12-3-2015

December 3 - 9, 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. 41

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

Inside This Week FCNP’s Winter Real Estate Edition Inside

The 2015 winter edition of the News-Press’ Real Estate Guide is inside this issue filled with features on renter’s insurance, new home building trends, McLean’s holiday home show and more.

See inside, pages RE1 – RE8

Hillwood Mart Robbed On Thanksgiving

2 Events Set to Offer Public Update On ‘Campus Redevelopment Project’ Dec. 5 & 12 to Give 2 Shots at Same Briefing

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Two men armed with a gun held up Falls Church’s Hillwood Mart on Thanksgiving afternoon last week and the suspects are still at large.

See News Briefs, page 9

David Brooks: The Green Tech Solution I’ve been confused about this Paris climate conference and how the world should move forward to ameliorate climate change, so I séanced up my hero Alexander Hamilton to see what he thought.

See page 12

Press Pass with Fourplay

The contemporary jazz group Fourplay is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the aptly titled album Silver, released on November 20.

See page 29

KIM AND TOM TAO OWNED SEVEN STARS in Falls Church for nearly 30 years before closing for good last Wednesday. (Photo: courtesy of Hung Tao)

After 30 Years, Seven Stars Shutters in Falls Church

by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 Business News......8 News & Notes.10-11 Comment...12-14, 23 Calendar.........24-25

Food & Dining.26-27 Classified Ads .30-31 Sports..................32 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........33 Critter Corner.......34

Seven Stars, the convenience store operated out of 105 Park Avenue for nearly 30 years, closed last Wednesday after a turbulent year that included disagreements over rent and lease violations with the new landlord of the property. Tom and Kim Tao, the store’s owners, posted a sign in the window Wednesday thanking the customers for their patronage over the years.

“We want to extend our deepest gratitude to you, not just [for] supporting our business but also supporting our family,” the letter said. Tom and Kim’s three sons grew up in the time that the family owned the store and helped their parents operate it after they got older.

“You were there to see three little boys play joyously around in the store, while giving their parents endless headaches,” the letter said. “You were there to see them

help run the business, although with many mistakes, it taught them the value of hard work.”

The letter also had some choice words for the new landlord of the property, Jeff Jeffrey, owner of neighboring Cue Recording Studio. Jeffrey, a native of the Falls Church area, bought the property from Ruby Hurt in January of this year and is operating as the landlord of the property under the company

Continued on Page 4

Only two formal replies came last month to a preliminary “request for proposal” to develop the City of Falls Church’s newlyacquired 36-acre parcel for what will become by far its most ambitious endeavor ever.

One bid came from a team centered around Clark Construction, whose proposed plan is expected to be similar to what it offered early in the year as a non-solicited offer, and the other is from a group assembled under the aegis of the Republic development group.

Despite the dearth of bids, the Falls Church City Council and School Board have already held two lengthy behind-closed-doors meetings, with only their own staff and consultants present, to mull the proposals and next steps in a process that is scheduled to culminate with a public referendum next November.

Now, F.C. City Hall has announced a pair of public events to provide citizens two chances this month to get up to speed on where things stand to date, and where it’s expected to be going.

They are the next two Saturday mornings, Dec. 5 and 12, at 10 a.m. in the City Hall Council chambers.

Unless one just likes to hang out in that kind of company, there’s no reason to attend both.

They will be identical, at least in terms of what is presented to the public, while at the same time a lot of preoccupation will be dwelling on the anticipated Dec. 14 City Council super majority vote on the 4.3 acre Mason Row project.

Continued on Page 5

PAGE 2 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

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PAGE 4 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

After Seven Stars Closes, CD Cellar to Move In Continued from Page 1

name FMR Development, LLC. He had been the “unofficial property manager,” he said, for over 20 years prior to buying the property.

The new landlord was called out by the Taos in their letter to customers. “As you may already know, we will be closing our business by the end of the month, due to constant harassment and deplorable actions of our current landlord,” the letter said. “It is unfortunate, but we are managing and are grateful to our regulars who are supporting us throughout this ordeal.”

Jeffrey told the News-Press that

he did not want to dignify the letter with a response and that he attempted to work with the Tao family over the last several months in order to allow them to continue to operate Seven Stars or sell the space to another local business.

“It was so untruthful and inaccurate,” Jeffrey said. “It was completely out of spite because they couldn’t stay for free without me being upset. It’s antithetical to how a person would normally act with a landlord that was being nice.”

According to Jeffrey, he initially attempted to renew the Tao’s lease but wanted to raise the rent.

Jeffrey said that he wanted to

raise the family’s rent as well as other current and former tenants because he has a mortgage to pay on the building.

Kim Tao and Jeffrey both told the News-Press that the Tao family could not pay an increased amount for rent. “They said they weren’t making much money…I wanted to give them an opportunity to sign a new five-year lease at a new rate, slightly higher…they didn’t want to do that,”Jeffrey said. According to Jeffrey, the Tao family told him they had to go into their savings to cover rent costs every month.

At that point, about six months ago, Jeffrey said he offered the Tao

Transform 66 Inside and Outside the Beltway Projects Public Meeting

Tuesday, December 8, 2015 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

George Mason High School Cafetorium 7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22043 You are invited to share your input on the Transform 66 Inside and Outside the Beltway projects during a public meeting held by the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB). The public will have the opportunity to provide formal comments to CTB members or to the court reporter.

Individuals offering public comment will be asked to limit their remarks to not more than three minutes. Organizations or associations may be asked to select one individual to speak for the group. All attendees will have the opportunity to provide their comments to the court reporter.

If you cannot attend the meeting, you may provide your comments at any time online at Transform66.org, by email to Transform66@VDOT.Virginia.gov, or by mail to the VDOT Northern Virginia District Office, 4975 Alliance Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030 (Attention: Amanda Baxter for Transform 66 Inside the Beltway or Susan Shaw, P.E., for Transform 66 Outside the Beltway).

About the Transform 66 Projects: I-66 Inside the Beltway involves converting I-66 to dynamically-priced toll lanes in the peak direction during morning (eastbound) and afternoon (westbound) rush hours between I-495 and U.S. Route 29 in Rosslyn, along with implementing a series of multimodal improvements that benefit the toll users of I-66.

I-66 Outside the Beltway involves building two express lanes and three regular lanes in each direction, new bus service and other multimodal improvements such as new and expanded park and ride lots along I-66 between U.S. Route 15 in Haymarket and I-495.

The Commonwealth of Virginia ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact VDOT’s Civil Rights Division at 800-367-7623 or TTY/TDD 711.

Transform 66 Inside the Beltway

State Project Number: 0066-96A-358, P101 UPC: 107371

Transform 66 Outside the Beltway State Project Number: 0066-96A-297, P101 Federal Project: NH-066-1(300) UPC: 105500 UPC: 105500

family the opportunity to move out of the building “at no penalty,” because another local business was interested in buying out the business and moving into the space they occupied. According to Jeffrey, the Tao family asked for a $100,000 buyout, which was too much for the potential buyers.

After that impasse, Jeffrey began making renovations to the facade of the building. These renovations included replacing and painting the trim of the storefront, removing lights that were installed into the face of the building and removing a wire from the outside wall of the building that connected a terminal in the store to a satellite that enabled Seven Stars to sell Virginia Lottery tickets. According to the lease agreement the Tao family had with the previous owner, they did not have permission to install the lights into the face of the building or install the lottery wire.

According to Jeffrey, the Tao family called Falls Church police during the removal of the lottery wire. “That of course challenged the relationship that we had when they called the police on [their] landlord for doing something that [they had] done as a tenant that’s basically against the lease,” Jeffrey said.

Jeffrey said that before this incident, the nature of his relationship with the Tao family was amicable.

But he began to move towards evicting them for breaches of their lease, conducting restaurant business and cooking food on the premises and other violations, after the incident with the police.

According to legal documents drafted by Becker, Kellogg &

Berry on behalf of Jeffrey’s FMR Development, LLC, on October 26, the Tao family was issued a “notice to quit and vacate the property” no later than November 30.

After attempts by Jeffrey and the Tao family to negotiate the terms of the notice failed, Jeffrey issued a termination of the lease agreement on November 6, which stipulated that Seven Stars vacate the premises on or before November 30.

The Tao family doesn’t have any immediate plans and are still exploring what they will do next.

“We hope to keep in touch with many of you and share with you what comes next after Seven Stars Inc.,” they said in their letter.

Now that Seven Stars has shut down and vacated the premises, Falls Church’s CD Cellar will move into the space from its current location at 709 W. Broad St. Though an official move in and open date has not been set, CD Cellar will relocate there at some point during 2016, according to Jeffrey.

With his Cue Recording Studios, Action Music – which relocated into space formerly occupied by Art and Frame of Falls Church – and CD Cellar, Jeffrey said that he envisioned creating a music destination of sorts, as the high-end audio equipment business Command Performance and popular live-music venue State Theatre are also less than a block away.

“One of my goals now with the building is to turn it into a music row….We have all these really neat music companies in the City and it could be a one-stop destination for music lovers,” Jeffrey said. “That’s the vision I have.”

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

2 Public Meetings Set to Outline Campus Process Continued from Page 1

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields told the News-Press this week that both the “closed session” meetings have been productive, with the latest this Monday night taking a full two hours. But otherwise, there was no information to be disclosed. From the public information provided about the two bids, it is noted that both call for the construction from scratch of a new high school and extensive renovations to and expansion of the middle school.

As for the question of why only two developers responded to the initial request for proposals, or RFP, from the City, Shields said, “I will leave it to others to comment on that.”

It is safe to say that the City was expecting a more robust response, especially given the big turnout of high-powered developers that showed up for a non-mandatory briefing on the contents of the RFP in August.

The RFP called for a mix of school development and econom-

ic development-oriented development on 10 of the 36 acres. Under the terms of the deal between Falls Church and Fairfax County for the transfer of the 36 acres into the jurisdictional control of Falls Church (as part of an exchange for Fairfax’s acquisition of the Falls Church Water System), only about 10 acres of the land could be put to anything other than an educational use.

But the 10 acres susceptible to commercial development could be some of the most lucrative in the entire region because of their proximity to the West Falls Church Metro station. In that context, among the boundary conditions is a long-term lease (for $1)

by Falls Church in the early 1990s of significant acreage adjacent the current site to the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech for a graduate center there. The universities have an option to buy their land at the end of the lease.

The project is also bounded by the West Falls Shopping Center, home of Giant Foods and other retailers, whose owner has not yet

LO CA L shown an interest in being folded into a bigger development with the City. The same goes for a considerable assemblage of land that the Beyer Automotive Group has across the street.

Thus, one question that has risen to date goes to the issue of the extent to which exploring the capacity for expanding the footprint of the development of commercial component of the land in question has or has not occurred.

Another aspect has to do with the restrictions placed by the City’s “RFP” on the nature of the economic development for the 10 acres of the site.

One knowledgeable source told the News-Press that there are two problems that he feels played a major role in restricting the number of developers who bid on the project.

The first is the inability of a developer to squeeze everything that the City wants onto the land.

With two schools, full athletic fields, a swimming pool and a public use performance center, there is no way, according to this source, that there would be any more than eight, not 10, acres left over for commercial development.

The second is the condition in the RFP that the commercial component include such a high

percentage (as high as 75 percent) of non-residential use in a regional market that is currently overbuilt as it is, where there is no shortage of office space and commercialretail options.

The way it plays out is a twostage process, the first being the construction of the new school facilities and then, only after they are completed and the old facilities then demolished, can the second phase, the commercial phase, begin. That ties up the commercial component for at least four years, the component that the developer would count on for the revenue flow needed to pay for everything else and come away with some kind of profit.

“It is like they went up into their attic and pulled down every ornament they could find to put on their Christmas tree,” one developer quipped, according to the News-Press source.

According to one of the proposals, the News-Press was told, the cost of the new school facilities, a public swimming pool and road improvements is projected to cost $180 million. The cost of the athletic fields called for is estimated at $30 million (the NewsPress source noted that a private school in the District with major benefactors revamped all its fields for $16 million).

DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 5

Some developers considered the City’s RFP to represent “a bit of a wild goose chase” with unrealistic financial expectations and conditions on the commercial acreage component. “It is simply not financially attractive to many,” he said.

He said certain of the same constraints caused Akridge, one of the biggest commercial developers in the region, to give up on its Falls Church Gateway project on N. Washington St., which it sold to the Inova Health Systems last year. The City was demanding Akridge find a lead tenant to occupy 80,000 square feet of the site, and it was simply undoable.

The News-Press source said that the most successful use of the commercial component of the campus redevelopment project land would be residential options to attract millennials and age-targeted populations (age-targeted, as opposed to age-restricted, he emphasized).

The nearby Metro could be a huge component of what would make condominiums on that land, for example, highly attractive to those demographic components.

With the prospective job explosion expected in Tysons Corner, Metro-proximate workforce housing, including micro unit housing, could be very popular and lucrative, he suggested.

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PAGE 6 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

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T� C������ ��� N���-P���� �����: 703-532-3267 ���: 703-342-0347 �����: ���������.��� ������� ����������� ��������.��� ���������� ��� �������������.��� ������� �� ��� ������ ������������.��� ������������� ������������ � �������� �������������.��� WWW.FCNP.COM The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2015 Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.

E D I TO R I A L

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Our Worries About The Campus Project

What has concerned us so far in the process that has been coined the “campus redevelopment project” covering the 36 acres of prime real estate ceded to the City of Falls Church last year, is that neither of the two bids responding to the City’s “request for development” seems geared to fully exploiting the enormous economic development potential represented by the land’s proximity to the West Falls Church Metro station.

Part of it, we presume (the guts of both the bids are currently sealed), is caused by the requirement for a brand new high school and expanded middle school. To make that happen as the first priority, the construction must occur while the current school facilities remain in use. That, by definition, limits a big component of the 10 acres of the land allotted for economic development (under terms of the land sale) to be where the current schools are. That’s a big problem, because the current schools are at the part of the site farthest from the Metro, meaning that commercial development there will also be farthest from the Metro.

Two points for now. First, the highly successful new Hilton Garden Inn in the 700 block of W. Broad Street cites its success on its patrons’ perception that it is very close to the Metro (with a hotel van that shuttles people there). Second, the City has a strong tendency to make extremely bad decisions on matters of this kind, as its decision in the early 1990s to lease for $1 a year the land on which the University of Virginia/Virginia Tech grad center sits demonstrated.

There remains an aversion to the notion of what the Metro system can bring to the City of Falls Church in terms of tax revenue to the City.

According to one expert who provided background information to the News-Press on the campus redevelopment project this week, constraints placed on commercial development at the site are a big factor in why only two developers have bid on the effort.

This source is convinced that the regional office market is overbuilt, already, and the population “critical mass” is not in or immediately around Falls Church right now to make a lot more retail here work.

But what will work in proximity to the Metro are condominiums, and it is prime time for that boom to resurface. If the condos are designed well enough, they can appeal to millennials and age-targeted populations that will have the natural effect of limiting their occupancy by families with children, and they will bring their considerable spending power to Falls Church.

Moreover, a combination high-rise condo project and hotel right at the Metro would yield the highest tax revenue return to Falls Church of any other option.

Is it too late to bring this vision into play? It worries us that a decision as horrible as the one the City made in the early 1990s might repeat.

L������

Election Vote Doesn’t Equal Automatic Development OK Editor, I was surprised to read the News-Press headline “Planning Commissioner Calls to Nullify November Election Vote.” This would be outrageous if it were true. Those of us who attended the meeting know it is not.

The worst, but not sole, example of distortion is how the News-Press took a quote

by Commission member Ruth Rodgers completely out of con-

text. After Mason Row developer Spectrum Management asked for a deferral until January in order to possibly make some minor changes, Rodgers remarked that “the major change will be a change in the makeup of the City Council, and that’s what this [the deferral request] is all about.”

The News-Press would have us believe this quote means that “Rogers acknowledged that the outcome of the will of the citizen-

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7. Make the paper show profit if you can, but above all keep it clean, fearless and fair.

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ry in the Nov. 3 election needed to be immediately negated by the Planning Commission.”

Underlying this and other recent News-Press articles is an assumption that the election results mandate that any development project, however well or poorly suited for its site, should be approved. Not mentioned is the fact that Mayor David Tarter, who received the most votes for City Council, voted against Mason Row the only time it has come before the Council.

A more reasonable interpretation of the election results may be that voters support thoughtful development. It also could

mean that voters turned out for candidates who strongly support our schools and engage in civil political debate. The fact that the two candidates who supported a development ban were defeated does not mean that voters favor automatic approval of every development proposal that comes along.

After moving to Falls Church earlier this year, my wife and I were happy to have a local paper covering news of our community.

It’s too bad the News-Press is not living up to its stated aspiration to “not let the news columns reflect editorial comment.”

Peter Cunniffe Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 7

Mason Row Is Still Too Big, Needs More Changes B� D������� P����� T�����

In spite of the excellent intentions of Spectrum, and their flexibility in incorporating our ideas, especially starting over in some aspects, Mason Row is still too big by half. After working with Peter Batten for just one issue, I would love to support his vision, and all of his incredible plans, his devotion, his treatment of me as a peer citizen.

So much about Mason Row is fantastic, fun, and future-appropriate for us.

