Sept. 16 – 22, 2021
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 • VOL. XXXI NO. 31
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Early Voting For November Election Kicks Off Friday
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F.C. residents can vote in person or by mail. BY AMANDA SNEAD
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Early voting for the Virginia general election will begin on Friday, September 17th and end on Saturday, October 30th. Voters have the option to request a ballot and vote by mail or vote in person. This election includes races for Governor, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor and the House of Delegates. As of July 2020, Virginia now has “no excuse early voting,” meaning that voters can now vote early without the need for a “valid” reason to vote absentee. According to David Bjerke of the Voter Registration and Office of Elections, those who have already requested a ballot by mail can expect to have their ballots on or before the day early voting begins. The deadline to apply for a mailin absentee ballot is October 22nd. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, November 2nd in order
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THE FINAL PUBLIC PROJECT that the City of Falls Church set out to accomplish is done at last with the opening of the new Mary Riley Styles Public Library. It joins a revamped City Hall and the new Meridian High School. (P����� �� �. ������� ������)
F.C. City Schools Make Full Return to Class at All Levels
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
The new school year featuring all in-person classes throughout the Falls Church City Public Schools is now underway and the School Board held its first regular meet-
ing of the new season Tuesday night where it voted a four-percent salary increase and new four year contract for Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan and learned that enrollment through the system is within five students of matching the enrollment level of a year ago.
It is clearly a momentous new school year, marked not only by the return to in-person classes for everyone after last year’s painful pandemic restrictions, but also by the occupation of the new state of the art Meridian High School campus.
“We’ve tracked down all our students,” Dr. Noonan told the School Board, and almost all are back in classes in spite of the agonies of a year of “virtual” learning. This is a much better outcome than
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The Falls Church Festival took place last Saturday. It was the first major event in Falls Church in the past two years. The Taste of Falls Church competition also took place with Rare Bird Coffee Roaster and Thompson Italian winning Best Taste. SEE PHOTOS, PAGE 8
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 News & Notes................................... 11 Crime Report .................................... 12 Calendar ........................................... 16 Business News ................................. 19 Classified Ads ................................... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 21 Critter Corner.................................... 22