Issuu

March 2 – 8, 2017

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 I N o. 2

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

Inside This Week Do Cottages Have a Future in Falls Church? In the spring edition of the Real Estate Guide inside this issue, the News-Press takes a look at cottage communities in the Little City, the Northern Virginia Home Expo, an F.C. architecht who’s moved beyond McMansions and more. See pages 13–19

Supreme Court Rules Vs. Va. Gerrymandering

In Split 4-3 Vote, F.C. School Board Votes to Ask for 3.7% Funding Hike Bloom City

Request Comes in 1% Higher Than City Council Wanted

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

In a press release last Friday, Manassas Park Police said they are currently conducting an investigation jointly with Child Protection Services on allegations that may have occurred between September 2014 and April 2015 while Estrada was a teacher at Manassas Park Middle School.

Faced by a deadline and in a highly uncommon development, the Falls Church School Board cast a split vote, 4-3, to approve its annual budget request that will be passed onto the F.C. City Manager and City Council. The vote sent a budget request calling for a 3.7-percent increase in the City’s transfer to the schools for the coming school year. That request was higher than the 2.7 percent “guidance” that the Council issued to the School Board in December, but was justified by the majority on the School Board by the 6.3-percent enrollment growth in the school system this year. The adopted budget request calls for a total school system budget of $50,708,200, with a transfer request from the City of $41,178,000. The next step in the process of developing the City of Falls Church’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget, to go into effect on July 1, will be for City Manager Wyatt Shields to take the totality of the School Board budget request and build it into his recommended overall budget for the City which last year exceeded $88 million. His recommended budget will be presented to the City Council in mid-March, and the Council will have until the end of April to determine the size of the budget, including whether or not a real estate tax rate increase will be required. Earlier last month, the City government learned that real estate assessments grew by 3.6 percent overall, higher than in most other jurisdictions in the region, but still not enough to avoid placing major constraints on the size and scope

Continued on Page 4

Continued on Page 5

The U.S. Supreme Court found that a lower court applied an inappropriate analysis in a Virginia redistricting case which claimed that 11 House delegate districts in the state “withstood Constitutional muster.” See News Briefs, page 9

David Brooks: Today’s Age of Reason Last week we were finishing off a seminar in grand strategy when one of my Yale colleagues, Charles Hill, drew a diagram on the board that put today’s events in a sweeping historical perspective. See page 12

Mason Girls In Action Today vs. Martinsville

The third-seeded Mustangs will face the 2A West region’s secondseed, Martinsville High School, at James Madison University’s Convocation Center today. See sports, page 24

WITH TEMPERATURES HITTING near-record highs last week and the spring-like weather continuing through Wednesday, cherry blossom trees in the Little City have already begun to bloom. Trees lining Park Avenue in Falls Church were showing off their bright pink and white blossoms this week, days before the mercury was set to dip into the 40s. (Photo: News-Press)

Police Investigating Additional Allegations vs. F.C. Teacher

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.10–11 Comment.. 12, 22–23 Calendar........20–21 Sports..................24

Food & Dining......27 Classified Ads......28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner.......30

City of Falls Church Mayor David Tarter began Monday night’s meeting of the Falls Church City Council by reading a forceful statement in wake of sexual abuse charges against Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School teacher Jose Daniel Estrada, arrested last week and charged with molesting

two female students. The charges have been compounded by unconfirmed reports by a regional media outlet that Estrada had been removed from other teaching positions and merely “counseled” to avoid situations of being alone with his students by the Henderson Middle School principal in the last year. The News-Press received similar unconfirmed reports.

PAGE 2 | MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Tarter Issues Words On Teacher Arrest Continued from Page 1

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The Falls Church City School System (FCCPS), in a press release this week, stated that it followed its standard protocols in 2015 when it hired Estrada. The procedures included fingerprinting and backgrounds checks with the FBI, the Virginia State Police, Child Protective Services that included panel interviews and reference checks. The schools’ statement said that Estrada was hired on July 1, 2015 and that Estrada’s immediate past supervisor at a Manassas Park middle school had been interviewed prior to the hire. “That supervisor was asked specifically about Estrada’s interactions with students and staff members. FCCPS received no information indicating that there had been problems or issues, and when asked if Estrada was someone who would be rehired, the answer was yes,” the FCCPS statement said. In his statement Monday, Mayor Tarter said, “As a father of three children, I am deeply distressed to think that children in our community are ever harmed by trusted adults. Our community’s children and their families continue to be our primary focus. Falls Church is a small and in some ways a sheltered community, but no community can afford to assume it is free of the scourge of sexual abuse. We must be constantly vigilant, educate ourselves and our children, and not be afraid to discuss this important issue.” He continued, “Our silence is not the answer to child sexual abuse…We must be willing to thoroughly examine and reexamine our practices and procedures to ensure that we always do the best by our most vulnerable citizens. The City government is in the process of doing that now. We already have safeguards in place in connection with our youth programs…We are committed to re-evaluating and strengthening these programs where opportunities for improvement are identified, which may include enhancing staff training and community outreach…We will continue to do all we can to protect our children. We owe them nothing less.” Tarter said that as the matter of the Estrada charges “will be

handled by the courts and the (Falls Church City Public) School Board, I cannot comment on it at this time.” Interim School Superintendent Dr. Robert Schiller told the NewsPress yesterday that a “firewall now exists” between the schools and those continuing to investigate this case. He said in his long career he’s faced other situations like this, and affirmed that all the necessary procedures had been followed. This included the action by the Schools to contact the Falls Church Police and Child Protective Services (CPS) on Jan. 17, in accordance with State law, upon receiving a report alleging that there was inappropriate conduct by a teacher. Estrada was immediately removed from the classroom and placed on paid leave, as the law also requires. “The action enabled the FCCPS to ensure the safety of its students while also reserving judgment on the employee,” the FCCPS statement said. Schiller said Estrada had been hired on a one year at a time basis with annual non-continuing contracts, and that a decision had been taken not to renew his contract just prior to his arrest. While, in accordance with state law, Estrada’s pay was placed in an escrow account pending the outcome of his case, he will be paid only through this June 30. The School Board followed Schiller’s recommendation and voted last week not to renew his contract. Even prior to his arrest, Schiller told the News-Press, the School Board determined that “he was not the kind of person who rose to the level of our expectations.” The FCCPS statement added, “As the police and CPS investigation continues, we must be alert to the possibility of additional potential victims. It is extremely important that individuals feel comfortable and supported in coming forward if they have additional information or concerns,” adding, “Our teachers and staff, the mentors and role models for our students, have a tremendous impact on student safety and security.” Schiller told the News-Press that he’d retained special counsel to advise him to ensure the schools were doing everything properly.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

THE FALLS CHURCH SCHOOL BOARD had a 4-3 vote on the budget request it forwarded to the City Manager. (P��: N��-P��)

School Board Votes for 3.7% Hike Continued from Page 1

of the City government and its schools. Last year, the Council kept the tax rate even by cutting $912,000 from the School Board request, something everyone on the School Board this year said were loathe to see repeated. However, school enrollment growth this year has been almost twice the rate as last year, and projections for the coming year remain uncertain. Funding problems for the schools include the just-learned fact that bids on the cost of construction of Mt. Daniel Elementary

came in 21 percent higher than expected, and to cover that alone will cost the City more than $2 million above what was expected. That is also over and above whatever number winds up being requested by an anticipated November bond referendum for construction of a new high school. These facts contributed to the three “no” votes on the School Board request Tuesday night. Board member John Lawrence, who was joined by Justin Castillo and Margaret Ward in voting “no,” said that he feared with the $2 million more needed for Mt. Daniel, the City Council will not look kindly on the

School Board’s asking for one percent above the 2.7 percent increase guidance it issued in December. There was also concern that an inability of the School Board to decide whether, in adding one final position to its request, would want the position to be provided in the human resources department, or for a new ESOL and GiftedTalented Program instructor. The majority who voted for the budget — Chair Lawrence Webb, Vice Chair Phil Reitinger, Michael Ankuma and Erin Gill — argued they were requesting a funding number, and that details of the 94-page long line item budget could be hammered out at a later date. The Council does not have any control over the School Board’s budget line items. Interim F.C. School Superintendent Dr. Robert Schiller told the News-Press that he was pleased by the “open, transparent process with a vibrant discussion” among the board members. He was also happy that Shields and members of the Council attended a number of the School Board sessions, so they are aware of the issues. “To be sure, there are a lot of unmet needs in this budget that the schools deal with on a daily basis,” Schiller said, but the product reflected “a willingness to collaborate with the City, as tight as the budget may be.”

MARCH 2-8, 2017 | PAGE 5

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Maximum Development At Campus Site Needed If it’s March, it must be annual budget time! The Falls Church School Board has done its part, voting 4-3 to forward a budget request to the F.C. City Manager Wyatt Shields who will add it to his budget recommendation that he will unveil to the City Council in two weeks. Can the City Council hold the real estate tax rate to its current level of $1.315 per $100 of assessed valuation, or will it have to inch that number up to meet the pressing needs the City has, including the 6.8-percent enrollment growth in the City’s schools? There are a lot of demands on the City’s purse strings right now, including the unhappy news from just last week that doing the renovation and expansion of the Mt. Daniel Elementary School that voters approved two Novembers ago is going to cost about $2 million more than originally thought. That’s what emerged when the bids were opened last week. Delaying that project a year had a big impact on the cost of construction. Then there is the $8.5 million renovation and expansion of the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, which voters approved the bonding for this past November. After that, there is the $17 million expansion and renovation of City Hall, which the voters do not need to approve because it relates to public safety. On top of all those, there is the big one, the construction of a new high school that could range in cost from $70 to $120 million, depending on how many bells and whistles are included in what the Campus Process Working Group decides and wins support for from both the City Council and School Board. All this is over and above the operating costs of the City government and the schools, with an annual budget in the range of $88 million annually. This raises the question of the only way the City can raise revenue to offset the impact of new expenditures on the backs of City taxpayers. That is, economic development. The City is fortunate that it runs its own affairs, so it can push for as much economic development as the market will bear, a luxury that residents of the its much larger neighbors Fairfax and Arlington counties don’t have. So, we advise our readers to consider the new Campus Economic Development Working Group that has just been formed and will have its maiden meeting this Friday morning. Its issue will be to examine options for putting new economic development on up to 10 acres as the high school campus site. To this point, some have said they want more, some less economic development up there. But looking at the City as a whole, we’re convinced that the absolute maximum economic development yield off that site needs to be pursued. It’s the viability of the City as a whole that is at stake. The campus land represents a unique opportunity for the Little City to thrive.

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Local Filmmakers’ Movie Can Have a Strong Impact Editor, Having read the story regarding the local filmmakers Ben Powell and Harry Lee, I’d like to show my appreciation for their effort to make a change. The matter of the Muslim ban has grown in the past months, and many people’s lives are being affected daily, such as the kids who will be featured in the documentary. In a fast-paced society with many distractions, we

mustn’t forget to care about others in our community. 9/11 has left a deep wound in the hearts of the American people, and the road to recovery will be difficult, but a “Muslim ban” will not help heal the wound. It is like putting BandAids over a scar — just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean that it does not exist. Although “Somaliland” only highlights one story out of the many others regarding Muslims, there is

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no doubt that the documentary can make a strong impact on the Muslim ban. Empathy is what makes us human, and I agree with Lee in that, through empathy, we can show that there is a problem with the way we are dealing with the issue. Rain Zhou Falls Church

Real Estate Assessments Should Reflect Reality Editor, Interesting that the City listed townhouse assessment rise as 1.43

percent when every townhouse in the corner of Winter Hill next to Harris Teeter went up 5 percent — without regard for lot, actual home improvements, or condition. Everyone got the same assessed values. This after a 3 percent increase the year before. No consideration for what the Harris Teeter complex will do to the property values compared to the rest of the City. Value should be closer to $551,000 using the City’s own numbers. If a townhouse sells for a high price because $25,000 of work was done, the assessments should reflect that reality. Michael Baker Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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FEBRUARY 23 – MARCH 1, 2017 | PAGE 7