But since the beginning, for me, I have worried Falls Church will have so much human crowding, traffic and surrounding area gridlock, that we will be the lightning rod for Route 7 road rage, more school conflict, unrented apartments, empty offices, retail chaos, and more. This concern was only related to Mason Row, back in April.

Today, four weeks after our election, voters showed much favor to candidates open to MUD’s, and other inevitable proposals. There are several great ideas for our special town, city, our “smallest city in Northern Virginia…our smallest citycounty in the United States…” We are still one eclectic neighborhood called Falls Church.

We must develop holistically from now on!

If we do not unite against traffic and

density policies in our own code, which we currently do not enforce when pressed to adjust project-by-project, we could simultaneously become a laughing stock in our state and region, a political and planning object lesson on what not to do. Are we going to agree to a botched destiny, a fatal

“Are our traf�ic of�icials understating the consequences, which are already so obvious to common sense?” density? If we fail, the universe, including all of our neighbors, will know we did it to ourselves.

We become Broad Street, but are Route 7. We have huge, loud, smoke-spewing trucks all day, every day. Clearly, almost all are just passing through, eager to hurry to the next “open highway.” Rush hour is solid, about 3 to 7 p.m. daily, commuters also pushing to get elsewhere.

Weekends are their own special traffic ordeals: Route 7 both ways becomes clogged. Long waits at traffic lights and grueling searches for parking, are carrying

mostly consumers, out to shop, dine, watch, acquire, to commit cash they just earned during the prior five days. The stream, from my home sidewalk assessment again, can only grow, and grow.

Are our traffic officials understating the consequences, which are already so obvious to common sense? Are we in denial?

Do we feel guilty because we appreciate Spectrum as a “friend of the family” now?

I feel as though I do, and as though I am betraying them.

I called Peter Batten recently, about my alarm over the ugly, windowless brown blocks in his Mason Row drawings. I was a little intimidated, but Peter was so great! He said he had planned red Virginia brick facades throughout Mason Row. How relieved I was!

We have all heard now that Spectrum’s financing partner will quit if the 340 apartments do not get approved. That’s such a gun to the head for all of us who want development to succeed in our City! If we had started the Mason Row process with a public-private partnership, we could have negotiated variances together. We have been very clear when we give Spectrum answers to their various proposals, every time: apartments’ size, and height/massing, are constant among our concerns. No real changes have occurred in spite of so many opportunities we had.

We are all keenly aware of several other

new MUD developers, currently parked at our doors for approval! We must apply our Mason Row experience anew!

Please, everyone, please hear the citizens who want development today, but are caught up in such common sense concerns as scale, impact, traffic, and schools conflicts. We are not the same group as those seeking to cancel Mason Row outright.

What do you think? Will you assess each incoming proposal holistically, in the larger context of traffic and density around us already? All new proposals should have to plan around our revised codes, now that we have learned so much honest information.

I ask all of you, citizens and developers: 1) How can we help private sector proposals, and our city, to finance their visions based on our own new guidelines, which we must write into our planning codes!

2) How do we create legitimate profits for our city and developers, with a more uniform set of limits for each new developer? More offers of great welcome to them as well?

3) Will we honor our developer now, work together to save best features of Mason Row, and help obtain financing of reality-based planning for Falls Church, with so many prominent supporters ready to keep us moving forward in change we can shape together?

Q������� �� ��� W��� Were you a frequent visitor of the Seven Stars convenience store?

• Yes

Last Week’s Question: Compared to last year, are you more or less thankful this year?

• No

Log on to www.FCNP.com to cast your vote

FCNP On-Line polls are surveys, not scientific polls.

[WRITE FOR THE PRESS] The News-Press welcomes readers to send in submissions in the form of Letters to the Editor

& Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks.

Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published. All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.

Email: letters@fcnp.com | Mail: Letters to the Editor, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church 22046 | Fax: 703.340.0347

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Quinn’s Auction Features Rare Winslow Homer Tile

by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

A photograph of the three Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin, autographed by the astronauts is just one of a few hundred items being auctioned on Thursday, Dec. 3, at starting at 6 p.m. at Waverly Rare Books. Two days later, Quinn’s Auction Galleries, of which Waverly Rare Books is a division, is hosting a Fine & Decorative Arts Auction featuring work by D.C.-area artists.

Matthew Quinn, one of the owner’s of Quinn’s Auction Galleries, said he has mixed feelings about his level of excitement for the items the gallery has for auction.

“It comes and goes on the various items,” Quinn said. “On the one hand not much excites you at all anymore, on the other hand you see stuff and you say ‘Wow! What is that?’ So it just varies for what triggers the excitement.”

An example of the variety of things that makes him excited is wall outside of the gallery that’s ten feet long and five feet tall of 180 tiles depicting the story Man

of La Mancha that’s from either the 18th or 19th century.

The estimated value of that item, according to Quinn’s website, is between $8,000 – $12,000.

“That’s not a very valuable thing,” Quinn said. “But it’s just fascinating and different to see that kind of thing.”

The Apollo 11 photograph is just one of several NASA-related items being auctioned at the 461lot sale of rare books, maps, photographs and other ephemera.

According to Quinn, the NASA photos came from John Peterses, a retired chief publicist for NASAmanned space missions.

“We’ve certainly sold NASA photos before,” Quinn said. “But it’s always fascinating to see it.”

Among the maps that Waverly Rare Books has for auction on Thursday, there are several maps of Washington, D.C. from the 19th century that got Quinn excited.

“Seeing old local history is always interesting,” he said.

Old and more recent fine and decorative arts created by artists from around the region figure heavily into the gallery’s December 5 auction. One of the more recent pieces is a diptych

QUINN’S AUCTION GALLERIES is featuring this tile that Winslow Homer painted in 1878 as part of its fine and decorative art auction on December 5. (Photo: Drew Costley/News-Press) called “Open Cylinder,” which was created in 1979 by a black artist from Washington, D.C. named Sam Gilliam. The piece has an estimated value of between $7,000 – $9,000.

An older piece that is being featured is a tile painted by Winslow

Homer from 1878. With an estimated value of $15,000 – $25,000, the tile is speculated to be one of six or seven painted by Homer that exist in the world today.

“We have a Winslow Homer tile that came out of this group called the tile club [that existed] from

1877-1888 and there’s only like six or seven known in existence,” Quinn said. “So that’s kind of cool because it’s Winslow Homer that a lot of naive art people can recognize...it’s that big of a name and to have a piece of a tile from that era is pretty fascinating.”

Fa l l s C h u r c h

Business News & Notes

Friends of the Falls Church Homeless Shelter, Friends of the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, Homestretch, Mary Riley Styles Library Foundation Trust, Relay for Life of the Beltway, Safe Haven and the Victorian Society of Falls Church. Corporate sponsors include Beyer Automotive, Happy Tart Bakery and Washington Group Solutions and the event sponsor is the Falls Church News-Press. For more information, visit www.

FallsChurchTreeFest.com.

Bikenetic ‘Moving Parade’ Set for Saturday

Merrifield Biz Association Holiday Luncheon Scheduled for Dec. 10

Bikenetic is hosting a moving parade on Saturday, December 5 at 9 a.m. to transport its 70 bikes from its current location at 922 W. Broad Street to its new location at 201 W. Jefferson Street. Customers and local dignitaries have been invited to the old shop to take a bike (first come first served), have a safety check conducted on it, and then ride it down the W&OD Trail with a Falls Church City Police bicycle and motorcycle escort to the new location where breakfast will be provided by Clare & Don’s Beach Shack and Mike’s Deli at Lazy Sundae. A ribbon cutting will be held at 9:45 a.m.

The Greater Merrifield Business Association is hosting a holiday luncheon and auction to benefit PRS, Inc. (formerly known as Psychiatric Rehabilitative Services) on Thursday, December 10 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Dunn Loring Courtyard Marriott, 2722 Gallows Road in Vienna. The cost is $25 for members, $30 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.greatermerrifield.org.

BJ’s Wholesale in F.C. Donates $2.5K to So Others Might Eat BJ’s Wholesale Club in Falls Church recently presented So Others Might Eat with a $2,500 donation to help with its hunger prevention efforts. The donation will be used to purchase food for the SOME Food Programs for the homeless where hot breakfast and lunch are served daily to men, women and children in need. SOME, Inc. was one of 70 nonprofits to receive grants from BJ’s Charitable Foundation. The 70 grants will impact the lives of more than two million residents across BJ’s 15-state footprint. As part of its quarterly grant cycle, the Foundation contributed $249,900 to benefit the underprivileged in the areas of education and hunger prevention.

Falls Church Tree Fest 2015 Comes to Community Center Saturday Several local businesses and nonprofit organizations are participating in Falls Church Tree Fest 2015, organized by Melissa Morse, advertising director for the Falls Church News-Press. Decorated trees will be available for viewing and auctioned on Sunday, December 6 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Community Center. Trees have been decorated by, and will benefit, Childhelp, Creative Cauldron, Falls Church Education Foundation,

Local Agent Sponsoring Creative Cauldron Performances Century 21 Redwood Realty Realtor Gary Hughes is sponsoring Creative Cauldron’s presentation of Madeline and the Gypsies which will be performed weekends December 4 – 27 at ArtSpace Falls Church. For information about showtimes and tickets, visit www. creativecauldron.org. For information about Hughes, visit www.novaagent.com.

F.C. Lions Club Announces Citrus, Pecan & Maple Syrup Sale The Falls Church Lions Club Charities will be selling premium citrus, pecans and maple syrup on Friday and Saturday, December 18 and 19 and on Saturday, January 16 at the Falls Church City parking lot on Shreve Road. The January date will be the last fruit sale that will take place at the Falls Church location as the group is merging with the Annandale Lions Club. Future fruit sales through the Annandale-Falls Church Lions Club, including one on Saturday, February 20, will take place at the Annandale Swim Club parking lot, 7530 Little River Turnpike. For more information, visit www.fallschurchlions.org.  Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 9

F� � � � C � � � � �

Beyer to Join in Prayers at F.C. Mosque Friday Nearly two weeks after a local Falls Church area mosque, Dar Al-Hijrah, was threatened with a hoax bomb, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes Falls Church, joined Keith Ellison (D-Mn.), and Joe Crowley (D-NY) to write House colleagues urging them to visit the Falls Church mosque to participate in Friday prayers this week. “Intolerance and hatred have no place in American society,” said Rep. Beyer. “We are a diverse nation of immigrants whose shared cultural heritage is one of openness and inclusion. We must celebrate this diverse thread of our cultural cloth, not tear it apart.” Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Outreach Director for the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, said, “Many in our community feel under siege in recent weeks. Women taking their children to school have been heckled by passersby, and we experienced two incidences of hate violence. It is with the support of good neighbors like Congressmen Beyer, Ellison, and Crowley that we carry on knowing that our future will be brighter.” Their visits comes on the heels of numerous reports over the past few weeks of anti-Muslim acts of hatred throughout the country, including in Northern Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Arizona. Beyer will participate in Friday prayers at Dar al-Hijrah, 159 Row Street, Falls Church, at 12:15 p.m. Following the service, he will join Imam Johari AbdulMalik to speak with reporters and the public.

Hillwood Mart Robbed on Thanksgiving

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Two men armed with a gun held up Falls Church’s Hillwood Mart and stole some items on Thanksgiving afternoon last week. Police say the suspects, described as two black males, entered the store at 100 Hillwood Avenue around 3:20 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26, displayed a gun and took items before leaving on Annandale Road towards Route 50. There were no reported injuries. At this time, police say, there is no further description of the suspects, photographs or video.

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Public Invited to Speak on I-66 Tuesday Next Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. in the George Mason High School Cafetorium, the public is invited to share input on the Transform 66 Inside and Outside the Beltway projects during a public meeting held by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The public will have the opportunity to provide formal comments to board members or to the court reporter. George Mason High School is located at 7124 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church.

Mobile DMV Coming to F.C. City Hall Dec. 11 DMV 2 Go, the mobile unit of Department of Motor Vehicles, is scheduled to visit the parking lot of City Hall in Falls Church, 300 Park Avenue, on Friday, Dec. 11, F.C. Revenue Commissioner Tom Clinton announced this week. It will be open to the public from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. to provide full DMV services. These include renewing driver’s licenses and ID cards, obtaining vehicle titles, license plates, decals and trascripts, ordering disabled parking placards and plates, applying for birth certificates, obtaining EZ-Pass transponders, address updates, hunting and fishing licenses, boat registrations and more.

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In partnership with United Community Ministries, we are proud to sponsor a Winter Clothing Drive!

Commuter-Friendly Businesses Honored Fairfax County will honor this year’s recipients of the Best Workplaces for Commuters next Tuesday in the Fairfax County Government Center Atrium. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to issue a proclamation in support of the “Fairfax First 50” BWC organizations that helped make Fairfax County the first jurisdiction in the country to sign on more than 50 employers as best workplaces for commuters, according to county officials.

“Promoting alternate ways to work, and policies such as teleworking and flex time, help make Fairfax County a better place to live and work by reducing congestion on our roadways,” said Fairfax County Department of Transportation Director Tom Biesiadny. “We are pleased that Fairfax County is leading the nation in “Best Workplace” designations and are committed to continuing to expand this programs in years to come.” This year’s recipients are: Horizon Industries Limited, Prosperity Metro Plaza, FUTREND, U. S. Geological Survey, KimleyHorn, Freddie Mac, Synaptek Corporation, National Student Clearinghouse, FOX Architects LLC, and Pyramid Systems Inc. The designation acknowledges employers who have excelled in implementing green commuter programs such as ridesharing, transit benefits, biking and walking, teleworking, alternate work schedules and other strategies.

Please drop off new or gently used winter clothing to our Arlington office: Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM • Saturday-Sunday, 10 AM - 4 PM

4720 Lee Highway • Arlington, VA 22207

703.525.1900 | McEnearney.com 4720 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207

®

PAGE 10 | DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

News-Press

Community News & Notes Houses of Worship Host Blanket and Coat Drives Several houses of worship around the region, including Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located at 3195 Row St., Falls Church, are hosting one day only blanket and coat donation drives on Saturday, Dec. 5 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

The blankets and coats collected will be donated to Syrian and Iraqi refugees in this coordinated effort by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

The houses of worship will be collecting clean, gently used blankets and coats. McLean Stake Center, located at 2043 Great Falls Street, McLean, will also be collecting blankets and coats.

Last year, nearly 18,000 blankets were collected and shipped to assist these families. This year’s collection, which ends on December 5, has been expanded

to accept coats of all sizes (infants through adults). For more information, visit helpsyrianrefugees. us.

Bonita Woods Wellness Institute Hosts Concert The Bonita Woods Wellness Institute, located at 140 Little Falls Street, is hosting a live music concert called Sound Healing from Song and Symphony on Sunday, Dec. 6 from 7 – 9 p.m.

Sound healer Bruce Wegner and vocalist Shahnaz will team up to share their talent of translating music into a channel of harmonic healing.

Admission for the event is $25.

Also, on Tuesday, Dec. 8 from 7 – 9 p.m., the Bonita Woods Wellness Institute will be hosting a shamanic-style guided meditation. Admission for the meditation is $10. For more information, visit BonitaWoods.org.

One More Page Books Announces December Events One More Page, a bookstore located on the edge of Arlington County at 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, recently announced its slate of December events, which includes a reading with a NPR correspondent at Arlington’s Central Library.

The bookstore is kicking off its month of events with its monthly wine tasting on Friday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Two days later, author Jeff Cioletti will discuss and sign his book The Year of Drinking Adventurously: 52 Ways to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone, at One More Page at 3:30 p.m.

Each of the guide’s 52 chapters features the story behind a unique beer, spirit, cocktail or wine, designed to broaden one’s choice of beverage.

Michael J. Sullivan will discuss and sign the third install-

ment in his Riyria Chronicles series The Death of Dulgath on Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 6:30 p.m.

Finally, the NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten, author A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story, will read from his new book at Central Library on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

Central Library is located at 1015 N. Quincy St., Arlington. For more information, visit onemorepagebooks.com.

Three for a Song’s ‘Cocktail For Three’ to Feature Blake Iyona Blake, a vocalist and actress known for her performances in the Creative Cauldron productions of “Once on This Island,” will be Three for a Song’s guest vocalist for “Cocktails for Three,” the group’s next show at Creative Cauldron at 410 S. Maple Street. The show is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.

Creative Cauldron’s website is calling the show “an intoxicating collection of boozy, bold, and beautiful melodies of the 20s and 30s guaranteed to go to your head, like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew.”

The show will include standards and some known and unknown holiday-themed tunes.

Ticket for the show range between $18 – $20. For more information, visit creativecauldron.org.

Students of Local Teaching Artist Host Show and Sale Students of Falls Church-based watercolor painter and teacher Deborah Conn hosted a show and sale of their work on November 22 at her house on Timber Lane.

Julie Krachman, who sold two pieces at the show, told the News-Press in an email that “Conn is a terrific artist and a great teacher and an asset to the greater Falls Church community.”

STUDENTS OF LOCAL ARTIST Deborah Conn hosted an art show and sale FALLS CHURCH GIRL SCOUT TROOP 676 recently prepared cookies for the at her house on Timber Lane on November 22. Julie Krachman, in an email Falls Church Police, Fire and Public Works Departments. (Photo: Courtesy of Melissa to the News-Press, called Conn a terrific artist and a great teacher. (Photo:

Teates)

Courtesy of Julie Krachman)

Send Us Your News & Notes!

