July 6 – 12, 2017
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 I No. 20
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Little City’s Lou Olom To Celebrate 100 Years
When the City Council issued a proclamation last month declaring this coming Monday to be “Lou Olom Day” in honor of Falls Church’s iconic civic activist and education advocate’s 100th birthday on July 10, Olom’s many friends applauded the announcement. See page 4
F.C. Distillery Could Open Saturday
If all goes as planned, the firstever distillery in The Little City, Falls Church Distillers, will debut on S. Washington St. this Saturday.
F.C. Leaders Cautioned to Avoid Limits on Campus Development A Little City 4th
Consultants Urge City Team to ‘Invite Density, Innovation’
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
account the projects’ added cost to the City, including to its schools. The gross tax revenues they generate are $10.6 million annually, and the net $3.8 million sum deducts the cost of operational support costs to the City, including the cost of educating the approximately 200 (the estimated range is 174 to 219 as two of the newest proj-
Buoyed by last week’s news that both Target and Aldi will be opening retail outlets in downtown Falls Church over the next two years, the Economic Development Committee of the George Mason Campus Working Group was open to the advice of its consultants to place almost no limits on the kind of commercial and retail development that it should invite to bid on the 10 acres of that 34-acre site that are set apart for that purpose. “Don’t require limitations,” spokesmen for the Alvarez and Marsal consultants told the committee reps in what they said was a highly unusual open meeting at City Hall last Friday morning. Usually, they said, they advise such things in closed door sessions, but the City has made a deliberate effort to keep these meetings open to the public to help ensure a high level of public support for the process, which will require an approval for an expensive school bond referendum in November. “There are some risks in this level of transparency,” a spokesman said. “Normally we never do this in public.” But the consultant team led by Ted Rich stressed over and over again that to encourage the best and highest yielding use for the land, the City should step back and encourage the development community to come forward with its best shot. “It’s important to encourage industry innovation,” they said,
Continued on Page 22
Continued on Page 5
See page 15
Frank Bruni: Chris Christie’s Tutorial in Hubris
We can scoff and sneer at those images of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on his beachfront imperium, or we can learn from them. See page 14
Press Pass with Dia Frampton
With a show at Jammin’ Java slated for this Friday, Dia Frampton chatted with the NewsPress about her past exploits and what the future holds for this rising star. See page 16
IT RAINED HEAVILY a couple hours before, but it was clear and warm for the annual Falls Church fireworks show at George Mason High School Tuesday night as the usual crowds assembled for the annual hometown event. (Photo: Gary Mester)
New Report Cites Robust Fiscal Gains of Mixed Use
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.10–11 Comment........ 12–14 Food & Dining......15 Calendar........18–19
Business News....20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........21 Critter Corner.......22 Classified Ads......23
The Falls Church City Manager’s office last week issued a blockbuster updated “Mixed Use Development Fiscal Impact Report” showing that eight completed mixed-use (combined residential and retail) projects that have been built and occupied in the City since The Broadway
launched the trend in 2003 collectively have given an enormous boost to the City. The projects, taken together, generate a net $3.8 million a year to the City, equal to almost nine cents on the real estate tax rate, compared to $571,000 a year that their combined 18.5 acres were generating for the City before. The net revenue takes into
PAGE 2 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Presenting Sponsorship:
Musical Stage Sponsorship:
Cruise-In Sponsorship: R
It’s FUN, It’s FREE, It’s FIRSTfriday!
Jefferson Street Artists
Participating Restaurants:
Participating Businesses: Allstate, Art and Frame of Falls Church, BalletNova, Don Beyer Auto Group, Burke & Herbert Bank, Creative Cauldron, Eden Center, Falls Church Foot & Ankle Center, Falls Church News-Press, Quinn’s Auction Galleries
This Friday is FIRSTfriday of Falls Church
Friday, July 7th
Argia’s Italian Restaurant, Clare & Don’s Beach Shack, Eden Center, Ireland’s Four Provinces, Mad Fox Brewing Company FREE Ice Cream by Lazy Sundae FREE Sweets by Cafe Kindred Wine Tasting by Monroe Bay Winery
•Color-Full
Romance Exhibit by Bill
Abel • Performance by David Erickson and Fred Koch • Gallery Walk at BalletNova
Come experience FIRSTfriday of Falls Church with featured artists, live music, dining specials, retail discounts, and more! Bring this coupon with you this Friday, July 7th to receive special FIRSTfriday offers and discounts at our participating businesses and restaurants, including: Argia's Italian Restaurant* • Clare and Don's Beach Shack* • Art and Frame of Falls Church* • Creative Cauldron * dine-in only available throughout the month with coupon
facebook.com/FIRSTfridayFC twitter.com/FIRSTfridayFC
FIRSTfridayoffallschurch.com
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 3
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
JD Sold More Homes Last Year in Falls Church Than Any Other Agent!
Per MRIS
OPEN SUNDAY 7/9 2-4pm!
COMING SOON!
JD CALLANDER
283 Gundry Drive, Falls Church City
809 Fulton Ave, Falls Church City
Top 1% of Realtors Nationwide
BRIGHT & sunny 3BR/2 full/2 half ba on 3 levels, freshly painted townhome w/ open floor plan, renovated kit w/ stainless steel appliances & breakfast bar. Living rm w/ built ins & sep DR. LL rec room w/ brick frpl, laundry & storage space!
GORGEOUS 4br/2 full ba home in the heart of Falls Church
Haycock ES!
2235 Highland Avenue $669,000 WONDERFUL 3BR/2 full BA brick rambler on 2 finished levels! Living room w/ built-
#1 Agent, COMPANYWIDE
PRICE ADJUSTED!
OPEN SUNDAY 7/9 2-4pm!
703.606.7901 JD@newNOVAhome.com # 1 Listing Agent #1 Selling Agent #1 Total Volume #1 Total Transactions Weichert/Dolley Madison Office
994 Sycamore St, N., Falls Church NOW...$649,900
3023 Cedarwood Lane, Falls Church...Just Listed!
GREAT OPPORTUNITY! BEAUTIFUL all-brick 3BR/2 full bath home in
FABULOUS and SPACIOUS 4BR/3 BA rambler in super Falls Church location with -car garage!
Call Me Today for a Free Analysis of Your Home’s Value!
Weichert 1313 Dolley Madison Blvd McLean, VA 22101 703-760-8880
$7 99 ,0 0
0
4 2– Y DA
OP
EN
SU
N
GORGEOUS
CORNER LOT! ROCK STAR Realty ... ROCK STAR Service
TM
Call ROCK STAR Realty when buying or selling your home ~ 703-867-8674
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
312 Grove Ave, Falls Church City
1012 PARKER STREET | FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 WWW.1012PARKER.COM
2,000+ Sq Ft
3 Bedrooms
1-Car Garage
2½ Bathrooms
M
513 W Broad St. #415, Falls Church City
Spacious 5 BR/4.5 BA Colonial on a magnificent lot with over 4,700 sq ft & a 2-car garage. Steps to METRO, dining, schools & WO&D Trail make this one of the best locations in Falls Church City. $1,195,000
Gorgeous & Sunny 1BR/1.5 BA condo in The Byron with private balcony. Hardwood floors with updated gourmet kitchen and open living/dining room. Steps to dining, entertainment and METRO. $399,900
FOR SALE
UNDER CONTRACT ct Contra ys! a in 5 D
1 Mile to WFC Metro & I-66 Falls Church City Schools 5635 25th Rd N, Arlington
Adorable rambler with 4 BR/2 BA. Walking distance to Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Gorgeous garden. New HVAC, 2011 windows, 2006 roof, 2010 water heater. $689,000
CALL 703-722-0725 FOR A PRIVATE SHOWING
Will Gaskins
703-963-4216
will@thegaskinsteam.com
Andy Biggers
202-431-2515
andy@thegaskinsteam.com
6802 Chestnut Ave, Falls Church
Charming 5 BR/3.5 BA renovated home with all new kitchen & bathrooms, finished lower level, and a fenced yard. $569,000
703-867-8674
Proud Sponsor of ®
REALTOR
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
THEGASKINSTEAM.COM
2101 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201
Lifetime Top Producer
Housing Commission, Vice Chair
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Tori@ToriRocksRealEstate.com ToriRocksRealEstate.com © 2017 Tori McKinney, LLC
LO CA L
PAGE 4 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
F.C. Activist & School Advocate Lou Olom Turns 100 BY ORRIN KONHEIM
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
When the City Council issued a proclamation last month declaring this coming Monday to be “Lou Olom Day” in honor of Falls Church’s iconic civic activist and education advocate’s 100th birthday on July 10, Olom’s many friends applauded the announcement. “It’s a labor of love. He has done so much and he’s just a nice person” said Barbara Sharpe, one of five longtime residents planning Olom’s birthday party this Saturday. She’s aided by her husband, former F.C. City Councilman and School Board member Kieran Sharpe, Shey Wakeley, Keith Thurston and Sue Thackrey, who added, “He doesn’t get out much so he’s really excited to be in the news again.” Though he only briefly served in an official capacity in the city with a term on the school board in the 1950s, Olom has been responsible for much of Falls Church’s historic preservation and beautification efforts since moving to here in 1953. These accomplishments include his inaugural chairmanship of Historic Falls Church, Inc. along with his co-organizing of the Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society in 1965 and his efforts to create the city’s first arborist position along with the creation of two public gardens. To many, his most important contribution was convincing the Falls Church City Schools to adopt the International Baccalaureate program at its George Mason High School at a time when it was a truly novel move. Falls Church City Schools just last year celebrated the accomplishment that the entire system, K-through-12, is now built on the uniquely challenging curriculum of the internationally-acclaimed IB program. The initial adoption of the program in 1981 at Olom’s
urging made Mason the first public high school in the state and among the first in the nation to join the program, and the national reputation for the excellence of the Falls Church School System was established, being maintained ever since. “When we talk about a community keeping its character, that was all Lou’s work,” said Thurston. “He was active in the efforts to develop the Broad Street streetscape that gives the city a cohesive quality appearance.” “He grew up in a city just north of Chicago so for him to come to a suburban environment like Falls Church was a whole new thing and he just threw himself into it with great passion, and everything from the education to the landscaping of the public areas,” explained Olom’s daughter Noralyn Harlow. She will be travelling to her father’s birthday party this weekend with her family from St. Paul, Minnesota. Olom’s son, Jonathan, passed away at 34 from melanoma, though his work as an attorney is commemorated by the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar with the annual Jonathan Olom Award. On the introduction of the IB program, Olom said, “People were a little quizzical about this but once it got started, things began to happen.Suddenly people from all over the country were ringing on the telephones, and said ‘what’s this we hear about an IB program’ and we hear it’s one of the best that’s come into the country.” These days as he approaches his 100th birthday, despite bouts of forgetfulness that come with age, Olom remains full of stories. He freely shares his insights on how the IB program changed the city for the better, stories about the professor who drew him to academia and the reason he went into political science (a combination of not passing physics and not wanting to take algebra) over medicine.
SOON-TO-BE CENTENARIAN Lou Olom sits at his Falls Church home with Sue Thackrey. A longtime city and school advocate, Olom turns 100 on Monday and will have a birthday celebration this Saturday at George Mason High School. (P����: O���� K������/N���-P����) Before a 31-year stint in the U.S. Information Agency working under such luminaries as Nelson Rockefeller and Edward R. Murrow, Olom was firmly entrenched in academia, ascending to the department chair of social and political science at what is now the University of Jacksonville. Olom was born in Chicago in 1917 to two Russian immigrants. After his father died when he was 12, he helped run his father’s fish and poultry store with his mother and sister. In a story he shared with the News-Press’ publisher Nicholas Benton years ago, Olom described how after his father’s death, there remained a number of regular customers at the fish store who remained loyal to his mother and their struggling family. One day, one such customer showed up
to find Olom’s mother in tears. Asking what was wrong, she explained that her son, Lou, had just graduated with honors from high school but she had no money to send him to college. It turned out the customer was on the board of trustees of the University of Chicago, and he arranged for Olom to be enrolled there. The rest was history. “For him, academia was all about the fact that he was able to go to University of Chicago and that was his first step in getting out of poverty and on with his life,” Harlow said. When asked whether he envisioned turning 100 and having friends still around and throwing a party for him, he answered, “Well, whenever someone wants to throw a party for me, I’m happy.” “I always have a good time
wherever I live,” Olom said. “I find out why I’m here and who are the people who have a feeling for what’s happening in the world whether the world is a small town, a city, a state, a country, or many countries around the world.” “Lou’s really one of the consciences of our community and over the year he has worked tirelessly for good government and I think over the years he has influenced all of us in the community in a very positive way,” said Falls Church City Council member David Snyder. “My family has had some great times with Lou and look forward to some more in the future” Olom’s family and friends have invited the community to honor and celebrate his 100th birthday this Saturday, July 8 from 2 to 4 p.m. at George Mason High School.
