January 19 - 25, 2023
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. XXXII NO. 49
T�� C��� �� F���� C�����’� I����������, L������-O���� N�������� �� R�����, S������ N. V�������
4 Apply to Fill School Board Vacancy
MARCHING FOR KING’S VISION
Update of FCCPS’ Equity Policy Filled With Actions BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Four City of Falls Church residents came before the School Board here Tuesday night to make statements in support of their applications seeking appointment to the unexpired term on the board of departing former vice chair Phil Reitinger. The board will vote on the applicants in two weeks on Feb. 2. The four applicants are Jerrod Anderson, Bethany Henderson, Amie Murphy and Tahir Qamar. Two other citizens withdrew their names this week. The citizen selected will serve through the end of this year, pending the result of an election to a full four-year term this November when that seat will be among three on the seven-person board to be contested. Qamar has served 17 years with the U.S. Agency for International Development for Pakistan, focusing on budget and financial issues. Murphy is an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. Anderson ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the board in 2021 and Henderson is a non-
Continued on Page 3
LED BY FALLS CHURCH’S Ed Henderson III (foreground), founder of the civil rights organization, the Tinner Hill Foundation, and whose grandfather founded the first rural chapter of the NAACP here, led hundreds of local citizens who took to S. Washington Street on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,Day Monday to demonstrate solidarity with the ongoing struggles for racial and other demands for justice. ( Photo: News-Press)
F.C.’s MLK Jr. Day March Draws Hundreds Here BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
In one of the largest turnouts in recent years, the annual march in downtown Falls Church honoring the nation’s greatest civil rights and moral justice champion, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., drew hundreds
on an uncommonly warm and clear day this past Monday. The youth-heavy short walk from the civil rights arch, commemorating the first ever rural chapter of the NAACP founded nearby, on S. Washington St. to the nearby Falls Church Episcopal Church was bedecked with home made banners and signs
calling for further progress on racial justice, many made on the spot at tables with magic markers and wooden poles to carry the signage masterpieces. Edwin B. Henderson III, grandson of that rural chapter’s founder, Edwin Henderson and founder of the current Tinner Hill Foundation, told the News-
Press he was thrilled with the large turnout. Heading the march, he also took part in the forum on restorative justice held in the sanctuary of the church that was keynoted by the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney for this area, the inno-
Continued on Page 4
I����� T��� W��� C��� � S����� G���� Check out the second edition of this year’s guide for camps and education. This issue includes articles about camps/programs for children with special needs, as well as how theater camps can help people learn about life skills. SEE PAGES 7 - 14
INDEX
News Briefs..........................................2 Comment ........................................5,21 Editorial................................................6 School News .....................................14 News & Notes................................16,17 Calendar .......................................18,19 Classifieds..........................................20 Crime Report.......................................21 Business News...................................23