Jun e 9 - 1 5 , 2 0 1 6
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 No. 16
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Fellows Property Re-Designation Mulled
The Falls Church City Council studied the method for a changing in the City’s Comprehensive Plan designation of the 1.9-acre Fellows tract which it is slated to vote on this coming Monday night. See News Briefs, page 9
F.C. Council Votes Monday on Plan To ‘Decouple’ Campus Land Project Farewell to the Buschows
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See pull out inside
David Brooks: Let’s Have A Better Culture War
KATHY AND BARRY BUSCHOW (left and second to left), for decades prominent lights in the City of Falls Church, were honored at a reception last Friday night as they prepare their departure to their next chapter in Culpepper, Virginia. Barry has been a leading member of the Village Preservation Society, the Rec and Parks Advisory Board and the Friends of the W&OD Trail, and Kathy served for years at the City’s official clerk. (Photo: Gary Mester)
Press Pass with Boy & Bear
Kensington to Open Sales Site, Harris Teeter Launches July 27
See page 25
by Nicholas F. Benton
Editorial..................6 Letters................6, 8 News & Notes.10-11 Comment...12-14, 19 Calendar.........26-27 Sports..................20
The Kensington Assisted Living facility will be opening the doors of its information center at 1212 W. Broad St. (former location of the ABC store) next Thursday, June 16, with a by-invitation-only reception that night, the City of Falls Church’s Economic Development Office reported Tuesday. The Kensington building going up at the former site of the Burger King
After fans kept coming at shows and saying how they really loved hearing them live, the indie rock band Boy & Bear attempted to achieve that same sound on its latest album.
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Business News....22 Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
in the 700 block of W. Broad is expected to be ready for moving in early 2017. The other big news coming from the Economic Development Office Tuesday, is the target date for the opening of the flagship Harris Teeter supermarket in downtown Falls Church, which is July 27. The store, as its signs are already touting, will be open 24 hours a day. According to the EDO, the store will hire 76 full-time employees and 98 part-time employees, and
Falls Church News-Press
over 40 percent of the apartments above that store were already leased as of May 26. Construction of the new restaurant coming to the 200 block of Park Avenue (the former Blue and Grey building) less than a block from City Hall is due to commence later this month, and plans for the exterior renovation of the vacant Southgate Shopping Center on Fairfax St. across from the historic Falls Church Episcopal
A special program for the 23rd annual Tinner Hill Blues Festival taking place this weekend throughout The Little City is inside this issue of the News-Press.
See page 12
by Nicholas F. Benton
After a lengthy discussion Tuesday night, the Falls Church School Board deadlocked, 3-3, in a vote on whether to discontinue the current Public-Private Education Partnership approach to developing the 36-acres of West End school campus property. The matter will now come before the Falls Church City Council for a vote on Monday night, and as Tom Horn, the legal counsel to the School Board, stated Tuesday, if either body — the City or the Schools — votes to terminate the partnership process, then it is terminated. The alternative, the termination of the current process and a “de-coupling” of the educational facilities development from the 10 acres that have been designated for commercial development, was strongly advocated Tuesday night by School Board members Erin Gill, who made the motion, and her colleagues Phil Reitinger and Lawrence Webb. On the other side of the vote were School Board chair Justin Castillo, vice chair John Lawrence and Margaret Ward. Michael Ankuma was absent. Lawrence conceded that he felt the decoupling option would be inevitable, however. The action Tuesday was the first official meeting following a special joint work session of the School Board and Council Thursday morning, when the first consideration of a significant departure from the process to develop the 36-acre parcel was discussed in an open, public session.
Tinner Hill Blues Fest Guide Inside
The laws commanding where transgender people go to the bathroom show how the culture war has devolved into an overpoliticized set of gestures designed to push people’s emotional hot buttons.
May End Process With 2 Bidders for New High School