May 30 – June 5, 2019
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXIX NO. 15
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The 20th season of the Cappies Awards, the region-wide program that recognizes and celebrates high school theater and journalism, saw 394 student critics from 60 member schools vote the 20182019 award recipients announced and honored at a sold-out gala in the concert hall at the Kennedy Center Monday night.
Hardi Announces Bid for Re-Election to F.C. City Council, All Incumbents to Run
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November Election
Requires Filing Soon For Local Races
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
lenges seriously, mounting aggressive campaigns of their own to maintain their incumbencies. For Saslaw, re-election to the 31st State Senate seat that includes the City of Falls Church, means a real shot at becoming the Senate majority leader in Richmond, as his party has pulled within a single seat of taking control of that body.
With the June 11 deadline to file now less than two weeks away, first-term Falls Church City Council member Letty Hardi announced on Facebook last week her plans to seek a second fouryear term in this November’s election. Her eagerly-awaited decision means that all three incumbents whose seats will be up in the coming election will be running again, including Mayor David Tarter and Council member Phil Duncan. Hardi’s announcement came on the eve of the City’s annual Memorial Day Parade and Festival last Monday when thousands of City residents joined thousands more from throughout the region to enjoy the festivities, and ample opportunities presented themselves for the circulation of petitions to secure the 120 valid signatures of registered City voters required to qualify for the ballot. Hardi was among those carrying her petition forms on a clipboard in her hand that day, as well as at a Falls Church Chamber of Commerce social mixer Tuesday afternoon. Other prospective candidates were seen seeking petition signatures for the three slots that will be contested on the City Council and on the School Board, and according to the City’s Voter Registrar office, a total of six prospective candidates have submitted their petitions so far and three have been certified for the ballot so far.
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SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8
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A 41-year-old man died Tuesday night after being electrocuted while he was trimming trees in the Falls Church area of Fairfax. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 8
M���� D���� E��� R��������� �� R������� Adversity came in an unexpected form and one game sooner than anticipated for George Mason High School’s boys soccer team as it downed East Rockingham High School, 15-0, on Memorial Day.
MEMBERS OF AMERICAN LEGION POST 130 wave to the crowd during the parade at the City of Falls Church Memorial Day Festival this past Monday. In a truck driven by Sons of The American Legion member Steve Sisler, of Sislers Stone, Post 130 spearheaded the procession up Park Avenue in front of a crowd who enjoyed some of the best weather the Little City’s festival had seen in many years. More Falls Church Memorial Day photos on pages 12 – 13. (P����: J. M������ W�����)
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Commonwealth Attorney Race Unusually Contested on June 11
SEE SPORTS, PAGE 16
The Mason High girls soccer team blanked Clarke County in its regular season finale and looks towards the district tournament, starting next week. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 12
INDEX
Editorial...............6 Letters.................6 News & Notes10–11 Comment ...14–15 Sports .............. 16 Calendar ...18–19
Classified Ads .. 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ....... 21 Crime Report ... 22 Critter Corner... 22 Business News 23
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The June 11 Democratic primary in Falls Church, Arlington and environs features two hotlycontested races where incumbents are being challenged by new faces on the political scene who want to represent their party in the November general election. For State Senate, veteran Dick
Saslaw is being challenged by two opponents, Yasmine Taeb and Karen Torrent, both with Falls Church addresses. For Commonwealth Attorney, in a run for an office that is seldom contested vigorously, incumbent Theo Stamos is faced with a stiff challenge from public defender Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. Saslaw and Stamos, both, have taken their electoral chal-