A Message to Dr. Schiller: Please Persist B� J�� A��

Many thanks to those responsible for the recent informative three hours on options for the high school campus. Turnout was impressive, as was the detail discussed. Judging from comments in my small breakout group, there were few good reasons for renovation, aside from lower cost, or phased construction of a new school, more disruptive and expensive and allowing less development. The nonphased new school option shined by comparison, given the alternatives’ drawbacks. The dominant reaction I heard was worry about cost, a concern I share. I join others, then, in being heartened by Dr. Schiller’s recent thoughts on sensible ways to pare back the $117 million cost of a nonphased new school. Others may also wonder why Falls Church is proposing to spend so much more in total, per student and per square foot ($117 million for 1,500 students at $384 per square foot) than Virginia Department of Education tells us has been spent recently on larger nearby high schools such as Marshall ($52 million, 2,000 kids, $142 per square foot), TJ ($67 million/1,850 kids/$169 per square foot) and Langley ($60 million/2,100 kids/$177 per square foot). Smaller footprints kept new construction in Loudon under $65 million each for three new high schools with capacities averaging about 1,900. Two other takeaways were noteworthy. The first was the absence of an option for a

smaller new school for 1,200 students, but with adjacent land to add capacity quickly later if current enrollment projections prove accurate. Such an option makes sense if recent enrollment drivers aren’t sustained. This seems as likely as not, since the recent

“But spending more than we ought now for a larger high school than may be needed will add unavoidably to those budget pressures.” surge in enrollment growth (to 4 percent a year since 2013 from 2.2 percent during 2002-2013) has been in older multifamily housing rather than newer mixed use developments or single family detached housing. This reflects the take up of existing capacity, which will be difficult to continue and might well reverse. Consider Oakwood, which together with Pearson Square has accounted for nearly one third of the increase in overall enrollment since 2002. Single family detached housing, by contrast, has made a smaller contribution to enrollment growth since 2013 than at any point since 1989. That might reverse,

however, if tax rates go up too far and too quickly, triggering accelerated turnover of existing homes occupied by older residents whose children have graduated. Fill too many of those empty bedrooms with new students and even a 1,500-capacity high school could end up being too small. The other takeaway was that budget pressures will be great. Implementing the current capital improvement program will require increasing the residential property tax rate by 17.25 cents. Up to 2/3 of this might eventually be rolled back by proceeds from developing the full 10 acres allowed. That part due to higher tax revenues would only come after 2025, however, on conservative but still uncertain assumptions. The surge in borrowing, moreover, would deteriorate standard creditworthiness metrics enough to spark a two-notch rating downgrade. Assuming current market conditions, which are unlikely to last as the Fed continues scaling back bond market support, this would add some 60 basis points to borrowing costs, or $700,000 in additional annual interest costs. Rating agencies and investors may be impressed by the political will needed to boost the tax rate to $1.49 from $1.315 at present, and even more so by whatever is needed to pay for Metro’s needs and more increases in health insurance costs for city and school employees. More revenues from more development will help limit how much tax rates will need to increase. Much will also depend on how successfully new

development at the campus and elsewhere can be advanced without adding further to enrollment and related budget pressures. But spending more than we ought now for a larger high school than may be needed will add unavoidably to those budget pressures. Those with younger children still in the schools should consider what those pressures will mean for future spending on teacher salaries and technology. Past experience at George Mason High School itself suggests these two items will be bigger determinants of education quality going forward than the facility itself. Opting for a new but smaller high school and value engineering costs as aggressively as possible seems the best path forward to give us a new facility and preserve the fiscal flexibility needed to prioritize quality teachers and technology. So please persist, Dr Schiller, with the $60 million cost concept you have recently discussed. Working top-down from a budget constraint geared to what we can afford will require revisions to plans and movement away from some of the more costly aspirations voiced in the visioning exercise. There will still be considerable support, however, within the broader community for a more prudent approach that leaves options open and flexibility intact to address the multiple uncertainties we face going forward. Not least among these, we now know, will be the implications soon of tighter federal government spending for Falls Church residents and businesses.

Q�� W�� How much economic development should go on the new high school campus site? • Maximum-allowable development • Minimum development

Last Week’s Question:

Should funds be provided to meet the latest bids for Mt. Daniel Elementary?

• No development

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

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

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

& Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks. Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published. All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.

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

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PAGE 8 |MARCH 2 - 8, 2017

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At The Kensington Falls Church, Our Residents Get MORE of the Best Things in Life, Such as...

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Former Falls Church Resident Ruth Diehl Dies at Age 95 Ruth T. Diehl, 95, of Woodbury, MN, formerly of Falls Church, went to be with the Lord on Saturday, February 25, 2017. She was preceded in death by her husband, Earl. Ruth is survived by her children, Roger (Denise) Diehl and Carolyn (Herb) Winslow; grandchildren, Kimberly Diehl, David Diehl, Katy (Jimmy) Winslow McKelvey, Jeff (Holly) Winslow, Dan (Heidi) Winslow, Laura (Travis) Yoch, Pete Winslow, and Ella Winslow; and eight greatgrandchildren. Ruth’s life revolved around her faith, family and friends. She was a charter member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Falls Church and an active member for 52 years. Ruth was warmly welcomed by St. John Lutheran Church when she moved to Woodbury, MN. Funeral services were Wednesday, March 1 at St. John Lutheran Church, 1975 St. Johns

Ruth

Diehl.

703.992.9868 | 700 West Broad St, Falls Church, VA 22046 www.TheKensingtonFallsChurch.com

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Dr., Woodbury, MN. Interment at Greenlawn Memorial Park, Fort Wayne, IN. Memorials preferred to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church or St. John Lutheran Church.

ore laughter, because it’s good for the soul. More hugs, because they create meaningful connections. More family, because a sense of belonging builds trust. More friendship, because companionship boosts morale. More activity, because movement keeps the body strong. More technology, because every measure to protect our residents is invaluable. More expert care, because we’ve staffed our community with best-in-class professionals. A more wonderful senior care and lifestyle experience is now available in Falls Church. Call or visit The Kensington today.

(A) Go ask your mother. (B) Because I said so. (C) We’ll see.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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Fa l l s C h u r c h

MARCH 2 – 8, 2017 | PAGE 9

NEWS BRIEFS Regional Officials to Speak Out Vs. ICE Raids This afternoon, March 2, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine will join with other elected officials, as well as immigrants and leaders in immigration policy and advocacy, at the site of a recent ICE crackdown to show support for immigrants and a thoughtful, fair immigration policy. According to recent news reports, ICE agents targeted Rising Hope Mission Church in Alexandria when they apprehended at least six men in close proximity to the church. Today’s press conference will be held at the church led by Rep. Beyer, Sen. Kaine, U.S. House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Linda Sanchez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, State Sen. Scott Surovell, State Sen. Barbara Favola, State Del. Paul Krizek, Fairfax Supervisor Dan Storck, Lenka Mendoza of Dreamer Moms in Action, Nicholas Marritz of the Legal Aid Justice Center, Claire Gasatagna of the Virginia ACLU, and Michelle LaRue of Court Appointed Special Advocates.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Vs. Gerrymandering in Virginia The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday found that a lower court applied an inappropriate analysis in a Virginia redistricting case which claimed that 11 House delegate districts in the state “withstood Constitutional muster.” State Del. David Toscano and Charniele Herring stated in response, “Virginia is one of the most gerrymandered states in the nation and we applaud the court’s decision as a critical step toward correcting a rigged system.” In the state legislature, Republicans have killed every effort by Democrats to form an independent redistricting commission.

Falls Church Cable TV Resumes Local Programming The Falls Church Cable Access Corporation announced yesterday that it has resumed the production of local TV programming with a new show, “Falls Church News-Press This Week” hosted by Nicholas Benton, that is due to begin airing today, March 2, at 5:30 p.m. on the F.C. cable access channels designated on the Cox, Verizon and RCN systems. Other showings of the new episode will be Sunday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 8 at 4 p.m., Thursday, March 9 at 5:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 12 at 8:30 p.m.

F.C. Citizens Sought for Boards, Commissions The City of Falls Church has put out an appeal for residents to serve on the boards and commissions that advise the City Council. Applications will be accepted until the end of March. Bodies with vacancies include the Architectural Advisory Board, Board of Equalization, Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation, Environmental Sustainability Council, Girls Home Advisory Board, Historic Architectural Review Board, Historical Commission, Tree Commission, Fairfax Area Commission on Aging, Fairfax Area Disability Services Board, the Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia, and the Long Term Care Coordinating Council.

Police Search for Human Remains in Holmes Run, Lemon Road Parks Acting on recently received information, detectives are searching for human remains in two Fairfax County parks, police said Wednesday. The areas being searched are on the grounds of Holmes Run Park, near the 6000 block of Crater Place, and around Lemon Road Park, in the Falls Church area of the county. Homicide, Gang Unit and Crime Scene detectives have been joined by members of the Fairfax police department’s Search and Rescue Unit, along with two “live find” and cadaver dog teams from the County Fire and Rescue Department, Urban Search and Rescue Team and one cadaver dog team from the Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department. These searches could continue for an extended period of time, police said. Late Wednesday, police reported they had completed a search of Lemon Road Park and no longer believe any remains were buried there. Their search at Holmes Run was suspended overnight and was scheduled to resume early Thursday morning. Anyone with additional information related to this case is asked to contact the Major Crimes Division at 703-246-7800, or Crime Solvers electronically by visiting www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text-a-tip by texting “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES(274637) or by calling 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.

We Want You on Our Team! Become a Falls Church Kiwanis Little League Team Sponsor, get your name in front of thousands of area family members, and support a valuable activity for hundreds of children. Sponsorships start as low as $149.00 Applications due by March 7

Visit fckll.org for more information.

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PAGE 10 | MARCH 2 - 8, 2017

News-Press

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes Mason Grad Takes 1st Place at Texas Union Film Festival Max Kaplow, a 2012 graduate of George Mason High School, won the Jury Award 1st Place at the Texas Union Film Festival for his short film, “The Date.” The Texas Union Film Festival is a short film competition for undergraduates and graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin. Kaoplow played baseball at George Washington University (class of 2016) and is now earning a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting at the University of Texas at Austin, a top 10 film school with one of the best writing programs in the nation. “The Date,” Kaplow says, was a project for one of his first semester classes, “Production Workshop for Writers.” The

class was essentially an “intensive crash course in the production process” so that he and his “cohort” (which included five other MFA screenwriters) could develop their scripts for the screen. Kaplow describes the process of making a film: “An author I admire had been described as, ‘writing at the speed of thought,’ and I began to wonder what ‘cinema at the speed of thought’ might look like. I wanted to do something cerebral with characters sort of inside their own heads and defined by their compulsive thinking. Although I had this in mind I still needed to lend it to a story and write a script. I ran with the whole heady, psychological thing and came up with this notion of how the anxieties and fears we often have, that I

certainly have, tend to make us feel like we’re the only ones feeling anxious or scared. “This felt like a good basis for a young couple’s first date and all the nerves and fears and insecurities that go with it. I really took to the idea of their anxieties driving the story, it seemed more engaging and entertaining and a better way of visualizing how inadequate they feel; to make the internal, external. It’s also more cinematic because the cut between characters is what really tells the story. This led to the idea of having them running through the date on each of their respective ends without ever actually being on it. “I wanted to do something narratively unconventional, but in a way that brought the audience deeper into the story. If

THE FIRST-EVER FALLS CHURCH MARDI GRAS PARADE rolled through town last Sunday. People got dressed up in funky outfits to see floats come down Broad Street. There was music, food and fun for all involved. From left to right, Simon van Steyn, Shaun van Styen, Bessy the Clown and Tom Ryan pose during the festivities. (Photo: Shaun van Steyn)

there’s anything I’m hoping audiences will be left with after seeing “The Date” it’s that the fears we have actually unite us, that maybe if there is one thing bringing us all together it’s how alone we all feel.” “The Date” can be viewed at vimeo.com/196310530

Book Signing With Local Children’s Author Apr. 8 Local children’s author, Paula Bordenkecher will be at the Barnes & Noble in Seven Corners on Saturday, April 8, at 2 p.m. to sign her book, The Adventures of Casey Formoonzago. The story follows the precocious angel, Casey, on her journey in heaven and the challenges that she faces with choosing morals over friendship.

The author, Paula Bordenkecher, uses her books to teach, encourage and inspire children. She has taught middle and high school reading, English and writing in Washington D.C. and adult creative writing and ESL in Arlington, Virginia. Paula is also a mom blogger who encourages mothers in the art of childrearing. She is currently working on a new book and teaching college English online.

2941 Restaurant to Host ‘Spice Companion Dinner’ On Sunday, March 12 from 5 – 8:30 p.m. 2941 Executive Chef Bertrand Chemel and Sommelier Ryan Jones will host a spice dinner showcasing custom spice blends and

The Andrew Acosta band performs at the Falls Church Arts Gala on Saturday night. The night was a celebration of the opening of a new space at the Kensington. Over 70 artists were represented in over 140 artworks. (Photo: Gary Mester)

Send Us Your News & Notes!

