A pr il 7 - 1 3 , 2016
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I N o. 7
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week 4 F.C. Businesses Burgled in 4 Days
Four Falls Church businesses were broken into and robbed over the span of four days, police reported this week, though only two of the burgalries are being investigated as possibly connected. See News Briefs, page 9
Food News: New Thai in F.C. & Free Empanadas Falls Church gets a new restaurant with Lucky Thai, Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken hooks up a couple Nationals home-opener specials today and free empanadas at Pollo Campero Friday.
6-Block W. Broad Strip May Add $14 Million in Annual Taxes, Report Says Growth To the District Championship Commercial Potential Explosive, F.C. Planners Say
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
night, Mayor Tarter said the 25th anniversary marks “an important milestone and achievement that reflects deep commitment and dedication.” Tarter noted that “along with coverage of local and national issues, the Falls Church NewsPress provides the community service of being the newspaper of record for the City of Falls
Depending on the scale and type of development anticipated for the West Broad Street commercially-zoned six-block strip between Little Falls Street and the W&OD trail, total net fiscal impacts to the City of Falls Church could be in the range of an additional $5.9 million to $14.2 million in annual tax revenues, the latest iteration of the City’s planners’ “small area plan” for the area suggests. This whopping addition to the plan, which has been before the City Council for consideration for the last two months, had the effect of a small, if muffled, glitter bomb going off at Monday’s Council work session. The work session Monday dealt with many nitty-gritty issues on the $87 million budget for the coming fiscal year that it is now considering, but an underlying theme of can-do optimism and amazing potential seeped through the deliberations with the projections about the fiscal potential of the mid-section of West Broad. Presented as a rather off-hand comment amid a short presentation on revisions to the West Broad Street Area Plan, F.C. Principal Planner Paul Stoddard noted that being added to the public narrative on the vision for the commercially-zoned area was a projection that it could be developed to add the eye-popping range of new revenues. Council member Phil Duncan zeroed in on that comment, saying that if the Falls Church taxpaying public appreciated that, it would
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See Food News, page 23
Paul Krugman: Cities for Everyone
Remember when Ted Cruz tried to take Donald Trump down by accusing him of having “New York values”? It didn’t work, of course, mainly because it addressed the wrong form of hatred. See page 14
Press Pass with Eve 6
A lot has changed for Eve 6, the pop punk/alternative rock outfit from Southern California who had a series of smash hits in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. See page 25
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12-13 Comment......... 14-17 Business News....18 Sports..................20
Food & Dining......23 Calendar.........26-27 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
MEMBERS OF GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL Robotics Team 1418 had a chance to meet with senior military and industrial information technology personnel at the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association NOVA Chapter’s annual Army IT Day last week. Here, robotics teammembers Matthew Puentes (left), Carter Fendley (second from left), Jacob Bruner (right) and Gaby Castaneda (second from right) meet U.S. Army Major General Paul Funk. Mason’s Team 1418 heads to the University of Maryland this weekend to compete at the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship. (Photo: courtesy Mike Winters)
Rep. Beyer Hails News-Press’ 25 Year Contribution at Fête
U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr., who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church, raised a toast to the 25th anniversary of the Falls Church News-Press before more than 100 gathered to celebrate the occasion last Thursday night at the City’s Ireland’s Four Provinces restaurant. Beyer, who had just become Virginia’s lieutenant governor when the News-Press was found-
ed by its continuing owner and editor-in-chief Nicholas F. Benton in March 1991, said “the NewsPress deserves the greatest degree of credit for helping create our own Falls Church sense of community.” Beyer was joined in his salutations to the News-Press by Falls Church Mayor David Tarter and State Delegate Marcus Simon. In a letter to Benton that he read to the assembled Thursday