April 27 – May 3, 2017
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I I No. 10
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Rt. 7 Nighttime Road Work Starts Sunday
The work will take place along W. Broad St. from West. St. to Washington St., and on E. Broad St. from Washington St. to Roosevelt St. commencing this Sunday and lasting until the end of May. See News Briefs, page 8
Shining a Light on Child Sexual Abuse
F.C. Council Votes 4-3 to Add 1.5¢ To FY18 Budget for School Reserve Sharp Division in Final Vote Despite Compromise on $
by Nicholas F. Benton
A workshop co-sponsored by Darkness to Light and We Support the Girls was held Tuesday in the City of Falls Church focused on protecting children from sexual abuse.
Falls Church News-Press
See page 4
David Leonhardt: The Urgency of Ethnic Nationalism
A virulent nationalism, tinged with bigotry, is on the rise across much of the world. It helped elect Narendra Modi in India and sustains Vladimir Putin in Russia. It has vaulted Marine Le Pen to the final round of the French election. See page 21
Mason Boys Roll With 2 Shutouts
The George Mason High School’s boys soccer team scored two straight shutouts last week, topping Warren County, 8-0, on Tuesday and Clarke County, 3-0, on Friday. See Sports, page 22
U.S. REP. DON BEYER BEGAN his day-long visit to Falls Church last Friday at the innovative Viget, where he was given a tour by co-owners Brian Williams and Andy Rankin. (Photo: News-Press)
Beyer Spends Day in F.C., Hails F.C Resident’s Release in Egypt
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.16–17 Comment.. 18–19, 21 Business News....20 Food & Dining......25
Calendar........26–27 Classified Ads......28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner.......30
Our congressman, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr., who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, spent the last day of a spring congressional recess Friday touring four important entities in and around Falls Church. There was a little extra bounce in his step as the news came shortly before his arrival that Falls Church resident Ali Hijazi had been released
by the Egyptian government after being held without formal charges for three years. Beyer played a big role in bringing pressure to bear from the U.S. concerning her case. The day began last Friday with personalized tours of two local small but innovative businesses right in downtown Falls Church, Viget, a digital agency, and New Editions Consulting. In the afternoon, Beyer’s tour continued to the Columbia Baptist Church’s food pantry at its satellite facility in the Culmore sec-
tion of Greater Falls Church, and then to the robotics team at Falls Church High School. In addition to a half-hour exclusive interview with the News-Press at Panera Bread, Beyer stopped by the headquarters of his family-owned business, run in partnership with his brother, long-time City resident Mike Beyer. For years known as Don Beyer Volvo, named for the brothers’ dad, it has recently
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The Falls Church City Council Monday night, by a 4-3 vote, adopted an $87.4 million budget for the coming 2018 fiscal year with a 1.5-cent increase in the real estate tax rate from $1.315 to $1.33 per $100 of assessed valuation. The entirety of the increase, amounting to $600,000, will go to a reserve fund to help defray future costs for a new high school. Under the terms adopted, the operating budgets of the City and the schools absorb a $137,000 cut below their initial requests. The reserve fund issue was clearly the main bone of contention on the Council, and has been for weeks. In a compromise move, Vice Chair Marybeth Connelly moved the adoption of the budget with the reserve fund component cut in half from City Manager Wyatt Shields’ original recommendation, from $1.2 million to $600,000 (or 3 cents to 1.5). While Connelly and three other Council members — Letty Hardi, Karen Oliver and David Snyder — were willing to go along with the compromise, three other Council members — Mayor David Tarter, Phil Duncan and Dan Sze — stuck to their guns to oppose any added money to the reserve fund and voted no. This sets the table for many more tough decisions by the City Council in the coming months, especially the amount that it will put on a school bond referendum that will be on the November ballot to fund the new high school, assuming they go ahead with the referendum this year.
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