President: Virginia Dental Association Federal Employees: Let us help you maximize your dental benefits 200 Little Falls Street, Suite 506 Falls Church, VA 22046 We Are located across the street from city hall
703.532.3300 • www.DoughertyDDS.com
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
LO CA L
Consultants Urge Density, Innova�on at Campus Site Continued from Page 1
and to signal that, the idea of rezoning the entire site to “invite density and a mix of uses without limiting responses.” The more value the City can get out of the commercial component of the site, the less the burden will be on City taxpayers to pay for a new high school and other pressing needs around the City for capital improvements. One suggestion included rezoning the entire site to “B2” to allow by-right construction of heights up to 115 feet (or 11 floors), with an “overlay district” added which would make it easy to go even higher if a developer wants. Another suggestion involved reducing the required parking component, leaving a greater proportion of the land available for development and reducing the highly-costly use of under-
ground parking. This step would be justified because of the site’s proximity to the West Falls Church Metro station with its currently underutilized parking structure. “Don’t prescribe a structure, but request structures and phasing scenarios from prospective developers,” Rich said. Alvarez and Marsal is still in the process of finalizing its report and recommendations before entering into the process of soliciting industry bids and evaluating them later this year. Their “final strategic roadmap” is due on September 6, and they expect it to involve more than 1.l million square feet of development at a value of $440 million. The land would be worth from $43 to $45 million in their initial scenario, the same estimate the group made to the committee last month. The mix of development would include retail, office, multi-family,
senior and affordable residential units, including condos, and a hotel. The goals for the City in soliciting bids, they proposed, should include maximum commercial and retail uses, the retention of a “sense of place,” that generates “a long-term positive impact for the City” that builds on access to the West Falls Church Metro, generates a synergy with the surrounding educational uses (including the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech graduate center site and the on-site George Mason High and Henderson Middle School) and includes a “civic space,” such as a public promenade as an example. Requirements, they proposed, should include a demolition of the old high school, the dedication of six percent of the residential to “affordable housing” criteria, an up-front land sale and with the City retaining long-term ownership.
JULY 6 - 12, 2017 | PAGE 5
E D I TO R I A L
PAGE 6 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
One of the Nation’s Foremost Weekly Newspapers, Serving N. Virginia
(Published Weekly by Benton Communications, Inc.)
FOUNDED IN 1991
Vol. XXVII, No. 20 July 6 – 12, 2017 • City of Falls Church ‘Business of the Year’ 1991 & 2001 • • Certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia to Publish Official Legal Notices • • Member, Virginia Press Association •
N������� F. B����� O���� � E�����-I�-C���� �������������.���
J��� F������ M������� ������
�������������.���
M��� D������ N��� E�����
�������������.���
N��� G��� A���������� S������� A������������ ����������.���
H���� W������ C����������
�������������.���
C������ C����, T�� W������ C��������� T�� W���� C��� E����� J���� I����� C���������� M������
�������������.���
T� C������ ��� N���-P���� �����: 703-532-3267 ���: 703-342-0347 �����: ���������.��� ������� ����������� ��������.��� ���������� ��� �������������.��� ������� �� ��� ������ ������������.��� ������������� ������������ � �������� �������������.���
WWW.FCNP.COM The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2017 Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.
E��������
Don’t Delay & Downsize
The small air conditioning motor fire on the roof of the Mary Riley Styles Public Library yesterday morning caused minimal damage and little disruption of the functioning of the library, which wasn’t slated to open until 1, anyway. But it has underscored the seriousness of the need for the library’s renovation. Right now, the City of Falls Church leadership is preparing to revise plans it made in the spring. The revisions include delaying the $8 million library renovation approved by voters last November until Fiscal Year 2022. That, and downsizing revisions to the City Hall renovation plan, are designed to make the impact of a $120 million new high school project that will require voter approval in a referendum this November less burdensome on City taxpayers. We are certainly in favor of limiting tax rate increases for anything superfluous here in the Little City. A meritorious effort at economic development, as reported elsewhere in this edition, certainly contributes to that, and it should not be lost on anyone whose “not in my backyard” opposition to robust economic growth that their actions would, if successful, only drive their own taxes (and those of the rest of us) much higher than they are now. But people in this community are also quite well-heeled. In fact, the City of Falls Church has been listed as having the highest household income per capita of any jurisdiction in the entire U.S. While this seems to defy appearances, it is accounted for by the fact that most households are dual income. City residents, by the same token, are by and large frugal and not prone to extravagance. A lot of focus is on making sure the funds are there for the higher education of the young people enjoying the benefits of one of the best public school systems in America. No wonder the School Board has gone for the option of an all-new high school even at the cost of $120 million. It is adequate yet not extravagant, the best “bang for the buck” of an array of alternatives carefully studied. Given that with a plethora of factors that include the delay of the library project and the sale of a long-term lease on 10 acres of the school property, the school bond referendum for an all new high school could result in a remarkably-modest four-cent increase in next year’s real estate tax rate: From $1.33 today to $1.37 per $100 assessed valuation. There will be more increases, to be sure, but nothing outrageous. Given this is the case, we question the wisdom of the City to delay and downsize the library and City Hall work. The voters already OK’d the library, and the City Hall should include more than the bare minimum. This simply won’t cost that much more, and pushing them off may be typical of the City’s approach, but won’t serve the needs of the community well.
L������
Excited About Aldi But Don’t Overlook Halalco
Editor, I am delighted to know that we will soon have a new and interesting supermarket on the east side of Falls Church. Aldi sounds like a welcome addition to the neighborhood. They are, however, replacing a unique mom-and-pop operation that has anchored Tower Square for years. Halalco is a south Asian-oriented grocery store that provides goods and services that
won’t be easily replaced. They have a small cafe in the store and a butcher shop that provides real personal service. Their fruits and vegetables, spices, and Indo-Pakistani specialities are not duplicated by any supermarket in the city. Halalco still has a year on their lease, so they’re not going anywhere immediately. I urge my neighbors to patronize them now and encourage them
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
P������� 1. Keep the news clean and fair.
2. Play no favorites, never mix business and editorial policy. 3. Do not let the news columns reflect editorial comment. 4. Publish the news that is public property without fear or favor of friend or foe. 5. Accept no charity and ask no favors.
6. Give “value received” for every dollar you take in. 7. Make the paper show profit if you can, but above all keep it clean, fearless and fair.
ADVERTISE IN THE
The News-Press is delivered to every household and many businesses in the City of Falls Church (22046), and to many homes and businesses (but not all) in the adjacent 22041, 22042, 22043, 22044 and 22205 zip codes. Its total circulation of 15,000 per issue is greater than any other newspaper in the distribution area, including dailies. For complete advertising information, call us or check out our web site.
Call 532-3267 x2274 or visit www.FCNP.com
All original and some syndicated content is accessible via the Falls Church News-Press online site, www.FCNP.com. FCNP.com also includes photos, stories, ads and more not appearing in the print edition.
For information on online advertising, please contact Nick Gatz at 703-532-3267 or ngatz@fcnp.com. ONLINE
to find another location here in the city. Losing them would be a real shame. Donald Camp Falls Church
Falls Church Isn’t a Fresh Market City? Editor, Oh great. We are not a “The Fresh Market” location, but we are a discount grocery, “Aldi,” and a “Target” market? Nan Barrera Falls Church
[ LETTERS ] Send us a letter and let us know what you think. Email letters@fcnp.com Fax 703-342-0347 Mail or drop off Letters to the Editor, c/o Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls Street #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
CO MME NT
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 7
G � � � � C � � � � � �� �� Lou Olom: Education Pioneer & Civic Leader Turns 100 B� K����� S�����
Louis T. Olom saw the great value of rigorous education, democratic institutions and civic engagement, and he persistently pursued visionary objectives in each realm. He sought out the best in K12 educational practices. From a conference in Princeton, New Jersey, Lou brought back to Falls Church stories of the wonderfully articulate International Baccalaureate diploma graduates who gathered there. He attempted to persuade a committee of local leaders that our schools needed to offer IB courses and the diploma program, but budget concerns were raised, as they often are in response to ideas for improving our local schools. Lou walked away, clearly asserting his conviction that the concerns were extremely short-sighted. Perhaps those present quickly realized that Lou had offered a very solid case for IB. After all, he had served an earlier term on the school board where he earned a reputation for seeking the best in education for Falls Church. Or perhaps they quickly recalled that Lou had been a key organizer in 1959 and first president of Citizens for a Better Council (later changed to Citizens for a Better City). With Lou leading the charge, CBC drew strength from several factions in the City – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – and succeeded at replacing council members who gave too little financial support to the schools. In any case, within a few days, Lou
received a call to come back to the committee — the proposal to initiate an IB program would go forward. Seeing that a wide range of students could thrive in IB, Principal Bob Snee and other administrators opened IB courses
“From a conference in Princeton, New Jersey, Lou brought back to Falls Church stories of the wonderfully articulate International Baccalaureate diploma graduates who gathered there.” to any and all students. And the students’ widespread participation in IB led to a finding by Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews that George Mason scored at the top of the Challenge Index he had developed to rank the quality of schools across the nation. Also, IB was the typical level of program offered in high schools in foreign countries attended by the children of U.S. diplomats and overseas executives. Consequently, George Mason became a
magnet for such students who returned to the U.S. These factors greatly strengthened George Mason’s reputation in the region, and combined with the City’s small town character, many families decided to locate here. As a result, the City’s property values rose substantially higher than those of comparable properties just outside the City. Within the past year, Falls Church schools have become the first in Virginia and the Washington area to have a certified K-12 IB program. Meanwhile, Fairfax County and other area localities are seeking to implement such an inquiry-based model, but are well off the pace set by Falls Church. Lou sought to preserve the small town character of Falls Church, running counter to the strong urbanizing trends in the Washington area. He was active early in the reorganization of the Village Preservation and Improvement Society and served on its board and as President. His efforts to improve the City’s appearance ranged from streetscape designs with brick sidewalks along Broad Street to street trees that have become key to the City’s character and recognition as a Tree City USA. Lou was one of the few non-architects admitted to the American Society of Landscape Architects and attracted them to provide designs for projects here. He was also instrumental in Falls Church’s All-America City Award in the 1960s. Lou’s activities as a civic volunteer in
many ways were informed by the values and strategies he had put into practice in his Federal service career. Shortly after World War II, Lou recognized a need for the U.S. to counter the authoritarian propaganda of the Soviet Union. This propaganda threatened to undermine the economies and democratic institutions of many nations in Europe, Latin America and Asia. As staff director of the advisory commission that monitored and moderated U.S. information activities abroad, Lou put the skills of an early student and implementer of content analysis to good use. Over roughly 25 years, he nurtured the highly respected journalists and corporate executives on this commission, helped to sustain a high level of bipartisanship on the panel, and worked assiduously with an often skeptical Congress to keep the commission and the agencies it advised adequately funded. Since the Soviet Empire crumbled not from military attack but from powers of persuasion, it seems that Lou’s activities played a key role in some of the successful outcomes of the Cold War. The family and friends of Lou Olom invite the community to honor and celebrate his 100th birthday on Saturday July 8, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Mustang Cafe at George Mason High School. Kieran Sharpe is a Falls Church resident and former member of the Falls Church City School Board and City Council.
Q������� �� ��� W��� Would you vote “yes” or “no” on a November school bond referendum? • Yes • No
Last Week’s Question:
Are you happy with the news of Target and Aldi opening stores in Falls Church?
• Unsure
Log on to www.FCNP.com to cast your vote
FCNP On-Line polls are surveys, not scientific polls.
[WRITE FOR THE PRESS] The News-Press welcomes readers to send in submissions in the form of Letters to the Editor
& Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks. Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published. All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.
Email: letters@fcnp.com | Mail: Letters to the Editor, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church 22046 | Fax: 703.340.0347
PAGE 8 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
LO CA L
JULY 6 - 12, 2017 | PAGE 9
F� � � � C � � � � �
NEWS BRIEFS
Falls Church City Homes n pe
m
-4p
2 un
S
617 Lincoln Ave, Falls Church City
Beautiful new farmhouse w/ 5BR/4.5BA in the Heart of Falls Church City. Open floor plan includes high end kitchen opening to Great room and separate Dining area. Two screened porches overlook large private fenced backyard backing to the W&OD Trail - steps to popular Lincoln Park. Close to Farmers Market & Downtown. Offered at $1,399,900
O
Planning Commission Leans to Modified CIP Though no vote was taken at its work session Monday night, the Falls Church Planning Commission, five of seven members present, expressed a preponderance of support, as noted by chair Russ Wodiska, for a modified Capital Improvement Plan revised from the one adopted in April. The modified version, which awaits formal votes from the Planning Commission and City Council later this month, puts off the Mary Riley Styles Library renovation from Fiscal Year 2019 to 2022 (the delay increasing its estimated cost from $8.7 to $10.7 million), renovations at the Thomas Jefferson Elementary until Fiscal Year 2025 and cuts and delays in other CIP programs, such as park acquisition and the Graves fields improvements. In the context of funding $120 million for a new high school, pending a bond referendum approval in November, the modifications could limit a tax rate increase to four cents next spring, it was noted, assuming a $40 million sale of 10 acres City owned land at the school site for commercial development.
