March 25 – 31, 2021
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXXI N O. 6
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F.C. Council’s 4-3 Vote Makes Net Tax Increases Possible
Federal Relief $ Could Lessen Burden on Taxpayers
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
As of the News-Press’ deadline late Wednesday, officials in the City of Falls Church had no new information about what share of the massive $1.9 trillion federal American Rescue Plan would come for use in the Little City. City Manager Wyatt Shields told the News-Press that, pending more news, City Hall is going ahead with some tentative planning based on the estimate, reported by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer and reported in last week’s edition, that the City can expect $13.28 million. But that number is as yet far from secure, pending more announcements from the U.S. Treasury Department, as is better information on how the money can be spent. The biggest unanswered question swirling around
City Hall is, for example, if it can somehow be used to lower the real estate tax rate. That’s what some members of the City Council are hoping for as they grapple with the next fiscal year’s $106 million City budget. On Monday they set the proposed real estate tax rate a half-cent below what Shields recommended last month — dropping it a pennyand-a-half to $1.34 per $100 of assessed valuation — for official notification to City taxpayers. Under the law, the finally agreed upon rate, to be set in late April, cannot go higher than the advertised rate announced this week, but it can go lower. A motion by Council member Phil Duncan to lower the rate an additional penny, to $1.33, failed to pass, with four votes from Mayor Tarter, Vice Mayor
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VIRGINIA GOVERNOR Ralph Northam officially ends the state’s death penalty at a signing ceremony at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. (P����: C������� O����� �� ��� G������� �� V�������)
Northam Inks Virginia’s Repeal of Death Penalty at Signing Ceremony BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
JARRATT — Virginia joined the growing ranks of 23 U.S. states, the first in the South, banning the death penalty when Gov. Ralph Northam signed a measure here Wednesday that passed the state legislature ear-
lier this year into law. The effort culminates a 12-year effort of its primary initiator, Northern Virginia State Sen. Scott Surovell. Virginia has exercised the death penalty for 400 years to more than 1,400 persons, more than any other state in the union. Surovell stated at the signing ceremony Wednesday
that during his first year in office in 2010, the state legislature was overwhelmingly in favor of the death penalty, even protecting data concerning use of lethal injections as recently as 2014. But the national public reaction to the high profile murder of George Floyd last summer helped to spur
momentum against racial discrmination, and all the evidence has shown its role in the application of the death penalty. Northam said, “Over our 400year history, Virginia has executed more people than any other state. The death penalty system is fundamentally flawed — it is inequitable,
ineffective, and it has no place in this Commonwealth or this country. Virginia has come within days of executing innocent people, and Black defendants have been disproportionately sentenced to death.” He added, “Abolishing this inhumane practice is the moral thing to do. This is a truly historic day for Virginia, and I am deeply grateful
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Prioritizing the elderly for Covid-19 vaccinations appears to be paying off nationally and locally, with senior living communities within Falls Church getting their first taste of normal in over a year and a “hopeful” air starting to be felt among the long term care facility residents. SEE STORY, PAGE 2
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Students are returning to school after nearly a year of virtual instruction since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and teachers at all levels of Falls Church City schools are bringing some of the new tricks they’ve learned while away back into the classroom. SEE STORY, PAGE 9
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It can be hard to find a favorable venue for performaers in Northern Virginia’s music scene. Only the most skilled artists are able to satisfy crowds wherever they go, and JV’s Restaurant will be lucky enough to welcome one such band when Mars Rodeo plays there on Saturday. SEE STORY, PAGE 16
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 News & Notes.............................10-11 Crime Report .................................... 12 Business News ................................. 15 Calendar .....................................18-19 Classified Ads ................................... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 21 Critter Corner.................................... 22
