Falls Church News-Press 10-26-2023

October 26 November 1, 2023

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

Founded 1991 • V o l . X X X III N o . 37

The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia

In 3rd Debate WHO’S GOING TO WIN? Hopefuls Exhibit Some Differences F.C. City Council Candidates Pushing to Election Day

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

In the third and final debate last week, as the hours tick off closer and closer to the Nov. 7 election day, the City of Falls Church’s four candidates vying for three open seats on the Council finally revealed some daylight between them on issues vital to the City. The debate was hosted by the City’s venerable civic action organization, the Citizens for a Better City (CBC), which earlier this election round under the leadership of former Vice Mayor Hal Lippman got all the candidates to sign onto an “integrity pledge” not to accept funding from outside sources.

The first two debates, hosted by the City’s League of Women Voters chapter and the F.C. Chamber of Commerce, saw little differentiation among the candidates. Granted, three of them have all been endorsed by the new civic group, Falls Church Forward, and also the local Sierra Club chapter; even so it was enlightening to see policy differences emerge not among them, but between them and relative newcomer Erin Flynn.

The three Falls Church Forward candidates also broke from a decade-long practice to take out a joint ad in the NewsPress this week. It is not clear that they thus now wish to be considered a “slate,” but they have definitely decided they want to run as a team in the mind of voters, ostensibly on the idea

Continued on Page 3

WITH LESS THAN two weeks to go before the Nov. 7 election, the four candidates seeking to fill three seats on the seven-member Falls Church City Council squared off in their third and final debate hosted by the Citizens for a Better City last week. (News-Press Photo)

Uncontested F.C. School Board Trio Share Views

by Patricia Leslie

One of the most popular words heard Wednesday night at the Falls Church School Board Candidate Forum was “echo” as in “I echo what Bethany said,” (Jerrod F. Anderson), “I echo what Amie said,” (Bethany R. Henderson) and “I echo Jerry’s remarks” (Amie S. Murphy).

The three are uncontested candidates running for three slots who agreed on mostly everything at the forum, hosted by the PTAs at Falls Church Elementary and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle, the PTSA at Meridian High and Citizens For a Better City.

About 20 citizens turned out at Meridian to hear the candidates deliver opening statements, answer questions from moderator and former School Board member Erin Gill, and questions from the audience before finishing the evening

with closing statements.

They all agree that banned books should not be banned, and as for critical race theory, Anderson said, “We need to educate students completely... students are learners here.”

Murphy said, “We should be teaching our kids to be critical thinkers and with that, we need to tell the whole story in history [which is] fluid. We should be telling the good and the bad stories that are part of our past.”

Henderson agreed “with everything” about CRT which Murphy and Anderson said, adding: “We should be empowering teachers to teach all the facts.”

An audience member wanted to know whether new construction in Falls Church is a safety hazard for children who walk and bike to school.

Henderson wondered how many construction zones chil-

dren have to cross to get to school. The candidates agreed that it is up to Falls Church City Council to monitor infrastructure. Murphy said she and her family are all cyclists, and she welcomes more bike lanes which would help fight climate change, a term unheard during the evening in the school filled with huge displays on the walls about the Earth and the importance of protecting it.

The candidates support delaying school opening times which would help improve child care matters, equity, and Murphy said, “It is better for children.”

As for security in schools, Anderson said all parents have concerns, but that Falls Church does a good job. Henderson mentioned the importance of recruiting and retaining good teachers.

For other jurisdictions with

enviable programs which could be implemented in Falls Church, Murphy mentioned Fairfax County’s middle school sports program which has recently been launched.

In today’s turbulent society, all expressed support for tolerance and inclusion. Henderson praised a recent Falls Church LGBTQ program Anderson closed the evening with his belief that “it is important to keep open communication going [and] ...to listen. if you don’t listen, you cannot improve.” He invited the audience to contact him later with questions which they had submitted for the forum on index cards and pencils handed out by the sponsors.

He is currently a member of the school board, appointed last winter by the board to fill the

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PAGE 2 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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The lawsuit brought by 10 Arlington homeowners seeking to block this year’s rezoning aimed at allowing more multifamily housing in residential neighborhoods will head to trial, a Circuit Court judge ruled on Oct. 19.

The decision in Marcia Nordgren et al v.

Arlington County Board was a setback for the county’s legal team led by County Attorney MinhChau N. Corr, who had sought quick dismissal of the suit’s main six counts.

Substitute retired Judge David Schell of Fairfax (the Arlington judges recused themselves) rejected county arguments that the plaintiffs lacked standing and proper timing for such a suit. He set a Nov. 16 hearing to determine the schedule for a trial on the merits of the contentious policy. Those include such issues as whether the planned zoning reforms were properly advertised and whether they were considered in compliance with state law on requirements for studies on the likely economic and environmental impact of the changes.

The judge did accept the county’s defense of its handling of Freedom of Information Act requirements for making public the documents issued for the county board and the county’s Planning Commission.

Planning for construction of what the new code calls “Expanded Housing Options” is continuing.

As of Oct. 13, the county had approved 14 permits for multi-family buildings, semi-detached houses, townhouses and duplexes. Seventeen more applications are under review. —Charlie Clark

prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.

At its last Take Back Day in April 2023, the DEA collected over 332 tons of unwanted drugs at nearly 5,000 Take Back Day sites nationwide.

In Virginia alone, 16,756 pounds of unwanted medications were collected at 184 collection sites across the state.

Annette Ozaltin Dies in Beltway Head-on Collision Annette Ozaltin of McLean died Saturday (Oct. 21) after crashing into another car while driving in the Capital Beltway (I-495) Express Lanes.

According to state police, Annette M. Ozaltin, 44, was heading south in the northbound I-495 toll lanes when her 2013 Toyota Prius struck a northbound 2018 Chevrolet Cruze head-on around 2:07 a.m.

“The impact of the crash caused the Toyota to spin around, run off the left side of the interstate and strike the cement Jersey wall,” the Virginia State Police said in a news release last night (Sunday).

The crash occurred in Annandale near the 51-mile marker, just south of the Gallows Road interchange.

Ozaltin was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she died from her injuries that morning.

The Chevrolet driver has been identified as 34-year-old Stephanie Leiva from Dumfries. She was transported to a hospital “for treatment of serious injuries,” police said.

Drug Take-Back Day In F.C. This Saturday

Mental Health Crisis Costing N.Va $8 Billion Annually – Study

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) fall Drug Take Back Day is on Saturday, October 28 and the City of Falls Church Police Department will host a collection site near the Public Safety Entrance outside City Hall (300 Park Ave.) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The public can safely and anonymously drop off potentially dangerous prescription drugs and/or unwanted or expired over the counter (OTC) medications during Drug Take Back Day. Accepted materials include pills, tablets, capsules, transdermal patches, prescription ointments, and other solid forms of prescription or non-prescriptions drugs (including pet medications). Vaping devices and cartridges are accepted, provided lithium batteries are removed. Liquids (including intravenous solutions), syringes and other sharps, pressurized canisters (inhalers/aerosol cans), and illegal drugs will not be accepted.

The Drug Take Back initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of

The mental health crisis is costing the Northern Virginia region $8 billion a year in unrealized economic output, according to a new report from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia.

The report from the foundation’s research arm, Insight Region, found that the economic loss caused by mental health has quadrupled since 2019, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic that began in early 2020.

In 2019, worker mental health issues cost the region about one percent in productivity – the equivalent of $2.1 billion – in potential gross regional product (GRP). About 11 percent of working adults were experiencing mild anxiety or depression in that timeframe.

However, during the pandemic, more than half of all workers reported levels of anxiety or depression. As of May 2023, that statistic held with 53 percent of the workforce struggling.

The elevated levels of mental health needs caused productivity losses to increase by 2.1 percentage points – or over $8 billion in potential GRP each year, according to the report.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 3

F.C. Council Candidates Hold Final Debate Before Nov. 7 Election travel options, and to maintain distinctive high tree canopy, green space and the network of parks and trails in the City.

Flynn, a newcomer of the last few years to Falls Church, is an accomplished 13 year veteran with the U.S. Justice Department, has a modest ad in this week’s News-Press (see Page 2) that has been running for a number of weeks which touts her as “independent, capable and committed.” Both ads cite the availability of early voting on weekends up through Nov. 4.

Also in this issue of the News-Press appears statements from the candidates themselves, invited to provide them by the News-Press on their qualifications and issues (See Pages 12 and 13).

The net effect of the three public debates and campaign literature suggests that while Hardi, Stevens and Underhill stand for a general continuation of the policies of the last decade, which have encouraged reasonable economic growth to help pay for a new $120 mil-

Continued from Page 1

that all three have been endorsed by the Sierra Club for “their eco-friendly policies.”

This quasi-slate development is something which hasn’t happened in local Falls Church politics since the CBC pulled out of the electoral politics game in 2012, following over 50 years of its very hands on approach to the process and all the CBCendorsed candidates ran as a slate, chosen by voting among citizen activists at public preelection candidate assemblies.

The half-page ad (below) in this week’s News-Press touts the candidacies of incumbent vice mayor Letty Hardi, Planning Commission chair Tim Stevens and Housing Commission member Justine Underhill, citing their shared commitment the eco-friendly commitments to expanding diverse and affordable housing to reduce sprawl, to encourage adaptive reuse and revitalization so daily needs can be met in The Little City, to add bike lanes, sidewalks and safer crossings to expand car-free

lion high school and renovations of City Hall and the Mary Riley Styles Library while the real estate tax rate dropped by 13.5 cents. Their focus now has shifted toward the renovation and retrofitting of existing properties, such as has been occurring in the recent period, with impressive redos along W. Broad Street. Flynn dove into the recent months’ contentious and many months-long debate over modifying the City’s transitional zones to allow some more diversified forms of housing. She was on the losing end of that issue, opposing the changes but in the process became a champion of sorts for the citizens who also opposed the changes.

The debate last week at the American Legion Hall, moderated deftly by Pete Davis, found the Falls Church Forward “slate” of Hardi, Stevens and Underhill focused on what they hope to build on in the coming years, while Flynn took a more negative posture toward recent local policies, though she said she would look to work with

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others in the context of a diversity of views.

Her main criticisms involved questions about the inability of the City to fill its retail and office spaces, while Hardi countered with data showing that Falls Church’s office and retail vacancy rates are far less than its Fairfax and Arlington neighbors. Hardi also countered Flynn’s citing the fact that the motion picture component of Founders Row 1 has been slowed with the fact that delays were due to Covid and that the entire Founders Row project is now already almost half filled, including by two fine restaurants that have received laudatory writeups in the New York Times.

An innovative idea from Stevens involved pressing for a west side entry to the East Falls Church Metro station that would enable folks on N. Washington (Route 29) to conveniently walk to that station.

Underhill said she would like to enable affordable housing development along the transit corridors of the City to make

it easier for residents there to access Metro and bus lines.

Hardi noted the “regional housing crisis” that initiatives such as the t-zone changes were designed to address and Flynn focused on the unfilled openings in the City’s Department of Public Works creating a “lack of reliability in City services” and her worries about density.

Hardi said she wants to continue her work on the Council to provide a vibrant, sustainable and inclusive City, noting that she “does her homework” and represents a “pragmatic voice” on the Council.

Email us at letters@fcnp.com

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PAGE 4 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Council Candidates Face Off Again Continued from Page 1

Eden Center Movie Night Presents HOCUS POCUS and HOCUS POCUS 2

vacated seat of Phil Reitinger. Then the School Board considered the applications of all three present candidates, urging Murphy and Henderson to run for the board this fall.

Murphy is an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice who moved here with her family seven years ago from Pittsburg.

Anderson is a health statistician who came here with his family five years ago from Jackson, Tennessee where he worked for Memphis schools nearby.

Henderson calls herself a “social impact leader” who’s an attorney, pro bono CEO with decades of experience “convert-

ing vision to impact.” All have children attending Falls Church City schools.

Meridian High School senior Isabella Villano and her father Peter Villano were time keepers who did not limit speech to those who went over their allotted 60 seconds to answer each question. From a side table they flashed 20-second warning signs and “stop” in large letters to the candidates.

Early voting is underway now at City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, where a drop mailbox for by-mail ballots is available. Early voting ends Saturday, Nov. 4. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Virginia law does not permit the listing of political party affiliation for school board candidates. If elected, the trio will serve terms.of four years each.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Erin Gill and school board candidates Amie Murphy, Bethany Henderson and Jerrod Anderson (Photo: Patricia Leslie)

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 5

Meridian’s New Associate Principal Reflects on Time at FCCPS and News-Press

by Kylee Toland

Falls Church News-Press

Four months ago, Peter Laub became Meridian High School’s new associate principal, a new position in his 12-year-long tenure with Falls Church City Public Schools. His new role comes with past experiences as an assistant principal, English/Journalism teacher, and even a brief stint at the News-Press.