Fire at Lincoln Ave. Residence Ruled Accidental On Monday, July 3 at about 4 a.m., a fire broke out in the attached garage of the residence at 912 Lincoln Ave. Arlington County Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire. The garage, a laundry room, and a vehicle were destroyed. No one was hurt. The City of Falls Church Fire Marshal has ruled the fire accidental, the result of improper oil disposal. Damages are estimated at over $150,000. The Fire Marshal and Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department caution homeowners about proper disposal of oils, including oil-based stains for woodworking projects and gasoline, and oily rags. They caution that if rags are not stored or disposed of properly, they can auto-ignite and start a fire. Linseedoil-soaked rags can spontaneously combust. As oily rags begin to dry, heat is produced. If they’re thrown into a pile, oxygen is trapped underneath. The combination of heat, oxygen and the cloth can lead to spontaneous combustion, which results in a fire that could destroy your home.
LD
LD
SO
SO
510 Greenwich St, Falls Church City Represented Buyer 3 BR 2 BA Cape Cod
808 Fulton Ave, Falls Church City Represented Buyer 4 BR 3 BA Cape Cod
Proud Supporter of
If you are looking to buy, sell, or rent in 2017, call Chris for a no obligation consultation.
Chris Earman
Member NVAR Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club | Residential Top Producer
(703) 628-4541 | Chris@EarmanRealEstate.com 703-760-8880 ~ Falls Church/McLean EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
®
REALTOR
F.C. Lauded for No Traffic Fatalities in 2016 The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in Richmond commended 21 cities and counties in the commonwealth with no crash deaths in 2016. Its statement noted that crashes killed 761 people in Virginia last year, but none in Falls Church and 20 other jurisdictions, Bristol City, Buena Vista City, Covington City, Craig County, Fluvanna County, Galax City, Greene County, Hopewell City, Lexington City, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, Martinsville City, Nelson County, Norton City, Poquoson City, Radford City, Rappahannock County, Salem City, Westmoreland County, and Williamsburg City. “As traffic safety professionals, we have a duty and responsibility to do what we can to enhance the efforts to save lives on our commonwealth's roads," said DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb, the Governor's Highway Safety Representative, in a statement. "It is so heartening to see 21 Virginia cities and counties make the Toward Zero Deaths vision a reality in their area. Reducing or eliminating crash deaths is not luck. There is a lot of hard work that goes into it and we commend these jurisdictions for going the extra mile with outreach and enforcement efforts."
3 Community Meetings in F.C. This Month Three upcoming meetings will give the City of Falls Church community a chance to learn more and provide input on the new Downtown Plaza, the high school campus project and proposed school bond referendum, and the Capital Bikeshare project, a statement from City Hall announced yesterday. 1. The project manager for the Downtown Plaza will present updated designs at the monthly meeting of the Economic Development Authority (EDA) on Tuesday, July 11, at 7 p.m. in the Dogwood Room of City Hall, 300 Park Ave. This project is part of an EDA effort to energize the City’s downtown area. It is designed to increase pedestrian traffic, provide economic benefits for local businesses, and create a centrally located, versatile space for everyone to enjoy. The project is being funded by the EDA and is expected to be complete by summer 2018. 2. Falls Church city and school officials will hold a town hall meeting on Wednesday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 Park Ave. about the high school campus project. City Council recently gave a preliminary approval to an ordinance authorizing a general obligation bond issuance for $120 million for a new high school and improvements to portion of the middle school. 3. City staff will hold several opportunities to learn more about the Capital Bikeshare program coming soon to the City, including at a booth at the Farmers Market on Saturday, July 8, from 9 a.m. – noon, and at a community meeting on Thursday, July 20, at 7 p.m. in City Hall, 300 Park Ave.
AT HOME CHOICES
CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP “The Impact of Caregiving on the Family”
Special Guest Speaker: Christi Clark, Director of Education and Support Services at Insight Memory Care Center
Thursday, July 13, 2017 | 7:00 to 8:30pm In July, JSSA’s monthly caregiver support group will be hosting a special event: “The Impact of Caregiving on the Family” Christi Clark, Director of Education and Support Services at Insight Memory Care Center, will discuss strategies for managing caregiver stress and guilt, along with ways to effectively communicate with a loved one with memory loss. Dementia affects more than just the individual who receives the diagnosis. Families must also adjust to a new normal - and it’s not always easy! The support group is open to: Immanuel Presbyterian Church Lewinsville Presbyterian Church Temple Rodef Shalom Family caregivers of Chesterbrook residents Entire Northern Virginia Community
LOCATION
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED RSVP Appreciated
Chesterbrook Residences 2030 Westmoreland Street Falls Church, VA 22043
Rita Evrony, LCSW 703-896-7910 or revrony@jssa.org
LO CA L
PAGE 10 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
News-Press
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Community News & Notes Build-Your-Own Composter Workshop Would you be interested in turning regular household kitchen and yard waste into digestible food or usable material? This workshop can teach you to turn what was once considered rubbish into valuable organic humus and other natural products. This can all be done by harnessing the power of millions of natural microbes and putting them to work inside tum-
bler-style composters. Participants will start this workshop with a pile of recycled lumber, a recycled pickle barrel and assorted screws and bolts, but will leave with a fully assembled and functioning tumbler style composter. Event hosts will take you through the construction steps and also give you some primers on proper composting technique to enhance your own experience outside of the workshop. The finished composter will hold 55 gallons of
MAKING HIS MARK on the competition is fencer and rising George Mason High School senior Matthew Freden (right). Freden will be representing Fencing Sports Academy while participating in the National Fencing Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, July 7. (Photo: Courtesy Brad Freden)
organic material. All lumber will be pre-cut and all tools and materials will be provided. Many thanks are extended to the composter workshop partners – Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, ReBuild Warehouse, Virginia Cooperative Extension and Mason Sustainability Institute. The cost of the workshop is $75 and registration is limited to 15 people, although you may bring helpers to assist with the construction. Workshop is hosted by the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District and is held on Saturday, July 8 from 2 – 5 p.m. at the Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). For more information or to register for an upcoming
class, email recycling@fallschurchva.gov or call 703-248-5456. All tools and materials provided, registration limited to 15.
Mason Students Receive Environmental Youth Award On June 8, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the George Mason High School Environmental Group, a group of 11 students, will receive the 2016 President’s Environmental Youth (PEYA) Award for grade levels 6-12 for their work with healthy and sustainable farming practices. The national award is presented each year to exceptional students who demonstrate creativity, innovation and leadership to address difficult
environmental challenges. George Mason was a national pilot Project Learning Tree Green School and has been engaged in the program since 2009. The George Mason High School Environmental Group has worked for the past two years to implement two projects with the focus on providing healthy, sustainable food sources that can be produced in an urban area. Through hydroponics and aquaculture projects, the students are contributing fresh lettuce, and in the future, fresh fish to their high school cafeteria. For their efforts, the students were awarded the Project Green Schools award for Outstanding Commitment to Green-o-vation. The team has presented their work
ON HIS LAST DAY on the job as the Economic Development Director for the City of Falls Church, Rick Goff (center) was recognized with a commemorative plaque presented by Mayor David Tarter (left) and City Manager Wyatt Shields (right). Goff went out with a bang on news that Target and Aldi signed deals to move to downtown Falls Church last week. (Photo: News-Press)
Send Us Your News & Notes!
The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!
Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St. #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
LO CA L
JULY 6 - 12, 2017 | PAGE 11
NEEDHAM MITNICK & POLLACK PLC 703-536-7778 400 S. MAPLE AVENUE, SUITE 210, FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 WWW.NMPATTORNEYS.COM INFO@NMPATTORNEYS.COM
THE 25TH ANNUAL Summer Concerts in the Park series hosted at Cherry Hill Park by the Village Preservation and Improvement Society kicked off on June 22 with the Falls Church Concert Band and continued last week with Flashback (pictured above), who performed music from the 1960s. This week’s performer is Shenandoah Run. (P����: C������� G��� M�����) to the Falls Church City 4H Club, the Falls Church Garden Club and science teachers in Northern Virginia, as well as at the 2015 and 2016 Student Environmental Action Showcase at George Mason University.
McLean Rotary Club Installs Officers for 2017-18 The Rotary Club of McLean installed its new officers for the 2017-2018 program year at a special club meeting on Tuesday evening, June 27, 2017, held in the Bistro Restaurant of the Vinson Hall Retirement Community. Rotarian Bob Jansen was installed as the new Club president by Rotary District 7610 Governor Ronnie Chankter. In new president Jansen’s remarks to the club, he thanked former president Michael Arietti for his service the past year. He also thanked the club for the year that was just completed and set forth his future goals, including recruiting more members, creating additional opportunities for fellowship outside of regular club meetings, working closer with local high school Rotary Interact Clubs and continuing the club’s high quality of service to the McLean community. The Rotary Club of McLean was founded in 1965 under the sponsorship of the Falls Church Rotary Club. For the past 52 years the club has provided leadership and support to the McLean community through its volunteer and service projects, and through numerous fundraising projects. The club is made up of 60 plus
members of the McLean business and professional community working together to serve their community. Here are the remaining officers who were installed: President Elect 2018-19 – Gene Durman; Vice President – Barry Byer, MD; Treasurer – Jan Auerbach; Secretary – Deborah Jackson; Sergeant-at-arms – Thamir Al’Hashimi; Foundation Director – Glenn Yarborough; Membership Director – Dana Sippel; Service Director – Carol Stone; Public Image Director – Richard Neldon; Vocation Director – Lois Wilson, DDS; Youth Programs Director – Todd Dempsey; Directors at Large – Eva Sereghy and Bob Rosenbaum.
Bill Abel Holds Art Opening For FIRSTfriday Local painter and watercolor specialist Bill Abel will be unveiling a new exhibit, “Color-full Romance: New vibrant watercolors from artist Bill Abel,” this Friday, July 7 only at Art and Frame of Falls Church (205 W. Jefferson St., Falls Church) as a part of the City-wide event, FIRSTfriday. The exhibit is open from 6 – 8 p.m. and is free to the public.
Revisit The Skirmish At Arlington Mill Come by Arlington Mill Community & Senior Center (909 S. Dinwiddie St., Arlington) on Saturday, July 8 from 10 a.m – 12 p.m.. for a presentation recog-
nizing the 1861 Arlington Mill Skirmish. A Civil War video will be shown as well. In 1861, a Confederate scouting party attacked Union troops along Columbia Pike, just a week after Virginia voted to leave the Union. This skirmish is widely considered the first military engagement of the Civil War and what ultimately established the state of Virginia as a primary battleground for the war. For more information about the event, call 703-228-7456.
• • • • • •
Wills & Trusts Special Needs Planning Medicaid Planning Guardianships Probate Trustee or Agent Services
Planning For All Ages & All Needs
Celebrate the Bluemont Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Join area residents on Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m. for the Bluemont Park (601 N. Manchester St., Arlington) ribbon cutting ceremony as Arlington County celebrate the completion of the Field Renovations and Trail Connection project at the park. The project scope included full replacement of athletic field #3 and installation of a Safe Routes to School trail connector, a connection of the Four Mile Run Trail to N. Manchester St. and Ashlawn School. Project scope includes sod, new irrigation, site circulation, fencing, backstops, bleachers, site furnishings, signage, Americans with Disabilitues Act accessibility improvements and drainage. For more information, visit parks.arlingtonva.us and search the term “Bluemont Park.” Prospective guests can also contact Laura Barragan at lbarragan@ arlingtonva.us or call 703-2283329.
