Issuu

December 31, 2015 - January 6, 2016

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. 45

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

Inside This Week ‘Watch Night’ Closes Streets Thursday

Starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31 and ending at 1 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, the 100 block of W. Broad St. will be cordoned off for the annual Watch Night New Year’s Eve Celebration. See News Briefs, page 9

Man Charged With F.C. Christmas Murder Fairfax County police charged Santos Narcisco Osorio, 34, of Falls Church, for the murder of 23-year-old Edgar Armando Serrano on Christmas morning in Falls Church.

F.C. Episcopal & Homestretch May Team to Welcome Syrian Refugees

City’s Famed Church & Homeless Services Group Making Plans

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

in the east to Purcellville deep in Loudoun County to the west, and runs right through the center of the City of Falls Church. In fact, its renovation into a park started with its first mile in the City of F.C. in 1974. Since then, however, the section of the trail that runs through the City has fallen behind the developments along it such as in Herndon and Loudoun County spots where restored train stations and cars

The Rev. John Ohmer, rector of the historic Falls Church Episcopal in the heart of downtown Falls Church, announced last week that his congregation is seriously contemplating “taking in” a Syrian refugee family. Ohmer has found a friend in Christopher Fay, executive director of Homestretch, Inc., the Falls Church-based nonprofit that has grown since 1992 in its mission to place homeless persons into their own homes through comprehensive combination of training, education and services. Fay and Ohmer fortuitously came across each other last week at the Ireland’s Four Provinces restaurant, within a few blocks of both entities, the Falls Church Episcopal and Homestretch. The News-Press was also on hand. The news of the church’s plans fell on the right ears right away. The organization that Fay leads has a phenomenal history of success in righting former homeless families since it was founded de novo by former Falls Church City Councilman Kieran Sharpe, who is completing an extended term on the Falls Church School Board this week, and Nancy Taxon. With a goal from the beginning of achieving self-sufficiency for homeless families, Homestretch was begun by Sharpe and Taxon with a single family. When Taxon retired in 2006, Fay came in to lead the operations and growth of the organization, which now has 26 employees,

Continued on Page 4

Continued on Page 5

See News Briefs, page 9

Paul Krugman: Doubling Down on W Two thousand and fifteen was, of course, the year of Donald Trump, whose rise has inspired horror among establishment Republicans and, let’s face it, glee – call it Trumpenfreude – among many Democrats. See page 14

Press Pass with Ozomatli

Ozomatli, known for welcoming in a revolving door of guest musicians and displaying an eclectic musical palette, is wrapping up its 20-year anniversary. One of the band’s first shows in its 20th year will be played on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at The State Theatre. See page 24

REV. JOHN OHMER (RIGHT), rector of the historic Falls Church Episcopal, and Christopher Fay, executive director of the F.C.-based homeless services non-profit, Homestretch, compared notes about working together on bringing a Syrian refugee family into Falls Church. (Photo: News-Press)

Stoddard Offers W&OD Trail ‘Green Street’ Master Plan by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12-13 Comment......... 14-17 Sports..................18 Calendar.........20-21

Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30

“The City of Falls Church’s Greenest Street” is how a master plan for the W&OD Trail has been developed by the City’s Planning Department that was presented to the Planning Commission earlier this month. The City’s Principal Planner Paul Stoddard shared the efforts of the department which will be seeking approvals from the Planners and the City Council. It is both a

functional and romantic vision for the 16 acres of the “Washington and Old Dominion” trail, also known as the “bike path,” that is owned and developed by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. The Park Authority under the leadership of the late Walter Mess of Falls Church acquired the right of way which had been operated by the W&OD Railroad from 1859 to 1968. It stretches for a total of 45 miles from the Shirlington section of Arlington

PAGE 2 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Watch Night Falls Church, New Year’s Eve in The Little City 2015 - Walkable Venue Listing

MAIN STAGE 7 PM – MIDNIGHT 100 Block of West Broad St.(Rt 7) in front of CVS OUT OF LINE 7:30 pm – 8:15 pm

•

BIG TOW 8:30 pm – 10:10 pm Countdown Spectacular

•

SUDDEN M PAC 10:30 - midnight

West Broad Street – 100 Block • 7 PM - midnight

(street closed for event) 66’ DRAGON •WELCOME TENT – LOVE artwork 16 ‘ x 6’ for photos @ George Mason Square • Adrenaline Rush Obstacle Course Falls Church Arts Presents – “I wish I could…….” Sidewalk Mural

GRAND FUNALLEY • 7 PM – 11:30 PM

Between 100 Block of W. Broad and 100 Block of Park Avenue – Shuttle Stop #2 For FunAlley & Unity Club Mega Challenge Obstacle Course • Castle – Slide Combo • Velcro Wall • Bungee Run • Karaoke • FCVFD – Fire Truck Free popcorn – other refreshments available at Karl’s Kafe (charge)• Food trucks: JayVending: Bratwurst, hot dogs, hot chocolate, kettle corn etc. – Healthy foods by Bonita Woods (healthy+fun+gluten free) • NYE Accessories vendors (charge)

*^ THE FALLS CHURCH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 7 – 11 PM 225 EAST BROAD STREET – Shuttle Stop #7 and #8

Puppet Shows by Puppeteer Sandy Fuelner at The Victorian Parlour Music COWBOY HAY – one man band 7 – 8:30 PM NORTHERN LIGHTS BIG BAND ORCHESTRA 8:30 – 10:30 PM Caricaturist 7 – 9 PM Professional Face Painter 7 – 9 PM Balloon Artist 7 – 9 PM

*^ FAMILY MEDICINE AND FALLS CHURCH FOOT AND ANKLE 7 – 9 PM 104 – 106 East Broad Street - Shuttle stop #6

7:30 – 9:30 PM

BAD HAIR DAY Band playing on the balcony 7 - 9 PM SCAVENGER HUNT 7 - 9 PM Tiger Belly Moon Bounce

*^ CLAY CAFÉ STUDIOS 6 – 11:30 PM

Free Studio time, charge for supplies – Shuttle Bus Stop #3

* THE HISTORIC FALLS CHURCH 7 – 10:30 PM

^ THE UNITY CLUB – DJ Dancing 10 PM –1 AM Entrance on Left next to free popcorn & refreshment tent

East side of S. Washington Street Before E. Fairfax Street, no street number – Shuttle Bus Stop #5

Tours of the Historic Church 7 – 8 PM ANDREW ACOSTA & FRIENDS 8 - 10:30 PM

* Free refreshments will be served ^ Restrooms available

See 2015 Watch Night Map on Page 25

Thank you to our Watch Night Sponsors LEAD SPONSORS THE LITTLE CITY CATCH FOUNDATION City of Arts, Theater, Culture & History

7 ‘til Midnight New Year’s Eve Free fun for the whole family watchnightfallschurch.com

SPONSORS FALLS CHURCH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY THE VILLAGE PRESERVATION & IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY THE FALLS CHURCH NEWS PRESS FALLS CHURCH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THE TINNER HILL HERITAGE FOUNDATION

VENUE SPONSORS Family Medicine in Falls Church – Dr. Gordon Theisz Falls Church Foot and Ankle Center – Dr. Paul Cannon Falls Church Presbyterian Church The Falls Church Episcopal New Editions Consulting Drs. Melanie Love and Mark Miller

HOST SUPPORTERS VIGET Foxes Music Company The Oshinsky Family Partnership Burke and Herbert Bank

CONTRIBUTORS Dr. William Dougherty III, D.D.S. Cue Recording, LTD Clay Café Studios

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 3

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PAGE 4 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

W&OD Trail Master Plan Touts a ‘Greenest Street’ Continued from Page 1

have been made into shelters and way stations for cyclists that are the most prevalent users of the trail. Signage has also been deployed elsewhere to direct trail users to nearby services and restaurants. In Falls Church, on the other hand, “shaded seating benches are placed inconsistently along the trail and historic signs and markers are not coordinated with other features,” according to Stoddard’s report, although some “incomplete plazas created through citizen effort” could benefit from a City partnership and provide opportunities. Other shortcomings identified here include “signage that is in disrepair and is unappealing and gateways that are inconsistent with signage and landscaping at roadway gateways.” Also, there are six at-grade crossings by City streets which divide the trail and make things “confusing and frustrating for both park users and street users,” Stoddard said. This said, the plan presents a vision for the park as follows:

“Develop the W&OD Park as a Great Street and greenway within the City, a place that provides opportunities for recreation, relaxation and transportation; preserves and improves the natural environment; connects to the City’s commercial and residential neighborhoods; and provides transitions between commercial and residential areas.” Among the proposals presented to achieve this are to provide separate walking and biking trails, to provide lighting between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. for safety and consistency, and to improve the crossings. At the crossings, the plan is to use raised crossings to calm street traffic and to provide sidewalks for better access. The plan also involves a solution to the problem of the awkward and dangerous intersection of the trail with N. Washington St. (Route 29) by diverting the trail onto the Four Mile Run path and putting an overpass there akin to the trail’s overpass on W. Broad Street (W. Broad St.), reconnecting to the trail on the other side. “This will improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and comfort,

F.C. PRINCIPAL PLANNER Paul Stoddard detailed to the Planning Commission earlier this month his Planning Department’s draft master plan for upgrading the part of the W&OD Trail that runs through the City of F.C. (P��: N��-P��) and provide a gateway feature in the City,” Stoddard said. Plans to use the entire park would provide more tree canopy, define boundaries between public and private spaces and create areas for activity where the story of the trail and of Falls Church can

be told, and the City branded for the “special place that it is.” The attention to the trail, Stoddard said, “will provide social and health benefits, providing for social interaction and exercise, environmental benefits as a natural habitat, enhancing air quality

and stormwater mitigation, and economic benefits through “placemaking, business attraction and labor attraction.” The draft master plan, which can be viewed on the City’s website, will come to the City Council early in the new year.

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Episcopal Church & Homeless Service Group Mull Teaming Up Continued from Page 1

including 18 full time, at its 303 S. Maple Ave. location in Falls Church. At any given time, it is handling about 55 families. Recently Homestretch was profiled by John Kelly in the Washington Post as a participant in its Helping Hand program, and the subject was its full time credit counselor Heather Lynskey, a CPA who decided her life would be more meaningful helping formerly homeless families achieve self-sufficiency through handling their debt circumstances and other credit matters. Homestretch’s approach is to work with families for about two years and have as a result a very high success rate. They work with their clients to find work, to develop employable skills, to make money and get out of debt, to resolve any residual legal issues and to handle the long term responsibilities asso-

ciated with home ownership and family development. “Our average client is a single parent with a child or children,” Fay told the News-Press last week. “They are referred to us by homeless shelters in the region, and we address everything that is wrong with their circumstances.” Most often, he added, people from foreign countries come to them as victims of domestic violence and the program is an alternative to being sent back to their home country where the patterns of abuse will recur. “We’re willing to listen and help,” Fay said. “The victim of domestic violence usually puts up with seven abusive incidents before leaving for good. We counsel them so that they don’t have to put up with such repetitions.” “We take enough time with them,” he added, and in an average case clients can find an initial job within 30 days and get enrolled in school for training in a skill that could earn them an upwardly-mobile job. The goal

is to qualify for jobs in nursing or hospitality work which can take up to three years. But at the conclusion, a client can be making $75,000 a year or more. “We succeed by taking this extra time,” Fay said. “Our clients achieve an average 147 percent increase in income, zero debt and bank savings of $5,000.” He cited the case of a woman who was in a shelter for six months before being referred to Homestretch. It turned out she was a gynecologist in Pakistan, but came to the U.S. as a wife and mother. Here, she was forced to flee from an abusive husband, and became suicidal. She got a job at McDonald’s. At Homestretch, it took two years for her to develop her Englishspeaking skills and as a result she became a licensed gynecologist here. This success is contrasted with holding down a minimum wage job with minimal English speaking skills.

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 5

It also contrasts with the “rapid rehousing” policy toward the homeless that is the official policy in Virginia, Fay said. Although services are offered, none are required and skill levels remain lacking, he noted. Among the requirements to work with Homestretch, a client must agree to find work and 10 percent of their gross income must go into a managed account to handle debt obligations. Ten percent of Homestretch clients become home buyers within two to three years as their credit ratings rise, their income grows and educational degrees are achieved. One client began as a waiter, and recently opened her own restaurant in Old Town Alexandria.