“I’ve always enjoyed learning and helping others learn,” Laub said when asked about the link between his current role at MHS and his former position at the News-Press. “I like taking on the responsibility of mentoring people.”

As an alumnus at Meridian High School (George Mason High School when Laub attended), Laub said working for FCCPS has been “special” due to being able to work and help with people in the city. He credits the current students and teachers being the “best” and “incredibly talented” to his enjoyment as associate principal.

“Falls Church City Public Schools is a great place to work,” Laub said. “Talking about [the] schools and Falls Church with school

board members just feels like you’re having a dinner conversation with folks that you know.”

Laub said his former position as assistant principal for three years opened up the possibility to him to take on the role of associate principal, with him recalling that he told the interview panelists that he could do “Falls Church well” if he was hired for the job.

Laub’s involvement in the Little City dates back to when he was 14 years old, delivering papers “up and down” Broad Street for the Falls Church News-Press. On top of delivering, Laub was also tasked with writing brief pieces for the NewsPress, and was offered his first job at 16 years old at helping create the paper overall.

“The thing I learned a lot about [was] how newspapers were made, because Nick [Benton] made a newspaper by himself,” Laub said, “which was pretty amazing to watch.”

The News-Press also gave Laub his first full-time job after graduating college, in which he and former managing editor Jody Fellows “digitized” the paper by using computers and online platforms to design pages.

“That was my job and it was a lot

of long hours, but it was fun,” Laub said.

When Laub took on the role of assistant principal, Laub said two people inspired him while performing his duties. The first being Ty Byrd, the principal when Laub first joined FCCPS and “led with confidence and with his heart;” the second being Valerie Hardy, Laub’s direct supervisor for two years who was an “incredible role model in the way that she led.”

Throughout his 12 years at Meridian as both teacher and principal, Laub said one important highlight he has experienced was working with students to advocate for a bill in which high school newspapers would receive the same first amendment rights as publications outside of an education setting.

“I went with some students down to the state legislature in Richmond and they spoke in favor of this bill,” Laub said. “I loved leaning into the school’s legacy and the history of it.”

A challenge he has encountered?

“Covid,” was Laub’s quick response, as he explained that experiencing school during the pandemic was “brutal.”

When asked what he felt was his “greatest accomplishment” during

PETER LAUB, Meridian’s New Associate Principal and former News-Press employee. (Photo: Peter Laub) his time at Meridian, Laub simply stated that he’s just happy he still likes his job, which he said he thinks he’s maintained by switching roles from teacher to principal.

“I think a lot of the kids here help bring me a lot of joy and a lot of success,” Laub said. “Personally, their success is my success as a teacher and administrator…when the school is running well and kids are achieving, I feel like I’ve achieved.”

One important lesson Laub said he has learned while at Meridian

was simply put: “Always do the right thing.” By the time his first year as associate principal comes to a close, Laub said he hopes the class of 2024 graduates “feeling proud” and that Meridian continues to be a school that “has an impact on kids.”

“In this business, students are the be-all and end-all,” Laub said. “I’ve learned that [that statement] needs to be at the forefront of everything we do…every question I ask myself every day as I walk in here is ‘What am I doing for students?’”

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PAGE 6 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Since 1991, an award-winning LGBT-owned general Interest community newspaper.

Vol. XXXIII, No. 37 October 26 - November 1, 2023 • City of Falls Church ‘Business of the Year’ 1991 & 2001 • • Certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia to Publish Official Legal Notices • • Member, Virginia Press Association •

Nicholas F. Benton Founder, Owner & Editor-in-Chief nfbenton@fcnp.com

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Sue Johnson Advertising Sales sjohnson@fcnp.com

Kylee Toland News Reporter

ktoland@fcnp.com

Brian Reach News Reporter Breach@fcnp.com

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To Contact the News-Press phone: 703-532-3267 fax: 703-342-0347 email: fcnp@fcnp.com display advertising sjohnson@fcnp.com 703-587-1282

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www.fcnp.com The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 105 N. Virginia Ave.., #310, Falls Church, VA 22046.

Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2022Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.

E ditorial

E D I TO R I A L

Why There’s Less Interest in News

According to a Pew Research Center study out this week, entitled “News Platform Fact Sheet,” Americans are paying less attention to the news nowadays and that can be attributed to three factors: “changes in news consumption habits, declining trust in the media, and high levels of news fatigue.” The first relates to the increasing impact of the Internet as a supplier of news. The second and third are, of course, the most troubling and have to do with the way the so-called “MAGA Movement” led by Donald Trump has toyed with the minds of the public to turn citizens off from even wanting to know what’s going on. Reports in recent weeks of the U.S. Intelligence community’s assessment that the Russians and other anti-democratic forces are actively working globally to disrupt the public’s confidence in fair elections worldwide comes as no surprise to many, and underscores our assessment here that the “MAGA Movement” in the U.S. is one big Russian operation based on the Kremlin’s stated decision to use Trump as its tool of influence and misinformation going back as far as the 1980s.

Such influence, more than just disinformation but a fully-blown “psychological warfare” operation against an unwitting U.S. population, is aimed at eroding the underpinnings of democracy, which is centered on the public’s right and capacity to learn, observe and act in the national interest. To the extent this has not been taken seriously by the most influential leaders of our society, then it is succeeding in the erosion of our democratic values and institutions. Distrust or worse, active measures that strike at the heart of our democracy are being accelerated in this period to the point that Americans are being urged to believe even those things which they see with their own eyes aren’t really true. The most classic example was in January 2017 when Trump’s first White House press secretary Sean Spicer brazenly insisted to the White House press corps that attendance at Trump’s inauguration parade was attended by millions when all the senses of everyone suggested otherwise. Again, that was not just misinformation, that war “psywar” of the most extreme and dangerous type.

The demise of reliable news in our culture is another and maybe even the most significant example of this “psywar,” fueled by operations, among others, like Fox News and the ongoing Trump claim that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

Financial strains on media organizations, big and small, have been accelerating, wiping out thousands of local and regional newspapers, often substituted for by bland corporated-backed entities, such as Patch.com that peddles pablum instead of real, hard and critical news. Patch is owned by New Yorkbased Hale Global, described as “a buyer and partner of choice for leading global enterprises.” It is akin to a corporate raider operation that either picks apart what’s left of independent news entities or is used to push them closer to insolvency by situating themselves as substitutes for them.

Platform 1. Keep the news clean and fair.

2. Play no favorites, never mix business and editorial policy.

3. Do not let the news columns reflect editorial content.

4. Publish the news that is public property without fear or favor of friend or foe.

5. Accept no charity and ask no favors.

6. Give ‘value received’ for every dollar you take in.

7. Make the paper show a profit if you can, but above all keep it clean, fearless and fair.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

L etters to E ditor Jobs Matter for Those with Disabilities Editor, As we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) this October, it’s critical to recognize the value individuals with disabilities bring to the workplace. Employers miss a great opportunity when they ignore and exclude us.

I’m fortunate and proud of my fulfilling path in competitive employment. My passion lies in empowering others with disabilities by showcasing that individuals with disabilities, like myself, are valuable assets in the workforce.

My employment journey began with a summer internship at Booz Allen Hamilton after high school.

After completing my internship, I was offered a full-time job there and received full benefits. My employer had high expectations and acknowledged my contributions both in the workplace and community. This first work experience served as the catalyst for my 25-year employment and advocacy journey.

While we have made some progress, more must be done to help people with disabilities obtain competitive jobs. Low expectations about what our capability is are persistent barriers from opportunity and workplace inclusion.

I stand as living proof that the decision to hire individuals with disabilities yields positive results.

“Hiring individuals with disabilities is a good business decision and a social responsibility,” I said to Congressional members in 2011 at the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). More still needs to be done to advocate for employment opportunities, especially since the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is nearly twice that of people without.

Many people with differing abilities want to work, but no one can

get a job simply by wishing for it.

Opportunities must exist, but they won’t unless employers make an intentional effort to raise their expectations of what we can accomplish.

I am proud to say that all of my employers recognized my ability and included me. While some progress has been made to hire people with disabilities, there is more work that must be done. I ask all employers to open their doors to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Hire us and include us in your environment. You will not regret it!

David Egan Vienna, VA

20 MPH is Plenty if Drivers Follow Limits Editor, 20 is plenty if wasting money on signs is what you think will make people slow down. Telling people to drive 20 mph in our neighborhoods is not enough.

Cut through drivers already ignore our low speed limits.

West Street where my son has to cross to get to Oak Street Elementary is supposed to be 25 mph, but drivers regularly fly over the hill by Madison Lane going 40! It is time to add speed bumps to West Street like they have in Fairfax just up the road.

Other cut throughs like Parker and the roads around the school could also benefit from real speed reduction efforts given the school sent out an email begging people to drive slower around the kids in the morning.

Let’s really address this issue rather than continuing to pretend that speed limit signs will slow speeders down.

Mike Dolan Falls Church, VA

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OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 7

‘Young Frankenstein’ Offers a Spooky Treat at Little Theatre of Alexandria

by Mark Dreisonstok

The Little Theatre of Alexandria presents a spooky but at the same time light-hearted production of the Frankenstein legend in “Young Frankenstein,” a musical version of the iconic Mel Brooks film of the same name and directed superbly here by Frank D. Shutts II. Those who are familiar with the film will enjoy seeing their favorite scenes and gags from the movie enacted on stage.

For those new to the work, the plot runs thus: The scientist Dr. Frederick Frankenstein hears of his grandfather’s passing and travels from the U.S. to Transylvania Heights to settle his grandfather’s estate. He is aware of the villagers’ fearful perception of his “crazy grandfather’s delusional experiments,” a view he shares, but his loyal assistant Igor predicts: “I’ll bet you change your mind.” Indeed, the scion of the famous Frankenstein who created life develops an appreciation of his grandfather’s “brilliance in science,” brought forth into song in “Join the Family Business.”

Young Frederick undertakes his grandfather’s mission to create life from the dead using a brain with the assistance of the madcap Igor and his

other assistant, the lovely Fräulein Inga. Things both go right and wrong as Frederick creates the Frankenstein creature, and his fiancée Elizabeth Benning (whom he left behind in America) will show up unexpectedly, to result in “a little surprise.”

The play draws heavily upon the “Frankenstein” novel of Mary Shelley as well as the 1930s Frankenstein films which would follow from Hollywood. What makes the musical enjoyable, however, is also its comedy, catchy songs, and dance production numbers. The Little Theatre of Alexandria honors each of these aspects of “Young Frankenstein” with aplomb!

In perhaps the strongest part of a very strong production, the Monster is portrayed with ebullient personality by actor Joshua Nettinga, for in Mr. Nettinga’s depiction, the monster shows great humanity and comes across in a surprisingly congenial way throughout the performance, even when in moments when he is “scary.”

Noah Mutterperl as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein portrays the doctor in a very engaging way; as Igor is funny and carries much of the humor in the show. Claire Jeffrey as Inga acts and sings her part with charm, even hav-

ing a brief moment yodeling. James Maxted and Brian Ash bring great comic flair to their respective parts of the Hermit and Inspector Hans Kemp.

Messers. Mutterperl and Redford share a wonderful comic duet in “Together Again (For the First Time).”

The 1930s-style period pieces “Transylvania Mania” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (the latter being the one song which appeared in the original film) are performed with great skill, especially the tap dancing in “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” (The stunning choreography is by Stefan Sittig.) Ensemble work of the “Transylvania Heights villagers” is superb, and they harmonize particularly well. A further enjoyable number is “A Little Surprise”

by Liz Colandene as Frederick’s visiting fiancée Elizabeth. An additional delight to a delightful show: Judy Lewis as Frau Blücher provides a highly entertaining and comic “He Vas My Boyfriend.”

This production follows the London version, which has a smaller cast than the Broadway production and is just right for the size of Alexandria’s Little Theatre. The special effects and set design (Ken and Patti Crowley for the former, Robert S. Barr, Jr.,

for the latter) are low key but highly effective, in particular using the auditorium lighting of the theatre to great effect. Costumes by Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley are evocative of East European rustic life as well as, on occasion, 1930s fashions (the time period is 1934, the informative program tells us). Finally, the live musicians give the score an enjoyable full

Broadway feel (music direction is credited to Francine Krasowska and Christopher A. Tomasino).