Eye Exams By Independent Doctor of Optometry, Dr. Peter Ellis
701 W. Broad St. (Rte 7) Falls Church VA
703-237-6500
www.pointofvieweyewear.com
PAGE 12 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
CO MME NT
A Penny for Your Thoughts
News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross
In the Walt Disney film, “Bambi,” Thumper the rabbit had a simple philosophy: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” On the other hand, Washington socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, famously had a pillow emblazoned, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me.” In today’s Twitter-sphere, it appears that Thumper’s advice is ignored, and Mrs. Longworth’s approach is embraced, especially by President Trump. Is this the behavior of leaders and elected officials? Isn’t there a higher standard? Yes, there is. Or, at least, there should be. Officials at all levels of government may be elected because of their popularity, but most of the work after the election centers on policy, not popularity. Constituents expect their elected leaders to be workhorses on their behalf, not show ponies trotted out for special occasions. The everyday work of governance isn’t superficial; it goes deeper into concepts, issues, judgment, and solutions. Governance also requires the highest standard of ethics. Behavior matters. What an elected official says, or tweets, matters, especially when that elected official is the president of the United States. Campaigns and elections make candidates fair game for all sorts of comments and accusations. That seems to be the nature of the process, and it’s not new. What is new is the medium. The broadsheets and stump speeches of the 1800s have been replaced by electronic media that can bombard and castigate around the globe in seconds, day and night, with little or no care about separating truth from fiction. Without a filter or impulse control, an elected official, like the president, can destroy decades of progress in mere seconds. A leader needs to rise above attacks on policies or personalities. Somebody has to be the grown-
up, and resist the immediate urge to strike out, or strike back, at anything written, spoken, or tweeted. Develop a thick skin, let things roll off your back, be slow to boil (but quick to act in the public interest when necessary), and measured in response to almost everything. It’s not about you, but about the public trust that is in your care, and the high standards of ethics and ethical behavior that, if you don’t possess innately, are outlined carefully in local, state, and federal law. Candidly, though, if you don’t have an inborn ethical compass, you have no business running for office. So what do we do? What do we do when the president of the United States appears to have such a gap in common decency, compassion, and understanding of the underpinnings of our history or democratic processes? We fight. Like the millions of women (and men) who marched on the day after the Inauguration, we fight! We don’t allow normalization of such behavior. We teach our children, and grownups, too, that denigrating people, whether individuals or entire faith and ethnic populations, never is acceptable. Speak out. Speak out in social settings, civic meetings, at the dinner table, and in the office. Our basic human values need to be reiterated and reinforced, or we lose them. My paternal grandfather, a longshoreman, lived by the Golden Rule — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s a little loftier than Thumper’s philosophy, but both provide a more rational approach than what we hear from the occupant in the White House these days. Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.
86 million Americans
Maybe even you,
have prediabetes. person-ABOUT-TOFACT-CHECK-THIS-FACT.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Senator Dick Saslaw’s
Richmond Report Summer is near the halfway mark with the 4th of July having come and gone. Celebrating the birth of our nation is a proud tradition. While the beach, a barb-q, parades and fireworks are things we look forward to, it is all a good time to remember that the Declaration of Independence was signed on this day, setting in motion a new chapter in history. Once again, our country is on the precipice of change. A little over a year ago, we witnessed one of the most contentious and unusual presidential campaigns in my lifetime. Incredible as it may be, 17 U.S. agencies confirmed our democratic process was violated by a foreign power. Additionally, the surprise outcome challenged the value of the Electoral College vs. the popular vote. We are six months into a tumultuous term and states are being directed to submit registered voter records to the federal government for “ review.” Governor McAuliffe (joined by other states) has declined to comply with this request from an ad hoc Election Commission for Voter Integrity, tasked with uncovering fraud committed in 2016. At the same time, we still have yet to hear of any retribution for foreign cyber attacks on our democratic election. There was a time when presidents would address the nation on radio and TV as those media came into their own. Today, social media in the form of 140 characters on Twitter is becoming the norm for communicating with Americans. In my opinion, the “messaging” coming out of the White House is nothing short of inappropriate and unacceptable. The tone of the rhetoric has caused many parents great concern as they grapple with raising their children and the issue of bullying. I believe we must step up and defend common decency and the decorum it brings to a civilized society. While some are attacking the role of media in our society, I am grateful for the service they provide readers, listeners, and regular watchers. It is important to recognize the media’s role in our culture. Recently, the media has been providing coverage of the newly enacted laws of the Commonwealth. Additionally, I have mailed out my annual Richmond Report and posted it
on my website, www.dicksaslaw. com. I recommend a deeper dive at lis.virginia.gov. In and around the 35th District, moving people from place to place remains a top priority. Work continues on the revitalization of the Metro and its management. Former Congressman Ray LaHood is spearheading a study into the role Virginia will play. I look forward to hearing from him in the near future. We need a multimodal approach to breaking through gridlock. A more controversial transportation infrastructure initiative is the I-66 project. While you may not agree completely with VDOT, this process has been as transparent and collaborative as possible. Designs have been revisited many times and ramps have literally been moved to best meet the public’s input. It is a major undertaking to facilitate moving people to schools, their jobs and their families. The region continues to grow and we need to get ahead of that wave before it dictates our quality of life any further. Solar energy appears to be high on the radar for many of our neighbors. While our current president shows an unfortunate affinity for coal, oil and other energies of the past, solar is a clean, efficient, unlimited energy source that is finally starting to get the proper amount of attention in our Commonwealth. Fairfax County is providing a tax credit to individuals that make the investment to go solar. Virginia boasts the ninth-fastest-growing solar jobs market in the nation and the number of solar jobs has grown nearly 100 percent in the past year to 3,236. Additionally, clean-energy business revenue in Virginia has increased from $300 million in 2014 to $1.5 billion in 2016. As you enjoy the warm weather, to play safely and enjoy your family and friends. Be a good neighbor and check on the elderly who may need assistance on particularly hot days. School age children will report back to school on August 28. Senator Saslaw represents the 35th District in the Virginia State Senate. He may be emailed at district35@senate.virginia.gov.
CO MME NT
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
YO U DON T H AV E T O BE SO STRONG BUT IF I’M NOT, WHO WILL?
Being a caregiver takes a special kind of commitment. We know your strength is super, but you’re still human.
A A R P. O R G / C A R E G I V I N G 1 - 8 7 7 - 3 3 3 - 5 8 8 5
F I N D S U P P O R T F O R Y O U R S T R E N G T H.
Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark
The famed Arlington Way got a workout last week. County Manager Mark Schwartz, after a five-year community process, disgorged a recommendation dreaded by many in the neighborhood around Williamsburg Middle School. Atop the two recently added artificial turf fields to the campus along with Discovery Elementary School will be six 80-foot poles holding 84 shielded, dimmable LED lights for night-time sports – if the county board agrees to their installation this September. “I appreciate the hard work that the Williamsburg Fields Evaluation Work Group put into assessing the risks and benefits of lighting the Williamsburg fields,” Schwartz said. “Their thoughtful evaluation formed the foundation of my recommendation.” To assuage wary neighbors, he included mitigations: aiming the lights directly at the field, capping night-lit play at 2,000 hours a year and a 9:45 p.m. lights-out rule. “Our entire community will benefit from providing more playing time for our growing number of young people playing field sports,” Schwartz said. But what is intended to expand opportunities for boys and girls to play soccer, ultimate Frisbee, lacrosse, tackle football and flag football could infringe upon the quiet evening strolls of neighbors who value their residential idyll. The work group was divided, and last week a petition was delivered signed by 550 residents
appointed by the board never had a chance to examine,” he said. As an alternative, opponents suggested augmenting other fields. One precedent is that the county board sided with resistant neighbors on a similar issue in 2011. After months of debate, it rejected the bid by private Catholic high school Bishop O’Connell, partnering with Marymount University, to install lights on its fields with nearly unlimited scheduling. County staff are proposing a memorandum of understanding with the civic association, along with a zoning ordinance amendment and adjustments to the use permit for the two schools. They cite studies showing minimal impact in added traffic, though opponents say using averages masks probable spikes in spring and autumn. Perhaps the best argument for the central planners: Youth outdoor sports in Arlington have grown from 15,033 participations in 2011 to 24,326 in 2017 – a 65-percent increase, and rising. *** Rare sub-rosa drama hit the Arlington School Board on June 29 when Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s four-year contract came up for renewal. To the surprise of many who assumed he was a shoo-in, board members Barbara Kanninen and Reid Goldstein voted no. With Murphy listening, they alluded to low morale and lack of trust among teachers and staff toward Murphy for being a high-pressure data guy with a self-referential agenda.
C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h
21, of Great Falls, VA was arrested for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol.
CRIME REPORT
Simple Assault, 444 W Broad St, (Spectrum), June 24, victim was assaulted during a private get-together. Victim secured a warrant for the suspect’s arrest.
Week of June 26 – July 2, 2017 Driving Under the Influence, 300 blk E Annandale Rd, June 26, a male, 33, of Falls Church, was arrested for Driving Under the Influence, 3rd offense.
Celebrate the diversity that makes America, America. Add your photo to the true portrait of America at lovehasnolabels.com
opposing the recommendation. “The proposed lights are totally incompatible with the residential character of the surrounding neighborhood,” said Gregg Kurasz, the Rock Spring Civic Association’s representative on the work group. He cited poles “towering above dwellings in violation of the zoning ordinance, and installation and operation of the lights destroying wildlife habitat and an important portion of the surrounding tree canopy.” As often occurs in Arlington, the policy opponents did their homework. They consulted experts. (“A Kelvin is unit of measure of the color temperature of light,” they explain.) The six arrays, 10-21 luminaires apiece, they argued, “would be the brightest, highest color temperature LED lights on any sports fields in Arlington, exceeding Kelvin levels of lights at the Long Bridge sports complex, Washington-Lee and Yorktown High Schools, as well as FedEx Field and Nats Park.” Work group member Roy Gamse noted that the American Medical Association has associated high color temperature LED lights with high Kelvin levels threaten human health and the environment. Work group member Larry Suiters – who lives across from Discovery School – faulted the county for a last-minute change. “It is a fundamental breach of the public process … for the county manager and staff to recommend a lighting option the work group
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 13
Larceny – Theft from Building, 203 N Spring St (St. Joseph’s Preschool), June 20, between 8 AM and 5 PM, a bike trailer was taken by an unknown suspect described as white, male juvenile, approximately 14-17 years of age, 5`10, slender wearing a black helmet, black glasses, gray shirt and black pants. He was riding a black bike with large wheels. Smoking Violation, 6795 Wilson Blvd #50 (Hung Café), June 26, a male, 49, of Halethorpe, MD, was issued a summons
for smoking in a restaurant. Urinating in Public, 935 W Broad St (Taco Bell), June 27 at 00:48AM, a male, 34, of Washington, DC, was issued a summons for Urinating in Public. Hit and Run, 100 blk Noland St, June 27, a parked vehicle was struck by a red 4 door sedan which failed to stop. Larceny – Theft from Building, 100 blk Lea Ct, sometime during the past two weeks a lawnmower was taken from an unsecured shed. Hit and Run, 201 N Washington St (Kaiser Garage), June 27, between 1:15 and 4:20 PM, a parked vehicle was struck by another vehicle which left the scene. Driving Under the Influence, 500 blk N Oak St, June 28, 1:38 AM, a male,
Tampering with Auto, 1300 blk Gibson Pl, July 1, 00:15 AM, resident noticed an individual standing next to vehicle parked in driveway and saw interior lights come on. Officers searched area but did not locate suspect described as a man wearing a towel around his neck. Smoking Violation, 6757 Wilson Blvd, #16 (Cafe Le Mirage), July 1, a male, 30, of Falls Church, was issued a summons for smoking in a restaurant. OTHER ARRESTS A male, 33, of Washington, DC, was arrested June 29 by an Arlington County Deputy Sheriff on an outstanding Falls Church capias for failure to comply. The underlying charge was Assault and Batter.
PAGE 14 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
NATI O NA L
It’s the Economy, Fareed!
I usually find columnist and Sunday morning CNN politics show host Fareed Zakaria to be among the more astute and reliable commentators on current events available to a wide public audience. So it was with some disappointment that I read his recent, misguided column entitled, “It’s Not the Economy, Democrats.” He drew the wrong conclusions from the Democracy Fund study of voters in the 2016 election which found, among other things, “The primary conflict structuring the two parties involves questions of national identity, race and morality.” It was not economic differences, but different attitudes on “immigrants, blacks and Muslims,” it noted, and the Republican voter perception that “people like me are on the decline.” Another study he cited noted the Republican voters’ penchant FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS toward ”fears of cultural displacement and support for deporting undocumented immigrants.” Given these differences, he suggested that Democrats need to dump any focus on a better economic message and instead do a better job to “convey to a broad section of Americans – rural, less educated, older, whiter – that they understand and respect their lives, their values and their worth.” Their lives and their worth, perhaps, but their values? Didn’t the studies that Zakaria cited just conclude that their values are grounded in racism and xenophobia? Just how is one who opposes these “values” supposed to “respect” them? Many more progressive-minded people in our society today know what this is all about. They, like me, grew up in the households of the ‘40s and ‘50s where racism and xenophobia were far more prevalent than today. When I was growing up, my parents weren’t outwardly racist, but quietly quite so. Any xenophobia also didn’t occupy their consciousness except when Sen. Joe McCarthy’s and the FBI’s anticommunist witch hunts made an accusation of “commie” the most heinous thing one could say about someone, whether a teacher or neighbor or public figure. Today, like then, most Americans aren’t normally inclined to think of themselves as actively racist and xenophobic, except to the extent those otherwise dormant remnants of a cultural yesterday are called out by a relentless drumbeat of sinister voices and forces. Such roots have always been there among much of the public to be exploited by the nation’s elites who view tactics of divide and conquer as the best way to dissemble and repress the general public’s efforts at better economic and social justice. Those elites went into overdrive with the election of Barack Obama in 2008. They launched “grass-top” (phony “grass roots”) efforts funded and controlled from Washington, D.C. including groups like arch-right winger Dick Armey’s “Freedom Works,” and greater ideological and issue coordination among a national network of radio talk show hate mongers like Rush Limbaugh to tap the most agitated among those recently displaced by the Great Recession to call to the surface and act out their underlying prejudices. With the first African-American in the White House, the task was easier. The Tea Party was born of this. No doubt, the Tea Party was and is the American One-Percent Elites’ Republican Party, a new and refreshed radical Jacobin wing. As these efforts were stoked, scores of more traditional Republican elected officials were run out of office and replaced with the disgusting legions now in Congress to press for ending entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, dismantling Obamacare and deregulating everything else. This is the social phenomenon that pushed Trump into the White House. It owes its origins to the Elites’ orchestrated reaction to the election of Obama and relentless appeals to the lowest angels of human nature. All the scions of the Republican establishment are to be blamed for this, even those who for reasons of personal distastes abhor President Trump. The neo-cons who so oppose him now were the very ones who saw to his rise: everyone of them who promoted Limbaugh and all the others even while personally offended by him, they did this. So, what’s with the appeal to Democrats to “respect” these kind of “values?” None. Zakaria admonished in his column to “stress the common elements that bind.” But what identifies that more than achieving a common economic agenda? Achieving that goal will terrify the elites the most.
