December 29, 2016 – January 4, 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. X X V I No. 45
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Falls Church Man Charged in Stabbing
A 34-year-old man from Falls Church has been charged in an alleged stabbing that occurred in Alexandria in evening of Monday, Dec. 26. See News Briefs, page 9
McLean House Fire Causes $90K in Damage A fire in the basement of a McLean home last week resulted in $90,000 in damages but all members of the household are safe after being awoken by a smoke alarm.
Weather Forecast Bodes Well for Big ‘Watch Night’ Turnout in F.C. Saturday New Year’s Eve Event Downtown Sure to Draw Big
by Patricia Leslie
Falls Church News-Press
Falls Church community, who set the tone for other responses. He wrote that both the most important challenge and opportunity for the Little City is “to become ever stronger and more visible as a community that is welcoming, inclusive, disciplined, compassionate, with high expectations of each other (and our children), responsible, honest and hard working – not just in our jobs and families, but in building the texture of the place we call home. Let’s show the communi-
Celebrating the New Year in Falls Church should be a pleasant affair with forecasts of clear and mild weather for this Saturday during the City’s annual Watch Night festivities. Area residents can blast off into 2017 beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday in downtown Falls Church. Vehicles won’t be running – because W. Broad Street will be shut down – but friends and neighbors will be humming while musicians are drumming and strumming the night away. The 19th annual Watch Night in the Little City has something free for everyone to see and hear, to dance, to ride, to boogie, to climb, rock and roll and to eat. The place to be will be four city blocks at Washington and Broad streets made pedestrian-friendly with vehicle prohibitions, showy new lights and staging to brighten up Falls Church as never before. “There will be plenty of free parking,” says Watch Night organizer Barb Cram. “No worries about that.” Beginning at 7 p.m., free shuttle buses will run from the East Falls Metro station to the party every 30 minutes until 1 a.m., and merrymakers may park at the Metro station without charge, or at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church, the Falls Church Episcopal or on the third floor of the Kaiser Permanente parking garage. Visitors can check out the musical offerings, tours of historic Falls Church, free treats, inflatables, amusements and new rides for little people (and older people, too).
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See News Briefs, page 9
David Brooks: 2016 Syndey Awards
Perry Link once noticed that Chinese writers use more verbs in their sentences whereas English writers use more nouns. This observation is at the core of his New York Review of Books essay “The Mind: Less Puzzling in Chinese?” See page 12
Press Pass With Conduit
A prolific improvisational band in Falls Church, Conduit is largely unknown despite producing 56 CDs in the last 12 years with a 57th on the horizon. See page 25
THE “LOVE” LETTERS, returning to Falls Church thanks to The Little City CATCH Foundation, are set to be a major attraction during the City’s annual Watch Night celebration this Saturday. The sculpture will be center stage in George Mason Square at the corner of S. Washington and Broad streets during the New Year’s Eve event kicking off at 7 p.m. Dec. 31. (Photo: Drew Costley)
City of F.C. Leaders Predict Biggest Issue in 2017 is School Campus Site by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index Editorial..................6 Letters................6, 8 News & Notes.10-11 Comment...12-14, 19 Calendar.........20-21 Business News....22
Food & Dining......23 Sports..................26 Classified Ads......28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner.......30
How the George Mason High School campus development project proceeds in 2017, with the prospect of as much as a $120 million price tag and a public referendum in the fall, is at the front of the minds of a wide cross-section of leaders in the City of Falls Church, according to a NewsPress survey this week. The News-Press issued an invitation to respond to a query concerning “thoughts on what are the most important challenges and
opportunities you think face the City of Falls Church in the coming year.” Most of the respondents, representative of the government, education and development components of the Little City, will probably be meandering around the New Year’s Eve Watch Night festivities this Saturday night, in case anyone wants to press them further on their views presented here. The weather is supposed to be mild enough as to deter no one. The first to respond was Falls Church’s Congressman, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer with deep ties to the