The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!

Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St. #508, Falls Church, VA 22046

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Northwest Arlington Lions Club Citrus Sale Starts Dec. 8

The Northwest Arlington Lions Club/Charities will be selling fresh Florida citrus, Georgia pecans and Vermont maple syrup at Overlee Pool’s Main Pump House, located at 6030 Lee Hwy., Arlington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, through Sunday, Dec. 13.

Sale hours are from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m.

– 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 and 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Sales will go to support the Northwest Arlington Lions Club’s community service projects. For more information, call 703-5281130.

Arlington Philharmonic’s Crescendo Holds First Concert Crescendo, the Arlington Philharmonic’s new youth chamber music program, is holding its inaugural concert on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 4 p.m. at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater, located at 1611 N. Kent St., Arlington.

Made up of dedicated students in grades 8 – 12 who are selected by audition, Crescendo musicians rehearse weekly and receive instruction and coaching in chamber music techniques from professional musicians.

The inaugural concert will feature two small ensembles. A bass quintet will perform a piece by the composer George Onslow and a string quartet will showcase a Beethoven selection. Also, all nine

youth musicians will combine to play a number of holiday tunes.

Admission to the concert is free, but goodwill donations will be accepted. For more information, visit arlingtonphilharmonic.org.

Messiah Sing-Along Slated For December 6 St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Arlington has invited the public to its 25th Annual Advent Tradition: Messiah Sing-Along, which will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will feature St. Peter’s Adult Choir with orchestra and soloists.

The chorus will sing choruses from the Christmas portion (and Hallelujah chorus) of Handel’s “Messiah.” For those that do not have their own score of Handel’s “Messiah,” St. Peter’s will be selling and loaning out copies of the score at the event.

The concert will be approximately an hour-long and there will be a reception after the performance. The concert is free, though the church encourages donations of non-perishable food. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is located at 4250 N. Glebe Road, Arlington. For more information, visit stpetersmusic.org.

Langston-Brown Hosts Melanoma Workshop Langston-Brown Community and Senior Center and Park, located at 2121 N. Culpeper St., Arlington, is hosting a workshop on Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 11 a.m. – noon aimed at teaching senior citizens how to designate between changes in the skin that are normal and abnormal.

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DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015 | PAGE 11

Called Melanoma Versus Age Spots, the workshop will be taught

by Stephanie Scharnweber, a representative from Griswold Home Care, who will teach how seniors how they can regularly screen their skin for changes. She will also discuss the importance of skin care.

The workshop is free and open to the public and no registration is required. For more information, call 703-228-6300.

Temple Rodef Shalom Hosts Chanukah Community Event Temple Rodef Shalom is hosting its inaugural Chanukah Community Singalong on Sunday, Dec. 6 at 3:30 p.m. at Quincy Park, located at 1021 N. Quincy St., Arlington. The teen, youth and children’s choirs of Temple Rodef Shalom will lead community members in a festive singalong.

Attendees will also be able to enjoy food – donuts, fried chicken and other fried (and not fried) delicacies from local food trucks.

There will also be an opportunity to take home a dreidel and Hanukkah gelt. Tickets for the event cost $5 – $20. Preregistration is encouraged.

To preregister, visit eventbrite.com/e/yes-virginia-there-ischanukah-community-singalongdinner-tickets-18980157161. For more information, visit Cookie Mandell at 703-532-2217.

Correction: Last week, we ran a story about George Mason High School’s varsity football titled “Mustang Football Season Ends with 47-0 Loss” and said it was written by Drew Costley.

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SURVIVING WIFE AND FAMILY members of long-time Falls Church resident Richard T. Allan, Jr., were on hand at the Falls Church City Council meeting Monday night to honor his life and legacy. Allan died October 9. A resident of Falls Church for 48 years and another 12 at the Goodwin House in Arlington, Allan worked as a library volunteer here until age 92. His wife Betty was present Monday night and other family members that include children James, Christian and Susan, and six grandchildren, were also present. Members of the Council came down from the dais to greet the family, as shown in the photo above. (Photo: News-Press)

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PAGE 12 | DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015

NATI O NA L

The Green Tech Solution I’ve been confused about this Paris climate conference and how the world should move forward to ameliorate climate change, so I séanced up my hero Alexander Hamilton to see what he thought. I was sad to be reminded that he doesn’t actually talk in hip-hop, but he still had some interesting things to say.

First, he was struck by the fact that on this issue the GOP has come to resemble a Soviet dictatorship – a vast majority of Republican politicians can’t publicly say what they know about the truth of climate change because they’re afraid the thought police will knock on their door and drag them off to an AM radio interrogation.

This week’s Paris conference, I observed, seems like a giant Weight Watchers meeting. A bunch of national NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE leaders get together and make some resolutions to cut their carbon emissions over the next few decades. You hope some sort of peer pressure will kick in and they will actually follow through.

I’m afraid Hamilton snorted. The co-author of the Federalist papers is the opposite of naïve about human nature. He said the conference is nothing like a Weight Watchers meeting. Unlike weight loss, the pain in reducing carbon emissions is individual but the good is only achieved collectively.

You’re asking people to impose costs on themselves today for some future benefit they will never see. You’re asking developing countries to forswear growth now to compensate for a legacy of pollution from richer countries that they didn’t benefit from. You’re asking richer countries that are facing severe economic strain to pay hundreds of billions of dollars in “reparations” to India and such places that can go on and burn mountains of coal and take away U.S. jobs. And you’re asking for all this top-down coercion to last a century, without any enforcement mechanism. Are the Chinese really going to police a local coal plant efficiently?

This is perfectly designed to ensure cheating. Already, the Chinese government made a grandiose climate change announcement but then was forced to admit that its country was burning 17 percent more coal than it had previously disclosed. The cheating will create a cycle of resentment that will dissolve any sense of common purpose.

I countered by pointing out that policymakers have come up with some clever ways to make carbon reductions more efficient, like cap and trade, permit trading and carbon taxing.

The former Treasury secretary pointed out that these ideas are good in theory but haven’t worked in reality. Cap and trade has not worked out so well in Europe. Overall, the Europeans have spent $280 billion on climate change with very little measurable impact on global temperatures. And as for carbon taxes, even if the U.S. imposed one on itself, it would have virtually no effect on the global climate.

Hamilton steered me to an article by James Manzi and Peter Wehner in his favorite magazine, National Affairs. The authors point out that according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the expected economic costs of unaddressed global warming over the next century are likely to be about 3 percent of world gross domestic product.

This is a big, gradual problem, but not the sort of cataclysmic immediate threat that’s likely to lead people to suspend their immediate self-interest.

Well, I ventured, if you’re skeptical about our own policies, Mr. Founding Father, what would you do?

Look at what you’re already doing, he countered. The United States has the fastest rate of reduction of CO2 emissions of any major nation on earth, back to pre-1996 levels. That’s in part because of fracking. Natural gas is replacing coal, and natural gas emits about half as much carbon dioxide.

The larger lesson is that innovation is the key. Green energy will beat dirty energy only when it makes technical and economic sense.

Hamilton reminded me that he often used government money to stoke innovation. Manzi and Wehner suggest that one of our great national science labs could work on geoengineering problems to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Another could investigate cogeneration and small-scale energy reduction systems. We could increase funding on battery and smart-grid research. If we move to mainly solar power, we’ll need much more efficient national transmission methods. Maybe there’s a partial answer in increased vegetation.

Hamilton pointed out that when America was just a bunch of scraggly colonies, he was already envisioning it as a great world power. He used government to incite, arouse, energize and stir up great enterprise. The global warming problem can be addressed, ineffectively, by global communiqués. Or, with the right government boost, it presents an opportunity to arouse and incite entrepreneurs, innovators and investors and foment a new technological revolution. Sometimes like your country you got to be young, scrappy and hungry and not throw away your shot.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

David Brooks

Inequality and The City New York, New York, a helluva town. The rents are up, but the crime rate is down. The food is better than ever, and the cultural scene is vibrant. Truly, it’s a golden age for the town I recently moved to – if you can afford the housing. But more and more people can’t.

And it’s not just New York. The days when dystopian images of urban decline were pervasive in popular culture – remember the movie “Escape from New York”? – are long past. The story for many of our iconic cities is, instead, one of gentrification, a process that’s obvious to the naked eye, and increasingly visible in the data.

Specifically, urban America reached an inflection point around 15 years ago: After NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE decades of decline, central cities began getting richer, more educated, and, yes, whiter. Today our urban cores are providing ever more amenities, but largely to a very affluent minority. But why is this happening? And is there any way to spread the benefits of our urban renaissance more widely?

Let’s start by admitting that one important factor has surely been the dramatic decline in crime rates.

For those of us who remember the 1970s, New York in 2015 is so safe it’s surreal. And the truth is that nobody really knows why that happened.

But there have been other drivers of the change: above all, the national-level surge in inequality.

It’s a familiar fact (even if the usual suspects still deny it) that the concentration of income in the hands of a small minority has soared over the past 35 years.

This concentration is even higher in big metropolitan areas like New York, because those areas are both where high-skill, high-pay industries tend to locate, and where the very affluent often want to live. In general, this high-income elite gets what it wants, and what it has wanted, since 2000, has been to live near the center of big cities.

Still, why do high-income Americans now want to live in inner cities, as opposed to in sprawling suburban estates? Here we need to pay attention to the changing lives of the affluent – in particular, their work habits.

To get a sense of how it used to be, let me quote from a classic 1955 Fortune article titled “How Top Executives Live.” According to that article, the typical executive “gets up early – about 7 a.m. – eats a large breakfast, and rushes to his office by train or

Paul Krugman

auto. It is not unusual for him, after spending from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. in his office, to hurry home, eat dinner, and crawl into bed with a briefcase full of homework.” Well, by the standards of today’s business elite, that’s actually a very relaxed lifestyle.

And as several recent papers have argued, the modern high earner, with his or her long hours – and, more often than not, a working partner rather than a stay-at-home wife – is willing to pay a lot more than the executives of yore for a central location that cuts commuting time. Hence gentrification. And this is a process that feeds on itself: as more high earners move into urban centers, these centers begin offering amenities – restaurants, shopping, entertainment – that make them even more attractive.

We’re not just talking about the superrich here, or even the 1 percent. At a guess, we might be talking about the top 10 percent. And for these people, it’s a happy story. But what about all the people, surely a large majority, who are being priced out of America’s urban revival? Does it have to be that way?

The answer, surely, is no, at least not to the extent we’re seeing now. Rising demand for urban living by the elite could be met largely by increasing supply. There’s still room to build, even in New York, especially upward. Yet while there is something of a building boom in the city, it’s far smaller than the soaring prices warrant, mainly because land use restrictions are in the way.

And this is part of a broader national story. As Jason Furman, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, recently pointed out, national housing prices have risen much faster than construction costs since the 1990s, and land-use restrictions are the most likely culprit. Yes, this is an issue on which you don’t have to be a conservative to believe that we have too much regulation.

The good news is that this is an issue over which local governments have a lot of influence. New York City can’t do much if anything about soaring inequality of incomes, but it could do a lot to increase the supply of housing, and thereby ensure that the inward migration of the elite doesn’t drive out everyone else.

And its current mayor understands that.

But will that understanding lead to any action?

That’s a subject I’ll have to return to another day. For now, let’s just say that in this age of gentrification, housing policy has become much more important than most people realize.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

WINTER 2015 | PAGE RE-1

Real Estate Winter 2015

McLean Woman’s Club Shows Off Homes with Holiday Tour

by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

The Woman’s Club of McLean’s Holiday Homes Tour, now in its 49th year, is nearly as old as the club itself, starting up in 1966 as a fundraiser for the various charities that the club supports.

The 49th Annual Holiday Homes Tour is being held on Thursday, Dec. 3, from 10 a.m.

– 3 p.m.

According to Kay Burnell, a former co-chair of the Holiday Homes Tour, the Woman’s Club of McLean started about seven or eight years prior to the creation of the tour, which gives attend-

ees a chance to check out choice McLean estates.

“They were trying to raise money for the charities we donate to,” Burnell said. “Because the primary purpose of our organization is to help our community.

And so they were doing bake sales and they were doing this and that to raise money and they couldn’t raise very much.”

That’s when one of the members of the Woman’s Club of McLean suggested a Christmasthemed holiday homes tour.

Burnell said that the tour had humble beginnings.

“It started kind of small. I don’t think they sold ads in the ticket book, it was just like four pages

or something and they printed it themselves. Now we have them printed,” Burnell said. “And it caught on and we’ve been doing it all these years.”

Funds raised through the Holiday Homes Tour, which usually features four homes located in one to three McLean neighborhoods, supports organizations like Alternative House, Fisher House Foundation, the Wounded Warrior program, Capital Caring, Share, Inc., the McLean Symphony, the McLean Project for the Arts and the McLean Volunteer Fire Department and is used for scholarships and educational causes.

Continued on Page RE-3

THIS HOME IN THE MCLEAN neighborhood of Millwood is perhaps the largest on the Woman’s Club of McLean’s 49th Annual Holiday Homes Tour, which is being held today from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. It features a 1,250 square-foot outdoor pool.

(Photo: Courtesy of Laura Sheridan)

MORE INSIDE: Renters Insurance in Falls Church page RE-4 | Trends in New Custom Homes page RE-5 | Top F.C. Home Sales page RE-7

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PAGE RE-3 | WINTER 2015

McLean Woman’s Club Hosts its 49th Annual Holiday Homes Tour Continued from Page RE-1

A boutique or marketplace is hosted as part of the tour at a nearby church to raise additional funds for local organizations.

According to one estimate, approximately $21,000 was raised last year through the Holiday Homes Tour.

The homes featured in this year’s tour are located in three McLean neighborhoods – McLean Hundred, Woodside Estates and Millwood. The honorary host of this year’s tour is Bill DuBose, a McLean financial planner and advisor.

“The homes are nice and they’re big. They’re all fairly modern,” said Laura Sheridan, a member of the Woman’s Club of McLean. “They’re reasonably close to each other. We usually try to find ones that are easy for people to get around to.”

According to a press release sent out about the event, the three neighborhoods are distinguished by large, elegant houses on halfto one-acre lots and are easily accessible from Lewinsville Road and other major streets.

The homes will be festively decorated in accordance with the homeowners’ wishes and music of the season will be featured in some homes or nearby.

The two homes in the McLean Hundred neighborhood are large homes of conservative design, built in the late ‘90s, but are strikingly different from each other, the release said.

One of the houses has a lightcolored exterior with beautiful but restrained landscaping and looks out on a busy intersection, while the other house has a long, redbrick exterior shaded by large, old trees and sits on a cul-de-sac with a small park.

The house with the light-colored exterior has undergone major changes, including the addition of a bedroom, a second kitchen, extra fireplaces and a new walkout basement.

It also contains many antique furnishings and rugs, custom draperies and fine artwork.

The other McLean Hundred house has undergone major alterations as well, the release said, in part to create a sense of space on the home’s interior, with the addition and expansion of multiple windows and doors.

The foyer and first floor rooms were extensively remodeled and are said to suggest contemporary California style. The home reflects an eclectic taste in original art, including photography by the homeowner.

Another of the homes on the Holiday Homes Tour is located in Woodside Estates, about a halfmile west of one of the homes in the McLean Hundred neighborhood. The Woodside Estates home has a large, brick-and-stone facade and is sited on an attractively landscaped 1.2-acre lot, according to the release.

The facade of the house uses conventional architectural elements in an unusual way and the

THIS MCLEAN HUNDRED home has also undergone major alterations since it was built in the late ‘90s and contains an eclectic collection of original art, including photography by the home’s owner. (Photo: Laura Sheridan)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

THE WOODSIDE ESTATES home in the photo above uses conventional architectural elements in an unusual way, giving the building a structure that is complemented by the undulating landscape. The home was built in 2005 and has been expanded upon and augmented since. The home in the photo on the right is one of two homes in the McLean Hundred neighborhood. It was built in the late ‘90s, has undergone major changes and contains many antique furnishings and rugs, custom draperies and fine artwork. (Photos: Laura Sheridan) resulting shape seems complemented by the undulating landscaping. The Woodside Estates home is another case of a newer home – this home was built in 2005 – being expanded and augmented, the release said.

Additional bedrooms and baths were installed to give the house a total of six bedrooms and six full and three half-baths.

A sizeable recreation room was also built into the house, a 368-square-foot swimming pool was added in the back and a pool house was constructed.

The fourth house in the Holiday Homes Tour, located in Millwood, is located just off Swinks Mill Road and, the release said, it is perhaps the largest of the tour houses, with over 15,000 finished square feet on four levels.

The house has a symmetrical facade, but an unusual window and roof configuration, giving the home a contemporary feel.

There is a two-story atrium foyer with steps on either side of

a fountain to an upper lobby and stairs to the next level. The main level also has a large lobby and a formal living room and dining room.

There is an elevator in the house that serves three levels. The home has five bedrooms, three of which are master suites. There is a large recreation room with a full kitchen and a 1,250 square-foot outdoor pool with an adjacent full bath.

The format of the tour is similar to an open house, allowing attendees to go from one house to the next in whatever order they please.

This year, the Homes Tour Boutique will be held at Historic Pleasant Grove Church, located at 8641 Lewinsville Road, about a quarter-mile west of one of the McLean Hundred homes.