Nicholas F. Benton
Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Chris Christie’s Tutorial in Hubris
We can scoff and sneer at those images of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on his beachfront imperium, or we can learn from them. As he took in the sun, he doled out a lesson, the same one that Donald Trump is delivering on a daily basis and in a grander fashion: Beware the politician who doesn’t give a damn for decorum. What he markets as irreverence can be something coarser and more perverse. It can lead to ruin. Christie’s approval rating from New Jersey voters was just 15 percent — the lowest NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE rating for any current governor in the country and the worst in his state’s history — before his weekend repose on what turned out to be quicksand. He could sink into single digits after this. Negative integers aren’t entirely out of the question. I hope Trump is watching, but I have my doubts. The Christie family’s swimwear pageant wasn’t the kind that he’s known to ogle. Plus, he surely turns the channel when the visage on the screen isn’t his own. The stories of the disgraced New Jersey governor and the disgraceful American president overlap. Christie was “Trump before Trump,” Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told The Washington Post’s Robert Costa in an article published late Monday. “He does what he wants to do, and his success can be traced to that. But there are consequences, of course, when you work that way.” Steele could as easily have been talking about Trump, and when Costa referred to the “defiance that has both lifted and hobbled Christie’s political career,” he brought to mind Trump’s temperament and trajectory, whether he meant to or not. The twins of tantrum, Christie and Trump had almost identical political appeals. They mocked propriety. They broke rules. They assertively peddled the impression that as happy as they were to make friends, they were even happier to make enemies, because that meant they were fully in the fight. In an era of resentment and anger, many voters thrilled to the spectacle. The problem with other politicians, these voters legitimately reasoned, was too much indulgence of vested interests and too cowardly an obeisance to convention. If you didn’t slaughter the sacred cows, you’d never get to the tastiest filet. But Christie and Trump proved to be butchers of
Frank Bruni
a more indiscriminate and self-serving sort, and both demonstrated that there’s a short leap from headstrong to hardheaded and from defiant to delusional. Bold nonconformity can be the self-indulgent egotist’s drag. Yes, Christie called out fools in certain circumstances where they deserved it and steamrollered opponents who stood in the way of some plans that were wholly defensible. And he was seemingly immune to any of the subsequent caricatures of him as a bully. But he was also deaf to inevitable and entirely fair questions about his behavior. As Nick Corasaniti noted in The New York Times this week, he was caught “using a state helicopter paid for by taxpayers to attend his son’s baseball game.” He let King Abdullah of Jordan treat him and his family to a $30,000 weekend in a posh hotel. He was blind to how he would come across when, in his speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, he took such a gaudy star turn that the party’s presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, was reduced to a cameo. Christie bucked traditional manners, all right. He bucked them all the way to jawdropping megalomania. Make no mistake: For all their flamboyant pugnaciousness, the Christies and Trumps of the political world are chasing adulation every bit as much as their peers are — maybe more so. They’re just taking a deliberately muddier route, and if they don’t get there, they’re more likely to wear their failure as a badge of honor and to dig in with a destructive arrogance. When Christie was asked whether, despite a shutdown of the state government, he would steal away to the manse on the shore that’s a perk of his office, he unabashedly answered yes. “That’s just the way it goes,” he said. “Run for governor, and you can have a residence.” Translation: I’m governor and you’re not. Where have we heard a formulation like that before? Trump and Christie somehow decided that you have to govern by middle finger if you want to avoid governing by pinkie finger. But there’s a digit in between: a middle ground. It’s where real leadership and true effectiveness lie. Christie’s disrepute and dashed ambitions confirm as much. So does the ongoing insult of Trump’s presidency. They show that if you embrace a politician who talks too frequently and proudly about not caring what anyone thinks, you’ll wind up in the clutch of a politician whose last refuge is not caring what anyone thinks. That’s a dangerous place to be.
FO O D &D I NI NG
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FALLS CHURCH DISTILLERS CEO Michael Paluzzi stands alongside his 2,000-pound still, “Frankenstein’s Goggles.” Paluzzi hopes to open the distillery this Saturday. (P����: J��� F������)
Bourbon & Vodka & Gin...Oh My! F.C. Distillers Opens This Month BY JODY FELLOWS
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
If all goes as planned, the City of Falls Church will see the debut of its first-ever distillery this weekend. It’s been almost a year since the News-Press reported Falls Church Distillers CEO Michael Paluzzi signed a lease for 3,400 square feet in the former Mobu Kids space on S. Washington St. and Falls Church Distillers has quickly become one of the most anticipated Little City openings since Mad Fox Brewing Company debuted in 2010. Located next-door to the new Lincoln at Tinner Hill development — and future home of
Target — and across the street from Pearson Square, Falls Church Distillers is in a burgeoning commercial and residential district. The upcoming distillery, tasting room, bar and restaurant is an ambitious venture — not only for Paluzzi but also the City of Falls Church. The decision to choose Falls Church for his distillery came down to the type of experience he wanted to people to have. Fairfax County had too many limits on what he could do, he said, with the distillery having to be in a warehouse and only allowed to serve prepackaged food there. He wanted to provide more than that and he says Falls Church was happy to work with him to make
it happen. “We’re learning as we go,” he says, the newness of the industry has naturally made building a distillery from scratch a challenging process. “Nobody has done this before [in the City],” says Paluzzi. In fact, Falls Church Distillers is just the 44th distillery permitted in Virginia and joins Mount Vernon, Catoctin Creek Distilling Company and XO Distilling in Manassas as the only ones in Northern Virginia. The heart of Falls Church Distillers is a 2,000-pound, custom-made copper still, affectionately dubbed “Frankenstein’s Goggles” by its designer, Still Dragon. The equipment, which
$20 will get you a delicious and healthy dinner for two at any of Eden Center’s 25 restaurants.
will be manned by Paluzzi’s son and chief distiller Lorenzo, took about a year to design and construct, and with a 1,000-liter capacity, it can churn out close to 190 liters of spirits in eight hours. A five-stage filtration system designed by Lorenzo gives Fairfax Water’s finest the proper alkalinity and pH levels needed for the base of the spirits and also for custom-made, one-inch ice cubes used in their cocktails. “We’re making some great tasting water,” Paluzzi says with a grin. The first bottles from Falls Church Distillers, which Paluzzi says he hopes to have available by mid-July, will include gin, vodka and Virginia bourbon. Since bourbon typically takes at least two years to age, the distillery’s initial brown-spirit offering will be an 80-proof blend based on 70-gallons of three-year old bourbon he sourced from a southern Virginia supplier. Paluzzi and his team spent the past weekend bottling and labeling the liquor, dubbed Church Bourbon, and will have 320 bottles available at opening. (In an example of Little City synergy, Paluzzi gave the empty bourbon barrel to Mad Fox Brewing’s Bill Madden who will use it for a batch of beer there before returning it to the distillery). Soon, Paluzzi plans to have 10, 53-gallon barrels in the distillery for aging his own whiskey, rum and brandy. Falls Church Distillers’ clear spirits — Frozen Falls Vodka and Great Falls Gin — will be available straight up and flavored with pepperoncini (vodka) and lemon verbena and pineapple sage (gin). Because of strict ABC laws and regulations, Paluzzi had to get creative with the layout of the tasting room and restaurant sections of his space. Regulations won’t allow customers to bring spirits into the restaurant section of the room or let restaurant patrons bring beer or wine into the tasting room, so there’s
JULY 6 - 12, 2017 | PAGE 15
a metal partition separating the two. Adorned with art from the Front Royal-based Let Art Live On collective, the open concept provides the required separation but doesn’t wall-off the two sides. Plus, Paluzzi says, if they ever decide to ramp up food service, it’s easy to remove the wall. The tasting room, where spirits will be available for sampling, includes a row of tables on the ground floor and a pair of rooms in a loft Paluzzi calls the “Sun” and “Reflection” rooms. Since ABC rules allow for up to three ounces of spirits per person per day, Falls Church Distillers will offer customers tastings available in half-, one- and one-and-a-half ounce portions that they can mix and match up to the limit. The spirits will be available straight or as part of cocktails. (But since regulations won’t allow for custom orders, drinks must be on the menu to be ordered). There will also be an ABC room with bottles of spirits available for purchase. On the larger, restaurant side, there will be more tables and a bar with four beers on tap and an Italian-heavy wine list of 20. And like the wine selection, the small plates lineup of food will be Italian-themed, featuring bruschetta, panini, salads, soup and cheese and meat plates. Eventually, Paluzzi says there will be acoustic music to the dining room (“Nothing too loud.”) and he has plans for Saturday morning bottling parties where people can bottle, cork and label their own bottles of spirits. “I want to give people the total experience,” Paluzzi says. If Falls Church Distillers passes its two inspections scheduled for Thursday, that experience begins this Saturday, July 8, at noon. (Otherwise, we’ll have to wait a week). Falls Church Distillers 442 S. Washington St. | Falls Church fcdistillers.com
A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT
PAGE 16 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
with
DIA Frampton
July
7
y Frida Dia Frampton Jammin’ Java 8 p.m. 227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna
703-255-1566 • jamminjava.com
8
day r u t a S VI-Kings JV’s Restaurant 8 p.m. 6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church
703-241-9504 • jvsrestaurant.com
Temptation ‘70s vs. ‘80s Dance Party The State Theatre 9 p.m. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church
703-237-0300 • statetheatre.org
9
ay Sund
BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Starting out as a “salt of the earth” musician before being catapulted into the national spotlight thanks to a surprisingly deep run on the NBC reality competition show, “The Voice,” Dia Frampton is now an established veteran of the music industry. With a show at Jammin’ Java slated for this Friday, Frampton chatted with the News-Press about her past exploits and what the future holds for this rising star. Despite her current popularity, Frampton wasn’t always the coveted performer she is now. At 17, she founded her first band with her sister, aptly named Meg & Dia, and set out touring the nation in a van. The life was expectedly glamourless for the young musical troupe: nights spent either sleeping in the van or, occasionally, in public parks to showering in a Starbucks, Frampton and the rest of the band were taking each day one at a time and DIA FRAMPTON. (P����: M��� E��� B���) figuring the rest out later. And as Frampton How’s that saying go about best laid plans, reflects on the early part of her career, she does again? Oh yeah, they never follow through. so with renewed reverence. “I remember touring rather fondly in a weird Much to Frampton’s surprise, she was received way, as kind of an adventure,” Frampton said. startlingly well by the public and the show’s “I would not be able to that again, but back then celebrity judges, who nudged her all the way it was my sister and our three best friends and to the finale where she finished as the runnerwe were traveling to cities we’d never been to up. Frampton missed out on the grand prize, before...I don’t think a lot of people just pack but was invited to tour alongside her mentor up and go on a tour they book themselves any- and show judge, Blake Shelton. While learnmore. It’s a little bit old-fashioned now, but it ing how to cater performances toward arena crowds, Frampton was also elevating her prowas pretty fun.” After five years of the living the grungy file to new heights. The sudden fame didn’t sit well with the band life, Frampton got a chance call from her manager suggesting that she should audition rest of Meg & Dia, who felt Frampton’s indifor “The Voice’s” inaugural season. The two vidual success put them on the backburner. It agreed that while Frampton wasn’t likely to led to the dissolution of the band, but the hardmake waves in the competition, it would be a ships didn’t stop there. Becoming a nationally good platform for her to promote the band’s recognized artist subjected Frampton to critiself-released album, Cocoon, and hopefully cism and comparisons she hadn’t previously received, leading her to become disillusioned attract more of a following for Meg & Dia.
with music for a period of time. “It gave me anxiety to perform for a couple of years. I had to find the joy of music again for myself because I wasn’t used to being competitive and also being compared to other artists so much,” Frampton continued. “It started to make me feel inadequate, [and think] ‘Oh, this person is better,’ or ‘This person has a stronger voice, I wish I sounded like her,’ it got in my head and I lost the fun in performing.” Frampton has rediscovered the joy in performing, but at nearly 30 years old and 13 years in the industry, she’s beginning to question how much longer she wants to continue her career in music. Of course, that’s something only Frampton can determine. So until then, let’s try to revel in the melodic tunes she has given the world. For more information on Dia Frampton, visit diamusic.net.