“Young Frankenstein,” which runs through November 11, 2023, is performed in two acts with a 15-minute intermission. The show has risqué as well as frightening moments and thus may not be suitable for small children.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN playing at The Little Theatre of Alexandria now through November 11, 2023. (Photo: Matt Liptak )

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

George Mason Mens Basketball Opens Preseason With a Win at Home

by Nick Gatz

Falls Church News-Press

The Tony Skinn era is underway in Fairfax with the George Mason Patriots Men’s Basketball team picking up a 64-52 victory over NAIA powerhouse St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday night inside EagleBank Arena.

These patriots are not the same ones we saw under previous head coach Kim English or Dave Paulsen. Tony’s team is athletic, fast, gets out and runs and plays with a high tempo.

The roster consists of a lot of new faces, Skinn and his coaching staff had to rebuild almost the roster after many former players departed along with previous head coach Kim English.

Among those new faces are freshman 6’ 3” point guard Baraka Okojie. Okojie hailing from Brampton, Ontario by way of Daytona Beach DME Academy shinned in his first game rocking the Green and Gold.

Baraka went 4-5 with 12 points, three rebounds and added two assists.

Two other Patriots reached

double figures, led by senior newcomer Darius Maddox. The Bowie, Md., product had a team high 13 points to go along with four rebounds and two assists.

Returning senior Ronald Polite III chipped in 11 points and made 3-of-4 3-point attempts.

Tony emphasized in his press conference that “I scheduled this game for a reason, because I wanted to put our guys out in this environment, our group of brand-new guys needed to be challenged, “ Head coach Tony Skinn (‘06) said. “St. Thomas has a tradition of very good players. I think, overall, this was a great effort by our team.”

As many of you may remember Tony Skinn was a key member of the famous 2006 George Mason Final Four team. Skinn returns to his alma mater after nearly a decade of collegiate coaching. Skinn made stops at Louisiana Tech, Seton Hall, Ohio State and at Maryland.

Skinn most recently served on Kevin Willard’s staff at the University of Maryland. During the 2022-23 season, he helped lead the Terps to a 22-13 record

GEORGE MASON MENS BASKETBALL picks up 64-52 victory over NAIA powerhouse St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday night inside EagleBank Arena. (News-Press Photo) and an NCAA Tournament victory over West Virginia.

A native of Hyattsville, Md. and Washington, D.C., Skinn returns home hoping to bring that ‘FUNFAX’ vibe back to the DMV. ‘FUNFAX’ was a term coined by

students during his playing days.

While there are still many questions left to as how this year’s team will come together, three things were on full display Monday night. Depth, athleticism, and joy. These Patriots

play with passion and they hope to carry Monday nights success over to Friday night. The patriots will face off in an exhibition at Big 12 foe West Virginia. The 7 p.m. contest in Morgantown will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 9

Meridian Field Hockey Has Perfect Season, Football Set for Home Finale

By Ryan McCafferty

Playoffs are on the horizon at Meridian High School, and for one team, they’ll be taking an undefeated record into the regional postseason tournament. Field hockey capped off their regular season this past week by going on the road to

beat Liberty 6-0 and Kettle Run 5-0, extending their overall record to 16-0 as they’ve earned homefield advantage from here on out. They’ll begin their hopeful run towards a state title this Thursday, facing a to-be-determined opponent.

As for the football team, they fell on the road this past Friday,

losing 34-20 at Skyline and dropping to 3-5 on the year. They still have two more chances to put regular season wins in the books, beginning this Friday when they host Warren County for their final home game. After that they’ll visit Fauquier and that will determine where they stack up for the regional postseason.

MERIDIAN FIELD HOCKEY finishes with historic undefeated season. They will host regional quarter-finals on Thursday, October 26th. (FCCPS Photos/Mustang Athletics)

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Girls’ volleyball stayed hot this past week as they also concluded their regular season with a 3-1 victory on the road at Manassas Park this past Thursday. That brings their overall record to 1112, which includes a 4-1 record during an in-season tournament earlier this month at Mount Vernon. They’ll have plenty of time

to rest before beginning regional tournament play on October 30th.

Cross country had the week off, but will be back in action as they compete in the District Championship at Sherando High School on Wednesday. Cheer, meanwhile, will be competing in their Regional Championship at Brentsville this coming Saturday.

MUSTANG VOLLEYBALL wins final regional match. Their first-round regional playoff match will be on October 30 at 6:00 PM. (FCCPS Photos/Katie Rosenbusch)

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Universal ‘Four Freedoms’ Local Popcorn Shop Continues With Values Key to Current Crises Opportunities for Those With Disabilities Nicholas F. Benton FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

“My hope is that the children of Isaac and children of Ishmael will come together and tell the extremists to go take a hike so that we can eat hummus and dates and watch our children frolic together.” –Rabbi Michael Adam Latz.

“Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It is the act of disrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful arduous pursuit of restoration and justice.” Shane Clairborne, Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.

To be clear, evil is cloaked in any claim that asserts one class of persons is either unworthy or inferior to another. If one side of a conflict is grounding its motives for aggression on such a false claim, it is in the wrong, even as both sides may to the outward eye be engaging in similar acts of conflict.

This was the case in the American Civil War, when the proslavery South was justifying its slaughter on the false notion of the inherent inferiority of Blacks. It was the case in World War II where the Nazis justified their slaughters on the false notion of the inherent inferiority of the Jewish people.

And it is true today insofar as the claim of inherent inferiority of the Jewish people has been touted as justifying the Hamas’ murderous invasion of Israel setting off the current conflict.

Far too often history books in this era treat wars like conflicts among moral equals, which they almost never are. Even in the case of World War I, whereas the conflicts arose out of a somewhat more complicated set of facts, at its core was the crisis of the 19th century’s leaders of the industrial revolution running afoul of a rising labor movement. It was why three members of the same ruling family, all offspring of England’s Queen Victoria, posted as heads of state of three of Europe’s

most powerful nations – England, Germany and Russia – permitted the onset of perhaps the worst slaughter of innocents in history.

It wasn’t semi-resolved until two atom bombs were dropped on major Japanese population centers, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, to settle the outcome of that vast era of mass murder running from 1914 through a period that was characterized as “The Long Weekend” in the 20s and 30s, to 1945.

All of the best efforts at peace in this context have been grounded in the assertion that all racial and ethnic prejudices must be quashed in order for it to happen. That is the underlying premise of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights enacted in 1948. Quoting from an article on the subject, the Declaration “enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired

by Eleanor Roosevelt. It was accepted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the 58 members of the United Nations at the time, 48 voted in favor, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.

A foundational text in the history of human and civil rights, the Declaration consists of 30 articles detailing an individual’s “basic rights and fundamental freedoms” and affirming their universal character as inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all human beings.

Adopted as a “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations,” the declaration “commits nations to recognize all humans as being born free and equal in dignity and rights” regardless of “nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.”

It followed on the famous “Four Freedoms” that FDR introduced in the context of America’s full entry into World War II in January 1941, that affirmed the four essential freedoms for all to include phrases familiar from the Bill of Rights, and some new ones: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Sadly, far too many Americans in this current period, led by Trump, no longer hold to these values that so many Americans died for.

by Kylee Toland

Falls Church News-Press

After the success of Jake’s Ice Cream in Falls Church, a new shop has recently “popped” up with the same values and heart.

Located in the Seven Corners Shopping Center, Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn offers various flavors of sweet, salty and savory popcorn. Similar to Jake’s Ice Cream, the popcorn shop is staffed by differentlyabled adults, giving them an opportunity to work and grow as individuals.

“They’re gaining an actual job-world social experience,” Jake’s Ice Cream and Gourmet Popcorn’s joint owner Robin Rinearson said. “A lot of these young adults want to be able to live independently and they are demonstrating the capability of being able to do that.”

The idea behind Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn began with Rinearson’s desire to open a second ice cream shop to grow the business and make the creamy treats in larger quantities. After learning about the possible rent increase at the original ice cream shop’s location due to placing a new ice cream shop somewhere else, Rinearson said selling popcorn came to her while reflecting on her time at graduate school in Chicago and enjoying the multiple popcorn shops on “every third corner.”

“I thought, ‘You know what? I think I could probably train people with disabilities how to do this,’” Rinearson said.

Opening in early August, Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn offers 30 different flavors of the puffed snack, such as caramel, movie theater, ranch and more.

Ribearson and four of her staff learned how to make the popcorn and ways to try out different flavors.

“We do encourage people to taste stuff because we want them to go home with something that they love,” Ribearson said. “It’s fun because people come in and ask [the staff] what their favorite flavors are and they make recommendations.”

Both the ice cream and popcorn shop have employees who have physical and intellectual disabilities, something

JAKE’S GOURMET POPCORN follows in Jake’s Ice Cream in hiring mostly individuals with disabilities. Janmari Hallahan (left) and Justine Serene (right) both have described their experience at the popcorn shop as rewarding. (Photo: Kylee Toland) that Ribearson said she wanted to promote at both businesses due to her own nephew Jake, who has cerebral palsy, losing his job during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I understand the frustration of families trying to find jobs for their adult children because jobs for people with disabilities are scarce,” Ribearson said. “It bothers me that the general public looks at somebody with disabilities as being ‘other’ or ‘incapable.’”

Ice cream and popcorn are also things Ribearson said she feels she can teach employees with a disability how to make and serve the treats, due to the amount of repetition it takes and the workers not minding doing the same thing each day.

“The nice thing about most of these people who are not neurotypical is that they’re delighted to be at work,” Ribearson said. “They are willing to do the work and what needs to happen in order to keep the business afloat.”

Two of the popcorn shop’s employees Justin Serene and Janmari Hallahan both said their jobs are “rewarding” and “helpful.”

“We’re providing opportunities for individuals with disabilities,” Serene, who is an assistant manager at the popcorn shop, said. “They get hands-on experience.”

“It’s a very good place to work,” Hallahan said. “I love it a lot.”

Since the popcorn shop has opened, Ribearson said the local public has been accepting due to their visits to and knowledge of the ice cream shop. By the time next August comes around, marking a year since the business opened, Ribearson said she hopes it will be “independently functioning.”

“I will try to modify whatever people are doing to try to make them as independent as possible,” Ribearson said.

“For most people with disabilities, it’s a job for life.”

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 11

News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

In-person early voting for Fairfax County residents begins on Thursday, October 26, and runs until Saturday, November 4, 2023, at the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale, and at the Thomas Jefferson Branch Library, 7415 Arlington Boulevard in Falls Church. Weekday hours are 1 p.m.

— 7 p.m.; Saturday, October 28 and November 4 hours are from 9 a.m. — 5 p.m., and hours on Sunday, October 29, are 1 p.m. — 5 p.m. Regular polling places will be open on Election Day, November 7, 2023, from 6 a.m.

— 7 p.m.

This year’s ballot is long, and voters are reminded to turn over the ballot so that they can vote in all categories, including a school bond referendum.

In Mason District, voters can vote for candidates for the state Senate and House of Delegates, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Mason District Supervisor, Mason District School Board, three at-large School Board seats, three at-large Soil and Water Conservation District seats, Sheriff, Commonwealth’s Attorney, a school bond referendum and, only once every eight years, the Clerk of the Court.

Redistricting for the state Senate and House of Delegates following the 2020 Census resulted in significant shifts of Mason District precincts into newly numbered legislative dis-

tricts.

What hasn’t changed, of course, are the county boundaries.

An At-large candidate still will represent all of Fairfax County; Mason District added two new precincts, Fort Buffalo and Woodburn, in redistricting, but if you lived in Mason District before redistricting, and haven’t moved away, you still are in Mason District. The ballot you receive will have candidates for state Senate and House of Delegates, as well as the following choices: Statelevel candidates run by party, with a D or an R next to their name on the ballot, but candidates for local office in Virginia are not identified by party affiliation on the ballot, per state law.

Countywide candidates deserving of your vote include Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Jeff McKay. Joining Jeff and running countywide are Sheriff Stacey Kincaid, Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, and candidate for Clerk of the Court, Christopher Falcon.

For the first time in 28 years, my name will not be on the ballot for Mason District Supervisor, as I will retire at the end of my seventh term on December 31. The winner of the Democratic primary, Andres Jimenez, is running on a platform of environmental stewardship and service. Mason District School Board member, Dr. Ricardy Anderson, worked hard to ensure that Mason

District students got the resources they needed, and she continues to advocate tirelessly for schools and students in Mason District. At-large school board candidates include two former School Board members, Ilryong Moon and Ryan McElveen; newcomer Kyle McDaniel is the third Democratically endorsed candidate.

