July 3 - 9, 2025
Falls Church, Virginia • w w w . fc n p . c o m • Free
Founded 1991 • Vol. XXXV N o . 21
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
F.C. Hits the DIM THE LIGHTS FOR ACTION! Big Time with Paragon & Whole Foods Will The Little City Brand Itself a ‘Restaurant Row?’ by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The combination of events were the February opening of the massive new flagship Whole Foods supermarket at Broad and Washington and the opening just this week of the seven-screen Paragon movie theater complex in Founder’s Row at W. Broad and N. West streets. These have put the City of Falls Church over the top. Building on more than two dozen years of concerted economic development in The Little City that has resulted in a population boom (from 9.5 to over 15 thousand, now more than the capital of Greenland), state of the art new public schools now ranked among the very best in the nation, some of the DMV’s finest restaurants, multiple live music and theater venues, among the best around, and (can you believe it?), a declining tax rate. It’s time the wider world becomes better acquainted with all that Falls Church has to offer it. Welcome! Come on in, the
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GUESTS AT THE gala grand opening of the state of the art Paragon Theaters in downtown City of Falls Church were treated at an impressive ribbon cutting tonight. They took seats in their lux boxes where reclining and ordering food and drink before a mighty 70 foot screen with abundant close ups of Brad Pitt and race car noises dominated. (Photo: News-Press)
F.C.’s New Solid Waste Task Force Begins Work
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
With more citizens of Falls Church now living in multi-family buildings than in single family homes, the fact that the City government has not provided free trash pick-up services to those dwellings, nor to local businesses, has finally pushed the City Council to form a special citizen task force to come up with a recommendation to the Council The Task Force will hold its second public meeting at City Hall next Wednesday at 2 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The Task Force is chaired by
Deputy City Manager Andy Young. Other members include representatives from the Treasurer’s office and the Department of Public Works, along with property owners of single family, townhouse and condominium homes. This week, three members of the Task Force, Gabriella Abruzzi, Diane Bartley and Fred Thompson, penned an open letter to the News-Press which we reprint here in full: An Open Letter from Citizen Representatives on the Solid Waste Task Force to the Citizens of Falls Church City By Gabriella Abruzzi, Diane Bartley and Fred Thompson We were invited by City Manager
Wyatt Shields to participate in a Staff/ Citizen Task Force to advise the City Council on issues surrounding solid waste pickup in the City. We represent different perspectives based on the variety of communities we live in and the services we receive from the City. Our first discussion was on a possible fee structure, so that is the focus of this letter. Why is the disposal of solid waste a priority for the City? Good sanitation practices are a priority for every community. The City recently completed a State-required 20-year Master Plan addressing a broad range of issues including waste reduction, reuse, recycling, resource recovery, incineration and landfill-
ing. Rethinking what we are doing and how we are doing it has led to new policy proposals and has resurfaced citizen concerns about how this activity should be paid for. What issues are being considered? We are considering advising the Council on how a fair fee structure could be created for those who receive City services. Also, we are working with staff to find ways to reduce landfill tipping fee costs and reduce the environmental damage caused by solid waste disposal. We are looking at ways to inspire people to consider their waste habits and disposal options more thoughtfully
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