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Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I N o. 9

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

Inside This Week No Action Taken on Special Ed Report

The Falls Church School Board decided to take no action in response to a report by two of its members asking for the removal of the Schools’ Special Education Advisory Committee chair and vice chair. See News Briefs, page 9

Man Dies in F.C. After Struggle With Police

A man who was reported missing died after a struggle with police who were attempting to return him to caretakers, police reported Wednesday.

4 of 7 on City Council Resolved To Slash $912,000 from Schools Goal to Placate Demands for No Tax Rate Hike

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

See News Briefs, page 9

Maureen Dowd: Hillary is not Sorry

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. She is hearing ghostly footsteps. But at least last time, it was a dazzling newcomer who also offered the chance to break a barrier. This time, Hillary is trying to fend off a choleric 74-year-old democratic socialist. See page 13

Press Pass with Creed Bratton

Creed Bratton, the actor who played a character named after himself on the American version of the television show “The Office,” is coming to Vienna’s Jammin’ Java next Tuesday for a night of comedy and music. See page 25

FALLS CHURCH SCHOOL BOARD members (left to right) Erin Gill, Michael Ankuma, Margaret Ward and Lawrence Webb were four among six School Board members present Tuesday night to mull the grim options for deeper cuts in the School Board budget ahead of the final City Council vote on the budget Monday night. (Photo: News-Press)

F.C. School Board Scrambles To Find Ways to Cut Programs by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index

Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 27 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 12-15 Sports..................19 Calendar.........20-21

Business News....22 Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30

Three scenarios for how to cut $912,600 from the Falls Church School Board’s adopted Fiscal Year 2017 budget were delineated by Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones late yesterday afternoon in anticipation of the City Council cutting that sum when it votes on the budget Monday night. Following Monday’s work

session of the Falls Church City Council when a majority of four members came out in favor of eliminating any increase in the real estate tax rate thus mandating cuts of $912,600 from the Falls Church School Board’s adopted budget, the School Board assembled in a work session of its own the next night to assess the situation and begin to make some very difficult decisions. It was an exasperated School

whie Board and City school staff wrestled Tuesday night with the hard realities of cutting $912,600 from the budget it submitted in February. Meeting at School Board headquarters to face up to the prospects of a draconian funding cut by the City Council below the numbers requested to cope with rising enrollment and pressures to remain competitive for teacher compensation with

Continued on Page 4

As the Falls Church City Council moves to adopt its Fiscal Year 2017 budget this coming Monday night, the News-Press has learned there are at least four (out of seven total) who are reinforcing each others’ resolve to defy the recommendation of City Manager Wyatt Shields and to force $912,600 in cuts to the School Board’s adopted budget in order to adopt a budget with no real estate tax rate increase. A flummoxed School Board tried to come to grips with the inevitability of such cuts at a lengthy work session Tuesday night (see story, elsewhere this page), and School Board chair Justin Castillo penned a guest commentary in this edition to explain what the impact could be. He said that “the proposed cut would almost certainly increase average class size (a process that is difficult to reverse) and hurt staff pay.” On the City Council, Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly is also siding with the School Board request and submitted a letter to the editor in this edition. But there appears to be a solid majority on the Council resolved to eliminate Shield’s recommendation for a 2.5-cent tax rate increase from $1.315 to $1.34 per $100 of assessed real estate valuation, and that would include some deep new cuts in the City’s operational budget, adding up to less than half the amount that would be cut from the Schools. The growth in both sides, the City and Schools, would be limited to three percent.

Continued on Page 5

PAGE 2 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

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F.C. School Board Given Three Scenarios for Draconian Cuts

Continued from Page 1

neighboring jurisdictions, the School Board mulled cuts proposed by Superintendent Jones and Chief Financial Officer Hunter Kimble. After a lengthy discussion, the board tasked Jones and Kimble to delineate scenarios for implementing the required cuts, which they provided to the public late yesterday afternoon. The three scenarios are the following: Scenario 1 – Eliminate staff salary improvements, including teacher salaries ($634,600), support staff step increase ($226,800), and leadership team step increase ($54,900). Scenario 2 – Eliminate staff and reduce salary improvements, including three elementary classroom teachers ($307,200), a first grade paraprofessional ($16,300), a part-time elementary gifted teacher ($51,200), a high school computer science teacher ($106,800), a systemwide project

assistant ($53,200), a Mt. Daniel assistant principal ($130,000) and a reduction in teacher salary improvements by one-third ($220,000). Scenario 3 – Across-the-board reductions, including elimination of six staff positions (elementary classroom teacher, high school computer science teacher, Mt. Daniel assistant principal, elementary gifted teacher, first grade paraprofessional and systemwide project assistant) for $464,300, reduce materials and supplies ($127,500), reduce or eliminate programs ($62,000), reduce nonsalary compensation $102,800), reduce teacher salary improvements by 20 percent ($110,000), and reduce emergency reserve ($46,000). “These are informational only. After seeking community input the School Board will weigh all options,” Dr. Jones said in a note attached to the scenarios. It was noted Tuesday that the cuts would only ensure that the

Schools will be in even greater need for additional funding next year “I am sick over this,” commented Assistant School Superintendent Lisa High, saying that the programs fundamental to the successful hiring, training and retention of quality teachers are being seriously compromised. Dr. Jones noted that the cuts will put the schools only further behind next year in the campaign to remain competitive for teacher salaries, with another large increase in their obligations to the Virginia Retirement Fund also coming on line next year. Coming out of Monday’s City Council work session, there appear to be at least four (out of seven) Council members resolved to vote a budget this coming Monday that will have no real estate tax rate increase, keeping the current level of $1.315 per $100 of assessed valuation. To have given the Schools what they requested in February, according to City Manager Wyatt Shields,

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

a 2.5 cent rate increase would be required. Yet there has been no public discussion by the Council of alternatives that could keep the tax rate the same as last year and still fund the Schools at their requested level. Such alternatives include taking one percentage point off the current level at which the City maintains a highly uncommonlyinflated fund balance of 17 percent of annual operating budget expenditures. Jones said Tuesday night, “There are very few things on this list of cuts that are not controversial.” She added that the cuts “will impact housing values eventually.” School Board chair Justin Castillo, in a commentary craft-

ed after Tuesday’s work session and published elsewhere in this edition, wrote that a Councilmandated cut of $912,600 from the Board requested $2,065,000 increase in the City transfer over last year “would almost certainly increase average class size (a process that is difficult to reverse) and hurt staff pay.” While “some are concerned about future capital and claim that restricting operating expenses by keeping the tax rate flat is one way to plan for the future,” he wrote, “I believe that a better way to prepare for the future is to fund present needs while carefully preparing for the future in a way that helps to fund operating and capital needs in a responsible manner.”

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APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 5

4 on Council Plan to Cut Schools Continued from Page 1

At Monday’s lengthy City Council work session a distinct air of acrimony toward the School Board erupted among some on the Council. In particular, Council member Dan Sze singled out modest pay increases that the School Board voted itself as evidence of a deeper problem on that board. Phil Duncan chimed in, “We don’t have confidence of the community that the Council and School Board are working carefully to manage costs.” “The Council apparently feels that somehow we’ve lost our bearings,” Castillo told his School Board colleagues the next night. “It is really quite striking.” At the Council work session Monday, Shields explained that the factors compelling him to recommend the 2.5-cent rate increase included the fact that real estate assessed values in Falls Church were flat in the last year, compared to a normally-expected 3-to-5 percent increase, the average over the last 25 years, and that comes in the context of uncontrollable added costs such as rising health care premiums for City and School employees, a hefty increased obli-

gation to the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority due to declining revenues from gas sales, the result of lower prices for gas, and robust continuing school enrollment growth. He reminded the Council that had it not been for strong new revenues from new economic development in the City, his request to maintain City and School services might have been for a 9.5-cent rate increase instead of a 2.5-cent one. He said the lack of growth in real estate values is due to a major slowdown in federal government contracts throughout the region, making the D.C., Maryland and Virginia combined economies “the slowest growing in the U.S.” “This is a major headwind we face,” he said, adding, “Nobody sees a huge spring-back coming anytime soon.” Meanwhile, in neighboring Fairfax County, the Board of Supervisors there voted 7-3 to mark up a budget with a 4-cent tax rate increase, from $1.09 to $1.13, that includes a 5.18-percent increase in funding for the schools. The final vote on that budget will come next Tuesday. That increase would average out to $340 for the average

home in the county, more than the $200 per average home increase in Falls Church were a budget with a 2.5-cent increase adopted. But despite these realities, four on the Council have made their intentions clear so far to make more budget cuts and keep the tax rate at zero growth. They include Mayor David Tarter and Council members Duncan, Letty Hardi and Sze. Connelly and Council member Karen Oliver have come out for funding the School Board budget in full, and Council member David Snyder was out of town on business this week. While Duncan quipped that “no teacher gets paid enough to put up with the modern child,” he observed that the City’s tax rate is “out of whack” with neighboring Arlington County thus creating unfavorable “optics.” Oliver said Monday night that a “flat (no increase) tax rate sounds like pandering to the public.” She argued that “fiscal discipline to me means the need to actually pay for what you want.” Connelly’s argument was similar, saying that a small rate increase delivers “what people want in Falls Church, including small class sizes.”

AS THE FALLS CHURCH City Council talked of slashing $912,000 from the School Board’s budget request Monday night, (left to right) School Board Chief Financial Of�icer Hunter Kimble, Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones and School Board chair Justin Castillo looked on with long faces. (P��: N��-P��) Shields proposed that added cuts in the City’s operational budget could include a half-time court services position, not hiring a replacement manager for the Falls Church City Cable TV, and with cuts also proposed for the City’s youth mentorship program, an administrative position in public works, and targeted reductions in overtime for City employees, environmental coordinator, transportation planner and treasurer slots. He said that offsetting new

revenue could come from raising grading plan fees and adding a “super-penalty” for delinquent personal property tax payers. The City’s chief financial officer Richard LaCondre chimed in that there are “risks” associated with all the proposed cuts. No mention was made in all the discussions of the wisdom of the proposed commitment to hold out a full 17 percent of the total budget in reserve as a fund balance in excess of $14.8 million.

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E D I TO R I A L

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Channeling Wall Street Usury

Under that giant pile of drapery in the corner is the proverbial “elephant in the room.” It is that concerning which, in modern society, it is not polite to speak. But for taxpayers and policy makers, alike, in the City of Falls Church, it is that which has otherwise affable and friendly people at each others' throats fighting over seemingly scarce resources to pay for the City's operating expenses and its schools in the coming fiscal year. What is this stinking elephant of which we speak? It is the City's ridiculous policy of stuffing almost $15 million of taxpayer dollars, out of a total annual budget of $87 million, or 17 percent of that, in a pillow and hiding it under the bed. It goes by the name of “unassigned fund balance.” Other jurisdictions do not have this, at least to this level. The fund balance, also known as “rainy day fund,” for neighboring Fairfax County, for example, is five percent of annual operating expenses. When Falls Church in the 1990s first adopted a fund balance policy, the City Council was advised that having one month's worth of operating expenses in the bank for emergencies was prudent. So a fund balance policy was adopted with a minimum of eight percent of annual operating costs, and an upper limit of 12 percent. That meant then that a policy of going above 12 percent was imprudent, a squandering, or squirreling away, of taxpayer money without justification. That changed in the last decade, when some uber-conservative policies came into play and the policy was adjusted making 12 percent the low end of an acceptable policy range, and 17 percent the high end. Still, there was a high end established on the notion that holding above 17 percent was in violation of the public interest. But now, while the fund balance grew above 20 percent in recent years, the current budget calls for keeping it at the high end limit of 17 percent. Here's what's at stake with citizens' tax dollars: if the fund balance was at 12 percent (within the official policy range), instead of $14.8 million held in the bank, there would be only $10.4 million, or a savings of $4.4 million. If that $4.4 million was returned to taxpayers, the real estate tax rate would go down by 13 cents overnight. If only one percent was taken off the high end of 17 percent, $870,000 could be put to use to provide for vital City and School services that are at risk of being cut. The Council is being told that Wall Street will not look kindly on lowering the fund balance. Really? This is damnable usury. Wall Street is demanding that 17 percent of citizen tax dollars be effectively extorted and held in reserve to assuage its concern for lending the City money, even though by far the best source of City collateral is its legal right to tax.

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We Need to Take Care of The Needs We Have Now

Editor, I've lived here 20 years; paid attention to City business and politics for 12; and this is my third year on City Council. I've seen three superintendents; four or five city managers, dozens of elected officials – all with unique personalities and goals. One thing they all had in common: public service. All are trying to do their best for the City of Falls Church. The decisions public ser-

vants make are daunting because they affect real people – our neighbors and friends. Elsewhere in the paper you will see reports of the decision we face next week: keep tax rate flat or raise the tax rate $.025 cents to $1.34 per $1000 of assessed value. That equates to $200 additional on an $800,000 property. Budget decisions made this year will resonate into the future and we have to decide carefully.

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I've considered both options, and both have merits. In 2014, I voted to hold rate steady, and this year I support the 2.5-cent increase. 1. We need to take care of the needs we have now. Because we are planning for the future we need to build sustainability into our operating budgets. Increases in costs out of our control (health insurance and WMATA), mean there is almost no room for growth. Staff are identifying areas for reduction, but there isn't enough fat in the budget to reduce the request by over a million dollars and keep our city whole. Items that are reduced or cut are still needs, and they will still be with us next year.

2. We face daunting capital expenditures and that may mean increases in future tax rates to pay for City Hall, the library and the GMHS/MEHMS campus. But restraining operating isn't helping us save for the future. 3. Every month when I pay my bills I am painfully aware of how much it costs to live here, and I would love to keep the tax rate flat. But living in a small jurisdiction means that things cost more. If you look at Vienna, Leesburg, Herndon, an increased rate to $1.34 will be comparable to all of them. Marybeth Connelly Vice Mayor, City of Falls Church

More Letters on Page 27

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APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 7

Why F.C. Schools Should Be Funded Fully B� J�� C��

This Monday, April 25, the City Council will vote on the budget for both general government and the schools. The current plan is to cut the School Board’s budget request by $912,000. Such an action would have serious consequences about how we as a community educate our children. As a result, it is important to understand how the School Board developed our budget request. At last Monday’s City Council work session, the Council directed the City Manager to develop a budget that would cut the School Board’s budget request by $912,000 but reduce general government expenditures by a fraction of that amount. They came to this reduced amount by allocating a three-percent increase across the board, with little apparent concern for the needs within our small school division. The School Board has three functions: develop strategy, provide resources, and hire a superintendent to use those resources to make the Board’s goals a reality. The request before Council is the School Board’s budget. We worked together over two months at multiple work sessions and public meetings, asked tough questions and made hard decisions. We unanimously concluded that, to educate our children at the level expected by our community consistent with state and federal mandates, FCCPS required an increase in the transfer of $2,065,130 over last year’s budget request.

