10-23-2025

October 23 - 29,

F.C. Council Candidates Face Off at Chamber

‘LOVE’ AFFIRMED AT CITY HALL

The last Falls Church City Council candidate forum before the upcoming Nov. 4 election was slated to be held last night, after the News-Press’ deadline for this week. It will be reported on next week, the N-Ps final before election day.

But an exemplary face-off was held the day before, this Tuesday, hosted by the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce in the ultra-modern venue of the fanciest screening room of the new Paragon Theaters in downtown F.C. Chamber members sat in comfy theater chairs where they munched their lunches as the six candidates for Council lined up behind a table far below them, beneath a giant silver screen, and reached their audience with the help of a microphone.

The candidates, seated as facing the audience left to right, were all on hand, incumbent David Snyder, newcomer Brian Pendleton, incumbent Laura Downs, first timer Arthur Agin, incumbent Marybeth The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned

The Issue: How Good Has Current Council Been? Continued on Page

The one and only actual debate among the five candidates seeking election to the Falls Church School Board was held on the Learning Stairs at the new Meridian High School last week, and while there was little of substance that the five women disagreed upon, the biggest

matter may turn out to be not issues at all so much as basic qualifications.

That would go to the question of whether or not concrete experience as an educator would be grounds for whether or not someone should be elected to the board.

Currently among incumbents running, there is only one with educator experience, Kathleen Tysse with a masters in teaching from

U.Va. Among the five candidates running, incumbents Lori Silverman and Anne Sherwood, both attorneys, are not educators, while both of the new candidates, Sharon Mergler and MaryKate Hughes, both have educator backgrounds.

Mergler has 20 years experience working with students with disabilities and Hughes has 25 years experience as an educator as a National

Education Award winner.

Focus at the forum was also on the issue of the unexpected flat enrollment numbers for the system this fall, compared to the robust continued growth anticipated by the board’s consultants. While the flat enrollment number was not as severe as the actual loss in enrollment for

Falls Church Business News & Notes

Government Contractors Repositioning

The Mason Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is hosting an in-person event at Office Evolution in Herndon for those in the government contracting field. The SBDC is helping small businesses develop a strategic approach to leverage GovCon Resources in a workshop on Monday, October 27, 12:00 -2:00 p.m. Space is limited and the link for registration is https://clients.virginiasbdc.org/workshop. aspx?ekey=110450049.

Psychic Saturday

Saturday, October 25, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m – The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment has opened registration for the next Psychic Saturday. Visit the website to read about the readers who are participating in this event (https://www.thecse. org). Guests may register in advance through the link above or walk in.

Arts Grants Opportunity

Virginia Commission on the Arts opens FY26 Capacity Building Grant applications on November 1. Applicants must be Virginia 501 (c) 3 arts organizations with prioryear income of $20,000-$750,000. The grant funds of up to $1,500 are to go towards targeted consulting and professional development. Applications are reviewed firstcome, first-served until funds are awarded. Details are available at https://vca.virginia.gov/grant/capacity_building_grants/

New Openings

Tatte opened last week in Falls Church serving seasonal coffees, homemade pastries and desserts over all three meals. They are open 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. in Modera. The site will be joined by an animal hospital, Livewell, and a new Thai restaurant, MyHome Thai Bistro. Another restaurant is in the works. Across the street in Founders Row, Paragon Theater will soon offer food by Doordash. Down the street in West Falls, Burger Fi has officially opened. The brand is known for natural Angus beef burgers, hand-cut fries, and creamy shakes.

Local Serves Well at Taste of NoVA

Northern Virginia Magazine’s Taste of NoVA moved locations to the NOVA LIVE campus in Manassas. Several local restaurants participated with one taking home a title. The magazine compiled a list of the standouts with the Best Representation going to Fava Pot. They featured three dishes to showcase Egyptian cuisine: kofta, hummus and ta’amya, it’s version of falafel.

Sippin’ with CityDance

Saturday, October 25, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - CityDance Studios is bringing its popular workshop series Sippin’ with CityDance to Falls Church. Join the Sippin’ with CityDance monthly workshop to explore iconic dances from everyone’s favorite music videos, Tik Toks, and other pop culture phenomena with a glass of liquid courage.This month attendees will learn Parris Goebel’s choreography to Justin Bieber’s “Yummy.” No dance experience is required but all must be 21 years of age.