Homestretch clients become real estate agents, accountants, cosmetologists, dental assistants, bank loan officers, pharmacists and so on, according to Fay. “The City of Falls Church has been very good to us,” he added, and he said that there are local businesses that “adopt” them, as well, such as the Excella Consultants, an IT consulting firm that donated $100,000. Fay says that a goal is to replicate the Homestretch process elsewhere, but so far the programs are few and far between. Eager for any last minute taxdeductible contributions before the end of the year, Homestretch receives mail at 303 S. Maple St., Falls Church, VA 22046.

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E D I TO R I A L

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Develop Minds, Then Smash Them?

What sense does it make to spend so much time and effort every year to develop the minds of young people so they can go on to enjoy meaningful and productive lives, only to elevate an exercise that stands far too much of a real chance of turning those minds into mush? The powerful and sobering film in theaters this week, “Concussion,” speaks to this issue (see commentary, elsewhere this issue). “Concussion” is the true story about the discovery of advanced “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” (CTE) in the brains of many former professional football players, a condition leading to dementia, psychotic episodes and compulsive self-destructive behavior by middle age. But it can only be actually diagnosed by a post mortem autopsy. But we would argue that the real subject of the film is not at the level of professional football, including the National Football League’s efforts to cover up this phenomenon. Instead, it is at the level of youth football, including high school football. Even the film, as powerful as it is, seems to qualify its message by suggesting that the game, itself, should not suffer from revelations about CTE. It even suggests that players only need to be told the full range of risks, including contracting CTE, ahead of time. Of course, who coming out of inner city poverty would not be willing to take that risk for a few lucrative years in the NFL? Yet once the CTE begins to manifest itself, the outcomes are often so horrible that suicide is seen as the only relief. It is also unclear at this point to what extent foggy headedness, so to speak, manifests itself as a likely early symptom of the condition, impairing efforts at learning and an aspiration to achieve. The evidence is clear on this matter. The human brain floats in a liquid inside the cranium, and it has no insulation against blows that cause it to slam against its skull. When this happens over and over, the preconditions for CTE occur. No one blow has to be so traumatic as to manifest a concussion, in fact. It’s the accumulation of all the small even undetectable blows that leads to CTE. There is no other sport where this is likely to occur on every play in every practice and game as in football. Sports are wonderful when their focus is on physical fitness and the development of constructive traits of perseverance, striving and sportsmanship. Whereas injuries are natural consequences of any sport, no other sport subjects its participants so routinely to the dangers of permanent brain damage like football. So, the question remains: What is any school system that takes itself seriously in the development of young minds doing playing football? Every member of the Falls Church School Board and the schools’ administration should see “Concussion.” A task force should be formed to look seriously at this matter, optimally with football suspended pending its conclusions.

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Stuart’s Mascot Should Be Changed Instead

Editor, The Fairfax County School Board’s unanimous vote to “OK School Name Changes” does not simply reflect innovation to the school system’s naming policy; it affirmed the primacy of education institutions in crafting the civic narrative. While name-changing is one way to accomplish this, it is not the public school’s name that requires amendment; rather, the School Board ought to amend

the high school’s public identity: a raider. A citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, James Euell Brown Stuart participated in the American Civil War as a Confederate States Army general. Virginia’s pursuit to secure its sovereignty is a tradition that is traced to the 1777 Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the 1788 Constitution of the United States, and before that, the Iroquois Confederacy,

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the common council composed of clan and village chiefs from the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. Reconciling the civic narrative of J.E.B. Stuart and his legacy to Fairfax County and its school division begins with an examination of the high school’s mascot. Naming the school’s public identity after one who steals or loots precludes the skill and mastery that General Stuart brought to Virginia’s pursuit to secure its sovereignty. Even the push to rename the school after Thurgood Marshall is problematic; it posits the achievement gap as the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. In the Information Age, it

is incumbent upon the Fairfax County School Board to preserve the civic narrative of J.E.B. Stuart as defender of “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” that Fairfax County enjoys. Chris McDonald Jones Via the Internet

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DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 7

Watch Night Celebration is Uniquely Falls Church B� B�� C��

I often hear the question of why is it called “Watch Night” and not “First Night” or something else. A quote some years ago from former citizen activist, Dave Eckert explains much about the why “Watch Night.” In 1998, when Barb Cram and I were on the City’s Tricentennial Commission – Barb representing the Chamber and I representing the Village Society – we were looking for a kick-off event to start the City’s Tricentennial Year. I recommended that we have a New Years Eve celebration leading into the historic year at the historic crossroads of Washington and Broad Streets. I recommended we call it Tricentennial Eve. The concept was to create an atmosphere and feeling one got from the classic 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” One in which everyone – organizations, businesses, churches governments, and individual - gave of their time and money to create the event. And one in which the streets were closed, everything felt magical, and everyone could freely attend without admission or tight security. And the entertainment would be local people you knew, rather than famous people from afar. This would be a “peoples” event – not a big corporate or large government event. Former City resident Jackie Droujinsky agreed to co-chair the event with me. Despite 17 degree weather, it was a success of historic proportions. We thought we were done, but

when the children of Falls Church expressed how much fun they had, we knew we were not done yet. We decided to have another one for December 31, 1999 to end the Tricentennial Year – but we needed a new name.

“Watch Night’s success depends on funding, participation and local talent.” The Reverend Clyde Nelson of the Galloway United Methodist Church told me of an ancient African New Years (then it was on winter solstice) celebration that was later adopted by both African and European culture in colonial America. It was called Watch Night. And it had great cultural and spiritual meaning. That was it!!! I approached the Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation Board (fortunately, I was vice-president at the time) and asked if we could be a major sponsor with the City and the Village Society and, in fact, take out a copyright on the name “Watch Night.” The Board agreed on the condition that the purpose of the copyright was to keep other corporate entities from using it for profitable purposes. We wanted

to keep the name sacred. Well, that was over a decade ago. Jackie moved away and people kept wanting the event, so I kept organizing it until 2005 until my family moved to Oregon (in 2006). I am so pleased and humbled that Barb Cram and everyone in Falls Church has carried on to create the continuous sense of home, family, and community that was originally intended for ushering in the new year in Falls Church City. More than ever before, we all need to celebrate community. And as long as Watch Night remains a locally-run, free event in which everyone pitches in to help, it will be a wonderful life. Watch Night’s success depends on funding, participation and local talent. This year Kiddar Capital has joined Watch Night as a new lead sponsor of the 18th annual Watch Night Falls Church, joining the City of Falls Church and The Little City Catch Foundation, City of Arts, Theater, Culture and History. There are an extensive number of sponsors, host venue and contributing sponsors who fund Watch Night to keep it free and open to all. Now in its eighteenth year, the many volunteers, community groups, organizations, businesses, and churches that give time, talent and donate funds, materials, space and energy continue to make it all happen. Local bands play a wide variety of music: roots, rock, big band and motown sound. Watch Night is for those who are seeking a

fun, free, family event. Watch Night offers free balloons and popcorn, many colorful inflatable amusements for all ages, puppet shows, dancing, karaoke, Main Stage live music, featuring very popular local artists – Sudden M Pac, Big Tow and Out of Line. Caricaturists, facepainters, balloon artists, puppeteers are featured at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church along with the Cowboy Hay one-man band and the Northern Lights Big Band Orchestra. Doctors Theisz and Cannon are hosting their annual scavenger hunt, Tiger Belly moonbounce and live music – “Bad Hair Day.” Great photo opportunities abound: LOVEwork in front of George Mason Square. The LOVEwork comes from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s “Virginia is For Lovers” campaign. Volunteers take photos with the visitor’s own phone or camera at the LOVEwork venue. “I wish I could….” There will be a Chalkwalk sponsored by Falls Church Arts and fireplaces and fire pits loaned from Sisler’s Stone. A Watch Night shuttle runs on the halfhour at East Falls Church Metro Station (7 p.m. – 11 a.m.) and there will be free parking. For more information, visit WatchNightFallsChurch.org.  Barb Cram is the lead organizer of Watch Nigh Falls Church.

Q�� W�� Should Falls Church City Schools consider suspending its football program? • Yes

Last Week’s Question: Are you planning to attend Falls Church’s ‘Watch Night’?

• No • Don’t know

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

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[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

PAGE 8 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

SE NI O R LI V I NG

SENIOR LIVING

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Singing, Music Helps Those With Dementia BY MATLIDA CHARLES

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE

It was a year ago that researchers revealed that singing could greatly help Parkinson’s disease patients with breathing, speaking and memory. Now researchers have discovered that singing also helps those with dementia. In a study from the University of Helsinki, 89 pairs of patients (with mild to moderate dementia) plus their caregivers were assigned for 10 weeks to one of three groups: listening to music, singing or only standard care. After nine months, patients were assessed, and researchers found better memory function, focusing, planning, multitasking, orientation and mood in the groups that participated in music. The results weren’t the same, though. The biggest benefit for memory and orientation came

from the singing group, especially those with mild dementia. In patients with more severe dementia, it was listening to familiar music that provided cognitive benefits. Researchers suggested that in early, mild dementia, singing could help maintain memory. In both groups, music helped alleviate depression, especially those with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Music as a therapy for Alzheimer’s isn’t new. In 1989, researchers in Colorado conducted a small study to determine if music had any impact on patient physical and social behavior. Specifically, they wanted to encourage conversation. The results showed that those who participated in group singing had higher vocal and verbal behaviors than those who were in the discussion-only group. In a recent study in Israel, researchers wanted to encourage conversation in mostly non-

verbal patients with middle to late Alzheimer’s by using familiar songs. Songs were carefully chosen with behaviors noted after each one. The result was that songs related to their social and national identity brought out memories and much subsequent conversation. Afterward the participants had a feeling of accomplishment and belonging. *** With a new year it’s time to get organized, and Social Security should be at the top of the list. If we’ve had any changes in our lives that could affect our benefits, we need to tell officials right away if we collect retirement, disability or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). By law, we need to notify Social Security no later than 10 days after the end of the month when the change occurred. Here are some of the changes Social Security needs to know about, depending which benefits you receive: • Address • Telephone • Change in ability to work • Return to work • Medical condition improves • Additional income • Overpayments

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Financial changes are most important: You could be eligible for more benefits or less. If you receive SSI and you don’t let Social Security know (or you let them know after that 10 days), you could be subject to a penalty. Worse, if you don’t report changes quickly enough, no matter what kind of benefit you receive, you can be sanctioned and lose your payments for six months. If it happens again, that would increase to 12 or 24 months with no payments. There are three publications that are helpful in learning our responsibilities: What You Need to Know

When You Get Social Security Disability Benefits, What You Need to Know When You Get Supplemental Security Income and What You Need to Know When You Get Retirement or Survivors Benefits. Those publications can be read online at www.socialsecurity.gov. Or you can call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you need the TTY number, that’s 1-800-325-0778. If you’re online, take a look every week at the Social Security blog (blog.ssa.gov). It will keep you up on new information you need.

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DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 9

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NEWS BRIEFS ‘Watch Night’ Thursday Closes Streets According to a press release from the Falls Church City Hall, starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31 and ending at 1 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, the 100 block of W. Broad St. (Route 7/Leesburg Pike) will be closed in Falls Church. The block will be cordoned off for the annual Watch Night New Year’s Eve Celebration. Also, the Village Preservation and Improvement Society has put out an appeal for volunteers to help out with Watch Night, noting the group was an original sponsor of the event when it began on an annual basis in 1998. Volunteers can call Keith Thurston at 703-241-1672.

F.C. Area Man Charged With Christmas Morning Murder Fairfax County police charged Santos Narcisco Osorio, 34, of Falls Church, for the murder of 23-year-old Edgar Armando Serrano, of Annandale. Detectives on the case determined the victim and suspect were at a party in the 7700 block of Camp Alger Avenue in Falls Church when, at around 4 a.m. on Christmas morning, a fight started between them. According to a police report, Serrano fled the party on foot. Osorio chased Serrano down in the 7600 block of Trail Run Road, assaulted him Osorio. again and then fled the scene. The Serrano’s injuries appear to have been Santos (Photo: Fairfax Co. caused by a sharp instrument. The exact cause and manner of death will Police) be determined by the Fairfax County Police Department’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Detectives from the Homicide and Crime Scene Sections worked quickly to identify possible suspects. At around 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, Osorio was located at his home and taken into custody. He was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and charged with homicide.