The proposed FCCPS budget increases break down into several broad categories: 1) Compensation (about two-thirds of which is devoted to closing the teacher pay gap): $923,200. This translates into an aver-

“Why is the Council considering such deep cuts in the Schools? Some say that the elephant in the room is Mt. Daniel.”

age increase of two percent compensation (but not all staff are getting increases – as those whose salary level is comparable to Arlington are remaining flat). As we enter the third year of our four-year program to bring the average gap for FCCPS teacher salaries to 4.9 percent, which is just within our target of 3-5 percent. 2) The current budget resulted in a net loss of five full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). That helped balance the books last year, but enrollment growth means that we have to hire three new elementary FTEs and part-time paraprofessionals for $323,500 to meet projected demand. If the unusually high kindergarten pre-enrollment figures are any indication, this number could rise further. 3) Special education mandates: we need

to hire four additional FTEs at a cost of $409,600 for safety and compliance reasons, while tuition for Special Education students who attend schools outside of FCCPS is increasing by $245,000. 4) Other mandated cost increases include health insurance ($509,400, approximately $324,000 of which emerged at the 11th hour), rent ($12,800), telephone ($31,000), Arlington Career Center tuition ($79,800); Thomas Jefferson High School tuition ($14,600). After subtracting savings from employee turnover and benefit rates ($249,400) and a reduction in the contingency ($23,400), the total increase is $2,276,100, some of which is funded by other sources (such as increased state funding), resulting in a net requested transfer is $2,065,130. At our work session last Tuesday the Board determined that the proposed cut would almost certainly increase average class size and hurt staff pay. That’s because education is a people-driven enterprise: approximately 85 percent of the FCCPS costs are personnel-driven (salary, benefits and wages), while the remaining 15 percent (such as classroom supplies, utilities, and insurance) is largely non-discretionary. Why is the Council considering such deep cuts in the schools? Some say that the elephant in the room is Mt. Daniel. Unfortunately, we cannot solve Mt. Daniel (a capital project) before we resolve the operating budget. Mt. Daniel has been a difficult and costly experience, and I am sorry

that the School Board and FCCPS leadership have failed to bring this plan to fruition. We are, however, moving forward with Fairfax County and just filed a revised submission with the Planning Commission on April 19. These are difficult times throughout the region. Long-standing economic development paradigms are obsolescent, and commercial development is lagging. Yet the City is growing, adding residences and business, and the school-age population is growing even faster. Some are concerned about future capital and claim that restricting operating expenses by keeping the tax rate flat is one way to plan for the future. I believe that a better way to prepare for the future is to fund present needs while carefully preparing for the future in a way that helps to fund operating and capital needs in a responsible manner. Several members of the City Council seem to believe that citizens prefer a flat real estate tax over fully funding the proposed budget (which would increase real estate taxes by approximately $300 per household annually), and they believe that cutting the School Board’s request by over $900,000 is the way to achieve that goal. Budgets reflect priorities and what citizens are willing to pay for. Your opinions matter, so tell the City Council what you think before Monday.  Justin Castillo is chair of the Falls Church City School Board.

Q�� W�� Will the Falls Church City Council vote to keep the tax rate flat? • Yes • No

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PAGE 8 | APRIL 21 – 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

F.C. Police Step Up the Fight Against Vehicle Burglaries by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

The Falls Church City Police Department has begun a campaign to lower the number of thefts from vehicles that some residents say have been plaguing the City for several years. In the last six months there have been two strings of vehicle burglaries, in November 2015 and a few weeks ago, in which several cars concentrated in one or two neighborhoods of the City were burglarized all in one night. At the Monday, April 18 meeting of the Falls Church City Council, the City of Falls Church premiered a public service announcement encouraging motorists in the City to lock their vehicles and remove valuables from them. “99 percent of vehicle burglaries have two things in common,” said Joe Carter, a lieutenant with the Falls Church Police Department in the public service announcement, which is posted to the Falls Church Community Television YouTube channel. “The vehicles are unlocked and valuables were left in plain sight. Every time you leave your vehicles, take your valuables with you and lock your doors. “Criminals look for opportunities. Let’s not give them any. Lock it or lose it. Don’t be a victim.” So far in 2016, there have been 30 reports of thefts from vehicle, according to statistics from the Falls Church Police Department. That number is quickly eclipsing the number of thefts from vehicle reported in 2015, which was 50, according to the police department. And from 2011-2015, there have been 270 instances of thefts from vehicles. There is also a low clearance rate for these cases. None of the theft from vehicle cases from 2016 have been cleared, which in this case, according to Carter, means either the stolen property is returned, the criminal is caught or both. Last year the clearance rate for these sorts of crimes was 2 percent and from 2011-2015 the clearance rate was 6 percent. Carter said that an even lower number of victims in these crimes get their property back. Carter said that the problem of vehicle burglaries has become frustrating for the police department. He said that they have increased police visibility of neighborhoods in order to help stymie potential burglars and have bought new equipment that will

make it easier for police to surveil communities and spot burglars at night. Carter said that the department puts a minimum of three police officers out in the field to patrol on a daily basis, but admitted that the department would benefit from an increase in staffing. “The chief is working on that through the budget process… [and] to tell you the truth, five years from now the City is going to be completely different,” Carter said. “So as the City grows, we need to plan for that...we are growing and with that comes more calls for service, comes more places to patrol. So yeah, in five years this City’s going to be completely different. It’s completely different now from when I started fifteen years ago.” He said the department has also been suffering from a loss of manpower this year because of sickness and injury, which is something they are attempting to address moving forward. And the Falls Church City Police Department has been working with neighboring jurisdictions in Fairfax and Arlington counties in order to spot trends in burglaries and investigate burglaries. “They come in strings [usually] and they don’t only hit Falls Church,” Carter said. “They hit Falls Church, they hit Fairfax and they hit Arlington. And it comes in waves.” Although instances of vehicle burglary are diffuse across Falls Church City, as was revealed from data gathered from the City’s crime reports over the last year by the News-Press, the burglaries are concentrated in areas of the City that are near the East Falls Church and West Falls Church metro stations. “From the information that I read and research, individuals that go through cars...they usually go to middle to upper class neighborhoods, just based off the fact that people feel a little more secure,” Carter said. “And maybe they won’t lock their doors and leave valuables in their cars because they don’t feel like anything is going to happen.” Falls Church resident Rohini Winters, a resident of Grove Avenue in Falls Church, regularly does work at home at night. Because of this, she usually does not leave her valuables, in particular her laptop and digital camera that she uses for work, in her car. But on November 4, 2015, Election Day, she was expecting to go back out after arriving at

THE MAP ABOVE SHOWS where vehicle burglaries occured throughout Falls Church City, according to the City of Falls Church Police Department’s crime reports, over the last year. In 2015, there were 50 instances of thefts from auto reported to the police. (Source: Falls Church Police Department) home and, because of this, she did not lock her car. But she said that she had a headache and went to bed early that night. “In the morning I had a text message that my credit card possibly had an unauthorized usage, there was maybe some fraudulent activity on my credit card,” Winters said. “So I thought ‘Oh no, I left my purse in the car’ and I went out to the driveway and there was no car.” Winters’ experience of having her car stolen because it was unlocked occurred on a night when there were three other instances of thefts from vehicles in reported by the Falls Church City police. Her experience is unique in that, because her keys were in her purse, the person who likely originally intended to burglarize her car could also easily drive away with it. The number of motor vehicle thefts in Falls Church in 2015 was 14 and the average from 2011-2015 was 10.8 per year. Eight days later the Alexandria Police Department found her car and contacted the Falls Church Police Department to inform Winters that her car had been found. She said that everything was still in her car except for laptop, some credit cards and camera.

Vehicle registrations from other cars in her neighborhood were found in the car, too, she said. Winters said that in the months after her car was stolen she and her children were scared and more alert than before the theft. She said she personally felt guilt for leaving her car unlocked after it was stolen and that she had done her neighbors a disservice “by showing the bad guys that here is another place you can come to where people are careless.” “It was pretty devastating because for me, I had just downloaded my iPhone photos onto my laptop and I hadn’t backed it up yet,” Winters said. “And I had a full iPhone, so probably two or three years worth of photos that I lost. That was probably the worst feeling for me.” Winters said that she was impressed by how Falls Church City detective Sharee Janda handled her case, that the investigation is on-going and has noticed an increased police presence in her neighborhood. She suggested that the City place the “Lock It or Lose It” message on the orange temporary road sign on the 100 block of E. Broad Street in order to help inform residents and other motorists coming into the City of the City’s cam-

paign and the threat of thefts from vehicles. Carter said that the “Lock it or Lose It” campaign, just one of the department’s tactics for decreasing the instances of theft from vehicle, is aimed at eliminating the low-risk, high-reward situation potential criminals may face when targeting vehicles in Falls Church. If cars are unlocked and valuables are visible, Carter said, that creates a situation where a potential criminal has a lower barrier to successfully committing a crime and getting away with it. When asked by the News-Press if this sort of campaign, telling residents and other motorists in the City to lock their cars or risk losing their valuables was blaming the victim or putting the onus on the potential victim, Carter said he had not gotten any direct complaint to that effect. “We’re trying to educate the public as much as we can so that they don’t become victims,” Carter said. “I just got to look myself in the mirror and if I’m doing everything I can to educate the public on how not to become a victim and someone doesn’t like that, I just have to live with that because that’s my job. That’s our job as a department.”

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 9

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F.C. School Board Takes No Action on Special Ed Report At its work session Tuesday night, the Falls Church School Board decided to take no action in response to a report by two of its members who put in more than 80 hours to investigate the petition last fall from volunteer members of the Schools’ Special Education Advisory Committee asking for the removal of the committee’s chair and vice chair. The petition claimed that members were “intimidated” and “handled in a dismissive way” by the committee leadership. Board members Erin Gill and Michael Ankuma said they found “no ulterior motives,” but “different views of governance.” A motion by School Board member John Lawrence to remove the committee chair Becky Smeardon failed for lack of a second. The committee will be subject to new appointments and internal election of its leadership with the start of the new fiscal year.

Dems Uphold 24 McAuliffe Vetoes in Richmond Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly yesterday stopped 24 Republican bills to override gubernatorial vetoes, including legislation that would have defunded Planned Parenthood, legalized LGBT discrimination and lowered the wages of working Virginians. Republican-backed bills, all previously vetoed by Governor McAuliffe, would have become law if not for Democratic votes to sustain the vetoes and kill the legislation in the Senate and House of Delegates. “Democrats in the General Assembly made sure that common sense prevailed today in Richmond,” said Democratic House leader Del. David Toscano. “Throughout the 2016 legislative session, Governor McAuliffe and Democrats have been focused on building a new Virginia economy, and that extreme legislation is not only opposed by the majority of Virginians, but distracts from our efforts to create jobs, and support investments in public education.”

Police Investigating Falls Church Death A man who was reported missing died after a struggle with police who were attempting to return him to caretakers, police reported Wednesday. The Fairfax County Police Department reported that just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, patrol officers from the Mason District Station were dispatched to the area of Round Tree Park, located at 3320 Annandale Road, Falls Church, for a report of a critical missing man who had wandered from the park on foot. Officers located the man and were attempting to return him to caretakers when a struggle ensued. While attempting to take him into custody, he experienced an apparent medical emergency. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units responded to the scene and transported the patient to Inova Fairfax Hospital while actively performing CPR. The man did not survive and was declared deceased soon after arrival at the hospital. Major Crimes Division detectives and Crime Scene Section personnel responded to the scene on Wednesday afternoon, along with personnel from the Internal Affairs Bureau, to begin their investigation. Fairfax County police said that additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Lt. Gov. Northam Hails F.C. Dem Potluck Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam was the keynote speaker for over 120 attendees of the annual JeffersonJackson potluck hosted by the Falls Church City Democratic Committee (FCCDC) last Sunday at the Community Center. Northam has announced his candidacy to run for governor of Virginia next year. He noted that but for current Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his veto pen, Virginia would be shoulder to shoulder with North Carolina and Mississippi with new egregiously discriminatory laws. Honored as the winner of this year’s Marian Driver Award presented by the FCCDC was Nancy Schneider in recognition of the “countless hours that she and her late husband Michael spent volunteering, co-hosting events to support Democratic elected officials, volunteering as poll workers and much more.” A special recognition was also made in memory of Richard T. Allan, a longtime FCCDC member who died last October. Expressing appreciation was Allan’s son Jamie. Also present at the potluck were State Sen. Richard Saslaw, Del. Marcus Simon, Del. Alfonso Lopez and former State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, Falls Church Mayor David Tarter, who welcomed the crowd, F.C. Council members Marybeth Connelly and Phil Duncan and School Board member Lawrence Webb.

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News-Press

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Community News & Notes Lorenzo the Great to Perform at Mary Riley Styles Falls Church resident and magician Lorenzo the Great, also known as Larry Lipman, will perform a free magic show at Mary Riley Styles Public Library at 120 N. Virginia Avenue on Saturday, May 7 at 11 a.m. Lorenzo the Great last performed at Mary Riley Styles Public Library several years ago, according to a press release sent out by Lipman about the show. But he’s also performed at Mount Daniel Elementary School, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, two White House Easter Egg Rolls, twice at the Vice President’s residence, for several embassies and the National Press Club. He’s also performed at hundreds of birthday parties in the Northern Virginia area. Lipman is the current president of the Society of American

Magicians Assembly 23 in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit lorenzomagic.com or fallschurchva.gov/Library.

Temple Rodef Shalom Presents ‘A Taste of Judaism’ Falls Church’s Temple Rodef Shalom at 2100 Westmoreland Street is presenting a three-part series of free introductory classes called A Taste of Judaism: Are You Curious?, which is designed to engage those interested in learning more about Judaism. Each session is scheduled for Thursday, May 5, Thursday, May 12 and Thursday, May 12 from 7 – 9 p.m. The program is sponsored by Temple Rodef Shalom and the Union for Reform Judaism. To register for the classes, visit tasteofjudaism2016.eventbrite. com. For more information, email Cantor Allen Leider at aleider@

templerodefshalom.org or visit templerodefshalom.org.

F.C. Resident Featured in ‘Discovery Girls’ Magazine Kiana Collins, a Falls Church resident and student at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, is being featured in the April/May issue of Discovery Girls magazine, a publication for girls ages 8 and up. Kiana wrote about her experiences being the new student at a school several times throughout her life, as her father, Barry, works for the United States Agency for International Development as a diplomat and foreign service officer and moves to a new developing country every two – four years. As such, Kiana has moved to Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Botswana, Hawaii and will soon be moving to El Salvador. In the time

ON APRIL 10, many of the 164 people who’ve joined the historic Falls Church Episcopal Church at 115 E. Fairfax Street in the last 12 months were on hand to be recognized at the Sunday morning service. (Courtesy Photo)

between living in Hawaii and El Salvador, Kiana and her family are living in Falls Church. Print editions of Discovery Girls with Kiana’s feature are available at Barnes and Noble bookstores across the United States and Canada. To see the online version of her feature, visit discoverygirls.com/dg-blog/ kiana%E2%80%99s-web-diary.

F.C. Hosts Meeting for Local Intersection Improvement The City of Falls Church is holding a public meeting for the

intersection improvement project on E. Broad and Cherry streets in the Dogwood Room of City Hall at 300 Park Avenue. The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 from 7 – 9 p.m. At the meeting City staff will inform residents about the concept and impact of the intersection improvements at E. Broad and Cherry streets in Falls Church. Feedback from the public is welcome. For more information, visit fallschurchva.gov/1594/EastBroad-Street-and-Cherry-StreetTraf.