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

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

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

a guest appearance from NYC Spice Master Lior Lev Sercarz of La Boîte Biscuits & Spices. The dinner also celebrates the recent launch of Sercarz’s new book The Spice Companion: A Guide to the World of Spices, and each guest will receive a signed copy of the book of which is included in the price for the dinner. Priced at $95 per person (not including beverages, tax and gratuity), guests will enjoy a decadent four-course spiceinfused prix fixe tasting menu showcasing a selection of rare and custom spice blends from Sercarz. Guests will begin their dining experience with a gourmet greeting at their tables including their own personal sample of some of Sercarz’s spices for them to taste, touch, smell, and bring home with them following the dinner. Sommelier Ryan Jones will also be on hand offering optional wine pairings with each course available for an additional $50 per person. Reservations are required. For additional information on 2941 Restaurant’s Spice Dinner or for reservations, please visit www.2941.com, email 2941info@2941.com, or call 703-270-1500.

Nominate the 2016 Employee of the Year The City of Falls Church Human Resources Division is accepting nominations for the 2016 Employee of the Year award. Those who have received exceptional service from a City employee or know of a City employee who goes above and beyond on a regular basis are encouraged to submit a nomination. Nominations are due Friday, March 3, 2017. Eligibility for the award is open to all permanent full or part-time employees in the City’s personnel system, provided the initial probationary period has been concluded successfully. Appointed officials, elected officials and their employees, general managers, and division directors are not eligible for the award. The City Council encourages nominations from any of the following: Any City employee of the general government;City citizens; Civic organizations or groups; and Business and professional groups. Nominations may not be submitted by a member of the immediate family of the nominee or the nominee themselves The Employee of the Year

Award was established in 1987 to grant recognition to a City employee for accomplishments of outstanding worth in advancing and improving public service in the City of Falls Church general government. Accomplishments that are eligible for consideration will vary widely in form and substance due to the many different jobs city employees perform. They will be evaluated against criteria which examine gains achieved, overall impact of the accomplishment, and the environment in which the achievement took place. The city Employees Review Board will receive the nominations and the supporting documentation and select the award recipient based on the facts presented. The recipient receives a cash award. Presentation of the award will be made by the Mayor and City Council at a council meeting in April. For more information, including evaluation criteria and a list of previous winners, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/ EOY.

Celtic Music Concert on March 11 There will be a lively evening of acoustic Irish music at the Celtic Music Concert on Saturday, March 11 from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. at the historic Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave.). The band Mitchelstown will be performing on the fiddle, banjo, guitar, bouzouki, harpsichord, concertina, bodhran and more in the intimate atmosphere of the Farmhouse parlor. Tickets are available in advance for $15 and can be purchased online at webtrac. fallschurchva.gov, in person at the Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St.), or by calling 703-248-5027 (TTY 711). Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $20. For questions or for more information, contact Corey Jannicelli at 703-248-5171 or cjannicelli@fallschurchva.gov.

FCCTV Offers Basic Film Workshop Falls Church Community Television (FCCTV) will host the first-ever workshop aimed at non-profit and civic organizations: “Filming & Editing Your Organization’s Events.” In just two three-hour sessions, experts will teach the basics of filming forums, meetings and more. The workshop is tailormade for those with no video

LO CA L production experience. The workshop is $75 per person. Register online at w w w. f a l l s c h u r c h v a . g o v / VideoWorkshop or call 703248-5027 (TTY 711). Participants can choose sessions on February 28 and March 1 (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.) or March 14 and 15 (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.) The workshop takes place at the FCCTV studio in George Mason High School (7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). Those who cannot attend these workshops but would like to be notified when more dates are set may email fcctvweb@ gmail.com. Workshop participants must be employees of a non-profit or civic organization in the City of Falls Church or residents of the City. Questions can be directed to FCCTV, 703-248-5538 (TTY 711) or fcctvweb@gmail.com.

FIRSTfriday of Falls Church Returns Tomorrow Come to FIRSTfriday of Falls Church and join in on the fun with dining specials and retail discounts. This month’s highlights include art exhibits, musical performances, tastings, and more. Irish Balladeer at Ireland’s Four Provinces and additional live music at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack. FIRSTfriday of Falls Church is a monthly, year-round event that creates and promotes a business and social synergy for the arts and artists in and around the City of Falls Church, attracting people to view local artwork, attend musical and theatrical performances, learn about the City’s history, and shop and dine in downtown Falls Church.

National Capital Region Job Fair Comes to F.C. Looking for a new job, career, or opportunity? Find it at the National Capital Region Job Fair sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. Dozens of professional and high tech companies from Virginia, Maryland and DC will be recruiting for all levels and disciplines. The event will take place from 2 – 6 p.m. on Monday, March 6 at the Northern Virginia Center (7054 Haycock Road, Falls Church). You do not need to be a student or an alum of Virginia Tech to attend. For more information and to register, visit: http://www. dchokies.org/ncr-job-fair/

MARCH 2 - 8, 2017 | PAGE 11

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NATI O NA L

Trump The Entertainer

Trump The Entertainer was on his game imitating a U.S. president before a joint session of the Congress Tuesday night. A remarkably gullible share of the U.S. public, including many in the media, was apparently down for a willful suspension of disbelief to suddenly find in this performance the man of their dreams. We expect this will be, like Trump’s attention span, brief and short-lived. The euphoria will wear off as the unpleasantries of Trump as President For Real will still be sleeping on the couch as the sun rises. The easiest thing to say about the address is that it failed to say how all the initiatives would be paid for. Also, the New York Times did a good job spelling out all the lies and misrepresentations FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS that were contained therein, pertaining to Obamacare, unemployment, poverty rates, deportations, crime and trade: all the usual exaggerations, exceptions and credits where they’re not due. So, in sum, it was a feel-good fantasy at best. Trump finally did something that did not insult the office of the presidency, and he’s being cheered for doing what all previous U.S. presidents considered routine. But come the morning after, nothing has changed. Nothing in what Trump said Tuesday night represented any real changes. On the contrary, aside from some sugary additives, he did not veer from his core policy agenda one iota. It means that his call for a huge increase in defense spending, at the expense of vital domestic programs, only stands an even better chance of being adopted because of all the airy highs in Congress. Congress, for some on both sides of the aisle, now has the excuse to go along with the Trump program without serious diligence. For Republicans in Congress, votes to block revelations about Trump’s ties to Moscow or to release his tax returns are the shortest of gains, at best. When these matters are compelled to come out through the investigations that are well underway and hearings that will be held, everyone who voted to block their contents at this stage will become laughing stocks before their own electorates. You don’t mess with issues that call core national security matters into question. It’s one thing to vote against a Democratic agenda, it’s altogether another to block the public’s right to know about matters of security and potential treason. All this only helps to ensure that the entire pack of GOP lawmakers involved in these coverups will be rounded up with Trump himself and his cronies, when the time comes. They’ve chosen to align their destinies with that of a crook, and they’re going to pay a very dear price for that. Meanwhile, the impact of the Trump programmatic agenda is doubly chilling to contemplate. The cuts to health and safety regulations (they’re always referred to merely as regulations, not what most of them really are: “public health and safety regulations”) will, along with deep budget cuts in domestic programs, including in health insurance, increase the risk for an escalation in the currently-alarming rise in the mortality rate of middle-aged white Americans. The kind of stories that always get falsely compartmentalized apart from budgetary and national political matters this week included the warning from the World Health Organization that humanity is failing to keep up with the inevitable emergence of new “super bug” pathogen killers of massive percentages of the world’s population. Funding for the necessary research is simply not there. A 2013 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned that two dozen identified antibiotic resistant microbes could cause “catastrophic consequences.” Marie-Paule Kieny of the WHO is now adding, “The burden for society is now alarming.” In addition to new and emerging deadly pathogens, Kieny cited the growing danger of more common diseases like gonorrhea, salmonella and bacteria that cause sepsis and severe urinary tract inflections for their growing and “dramatic health and economic impacts.” It is doubly alarming that no new classes of antibiotics have come to the market since 1984, according to the Pew Charitable Trust. We are threatened by not only a pathogen of presidential proportions, but new deadly ones at the microscopic level, too.

Nicholas F. Benton

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

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Today’s Age of Reason

Being around a college classroom can really expand your perspective. For example, last week we were finishing off a seminar in grand strategy when one of my Yale colleagues, Charles Hill, drew a diagram that put today’s events in a sweeping historical perspective. Running through the center of the diagram was the long line of Enlightenment thought. The Enlightenment included thinkers like John Locke and Immanuel Kant who argued that people should stop deferring blindly to authority for how to live. Instead, they should think things through from the ground up, respect NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE facts and skeptically reexamine their own assumptions and convictions. Enlightenment thinkers turned their skeptical ideas into skeptical institutions, notably the U.S. Constitution. America’s founders didn’t trust the people or themselves, so they built a system of rules, providing checks and balances to pit interest against interest. De Tocqueville came along and said that if a rulesbased democratic government was going to work anywhere it was going to be the United States. America became the test case for the entire Enlightenment project. With his distrust of mob rule and his reverence for law, Abraham Lincoln was a classic Enlightenment man. His success in the Civil War seemed to vindicate faith in democracy and the entire Enlightenment cause. In the 20th century, Enlightenment leaders extended the project globally, building rules-based multilateral institutions like the European Union and NATO to restrain threatening powers and preserve a balance of power. The Enlightenment project gave us the modern world, but it has always had weaknesses. First, Enlightenment figures perpetually tell themselves that religion is dead (it isn’t) and that race is dead (it isn’t), and so they are always surprised by events. Second, it is thin on meaning. It treats people as bland rational egoists and tends to produce governments run by soulless technocrats. Third, Enlightenment governance fails from time to time. At these moments anti-Enlightenment movements gain power. Amid the collapse of the old regimes during World War I, the Marxists attacked the notion of private property. That brought us Lenin, Stalin and Mao. After the failures of Versailles, the Nietzscheans attacked the separation of powers and argued that power should be centralized in the hands of society’s winners, the master race. This brought us Hitler and the Nazis. Hill pointed out that the forces of the Enlightenment have always defeated the anti-Enlightenment threats.

David Brooks

When the Cold War ended, the Enlightenment project seemed utterly triumphant. But now we’re living in the wake of another set of failures: the financial crisis, the slow collapse of the European project, Iraq. What’s interesting, Hill noted, is that the anti-Enlightenment traditions are somehow back. Nietzschean thinking is back in the form of Vladimir Putin. Marxian thinking is back in the form of an aggressive China. Both Russia and China are trying to harvest the benefits of the Enlightenment order, but they also want to break the rules when they feel like it. They incorporate deep strains of anti-Enlightenment thinking and undermine the postEnlightenment world order. Hill didn’t say it, but I’d add that anti-Enlightenment thinking is also back in the form of Donald Trump, racial separatists and the world’s other populist ethnic nationalist movements. Today’s anti-Enlightenment movements don’t think truth is to be found through skeptical inquiry and debate. They think wisdom and virtue are found in the instincts of the plain people, deep in the mystical core of the nation’s or race’s group consciousness. Today’s anti-Enlightenment movements believe less in calm persuasion and evidence-based inquiry than in purity of will. They try to win debates through blunt force and silencing unacceptable speech. They don’t see history as a gradual march toward cooperation. They see history as cataclysmic cycles — a zero-sum endeavor marked by conflict. Nations trying to screw other nations, races inherently trying to oppress other races. These movements are hostile to rules-based systems, multilateral organizations, the messy compromises of democratic politics and what Steve Bannon calls the “administrative state.” They prefer the direct rule by one strongman who is the embodiment of the will of the people. When Trump calls the media the “enemy of the people” he is going after the system of conversation, debate and inquiry that is the foundation for the entire Enlightenment project. When anti-Enlightenment movements arose in the past, Enlightenment heroes rose to combat them. Lincoln was no soulless technocrat. He fought fanaticism by doubling down on Enlightenment methods, with charity, reason and patience. He worked tirelessly for unity over division. He was a hopeful pessimist who knew the struggle would be long but he had faith in providence and ultimate justice. We live in a time when many people have lost faith in the Enlightenment habits and institutions. I wonder if there is a group of leaders who will rise up and unabashedly defend this project, or even realize that it is this fundamental thing that is now under attack.