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City of Falls Church police are seeking information about a man who allegedly robbed Good Fortune Supermarket at gunpoint on Thursday, Dec. 24 at around 7:50 p.m., according to a press release from the Falls Church Police Department. According to Falls Church police, the alleged robber entered the market, located in the 6700 block of Wilson Boulevard, displayed a gun, took cash and left. No injuries were reported. The man is described as a black male, about 6’0″, medium build, wearing a gray sweatshirt, a black hood and dark pants. According to the release, no surveillance or photographs are available at this time. The Falls Church Police Department ask that anyone who has information regarding this crime contact them at 703-248-5053.

Boost for Education in McAuliffe Budget Public education is on the verge of getting a much needed boost under Governor McAuliffe’s budget proposal, according to the Richmond-based Commonwealth Institute. Since the 2008-2009 school year, the state has cut per-student support for preK-12 programs by 13.6 percent. That’s put Virginia’s schools about $1 billion short per year of where they would have been without the cuts and after adjusting for enrollment and inflation. The governor’s proposal would inject $850 million in additional general fund support for schools over the next two budget years. Still, as important as this reinvestment is, it does not get Virginia all the way out of the hole lawmakers dug during the recession. McAuliffe’s budget proposal boosts education in the following areas: new teachers for every division, making teacher salaries more competitive, support for at-risk students, new early childhood grants and responsible re-benchmarking, according to the Institute.

Heroin, Opioid Deaths Still on Rise Virginia officials are wrestling with how to curb the continued rise of deaths caused by heroin and prescription opioid overdoses, which they say could top 1,000 next year, according to a report in the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Virginia is on pace to have more than 850 such deaths this year, which would be up nine percent from last year, and officials are bracing for even more deaths in 2016. “I think the number is going to far exceed a thousand deaths for 2016,” said Rosie Hobron, who tracks the deaths for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s forensic epidemiologist. “They are not plateauing or decreasing.” Virginia is not alone. There were 10,574 heroin overdose deaths nationwide in 2014, up 22 percent from the year before. Jennifer Lee, deputy secretary of health and human resources, says it will take time to see some the impacts of the work that Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration is doing to curb drug overdose deaths.

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PAGE 10 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

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News-Press Holiday Party Brings Festive Cheer to F.C.

THE NEWS-PRESS’ 26TH ANNUAL holiday party brought together Falls Church City’s business, political and artistic communities for a night of festive fun at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment. Musicians from George Mason High School performed at the event, which was catered by Ledo Pizza. (Photos: News-Press)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes F.C. City Manager Wyatt Shields Wins Bikenetic Race

F.C. Hosts Open House on W&OD Master Plan

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields, who raced for Team Bikenetic at BikeneticX presented by Lost Rhino Brewing on Sunday, Dec. 13, won the Men’s Category 5 Rookie Cyclocross race during the competition. The race, sponsored by Bikenetic in Falls Church, takes place annually at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton. Cyclocross races run multiple laps on a 3-km loop over grass, gravel, sand, mud, and pavement, with obstacles that require dismounting and carrying the bike. Over 500 racers competed at BikeneticX, in age, gender and experience categories, as well as in an Anything Goes race that featured costumes and everything from a unicycle to a recumbent bike.

The City of Falls Church is hosting an open house in the Falls Church Community Center’s Community Room at 223 Little Falls Street on Saturday, Jan. 23 for community members to review and provide feedback on the City’s proposed master plan for the portion of the W&OD Trail and Park located in Falls Church. The open house will begin at 10 a.m. with an opportunity to view information boards about the master plan. That portion of the meeting ends at 10:15 a.m. Then there will be a presentation of the proposed master plan with an opportunity for question and answer from 10:15 – 11:15 a.m, after which there will be another opportunity for members of the community to view the information boards.

Park master plans serve as guiding documents for developing park amenities. More practically, the plans identify specific follow-up actions and serve as a tool for seeking grant funds. Community members can get involved in the creation of the master plan by by attending this and other community meetings, submitting written comments and attending board and commission meetings. For more information, visit fallschurchva.gov/ WODMasterPlan or contact Paul Stoddard at pstoddard@fallschurchva.gov or 703-248-5041.

Mary Riley Styles Library Hosts Improv Workshop Children ages 4 – 6 can take an adventure through storybook during an acting workshop called

FALLS CHURCH CITY MANAGER WYATT SHIELDS stands atop the winner’s podium at the December 13 BikenticX presented by Lost Rhino Brewing. Shields, who biked for Team Bikenetic, won the Men’s Category 5 Rookie Cyclocross race during the competition. The race, sponsored by Bikenetic in Falls Church, takes place annually at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton. (Photo: Courtesy of Patty Shields)

Act It Out!, which will be presented by C.A.R.E. Actor at Mary Riley Styles Public Library at 120 N. Virginia Avenue on Saturday, Jan. 9 from 2 – 4 p.m. Young actors will learn various improvisational theater games and act out a story using costumes and props. Registration is required. For more information, visit fallschurchva.org/ Library.

Eye Level Learning Center Presents Writing Workshops Eye Level Learning Center of Falls Church is presenting a day of writing workshops for children in grades 1 – 4 at Mary Riley Styles Public Library at 120 N. Virginia Avenue on Saturday, Jan. 16. The day of workshops will begin at 2 p.m. with a Winter Writing Blast for children in grades 1 – 2.

During the hour-long workshop, children will have the opportunity to write about winter using their five senses, make a word web with winter words, use their ideas and descriptive words to write a winter poem and draw a picture to go along with their winter poem. Then, from 3 – 4 p.m., children in grades 3 – 4 will learn the art of the business letter. Children will have the opportunity to write a letter of compliment or complaint to an actual company and edit the letter with help from the workshop’s teacher. Then, workshop participants can give the letter to the event organizers for them to send or take the letter home to type it up and send off themselves. Registration is required for both events and opens on Saturday, Jan. 2. For more information, visit fallschurchva.org/Library or call 703-248-5034.

FOLLOWING LAST MONTH’S City of Falls Church proclamation recognizing November 7 – December 4 as Refugee Blanket and Children’s Coat Collection Drive, Hayley Swick (right) came before the F.C. City Council to report that students at F.C.’s George Mason High School collected just short of 1,000 blankets for delivery to Syrian refugees. Barbara Cram (lett) accompanied Swick to the podium for the announcement. (Photo: News-Press)

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

Shepherd’s Center Hosts Open House for Winter Classes

The Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna is hosting an open house and registration for its Adventures in Learning classes on Thursday, Jan. 14 from 10 a.m. – noon at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, located at 2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton. Light refreshments will be provided for open house attendees by Sunrise Senior Living Center at Hunter Mill. The registration fee for the eight week semester is $40 and scholarships are available. Classes will be held every Thursday from January 21 – March 17. Classes include bridge, t’ai chi, health series, book discussion, potpourri and world affairs and participants can take as many classes as they like. For more information, email office@scov. org or call 703-281-0538.

The Alden Announces Its New Performance Offerings The Alden, which is located inside McLean Community Center at 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, announced its winterspring 2016 season offerings recently. Professional artists from the worlds of comedy, dance, theater, music, magic, children’s theater and more will visit the 383seat performing arts venue located inside the Beltway and minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. The season kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. with McLean

Community Center’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, during which Peggy Wallace Kennedy, the daughter of segregationist governor George Wallace, will give a speech called A Walk to Redemption. Tickets for that show are $10 for McLean Community Center tax district residents and $20 for everyone else. On Thursday, Jan. 21 theatergoers will be able to brush up on their William Shakespeare at “Insider Knowledge: Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” which starts at 7:30 p.m. Experts from the Shakespeare Theatre and American Shakespeare Center are back to give you a guided tour of the world of Shakespeare in preparation for American Shakespeare Center on Tour’s Shakespeare Weekend at The Alden. Tickets for this refresher are $3 for McLean Community Center tax district residents and $5 for everyone else. That weekend American Shakespeare Center will stage three Shakespeare plays at The Alden – “Julius Caesar” (Friday, Jan. 22), “The Importance of Being Earnest” (Saturday, Jan. 23) and “The Life of King Henry V” (Saturday, Jan. 23). Tickets for each play are $20 for McLean Community Center tax district residents and $35 for everyone else. Much later in the season, Jad Abumrad of WNYC’s “Radiolab,” will explore the art of innovation during an event called “Gut Churn,” on Saturday, June

LO CA L 11 at 8 p.m. Tickets for that show are $15 for McLean Community Center tax district residents and $30 for everyone else. Tickets for all season performances are on sale online at the Alden’s website and by phone through OvationTix at 1-866-8114111. For all of The Alden’s performance schedule and more information, visit thealdentheatre.org.

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 13

LET THE

GOOD LIFE

IN.

Gulf Branch Nature Center Hosts New Year’s Eve Event Gulf Branch Nature Center & Park, located at 3608 N. Military Road, Arlington, is hosting a New Year’s Eve Stroll & Campfire from 6 – 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 31. Families and children ages 5 and over are invited to explore Gulf Branch as the last night of the year settles in. Then, participants can say farewell to the old and bring in the new by tossing your resolutions into a campfire. Registration for the event is required and costs $5. For more information, call the Gulf Branch Nature Center at 703228-4403.

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Dulin Church Hosts Taize New Year’s Eve Service Dulin Church at 513 E. Broad Street is hosting a Taize New Year’s Eve Worship Service on Thursday, Dec. 31 at 7 p.m. The service will include prayer, meditation, silence and chanting. For more information, visit dulinchurch.org.

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Offices in: Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Wytheville, Virginia CIARA DILLON, of Ireland’s Four Provinces Restaurant and Lindy Hockenberry of the City’s Planning Commission, welcome back the LOVE statue to Falls Church. (Photo: Courtesy of Barb Cram)

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PAGE 14 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

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Christmas Miracles

Christmas, a time of hope in the murk of early winter, is the best occasion to bring some good news onstage. Here are some snippets of qualified joy: Jimmy Carter holds off cancer: He’s 91. A few months ago, he was given a diagnosis of melanoma that had spread from his liver to his brain. But recently, the former president announced that his latest brain scan showed no sign of the disease. Carter is being treated with a drug that uses the immune system to battle cancer cells – another bright light, if the cost can be made affordable. No matter what you think of his presidency, Carter has been a force for global good since he left the White House, with energy that Jeb Bush should bottle. Alexander Hamilton lives, for now: This founding father is the rage on NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE Broadway, with a smash musical. The man behind our financial system, the immigrant son of a single mother, Hamilton was killed in a duel. His handsome visage covers the $10 bill. When Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that a woman would replace Hamilton, a wave of sensible outrage followed. Keep Hamilton on the 10, and bounce the slavery-defending, Indian-hating brute Andrew Jackson from the 20, putting a woman in his place. Earlier this month, Lew announced he would delay the $10 redesign, giving time for the right thing to happen – for women, for Hamilton, for paper currency. Free Willies: SeaWorld said it would begin phasing out orca shows at its San Diego park. This is a good start for our fellow warm-blooded mammals. Orcas, any one of which is smarter than most of the Republican presidential candidates, should never be in circus-style shows, preening for food. Over the last six months, three of these whales have died at SeaWorld San Antonio. But with the California Coastal Commission banning the breeding of orcas in captivity, the days of enslavement for one of the world’s most magnificent free-swimming creatures may be reaching an end. Literary fiction lives: You see a lot of Fox News-generated trash and formula fiction on the best-seller lists. American reading tastes have gone the way of the American diet. Yes, but. This year, All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s magical, World War II-era story of a blind French girl and a Hitler youth nerd continues to sell like tickets to “Hamilton.” The prose is luminous, the characters unforgettable, the themes universal. This follows the great success of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, 771 pages of delight. Both books won the Pulitzer Prize. A related Christmas miracle: Independent bookstores are resurgent, as e-book sales have leveled off. The obituary for the bound, printed word was written too early. Campus free-speech censors are on the run: Across the political spectrum, people have had enough of pampered college students who are afraid of words and ideas that offend them. Of late, a small but growing number of schools have eliminated the despicable speech limitation codes. And despite all the news generated by closed-minded kids with megaphones, the number of colleges with restrictions on freedom of speech has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in years. “Education should not be intended to make people feel comfortable,” President Barack Obama said the other day. “It is meant to make them think.” Which leads to ... Obama finds his voice: Well, and then he lost it after the Paris attacks. Overall, the prez had a very strong year. His leadership was crucial in what could be breakthrough pacts to lessen climate change and keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But I say “could be” because both agreements might still unravel. If they work, the world will be safer, and more livable. And it’s a minor Christmas miracle that the U.S. economy continues to purr along, while those of Europe and China stumble. Over a 69-month streak of growth, the economy has added 13.7 million new jobs, while the unemployment rate has fallen to 5 percent. Bravo. Trump and Putin find each other: The bromance between two of the most odious, bullying, narcissistic tyrants has been building for some time. Now, they have professed their mutual affection for each other. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, invades countries, stifles dissidents and has been accused of killing those who oppose him. For that, Donald Trump says he is worthy of admiration. Trump sneers at women, the disabled, blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, veterans and anyone who is unattractive. “He is a really brilliant and talented person,” said Putin. The vulgarian and the war criminal, together at last. The American people: I had my doubts. Still do. I mean, climate change a hoax? Obama a Muslim? Rooting for the New England Patriots? But a Quinnipiac poll this week found that 50 percent of the nation’s voters would be “embarrassed” to have Trump as their president. In this age of the rude and crude, a glimmer of decency. Good night to all. Sweet winter dreams. See you next year.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Timothy Egan