Turn over your ballot to vote for three at-large candidates for the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District: Rhonda Bitterli, Chris Koerner, and Mason District resident Dana Barakat have the Democratic endorsement.

Finally, voters are asked to consider a $435 million school bond for construction and renovation of school facilities throughout the county, including Bren Mar Park Elementary School in Mason District. Students are our most precious asset. A vote to approve school bonds is a vote to invest in their future, and ours.

Whether you vote early or at your precinct on Election Day, please remember to vote. It is your opportunity to select our leaders for the next term. Elections matter, and Mason matters!

C RIME RE PORT Larceny from Building/Credit Card Fraud, W Broad St, on September 28th and September 29th, an unknown suspect stole mail containing a credit card from a secured mail room and fraudulently purchased items of value. The unknown suspect is described as a 6 foot tall male with medium build, darker complexion wearing a black facemask and blue shirt.

Destruction of Property, Founders Ave, on October 13th and October 14th, an incident of graffiti occurred. The unknown suspects are described as seven juveniles.

Larceny from Building, Mustang Alley, on October 15th and October 16th, unknown suspect(s) took a black Apple Watch SE. The Apple Watch was later recovered by Fairfax County Police Department.

Shoplifting, S Washington St, Oct 17, unknown suspects took items of value. The suspects are described as two males, approximately 5’8”-6’2” in height, weighing 250lbs-

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

C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h Week of October 16 - 22, 2023

Know the when, where, and how. Then vote.

300lbs, with short black hair; one suspect was wearing a black sweatshirt, the other was wearing an orange sweatshirt.

Public Intoxication/Trespassing/Obstruction of Justice, Hillwood Ave, Oct 19, a male was arrested for public intoxication, trespassing, and obstruction of justice. A female, was arrested for public intoxication and trespassing.

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Stolen Automobile, Gordon Rd, on October 13th and October 20th, unknown suspect(s) stole a red Kia. Public Intoxication, S Washington St, Oct 21, 9:23 PM, a male was arrested for public intoxication.

Larceny from Building/Destruction of Property, S Maple Ave, on October 7th and October 21st, unknown suspect(s) took a secured bicycle from this location.

Defrauding an Innkeeper/Identity Theft Used to Avoid Arrest/Warrant Service (Other Jurisdiction), W Broad St, Oct 21, 4:51 PM, a male was arrested for defrauding an innkeeper, identity theft: used to avoid arrest, and a warrant was served from other jurisdiction.

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PAGE 12 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Four F.C. City Council Candidates In Their Own Words

Erin Flynn Erin Flynn Will Prioritize the Delivery of Basic City Services, Respond To Community Concerns, And Implement Policies That Enjoy Strong Community Support That Move Us Forward Together Dear City of Falls Church Voters, It would be a privilege to represent City residents as a member of the City Council, and I look forward to serving the community if elected.

For those who do not yet know me, I’m an FCCPS parent (we have a first-grader) and my husband grew up here, so I have roots in the community. Professionally, I am a civil rights attorney and supervisor at the Department of Justice, where I’ve worked for 13 years.

I am not a political person by nature. Instead, what I offer as a candidate is independent and practical judgment, experience working on complex issues that implicate varied interests, an ability to work with others even where our policy positions differ, and a dedication to governance that is consensusdriven and seeks a fair result for the community as a whole.

My platform focuses on the reliable delivery of City services, excellent schools, the responsible use of City tax dollars, effective oversight of City departments, enhanced pedestrian and cyclist safety, extension of affordable housing protections, appropriately scaled development, and preservation of the tree canopy and green space. Overall, I will promote the “small town” feel and community events that make Falls Church unique inside the Beltway.

I feel strongly that the agenda of the City Council and the work of the City government should prioritize the needs of the community as identified and expressed by the community. I’ve spoken with hundreds of City residents since launching my campaign, and volunteers have canvassed

neighborhoods to hear the views of hundreds more. Falls Church residents are well-informed, and their input should be welcomed, no matter the stage of a plan or project. I will insist that the City engage residents and local businesses early when major policy decisions are being considered, and ensure that community concerns and priorities are reflected in Council’s discussions.

Residents recognize that the City is growing and changing; some fully embrace that growth, others not so much, and still others are unsure of what to think. Yet, the vast majority seek assurances that the City can manage this growth. I am committed to strong, effective oversight. City departments — such as Public Works and Public Safety — must be fully staffed to meet basic needs.

Traffic issues that threaten the safety of our residents, especially children, must be immediately addressed. Long deferred paving, sidewalk, crosswalk, and signal improvements must be made.

Council also must ensure that vacant storefronts are filled, that projects underway stay on track and deliver promised revenues, and that we champion our local businesses, history, and culture.

Important infrastructure improvements are happening, but we still need to tackle development-related issues like our limited sewer shed capacity. It is critical we develop strategies to preserve affordable business spaces and dedicated affordable dwelling units. All the while, we should adhere to strong fiscal policies, address affordability and taxrelated concerns, and ensure we are moving forward together.

I believe consensus-based decisions on major issues are possible, and I’m committed to robust civil discourse.

Please visit my website — FlynnforFallsChurch.com — to see how I’ve weighed in on important issues and to learn more about my candidacy. My public comments show I carefully study the facts and seek to balance legitimate interests.

I care about people and policy and will exercise my best judgment consistent with our shared values and commitment to one another. I’d be honored to have your vote.

Sincerely, Erin Flynn

Letty Hardi I’m honored to have served Falls Church for eight years, and am running for re-election because I’m committed to a more vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable city — and serving in a way that keeps the community engaged! We must continue tackling housing affordability, accessibility, and climate change. Our responsibility to the future is clear: preserving the best of our small town charm while pursuing a high quality of life for all.

Real Results: Since my election in 2016, I’ve proudly advanced infrastructure investments including a new high school, library, city hall, multiple parks and sidewalks, traffic calming, public parking, bikeshare and racks, bus shelters, affordable housing, public art, seasonal holiday lighting, and a more vibrant, walkable city powered by smart development, new businesses, and financial stewardship.

These generational investments were also fiscally responsible: growing the tax base, lowering the tax rate 12.5 cents, and maintaining our triple A bond rating.

I’m the only incumbent running, with eight years of experience delivering results through partnerships with the School Board, boards and commissions, staff, businesses, and civic groups.

I’ve built important relationships with regional, state, and federal officials to ensure our small city interests are represented when partnering with larger neighbors to further shared goals.

My Priorities: (1) Housing: affordable and diverse so all generations, incomes, and backgrounds can call Falls Church home. Though 50 percent more affordable units are coming online in the next two years, we need to further preserve units and expand options so seniors can age in place, graduates can affordably return home, diverse families can attend our top-notch schools, and

starter homes can co-exist in neighborhoods again, homeownership can be a reality for more. A healthy queue of redevelopment already exists, so instead of large projects on every corner, we’re encouraging adaptive reuse, small infill, and diverse housing to offer more than large homes or rental apartments.

(2) Accessibility: to keep evolving from a car-centric culture, we need safer, more accessible streets, sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, and traffic calming.

At 2.3 square miles, we truly can be the “15 minute city” for living car-free or car-lite, including those seeking more sustainable lifestyles or aging in place. This frees up roads for those that must drive — or visitors from elsewhere.

(3) Sustainability: pedestrian, bike, and microtransit options reduce our environmental footprint, but more is required to leave our planet better than we found it. I’m one of three Sierra Clubendorsed candidates (this election and previously), reflecting my consistent environmental voting record and belief that all have parts to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That responsibility is inherently tied to land use policies and sustainability investments: preserving and growing our high tree canopy, building resilient stormwater infrastructure, upgrading existing buildings, and greener future building standards. Our parks and trails are top rated amenities — let’s keep it up.

(4) Excellent City Services and Schools: we’ve always valued high quality public education and services. Schools represent a big part of our city’s renown and budget, so we must continue collaborating on financial and capital planning, and ensuring city services meet residents and business needs.

(5) Fiscal Stewardship: with high inflation and cost of living, affordability remains a top concern. Taxpayer dollars should be treated as if they were our own, and we should pursue opportunities to reduce the individual tax burden through thoughtful development and strong local businesses. Healthy local revenues and new business growth is evidence this strategy is already working.

Stay updated on my blog, lettyhardi.org. I’m grateful to serve this community and meet and listen to so many of you — and hope to earn your vote again this fall to keep moving us forward.

Tim Stevens Members of City Council are called upon to address a wide range of issues — even in a small city like Falls Church.

If elected to City Council, I would carefully consider various points of view and information sources before reaching a decision. Here’s how three key themes would guide my thinking.

First, we must maintain what keeps Falls Church strong as an independent, self-governing city despite the challenges we face. Larger jurisdictions enjoy economies of scale, and state aid to jurisdictions in Virginia is very limited, especially for high-income jurisdictions like ours. Falls Church must craft fiscally responsible budgets and focus on growing our commercial sector. This approach will continue to fund community initiatives we value while reducing the City’s reliance on residential real estate taxes.

Recent City leaders should be commended for achieving our strong fiscal position, and I will work to maintain this strength.

Second, while we all take great pleasure in enjoying and wanting to preserve the many local features that make Falls Church unique — including our improving walkability, our parks, special events like the Memorial Day parade, our great civic organizations, the growing array of places to dine, shop and be entertained, and much more — we must closely monitor and respond to important regional and national issues that will affect our future.

My work on the Planning Commission and the Environmental Sustainability Council has highlighted two major concerns: climate change

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM and the growing housing crisis. Failure to address climate change will diminish the quality of life for future generations, including the students in the excellent schools we all make sacrifices to provide.

We need to join with neighboring communities to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for extreme weather. Soon, we will have a Community Energy Action Plan to guide our actions at the local level, and we should make achieving our climate goals an important part of our everyday decisions.

As for the housing crisis, Falls Church offers excellent choices for those who find living in larger multi-family buildings meets their needs, and those who can afford to buy and rebuild detached houses in our highly desirable residential neighborhoods. This doesn’t provide sufficient and affordable choices for first-time buyers, lower-income buyers and people who work in the City. We need diverse housing choices to ensure that we are a complete community. While there are significant limits to how much impact a small jurisdiction can have on this nationwide issue, we nonetheless must do our part. Failure or delay in addressing these important issues would further burden future generations and affect whether they can afford or want to remain citizens of Falls Church.

Third, our decisions need to consider equity among different groups. Just as companies in the U.S. have learned they can be more successful when their workforces reflect our country’s population, we need to be a community that welcomes diverse groups. The housing choices we enable, library facilities we provide, voting processes we adopt, the bike lanes that we provide are all examples of how an equity lens can be used to improve our City. Even supporting our independent Chamber of Commerce — which avoids the sometimespartisan views of larger, national organizations — reflects an equity element.

As a longtime volunteer in the City, I am proud of the roles I have played in supporting the progress Falls Church has made improving our quality of life in the past decade, and I want that progress to continue. I would be honored to earn your vote and serve you on City Council.

Justine Underhill Justine Underhill for Falls Church City Council: Shaping a Sustainable, Connected, and Thriving Future As a second generation Washingtonian, growing up about 15 minutes away from Falls Church, I have a profound appreciation for our Little City’s charm and potential. My experience as a journalist living in over a dozen cities worldwide has given me a distinct perspective on city design, housing, and community engagement. And my background as a filmmaker and economist has shaped my creative and analytical approach to problem-solving.

It’s this fusion of local understanding, global insights and a creative, analytical approach that I plan to bring to the Falls Church City Council.

A Holistic Approach to Urban Design Every corner, park, and building in our city tells a story. City design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about how we live, interact, and thrive. How often do you see neighbors on your way to the local coffee shop? Can your kids get around town safely on their own?

Does our city support an excellent standard of living for people of all backgrounds?

On City Council, I will promote connectivity, environment and community. I envision a city where people of all ages and abilities can walk anywhere or bike safely and comfortably, where diverse and affordable housing options exist, where our local businesses thrive, where our schools are supported by a diverse and resilient tax base, and where city policies support environmental sustainability. It’s no surprise that my commitment to such a future has garnered the endorsement of The Sierra Club.

The Ripple Effects of Thoughtful Urban Planning My policies are rooted in community planning and economic development, which if we get right, can bring surprising benefits

to the city: • Transportation: Creating a city where everyone, including children and seniors, can walk, bike, and utilize public transit safely not only reduces congestion and pollution, but promotes health and independence.