Gin Blossoms with Classified Frequency The State Theatre
These singles wet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week:
8 p.m. 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church 703-237-0300 • statetheatre.org
Nicholas Benton – Put Another Nickel In by Teresa Brewer
Jody Fellows – You Can’t Always Get What You Want by Rolling Stones
Matt Delaney – New Person, Same Old Mistakes by Tame Impala
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 17
䰀椀昀攀琀椀洀攀 刀伀伀䘀䤀一䜀 戀礀 嘀䄀 䌀䄀刀伀䰀䤀一䄀 䈀唀䤀䰀䐀䤀一䜀匀Ⰰ 䤀一䌀
䘀䄀䌀吀伀刀夀 䐀䤀刀䔀䌀吀 圀䔀 䘀䤀一䄀一䌀䔀 䌀䄀䰀䰀 㠀 ⴀ㠀㤀㌀ⴀ㈀㐀㈀ 眀⸀愀⸀挀
匀䤀一䜀䰀䔀 圀䤀䐀䔀匀 䐀伀唀䈀䰀䔀 圀䤀䐀䔀匀 䠀伀唀匀䔀匀
圀圀圀⸀䴀䔀吀䄀䰀刀伀伀䘀伀嘀䔀刀⸀䌀伀䴀
100% CASH FOR VINTAGE BASEBALL CARDS (1900-1972)
Private collectors in town paying all cash for vintage baseball, football & basketball card collections from 1900-1972 ONLY. Looking for complete & partial sets, star cards, higher grade commons and all tobacco cards.
THE RELATIONSHIP shared between a homeless man (left, played by Cliff McMullen) and a young boxer (right, played by Hayden Livesay) serves as the foundation for Falls Church’s J. Michael Whalen’s first feature-length film, “Canned Hunt.” (Photo: Courtesy J.Micahel Whalen/Torasu Productions)
F.C. Filmmaker Finishes Long Journey To Release 1st Feature-Length Movie by Matt Delaney
Falls Church News-Press
With the release of Torasu Productions’ first feature-length film “Canned Hunt” just around the corner, the company’s founder and the film’s director/creative mind, Falls Church’s J. Michael Whalen, shared some insights into how the project finally came to fruition and what audiences should expect from the Little City-centric production. Whalen’s passion for film stemmed from an early age and kept him energized even when job prospects were few and far between. He started out by making films with his parents’ old Super-8 cameras, and by the time he entered college, Whalen majored in filmmaking to further clarify his career aspirations. However in the years following college, Whalen was filming sports for local high schools while struggling to land his first real job on a set. Turning his passion into profession seemed impossible, until Whalen stumbled across a Craigslist ad looking for a cinematographer. Though unfamiliar with the exact responsibilities of the job, he was hired and adapted to his role on the fly. One project lead to another and then another – suddenly, 10 years had passed and Whalen had put together a hearty portfolio. From there he founded Torasu Productions in 2006 with a focus on rich storytelling, and now Whalen’s finally seeing that come to the fore with his inaugural film, “Canned Hunt.” The plot of the action-thriller movie is based around three white
collar professionals who carelessly assault a homeless man, thinking their actions will have no consequence. However, the assailants are ultimately held accountable by a friend of the homeless man, who happens to be a boxer and doles out justice with his fists. Moviegoers can speculate how the story will unfold, but the film attempts to be an allegory for how modern life is less concerned with the strength of our values and when we act on them. “‘Canned Hunt’ essentially comes down to living by a code,” Whalen said. “It’s not to say that people in this day and age don’t live by any sort of standard, but it’s just a little too easy to say ‘who cares’ and have no thought process on how to handle something that affects a person unattached to our lives. We’re very ‘every man for themselves.’” Falls Church residents will find some of their favorite spots around town making cameos throughout the film as Whalen kept the setting firmly grounded in the Little City. From scenes at Victory Comics on Washington St. to shots near Smoot Landscaping on the north side of City to the final fight staged at Mad Fox Brewing Company, Falls Church has its fingerprints all over the film. Keeping the production close to home was nice touch as well as a necessary choice by Whalen. Budget constraints limited the production team to just five actors and two other crew members alongside Whalen so there wasn’t much financial wiggle room for travel. Though staying local and filming in public settings also gives the final product
a quintessential indie film vibe that harkens back to the 1990s, where off-camera mishaps and actors stumbling over lines couldn’t be edited out of the theatrical version. The small budget did its most damage to the film’s release. Initial shooting took place back in 2013, where Whalen put together a teaser to help raise money. The teaser fell way short of its goal, and the film hit another major bump in the road when its protagonist announced he was moving to Los Angeles shortly after Whalen started shooting. So after four years of orchestrating shootings around the lead’s temporary visits to the area and cobbling together more funding, the film is finally set for release. And while Whalen acknowledges his own ability to juggle is impressive, he prefers to highlight the actors’ unreal commitment to their roles for so many years. “To the credit of the actors, they kept the characters in them for so long, and were so consistent, it was just remarkable to see them when they were back on set,” Whalen stated. “I just want people to see it because the performances are great.” Now that Whalen’s crossed his T’s and dotted his I’s on the final product, at last he’s able to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. All Whalen hopes is the film garners a strong reaction from its audiences, though preferably in the form of squirming. “Canned Hunt” will be screening Sunday, July 9 at 7 p.m. at the Cinema Arts Theatre (9560 Main St., Fairfax) and can be found for purchase at jmichaelwhalen.com.
$250,000 to spend & WE PAY ALL CASH and way more than dealers! www.baseballcardroadshows.com Call now to schedule a private appointment. (Paul or Gary) FRIDAY, JULY 14th ROANOKE SATURDAY, JULY 15th RICHMOND
804-467-7428
CA L E NDA R
PAGE 18 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
FALLS CHURCHCALENDAR COMMUNITYEVENTS THURSDAY, JULY 6 Teen DIY Squishies. Make your own collection of squishies. Most commonly used for stress relief or decorations in the office or at home. For teens in rising grades 6-12. Registration required. Please visit or call the Youth Services Desk to register. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 3 – 4:30 p.m. 703-2485034. Concerts in the Park: Shenandoah Run. The Village Preservation and Improvement Society and the Recreation and Parks Department are hosting the 25th annual Summer Concerts in the Park series began on June 22 and continues through August 3. The series features local musicians of various genres every Thursday evening. Concerts are free. Cherry Hill Park (312 Park Ave., Falls Church) 7 p.m. 703-248-5077.
FRIDAY, JULY 7 Dance with Your Baby at the Library. Enjoy songs and movement for children ages 0 to 18 months. Registration opens two weeks prior to each program date. Participants must register for each class. Register with the Youth Services desk by phone or in person. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church) 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. 703248-5034.
SATURDAY, JULY 8 Beech Tree Puppets at the Library. The Hollow Stump: A Russian Folk Tale, adapted for Rod Animal Puppets. Seven very different animals seek shelter from the winter cold and snow. Adapted from the popular tale, The Mitten, this tale celebrates community, as the animals learn to share one space. A show by Beech Tree Puppets founders, Ingrid and Ole Hass, filled with singing and visual delights. Best for ages 2-6. No
registration required. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 11 – 11:45 a.m. 703-248-5034.
tion required. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 7 – 8:30 p.m. 703-2485034.
MONDAY, JULY 10
TUESDAY, JULY 11
Preschool Storytime. Stories and fun for ages 0-5. Drop-in. All storytimes are followed by playtime with the Early Literacy Center toys. Mary Riley Styles (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 10:30 – 11 a.m. 703-248-5034.
PAWS to Read. Children can come and read with a canine companion. For grades K-6th. Registration required. Registration opens two weeks prior to the date of every program at the Youth Services desk by phone or in person only. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 3 – 4 p.m. 702-248-5034.
Playtime with Early Literacy Center. Explore educational and manipulative items (aka toys) to teach early literacy through play. Ages birth to 5 years. No registration required. Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. 703248-5034. ESL Conversation Group. General conversation group for adults learning English as a second language. Meets every Monday at the regular time. No resistra-
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 Shepherd’s Center Fundraiser The Locker Room restaurant will be sponsoring a fundraiser for The Shepherd’s Center of McLeanArlington-Falls Church. The restaurant will donate 15 percent of its sales to the Shepherd’s Center. Locker Room Sports Bar & Grill (502 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 7 a.m. – 12 a.m. 703-854-1230.
THEATER&ARTS FRIDAY, JULY 7
“The Happiest Place on Earth.” Once upon a time in an Anaheim, California, a magical kingdom was built. Eight years later, one family’s American prince died on live television while delivering the Albuquerque sports scores. Reeling from the loss of their patriarch, the family underwent a quest to reach the magical kingdom and seek solace and recovery. Is there really is a place where the dream that we wish can come true? The Hub Theatre (9431 Silver King Ct. Fairfax). $32. 8 p.m. hubtheatre.org.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY SATURDAY, JULY 8 2 “Broken Glass.” A riveting psychological drama from one of America’s master playwrights, Arthur Miller. Sylvia Gellburg has suddenly, mysteriously, become paralyzed from the waist down, and her husband, a self-denying Jew, can’t figure out why. Set in Brooklyn throughout the rampage of Kristallnacht in 1938, this rare and gripping drama demands we confront our fears, our assumptions, and our anguish. Miller bal-
What You Should Know About Veterans Aid & Attendance Benefits Did you know that wartime veterans and surviving spouses may be eligible to receive benefits to help with the cost of assisted living?
Thursday, July 13 6:00 - 7:00 pm Join us for this free program! Presented by Patricia Servaes of Servaes Consulting Group, LLC, and Founder of
Stay for our Caregiver Support Group, 7:00 - 8:00
pm.
Space is limited. Please RSVP to Kelly Halteh at 703-531-0781 or email khalteh@cri-va.org.
703-531-0781 | chesterbrookres.org | 2030 Westmoreland Street | Falls Church, VA 22043 A nonprofit, nondenominational community sponsored by Chesterbrook Residences, Inc. Coordinated Services Management, Inc.—Professional Management of Retirement Communities since 1981.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
ances private and public morality in this astonishing and electrifying play about being American, being married, and coming to terms with one’s own identity. Edlavitch Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). 7:30 p.m. $67. edcjcc.org.org. “Empanada for a Dream.” By Juan Francisco Villa–Villa, a second generation Colombian immigrant, who performs the one-man show that “is at the heart of our current national debate about what it means to be an American and how much responsibility we owe to each other.” (Chicago Tribune) Part of 1st Stage’s Logan Festival of Solo Performance, the first of its kind in the DC Region. This two-week festival includes performances of three outstanding plays and brings together audience and performers through community discussions, artist interviews, new play readings and more. Ist Stage Theater (1524 Spring Hill Rd. Tysons) 2 p.m. $20. 1ststagetysons.org.
SUNDAY, JULY 9 “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The icon. His traitor. The most famous story ever told. Experience Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s stunning award-winning rock opera in a sleek, modern, environmental production. With the legendary songs “What’s the Buzz,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Everything’s Alright” and the title song, Joe Calarco (Gypsy) directs this dazzling and fiery epic of celebrity, passion, guilt and salvation. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $74. 2 p.m. & 7 p.m. sigtheatre.org.
LIVEMUSIC
CA L E NDA R
Damian Wolfe. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.
FRIDAY, JULY 7 Dia Frampton with Special Guests Castro and Jesse Ruben. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $17 – $30. 8 p.m. 703-255-1566. $5 Comedy. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $5. 8 p.m. 703-237-0300. Albino Rhino with Pleasure Train and Sauce. Iota Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. Shartel and Hume Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9:15 p.m. 703-2419504. Brad Rhodes. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333
SATURDAY, JULY 8 Goodfellas Beatles Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-2419504. Bobby Long + Kalob Griffin. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15. 6:30 p.m. 703-2551566. Capitol Soul, DJ Scotty. Cafe Kindred & Townshend Bar (450 N. Washington St., Suite F, Falls Church). 7 p.m. 571-327-2215. Justin Jones with Long Arms. Iota Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. 703522-8340.
SWEET YONDER will be at JV’s Restaurant in Falls Church on Sunday. (Photo: Renee Ruggles)
SUNDAY, JULY 9 Dixieland Direct. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 1:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. Aria Jukebox. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna). $32 – $48. 3 p.m. 703-255-1900. Sweet Yonder. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
VI-Kings. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-241-9504.
