August 6 – 12, 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. 25
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2 Local Activists Declare Intent To Fill Council Seat Both Hiscott & Shokoor Offer Diverse Experience
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Two longtime City of Falls Church activists, Debbie Hiscott and Josh Shokoor, have been the only ones to announce so far they’ll be running for the now-open seat on the Falls Church City Council. The Falls Church Council voted Monday to seek a writ from the Arlington Circuit Court for holding a special election on November 3 to fill the vacancy on the Council caused by the death of Councilman Daniel X. Sze last week. The timetable for prospective candidates in that election is enormously compressed as F.C. City Attorney Carol McKoskrie told the Council at its work session Monday. The deadline to file with the Registrar of Voters at City Hall is 5 p.m. next Friday, Aug.14. Already, two Falls Church residents have announced their intention to seek the seat for an unexpired term running to Dec. 31, 2021, a
well-known civic engager, Debbie Hiscott, a long-time City resident currently executive director of the Falls Church Education Foundation, and Josh Shokoor, a lifelong City resident, George Mason High School Class of 2005 graduate with a master’s degree in public policy from George Mason University and member of the City’s Housing Commission. The seat will be up for election to a regular four-year term in November 2021. It is the first time since 2000 that a seat was vacated on the Falls Church City Council requiring action to be filled. That last time was when Kathy Winckler resigned from the Council to accept an appointment from the newly-elected George W. Bush U.S. presidential transition team to a post requiring her to move to Texas. In that case, Winckler’s unexpired term was filled by a vote of the Council (it chose Marty Meserve, who went on
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AUTUMN TRADITIONS, such as the annual Bell Game between crosstown rivals Justice High School and Falls Church High School, will be put on hold until February following the Virginia High School League’s decision to postpone fall sports until early 2021 (P����: J. M������ W�����)
Shuffled Sports Schedule Leaves Fall Programs in New Position BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The Virginia High School League’s decision to have the fall sports season run in the early part of the spring has brought a mix of relief
and wariness toward the obstacles still ahead for the coaches of local programs. VHSL’s executive committee opted to use the third model its staff had proposed during its July 27 meeting out of concern for the
spreading coronavirus. With that decision, fall sports will take place from Feb. 15 – May 1, with winter sports going from Dec. 14 until Feb. 20 and spring sports starting April 12 and concluding June 26. Though Dr. Billy Haun, the orga-
nization’s executive director, said none of the dates are etched in stone during a press conference following the announcement. He noted that it’s all dependent on how Virginia progresses through the pandemic. In a statement that joined the
announcement, Haun said, “We all understand the physical and mental health benefits of getting our students back to a level of participation. The Condensed Interscholastic Plan leaves open the opportunity to play all sports in all three seasons
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SEE NEWS & NOTES, PAGE 11
SEE NEWS&NOTES, PAGE 11
SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 15
Virtual campouts where scouts stream a movie together, merit badge challenges that can be done at home and checked by counselors and family hikes where scouts pick up trash throughout the City of Falls Church have kept one local troop busy this spring and summer.
Falls Church theater company Creative Cauldron has teamed up with the new Mission Lofts in Bailey’s Crossroads to host the Cauldron’s Summer Cabaret series in the complex’s courtyard, with performnances continuing through the next number of weeks.
By a unanimous vote last week members of the City of Falls Church’s Historical Commission forwarded a recommendation to the Planning Commission that a plaque marking the location of a so-called “Hanging Tree” be removed
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 News & Notes................................... 11 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 Crime Report .................................... 12 Calendar ........................................... 14 Classified Ads ................................... 16 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 17 Critter Corner.................................... 18 Business News ................................. 19