• Public Spaces: By building more pocket parks, fostering outdoor dining spaces, and expanding tree canopy, we can bolster community interactions that improve public safety.

• Housing & Tax Base: Housing along transit corridors can offer a trifecta of benefits: it can combat rising housing costs, promote environmental sustainability and lower our overall tax rates by generating astoundingly net positive financial support for our schools and local programs.

Our Climate Commitment Falls Church has ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2030 and 2050 and we need concerted efforts to achieve these.

I’m committed to pushing for investments in sustainable transportation, green building standards, and robust environmental programs.

Growing Green Our tree canopy and green spaces are the lungs of our city. As we evolve, it’s crucial that these elements not just remain, but flourish.

While state restrictions may limit direct mandates, I will advocate for incentives that prioritize green spaces in all future developments.

This includes championing biophilic designs, green roofs, and rain gardens. As we update our infrastructure, I’ll prioritize integrating tree planters and expanding green spaces.

Transparency in Government Alongside all of my priorities, I will lead with transparency and communication. Nearly a decade ago, I was one of the youngest officials representing Dupont Circle as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. My community elected me primarily to negotiate between my neighbors and the developers of a multi-million dollar project. I take pride in my ability to listen and connect people together, and one of the biggest lessons I learned from that project is the importance of frequent and clear communication.

My favorite part of running for City Council has been meeting so many amazing neighbors in the city. That can include you too. If you would like to learn more about me or share your thoughts– even if you don’t regularly engage in city affairs — I would love to hear from you. Please reach out to me at JustineUnderhill.org.

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NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC OF RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD (RPS) FILING BY VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY D/B/A DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA CASE NO. PUR-2023-00142

• Virginia Electric and Power Company d/b/a Dominion Energy Virginia (“Dominion”) has submitted its 2023 Renewable Portfolio Standard (“RPS”) filing (“2023 RPS Filing”). The 2023 RPS Filing includes Dominion’s RPS Development Plan and requests for approval to construct or acquire and operate four new utility-scale projects and to enter into 13 new power purchase agreements.

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CE-4 Projects Dominion seeks CPCNs and approval to construct or acquire and operate four utility scale projects totaling approximately 329 MW of solar. In addition to these four projects, Dominion intends to acquire and operate one additional CE-4 Project, a five MW solar facility (“Peppertown”); however, the Company asserts that, consistent with the Commission’s prior determination that projects of five MW or less do not require a CPCN, and Rule 10 of the Commission’s Filing Requirements in Support of Applications for Authority to Construct and Operate an Electric Generating Facility, Peppertown does not require a CPCN. The name, size, locality, interconnection and projected commercial operation date (“COD”) for each of the CE-4 Projects is provided below: Project

Size (MWac)

Locality

Interconnection

COD

• Dominion requests approval of revised Rider CE with a revenue requirement of $136,676,486 over the rate year beginning May 1, 2024, and concluding April 30, 2025. According to Dominion, this amount would increase a typical residential customer’s bill using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month by $1.54.

Beldale

57

Powhatan County

Transmission

2026

Blue Ridge

95

Transmission

2026

• A Hearing Examiner appointed by the Commission will hold a telephonic hearing in this case on January 10, 2024, at 10 a.m., for the receipt of public witness testimony.

Pittsylvania County

Bookers Mill

127

Richmond County

Transmission

2024

Michaux

50

Henry/Pittsylvania County

Transmission

2026

Peppertown

5

Hanover County

Distribution

2024

• An evidentiary hearing will also be held on January 10, 2024, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, in the Commission’s second floor courtroom located in the Tyler Building, 1300 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219, to receive the testimony and evidence of Dominion, any respondents, and Commission Staff.

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

During its 2020 Session, the Virginia General Assembly enacted Chapters 1193 (HB 1526) and 1194 (SB 851) of the 2020 Virginia Acts of Assembly. These duplicate Acts of Assembly, known as the Virginia Clean Economy Act (“VCEA”), became effective on July 1, 2020. The VCEA, inter alia, establishes a mandatory renewable energy portfolio standard (“RPS”) program (“RPS Program”) for Virginia Electric and Power Company (“Dominion” or “Company”) in § 56-585.5 of the Code of Virginia (“Code”). Subdivision D 4 of Code § 56-585.5 requires Dominion to submit annually to the State Corporation Commission (“Commission”) plans and petitions for approval of new solar and onshore wind generation capacity (“RPS Filing”). The Commission must determine whether the RPS Filing is reasonable and prudent, giving due consideration to the following factors: (i) the RPS and carbon dioxide reduction requirements in Code § 56-585.5, (ii) the promotion of new renewable generation and energy storage resources within the Commonwealth, and associated economic development, and (iii) fuel savings projected to be achieved by the plan.

On October 3, 2023, Dominion submitted its annual RPS Filing to the Commission (“2023 RPS Filing” or “Petition”). The 2023 RPS Filing requests the Commission: (i) Approve the Company’s annual plan for the development of new solar, onshore wind, and energy storage resources (“RPS Development Plan”) in connection with the mandatory RPS Program pursuant to Code § 56-585.5 D 4; (ii) Grant certificates of public convenience and necessity (“CPCNs”) and approval to construct or acquire and operate four utility-scale projects totaling approximately 329 megawatts (“MW”) of solar pursuant to Code § 56-580 D; (iii) Approve to recover through the Rider CE rate adjustment clause the costs of (a) five utilityscale solar projects, totaling approximately 334 MW, and related interconnection facilities (collectively, “CE-4 Projects”), and (b) one distributed solar project, totaling approximately 3 MW, and related interconnection facilities (“CE-4 Distributed Solar Project”), pursuant to Code § 56585.1 A 6; (iv) Approve an update to Rider CE for recovery of costs associated with the previously approved CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3 projects, the CE-2 and CE-3 distributed solar projects, and related interconnection facilities; (v) Make a prudence determination for the Company to enter into 13 power purchase agreements (“PPAs”) for solar resources, totaling approximately 435 MW, (collectively, “CE-4 PPAs”) pursuant to Code § 56-585.1:4; (vi) Approve recovery through Rider CE of the costs of the CE-4 PPAs pursuant to Code § 56585.1 A 5; and (vii) Approve the Company’s request to consolidate Rider CE and Rider PPA pursuant to Code § 56-585.1 A 7, resulting in: (a) the recovery of costs associated with the CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3 PPAs through Rider CE, and (b) the end of Rider PPA as of April 30, 2024.

RPS Development Plan Dominion states that its RPS Development Plan reports on the Company’s progress toward meeting the solar, onshore wind, and energy storage development targets outlined in the VCEA and presents the Company’s development plan for solar, onshore wind, and energy storage facilities through 2035. The Company’s RPS Development Plan calls for additional investment in solar, onshore wind, and energy storage through 2035.

The Company also provides a consolidated bill analysis calculating the projected monthly bill through 2035 for residential, small general service, and large general service customers for each alternative plan presented in the Company’s 2023 Integrated Resource Plan. For Alternative Plan B, for example, the Company projects the monthly bill of a Virginia residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours (“kWh”) per month to be $243.20 by 2035, an increase of $127.02 over the May 1, 2020 level of $116.18, using the methodology approved by the Commission in Case No. PUR-2020-00134. The Company’s bill projections are not final and all customer rates are subject to regulatory approval.

Further, the Company also presents its 2022 RPS Program Compliance Report in the Petition, certifying compliance with the RPS Program for compliance year 2022.

Utility-Scale Solar

The Company asserts that the CE-4 Projects are needed to comply with the VCEA and to serve customers’ capacity and energy needs. According to the Company, the total estimated costs for the CE-4 Projects are approximately $855.6 million, excluding financing costs, or approximately $2,562 per kilowatt (“kW”) at the total 334 MW (nominal AC) rating.

Rider CE In this proceeding, Dominion makes four requests related to Rider CE. First, the Company seeks to update Rider CE for the recovery of costs associated with the CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3 projects, the CE-2 and CE-3 distributed solar projects, and related interconnection facilities, which have previously been approved by the Commission.

Second, Dominion requests recovery through Rider CE of the costs of the CE-4 Projects and CE-4 Distributed Solar Project, as well as the related interconnection facilities. The CE-4 Projects are discussed in more detail above. The CE-4 Distributed Solar Project consists of one distributed solar project totaling approximately 3 MW and related interconnection facilities.

The Company asserts that the CE-4 Distributed Solar Project is needed to comply with the VCEA and to serve customers’ capacity and energy needs. According to the Company, the total estimated costs for the CE-4 Distributed Solar Project are approximately $10.9 million, excluding financing costs, or approximately $3,642 per kW at the total 3 MW (nominal AC) rating.

Third, the Company seeks to consolidate Rider CE and Rider PPA. Rider PPA was approved by the Commission pursuant to Code § 56-585.1 A 5 for the recovery of costs associated with the CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3 PPAs. The Company asserts that the consolidation of Rider CE and Rider PPA is in the interest of judicial economy because the Commission already considers the prudence of PPAs in the annual RPS Filing proceedings, and the consolidation would allow the Commission to consider associated cost recovery issues simultaneously. Such a consolidation would result in the recovery of costs associated with the previously approved CE-1, CE-2, and CE-3 PPAs through Rider CE. Consolidation would also result in the end of Rider PPA as of April 30, 2024.

Fourth, the Company seeks to recover the costs of the CE-4 PPAs through Rider CE. Dominion asks the Commission to approve revised Rider CE for the rate year beginning May 1, 2024, and ending April 30, 2025 (“Rate Year”). The Company is requesting a total revenue requirement of $136,676,486 in Rider CE for the Rate Year. If the proposed total revenue requirement for the Rate Year is approved, the impact on customer bills would depend on the customer’s rate schedule and usage. According to Dominion, implementation of its revised Rider CE on May 1, 2024, would increase the monthly bill of a residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month by approximately $1.54 when compared to the combined total residential rates in the current Rider CE and Rider PPA. CE-4 PPAs In its 2023 RPS Filing, Dominion also seeks a prudence determination for the CE-4 PPAs. The CE-4 PPAs consist of: (i) eight PPAs for utility scale solar generating facilities totaling approximately 420 MW and (ii) five PPAs for distributed solar generating facilities totaling approximately 15 MW. Dominion asserts that the CE-4 PPAs are needed to comply with the VCEA and to serve customers’ capacity and energy needs. As noted above, the Company seeks approval to recover the costs of the CE-4 PPAs through Rider CE, in addition to the costs of the CE-1, CE-2 and CE-3 PPAs previously approved by the Commission.

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 entered an Order for Notice and Hearing in this proceeding that, among other things, scheduled public hearings on Dominion’s Petition. A hearing for the receipt of testimony from public witnesses on the Company’s Petition shall be convened telephonically at 10 a.m. on January 10, 2024. On or before January 3, 2024, 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

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parties or their counsel, if available. The respondent simultaneously shall serve a copy of the notice of participation on counsel to the Company. Pursuant to 5 VAC 5-20-80 B, Participation as a respondent, of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (“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-2023-00142. For additional information about participation as a respondent, any person or entity should obtain a copy of the Commission’s Order for Notice and Hearing.

On or before December 7, 2023, each respondent may file 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. 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. Each witness’s testimony shall include a summary not to exceed one page. All testimony and exhibits shall be served on the Staff, the Company, and all other respondents simultaneous with its filing.

In all filings, respondents shall comply with the Rules of Practice, as modified herein, 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-2023-00142.

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 5-20150, Copies and format, of the Rules of Practice.

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

VIRGINIA ELECTRIC AND POWER COMPANY WAL RIDG TON E RD

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.

Beginning at 10 a.m. on January 10, 2024, the Hearing Examiner will telephone sequentially each person who has signed up to testify as provided above.

On January 10, 2024, at 10 a.m., or at the conclusion of the public witness portion of the hearing, whichever is later, 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 Staff.

To promote administrative efficiency and timely service of filings upon participants, the Commission has directed the electronic filing of testimony and pleadings, unless they contain confidential information, and required electronic service on parties to this proceeding.

An electronic copy of the public version of the Company’s 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. Interested persons also may download unofficial copies of the public version of the Petition and other documents filed in this case from the Commission’s website: scc.virginia.gov/pages/Case-Information.

On or before January 3, 2024, any interested person may submit comments on the Petition by following the instructions found 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 such comments shall refer to Case No. PUR-2023-00142.