Here, Now and Forever. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $20 – $22. 7 p.m. 703-255-1566.
Trevor Hall with Satsang. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $25. 8 p.m. 703237-0300.
Temptation ‘70s vs. ‘80s Dance Party. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $5. 9 p.m. 703-237-0300.
Natalie Merchant: Summer Tour 2017, Three Decades of Songs. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna). $30 – $75. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900.
Innertwined. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.
Gin Blossoms with Classified Frequency. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $30 – $34. 8 p.m. 703237-0300.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY THURSDAY, JULY 6 2
The Thrillbilly’s. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 19
Juxt + Burn the Ballrooom + Yo Kid. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $20. 10 p.m. 703-255-1566.
Neil Gaiman. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna). $25 – $65. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900. Iota Poetry Series. Iota Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 6 p.m. 703-522-8340.
Kareem Walkes. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-2419504.
MONDAY, JULY 10 Jammin Java Local Scene: Calm The Waters + Brett Lesher and the Lonefolk + The Last Brigade + Zach Benson. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $20. 7 p.m. 703-2551566. Wolf Blues Jam Weekly Show. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
TUESDAY, JULY 11 The Whizpops! Changers for the Endangered. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd., Vienna). $10. 10:30 a.m. 703255-1900. Boys of Summer. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $35 – $149 (depending on ticket package). 5
p.m. 703-237-0300. The Daily Mail + CHRLMGNE + Acquiescence. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $25. 7:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. Iota Jam presented by Gordon Sterling. Iota Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). 8 p.m. 703-522-8340. Dan Hovey Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 Cancer Can Rock feat. Sub Radio + Mary Ann Redmond + Eric Scott + Justin Trawick + Goodnite Neverland + Justin Donnelly. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $20. 7:30 p.m. 703255-1566. Open Mic with Bob Hume and Martha Capone Band. JV’s Restaurant (666 Arlington Blvd., Arlington) 8 p.m. 703522-8340.
Calendar Submissions Email: calendar@fcnp.com | Mail: Falls Church News-Press, Attn: Calendar, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046 Be sure to include time, location, cost of admission, contact person and any other pertinent information. Event listings will be edited for content and space limitations. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for the current week’s edition.
LO CA L
PAGE 20 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
Fa l l s C h u r c h
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Business News & Notes Botanologica Celebrating 1 Year with Month of Deals Botanologica is celebrating its one-year anniversary at 817 W. Broad Street by offering special discounts through the month of July. The locally owned independent garden shop is offering 15-percent discounts on apothecary items from July 6 – 9, plants from July 13 – 16, containers July 20 – 23, and gardening gloves and tools July 27 – 30. Shop hours are Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.Botanologica.com.
F.C. EDA Discussion on Downtown Plaza Renovations Next Week The Falls Church City Economic Development Authority will discuss the proposed design for the downtown plaza renovations on W. Broad Street at its July 11 meeting in Falls Church City Hall’s Dogwood Room. The EDA funded project is an effort to energize the downtown area by increasing pedestrian traffic and providing economic benefits to the businesses in the immediate area. For more information, visit www.fallschurchva.gov/164/ Economic-Development-Authority.
Follow Us Online
twitter.com/fcnp
Locker Room Hosting Fundraiser for Shepherd’s Center
facebook.com/fallschurchcity
A fundraiser for the Shepherd’s Center of McLean/Arlington/Falls Church will be held Wednesday, July 12 from 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. at The Locker Room Sports Bar and Grill. The Falls Church restaurant will donate 15 percent of the day’s proceeds during the fundraiser to benefit the volunteer inter-faith nonprofit that provides senior adults aging at home rides to medical appointments and grocery stores. The Locker Room is located at 502 W. Broad Street in Falls Church. For more information, visit www.scmafc.org and www. thelockerroomfc.com.
F.C. Chamber Networking Breakfast Set for July 13
Denied Benefits? Unable To Work?
We Can Help!
Helping 1000’s Get The Benefits They Deserve
Fighting For Your
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS For Over 35 Years!
1
Do You Qualify For Disability Benefits? Call For A FREE Evaluation
2
Assisting With: - Initial Applications - Denied Claims - Hearings
3
We Simplify The Process & Strive For Quick Claim Approval.*
You Could Be Eligible To Receive: • Up To $2,671.00 Per Month In Steady Income Depending On Your Paid In Amount • A Lump Sum Payment Of Benefits Owed From Back-pay • Health Insurance (Medicare, Medicaid Or Both) • Annual Cost Of Living Increases
Call Now For A FREE Evaluation
(800) 527-3193 Bill Gordon & Associates, a nationwide practice, represents clients before the Social Security Administration. Member of the TX & NM Bar Associations. Mail: 1420 NW St Washington D.C. Office: Broward County, FL. Services may be provided by associated attorneys licensed in other states. * The process for determining each applicant’s disability benefits varies greatly, and can take upwards of two years.
The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting an informal networking breakfast at Bentley’s Restaurant on Thursday, July 13 from 8 – 9 a.m. Anyone interested in meeting members of the local business community or the Chamber are welcome to attend. There is no cost to attend the event although attendees are required to pay their own checks. For more information, visit the calendar of events at www. FallsChurchChamber.org.
Face Painting at Locker Room Sports Bar on Tuesdays The Locker Room Sports Bar and Grill is now offering complimentary face painting with the Vienna Singing Princesses from 5 – 7 p.m. Tuesdays starting July 11. The Vienna Singing Princesses (www.viennasingingprincesses.com) are a diverse group of students from Vienna who perform and offer services, such as face painting and hair braiding, at a variety of events from fun runs to open houses to birthday parties. Two princesses or princes will be at The Locker Room each Tuesday. The sports themed restaurant also offers one free kids meal with the purchase of a regular adult meal Monday through Friday until 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.thelockerroomfc.com.
Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.
(A) Go ask your mother. (B) Because I said so. (C) We’ll see. There are no perfect answers in parenting. AdoptUSKids.org
A RTS&E NTE RTA I NME NT
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Crossword
ACROSS
By David Levinson Wilk 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
14
15
16
17
18
19
21
20
28
24
29
30
35
31
32
33
39
43
44
40
42 45 48
50
51 53
54
55
56
49 52
57
58
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
61
62
26
37
41
47
46
25
34
36
38
13
22
23 27
12
© 2017 David Levinson Wilk
Across 1. "This is ____!" (line from the 2006 film "300")
59
60
1. "This is ____!" (line from the 2006 film "300") 7. You can bank on them 11. Hydroelectricity structure 14. Figure skater Harding and others 15. Gooey cheese 16. Be in hock 17. On deck 18. Smidge 19. Movie filming spot 20. Not much of a try 23. Title on "Downton Abbey" 24. Gear teeth 27. Thing driven on construction sites 30. Cartoon friend of Dumb Donald and Mush Mouth 35. Balcony, e.g. 36. $15/hour, e.g. 37. Shape of some shirt necks 38. Org. for Nadal and Federer 39. Tow truck type 42. Where to board a train: Abbr. 43. A.F.L.-____ 44. Singer of "Footloose" 45. Timetable, informally 46. Celestial Seasonings' SleepyTime, e.g. 49. In a bashful manner 50. "Cómo ___ usted?" 51. 2015 award for "Hamilton" 53. Modern restroom amenity ... or this puzzle's theme 61. Former rival of Pan Am 63. Zodiaco animal 64. Rick with the 1988 #1 hit
JULY 6 – 12, 2017 | PAGE 21 34. Played the first card 39. State with a peninsula: Abbr. 40. :-D alternative 41. "The only way to run away without leaving home," per Twyla Tharp 45. Put away, as a sword 47. Cry with "humbug!" 48. Get an ____ (ace) 49. Keeps under wraps 52. Not one's best effort, in coachspeak 54. Word that comes from the Greek for "indivisible" 55. "Fuhgeddaboudit" 56. Olympian Louganis 57. + and - particles 58. "Kapow!" 59. "American Pie" actor Eugene 60. Peer group? 61. Derek Jeter's jersey number 62. Glob of gum
"Never Gonna Give You Up" 65. Card game for two 66. Unwrap 67. Native Arizonan 68. Like the year 2017 69. Ryan and Whitman 70. "Public ____ Wife" (1936 mobster film)
DOWN
1. Double ____ Oreos 2. John or Paul, but not Ringo 3. Bancroft or Boleyn 4. Amber-colored brew 5. Accountant's concern 6. Sunflower relative 7. Somewhat 8. Home run jog 9. Itty-bitty biter 10. Line of clothing? 11. Turgenev called him the "great author of the Russian land" 12. Wonderment 13. Shook hands, say 21. 1980s sitcom filmed with a puppet 22. Outlawed pollutant, for short 25. Fairy tale sister 26. "Easy there" 27. Something just under one's nose, slangily 28. Jackson, Lincoln and Madison, for three 29. End-of-semester handout 31. Shaw of the big band era 32. It's picked up in bars 33. "Thanks, but I already ____"
CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK
7. You can bank on them
Sudoku
11. Hydroelectricity structure
Level:
1
2
3
Last Thursday’s Solution C O B W E B
B R A W N Y
L A R A
A V E S
S A T I N E
P A S S W E M O S A R P A D
P R M A N R E E V E S I G N A L S I L I I E V A L E N O W A L B A A M E G I O E R R I S T L O R N N A V E D H I D O N J I A S E D E R A R M A
I R A E N S P H N Y Z E O N N A E K T W M A I N
D O N T G O
S T L E O
S Y N D R O M E
A Y C E E S O E D S
K Y L E
G I B R A N
E C A R T E
O K B Y M E
By The Mepham Group 4
14. Figure skater Harding and others 15. Gooey cheese 16. Be in hock 17. On deck 18. Smidge 19. Movie filming spot 20. Not much of a try
1
23. Title on "Downton Abbey" 24. Gear teeth 27. Thing driven on construction sites
LOOSE PARTS
DAVE BLAZEK
30. Cartoon friend of Dumb Donald and Mush Mouth 35. Balcony, e.g.
Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle
NICK KNACK
1
© 2017 N.F. Benton
7/9/17
Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.
© 2017 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.
PAGE 22 | JULY 6 – 12, 2017
laz y The dog. c k q u i fox sly p e d jum e r o v lazy the g . d o is Now time the all for o d g o to cows
20 s Yearo Ag
e c o mthe to of aid i r t h e re. pastu w N o the is e t i m all for o d g o to cows e c o mthe to
LO CA L
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
C������ C�����
BACK IN THE DAY
20 � 10 Y���� A�� �� ��� N���-P���� Falls Church News-Press Vol. VII, No. 17 • July 10, 1997
City Youth Charged in Stabbing Incident Also Suspected in Vandalism & Defamation Cases A Falls Church 17-year-old charged with malicious wounding in connection with a stabbling at the 7-11 on N. West St. last week and two of his friends who were with him at the scene of that crime have been identified as the same youths involved in two recent incidents of vandalism and defamation against George Mason High School students, the NewsPress has learned.
Falls Church News-Press Vol. XVII, No. 18 • July 4, 2007
It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the p a s their ture . * * * Throw * * it up. Pour it up
10 Year s Ago
It is now the time fo r all good to go cows to aid of the p a s their ture . * * * Throw * * Pour it up. it up
Seeking Condo-to-Rental OK, $ Offered to Build Arts Center Atlantic Realty officials responded this week to growing public pressure to offer some compensation in exchange for the City of Falls Church’s permitting the conversion of 231 for sale condos to rentals at its giant Pearson Square mixed use project now under construction. They formally offered Monday to contribute $100,000 in design and build-out costs of the “flex arts space” at the site they’ve offered to the City for reduced rent.