R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPRING 2017 | PAGE 13

Real Estate Spring 2017

Is There a Future for Cottage Communities in the Little City? by Sam Tabachnik

Wilbern Architects — submitted a proposal to build 10 cottage homes and a shared community house at 1006 Railroad Avenue, alongside the Washington and Old Dominion Trail. These “Railroad Cottages,” as the developers coined them, would be single-family homes, approximately 1,500 square feet, and laid out so they all face a common grassy area. In its application to the City, the group used a projected value of $595,000 per cottage. The developers have proposed the project as age-restricted housing for residents 55 and older, according to Twiford, real estate agent and director of land use and development at Advon Real Estate

Falls Church News-Press

At its Feb. 13 meeting, the Falls Church City Council adopted an ordinance permitting the construction of age-restricted single-family cottage communities, designed to give older residents alternative housing options as they look to downsize but remain in the Little City. The ordinance was approved by a 6-1 vote with Mayor David Tarter dissenting. Four days after City Council adopted the ordinance, a team of local developers and realtors — Theresa Sullivan Twiford, Bob Young, Joe Wetzel and Butz

in Falls Church. This type of housing, she says, would give the City a much-needed middle option between large, million-dollar homes and apartments or condos. Several members of the Council immediately took to this idea of a middle-ground housing choice for Falls Church residents looking to stay in the City after their kids finish school and no longer live at home. “When this first came forward, a bunch of us on the Council saw this as a great housing option for residents who are empty-nesters,” councilmember Phil Duncan said. “We hear people say, ‘we want to stay in Fall Church, we love the community, and it’s not just

A COTTAGE COMMUNITY in Olympia, Wash.

(Photo: Jeremy

Bittermann/The New York Times)

about the schools. But I don’t need five bedrooms and a huge house and I’m not ready to move into a condominium.’ People like to be able to walk out their front door and put their toes in the ground, similar to a single-family home, but without all the upkeep.” While residents of the Railroad Cottages would be 55 years and older, Twiford is “trying to stay away from the word ‘senior.’” “We don’t want this to be a retirement community,” she says. “We want it to be vital and walk-

able and full of life and community.” A key element of the cottage house community would be the proposed common house, a shared space for “anything from a casual gin and tonic on Friday afternoon to a large formal Thanksgiving gathering,” Twiford says. The impetus behind the cottage community ordinance came from Twiford’s experience on the West Coast.

Continued on Page 15

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R EA L E STATE

PAGE 14 | SPRING 2017

THE NORTHERN VIRGINIA HOUSING EXPO, now it its seventh year, returns March 18. (Photo: Cameron Carey, Communi-k, Inc.)

Northern Virginia Housing Expo Returns This Month by Patricia Leslie

Falls Church News-Press

This year marks the seventh annual Northern Virginia Housing Expo designed to educate and inform home buyers and apartment seekers. Set for Saturday, March 18 at Sterling’s Dominion High School in Loudoun County, the free expo will run from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and offer free financial counseling, exhibits, workshops and the chance

to talk with professionals in the housing and lending industries. The City of Falls Church is teaming up with non-profit organizations and other Northern Virginia municipalities to put on the expo. There will be roughly 75 bankers, lenders, real estate companies, lawyers and government agencies with staff members available to talk with attendees. According to expo manager, Laura Nickle, the expo has grown a lot, with attendance expected to

reach 1,000 this year. Falls Church exhibitors include the City’s housing and human services division and Rebuilding Together, which works to improve the lives and dwellings of lowincome homeowners. Britepaths, a non-profit group that helps families and individuals strengthen their financial footing, will offer free 30-minute individual counseling sessions. Attendees can also bring credit reports to speed up assistance advice. For those who may be crowded out of individual sessions, meetings after the expo can be arranged, Nickle said. The workshops will include sessions on readiness to buy or rent, credit scores, personal finances, market overviews, and financial assistance. There will be a heavy focus on helping firsttime home buyers and renters. Brian Matt, the public relations manager for the Virginia Housing Development Agency, a platinum sponsor for the expo, said the “expo provides the attendees with an excellent forum to learn about the array of programs and services from the private, non-profit and public sectors promoting housing opportunities in Northern Virginia.” VHDA Associates will staff a display booth with information about homeownership programs, Matt said. The Virginia Housing

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM not including utilities. Two one bedroom/one bath “luxury apartments” at the West Broad Residences above the new Harris Teeter Supermarket are listed as “affordable dwelling rental units” on Falls Church’s website and go for $1,520 per month plus utilities and other costs. Every year, Falls Church usually has about 25 condos and townhomes for sale which meet program requirements to qualify for first time buyers but none are available now, Lewis said. Local government agencies “really, truly care about people having the information they need [to buy or rent a home],” Nickle said. “The biggest complaint we get is, ‘why don’t we have [the expo] more than once a year?’” Other expo co-hosts are Fairfax-based nonprofit AHOME Foundation, and the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. More information is available at www.NoVaHousingExpo.org, Northern Virginia Housing Expo on Facebook or at 571-294-8536. Applications and more information about the Falls Church’s affordable housing program may be found at www.fallschurchva. gov/692/rental-assistance. The expo will offer free shuttles to the event every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. from the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.

Search initiative will also be there to provide information about available rental housing opportunities. “Our support and participation in the NOVA Expo represents an important part of our outreach efforts in the region to promote homeownership and rental housing opportunities,” Matt said. While Falls Church has no public housing units, several apartment complexes offer “affordable” accommodations to those with incomes generally ranging between 50 and 80 percent of the area’s median incomes, said Dana Lewis, housing program analyst for the City’s division of housing and human services. “Moderate” incomes that satisfy requirements to apply for the City’s lower cost housing generally fall between $38,010 – $60,816 for single individuals and $43,440 – $69,504 for a two-person family, Lewis said. Priority in the city’s program is given to senior citizens, those who live or work in Falls Church, and those with disabilities. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and meet other requirements. Only two applicants qualified for a lottery held yesterday in Falls Church for a one-bedroom, one-bath 839 square foot affordable apartment at Pearson Square on South Maple. The apartment is $1,140 per month with an additional $75 for parking and does

Open House Sunday March 5 from 1-4 pm Two Beautifully Built New Construction Homes in Falls Church City. Only a 1/2 mile to the East Falls Church Metro. Easy walk to shops, restaurants, farmer’s market, and parks.

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Cell: 307.413.2872 • tstwiford@mac.com Advon Real Estate, LLC

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R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPRING 2017 | PAGE 15

Cottage Housing in Falls Church

Continued from Page 13

While living in Takoma, Washington, several years ago, Twiford drove by a neighborhood of quaint, bungalow-style units clustered together. She was struck by the idea of small, single-family homes in a communal setup and immediately went home to do more research. “Pocket communities,” as these developments are sometimes called, were popularized in southern California in the 1920s and ‘30s and appear frequently in the Pacific Northwest, but are uncommon on the East Coast. Twiford moved to Falls Church and brought the vision of a Little City cottage community with her. She pitched it to residents and City groups over the last few years, culminating in last month’s ordinance. Due to the novelty of this type of development, City planning staff and Council took a conservative approach to the ordinance. According to several people involved in its writing, the ordinance includes tight restrictions on how many proposals can be submitted, and where these cottage communities can be built, to allay fears that these developments

would spring up all over town. As such, the cottages are restricted to low density zoning districts and must be within 500 feet of a revitalization area (such as Broad Street or Washington Street). In order to keep the number of projects to a minimum, the ordinance was written as a “pilot program,” limiting developer applications to just one per year. The Twiford, Young, Wetzel and Butz Wilbern Architects’ application was the only one the City received, senior planner Carly Aubry said, meaning the City cannot consider any new proposals until the current application has been withdrawn, approved or denied. The ordinance also states that within three years of enactment, the City Council will reassess the projects and decide whether to continue, amend or repeal the ordinance. Some community members, however, are still concerned by aspects of the new project. Mayor David Tarter, the lone member of the council to vote against it, said that while he’s “not against cottage housing per se,” he believes the ordinance needed more refinement to make sure there wouldn’t be any “unintended consequences.”

“It’s a new concept,” Tarter said. “It’s new to Northern Virginia, new to many parts of the country. I wanted to spend some additional time before we start approving these things.” Tarter added that the council did not get time to review the “significant amount of changes” staff had made to the ordinance between the first and second readings, as well as a chance to discuss a letter from the Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society (VPIS) expressing its concern over several details. Mark Gross, president of VPIS, shared some of the mayor’s qualms over a lack of parking space in the development, as well as the provision allowing cottages to be set back 20 feet from the public street while the minimum for normal residential homes is 30 feet. VPIS also advocated that the Council “approve one project and see how it works out before approving another.” The one-yearbetween-approval clause, the letter to the Council stated, “is simply not enough time to permit the first project to be built and significantly occupied for a period of time sufficient to see what the impacts of this sort of housing are on the neigh-

AN ILLUSTRATION OF the proposed cottage community for the City of Falls Church. (I��: C�� T�� Y�� G��) bors and on the City generally.” Twiford has heard these reservations and misgivings and acknowledges that with a unique project like the Railroad Cottages, the pressure is on for it to be successful.

“If it’s done poorly, it would ruin it for a lot of communities around here,” she says. “We are approaching this with sense of responsibility that this has to really be good for the City.”

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There is no substitute for experience

PAGE 16 | SPRING 2017

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

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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

Bethany is a hard-working, ethical and detail-oriented market leader in real estate. She serves all of NOVA and is now licensed in D.C. Bethany is a full-time real estate agent who will communicate with you and listen to you. Throughout the entire process, she will deal with any hiccups while valuing your input. From your first meeting until closing, Bethany will ensure your experience is enjoyable and seamless. Bethany’s goal is to build a long-term relationship with her clients so she can help you, your friends and your family, for years to come. When you are ready to buy, sell, invest, move up or downsize, contact Bethany. Her expertise and experience will help guide you through the complexities of the real estate market.

Bethany Ellis, Long & Foster, McLean Sales Office, 1355 Beverly Road, Suite 109, McLean, VA 22101 703-307-7003 • buyandsellwithbethany.com

M�� K��, M�E�� A�� Falls Church City is my family’s home, and I have had the privilege of being a REALTOR here since 1970. My husband Art and I raised our children here and I’m delighted that my daughter Karin Kaye Morrison joined us in the business. I remain as passionate about serving the needs of my clients today as I was the day I started. And that’s because it’s not just about selling homes — it’s about selling the unmatched quality of life we have in Falls Church and being a committed member of the community. I served on the Falls Church City Historic Commission and the BIE, I was a founding member of the Friends of Cherry Hill, and am president of Historic Falls Church. For years I served on the Mt. Daniel Library Committee putting on Book Fairs featuring famous children’s book authors. I love Falls Church, and the fact that I have had the opportunity to serve many of my clients, and their children, multiple times is the strongest testimony that I have the knowledge and the marketing and negotiating skills to assure your smooth home buying or selling experience. It has been my privilege to have sold more real estate in The City than anyone. There is no substitute for experience and passion.

Merelyn Kaye, McEnearney Associates 1320 Old Chain Bridge Rd., Suite 350, McLean, VA 22101 703-362-1112 • merelynkaye.com

T�� M�K��, K�� W�� As a resident of the Little City for nearly two decades, Tori believes a sense of community requires active participation, and she leads by example. She actively supports: Falls Church City Schools, Business in Education, Falls Church Education Foundation, Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, FIRSTFriday/Art-a-Lot, Tinner Hill Blues Festival, Falls Church Arts, and Taste of Falls Church. Tori is also Vice Chair of the Housing Commission, a member of Business in Education, named Pillar of the Community by the Falls Church Chamber, named one of the Top Producing Real Estate Agents by Washingtonian Magazine, North Virginia Magazine, and for the 5th consecutive year, has been voted Best Real Estate Agent in the Falls

Church News-Press “Best of Falls Church.” As a tireless Falls Church advocate, Tori has helped countless families buy and sell homes over the past 12 years. Tori puts her heart and soul into the Falls Church community and gets so much in return. When you’re ready to buy or sell your home, call Tori, your Falls Church expert.

Tori McKinney, ROCK STAR Realty, Keller Williams Realty 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201 703-867-8674 • torirocksrealestate.com

L�� M��, RE/MAX W�� E�� For the past 20 years my family and I have been fortunate to live and work in Falls Church City and I believe my extensive local knowledge and passion for the community is what sets me apart in this industry. Last year marked a milestone in my real estate career as I opened RE/MAX West End in downtown Falls Church City, with the mission to provide the highest level of client service and expertise to our community. My team and I support our clients at every turn, from first time home buyers to experienced investors, from downsizing to relocating. I know that every situation is unique but the one constant is my commitment to excellence and exceeding your expectations! If you are thinking of buying or selling, or just want some real estate advice, please call me today at 703-244-1992 for a no obligation, confidential meeting.