On or before November 27, 2023, any person or entity wishing to participate as a respondent in this proceeding may do so by filing a notice of participation at scc.virginia.gov/clk/efiling. Those unable, as a practical matter, to file a notice of participation electronically may file such notice at the address listed above. Such notice of participation shall include the email addresses of such

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PAGE 16 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

'Ruthless!' Enthralls at Falls Church's Meridian High School

by Mark Dreisonstok

This past weekend, the drama department and the students of Meridian High School presented a rarely-staged musical: “Ruthless!” (book and lyrics

by Joel Paley, with music by Marvin Laird). This musical draws from the teen-centric dark comedies of the 1980s and 1990s, although, with its domineering stage mother, there are also parallels with the 1960’s Broadway and film hit “Gypsy.”

In the show “Ruthless!” Judy Denmark (played by Eudora Neal) wants her talented daughter Tina (Mia Schatz) to become the headliner in the third-grade production of “Pippi in Tahiti.” Both Judy and Tina are prodded on by Sylvia St. Croix (Paxton Hebblethwaite), an adult talent scout who takes young actresses under her wing to turn them into stars.

The third-grade teacher Miss Thorn (Isabella Baskins) adds to the pressure, taking on the role of the students' drama coach and trying to impose her own artistic vision and strivings onto the students. In a macabre turn, Tina, upon being relegated to the lowly role of Pippi Longstocking understudy, commits a horrific crime.

While her actions are seemingly condemned, her fate is ironic in that she

ends up being sent to a reform school for “psychopathic ingenues” and the “criminally talented.” A further ironic twist is that Tina’s incarceration allows her mother, Judy, the freedom at last to pursue her own dreams of Broadway stardom as Ginger Del Marco.

Each member of the cast is talented in terms of both music and acting. The sets were simple but very effective, and the few props were used well to convey an American suburban living room and, later, a luxury apartment. The costumes (designed by student Sophie O’Hara), however, are stunning, evoking visions of an idealized 1950s past: Judy’s housewife dress suggests the kind that TV mom Donna Reed used to wear in the 1950s/1960s sitcom “The Donna Reed Show,” and Tina’s first dress recalls Shirley Temple. Later, a curiously stylish black-and-white striped dress/prison uniform worn by Tina in prison conveys that she still has dreams of stardom.

The live orchestra of mostly student musicians (Aiden Harper, Anna Gray, Jane Afsah-Mohallatee, Nate Hill, Owen Kummer, Tyler Huang, and one Dr. Yoo) was also a delight.

The orchestra and singers performed delightful tracks of Broadway-style music, with the selections “Born to

Entertain” and “I Hate Musicals” (ironically, a musical show-stopper!) being particularly memorable.

The show was directed by Shawn Northrip, who learned of the script from one of his students!

Mr. Northrip tells the News-Press that “Every once in a while, we'll produce one of the standards, one of the well-known shows. But I enjoy discovering things about which the students do not already have preconceived notions.”

Perhaps appropriate for the Halloween season, the show contained humor both riotously funny and more than a little macabre. Further, the show highlights in a humorous way a serious concern found in shows like “Heathers” and “Spring Awakening:” that well-intentioned parents, teachers, and other authority figures may pile unreasonable expectations onto students, leading to unexpected, and sometimes tragic, results. As for this particular staging of “Ruthless!”, the production truly showed the musical, dancing, and acting talents of the students at Meridian High School and gave residents of Falls Church a rare opportunity to see an entertaining, interesting, and rarely performed piece of the American musical theatre.

TINA (MIA SCHATZ) performs with stage-struck mother Judy (Eudora Neal) looking on in the background. (Photo: Carol Sly)

Fa l l s C h u r c h School News & Notes MHS Band Students Ready to Work

Nominations Open for Employee Awards

Have any leaves that need raking? Kids that need babysitting?

Garden that needs tending? A neighborhood concert you’d like musicians to play? Then consider hiring a Meridian High School musician to get the job done.

As part of the MUSIC Days fundraiser, from October 21 through December 3 Meridian High School musicians will be out in the community working to earn money for their once-in-a-lifetime trip to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April. All proceeds from these jobs goes directly to help pay for their spring trip to the Big Apple where they will play on stage at Carnegie Hall and in a band exchange program with an arts high school in Brooklyn, NY. Let the capable, hardworking NYC-bound musicians help with odd jobs this fall.

For more information or to place a job request, visit: forms.gle/ JqoAvJXJzwHDF8Ww5 or email musicdaysgmhs@gmail.com.

The nomination calendar and process are changing in 2023, but the awards remain the same. The initial nomination packet requirements are shorter to reduce the burden on nominators. Following initial nominations, school employees will select their building or department nominee for each award.

Those selected as building/department nominees will be announced in November, and a more robust nomination packet will be assembled by the school community.

The division-wide selection process will follow. The winner of each award will be announced in January 2024. Contact awards@fccps.org with questions.

Field Hockey Triumphs with Historic Season Last Wednesday night, Meridian Field Hockey played their last regular season against

district rivals Kettle Run. For the first time in the program's 10-year history, the team finished undefeated with a 16-0 record. The team finished first in the district and is seeded first in the region as they head into the postseason. They will host regional quarter-finals today.

OSE Parenting Book Club Returns for Year Two The OSE parenting book club is back for a second year. The book they will be reading this month is called, “The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years” by Emily Oster. They will meet on Wednesday, November 15, from 6:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m. to discuss. There is both an in-person and virtual option to participate.

Please complete this form at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI pQLScM2RCDBnOpdqF0DJKnz 7KAd0_9wWcztMVuB49Ln3mk

8TH-GRADE STUDENTS participated in a showcase demonstrating their IB MYP Community Projects. Throughout the fourth quarter, students investigated an issue in a community, developed a solution, implemented action, and reflected on their challenges and successes. The mission of the Community Project is for students to make real-world connections and become mindful global citizens. (Photo: Chrissy Henderson) DApi4Q/viewform by November 10 to plan to attend the book club.

Robotics Team Offers Hand-Crafted Pumpkins The robotics team from Meridian High School — Team 1418 Vae Victis — are an experienced team of dedicated stu-

dents and adult mentors with a long history of success in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). This year the team is selling hand-crafted pumpkins to help offset the operating expenses of the team. Order pumpkins at docs.google.com/ forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrB_oXt2pI9q5XkGhVZanwZKfhKhQwxqrqbsfFhVCEhEzUw/ viewform.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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News-Press

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 17

Community News & Notes

AT THE OPENING of the wholly revamped restaurant, The Falls, formerly a lot of things but most recently Liberty Barbecue, this week, the wait staff included three local Meridian High School personages. (l. to r.) 2019 graduate Zack Macney and current juniors Kyra Christian and Addy Turner. Chef Harper McClure and co-owner Mark Fedorchak said the classy new destination’s menu features a lot of the best of the Liberty Barbecue, but with more lighter options, too, especially veggies and grain bowls. It is open evenings this week, and will add lunch hours in two weeks. (News-Press Photo)

More than Forty People Participate in Window Painting For the first two weekends in October, the streets of Falls Church were packed with school-age children, parents, and community groups as they painted family friendly Halloween scenes on forty merchant windows. Despite driving in rain and wind, three hundred painters came out to create a walkable Halloween experience that all members of the family will enjoy. Make a day of walking around Falls Church to shop local and see the windows before they disappear in early November.

Patient First Offers Free Candy X-Rays This Halloween Patient First will offer free digital X-ray imaging of Halloween candy. This free digital X-ray image is fun for the trick-or-treaters, allowing them to look at the peanuts and other treats inside of their candy.

This provides kids with a fun visit to the doctor’s office. X-ray imaging can also provide parents additional

peace of mind about the treats their children receive by possibly detecting objects like metal, or other solid substances.

Bags of candy may be brought into any Patient First Neighborhood Medical Center from October 27 — November 3 between the hours of 6 p.m. — 8 p.m

Halloween Carnival Coming Soon Grab the little goblins and ghouls for the spooktacular family fun Halloween Carnival on Saturday, October 28. Wristbands to participate in all activities will be available for purchase onsite and for presale at the Community Center starting October 25 for $1 per person.

Food for Neighbors to Help F.C. Students Over 2,700 households in Northern Virginia are working with Food For Neighbors to end teen food insecurity. Help them reach 2,800 so they can better fill the weekend

AT LAST WEEK’S SPOOKY ROW Fall Fest, sponsored by DC Fray and Founders Row, families enjoyed pumpkin decorating, face painting, lawn games, and live music – and a cash bar for the adults. (Photo: Brian Reach) food gap for students. Sign up at​​ foodforneighbors.org/red-bag-program/ to donate food and toiletries up to five times per year via the Red Bag Program. This will be helping students attending Luther Jackson Middle School and Annandale, Falls Church, and Justice high schools.

They’re collecting donations in Falls Church neighborhoods. If one signs up by Wednesday, November 1st, they’ll be able to support the November 11th Red Bag Event.

2023 Ghost Tours are Back in F.C. The Falls Church Ghost Tours are back for the last weekend of October. The tour is a 90 minute 1 ½ mile walk, starting at Cherry Hill Farmhouse at 6 p.m. For ages 14 and older. Please bring a flashlight — there will be walking in the dark and crossing streets.

Eden Center to Host Halloween Movie Night Bring the family to Eden Center on October 27th for a free Double Feature of the classic Halloween movies Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2. The movies will be shown on a 40-foot screen in the Eden Center parking lot. The sound will be broadcast to car speakers just like a drive-in

movie. There will be free popcorn, free candy and much more. There will also be a costume contest with a chance to win a $100 Eden Center gift certificate.

Neighborhood Fall Fest Coming This Weekend An afternoon of seasonal treats, live music, arts and crafts, a petting zoo and more. Join neighbors and celebrate family, friendship and fall fun. at The Kensington Falls Church (700 W. Broad St., Falls Church) from 11:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.

National Drug Take-Back Day Coming Soon National Drug Take-Back Day is Saturday, October 28. The public can drop off unused medications for disposal with the City of Falls Church Police Department from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside of City Hall near the Public Safety Entrance. Disposal is free, confidential, and helps prevent drug abuse, misuse, and accidental poisonings.

Donate Blood at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Blood donors of all blood types are urgently needed now. Donate at the Red Cross Drive on Monday,

October 30 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. 3022 Woodlawn Ave., Falls Church, 22042. Please register at redcrossblood.org/give.html/donation-time.

“Stradivarious (Metals)” Named People’s Choice at FCArts Dave Dubbe’s welded metal sculpture “Stradivarious (Metals)” has received the Falls Church Arts’ People’s Choice Award.

Dubbe’s piece, which is available at Falls Church Arts for $1500, is a welded metal sculpture. Dubbe says about his piece, “Collected from various mechanic scrap piles, thrift store toolboxes, and discarded engines, metal components of all shapes and sizes come together in a chorus of new life. The viewer can almost hear the attention to detail and composition of the welded elements in this violin look-alike, while visually giving a new meaning to the phrase ‘Heavy Metal.’”

The piece was chosen by the visitors to Falls Church Arts as the People’s Choice award winner. The theme for this exhibit is The Alchemy of Metal: Repurpose and Reuse. The show runs through November 12.

PAGE 18 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

THIS WEEK AROUND F.C. THURSDAY

OCTOBER 26 Economic Dev. Committee Meeting

Economic Development Committee meets. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Oak Room, Falls Church), 1:00 p.m. — 2:30 p.m.

Rumble on the Row

Rumble Boxing is coming to the Row, hosting a series of pop up workouts to get to know the community and area. 45-minute class, 10 rounds, half boxing and half strength. Free registration at bit.ly/FCNP1023rb. Founders Row (109 Founders Ave., Falls Church), 6:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.

Spooky Queens Drag Show

Shi-Queeta Lee and her all-star cast put on a fabulously frightening show, transporting you to a magically spooky world of illusion and mystery. Tickets at rosslynva.org/live. Gateway Park (1300 Langston Blvd., Arlington, VA), 6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Glow Yoga at Founders Row

A spooky glow-in-the-dark yoga

class led by Karma Yoga. Free to attend. Founders Row (109 Founders Ave., Falls Church), 7:00 p.m.

Historic Architectural Review Board Meeting

Historic Architectural Review Board meets. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Dogwood A-B, Falls Church), 7:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m.

FRIDAY

OCTOBER 27 FOALs Fall Book Sale

Friday through Sunday, Friends of the Arlington Public Library (FOAL) hold its fall book sale.

Bring your own bags or boxes and load them up with books! Teachers and librarians receive half off purchases Friday and Saturday.

Come back Sunday for half off for everyone! Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA), 10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.