The boutique will feature holiday items, a variety of gifts, jewelry, scarves, handbags, drinks and desserts, baked goods, tour tickets and a silent auction.

An immense amount of work goes into the Holiday Homes Tour every year, with planning and solicitation of advertisers beginning in the spring.

According to Sheridan, the planners of the event look for houses that are located close to each other, ideally so that attendees can walk from one house to the next. The planners also look for each home that has at least one feature that distinguishes it from all of the other houses on the tour.

“We’ve done this so long that it’s become sort of a tradition in McLean and it’s not an easy job,” Burnell said. “But we’re proud of what we’ve done all these years.”

Tickets for the tour cost $30 and can be purchased at any of the houses on the tour or at Mesmerelda’s Ltd. of McLean, located at 1339 Chain Bridge Road, McLean; Karin’s Florist Inc., located at 527 Maple Ave. E., Vienna or Great Dogs of Great Falls, located at 9859 Old Georgetown Road, Greal Falls.

R EA L E STATE

PAGE RE-4 | WINTER 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Study: F.C. Has Sixth Cheapest Renters Insurance in Va.

BY LIZ LIZAMA

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Virginia Cities with The Cheapest Renters Insurance Average Annual Cost of Renters Insurance

According to a recent ValuePenguin report, Falls Church is the sixth cheapest city for renters insurance in Virginia.

At a mean annual rate of $295, Falls Church averages are just $5 higher than Alexandria, the city with the cheapest average renters insurance rate, and $4 higher than Leesburg, the city with the second cheapest average renters insurance.

Vienna, Arlington and McLean also made the top 10, ranking seventh, ninth and tenth, respectively.

The study averaged quotes from five major insurance providers for at least $25,000 in personal property coverage and $100,000 in liability coverage for a 1,000-square-foot residence.

The average annual premium for Virginia amounted to $312, bringing Falls Church 5.6 percent below the state average.

What factors impact these low rates?

“The short answer is a lot of things,” said Michael Thrasher, research analyst for ValuePenguin.

“When it comes to renters issurance, people automatically jump to crime rates. Companies take this into account when pricing policies. They are looking at claims history, and some cities have more claims than others.”

Beyond crime statistics, Thrasher said insurance companies also consider other variables like the number of fire trucks the local fire department owns or whether staff are full-time or volunteer.

“Insurance companies use online coding tools with specific questions like if the property is within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant,” said Thrasher. “If you

$300

$297

$294

$291

$288 Radford

Alexandria Leesburg

Hillsville

Christiansburg Falls Church

Arlington

Vienna Wytheville

McLean

Cities In Virginia live 1,001 feet, you may get a different rate.

Tony Iannarelli of Liberty Mutual said newer buildings built with fire resistant material and equipped with sprinkler systems also mitigate the risks of damaging an entire property.

“The difference between renting an apartment complex versus a single family home – almost every time you will get a cheaper rate with the apartment complex because like I said they are built with fire resistant materials, sprinkler systems, alarm systems,” said Iannarelli.

“There are other security measures there that are going to help prevent any risks that will affect the policyholders themselves.”

Iannarelli said a lot of it weighs heavily on credit now as well. As the News-Press reported earlier this year, F.C. residents hold the least amount of credit card debt in the state of Virginia, a likely driver to lower insurance rates for some individuals.

But weather is the most significant factor that impacts rates, according to Thrasher.

“Weather is unpredictable and can be very damaging,” he said.

“When you look at weather historically for an area, it makes sense.”

Hurricanes, for example, are not as likely to rip through Falls Church as that would in a coastal city like Norfolk, the fourth most expensive city in Virginia for renters insurance.

While factors like weather are uncontrollable, Iannarelli said the policyholder’s personal property is what really dictates the rate.

“With my company, you can go as low as $15,000 in personal property, if you choose to go high-

er, you will see a big difference in price,” he said.

“I have some people here that are just working in this area that have minimal property here and just need liability because they’re covered by their homeowner’s insurance,” Iannarelli said of clients that own property elsewhere.

“There’s a misconception that their personal property is only covered when it’s on the premises.

It’s covered anywhere – you still have personal property coverage even if it’s not in your home. A lot of people don’t know that.”

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

WINTER 2015 | PAGE RE-5

2 Person Showers Among Trends in Custom Homes

BY PATRICIA LESLIE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Open spaces, flex spaces, white kitchens and showers built for two are some of the popular trends area homebuilders say buyers want in new homes today.

“We are definitely seeing the trend towards flex space which can be adopted over time to meet the needs of changing lifestyles,” said Jennifer Landers, the president of New Dimensions, Inc. “There’s a huge demand.”

Almost 20 percent of adults in the U.S. now live in “grand houses” with three generations, double the amount from 1980, according to figures supplied by Doug Smith, the president of Miller & Smith.

And about 50 percent of buyers older than 55 say they prefer a home with an “in-law suite,” which is about double the percentage of 2007, according to Smith.

Accommodating this shift means new home designs which feature a downstairs home office which can transition into a bedroom with private bath for Grandma.

Many dwellings are built for teleworking residents since “so many people are working from home now, often two people,” Landers said.

The marketplace has little tolerance now for closed-off rooms, and buyers want open spaces, wrote Smith in a statement.

What should we do about the living room?

It’s going the way of the dinosaur, and the dining room is not far behind, Landers said.

“People don’t really use living rooms that often any more,” and opt instead for a home office.

A New Dimensions home of 5,700 square feet at 6521 33rd Street has no formal living room.

It has been replaced by a private study or home office with glasspaned interior windows and doors which sits across the entryway from a dining room with a modern chandelier.

Another popular trend which is likely second on the popularity list after “flex space,” said Landers, is an upstairs laundry room near large bedrooms and bathrooms, the latter the size of 1950s bedrooms, and please include a bathroom for every bedroom.

Smith and Landers agreed that big tubs which gobble up vast quantities of water and space are on the “outs” now, but fancy showers the size of large closets with sit-down spaces and fancy gadgets are hot.

Almost like a museum piece, a standalone tub is the centerpiece of the master bathroom at the new 33rd Street house which has huge master closets, including a “seasonal” closet for out-of-season apparel.

What kind of role in new home building does technology play? A big one.

Smith writes that “the Internet of Things” is “one of the most exciting trends” in home development.

JENNIFER LANDERS, the president of New Dimensions, Inc., shows off a wine cabinet in the new home at 6521 33rd Street. (P����: P������� L�����/N���-P����) Technology now enables Smartphone users to remotely control thermostats and lighting, and sensors can alert residents about a leaking hot water heater, for example.

In the kitchen, microwaves tucked inside lower drawers are in style and everything is going white, Landers said. “People want light and bright.”

As for the outdoors, its spaciousness, open air, and feel are especially appealing, and more buyers want indoor conveniences moved to outside spaces, according to Smith.

The home on 33rd Street has both a screened-in porch and an uncovered porch.

In Falls Church and Arlington, Adam Bean’s GreenBuilt Homes

Questions about local real estate?

Bethany Ellis

Ask Bethany!

are typically 4,000 square feet and include five bedrooms and four and a half baths and cost in the range of $1.5 million.

He’s a teardown expert who buys lots, tears down old houses and constructs new ones.

His homes are “Energy Star” approved which meet green standards and save the typical resident about $200 on energy bills and are up to 50 percent more efficient than most.

Although Bean doesn’t think his environmentally friendly houses are the Number One priority on most buyers’ lists, he does think many home buyers like his approach which is “an added bonus.”

In a telephone interview, he said “I’ve always built green houses for personal reasons.”

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He relies on his instincts about what home buyers want, and so far, they’ve been spot on.

All his homes are “spec houses,” and although he does not build custom designs, he pre-sells them, and he recycles parts.

About 70 percent of his teardowns go to charity (working refrigerators), or are used in other construction projects.

What goes around comes around, a la standalone Victorian tubs.

That big old soaking tub which consumes half your bathroom space can be preserved and stored under a new porch or, like a family in McLean, used yearround for outdoor bathing. They promise it’s “refreshing,” even in winter.

®

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ToriRocksRealEstate.com © 2015 Tori McKinney, LLC

PAGE RE-6 | WINTER 2015

R EA L E STATE A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Meet Falls Church’s Real Estate Experts B������ E����, L��� � F�����

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Bethany is a hard-working, energetic, honest, ethical and detail-oriented market leader in Northern Virginia real estate.

Bethany is a full-time real estate agent who communicates with you to ensure that you have a smooth transaction. Throughout the entire process, she values your input and provides expert guidance. From your first meeting until closing, Bethany works diligently to make sure your experience is stress-free. As a top producing real estate agent, she leverages years of experience and knowledge to your benefit. Bethany’s goal is to build long-term relationships with her clients so she will be your real estate agent for life.

Bethany also has direct access to lenders, home inspectors, settlement groups and home repair vendors.

If you are looking to buy, sell, move up, downsize, invest, or need answers to any real estate questions, please contact Bethany Ellis at 703-307-7003.

Laurie is nationally ranked in the top 1% of residential real estate professionals and a multi-million dollar top producer. She brings a refreshing perspective to the listing and purchasing of real estate, specializing in Northern Virginia. Laurie represents her clients with sincerity and honesty, has great attention to detail, and delivers that extra effort at every step. She treats each transaction as if it were her very own.

Laurie will guide you through the entire real estate process, from start to finish with clear and open communication, integrity and honest advice. Laurie is a relocation specialist, both internationally and domestically, and her own experiences gives her empathy and an understanding of her clients’ needs. Laurie has been in the real estate industry for the past nine years, and is licensed in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. In addition to her contact information below, feel free to contact Laurie by email at laurie.mensing@longandfoster. com. Laurie looks forward to speaking with you soon!

At New Dimensions, Inc. we have been building custom homes in Northern Virginia since 1988. We are a family owned company who believes the client is our biggest asset, and we strive every day to make them happy, loyal customers.

Founder Scott Alderson’s daughter, Jennifer Landers, leads the company along with a dedicated staff, many of whom have been with NDI for decades. What makes us different is our personal investment in each home we build. Ms. Landers is involved in every project, and feels it is important to treat each client’s home as though it is our own.

NDI’s homebuilding process guides you through all of the stages, from design to site development to making selections. NDI offers an extensive catalog of home designs you can personalize to suit your lot, lifestyle and budget. If you don’t see a design that meets your needs, bring your ideas to NDI and we will customize a design for you. The experts we have in place at each phase will ensure a smooth and worry-free process.

Our dedication to world class service is why many of our clients come back to build multiple homes with us. We recently built a second home for a client who built their first home with us in 1992. We are truly humbled by the trust and loyalty our clients place in NDI. Visit our website to review floor plans and pricing. Also check out the President’s Blog for a behind-the-scenes scoop on building NDI homes.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Bethany Ellis, Long and Foster Real Estate 6299 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22044 703-307-7003 • buyandsellwithbethany.com

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Laurie Mensing, Long and Foster Real Estate 1355 Beverly Road, Suite 109, McLean, VA 22101 703-965-8133 • 703-873-5193 • lauriemensing.com

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Susie and her family have lived in Falls Church City for more than 30 years. Her two sons were born and raised here and are “lifers” of the Falls Church City Public Schools, having started at Mt. Daniel in kindergarten and graduated from George Mason High School.

During her years in the Little City Susie has been involved in so many Falls Church City activities that her husband refers to her as a “professional volunteer.” She has worked in each of the Falls Church City schools, her church, Capital Caring and local political campaigns.

Susie loves being involved and being able to meet so many people in this community and her connections and familiarity with various groups and people make her a great asset to her customers. Susie really believes that Falls Church City is a unique and special place, recommends it as a great place to live and loves to share the reasons why with people who are new to our town and are planning to move here. Susie is honored to work with people who are looking for a new home or making plans to sell their current home. She takes pride in always providing the attention and service her clients deserve.

Tori McKinney moved to Falls Church City in 1998 and initially owned a concert promotion firm where she worked with New Orleans bands to produce shows throughout the East Coast. In 2005, Tori reentered the real estate industry, having previously enjoyed a 10-year real estate career in the Boston area. Tori brought the ROCK STAR with her, as she promises “ROCK STAR Service” to all of her clients.

As a resident of the Little City for nearly two decades, Tori believes a sense of community requires active participation and she leads by example. Tori actively supports: Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, Creative Cauldron/Falls Church Arts, Falls Church Education Foundation, FIRSTFriday/Art-a-Lot, Tinner Hill Blues Festival, and Taste of Falls Church. She also is Vice Chair of the Housing Commission, a member of Business in Education, named Pillar of the Community by the Falls Church Chamber, named one of the Top Producing Real Estate Agents by Washingtonian Magazine, and for the 4th consecutive year, has been voted Best Real Estate Agent in the Falls Church News-Press ‘Best of Falls Church.’

As a tireless Falls Church advocate, Tori has helped countless families buy and sell homes over the past 10 years. Tori puts her heart and soul into the Falls Church community and gets so much in return.

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R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Real Estate

WINTER 2015 | PAGE RE-7

Top Falls Church Home Sales

September-November #2 $1,495,000

#1 $1,545,000

#4 $1,408,700 #3 $1,460,000 Top 5 F.C. Home Sales June 1, 2015 - August 31, 2015 Address

BR #1 2327 Dale Dr. 5 #2 6309 Beachway Dr. 5 #3 6222 Lakeview Dr. 5 #4 306 Pennsylvania Ave. 5 #5 7298 Redd Rd. 5

FB

5 4 4 4 4

HB 1 1 0 1 2

List Price

$1,567,990 $1,599,000 $1,549,900 $1,425,000 $1,385,000

Sale Price

$1,545,000 $1,495,000 $1,460,000 $1,408,700 $1,353,000

Zip

22043 22044 22041 22046 22043

Date Sold 10/22/15 11/2/15 11/27/15 9/30/15 9/2/15

Source: MRIS, Inc.; Photos: Falls Church News-Press

#5 $1,353,000

R EA L E STATE

PAGE RE- 8 | WINTER 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Falls Church Area Housing Market — 3rd Quarter 2015 Report Zip Code

Area

Average Price

Number of Homes Sold

Average Days on Market

22046

Falls Church City

$709,669

78

37

22041

Bailey’s Crossroads

$387,422

73

69

22042

Sleepy Hollow

$472,090

136

40

22043

Pimmit Hills

$676,864

95

38

22044

Lake Barcroft

$526,800

41

39

Home Sales Vs. 1 Year Ago

Home Prices Vs. 1 Year Ago

Change in # of Homes Sold: 3Q ‘15 vs 3Q ‘14

Change in Average Home Price: 3Q ‘15 vs 3Q ‘14

+6.85%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

-11.94%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

-8.75%

Change in Bailey’s X-roads (22041)

+1.17%

Change in Bailey’s X-roads (22041)

+33.33%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

+10.35%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

+15.85%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

+14.30%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

+51.85%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

+31.98%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. Copyright © 2015 Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

NATI O NA L

‘What Is Truth?’

Trump Cares Not

On the PBS News Hour this week, correspondent Tamara Keith coined a curious phrase. In response to anchor Gwen Ifill’s observation that “there seems to be an epidemic of untruthfulness” in the presidential race this year, Keith called it “a backlash against fact checking.”

That’s twisted and upside down. One could better call it simply “lying,” the insistence on the right to lie and get away with it.

Donald Trump comes to mind first, of course. He’s set the tone for making lying the operational campaign method of virtually the entire Republican field.

Those shady “fact checkers?” When they say, “No, that didn’t happen,” all the candidate needs to say back is, “Yes, it did.” End of story.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS Indicative is Trump’s insistence that thousands of Muslims cheered from the New Jersey side of the river as the events of 9/11 unfolded.

If untrue, which it is, this is the worst kind of lying racist indictment imaginable. But Trump has apparently been allowed to get away with it unscathed.

Then there is the pack of lies in Ben Carson’s autobiography. But when “fact checkers” started exposing them, Carson howled about discrimination and witch hunting, and it worked. He was left alone after that, and his popularity hardly suffered.

Is it that the truth really doesn’t matter anymore? Keith commented about the public’s “siloed reality” limitations, where only points of view that someone already holds are allowed into one’s mind, whether by who is permitted into or “unfriended” from a Facebook page, or some other way of closing out anything that does not reinforce existing prejudices.

Truth? The child sticks fingers in her ears and yells, “La la la la la.”

But we know from the days of Pontius Pilate that the question of truth is perhaps the most important of all. The cynic Pilate’s scoffing at any claim to know the truth was the context for perhaps the strongest historical symbol of injustice and an indifferent tyranny that arbitrarily executed it.

It rings in my ears to this day the shrill, powerful and indignant indictment of official lies that the late and legendary White House journalist Helen Thomas intoned, recalling for me when, from the front row of the White House press briefing room, she yelled, her soft voice rising to the ears of the president over the din of the room. “What about the truth?,” she demanded.

In that case, the occasion was Thomas’ relentless effort to force President Bush and his administration to reveal the truth about their motives for the invasion of Iraq. She knew all they’d provided were lies for the gullible.

To challenge corrupt power, one can do so only from the standpoint of the one power that is higher than the power of any mortal, even a president. That is the power of truth.

So for all the lip service being given to ways in which the next president may change things in Washington, if the candidates are not held to the highest standard of truth, then it’s all just blowing smoke.

Yes, Donald Trump, a racist pig, is also a filthy liar. But so, apparently, are his GOP challengers, and by the popularity of all this, many in the GOP rank and file, as well. He is at the top of this steamy, rotten heap, but not by himself.