Doubling Down on W 2015 was, of course, the year of Donald Trump, whose rise has inspired horror among establishment Republicans and, let’s face it, glee – call it Trumpenfreude – among many Democrats. But Trumpism has in one way worked to the GOP establishment’s advantage: it has distracted pundits and the press from the hard right turn even conventional Republican candidates have taken, a turn whose radicalism would have seemed implausible not long ago. After all, you might have expected the debacle of George W. Bush’s presidency – a debacle not just for the nation, but for the Republican Party, which saw Democrats both take the White House and achieve some major NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE parts of their agenda – to inspire some reconsideration of W-type policies. What we’ve seen instead is a doubling down, a determination to take whatever didn’t work from 2001 to 2008 and do it again, in a more extreme form. Start with the example that’s easiest to quantify, tax cuts. Big tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy were the Bush administration’s signature domestic policy. They were sold at the time as fiscally responsible, a matter of giving back part of the budget surplus America was running when W took office. (Alan Greenspan infamously argued that tax cuts were needed to avoid paying off federal debt too fast.) Since then, however, over-the-top warnings about the evils of debt and deficits have become a routine part of Republican rhetoric; and even conservatives occasionally admit that soaring inequality is a problem. Moreover, it’s harder than ever to claim that tax cuts are the key to prosperity. At this point the private sector has added more than twice as many jobs under President Barack Obama as it did over the corresponding period under W, a period that doesn’t include the Great Recession. You might think, then, that Bush-style tax cuts would be out of favor. In fact, however, establishment candidates like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush are proposing much bigger tax cuts than W ever did. And independent analysis of Jeb’s proposal shows that it’s even more tilted toward the wealthy than anything his brother did. What about other economic policies? The Bush administration’s determination to dismantle any restraints on banks – at one staged event, a top official used a chain saw on stacks of regulations – looks

Paul Krugman

remarkably bad in retrospect. But conservatives have bought into the thoroughly debunked narrative that government somehow caused the Great Recession, and all of the Republican candidates have declared their determination to repeal Dodd-Frank, the fairly modest set of regulations imposed after the financial crisis. The only real move away from W-era economic ideology has been on monetary policy, and it has been a move toward right-wing fantasyland. True, Ted Cruz is alone among the top contenders in calling explicitly for a return to the gold standard – you could say that he wants to Cruzify mankind upon a cross of gold. (Sorry.) But where the Bush administration once endorsed “aggressive monetary policy” to fight recessions, these days hostility toward the Fed’s efforts to help the economy is GOP orthodoxy, even though the right’s warnings about imminent inflation have been wrong again and again. Last but not least, there’s foreign policy. You might have imagined that the story of the Iraq War, where we were not, in fact, welcomed as liberators, where a vast expenditure of blood and treasure left the Middle East less stable than before, would inspire some caution about military force as the policy of first resort. Yet swagger-and-bomb posturing is more or less universal among the leading candidates. And let’s not forget that back when Jeb Bush was considered the front-runner, he assembled a foreign-policy team literally dominated by the architects of debacle in Iraq. The point is that while the mainstream contenders may have better manners than Trump or the widely loathed Cruz, when you get to substance it becomes clear that all of them are frighteningly radical, and that none of them seem to have learned anything from past disasters. Why does this matter? Right now conventional wisdom, as captured by the bookies and the betting markets, suggests even or better-than-even odds that Trump or Cruz will be the nominee, in which case everyone will be aware of the candidate’s extremism. But there’s still a substantial chance that the outsiders will falter and someone less obviously out there – probably Rubio – will end up on top. And if this happens, it will be important to realize that not being Donald Trump doesn’t make someone a moderate, or even halfway reasonable. The truth is that there are no moderates in the Republican primary, and being reasonable appears to be a disqualifying characteristic for anyone seeking the party’s nod.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

NATI O NA L

‘Concussion’: Football’s Ugly Secret Exposed

“Concussion,” the powerful Will Smith movie that opened in theaters on Christmas, tells the true story of the discovery of “chronic traumatic encephalopathy,” or CTE, in the brains of numerous deceased professional football players, and the football league’s attempts to cover it up. The well-made film is a scathing indictment of pro football, on the one hand, and the dismal condition of American popular culture, on the other. As much as one might hope it might, this film is not going to overturn that in one fell swoop. But it is an effective surgical strike that will definitely add to a process in motion to end the madness that it chronicles. Yes, this is Will Smith’s finest performance as the Nigerian-born forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, the center FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS of this true story of what began in 2002 when he conducted an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers football star Mike Webster. But it was the characterization of the effects of the asymptomatic brain disease which was most compelling. CTE is incurable and cannot be detected until an autopsy is conducted on a brain, but is manifested by severe psychotic episodes, dementia and suicidal behavior beginning somewhat later in life. The terrible decline in the life of Webster, for example, saw him go from his 1997 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame to his self-inflicted death as a homeless man five years later. As the actor who played his role, David Morse, said, “(Webster) was adored by people, the City of Pittsburgh, but what we see is a man at the end of his life with dementia. He’s gluing his teeth in with Super Glue, tasering himself. He’s just in a kind of hell at the end of his life.” He was only 50 when he died. Who wants their life to become this? Or anyone’s life? The film also chronicles the highly immoral way in which NFL management sought to cover all of this up, with one reference to the fact that such outcomes were known to top officials for years before any were forced to acknowledge them. Since the period covered in the film, subsequent autopsies of former players has found that over 90 percent of them had been suffering from CTE. The other takeaway from this film is presented in its final scene, when Dr. Omalu stops to watch a high school football practice, and sees young players goaded on by gravelly-voiced coaches flying into each other helmet to helmet. Our culture has become so sick that despite all the evidence (the Omalu story had already been written about extensively), fathers continue to insist that their sons prove their manhood by going “all in” on the football field from almost as soon as they can walk, and angrily insisting on this ritual as if to oppose it were for ideological reasons, alone. Former Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka – and you can’t get much more macho than him – was recently asked in an interview about CTE whether, knowing what he now knows, if he’d let his son play football. He said no. But far too many macho American dads are ignoring all this, even if some are justifying their behavior by citing changes in the game to guard against concussions. CTE, however, is not the result of concussions, per se, but of countless often undetected jolts to the head that are unavoidable on almost every play in either a practice or game. The human brain, as Will Smith’s character notes in the movie, was not made for football, because unlike a woodpecker’s, for example, the human brain has no insulation to protect it from the effect of a blow to the cranium. The brain sloshes around inside the skull and gets slammed against its inner wall every time the head is struck. The repetition of this is what produces CTE. When I went to the theater complex to see this film, the place was crawling with people there mostly to see “Star Wars.” There was only one other person in the screening room showing “Concussion.” Alas, Americans obsessed with their high school, college and pro football clearly prefer fantasy to reality.

DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 15

Nicholas F. Benton

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

The Donald Trump Days of Christmas Happy holidays! I say this with some trepidation, because Donald Trump has vowed that when he is president, “We’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.” That was a while ago, during his war on the Starbucks coffee cup design. So very much water has run under the Trumpian bridge since then. But I’m still trying to figure out exactly how a universal “Merry Christmas” mission would be accomplished. Would there be a “holiday” gag order? Seasonal salutation checks at the border? This is supposed to be a down period for presidential campaigning, since most of the population is focused on celebrating you-know-what with friends and families. But Trump has given us such a notnormal year that people will be drinking eggnog by the fire and discussing the proper use of the word “schlonged.” The happiest holiday parties should be with Team Clinton, which clearly believes that going to war with Trump is good for her cause and that having Trump as NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE the Republican nominee would be even better. Their current fight began when Hillary, in the last Democratic debate, said ISIS was “going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.” There is actually no specific evidence this is happening, although it certainly seems probable. For the sake of perfect accuracy, Clinton should have said that ISIS “is bound to start going.” We would dwell on imperfect verb choice longer if PolitiFact hadn’t just announced that out of 77 Trump statements it looked into, 76 percent were rated Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire. The Trump campaign is a new phenomenon. He mainly flies around on his planes, speaks at big rallies and calls into radio and TV news talk shows. Trump brags about his lack of interest in fundraising, but he doesn’t seem to be spending much of his own money, either. This is a guy whose great keys to fortune were inheriting real estate and putting his name on things that other people often paid for. Maybe he figures he can become president just by branding it. After the Hillary diatribes, Trump told a howling audience this week that he hates journalists, and he appeared to be mulling the idea of killing some of

Gail Collins

them. To be fair, he did conclude by announcing he wouldn’t do that. For which I presume we’re supposed to be grateful. Once, long ago, I was the subject of Trumpian ire – I had referred to him as a “thousandaire” – and his response was to send me a copy of the column with a couple of insults written over my picture and a note in which he misspelled the word “too.” So really, he’s not all that threatening. As long as he remains a private citizen, the worst he can do is to throw up an ugly apartment building or hotel in your neighborhood. But the president thing is no longer a joke. You may have noticed that the competition is starting to fall away. This week Sen. Lindsey Graham threw in the towel, or, in polite political-speak, “suspended his candidacy.” Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul and John Kasich seem likely to be consigned to the loser’s section when the Republicans have their next debate. That brings us down to six people, one of which is Ben Carson, who’s fading fast. Also Jeb Bush, who was last seen wandering around New Hampshire, reminding people how many times he’s been there. At this point in the political cycle, if you’re a desperate candidate you go somewhere cold and try to get the population to fall in love with you just because they’ve had so many opportunities to shake your trembling, frostbitten hand. Ted Cruz is doing something along that line in Iowa, where he’s ahead. But he’s also moved into a clear second place in the polls, terrifying the party establishment and many Republican billionaire donors, who regard Cruz as an obnoxious selfpromoting egomaniac. There is nothing the oligarch class hates more than egomaniacs. The big donors appear to be particularly fond of Sen. Marco Rubio, the attractive, 44-year-old Floridian who has done very well in the debates. The other candidates find Rubio’s popularity irritating, particularly since he hasn’t been campaigning all that hard. Or doing anything else, it appears. Trump called Rubio a sweaty underachiever “with no money, zero.” This is, if nothing else, a campaign where the insults are meeting a new norm. Thanks almost entirely to the front-runner. And on the seventh day of Christmas, he gave to you and me: Seven Mexican rapists/Six terrorist refugees/Thousands of Muslims partying on 9/11!/Four “loser” opponents/Hillary-bathroom sniping/Two birther rants/And a bromance with Vladimir Putin!

