lite and permanently.

COUNT III (Obtaining a Passport)

14. The Plaintiff would show that the minor child has extensive, extended family that reside outside of the United States. The Plaintiff would further show that to date, she has not been permitted to obtain a passport for the minor child considering not having meaningful contact with the Defendant.

15. The Plaintiff would further show that the minor child’s great grandmother recently passed away in Israel and she was not able to travel overseas to meet her prior to her death due to Plaintiff’s inability to obtain a passport on her behalf. The Plaintiff would ask that she be allowed to obtain a passport for the minor child to travel overseas to meet her extended maternal relatives without the consent of or participation by the Defendant. She makes this request both pendente lite and permanently.

COUNT IV (Attorney’s Fees)

16. The Plaintiff would show that based solely upon the Defendant’s actions and/or inactions, she has been forced to hire an attorney to protect her legal interests and those of the minor child by filing this action. The Plaintiff does not have funds to afford a sustained and protracted legal battle. She would therefore request that this Court require the Defendant to reimburse her for her attorney fees and costs in bringing this action, both pendente lite and permanently.

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff prays that this Honorable Court inquire into this matter and that it issues Its Order granting unto her: a. Sole custody of the minor child; b. Visitation at the Plaintiff’s sole discretion;

c. An order transferring the Defendant’s monthly child support obligation of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) to the State of South Carolina State Disbursement Unit; d. An order setting up a 02 account and placing the Defendant’s arrearage totaling ThirtySeven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($37500) into such account and requiring a monthly payment of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) in addition to his ongoing monthly obligation;

e. Restraining order as to harassment or contact and conduct around the minor child; f. An order allowing the Plaintiff to obtain a passport for the minor child without involvement or consent of the Defendant; g. Attorney fees; h. Discovery; and i. For such other and further relief as this Court may deem just and proper.

Respectfully Submitted, Lisa M. Carver Attorney for Plaintiff 8203 Nigels Drive, Suite 201 Myrtle Beach, SC 29572 (843) 213-1576 Tel (843) 213-1588 Fax lisa@carverlawfirmllc.com November 10, 2022

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE FAMILY COURT FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF HORRY | 2022-DR26-2446 Nur Abushakra Plaintiff, versus COMPLAINT Yaser Mahmoud Elkhatib, Defendant

TO THE DEFENDANT ABOVENAMED: YASER MAHMOUD ELKHATIB: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the said Complaint on the Plaintiff’s attorney, Lisa M. Carver, Esq. at 8203 Nigels Drive, Suite 201, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29572 within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded in the Complaint and judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. Your Answer must be in writing and signed by you or by your attorney and you must state your address or the address of your attorney, if signed by your attorney.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE FAMILY COURT FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COUNTY OF HORRY | 2022-DR26-2446

Nur Abushakra Plaintiff, versus COMPLAINT

Yaser Mahmoud Elkhatib, Defendant

Pursuant to Rule 21 of the South

Carolina Rules for Family Court, the Plaintiff hereby moves for this Court’s Order granting her the following pendente lite relief: a. Sole custody; b. Visitation at the Plaintiff’s discretion;

c. An order transferring child support from North Carolina to South Carolina with payments going through the State Disbursement Unit;

d. An order recognizing the Defendant’s arrearage totaling Thirty-Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($37500.00), setting up an 02 account and requiring the Defendant to remit One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) per month toward this arrearage amount in addition to ongoing monthly child support;

e. Restraining Orders as to harassment, contact and conduct around the minor child; f. Attorney’s Fees; and g. For such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.

NOTICE OF HEARING

(to be completed by scheduling clerk only)

A HEARING HAS BEEN SET IN THIS MATTER ON THE 13th DAY OF MARCH, 2023, AT 10:30 am BEFORE THE HONORABLE Melissa Frazier IN FAMILY COURTROOM NUMBER TBD

MOTION OR RULE REQUEST (to be completed by moving party)

CAPTION: Nur Abushakra v. Yaser Mahmoud Elkhartib CASE NUMBER: 2022-DR-262446 DATE MOTION FILED: 11/14/22 MOVING ATTORNEY: Lisa M. Carver REPRESENTS: Plaintiff TELEPHONE: 8432131576 FAX: 8432131588 GUARDIAN AD LITEM: None

NATURE OF MOTION: Motion for Temporary Relief IF OTHER: ESTIMATED TIME NEEDED: 15 minutes

DATES

AVAILABLE: November 30; December NONE; January NONE; February 13, 21; March 13, 15-16, 20, 22, 29; April 10-12; May 1-5, 22-25; and June 1-3, 6-8, 13-15, 19-23, 26-30

Krystle Barnhill, Scheduling Clerk

Falls Church News-Press Vol. VII, No. 45 • January 22, 1998

Brangman, Scully Announce They Won’t Seek Re-Election This May

At least two incumbents on the Falls Church City Council — Mayor Alan Brangman and Council member Jane Scully — won’t seek re-election this May, the NewsPress learned this week

Dorothy Werner, former resident of Lake Barcroft, passed away on January 8th at The Virginian Assisted Living in Fairfax. She was 99 years of age and was just within two weeks of turning 100.

