9-8-2016

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Septe m b er 8 - 1 4 , 2 0 1 6

Fa lls   Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 29

Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads

Inside This Week Mason Fall Sports Season Kicks Off

While it’s still technically summer, George Mason High School’s fall sports teams have already started, or will start soon, their regular seasons. See page 24

News-Press Fall Real Estate Issue Inside The News-Press takes a look at the housing market before and after the recession, what buyers are looking for in a home, square-foot housing costs and around the area and more inside this Fall Real Estate edition.

Jones Resigns as F.C. School Chief, LaCondre, Horn Also Leaving Posts Back to the School

Jones Departs for Top School Slot In Connecticut

by Drew Costley

Falls Church News-Press

Tarter, “and something as simple as a crosswalk can be huge for a neighborhood.” “We’re gathering momentum,” added City Manager Wyatt Shields. A City Hall task force meeting held Tuesday afternoon demonstrated that there remain some

From Falls Church City Hall to the offices of the Falls Church City Public School System, the official City leadership and many citizen activists were reeling Tuesday night at the cumulative impact of three major figures announcing their departures. On the first day of the new school year Tuesday, it was reported that School Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones was voted onto and accepted a position as superintendent of the Fairfield, Connecticut school system, effective December 5. Fairfield news organizations blasted the news as soon as the vote of the school board there was taken and it quickly spread to Falls Church. The news also circulated in the Little City Tuesday that the City’s Chief Financial officer Richard LaCondre is leaving as of November 1, and that the Falls Church School System (FCCPS) legal counsel and 20-year George Mason High School coach and athletic director Tom Horn is leaving at the end of this month. Employees of the FCCPS awoke to an email from Dr. Jones announcing the impending move Wednesday morning. She wrote, in part, “I know this e-mail comes at an awkward time, just after the first day of school. I want you to hear it from me that I will be leaving Falls Church in early December to start a new position with another phenomenal school division.” Jones told the News-Press in a phone interview Wednesday that she applied for the position last

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David Brooks: Incredible Shrinking Obamacare

During the debate over Obamacare, both supporters and opponents assumed the giant law would transform the American health care system. See page 12

Press Pass with Highasakite

The Norwegian indie rock-pop band Highasakite has been experiencing an increase in profile over the last two years since the release of their debut LP Silent Treatment. See page 28

IT WAS BACK TO SCHOOL in the City of Falls Church this week with children all around town making their way to the classroom for another academic year. Here, buses drop off kids at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School before the first day of school on Tuesday morning. (Photo: Falls Church City Public Schools)

34 Public Improvements Done Or Progressing in Little City

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

Index Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 34 News & Notes.10-11 Comment...12-14, 23 Business News....27 Food & Dining......29

Calendar.........30-31 Classified Ads .....32 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........33 Critter Corner.......34

Visible new public infrastructure things are popping up all around the City of Falls Church these days from new bus stops to fresh crosswalks, and the Falls Church City Council got a summary of all 34 of them (excluding school and sewer projects) at its

work session kicking off a busy fall season Tuesday night. Assistant City Manager Cindy Mester and Interim Public Works director Mike Whitfield engaged the Council with a check-off list of projects, led by the plans for the renovation of City Hall itself, which is advancing in its planning stages. “We’re starting to see things happen,” said F.C. Mayor David


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9-8-2016 by Falls Church News-Press - Issuu