AMERICAN LUBE’S NEW OWNER DAVID HAYS, raised the largest American flag in Seven Corners last week as part of several changes coming to the former Best of Falls Church winner under new ownership. Hays plans to transform American Lube into American Lube & Service Center as the business and shop capability grows. (Photo: Courtesy of David Hays)

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

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Yard Waste Composting Event Slated for May 1

The City of Falls Church is hosting a Yard Waste Composting Workshop on Sunday, May 1 from 2 – 4 p.m. at Cherry Hill Park at 312 Park Avenue. Topics at the free workshop include leaf mulching in your yard, yard waste composting, hands-on composting demonstration, making compost tea, proper food waste composting and vermicomposting. All workshop participants will have their names placed in a raffle to win a free compost bin and two participants will win. For more information, visit fallschurchva. gov/520/Composting-Workshops.

James Lee Community Center Hosts Earth Day Event The James Lee Community Center, located at 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church, is hosting an Earth Day event on Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the community center. The free. multigenerational event will feature a community cleanup, Earth Day crafts, fitness activities and early registration for Summer RECQuest. The community center is still looking for volunteers for the event. To volunteer, contact LaTanja Jones at 703-246-5740 or latanja. jones@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Yarborough, Jr. Named Rotarian of the Year McLean Rotarian William Glenn Yarborough, Jr. was recently named Rotarian of the Year by Rotary District 7610 and was presented with the award by Rotary assistant district governor Ronnie Chantker at the McLean Rotary Club’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, April 5. This is the second year in a row that a member of the McLean

Rotary Club received what is the highest honor in the District – Bob Hahne received the award in 2015. Yarborough has been an active member of the Rotary Club of McLean for the past ten years. During this time he has served the McLean Club as president, secretary, Rotary Foundation chair, and has provided leadership in raising funds for the Rotary International Foundation. He has also served Rotary District 7610 in many positions primarily in membership and membership development. He is a Paul Harris Society member and a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. Rotary District 7610 consists of 57 clubs and covers most of Northern Virginia, south to Charlottesville and as far East as Matthews and Gloucester. For more information, visit mcleanrotary.org.

New Dominion Women’s Club Hosts Fashion Show The New Dominion Women’s Club is hosting The 7th Annual Spring Fling Fashion Show, Luncheon and Raffle, which will be held on Sunday, May 1 at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, located at 1960-A Chain Bridge Road, McLean, at noon. The event is being held to support local charities. This year’s fashion show will feature the latest fashions from Bloomingdale’s and, for the first time, there will be both male and female community leaders who will model. The chef at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse has promised a special menu for the fashion show. The New Dominion Women’s Club will donate proceeds from the event to SHARE, McLean/ Falls Church Children’s Center, McLean Project for the Arts and Safe Community Coalition. The organization is accepting support through sponsorships,

LO CA L donations, raffle items and ticket sales. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ndwc.org.

Local Organization Celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday The Falls Church-based Commonwealth Circle, Inc. is sponsoring a luncheon and silent auction fundraiser to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday on Thursday, April 21 at 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Washington Golf and Country Club, located at 3017 N. Glebe Road, Arlington. Proceeds generated from the luncheon and silent auction will go toward benefiting seniors in Arlington and Falls Church who are pursuing education in community and public service. Admission to the event costs $75. For more information or to reserve a spot at the luncheon, call 703-533-3566.

APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 11

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Arlington Philharmonic Presents ‘Inspired By’ Concert The Arlington Philharmonic, Arlington’s professional symphony orchestra, is presenting its “Inspired By...” concert on Sunday, May 8 at 3 p.m. at Washington-Lee High School, located at 1301 N. Stafford St., Arlington. Scott Wood, maestro of the Arlington Philharmonic, said that the repertoire for the May concert takes its cue from the way composers learn and grow by absorbing ideas from their predecessors. Admission to the concert is free, but a $20 donation is suggested. For more information, visit arlingtonphilharmonic.org.

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Correction: In the April 7 – 13, 2016 edition of the News-Press, we ran a news item about a local student presenting research at Whitman College. We spelled the student’s last name Thurkill. Her name is Ruth Thirkill.

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The Danger of a Single Story In 2009 Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a fabulous TED talk called “The Danger of a Single Story.” It was about what happens when complex human beings and situations are reduced to a single narrative: when Africans, for example, are treated solely as pitiable poor, starving victims with flies on their faces. Her point was that each individual life contains a heterogeneous compilation of stories. If you reduce people to one, you’re taking away their humanity. American politics has always been prone to single storyism – candidates reducing complex issues to simple fables. This year the problem is acute because Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are the giants of Single Storyism. They reduce pretty much all issues to the same single story: the alien invader story. Every problem can be solved by findNEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ing some corrupt or oppressive group to blame. If America is beset by wage stagnation it’s not because of intricate structural problems. It’s because of the criminal Mexicans sneaking across the border or it’s because of this evil entity called “the banks.” Worse, the stories have become identity markers. This is a phenomenon borrowed from campus political correctness. In order to express your solidarity with the virtuous team, you have to embrace the socially approved story. If you differ from the official story – the way Bill Clinton differed from the official progressive crime story a few weeks ago – it is not so much a sign that you are wrong (truth is not the issue). It is a sign that you have false allegiances. You must embrace the approved story to show you are not complicit in a system of oppression. Hillary Clinton is not naturally a single story person. But while she is controlling the delegate race this campaign, Sanders is controlling the conversation and she is gradually coming around to his version of everything. For example, last week she came closer to embracing a nationwide $15 minimum wage, though still with caveats. One true minimum wage story is that corporations are reaping record profits while pushing down wages of the unskilled. But another true story, embodied in the vast trove of research, is that if you raise the minimum wage too high, you end up punishing less skilled workers. One study found the modest hike in the national minimum wage between 2006 and 2009 reduced employment among young people without a high school degree by almost 6 percent. The key is to find a balance between those stories. Raising the minimum wage to $15 may make sense in rich areas, but in most of the country there will be horrendous consequences for less skilled workers trying to find jobs. In the realm of criminal justice, one true story is that America’s criminal justice system was constructed within a system of slavery and racism. It enables police brutality, often of a racist sort. It has led to massive over-incarceration, which has devastated individuals, families and neighborhoods. Yet there are other opposing stories, also true: • Incarceration reduces crime. Experts disagree wildly on how much, but most studies show a significant effect. That’s partly because most of the people who do serious crime are career criminals. Among inmates released from state prison in 2005, the average number of previous convictions was five and the average number of previous arrests was greater than 10. • Less aggressive policing means more crime. After the release of the horrific Laquan McDonald video – which showed a Chicago cop killing him in cold blood – there was a 69 percent drop in the nonfatal shooting arrest rate and a 48 percent drop in the homicide arrest rate. In the meantime, according to an analysis by Rob Arthur and Jeff Asher of FiveThirtyEight, nonfatal shootings rose 73 percent and homicides rose 48 percent. • While the overall system is steeped in structural racial inequality, parts of the system don’t seem that biased. As the criminologist Barry Latzer notes in his book The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America, there is not a wide disparity between whites and blacks in time served for various offenses. • Moderate, bipartisan efforts are reducing inequality. Decades ago, evangelicals like Chuck Colson joined with a swath of progressives to reduce incarceration rates. These efforts are having an effect. Total U.S. imprisonment has declined for the past seven years. The imprisonment rate among black women has dropped 47 percent since 2000, while the rate of imprisonment among white women has risen 56 percent. Male imprisonment trends are similar though less striking. As in life generally, every policy has the vices of its virtues. Aggressive policing cuts crime but increases brutality. There is no escape from trade-offs and tragic situations. The only way forward is to elect people who are capable of holding opposing stories in their heads at the same time, and to reject those who can’t.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

David Brooks

Robber Barron Recessions When Verizon workers went on strike last week, they were mainly protesting efforts to outsource work to low-wage, non-union contractors. But they were also angry about the company’s unwillingness to invest in its own business. In particular, Verizon has shown a remarkable lack of interest in expanding its Fios highspeed Internet network, despite strong demand. But why doesn’t Verizon want to invest? Probably because it doesn’t have to: many customers have no place else to go, so the company can treat its broadband business as a cash cow, with no need to spend money on providing better service (or, speaking from personal experience, on maintaining existing NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE service). And Verizon’s case isn’t unique. In recent years many economists, including people like Larry Summers and yours truly, have come to the conclusion that growing monopoly power is a big problem for the U.S. economy – and not just because it raises profits at the expense of wages. Verizon-type stories, in which lack of competition reduces the incentive to invest, may contribute to persistent economic weakness. The argument begins with a seeming paradox about overall corporate behavior. You see, profits are at near-record highs, thanks to a substantial decline in the percentage of GDP going to workers. You might think that these high profits imply high rates of return to investment. But corporations themselves clearly don’t see it that way: their investment in plant, equipment, and technology (as opposed to mergers and acquisitions) hasn’t taken off, even though they can raise money, whether by issuing bonds or by selling stocks, more cheaply than ever before. How can this paradox be resolved? Well, suppose that those high corporate profits don’t represent returns on investment, but instead mainly reflect growing monopoly power. In that case many corporations would be in the position I just described: able to milk their businesses for cash, but with little reason to spend money on expanding capacity or improving service. The result would be what we see: an economy with high profits but low investment, even in the face of very low interest rates and high stock prices. And such an economy wouldn’t just be one in which workers don’t share the benefits of rising productivity; it would also tend to have trouble achieving or sustaining

Paul Krugman

full employment. Why? Because when investment is weak despite low interest rates, the Federal Reserve will too often find its efforts to fight recessions coming up short. So lack of competition can contribute to “secular stagnation” – that awkwardly named but serious condition in which an economy tends to be depressed much or even most of the time, feeling prosperous only when spending is boosted by unsustainable asset or credit bubbles. If that sounds to you like the story of the U.S. economy since the 1990s, join the club. There are, then, good reasons to believe that reduced competition and increased monopoly power are very bad for the economy. But do we have direct evidence that such a decline in competition has actually happened? Yes, say a number of recent studies, including one just released by the White House. For example, in many industries the combined market share of the top four firms, a traditional measure used in many antitrust studies, has gone up over time. The obvious next question is why competition has declined. The answer can be summed up in two words: Ronald Reagan. For Reagan didn’t just cut taxes and deregulate banks; his administration also turned sharply away from the longstanding U.S. tradition of reining in companies that become too dominant in their industries. A new doctrine, emphasizing the supposed efficiency gains from corporate consolidation, led to what those who have studied the issue often describe as the virtual end of antitrust enforcement. True, there was a limited revival of anti-monopoly efforts during the Clinton years, but these went away again under George W. Bush. The result was an economy with far too much concentration of economic power. And the Obama administration – preoccupied with the aftermath of financial crisis and the struggle with bitterly hostile Republicans – has only recently been in a position to grapple with competition policy. Still, better late than never. On Friday the White House issued an executive order directing federal agencies to use whatever authority they have to “promote competition.” What this means in practice isn’t clear, at least to me. But it may mark a turning point in governing philosophy, which could have large consequences if Democrats hold the presidency. For we aren’t just living in a second Gilded Age, we’re also living in a second robber baron era. And only one party seems bothered by either of those observations.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

NATI O NA L

OK, Thank You, Bernie Sanders

Following Tuesday’s New York primary, everybody knows it’s now all over but the shouting in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Clinton will make history as the first woman to win the party’s nomination for president in Philadelphia this summer. Meanwhile, we remain uncertain who her GOP rival will be. Clinton’s still-standing Democratic rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, was, barring a miracle, never a serious contender to win the nomination, although of course he doesn’t believe that. The questions around Sanders were, and in a sense remain, two: How well can he energize the young progressive spirit he helped to catalyze in the country, and, how much damage will he refrain from inflicting on Clinton in FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS the process. There is no doubt that there are enemies of the progressive values held by both Clinton and Sanders that are embedded in those campaigns, and they tend to sew division, doubt and dissension wherever they can. But the forces of good have considerable work to do, work which Sanders has helped to kick off. Sanders didn’t expect to be the big deal he became but just like no one expected the sudden rise of Donald Trump on the other side, no one really thought that Sanders’ New Deal-style message would resonate so well with young America. But it’s a sign of the times we’re in, riddled with both promise and caution. The masses are restless and are surging at the barricades carrying both red (progressive) and black (reactionary) banners. It’s hard to fathom that only eight years later we’re still living with the effects of the George W. Bush years, very possibly the worst cascade of man-made fiascoes in American history, starting with the corruption of the U.S. Supreme Court to install Bush as president. The mess in the Middle East is the result of what he unleashed with the unprovoked invasion of Iraq there, the failed response to Hurricane Katrina has left a indelible scar on that wider region still, and the crescendo was the global financial collapse triggered by immoral and corrupt mortgage and banking practices. Is it any wonder that it would take more than one successor administration to try to clean up this monstrous mess? President Obama has done a lot of highly commendable things, but 300 million Americans remain on edge, anxiety ridden and filled with distrust and doubt. They have good reason to be. The grass-tops organizers of the GOP under Dick Armey’s lead sought to exploit this anxiety as soon as Obama was sworn in, in 2009 with racist and conspiratorial theories about Obama’s health care initiative, given the name of Tea Party by a Wall Street flunky in the first months and whipping the Tea Party masses into frenzies that they rode into Congressional town hall meetings that summer. Obama’s race also fueled that anger and fear as right wing Republicans and their talk show mouthpieces became fully sanctioned to incite them more. Meanwhile, the so-called “recovery” has indeed been very tepid, though Democrats are not supposed to focus on that. Still, an unwillingness to be more frank about this has hurt Democrats because those willing to take to the streets know better. It is no time for anyone to be cloaked or cagey about the grim economic realities that are facing so many of us, and that’s where Sanders provided a genuine service to this year’s presidential election. His candor and willingness to be labeled all kinds of bad things, especially as a “socialist,” has been refreshing and cause for hope in a world where no one seems to be telling the truth. This has pushed, or made it possible, for Clinton to show more candor, and to embrace more fully the plight of a disenfranchised middle America that is in far worse shape now than when she was in the White House with Bill. Sanders needs to keep lighting this spark, and Hillary needs to keep heeding its flame to reposition the Democratic Party roughly to where it became under FDR. The party will enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to become the party of multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural political majorities for a long time to come.

APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 13

Nicholas F. Benton

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

Hillary Is Not Sorry WASHINGTON – It’s hard not to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. She is hearing ghostly footsteps. She’s having her inevitability challenged a second time by a moralizing senator with few accomplishments who chides her on her bad judgment on Iraq and special-interest money, breezily rakes in millions in small donations online, draws tens of thousands to rock-star rallies and gets more votes from young women. But at least last time, it was a dazzling newcomer who also offered the chance to break a barrier. This time, Hillary is trying to fend off a choleric 74-yearold democratic socialist. Some close to the campaign say that those ghostly footsteps have made Hillary restive. The déjà vu has exasperated Bill Clinton, who griped to an audience in New York on Friday that young supporters of Bernie Sanders get excited because it sounds good to say, “Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine.” At the Brooklyn debate, there was acrimony, cacophony, sanctimony and, naturally, baloney. Hillary NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE gazed at Bernie as though she could hypnotize him into skedaddling. Sanders flew to the Vatican that night to underscore his vision of himself as the moral candidate. And Hillary headed to California, underscoring Bernie’s portrayal of her as the mercenary candidate. She attended fundraisers headlined by George and Amal Clooney in San Francisco and at the Clooneys’ LA mansion that cost $33,400 per person and $353,400 for two seats at the head table in San Francisco – an “Ocean’s Eleven” safecracking that Sanders labeled “obscene.” Clinton sewed suspicion again, refusing to cough up her Wall Street speech transcripts. And Sanders faltered on guns, fracking and releasing his tax returns. But he was gutsy, in a New York primary, to say he’d be more evenhanded with Israel and the Palestinians. Hillary alternately tried to blame and hug the men in her life, divvying up credit in a self-serving way. After showing some remorse for the 1994 crime bill, saying it had had “unintended” consequences, she stressed that her husband “was the president who actually signed it.” On Libya, she noted that “the decision was the president’s.” And on her desire to train and arm Syrian rebels, she recalled, “The president said no.” But she wrapped herself in President Barack Obama’s record on climate change and, when criti-

Maureen Dowd

cized on her super PACs, said, well, Obama did it, too. Sanders accused her of pandering to Israel after she said that “if Yasser Arafat had agreed with my husband at Camp David,” there would have been a Palestinian state for 15 years. Hillary may be right that Bernie is building socialist castles in the sky. But Bernie is right that Hillary’s judgment has often been faulty. She has shown an unwillingness to be introspective and learn from her mistakes. From health care to Iraq to the email server, she only apologizes at the point of a gun. And even then, she leaves the impression that she is merely sorry to be facing criticism. On the server, she told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News that she was sorry it had been “confusing to people and raised a lot of questions.” She has never acknowledged, maybe even to herself, that routing diplomatic emails with classified information through a homebrew server was an outrageous, reckless and foolish thing to do, and disloyal to Obama. Wouldn’t it be a relief to people if Hillary just acknowledged some mistakes? If she said that her intentions on Libya were good but that she got distracted by other global issues and took her eye off the ball? That the questions that should have been asked about Libya were not asked and knowing this now would make her a better chief executive? Obama, introspective to a fault, told Chris Wallace of Fox News that not having a better plan after Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown was the worst mistake of his presidency. But as usual, Clinton, who talked Obama into it, is defiantly doubling down. Clinton accused Sanders of not doing his homework on how he would break up the banks. And she is the queen of homework, always impressively well versed in meetings. But that is what makes her failure to read the National Intelligence Estimate that raised doubts about whether Iraq posed a threat to the U.S. so egregious. Like other decisions, it was put through a political filter and a paranoid mindset. She did not want to be seen as the bohemian woman standing to the left of the military. When Barack Obama was warned by some supporters in 2002 not to make a speech against the Iraq invasion because it might hurt his political future, he said he was going to do it anyhow because the war was a really terrible idea. What worries me is whether Hillary has the confidence to make decisions contrary to her political interests. Can she say, “But it’s a really terrible idea”?

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PAGE 14 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross

Budget, Part VI: Almost done! Tuesday’s budget mark up session was one of the shortest in my 20-year experience. The meeting followed brisk community debates about school funding, and the need to diversify the county’s tax base. About 90 percent of potential revenue sources for Virginia counties are capped or controlled by the General Assembly. That means that most Virginia counties must rely on real property taxes, a tax structure that dates to colonial times, and still is the primary source of local revenue, three centuries later! The spending package presented by Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee), this year’s budget chairman, reflects a recommended tax rate increase of four cents, and increases county support for schools beyond the levels in County Executive Ed Long’s Advertised Budget, for a total school operating increase of $88.4 million. Mr. Long had recommended a three percent increase; the Board’s action moves that to a 4.84 percent increase. With additional funding for school debt service (school bonds) and capital needs, total school support increases by $104 million, or 5.18 percent. Adding the extra $85 million for school support from the county not included in the school transfer (school crossing guards, school resource officers, public health nurses, etc.), equates to almost 55 percent of General Fund Disbursements. School Superintendent Karen Garza and several school board members indicated appreciation for the additional amounts, while noting that some cuts still would have to be made on the school side. The budget package was approved by a vote of seven yeas (Bulova, Foust, Gross, Hudgins, McKay, Kathy Smith, Storck) and three nays (Cook, Herrity,

Delegate Marcus Simon’s

Richmond Report

Linda Smyth). The marked up budget will be adopted formally at the Board’s regular meeting on April 26, but no changes are anticipated. The Board also adopted, unanimously, Budget Guidance for the FY 2017 and FY2018 county budgets. The Budget Guidance document has gotten longer over the years, as the Board seeks to capture issues that should be considered during the coming year. Included in the items this year are joint Board of Supervisors/ School Board work, not just on budget, but in areas for collaboration and possible cost savings; pre-kindergarten; human trafficking; public safety compensation; and tax relief for the elderly, including my request to look at the effect on nearby new development on property values for older homes that are not redeveloping. The Board also requested additional information for discussion of a possible meals tax and other revenue diversification opportunities. A meals tax would have to be approved by the voters in a referendum. Mason District lost one of its most interesting residents, and assuredly the oldest, with the passing of Luta Mae “Cornie” McGrath on April 14. Cornie was 108 ½ years old, and was thought to be the oldest living female veteran of World War II. Cornie served in the Women’s Army Corps and eventually attained the rank of Colonel. At a huge birthday celebration at Queen of Apostles Church a couple of years ago, Cornie showed up in her uniform, still very proud of her Army career, and still in charge. God bless you, Cornie McGrath.

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 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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Photo: Grant Delin

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Yesterday, the General Assembly completed the 2016 Reconvene Session wherein we voted on the Governor’s 32 vetoes and recommendations. This being the first year of the 2016-2018 Biennial Budget, we also reviewed the Governor’s additional recommendations for the budget. As a member of the House of Delegates I work hard to do what’s right for all Virginians, regardless of where they live. As your representative in Richmond, I also have a responsibility to and take great pride in looking out for the priorities of my constituents and the localities I represent. With the state budget, I am particularly concerned with making sure that we get some sort of return on the significant amount of state income taxes we send to Richmond. I attended a forum earlier this year hosted by the Falls Church City Republican Committee where a number of residents raised their concerns about the way the state’s funding formula for distributing education funds, known as the Local Composite Index (LCI), disadvantages the City. This year, we did makes some progress to increase funding for K-12 education in our state budget, and I was pleased to see that we did our best to do that through increasing funds that are distributed on a per-pupil basis, rather than those that are subject to the LCI. While I voted against the over $105 billion budget because it once again failed to expand Medicaid, it did do a number of good things for Northern Virginia and Falls Church and Fairfax County in particular. Here in greater Falls Church, we are justifiably proud of our outstanding public schools. That said, we’ve struggled with funding shortages for many years now, as the great recession has taken a severe toll on our revenue and therefore state support for K-12 and higher education. In the new biennial budget, however, the City of Falls Church will receive $6.7 million in direct aid from the state, up from $5.86 million last year. An increase of about $460 per student. In much larger Fairfax

County funding increased by $34 million. The budget also restores $34.4 million for cost of competing adjustment for Northern Virginia schools. On a statewide basis the budget included language to increase the state’s share of teacher pay by a $134.4 million for a twopercent salary increase. In addition to increased funding for elementary education, Falls Church won another budget battle. Language was included in the budget to keep 100 percent of fines and fees collected by the local police department here in Falls Church, rather than having to send it down to Richmond and pray for its safe return. As I said, despite the good news on education funding, I couldn’t bring myself to vote yes on a budget that continues to shun over $6 million per day in federal taxes we’ve already paid. Virginians are set to lose $3 billion over the biennium because we are not getting our tax dollars back from the federal government and we are having to pay for programs that would have been covered under the expansion. Let’s try to finish this month’s column on a high note, though. In October, Attorney General Mark Herring issued an opinion that said that the General Assembly never explicitly gave police departments the authority to mail tickets for illegally passing a school bus based on evidence obtained from cameras mounted on the stop signs. Legislation to allow those tickets to be mailed, just as they are for red light cameras that catch people at intersections, passed the General Assembly this year and has been signed by the Governor. So, at $250 a ticket, there may be more revenue available in the upcoming fiscal year. More importantly, drivers will be deterred from the very dangerous practice of passing a school bus while children are getting on or coming off.  Delegate Simon represents the 53rd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. He may be emailed at DelMSimon@house. virginia.gov

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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b ut

S traigh t

Pivot to General Election This is a very sad day for those of us who are Bernie Sanders supporters. It is a morning of mourning – and a time of grave disappointment, and for some, disillusionment. For those who worked the phone banks, knocked on doors, donated money and had countless conversations to persuade friends and neighbors to support Sanders – today is akin to a nasty hangover. That is exactly how I feel. Losing is never fun, with the punctured balloon of hope and the pain of unrealized expectations. Bernie Sanders’ revolution is not over. But his hopes of becoming our next president are slipping away. In a critical primary in the Big Apple, his campaign turned in a lemon. Sanders lost by 16 points and more than 285,000 votes. Barring a miracle next week in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware, Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee and hopefully the next president of the United States of America. Had Sanders won New York or come close to winning, he would have had the momentum to possibly score a major upset in these eastern states. However, his crushing loss in New York gives his opponent the momentum going into Bernie’s last stand. Sanders’ visionary campaign has been nothing short of remarkable. It has been an inspiration to me and millions of Americans. It has awakened passions, reignited hope, and given young voters a stake in their future. Sanders has energized and, more importantly, mobilized the progressive base. The revolution he started is real and it is in motion. Unfortunately, like Moses, it appears that he won’t be the one to bring us to the Promised Land. But there can be no doubt that he has moved the Democratic Party in a decidedly progressive direction and inspired future presidents who share his mission. What Sanders has accomplished is extraordinary. As his campaign pointed out in an e-mail last night: “When we started this campaign, we were down almost 50 points in New York – the state where Hillary Clinton was elected to two terms in the U.S. Senate.” In this context only losing by 16 points is a major feat. Unfortunately, it is one that will not get you into the Oval Office. This is difficult to take, because with more time, perhaps Sanders could have pulled it off. At her peak, Clinton led nationally by 31-points. A new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll shows that Clinton now only leads Sanders 50 to 48 percent. Sanders is like a football team that has a bad first quarter and gets behind by 30 points. Then, against all odds, stages a furious comeback and gets in position to win the game. But, alas, it is the fourth quarter and time is running out. If there were only five quarters – you might be able to win! But, in realty, there are only four quarters. And the clock is approaching the zero hour. Next week’s vote is a hail Mary pass and unless the unthinkable happens – for the Sanders campaign the game is over. I understand that my fellow Sanders supporters don’t want to hear this. We don’t want the journey to end. But we must face reality and turn towards the future. Hillary Clinton is my second choice. But a Republican in the White House is an unthinkable choice. If Sanders does not come back from the dead next week, it is time to do what’s right for this country and pivot towards the general election. It is critically important that a Democrat is in the White House and Hillary Clinton will likely be that Democrat. It is crucial that she remains viable and that we unite behind her. Divided we may fall. And when I say fall, I mean into an abyss. Donald Trump, or worse, Ted Cruz will cast a pall upon our nation and usher us into a new Dark Age of poison and peril. They will destroy everything we love and hold dear. They will mock progressive values and portray us as a threat to the nation. These Neanderthals will roll back civil rights, enshrine money politics where corporations are people, divide Americans by race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity, and put us on a path to climate change destruction. It is time to begin construction of a political wall to keep Donald Trump out of the White House or he will build a wall on our southern border. Those who say there is no difference between Hillary Clinton and what the Republicans offer are delusional. Their judgment is clouded and they are letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. It is the same argument that we heard when people said there was no difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush. There are very few people who still agree with that sentiment. As Bernie Sanders says, “enough is enough.” It’s time to pivot to the general election and put a Democrat in the White House.

Wayne Besen

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Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark

A county archeological dig, I can announce here, has uncovered a cache of nearly 2,000 18thand 19th-century artifacts at the Dawson Bailey House. Known to many for its playground, rec center and voting station overlooking Spout Run, the upper Rosslyn structure long known as Dawson Terrace is considered Arlington’s oldest stone residence. (Not its oldest house, as is stated on its out-of-date sign, a status that attaches to the BallSellers place in Glencarlyn.) The Dawson farmhouse played an intriguing – if not central – role in Arlington history going back to its construction perhaps as a miller’s home sometime between 1767 and 1785, according to maps. Civil War drama unfolded there, when both Abe Lincoln and Robert E. Lee were said to have visited the modest farm and orchard. Which is why it’s cool that the recent dig – which grew out of a repair and stabilization project – recovered 243 ceramic objects, 1,603 glass objects, 74 metal objects and 13 others. The hazy story behind the Dawson place (North Taft and 21st streets) has intrigued local researchers ranging from the late author Eleanor Lee Templeman to Arlington Historical Society president Karl VanNewkirk, who shared with me tidbits he assembled for an excellent lecture in 2013. The most colorful enthusi-

ast was Bruce McCoy, who grew up in Dawson’s shadow in North Highlands and knew the last owner, Bessie Bailey, from whose estate the county bought the property in 1955. In the late 1980s, McCoy, as an archaeology student and later a community college teacher, performed research and led neighborhood walking tours, hoping for a serious dig like the one just completed. (Now retired, he goes by the name Billy Plumb.) Dawson’s high ground (maps suggest a dwelling there as early as 1696) formed part of the 18thcentury transportation routes of the extended family of George Mason, who owned what is now Roosevelt Island. The name came from a Marylander named Thomas Benonie Dawson, who bought and expanded the house in 1859 – see his initials carved in one stone. On the property he called “Rio Vista” lived his two slaves, Patrick and Maria. A neighbor named Robert E. Lee, according to youngest daughter Bessie Dawson (who later married a Bailey), visited the farm to encourage owners to reject secession. Dawson figured in the federal government’s circle of forts that defended Washington – ties are documented to the now-vanished Fort Bennett and to Fort C.F. Smith across Spout Run, which back in the day were connected by a bridge. When Union troops crossed the Potomac and occupied the property, they burned the barn, slaughtered livestock and con-

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

CRIME REPORT Week of April 11 - 17, 2016 Larceny from Building, 306 Hillwood Ave. (Lesly’s Restaurant) On Apr. 11, an unattended cell phone was reported stolen. Larceny and Vandalism, 100 Hillwood Ave. (Aalan’s Service) On Apr. 11, a vacuum vending machine was vandalized and its cash was reported stolen. Residential Burglary, 200 block S. Lee St. On Apr. 13, an unknown suspect(s) forced entry into a shed and stole tools. Larceny from Building, 800

block Villa Ridge On Apr. 13, jewelry was reported from a residence sometime after Dec. 24, 2015. Smoking Violation, 6795 Wilson Blvd. (Café Metro) On Apr. 13, a male, 27, of Alexandria, was cited for Smoking in a NonDesignated Area. Driving Under the Influence, 100 block E. Broad St. On Apr. 13, an officer conducted a traffic stop for a motor vehicle violation. The driver, a female, 64, of Washington, DC, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence. Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd. (Hoa Vien Quan) On

APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 15 fined the Dawson family to house arrest. But later, romance bloomed between troops and the Dawson daughters. Dawson’s continuing high-profile as an Arlington landmark is clear from an 1875 painting “The Ludlow Patton” by an unknown artist showing it rendered from the Georgetown vantage point. The recent dig was performed by Commonwealth Heritage Group Inc. in consultation with Arlington’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board. The objects – most from the mid-to-late 19th century – include nails and a Minie ball projectile. Others are made of stone, mortar, bone or oyster shell. Also unearthed were manufactured glass tumblers, inkwells, stoneware and pearlware, as well as patterned whiteware and gilded porcelain, I was told by Catherine Matthews of the Environmental Services Department. Photos from the county are coming soon. *** The historic Broadview house, set back on a hill at Washington Blvd. and George Mason, is for sale. The former home of Civil War Union Army major – later Arlington farmer – Robert Lacey (1833-1915), whose current stewards are relocating, was accorded historic district status in 2014. On Sunday, I toured the 1881 elegant Victorian gingerbread home to see the 15-foot ceilings inside its yellow wood siding and blue trim. It has been modernized in key parts – including the Jacuzzi up in the attic tower. De Raedt realtors are asking just under $1.3 million.