Born on January 22, 1923 in Lexington, Tennesse and raised in Jackson, Tennesse. Dorothy began her career as a photojournalist with the Commercial Appeal in Memphis and later moved to New York and worked as a public relations executive in the New York fashion industry. While in New York, she met her husband to be, Merle Werner, a veteran foreign correspondent and U.S. Foreign Service officer, and they began a lengthy career of traveling the world with their two sons, residing in five foreign countries: Sweden, Vienna, Manila, Taipei and Seoul Korea. Dorothy loved the foreign service and had a natural talent for the role of diplomat’s wife.

After relocating permanently back to Northern Virginia in 1969, Mrs. Werner resumed her career in public relations

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XXII, No. 48 • January 24, 2013

F.C. Council, School Board, Already On News Budget Collision Course

F.C. School Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones presented an enrollment-growth-driven budget to the School Board tonight that called for a net increase of $3,231,000, an 8.5 percent increase to $41,389,240.

in 1972 when she joined the staff of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (now known as NOVA Parks). Her achievements include publicizing the W&OD Trail and designing the trail brochure; the Bluebell Week at Bull Run Regional Park; and the opening of five regional pools, including the Pohick Bay swimming pool and the wave pool at Cameron Run Regional Park.

“Dorothy’s respect for accuracy and dedication to telling the citizens of Northern Virginia about regional parks has shaped the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority’s public information policy,” said Darrell G. Winslow, the authority’s former executive director.

“I think of her as the grand dame of public relations, in the nicest sense of the word,” said Diane Bechtol, former head of media relations for the Alexandria Tourist Council.

Outside of her career work, Dorothy’s favorite pastimes included gardening and geneological research, but most of all she loved her time in the Lake

Mrs. Werner is survived by her son Michael of Falls Church, son Douglas of Fremont, California, daughterin-law Vicki and grandson Peter also of Fremont, California; two nephews in Dallas, Texas, and a nephew and neice in Jackson, Tennesse.

PENNY loved her

advent calendar! ( Photo: Rick Bennett )

Barcroft neighborhood, swimming in the lake and socializing with friends and neighbors in the community. She has left an enduring legacy in Lake Barcroft, serving in leadership roles with several organizations, including president of women’s club in 1995 — 1996.

OF PETITION

TO THE PUBLIC

NOTICE

BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY FOR REVISION OF A RATE ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE, DESIGNATED RIDER PPA, FOR THE RATE YEAR COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 CASE NO. PUR-2022-00202

•Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) has applied for approval to revise its rate adjustment clause, Rider PPA, for recovery of projected and actual costs associated with certain power purchase agreements for the energy, capacity, ancillary services, and renewable energy credits owned by third parties.

•Dominion requests approval for recovery in Rider PPA of a total revenue requirement of ($22,045,000), which represents a net credit to customers. According to Dominion, this amount would decrease the bill of a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month by $0.22.

•A Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing in this case on May 23, 2023, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony.

•The Hearing Examiner will hold an evidentiary hearing in this case on May 24, 2023, at 10 a.m.

•Further information about this case is available on the SCC website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information

On December 1, 2022, Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) filed a petition (“Petition”) with the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) pursuant to Code § 56-585.1 A 5 d for approval of a revision to its Rider PPA. Through its Petition, the Company seeks to recover projected and actual costs associated with certain power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) for the energy, capacity, ancillary services, and renewable energy credits owned by third parties. Specifically, the Company seeks cost recovery related to the PPAs approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2020-00134 (“CE-1 PPAs”), Case No. PUR-2021-00146 (“CE-2 PPAs”), and the PPAs currently pending approval in Case No. PUR-2022-00124 that will enter commercial operations during the rate year in this proceeding (“CE-3 PPAs”). In total, Dominion has incorporated costs associated with six CE-1 PPAs, 17 CE-2 PPAs, and seven CE-3 PPAs that are scheduled to be operational on or before August 31, 2024.

Rider PPA is one of the rate mechanisms included in the overarching framework approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2020-00134 for the recovery of non bypassable costs and benefits related to the mandatory renewable energy portfolio standards program in Code § 56-585.5. The Company states that Rider PPA will recover the PPA costs and the associated benefits that support the procurement targets in Code § 56-585.5 D and E, which include utility-scale solar or wind, utility-scale energy storage, and distributed solar PPAs. In its Petition, Dominion notes that the costs and benefits of these PPAs will be recovered through Rider PPA from all retail customers, regardless of electric supplier, with limited exceptions.