Louise Molton, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX West End 710 West Broad St., Falls Church, VA 22046 703-244-1992 • louisemolton.com

C�� S��, F�� R�� A Falls Church REALTOR and resident, Colin has specialized in residential real estate throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. since 2007. With many years of experience as a Graphic Designer and in a leadership role in 4 and 5 Star hotel environments, Colin brought a firm grasp on high level proactive client care, and an understanding of design and aesthetics. Skills that have proved indispensable in preparing homes for sale, preparing marketing plans to generate the best results possible for home sellers, and in working hand in hand with his clients along the way. In a time when many homes sell in the first or second weekend it can be tempting to sit back and allow the market to do most of the work. It is Colin’s belief that, even in this environment, a carefully prepared home, a carefully crafted marketing plan, and a hands on marketing launch can still make a notable difference to a home seller’s bottom line. As marketing best practices have changed over the years, Colin has tracked with these changes, adding a higher quality of photos & videos for selling clients and adapting online marketing approaches accordingly. EcoBroker certified, Colin is passionate about the “Green Home” & energy efficiency movement. He also looks forward to doing more volunteering in “The Little City” with his wife and four kids now that the kids are a bit older! Keep an eye out for Colin and his crew around town, they’ll be the convoy of scooters and tricycles. Please do say hello! Colin Storm, Keller Williams Realty Falls Church 105 West Broad Street, Suite 200, Falls Church, VA 22046 (c) 703-638-9144 • (o) 703-533-5300 • fallschurchliving.com

A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial

K�� T��, C�� B��

When you have a home to sell, give yourself the advantage of working with a Top Selling Agent who has strong ties to the Falls Church community. Ken has lived in Falls Church for more than a decade and is an active member of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. Drawing from his experience as a former litigating attorney, Ken believes in making his client’s interest his sole focus in any transaction and embraces his role as a Trusted Advisor and Advocate for his clients. Ken is among the Top Tier of Falls Church real estate professionals, having sold Falls Church’s most expensive residential sale in 2016 at $2.05 million and second most expensive residential sale in 2015 at $1.75 million (based on data provided by MRIS). With more than 20 years experience in the real estate and legal industries, Ken believes in raising the bar in every transaction to deliver only exceptional service and top results. With a deep understanding of the local real estate market and community, Ken develops a custom marketing plan for each of his listings. Through his affiliation with Coldwell Banker, Ken has access to exclusive high-end advertising that spans from hyper-local to international audiences. Due to his custom marketing plans, Ken and his listings have been featured in our hometown favorite, the Falls Church News-Press, as well as The Washington Post, Curbed, and DC Magazine. If you are selling your home, you deserve to work with a Top Selling Agent. So, contact Ken. Ken Trotter, J.D., Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage 4500 Old Dominion Drive, Arlington, VA 22207 (c) 703-863-0650 • (o) 703-524-2100• DCRegionHouses.com

T�� S�� T��, A�� R�� E�� Theresa has 20 years of real estate acquisition, sales and development experience. Having earned some of the highest sales in Virginia over the last five years, Theresa’s talents place her in the upper echelons of real estate professionals. Theresa is active in the Falls Church City Chamber of Commerce, Falls Church Education Foundation as well as other local organizations. Talented and innovative, Theresa brings a fresh look at real estate and development not just for her clients, but for the region as a whole. Currently, her business partners and she are developing an innovative cottage community in Falls Church City. Some of Theresa’s strongest capabilities are understanding the implications of the zoning code, seeing possibilities in overlooked properties and pursuing thoughtful infill development. Theresa is highly adept at her craft and she is one of the few who can see beyond what most would not take a second look at – this and her professionalism are why she is not only a top-tier realtor but also the Director of Land Use and Development at Advon Real Estate here in Falls Church City. Theresa Sullivan Twiford, Advon Real Estate, LLC Director of Land Use and Development/ Realtor 929 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046 (o) 703-663-7171 • (c) 307-413-2872 • tstwiford@mac.com

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

R EA L E STATE

SPRING 2017 | PAGE 17

B�� M�M��

A Falls Church Architect’s Evolving Focus

BY MATT DELANEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Jeff DuBro wants to renovate your house. Scratch that — he wants to reinvent your home. Drawing inspiration from the University of Virginia’s architectural school, his parents’ ballroom dance studio and Zen Buddhism, the lead man for Maple Avenue’s DuBro Architects and Builders in Falls Church doesn’t callously craft new additions and features for your house. He absorbs each space, reflects on its connective tissue and infuses the experiential nature of the residents into the design. All of that is done to turn a hollow house into an animated home. “There’s a relationship between things, ideas, people and energies that help us find a place,” DuBro said. “The translation of that was easily found in architecture and what develops into a home. Historically, that’s a gigantic part of our existence — how do you live?” DuBro penned a guest commentary for the News-Press in January on the desensitization of truly living in a home, a trend he learned firsthand while flipping houses during the early 2000s. Back then, the Falls Church architect strived to make his projects more than just another McMansion (a term that still causes him to cringe). He added custom kitchen islands or bridges to his renovations to give them some flare. However, the aesthetic embellishments often cost DuBro as potential buyers would pass on his property and rewarded developers that hugged the bottom line instead. By 2007-08 DuBro had been thwarted by the market too many times and decided to shift his

enterprise’s direction. “It gave us that kick in the shorts to say, ‘What do we want to be doing here?’” he said. “‘What is our place architecturally [and] as a business? How can we give something relevant to the market that makes sense and is also innovative, exciting, fresh and resourceful?’ “I started to realize that doing the big houses wasn’t really the ticket for that. I wanted our work to be accessible, and I believed that good design should be a right. It shouldn’t be this elitist thing.” From that point on DuBro began to sculpt the future of his company. He fostered relationships with clients so they felt intimately attached to their new home. He discarded the rigid styles houses conform to and opted for understanding the “a-stylistic language” of the home to dictate a design’s direction. Weaving together considerations for the environment and how structures interacted with neighboring houses were also paramount to DuBro as he transformed the homes. All of these elements factored into the company’s new mantra of “living architecture” — a not-so-subtle jab at the cavernous McMansion’s that reluctantly occupy DuBro’s early portfolio. The projects came to defy industry standards in more ways than one. When assessing the panorama of American houses from coast to coast, DuBro spotted missed opportunities. A home in Topeka shouldn’t mirror one built in Arlington. There was never an effort to construct intrinsically unique spaces or be thoughtful about the culture surrounding the houses.

JEFF DUBRO AND FELLOW ARCHITECT Lucia Dunin-Borkowski reviewing a �loorplan for one of their homes. (P��: J�� D�B��) That needed to change, and DuBro found ways to make it happen while turning a profit in the process. Ecological footprints of houses needed to be addressed as well. Newer houses touted their “green” designations, but rarely lived up to the moniker. Again, DuBro elected not to fall in line with the conflicting concepts of the housing market. “‘Green’ has been so bastardized. It ends up becoming a marketing slogan for people and is misplaced so many times,” he said. “We’re in the process of trying to develop a new paradigm, a new way of looking at what’s green. We want to be this ‘jade’

builder where it’s more holistic thinking. Jade is applied green, so you take this idea of green and apply it.” Creating discourse about the difference between houses, homes and how design can embody the people living within them is a principal objective of DuBro’s. A strict reliance on the raw economics when developing a property leaves the house detached and often at odds with its inhabitants. Acknowledging the significance of the pre-existing features while determining which areas are suffocated of meaning are critical to the architect’s progression through any project. It’s why he likens a home to a well-fitted garment. You know

right away by how it embraces its residents that the home seamlessly meshes with their lifestyles. Much like the Victorian houses peppered throughout the Little City, DuBro’s homes carry on the spirit of their time by representing what’s important to the citizens of Falls Church. But that doesn’t make the job any easier. For DuBro, inherently caring about the finished product presents the greatest obstacle. “The challenge is the love,” he said. “Being able to develop a concept that makes sense and develop it into something that can be crafted and actually have somebody live in it. That’s the most gratifying process aside from raising kids that I can imagine.”

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R EA L E STATE

PAGE 18 | SPRING 2017

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Falls Church Area Housing Market — 4th Quarter 2016 Report Zip Code

Area

Average Price

Number of Homes Sold

Average Days on Market

22046

Falls Church City

$663,462

22041

Bailey’s Crossroads

$380,335

22042

Sleepy Hollow

$470,216

22043

Pimmit Hills

$675,106

22044

Lake Barcroft

$466,919

Home Sales Vs. 1 Year Ago

Home Prices Vs. 1 Year Ago

Change in # of Homes Sold: 4Q ‘16 vs 4Q ‘15

Change in Average Home Price: 4Q ‘16 vs 4Q ‘15

+22.92%

-8.66%

+5.80%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

ChangeinBailey’sX-roads(22041)

-11.18%

Change in Falls Church City (22046)

ChangeinBailey’sX-roads(22041)

-3.06%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

-3.87%

Change in Sleepy Hollow (22042)

-1.18%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

-3.73%

Change in Pimmit Hills (22043)

+13.33%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

-0.02%

Change in Lake Barcroft (22044)

R EA L E STATE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Real Estate

SPRING 2017 | PAGE 19

Top Falls Church Home Sales

December-February

#1 $2,050,000

#2 $1,600,000

#4 $1,335,000 #3 $1,560,000 Top 5 F.C. Home Sales December 1, 2016 â€“ February 28, 2017 Address #1 3620 Ridgeway Ter. #2 2229 Primrose Dr. #3 201 Patterson St. #4 3519 Duff Dr. #5 6546 Orland St.

6 6 6 5 4

4 5 5 5 3

HB 1 1 1 1 1

List Price

$2,200,000 $1,600,000 $1,649,995 $1,349,900 $1,299,000

Sale Price

$2,050,000 $1,600,000 $1,560,000 $1,335,000 $1,300,000

Zip

22044 22046 22046 22041 22043

Date Sold 12/2/16 2/23/17 12/14/16 1/11/17 12/1/16

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

#5 $1,300,000

CA L E NDA R

PAGE 20 | MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

Community Events THURSDAY, MARCH 2 Preschool Storytime. Songs, movement and stories for ages 18-36 months. Drop-in at the youth services room. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 10 – 11 a.m. 703-248-5034. Playtime with the Early Literary Center. Explore educational and manipulative items to teach early literacy through play. Ages birth to 5 years. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library youth services room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. 703248-5034. Teen Volunteer Orientation. For new volunteers interested in earning service hours at the library this fall. For teens ages 12-18. Registration and volunteer application required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church). 6 – 6:30 p.m. 703-2485034. Thursday Evening Book Group. The Thursday Evening Book Discussion Group meets on the 1st Thursday evening of each month in the library’s

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.

conference room. This month, the group will be discussing Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Light refreshments are served. All are welcome. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church). 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 703248-5030.

the room; at 11:05 a.m. space will be given to children on the waitlist. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church). 11 – 11:45 a.m. 703248-5034. Green Thumbs and Wiggle Worms. In this program, kids can learn about the importance of sustainable gardens and how plants grow, discovering the secret “underworld” of roots and bugs that help in this process. Each participant will start their own garden, which includes another helpful creature, a worm, as they learn the importance of these invertebrates to composting and healthy soil. For children 4-6 years old. Registration required; by phone 703248-5034 or in person. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church). 2 – 3:30 p.m. 703-248-5034.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 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. 703-248-5077. Rock City with Bach2Rock at the Library. Whether they’re a budding rock-star or an aspiring classical soloist, Rock City is the place to find real music education for preschoolers. Dynamic musical and movement-based activities, exposure to live instruments and musically inspired storytime. For children 3-6 years old. Register at the Youth Services desk by phone 703-248-5034 or in person. Registration will not be accepted by email. Space is limited. Children must be present at 11 a.m. to enter

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MONDAY, MARCH 6 ESL Conversation Group. English as a Second Language Conversation group for adults focusing on English language and American culture. No

registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8:30 p.m. 703-2485035.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7 Senior Book Discussion. A general book discussion geared toward seniors held roughly every 6 weeks from September through June. The group will discuss Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman. Mary Riley Styles Public Library conference room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. fallschurchva.gov/627/BookDiscussion-Groups. 703-2485035

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 Bingo at the Library. For children grades K-5th. Register at the Youth Services desk by phone 703-248-5034 or in person. Mary Riley Styles Public Library youth services room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. 703-248-5034

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, MARCH 2

“I�� S��” �� R�� V�� J�� S��. The writing team behind the world premiere “Midwestern Gothic” speak with Education Director David Zobell about their backgrounds, other projects and how exactly they came up with their wildly original musical thriller. Signature Theatre, The Mead Lobby (4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington). 1 p.m. Free. No Reservations Required. Sigtheatre.org

FRIDAY, MARCH 3 “Blues in the Night.” The musical features 26 hot and torchy numbers that tell of the sweet, sexy and sorrowful experiences three women have with the men who have done them wrong. The interweaving stories are defined through glorious songs from Bessie

Smith to Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, and others. Directed by Creative Cauldron’s Artistic Associate, Matt Conner. Creative Cauldron (410 S Maple Ave., Falls Church). 8 p.m. $20 – $30. creativecauldron.org