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church Happy New Year! Two thousand and sixteen will be an interesting year, with presidential politics and economic recovery providing a lot of momentum for Virginia. Governor McAuliffe was in Fairfax last week to participate in signing a joint agreement between the INOVA Center for Personalized Health and George Mason University to advance personalized medical translational research. The collaboration is expected to lead to new patient cures and treatments for a variety of diseases, as well as new diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers and devices. The partnership will attract researchers and experts from across the country, creating new jobs and companies that will make Northern Virginia a destination for health research and services. Governor McAuliffe noted that biomedical research is “a pillar of the New Virginia Economy.” Economic vitality also was a focus of chairman Sharon Bulova’s remarks during the inauguration of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on December 15. The board’s Strategic Plan to Facilitate Economic Success, adopted earlier this year, calls for diversifying our economy, improving the land use development process, investing in infrastructure, and creating more “destination spots” where people enjoy spending their time. Transportation, including transit and improving I-66 inside and outside the Beltway, is crucial to the plan, and will be an important issue for the new board in 2016. The chairman noted that businesses want to locate where their employees can live in vibrant communities, with top-tier schools. She said that Fairfax County consistently has “increased its local share of school funding in order to maintain the excellence our community expects.” Additional K-12 education funding from the Commonwealth is needed, an effort that is supported by Governor McAuliffe in his proposed biennial budget. “Our overarching priority

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during 2016 will be funding for the education of our children,” Chairman Bulova said. In further remarks, chairman Bulova said “I am proud to lead a county that appreciates many cultures and celebrates the diversity of all those who live here. In light of recent racial and cultural tensions rising across the country, let us be grateful we live in a county that celebrates our differences and demonstrates acceptance and compassion for others. These simple values set Fairfax County apart as a fantastic place to live, work, play and raise a family. This board is committed to maintaining and nurturing this exceptional culture.” Lots of heads nodded in agreement as she finished. The southeast quadrant in Bailey’s Crossroads has been considered for redevelopment for many years. The county’s Comprehensive Plan recommends that the property on Columbia Pike, near Radley Acura, may be appropriate for retail/office/residential mixed use development, including a road realignment to connect Seminary Road with Columbia Pike. A developer is working on a rezoning application for a residential mid-rise apartment development, a future county office building, and a connection to Seminary Road. Prior to the filing of the rezoning application, the Board of Supervisors must approve a Real Estate Exchange Agreement (land swap), as well as purchase of land for a road alignment. I will host a community information meeting about the Real Estate Exchange Agreement and purchase of property on Thursday, January 7, 2016, at 7:30 p.m., in the main community room of the Mason District Governmental Center, 6507 Columbia Pike in Annandale.  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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By Supervisor Penny Gross

EARTHQUAKE IN NEPAL More than 1 million children need immediate aid. UNICEF is on the ground providing lifesaving supplies. Help now: Visit unicefusa.org

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Your family, friends and neighbors are all counting on you. If you own a firearm and are not using it, please be responsible and be sure that it’s always stored in a safe place. Visit ncpc.org to determine the best firearms safety solution for you.

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Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

SURE, AT FIRST I WAS A LITTLE TAKEN ABACK BY THE WHOLE PEEING STANDING UP THING. BUT I TAUGHT HIM TO THROW A STICK AND NOW HANGING OUT WITH HIM IS THE BEST PART OF MY DAY. — EINSTEIN adopted 12-09-10

When you alight at Reagan National Airport, you’re likely in a travel-fixated hurry. So it might not dawn on you to slow down and stroll to the historic Abingdon Plantation. The airport authority and the National Park Service have created an easy and well-marked walk there from the Metro stop through the parking garage. You should take a contemplative break and visit one of our county’s history gems. Abington has been regarded as the oldest house in Arlington, built before 1741 by Gerard Alexander of the Scottish-bred landowning family who are the city’s namesakes. High on hills overlooking the Potomac and Old Town Alexandria, this prime property in the area called Gravelly Point would become the birthplace of George Washington’s step-granddaughter Eleanor Parke “Nelly” Custis. (In 1941, a “Nelly Custis Airmen’s Lounge was built near the airport’s radar station.) Abingdon under the Custises was also said to be the site of original planting of weeping willows in the United States. Because the impressive Georgian home was destroyed by fire in 1930, what you see today are red brick remains sketching the old home’s outline. But you can envision it from benches surrounding tended plants and informative signage. According to the exhibits, encyclopedias and Eleanor Lee Templeman’s Arlington history,

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 17

the Alexanders’ original house was nearly 40 years old when it was purchased in 1778 by Martha Washington’s son John Parke “Jacky” Custis (GW warned that he overpaid for the 1,100acre tract). After Jacky died of camp fever, his widow married the general’s business associate Dr. David Stuart, who helped plan the nation’s capital. Gen. Washington himself stayed there. The Custis who spent less time at Abingdon was Nelly’s brother George Washington Parke Custis, the builder of Arlington House who was raised at Mount Vernon. By the time he inherited thousands of acres in 1802, Abington had returned to the Alexanders. The home was eventually sold to the Hunter family. Gen. Alexander Hunter held a post in the Alexandria Customhouse and had money to renovate Abingdon. He was tight enough with President Andrew Jackson to host him there. (Other guests included presidents Tyler and Polk.) During the Civil War, Abingdon was confiscated because its owners joined the Confederacy. It was occupied by a Union regiment from New Jersey. In 1900, ownership fell to the Washington Brick Co., and in 1924, to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. Following the 1930 fire, architects examined Abingdon to consider a restoration. They settled for a plaque by the Association for Preservation of Virginia’s Antiquities. Historically accurate improvements were made by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1940, Abingdon was

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

CRIME REPORT Week of Dec. 21 - 27, 2015 Larceny from Building, 601 S. Oak St. (Thomas Jefferson Elementary School) On Dec. 21, a musical instrument was reported stolen. Defrauding an Innkeeper, 306 Hillwood Ave. (Lesly’s Restaurant) On Dec. 22, two individuals left the restaurant failing to pay the bill. Graffiti, 400 block Little Falls St. On Dec. 22, graffiti were found on a traffic sign. Tampering with Auto, 100 block George Mason Rd. On Dec. 23, passenger compartments for two vehicles were found in disarray. Narcotics Violation, 500 block W.

Broad St. On Dec. 23, a 16 year-old male, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested and released on summons for Possession of Marijuana. Tampering with Auto, 1300 block Seaton Ln. On Dec. 23, a passenger compartment was found in disarray. Larceny from Vehicle, 100 block Poplar Dr. On Dec. 23, personal belongings from an unlocked vehicle were reported stolen. Larceny from Building, 1000 E. Broad St. (24 Hour Fitness) On Dec. 24, an unattended cellphone was stolen. Robbery, 6751 Wilson Blvd. (Good Fortune) on Dec. 24, an unknown man displayed a gun, took cash and left. No injuries were reported. The man is

acquired for National Airport. When planning for its expansion in the late 1980s, there was talk of paving it over for a parking garage. Gov. Doug Wilder and legislators blocked the idea, and a subsequent dig unearthed artifacts now on display in Terminal A. Former resident Alexander Hunter II in 1904 described the old Abingdon thusly: “I doubt whether in the whole Southland there had existed a finer country seat; the house was built solidly, as if to defy time itself, with its beautiful trees, fine orchards, its terraced lawns, graveled walks leading to the river a quarter of a mile away; the splendid barns, the stables with fine horses.” Today’s site offers a placid respite from the airport’s holiday bustle. *** Ben’s Chili Bowl – the Arlington branch of the famous downtown eatery and civil rights spot – has removed the Bill Cosby photos and tribute from its postered walls. As the world knows, the longtime comedian and AfricanAmerican dad role model is in a heap of trouble because dozens of women have come forward to accuse him of years-old sexual improprieties. Beginning at the downtown Ben’s, Cosby has long been named in a hospitality list of those who eat free at Ben’s (a more recent addition is Barack Obama). When I poked my head in this month at the sweet-smelling emporium in upper Rosslyn, the cashiers cheerfully assured me that that they took the Coz’s image down in November. Whether the free eats deal still holds, apparently has yet to be tested. described as a black male, about 6’0″, medium build, wearing a gray sweatshirt, a black hood and dark pants. Public Drunkenness, 6700 block Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Dec. 24, a male, 48, of Fairfax, was arrested for Public Drunkenness. Vandalism to Vehicle, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Eden Center) On Dec. 25, a car window was found smashed in the parking lot. Robbery, Washington & Old Dominion Trail near West St. On Dec. 27, police received a report of a robbery. Further investigation suggests there is no do direct threat to the general public as testimony cannot be corroborated with evidence. NOTE: This report is not a definitive list of all criminal activity and is subject to change upon investigation. Please contact the City of Falls Church Police at 703-241-5050 (TTY 711) if you have any information regarding any of these incidents.

PAGE 18 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Mustangs Open Holiday Tourney By Beating Jefferson by Matt Delaney

Falls Church News-Press

In the midst of the school year’s holiday break, George Mason High School’s varsity boys basketball team entered the Joe Casico Holiday Classic at Falls Church High School where they beat Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the first round 46-30 on Monday, Dec. 28. The Mustangs led throughout the entire game, but against a Jefferson team that aims to keep things slow and steady on offense and defense, Mason found themselves at odds with the pace early on. “They’re very methodical… meticulous [and] very disciplined…there was absolutely rhythm to the way we wanted to play,” head coach Chris Capannola said. Jefferson had the game crawling along at a snail’s pace, stymieing Mason’s up-tempo offense and not allowing them to gain a big lead. Mason shot out to a 9-2 lead in the first quarter, but Jefferson dragged their feet on offense and cut the lead down to 10-6. The Mustangs bombarded the Colonials again in second quarter with two three-pointers from senior guard Thomas Beddow and a lay-up from sophomore forward Tim Adrianarison in a matter of minutes, but a three-pointer and buzzer-beating lay-up of their own

kept Jefferson close at 20-13 by halftime. The Colonials’ plodding approach to the game took away from Mason’s fluidity, but the Mustangs refused to let that define the second half. Three quick buckets between seniors guard Elliot Mercado and forward Robert Tartt to start the third quarter extended the lead to 26-14 and forced Jefferson to ditch their slow pace in order to play catch up. This only helped Mason, who continued to push the pace. “We got a couple steals and we got some run outs…once we started scoring a little bit they had to push some and up their game a little bit because we pushed it out and [transition is] what helped us there,” Capannola said. Up 34-16 in the fourth quarter, Mercado and fellow senior guard D’Montae Noble darted by the Colonials and combined for six more points in transition for Mason, putting the score at 40-21 and well out of reach for Jefferson. Tartt led with 11 points, Bossart had five rebounds and Noble had four assists. This “methodical” kind of game is something the Mustangs should be used to since it’s how Strasburg High School played when they were defeated by Mason 53-41 on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Mason busted out to a 20-6 lead, but Strasburg, like Jefferson,

MASON SENIOR ROBERT TARTT RACES down the court during the Mustangs’ recent win over Riverside High School. Tartt led the Mustangs in their opening round win in the Joe Cascio Holiday Classic with 11 points against Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology on Monday, Dec. 28. (Photo: Carol Sly) hung around and carefully shortened the lead to four points by halftime, 25-21. The Mustangs controlled the third quarter and led 45-28 by the fourth, but Strasburg continued to sink some shots, especially three-pointers, to keep Mason on their toes until time ran out. Mercado’s 17 points led all scoring, Bossart collected 12 rebounds and junior forward Dustin Green and Mercado both had four assists.

Mason Girls Basketball Lose to Loudon County in Cougar Classic by Matt Delaney

Falls Church News-Press

George Mason High School’s varsity girls basketball team began some winter break competition of their own with a loss in their first game of the Cougar Holiday Classic at Oakton High School to Loudoun County High School 57-31 on Monday, Dec. 28. The Mustangs had only lost once before earlier this season to Bishop Ireton on Dec. 4, and much like that loss the team’s apparent youth seemed to forecast their defeat. “Our youth showed,” head coach Michael Gilroy said. “We went down four points to start that second half and it was like we were down 20 with some of

the faces. We gotta lot of sophomores out there and…when that score goes down and they make a turnover, their whole body language drops and, more so than basketball, I gotta get them to stay confident no matter if we’re up or down.” Mason’s young squad was able to hang with a savvy Loudoun County team for the first half. Their offensive possessions started well with layups scored by guards like sophomore Nicole Bloomgarden and junior Sarah Lubnow. Loudoun County employed a debilitating full court press that helped them gain a 10-8 lead over Mason, but once the second quarter began Gilroy had the team passing their way out of the press.

The Mustangs maneuvered their way out from under an 18-12 deficit and applied pressure on the Raiders by cherrypicking their basket for easy points. The failed press put Loudoun County on their heels and brought Mason within one point by halftime, 25-24. However, things got ugly fast in the second half as the Mustangs were outscored 26-13. Mason started of quick with four points of their own, but Loudoun County’s press took hold once more and suffocated the Mustangs chance of winning. “That was the press that got us about two minutes in third quarter,” senior guard Rebecca Davis said. “We gave them the ball a couple of times [on] some bad

Mason appeared off all night, mainly due to the onset of the holiday break. “It’s every year when you play a game on a day when you don’t have school the routines disrupted,” Capannola said. “If you’re lying in bed all day and all of sudden you’re coming to play a game…it’s hard to get yourself going” Another issue against Strasburg was Mason’s perimeter defense. Both Strasburg and Central High School were able stay alive against

Mason because of their ability to hit three-pointers. “I think some of these teams can definitely shoot the ball a lot,” Beddow said. “We just gotta close out harder and make them put it on the deck because we have some bigs that can block it when they get in the lane.” Mason continued tournament play against St. John Paul the Great Catholic School on Tuesday, Dec. 29, but results of the game were not available at press time.

turnovers.” The Raiders added seven points in less than 30 seconds thanks to their press and Mason lost sight of the lead for the remainder of the game. Loudoun County continued to score at will, finishing the third quarter on a 15-0 run and up 41-28. By the fourth quarter Mason was able to weave through the Loudoun County’s press, but was unable to do much more. “It just got to the point where we were trying to make threadthe-needle type passes to big girls who can’t catch it,” Gilroy said. “If we pass to [sophomore center] Kaylee [Hirsch] we gotta put it up in the air…she’s not catching anything at her feet, and we were trying to throw a hundred passes to her [feet].” The game itself was lost, but as intended, the team got a taste of some real competition and have furthered their preparation for the postseason.

