September 20 – 26, 2018
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. XXVIII NO. 31
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I����� T��� W��� F.C. P����� O������ A������� ��� C���� P��� A seven-year employee with the City of Falls Church Police Department and was arrested last week on 10 counts of internet crimes against children for distributing child pornography. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
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F.C. Director of Finance Kiran Bawa reported a actual-overbudgeted FY18 net increase in revenues of $762,183, including a net $562,936 increase in revenue and a $199,247 decrease in expenditures.
Founders Row Project Awaits Site Plan OK Monday for Work to Begin E� P����� �� F.C.’� T�������
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Most City of Falls Church residents are familiar with the statue of the man feeding pigs right outside of Don Beyer Volvo but not everyone knows the story behind the sculpture. SEE SPORTS, PAGE 14
SEE SPORTS, PAGE 16
FOUR-MONTH-OLD restaurant El Patron Bar & Grille captured the top prize at the City’s annual Taste of Falls Church, winning the “Best Overall Taste” award last Saturday. The new eatery, which opened on S. Washington St. in May, impressed the judging panel with its tacos and pupusas. Other winners on the day included The Kensington Falls Church for “Best Overall Menu” and Liberty Barbecue for “People’s Choice.” See more in News & Notes, page 10. (P����: C��� �� F���� C�����)
F.C. Schools Initial Enrollment Down, But Scores Are Stellar BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
INDEX
Editorial............... 6 Letters................. 6 News & Notes 10–11 Comment ..... 12–13 Business News . 15 Calendar ..... 18–19
Classified Ads ... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ........ 21 Crime Report ......22 Critter Corner....22
On the first day of the new school year for the Falls Church City Public Schools earlier this month, enrollment was down almost two dozen over the previous spring, Superintendent Peter Noonan announced. However, Noonan told the News-Press in an interview yes-
terday that the initial snapshot was unofficial, and probably won’t reflect the numbers that the schools will evaluate on the last day of this month. Those will be the numbers that the system sends to Richmond to qualify for state funding formulas. Noonan said he expects that number to be significantly higher than first reported. Next Thursday, Sept. 27, the Virginia Department of Education
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
is expected to release its accreditation reports for schools statewide, and Falls Church City Schools are assured of very high marks, especially given the report presented to the F.C. School Board this Tuesday by Jeanne Seabridge that evaluated the system from the standpoint of state assessment, accreditation and federal accountability standards.
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After its Sidwell Friends matchup got washed out, the George Mason High School football squad posted its second straight shutout last Friday, stomping Nelson County at its homecoming game.
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
It was a lengthy discussion with the Falls Church Planning Commission last Monday night, but the chief public face of the 4.3-acre mixed-use Founders Row project came away hopeful that a final site plan approval will come from that group when it meets again this Monday. The project, with residences, retail, public open space and a movie theater complex, will be biggest of its kind to date in the history of Falls Church. Superstition, Joe Muffler, the young vice president for MidAtlantic Development of the Bethesda, Maryland-based Mill Creek company, told the NewsPress this week, is the main reason he’s not projecting timelines right now with more certitude in advance of Monday’s vote. Muffler, whose personable manner has served his company well in leading a number of public meetings with skeptical neighbors to the site in recent months, appeared before the Planning Commission Monday with Antonette Isherwood, a project manager for Walter Phillips, the Falls Church-based civil engineering and architectural firm. In all, the main issue was whether or not a crosswalk connecting Birch Street, coming in at a southeast diagonal, to the site would be included or not, given the assessment by the City of Falls Church public works department that it would be unsafe. Planning Commissioner Andy Rankin put up the biggest objection to the lack of a crosswalk, suggesting that it will encourage
SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
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Biggest Project in F.C. History to Date Will Take 2+ Years