Apr. 14, a male, 48, of Chantilly, was cited for Smoking in a NonDesignated Area. Stolen Vehicle, 1105 W. Broad St. (U-Haul) On Apr. 15, a van was reported stolen sometime after Mar. 22. Larceny from Building, 6757 Wilson Blvd. Suite 15 (H2O Café) On Apr. 15, an unattended cell phone was reported stolen. Liquor Law Violation, Public Drunkenness, & False ID to Law Enforcement, 300 block W. Broad St. On Apr. 16, police responded to the area for a report of a fight. After an investigation, a male, 20, of Falls Church, was arrested for Underage Possession of Alcohol and Public Drunkenness. A male, 18, of Falls Church, was arrested and released on summons for Providing False ID to Law Enforcement.

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PAGE 16 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

The Official Student Newspaper of George Mason High School The Falls Church News-Press has partnered with George Mason High School’s award-winning newspaper, The Lasso, to bring its readers some of the top articles appearing in the student-run digital paper. This regular feature will appear monthly in the News-Press during the school year. The Lasso can be found online at www.gmhslasso.org.

Time for Mason to Step Up Its Recycling Game BY CAROLINE PEREZ THE LASSO

As students, we all have a lot on our minds: Next class’s test, the load of homework due tomorrow, or a big game coming up. It’s reasonable that sometimes we just want to do things the easy way. But I don’t think it’s too much to ask not to blatantly throw a plastic water bottle into the trash, when it is just as easy to put in a recycling bin nearby. This is an issue that has bothered me for a long time, and it has gone on for far too long. Every time I sit in the cafete-

ria, I cringe when I see someone walk right by the recycling bin to throw away their bottle in the trash. Granted, the school could do a better job of labeling and having more of the recycling bins, but they are there, located in the back, next to the microwaves. At most, no matter where you are sitting, you are just a few feet away from one. It’s the same in the classroom. There are too many instances where I see a bottle in the trash when there is a recycling bin right next to it. It takes an equal amount of effort to just put it in the right container.

Why Is It Worth the Effort? When waste is thrown in the trash, it goes to a landfill to decompose. While some materials don’t take as long to decompose, plastic takes 450 years, which is among the longest for materials. Since plastic wasn’t invented until 1907, every single plastic product in landfills has yet to decompose. In addition, new plastic is constantly being made in factories. So while bottles are thrown away and put into landfills, more plastic continues to be made, thus creating an enormous build up of plastic. If a bottle is

THIS RECYCLING CONTAINER is one of two in the cafeteria. They are both in the back, next to the microwaves. (P��: C�� P��)

recycled, the plastic is kept out of landfills and used again, helping to maintain the total levels of plastic. With that being said, the United States alone throws away 2.5 million plastic bottles per hour – and that’s just in the US. That many plastic bottles are put into landfills every hour, in which they will sit for the next 450 years. Not only does it create a build up, but the materials and energy in

those bottles are essentially gone forever. Once they are in landfills, there is no way to retrieve the bottles. The components can not be used again, and more must be created. So next time you have a plastic bottle to throw away, I urge you to take the extra 10 steps to recycle it. Although it may not seem very influential to just recycle one bottle, every little bit truly helps.

Why We Need 1-to-1 BY KATE KARSTENS AND JACK WEST THE LASSO

In the last couple hours, I have completed my math homework, read the powerpoint from notes I missed in biology class, and started this piece for journalism class, all on my MacBook Air. Please don’t take it away. I could understand a logical argument if there was significant tax money involved, but in this case it was a grant. No taxes were raised, no FCCPS parent had to chip in extra, and there was no negative impact on the community. While I am an eternal fan of the classic classroom environment with just a teacher and their students, this environment is not jeopardized by these laptops, as teachers control when students have them out. About eighty percent of all my classwork, quizzes and tests are online on our MacBooks now. Having work online opens up more opportunities and advanced tools to help us learn in every subject. In math class, we can now use online calculators to solve advanced equations; in

science, we can do online labs that don’t require materials and specific teacher supervision; in English, we can use websites that have books online. Particularly for a school that supplements an online newspaper, these laptops are essential to maintaining a constant stream of news updates to the site and enabling the editing process to flow out of the classroom to wherever students may go. Many of the adults in the community believe that George Mason went too far when they created the 1-to-1 program. I invite those adults to step into the classroom and see the balance that many of our teachers have found. There will always be abusers of the system: Kids who watch Netflix instead of listening, kids who will peruse social media instead of following along on PearDeck, kids who will cheat on Schoology quizzes. But there have always been system abuses and there always will be, regardless of what technology is in use. Our administration has trusted us with these learning enhancement tools and we, as students, have gladly accepted the challenge.

SENIOR BIKASH SHAHI (right) works on an assignment with Mr. Larcamp using his schoolissued Macbook. (P��: E�� C��) The possibilities in each class are endless with the MacBooks and we haven’t even seen the bulk of these possibilities. We are constantly evolving our technology at Mason with the help of some of the best IT workers around. Every year there are more and more things that our school puts on our MacBooks that help us

learn. We will never fall behind in this technological stampede. We are always evolving, and if we were take our first step back by getting rid of the MacBooks, we might not be able to keep going forward. Mason would not be where it is now without our technology. Mason has prepared its students to go to the colleges we

want to and get the careers that we get because of our technology enhancement tools. Technology at Mason has become an essential tool in and outside of the classroom. Our school encouraged our educational development when they applied and received the grant for these laptops. Please don’t take them away.

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APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 17

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MEMBERS OF THE CAST of “Bomb-Itty of Errors,” a hip-hop comedy basedy on William Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” rehearse ahead of the show, which ran last weekend at George Mason High School. (P��: C�� S��)

F.C. Residents Earn Academic Honors Across the Nation Falls Church residents recently earned academic honors from colleges, universities and other academic institutions across the nation. Maxximus A. Murray, a ninth grader at Phillips Exeter Academy, earned High Honors for the 2016 winter term at the academy. Jacob Somer, a ninth grader at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, was named a commended scholar during the winter term at the academy. Michaela Culhane, a freshman at Gettysburg College and 2015 graduate of George Mason High School, was named to the dean’s list at the college, where students must have attained a scholarship rating of at least 3.6 to make the list. Kevin Schmidt was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines, at James Madison University.

Congressional Students Exhibit at Goodwin House Middle school students at The Congressional Schools of Virginia are currently exhibiting their work at the Crossroads Gallery at Goodwin House, located at 3440 Jefferson St., Falls Church. The

HEATHER VAN GORDER (center left, in blue plaid shirt), a �irst grade teacher at Mount Daniel Elementary School, was recently named Falls Church City Public Schools 2016 Teacher of the Year. (C�� P��) collection includes individual and collaborative pieces created using a variety of media, including drawing, watercolor, installation, animation and ceramics. An opening reception for the exhibit was held on Sunday, April 10. The show is open to the public from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. through Sunday, April 24. For more information, visit congressionalschools.org.

F.C. Students Win Awards at Virginia State Science Fair Students from George C. Marshall High School won awards at the 31st annual Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair, which was held on Saturday, April

9 at Virginia Military Institute. Arman Khan and Joseph Welsh won the third place prize in the Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering category for their project, “The Foundation of the Future: The Effect of Varying Sand Concentrations in Mortar on the Water Absorption & Strength of Mortar Slabs.” Katherine DeLong won the Stockholm Jr. Water Prize from the Virginia Dental Association Awards for her project “The Effect of Varying Nitrate Concentrations on the Absorptive Capacity of Sodium Polyacrylate.” For more information and a full list of winners, visit vmi.edu/Conferences/VSSEF.

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Local Residents Battle Washington Gas Over Pimmit Barns

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It’s David v. Goliath in Pimmit Hills where an “ongoing battle” between area residents and Washington Gas is underway over a proposed easement the gas company wants to install in Pimmit Hills to connect existing pipes with new pipes. The debated easement location is at one of the community’s few remaining green spaces, which contains Pimmit Barn, the Beltway’s only still-standing dairy barn which will celebrate its 80th birthday next year. It’s located at 1845 Cherri Drive in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County. Weighing in are the Fairfax County Park Authority which owns the land (and grants easements) and Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust who sides with the citizens but believes there may be some opposition to the opposition. Connie Cordovilla has lived in Pimmit Hills since 1976 and is a board member of the Friends of Pimmit Barn. “Pimmit Hills is used as a throwaway enclave because we don’t have big grand houses, but we’re a close knit community, and we’re not going away,” she said. SS_Falls the Church_Spring Patio (A drive through community, however, reveals many tear downs

and “big, grand houses” going up.) “None of us want to stand in the way of progress, but their equipment won’t serve us really, and why can’t they find someplace else?” Cordovilla wonders. Washington Gas is trying. Its media relations manager is Bernie Tylor, who replied by email to easement questions. “Yes, the gas company has been meeting regularly with residents and the Park Authority and has been looking at other sites,” he said. The Pimmit Hills Alternative High School is one mentioned by Foust and the Park Authority. “Washington Gas continues to explore our options for an appropriate location that will meet the company’s requirements for regulating equipment supporting this project. For the purposes of this project, the location must be close to existing and new lines have to be connected and maintain the natural gas feeds.” PIMMIT BARN, located at 1845 Cherri Dr., Falls Church, will celebrate its 80th birthday next year. Responding to public outcry, It’s the Beltway’s only still-standing dairy barn. (P��: N��-P��) the private company offered to said David Bowden, the Park What about trucks and main- county resources. put the equipment underground, Meanwhile, the Park Authority, Authority’s director of Planning but Cordovilla says “it will have tenance? Another longtime Pimmit an independent body which makes & Development. metal grates and constant noise, Supervisor Foust says he is like a vacuum cleaner,” of 40 – Hills resident, Gretchen Jacobs, its own easement decisions and 60 decibels and what can you do believes gas regulators at the site holds the key to approval, is not “going to support the citizens’ with metal grates in a park? Play “would be a permanent, profound saying much. It has no timeline position, but I’m not sure the full insult” to the community and for this project: “We are just community has been heard. percussion? Sale_11x19.5_04212016.pdf 1 com4/19/16 would 12:20violate PM the Park Authority’s waiting for Washington Gas to And how does that visual Continued on Page 30 mission to protect and enhance come back to the community,” port with a park setting?

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

1$ 6

BY PATRICIA LESLIE

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

SPO RTS

APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 19

Mustang Softball Beats 2 Foes, Then Loses to Monroe by John Rodock

Special to the News-Press

On Friday, April 15 George Mason High School senior pitcher Julia Ferris tossed a 2-hit shutout and leadoff hitter Jules Carter scored three times as Coach Antonio Bravo’s Mustangs defeated district rival Rappahannock County on the road 12-0. Carter opened the game with a sharp single to center, took second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a flyout, and scored what would prove to be the only run the Mustangs needed on another wild pitch. Jenna Short, the team’s RBI leader, followed with a single to left to score Ferris, who had walked. In the bottom of the first Kayla Robey led off with a single, stole second and moved to third when the Panthers’ pitcher Sara Frye reached on an error. Then Frye stole second but Ferris struck out Emily Way to end the Panthers’ biggest threat of the game. The Mustangs, leading 4-0, broke the game open with an

8-run sixth, as Frye struggled to maintain her control. Katie Mills was hit by a pitch, Rebecca Davis walked, and Sabrina Rodock singled to load the bases. A sac fly scored Mills, two more walks scored Davis, and Robey relieved Frye. Ferris walked to score Rodock, Short was hit by a pitch to score Carter, and then Chelsea Lang drilled a bases-clearing double to left to make it 11-0. The next two batters were hit by pitches, and a walk scored the twelfth run, at which point Bravo ordered two of his runners to leave their bases early and be called out to end the inning. Ferris retired the last ten hitters she faced and struck out seven for the game. Katie Mills played stellar defense at third base, recording four assists on difficult plays. Then on Monday, April 18 the Mustangs knocked off Seton of Manassas in a non-district game 12-2. Mason banged out 18 hits total and scored in every inning. The offensive onslaught was led by Ferris (4-for-4, dou-

MASON SOFTBALL’S LEADOFF HITTER JULES CARTER looks for a signal from first during the Mustangs’ 12-2 defeat of Seton School on Monday, April 18. Carter had a single and scored three runs against Seton. She scored three runs in the Mustangs’ 12-0 defeat of Rappahannock County High School on Friday, April 15. (Photo: Carol Sly) ble, four RBIs, two runs), Tea Abbracciamento (3-for-4, double, two RBIs, two runs), Carter (single, four runs) and Short (3-for4, double, two RBIs). Lang and Mary Grace Lizotte each had two singles, Rodock a triple, and Mills and Davis a single apiece. Ferris worked three innings, fanning eight Conquistadors and walking none, and allowing only

one baserunner. Reliever Jenna Short picked up a 2-inning save in her season debut, striking out two and giving up two unearned runs. When asked afterward if she was nervous, Short responded “No!” The wins helped Mason grasp a winning record again at 5-4, albeit briefly. The Mustangs lost to William Monroe High School 6-0

on Tuesday, April 19 at William Monroe. For the season, Ferris has a .630 batting average with a prodigious 1.037 slugging percentage and sports a 1.91 ERA with ten strikeouts per seven innings on the mound. The Mustangs play archrival Clarke County High School this Friday, April 22 at Mason.