Free Still Life Art Demo: Anna Katalkina

Still life artist Anna Katalkina gives a demonstration of how to transfer a drawing or image from paper to canvas, the first step in creating her distinctly realistic and luminous paintings. Through her technique of

applying multiple translucent glazes of paint on top of underlayers, Katalkina alters values and hues to achieve a depth of color not readily obtainable from a brushstroke, resulting in the illusion of a smooth, three-dimensional surface. McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, VA), 11:00 a.m.

Falls Church Ghosts and History Tour

A 90-minute, 1.5-mile walking tour of the ghosts and history of Falls Church. Funds support local food drives. Please bring a flashlight and donate three or more cans of yummy food. No pets; recommended for ages 14 and older. Thursday through Saturday. Free tickets at bit.ly/FCNP1023gh. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave., Falls Church), 6:00 p.m. — 7:30 p.m.

National Symphony Orchestra

costume contest! Free to attend.

Eden Center (6751-6799 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church), 7:00 p.m.

MCP's Production of '{Proof}'

On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Friday through Sunday. Tickets at bit.ly/FCNP1023pr. The Alden Theatre (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, VA), 8:00 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.

Wicked Pirate Halloween Show

Members of the National Symphony Orchestra play an assortment of chamber music. Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (2700 F St. NW, Washington, DC), 6:00 p.m.

Dress up! It's a pirate show with the ladies of (the songs) and the sea! Wicked Jezabel performs with special guest Chris Veatch on drums of Shartel and Hume Band.

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

Hocus Pocus 1&2 Double Feature

SATURDAY

Eden Center presents a double feature of Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2, with free popcorn, snacks, Halloween candy, and a

OCTOBER 28

Enjoy a spooktacular family fun event with carnival games, inflatables, candy, fall snacks, and more! Bring a trick or treat bag from home to collect your goodies. Costumes are encouraged! $1 entry wristbands for a specific two-hour time slot, beginning at either 1:00 p.m. or 3:30 p.m., are required to participate in all activities, available at the Community Center or at the event, cash or card are accepted. Cherry Hill Park (312 Park Ave., Falls Church), 1:00 p.m. — 5:30 p.m.

Kidical Mass Halloween Parade Ride

Dress up in your Halloween costumes and parade down Park Ave. with Falls Church Forward! Bring your bike, scooter, roller blades, other two-wheelers, or walking shoes. Enjoy pumpkins, pictures and prizes at the end for the most creative, adorable, scary and unexpected costumes. RSVP for details: FallsChurchForward@ gmail.com. Parade Route (Park Ave., Falls Church), 4:30 p.m.

Festival of Frights & Trunk or Treat

Shop the award-winning market every Saturday, year-round! City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave., Falls Church), 8:00 a.m. — 12:00 p.m.

Calling all families of ghouls and goblins! Come join the Old Firehouse in your best Halloween costumes for a night of music, games, food, contests and tons of candy! Free to attend. McLean Old Firehouse Center (1440 Chain Bridge Rd., McLean, VA), 5:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Drug Take Back Day

Trippy Halloween Party

Falls Church Farmers Market

Drug Take Back Day is a free, convenient, confidential, and safe way to dispose of unused or expired medications. The City of Falls Church Police Department hosts a collection site near the Public Safety Entrance outside City Hall. No liquids or needles/sharps will be accepted at this event. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Dogwood A-B, Falls Church), 10:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m.

Gladius: Classical/Flamenco Guitar Concert

Enjoy rare and beautiful arrangements by jazz legends from many eras of jazz history at GMU's Jazz Workshop Fall Concert this Wednesday (Photo: Joyce Boghosian Photography)

Halloween Carnival

Andrés Segovia meets Eddie Van Halen in a Mexican standoff. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Lower Level Conf. Rm., Falls Church), 1:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m.

Sisters and brothers, join SDE for a very trippy Halloween Party and show! Dress up and get spooky. Settle Down Easy Bresing Co. (2822 Fallfax Dr., Falls Church), 6:30 p.m.

Halloween Literary Evening

The Victorian era gave us the stories of ghosts and mystery.

Join the F.C. Victorian Society for an evening of reading some popular Victorian tales.

Reservations required, email Holly Irwin at hirwin@fallschurchva.gov to save your spot! Cherry Hill Historic House and Farm (312 Park Ave., Falls Church), 8:00 p.m.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CA L E NDA R

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 19

EVENTS, LIVE MUSIC, & ART SUNDAY

OCTOBER 29 School Board Town Hall at Berman Park

Hear from FCCPS School Board candidates at a town hall. Berman Park (229 Kent St., Falls Church), 10:00 a.m. — 11:00 a.m.

Neighborhood Fall Fest

duce light pollution and ensure a brighter future for these remarkable nocturnal neighbors. Free registration at bit.ly/FCNP1023bf.

Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna, VA), 3:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.

in an informal setting. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Oak Room, Falls Church), 9:00 a.m. — 10:00 a.m.

MONDAY

Every summer, Fort Hunt Park hosts celebrations of every stripe. During the Second World War, however, Fort Hunt was the site of two secret Military Intelligence Service operations that helped the Allies win the war — and before that it played a prominent role in a national movement that transformed it into a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp during the Great Depression. Join Daniel Blier from the National Park Service to explore the story of twentieth century America and its legacy today.

Free to attend. Little River United Church of Christ (8410 Little River Tpk., Annandale, VA), 9:30 a.m. — 11:00 a.m.

OCTOBER 30 Profs and Pints: Horror as Queer

An afternoon of seasonal treats, live music, arts and crafts, a petting zoo and more! Join your neighbors and celebrate family, friendship and fall fun. The Kensington Falls Church (700 W. Broad St., Falls Church), 11:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m.

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Horror as Queer,” a look at the influence and depiction of queerness in horror films, with May Santiago, adjunct professor of film studies at George Mason University and producer of the podcast Horrorspiria.

Penn Social (801 E St. NW, Washington, DC), 6:00 p.m. — 8:30 p.m.

Howl-O-Ween Blessing of the Pets

TUESDAY

Annual drive-thru pet blessing and trick-or-treat fun and games.

Goodie bags will be distributed for pets and children. Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church (3435 Sleepy Hollow Rd., Falls Church), 2:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m.

OCTOBER 31 Halloween at the Perch

Through dance, uncover untold Latino stories that reveal the resilience of Southwest communities and the transformative force of heritage. Showing Friday and Saturday. Tickets at bit.ly/FCNP1023le.

Gala Theatre (3333 14th St. NW, Washington, DC), 2:00 p.m.

A Halloween party 11 stories in the sky! Family-centric activities until 4:00 p.m. include mini golf, face and pumpkin painting, inflatable bounce houses, pie eating and kids costume contest. After 4:00 p.m., more ghostly vibes ensue for those 21 and older, including an adult costume contest and seasonal concoctions at the Haunted Bar. Free to attend. The Perch at Capital One Center (1805 Capital One Dr., Tysons, VA), 12:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Monarch: A MexicanAmerican Musical

Mosaic Halloween Spooktacular

Leyendas de mi Tierra

Monarch follows the journey of dreamers and undocumented immigrants who live and work in this country, but still must remain in the shadows. After 20 years of running a successful workshop in the US, beloved handyman Luis becomes the relentless focus of ICE Officer Castelo. Like the Monarch butterfly, Luis is determined to follow his fate-defining journey.

Creative Cauldron (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church), 2:00 p.m.

Bat Festival 2023 at Wolf Trap

Bring your friends and family for an afternoon of fun, education, and a deeper appreciation for the vital role bats play in our ecosystem. Let's work together to re-

Grab your costume and join a Spooktacular Halloween at Mosaic! From 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., stop by your favorite shops for trick-or-treating! Afterwards, lay out your blankets, spread out your candy, and enjoy Scooby Doo on the big screen starting at 6:00 p.m. Strawberry Park (Mosaic District, Fairfax, VA), 4:00 p.m.

The Hidden History of Fort Hunt Park

Dia de los Muertos Celebration

A free Día de los Muertos evening picnic! Join for family-friendly art making, music from Grupo Fénix, food trucks, and live dance. Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (3550 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA), 5:00 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Author Talk: Cullen Ruff

Join author and physician Cullen Ruff for a discussion of his book Looking Within: Understanding Ourselves Through Human Imaging. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Upper Floor Conf. Rm., Falls Church), 6:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.

Planning Commission Meeting

Planning Commission meets.

City Hall (300 Park Ave., Council Chambers/Court Room, Falls Church), 7:30 p.m. — 10:00 p.m.

GMU Jazz Workshop Fall Concert

The Jazz Workshop explores the

of improvisation and WEDNESDAY intersection composition in the tradition of the

NOVEMBER 1 Ask the Council Session

The public is welcome to attend this session to meet with Council members and ask questions

great dance and studio jazz bands.

Enjoy rare and beautiful arrangements by jazz legends from many eras of jazz history. New original compositions by Mason students and faculty will be featured as well.

GMU Harris Theatre (4471 Aquia Creek Ln., Fairfax, VA), 8:00 p.m.

STILL LIFE artist Anna Katalkina gives a free art demo, Friday at MCC (Photo: "Swedish Fish" by Anna Katalkina)

PAGE 20 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

PUBLIC NOTICE

Invitation For Bids (IFB) IFB 1116-23-HILL01 Hillwood Avenue 01 Storm Sewer Improvements Project City of Falls Church PASSWORD PROTECTED ELECTRONIC BIDS (SEALED) will be accepted by the City of Falls Church by electronic submission to the Purchasing Agent, James Wise, jwise@fallschurchva.gov (email) for the provision of Hillwood Avenue 01 Storm Sewer Improvements Project.

Due date for the electronic submission of Bids is Thursday, November 16, 2023 @ 11:00 AM. A Non-Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams on October 31, 2023 (see the IFB for details). A copy of the IFB which includes all details and requirements may be downloaded from the City of Falls Church’s procurement website: www.fallschurchva. gov/Bids. Notice of the IFB may also be accessed via eVA, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s electronic procurement portal for registered suppliers, www.eva.virginia.gov.

For more information and/or questions regarding this IFB contact the City’s Purchasing Agent; (703) 248-5007; jwise@ fallschurchva.gov. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703 248-5007 (TTY 711).

ABC NOTICE Belindas Restaurant, LLC Trading as: Belindas Restaurant , 404 S. Washington St. Falls Church , VA 22046 The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINA ABC AUTHORITY for a Restaurant Wine, Beer and Mixed Beverages Consumed On and Off Premises license to sell or manufacture Alcoholic beverages. Carmen Umanzor Arias – Member. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from The publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered At www.abc.virginia. gov or (800) 552-3200 Peking Pavilion, 2912 North Sycamore St., Arlington, 22207. The Above establishment is applying to the Virginia ABC board for a Retail Restaurant or Caterer Application - Restaurant, Wine, Beer, Consumed On and Off Premises license. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of 2 required newspaper legal notice. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia. gov or 800-552-3200 EL Centro LLC, 6617 Wilson Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22044. The Above establishment is applying to the Virginia ABC board for a Convenience Grocery Store, Beer and Wine, Off Premises license. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of 2 required newspaper legal notice.

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

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

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

BO O K R E V I E W

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 21

‘Life & Times of the News-Press’ Now On Local Bookshelves Reviewed by Brad Gernand

Editor’s Note — Prominent former senior archivist at the Library of Congress and long time Falls Church resident and civic activist Brad Gernand, who has co-authored three books on Falls Church history, the most recent in 2000 as part of the 300th anniversary of Anglo settlements at the Little City’s location, is the author of this seminal review of Charlie Clark’s new book, “The Life and Times of the Falls Church NewsPress,” out this month from the History Press and available at One More Page Books in N. Arlington, Amazon and other locations.

Communities don’t just happen. They are built and maintained. Falls Church’s is arguably one of the most cohesive and coherent in the country. Part of this is due to its tiny size and population. And part of it is due to its highly informed residents.

There again, highly informed citizens don’t just happen — they are provided information of use and value about their communities. In large swaths of the United States this is no longer happening.

Newspapers and local journalism seem to be at death’s door. Not so in Falls Church, and now we have a look at why.

A new book, “Life and Times of the Falls Church News Press,” by veteran newspaperman Charlie Clark, provides a clear-eyed look at the founding and evolution of the Falls Church News-Press.

What is clear in Clark’s account is the extent to which the history of the newspaper has paralleled the history of the city during the past three decades. This is no accident, Clark concludes.

I clearly remember the afternoon of March 28, 1991. I came home from work to find a free newspaper lying at the foot of my driveway. It was obvious from its first edition that the News-Press and its publisher, Nick Benton, fully subscribed to Daniel Burnham’s famous maxim: Make no small plans.