Last Wednesday, Dec. 23 Mason visited Strasburg High School where they defeated the Rams 52-39. Mason got off to a slow start against Strasburg, which was partly due to the proximity to Christmas, and the team missed all of their three point attempts in the first half. Gilroy admitted that it was the team’s worst half of basketball they’d ever played, but the fact that they were tied was good omen for the rest of the game. The team came out hot in the second half and outscored the Rams 29-16 to take the win. Mason’s offense came to life with their defense, as they stopped Strasburg’s attack and quickly regrouped for transition baskets. Bloomgarden had 13 points while Lubnow and Hirsch both had 12. The Mustangs played C.D. Hylton High School on Tuesday, Dec. 29, but results of the game were not available at press time.

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Call us today! 855-367-8637 www.umfs.org FALLS CHURCH CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS recently honored Susan Kearney (third from left) and Kiernan Sharpe (fourth from left) for their combined 26 years of service to the Falls Church City community. (P��: C�� FCCPS P��/J�� B��)

Science Fair Judges Needed At McLean High School The McLean High School science department needs judges for their annual science fair on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Judges typically need to arrive between 4:30 – 5 p.m. and stay until 9 – 9:30 p.m. Refreshments will be provided prior to and during the judging process. A science background isn’t necessary to be a judge. Those interested in judging McLean’s science fair this year must fill out a short form with contact information. As the fair date approaches, prospective judges will receive more e-mail communication with details. For more information, e-mail Jenn Choumil at jvchoumil@fcps.edu.

Fairfax Co. School Board Members Sworn In Recently elected members of the Fairfax County School Board Elizabeth Schultz, Jeanette Hough, Dalia Palchik and Thomas Wilson took the oath of office on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at Luther Jackson Middle School. Schultz was reelected. The new School Board members will assume their official duties on January 1, 2016. School Board members include: Megan McLaughlin (Braddock District), Jane Strauss (Dranesville District),

MASON SCHOLASTIC BOWL TEAM members Cole Casteel, Annie Parnell, Joseph Snitzer and Jimmy Ferguson recently posed for this picture after their tenth win of the season. The team is undefeated on the season. Team members Cooper Maguire, Roan Findley, Hermela Hailemariam and Alice Castillo also contributed to the wins. (P��: C�� FCCPS P��/J�� F��) Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill District), Tamara Derenak Kaufax (Lee District), Sandy Evans (Mason District), Karen Corbett Sanders (Mount Vernon District), Palchik (Providence District), Schultz (Springfield District), Wilson (Sully District), Hough (at large), Ryan McElveen (at large) and Ilryong Moon (at large).

Mason HS Yearbook Ad Deadline is January 12 According to the Falls Church City Public Schools’ Morning

Announcements, the deadline for parents to purchase ads in George Mason High School’s 2016 yearbook to honor their senior students is Saturday, Jan. 12. Parents who would like to submit an ad featuring photos of their children and sentiments they wish to share for their graduation can visit The Yearbook Company at theyearbookcompany.com/ schools.php?currentpage=3. The Yearbook Company’s website includes information on formats, sizes and cost.

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PAGE 20 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

Community Events

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31

World Healing Meditation. The Center for Spiritual Living Metro, which has a monthly meditation in North Arlington, is hosting a World Healing Meditation, which is scheduled to coincide with other meditations being held around the world at the same time. Blue Nectar Yoga (513 W. Broad St., Falls Church). Free. 6:45 – 8 a.m. cslmetro.org. 1-on-1 Computer Tutoring. Receive personalized assistance using computers, internet and e-books. Registration required. To schedule an appointment, stop by the reference desk or call 703-2485035. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10 a.m. – noon. 703-2485035. Taize New Year’s Eve Worship Service. Dulin Church will have a Taize New Year’s Eve worship service featuring prayer, meditation, silence and chanting. Dulin Church (513 E. Broad St., Falls Church). Free. 7 p.m. dulinchurch.org. Watch Night New Year’s Eve Celebration. Join in the annual free New Year festivities of Watch Night! There will be family-friendly events, bounce

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.

houses, live music, free popcorn and more. Sudden M Pac band is headlining the event. Broad and Washington Streets, Falls Church. 7 p.m. – 1 a.m. watchnightfallschurch.com. New Year’s Eve at Mad Fox Brewing Company. Ring in the New Year with a live performance by Jazz greats Tom Principato and his band headlining another Mad Fox celebration. Two tickets are available – one for just the concert performance allowing you to purchase oﬀ the menu and a second option that includes the performance and a three-course meal with one complimentary drink. Mad Fox Brewing Company (444 W. Broad St., Falls Church). $36.64 – $80.12. 9 p.m. – 2 a.m. madfoxbrewing.com.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1

Closure. Falls Church City oﬃces and services will be closed for New Year’s on January 1 and 2. All Day. fallschurchva.org.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2

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. 9 a.m. – noon. 703248-5077.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Winter Bird Walk for Families. Families with children ages 6 and up can take a winter bird walk. Beginners are welcome and loaner binoculars will be available. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington). Free. 10 – 11:30 a.m. 703-2286535.

MONDAY, JANUARY 4

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, JANUARY 5

Preschool Storytime. Songs, movement, and stories for ages 18-36 months. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave. Falls Church). 10:30—11:15 a.m. 703248-5034. Fabulous Fossils. Children ages 3 – 5 are invited to discover the past with trace fossils and more. This session, children will explore prehistoric teeth. Registration required. Gulf Branch Nature Center & Park (3608 N. Military Road, Arlington). $5. 1 – 2 p.m. 703-228-3403.

Habitat Hunt. Children ages 7 – 12 are invited to hike the trails of Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park to discover the diﬀerent habitats and animals on the nature center’s property, build mouse houses and enjoy a live animal presentation. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencaryln Park (625 S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington). Free. 4 – 5 p.m. 703228-6535.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6

Northern Virginia Bird Club Walk. Adults are invited to join members of the Northern Virginia Bird Club for an informal walk through Long Branch and Glencaryln Parks in search of resident and migratory birds. Birders of all skill level are welcome. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 S. Carlin Springs Road, Arlington). Free. 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. 703-2286535. Early Release Wednesdays. Children in grades K – 5 can gather at the library to make their own drawings on scratchboards. Registration required. Space is limited to 15 participants. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 3 – 4 p.m. 703-248-5034.

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31

Chicago in a time of rising gun violence. The play tells the story of Manny, a 17-year-old who sings for President Obama at the White House only to be held up weeks later for his Air Jordan sneakers. Manny’s mother retraces the trajectory of her son’s fateful encounter with Noel, a fellow teenager with heartbreaking setbacks of his own, as she conjures the ghost of Ida B. Wells, the Civil Rights activist now 153 years old, who offers a challenging perspective for the family and our community. Through Jan. 3. Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H. St. NE, Washington, D.C.) $25 – $50. 8 p.m. atlasarts.org.

“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.). $44 – $102. 8 p.m. shakespearetheatre.org.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 1

SUNDAY, JANUARY 2

“The Gospel of Lovingkindness.” This production, written by West Oakland poet and playwright Marcus Gardley, is a hymn-andhip-hop-tinged elegy, set on the South Side of

“Bad Jews.” The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal battle royale over a family heirloom. In one corner is the unstoppable and self-assured

force of “Super Jew” Daphna. In the other, the immovable and entitled object of her secular cousin Liam. And in the middle is Liam’s brother Jonah, trying to stay out of the fray. Through Jan. 17. Studio Theatre (1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $20 – $71. 2 p.m. studiotheatre.org.

“As You Like It.” All the world’s a stage for Synetic Theater’s 12th silent Shakespeare adaptation, “As You Like It.” The witty and resourceful Rosalind, along with her devoted cousin Celia, are forced to �lee their lives of luxury for an unfamiliar world – the bleak streets of a rusted urban wasteland. Their grim exile is transformed once Rosalind encounters the lovelorn Orlando, who fails to recognize the object of his affections in disguise. Through Jan. 17. Synetic Theater (1800 S Bell St., Arlington). $20 – $60. 8 p.m. synetictheater.org.

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31 N�� Y��’� E�� C�� M��. Bohemian Caverns (2001 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30 – $70. 6 p.m. 202-299-0800. N�� Y��’� E�� T�� C�� C�� T��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $110 – $160. 6:30 p.m. 202-337-4141. C�� B�� H�� E�� D�� B�� R�� S��. The Hamilton (600 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $80 – $95. 7:30 p.m. 202-787-1000. B�� C�� N�� Y��’� E�� B�� P�� O’D�� H�� O��, T�� A�� H�� M�� DJ D��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. N�� Y��’� E�� T�� S�� S��, G�� H�� O�� L��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $39.50. 8 p.m. 703-549-7500. T�� L�� – N�� Y��’�. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $50. 8 p.m. 703237-0300. W�� J��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. 19�� S�� B��. The Hamilton in the Loft (600 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 8:30 p.m. 202-787-1000. 6�� A�� N�� Y��’� E�� T�� T�� B�� L��, U�� B�� C�� T�� J��. Iota

Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $20. 9 p.m. 703-5228340. P�� C��. The Fillmore (8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring). $40. 9 p.m. 301-960-9999. J�� A�� N�� Y��’� E�� N��, T�� K�� L��. U Street Music Hall (1115 U St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $15. 10 p.m. 202-588-1889. N�� Y��’� E�� 2016: M�� B�� T�� H�� T��. The Howard Theatre (620 T St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $45 – $80. 10 p.m. 202-803-2899. DJ D�� M��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1

MO’F�� I� G�� M�� M��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $35. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. G�� B�� – G�� P��: U�� W�� S�� S�� C�� B��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $35. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. W�� F�� 5�� A�� N�� Y��’� D�� S�� W��, C�� F��, F�� T��, R��, S�� HD M��. The Fillmore (8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring). $39.50. 9 p.m. 301960-9999. S�� H�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-241-9504.

DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 21

N�� Y��’� D��: I� A��’� O�� ‘T�� T�� F�� L�� S�� R�� R��, B��, S�� T��, DJ U��, L��, A�� C�� T��. U Street Music Hall (1115 U St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $5. 10 p.m. 202-588-1889. F�� L�� N�� M�� T�� L�� F�� E�� T�� S��. The Hamilton (600 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). 10:30 p.m. 202-787-1000.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2

S�� S�� S�� B��. The Hamilton (600 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $18 – $23. 7 p.m. 202-787-1000. B�� K�� T�� M�� F�� C�� C��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. F�� F��: 80� ��. 90� D�� P�� B�� M��. The Fillmore (8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring). $15.50. 8 p.m. 301960-9999. D��’� N�� S�� O�� G��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $18 in advance; $20 day of the show. 8 p.m. 202-667-7960. Y��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $35. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141. G�� B�� C�� B��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $35. 8 p.m. 202265-0930. A�� R��. Iota Club and Café

(2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. D�� D�� J�� N��. U Street Music Hall (1115 U St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $10. 10 p.m. 202588-1889. F�� L�� N�� M�� T�� L�� J�� S�� T��. The Hamilton (600 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). 10:30 p.m. 202787-1000.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 3

T�� P�� B��. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 7:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. R�� P��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $25. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141.

MONDAY, JANUARY 4

B�� C�� J�� O��. Bohemian Caverns (2001 11th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10. 7:30 p.m. 202-299-0800. N�� S��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $20. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141. J�� P�� D�� Z��. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5

F�� F��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $20. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6

K�� J��. Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.) $20. 8 p.m. 202-337-4141.

