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October 15 – 21, 2020

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FOU N D E D 1991 • V OL. X XX NO. 35

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Downtown Project Goes Forward With 5-0 Vote Agreements From Nearby Restaurants Seal Deal BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

There was a silent but incredibly seismic upheaval that shivered through the City of Falls Church Tuesday night. It came around 9 p.m. when the City Council was given a key new game-changing piece of information by the Insight Property’s developers seeking Council approval for a 3.1 acre large scale mixed use project at the corner of N. Washington and E. Broad with a 55,000 square foot mega-Whole Foods grocery as its anchor. Immediately the calculus of everything in the Little City was set askew, but in a good way. Scott Adams, speaking for Insight at Tuesday’s online Council meeting, calmly announced shortly into his presentation of the latest modifications to the plan that Insight had obtained in the last few days written agreements from two local restaurants adjacent the site — Clare and Don’s and Thompson’s Italian — supporting the project and to become “a team moving forward as partners together.” It marked hatchet burying of what had become the biggest stumbling block in the whole process for months, centered on Insight’s need to bring into its plans the small, 65-space parking

lot behind the two restaurants and that has served as their primary source of their customer parking. Months of a heated impasse based on the perceived harm taking that lot out of commission would inflict on the two small restaurants had gone as far as it could. Support for the popular small restaurants was strong in the community, and even campaign signs were sprouting up all over town saying, “Save Our City Parking Lot & Our Small Businesses.” Numerous among the nowfive member Council threatened no votes, a project kill, despite the fact it would increase the tax yield to the City of the land from $116,000 per year to a whopping $2.2 million annually, almost double what the earlier proposal had involved including considerable Class A office space. But so much has changed since that April 2019 plan that won unanimous Council approval, including this year’s Covid19 pandemic that could send the office market in this region, and nationally, into a deep tailspin for over a decade. “The fact we have a national anchor in the midst of a recession is not lost on me,” Council mem-

Continued on Page 5

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U.S. CONGRESSMAN GERRY CONNOLLY (center, thumbs up) arrives at the Providence Community Center on Wednesday, one of the 13 new early voting locations set up by Fairfax County. Connolly, a true man of the people, even waited in the winding line to cast his ballot. (P��: N��-P��)

Sluggish Return to School Wears on F.C. Parents BY MATT DELANEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Next month’s gradual return for most elementary-age students in and around the City of Falls Church will serve as their parents’ final, white-knuckled lap in guiding their kids’ education. Raising children challenges parents to be many things. When the coronavirus pandemic forced most of public life to shut down

in March, it forced them to not only bring their professional lives home, but take up a side job as teachers. The “new normal” for parents had them assuming a new role depending on whichever room of the house they were in. “During this time, I can’t be 100 percent a good employee, 100 percent a good parent or 100 percent a good spouse,” said City resident Amanda Alderson, who has a third grade son at Thomas

Jefferson Elementary School and a daughter in kindergarten at Mount Daniel Elementary School. “You’re trying to make sure that you are all of those things, and unfortunately it feels like you just fail at all of them.” “Chaotic,” “horrible” and “traumatic” are just some of the words parents used to describe the first few months running a

Continued on Page 4

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Braving a global pandemic isn’t enough excitement for some, which explains why the powersports industry’s sales have spiked nationally during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s no exception locally either, as Coleman PowerSports has enjoyed its own sales jolt. See Automotive, page 8

P�� P�� H�� T�� 3 P�� H�� W. S�� 1�� T�� S�� M�� B�� A�� “Tonight is an adventure and we ask you to keep that in mind” was the apt message delivered by Providence Players of Fairfax President Danine Walsh ahead of the show’s first ever outdoor performance for two, one-act plays in the parking lot of The Italian Café. See Arts & Entertainment, page 19

An adult and two minors were hit by a car at the intersection of W. Annandale Road and W. Broad St. around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to police. F.C. City police said all three victims were taken to Virginia Hospital Center to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. See News & Business, page 17

INDEX

Editorial............................................... 6 Letters........................................... 6,19 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 News & Notes................................... 11 Crime Report .................................... 12 Calendar ........................................... 14 Business News ................................. 15 Classified Ads ................................... 16 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 17 Critter Corner.................................... 18

PAGE 2 | OCTOBER 15 - 21, 2020

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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School Year’s Virtual Start Confused Parents Following Virus Data

Continued from Page 1

classroom. Alderson said she and her husband had difficulty helping their son with his math homework, and handling his frustrations if it didn’t click. And she said her daughter had regular meltdowns after being bored from a long day of virtual schooling. Jennifer Landers’ third grade son at TJ has also struggled academically. She said he needs someone to sit next to him or else he won’t get any work done. It was hard for her and her husband, who run a home-building firm and an engineering firm, respectively, to be there for him all the time. Single mom Sammi Hawkins said “there were a lot of tears” shared in the spring between her and her fourth grade daughter at Bailey’s Upper Elementary. Being the director of a nonprofit was not easy when she had to spend 30 minutes each on science and math lessons for her daughter’s schooling. And Kendra Lee is afraid nothing is being retained by her kindergarten son at Mount Daniel.

ENTHUSIAM FOR ONLINE LEARNING waned fast for Kendra Lee’s older son, who is now in fourth grade, and her younger one (pictured here), who is now in kindergarten. (P��: C�� K�� L��)

That stress was on top of her husband being laid off and having to find a new job, and not being able to have her McLean-based parents help out over fears of infecting them.

“We haven’t really gotten a break. It’s been just a grind...we’re kind of in this phase of exhaustion,” Alyssa Finarmore said. The single mother of a third grade son and a kindergarten daughter in the

City added, “My kids aren’t seeing me at my best.” Despite how draining the spring was — and how grating it was to cancel the rest of the year altogether in April — the

parents could accept why it was a wash. But the news that the Falls Church schools wouldn’t attempt in-person learning to start the new academic year confounded them. By the end of July Falls Church superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan announced that they would start the year virtually. He cited a surge of teachers requesting a year leave of absence, a lack of worker’s compensation for Covid-19 infections and predictions that opening schools would lead to viral outbreaks by state health officials as the reasons why, among other things. This wasn’t expected by the parents who spoke with the News-Press. Surveys put out by the school system weeks earlier showed that over 90 percent of its 2,300 responses wanted some form of in-person learning. Private schools in the area and other public schools around the country had reopened safely. They also noted how Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the most trusted medical voices on how to approach the virus, said that “green zones” (areas with

Continued on Page 18

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Unanimous Approval Paves Way For Tax Revenues From Whole Foods Site

Continued from Page 1

ber Letty Hardi wound up saying Tuesday night, buoyed by the fact, she said, that “a lot has happened in a week.” Mayor David Tarter concurred. “There has been a lot of progress made,” he said, “We’ve come a long way.” After the 5-0 (with Ross Litkenhous abstaining due to a perceived conflict of interest, he said), a pleased Councilman Phil Duncan, the chair of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, texted the NewsPress, “How about that — a unanimous vote! It took a village over the past month to make that happen — lots of one-to-one conversations involving Insight, City staff, electeds and appointeds [sic], local businesses, neighbors, Creative Cauldron boosters and a well-timed editorial nudge from your newspaper. Council’s 5-0 vote sends a message that in

Falls Church, local and national businesses can find a home, and revenue growth and community building can go hand-in-hand.” The final votes to start construction still won’t come until the end of January 2021, and it is unclear now how much fervent opposition there will be now that the biggest issue — parking for Clare and Don’s and Thompson’s Italian — has been settled. A past example is The La Cote d’Or restaurant. When the restaurant was feeling particularly under siege surrounded by the construction of two major residential buildings in the last decade, the advice to them was to tough it out because, once the buildings are done and occupied, it would enjoy a significant business windfall. The Broad-Washington plan calls for 339 residential units, smaller than originally envisioned, ground floor retail including 6,500 square feet at the corner of the

intersection to function as a public pocket park, 5,000 square feet proffered to the award-winning Creative Cauldron acting and educational troupe that will double its present size and put it in a far more prominent location at the center of the City. The plan now has 686 parking spaces, plenty for residents, Whole Foods shoppers and the same number as now of free public parking spaces that will be available to the public with no strings attached. There will also be 74 paid public parking options. Also being proffered are $2.3 million to the City schools, 21 lifelong affordable housing units, the Creative Cauldron’s rent subsidy valued at $2.4 million, LEED Gold architecture, $159,000 to the parks, $50,000 for traffic calming, $20.000 to the stormwater fund and bikeshare, crosswalk upgrades adjacent the site, a small pocket park on the Lawton Street backside of the project, bus shel-

OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 | PAGE 5

ALL FOR NAUGHT? With the F.C. City Council’s approval of the Broad & Washington project’s plan, the signs along Lawton Street pushing back against the proposal have an uphill battle ahead. (P��: N��-P��) ters, streetscape around the site, and overall, “a vibrant downtown area.” The deals to arrange for 64 alternative parking sites within a narrow perimeter of the two small restaurants is also included in what’s being offered, and

the permanent use of 64 spaces behind the restaurants’ site once the project is done. There is also an option to up the current number of apartments that will be designed to double as office units, depending on demand.

