November 26 - December 2, 2015
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. XXV No. 40
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Mason Row Lowering Residential Units
The Spectrum Group, developers of the proposed 4.3-acre Mason Row project at W. Broad and N. West streets, announced it has revised its plans to drop down the number of residential apartments on the site from 340 to 322 in an effort to address “massing” issues. See News Briefs, page 9
Police Seek Identity of Man Hit in Falls Church Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who was hit by a vehicle and seriously injured last Thursday morning at Route 50 and Graham Road in Falls Church.
Citizens Group Forms to Oppose New F.C. Gun Shop Near School L ighting U p F alls C hurch
Continued on Page 4
Continued on Page 8
The age of terror is an age of shocks. Individuals, families and whole societies get torn apart by unexpected stabbings, shootings and bombings. See page 12
See page 22
THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH lit up downtown Tuesday night with new holiday lights decorating trees now on display on W. Broad Street. After feedback from residents on last year’s inaugural tree lighting, the City used a different pattern this time around, wrapping lights around the trunks of the trees. See story, page 19. (Photo: News-Press)
Man Charged With Using Explosive at F.C. Mosque by Drew Costley
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 30 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 12-15 Sports..................16 Business News....18
Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
A 27-year-old man was charged with a hate crime after allegedly damaging property and using a hoax explosive device at the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, a Falls Church mosque, last Thursday afternoon. An initial report from the Fairfax County Police
Department listed a separate incident committed by the same man as a bias crime based on statements made to members of the mosque by Chester H. Gore, the alleged perpetrator of the crime, hours before he used the explosive device at around 1 p.m. on Nov. 19. “It’s enough that it would lead a reasonable person to believe, given the location of where he
Falls Church News-Press
was, given the time, he was there at three in the morning…. If you were there on the other side and you were in the mosque and this guy approaches given his actions and then what he said,” said Roger Henriquez, an officer with the Fairfax County Police Department. “It would lead you to believe that this guy is doing this
David Brooks: Tales of the Super Survivors
It’s been just over 50 years since Jorma Kaukonen, who turns 75 next month, called up the then 21-year-old Casady to replace bassist Bob Harvey in a band called Jefferson Airplane.
by Nicholas F. Benton
A new citizens activist group, Falls Church Families for Gun Store Free School Zones, has close to 200 supporters on its group Facebook page in the past week following news that a second gun store intends to open at 909 W. Broad Street in Falls Church, this one across from St. James School. The application for the business, NOVA Firearms, has been received by the Falls Church Commissioner of the Revenue Tom Clinton’s office which now has it under review. The News-Press was provided a copy of a letter from an attorney representing JM Custom Protection Services, LLC (NOVA Firearms) to Clinton’s office late Tuesday, citing state code and cautioning the office to provide the business permit forthwith. Attorney George L. Lyon wrote Clinton, “Whether the rejection of my client’s business license results from malfeasance by your office or the undue influence of third parties, we will hold you, the City of Falls Church and such outsiders liable. I strongly advise you to issue the business permit immediately.” The citizens’ Facebook page states, “We are the concerned parents, parishioners, and community members of Falls Church, Va., united against the proposed location for NOVA Firearms.” NOVA Firearms was originally located in the City in space now occupied by The Gun Dude, above Bedo’s Leatherworks at 412 W. Broad. NOVA Firearms relocated to McLean in September of 2013. With The Gun Dude and NOVA Firearms stores located within blocks of one another at highly
See News Briefs, page 9
Press Pass with Hot Tuna
NOVA Firearms is Back in F.C. With Store By St. James