It was by lies and lying innuendos that McCarthyism terrorized the entire nation in the 1950s, and it was not until courageous journalists were able to counter them with the truth that that reign of terror was brought down.

Those who would trample truth, itself, under their feet are sociopaths who will not hesitate to use whatever means necessary to eliminate every obstacle to the consolidation of their own power.

If any creature like a Trump were to ever get elected, or elevated, to power in this land, then our heroic democratic experiment would be over.

Finally to the media: If ratings rule, not truth, then you are ultimate enablers of our nation’s demise. You do not stand for free speech, you ruin it.

DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

 Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.

Laquan McDonald and the ‘System’ I spent Wednesday night following a gaggle of protesters through the streets of downtown Chicago.

The air was unseasonably warm, but the sentiment in the air burned with a rage and revulsion.

Disturbing video had been released of the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. He had been shot 16 times by Officer Jason Van Dyke. Most of the shots were fired when McDonald was no longer standing. Some entered through his back.

Shortly before releasing the tape, the Cook County state’s attorney, Anita Alvarez, announced Van Dyke would be charged with first-degree murder.

Broad discontent rippled through the crowd of protesters as people suggested a wide-ranging coverup, from the $5 million settlement the city paid to McDonald’s family and its timing, the 400 days it took the prosecutor to bring charges even though the video existed, the silence of the other officers on the scene, and efforts to suppress the video itself. One young man with a megaphone led the protesters in a chant that went in part: NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE “The whole damned system is guilty as hell.”

Truly, there are many troubling aspects to this case. But having covered so many of these cases in the last couple years, it strikes me that we may need to push back and widen the lens so that we can fully appreciate and understand the systemic sociological and historical significance of this moment in our country’s development. While police departments definitely have distinct cultures, in a way they are simple instruments that articulate and enforce our laws and mores, which are reflections of our values.

The only reason that these killings keep happening is because most of American society tacitly approves or willfully tolerates it. There is no other explanation.

If America wanted this to end, it would end.

The exceeding sad and dreadfully profound truth is that America has turned away, averted its gaze and refused to take a strong moral stance in opposition. That’s the same as granting silent approval.

People try to pitch this as some sort of ideological argument, as an issue of blacks against the police or vice versa, but that is simply an evasion, a way of refusing societal blame for a societal defect: We view crime and punishment with an ethnocentric sensibility that has a distinct and endemic anti-black bias.

Charles M. Blow

When black people are the focus, punishments seem to be more severe than when whites are the focus of the very same circumstances.

Let me give you one example of how this works: During previous drug epidemics lawmakers were falling all over each other to see who could be tougher on crime, in the process enacting racially skewed sentencing guidelines. But, now we see a move toward sentencing reform, because as I noted in 2009: “According to the most recent data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, admissions of white teenagers to drug treatment centers for crack and cocaine abuse soared 76 percent from 2001 to 2006. Crack and cocaine was the only illicit drug category in which the number of admissions for white teens grew over this period, and in 2006 the number was at its highest level since these data have been kept. By contrast, admissions among black teens for crack and cocaine over the same period held steady. By 2006, white admissions outnumbered those for blacks by more than 10 to 1.”

Furthermore, under a headline that read, “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs,” The New York Times noted that “while heroin use has climbed among all demographic groups, it has skyrocketed among whites; nearly 90 percent of those who tried heroin for the first time in the last decade were white.”

Even presidential candidates like Chris Christie have rallied on the gentler side of the drug debate. In remarks that went viral, Christie lamented, “Somehow, if it’s heroin or cocaine or alcohol, we say, ‘Aah, they decided it. They’re getting what they deserved.’ ” Where were these people when young black and brown people in the inner city were being steamrolled by the ridiculous war on drugs and having the book thrown at them? You see, we as a society make choices about what and whom we value and ask police departments and judicial systems to put those values into action. Police shootings are simply an extreme example of our disparity in valuation.

This can be overcome, but it requires a transcending of self-interested racial tribalism, an ability to see the issue as an intolerable human cruelty rather than as an acceptable and even warranted condition of another, and that can be a high hurdle to clear in this country.

As long as people who look like McDonald are disproportionately affected, and those who don’t look like him are not, it is likely and even predictable, based on historical precedent, that the terrible silence of enough people will continue to sanction this carnage.

CO MME NT

PAGE 14 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

Fairfax County’s budget “season” is nearly yearround now, a change from the traditional mid-February to end of April sessions. While those dates still will focus on the County Executive’s presentation of a proposed fiscal year budget and recommendations, the lead-in to the budget begins many months prior, and the Board meets as the budget committee more frequently now, often inviting the School Board to participate. That was the scene last week, as County Executive Ed Long and School Superintendent Karen Garza provided their budget forecasts for FY 2017.

Cuts in federal procurement continue to be felt in Fairfax County and Northern Virginia. While there is potential improvement in the total number of jobs regained in the local market, the jobs lost (professional and business services) are being replaced by jobs that have lower overall wages (retail, hospitality, construction). Home prices are rising very modestly, about 1.5 percent for the first 10 months of 2015, and homes are taking slightly longer to sell. On the commercial side, real estate values are improving after declining for two consecutive years. As anticipated, Metrorail’s Silver Line is spurring new construction in that corridor, but the overall increase in real estate values county-wide is forecast to be less than 3 percent, or “anemic growth” on the revenue side, according to Mr. Long.

Competing for disbursements are schools, which are scheduled for a 3 percent increase in the Operating Transfer each year, along with Capital Support for infrastructure of $13.1 million, and debt service requirements. On the county side, funding compensation and retirement plans for county employees, and increasing the county’s reserves to comply with recommendations of the bond rating agencies, are major items in the FY 2017 budget. Not included,T:7”

Mr. Long pointed out, is potential funding for the Ad Hoc Police Commission recommendations. A five-year phase-in of more than 100 positions and $30 million would result in a $6 million annual cost.

The Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the commission’s 142 recommendations during the next few months.

Although student growth has slowed, Superintendent Garza said the school system is facing a projected shortfall of $60.6 million. The school board’s request for the school transfer will most likely be 5.7 percent. Similar to the county side, employee compensation, retirement benefits, and health insurance costs are major drivers in the school budget. Dr. Garza noted that no School Board action has been taken; the figures she presented are preliminary, and are subject to change.

The Board of Supervisors will begin an extensive review of the county’s Lines of Business (LOBs) in mid-January. Tuesdays and Fridays will be LOBs days, as the Board examines every department and agency, an in-depth task that is scheduled about every five years. The exercise will determine what still works and what might need to be changed, and will help inform budget decisions for FY 2017 and beyond. Chairman Sharon Bulova also suggested looking at putting some pay schedules for school and county employees together once again (they were separated in the 1980s as far as anyone can remember). That will probably require a lengthy task force effort between the two entities, but may be worthy of more discussion. Stay tuned.  Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

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Senator Dick Saslaw’s

Richmond Report

T:4.875”

It’s official, the holiday season is upon us and the countdown to the General Assembly has begun. Recently, I spent the day with newly elected senators who will be sworn in come January. Eight very bright, eager and most likely exhausted men and women will take their seat in the Senate Chamber.

Having just come through the election season in a holding pattern as far as power distribution goes, a new chapter will begin to unfold. Both Caucuses have elected their leaders. I am grateful for the opportunity to represent the citizens of the 35th Senate District and am appreciative of the support and confidence of my fellow Democrats to serve as their Leader in the Senate.

While there are clear differences in the new Senate culture, we will be looking to find common ground on the issues that matter most to Virginians.

Growing and diversifying the economy and improving infrastructure remain top priorities.

And of course, preparing the next generation for the workforce of tomorrow means that we must make appropriate investments in both K-12 and Higher Ed. A few weeks ago, Senate finance staff provided an insight into all components of the general fund. To begin with, our revenues are beginning to tick up. While we hear about surplus funds, those are mostly earmarked for replacing transfers from budget items (for example the rainy day fund). Weathering the effects of sequestration in the Commonwealth is a daily challenge. Virginia is one of the highest recipients of federal contracting. In the absence of replacing revenues with new jobs, we are seeing a limited recovery. Governor McAuliffe has just returned from another trade mission overseas. There are promising results from that trip.

One of the biggest attractions for luring new business to the Commonwealth is a strong education system for the colleges and universities it feeds into. Northern Virginia offers a world class K-12 school system.

Funding for all the extras (above the Standards of Quality) that make it competitive is the key to its top rank. Our localities heavily supplement these costs. State funding is appropriated based on

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the local composite index – that is the value of taxable real estate and individual income. Because individual income is not taxed by the localities, wealthier localities often land on the short side of the state appropriation for the SOQ funding.

Funding for higher education has remained flat for years with increasing enrollments in our state funded colleges and universities. A skilled workforce is another magnet for businesses to locate in Virginia. Keeping Higher Ed affordable and accessible is essential. Additionally, there is a pent up demand for operational facilities. I expect a bond package to come out of the General Assembly to meet these growing demands.

This December 17, Governor McAuliffe will deliver his proposed biennial budget. The Governor will attempt to direct more revenue into public education as well as our colleges and universities. Of course, the cost of health and human services continues to rise and more people are attempting to enroll in Medicaid. While it is no state secret there is strong Republican opposition to expanding Medicaid, we are leaving millions of Virginia tax dollars on the proverbial federal table. Oddly enough, rural hospitals are operating in the red to provide charity care for Virginians in need of healthcare.

Virginia is one of the top ten richest states per capita. And yet, we are delivering healthcare to thousands through the same method you see in third world countries – through annual events with volunteers providing services often in the stables on fair grounds.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve our district.

I hope to see you in Richmond during the assembly and will let you know when we will be hosting our local town halls.

Feel free to contact my office for arranging tours as well as reserving meeting rooms for your group trips to the Capital.

I would like to extend season’s greetings to you all. Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.  Senator Saslaw represents the 35th District in the Virginia State Senate. He may be emailed at district35@senate.virginia.gov.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A nyt hing

b ut

S traigh t

A Corporate Coup

The United States Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling is strangling democracy. With money passing as speech and corporations posing as people, a handful of ultra-wealthy right wing tycoons are hijacking America and remaking it in their image. There is nothing inherently wrong with being wealthy, with billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett exemplifying a healthy and responsible engagement with American charity and politics. But a new breed of conservative millionaires has manipulated the system for the sake of greed, which includes championing policies that erode the middle class.

Ground Zero for this corporate coup is Illinois. A cabal of rapacious hedge fund mangers has hatched a plot to control state government. Their self-centered goals include decimating workman’s compensation, opposition to raising the minimum wage, cutting services to the needy while slashing their own taxes, and calling on working families to tighten their belts while they live high on the hog.

Their main obsession, however, is destroying unions. A union-free Illinois would have the dual benefit of allowing these avaricious titans to pay starvation wages, while eliminating one of the Democrats’ key sources of political support. If they can impoverish the opposition and defang unions, these Machiavellian moguls could rule virtually unchallenged.

They are aggressively rearranging political power, such that their handiwork is the modern equivalent of allowing only white male landowners to vote. Instead of basing political pedigree on race, sex, and land acquisition, the new caste system offers the moneyed elite enormous advantages and access to our leaders. Meanwhile, politicians ignore the average citizen while enriching their benefactors, which breeds despair.

This pathological dynamic helps explain record low voter turnout.

Many people simply don’t believe their voice counts and feel powerless to fight against the profiteering puppet masters. After all, if money is speech, a few lucky people have massive political vocabularies, while the rest of us speak in a handful of monosyllabic utterances.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is orchestrating the political overthrow of Illinois. The New York Times reported this week that he kicked off his crusade two years ago in a speech to moneyed magnates at a black tie dinner held by the Economic Club of Chicago.

Griffin’s conspiracy gained traction with the election of Republican governor Bruce Rauner, a hardcore ideologue worth $500 million whose main goal is crushing unions, even though most voters have no appetite for his fetish. Rauner essentially bought the election, spending $65 million half of which “came from his fortune ($27 million) and nine other individuals, families, or companies they control,” reported the Times. Griffin contributed $5.5 million to install his friend and lent Rauner his private plane to jet across the state. The incumbent, Pat Quinn, was only able to raise $32 million. Clearly, this was an unfair fight where cash was king.

Rauner has ruled like an arrogant emperor, unwilling to compromise and holding the state hostage. He has imperiously demanded that Democrats agree to his right wing “Turn Around Agenda” which includes weakening unions. This has led to six months without a budget. The state is limping by, paying its bills with a jerry-rigged system of duct tape and safety pins. The Chicago Tribune reports that the backlog of bills has grown to $7 billion, and may grow to $8.5 billion by the end of 2015.

The Paul Simon Policy Institute puts Rauner’s approval rating at 36 percent, which is dismal for a new governor. Unfortunately, due to Ken Griffin’s plot to steal Illinois, it will take more than poll numbers to unseat Rauner. The New York Times explains: “A small group of rich supporters – not just from Chicago, but also from New York City, and Los Angeles, southern Florida and Texas – have poured tens of millions into the state, a concentration of political money without precedent…shortly before the inauguration, Rauner, Griffin, and Richard Uihlein poured an additional $20 million into Mr. Rauner’s campaign committee. The money was intended to help Rauner beat back union pressure on state lawmakers.”

This dishonorable abuse of power is a subversion of the Democratic process. The only way to defeat these interlopers is to turn their tainted money against them. Their contributions should be branded as the political poison they truly are. Voters should summarily dismiss any candidate backed by this faction. Any ad it paid for should be rejected as an attempt by a toxic special interest to purchase the election.

The citizens must unite to battle the excesses spawned by Citizens United.

If union-friendly Illinois succumbs to the gluttonous appetites and machinations of these co-conspirators, the rest of the nation won’t be far behind.

Wayne Besen

CO MME NT

Our Man in Arlington

By Charlie Clark

My neighborhood’s most notable military hero returned for a visit a few months back.

Long-timers on my cul-de-sac spread the word they had spotted Gen. James Dozier, whose 1981 kidnapping by the Italian Red Brigades terrorist group made international news, stopping by in a car for old time’s sake.

So I reached him at his current home in Fort Myers, Fla., to cement the Arlington connection.

Decades before there was ISIS, European governments were threatened by Marxist violent guerilla groups. As a brigadier general in the Army, Dozier was stationed as a NATO senior officer in Verona, Italy. “I knew there was left-wing terrorist activity going on in Italy at that time, but all the intelligence I had access to did not indicate a threat to Americans,” he told me. “My capture came as a total surprise.”

He and his wife were in their 7th floor apartment Dec. 17, 1981, when they answered a knock on the door from several twenty-something men claiming to be plumbers investigating a leak. As Dozier has described it in speeches and newspaper interviews, those plumbers suddenly brandished pistols. They trashed the home, tied up Dozier’s wife Judith, dragged the general outside and stuffed him in the trunk of a car.

DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 23

For the next 42 days, Dozier was kept chained to a bunk inside a tent. A solitary light bulb burned 24/7, and he was famously forced to wear earphones blasting ear-splitting acid rock. He was not a fan of hard rock, Dozier confided to me.

After a couple of weeks, “I convinced them to change the recordings they were using, and they switched to Gershwin. I’m a big Gershwin fan,” he said.

The reason for his abduction, Dozier later realized, was that NATO was considering putting Cruise missiles in Belgium and Holland. The outraged Red Brigades were using violence to try to take down Italy’s Christian Democratic government. Before any of their vague ransom demands could be met, Dozier was rescued by the Italian police.

To this day, he travels to Italy annually for a reunion with those rescuers, now retired.

Now retired himself at 84, Dozier, winner of the Silver Star and Purple Heart, has spent the past 30 years traveling to military bases to share his experience surviving terrorist capture with mid-career Army and Air Force special operations personnel.

“Survival, evasion, resistance and escape” is the discipline, “how to exist under extreme conditions, like being alone in the jungle,” he says. He has also made a specialty of the “dynamics of international terrorism” over the past 50 years.

C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h

CRIME REPORT Week of Nov. 23 - 29, 2015 Larceny from Building, 7124 Leesburg Pike (George Mason High School). On Nov. 23, a bag was reported stolen.

Driving Under the Influence. On Nov. 25, a male, 26, of Fairfax, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence and Refusal to Submit to a Blood or Breath Test.

Larceny from a Motor Vehicle, 100 block S. Washington St. On Nov. 25, a backpack was reported stolen from an unlocked vehicle.

Larceny from Building, 500 block Roosevelt Blvd. On Nov. 25, an unattended cell phone was reported stolen.

Larceny from Motor Vehicle,

500 block W. Annandale Rd. On Nov. 25, an unknown suspect smashed a car window and stole the victim’s purse.

Larceny from Building, 935 W. Broad St. (Taco Bell). On Nov. 25, a backpack was reported stolen.

Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. #16. On Nov. 25, a male, 32, of Springfield, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area.

Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. #15. On Nov. 25, a male, 44, of Falls Church, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area.

Smoking Violation, 6795 Wilson Blvd. #1E. On Nov. 25, a male, 45, of Woodbridge, was cited for

Widowed, remarried and a dabbler in citrus farming, Dozier said his recent visit to take a photo of his old home on Arlington’s Roosevelt Street “brought back a lot of memories’ from 1969-71. His two children attended Tuckahoe School and often played in Tuckahoe Park.