PAGE 6 | OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 

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E D I TO R I A L

How the Council’s 5-0 Vote Happened

Who saw this one coming? Up until Tuesday night, it was highly uncertain that the latest submission for the 3.14 acre Broad and Washington mixed use project, even with its highly appealing Whole Foods megastore as its anchor, would get to first base with the Falls Church City Council. There were grave and legitimate concerns that there simply weren’t the votes, three required with two seats vacated, to push the project to the next stage, which will now be a thorough scrubbing by an array of advisory boards and commissions before coming back for a final OK in late January that will also require a supermajority to include the sale of City land was an integral part of the process. But a proverbial “full court press” jelled at just the right time Tuesday night, made a powerful impact during the City Council’s online meeting, and the end result as a unanimous vote, not counting the two vacant components, to move forward. It would be easy to say that it was the ability of the Insight Properties people to win over the two adjacent, small but popular restaurants that changed everything. It was a big new development, but no, that was only part of what did it. One major factor was the last-minute weighing in by Colm Dillon, owner of the Ireland’s Four Provinces at the same intersection that the Insight group wants to develop. It was key because it counterbalanced the heartburn coming from owners at the Clare and Don’s Beach Shack and Thompson’s Italian. Owner of another small business right there, Dillon stressed how beneficial the Insight Project will be for his business, and frankly, for the ones exhibiting distress over a temporary loss of free parking for their locations. Dillon said it baffled him because he has no such benefit of free parking but pays a good price for his, and wondered why the City would hold up such a giant revenue generator because its free parking would be temporarily disrupted. Dillon’s restaurant is one of the most popular in the City. A second major factor was the mobilization by the dedicated staff and volunteers of Creative Cauldron, which has been promised the equivalent of a $2 million subsidy in a 5,000 square foot black box theatre at the Insight location that will work in de facto tandem at the site with the State Theater to make the intersection a major destination for live entertainment. The long list of names of staunch supporters of Creative Cauldron was read out in full Tuesday night and with so many names of prominent citizens, it made a huge difference. Then there was the tireless efforts by the developers to line up agreements with the neighbors to the site, and making modifications to their project to do so, making it better and better each time. The announcement of signed support by Clare and Don’s and Thompson’s Italian was only the final step.

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Wrong To Say Downtown Project Is In Public's Interest Editor, Last week’s editorial was deeply unfair to those expressing opposition to the Broad and Washington development. There are legitimate concerns about this project’s impact on our community that have nothing to do with selfish “NIMBY-ism.” The loss of tree cover and open space, the disproportionate scale of the development —and, frankly, its ugliness— and the exponential growth in vehicle

traffic are issues that will affect every citizen of Falls Church. The question is not whether a handful of homeowners will be inconvenienced, but rather whether we as a City will truly be better off by embarking on this fundamental transformation of our downtown area. Are we ready to trade our human-scale, eminently livable, naturally beautiful, and yes, comparatively sleepy community for tax revenue, a sinecure for the performing arts

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community, and the allure of a Whole Foods? Your editorial was correct in one regard: the overall interests of the city should take precedence over the narrow preferences of a few. However, I fear you have gotten the situation backwards. Throughout this process, the narrow interests of developers, a theater group, and a handful of business owners have dominated the city’s deliberations on this project to the detriment of the community as a whole. No doubt the theater is a worthwhile enterprise, but it seems questionable to give one nonprofit such preferential treatment in city planning. And beyond providing this

group with a free home, the benefits of the development are underwhelming. We are hardly desperate for tax revenue. Our well-funded schools are already first rate. Falls Church properties are incredibly sought-after even without a Whole Foods. And I at least am quite content shopping at Harris Teeter. I respect the views of those who would prefer a denser, “livelier” downtown. However, my family — and I expect many others — chose Falls Church because of what it is today, not in the hopes that it would one day become another Clarendon.

Letters Continued on Page 19

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CO MME NT

OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 | PAGE 7

Candidate Statements for Virginia's 8th District Election By Don Beyer, Jr.

By Jeff Jordan

In lieu of a formal commentary, Congressman Don Beyer, Jr. directed us to take information directly from his campaign website on where he stands on key issues this election.

Healthcare President's Obama's Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, marked the biggest step forward in U.S. healthcare in decades: Tens of millions of uninsured Americans got coverage under Obamacare. Insurance companies had to accept applicants for health coverage, regardless of preexisting conditions, and they could not charge women more for the same coverage, as had been common practice. Further, Medicaid expansion has brought healthcare coverage to hundreds of thousands of Virginians. Rather than embrace this progress and work to make further improvements, President Trump and congressional Republicans continue efforts to dismantle the program. Together with the Democratic caucus, I am working to protect Obamacare and move forward toward affordable, accessible and fully universal health care.

Guns We are beyond a crisis point with guns in America. Every day, 100 people in the United States die by gunshot, over 36,000 a year. It is a tragedy that requires our leaders to act. I have made advancing solutions to gun violence a major focus of my work in Congress. I am a lead cosponsor of the bipartisan Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which would give states grants and guidance to encourage the passage of laws which would allow law enforcement or family members to petition a judge to temporarily remove access to firearms people in crisis.

Climate Change From the launch of my first congressional campaign in 2014, the issue at the forefront of my mind has been and remains climate change. It is the most significant and perhaps most intractable problem we face. We do a disservice to our children and the generations thereafter if we do not move in a more profound and rapid way toward solving this crisis. In Congress, I am part of many efforts to address climate change. I co-chair the New

Democrat Coalition Climate Change Task Force, as well as the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus.

Immigration In Virginia’s 8th congressional district, we thrive on diversity. President Trump’s nativist insistence that we must slam the doors shut to the United States — especially to anyone who comes from a nation of poverty or desperation — is a shameful embarrassment to our nation and to our ancestors. The treatment of immigrants, and especially the treatment of migrants and their children at the southern border, makes me shudder. With our new Democratic majority in the House, we wasted no time in offering solutions. We passed H.R. 6, an immigration bill that would enable many Dreamers to get lawful permanent resident status for 10 years, and that would also protect those who have Temporary Protective Status, which includes many Northern Virginians.

Education I support major federal initiatives and programs for public education, including Title I, which helps school systems with large percentages of low-income students, and IDEA, which supports programs and provides resources for students with special needs. Congressman Don Beyer, Jr. represents Virginia's 8th District, which includes the City of Falls Church

[WRITE FOR THE PRESS]

Because Liberty Matters! I’m Jeff Jordan, the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress here in Virginia’s 8th District. I’m a loyal husband, a devoted father of two young daughters, and the fifth consecutive generation of my family to serve in military uniform, all of us combat veterans. I reside in Arlington and currently work as a defense contractor at Fort Belvoir, the place of my birth. Since it was founded, America has been a beacon of hope and opportunity to the world. It offers the promise of opportunity for a better life, and the standard of living in America is the greatest the world has ever known. And at the heart of it all is a social contract that says if you go to school, work hard, and earn an honest living, then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and make your own American dream a reality. But in case you haven’t noticed, today America is under attack. Not just by outside forces, but also by forces within, some of whom are elected officials in our own government. You know some of them by name. Ilhan Omar, who said, “some people did something” on 9-11. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading advocate for the Green New Deal, which destroyed the Venezuelan economy. Rashid Tlaib, who has immediate family members on terrorist watch lists. They are all more liberal and radical than Nancy Pelosi. Do you know who else is rated as voting more liberal than Nancy Pelosi. Indeed, my opponent, Don Beyer. Of course, he will deny that he is a socialist by highlighting his ownership of a family car business. But make no mistake, he has been a critical cog in the fundraising efforts of the Democrat Party that is now terrorizing this country and holding the American dream and her future hostage. Your dreams and future are at stake as well. My question to you is, will you realize the danger before losing everything to the rioters, looters, and socialists? But this election is less about left vs. right, or Democrat vs. Republican, it’s more about whether America will continue as a constitutional republic or not. All of the issues we normally discuss including healthcare, immigration, transportation, etc, are not problems, they are symptoms of a problem called socialism. The socialists have subverted and overtaken the Democrat Party and they’re seeking to do the same to America.

Republicans and moderate democrats all understand the importance of LIBERTY and its foundational purpose to the American way of life. When you vote this year, you’re choosing between LIBERTY and socialism. The race in the 8th District is as much about the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, as it is about my opponent and me. We’ve all witnessed the complete abuse of power and authority by Nancy Pelosi and her socialist allies, including Don Beyer. From the fabricated case on Russian collusion and the subsequent failed impeachment, to the rampant political spying and weaponization of government institutions, to the cover-ups with Iran, Benghazi, and Hunter Biden. The socialists are attempting to destroy America, and the Republicans and moderate Democrats must stand unified and strong against them. If you love life, protect it at all times, including in the womb. If you want safe neighborhoods, support your police and the 2nd Amendment. If you want the best education for your kids, open the schools. If you support the 1st Amendment, do so for everyone, including those with whom you disagree. If you want America to be the best country it can be, vote Republican. Why? BECAUSE LIBERTY MATTERS (BLM)! Jeff Jordan is the Republican Party's candidate in the election for Virginia's 8th Congressional District

The News-Press welcomes readers to send in submissions in the form of Letters to the Editor & Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks. Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published. All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.

AU TO MOTI V E

PAGE 8 | OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020

Automotive Guide

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Pandemic Revs Up Interest For Land, Water Powersport Vehicles

BY MATT DELANEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Braving a global pandemic isn’t enough excitement for some, which explains why the powersports industry’s sales have spiked nationally throughout the past seven months. “The entire industry as a whole, nationwide, has just exploded,” Barry Gailliot, general sales manager at Coleman PowerSports, said. “The ones nationwide that have shown the most growth are the ones that are catering to off-road.” Everything from dirt bikes and ATVs to jet skis were garnering strong interest at the Falls Church location ever since April, according to Gailliot. In May that trend went “full throttle,” per Gailliot, especially because the City’s Coleman

PowerSports is one of the few dealers inside the beltway, giving it a share of the Washington, D.C. and Maryland markets as well. He stated that there’s been a huge increase in year-to-date sales for all of his off-roading and watercraft equipment. The big picture view of the industry shows how wide spread the trend actually is. A Cycling World report in June spoke with executives about the jump in attention they’ve gotten from consumers. The president of the Motorcycle Industry Council said that this year’s powersports sales were better than the past three years. A Honda executive said that its off-road sales have been consistently up since the pandemic set in.

And the head of Ducati North America said its numbers at its dealerships in New York City, Los Angeles and the Bay Area were up roughly 25 percent. One shop owner told the Freemont News Messenger, based out of Fremont, Ohio, that he has experienced sales that feel similar to the late ‘90s and early 2000s, easily doubling numbers during the pandemic than what they would normally be selling. Since 2008, the shop owner told the News Messenger, the industry had fallen off a cliff, with many shops going out of business, going from around 12,000 dealerships in the country to around 6,500 to 7,000 now. Gailliot back here in Falls Church said that, outside of a few brands, everyone in the industry has benefitted from the sales resurgence.

DIRT BIKES of all sizes have been selling out at the Coleman PowerSports in the City of Falls Church. The sales have mainly been driven by former riders rediscovering their love for the sport, and introducing it to their family in the process. (P��: N��-P��.)

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AU TO MOTI V E

OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 | PAGE 9

We want to thank the readers who have stepped up to become FCNP Members and Contributors. Your support has been extremely valuable to us during these challenging times!

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A SHORT TRIP to Leesylvania State Park by Woodbridge was suggested as a good place for jet ski ing because of its cleaner,, higher quality water. (Photo: News-Press) What makes this trend even more intriguing is that it’s less so new riders than it is old riders who are coming back to the sport — and bringing their families with them. “Families that ride together are the families that are communicating and really having a good time,” Gailliot said. He continued, “When you really think about it, it’s their golden years of childhood. Those are the memories that are built into their kids for the rest of their lives. We’re finding that older parents in their 40s and 50s, who grew up riding, those are the best memories they have with their family. And they wanna share that with their kids.” The family aspect of this is why side-by-sides, or offroading vehicles that seat four people, have been Coleman’s sneaky bestseller. Understanding how affordable purchasing a dirt bike or jet ski is has also helped its appeal. For a middle-of-the-line dirt bike, Gailliot said that will run

someone about $8,000. For a kid’s bike, it can go anywhere from $1,500 – $2,000. As he put it, to meet the monthly $150 payment for a dirt bike, all you have to do is skip out on that weekend trip with the family or avoid eating out twice a month. Suddenly, you’ve got a dirt bike in your shed. Of course, there is a bit of commitment to off-roading if new (or better yet, returning) riders want to get the most out of their purchase. The closest dirt bike trails — the Taskers Gap Trail and the Peters Mill Run Trail — are about 90 minutes out west in the George Washington Forest along the Virginia-West Virginia border. Another option is the MotoCove ATV Trail in Gore, Virginia, which again, is right near the West Virginia border. It has trails as short as two miles and as long as 22 miles. There’s less travel involved with jet skis. While Gailliot said they can be used anywhere in

the Potomac River, he did recommend that going down south toward the Leesylvania State Park near Woodbridge would be a better call. It may be a bit more active at that launch point, but he said the water quality is a lot higher. But new buyers will have time to mull it over. Gailliot said that people who’ve put down their deposits in July likely won’t be receiving their vehicle until November. Inventory has been tight, which is why Coleman has about 25 watercraft pre-sold. With the cold weather slowly setting in, the industry as a whole will cool down as well. But Gailliot doesn’t anticipate demand will bottom out, particularly because the outdoors are maybe the only place that coronavirus guidelines deem safest. “No one really knows how things are going to unfold or what restrictions are going to be put in place, so they’re just doing it” Gailliot added. “They’re putting their phones down, and actually going out and riding.”

Andalora, Susan Anderson, Gerald Armstrong, Sue Ellis Balazy, Kristi Bastarache, Rosalie Bastarache, Suzanne Bennett, Mica Beyer Automotive Brain, Shawn Brand, Norman Brown, Theresa Brozi, Kristen Brozi, Peggy Burleson, Edward Campbell, MaryBeth Carter, Chris Caumont, Andrea Chirico, Sara Chung, Yoona Clewett, John Collins, Jennifer Conaty, Barbara Connelly Family Conway, Joe Coyle, James Crain, Julie Curry, Frick David, Patrick Deering, Stephen DeMarce, Virginia Diaz, Michael Dierksen, Deane Dimock, Susan Donlavage, Robin Dunbar, Cynthia Dunie, Justin Durham, Susan and John Dworken, Morton and Anna Eisele, Kitty Ekfelt, Sally Epstein, Mark Eskew, Jonathan Famaglietti, Michelle Feltman, Ken Freudberg, Stuart Garon, Philip Garriga, Miriam Gawen, Joy Giambo, Pamela Gilliam, Leslie

Gilman, Sarah Glaize, Susan Goldrosen, Suzanne Gutierrez, Maralee Hale, David Hall, Michael Handly, Jacquelyn Hanson, Nancy Harter, Thomas Hartmann, Catherine Henderson, Bethany Hill, Paul Hilsen, Louise Hjort, Marienetta Cannito Hochstadt, Ted Holland, Kevin Howard, Wanda Hull, Laura Iverson, Roy Jennings, Ryan Johnson, Cathy Jones, Karen Kamens, Gerald Kane, Jody Kelly, Jean Koch, Gregory Kosinski, Taryn Kroboth, Angela Lamb, Rebecca LaToracca, Rebecca Laub, Beverly Layton, James Lemke, Judith LeNard, Stephen Magee, Thomas Mann, Marilyn Marcangelo, Gregory Martin, Laura Martinez, Laura McCullar, Alisa McKee, Sean McCleary, Kathleen McGunagle, Mark Messick, Tim Miley, Stephanie Mitchell, Sandy Mockenhaupt, Robin Morgan, Sydney Moses, Adam Mosher, Sue Nathan, Dick and Joy

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PAGE 10 | OCTOER 15 – 21, 2020

2020 Falls Church “Scenes in the City” Plein Air Festival October 10-17, 2020

Plein Air Festival Competition and Quick Draw Event Saturday morning, October 17 Falls Church City Hall Grounds, 300 Park Ave., Falls Church, VA (rain date October 24)

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NEWS BRIEFS

Voter Registration Deadline Extended to Oct. 15 Due to a database cable line severance earlier this week, the deadline for registering to vote in the Nov. 3 election has been extended in Virginia to Thursday, Oct. 15, at 11:59 p.m. According to the League of Women Voters, persons can register by accessing the websites, bit. ly/VoteArlington or vote411.org.

Fairfax Co. Opens 13 New Voting Locations Fairfax County yesterday announced that 13 new voting locations have been opened up in the county where registered voters can cast their ballots through Oct. 31. The move is in response to an over 200 percent increase in voting in advance this year over 2016. In addition to the County Government Center, locations near Falls Church include the McLean Community Center, the Thomas Jefferson Library on Rt. 50, the Tysons Pimmit Library, the Providence Community Center and the Mason Government Center. Weekday hours are 1 – 7 p.m, and on Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

F.C. Students Begin Showing Up in Smooth, Limited Opening

www.FallsChurchArts.org

Over 50 students have now returned to schools in Falls Church City Public Schools. Tuesday saw students arriving for the first time this year at Jessie Thackrey Preschool, Mt. Daniel and Thomas Jefferson. Temperature checks, masks, and hand sanitizer were universally employed. Six-foot distancing is reinforced through labeling on the buses and in all the buildings. Learning is safely resuming. The next wave of students are kindergartners and third graders who return on Tuesday, Nov. 10. With five days left to make intentions known, of the 400 or so students responding thus far, approximately 83 percent are indicating they intend to return under the hybrid model, with 17 percent selecting to remain virtual for the second semester. On Nov. 17, grades 1, 2, 4 and 5 are due to begin returning.

F.C.’s Railroad Cottages Hailed Still Again The innovative cottage-style housing project on Railroad Avenue in Falls Church that has been recently completed and occupied has once again received regional recognition for their creativity and application to a unique housing market. The Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Virginia) announced that the winner of the Red Clay Award for Development of the Year is the City of Falls Church for the Railroad Cottages project. According to the APA newsletter, “The Railroad Cottages development features ten small houses and a guest house for common use by the residents. The design requirements incorporate numerous planning best practices, especially with respect to sustainability and resiliency. Climate change mitigation efforts are prevalent, including photovoltaic solar cells on the roof of the carport and geothermal heating for renewable energy, building upgrades to reduce harmful chemical emissions, pervious pavers and native plants for more natural stormwater management, and universal design elements for greater accessibility for all residents and guests. The development is located less than a five minute walk from the nearest bus stop and is close to a Metro stop, grocery store, and multiple public schools, ensuring that those without a car still have freedom of mobility. The developer, The Young Group agreed to contribute to the City’s Affordable Housing fund, furthering the City of Falls Church’s efforts at promoting equitable development in an especially high-cost region.

VML Awards 4 Falls Church Initiatives

www.bit.ly/schoolrenaming

The Virginia Municipal League presented four awards to the City of Falls Church this month, the City Council learned Tuesday. One went to the City’s Covid-19 planning effort, a second to the Economic Development Authority for it’s micro-grant and other initiatives to support small businesses in the City during the pandemic. A third went to Captain Ed Lancaster of the F.C. Police Department for extraordinary efforts to ensure public safety during the pandemic and a fourth went to the City’s Office of Communications for daily updates to keep the City well informed in the early days of the pandemic.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LO CA L

OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 | PAGE 11

News-Press

Community News & Notes F.C. City Schools Ranked First By Website Niche.com named Falls Church City Public Schools the number one school division in Virginia. Niche ranks and links schools, companies and neighborhoods for its users. The description of Falls Church City Public Schools notes that it is one of nine K-12 International Baccalaureate Continuum school divisions in the U.S. and a student‐centered, innovative, and inclusive community of lifelong learners with its five schools serving some 2,700 students including some tuition students who live in communities outside the City of Falls Church. For more information, visit niche.com/k12/search/bestschool-districts/s/virginia.

F.C. Local Publishes Book on Supreme Court Nominations Falls Church resident Ilya Shapiro had his new book recently published, “Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America’s Highest Court,” which covers the history of partisan judicial nominations

and discusses reform proposals that could make for a more tame nomination process. Shapiro, the director of Constitutional Studies at the libertarian CATO Institute, writes about the role Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has played in past Supreme Court nomination battles; the tumult of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings and what it will take to restore constitutional order and remove politics from the court system. For more information, visit regnerygateway.com.

Mason Band Mentorship Program Starts Oct. 26 George Mason High School band members offer a free program called Music Mentors, which is an opportunity for all Thomas Jefferson Elementary and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School band students to work with experienced high school music mentors. The Music Mentor meetings will be held on Mondays from 1:30 – 2 p.m. in Schoology. The first meeting will be on Oct. 26th. Upon registering, parents and students will receive an email discussing the program’s guidelines

“GHOSTBUSTERS” was the featured film at the Eden Center’s drive-in movie night, where attendees got free popcorn and a costume contest was held for kids. Clearly “sneaking” in your own food for this theater experience was not discouraged either. (Photo: Courtesy Alan Frank) from Mary Jo West, Mason’s band director. Music Mentors allows students to develop meaningful friendships with students who share the same passion for music. High school students will provide instruction on developing musical ability and coaching about the role of music in their lives. Band faculty members will monitor conferences.

Interested students need to complete this google form to register by visiting docs.google.com/ forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCcJd0_

Plan Ahead for Picture Day at Mason George Mason High School’s (7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church) picture day for grades

9 – 11 will be held on two short days — Friday, Oct. 16, and Friday, Oct. 23, from 1 – 7 p.m. Families/students will need to create an account and book their own time(s) by visiting pickatime.com/ client. Due to Covid-19 guidelines, no walk-ins will be accepted on these days. Students will enter the school using Door 19 and walk straight to the Mustang Cafe.

Send Us Your News & Notes!

The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!

Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 105 N. Virginia Ave #310, Falls Church, VA 22046

CO MME NT

PAGE 12 | OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross

Absentee in-person voting started this week at the 14 satellite voting stations in Fairfax County, including the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale, and the Thomas Jefferson Library at 7415 Arlington Blvd. in Falls Church. Voting hours are 1 – 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturdays. A ballot drop box is available at each location, only during operating hours, for those voters wishing to avoid using the U.S. Postal Service to return their ballots. Sealed ballots in the drop box will be secured each night and taken to the Office of Elections for processing. If you have not already joined the thousands of Fairfax County residents voting absentee, there still is time to apply for an absentee ballot and vote by mail. If you prefer to vote in person on Election Day, Nov. 3, you should go to your regular polling place between 6 a.m. – 7 p.m. Anyone in line by 7 p.m. on Election Day will be permitted to vote. The last day to vote absentee in-person is Saturday, Oct. 31, which also is Halloween. In previous years, some voters, and some election officials, have come in costume! The pandemic has changed the approach to traditional trick-or-treat festivities, and many parents have asked if Fairfax County will “cancel” trick-or-treating. The short answer is no. Halloween observances are private activities, but safety must be a priority. Handing treats to children door-to-door is not recommended this year, nor are tailgate-type handouts in large parking lots, referred to as “trunk or treat.” Indoor costume parties and haunted houses also are not recommended this year, since close quarters and screaming are conducive to spreading virus. So how can parents make Halloween fun this

year? Pair carved jack-o-lanterns, a fun family activity, with individually packed treat bags lined up at the end of your sidewalk or driveway. That way, trick or treaters can simply pick up a treat bag, contactless. Host a virtual costume party – the kids can pretend they are modeling on TV! Conduct outside events where social distancing can be observed and enforced. Masks are a traditional part of Halloween costumes but, this year, the mask should cover nose and mouth, instead of forehead and eyes. A costume mask is not a substitute for a cloth mask; please do not wear a costume mask over a protective cloth mask as that can make it difficult to breathe. With a few tweaks, Halloween can be fun, and new traditions established. Try it! Pickleball, a combination of badminton, ping pong, and tennis, has been around since the mid1960s, but has become very popular in senior citizen circles and residences. Fairfax County has received numerous requests for more pickleball sites, both indoors and outdoors. By refurbishing existing tennis courts and multiuse courts to provide for multiple sports, the county now has nearly 30 additional outdoor courts lined for pickleball. To create a more strategic, equitable, and sustainable approach to providing for pickleball, the Park Authority will launch a public survey (date to be announced) that will provide additional insights on the community’s needs and desires related to pickleball. Watch this space for updates. Stay safe and healthy, and VOTE!

Week of Oct. 5 – 11, 2020

suspect(s) stole a motor vehicle from a business parking lot.

Threats, 300 blk Hillwood Ave. October 7, unknown suspects threatened to assault an individual during a verbal altercation. The suspects left the area prior to police arrival.

Bicycle Larceny, 300 blk W Broad St. October 10, unknown suspect(s) stole a bicycle that had been left unsecured in front of a business.

Motor Vehicle Theft, 300 blk S Maple Ave. October 8, unknown

Credit Card Theft, 1200 blk W Broad St. October 10, unknown suspect(s) stole a credit card and fraudulently used it at nearby businesses to purchase merchandise. Larceny, 100 blk W Broad St. October 10, unknown suspect(s) stole a backpack from a store shopping cart. Driving Under the Influence, 200 blk W Broad St. October 11, 3:46 am, a male, 24, of Fort Washington, MD, was arrested for driving under the influence.

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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.

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Larceny-Theft from Motor Vehicle, 200 blk W Annandale Rd. Between October 6 and October 7, unknown suspect(s) removed the catalytic converter from a parked vehicle.

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A Cultist on the Supreme Court?

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, delivered a powerful briefing in front of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, spelling out to her how the most powerful and deceitful forces in America have chosen her to be their battering ram to end the Affordable Care Act, reverse Roe Vs. Wade and undo marriage equality laws. These three issues are the front burner targets of these hidden, dark money right wing forces that have thrown millions and millions into buying judgeships and over 80 decisions by the Roberts Supreme Court won in 5-4 votes to perpetuate the Citizens United decision protecting their anonymity, to undo the Affordable Care Act (ACA), to weaken federal regulations over unbridled pollution by the fossil fuel industry, and FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS disenfranchise especially minority voters in the past two decades. Whitehouse’s report was impeccable, thoroughly documented and thoroughly damning of the many deceitful Republicans who have propped up the vile and thoroughly mentally-ill current president. It showed the wider game plan of the GOP on behalf of its dark-monied interests aimed at unravelling the nation’s democratic institutions. Their goal is to throw out the very idea of democracy, to eliminate the expectation of leadership based on popular votes, and to use all the tricks of deception to create the illusion of popular support for policies that are patently anti-democratic and destructive of the lives of any but the most privileged in the land. Barrett sat quietly with a sort of pained look on her face as she watched Whitehouse tell this story with the help of placards. One would wonder what was going through her mind during this water-tight presentation (“Damn, there goes the indigestion again...no more burrito breakfasts! Ugh!”). The Federalist Society and its leadership is the pivotal agency around which this conspiracy weaves its fateful web and the pliable President Trump has been more than eager to take on all its recommendations for archconservative choices. Barrett, in her first day of questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, confirmed the worst fears of Democrats and those Republicans on the committee with faint echoes of honesty still rattling around in their brains, by being completely evasive on even the most basic questions on matters of election intimidation and interference. (Yes, Democrats are now fully aware that Trump will be seeking to overturn an historic landslide against him using the courts to his advantage.) So, there was no independent candor and integrity demonstrated in any of Barrett’s responses Tuesday. None. Such pathetic responses did nothing more than confirm the scenario presented by Sen. Whitehouse Tuesday. No, Amy Coney Barrett is not a “lovey person,” the way Democrats have pathetically attempted to say in order to avoid reality in the past days. She is a barely disguised cult harpie of the radical right. She’s like the evil witch in a horror flick who is deceiving unsuspecting millennials by snorting her deception juice as the theater audience screams warnings to their unwitting protagonists. OK, I run the risk of offending such a sweet little innocent baby girl in this way, but I’m sorry. There’s simply too much at stake. She grew up in a cruel male-chauvinist cult, the so-called “People of Praise,” indoctrinated her entire life with its radical male-authoritarian antiwoman ideology and lifestyle. This is not a normal religious order, this is a brainwashing cult exactly in the mode described by cult expert Steven Hassan, author of “The Cult of Trump,” applying what he called the “BITE” criteria of cults that engage in “the methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people.” Catholicism is a superstructure framework for this destructive cult, no different than the Moonies, Hari Krishnas or any of the others spawned in the U.S. since the late 1960s to recruit and control “Manchurian candidate” intellectual zombies who can hide their mental states too easily behind outward appearances of normalcy and even brilliance. “BITE” stands for Behavior, Information, Thought and Emotional control, the four key elements of mind control when they are shown to induce dependency and obedience to a leader or cause. Don’t allow a Manchurian Candidate on the Supreme Court.

CO MME NT

OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

 Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.

Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

Think of today’s high school students locked in pandemic purgatory. I’m guessing they would find it quaint to learn the struggles of my classmates a half-century ago. Documents recently surfaced by a friend that recalled my teen years’ fixation with: dress codes. Fights over which became highly political. In 1969-70, the Vietnam War was raging. Students were threatening adult authority by demanding new political freedoms and education reforms. “SDS Activity Surfaces in County High School” warned the Northern Virginia Sun in April 1969, a reference to pamphlets dropped off at Washington-Lee (now Liberty) High School by the radical Students for a Democratic Society. A countywide “Arlington Student Coalition” in spring 1970 submitted demands to the school board. It asked that administrators respect rights such as “the freedom to form organizations, freedom from censorship of school publications and P.A. announcements, freedom to distribute noncommercial literature, freedom to invite speakers to address school groups, freedom to wear armbands, buttons and other accoutrements of self-expression.” Also: “the right to dress in a manner suitable to the individual.” At Yorktown High School, demands expanded to the right to leave campus for lunch, a smoking court, elimination of hall passes and abolishing final exams. Such was the context in which

the dress code battle was waged, in an era of lengthening male hair, girls shifting from Villager dresses to pants, and boys abandoning Weejuns and buttoned shirts for jeans and Army jackets. Mary Vandevanter of the class of ’70 recalls being sent home by an administrator twice for wearing culottes. Classmate Murr Brewster, now a blogger, remembers the assistant principal calling her in for bra-lessness, instructing that “the flopping of the breasts against the thoracic cavity causes cancer.” My own clash with authority stemmed from my illegal habit of wearing a fedora hat indoors (mimicking an old-fashioned reporter). But in spring 1969, Principal W. Ralph Kier, following consultations with faculty, parents and, yes, students, loosened the dress code. In reaction, conservative parents led by Wesley McDonald and Dee Mitchell (both parents of my friends) formed the Concerned Parents Association. It decried the “social and political activism of the currently fashionable ‘youth rebellion’” at the expense of “academic excellence in responsible education,” their executive committee wrote in a Sun op-ed. They accused student activists of being funded “outside the county.” More ominously, they said “the pedants” among Yorktown’s teachers “should remember that the majority of the parents who send their children to Yorktown are college-trained, and many are more learned in professions and occupations than the average teacher.” They sought a dress code “that

sets forth standards of decency, cleanliness and taste.” One unnamed faculty member wrote to the Sun expressing bewilderment that “the relaxing of the dress code at Yorktown seems to be the focal point of more parental unrest and dissent than any other educational change in recent memory.” She acknowledged that “there were a few who abused the new code…But when the newness had worn off, the vast majority of students dressed modestly and neatly,” she said. “Students have decided that fancy dress was no longer de rigeur, in order that their attention could be centered on areas of more vital concern — like what does it mean to be a human being in this troubled age?” Kind of like today’s pandemic-era high schoolers, online and dressed in sweats. *** Hidden from street view behind St. Andrews Episcopal Church lies the Garden of Hope. Saturday mornings you can find nine or 10 socially distanced and face-masked volunteers from that church at Lorcom Lane and Military Rd., the neighborhood and Marymount University. I watched them recently tending crops of kale, cabbage, collards, radishes, beats, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans and carrots. All for local food banks. The 14-year-old program so far in 2020 has donated 1,942 lbs. of organically grown produce, I’m told by participating green thumb Ted Edwards. Their biggest challenge: hungry deer. The volunteers solved it by building a 10-foot fence.

PAGE 14 | OCTOBER 15 – 21, 2020

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

FALLS CHURCH

CALENDAR LOCALEVENTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 Falls Church Farmers Market To Go. The Falls Church Farmers Market has converted to a preorder, to-go event. All orders must be placed in advance of Saturday’s market which will be open from 8 a.m. – noon for pre-order pick-up only in front of City Hall (300 Park Ave.). A list of participating vendors and information on pre-ordering can be found at fallschurchva.gov/547/ Farmers-Market-To-Go. Tiny Tot. Tiny Tot programs provide opportunities to interact one-on-one with young children while discovering the wonders of nature. Each program will engage children with hands-on learning and may include a variety of activities like songs, crafts, finger plays and mini-hikes. Adults must remain during the entire program. Ages 1 – 3. $5 fee due upon registration. To register, contact rtolman@arlingtonva. us. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington). 10 – 10:30 a.m. 703-228-6535.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 Adapted Nature Hike — Barcroft Park. All are welcome to join the group on a leisurely-paced hike through a park. The forested trails will be accessible, smooth and shaded for a fun hike to explore and examine whatever we discover. Restrooms & water fountains inside Barcroft Sports & Fitness Center, paved trails open in the sun until forested area, trails are flat, benches at the picnic area for rest. Families. Register children and adults; children must be accompanied by a registered adult. To register for this hike, contact 703-2284747. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 S Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington). 1:30 – 3 p.m.

R.I.P. — Remove Invasive Plants. Want to restore habitat and increase native species diversity in Arlington? Participants are encouraged to join work parties held every month that are making a difference with the return of ferns, wildflowers and the animals that depend on them to areas once covered in destructive invasive plants. Children and adults must pre-register at NaturalResouces@arlingtonva. us. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 S. Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington). 2 – 4 p.m.

VIRTUALEVENTS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 Lorenzo the Great Magic Show (online). Local magician Lorenzo the Great “visits” the library for a spooky magic show. Interested viewers can see the show on Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ mrspl. Video will be available from Saturday, Oct. 17 – 31 on the Facebook page. Call the Youth Services Desk at 703-248-5034 for more information. 11 – 11:30 a.m. Free SAT Practice with Princeton Review (online). Interested participants can join the group for a free, full-length, online practice SAT test with the experts from the Princeton Review. The group will start with an online Zoom session and then participants will be able to take an online practice test to help you improve your skills for the real thing. Scores will be available afterwards. Students must register on the Princeton Review website to have access to the online test: princetonreview.com/product/ offerings/469145. The day before the test students will get an email with the Zoom session details to join the group at the start of the test for information and instructions. 12:45 – 5 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 City Council Work Session (online).

THE ROADDUCKS will be performing at the State Theatre on Friday and JV’s Restaurant on Saturday. (Photo: Facebook.com/TheRoadducks ) City Council work sessions are held the first and third Monday of the month, with the exception of August and December when only one meeting is held. These meetings are open to the public and are conducted to allow Council Members to discuss upcoming legislation and policy issues; the public is not generally invited to speak. All participating members of the City Council will be present at this meeting through electronic means. All members of the public may view this electronic meeting via www.fallschurchva. gov/CouncilMeetings. The meeting may also be viewed on FCCTV (Cox 11, RCN 2, Verizon 35). 7:30 – 11 p.m.

THEATER&ARTS

Church). Providence Players have established new procedures to make sure all activity is in accordance with regulations from the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Department of Health, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Visit providenceplayers.org

LIVEMUSIC THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 Great Northern — A Tribute to the Grateful Dead. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. The Joker Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16

“Laundry and Bourbon” & “Lone Star.” A pair of popular, interlocking one-act comedies by James McLure that take place in smalltown, Maynard, Texas. The two plays combine for a wildly entertaining, and occasionally poignant, evening of live theater. 6 p.m. Shows take place Oct. 8 & 10, and Oct. 15 & 17 at the Italian Cafe (7161 Lee Hwy, Falls

Mike Tash, Mary Shaver & Bob Trio. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 5:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. The Roadducks. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. Linwood Taylor Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd.,

Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-2419504. Jeff Lefler. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-237-8333

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 Mars Rodeo. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504. Azure Wolf. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7:30 p.m. 703-237-0300. The Roadducks. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504. Mark Scott Live and in concert. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703237-8333

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 19th Street Band. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $25. 7 p.m. 703237-0300. Josh Allen Band Live. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-2419504.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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We are OPEN and ready to safely serve your dental needs! Currently accepting new patients

Toy Nest and Fit4Mom Co-hosting Family Fun at Cherry Hill Park The Toy Nest and Fit4Mom are co-hosting Family Fun at Cherry Hill Park on Sunday, Oct. 18 from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. The event will take place on the basketball court at 312 Park Avenue in Falls Church. Moms can participate in movement and fitness fun while caregivers and dads can enjoy outdoor games with children. For additional information about this free event, contact Lisa Bourven, owner of The Toy Nest at hello@thetoynest.com or Jaclyn Robertson, owner of Fit4Mom at jaclynrobertson@fit4mom.com.

Kensington Falls Church Sponsoring Pilates with Ashley Templar Understanding the importance of physical fitness to mental health and the aging process, the Kensington Falls Church is sponsoring Pilates with Ashley Templar, a free class by Body Dynamics Inc., on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 2 p.m. This is part of a series of fitness classes the Kensington is sponsoring to enable Body Dynamics to offer them for free. Future classes, all sponsored by The Kensington, include Functional Movement with Lisa Clarkson scheduled for Oct. 29, and Recharge in 20 with Jorge Villabos is set for Nov. 5. For more information, visit www.bodydynamicsinc.

JL Hicks Financial Group Offering Retirement Planning JL Hicks Financial Group is offering Retirement Planning Today – An Educational Course for Adults Ages 50 to 70 on Wednesdays Oct. 21 & 28 from 6 – 8 p.m. This $49 online workshop will address the amount of money needed for retirement, goals for successful retirement, the elimination of debt, IRA and Roth IRA conversions, retirement distributions, taxes, expenses, delays, and legal challenges with estate planning. For more information, visit www. jlhfinancial.com or call 703-935-2829.

Homestretch Virtually Celebrating 30 Years Homestretch is hosting Celebrating 30 Years of Empowering Homeless Families on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 7 – 8 p.m. The free virtual event will include information about Homestretch’s programs and stories from many Homestretch graduates who will share their inspiring stories on how they were able to lift themselves out of homelessness and become selfsufficient with the help of Homestretch. For more information, visit www.homestretchva.org. To register, go to https://bit.ly/33Y7ISh.

Endocrinology Group Moved Locations to 200 Park Avenue The Endocrinology Group has moved from its previous location in Arlington to 200 Park Avenue in Falls Church. The new three-story building includes 5000 square feet of outpatient clinical areas on the first two floors, as well as an upper level with a more than 700 square foot rentable event space, including a large conference room with adjacent galley kitchen, and dedicated parking lot. Four dedicated private offices are also available for rent on the upper level. Repeatedly recognized as Washingtonian’s Top Docs and Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Doctors, The Endocrinology Group is a growing medical practice specializing in adult physiology and medicine concerned with endocrine glands and hormones. Founded in 2006, in Arlington, by Dr. Caroline Huang and Dr. Giang Bach, the practice includes five practitioners, including one with a concentration on transgender medicine. The group remains affiliated with the Virginia Hospital Center and committed to the Georgetown University Medical School and Residency teaching programs. For more information, visit www.endocrinologygroup.com.

Rebuild VA Expanded its Eligibility Criteria Rebuild VA! has expanded its eligibility criteria so that CARES Act fund recipients and supply chain partners are now eligible for grants of up to $10,000. For more information, visit www.governor.virginia.gov/rebuildva/.  Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.

Listen to all parts of the News-Press in the debut of our News-Pod, hosted by Matt Delaney.

Look for its release Friday morning at 10 a.m

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CLASSI F I E DS LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON PROPOSED GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND FINANCING BY THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA Notice is hereby given that the City Council of the City of Falls Church, Virginia (the "City") will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 26, 2020, in accordance with Section 15.2-2606 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended, on the issuance of general obligation public improvement and refunding bonds of the City in the estimated aggregate maximum amount of $11,800,000 for the following purposes: 1. Bond proceeds in an estimated maximum principal amount of $750,000 will be used to finance the costs, in whole or in part, of various capital improvement projects and issuance of the bonds. The City expects that it may use more than ten percent of such proceeds to finance all or a portion of the costs of each of the following: (i) improvements to the City's stormwater system and (ii) sanitary sewer plant upgrades. 2. Approximately $11,050,000 of bond proceeds will be used to pay the costs of refunding, in whole or in part, certain outstanding bonds and notes previously issued by the City. The public hearing, which may be continued or adjourned, will be held at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, in accordance with applicable laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the public hearing will be held virtually. To speak at the public hearing, complete a speaker form at www.fallschurchva.gov/PublicComment before noon on October 26, 2020. Following submission of the form, you will receive emailed instructions to join the virtual City Council meeting. Written public hearing comments may be sent until noon on October 26, 2020 to cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov. Council members will attend the meeting through electronic means and members of the public may view the meeting at www.fallschurchva.gov/CouncilMeetings and on FCCTV (Cox 11, RCN 2, Verizon 35). Video will be available after the meeting both online and on FCCTV.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

19 22 24

34 39

38 43

45 49

44 47 51

1. Physician with a daily talk show 5. Itinerant sort 10. Nada for Nadal 14. Prefix with nautical 15. Bakery fixtures 16. Environmentalist’s subj. 17. *Unspeakable siutation? 19. Dock figure 20. Blue expanse 21. Third-northernmost national capital 22. Reduce by 50% 23. *Magazine that put Linda Evangelista on its cover holding a Cohiba panatella 26. Final Four org. 29. It’s unlikely 30. *2013 disaster film that spawned many sequels 33. Rabbit relative 34. POTUS when Sputnik was launched 37. “All will be well” 39. Wharton, e.g., informally 41. Oz. and kg. 42. “Modern Family” actor Stonestreet 44. *1885 operetta set in Japan 45. Words before “the blues” or “the Mondays” 47. Charged particles 48. *Setting for “Mork & Mindy” 53. Actresses Kendrick and Paquin 54. Coat of frost 55. Fly catcher 58. California’s ____ Valley 59. What each of the starred clues

STRANGE BREW

OCTOBER 15 - 21, 2020 | PAGE 17

are “without” 62. Fake IRS call, e.g. 63. Blue eyes or hairy legs, e.g. 64. Where approximately 60% of people live 65. Urges 66. Tooth: Prefix 67. Fly catcher

Down 1. Stand taken by a speaker? 2. Philosopher Descartes 3. “Free Willy” creature 4. Workplace for some veterinarians 5. Declaration on a Chinese menu 6. Egglike 7. It’s lit eight nights in a row 8. Singer DiFranco 9. Mil. decoration since 1918 10. Enduring aspect of a person’s life 11. Orbicularis ____ (eyelid-closing muscle) 12. Swedish automaker 13. Titular host of NBC’s “Game of Games” 18. Miss Piggy’s coy question 22. Containing state-of-the-art gadgetry 23. Caleb who wrote “The Alienist” 24. Many a Meccan 25. “To begin with Ö” 26. [Avoid watching this in front of the boss] 27. Jazzman Baker 28. Some batteries 31. Works, as dough 32. Language from which “reindeer”

comes 34. “____ arigato, Mr. Roboto” 35. “Whatcha ____?” 36. Fraternal order with an animal emblem 38. Level 40. One who’s succeeding 43. Johnnie who said “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” 45. Alleges 46. Go by walking 48. Deep, musically 49. Waiting in the wings 50. Emasculate 51. “Chicago Hope” Emmy-winner Christine 52. Underground find 55. “Now, where ____?” 56. Polish for publication 57. Dinghy or dory 59. 1-800-Flowers competitor 60. Suffix with script or text 61. Zodiac animal Last Thursday’s Solution R A S P A N T E S M Y L I P S I O P R E T T Y R E S E E S E A T A P R O M A S P E P S H Y D S T O D R E S O D A T H E M A S O I L O M P O T C L

I R A N I

S O R E N

A K I R A

S S E

M P K E E G A S

J O K E

A X E D

R O D S

C O C I N A

A R E N A S

R E S E E K

G E R I V E L E N

JOHN DEERING

Level 1

Solution to Last Week’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

L E T I L S E M A S T M A S K A M C Y E T E R V I R T N A E C A T M O P E D S I N A N A S G

10/11/20 Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk

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BACK IN THE DAY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Falls Church News-Press Vol. XX, No. 30 • October 14, 2010

Businesses Celebrate Completion Of Downtown Renovation Saturday

F.C. Council Votes to Rescind Move of Local Elections from May to November

The “Grand Re-Opening” of the 100 to 300 blocks of West Broad Street will take place this Saturday morning at 9:30 at 255 West Broad Street. The public is invited to the festivities which recognize the completion of the streetscape renovations which entailed the undergrounding of utilities, the laying of new brick pavement and planters and specially designed lighting fixtures.

In an unprecedented move anywhere in Virginia, the Falls Church City Council voted Monday night to rescind a decision to move Falls Church’s municipal elections from May to November. The move to revert to an election date when, historically, far fewer voters go to the polls has raised eyebrows throughout the state, and at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

F.C. Parents Continued from Page 4

lower than a 5 percent positivity rate) and yellow zones (areas with a 5 – 10 percent positivity rate) can reopen cautiously. When the survey results were published, Fairfax Health District’s seven-day positivity rate was 5.6 percent, per the state’s health department. Today it’s roughly 3.5 percent. On top of that, these parents enrolled their kids in summer camps or put them in youth sports leagues. And with the new school year having started, they arranged to have their children set up at study hall-like atmospheres either through the community center’s REC Connect program or at a church. The parents said that doing virtual learning in a social setting has been a big boost to their kids’ mental health (as well as their own). Plus they were regularly interacting with other kids — and not getting sick. When rating out of 10 how fearful they were of their children contracting coronavirus at school and bringing it home, Finamore said she was at four. Landers said zero. Alderson said negative 10. “What’s best for our kids was reopening safely,” Lee said. “That’s where I felt really abandoned [by Falls Church schools] because we weren’t focused on the right things like getting [personal protective equipment], or getting our teachers what they need or setting up classes for social distancing. Still, not everyone is comfortable with sending their children back. “In my situation, where her

THIS IS LUCKY, a mixed-breed rescue dog. She loves learning new tricks, playing fetch, and running as fast as she can. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

ONE OF THE DAILY MELTDOWNS that Amanda Alderson’s kindergarten-aged daughter was having throughout the spring. (P��: C�� A�� A��) dad has passed away, I’m acutely aware of death. That’s morbid and all but it’s real.” Hawkins, the single mom of one, said. “When Fairfax County gave us the option of virtual or in-person, I had already chosen virtual...taking that risk of sending her to school and bringing something back to me, that was not a chance I was going to take.” Falls Church schools’ hybrid model option that begins in November appears to complicate how parents can schedule out their day. The school would have students come to class for a three hour period either in the morning or afternoon, Tuesday through Friday, and do the other half of their learning virtually. Finamore wondered whether the school will provide daycare, or if programs like REC Connect will still be available to assist her children when they’re not in class. Would she end up having to

pay for two childcare programs? Amy Youngs from the City’s Recreation and Parks department told the News-Press that REC Connect intends to continue into November and beyond for its 40 students already enrolled, who are mostly in kindergarten, although she doesn’t expect the program will open up to new families due to staffing limitations. Even with that availability, Landers doesn’t think the hybrid model is sustainable for working parents, nor is it really scratching the social itch that kids need. “The intangibles you get from a school community, that just can’t be achieved online,” Landers said. “I don’t fault the teachers at all, I just really think that the [Falls Church schools] leadership has missed the mark here.” Parents have until Oct. 19 to determine whether they want their children to take part in the hybrid model or remain virtual.

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News-Press

LETTERS Continued from Page 6

The “general good of the community,” as you aptly put it, is best served by preserving that which makes our city a great place to live. Andrew Reeves Falls Church A SCENE FROM “LONE STAR.” (From left to right): David Whitehead as Roy, Chuck O’Toole as Cletis and Bobby Welsh as Ray. (Photo: Courtesy Jaclyn Robertson)

Providence Players Holds 1st Show Since March by Orrin Konheim

Falls Church News-Press

“Tonight is an adventure, and we ask you to keep that in mind” was the apt message delivered by Providence Players of Fairfax President Danine Walsh ahead of the show’s first ever outdoor performance in the parking lot of The Italian Café. Under the unique circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the cast and crew had done extraordinary preparations for their twin one-act plays “Laundry and Bourbon” and “Lone Star.” The show was poignant and the execution top-notch, but to have theater at all was a cause of celebration for all involved in their preview performance on Oct. 7. “We were so hungry to do theater, we wanted to get back to a creative environment and create for our patrons, our season ticket buyers, and for our actors, and our company… and the community’s been really supportive so they want that too,” said producer Jayne L. Victor. Fortunately, the Providence Players have had a history of experimentation away from the James Lee Community Center. Since March of last year, they have staged three popup plays in the dinner theater format at The Italian Café. Drawing on that relationship, the theater group were able to use the back lot of the restaurant, but decided to have Dickey’s Bar-B-Q catered and local country-bluegrass musician Gretchen Purser perform to keep things thematically consistent. The plays, written by James McClure, are set in small-town Texas in the 1970s. Everything about the plays’ presentation has been in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Ticket buyers get a six-foot by six-foot square in the parking lot for up to two people that are socially distanced from each other.

Directors Michael Donahue and Beth Giles-Whitehead did most of the rehearsals through Zoom calls. And they gradually eased the cast together into live rehearsals with daily temperature checks. “The rehearsal process wasn’t all that different than for a regular show, except that we wore masks and maintained distance,” said cast member Jaclyn Robertson. The Providence Players’ last attempt at a play, William Inge’s “Picnic,” was shut down late into the rehearsal period, which left several of the cast members with a heavy heart. This was reflected in Welsh’s flatout admission in her opening speech: “This year has been a dumpster fire.” “We still don’t know when we will be back at James Lee Community Center. So some of the members of our board put their collective heads together and came up with this crazy idea for our first ever outdoor production,” Welsh continued. The parallel one-act plays “Laundry and Bourbon” and “Lonestar” tell two interweaving stories of marriages in distress. The first play is set on the back porch of Elizabeth (Julie Janson) as she passes the afternoon chit-chatting with her childhood best friend Hattie (Sara Joe Lebowitz). Hattie’s bouncy sarcasm enlivens the play pretty much every time she opens her mouth and she balances out the casual gloom of her scene partner. “God I hate the laundry. Same thing week in and week out. Sometimes I just want to burn it down,” said Elizabeth at one point. “You can only look at so much Fruit of the Loom before it makes you want to puke,” replied Hattie. With admirable subtlety, the dialogue segues into more serious problems afflicting the pair of friends. Elizabeth’s high school boyfriend and current husband, Ray, has been a mess since serving in Vietnam with bouts

of heavy drinking, infidelity and unresolved depression. As the two look back and reminisce, the contrast is set up between Hattie, who moved on from her exciting high school boyfriend to a guy who could give her a family, and Elizabeth, who is still with her husband. The pair is interrupted by town socialite Amy Lee (Robertson). Her holier-than-thou snootiness rubs Hattie the wrong way, but Hattie can’t resist hearing the gossip around town, so she lets Amy Lee stick around. The class differences between Amy Lee and Hattie feed into the pair’s rivalry and highlight their aspirations — or lack thereof. “It’s about friendship and about longing and finding your path,” said Giles-Whitehead. In a similarly constrained format, “Lone Star” takes us into the world of the husbands that were being gossiped about in the first play. Amy Lee is boastful about having married up, but the bubble bursts as Cletis (Chuck O’Toole) appears on screen and is shown to be the town idiot. On the other hand, the belligerence of Ray (David Whitehead) matches up to our expectations. Like Elizabeth and Hattie, Ray and Roy have a conversation that focuses on the good old days of the past with the subtext that something in the presence is missing. To “Lone Star” director Michael Donahue, that something is the 1959 pink Thunderbird convertible that attracted Elizabeth and Hattie to Ray as teenagers and that Ray uses as a symbol for his masculinity. “Once the car’s gone, everyone can’t seem to get on with their lives as an adult,” opined Donahue who directed “Lone Star.” The play runs through Oct. 17 at The Italian Café (7161 Lee Highway). For tickets and information, visit Providenceplayers.org.

False Narrative Of U.S. History Fuels Name Change Topics Editor The Oct. 5 article “Mason, Jefferson Name Change Debates Address Thorny Elements of Their Lives” is yet another example of how proponents of striking the names of George Mason and Thomas Jefferson from our schools rely on false narratives and what is, at best, a “unique” reading of history to belittle the achievements of two of the individuals foremost in creating the foundation (philosophical and structural) of the United States. Name change advocates make the astounding and objectively false assertion that there is little moral difference between Confederates who fought against the United States and the individuals who founded this country. Melissa Teates expresses this baseless point succinctly: “If you want to say the Confederates are bad, or much worse, I think you’re wrong ... The Confederates were fighting to keep the way of life that these men had. I think they’re totally connected.” Edwin Henderson, in an apparent “correction” to his initial (and accurate) statement that “there is a distinct difference between the two,” now says that “the American founders were fighting to preserve slavery.” We are all well aware of the moral shortcomings that were prevalent during the early history of this country, including among the many Revolutionary leaders from Virginia. However, unlike the Confederates, we celebrate them, and Jefferson and Mason in particular, for doing more than perhaps any other to enshrine in our system of governance what we now recognize as “universal” values and freedoms well before they were understood to be universal. Now, more than ever in our

TO THE

EDITOR

history, when we are inundated every day by politicians inventing a false reality, intent on dividing us, we need to remember what unifies all of us as Americans — and that is a shared commitment to a set of communal values, given voice by Mason and Jefferson and enshrined in the Constitution and the Republic that the founders created. The school board and the entire Falls Church community should have the courage — with or without a community “survey” — to reject this divisive and counterfactual name change foolishness. Joe Green Via the internet

F.C. Business Owner Favors Downtown Project’s Completion Editor, As a business owner who has been doing business in Falls Church for 16 years, I would ask the city council to vote yes to move this project forward . “This project will bring new jobs,new tenants,new revenue ($20,000,000 to the city tax roll according to the Falls Church News Press) and new energy to a corner of Falls Church that is much needed. We will also get affordable housing units,a Whole Foods grocery store that will attract many, many customers of which some will shop and dine at our many shops and restaurants again improving the taxes rolls. We will get a home for Creative Cauldron (a much admired theatre company) again bringing patrons to spend in our city. I understand the concern of a couple of businesses that will be affected by the construction phase of this project and I share that concern. But let’s not let this concern affect the whole project. There is far greater upside to this project than the issue of the loss of parking for a short time to stop it. The city council wants to take care of small businesses, so go ahead and do that, but let’s make sure ALL small businesses are being helped and not just a couple of them.” Colm Dillon Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

PAGE 20 | OCTOBER 15 - 21, 2020

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