P�� A��... Thursday, January 7 – Congressional Schools of Virginia Open House. The Congressional Schools of Virginia will host an open house for parents of children

rising to preschool – grade 8. The Congressional Schools of Virginia (3229 Sleepy Hollow Road, Falls Church). Free. 9 a.m. congressionalschools.org.

Thursday, January 7 – Thursday Evening Book Group. The Thursday Evening Book Discussion Group meets on the 1st Thursday evening of each month in the

library’s conference room. Light refreshments are served. All are welcome. The group will be discussing Humboldt’s Gift by Saul Bellow. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. mwebster@fallschurchva.gov.

Saturday, January 23 – Open House: W&OD Master Plan – The City’s Greenest Street. Members of the community are invited to review and provide feedback

on the proposed master plan for the W&OD Trail. Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). Free. 10 – 11:30 a.m. fallschurchva. gov/WODMasterPlan.

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

PAGE 22 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

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FO O D &D I NI NG

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 23

Slow-Roasted Salmon With Citrus and Dill This low-maintenance and foolproof method is my new favorite way to cook fish. A low-and-slow roast results in tender salmon that is never overcooked.

THE SLOW-ROASTED SALMON with citrus and dill is a ligher, yet full-�lavored dinner. (P��: I�� M�� V��/T�� B�� T��)

In Our Kitchen: Slow-Roasted Salmon With Citrus & Dill BY ILEANA MORALES VALENTINE TAMPA BAY TIMES

End of November: Give me all your potatoes and pies. End of December: These sweat pants are all that fit me right now. Get that pie away from me. In the search for a lighter yet full-flavored dinner, I dug up this recipe I’d bookmarked many

Moleskine pages ago for slowroasted salmon. We have not been cooking enough fish around here, which I always feel guilty about for some reason. Before this, one of my favorite ways to cook fish at home was en papillote. You tuck your fresh fish fillet, a handful of chopped vegetables and a splash of wine into a pouch and everything steams in the oven until

• 1 medium fennel bulb (or 2 shallots), thinly sliced • 1 blood or navel orange, very thinly sliced, seeds removed • 1 Meyer or regular lemon, very thinly sliced, seeds removed • 1 red Fresno chile or jalapeno, with seeds, thinly sliced • 4 sprigs fresh dill, plus more for serving • Salt • Black pepper • 1 (2-pound) skinless salmon fillet, preferably center-cut • ¾ cup olive oil • Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)

cooked through. It is impressive and fast. This slow-roasted salmon takes a bit longer but is even easier. The oven temperature comes way down, so you don’t have to babysit it, and there is no dinner origami required. “Slow” roasting in this case means about 40 minutes, so we’re talking dinner in an hour. Plus, there is no way the fish will be overcooked. This method

1. Heat oven to 275 degrees. Toss fennel, orange slices, lemon slices, chile and dill sprigs in a shallow 3-quart baking dish; season with salt and pepper. Season salmon with salt and place on top of fennel mixture. Pour oil over the whole thing. 2. Roast until salmon is just cooked through (the tip of a knife will slide through easily and flesh will be slightly opaque), 30 to 40 minutes for medium-rare. 3. Transfer salmon to a platter, breaking it into large pieces as you go. Spoon fennel mixture and oil from baking dish over; discard dill sprigs. Season with flaky salt and pepper, and top with fresh dill sprigs. Serves 6. Source: Alison Roman via Bon Appétit

yields the most tender salmon I’ve ever cooked in my kitchen. I couldn’t find a 2-pound slab of salmon for this recipe, so instead I had the fish guy set me up with several smaller center-cut fillets, and I tucked them side by side on a plush, multicolored bed of Meyer lemon and orange slices with feathery dill and slivers of shallot. These fresh ingredients infuse your salmon as it roasts,

perfuming your kitchen and signaling a great dinner to anyone nearby. (Your kitchen won’t smell like fish; it will just smell good.) I made this salmon with the intention of having several healthy dinners for a party of two, but this could be a stunning and unexpected star of your next dinner party. Either way, it is an excellent breather recipe between the holidays.

PAGE 24 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Jan.

Frida

Wale with Ras The Fillmore 9 p.m. 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring

301-960-9999 • ﬁllmoresilverspring.com

day

Satur

Yahzarah Blues Alley 8 p.m. 1073 Wisc. Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.

202-337-4141 • bluesalley.com

Gogol Bordello with Chicano Batman 9:30 8 p.m. 815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.

202-265-0930 • 930.com

Sund

BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Raul Pacheco, guitarist and vocalist in the Los Angeles-based band Ozomatli, said that he and his bandmates went to group therapy “about ten years ago” in order to improve the band’s communication. “We actually sat down with a therapist who helped us negotiate how to speak to one another,” Pacheco said. “Because music is a really personal thing and someone can say something as simple as ‘Hey, I don’t like your idea, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you as a person.’ But we’re so attached to our creative selves that it can seem that way.” Pacheco, one of the founding members of the Ozomatli, likened the band to a marriage. If that’s an apt analogy, it’s been a successful marriage – the group has won three Grammy Awards, released ten records and have had its music featured throughout the media landscape. The band, known for welcoming in a revolving door of guest musicians and displaying an eclectic musical palette, is wrapping up its 20 year anniversary. One of Ozomatli’s first shows in its 21st year will be played on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at The State Theatre. At the show, the band will be playing songs from their new album, which is due out in the early part of 2016. It’s a case study in Ozomatli’s ability to collaborate with outside musicians and create musical melanges. They brought in legendary musicians and music producers Sly & Robbie to work on their new album, a collection of covers of Latin and American songs reimagined to have a reggae feel. “It’s super cool. They’re all business. They just listen to a song and then boom – they play it,” Pacheco said. “And that’s cool. I think it’s kind of their approach when they’re just being hired as musicians, but we’re also seeing what kind of creative roles they’d want to play. “There are some Jamaican artists that they

OZOMATLI. (P��: S�� D��) want specifically for some of these songs. So a lot of these songs are going to be kind of like mashups. I think that’s kind of the concept.” Justin Poree, who does percussion and raps for Ozomatli, came up with the concept for the record, which is still being recorded, and the rest of the group followed his lead. But the actual process of choosing a song to cover and figuring out how to reimagine it is an organic process that the entire band participates in. “One of the few songs on the record that’s in English is called ‘Land of a Thousand Dances’....that song came out in the 60s,” Pacheco said. “There were a number of bands that covered that song, I think one of the most famous one was Wilson Pickett’s version. And there was also a band from east L.A. called Thee Midniters that did the song, so we were looking for different cultural connections. “So with that song, we slowed it down, it’s like a one drop [rhythm] and it sounds really cool and as soon as we start playing [it] everyone knows the song and everyone starts singing along and

it’s also referencing an old Sly & Robbie track.” Ozomatli’s reverence for and representation of different cultures has been a hallmark of the band from the beginning. The group has also been socially and politically active since their inception – Ozomatli originally grew out of an attempt to form a workers union in Los Angeles. When asked about federal plans to deport Central Americans who’ve come to the U.S. over the past two years, fleeing violence in their homelands, Pacheco spoke on behalf of the group, offering his and the band’s full support for the ability for people travel freely around the world. “We also support the right of people to take action for their survival,” Pacheco said. “We really don’t think that people leave their homes from many parts of the world for the fun of it or with a keen eye on taking advantage of people. We think it’s because of survival and many of us, our friends and families, we know this for a fact.” • For more information about Ozomatli, visit ozomatli.com.

The Pocket Band Iota Club and Café 8 p.m. 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington

703-522-8340 • iotaclubandcafe.com

These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week:  Nicholas Benton – Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison 

Jody Fellows – Proud Mary by Tina and Ike Turner 

Drew Costley – Feels Good by Toni! Tony! Tone!

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 25

WATCH NIGHT LOCATOR 2015 (Venue, Shuttle, and Restaurant Keys) Venue to Venue to EFC Metro-Watch Night Shuttle Bus # 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

SHUTTLE STOP EFC Metro Park Avenue across from Grand FunAlley, beside Kaiser N. Maple Avenue at Clay Café Studio Parking Entrance W. Annandale Road near Parking S. Washington Street at The Historic Falls Church E. Broad Street in front of passageway at 106/104 E. Broad N. Fairfax across from The Falls Church Presbyterian handicapped entrance 8. E. Broad Street at the FCPC Fellowship Hall entrance 9. E. Broad Street just past Applebee’s Restaurant 10. N. Washington Street in front of Clare and Don’s Beach Shack before Park Place RETURN TO EFC Metro and begin route again.

o tt es tro W e . 7 M /W Rt FC 6 E W s. 6 E/W Rt 95 4

EAST FALLS CHURCH METRO

Shuttle Route

Indicated by NUMBERS on MAP J

Venue Key

Restaurant Key

A. Main Stage

7 pm to Midnight - Stop #3, #6, #9 Front of 134 W. Broad St.

E. Clay Café Studios open to 11:30 pm - Stop #2 101 N. Maple Ave.

W. An na nd al

F. Welcome To Watch Night Tent stop #5, #6 LOVE letters photo opp FCA Tent - Chalk Walk Actiivity West CornerofWashington&BroadSt.

St .

pl Ma

E A

s Wa

FREE PARKING

R T

S. Wa s

ng to n

St .

. Rd

G. The Historic Falls Church Tours 7 pm until 8 pm - Stop #5 Music 8 pm to 10:30 pm 115 East Fairfax St.

• Falls Church Presbyterian • FC Episcopal (south side of Broad Street) • Kaiser Permanente (3rd Floor Only) • City Hall and Community Center

C P

D U

F 5

W 6

I G

E. B

ro a

dS t.

I . Family Medicine & Falls Church

Foot and Ankle Center

stop #6 Music 7 pm to 9:30 pm Children's Activities 7 pm to 9:30 pm 104 A East Broad Street

H. Falls Church Presbyterian Stop # 7 (handicapped entrance) and Stop #8

Rt. 29 South to

Yellow - Shuttle Bus Route See numbers on map Brown letters A to I Venues Orange letters J to U Restaurants

Koi Koi Sushi 450 W. Broad St.

Mad Fox Brewing Company 444 W. Broad St.

La Caraquena 300 W. Broad St.

hin

ax St .

D. Unity Club 10 pm to 1 am - Stop #2, #3 116 W. Broad St.

O N

. St

Fa irf

ro a

Pa rk Av e.

on gt

W .B

S. Ma ple Ave .

C. Grand FunAlley 7 pm to 11:30 pm - Stop #2, #3 Between W. Broad and Park Ave. in pkg lot

eA ve .

B. Dragon 7 pm to 11:30 pm - Stop #6, #9 100 Block W. Broad St.

M. Maneki Neko 238 W. Broad St.. N.

Pho 88 232 W. Broad St.

Paisano's 244 W. Broad St.

Dogwood Tavern 132 W. Broad St.

Hunan Café 126 W. Broad St.

HOT & JUICY CRAWFISH 116 W Broad St.

LIL CITY CREAMERY 114 W Broad St.

Ireland’s Four Provinces 105 West Broad St.

Argia’s 124 North Washington St.

Clare and Don’s Beach Shack 130 North Washington St.

W. Applebee's Neighborhood Grill 127 East Broad St.

Rt. 7 East to Seven Corners Bailey’s Crossroads, Alexandria Annandale Road to Rt 50 E/W Annandale/Gallows Road

Ch e R o rr y S u t e tre 5 0 et to E/W

See Full 2015 Venue Listing on Page 2

PAGE 26 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

PrevacidTM $322.58 Typical US Brand Price for 30mg x 84

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* $ vs Lansoprazole 100.00 Generic Price for 30mg x 84

Get An Extra $15 Off & Free Shipping On Your 1st Order! Call the number below and save an additional $15 plus get free shipping on your first prescription order with Canada Drug Center. Expires December 31, 2015. Offer is valid for prescription orders only and can not be used in conjunction with any other offers. Valid for new customers only. One time use per household. Use code 15FREE to receive this special offer.

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Please note that we do not carry controlled substances and a valid prescription is required for all prescription medication orders.

