August 27 – September 2, 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. 28
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F.C. Schools Cheery Outlook Opens Year
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Positive Day 1 Reported By Staff to School Board BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Despite the extraordinary challenges of opening the new school year with solely online distance learning due to the persisting Covid19 pandemic, there was nothing but praise and appreciation for the roll out of the first day of school throughout the Falls Church public school system this Monday. That’s how it came across at Tuesday night’s online F.C. School Board meeting that included a schoolby-school assessment of the opening by Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan, who reported that he was able to look in on many of the classes and that many teachers at all levels chose to lead their students from their actual classrooms, rather than from home. The two greatest concerns as the year begins in this fashion are: 1. How many registered students are actually showing up and 2. What is
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THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, along with of�icials from the Arlington County as well as the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, broke ground at the site of where the new dual trails for pedestrians and cyclists will be added to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. In attendance were F.C. Mayor David Tarter (front row, third from left) and councilman David Snyder, who sits on the Northern Virginia Transportation Committee’s executive board. (P����: N���-P����)
F.C. Mayor Talks Covid-19, Developments in Annual ‘State of the City’ BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Where to even begin with 2020? A year that started out focused on finalizing plans for the City of Falls Church’s largest development project in history as well as the promise of a new high
school by its end has been turned sideways by a once-in-a-century global pandemic. Wondering what the situation is in the City seems so small given the drastic changes the country and the world has experienced in the past six months alone. And yet, Falls Church has
shown itself to be a reliable microcosm of how these changes can be handled. That could be addressing commercial real estate’s current dire outlook with steely patience, or taking an uncomfortable look back at the American history it chooses to honor with school names. Even when the story
doesn’t involve Falls Church, per se, the City still finds itself playing a small, but vital role in helping tell it. Mayor David Tarter spoke with the News-Press over email about these topics, and more, in the lead-
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I����� T��� W��� IT’S HERE: B��� �� F.C. W������ R������� Even though its packaging is a bit trimmer this year, the Best of Falls Church still carries all the pompand circumstance you’ve come to love. Check out all 35 winners inside this edition! SEE BEST OF F.C., PAGE 13
2020
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SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
SEE BUSINESS NEWS, PAGE 25
Dr. Peter Ellis, for over two decades a Falls Church optometrist who worked at the Point of View Eyewear on West Broad, issued a statement that he is leaving due to the sale of the Point of View business, which took place on Aug. 7.
Insight Property Group completed its conversion of Falls Green into a 576-unit multifamily market rate apartment cmplex. The property was previously known as Oakwood Apartments and was used primarily for short-term government and corporate housing.
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 News & Notes............................. 10,11 Comment ................................ 7,12,21 Crime Report .................................... 12 Business News ................................. 25 Calendar ........................................... 26 Classified Ads ................................... 28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 29 Critter Corner.................................... 30