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 “Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing.” Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine’s new play with music stars Emmy and Tony Award winner Debra Monk as Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller can’t sing—but don’t tell her that. Based on the real life story of Elva Miller, this touching and funny portrait offers Monk the role of a lifetime as the devoted, warbling songstress whose operatic, off-key singing became an unlikely pop phenomenon in the 1960s. Take a delectable romp through hits like “Downtown,” “Monday Monday,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and more. Simply irresistible,

when Mrs. Miller does her thing, it’s so bad—it’s good. Signature Theatre, The Max (4200 Campbell Ave, Arlington). 8 p.m. $40 – $70. Sigtheatre.org

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 “Three Sisters.” Stuck in a backwater town, three sisters and their brother search for meaning amidst missed opportunities and misplaced dreams in the everyday clutter of lackluster birthday presents, pushy inlaws, and underwhelming suitors. Three Sisters pitches the sublime against the ridiculous, the romanticized past against an idealized future, and the individual against the unknowability of life itself in Chekhov’s tragicomic masterpiece about life’s heartbreak and absurdity. Studio Theatre (1501 14th St NW, Washington, DC). $57 – $74. 7:30 p.m. studiotheatre.org

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MARCH 2 – 8, 2017 | PAGE 21

live_music&nightlife

THURSDAY, MARCH 2 T�� W��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack. (130 North Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283 J�� H��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $25. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. T��’�. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504 L�� T��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $25 – $27. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. G�� T��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. Free. 8 p.m. 202-667-7960. B�� S�� M�� P��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8:30 p.m. 703522-8340

FRIDAY, MARCH 3 B�� Y��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack. (130 North Washington St., Falls Church). 6:30 p.m. 703-532-9283 E�� S�� Q��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna).$ 38. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1900. R�� F��. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $59.50. 7:30 p.m.. 703-549-7500

R�� R�� B��. 9:30 Club. (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $35. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930 H��’� H��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. 703522-8340 S�� H�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-2419504.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 D�� Z�� C�� E��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 10 a.m. 703-2551566. S�� F��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504 M��, M��, M�� . Z�� M��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $18. 4 p.m. 703-255-1566. D�� G��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $25 – $30. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. T�� B�� B�� F��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $18. 8 p.m. 703-255-1566. H�� T�� O�� B��. 9:30 Club. (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $20. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930 R�� H��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340

2000� D�� P�� V�� R��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $10 – $13. 9 p.m. 703-237-0300 K�� W�� S��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-2419504.

Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7 A�� O��. 9:30 Club. (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.) $25. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930 O�� M�� C�� A�� M��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 7:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. T�� E�� J�� R��. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $49.50. 7:30 p.m.. 703-549-7500 I�� J�� G�� S��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 8 p.m. 703-522-8340

SUNDAY, MARCH 5 S��’ �� D��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504 R�� L�� E�� H��. Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8 p.m. 703-522-8340 L�� T�� B��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-2419504.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8

MONDAY, MARCH 6 W�� B�� J��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. A�� D�� M�� D��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 7:30 p.m. 703-2551566. S�� I�� F��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. $10. 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. W�� L�� C��.

B�� S�� L��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $18. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� E�� J�� R��. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $49.50. 7:30 p.m.. 703-549-7500 O�� M�� V�� S��. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703241-9504. J�� B��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $35 – $40. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900.

P�� A��... Friday and Saturday, March 10-11 – DC Bluegrass Fes�val – The family-friendly fes�val at the Sheraton Tysons Hotel, headlined by the Grammy-winning Steep Canyon Rangers, offers instrument workshops, music and cra� vendors and lots of informal jamming. Saturday, March 11 – Beer 101: Brewery Tour & Tas�ng – Learn all about your favorite cra� beers from produc�on to taste characteris�cs at Mad Fox Brewing Company. Experience the Mad Fox brewery tour & tas�ng with brewers Bill Madden and Ma� Ryan. The $15 �cket price includes a brewery tour with Q & A, a beer sampler hand picked by the brewers themselves, discussion, and bar snack. There are only 20 slots available for each class. Tuesday, March 21 – Mt. Vernon Genealogical Society Hosts Zack Wilske – Historian Zack Wilske will be giving a talk en�tled “Beyond Passenger Lists: Documen�ng 20th Century Lives” at the Society’s monthly mee�ng, focused on naturaliza�on files, alien registra�on records, visa files, and other records documen�ng 20th century immigrant lives.

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| MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

CO MME NT

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross

“Raise my taxes. Lower my taxes. Spend more on schools. Schools spend too much. Cut wasteful programs. Privatize everything. People on fixed incomes can’t afford to live here. Have police issue more tickets and the revenue problem will be fixed.” Such comments are part and parcel of the annual budget dialogue in Fairfax County. The challenge for the Board of Supervisors, whose members must adopt a budget every spring, is to find the balance between available revenues and increasing demands for service. There are few easy answers when it comes to local budgets. In Virginia, 80 percent of county revenue sources – primarily the real estate tax and the car tax – are controlled or capped by the General Assembly in Richmond. Assessments for residential properties increased a mere .68 percent this year. That includes Fairfax County’s more than 342,000 single family detached homes, townhouses, and condominiums. Apartments, which are assessed as commercial, not residential, properties, had more robust increases of 3.37 percent. Interestingly, equalization for retail properties reports a healthy 7.39 percent valuation increase, rebounding from only 1.6 percent in FY17. The county’s goal for nonresidential real estate as a percentage of the total real estate assessment base is 25 percent; this year that number is 19.12 percent, higher than the past two fiscal years, but a long way from the desired goal. School funding is a priority for every General Fund budget. The recommendation this year is for an additional $50.95 million in the transfer to schools, for a total county transfer of $2.17 billion, or 52.8 percent. That number does not include $83.4 million in additional support from the county for Head Start,

Behavioral Health Services, School Health Nurses, School Resource Officers, crossing guards, afterschool programming, field maintenance, and recreation programs. The increase in property values for FY18 equates to $88.2 million in additional revenue at the current tax rate of $1.13 per $100 valuation, far less than the School Board request for an additional $112.54 million. To fully fund the School Board’s request would require an additional 2.5 cents on the real estate tax rate. The Virginia Code requires the county to advertise public hearings about the budget, including the tax rate, within a specified time prior to holding public hearings about the proposed budget. Advertising a rate does not prevent the Board from lowering the rate, but the Board cannot adopt a rate higher than is advertised. While the actual real estate tax rate usually draws most attention, the advertisement also includes the Stormwater Service District Levy (up .25 cents); leaf collection (down two cents); and Tysons Service District (up one cent). No increase is recommended for the current EMS transport fees. At Tuesday’s meeting, following an hour-long debate, the Board of Supervisors voted 9 to 1 to advertise the current tax rate of $1.13 to support the FY18 county budget as proposed by County Executive Ed Long. It’s a tight, no-frills approach, one that provides basic needed services to the community, but does not include county employee raises or any new programs.  Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

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Senator Dick Saslaw’s

Richmond Report The General Assembly has completed its 2017 legislative session. The House of Delegates will be up for election in November along with the statewide offices of Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General. Being an election year, at times it was painful to listen to the debate, as well as view the content of proposals. The good news is that campaigns afford the public an in-depth look at the candidates. Those in office have a voting record that defines the kind of elected official they are. I believe the ballot box is the perfect solution for term limits and electoral corrections. Gerrymandering makes it challenging to have competitive races in more that 60 percent of the House of Delegate districts. Several measures dealing with the criteria for redistricting (compactness and contiguous districts) and non-partisan redistricting passed out of the Senate, but met a swift “death” in House committees. Introduced bills in the House literally did not see the light of day, meeting their fate in an early morning subcommittee. Several people from the 35th Senate District traveled to Richmond for a 7 a.m. meeting where they were denied input. Uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act weighed heavily on the session. Immediate repeal and replacement is unrealistic and problematic. Millions of Americans now have insurance coverage and value it. They think it a good thing to have their children (up to age 26) on their plans. Likewise, people with pre-existing conditions were relieved to have access to affordable healthcare. These are just a few of the highlights that both Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on. Many insurance bills came before us, including one to tee the Commonwealth up for this alleged repeal. Opioid addiction was also addressed with a look at prescription writing and other measures to stem this epidemic. Virginia is home to some of the finest colleges and universities in the nation and our community college system is the envy of many states. I found it disturbing that some NOVa legislators sought fit to try and micromanage higher education with onerous proposals. One such measure was to limit out-of-state alums from leadership roles on

the boards of visitors. Another called for capping out-of-state students, which would cause a financial imbalance in operating budgets. Mind you, our flagship UVa is charging out-of-state students $45,268 in tuition and fees. At the same time, in-state tuition and fees comes to $15,924. Currently, 69 percent of the student population at the nation’s second-ranked public university is comprised of students with instate status. Undeniably, UVa’s national ranking is reflective of its diverse student body. Several bills covering immigration also came forward. As a result, Governor McAuliffe requested a briefing from Homeland Security on the detention of immigrants, as well as the role of I.C.E. trolling near churches frequented by immigrants. Virginia’s Attorney General prevailed in a case concerning President Trump’s controversial order banning immigrants from Muslim countries. The issue of underground power lines does not have quite the flash as others but in my opinion is vital for safety and the economy. SB 1473 builds on my 2014 bill and would help place more neighborhood power lines underground to reduce outages and shorten the length of outages when they do occur. We all remember the damaging storms of February 12 and the chaos that ensued during the morning rush hour. Restoring power faster gets businesses and telecommuting workers up and running sooner. SB 1473 passed the Senate and House with large bipartisan margins. With respect to the budget, we did the best we could with the resources available. There is no shortage of needs – compensation for state employees, public education, workforce development and developmental disability waivers are just a few of the competing demands. I served as a budget conferee during the negotiations. I appreciate the opportunity to share the news from Richmond in this column. Additionally, I have sent weekly briefings to constituents that sign up on www.dicksaslaw.com or reached out to my office.  Senator Saslaw represents the 35th District in the Virginia State Senate. He may be emailed at district35@senate.virginia. gov.

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CO MME NT

Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

The just-ended Black History Month brought volumes of hidden history out from Arlington’s shadows. I never cease to be astonished at how much neighborhood lore I missed while growing up here. On Feb. 26, a crowd of 150 gathered for the ceremonial unveiling of the new marker for the “Hall’s Hill Wall,” at North 17th and Culpeper streets. Their podium, folding chairs and refreshments table were arrayed in front of an unprepossessing seven-foot cinderblock barrier. County and school board members and preservation officials joined with the Halls Hill/High View Park Historic Preservation Coalition to admire the metallic sign just installed beside the remnant of a once-longer racial divide. The easy-to-miss structure dates to the 1930s, when the white subdivision of Woodlawn Village erected it to avoid mingling with African Americans. In the late 1950s, black children removed a chunk to clear access to a creek, and by 1966, with desegregation clearly the future’s wave, most of the rest came down, the sign explains. “A wall can’t keep us from your love,” went the prayer led by a clergywoman, followed by recollections from decades-long residents of Hall’s Hill who grew up traveling to segregated schools back when George Mason Drive was called Frederick Street.

“Hall’s Hill for 150 years was a community where everyone knew everyone,” said emcee Portia Haskins. “We helped raise each other’s children.” “When I moved to Arlington in the 1980s, I didn’t know anything about this,” said County Manager Mark Schwartz. “I was stunned, but in a way I’m glad there’s a remnant—what is past is prologue.” For lots of cultural and economic reasons, many black enclaves in Arlington have come and gone outside the consciousness of mainstream whites. You can read about them in the recently updated “Guide to the African American Heritage of Arlington County, Virginia,” by John Liebertz of the county planning staff. Several were recalled vividly by Dr. Alfred Taylor, educator and historian of the Nauck neighborhood, who spoke Feb. 9 at the Woman’s Club of Arlington. Besides Hall’s Hill, there are numerous South Arlington offshoots of Freedman’s Village, the 1870s community of free blacks in what is now Arlington Cemetery. The mainstay was Nauck (named for German landowner John Nauck) but also called Green Valley (named for its beauty by another white developer). South Arlington also brought East Arlington and Queen City near the Pentagon, and Johnson Hill (Walter Reed Drive) and Penrose (also called Hatfield) off

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

CRIME REPORT

(A) Weep softly. (B) Create a diversion. (C) Hire a tutor. For yourself.

Week of Feb. 20 – 26, 2017 Larceny from Building, 7124 Leesburg Pike (George Mason High School) On Feb. 21, a cell phone was reported stolen. Public Drunkenness, 310 Park Ave. (Cherry Hill Park) On Feb. 21, a male, 34, no fixed address, was arrested for Public Drunkenness.