Mason Girls Lacrosse Comes GM Girls Soccer On Up Short Against Dominion 5-Game Win Streak by Matt Delaney

by Jeffrey Wojtala

Falls Church News-Press

Special to the News-Press

George Mason High School’s girls varsity lacrosse team traveled to Sterling on Monday, April 18 to face the 4A Dominion High School Titans. The 2A Mustangs were aware they would need to work hard for a win in this match. Playing against the 4A school, the Mustangs knew they would need to play fast and smart and took the ball down the field first and a missed pass occurred at the goal line and Mason came up empty on their first chance at goal. The Titans were strong at the draw and the Mustangs soon found themselves down 2-0 at the 21:46 mark of the first half. The Mustangs pressed into the offensive zone numerous times but were rejected each time. At the 20:50 mark sophomore Amy Roche was fouled and on the ensuing free

MASON JUNIOR LYDIA GORMAN carries the ball downfield against Loudon County High School. (Photo: FCCPS Photo/J+A Cipriano) position scored the Mustangs first goal of the game. Alas, the Titans strong draw control continued and the Lady Mustangs again found themselves in a hole 5-1. The Mason defense stood

strong against the Titans and with 13 minutes left in the half Roche was once again awarded a free position and scored her second

Continued on Page 30

George Mason High School’s girls varsity soccer team is posting an impressive win streak of five straight after a 1-0 victory over William Monroe High School Tuesday night was preceded by a 10-1 win against Rappahannock County last Friday. Pulling into Standardsville, home of William Monroe, the Mustangs knew they had their work cut out for them. The Dragons had an unblemished 6-0 record prior to their loss against Mason and had surrendered a mere five goals all season while scoring a whopping 36. William Monroe had even walloped Warren County High School 9-2; the same Warren County team that managed a 3-3 draw against Mason back on April 1. If there was ever concern over a Conference 35 opponent upsetting Mason during the regular

season, William Monroe fit the bill. However, the Mustangs knew what their competitors brought to the table and pulled no punches as a result. From the opening whistle Mason sparred with William Monroe. The Mustangs midfielders consisting of seniors Corinne Carson, Kate Mills and Ella Howard along with junior Rebecca Crouch were able to steady the offense with controlled possessions and set up sophomores midfielder Victoria Rund and forward Izzy Armstrong. “I think we’ve done a good job with moving the ball, but [last week] we lost sight of working for each score by forcing thru balls and trying to run onto passes,” head coach Allison Klink said. “That’s not the type of game we want to always play, but you can see our ball movement once we

Continued on Page 30

CA L E NDA R

PAGE 20 | APRIL 21 – 27, 2016

Community Events

THURSDAY, APRIL 21

Preschool Storytime. Stories, ﬁnger plays and songs for children ages 2 – 5 on Monday and Thursday every week. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 – 11 a.m. & 3 – 3:30 p.m. 703-248-5034. Early Literacy Center. Explore educational and manipulative items to teach early literacy through play on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday every week. This program is for ages birth to 5 years. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 11 a.m. – noon. & 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. 703-248-5034. Rock Spring Garden Club Flower Show. There will be judged ﬂoral designs, horticulture, photography and special exhibits to the theme of “That’s Life: Celebrating Sinatra, His Songbook Movies.” Little Falls Presbyterian Church Friendship Hall (6025 Little Falls Road, Arlington). Free. 2 – 4 p.m. rockspringgardenclub.com. 1-on-1 Computer Tutoring. Receive personalized assistance using computers, Internet and e-books. Registration required. To schedule an appointment, stop by the

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.

reference desk or call 703-2485035. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 2 – 4 p.m. 703-248-5035. High School Book Club. Teens ages 14 – 18 will be discussing Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. Registration required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. 703-248-5034.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

Meeting of the McLean Art Society. Bev Ress, an artist who does 3D nature drawings, will be the featured presenter at the meeting of the McLean Art Society. McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean). Free. 10 a.m. – noon.703-790-0123.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

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. 8 a.m. – noon. 703248-5077. Neighborhood Tree Program Mulching Event. Come enjoy a day in the City placing mulch around trees and getting to know your neighbors. Lincoln Park (600

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Lincoln Ave., Falls Church). Free. 8:30 a.m – noon. fallschurchva. gov/205/Neighborhood-TreeProgram. Book Sale. Used adult and children’s books for sale. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 703-248-5034. Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment Potomac Watershed Cleanup. Join Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment in the 28th annual watershed cleanup with more than 500 sites across the watershed. N. Glebe and Chain Bridge Roads. 10 a.m. – noon. arlingtonenvironment.org.

SUNDAY, APRIL 24

Book Sale. Used adult and children’s books for sale. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 1 – 5 p.m. 703-248-5034.

MONDAY, APRIL 25

ESL Conversation Group. An English as a second language conversation group focusing on English Language and American culture. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Library Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8:30 p.m.

TUESDAY, APRIL 26 Preschool Storytime. Songs, movement, and stories for ages 1836 months. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave. Falls Church). 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. 703-248-5034. Falls Church Garden Tour. Four City of Falls Church addresses will be featured in the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week tours. The Falls Church Episcopal (115 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church). $30 in advance; $40 day of the tour. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

Teen Poetry Slam and Contest Awards Contest. Awards will be given to teens in two diﬀerent categories who participate in the Teen Poetry Contest. All teens will be allowed to read their poems. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8 p.m. 703-248-5034. Public Meeting for the Intersection Improvement of E. Broad St. and Cherry St. City staﬀ will inform the public about the concept and impact of the intersection improvements at E. Broad St & Cherry St. Feedback is welcome. City Hall Dogwood Room (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 7 – 9 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/1594/East-BroadStreet-and-Cherry-Street-Traf.

Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, APRIL 21

“Flick.” Set in the popcorn-strewn, empty aisles of a crumbling Massachusetts movie theater, this 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner exposes the surprising tenderness and comedy in the everyday. Spilled soda on the �loor. Leftover food wrappers stashed in the seats. Three minimum wage employees perform the humdrum labor necessary to keep one of the last 35 millimeter projectors running. Through April 24. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $99. 8 p.m. sigtheatre.org.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

“The Mystery of Love & Sex.” Complete opposites, Charlotte and Jonny have been best friends since they were children. Now, as college students on the eve of graduation, they toy

around with taking their friendship romantic. Or not. Why decide? After all, neither is sure they are even attracted to the other (plus, Charlotte thinks she might be really attracted to the ultra-cool Claire). Meanwhile, Charlotte‘s parents, an unlikely couple themselves, push the kids for a de�inition even while their own relationship founders. Gradually, secrets and truths emerge as playing grown-up turns into actually growing up. Through May 8. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $40 – $85. 8 p.m. sigtheatre.org.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

“Veronneau.” International acoustic quartet Veronneau have been captivating festival, concert hall and jazz club audiences across North America and Europe with their vocal and guitar based world-jazz. A delicious blend of bossa nova, jazz,

samba and swing performed in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Based in Washington DC, Veronneau have attracted capacity crowds to venues such as the Kennedy Center, Strathmore, and Blues Alley. One night only. ArtSpace Falls Church (410 S. Maple St., Falls Church). $18 – $100. 7:30 p.m. creativecauldron.org.

“The Nether.” In the imminent future, when Earth is a gray wasteland, how will humanity escape? Enter the Nether: an immersive wonderland offering users beauty, order, and the ability to satisfy their desires away from “real world” scrutiny. In a series of gripping interviews, a young detective launches her investigation into the dark heart of this new realm in which depraved dreams have become reality. Through May 1. Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (641 D St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20 – $78. 8 p.m. woollymammoth.net

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CA L E NDA R

live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, APRIL 21 T�� P�� C�� F�� I�� L��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 6 p.m. 202265-0930. A�� O’D��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6:30 p.m. 703-532-9283. Z��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $14 – $22. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. H�� D��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $15. 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. D�� N�� W�� P��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 (Mainstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. K�� B�� J�� W��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $35. 7:30 p.m. 703-5497500. L�� D�� M�� F�� A��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10 (Backstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. J�� M�C��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $25 – $28. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. B�� R��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333. D�� F�� H��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $22. 10 p.m. 202265-0930.

FRIDAY, APRIL 22

D�� C��. Clare and Don’s Beach

Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283. B�� 90� �� B�� S�� (G�� D�� T��), W�� W�� J�� (W�� T��), S�� T�� T�� (S�� T�� P�� T��) �� R�� H�� L�� (C�� T��). Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $20. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. M�� C��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $45. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. M�� B� D�� K�� D�� T�� G�� B��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 8 p.m. 202-265-0930. H�� B�� E��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $20 in advance; $25 day of the show. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. E�� M�� R�� H��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $22 (Mainstage). 9 p.m. 202-667-7960. A�� S��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

B�� Y��. Clare and Don’s Beach Shack (130 N. Washington St., Falls Church). 6 p.m. 703-532-9283. I�� I�. O�� I�. �� T�� W�� I� � B�� P�� I A� N� L�� A�� D��, T�� S�� P��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 in advance; $17 day of the show (Mainstage). 7 p.m. 202-667-7960.

P�� M��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $35. 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. T�� S�� F�� N��’ B�� E.N. Y��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 7 p.m. 202265-0930. T�� N�� K�� J��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $22. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1900. L�� C��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $25. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. P�� M��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SUNDAY, APRIL 24

S�� A�� A�� F�� F��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 11:30 a.m. 703255-1566. V�� P��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $37. 6 p.m. 703-237-0300. J�� L�F��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $20 – $22. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. R�� W�� A�� P��. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna). $35 – $40. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1900. G�� A�� R�� F��, L�� R�� P�� J�� R��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $29.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

MONDAY, APRIL 25

J�� C�� E�� H��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E,

APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 21

Vienna). $20. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. P�� P�� P��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $30. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. A�� M�K��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $25. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. S�� M�� M��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10 (Backstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960.

TUESDAY, APRIL 26

C�� B�� A�� T�� M�� L��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $20 – $30. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. POLIÇA �� MOTHXR. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930. T�� N�� T�� C�� O’L�� B��. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $20. 7 p.m. 703-237-0300. J�� H�� R�� B��. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $55. 7:30 p.m. 703-5497500. P�� M�� C�� R��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 (Backstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

P�� B��. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $22. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. B�� M�� T�� L��. 9:30 (815 V St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $25. 7 p.m. 202-265-0930.

P�� A��... Saturday, April 30 – Volunteer: Habitat Restoration. Join the City of Falls Church Habitat Restoration Team in restoring Berman Park. Berman Park (Between

229 Kent St. and 234 Irving St., Falls Church). Free. 10 a.m. – noon. fallschurchva.gov/Volunteer.

Sunday, May 1 – Yard Waste Composting Event. Learn how to compost! Topics include: leaf mulching in your yard, yard waste composting, hands-on composting

demonstration, making compost tea, proper food waste composting, and vermicomposting. All participants will have their names placed in a raﬄe to win a free compost bin. Two lucky participants will win! Cherry Hill Park (312 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 2 – 4 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/520/Composting-Workshops.

Saturday, May 21 – Civil War Day. The City of Falls Church will host a living-history event depicting the Falls Church home front during the Civil War with spy

stories, letter readings, period music, soldier drilling exercises, free bus tour and children’s tent. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/Civilwarday.

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 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

B�� N�� N�� Nash Celebrates 20 Years Nash Hair Design is celebrating its 20th anniversary with catering by Red, White & Bleu on Saturday, April 23 from 5 – 8 p.m.. The popular hair salon specializes in modern looks that are easy to maintain. Staffed by highly trained hairstylists and color specialists, including founder Nash Awad himself, Nash Hair Design is located at 100A E. Broad Street in Falls Church. For more information, visit www.nashhairdesign.com.

Sun & Moon Offering Free Tai Chi Class

To celebrate the warm arrival of Spring, Sun & Moon Taiji One will be hosting a free Tai Chi class on Saturday, April 23 from 7:55 – 8:55 a.m. for those who are interested in learning Tai Chi. The event will take place at the Falls Church location at Jhoon Rhee Tae Kwon Do in Falls Plaza Shopping Center, 1136 W. Broad Street in Falls Church. Call 301512-5071 or e-mail SunAndMoonTaijiOne@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

F.C. Chamber Mixer at Locker Room April 26 The Locker Room is hosting a networking mixer for the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, April 26 from 5:30 – 7 p.m. Chamber members, prospective members, and friends of the Falls Church business community are welcome to attend. For more information, visit the calendar at www.FallsChurchChamber.org. The Locker Room is located at 502 W. Broad Street.  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.

Healthy Smiles Begin Here Family, Cosmetic and Implant Dentistry

Now Offering Dental Savings Plans!

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Time to Clean Out Your Pantry, Plus a Recipe BY MICHELLE STARK TAMPA BAY TIMES

Every once in a while, it’s good to give your kitchen a deep cleaning. I’m not talking about scrubbing dishes. I’m talking about combing through your pantry and fridge (particularly those shelves on the door) and getting rid of anything that has been in there for more than a year. Throw away duplicate items – do you really need three jars of strawberry jam? – or, better yet, put them to good use by working them into a recipe.. What better time than spring to clear everything out, focus on what’s really worth keeping, and repurpose the rest? We focused mostly on the pantry and refrigerator in our story, but the freezer is another culprit for storing long-lost foods. Freezing food items allows them to remain usable for months, sometimes up to a year, but that doesn’t mean they have an indefinite shelf life. Every time you put something in there, try labeling it – either by

taking a Sharpie directly to a plastic bag, or affixing a sticker onto a container. And be sure to put the month, day and year. I’ll never forget that time a few months ago when I pulled out a bag of frozen chicken with “11/14” on it. My fiance asked whether that meant Nov. 14 or November 2014. To my horror, I had no idea. The truth is, it could have been either. G�� C�� I��, I��

FO O D &D I NI NG Cauliflower Arancini • 1 Tb. cream cheese • 1 head of cauliflower • ¼ red bell pepper, diced • ½ cups bread crumbs • Salt • Pepper • 1 Tb. Italian seasoning

• 1 orange • 2 cups baby spinach • 1/8 red onion, sliced • 1 Tb. olive oil • 1 Tb. red wine vinegar • 3 Tbs. pesto (see note)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring cream cheese to room temperature. 2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Grate the entire head of cauliflower so it resembles a small grain. Add cauliflower to boiling water; stir. Return to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, then transfer to a fine mesh strainer and strain. Make sure to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. 3. Place cauliflower in a medium bowl. Add red bell pepper. 4. Add bread crumbs and cream cheese to bowl with cauliflower. Season with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning. Thoroughly mix to form a stiff dough. Form arancini mix into 8 to 10 balls. 5. Heat about 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a large non-

This week’s recipe is inspired by a new mail-order cooking service I tried recently. It’s called Green Chef, and the hook is that it provides organic ingredients that are free of “synthetic pesticides, genetically modified organisms, artificial

ingredients and growth hormones or antibiotics.” That drew me in – and an email offer for four free meals. This particular service is interesting in that, unlike other recipe delivery services, such as Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, a lot of the work was already done. The recipe for Cauliflower Arancini

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APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 23

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stick pan over medium heat. Add arancini to hot pan. Sear two sides, 1 or 2 minutes each, or until browned.

6. Coat a foil-lined baking sheet with nonstick spray, or rub with a light coating of cooking oil. Transfer arancini to baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until warm in the center. 7. Meanwhile, cut off top and bottom of orange. Lay flat and remove peel with curved downward cuts, exposing flesh. Cut orange into bite-sized pieces. 8. Place baby spinach, red onions and orange in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine olive oil and red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour over salad. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat.

