Feb r u ar y 2 5 - M a rc h 2, 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 N o. 1
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week New City of F.C. HR Director Named
The City of Falls Church has announced that Dianne Lowther has been named the new human resources director for the City. Lowther replaces longtime HR director Richard Parker who retired last November after 30 years of service. See News Briefs, page 9
Police Investigate Homicide in F.C.
The Fairfax County Police Department have identified a homicide victim found in a Falls Church apartment as 35-yearold Babtunde Fadahunsi, who was found with a gunshot wound shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
F.C. Council Focuses on Urgency of ‘Getting Stuff Done’ It’s Already OK’d R efugee A id Frustration Surfaces At Council’s Annual Planning Retreat
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
out. The Wall Street-driven trend that dominated American retail up until 2008 is no longer operative, he said. That trend involved Wall Street pushing major retailers to massively overextend their reach with big box stores far greater in number than their returns actually merited. But the combination of the
The theme of the Falls Church City Council’s planning retreat last weekend was “Powerful Responsibilities/Magnificent Opportunities,” but the focus of the seven Council members was zeroed in on less than “powerful” or “magnificent” results at the meeting. Instead, they want the City staff to get on with making what Mayor David Tarter called the “simple little things” that, he said, “Would get a lot of bang for the buck.” There was a general sense expressed by the Council members that it has been taking too long for even their modest initiatives to get translated into results. Tarter’s comment at the outset of the five-hour meeting, “We need to find a way to get things done in a concrete fashion,” resonated throughout the day. Their concerns were for things like the long-discussed downtown streetscape improvements, including additional bike racks and new bus stops (with electronic signs to notify passengers when the buses are due to arrive), and other amenities to make the downtown area more pedestrian friendly, more walkable and bikeable. “Things are primed to happen, and the public interest and political will are here. But there needs to be a sense of urgency,” Councilman Phil Duncan said. “We need to have things happen faster,” Councilman Dan Sze added. (However, while it is hard to imagine that something as simple as a bus stop would inflame some neighborhood enmity, but apparently that is the case in the one planned for W. Broad Street in front
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See News Briefs, page 9
David Brooks: 3 Views of Marriage
Two years ago the Northwestern University psychologist Eli Finkel had an article in The New York Times describing how marriage is polarizing. See page 12
Press Pass with Blackalicious
When Blackalicious released Imani, Vol. 1, their first album in just over a decade, in September 2015 many in the media hailed it as their return from a ten-year hiatus. But the group never stopped touring or playing shows. See page 25
FALLS CHURCH MAYOR David Tarter (right) is shown in Istanbul, Turkey presenting coats and blankets to child refugees earlier this month. Tarter was part of a delegation of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, whose participating jurisdictions collected the vital aid to the countless Syrian refugees who have fled to Turkey. (See News Briefs, page 9). (Photo: News-Press)
Expert Cautions F.C. on What To Expect in New Retail Times by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.11-11 Comment......... 12-15 Business News....19 Calendar.........20-21
Food & Dining......23 Sports..................26 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
A noted expert on retail and development trends brought a challenging message to the City of Falls Church last Sunday that included insights into a forwardthinking approach that may determine what will work for the City’s accelerating downtown commercial and residential growth. Bruce Leonard, a managing
principal leading the architecture and urban design studio for the cutting-edge Bethesda-based Streetsense told a large gathering under the auspices of the Falls Church League of Women Voters Sunday that the nation is currently undergoing “the most transformative shift in retail in 100 years.” Grasping this, the trends it represents, and moving ahead with working solutions will be vital to future success, Leonard spelled