PAGE 8 | JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2021
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NEWS BRIEFS 2nd Vaccine Doses for F.C. Teachers Due Feb. 15 Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) Superintendent Peter Noonan announced Tuesday that Fairfax County Health Department has confirmed FCCPS staff are due to receive their second dose of the Covid vaccine on Feb. 15, President’s Day, setting up the division to be the first in Northern Virginia to fully reopen in hybrid in a little over four weeks. Dr. Noonan noted the news came on the same day the Virginia Department of Health revised the Falls Church Schools Percent Positive metrics back into the “Higher Risk” category, as the number of cases in Falls Church continues to rise. “If we had reopened this week we would likely be looking and moving back to virtual next week,” Noonan said. The Mustang high school students who selected “in-person hybrid” for their Arlington Career Center (ACC) courses will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 2. On Thursday and Friday, Feb. 4 and 5, there will be asynchronous learning for students as teachers have professional days. The virtual learning continues on Monday the 8th, with teachers holding office hours. The courses include auto tech, auto collision repair, barbering, cosmetology, culinary arts, electricity, and EMT.
F.C. School Board Hopefuls Make Introductions At Tuesday’s Falls Church School Board virtual work session, the 12 citizens who’ve submitted requests for appointment to the one open seat on the board made three-minute introductions. The seat was vacated by the departure of Lawrence Webb last month and an appointment will fill it through November, when an election to a four year term will be held. Ilya Shapiro, a nonpartisan think tank attorney, Jennifer Halvaksz, a physical therapist, Heather Preffler with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, David Calabrese, chair of the F.C. BZA, Deborah Smyth, a lifelong area teacher, Kyle Erickson, critic of the school
renaming, Jerrod Anderson, an economist, Caroline Lian, a board member of a D.C. charter school, Amanda Alderson, who wants students back in classrooms, Emily Jenkins, who supports the schools’ current plan, Sonia Ruiz-Bolanos, on the F.C. Education Foundation board of directors, and Toni Lewis, focused on equity and inclusion. The School Board will vote on its decision on Feb. 9.
priate personal protective equipment, sanitation, social distancing, infectious disease preparedness and response plans, record keeping, training, and hazard communications in workplaces across the Commonwealth. “While the end of this pandemic is finally in sight, the virus is still spreading, including several highly contagious variants, and now is not the time to let up on preventative measures,” said Northam.
Entire F.C. Public Works Department in Quarantine Warner, Kaine Push D.C. Statehood Bill City of Falls Church’s City Manager Wyatt Shields reported to the City Council Monday night that due to Covid-19 infections and contact concerns, all 28 members of the City’s Department of Public Works have been placed on quarantine to work from their homes this week. Shields did not identify how many of the staff actually reported positive for the virus. He said that necessary tasks of the department, such as road clearing following snow or ice accumulation on roads, will be handled by contractors, which occurred Monday night. He did not indicate when or how exactly the quarantine would be lifted.
Early Area LGBT Champion Jim Ball Dies The News-Press has learned that Jim Ball, an early leader of the LGBT movement in Northern Virginia, including as a leader of the region’s first open organization founded in the early 1990s, Virginia Partisans, has died in Connecticut from Covid-19. He moved to Connecticut to care for his mother, who recently died, and he was preparing to return to this region when he contracted Covid, according to sources.
Virginia Covid Workplace Safety Rules Now in Effect Virginia’s permanent Covid19 workplace safety and health rules took effect Wednesday, after Gov. Ralph Northam approved the standard adopted by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Safety and Health Codes Board last week. The standards mandate appro-
U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine yesterday joined Senator Tom Carper in re-introducing legislation to make Washington, D.C. the 51st state of the United States. The “Washington, D.C. Admission Act” would establish congressional boundaries for the 51st state and grant D.C. residents full congressional representation. The bill would also ensure that the citizens and elected leaders of the District of Columbia have full authority over local affairs, including crucial safety and security matters. Additionally, the legislation would designate the areas surrounding the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the National Mall as the seat of the federal government. That area would inherit the name “The Capital” and remain under the control of Congress, as mandated by the Constitution.
Fairfax Stops Information Sharing With ICE At its meeting Wednesday, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to prohibit county employees from providing any person’s immigration or citizenship status with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities unless they are required to do so by a court order. This new policy is part of the county’s Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy as sponsored by Board Chair Jeff McKay and Supervisors John Foust and Dalia Palchik. By this, what had been a guideline now becomes a formal policy for all Fairfax County employees to follow.
