January 28 – February 3, 2021
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • V OL. X XX NO. 50
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F.C. Council Unanimously Backs Downtown Project Site 6-0 Vote for Whole Foods Project Provides Landmark Moment for Process That Started 6 Years Ago
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Six years in the making, a major mixed use development project at the City of Falls Church’s central intersection of Washington and Broad Streets (Rts. 29 and 7) to feature a
massive 50,000-square foot new Whole Foods grocery was approved unanimously by the F.C. City Council Monday night. The 6-0 vote included its major critic, Councilman David Snyder, and a recusal by Councilman Ross Litkenhous to avoid conflict of interest
issues since his employer currently works with the project’s lead developer Insight Property Group. It marked the final hurdle to the Insight’s long-suffering and arduous pilgrimage to get a huge redevelopment of the 3.18 acres underway at last. The noisiest online bells and
whistles first arose from advocates of the City’s brilliant nonprofit Creative Cauldron Theatre troupe, which celebrated the now assured new home it will occupy in the new project, one of the developer proffers that will include a subsidized longterm 5,000 square foot home for
the group right on the major E. Broad (Rt. 7) thoroughfare. A provision of the plan also included the addition to the Insight property of a .47 acre City owned parking lot whose sale for $1.4 million the Council
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Broadening Vaccine Distribution Hits Snags Throughout Region BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
As the Phase 1a population begins to wrap up their Covid-19 vaccinations, the move to the more broadly defined Phase 1b comes at a time where the supply is pinched and leaders are looking into new solutions. Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads is one of the local senior living communities that is in the process of vaccinating its residents. Karen Doyle, Goodwin House’s associate executive director who’s responsible for the facility’s clinical services, told the News-Press that its residents will have no problem receiving the vaccine. Judging by the interest at the facility, Doyle said that 98 percent of the residents at Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads will receive their vaccine, with about 80 percent of staff receiving the vaccine as well. In absolute numbers, Goodwin
House had 331 doses of the Pfizer vaccine allocated at the end of the December for their first clinic. Doyle said that for its clinic on Jan. 20, Goodwin House received 330 doses and for its event the following day, they received 301 doses. All vaccines were delivered to Goodwin House through its enrollment in the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After prioritizing its first wave of doses to skilled nursing residents and the staff that worked with them, it has now set up mass vaccination events. Last week, residents in assisted living and residential living and other staffers could come to the event and receive their first dose. Once the second dose is delivered in mid-February, and the immunity takes hold over the course of the following weeks, Doyle said they plan to look into reopening the facility
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JANE KARPICK, a retired nurse and relatively new resident at Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a health event the senior living facility hosted last week for its assisted living and residential living members. (P����: N���-P����)
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The coronavirus pandemic has been a hidden blessing for the timeline of Columbia Baptist Church’s extensive project to add a new spire and addition to the church. It was supposed to be completed by the end of 2022, it’s looking to be finished in the first half of next year
The NAACP was founded in 1909 by a multiracial coalition of Blacks, Jews, and other whites, I’m reminded by Julius “J.D.” Spain Sr., president of the Arlington branch, that over the past year the organization has exploded in visibility.
SEE STORY, PAGE 2
SEE COMMENTARY, PAGE 17
2021 F.C. A��� C��� G���� I����� T��� W���’� E������ Looking for something to do this summer? The 2021 Falls Church Area Camp Guide gives families a chance to sign up their children for recreational, academic or performing arts camps. SEE CAMP GUIDE, PAGE 10-11
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 News & Notes..................................... 8 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 Crime Report .................................... 12 Calendar ........................................... 14 Classified Ads ................................... 16 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 17 Critter Corner.................................... 18 Business News ................................. 19
