July 2 1 - 2 7 , 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. XXVI NO. 22
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In the wake of Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s executive order restoring voting rights to former felons, local organizations are teaming up for a voter registration drive for this Saturday in Arlington. SEE PAGE 5
Vote Today at BestOfFC.com! For details, see page 8
Virginia Underestimates Payroll Tax Revenues, Budget Growth Falters Del. Simon Tells F.C. Chamber of Slow Growth Challenges
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
H����� T����� O������ I� F.C. N��� W�������� Harris Teeter announced this week that its West Broad location will open to the public on Wednesday, July 27 at an 8 a.m. grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony and in-store sampling. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
D���� B�����: T���� G������ E��� T�������! Does anybody else have the sense that Donald Trump is slipping off the rails?
SEE PAGE 14
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The City of Falls Church’s 24th annual Summer Concerts in the Park series, produced by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society, is a series of performances with bands and musicians with connections to The Little City. SEE PAGE 25
VIENNA MAYOR LAURIE DIROCCO and Falls Church Mayor David Tarter (foreground, left to right) sat across from Fairfax City Mayor Scott Silverthorne (in back, between them) at Tuesday’s threejurisdiction celebration of solar energy gains in Northern Virginia. (P����: N���-P����)
3 N. Virginia Jurisdictions Gather To Celebrate Solar Energy Gains BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
INDEX Editorial.................6 Letters...................6 News & Notes 10-11 Comment ........ 14-17 Business News ...19 Calendar ........20-21
Food & Dining.....23 Classified Ads ....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Critter Corner......30
The leadership of three Northern Virginia jurisdictions – the City of Falls Church, City of Fairfax and Town of Vienna – gathered over a meal Tuesday night in downtown Fairfax City to celebrate a successful annual campaign to advance the uses and benefits of solar power in the region. The gathering marked the culmination of a friendly competition between the jurisdictions
to see who could get the greatest number of citizens to sign up for the Spring 2016 Solarize Northern Virginia effort. The program, run by the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) in partnership with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and the three participating jurisdictions, provided those who signed up with free solar assessments of their home locations, free home energy check-ups, and the ability to purchase solar photovoltaic systems
at discounted prices with prenegotiated contracts. Overall, this year’s campaign produced 464 new solar assessments and 27 contracts for solar, with a total construction value of $710,092. The host of Tuesday’s gathering, the City of Fairfax, won the friendly competition with 217 sign-ups, to 129 for the City of Falls Church and 118 for the Town of Vienna. The mayors of all three juris-
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In the wake of the Great Recession and federal budget sequestration, Virginia finished the fiscal year on June 30 with considerably less in revenues than earlier projected. The modest 1.7 percent general fund revenue growth was almost half the 3.2 percent that was projected when the coming two years’ budget was adopted in the spring. Del. Marcus Simon, who represents the 53rd State Assembly district that includes the City of Falls Church, told the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon this week that as a result “everything is on hold” in terms of any new spending until a process for making necessary adjustments is put into place. It means that raises for public employees, including in areas of the state heavily reliant on the state for funding their schools, that were voted in the spring are now stalled at least until September, Simon said. Consultations by legislators with Virginia Finance Secretary Ric Brown have been underway, and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates will meet on Aug. 15 to develop a new forecast that will inform revisions that the legislature will make after Labor Day, Simon said. Still, Gov. Terry McAuliffe noted that 135,000 net new jobs were created in Virginia in the last year and yesterday announced that homelessness is down by 10.5 percent, including down by 17 percent for family homelessness.
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