August 13 – 19, 2020
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • V OL. X XX NO. 26
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F.C. Council Unanimously Enacts City Property Gun Ban
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New Measure to Go In Effect Nov. 1; Strident Pro-Gun Mobilization Fails To Deter 6-0 Decision BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
THOMAS JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY students Lillian & Connell Henderson joined by Eleanor and Beatrix Barba hosted a lemonade stand to raise funds to donate to BrightPaths.org after learning that 60,000 Fairfax County students live at or below the poverty line. (P����: C������� C������ H��������)
Principals Con�ident In F.C. Schools’ Virtual Start BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The principals of all the Falls Church City public schools were upbeat participating in the virtual F.C. School Board meeting Tuesday night, giving individual reports on how all the proper preparations are
in order for the commencement of the new school year in less than two weeks now. The Monday, Aug. 24 launch will be entirely virtually in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While rates of infections and transmissions remain low in Falls Church and its immediate environs,
it’s a much different story not too far from here, and since many employees of the system live out of this immediate area, it was out of an abundance of caution last month that Superintendent Peter Noonan and the School Board decided to abandon
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Culminating a grueling 5 hour, 15 minute virtual meeting Monday night, the Falls Church City Council voted unanimously, 6-0, to enact a “Firearms on City Property and Events” ordinance that will go into effect Nov. 1. It prohibits the possession of firearms, open or concealed, in official City-owned locations such as buildings (including City Hall and the Community Center), parks, facilities and streets when City-sponsored events are occurring. It augments existing prohibitions of firearms on or in the vicinity of all schools. The ordinance is modelled on one passed in Alexandria in June and ones that are expected to be adopted soon in Arlington and Fairfax. It was initiated following the July 1 implementation of a new law passed by the State Legislature and Gov. Ralph Northam permitting local jurisdictions to enact such measures for the first time since the 1980s, when the General Assembly acted to prohibit such local ordinances. The meeting last night was made lengthy by the public reading by City officials of some 75 public comments of three minutes or less (with some that went considerably over), all but two of which opposed the ordinance, and of those more than
half from persons not living in the City of Falls Church. The reading of those comments consumed more than two hours, from 9:21 – 11:30 p.m. Following that, in comments prior to the vote, Councilmember Letty Hardi reported that she’d tallied all the comments she’d received, including 676 emails, and two petitions each with nearly 500 signatures, prior to the comments made at the meeting, and that, she said, “From my count about 30 percent of the total comments and signatures are actual residents of the City of Falls Church, and of those, there was nearly a 3-to-1 margin of City residents who support the ordinance.” She said, “I have heard an overwhelming number of actual residents, who have long asked for this authority since it was taken away in the 1980s, who believe that guns don’t belong where children play, where they check out library books, where they are conducting City business, where they are buying food at the Farmer’s Market, or where they vote.” She added, “The data is overwhelmingly clear that more guns lead to more deaths. The statistics show that concealed carry guns are rarely used effectively in self defense, but lead to more accidents and unintended injuries, ultimately
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SEE NEWS & NOTES, PAGE 11
SEE COMMENTARY, PAGE 13
SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 15
City of Falls Church’s commissioner of the revenue, Tom Clinton, is requesting a final call for both current and former City residents who have a vehicle status change. That includes a new car, a previously sold car, one that was donated or moved, and more.
Our latest small-business casualty: Sam Torrey Shoe Service, for decades a comforting continuity at Lee Highway at George Mason Dr., dimmed its “open” sign at the end of July.
Falls Church City Registrar of Voters David Bjerke confirmed to the News-Press that letters sent from the Center for Voter Information to many households in the City are legitimate and their “Virginia Vote by Mail Application Forms” are valid.
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 News & Notes................................... 11 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 Calendar ........................................... 14 Classified Ads ................................... 16 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 17 Crime Report .................................... 18 Critter Corner.................................... 18 Business News ................................. 19