9. Spread basil pesto across one side of each plate. Top pesto with 4 to 5 cauliflower arancini. Serve orange and spinach salad on the side. Note: Use store-bought pesto, or make your own by adding 1 large minced garlic clove, 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt to a food processor and pulsing until smooth. Serves 2. Source: Adapted from a recipe by Green Chef

came with pregrated cauliflower “rice” and premade pesto. In the recipe above, we’re making it all from scratch, which means taking a whole head of cauliflower and turning it into a grainlike substance. Using cauliflower like this proves just how versatile the vegetable is; in this

preparation, it can be used in stirfries, simple side dishes and as a substitute for rice. By mixing it with cheese and bread crumbs and rolling it into balls, it mimics traditional arancini, rice balls that usually are deep-fried. This is a healthier and more complex-tasting version.

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Historic Garden Tour Is Tuesday On Tuesday, April 26, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. four home gardens in the City of Falls Church and another in North Arlington will welcome visitors participating in the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week tour. Advance tickets for the tour are $30 and can be purchased at vagardenweek.org. Day of tickets

will be $40 and can be obtained at the Falls Church Episcopal, 115 E. Fairfax, where maps, restrooms and complimentary refreshments will also be available on the tour day. Individuals are invited to tour the gardens within the alloted time frame on their own schedule at their leisure next Tuesday. The locations in the City

Falls Church Garden Tour Information

are 212 E. Jefferson (home of Barbara and Steve Cram), 203 N. Oak Street (home of Midge Wang, Terry and Wayne Knapp), 608 Timber Lane (home of Robert Young) and 312 E. Broad St. (home of Sam and Sandy Mabry). The home in Arlington is at 3405 N. Glebe Road (home of Tom Murray and Paul Paolini).

When: Tuesday, April 26, 10 a.m – 4 p.m. Cost: $30/person in advance; $40/person on tour day Tickets are available at vagardenweek.org/main/tickets. Tickets may be purchased on tour day at the Falls Church Episcopal, 115 E. Fairfax Street, Falls Church. More information on Historic Garden Week is available at www.VaGardenWeek.org

Local Gardens Tour 1. Birch House and Garden 312 E. Broad Street, Falls Church

Midge Wang, Terry & Wayne Knapp, owners

Sam and Sandy Mabry, owners

2. 3.

212 E. Jefferson Street, Falls Church

Barb and Steven Cram, owners

GARDEN CENTER MERCHANDISERS NEEDED! Come get your hands dirty, enjoy the summer weather and, earn a paycheck! If you spend TOO much time hanging out in the garden department of your local home improvement retailer, we have the summer job for you! Bell Nursery is one of the nation’s largest live good vendors, supplying the Home Depot with its beautiful flowers! Our Seasonal Merchandisers work in the garden departments, unloading and displaying product while providing customer service. Must be flexible for weekend work.

For job descriptions, locations & to submit your application go to:

www.bellnursery.com/careers

Mount Hope 203 Oak Street, Falls Church

608 Timber Lane Falls Church

Robert Young, owner

N. Glebe Road, Arlington 5. 3405 Tom Murray and Paul Paolini, owners

Native Plant Landscape Design

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Morales Landscape and Lawn Care

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APRIL 21 – 27, 2016 | PAGE 25

April

22 y

Frida

Eugene Mirman with Robyn Hitchcock Black Cat 9 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

202-667-7960 • blackcatdc.com

24 ay

Sund

Rita Wilson with Alexander Peters Wolf Trap 7:30 p.m. 1645 Trap Road, Vienna

703-255-1900 • wolftrap.com

Guitar Army The Birchmere 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria

703-549-7500 • birchmere.com

26 ay

d Tues

BY DREW COSTLEY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Creed Bratton, the actor who played a character named after himself on the American version of the legendary television show “The Office,” is coming to Vienna’s Jammin’ Java on Tuesday, April 26 for a night of comedy and music. He spoke to the News-Press the day after he performed in Scranton, Penn., where Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper company where “The Office’ took place, is located. As soon as Bratton, a former frontman for the 60s and 70s group The Grass Roots, got on the phone with the News-Press he began joking, asking how the ticket sales were going and how the dressing rooms at the venue were. That sort of light-hearted spirit was clearly embodied in Bratton’s character on “The Office,” who seemed to have absolute absurdity underpinning his existence, but he created the character out of a big what if in his life. “I created a character who asked ‘What would happen if Creed, the rock n’ roller from CREED BRATTON (left) with PF Sloan. (C�� P��) The Grass Roots, had stayed drinking and doing drugs and hadn’t cleaned up his act and series finale of “The Office,” when “All the [production assistant] would tell me when they gotten healthy,’” Bratton said. “So I had a sce- Faces,” an original tune written by him, was were ready.” Bratton said that songs would also nario where he has a blackout period and he’s used as the final song on the show. He said that come to him while he was on set during scenes on a Greyhound bus and next thing you know he tells the story of what it was like to have his where he’d have to be present despite not havhe’s in a dumpster in Scranton. And Ed Trucks song featured on the show’s finale at his show ing lines because of how the show was shot. at Jammin’ Java. He said that the show is a mix He offered songs like “Then I Think Of You” finds him and gives him a job in sales.” Bratton said that the show’s writers took the of stories, songs and flashes of him getting into and “Matters Like This,” which aren’t on Tell Me About It, as examples of tunes that came to character “to far greater heights,” which allowed character as his fictional alter ego. The same year that “The Office” ended, him on the set of “The Office.” him to have a ton of fun on the set of the show. “I And although he has been away from the would just get into him and just go nuts,” Bratton Bratton released a record called Tell Me About said. “Talk about chewing up the scenery. I had It, which was an audio biography in three parts, office of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper pieces of ottoman stuck to the back of my molars. with recently written songs and songs he wrote Company for a while now, the muse hasn’t left decades prior to the record’s release. “A lot of it him. He said that he recorded five songs earlier I would be crawling up and down the scenery.” One of his fellow actors on the show, B.J. had to do with sitting in the green room. I’d come this year in Los Angeles that he plans to either Novak, who also wrote on the show, said that on set, they’d call us from our trailers to work and release as an EP or roll into an LP, though he Bratton’s character on the show is exactly like there would be writers who would be busy and was leaning toward releasing it as an EP. the real-life person is, except Bratton’s fic- we wouldn’t start up right away,” Bratton said. • For more information about Creed “So I would just grab my guitar and go tional alter ego has a much darker side to him. Bratton’s worlds converged on the 2013 to the green room and just sit there and the Bratton, visit creedbratton.com.

Creed Bratton Jammin’ Java

These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week:

6:30 p.m.

 Nicholas Benton – Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd 

227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna

703-255-1566 • jamminjava.com



Jody Fellows – Rad Anthem by Rad Omen

Drew Costley – We Gonna Make It (Remix) by Jadakiss featuring Eve and Styles P

PAGE 26 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Now Available! To order, visit FCNP.com/frontpages1

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

N��-P��

TO LETTERS THE EDITOR Continued from Page 6

Tax Rate Should Be Compared to Arlington, Not Tysons Editor, If the citizens of the City of Falls Church would like to have insight into the City Manager’s fiscal attitude, as presented in the last week’s Falls Church News-Press rate hike article, do note his use of the real estate tax rate of the Tyson’s area, $1.49 (regular Fairfax County rate plus special Tyson’s taxing area assessment), to legitimize his rationale for adding two cents to the city’s proposed real estate tax rate $1.315 per $100 assessed value.

If he were being fair he should have also noted Arlington County’s current rate of $0.996 per thousand. Arlington is an area experiencing the same types of financial pressures as the city. Also note that Arlington is keeping its rate the same for calendar year 2016.

LE TTE RS So, why did he choose the Tyson’s/Fairfax County rate for comparison versus Arlington County’s? I think the citizenry can answer that themselves and will keep that answer in mind for the future. Additionally, recognition should be given to the Council members that are exercising overdue fiscal restraint in advocating no rate increase. Assessment increases should be enough to keep the city healthy. Neil Hopper Falls Church

APRIL 21 - 27 , 2016 | PAGE 27

[ TALK TO US ]

Got Beef? The News-Press wants to hear from you! Send us a letter or commentary and let us know what you think. The deadline for Letters to the Editor and Guest Commentaries is 5 p.m. Monday each week of publication. Letters to the Editor should be 350 words or less. Guest Commentaries should be limited to 800 words. All letters printed in the News-Press become property of the Falls Church NewsPress and may be edited for clarity and length.

Email letters@fcnp.com Fax 703-342-0347 Mail or drop off Letters to the Editor, c/o Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls Street #508, Falls Church, VA 22046 Include full name, address and telephone number with each submission. Anonymous submissions will not be printed.

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Help Wanted FARMERS MARKET ASSISTANT Flower farmer seeks cashier or bouquetmaker at Falls Church Saturday market, from 6:30 AM to 1:00 PM, starting April 30. $10/hour. Call Barbara (703)-431-8234.

DENTAL RECEPTIONIST General Dentist Office, Falls Church, VA, near West F.C. Metro. Computer/Math Skills Required. Hours: M-T-Th-F 9-4 PM. Email Resume with salary requirements to: jobs122@ yahoo.com SITE COORDINATOR needed at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack in Falls Church, VA to oversee the daily operations of the restaurant, manage staff, prepare work schedules, and assign specific duties. Must have Bachelor’s degree or foreign equiv in Business, Accounting, Economics, or a closely related field. Must have six months of experience in business management, including managing, organizing, and coordinating office operations, schedules, appointments, and bookings. Six months of experience preparing operational analysis and reports is also required. Send resumes to David Tax at 130 N. Washington Street, Falls Church, VA 22046.

Public Notice ABC LICENSE NAMASTE MARKET, LLC Trading as: Namaste Market, 2929 Gallows Road, Suite 130, Falls Church, Virginia 22042-1027. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer Off Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Hira Khatri, Member. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submit-

ted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the ﬁrst of two required

PUBLIC AUCTION In accordance with the Virginia Self Storage Act, section 55-419 F, notice is hereby given that the contents of the following rental storage spaces located at Fort Knox Self Storage will be offered for sale: 165 Mark Beemer. Sale will be held at: Fort Knox Self Storage 2933 Telestar Ct. Falls Church, VA 703-698-0022 Thursday, April 21 2016 1:00 p.m. TERMS: Cash/Credit Card Only Locks cut at auction.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

The ordinances referenced below were given first reading on March 28, 2016. Public hearings are scheduled for Monday, April 11 and Monday, April 25, 2016, with second reading and ﬁnal Council action scheduled for Monday, April 25, 2016 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matters may be heard. (TO16-05) ORDINANCE FIXING AND DETERMINING THE BUDGET OF EXPENDITURES AND REVENUES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2017: GENERAL FUND; SCHOOL OPERATING FUND; SCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICE FUND; AND SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE FUND; CABLE ACCESS FUND; SEWER FUND; AND STORMWATER FUND (TO16-06) ORDINANCE FIXING AND DETERMINING THE FY2017-FY2021 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM BUDGET AND APPROPRIATING EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE FUNDS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2017 (TO16-02) ORDINANCE SETTING THE RATE OF TAX LEVY ON REAL ESTATE FOR TAX YEAR 2017 The proposed real estate tax rate for the tax year beginning July 1, 2016 is: $1.34 upon each $100.00 of assessed value of real estate in the City of Falls Church. (TO16-03) ORDINANCE SETTING THE RATE OF TAX LEVY ON PERSONAL PROPERTY, MACHINERY AND TOOLS AND ALL OTHER PROPERTY SEGREGATED BY LAW FOR LOCAL TAXATION IN THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH VIRGINIA FOR TAX YEAR 2016

The proposed tax rate for tangible personal property, and machinery and tools, and all other property segregated by law for the tax year beginning January 1, 2016 is: $5.00 upon each $100.00 of assessed value on tangible personal property, and machinery and tools, and all other property segregated by law for local taxation within the City, including the property separately classiﬁed by Section 58.1-3500 et seq. of the Code of Virginia except such personal property as is exempted; and except that pursuant to Section 58.1-2606 of the Code of Virginia, a portion of assessed value of tangible personal property of public service corporations shall be taxed at the real estate rate. (TO16-04) ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 40-89 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH TO SET THE CIGARETTE TAX LEVY AND RATE Under the legal authority granted by VA §58.1-3830, City Code §40-89 is proposed to be amended to increase to the City cigarette tax from $0.75 for a package of 20 cigarettes to $0.85 for a package of 20 cigarettes, and from $0.0375 for each cigarette to $0.0425, effective July 1, 2016, is proposed. (TO16-07) ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 42, “UTILITIES,” TO REVISE SEWER RATES AND FEES AS OF JULY 1, 2016 Under the legal authority granted by VA §15.2-2119, an increase to the City sewer commodity rate from $9.73 per 1,000 gallons to $9.87 per 1,000 gallons is proposed, effective July 1, 2016. Adoption of a rate of $9.87 per 1,000 gallons would constitute an increase of $0.14 per 1,000 gallons used or an increase of 1.4%. (TO16-08) ORDINANCE TO SET THE STORMWATER UTILITY BILLING UNIT RATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHAPTER 42, ARTICLE VII OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA AS OF JULY 1, 2016 Under the legal authority granted by VA § 15.2-2114, an increase to the City stormwater utility unit billing rate from $18.00 per billing unit to $18.36 per billing unit annually is proposed, effective July 1, 2016. Adoption of a rate of $18.36 per billing unit would constitute an increase of $0.36 per billing unit or an increase of 2%. 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).

fcnp.com

CELESTE HEATH CITY CLERK newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

We are pledged to the letter and spirit 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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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Crossword

ACROSS

By David Levinson Wilk 1

48 51

53 57

54 59

Across 1. What this puzzle starts with that, by 70-Across, it's lost 5. Test ban subject, briefly

1. What this puzzle starts with that, by 70-Across, it’s lost 5. Test ban subject, briefly 10. Dealer’s enemy 14. ____ occasion (never) 15. Craze 16. Obama’s favorite character on “The Wire” 17. Locale of 1869’s Golden Spike 18. Process, as ore 19. ____ spell (rest) 20. Hands (out) 22. 24-hour period in which no one understands you when you say “Yes” to them in Japanese? 24. Italian diminutive suffix 25. Long time 27. Muse for Lord Byron 28. Lupita who won an Oscar for her role in “12 Years a Slave” 30. Radiator sound 33. Kobe Bryant’s team, on scoreboards 34. Loom 35. Biblical verb ending 36. Spydom’s ____ Hari 37. Ekes out a victory in a standup competition? 40. They may be cast-iron 43. Cut short 44. Got an eyeful 48. “Bravo!” to a torero 49. ____ Ren (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” character) 50. Do the watusi, e.g. 51. Computer hookup? 53. Vote in favor 54. Part of “btw” 55. Ones who make the sym-

APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 29

bol for the first element on the Periodic Table look really, really good? 59. Rx order 61. Meadow bird 62. “The Kelly File” anchor Kelly 64. It might be wild or dirty 65. Gen. Robt. ____ 66. Spring zodiac sign 67. ____ instant 68. UPS driver assignments: Abbr. 69. Three-country agreement of ‘94 70. Lacking 1-Across

