October 26 – November 1, 2017
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D ED 1991 • VOL. XXVI I NO. 36
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I����� T��� W��� M����� ����� G��� T�� OK F��� C��� C������ A final vote was taken Monday night by the Falls Church City Council to transfer a City-owner home, the Miller House, to Community Residences, Inc., to develop a group home for adults with intellectual disabilities. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8
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Former Interim F.C. School Chief Schiller Weighs In for Referendum
Esteemed Educator Opts to Endorse New GMHS Plan
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
NOVA Firearms is back for a second go-around in Falls Church after taking over The Gun Dude’s lease in September. With an added emphasis on security as well as community engagement, NOVA’s owners are looking to make their re-entry into the Little City as harmonious as possible. SEE PAGE 10
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Exiled by his movie-industry colleagues, Harvey Weinstein has taken refuge among the scorpions and cactuses of Arizona, where he’s immersed in what has been described as rehab. He certainly needs help. Or maybe he’s just a merciless tyrant and creep, and to dress him in clinical language is to let him off the hook. SEE PAGE 14
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George Mason Mustang football lost their third straight game with a lopsided 52-8 loss to Central High School last Friday on the road in Woodstock. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 28
INDEX
Editorial................... 6 Letters..................... 6 News & Notes 12–13 Comment ...........14-16 Calendar ......... 34–35
Sports .................28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........37 Business News ...30 Critter Corner......38 Classified Ads .....36
THE LONE INCUMBENT running for re-election to the School Board on Nov. 7, current board chair Lawrence Webb (far left, speaking) is �lanked by a host of new faces at last Friday’s School Board debate in the City Council chambers. (P����: N���-P����)
With 1 Incumbent, New Faces Highlight F.C. School Board Race
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Unlike the campaigns underway for the Falls Church City Council election on Nov. 7, where three of the five active candidates running are wellknown incumbents, there is only one incumbent among six candidates running for the Falls Church School Board in the election next month, which puts a greater burden on the voters in the City to get to know the five
new candidates and where they stand on the issues. A School Board candidates’ debate was scheduled to be held last night at the American Legion Hall, taking place too late for this edition. One held last Friday at City Hall gave the public a chance to view the candidates, but with the candidates expressing more in common than otherwise, it may have proven difficult for many among the full house of attendees to pick favorites.
Lawrence Webb, currently serving as chair of the School Board, is the only incumbent on the ballot. His history now goes back a dozen years, to when he was first elected as a new City resident to the City Council, where he served one four year term. As an incumbent and the chair of the board, Webb is the most enthusiastic supporter among the candidates for the passage of the
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A renowned educator with a lengthy career serving in highlevel administrative positions in public high school systems across the U.S. has weighed in with a ringing endorsement of a “yes” vote for the school bond referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot in the City of Falls Church. Dr. Robert Schiller, who stepped away from retirement last January to serve a critical four months as an interim superintendent of the Falls Church City Public Schools, issued a public statement this week contending that “an affirmative vote (on the referendum) will ensure the continuing success and achievement” of the Falls Church school system, “while sustaining Falls Church City’s reputation as a wonderful place to live and educate children.” In his 45-year career, Schiller has served as the superintendent of four school districts and two state school districts in his career, which included being called in as the CEO and CFO of the famous 1997 reorganization of the Baltimore School System and a period heading the City of Los Angeles School System with its 729,000 students. His tenure as an interim superintendent in Falls Church earlier this year came at a time when the School Board and City Council were wrestling with major issues concerning the future of the 65-year-old George Mason High School facility, and began evaluating what became 13 different options for moving forward. In that process, Schiller threw one option into the mix last February that became the subject of controversy when he suggested a
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