I had moved to the City a few months prior and was having trouble fathoming what made Falls Church tick, as there was no source of local news. Was there a common theme, and did the com-

munity have a vision?

Yes, and Benton and his new newspaper helped mold and shape that vision, Clark reports.

It also helped establish, define and provide Falls Church a sense of identity and place.

Falls Church has experienced three major phases of build-out and development: following the Civil War, following World War II, and — most recently — the past 10 or 15 years.

Throughout the history of American journalism, newspapers have been boosters of their local communities. Sometimes this meant stressing positive news at the expense of negative. And it always has meant “booming” (to use the old-fashioned word) the city’s economic prospects.

Clark finds the Falls Church News-Press has done so consistently, and says the City came to embrace Benton’s recipe for growth and prosperity: an as-

sertive wooing of business, with a view to expanding the City’s tax base. This is to some degree a matter of conjecture: the free market has dictated Falls Church’s rapid growth, and it would likely have occurred with or without Benton.

Benton, however, was instrumental in crystallizing viewpoints, both pro and con. In the early 1990s he endorsed the “Greensleeves” proposal by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society to rebuild West Broad Street, planting trees, installing matching street furniture and bricking the sidewalks.

He said the charm offensive would signal that Falls Church was open for business. And signal it did.

It was not long — in economic development terms — before Benton was promoting another key concept: using or repurposing land more effectively. As

Clark notes, this has been his clarion call almost from day one.

At one point he challenged the City to pull together disparate parcels on all sides of Don Beyer Volvo to create one large site and build the tallest office tower in Northern Virginia.

Many Falls Church residents scoffed. But then, building the region’s tallest tower wasn’t necessarily what Benton was after, was it? It was all about the underlying philosophy, Clark writes.

Far from authoring a “puff piece,” Clark appears to have left no stone unturned. He seems to have read every issue of the News-Press published since 1991, charting trends, changes, and personalities.

The biggest personality, of course, is Benton. In many respects a classic newspaperman — presenting a rumpled appearance, a willingness to slaughter sacred cows, and a big heart hidden behind a gruff exterior — Benton has been the star of the show. His unrelenting work ethic and long hours in the office across 33 long years are reflected in every issue of the paper, Clark reports.

Clark is at his best when he tells us things we never knew.

Clark’s account of producing that first edition of March 28, 1991, is both interesting and informational, with small details (the staff rode in a Mustang convertible to the printer in Gaithersburg, after working all night on March 27) adding color.

A stray detail from that moment could easily have been a subtitle for Clark’s book, and serves as a prediction — even though tongue in cheek — of the next 33 years. As the first edition rolled off the conveyor belt, Benton, partly in jest, stood on a box and proclaimed, “Let every tyrant tremble!”

Although tyrants were in short supply, Benton got right to work with the second edition.

The newspaper he launched has been “old school” in many respects, up to and including its continuing survival and prosperity. Clark gives the impression that Benton feels more comfortable with tried and true ways of publishing newspapers, and has left it to his staff to suggest using new technologies.

Certainly, the newspaper’s website reflects this. In an age in which online presentation of news is the key driver, Benton’s paper remains almost a stridently print-based product, with no mobile app and with its online version merely serving as archive. And somehow it all works.

Clark’s book was clearly a labor of love, or at least deep interest. It makes an excellent first impression with its use of old-style newspaper font for its title (the interior font is more workmanlike). His scorchedearth-style research is clearly a strength. And his frequent use of interviews with knowledgeable people, some of whom give “warts and all” accounts from across the years, is a plus.

One such source, Dave Eckert, hasn’t lived in the Little City for years, but describes the early, heady days of the newspaper as well as the beginnings, which were not entirely evident at the time, of Falls Church’s transition from “urban village” to “little city”. Clark’s inclusion of Eckert — and others — as useful contributors to the tale strengthens the book.

Clocking in at just shy of 200 pages, Clark’s book navigates the years carefully and concisely. This reviewer finds only one thing missing: a lack of discussion—perhaps stemming from Benton’s reporting over the years — that the new, improved Falls Church is in key respects harder to live in than the community which preceded it. With the growth came significant downsides.

The new Falls Church feels like a pressure cooker, choked with traffic and ever more congested. These viewpoints — the stuff of many conversations between neighbors — were generally only reflected in letters to the editor, not in Benton’s reporting. Did he let his interest in business growth color or slant his newspaper’s take on it?

Clark doesn’t say.

Perhaps, in the final analysis, it may be said, with only a bit of hyperbole, that — love it or loathe it — we’re now living in the city that Nick Benton helped build.

LO CA L

PAGE 22 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

NEWS BRIEFS Continued from Page 2

Millions of Americans exited the workforce over the last three years, and one in four blamed their departure on mental health, the report says. That lost employment negatively impacts more than just the worker and their family.

“It also affects team members who must compensate for the lost output; employers who bear the cost of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new staff; and the local economy in unrealized gross regional product,” the report said.

Most workers with anxiety and depression stay on the job, meaning some of the lost productivity can be attributed to absenteeism and presenteeism – or an employee who is technically on the job but not engaged. This lack of engagement can often result in procrastination and missed deadlines.

Overall, for every worker with a mental health need, their team can expect total productivity to decline by 5 percent to 13 percent, or two to five lost hours in a 40-hour work week, according to the report. –Tysons Reporter.

Home Sales Sliding in N. Va. Even as Prices Jump – NVAR Home sales slid more in Northern Virginia than around the nation in September while prices jumped more regionally, reported the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR). High mortgage rates contributed to sales dropping 18.2 percent in September in Northern Virginia while nationally sales declined 15.4 percent..

“Around the region and nation last month

people were sitting and waiting for mortgage rates to drop, translating to fewer options for buyers. This meant that home sales receded while prices went up nationwide. This was even more pronounced in our market which experienced a bigger drop in sales and bigger hike in prices,” explained NVAR CEO Ryan McLaughlin.

Northern Virginia continued to have less supply than nationally even though supply nationally contracted more than regionally. In Northern Virginia, the month’s supply of inventory for September 2023 was 1.22 months, down 1 percent from September 2022. September’s inventory figures were higher than August when inventory stood at 1.08 month’s supply of inventory. Nationally, inventory shrunk 8.1 percent from a year ago inventory while rising 2.7 percent from August. Unsold inventory across the country sat at a 3.4 month’s supply, up from 3.2 months in September 2022 and 3.3 months in August 2023.

Fewer homebuying choices pushed prices up as the median sold price for a home in September reached $650,000 in Northern Virginia, up 5 percent from September 2022. Nationally, median sold prices rose to $394,300, an increase of 2.8 percent from September 2022.

On average, Northern Virginia homes stayed on market for 17 days in September 2023, down 32 percent from the previous September when the average days on market was 25 days. Around the nation, properties typically remained on the market for 21 days in September, up from 19 days in September 2022.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

The LGBTQ+ Reach

by Brian Reach

Falls Church News-Press

Laphonza Butler Will Not Seek Full Term Last Thursday, one day after being sworn in, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) announced she would not seek a full term in 2024.

“Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign,” Butler said in a statement, “I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go. It may not be the decision people expected, but it’s the right one for me.”

Gov. Newsom (D-CA) appointed Butler to fill the seat of Dianne Feinstein (D) after her death earlier this month.

The Nazis and Paragraph 175 In the early 1930s, despite sexual relations between men being criminalized by Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code, Germany’s gay community had a vibrant network of gay bars, publications, and organizations.

After Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933, things quickly changed, and Paragraph 175 was enforced with vigor — bars were raided and closed, organizations dissolved, and books burned.

Trans women were also prosecuted, treated as men, under Paragraph 175.

In 1934 a special Gestapo division on homosexuals was formed, aggregating a list of suspected homosexuals. Neighbors were encouraged to report suspicions.

In 1935 the Nazis revised Paragraph 175 to be punishable by a decade in prison.

In 1936 the Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion was established, allowing indefinite imprisonment of anyone dangerous to Germany’s “moral fibre.”

From 1937-1939, about 100,000 gay men were arrested under Paragraph 175, with just over half convicted and imprisoned.

Some were offered early release for agreeing to castration. An unknown number were imprisoned in concentration camps, forced to wear a pink triangle, with homosexuality as their crime.

Many more queer folks were sent to camps for being Jewish — or one of myriad other reasons Nazis gave for imprisonment.

Pink triangle prisoners in concentration camps were physically and sexually abused, publicly humiliated, and forced to do especially grueling or demanding labor.

Starting in 1942, judges and concentration camp commandants were authorized to force the castration of gay men.

Starting in 1943 pink triangle prisoners were exterminated in the camps.

The number of gay men who died in the Holocaust is unknown, in part due to continued homophobia after the war ended in 1945. More than half of homosexuals imprisoned in concentration camps are believed to have died.

After the war, West Germany arrested an additional 100,000 men under Paragraph 175 between 1949 and 1969, with about 59,000 convicted. Though abolished in East Germany in 1968, it wasn’t until 1994 that a reunited Germany fully abolished Paragraph 175.

Gay men imprisoned by the Nazis were not acknowledged by the German government, and as a result were not eligible for compensation, until Nazi-era Paragraph 175 convictions were overturned in 2002, 57 years after the death of Hitler and the end of WWII. Ohio Neo-Nazi Pleads Guilty Aimenn Penny, a 20-year old neo-Nazi, pleaded guilty to a March 25 attempt to burn down a Chester, Ohio church — the Community Church of Chesterland — in response to two drag queen storytime events planned for April 1.

According to the criminal complaint filed March 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Penny is a member of “White Lives Matter,” whose members, in response to another March 11 drag queen event in Wadsworth, Ohio, “showed up at the event carrying swastika flags and shouting racial and homophobic slurs and ‘Heil Hitler.’”

Penny will be sentenced in January and faces at least ten years in prison.

Republican Welcomes “Actual Literal Nazi” Support “I’m not going to denounce anybody their right to be whatever it is that they want to be, whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not.” Sounds great, right?

Republican candidate for mayor in Franklin, Tennessee — Gabrielle Hanson — recently said this of a self-described “actual literal Nazi.”

Last Tuesday voters rejected Hanson by a 60-point margin. This thanks in part to excellent investigative reporting by Nashville’s Phil Williams, who provided a steady drumbeat of truth throughout the campaign.

This story would fill this entire week’s issue if I included everything, but John Oliver summarized it best: bit.ly/FCNP1023pw.

OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023 | PAGE 23

Falls Church Business News & Notes Where to Eat and Drink in the City of Falls Church

Arlington Magazine gave the spotlight to our local restaurants in the issue last week.

The article cited noteworthy menus. It offers complimentary background on the restaurants and their updates. Read up on chamber members, Café Kindred, Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Dogwood Tavern, Dominion Wine & Beer, Ellie Bird, Nue Elegantly Vietnamese, Panjshir, Preservation Biscuit Co., Thompson Italian.

Read more at bit.ly/FCNP1023am

Smile Makers Expansion Smile Makers Dental Center has announced the grand opening of its fifth location in The City of Falls Church on November 9, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the acquired practice of the late Dr. Albert M. Boyce. This expansion enables the practice to provide a wider range of dental care services to the local community through state-of-the-art dental equipment and technology.

Top Projects in the Area The Washington Business Journal dedicated coverage to the top projects underway in the region which included the West Falls Project. The joint project, West Falls Church Metro, Converge, and West Falls involve several developers: EYA LLC, Hoffman & Associates, Rushmark Properties LLC, Hitt Contracting Inc., and Trammel Crow Co. Read more at bizjournals.com/washington/news/2023/10/17/northern-virginia-biggestdevelopments.html

IRS Update on the Employee Retention Credit Thursday, November 2, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. – The IRS hosts a webinar with the latest information on the Moratorium and options for withdrawing or correcting previously filed claims. Participants will learn how the claims affect taxpayers, who can withdraw ERC claims and how, learn about ERC resources and direct questions for the hosts. All participants who qualify will receive a Certificate of Completion and tax professionals will earn 1 CE Credit.

Email questions to cl.sl.web.conference.team@irs.gov and register for the session here: webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1148/49334

Federal Contracting Event The Virginia PTAC is hosting Federal Contracting: Simplified Acquisition for Small Business Contracting on Tuesday, October 31, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. The session will guide small businesses in using simplified procedures, getting to know the government marketplace, understanding set-a-side procedures and developing a strategy for success. Daryl Corley, a Virginia PTAC Procurement Counselor, is leading the session.

Visit virginiaptac.ecenterdirect.com/events/4052 for more information and registration.  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.

VISIT US AT FCNP.COM

PAGE 24 | OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2023

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