December 18 - 24, 2025
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • Vol. XXXV N o . 45
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
Re-Purposed PRETTY IN PINK Stratford is Opened as Beer Garden Mayor Fetes Fancy New Add to F.C. Downtown by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The long-awaited new Stratford Beer Garden and Restaurant opened its doors for the first time late Tuesday and officially kicks off today at its 300 W. Broad St. location. From eyesore to elegant, the addition now makes the W. Broad St. corridor of mostly new or newer retail and mixed use residential options along a dozen-block stretch of downtown virtually seamless for charming aesthetic value, accented this holiday season by festive white lights hugging its stretch of trees. Since its closing in 2021, the Stratford Motor Lodge and the tiny La Caraquena restaurant it housed had been surrounded by a tasteless chainlink fence and was effectively gutted, appearing a sad mini-blight in the Little City’s downtown. Now all of that has changed, and instead, the community has a new, bright go-to place that can accommodate 300 beer lovers and diners, 200 fitting inside and another 100 for outdoor seating when the weather is right. Upon receipt of its occupancy
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SPORTING THEIR PINK HATS in honor of the service of retiring F.C. City Council member Deborah Shantz-Hiscott Monday night were members of the audience during a recess. (Photo: News-Press)
Rep. Beyer Spearheads Another Boost to Fusion En ergy
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
While the world of fusion energy research is reeling from the shooting death of MIT’s director of its plasma science and fusion center, Nuno Loureiro, this week, a major step forward was taken in Washington D.C. under the leadership of U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, Democrat of Northern Virginia and chair of the House Fusion Energy Caucus. Along with co-chairs Jay Obernolte (R-CA), and Lori Trahan (D-MA), Beyer this
week introduced bipartisan legislation to formally establish the Office of Fusion at the Department of Energy (DOE). Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and John Cornyn (R-TX). The killing of Loureiro was announced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tuesday night. Loureiro, 47, a native of Portugal, was an award winning scientist appointed director of the MIT lab in May 2024. Authorities had not captured a suspect in the shooting as of yesterday.
Last month, the federal Department of Energy released their reorganization plans which included an “Office of Fusion.” Beyer’s bipartisan bill would codify this office, and urge DOE to move forward with plans to ensure that the United States can continue leading the way on fusion energy and eventually reach commercialization. “Establishing an Office of Fusion at the Department of Energy is a critical step toward unlocking one of the most promising clean energy solutions,” said Representative Beyer. “Fusion research and develop-
ment is advancing toward commercialization, and we need a coordinated federal effort dedicated to getting fusion energy on the grid as quickly as possible. “An established Office of Fusion would provide the focused leadership and technical expertise necessary, in coordination with the private sector, to accelerate decades of scientific progress, give the United States the momentum it needs to lead the world in fusion energy development and deployment,
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