Dozier also recalled worked with neighbor Jerry Helm, who with his wife Marie remains a neighborhood stalwart, to build a deck filled with plants and lawn furniture. He eventually had to sell the home to move to less-expensive Vienna.

As for his famous torture by rock music, “I’m surprised there’s any interest since it’s been a long time,” Dozier said. But he enjoys sharing lessons with young warriors in a world where the terrorist threat has only grown – “if it can benefit someone else.” *** When I attended Williamsburg Junior High in the late 1960s, Arlington Public Schools still required that boys take shop class and girls take home economics.

While cleaning out my basement recently, I was reunited with my 50-year-old class project from that endeavor: a self-designed tie rack. Two stained wood slabs nailed at right angles to frame a rotating circular platform lined with small dowel rods to hold the neckties.

I installed it on my middleaged man’s top closet shelf. Lo and behold, it works! Belated thanks to my teachers Ellsworth Cottom and Leroy Murphy.

Smoking In a Non-Designated Area.

Narcotics Violation, 500 Lynn Pl. (Robinson Park). On Nov. 25, a male, 20, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested and released on summons for Possession of Marijuana.

Driving Under the Influence, 300 block N. Washington St. On Nov. 26, an officer conducted a traffic stop for a motor vehicle violation. The driver, a male, 37, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence.

Armed Robbery, 100 Hillwood Ave. (Hillwood Mart). On Nov. 26, a gun was displayed by two black males who took items.

Stolen Vehicle, 200 block Gibson St. On Nov. 28, police received a report of a stolen vehicle.

Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Le Mirage Restaurant). On Nov. 28, a male, 35, of Silver Spring, was cited for Smoking In a Non-Designated Area.

CA L E NDA R

PAGE 24 | DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015

Community Events

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3

Early Literacy Center. Explore educational and manipulative items to teach early literacy through play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. This program is for ages birth to 5 years. No registration required.

Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free.

11 a.m. – noon. & 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. 703-248-5034.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

Living Nativity at Dulin Church.

Dulin Church (513 E. Broad St., Falls Church). Free. 7 & 8 p.m.

703-532-8060.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

F.C. Farmers’ Market. Vendors offer fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants, and wine. City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 8 a.m. – noon. 703248-5077.

Town Hall: Campus Redevelopment Project. Join City of Falls Church staff for a presentation and Q&A on the redevelopment project currently being planned for the George Mason High School and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School campus. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 10

a.m. – noon. fallschurchva.gov/ CampusRedevelopment.

Holiday Craft Show. Deck the halls during the holiday season with special gifts from the annual two-day Holiday Gift and Craft Show! Plus kids can enjoy Lunch with Santa and Children’s Holiday Shoppe. Open from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/ holidaycraftshow.

Songs from Around the World with Brooksie Wells. A delightful program of songs and carols from around the world for the whole family. No registration required.

Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free.

11 a.m. 703-248-5034

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

Falls Church Tree Fest. Falls Church Tree Fest, a holiday event featuring decorated trees displayed at the Falls Church Community Center, is thrown every year to aid non-profits who provide benefits and services to various populations in the Falls Church Community. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). $1. 11 a.m.

– 4 p.m. fallschurchtreefest.com.

&

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Send community event submissions to the News-Press by e-mail at calendar@fcnp. com; fax 703-342-0347; or by regular mail to 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.

A Choralis Family Christmas.

Music and holiday fun for all ages! Children 5 and under are admitted at no cost. The Falls Church Episcopal (115 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church). $10 – $40. 4 p.m. choralis.org.

Live Musical Concert: Sound Healing from Song and Symphony. Join the Bonita Woods Wellness Institute for an evening of musical education, healing and enjoyment with Bruce Wegner and Shahnaz. Bonita Woods Wellness Institute (140 Little Falls Street, Suite 111, Falls Church). $25. 7 – 9 p.m. bonitawoods.org.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7

Preschool Storytime. Stories, finger plays and songs for children ages 2 – 5 on Monday and Thursday every week. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11 a.m. & 3 – 3:30 p.m. 703-248-5034.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8

Senior Books Discussion. A general book discussion geared toward seniors will take on Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates.

Open to all. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

703-248-5030.

Preschool Storytime. Songs, movement, and stories for ages 1836 months. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave. Falls Church).

10:30—11:15 a.m. 703-248-5034.

Paws to Read. Children in grades kindergarten – 6 can read with a canine companion. Space is limited to 15 participants. Tickets be given out starting at 4:30 p.m.

Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave. Falls Church). 5 p.m.

703-248-5034.

Great Books Discussion. A bimonthly discussion concentrating on literary classics will take on portions of the The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave. Falls Church). 7 – 9 p.m. 703-248-5034.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9

Melanoma Versus Age Spots.

Stephanie Scharnweber, representative from Griswold Home Care, will discuss how to regularly screen your skin for changes that are normal versus abnormal. Langston-Brown Community & Senior Center and Park (2121 N. Culpeper St., Arlington). Free. 11 a.m. – noon.

703-228-6300.

Theater Fine Arts FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

“Kiss Me, Kate.” It’s “another opening of another show” with “Kiss Me, Kate,” American musical theatre’s greatest tribute to the Bard. As they try to stage a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, sparks �ly on and off stage between Fred Graham, the show’s director and star, and Lilli Vanessi, his leading lady – and ex-wife. Through Jan. 3. Shakespeare Theatre Company – Harman Hall (610 F St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $59 – $118. 8 p.m. shakespearetheatre.org.

“Pericles.” Pericles, Prince of Tyre, sets sail on an extraordinary journey through the decades and is blown from the coasts of Phoenicia to Greece and to Turkey. Chased by the wicked King of Antioch, Pericles �inds his true love in Thaisa and loses her and their daughter Marina on the rough

seas. This production is being directed by Joseph Haj, who was recently named artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Through Dec. 20. Folger Theatre (201 E Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C.). $35 – $75. 8 p.m. folger.edu.

“Akeelah and The Bee.” Based on the beloved �ilm, “Akeelah and the Bee” tells the story of an independent 11-year-old girl whose razorsharp mind just might take her all the way from the Chicago projects to the �inals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The production, featuring Johannah Easley in her Arena Stage debut, was adapted for stage by Cheryl L. West and is being directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. This run of the play, based on the original screenplay of the 2006 �ilm written by Doug Atchison, is the Children’s Theatre Company’s world premiere of the show. Through Dec. 27. Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater (1101

6th Street SW, Washington, D.C.). $55 – $70. 8 p.m. arenastage.org.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

“The Apple Family Circle – Sorry.” Over meals and through conversation, the Apples grapple with the changes the years have wrought, both for themselves and for America in one of the two �inal plays of Nelson’s cycle. In this play, it’s 5 a.m. on Election Day 2012. Obama’s bruised reelection campaign is almost won and the Apple siblings have gathered to move their ailing Uncle Benjamin into an assisted care facility. Over orange juice and cold Chinese food, they grapple with their unease about the paths they are taking, as a family and a nation. Through Dec. 13. Studio Theatre (1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $75. 8 p.m. studiotheatre.org.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CA L E NDA R

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3 M���� M���� L��� B����� ��� M���’� B���� S���� ��������� C�������� H������� ��� S������ M�����.

Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 in advance, $18 day of show. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566.

M������� F���� ���� V����� A��� C����� ��� T�����������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $12. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960.

S����� E. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $49.50.

7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

D��� S��� O��������. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $29. 8 p.m.

202-667-7960.

A����� S�������. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $50. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

A����� O’D��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283.

M���������� I��������� M���� F������� 2015 ��������� S����� P����, L������� F����, T�� D���������, U����� B��� C���� ��� J��������� P�� F������. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15 in advance; $18 day of the show. 7 p.m. 703-522-8340.

C�������� ��������� N����, S����� A�����, K���� � T�� B���������� ��� T�� T��� R���.

Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $12 – $18 in advance, $15 – $18 day of show. 7 p.m. 703-2551566.

B����, S���� � T���� ��������� B� B���. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $49.50.

7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

T�� L���������. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $18. 8 p.m. 703-237-0300.

A� A������� E������ ���� O��� ��� R����. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $25 – $28. 8 p.m. 703-2551900.

S���� A�� F����: S����� A����� N��-D������������� H������ S����������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15. 9 p.m. 202-667-7960.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

R�� L���� D����������. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington).

3 p.m. 703-522-8340.

W��� T��� H������ S���-A-L��� ��������� ��� U����� S���� M����� C���� B��� ��� M������ �� L���� C����� ��� V���� G�����. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). 4 p.m. 703-255-1900.

A����� A�����. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283.

C����� W������ � J��� G����. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $35. 7:30 p.m. 703-5497500.

T�� L���������. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $18. 8 p.m. 703-237-0300.

6�� A����� E������� M�����. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington,

D.C.). $10. 9 p.m. 202-667-7960.

T�� P���� K����. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $18 – $25. 9 p.m. 703-255-1566.

N���� R�����. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10.

9 p.m. 703-522-8340.

M��� T��� ��� B�� I�������� B���.

JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703241-9504.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

C���� P����� K��� B���. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504.

S������� F��� ���� T�� W��� B������� B���. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $15. 6 p.m. 703-237-0300.

M����� B���� (�� J����� T���) ��� T�� G�� R���� B���. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $22 – $28 in advance, $25 – $28 day of show. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566.

C�����. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $35. 7:30 p.m. 703-2551900.

T�� P����� B���. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10.

8 p.m. 703-522-8340.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7

G���� ��� T��� ���� L������ H�� ��� D��� G�����. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $12 – $15. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566.

C�������� �� C��������� ���� B���� B���� ��� T�� L�� D����� P��� B���, S������� ���

DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015 | PAGE 25

M���������. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 7 p.m. 202667-7960.

T�� J��� A������ �� M����. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $15. 7:30 p.m.

202-337-4141.

D���� B����� ���� J��� M������.

The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $39.50. 7:30 p.m.

703-549-7500.

B���� A���� Y���� O��������. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $15. 9 p.m. 202337-4141.

K�����. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8

C�� H����. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $12 – $20. 7 p.m.

703-255-1566.

F�������. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $55. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

L���� ��� T�� E�� �� A������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9

J��� G������ ���� J��� H�����.

Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566.

T�� A������ I�....9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 7 p.m. 202667-7960.

D����� D��� ���� C����� B����.

Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15. 7:30 p.m.

202-667-7960.

P������� A����...

Thursday, December 10 – Teen Geeky Cookie Decorating. Inspired by the YouTube show Nerdy Nummies children in grades 6 – 10 can decorate their very

own chic geek cookies. Registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8 p.m.

703-248-5034.

Saturday, December 12 – Town Hall: Campus Redevelopment Project. Join City of Falls Church staff for a presentation and Q&A on the redevelopment project

currently being planned for the George Mason High School and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School campus. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 10 a.m. – noon. fallschurchva.gov/CampusRedevelopment.

Wednesday, December 16 – Red Cross Blood Drive. Representatives from the American Red Cross will be present at Falls Church Community Center

accepting those who want to donate blood. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 8:30 – 2 p.m. fallschurchva.gov.

C������� S���������� Be sure to include time, location, cost of admission, contact person and any other pertinent information. Event listings will be edited for content and space limitations. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for the current week’s edition.

Email: calendar@fcnp.com | Fax: 703-342-0347; Attn: FCNP Calendar Mail: Falls Church News-Press, Attn: Calendar, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046

FO O D &D I NI NG

PAGE 26 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

Falls Church Dining Guide For the 2015 Holiday Season E��� C�����

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Ledo Pizza provides high quality food at a great value in a comfortable, family atmosphere. Their pizza is rolled to order with fresh handmade dough topped with high quality cheese and tomatoes.

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Other delicious entrees include their Italian salad – big enough for a meal – and lasagna, spaghetti, soup and breadsticks.

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Established in 2007, the awardwinning Plaka Grill opened their newest location here in Falls Church City this year, offering authentic Greek cuisine in a cheerful cozy setting. Their Greek specialties are all made in-house from the finest, freshest ingredients available.

Whether you dine in or carry out, you won’t be disappointed.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 27

December 24.

All Hanukkah and Christmas specials are also available at Astro’s D.C. location.

Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken 7511 Leesburg Pike | Falls Church astrodoughnuts.com

modate vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and halal diners.

Spice 6 is open daily, from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., for lunch and dinner.

Farmers Market Adds Holiday Items; Santa Comes to Mad Fox

Spice 6 2674-I Avenir Place | Vienna spice-6.com

Merrifield Adds Indian FastCasual Spice 6 to Its Lineup Merrifield continues to add to its arsenal of tastiness with the opening of a new fastcasual Indian restaurant at The Shops at Avenir Place.

Spice 6 debuted its second D.C.-area location last week (the original is in Hyattsville) in the development next to the Dunn Loring metro station, bringing a lineup of quick dishes ranging from rice bowls and wraps to kabobs, salads and naan pizza.

For those with food restrictions, all Spice 6 curries are vegan-based and both salad and rice bowls can be made to accom-

Astro Doughnuts Intros Hanukkah, Christmas Treats Another collection of holidays and another batch of seasonal goodness from Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken.

Starting Sunday, the Falls Church shop adds latkes and sufganiyah to its menu for Hanukkah, offering the potato pancakes at $3.75 for an order of two with a side of sour cream or apple sauce and the sugartopped strawberry jelly-filled doughnuts for $2.95 each. Also on Sunday, boxes of Hanukkah mini-doughnuts go on sale for $20 and include three each of creme brulee and sufganiyah and two each of cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate glazed. Latkes, suf-

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Astro’s Hanukkah latkes and doughnuts are available starting Sunday through Dec. 14. (Photo: Astro Doughnuts)

ganiyah and Hanukkah will be available for the duration of the holiday until Monday, Dec. 14.

There’s a special box for Christmas, too, beginning next Thursday, Dec. 10.

The dozen mini doughnuts contain two each of creme brulee, vanilla glazed, chocolate glazed with gingerbread crumb topping, white chocolate glazed with crushed peppermint candy, cranberry jam-filled doughnuts with cream cheese glaze and crushed walnuts and eggnog-glazed with cinnamon nutmegspiced buttercream. The Christmas box of doughnuts is $20 and is available through

‘Tis the season and with it come a pair of holiday events to the Little City.

On Saturday, the Falls Church Farmers Market expands beyond its regular stellar lineup of local food to include a holiday market filled with crafts, gifts, trees, wreaths and more from 8 a.m. – noon.

Then, on Sunday, St. Nick himself comes to town as Mad Fox Brewing Company hosts a Santa meet-and-greet from 2 – 4 p.m. where kids (and adults) can get their photos with the jolly old elf for free.

Falls Church Farmers Market 300 Park Avenue | Falls Church Mad Fox Brewing Company 444 West Broad Street | Falls Church madfoxbrewing.com – Jody Fellows

PAGE 28 | DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015

A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

George Mason Audiences Charmed by ‘Spelling Bee’

BY SIERRA HOFFMAN CAPPIES REVIEW

Although a spelling bee may not seem like the most exciting setting for a musical, audiences at George Mason High School were recently charmed by the sweet, comedic and overall exciting energy of the “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The musical follows six young spellers as they compete in their county spelling bee. Each speller grows along the way, discovers more about themselves and matures with the help of three eccentric adults running the bee.

The show opened in 2005 on Broadway and on the West End in 2011. Known for its audience participation and ad libbed one-liners, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” took home a Tony for best book in 2005 and is performed without an intermission.

An outstanding performance was by Lydia Gompper, who played Olive Ostrovsky, the shy, nerdy girl who eventually blossoms.

Gompper’s portrayal of the transformation from timid and nervous to mature and self confident

was done with an elegance matched only by her beautiful vocals, demonstrating a strong range on songs like “My Friend the Dictionary” and “The I Love You Song.”

Another memorable performance of the night was Mitch Mahoney, the comfort counselor of the bee. As the punk-rocker fulfilling service hour requirements, Michael Curtin embodied the multi-layered character and supported his choices with his strong vocals in the song, “Prayer of the Comfort Counselor.”

The ensemble of spellers worked beautifully together. They each captured the essence of being a child in their actions and voices. A standout in this sense is Miles Jackson, who played Leaf Coneybear, the immature quirky contestant who doesn’t seem to fit in with his peers.

Jackson used his lack of inhibitions to his advantage, creating beautiful moments of comedy. Although most of the cast is onstage for the entire show without a break, all the actors kept up their strong choices the entire time, and were always in character.

The ensemble had beautiful tight harmonies and impressively

GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL students (l to r) Daniel Rossi, Lydia Gompper and Ruthie Miller perform in the school’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” (P����: C���� S��) strong vocals in group numbers like “The Goodbye Song” and “Pandemonium.” The technical elements of the show were truly outstanding. The orchestra was excellently timed and paced, and the balance between vocals and instrumentals was practically perfect.

The static set was well constructed, designed, and dressed, and included incredibly creative elements such as a rope swing and basketball hoops. The costumes were character appropriate and helped give more depth to each actor’s portrayal.The lighting design worked

well with the simple set to help create many moods and the illusion of multiple random locations.

The charming energy of the cast of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” made for a solid, enjoyable and hilarious performance for all ages.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015 | PAGE 29

Dec.

3

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Sheila E. The Birchmere 7:30 p.m.

3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria

703-549-7500 • birchmere.com

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Cheryl Wheeler & John Gorka The Birchmere 7:30 p.m.