Prescription price comparison above is valid as of May 5, 2015. All trade-mark (TM) rights associated with the brand name products in this ad belong to their respective owners. *Generic drugs are carefully regulated medications that have the same active ingredients as the original brand name drug, but are generally cheaper in price.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 27

Finding Senior Housing can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be. “You can trust A Place for Mom to help you.” – Joan Lunden

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PAGE 28 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

BU S I N E S S & S E RVI C E DIR EC TORY

HOME IMPROVEMENT

5 Rooms Deep Cleaned: $135 Carpet Stretching 24/7 Emergency Water Damage We Clean the White House

Drywall • Paint Exterior / Interior, Bath & Kitchen Remodeling, Basements, Ceramic Tile, Deck, Fences. Patios, Electric, Plumbing, Clean Garage, All Kinds of Hauling. www.josephhomeimprovements.com Joselozada27@yahoo.com Joseph Cell 703-507-5005 Licensed Work Tel 703-507-8300

AcclaimedWaterDamage.com

Call Mike 703-978-2270

A Cleaning Service

Handyman Service

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All repairs, plumbing, drywall, doors, windows, rotted wood, siding, gutters, lighting + more FREE estimates, insured Call Doug (703)556-4276

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

since 1985

Insured, Bonded and Licensed Independently owned Commercial & Residential

Get 10% off labor with this ad [must be presented at first consultation]

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fcnp.com classads@fcnp.com

Available 7 days a week Weekly - By Weekly - Monthly or by Time Move Out - Move In • 14 years Experience Good References • Senior Discount For Further Information: Call Susy • Cell (703) 901-0596

COLLEGES

OTHER SERVICES

American College

of Commerce & Technology for AA, Bachelor and Masters degrees • Business Administration • Accounting • Computer Information Sciences Falls Church 25% Tuition Discount

NOW ENROLLING

Winter Quarter Registration is now underway! Classes begin January 4, 2016 Apply online, in person, or by contacting the Admissions Office at (703) 942-6200. www.acct.edu 803 W. Broad Street Falls Church VA 22046

ACCT is accredited by American Colleges and

fcnp.com

Benton Potter & Murdock, PC www.bpmlawyers.com

Government contract law, health law, civil litigation, and all areas of business law. In the City of Falls Church: 703-992-9255 In D.C.: 202-416-1660 400 S. Maple Avenue, Suite 210, Falls Church, VA 22046

CLASSIFIED S For Rent 3-4 OFFICE SUITE with conference room, secretarial space. 1200 square feet, $2500 per month. 254 North Washington Street. 703-538-2666

Help Wanted ADMIN 3 HOURS, $60 week. Record, report, and deposit income for Center for Spiritual Living, FC. Apply/details at CelebrationCenter.org/job

Public Notice ORGANIZATIONAL COUNCIL MEETING And WORK SESSION ON MASON ROW PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that there will be an organizational City Council Meeting on Monday, January 4th beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 300 Park Avenue to elect the Mayor and Vice Mayor and adopt Rules of Procedure followed by a work session on the Mason Row project. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The City Council will hear public comment and consider second reading for (TR14-29), (TO14-28), and (TR14-28) (items related to the project known as “Mason Row”) on Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard. These items were previously advertised for the December 14, 2015 City Council meeting, but were deferred to January 11. The ordinance referenced below was given ﬁrst reading on November 23, 2015; second reading and public hearing are scheduled for Monday, January 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard. (TO15-13) ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 48 “ZONING” OFFICE, MIXEDUSE, 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 spaces, 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 multifamily – 1/50 units or portion thereof, Longterm multi-family – 1/2.5 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. 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 (703-248-5014) 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 703-2485014 (TTY 711). CELESTE HEATH CITY CLERK

ABC LICENSE THE LOCAL MARKET, LLC, Trading as The Local Market, 246 W. Broad Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046-4203. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer Off Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Patrick Fleming, Owner. 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.

fcnp.com

www.bentonpotter.com We are pleged to the letter and spirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing We are pledged to opportuthe letter nity throughout the Commonand wealth. spirit of Virginia’s We encourage policy and support advertising and housing for achieving equal marketing programs in which opportunity throughout there are no barriers to obtaining the housing because of We race, encourcolor, Commonwealth. religion, national origin, sex, age elderliness, and support advertisfamilial status or handicap. All real estate advering and marketing programs tised herein is subject to in which are Virginia’sthere fair housing law no whichbarillegal to advertise “any riersmakes to itobtaining housing preference, limitation, or discrimination becausecolor, of race,relibecause of race, religion, national origin, gion,color, national origin, sex, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make elderliness, familial status any such preference, limitation, or handicap. All real estate or discrimination.” This newspaper will notherein knowingly advertised is accept subject advertising for real estate that to Virginia’s fair law. housing violates the fair housing Our readers aremakes herby informed that to law which it illegal all dwellings advertised in this advertise preference, newspaper“any are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more limitation, or discrimination information or to file a housing because of race, color, complaint call the Virginia FairreliOffice origin, at (804)sex, gion,Housing national 367-8530. Toll free call (888) elderliness, familial status 551-3247. For the hearing call (804)or 367-9753. or impaired handicap intention

Email: fairhousing@dpor.virginia.gov. to make any such preferWebsite: www.fairhousing.vipnet.org ence, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.

A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

19 21

32 34

33 37

36 40

55 56

9 16

18 20

Across 1. It released its 2600 system in 1977

1. It released its 2600 system in 1977 6. Identify 9. “What to Expect When ____ Expecting” (“The Simpsons” episode) 14. Kind of column 15. MTV show that last aired in 2008 16. Only U.S. state whose state seal was designed by a woman 17. “We Were the Mulvaneys” author 20. “Game of Thrones” network 21. Natural resource 22. Inductee in both the National Women’s Hall of Fame and National Abolition Hall of Fame 31. “Bust a Move” rapper 32. In a row 33. Mayhem on the far left and far right? 34. Radio host Glass 36. “With this ring ____ wed” 37. Area, in inches, of a standard index card (or an apt description of 17-, 22-, 54- or 58-Across) 42. Home planet of Jar Jar Binks 44. “If it were up to ____ would ...” 45. Sturgeon yield 48. Bring home the gold 51. Panties with wide legs 54. Host of PBS’ “Finding Your Roots” 56. Follower of directions? 57. 1982 Donald Fagen hit 58. Actor who, in character in a 2006 trailer, says “My country send me to United States to make movie-film. Please, come and see my film. If it

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 29 39. “____ and Michele’s High School Reunion” (1997 comedy) 40. Sammy Davis Jr.’s “____ Can” 41. Belongs 42. ____ degree 43. “You ____ My Sunshine” 46. Wedded 47. Suffix with lion 49. Commoner 50. Poet who gave us “carpe diem” 52. Breakfast container 53. Kickback of a kind 55. Remove gear from, as a ship 58. Family nickname 59. Navy VIP 60. Co. bigwig 61. Laugh syllable 62. Audrey Hopburn or Honey Boo Brew 63. 1969 “bed-in” participant 64. Elevs. 65. Silence fillers 66. “You wish, laddie!”

not success, I will be execute.” 67. Perfect 68. The Reds, on scoreboards 69. Extreme 70. Gooey campfire treat 71. Psyche component 72. So last year

DOWN

1. Tall, dark or handsome: Abbr. 2. Overly 3. Suffix with planet 4. Teeming with 5. Swelling treatment 6. Sch. group 7. Goof 8. Pop star Estefan 9. Life sketch 10. 1969 Nabokov novel 11. Tattle (on) 12. Not just “a” 13. Rihanna’s first #1 Billboard single 18. Cold war foe, slangily 19. Sharon of “Boston Public” 22. Grease dissolver 23. ____ Kippur 24. Trash can, to a Londoner 25. Farm fraction 26. High fever in Ancient Rome? 27. “Property Virgins” cable channel 28. Come into some money, maybe 29. Author of the 2015 bestselling novel “Go Set a Watchman” 30. 34th pres. 35. 1972 treaty subj. 38. 1/24 of a day

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

6. Identify

Sudoku

9. "What to Expect When ____ Expecting" ("The Simpsons" episode)

Level:

T A B K E Y

O F L A T E

O D D J O B S

C A V E A R T

Last Thursday’s Solution

R O A R A T

M O N A L I S T A H R E O R A N T S E T D S

E R U L K S P S E A T U L S P A Y L O P A D K A K N I E S H S L Y O

I C O P O N A C E A A B L E E A D D R S W D I E G D I Z N E A K E U G K O

A S S L I A Z V E

I S H W I K I

X R A Y U N I F T O U R R E S M T O A T R E

I T S A L O T

S A S H I M I

O N E F I N

N O N F E E

By The Mepham Group

1 2 3 4

14. Kind of column 15. MTV show that last aired in 2008 16. Only U.S. state whose state seal was designed by a woman 17. "We Were the Mulvaneys" author 20. "Game of Thrones" network 21. Natural resource 22. Inductee in both the National Women's Hall of Fame and National Abolition Hall of Fame

31. "Bust a Move" rapper 32. In a row 33. Mayhem on the far left and far right?

LOOSE PARTS

DAVE BLAZEK

34. Radio host Glass 36. "With this ring ____ wed"

Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

1/3/16

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. © 2016 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

LO CA L

PAGE 30 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 – JANUARY 6, 2016

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

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

20 � 10 Y�� A�� N��-P��

Falls Church News-Press Vol. V, No. 41 • December 28, 1995

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XV, No. 43 • December 29, 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

Citizen Sea-Change on Whittier Ranked Falls Church’s Top News Story of 1995

New Year’s Eve in Downtown F.C.: Drizzle Won’t Deter a Good Time

A sea-change in the perception of the general public in the City of Falls Church concerning the need for commercial development at the Whittier Site in order to preserve the quality of school system and other vital services here qualified as the Number One news story of the year in the City for 1995. Related to it, as the year’s second leading story, was the business community’s support for full funding for the City’s school budget last spring.

Despite major structural changes in this year’s Watch Night, Falls Church’s annual New Year’s Eve Celebration slated this Saturday night, the only potential complication on the horizon is the everso slight possibility of some drizzle. The temperature will, however, be above freezing.

WE EXIST TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. With the help of people like you, the National MS Society addresses the challenges of each person whose life is affected by MS and helps them stay connected to the great big moving world.

THIS IS JESSIE, a 3-year-old guinea pig, wearing her favorite outfit. Jessie enjoys hay, being held and eating all the carrots she can get! Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

JOIN ThE MOvEMENT jointhemovement.org

Kids don’t get enough art these days. For Ten Simple Ways to get more art in kids’ lives, visit AmericansForTheArts.org.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Beverly, diagnosed in 2001

Make Your Pet a Star! Critter

m e r i c A n s

o r

h e

r T s

o r g

Corner

Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Snap a pic of your critter and email it to: CRITTERCORNER@FCNP.COM OR mail it to Critter Corner c/o Falls Church News-Press 200 Little Falls Street #508 Falls Church, Va 22046

@ FCNP For the Best Updates on Falls Church, D.C. and Northern Virginia

DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016 | PAGE 31

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Directory Listings: Call Us at 703-532-3267

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

ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES

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

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 n

BOOK BINDING

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

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

BUSINESS DIRECTORY n

CLEANING SERVICES

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

COLLEGES

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

DENTISTS

EQUIPMENT RENTAL/SALE

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

FRAMES

GIFTS

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

HOME IMPROVEMENT

PET SERVICES

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

PHARMACY

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

INSURANCE

LAWN CARE

PHOTOGRAPHY

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

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 MEDICAL

Dr Gordon Theisz, Family Medicine. . 533-7555

OPTOMETRIST

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

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

MUSIC

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

Lawn Enforcement Services, LLC . . . 237-0921

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

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

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

HEALTH & FITNESS

FC Heating & Air Service . . . . . . . . . . 534-0630 Joseph Home Improvement. . . . . . . . 507-5005 Picture Perfect Home Improvements 590-3187 One Time Home Improvement. . . . . . 577-9825

EYEWEAR FLORISTS

Vantage Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-0565 Jazzercise Falls Church. . . . . . . . . . . 622-2152

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

HANDYMAN

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

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

1 Line Maximum

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

TAILOR

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

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

PAGE 32 | DECEMBER 31, 2015 - JANUARY 6, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

7 0 3 . 5 3 7 . 5 0 0 0 | b e y e r k i a . c o m | 112 5 W . B r o a d S t . , F a l l s C h u r c h , V A

beyer kia presents:

KIA-THON $

1,500 off invoice on every model! HUGE holiday savings all month long

Molton Real Estate thanks you for your friendship and business in 2015 and we wish you all the very best in the New Year!

Merelyn Kaye Meeting Real Estate needs since 1970. There is no substitute for experience

Home Office: 703-362-1112 www.kayes.com e-mail: merelyn@kayes.com

Voted Best Residential Real Estate Agent

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

www.LouiseMolton.com

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

速

REALTOR