DOWN

1. Historic figure whose gravestone features the emblem of the Society of American Magicians 2. Love, to hate? 3. How GIFs play 4. Architect Mies van der ____ 5. “____ Pinafore” 6. 1959 hit song “La ____” 7. Top draft status 8. In the 70s, say 9. Financial shellacking 10. Boot camp reply 11. “Star Wars” queen and senator 12. Sound of a woodpecker pecking 13. First sold in 1903, brand that promoted itself as being “for educational color work” 21. Signs, in Sorrento 23. Two-time loser to DDE 26. Dangerfield of “Caddyshack” 29. It might be late-breaking 30. Charlie ____ (French weekly

CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK

10. Dealer's enemy

Sudoku

in 2015 news) 31. Odd ending? 32. Pal of Scooby-Doo 36. Bryn ____ College 38. Subj. of the book “Live From New York” 39. Chris of MSNBC 40. Fey’s costar in 2015’s “Sisters” 41. Veteran sailor 42. Source of an essential oil with medicinal properties 45. Subject of Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke” 46. Unlikely to cheat 47. Part of a pool for diving 49. Kenan’s old partner on Nickelodeon 52. Rug rats 53. To date 56. Mogadishu-born supermodel 57. Lab fluids 58. End-of-week cry 60. Digs 63. Subj. of Snowden leaks Last Thursday’s Solution

M A N S A L O E E P I C D E D I D W I D E H E N O U T S E Y A Y M O R O Y O U G O M N I M A G S A S S T

D R E A M E A S Y A L I T E R C I D E A G I Y E A W A K E M P H D I D E A G I R S K E N R I D E E N I E E T T H E I S T E M S M O R E S E N E R O

J E D A I W A U I S T A A L D E D E A N N

A G E N T J

N A S S A U

E L I T E S

T W O F A C E D

O R W I N G S O W R O A K

By The Mepham Group

Level: 1 2 3 4

14. ____ occasion (never) 15. Craze 16. Obama's favorite character on "The Wire" 17. Locale of 1869's Golden Spike 18. Process, as ore 19. ____ spell (rest) 20. Hands (out)

22. 24-hour period in which no one understands you when you say "Yes" to them in Japanese? 24. Italian diminutive suffix 25. Long time

LOOSE PARTS

27. Muse for Lord Byron

DAVE BLAZEK

28. Lupita who won an Oscar for her role in "12 Years a Slave" Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle

NICK KNACK

4/24/16

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. © 2016 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

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PAGE 30 | APRIL 21 – 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

C�� C��

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 Y�� A�� N��-P�� Falls Church News-Press Vol. VI, No. 5 • April 18, 1996

Council Determines to Limit Tax Hike to 4.5 Cents On Real Estate In Final Budget Vote Monday The Falls Church City Council reached a consensus at a work session Monday night that it will limit tax increases to fund the FY97 Budget to the real estate tax, rejecting suggestions of hikes in personal property, meals or cigarette taxes in order to help keep the City’s businesses competitive with those of surrounding jurisdictions.

Pimmit Barn Continued from Page 18

“I would encourage the Park Authority to come down on the side of the citizens and work with them in a cooperative way. If there is strong opposition, I’m sure the

Girls Lacrosse Continued from Page 20

goal on a screaming sidearm shot that eluded the Titan goalie. Junior Maeve Donnelly scored the next Mason goal driving to the net with an assist from junior Sarah Lubnow and Lubnow followed three minutes later with her own goal. Regrettably, as the horn sounded at the end of the first half the Titans were holding a 9-4 lead against the Mason girls. During the intermission head coach Courtney Gibbons drew her team to the 20-yard line and laid out her game plan for the second half, and at the draw to start the second half the Lady Mustangs looked confident that they could still make this a competitive game. The Titans once again began with strong draw and ball control, passing their way down the field and scored 53 seconds into the half.

Girls Soccer

Continued from Page 20

slowed it down, so we just need to work on keeping that throughout the whole game.” But William Monroe’s defense was ready for the challenge, cutting off passes and pushing the ball into Mason’s half of the field with surges of their own complimented by a solid passing game that kept the Mustangs defense and sophomore goalkeeper Laura

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XVI, No. 7 • April 20, 2006

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

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

F.C. Tax Rate to Drop 2 Cents The Falls Church City Council put the final touches on its Fiscal Year 2006-07 budget at a work session Monday night and will come to this Monday’s meeting prepared to cast the official votes that will seal it. In Monday’s final meeting, City Manager Dan McKeever came forward with a list of small savings opportunities adding up to about $654,000 that will enable the council to lower the real estate tax from $1.03 per $100 of assessed valuation to $1.01.

Park Authority will look for alternatives.” The barn’s Friends are building forces and voices, enlisting support from McLean residents whose Youth Athletic League has rented the first floor of the barn for storage equipment for several years and report there’s nothing nearly as

cheap nearby to lease, according to a 2013 report from WAMU. Meanwhile, disagreements can’t stop fun in the park. Saturday, April 30 is free outdoor movie night at the Barn. The children’s film “Despicable Me” will be screened with free popcorn starting at 7:15 p.m.

Mason was not to be outdone as Lubnow scored her second of the game one minute later. Now the see-saw battle for control and defense was to begin. One minute after posting her second goal, Lubnow scored her third, but the Titans responded with two of their own a minute later making the score 12-6. The Mustangs were now feeling confident and began winning the draw. At the 17 minute mark sophomore Lizzie Dodge performed her customary crease roll and found the back of the net and Roche scored her second three minutes later to tighten the score to 12-8. The Titans scored at the 11 minute mark of the half but Dodge scored her second goal of the night on her first free position and sophomore Claire Hiscott placed another behind the Dominion goalie to make it a 13-10 game with 5:24 left in the game.

Although the Mustangs were feeling confident, rushed, errant and regrettable passes kept defeating their drives to the net to tie the game. Time was slowly running out for the Mustangs and with the Titans scoring a goal at the 3:35 mark and Mason down a player because of a yellow card foul, the Titans placed one more behind sophomore goaltender Annette Schlitt who was playing outstanding to keep her teammates close. Lubnow finished the scoring for Mason with her fourth goal of the game with 1:10 left but it wasn’t enough. The Mason girls had won the half scoring seven goals but fell in the end. The news wasn’t all bad for Mason, as they defeated Loudon County High School in 17-5 rout at Mason on Thursday, April 14. Mason’s next game is this Thursday at home against Loudoun Valley.

Whitaker on their toes. Both sides traded possessions for much of the contest, until Mason finally broke through with a goal of their own in the second half, prompting them to tighten up on defense and ensure the win. The victory over William Monroe will thicken plotlines as the season winds down and postseason tournaments begin, but Mason will have to rack up wins against some of their more lowly opponents like Rappahannock

County before they can start thinking about that. A 10-1 victory on April. 15 was Mason’s fourth straight to be ended under the mercy rule and helped the Mustangs build a head of steam going into their road game against William Monroe. The Panthers lone goal was the fifth allowed by Whitaker all season. The Mustangs are home for the next week, hosting Clarke County High School on April 22 before playing Warren County again on April 26.

THIS IS ONE UNDER, a member of a family of birds that have made a nest inside the roofing of a shed at a home in South Arlington’s Nauck community, enjoying the late winter brush before going home to join their family. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

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APRIL 21 - 27, 2016 | PAGE 31

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Directory Listings: Call Us at 703-532-3267

ACCOUNTING

Diener & Associates, CPA.. . . . . . . . . 241-8807 Eric C. Johnson, CPA, PC . . . . . . . . . 538-2394 Mark Sullivan, CPA. . . . . . . . . . . 571-214-4511 HBC Tax and Accounting . . . . . . . . . . 459-6794 Hahn & Associates, PC, CPAs. . . . . . 533-3777 n

ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES

Falls Church Antique Company . . . . . 241-7074 Antique Annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-9642 n

ATTORNEYS

Mark F. Werblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9300 Sudeep Bose, Former Police Officer. 926-3900 Janine S. Benton, Esq. . . . . . . . . . . .992-9255 n

AUTOMOTIVE

Beyer Volvo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5000 Koons Used Car Outlet . . . . . . . . . . . 533-3363 n

BANKING

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.. . . 519-1634 BB&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-3505 TD Bank/www.TDBank.com. . . . . . . . 237-2051 n

BOOK BINDING

BCR Binders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-9181

3 months - $150 6 months - $270 1 year - $450

BUSINESS DIRECTORY n

CLEANING SERVICES

Maid Brigade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823-1922 Acclaimed Carpet Cleaning . . . . . . . . 978-2270 Claure. Zenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571-235-4295 A Cleaning Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892-8648 n

Vantage Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241-0565 Jazzercise Falls Church. . . . . . . . . . . 622-2152 n

EQUIPMENT RENTAL/SALE

EYEWEAR

Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-6500 n

FRAMES

GIFTS

Stifel & Capra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-0770 n

HANDYMAN

Doug’s Handyman Service. . . . . . . . . 556-4276 Your Handyman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571-243-6726

LAWN CARE

All numbers have a ‘703’ prefix unless otherwise indicated.

REAL ESTATE

Merelyn Kaye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .790-9090x218 www.helpfulmortgage.us . . . . . . . . . . 237-0222 Casey O’Neal - ReMax . . . . . . . . . . . 824-4196 Rosemary Hayes Jones. . . . . . . . . . .790-1990 The Young Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .356-8800 Tori McKinney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867-8674 Shaun Murphy, Realtor . . . . . . . . . . . 868-5999

MEDICAL

Academy of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938-8054 Foxes Music Co . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533-7393

PHOTOGRAPHY

Gary Mester, Event, Portraits. . . . . . . 481-0128 Mary Sandoval Photography . . . 334-803-1742

MASSAGE

MUSIC

PHARMACY

Broad Street Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . 533-9013

INSURANCE

Dr Gordon Theisz, Family Medicine. . 533-7555

PET SERVICES

Apex Pet Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532-8012 Feline Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 920-8665

www.healthybyintention.com.. . . . . . . 534-1321

Art & Frame of Falls Church . . . . . . . 534-4202

OPTOMETRIST

Dr. Alison Sinyai, Family Eye Care . . 533-3937 n

Morales Lawn Care . . . . . . . . . . 571-221-4330 Lawn and Landscape Services . . . . . 691-2351

FLORISTS

Falls Church Florist, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . 533-1333 n

Allstate Home Auto Life Ins. . . . . . . 241-8100 State Farm Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . 237-5105

VA Outdoor Power Equipment . . . . . . 207-2000 n

HOME IMPROVEMENT

FC Heating & Air Service . . . . . . . . . . 534-0630 Joseph Home Improvement. . . . . . . . 507-5005 Picture Perfect Home Improvements 590-3187 One Time Home Improvement. . . . . . 577-9825

DENTISTS

Family Dentistry, Nimisha V Patel . . . 533-1733 Dr. William Dougherty . . . . . . . . . . . 532-3300 n

HEALTH & FITNESS

1 Line Maximum

(30 characters + Ph. #, incl. spaces)

TAILOR

Tailor Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534-8886

PAGE 32 | APRIL 21 - 27, 2016

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

RE/MAX West End Open Sunday 2-4pm

Open Sunday 2-4pm

For Sale

7035 Haycock Road #C | Falls Church

2 BD/2 BA condo (no steps), 2 garage spaces and storage, updated kitchen and large laundry room. Walk to WFC Metro and shops. Haycock, Longfellow, McLean Schools. Offered at $425,000

7025 Haycock Rd #F | Falls Church City

603 N West St, Falls Church City

Exceptional 2 level 2 BD/2.5BA townhouse style condo. Recently updated with HW floors, new appliances and private patio. 2 Garage spaces and storage. Updated Price: $575,000

Wonderful 4 level classic colonial, 5 BD/4.5 BA w/ detached 2-car garage walking distance to downtown. Large yard, gazebo and FCC Schools! Offered at $1,265,000

Under Contract

Louise Molton

Gorgeous historic home on almost 1/3 acre featuring 4 BD/3 BA w/stunning high-end renovations throughout. Walk to everything! By Appt. Offered at $1,400,000

Phone: 703 244-1992 louise@moltonrealestate.com

Lovely updated 1 BD/1 BA condo in Idylwood Towers. Hardwood floors, new kitchen and balcony. Offered at $204,900

Under Contract

Coming Soon

Under Contract

2311 Pimmit Dr #412 | Falls Church

ct Contra ! ys a D 4 in

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900 Park Ave, Falls Church City

7202 Deborah Dr | Falls Church

Wonderful 3 BD/2 BA two level craftsmanstyle home with private master suite addition overlooking the perfectly landscaped yard. Upper level deck with spectacular views and quiet cul de sac. McLean High School! Offered at $649,000

118 Tollgate Way | Falls Church City

Outstanding town home in highly desired Tollgate. Don’t miss this one, almost 3,500 sq ft. Spectacular details including private, serene patio w/ waterfall and pond!

7217 Arthur Dr | Falls Church

Falls Church ...Looking for a turn key onelevel home? This is the one! Remarkable 3 BD/2.5 BA rambler expanded and remodeled with no expense spared. McLean High School! Offered at $625,000

2710 Farnsworth Dr | Alexandria

Beautiful, updated 2 BD/1 BA duplex 3 blocks from Huntington Metro. Offered at $399,000

710 W Broad St, Falls Church VA 22046 ~ 571-282-3732 Each Office Independently Owned and Operated

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REALTOR

Contact Bethany for all your real estate needs.

McLean Sales Office 1355 Beverly Rd Ste 109 McLean, VA 22101 703-790-1990 office

Thinking about selling?

PLEASE JOIN ME FOR A FREE SHREDDING EVENT

Call me for a discussion about how to get your home ready for the spring market! Take a look at my new website- where you can search for homes, view my new Falls Church & McLean videos, and more!

C 1910 Elegant, beautifully updated 4 BR, 3.5 BA historic home on huge, gorgeous lot. Original wood floors and mouldings, pocket doors, 9+ ft ceilings, large, gracious rooms, 2 gas Fireplaces (1 in Master BA), stunning eat in Kitchen, butler’s pantry, gorgeous Dining Room, 3 story Tower with balcony houses office/studio. Hurry! $1,650.000.

www.buyandsellwithBethany.com Beautiful, large open floor plan. Huge addition w updated kit. 5BR/3BA, 2 car garage. Over one half acre. Sales Price $949,000. UNDER CONTRACT

(Westmoreland St. parking lot)

Falls Church, VA 22043 Please bring up to four boxes of your sensitive files to be destroyed while you watch. Boxes should contain only files, and file-related material. There is no need to remove staples, paper clips, folders, or binder clips.

2114 Great Falls St. Falls Church, VA 22043 Lovely and spacious floor plan in this beautiful home. 5BR/3.5BA home on full acre of land in Langley HS pyramid.

Merelyn Kaye

McEnearney Associates Home Office 703-362-1112 See Photos at www.kayes.com e-mail: merelyn@kayes.com

Saturday, April 30th from 9am-12pm at Haycock Elementary School. 6616 Haycock Road,

OPEN SUNDAY 2:00-4:00pm.

7601 Burford Drive, McLean VA 22102

Beautifully updated 3 level town home in Herndon near golf course and W&OD trail. 3BR/3.5BA end unit. $392,000 OPEN SUNDAY 12:00-2:00pm.

1041 Trevino Lane, Herndon VA 20170