3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria

703-549-7500 • birchmere.com

The Paper Kites Jammin’ Java 9 p.m.

227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna

703-255-1566 • jamminjava.com

7

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BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

The contemporary jazz group Fourplay, made up of four legendary jazz musicians in their own right, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the aptly titled album Silver, which was released on November 20.

Dave Mason, the quartet’s drummer and one of the founders of the group, said that the band members’ experiences playing with a variety of artists before coming to Fourplay contributes to their staying power as a group.

“We learned when to support and when to step back or step out and support and to work hard on projects and I think that is a big part of it,” Mason said. “We’re all team players, so to speak, and we’re able to support and know when to give and take….Each guy is a very smart guy, I think that’s a big part of it.”

The group’s pianist, Bob James, said that the group operates as a “democracy,” and said there’s “a strong desire to have all of us represented equally.” Mason echoed that James’ FOURPLAY (C������� P����) comments and said that he think that’s the best as music, we all adapt to all different kinds of way to keep a band together.

“Each of us has a vested interest in the band music,” Mason said.

“We can play all different genres of music. in every possible way, musically and economically,” Mason said. “It’s your baby, so you care So it was easy for us when we started playabout it and you’re going to put your all into ing together, the synergy was so good that it it. If you end up in a situation where someone was easy for us to say let’s continue playing is the leader and they’re dictating what’s going together, let’s continue growing together and to happen, it’s less appealing and I don’t think see where this goes.”

The group has gone on to sell millions of you have as much of a feeling of owning it as records, earn Grammy nominations, hold top you would if it was a democracy.

“So it’s pretty clear why that would work positions on the Billboard charts and receive better, especially if everyone gets along and a designation United States Congress as dislikes everyone and everyone has equal goals tinguished members of the recording industry.

Now, the quartet – Mason, James, Nathan and the goals are outlined and you know where you’re going and I think that’s the best way to East, the bassist, and Chuck Loeb, the guitarist – is celebrating its 25th anniversary with an album have a band like this.”

He added that respect and adaptability are of songs related to the word silver, including a other reasons the groups been able to suc- tribute composed by James to the late Horace cessfully work together for so long. “As far Silver, one of his favorite jazz pianists. Another

track, composed by Mason, called “A Silver Lining,” showcases a different side of the group.

“I wanted something that wasn’t quite so smooth,” Mason said. “I wanted something that was a different feeling for us, closer to a jazz, loose kind of feel….That and another song I wrote for the album are a little different from what Fourplay would play, but it sounds like Fourplay.”

Fourplay, with their new material and some old tunes, are coming to the DMV with a December 8 performance at The Birchmere.

“We love playing at The Birchmere, we look forward to playing there and come out because we’re going to bring the new CD and some of the old things and you’re going to love it,” Mason told the News-Press. “And the band is fiery.”

• For more information about Fourplay, visit fourplayjazz.com.

David Benoit with Jane Monheit The Birchmere 7:30 p.m.

3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria

703-549-7500 • birchmere.com

These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week:  Nicholas Benton – Chances Are by Johnny Mathis 

Jody Fellows – Human Nature by Michael Jackson 

Drew Costley – Queens Get the Money by Nas

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Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on December 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, for consideration of the following subjects: New Business a. Variance application V1577-15 by Priya Krishnan, owner and applicant, for a variances to Section 48-238(3)(a) to allow (1) a front yard setback of eighteen (18) feet instead of thirty (30) feet along the Jackson Street frontage; and (2) a front yard setback of eighteen (18) feet instead of thirty (30) feet along the Timber Lane frontage; and (3) a side yard setback of ten (10) feet instead of fifteen (15) feet along the northern property line; and (4) a side yard setback of ten (10) feet instead of fifteen (15) feet along the eastern property line for the purpose of constructing a new single-family house on premises known as 600 Jackson Street, RPC #52-205-001 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1A Low Density Residential.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

C L AS S I F I E DS b. Variance application V1573-15 by Tim Luwis, a variance to Sec. 48-1004 to allow a 30 percent reduction in the required parking spaces, on premises known as 419 W. Broad Street and 421 W. Broad Street, RPC #s 52-302-059 and 52-302-056 of the Falls Church Property Records, zoned B-1 (Limited Business), said property owned

by Tim Luwis. c. Variance application V1574-15 by Tim Luwis, a variance to Sec. 48-1101 and Sec. 48-939 to allow a rear yard setback of 10 feet instead of 20 feet on the southern property line and side yard setback of 10 feet instead of the 20 feet on the western property line, both of which abutting R-M (Multi-Family) zone to permit the construction of a new hotel on premises known as 419 W. Broad Street and 421 W. Broad Street, RPC #s 52-302-059 and 52-302056 of the Falls Church Property Records, zoned B-1 (Limited Business), said property owned by Tim Luwis.

Information on the above applications is available for review at: Zoning Office 300 Park Avenue, Suite 300W Falls Church, VA. 703-248-5015 (option 1) zoning@fallschurchva.gov

ORDER FOR THE PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS (Residence Known) Case No. 15DR1004761B Dept. No. 1

IN THE FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF THE STATE OF NEVADA IN AND FOR CARSON COUNTY MURALI KRISHNA SOMAROUTHU, Plaintiff, vs.

RADHIKA SOMAROUTHU, Defendant THE STATE OF NEVADA SENDS GREETINGS TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANT: NOTICE! YOU HAVE BEEN SUED, THE COURT MAY DECIDE AGAINST YOU WITHOUT YOUR BEING HEARD UNLESS YOU RESPOND WITHIN 20 DAYS. READ THE INFORMATION BELOW. TO THE DEFENDANT: A civil Complaint has been filed by the plaintiff against you.

If you wish to defend his lawsuit, you must, within 20 days after this Summons is served on you, exclusive of the day of service, file with this Court a written pleading* in response to this Complaint.

Unless you respond, your default will be entered upon application of the plaintiff, and this Court may enter a judgment against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint**, which could result in the taking of money or property or the relief requested in the Complaint.

If you wish to seek the advise of an attorney in this matter, you should do so promptly so that your response may be filed on time.

You are required to serve your response upon plaintiff’s attorney, whose address is: Newspaper: Falls Church News-Press City/Town: Falls Church, Virginia 22046 COURT NAME AND ADDRESS: Susan Merriwether, Clerk of the Court September 8, 2015 First Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada in and for Carson County 885 E Musser Street #3031 Carson City, NV 89701 Upon reading the affidavit of Daniel J. Spence, Esq., attorney for Plaintiff duly filed herein, it appears to the satisfaction of the Court, and the Court finds, that Defendant herein resides in the state of Virginia, that Defendant is avoiding service of process, and that Summons herein cannot be served upon Defendant in person within the state of Virginia, and it and it is appearing from said affidavit and from the verified Petition filed herein, and the Court here finds, that a cause of action exists in favor of the Plaintiff and Defendant, that Defendant is a necessary and proper party herein, and that the present residence and address

of Defendant are 3015 Nicosh Circle, #2101, Falls Church, Virginia 22042 and it further appearing that the Falls Church News-Press is a newspaper published in Falls Church, state of Virginia, and is the newspaper most likely to give notice to Defendant of the pendency of this action: NOW, THEREFORE, it is hereby ordered that Summons in the suit be served on Defendant herein, by publication thereof in the above-named newspaper, and that said publication be made for four weeks and at least once a week during said time; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED and directed that a copy of the Summons and and a copy of the Petition be deposited forthwith in the United States Post Office at Carson City, Nevada, enclosed in an envelop upon which postage is fully prepaid, addressed to Defendant at 3015 Nicosh Circle, #2101, Falls Church, Virginia 22042.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that due service of a copy of the Summons and copy of the Petition on Defendant in person shall be equivalent to complete service by publication and deposit in the United States Post Office, and that such process may be served upon Defendant as prescribed by Rules of Civil Procedures.

James T. Russell DISTRICT JUDGE DATED this 23rd day of October 2015

PUBLIC NOTICE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA Volunteers who live in the City of Falls

Church are needed to serve on the boards and commissions listed below. Contact the City Clerk’s Office (703-248-5014, cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov, or www.fallschurchva.gov/BC) for an application form or more information. Requests for reappointment must be made through the City Clerk.

Applications are accepted until the end of the month. Vacancies advertised for more than one month may be filled during each subsequent month before month’s end.

Board of Equalization Board of Zoning Appeals (alternate) Environmental Services Council Historic Architectural Review Board Historical Commission Human Services Advisory Council Tree Commission Regional Boards/Commissions: Fairfax Area Disability Services Board Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board Long Term Care Coordinating Council Workforce Investment Board

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The ordinance referenced below was given first reading on November 9, 2015; second reading and public hearing are scheduled for Monday, December 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard.

(TO15-14) ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 48 “ZONING” TO REQUIRE A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR CERTAIN USES NOW PERMITTED BY RIGHT IN THE B-1, B-2, B-3 AND M-1 DISTRICTS, SHIFT REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THOSE TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL, ALLOW SECOND STORY BUSINESS SIGNS IN B DISTRICTS, AND REMOVE OBSOLETE CODE LANGUAGE This amendment would require a special use permit for churches, schools, day care facilities, payday lenders and title loan companies in the B-1, B-2, and B-3 com-

mercial districts, and, by reference, in the M-1industrial district. It would also allow businesses on second stories in B-districts to have signs, allow strings of lights outside of merchandise sales areas, and update the reference to group homes to make it consistent with state law.

The items referenced below were given first reading on August 11, 2014 and deferred on July 13, 2015; second reading and public hearings are scheduled for Monday, December 14, 2015 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matters may be heard.

(TR14-29) RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, TO CHANGE THE DESIGNATION OF APPROXIMATELY 4.3 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF WEST BROAD AND NORTH WEST STREETS, ALSO DESCRIBED AS 110, 112, 112A, 212 & 212A NORTH WEST STREET, 916, 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, 930, 932 & 934, WEST BROAD STREET AND 919, 921 & 925 PARK AVENUE (REAL PROPERTY CODE NUMBERS 51-202-009 THROUGH 51-202-015, 51-202-003, 51-202-004, 51-202-005, 51-202-028 AND 51-202-028 OUTLOT) FROM “BUSINESS” AND “LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (6.0)” TO “MIXED USE” ON THE CITY’S FUTURE LAND USE PLAN MAP, ON APPLICATION BY SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT, LLC. (TO14-28) ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, BY REZONING A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 3.13 ACRES OF LAND: A PORTION (APPROXIMATELY 2.11 ACRES) FROM B-3, GENERAL BUSINESS DISTRICT; AND A PORTION (APPROXIMATELY 1.02 ACRES) FROM R-1B, MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT TO B-1, LIMITED BUSINESS DISTRICT FOR THE COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES AT, 110, 112, 112A, 212 & 212A NORTH WEST STREET, 928, 930, 932 & 934 WEST BROAD STREET AND RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES AT 919, 921 & 925 PARK AVENUE (REAL PROPERTY CODE NUMBERS 51-202-009 THROUGH 51-202-015, 51-202-028 AND 51-202-028 OUTLOT), KNOWN AS “MASON ROW” ON APPLICATION BY SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT, LLC

(TR14-28) RESOLUTION TO GRANT A SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR RESIDENTIAL USES WITHIN A MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AND TO INCREASE THE BUILDING HEIGHT WITH A BONUS OF THIRTY (30) FEET TO A MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF EIGHTY- FIVE (85) FEET FOR A MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT ON APPROXIMATELY 4.3 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF WEST BROAD AND NORTH WEST STREETS, ALSO DESCRIBED AS 110, 112, 112A, 212 & 212A NORTH WEST STREET, 916, 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, 930, 932 & 934, WEST BROAD STREET AND 919, 921 & 925 PARK AVENUE (REAL PROPERTY CODE NUMBERS 51-202-009 THROUGH 51-202-015, 51-202-003, 51-202-004, 51-202-005, 51-202-028 AND 51-202-028 OUTLOT) KNOWN AS “MASON ROW” ON APPLICATION BY SPECTRUM DEVELOPMENT, LLC. This is an application by Spectrum Development, LLC for a Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment (TR14-29) to change the existing map designation from “Business” and “Low Density Residential (6)” to “Mixed-Use”; an Official Zoning Map Amendment (TO14-28) to change the existing zoning designation from R-1B, Medium Density Residential and B-3, General Business, to B-1, Limited Business; and Special Exception(s) (TR14-28) to allow residential development within a commercially zoned B district and to allow 30 feet of height bonus as part of the proposed Broad and West (“Mason Row”) mixed-use project on 4.3 acres at the 916, 920, 922, 924, 926, 928, 930, 932 & 934 W. Broad Street; 110,112, 112A, & 212 & 212A N. West Street; 919, 921, & 925 Park Ave. The proposed mixed-use project includes a 145-room hotel and 340 residential apartments above 63,147 square feet of ground level retail and a movie theater.

All public hearings will be held in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia. For copies of legislation, contact the City Clerk’s office at (703-2485014) or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov.

The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711).

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DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 31

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CL ASSIF IED S

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH PLANNING COMMISSION The City of Falls Church Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, December 21, 2015 at 7:45 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 to consider the following: ORDINANCE TO15-13 ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 48 “ZONING” OFFICE, MIXED-USE, RETAIL AND BICYCLE PARKING, AND OTHER RELATED PROVISIONS This amendment would allow consideration of a reduced parking ratio for office and mixed-use development with approval of a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan, increase the minimum width of parking spaces from 8.5 feet to 9 feet, prohibit encroachments into required parking, permit conversion of some parking spaces to alternate uses, eliminate variances for parking, require a minimum of 4, or as follows, whichever is greater: Short-term Office - 1/20,000 sq. ft. or portion thereof, Long-term - Office 1/6,000 sq. ft. or portion thereof; Short-term retail - 2/10,000 sq. ft. or portion thereof for the first 50,000 sq. ft. and 1 additional for every 12,500 sq. ft. or portion thereof, Long-term retail - 1/25,000 sq. ft. or portion thereof; Short-term multi-family - 1/50 units or portion thereof, Long-term multi-family – ½.5 units or portion thereof; Short-term hotel – 1/50 hotel rooms or portion thereof, Long-term hotel 1/10 hotel rooms or portion thereof, and other related provisions.

ORDINANCE TO15-14 ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 48 “ZONING” TO REQUIRE A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR CERTAIN USES NOW PERMITTED BY RIGHT IN THE B-1, B-2, B-3 AND M-1 DISTRICTS, SHIFT REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THOSE TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL, ALLOW SECOND STORY BUSINESS SIGNS IN B DISTRICTS, AND REMOVE OBSOLETE CODE LANGUAGE This amendment would require a special use permit for churches, schools, day care facilities, payday lenders and title loan companies in the B-1, B-2 and B-3 commercial districts, and, by reference, in the M-1 industrial district. It would also allow businesses on second stories in B districts to have signs, allow strings of lights outside of merchandise sales areas and update the reference to group homes to make it consistent with state law.

ORDINANCE TO15-17 ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 14, ENVIRONMENT, ARTICLE V, OUTDOOR LIGHTING, TO DELETE STRINGS OF LIGHTS FROM PROHIBITED INSTALLATIONS Materials can also be viewed at the Planning Division, City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Room 300W, Falls Church, VA. 22046, M-F 8:30 a.m. to 5 pm. 703-248-5040.

This location is fully accessible to persons with physical disabilities and special services or assistance may be requested in advance. (TTY 711)

ABC LICENSE

Dragon 8, LLC, Trading as Taku Asian Bistro, 5701 Columbia Pike, Suite C, Falls Church, Virginia, 22041-2900. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer On and Off Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Li Yu Zheng, Member. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

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For more information, meeting locations, and comment forms, visit: www.DC2RVArail.com.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Mustangs Winter Sports Teams Prepare for Season

BY MATT DELANEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

December’s arrival marks the beginning of the winter sports season for George Mason High School and a renewed sense of optimism for each team.

BOYS BASKETBALL Record-wise Mason’s boys’ basketball team were successful last season finishing at 24-2.

However, most opponents were not high-caliber, setting them up poorly for the postseason.

“Our regular season dominance came back to get us in the loss to Brunswick; we hadn’t been tested since Christmas,” head coach Chris Capannola said. “Hopefully we can take the next step this year.”

Hope springs eternal for the squad as nine players return from the previous year’s campaign, including all five starters.

The depth allows the team to run two lines without a drop-off in performance. To keep players sharp, Capannola’s demanding more out of his practice regimen.

“I need to keep practices fresh for the guys. They can get bored and lose focus at times,” Capannola said. “That’s on me to make sure they don’t do that.

It’s all part of the deal, coaching veteran players.”

The goal is simple: State’s or bust. For a senior-heavy team that won all their district and conference games the previous year, they expect to get their opponent’s best each night. Now it’s about fulfilling the task at hand.

“It’s a different mindset this year as there is no more ‘next year’ for 10 of the kids,” Capannola said. The boys basketball season started on Tuesday, Dec. 1 with a 74-46 win over Riverside High School.

GIRLS BASKETBALL First year head coach Michael Gilroy inherits a program that went 18-7 last year, but the new season brings mystery with it. Former stalwarts like Katie Goodwin have graduated, requiring the team to find a new identity.

“It’s going to be more of a balanced attack,” Gilroy said. “We’re not looking for one person to take over, we’re looking for a full team environment here.”

