JANUARY 9 - 15, 2025
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • Vol. XXXIV N o . 48
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
Dems Win 2 Special Elections In Virginia
GERRY DUTY
Hold Onto Slim Majorities as Session Opens in Richmond by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
In what some political insiders are calling a “harbinger of things to come” in 2025 and beyond, special elections in Virginia this week saw Democrats winning two critical races in Loudoun County to retain their majorities in both the Virginia State Senate and House of Delegates for the coming legislative session in Richmond, which began this week. Later this year, in the fall, all state delegate seats will be on the ballot in Virginia, as well as those for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Insofar as Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is prohibited by state law from seeking a second term, his replacement could be former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger. She is the Democrats’ only declared candidate, running against the GOP’s likely standard bearer, lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears. If Spanberger wins, the outcome could result in Democratic control of all three branches of the state government, opening the door for some major reforms. This week’s races were the first official elections in Virginia since November’s presidential election. As a result of their outcomes, Democrats will retain a narrow 21-19 edge in the state senate and a 51-49 lead in the House of Delegates, preserving
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SPEAKING TO AN ENTHUSIASTIC assembly of area Democrats, U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly drIves home important points as his colleague, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, listens from his front row seat. (Photo: News-Press)
Demolition Now Imminent at Old Stratford Motel
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The one remaining eyesore along W. Broad Street between the N. Washington intersection and Founders Row in the otherwise lovely downtown Falls Church will be disappearing not a minute too soon. One of the two buildings of the vacated and fenced in old Stratford Motor Lodge site in the 300 block of West Broad is slated to be demolished and removed within two weeks, the
News-Press has learned. The building is a two-story structure that is composed of rooms for tenants. Once work on the site is completed, it will surely become another very appealing addition gracing the Little City’s downtown. It will be a classy new restaurant going by the name of the Stratford Garden under the skilled ownership of Arash Tafakor, a member of the team that now operates the Dominion Wine and Beer up the street in the 900 block of W. Broad.
Meanwhile, another eatery is opening in Falls Church, this one in the Founders Row 2, still under construction. It will be Tatte, offering pastries and brunch bites, one of 17 locations for the outfit, which is due to open in July. The Stratford project is being done “by right,” requiring only a site plan approval from the F.C. Planning Commission, which was approved on December 20, 2023, just over a year ago. The site currently has no trees, and the new development
would plant 10 canopy trees and sevcn understory trees. Once the building is demolished, work will begin on the open space and a 3,772 addition that will be made to the front building where an existing kitchen is located. The design of the project is being done by Francois Frossard Design of Miami, and the architect is Matt Lee of Lee Design Studio. In an email circulated at City Hall by economic development
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