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Domestic Assault, 100 block Falls Ave. On Feb. 22, a female, 60, of the City of Falls Church, was arrested for Assaulting a Family Member. Larceny from Building, 7124 Leesburg Pike, (George Mason High School) On Feb. 22, a school-issued computer was reported stolen. Larceny from Building, 6757 Wilson Blvd. #14 (Bach Tuyet Jewelry) On Feb. 23, jewelry was

MARCH 2 – 8, 2017 | PAGE 23 Columbia Pike. In Ballston, the African-American Rev. Galloway sold the land that became Parkington for $85,000 in 1950, Taylor said. There was a black community on Moore Street in Rosslyn. Among those that have vanished in recent decades: The Dunbar and George Washington Carver homes, both projects supported by mutual home assistance societies, and the Arna Valley apartments off South Glebe Road. Perhaps the least known was an enclave between North Powhatan and Quantico Streets at railroad tracks near today’s I-66, I was told by Bruce Harmon, who grew up in the white section of Overlee Knolls in the 1950s. “The boys I ran with there were all unreconstructed rebels, and they called the houses the n***er shacks,” he wrote to me recently. “They told me they sometimes threw rocks at them. I never knew what happened to those people when the government took their homes for the highway.” *** Note to you Arlingtonians who’re renting out spare rooms under Airbnb and the like: get ready to shell out a fee. County Manager Mark Schwartz’s Feb. 22 budget proposal for fiscal 2018 announced an annual $60 fee for a new accessory homestay permit. No word on whether the budget — due to be voted on in April — would also apply, for the first time, the transient occupancy tax long paid by hotels to the county’s burgeoning roster of Airbnb hosts.

reported stolen. Larceny from Building, 100 block E. Broad St. On Feb. 24, cash was stolen from the victim’s wallet. Larceny from Building, 6607 Wilson Blvd. (BJ’s Wholesale) On Feb. 25, a wallet was stolen from a customer while shopping. Driving Under the Influence, 200 block W Annandale Rd. On Feb. 26, a male, 24, of Montgomery Village, MD, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Sexual Assault, On Feb. 17, Jose D. Estrada, 36, of Clifton, was arrested for two counts of Sexual Assault as a result of an investigation at Mary Ellen Henderson School. Warrant Service, On Feb. 21, a male, 24, of Springfield, was arrested for a Bench Warrant for Failure to appear in Virginia Beach General District Court.

SPO RTS

PAGE 24 | MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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MASON’S NICOLE BLOOMGARDEN drives to the basket in the Mustang’s home semi�inal loss to Nottoway High School last Thursday. (P��: C�� S��)

Mason Girls Earn #3 Seed in State Tourney, Face Mar�nsville Today BY MATT DELANEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

George Mason High School varsity girls basketball team locked up the No. 3 seed for the Virginia 2A state basketball tournament, rebounding after a 43-37 loss to Nottoway High School by toppling Stuarts Draft High School 54-44 in the 2A East Region consolation game Saturday. The Mustangs (23-5) will face the 2A West region’s secondseed, Martinsville High School, at James Madison University’s Convocation Center today, Mar. 2, at 4:15 p.m. Last Thursday’s regional semifinal loss against Nottoway came from slight drop-offs in discipline and judgment, most evident in the team’s shot selection. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. Some instances just felt like a lid was on the basket. But even with a bounty of offensive rebounds, Mason forced shots rather than playing the patient

game that rewards their passhappy offense. “I feel like some of the shots we took were afterthoughts,” junior forward Kaylee Hirsch said. “We need to relax, set up a little bit more and also make sure our shot selection is correct because sometimes we just jack it up when the next person is open.” The Mustangs overcame a 7-2 deficit to take an 18-13 lead on the first possession of the second quarter, with junior guard Nicole Bloomgarden finding senior guard Sarah Lubnow in the corner for an open 3-pointer. However, Mason wouldn’t score again until the final seconds before halftime and Nottoway tacked on 12 unanswered points to go up 25-20 at the break. Junior forward Jenna Short’s jumper pulled the Mustangs within three at 33-30 early in the fourth quarter, but inconsistent output prevented Mason from getting over the hump. The loss snapped Mason’s

15-game win streak. Perhaps it was a needed heatcheck entering the season’s home stretch. “It’s never a positive to lose,” head coach Michael Gilroy said. “We gotta see how we respond. We haven’t had a loss in a while so we gotta bounce back and have a good practice for Saturday’s game.” Mason shook off the loss with a formulaic win over Stuarts Draft in the regional consolation contest. The Mustangs expanded a tight 28-27 halftime lead after the break as their defense held the Cougars to single-digits in both quarters, propelling the team to a 10-point victory. All eyes now turn toward the 20-6 Martinsville Bulldogs. Martinsville presents Mason’s greatest challenge of the season thus far. For the Mustangs to exceed their expectations of a state tournament berth, they’ll need to show they belong with Virginia’s best.

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THE GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL BLACK STUDENT UNION took the Metro to the Smithsonian Black History Museum this week. They were able to tour the new museum’s numerous exhibits including ones on slavery, the economics of cotton, and sports. They had time for contemplation at the courtyard fountain and were able to record their personal experiences with race at an interactive exhibit. (P��: J�� L��)

Mason Scholastic Bowl Places 3rd in State The George Mason High School Scholastic Bowl team finished their 25-5 season as one of the top three in Virginia. During the VHSL Tournament at William and Mary on Saturday, Maggie Walker High School took home the crown, CentralWise High School came in second, and Mason finished third after a thrilling three-way tie. The Mason team was led by three seniors: Joseph Snitzer, captain and one of the scoring leaders, Jimmy Ferguson the overall leading scorer for the last two years, and Annie Parnell a consistent, high scoring contributor to the team. Jamie Scharff coached the team.

MEH Annual Career Fair Needs Volunteers Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School is looking for volunteers to talk about their occupations to middle school students on Friday, April 21 from 7:15 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Interested volunteers, or those who know someone who might be interested, are requested to fill out the registration form and FCCPS volunteer forms, which

can be found at fccps.org. The students stand to benefit from listening to all the volunteers’ life experiences and expertise in their respected fields. The Career Fair aims to represent the widest possible variety of professions.

Longfellow Science Wins Olympiad Tournament The Longfellow Middle Science Olympiad team continued its victory streak by winning first place at the Lake Braddock Regional Science Olympiad tournament. This is the third consecutive first place win for the team this season. The 15-member Longfellow teams Deimos and Phobos tied for first place with 58 points each. Longfellow now advances to the Science Olympiad state tournament in Charlottesville on March 25.

McLean Student Wins VA Journalist of the Year Melanie Pincus of McLean High School has been named the Virginia Journalist of the Year by the Virginia Association of Journalism Teachers and Advisers (VAJTA). Pincus is in her second year as editor-inchief of The Highlander news-

magazine. She will compete for the Journalism Education Association’s national award this spring. Winners of second and third place honors in the competition are also Fairfax County Public Schools students. Teagan Foti of Annandale High School won second place honors in the statewide competition and Nina Raneses of West Potomac High School won third place. Judges cited Pincus for her passion for reporting the news and for conducting outreach to middle school students to spread awareness of high school journalism and to provide information about media literacy. She was also praised for her writing style, use of sources, professionalism in reporting about timely topics, skill at editing and providing feedback to colleagues, and keeping lines of communication open with the principal. One judge stated, “Pincus’ portfolio looks like that of a college senior, with internships, awards, and hard news reporting that shows a hunger and knack for telling important stories. She takes stories that might appear mundane, such as teacher salaries, and explains them in a way that her readership will find compelling.”

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PAGE 26 | MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

B�� N�� N�� Job Fair at Va. Tech NoVa Center Set for March 6 The National Capital Region Job Fair will take place Monday, March 6 from 2 – 6 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church. Dozens of professional and high tech companies from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. will be recruiting for all levels and disciplines. Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, The event is free and open to the general public. The Northern Virginia Center is located at 7054 Haycock Road in Falls Church. For more information about participating as a job provider or job seeker, visit www.dchokies.org/ncr-job-fair.

U.S. Renal Care Opens New F.C. Clinic U.S. Renal Care, a provider of dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, will host an open house on Tuesday, March 7 from 6 – 8 p.m. at their new Falls Church clinic located at 6541 Arlington Boulevard. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served and staff will be available to answer questions and share information about services available. U.S. Renal Care, “Powered by Physicians, Inspired by Patients,” operates more than 400 outpatient, home and specialty dialysis programs in 31 states and the Territory of Guam. For more information, visit www.usrenalcare.com.

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F.C. Chamber Hosting Networking Breakfast March 9 The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting an informal networking breakfast on Thursday, March 9 from 8 – 9 a.m. at Bentley’s Restaurant located at 6654 Arlington Boulevard. There is no agenda and no fee to attend. Chamber members and those interested in meeting local business leaders are welcome to attend. Attendees are responsible for their orders. For more information, visit www.FallsChurchChamber.org.

F.C. Community TV Presenting Workshop for Nonprofit, Civic Groups Falls Church Community Television is presenting Filming & Editing Your Organization’s Events, a workshop aimed at nonprofit and civic organizations. The workshop, which includes two three-hour sessions, will take place Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 15 from 7 – 10 p.m. at the FCCTV studio located in George Mason High School at 7124 Leesburg Pike in Falls Church. For more information or to register, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/VideoWorkshop or call 703-248-5027.

Home & Garden Tour Returns to Falls Church After a five-year hiatus, the Falls Church Home and Garden Tour is back and scheduled for Sunday, April 30, 2017, from 1 – 5 p.m. Participants will have the opportunity to take a tour of eight unique homes and gardens in Falls Church, with houses ranging from a restored historic farmhouse to a newly built art deco home to a top-floor apartment. Proceeds from the event will support the Falls Church City Public Schools, through the Falls Church Education Foundation. Sponsors include DuBro Architects + Builders (platinum sponsor), Tori McKinney- Rock Star Realty @KW, Alarm.com, Coupard Architects & Builders, The Gaskins Team, Great Outdoors, dave & ellen - RE/MAX Allegiance, The Original Pancake House, Mosquito Shield, Mathnasium and Design Source. Businesses interested in sponsoring can contact fchgtour@gmail.com. Tickets are available for purchase at tinyurl.com/fchgtour2017. For more information, follow the tour on Twitter at @fchgtour2017 and Facebook at www.facebook.com/fchgt2017.  Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.

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MARCH 2 – 8, 2017 | PAGE 27

Toast Inspires Simple Appetizer with Ricotta & Prosciutto BY ILEANA MORALES VALENTINE TAMPA BAY TIMES

Looking back, I have been entertaining with toast longer than I had initially remembered. One younger cousin’s favorite breakfast when staying at our house was cinnamon-sugar toast reminiscent of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. I’d pop a slice of sandwich bread in the toaster oven and, after it was lightly toasted, spread butter on it and sprinkle the buttered toast with sugar and cinnamon. It was a simple, alternative breakfast for a generation of cereal eaters. Since then, I’ve embraced different versions of fancified toast. In the summer of 2010, I encountered my first tartine as a fresh college graduate and intern. It made sense to me as an open-faced sandwich, one that somehow felt fancier for lunch with just the one slice of bread. I’ve served up a quick round of classic bruschetta several times, including a Venetian version with roasted grapes, walnuts and goat cheese. The Los Angeles restaurant Sqirl is well known for its thick-

the

ly sliced brioche with ricotta smeared past the edges of the toast, cradling an oval of red jam. And then there’s avocado toast, as undeniably satisfying as it is ubiquitous — more meal than party snack. There are endless ways to dress up toast, but one of my favorites is a recipe for Minty Pea and Ricotta Toast With Crisp Prosciutto. It’s a bright, hearty appetizer. Peas, always a marker of springtime, are readily available, fresh or frozen, throughout the year. These little toasts are great to serve before a dinner party or just with drinks and a few friends. They’re satisfying without being too filling. I love this toast in part for its visual drama, with verdant peas polka-dotting a lush landscape of whipped ricotta on bread toasted in olive oil. (Bread browned in olive oil tastes much more luxurious than dry toasted bread; plus, there’s no room on my counter for a dedicated toaster.) Contrasting with the textured leaves of fresh mint are what takes this toast over the top: shards of crisp, blush-colored

presents

Minty Pea and Ricotta Toast With Crisp Prosciutto • 2 cups (10 ounces) fresh or frozen peas, shelled • 1 tablespoon melted butter • Sea salt • ½ cup fresh mint leaves • 2 cups (16 ounces) whole milk ricotta • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

• 1 tablespoon honey • 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus more as needed • 1 baguette or small ciabatta loaf, sliced diagonally in • 1-inch-thick slices • 4 or 5 slices prosciutto • Flaky sea salt • Black pepper

1. Blanch peas in boiling water for 90 seconds. Drain and plunge into a bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking process and maintain the bright green color of the peas. Drain peas again, transfer to a bowl and toss immediately with butter and sea salt. Chop or tear mint leaves and toss with peas. (You can also steam the peas in the microwave for a couple of minutes if you prefer.) Use a spatula to whip ricotta in a small bowl. Add lemon zest and honey and mix until incorporated and fluffy. (This can be mixed up to 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.) 2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Arrange bread slices in skillet and fry until golden brown and toasted, a few minutes on each side. Let toasted bread slices cool on a cutting board before loading up with ricotta and peas.

prosciutto. It’s really pretty against all the green, and adds texture to the mix of soft ricotta and snappy peas. Honey

5th Annual

3. To make prosciutto crisps, lay slices flat in skillet over medium heat. (You can use the same skillet used to toast the bread. Just wipe off the residual oil with a paper towel.) Cook prosciutto until it starts to wrinkle and curl up at the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another couple of minutes as the prosciutto slices shrink and crisp up. When the prosciutto is cool enough to handle, tear it into small pieces. 4. Spread whipped ricotta onto a slice of toasted bread. Top with minty pea mixture, pressing the peas in slightly so they stay in place in the cheese. Season with flaky salt and pepper. Tuck a few shards of crisp prosciutto into the top of ricotta. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients and serve. Serves 16.