Contrary to the boys’ team, the Lady Mustangs are young, with eight sophomores and two freshman making up their roster. Gilroy said he knows the team won’t adjust to his scheme immediately, but it will lay the foundation for years to come.

For now, he’s counting on returning sophomore and center Kaylee Hirsch to lead the team on and off the court.

“She didn’t get a lot of playing time last year, but she’s going to get thrown into the fire,” Gilroy said. But despite their youth, expectations for the team aren’t being scaled back in the least.

“Team-wise, we want to get to the state tournament,” Gilroy said.

“The past two years they have not got out of regionals, so that is the goal.” The girls basketball team began their season at home with an 82-34 victory over Riverside High School on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

WRESTLING An incomplete roster hampered Mason’s wrestling team from nabbing victories last year, but individually speaking, players made strides throughout the season.

“Last season was tough; we were missing four weight classes, and of the ten we filled, seven were first year wrestlers,” head coach Bryan Harris said. “[But]

RETURNING MASON BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYER Josh Allen, seen here shooting a three pointer against Clarke County High School last season, is one of ten seniors on the team. (P����: L�� L�����) it was a very hard-working group and everyone made a ton of progress over the course of the season.”

This year is different; it could be the first time Mason fields a full 14-man roster since 2003. Eight returners and three experienced freshman, Sierra Sulc, Jack Felgar and Chris Kim, will make up the team plus captains Matt Mineo (132 lbs), Jack Dana (195 lbs) and Hunter Sulc (182 lbs). With a full roster, Mason will make team goals for the first time in a while.

“Every season we have a handful of wrestlers who are able to compete for conference, region and state medals,” Harris said.

“But this year, with the experience and effort that I’ve seen so far I think that we have an opportunity to be much more successful as a team.”

Mason’s wrestling team has its first competition at the King George Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 5.

SCHOLASTIC BOWL Led by an untested roster, Mason’s Scholastic Bowl team has started off its season with a 6-0 record. Still, head coach Jamie Scharff is keeping things in perspective during the season’s early stages.

“Because we have a mostly brand new team…our goal is simply to improve continuously during the course of the year.” Scharff said.

Staking their claim in the district was one obstacle overcome, but regaining last year’s prominence might be out of reach for this team.

“We have a good chance to make it out of conference play and on to the East Region tournament in February,” Scharff said. “But making it to the state tournament will be the really difficult challenge this year with such an inexperienced team.”

Regardless of wins and losses, the team enjoys expanding their knowledge and will continue to do

so. The Scholastic Bowl team will compete again on Dec. 7 against Clarke County and Central.

SWIM & DIVE Both Boys and Girls Swim & Dive teams sit atop the throne as reigning Virginia 2A State Champions and look to continue their success this year.

“The boys were defending state champs so it felt good to get the repeat in,” head coach Jack Cashin said.

“And for the girls [who] finished second [the year before] against Maggie Walker…it was good for us to overcome them and be able to pull out the victory.”

The team’s goal this season is obvious: keep the state titles in Falls Church.

The Boys and Girls begin their defense of the state titles at Woodrow Wilson High School on Thursday, Dec. 3.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

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Across 1. "Notorious ____" (2002 one-woman stand-up comedy film) 4. 2002 Cy Young Award winner Barry

1. “Notorious ____” (2002 one-woman stand-up comedy film) 4. 2002 Cy Young Award winner Barry 8. Estevez of “The Breakfast Club” 14. Curtain holder 15. Picked out of a lineup 16. Strong of “SNL” 17. Pilot’s announcement, briefly 18. Emperor who committed matricide 19. Scrabble 10-pointers 20. Person holding an 1815 Jane Austen novel?

23. Oscar-winning role for Cotillard 24. ____ Records 25. Police dept. rank 28. What the dragster made in pottery class?

34. 2014 biblical title role for Russell Crowe 35. Guilty, e.g.

36. “What a country!” (or where you’ll find the letters used to solve 20-, 28-, 44- and 55-Across) 42. Chips Ahoy! alternative 43. Annual film-and-music festival named for its location in Austin, TX 44. What Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield each opted for, professionally?

51. Boy 52. ‘80s sitcom puppet 53. Scientology guru ____ Hubbard 55. Apple computer made from yarn?

60. Imagined while sleeping 64. Greek war god 65. Britney Spears’ “____ Slave 4 U”

DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 33

66. “Brokeback Mountain” director 67. Big pile 68. Grp. seeking to improve No Child Left Behind 69. Chews out 70. “Death in Venice” author 71. Newspaper heads, for short

by during migration 37. Call for 38. “Funky Cold Medina” rapper Tone ____ 39. 1090, on a monument 40. Finnish hockey star Tikkanen 41. Pres. between JEC and GHWB 42. It may be struck in a field 45. Rear-ended, e.g.

46. Thrills 47. Pro Bowl div.

48. Wallach of “The Magnificent Seven” 49. Fur for a stole 50. Didn’t stay put 54. March Madness, with “the” 56. Chicago mayor Emanuel 57. Vicinity 58. Uncharitable 59. Channel with postgame analysis 60. Prosecutors, for short 61. GOP org.

62. Opposite of humility 63. The works

DOWN

1. Hardly Mr. Right 2. Feedback producer 3. Whoopi’s Oscar-winning role in “Ghost” 4. ____ oxide (beachgoer’s protection) 5. Brainchild 6. Guam, e.g.: Abbr.

7. It stinks 8. Skin condition that comes from a Greek term meaning “to boil” 9. Kind of system 10. Here, to Henri 11. Rap’s ____ Wayne 12. Project’s end?

13. Kvetchers’ cries 21. It’s south of Eur. 22. Suffix with cash 25. Org. headed by MLK Jr. and MLK III 26. Greek earth goddess 27. ____-la-la 29. Whichever 30. “Who, me?”

31. McKellen of “X-Men” 32. It’s hard to get across 33. Prefix with dermis 36. Its name features the postal abbreviations of U.S. states it swims

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W M E O A N

E Y T V D H E S T L T S E

I E M N D A M B L E I S E T H N D R U S A G T H A S R E E M P I M E N A C

T O M M I E

A R E S T

N E S A N T L L E I S T S

By The Mepham Group

1 2 3 4

14. Curtain holder 15. Picked out of a lineup 16. Strong of "SNL" 17. Pilot's announcement, briefly 18. Emperor who committed matricide 19. Scrabble 10-pointers 20. Person holding an 1815 Jane Austen novel?

1

23. Oscar-winning role for Cotillard 24. ____ Records 25. Police dept. rank

LOOSE PARTS

28. What the dragster made in pottery class?

DAVE BLAZEK

34. 2014 biblical title role for Russell Crowe Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

1

© 2015 N.F. Benton

12/6/15

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk. © 2015 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

LO CA L

PAGE 34 | DECEMBER 3 – 9, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

C������ C�����

BACK IN THE DAY

laz y The dog. c k q u i fox sly p e d jum e r o v lazy the g . d o is Now time the all for o d g o to cows

20 s Yearo Ag

e c o mthe to of aid i r t h e re. pastu w N o the is e t i m all for o d g o to cows e c o mthe to

20 � 10 Y���� A�� �� ��� N���-P����

Falls Church News-Press Vol. V, No. 38 • December 7, 1995

It is no the timw e for g o all o cows d to go to the aid of the pa stu ir re. *** **

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XV, No. 39 • December 1, 2005

10 Year s Ago

Thr ow it up.

Pour it up It now is the time for all go od cows to go the to aid

Council Tackles Homeless Shelter Ordinance Monday

F.C. Council Surprised by Its Business Tax Rate

A controversial ordinance to permit limited operations of emergency homeless shelter facilities in Falls Church comes before the City council for a final vote this Monday night.

The ordinance was drawn up in response to a request by the Dulin United Methodist Church on East Broad St. earlier this fall to allow an emergency facility in existing buildings at their location on severely cold nights when the Bailey’s Crossroads shelter overflows.

Members of the Falls Church City Council, including some who’ve been on the Council for almost eight years, seemed surprised and unaware at Monday’s meeting that the City of Falls Church’s business license tax is the highest in the region for certain categories of professionals, and a deterrent to business recruitment and retention, despite the fact that Council has been reminded of this repeatedly for years by the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce.

F� � � � C � � � � �

S����� N��� � N���� George Mason HS Parents Learn About Financial Aid Parents of junior and seniors at George Mason High School had the opportunity to learn about the college financial aid process at an event at George C. Marshall High School on Monday, Nov. 30.

Chad Spencer, the associate dean of financial aid at Davidson College, presented a program about financial aid for college.

Spencer presented information about the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), important financial aid deadlines and other topics for current seniors seeking aid for the 2016-17 school year.

Information was also presented about deadlines for the 2017-18 FAFSA, which will be changing.

Nominations Open for Wash.

Post Teacher of the Year Nominations are open for the Washington Post’s Teacher of the Year Award, according to a post on the Falls Church City Public School’s website.

The goals of The Washington Post’s Teacher of the Year Award has always been to recognize excellence in teaching, to encourage creative and quality instruction and to contribute in a substantive way to the improvement of education in the Washington metropolitan area.

Deadline for nominations is Thursday, Jan. 6, 2016.

HERE ARE CLIFFORD AND ROCKFORD. They are both twoyear-old Standard Poodles who are originally from the eastern shore of Maryland, now living with the Dakin family.

Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

OPEN SUNDAY 2-4PM

Charming Cape Cod house- 4BR/2BA, 3 levels with family and dining rooms addition.

Updated and open kitchen. Updated baths.

New Price $575,000

6804 Jefferson Ave. Falls Church, VA 22042

Beautiful, large open floor plan. Huge addition w updated kit. 5BR/3BA, 2 car garage. Over one half acre. New Price $1,049,000

OPEN SUNDAY 2-4PM

2114 Great Falls St. Falls Church, VA 22043

Bethany Ellis REALTOR®, SRES, e-PRO, Corporate Relocation Specialist NVAR Lifetime Top Producer & Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club

McLean Sales Office: 703-790-1990 office

1355 Beverly Road, Suite 109 McLean, VA 22101

703-307-7003 preferred

bethany.ellis@longandfoster.com www.buyandsellwithbethany.com

Matilda is wondrous.

A real miracle.

The best musical since The Lion King.” “

FIFTH GRADERS AT TJ Elementary School participate in a “read-in” in Lisa Mueller’s class in class period leading up to Thanksgiving break. They brought their own books and quietly immersed themselves at desks and on the �loor. (P����: FCCPS P�����/L��� M������) Nominations can also be dropped off to the Falls Church City Public Schools’ office.

The school system suggests that nomination packages be titled “FCCPS Employee Awards,” with attention to Toni Jones and addressed to 800 W. Broad St. Ste. 203, Falls Church.

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com.

McLean High School to Host Holiday Bazaar on Dec. 12 The McLean Holiday Bazaar, sponsored by the McLean High School Athletic Boosters, will be held at McLean High School, located at 1633 Davidson Road, McLean, on Saturday, Dec. 12 from 10

a.m. – 3 p.m.

Local artisans, writers, businesses and organizations will fill the gymnasium at McLean High School for the bazaar.

Participation as a vendor is open to the public and costs $125 for a table.

McLean High School-related groups are not charged for tables, since their volunteer volunteer fundraising efforts go directly into the school group or sport they are supporting.

Online vendor reservation begins on Monday, Oct. 7 and ends on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Event day volunteers are needed for the event. For more information, visit sites.google.com/site/mcleanhsbazaar22101/home or email mcleanbazaar@gmail.com.

’s agazine TIME M

ear! of the Y w o h S #1

December 15–January 10 | Opera House KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG (202) 467-4600

Tickets are also available at the Box Office. Groups call (202) 416-8400.

Musical Theater at the Kennedy Center is made possible by the

Major support for Musical Theater at the Kennedy Center is provided by The Drutz Family Fund for Musical Theater.

Comedy at the Kennedy Center Presenting Sponsor

The Kennedy Center Theater Season is sponsored by Altria Group.

DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015 | PAGE 35

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Directory Listings: Call Us at 703-532-3267

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ACCOUNTING

Diener & Associates, CPA.. . . . . . . . . 241-8807 Eric C. Johnson, CPA, PC . . . . . . . . . 538-2394 Mark Sullivan, CPA. . . . . . . . . . . 571-214-4511 Hahn & Associates, PC, CPAs. . . . . . 533-3777 n

BUSINESS DIRECTORY n

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ATTORNEYS

Mark F. Werblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9300 Sudeep Bose, Former Police Officer. 926-3900 Janine S. Benton, Esq. . . . . . . . . . . .992-9255 n

AUTOMOTIVE

Beyer Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5000 Koons Ford Outlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-3363 n

BANKING

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.. . . 519-1634 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-3505 TD Bank/www.TDBank.com. . . . . . . . 237-2051

COLLEGES

American College of Commerce and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 942-6200

Falls Church Antique Company . . . . . 241-7074 Antique Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-9642 n

EQUIPMENT RENTAL/SALE

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EYEWEAR

Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-6500 n

FLORISTS

Falls Church Florist, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 533-1333 n

FRAMES

Art & Frame of Falls Church . . . . . . . 534-4202

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1 Line Maximum

(30 characters + Ph. #, incl. spaces)

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HEALTH & FITNESS

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Vantage Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-0565 Jazzercise Falls Church. . . . . . . . . . . 622-2152 FC Heating & Air Service . . . . . . . . . . 534-0630 Joseph Home Improvement. . . . . . . . 507-5005 Picture Perfect Home Improvements 590-3187 One Time Home Improvement. . . . . . 577-9825

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Allstate Home Auto Life Ins. . . . . . . 241-8100 State Farm Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5105

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INSURANCE

All numbers have a ‘703’ prefix unless otherwise indicated.

REAL ESTATE

Merelyn Kaye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .790-9090x218 www.helpfulmortgage.us . . . . . . . . . . 237-0222 Casey O’Neal - ReMax . . . . . . . . . . . 824-4196 Rosemary Hayes Jones. . . . . . . . . . .790-1990 The Young Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .356-8800 Tori McKinney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867-8674 Shaun Murphy, Realtor . . . . . . . . . . . 868-5999

MASSAGE

Dr Gordon Theisz, Family Medicine. . 533-7555

PHOTOGRAPHY

Gary Mester, Event, Portraits. . . . . . . 481-0128 Mary Sandoval Photography . . . 334-803-1742

LAWN CARE

MEDICAL

PHARMACY

Broad Street Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . 533-9013 n

www.healthybyintention.com.. . . . . . . 534-1321 n

PET SERVICES

Apex Pet Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532-8012 Feline Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920-8665

Lawn Enforcement Services, LLC . . . 237-0921 n

OPTOMETRIST

Dr. Alison Sinyai, Family Eye Care . . 533-3937 n

HOME IMPROVEMENT

MUSIC

Academy of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938-8054 Foxes Music Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-7393

HANDYMAN

Doug’s Handyman Service. . . . . . . . . 556-4276 Your Handyman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571-243-6726

VA Outdoor Power Equipment . . . . . . 207-2000 n

GIFTS

Stifel & Capra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-0770

DENTISTS

Family Dentistry, Nimisha V Patel . . . 533-1733 Dr. William Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . 532-3300 n

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CLEANING SERVICES

Maid Brigade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823-1922 Acclaimed Carpet Cleaning . . . . . . . . 978-2270 A Cleaning Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892-8648

AIR DUCT CLEANING

ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES

BOOK BINDING

BCR Binders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9181

Air Duct Maids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-7600 n

3 months - $150 6 months - $270 1 year - $450

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TAILOR

Tailor Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-8886

PAGE 36 | DECEMBER 3 - 9, 2015

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Don Beyer Volvo & Beyer Kia will donate $25 for every car sold from now until the end of the year to Falls Church "We Support the Girls" GoFundMe

703.237.5000 | donbeyervolvo.com | 1231 W. Broad St. Falls Church

THERE IS STILL TIME TO GIVE THE GIFT OF THE ALL NEW 2016 VOLVO XC90

Under Contract in 3 Days - Falls Church

Check Online for Open Houses Open Sunday 2-4pm

Under Contract

305 Parker Ave | Falls Church City

2300 Grove Avenue | Falls Church New Construction ~ McLean Schools!

Lovely 4 BD/3 BA home with attached 2 car garage and large lot. Offered at $749,000

Steps to Metro — Spectacular 6 BD/5.5 BA, exquisite design and finishes. Huge Lot! Offered at $1,339,000

Under Contract

SOLD 9356 Deer Glen Ct, Fairfax

Don't miss this lovely 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 Bath home with gleaming hardwoods throughout. Light-filled updated eat-in kitchen with granite counters and Honey Maple cabinets. Walk-out family room.

Less than 2 miles to Dunn Loring and WFC metro stations. Walk to Mosaic District and close to W & OD trail. $599,000.

Wonderful, spacious townhome steps from Vienna Metro featuring 3 BD/3.5 BA on 3 finished levels. $739,000

6712 19th St N | Arlington

5 BD/2 BA home steps from EFC metro and mins to DC! Yorktown High School! $685,000

Voted Best Residential Real Estate Agent

Merelyn Kaye

Meeting Real Estate needs since 1970.

There is no substitute for experience Home Office: 703-362-1112 e-mail: merelyn@kayes.com

Louise Molton NVAR Top Producer Phone: 703 244-1992 Email: louise@moltonrealestate.com

www.LouiseMolton.com

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

®

REALTOR