July 2 - 8, 2015
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • Vol. XXV N o . 19
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week W. Broad Burger King Set to Close Soon
The Burger King on W. Broad St. in downtown Falls Church, a fixture at its current location since the early 1970s, will close within about three weeks, the News-Press learned Tuesday. See News Briefs, page 8
Falls Church Area Man Found Dead
A body found in a pond near Kingstowne Village Parkway in Alexandria last Saturday was later identified by authorities as 36-year-old Falls Churcharea resident Kenneth Duane Bernhardt.
Major National Developer Joins Team To Build 4.3-Acre ‘Mason Row’ Project Mill Creek Used to L et the G ames B egin Be Trammel Crow, New Plans Ready
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
“I’ve never understood why conservatives, of all people, would be opposed to people lining up and fighting for the opportunity to join the inherently conservative institution of marriage. Couples want to marry – to make lifelong promises to be exclusively loyal to one another, to be faithful to each other as long as they both shall live. And some people oppose that? Couples want – to
The signing on of the highpowered Mill Creek Residential as co-owner partners for the Mason Row project has been a shot in the arm for the Spectrum Development team, which is now due to resubmit its ambitious plan the middle of next week for the development of 4.3 acres on the northeast corner of the central Falls Church intersection of W. Broad and N. West Streets. Mill Creek is the new name for the national powerhouse builder the Dallas, Texas-based Trammell Crow, which chose to re-brand itself in 2010 after the post-2006 great recession devastated its business, taking it from 27,167 multifamily units, nationwide, in the 2006-2008 time frame to zero in 2009, according to a report in the Multifamily Executive magazine. Over the past three decades, Trammel Crow/Mill Creek has participated in the development of over 250,000 apartment units and has executed over $15 billion in transactions since 1993. Its executive management team averages 30 years of industry experience and the company employs over 300 associates nationwide. Peter Batten of the Vienna, Virginia-based Spectrum Development who has been the face of the Mason Row project since its first submission in February 2014, told the NewsPress yesterday that “We’re extremely excited” with how a reconfiguration of the Mason Row project, in response to concerns from stakeholder citizens and City Hall, has turned out, with a big assist from the Mill Creek team.
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See News Briefs, page 8
David Brooks: The Next Culture War
Christianity is in decline in the United States. The share of Americans who describe themselves as Christians and attend church is dropping. Evangelical voters make up a smaller share of the electorate. See page 14
Press Pass with The Ebony Hillbillies
Hailing from New York, a curious place for a string band to reside, The Ebony Hillbillies are kicking off The Alden Theatre and McLean Community Center’s Summer Sunday Concerts in the Park series on July 5. See page 25
THE WASHINGTON AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT hockey team defends its goal during its match against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the Reston Skatequest last Saturday. The game was one of the opening-weekend events part of the World Police and Fire Games taking place around the region. The world’s second-largest international sporting competition will continue until Monday, July 5. See stories, page 11. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)
2 F.C. Church Leaders Differ Sharply On Marriage Equality Court Decision by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 22 News & Notes.12-13 Comment........14-17 Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining......23
Business News....27 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
The rectors of Falls Church’s two Protestant congregations that have been at serious odds with each other for the better part of a decade, the Falls Church Anglican, the bulk of whose members defected from the historic Falls Church in 2006, and the “Continuing Episcopalians” who endured a seven-year legal battle to force the Anglicans out and to
reclaim the historic church site for themselves, differed sharply on the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Friday that established marriage equality (including between same-sex couples) as the law of the land. The Rev. John Ohmer of the Falls Church Episcopal, which is now solidly established at the historic church, issued the following statement, sent to the News-Press Sunday: Statement of Rev. John Ohmer