Source: Ileana Morales Valentine

whipped into the ricotta plays off the gentle sweetness of the peas, and flecks of lemon zest add fresh, bright flavor.

The flavor profile of this toast is more grownup, but like my old reliable cinnamon-sugar toast, it’s a keeper.

What’s “Pho” Dinner?

$20 will get you a delicious and healthy dinner for two at any of Eden Center’s 25 restaurants.

You’ll have to eat it to belie-viet!

Little City. Big Eats. FCRestaurantWeek.com

PAGE 28 | MARCH 2 - 8, 2017

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C L AS S I F I E DS For Sale HOUSE FOR SALE 5729 Norton Road Alexandria Virginia 22303 $472,740 Phone: 202-742-7290 or 703-582-7150 Senate Realty Corporation 909 U Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 FAIR HOUSING & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REALTOR

For Rent FOR RENT 333 SF OFFICE space Falls Church, (lower level), $675 month full service. Two separate offices divided by wall with door; front office is 14’ x ’12 and back office is 15’ x 11’ and has above ground window. New carpet; and will paint to suit. Very nice, well maintained building with onsite management. Centrally located near I-66, 495, East and West Falls Church Metro, minutes from Tyson’s Corner, Arlington, Fairfax and Washington, D.C. Walk to restaurants, shops, State Theater and City Hall. Please contact Nick Kidwell at 703-409-3076

Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The ordinance referenced below was given ﬁrst reading by the City Council on February 27, 2017; and second reading and public hearing are scheduled for Monday, March 13, 2017 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as may be heard. (TO17-02) ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SALE TO NEAL C. NICHOLS OF APPROXIMATELY 7,519 SQUARE FEET OF CITY-OWNED RIGHT OF WAY FROM HILLWOOD AVENUE This ordinance ratiﬁes an Agreement of Sale and approves the sale of a portion of right-of-way. The Agreement of Sale is for a portion of the Hillwood Ave. right-of-way adjacent to the property at 357 S. Washington St. As required by City Code, the Planning Commission has determined that the sale

is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and recommends the sale. In exchange for the sale, the owner agrees to: pay the City $614,628; enter into an agreement to improve and maintain the property; and provide, at no cost to the City, access easements for future streetscape improvements along Annandale Rd., utility easements for the undergrounding of utilities along S. Washington St. and Hillwood Ave., and temporary construction easements along Hillwood Ave. 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 703-248-5014 (TTY 711). CELESTE HEATH CITY CLERK

ABC LICENSE NEBIYOU & SAMUEL LLC, Trading as: Championnes Sports Bar and Restaurant, 3825 South George Mason Drive, Suite H, Falls Church, Virginia 22041-3763. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer On Premises and Mixed Beverages on Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Nebiyou Haile, Member. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the ﬁrst of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800552-3200

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CITY OF FALLS CHURCH FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA VOLUNTEERS who live in the City of Falls Church are needed to serve on the boards and commissions listed below. Contact the City Clerk’s Office (703-2485014, cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov, or www.fallschurchva.gov/BC) for an application form or more information. Requests for reappointment must be made through the City Clerk. Applications are accepted until the end of the month . Vacancies advertised for more than one month may be filled during each subsequent month before month’s end. Architectural Advisory Board Board of Equalization Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Transportation Environmental Sustainability Council Girls’ Home Advisory Board Historic Architectural Review Board Historical Commission Tree Commission Regional Boards/Commissions: Fairfax Area Commission on Aging Fairfax Area Disability Services Board Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia Long Term Care Coordinating Council Members are especially needed on the Board of Equalization: The Board of Equalization (BOE) is an independent body appointed by the Circuit Court and charged with determining whether the Office of Real Estate Assessment has equalized the assessments among property owners. Upon its review, the BOE has the power to increase, decrease, or keep the same assessment. BOE members undergo state mandated training prior to voting in meetings. Members can expect to attend an organizational meeting each year to elect a Chair and Secretary and select meeting dates for hearings. The number of meetings is dependent on the number of appeals received. Meetings are Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6pm and can run up to 3 hours. Professional members of the accounting, legal, and real estate community are encouraged to apply – the board requires three members from these fields.

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We are pledged to the letter andspirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, 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.

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A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

14 17

21 23

16 19 22

32 34

41 43

53 59

Across 1. Superhero accessory

1. Superhero accessory 5. Lauder with a cosmetics empire 10. "Take ____ from me!" 14. First-aid gel 15. Florist's supply 16. Jamie of "M*A*S*H" 17. "Yes, go on ..." 19. Platte Valley native 20. Poli-____ (college major) 21. Gaza grp. 22. One of the ABC islands 23. Donna on "The Donna Reed Show" or Laura on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," e.g. 28. Iran's capital 30. Native Rwandan 31. Brand at the Daytona 500 32. Margarine 33. They're often marked "Damas" and "Caballeros" at a Mexican restaurant 34. Was left out at the office (or was unsuccessful solving 17-, 23-, 49- or 58-Across) 41. Complete makeovers 42. Have ____ to grind 43. Words before tree or creek 46. "... now ____ the future" 47. Not abandon, as principles 49. "Sexting in Suburbia" or "Too Young to Be a Dad," e.g. 52. Neighbors of Croats 53. "The Simpsons" shopkeeper 54. European peak 57. Oakland daily, for short 58. Initial power source 62. "____ homo"

MARCH 2 – 8, 2017 | PAGE 29

DOWN

1. 1983 Tony-winning musical 2. Baldwin who spoofed Trump on "SNL" 3. Fine-tuned 4. Shocking swimmer 5. "Brideshead Revisited" novelist Waugh 6. It's ENE of Fiji 7. General on Chinese menus 8. Auction ending? 9. Suffix with Brooklyn or Japan 10. Previous to, in poetry 11. Channing and Art 12. 2004 movie set in 2035 13. Bit of audiophile equipment 18. Org. associated with filmratings.com 22. Tickle 24. 1982 sci-fi film with a 2010 sequel 25. Pointer's statement 26. Easter activities 27. "Looking at it a different way," in texts 28. "The Chronicles of Vladimir ___" (YA book series about a vampire) 29. Inventor Whitney 33. Darken 35. Parades, with "out" 36. Spice Girl Halliwell

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

5. Lauder with a cosmetics empire

37. Burkina Faso neighbor 38. Undertaking 39. Tangle of hair 40. Palindromic houseware brand 43. Coat named for an Irish province 44. U.S. president who was the subject of a campaign biography written by his college friend Nathaniel Hawthorne 45. One of six areas on a Risk board 47. "Fingers crossed!" 48. Fertility clinic cell 50. ____ and flowed 51. Half of a 1960s pop group 55. Dunham of "Girls" 56. Brit's baby buggy 58. Cpl.'s inferior 59. Hit 2011 animated film 60. Mediterranean land: Abbr. 61. Go (for)

63. Travelers' documents 64. Elizabeth of "Lone Star," 1996 65. What library patrons do 66. Arms flank it 67. Public transport option

10. "Take ____ from me!"

Last Thursday’s Solution

A C L U

J U N T A

A S Y E T

H A I R P I E C E S

P R K A U L C D M E E

Sudoku Level:

B R A S

A R T G I I E L R N E U P T U L E S A I T V S E

M A R C

I D E A

G O A L

S H O O U T I G H H E R D O G I D E A S Y A S I

A Y N O T G S T I Y O B S E E R B O R A R A Y E G N T O A I R Y M E S S Y

A I N T

B L O C

B A E D T E H

A T A C H O D E H O O D T R E S H E S I F B A M A I A N R I D Y D S

By The Mepham Group 4

14. First-aid gel 15. Florist's supply 16. Jamie of "M*A*S*H" 17. "Yes, go on ..." 19. Platte Valley native 20. Poli-____ (college major) 21. Gaza grp.

22. One of the ABC islands 23. Donna on "The Donna Reed Show" or Laura on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," e.g. 28. Iran's capital

LOOSE PARTS

30. Native Rwandan 31. Brand at the Daytona 500

Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

DAVE BLAZEK

3/5/17

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.

LO CA L

PAGE 30 | MARCH 2 – 8, 2017

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Critter Corner

BACK IN THE DAY

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

20 s Yearo Ag

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

20 & 10 Years Ago in the News-Press Falls Church News-Press Vol. VI, No. 51 • March 6, 1997

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

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XVI, No. 52 • March 1, 2007

10 Year s Ago

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

Council Goes Behind Closed Doors to Mull Proctor House Status

Mouse Roars: Tiny F.C. Sues Mighty Fairfax Co. On Water

The Falls Church City Council will meet in an executive session with the Board of Directors of Historic Falls Church, Inc., at 6:30 p.m. tonight. The meeting was called following an unexpected behind-closeddoors executive session at a work session Monday night.

Mayor Robin Gardner of the City of Falls Church this week declared the recent decision by Fairfax County to cross over age-worn boundaries separating the county’s water system from parts of Falls Church’s that operate in the country a “very hostile act.”

SHELTER PET & GLOBALLY RECOGNIZED PIANIST

GINA YSUNZA OF FALLS CHURCH sends us this photo of fouryear-old Lexie Oliver. The bobtail Tortie, who enjoys belly rubs, being brushed and loves helping make the bed, is currently being fostered with the Feline Foundation of Greater Washington. For more information on Lexie Oliver visit www. ffgw.org or contact ourgirls1@verizon.net. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

Amazing stories start in shelters and rescues. Adopt today to start yours. KEYBOARD CAT 8M+ YouTube Views

Just a few hours of your time can make a big difference. Together, with our nationwide community of volunteers, you can help the Feeding America network of food banks end hunger. Pledge to volunteer at your local food bank. FeedingAmerica.org/Pledge

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MARCH 2 - 8, 2017 | PAGE 31

Now Available at One More Page Books! 2200 North Westmoreland Street #101, Arlington

To order online, visit FCNP.com/frontpages1

PAGE 32 | MARCH 2 - 8, 2017

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Open Sunday 2-4pm

204 N Underwood St | Falls Church City

4 BD/3 BA Cape in Broadmont. Much larger than it appears with updated kitchen and baths on 3 finished levels. Large lot and beautiful screened in porch. Walk to Metro and FCC Schools! Offered at $850,000

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Coming Soon

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2 BD/2.5 BA, spectacular two level condo that feels more like a townhouse. Huge patio, 2 parking spaces and Storage. Seconds to WFC Metro! Mid $500’s

309 Lincoln Avenue | Falls Church City

Sold before Listing! Adorable 3 BD/2.5 BA cottage

with exceptional yard and beautifully renovated. Light and Bright with vintage charm and modern updates! Steps to the bike trail and Metro. Offered at $750,000

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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

REALTOR

Contact Bethany for all your real estate needs.

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Licensed in VA & DC

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FOR SALE

SOLD STRICTLY AS-IS Lovely large lot. $749,000

PRICE PERFECTED

Beautiful and classic 3 level cape cod. 5BR/2BA on 3 finished levels. Whole house has been remodeled in last 5 years! Including windows, roof and all systems. Price perfected $729,000

2230 George C Marshall #309 Falls Church VA 22043 2BR/2BA beautiful and open floor plan! Granite, SS, hardwood floors. Close to parking, year round pool & tennis courts. Super convenient to 495, 66 and Metro. Shuttle bus takes riders to WFC Metro from condo building front door! $358,900

Thinking about buying, selling, investing, moving up or downsizing? Get a jump on the market and talk to Bethany, your local real estate market expert, to get ready for 2017.