Mixed Use Projects Report Reveals Big Gains for F.C. Continued from Page 1
ects, 301 West Broad and the Lincoln at Tinner Hill, are not yet fully occupied) students that live in their residences. The new evaluation also does not include the most recent development, that Target has signed a lease to occupy 26,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor of the Lincoln at Tinner Hill. The report notes, however, that the addition of Target will incentivize other smaller retailers to rent spaces in that building or nearby. Some of the biggest proposed mixed-use projects are still in early stages of gaining approvals for construction from City Hall, as well. Notably, there is the longawaited 4.3-acre Founders (formerly Mason) Row at the northeastern corner of the W. Broad at N. West Street, the Insight Development project for 2.5 acres at the northeastern corner of the intersection of W. Broad and N. Washington and, the biggest of them all, the 10-acre portion of the 36-acre George Mason High School and Henderson Middle
School site, the development policy for which is now under deliberation. So far the City’s new developments have all been seven stories or less, although there is a push to allow up to 10 stories, or even more, at the campus site, pending a rezoning and subsequent establishment of an overlay district. With buildings recently completed and under construction in nearby Tysons Corner topping 35 stories, the plans for Falls Church remain relatively modest. In referenda since this latest construction trend began, Falls Church citizens have repeatedly rejected attempts to rein in mixed-use development in the City’s thin commercially-zoned corridors (mostly limited to Broad and Washington Streets). In the proposed November school bond referendum, the issue will come down to the net cost of the new school to taxpayers, and the promise of a robust development of the 10 acres of the school site for mixed use, including its sale (in the form most likely of a long-term ground lease) for $40
million or more, will be seen as an important, even game-changing. mitigating factor. In the City’s latest mixed use impact report, it is shown that with the exception of one of the projects — Pearson Square on S. Maple — net revenue yields to the City would be significantly higher than they are. Pearson Square was originally approved as a 230-unit condominium development but as its construction was underway in 2006, the condo market in the region tanked (it has still not fully recovered). The City approved a request to convert the condos to rental units in 2007 just as the Great Recession was hitting. (Another victim of the Recession in that period was the ambitious City Center development project with a value of $315 million that reconfigured a good section of the blocks in the immediate S. Washington and W. Broad area. It involved moving the bowling alley, a hotel and more, and had won all the necessary approvals from the City government, but when the recession suddenly dried up access to
Make Your Pet a Star! Critter
Corner
Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Snap a pic of your critter and email it to: CRITTERCORNER@FCNP.COM OR mail it to Critter Corner c/o Falls Church News-Press 200 Little Falls Street #508 Falls Church, Va 22046
THE INSEPARABLE DUO of Captain and Morgan are hanging out in one of their favorite perches at home with the Huang family. While they may occasionally have their differences, the pair have come to relish what the other brings to the table. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com. development funding, it died a swift and unholy death.) In the case of Pearson Square, however, the larger residential units originally designed as condos in the project turned rentals made it a magnet for families with school aged children, eager to take advantage of the stellar reputation of the Falls Church schools. Of the eight projects completed since 2003 — The Broadway, the Byron, Pearson Square, the Read Building, the Spectrum, Northgate, 301 W. Broad and the Lincoln at Tinner Hill — Pearson Square accounts for 56 percent of all the school-aged children the projects have enrolled in City schools. Thus, while originally projected to yield a net $684,196 annually to the City’s tax coffers, it has turned to become the only negative yield project of the eight, costing the City $428,329 a year. But this is an anomaly compared to the robust net yields of all the other projects, and that also extends to the new ones still on the drawing boards, as they are all designed with smaller rental apart-
ments aimed at attracting a combination of a younger (singles and couples with very young children not yet of school age) demographic and over 55 “active seniors.” So far, according to the report, the student population in the newest units, the 301 W. Broad and LIncoln at Tinner Hill, is trending below the modelled “low pupil coefficients per housing unit.” Meanwhile, in addition to the net positive tax impact of these projects, their developers have provided the City with considerable concessions, including a total of $7,036,403 in contributions to the schools and 69 affordable dwelling units. It is also pointed out that the population growth in the Little City associated with these projects also contributes to the City’s tax revenue base by providing local retailers and service businesses with more customers, needed to make these businesses survive and prosper. The new “Mixed Use Development Fiscal Impact Report” was slated to be posted to the City’s website this week, according to reports.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Cleaning Services
Lawn Services
House Cleaning Service
CHARLES JENKINS TREE SERVICE & MULCHING
Available 7 days a week Weekly - By Weekly - Monthly or by Time Move Out - Move In • 14 years Experience Good References • Senior Discount For Further Information: Call Susy • Cell (703) 901-0596
Home Improvement All repairs, plumbing, drywall, doors, windows, rotted wood, siding, gutters, lighting + more FREE estimates, insured Call Doug (703)556-4276
Seasoned Fire Wood Delivery
703-512-9166 Licensed and Insured
R
www.novahandyman.com JOSEPH HOME IMPROVEMENT
Drywall • Paint Exterior / Interior, Bath & Kitchen Remodeling, Basements, Ceramic Tile, Deck, Fences. Patios, Electric, Plumbing, Clean Garage, All Kinds of Hauling. Joseph www.josephhomeimprovements.com Joselozada27@yahoo.com Licensed & Cell 703-507-5005 Insured Work Tel 703-507-8300
since 1985
Insured, Bonded and Licensed Independently owned Commercial & Residential
703-892-8648
Other Services
Handyman Service
A Cleaning Service
www.acleaningserviceinc.com
JULY 6 - 12, 2017 | PAGE 23
classads@fcnp.com
fcnp.com
Get 10% off labor with this ad [must be presented at first consultation]
classads@fcnp.com
fcnp.com C L AS S I F I E DS
Real Estate Homes for Sale HOUSE FOR SALE 5729 Norton Road Alexandria VA 22303 $491,810. Phone: 202-742-7290 Senate Realty Corporation 909 U Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 FAIR HOUSING & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY REALTOR
Public Notice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA The City of Falls Church Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, July 17, 2017 at 7:30 PM, or as soon thereafter as may be heard, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, to consider the following: COMPREHENSIVE PLAN MAP AMENDMENT TO CHANGE THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP DESIGNATION FROM “LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (4.0)” TO “LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL (6.0)” AND “TRANSITIONAL”; AND (TO17-01) AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE OFFICIAL ZONING DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, BY REZONING A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 51,454 SQUARE FEET OF LAND FROM R-1A, LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL TO R-1B, MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENTIAL FOR THE RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY AT 116 GREAT FALLS STREET AND A PORTION OF THE COLUMBIA BAPTIST CHURCH PROPERTIES AT 308, 310, 312 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE & 103 WEST COLUMBIA STREET, AND REZONING APPROXIMATELY 26,845 SQUARE FEET OF LAND FROM R-1A, LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT TO T-1, TRANSITIONAL DISTRICT, FOR A PORTION OF THE COLUMBIA BAPTIST CHURCH PROPERTIES AT 308, 310, 312 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE & 103 WEST COLUMBIA STREET (REAL PROPERTY CODE NUMBERS 51-103-005 THROUGH 51103-008, 51-103-023, AND 51-103-024), ON APPLICATION BY DAVID F. & EDITH H. SNYDER AND THE TRUSTEES OF
COLUMBIA BAPTIST CHURCH Materials can be viewed at the Planning Division, City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Room 300W, Falls Church, VA. 22046, M-F 8:30 AM to 5 PM. 703-248-5040. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711).
PUBLIC NOTICE CITY OF FALL CHURCH VIRGINIA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on July 13, 2017 at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, for consideration of the following items: New Business Variance application V1591-17 by Andrew and Lauren Young, applicants and owners, for a variance to Section 48-238(3)(a) to allow a side yard setback of 12 feet instead of 15 feet for the purpose of constructing an attached garage and 2ndstory addition, on premises known as 615 Poplar Drive, RCP #52-605-024 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-IA, Low Density Residential. Information on the above application is available for review at: Zoning Office 300 Park Avenue, Suite 300W Falls Church, VA. 703-248-5015 (option 1) zoning@fallschurchva.gov This location is fully accessible to persons with physical disabilities and special services or assistance may be requested in advance. (TTY 711)
NOTICE OF PUBLIC PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
The City of Falls Church Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, July 17, 2017,at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 to consider the following: An application by Railroad, LLC for a Special Exception (Resolution TR17-15) for a cottage housing development in the R-1A, Low Density Residential zoning district on approximately 1.25 acres of land, located at the east end of Railroad Avenue and comprising three parcels (Real Property Code Numbers 52-102-030, 52-102-031, and 52-102-032 [1006 Railroad Avenue]), known as “Railroad Cottages”.
Application materials are available on the City’s webpage at the following link: http://www.fallschurchva.gov/1792/Railroad-Cottages-1000-block-of-Railroad Materials can also be viewed at the Planning Division, City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Room 300W, Falls Church, VA. 22046, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 703-248-5040. This location is fully accessible to persons with physical disabilities and special services or assistance may be requested in advance. (TTY 711)
We are pledged to the letter andspirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.
PUBLIC NOTICE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING
The Planning Commission of the City of Falls Church will hold a public meeting on July 17, 2017 at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers located at 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia to consider the following: A Site Plan application by the City of Falls Church, applicant and owner, to allow an attached parking garage and addition as well as interior and exterior renovations for the existing City Hall building located at 300 Park Avenue, RPC #51-112-001, zoned OD (Official Design). You are welcome to review the site plan at the Planning Division office, Falls Church City Hall, 300 Park Avenue, Room 300W, Falls Church, VA., Monday through Friday (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). The Planning office can be reached at (703) 248-5140. This location is fully accessible to persons with physical disabilities and special services or assistance may be requested in advance. (TTY 711)
classads@fcnp.com
PAGE 24 | JULY 6 - 12, 2017
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Open Sunday 2-4pm
Open Sunday 2-4pm
Open Sunday 2-4pm
Steps to Metro! 2720 BellForest Ct #209 | Vienna
Lovely 1 BD/1 BA + den just steps from Dunn Loring Metro, and minutes to the Mosaic District. Offered at $250,000
502 W Broad St #321 | Falls Church City
Beautiful & spacious 2 BD/2 BA condo in The Broadway. Gleaming hardwoods, private balcony overlooking quiet courtyard, 2 garage parking spaces, and 2 storage units. Fantastic location! Offered at $549,000
405 Hillwood Ave | Falls Church City
7027 Haycock #G | Falls Church
2 BD/2.5 BA, spectacular two level condo that feels more like a townhouse. Huge patio, 2 parking spaces and Storage. Seconds to WFC Metro! Offered at $555,000
Pristine 4 BD/2.5 BA town home in Whittier Park. Many updates and shows beautifully. 2 car garage and walk to all that Falls Church City has to offer. Offered at $839,000
Under Contract
Under Contract ct Contra s! y a d in 6
Louise Molton Phone: 703 244-1992 louise@moltonrealestate.com
ct Contra s! y a d in 3
6909 Farragut Ave | Falls Church
Wonderful 3 level Cape featuring 4 BD/3 BA with family room addition and beautifully remodeled. Large flat lot and great Falls Church Location. Offered at $535,000
Under Contract
1004 Broadmont Terr. | Falls Church City
Lovely 4 BD/2.5 BA brick home on cul de sal in desirable Broadmont neighborhood. Less than a mile to metro and huge private lot. Offered at $800,000
1305 Seaton Circle | Falls Church City
Situated on quiet cul de sac in desirable Virginia Forest. Featuring 5 BD/3 BA, updated kitchen and master bath, three finished levels and large private deck overlooking landscaped lot. Offered at $830,000
710 W Broad St, Falls Church VA 22046 ~ 703-596-5303 Each Office Independently Owned and Operated
EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
®
REALTOR
CONTACT BETHANY FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS
Bethany Ellis REALTOR ® , SRES, e-PRO, Corporate Relocation Specialist NVAR Lifetime Top Producer & Multi-Million Dollar Sales Club
703-307-7003
bethany.ellis@longandfoster.com
Licensed in VA & DC
McLean Sales Office: 1355 Beverly Rd Ste 109, McLean VA 22101 • 703-790-1990 Office
Serving all of Falls Church, Arlington, McLean, Vienna, Great Falls & Northern VA markets. Take a look at my website- where you can search for homes, view my new Falls Church & McLean videos, and more!
www.buyandsellwithBethany.com If you're thinking about selling, contact Bethany for a free, confidential meeting.
703-307-7003 • bethany.ellis@longandfoster.com
Light, bright and inviting! Six bedrooms ( one on main level + au paire suite), den/office and five baths. Gorgeous master bath has slipper tub and separate shower. Stunning gourmet maple and granite kitchen adjoins large family room with fireplace, and door to deck and back yard. Inviting front porch with room for rockers! Walk out rec room, media room and tons of storage. Hardwood floors on main and upper levels. Second fireplace in spacious LR. Wonderful open floor plan. $1,274,000
UNDER CONTRACT 2200 N. Westmoreland St. #531 Arlington, VA 22213 Beautiful 1BR+Den on the Penthouse level in the WestLee! Pecan Floors, High Ceilings, Granite Counters and SS Kitchen! MUST SEE! For Sale $405,000 or For Rent $2,100
UNDER CONTRACT 259 Gundry Drive Falls Church VA 22046
Completely updated 3 level townhouse in Winter Hill. 3BR/2 Full Bath/2 Half Baths, Open Kitchen, Updated Baths New SS appliances, HVAC & Hot Water Heater, Fresh Paint Sale Price $642,000
SOLD 2230 George C Marshall #309, Falls Church VA 22043 2BR/2BA beautiful and open floor plan! Granite, SS, hardwood floors. Close to parking, year round pool & tennis courts. Super convenient to 495, 66 and Metro. Shuttle bus takes riders to WFC Metro from condo building front door! SOLD PRICE $358,900.
UNDER CONTRACT
2613 Claxton Dr. Herndon VA 20170 5BR/3BA home on large, level lot. Fox Mill Estates. Master BR suite and 2 car garage addition. Screened in porch. $529,000