May 9 - 15, 2013
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Inside This Week Mason High Tops Again in Virginia
Among traditional public schools in Virginia and the greater Washington, D.C. area, Falls Church’s George Mason High School is ranked No. 1, according to a Newsweek Magazine-The Daily Beast study out this week. See NewS BriefS, page 9
Anthony’s to Close; Last Day June 2
On the eve of a final approval of a new large scale mixed use project on the site of the legendary 40-year Falls Church institution, Anthony’s Restaurant, Ted Akis, son of founders Tony and Faye Yiannarakis, issued a statement announcing that the restaurant will be permanently closing.
CBC Panel Tonight Marks Kickoff of F.C. Council, School Board Races H onoring L ocal B usiness
Press Pass with Beth Hart
When Beth Hart left the stage at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors after performing a soulstirring rendition of “I’d Rather Go Blind” in tribute to legendary bluesman Buddy Guy, she didn’t realize the impact she’d made.
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IN RECOGNITION OF their continued partnership with Falls Church City Public Schools, a number of local businesses and organizations were included in the 2013 Virginia School Boards Association Business Honor Roll, along with many others from across the state and were recognized by the Falls Church School Board (standing behind the honorees) at its meeting Tuesday night. This is a new recognition being instituted for the first time this year. (Photo: News-Press)
What’s at Stake in Va. Lieutenant Governor Race: Control of Senate
See page 25
by Nicholas F. Benton
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News.&.Notes.10-11 Comment........12-15 Business.News....16 Sports..................18
The hotly-contested race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor this year has a lot more at stake than may meet the eye at first. For a lot of people, even otherwise savvy political types, this may not yet be clear. Take the event of the Northern Virginia Democratic Business Council last Friday at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner. The two candidates vying for the Dem nod
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Calendar.........20-21 Food.&.Dining.22-24 Classified.Ads......26 Comics,.Sudoku.& Crossword...........29 Critter.Corner.......30
that will be decided in a June 11 primary, State Sen. Ralph Northam and Aneesh Chopra, were on hand for a friendly exhibition of their contesting candidacies. A question came from the audience about the role of the lieutenant governor in Richmond. Northam, a State Senator from Tidewater, quipped that he and his rival both looked that up on Google the night before, which drew some laughs. In other words, he intimated, the duties of the job were rather
Falls Church News-Press
esoteric and insignificant, even for folks from Falls Church whose native son, Don Beyer, Jr., was twice elected to that post in the 1990s. But such an obscure definition of the job, even by those now seeking it, couldn’t be farther from the practical truth. The biggest part of the lieutenant governor’s job is to preside over the State Senate and, in the event of a 20-20 tie vote (there are
Maureen Dowd: America’s Military Injustice
See page 13
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church’s foremost and venerable civic organization, the 54-year-old Citizens for a Better (CBC) in recent years opted out of the process of vetting, endorsing and campaigning for candidates for local elections here. But they’re not entirely detached from the process of the upcoming election of four (out of seven) Falls Church City Council candidates and five (out of seven) School Board candidates. That will become evident tonight (May 9) when the CBC hosts a “How to Become a Candidate” forum at the American Legion Post 130 hall on N. Oaks St. It will be a very important Council election, in particular, because with all the split votes on the City budget and other matters in the last year, the outcome in November could tilt the majority significantly in one direction or the other. The single most important issue is the City’s ability and willingness to fund its first-rate school system which has faced extraordinary needs with its explosive, record-breaking pace of enrollment growth the last five years. So, it’s hardly suprising that local politics watchers will be craning their necks to see who shows up, and who doesn’t, at tonight’s forum. After all, there is only a month to go until the filing deadline (June 11) for candidates to run in the November election. Of course, the requirements are fairly simple: 125 valid signatures
See NewS BriefS, page 9
Along with a boosted Buick LeSabre, another incident listed on a crime report Sunday in Arlington County, Va., was a creepy attack by a man on a woman.
June 11 Deadline Looms for Local Election Hopefuls