September 12 — 18, 2019
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. XXIX No. 30
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week News-Press Food & Dining Special Inside!
The News-Press’s Fall Food & Dining special is here with all the details on this weekend’s Taste of Falls Church plus features on an upcoming pizza-and-wing joint, a veggie sauce depot, life after Mad Fox, the Little City’s newest restaurant and more. See page 13 – 20
‘Welcoming Falls Church’ Returns
‘Empathy, Knowledge, Wisdom’ Key In Fall Electoral Races, Beyer Says Hero’s Welcome
Richmond Control, F.C. Council, School Seats Contested
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
in fact, as Council member David Snyder said, the Council could be faulted for failing to take advantage of the situation now. The bond sale, totalling $126,825,000 of which $20 million has already been sold, which citizens of Falls Church approved by a wide margin in a November 2017 referendum, will fund the construction of a new George
For all the political campaign signs that have begun to spring up all over the City of Falls Church, and elsewhere throughout Virginia, just since Labor Day last week, it is like a springtime flowering. Lawn signs are going up, and doors are being knocked on, with handbills left if no one answers, by hopeful candidates. Labor Day marked the kickoff of the fall season, which will be furious in Virginia in ways unlike anywhere else. It’s here in this state that all 140 seats in the Richmond House of Delegates and Senate are up for grabs, one of only four states with legislative elections this fall and the only one in the U.S. where control of the state legislature, with its current razor-thin margins, is at stake. Republicans currently control the House, 51-49, and the Senate, 40-39, with currently one vacancy in each chamber. Democrats are hoping they can continue the momentum that led to picking up a net 15 delegate seats in 2017 by holding onto those gains and adding enough to achieve a majority in both bodies. A lot is always at stake, but this year it is more than usual because whomever winds up controlling the state legislature in Richmond is going to be in the driver’s seat to redraw all the state and federal congressional district boundaries following the 2020 U.S. Census that will apply for the next decade.
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Fostering a neighborly environment for immigrant and refugee newcomers looks to take a more refined form in Falls Church’s second go around of “Welcoming Week,” kicking off tomorrow. See page 8
Schools Enrollment 8 Above Projections
A preliminary enrollment report from the first day of classes in the Falls Church Public Schools showed a net increase of eight students above projected numbers. See News Briefs, page 9
New School Year, New Sports Season at GMHS
George Mason High School football, cross country, volleyball and golf all find themselves in a similar position adjusting to a new district after the school moved from the 2A to 3A classification. See sports, page 24
AMERICAN VETERANS taking part in an Honor Flight to the Washington, D.C. area were greeted with a warm welcome at the Hilton Garden Inn in Falls Church last Friday night. The Honor Flight Network, a non-profit organization that transports veterans to Washington, D.C. so they can visit the many memorials, will have additional arrivals at the Hilton Garden Inn on Sept. 27 and Oct. 3. (Photo: Gary Mester)
F.C. City Council Votes to Lock In Low Interest Rates for Bonds
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial................6 Letters..................6 News & Notes.10, 11 Comment...12, 21 Business News.22 Calendar..... 26,27
Classified Ads... 28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword........ 29 Crime Report.... 30 Critter Corner.... 30
By a unanimous 7-0 vote Monday, the Falls Church City Council authorized the sale ahead of its original schedule of all the remaining bonds it’s approved to cover a total of $126 million in capital improvements in an effort to take advantage of uncommonly low interest rates now. The move, according to the City’s Chief
Financial Officer Kiran Bawa, will save the City $10 million in debt service over the 30 year repayment terms over its earlier projection. The new policy authorizes the sale of all the remaining bonds in early November, instead of in two tranches extended over the coming year. While some on the Council expressed concern for the risk the move entails, they concurred that taking advantage of record low interest rates now was prudent,