In this proceeding, Dominion asks the Commission to approve Rider PPA for the rate year beginning September 1, 2023, and ending August 31, 2024 (“Rate Year”). The Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of ($22,045,000) for recovery in Rider PPA for the Rate Year, which represents a net credit to customers. If the proposed Rider PPA is approved for the Rate Year, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its proposed Rider PPA on September 1, 2023, would decrease the bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt¬hours per month by $0.22.

Interested persons are encouraged to review Dominion’s Petition and supporting documents in full for details about these and other proposals.

TAKE NOTICE that the Commission may apportion revenues among customer classes and/or design rates in a manner differing from that shown in the Petition and supporting documents and thus may adopt rates that differ from those appearing in the Company’s Petition and supporting documents.

The Commission has taken judicial notice of the ongoing public health issues related to the spread of the coronavirus, or COVID-19. In accordance therewith, all pleadings, briefs or other documents required to be served in this matter shall be submitted electronically to the extent authorized by 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“Rules of Practice”). Confidential and Extraordinarily Sensitive Information shall not be submitted electronically and should comply with 5 VAC 5-20-170, Confidential information, of the Rules of Practice. Any person seeking to hand deliver and physically file or submit any pleading or other document shall contact the Clerk’s Office Document Control Center at (804) 371-9838 to arrange the delivery.

Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service, of the Rules of Practice, the Commission has directed that service on parties and the Commission’s Staff in this matter shall be accomplished by electronic means. Please refer to the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing for further instructions concerning Confidential or Extraordinarily Sensitive Information.

The Commission entered an Order for Notice and Hearing that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Petition. On May 23, 2023, at 10 a.m., the Hearing Examiner assigned to this case will hold a telephonic hearing, with no witness present in the Commission’s courtroom, for the purpose of receiving the testimony of public witnesses. On or before May 16, 2023, any person desiring to offer testimony as a public witness shall provide to the Commission (a) your name, and (b) the telephone number that you wish the Commission to call during the hearing to receive your testimony. This information may be provided to the Commission in three ways: (i) by filling out a form on the Commission’s website at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting; (ii) by completing and emailing the PDF version of this form to SCCInfo@scc.virginia.gov; or (iii) by calling (804) 371-9141. This public witness hearing will be webcast at scc.virginia.gov/pages/Webcasting

On May 24, 2023, at 10 a.m., in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, the Hearing Examiner will convene a hearing to receive testimony and evidence related to the Petition from the Company, any respondents, and the Commission’s Staff.

Electronic copies of the public version of the Petition may be obtained by submitting a written request to counsel for the Company: Elaine S. Ryan, Esquire, McGuireWoods LLP, Gateway Plaza, 800 East Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, or eryan@mcguirewoods.com

On or before May 16, 2023, any interested person may submit comments on the Petition electronically by following the instructions on the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. Those unable, as a practical matter, to submit comments electronically may file such comments by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission, c/o Document Control Center, P.O. Box 2118, Richmond, Virginia 23218-2118. All comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-202200202.

On or before March 1, 2023, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation with the Clerk of the Commission at: scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such parties or their counsel, if available. A copy of the notice of participation as a respondent also must be sent to counsel for the Company. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, any notice of participation shall set forth: (i) a precise statement of the interest of the respondent; (ii) a statement of the specific action sought to the extent then known; and (iii) the factual and legal basis for the action. Any organization, corporation or government body participating as a respondent must be represented by counsel as required by 5 VAC 5-20-30, Counsel, of the Rules of Practice. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2022-00202.

On or before April 5, 2023, each respondent may file electronically with the Clerk of the Commission at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling any testimony and exhibits by which the respondent expects to establish its case, and each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. Any respondent unable, as a practical matter, to file testimony and exhibits electronically may file such by U.S. mail to the Clerk of the Commission at the address listed above. All testimony and exhibits shall be served on the Commission’s Staff, the Company, and all other respondents simultaneous with its filing. In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Commission’s Rules of Practice, as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, including, but not limited to: 5 VAC 5-20-140, Filing and service, and 5 VAC 5-20-240, Prepared testimony and exhibits. All filings shall refer to Case No. PUR-2022-00202.

Any documents filed in paper form with the Office of the Clerk of the Commission in this docket may use both sides of the paper. In all other respects, except as modified by the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, all filings shall comply fully with the requirements of 5 VAC 5-20-150, Copies and format, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice.

The Commission’s Rules of Practice, the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing, and the public version of the Petition and other documents filed in this case may be viewed on the Commission’s website at: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case Information

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY