Falls Church News-Press 10-24-2019

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October 24 — 30, 2019

Fa lls   Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXIX No. 36

Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads

Inside This Week City of F.C. $126M Bond Sale Goes at 2.71% The sale of $126 million in City of Falls Church municipal bonds, the largest in the City’s history, was consummated Tuesday at an interest rate of 2.71 percent. See News Briefs, page 9

Falls Church High School Turns 75

Falls Church High School is expected to have its largest gathering of alumni to date this homecoming weekend as the school celebrates its 75 years of operation.

F.C. Council, School Board Races Heat Up; Election 2 Weeks Away Incumbents Tout West End Gains, Service to City

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

See page 8

Man Struck, Killed By Fairfax Police Cruiser

A man was killed while crossing the intersection of Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) near Graham Road early Sunday morning after being struck by a police cruiser responding to a call. See News Briefs, page 9

Mustang Volleyball Takes District Title

George Mason High School’s volleyball team edged William Monroe High School Tuesday night to clinch a Northwestern District title in its first season playing at the 3A level. See sports, page 20

AT THE CITY COUNCIL work session Monday, the issue of permits for scooters was discussed. Left to right, Council members Ross Litkenhous, Letty Hardi, David Snyder, David Tarter and Marybeth Connelly. Escaping the lens were Dan Sze and Phil Duncan. (Photo: News-Press)

Scooters! F.C. Council Set To Adopt Guidelines Soon

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial................6 Letters.......... 6, 21 News & Notes.10, 11 Comment...12, 13 Business News.19 School News.... 21

Calendar..... 22,23 Classified Ads... 24 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword........ 25 Crime Report.... 26 Critter Corner.... 26

It had to happen: scooters are coming to Falls Church. The latest development in alternative mobility devices, batterypowered scooters that can move a single passenger at up to 15 miles per hour in and around existing pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic is already crawling all over downtown D.C. and

increasingly, City of Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria. The Falls Church City Council Monday night took up the matter of apropos regulation of the new mode of transportation with an eye to adopting terms of a one-year pilot program by Nov. 11 that could authorize them to operate in the City by January. The State Legislature last spring gave localities the choice

of setting their own regulations for operation of scooters and scooter companies or to wait and let state regulations apply if they were to choose not to act by Dec. 31. So, the City Council is facing a mild deadline to establish ground rules for a one-year pilot program and to select two of the seven companies that run scooters by mid-December.

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With election day less than two weeks away, campaigns remain in full swing all over Virginia and in the City of Falls Church. Virginia is one of only three states in the U.S. with elections this November as every one of its 100 state delegate district seats and 40 of its state senate district seats are up for election. It is the only one where a sea change can occur in the control of both houses of the legislature, where Republicans hold hair thin margins at present, and as such is a bellwether for how national elections may go a year from now. Virginia Democrats are optimistic that they may follow on the trend set in the 2017 election when they gained 17 seats to come within a coin-flip of winning control of the House of Delegates when one race came in a dead heat. They are buoyed by two things: a court-mandated redistricting this summer of a number of key Republican-held districts on grounds they had been drawn unfairly by the Republican controlled legislature, and the continued enthusiasm within their own party and political base for political change, due in no small part to disfavor with President Trump. On the ballots that City of Falls Church voters will encounter in the upcoming Nov. 5 election include their representatives for the State Senate’s 35th District, Sen. Dick

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