America’s Field Trip Contest

We’re thrilled to announce that America’s Field Trip is back for the 2025–2026 school year! This nationwide contest invites students in grades 3-12 to share their perspectives on America — with the chance to win extraordinary trips to some of the country’s most iconic landmarks this summer. In honor of America’s 250th anniversary, we’re expanding the contest with more exciting field trips, and more opportunities for students to win. A total of 250 winners (up from 150) will receive an unforgettable field trip experience or a cash prize. How to Participate: Students can create a piece of writing or original artwork that answers the question: “What does America mean to you?” Entries will be accepted through March 30, 2026. https://america250.org/fieldtrip/?utm_campaign=a250_25_email&utm_ source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AFTlaunchemail

 Business News & Notes is compiled by Elise Neil Bengtson, Executive Director of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at elise@fallschurchchamber.org.

Connelly and first timer James Thompson

The six are competing for four open seats, among seven total, on the Council. On the ballot are also five candidates vying for four seats, among seven total, on the F.C. School Board (they held a debate last week, reported elsewhere in this edition), three statewide offices (governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor), the Virginia House of Delegates for the 13th district (with incumbent Marcus Simon favored over Republican and Libertarian challengers), and three races for Constitutional officers (sheriff, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue) that all feature incumbents running unopposed.

With now just two weeks before the election, the statewide races – Democrat Abigail Spanberger ahead in the polls against Republican Winsome Earle-Sears for governor, Republican John Reid and Democrat Ghazala Hashmi vying for lieutenant governor, Republican Jason Miyares and Democrat Jay Jones competing for attorney general – are heating up with TV airwaves, especially, being choked with

The 13th district State Delegate race here, while incumbent Del. Simon enjoys a major lead against Republican Sylwia Oleksy and Libertarian Dave Crance Jr., is one of 100 around the state, as every delegate district is being contested for control of the body, which is now narrowly in the hands of Democrats.

While the Nov. 4 election day approaches, it is noted that in Falls Church, according to registrar David Bjerke, 1,950 people have already cast ballots, 17.5 percent of the total registered voters here.

In Tuesday’s Council debate before the local Chamber of Commerce, the main dividing line separating the candidates was drawn between those who argued that the current Council is doing a good job, and those who called for change.

The main proponents of the current direction on the Council were two incumbents who have been on the side of most, if not all, majority votes in the last period, Connelly and Downs. The third incumbent, Snyder, who has missed some events this fall recovering from cancer surgery that he reports has been fully successful, has frequently voted against the majority on the Council, so his remarks about the current performance were less than stellar.

The three challengers – Thompson, Pendleton and Agin – all focused on the need for changes to make things better, though Agin, as head of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation (CACT), aligned himself more than the others with the current Council direction.

Pendleton, a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, proved himself critical

of current Council stances on a number of issues, including the current revenue sharing agreement between the Council and School Board. Thompson, who heads the Winter Hill Homeowners Association, a former Marine who is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, has been outspoken throughout the campaign calling for a pause on further economic development.

Connelly, as an incumbent and former vice mayor, was the most outspoken in favor of the Council’s achievements, including on economic growth, noting how that growth has led to a 17 cent reduction in the real estate tax rate owed by residents while fostering a vibrant and welcoming commercial corridor and top notch schools.

She was also a major player in the crafting of the revenue sharing agreement between the City Council and School Board, noting that it has smoothed over what had been acrimonious relations in the past and allowed the Council to focus its attention more on its own priorities.

Downs also touted the Council’s recent accomplishments, even though she has been on the Council only a year after winning a special election to fill a vacancy. Before that, however, she served four years on the School Board, two as its chair, and was a major force in the crafting of the revenue sharing agreement while navigating troubled waters during the Covid pandemic.

Pendleton cautioned of a “blind eye” about what has been given to the schools and expressed concern that students are “unprepared” for further education. Crafting his remarks for the Chamber’s business friendly audience. Thompson said claims he is anti-development are “not exactly true,” but still stressed the need for a “pause” in development.

Connelly, noting 20 years working with the schools, 17 years as a member of the Chamber, and 12 years on the Council, said “I am proud of what we have done. We’ve all worked together at this.” Responding to a question about day care, she lauded the 50th anniversary of the F.C. Schools’ Day Care program.

