December 8 – 14, 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. X X V I No. 42
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week City Council Mulls Taking On More Debt
In order to accommodate an option, not yet decided, to spend $115 million on the construction of a new George Mason High School, the Falls Church City Council took steps to alter some of its own policy guidelines on the amount of debt the City can carry. See page 5
City’s Holiday Market Open Dec. 10 & 17 Little City shoppers can soak up the cheer and shop for crafts, gifts, trees, wreaths and other festive items at the Falls Church Holiday Farmers Market in December.
As Budget Talks Begin, New School Chief Suggests Novel K-16 Approach Little City Shopping ‘Bricks & Mortar’ Options Come Into Play in New Year
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
your argument. We must make sure he is a one-term president.” Beyer praised what he saw as “so much energy” in the room. He said that the response he’s gotten since the election from everyone has been, “What can I do?” Trump, he said, “needs to be accountable to every American,” adding that Democrats “must be open to Republicans now,” adding,
Late Tuesday night at the Falls Church School Board’s first work session on its budget for the coming Fiscal Year 2018, newly-hired interim superintendent Dr. Robert Schiller tossed a stunner into the meeting that, if acted upon, could begin a major shift in approach to both the daunting operational and capital educational costs. As the discussion moved toward hybrid learning and dual degree programs at the high school, Schiller tapped his vast experience as an education and educational consultant to offer, “We should consider the entire K-16 continuum.” That is, instead of looking at K-12, extend the concept to embrace four college years, as well. “Were we to begin to look at the issues this way, it could have tremendous implications for our current bricks and mortar discussions” (about the need for a new high school complex—ed.), he said. “We need to consider what the future will look like and how we drive that,” he said. “Today’s paradigm will not look like tomorrow’s.” Schiller said he brought the subject up because he’s found, in the short time he’s been on the job, the Falls Church School Board to “operate at a very high level.” He suggested the issue be discussed at the School Board’s annual retreat, which is usually held in January. With the intense discussions ongoing now between the School Board and City Council on how to craft a plan for a new high school, ranging in costs between a renova-
Continued on Page 19
Continued on Page 4
See page 18
Paul Krugman: The Art of the Scam
Remember Donald Trump’s tax returns? At this point it’s apparent that Trump believed, correctly, that he could violate all the norms, stonewall on even the most basic disclosure, and pay no political price. See page 12
Press Pass with John Gorka
Folk musician John Gorka offered music fans a chance to step inside a time machine with his latest release, Before Beginning: The Unreleased I Know - Nashville, 1985. See page 25
WITH LOCAL TREAT-FILLED gift baskets, Radio Flyer wagons, comic books and games, original one-of-a-kind art, guitars and more, there’s no reason to leave the City of Falls Church to do your holiday shopping. Read all about keeping it local this season inside on pages 16-17. (Photo: Jody Fellows)
Rep. Beyer Rallies Dems With Call to Revive a New Activism by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 12-15 Sports..................20 Food & Dining......23
Business News....24 Calendar.........26-27 Comics, Sudoku & Classified Ads .....28 Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer Jr., who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, told a standing room only audience of Democratic activists in Shirlington last weekend that they should not succumb to grief over their loss in the presidential election last month. “There’s an old Chinese proverb
that says if you get knocked down six times, you get up seven,” he said. “Unlike how the Republicans responded to President Obama’s victory, resolved to provide him a ‘failed presidency,’ we don’t take that approach. But wherever we find a President Trump to be wrong, and that may be most of the time, we need to fight as much as possible. Everyone must do what they can, including write, talk, tweet, send letters to the editor. Let your life be