Ma rc h 1 7 - 23, 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. XXVI N O. 4
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George Mason’s varsity boys basketball team’s dream season ended in a 66-63 overtime heartbreaker to Greensville County High School in the 2A State semifinal last Friday. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 16
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Shields Proposes $87 Million FY17 F.C. Budget With 2.5 Cent Tax Hike A ��� � H ���������
Says Large-Scale Projects Keeping Tax Rate Lower
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
grew up in the City schools’ inclusion programs are now in their 30s. Former Falls Church Vice Mayor Hal Lippman said it would be very important for children with disabilities raised in Falls Church to remain in the communities where they grew up and with families nearby. Ed Salzberg, long-standing member of the City’s Economic
Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields presented his recommended FY17 budget to the F.C. City Council Monday night calling for a 2.5-cent real estate tax increase and a total budget of $87,345,420, an increase of 5.1 percent over the current year, that includes, as required by law, the full School Board request. It now awaits City Council action that will culminate with the budget’s final adoption on April 26. Shields’ proposed budget calls for a 1.2 percent ($438,421) increase in the general government operating fund and a 5.4 percent ($2,065,130) increase in local funding for the schools. Shields set his budget proposal in the context of a number of strong developments in the City, including new private investment, in which three new large scale mixed-use projects have contributed five percent of the City’s total added value on only six acres, a “growing and vibrant city” with 10 percent population growth between 2010 and 2013, new projects underway, including new public safety, park and stormwater improvements, investment in new public facilities, and a commitment to service. He said despite major investments in capital improvements that are coming up the pike, including a new high school at above $100 million, the City will stay within the parameters of its fund balance and debt policy guidelines and enjoys a much stronger position with its pension plan, prospects for continued robust economic growth
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A 17-year-old male from the McLean area was charged with Threats to Bomb in connection with a bomb threat made against McLean High School on Wednesday, March 2. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
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In 1987, Allan Bloom wrote a book called “The Closing of the American Mind.” The core argument was that American campuses were awash in moral relativism. SEE PAGE 12
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Celtic rock band Enter the Haggis got together for the first time 21 years ago for a St. Patrick’s Day show in 1995. Now, the
group has just wrapped up a new seven-song, yet-to-be titled album due out in the fall.
SEE PAGE 25
SWORN IN TOGETHER to the City of Falls Church’s newly-named Arts and Humanities Council at Monday’s City Council meeting were members (left to right) Marybeth Connelly, Letty Hardi, Laura Hull, Lindy Hockenberry, Ellen Gross, Barbara Cram and Ron Anzalone. (P����: N���-P����)
F.C. Council Displays Strong Support for Miller House Plan BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
INDEX
Editorial.................6 Letters...............6, 8 News & Notes 10-11 Comment ........ 12-15 Sports ............16-17 Business News ...19
Calendar ........20-21 Food & Dining.....22 Classified Ads ....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner......30
Although no action was scheduled and taken Monday night, the Falls Church City Council expressed positive support for proposed plans to convert a Cityowned home on N. Washington St. known as the Miller House into a group home for five persons with disabilities. If approved by the Council in late April after a period for
public comment, the plan would create the first such group home for intellectually disabled persons in 20 years. In the early 1970s, there were three such homes in the City. The most important need for families with disabled offspring is for housing, stated City resident and former Planning Commission resident Mark Gross at Monday’s hearing, especially as both children and parents age. A number of the City’s disabled persons who