Agin said the F.C. Schools are the “crown jewel” of the City and that he supports the revenue sharing arrangement. He said, in terms of development, “the City has been on a good path so far” but he doesn’t want to see an “urban canyon,” noting that “the issues are in the details.” Snyder said, “If the schools fail, the City fails,” and “I will never let that happen.” Economic development kicked off in the 1990s, he said, when Alan Brangman was mayor and he was vice mayor.

Pendleton charged the Council has done a “questionable job” with development,

In this short series against society’s systematic destruction of the virtues of childhood, it is notable that, in a performance of the Yale University’s Whiffenpoofs, 13 talented students who tour singing a cappella, that one of their featured numbers is Simon and Garfunkel’s hit from 1970, “The Boxer.”

It begins, “I am just a poor boy, Though my story’s seldom told, I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, Such are promises. All lies and jest. Still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. When I left my home and my family I was no more than a boy, In the company of strangers, In the quiet of the railway station, running scared, laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go looking for the places only they would know.”

That haunting song, which has endured as one of that duo’s greatest, has as its lyrics a first person hymn to the endurance of the human spirit against the crushing effect of being chewed up by abuse and loneliness on the mean streets of New York.

Who would have thought that privileged sons and daughters of an Ivy League school would relate to such lyrics? It speaks to the universal condition of a young person facing a world aligned to destroy his youthful optimism and hope.

There are countless examples in art and literature, of Tadzio in Thomas Mann’s novella, “Death in Venice,” of Billy Elliot in the classic film and musical by Elton John, in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” In each case, the wider culture defines a context in which innocence is crushed, though in the case of Billy Elliot, the lad prevails against the initial prejudices of his own father.

So, what is the antidote to the systematic societal destruction of the creativity, happiness and innocence of youth? The answer lies generally in God’s mandate to Abraham not to kill his son

Isaac, which comes at the very beginning of the long history out of which Judaism, Christianity and Islam grew. But clearly that mandate has not been followed within those faiths, at least in terms of their dominant forms.

Jesus taught his followers to become again as children, in the sense of all the attributes that that brings: a childlike innocence and sense of wonder and possibility for life, as well as acceptance and love for others beyond artificial racial or other differences.

Take the wonderful case of Christopher Isherwood in his pursuit of the Vedanta faith asking an elder if it was OK for him to love his same-sex and considerably younger partner, Don Bachardy. The swami told Isherwood that if he treated his younger partner as if he were a krishna, or manifestation of the divine, then it would be all right.

Isherwood saw to Bachardy’s desire to be trained as a portrait artist, which he was, becoming brilliant at the skill. As exemplary, the official portrait of Gov. Jerry Brown that hangs in the California State Capital is a work of Bachardy.

Also, there’s the example of the teacher (Robin Wiliams) in “The Dead Poet’s Society.”

On the other hand, in “Death in Venice,” as a beautiful film by Luchino Visconti from 1971, it was the inability of the adult to break through his own internalized limitations to offer the boy a pathway of eluding the pressure to succumb to mediocre adulthood that was the great tragedy there.

Then Peter Pan in J.M.Barrie’s story leads his young followers on a great adventure. But when it is over, as Barrie wrote a final chapter, Peter Pan’s charges grow up into mundane and boring lives. The solution was Peter’s, to never grow up..

In Orson Welles’ classic film, “Citizen Kane,” the protagonist at the end of his life calls out for a remnant of his childhood and the special joy of life that it represented, as contrasted to the pitfalls of an adult world even over which he had prevailed to become famous.and powerful. We are called never to lose sight of the wonders and promises of our younger years, and to nurture others toward the same end.

A Penny for Your Thoughts

By Penny Gross Former Fairfax County Supervisor

Attacking an opponent, political or otherwise, through nasty comments, racial epithets, and veiled threats is nothing new. It’s been happening for centuries. What makes it different today is the use of social media and, as many are discovering, what’s put on social media never goes away, despite the delete key. For reference, see Jay Jones, Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General, and various members of the Young Republican Clubs in New York and Kansas. There simply is no defense for Jones’ text messages about putting bullets into an opponent and invoking death for a child in his mother’s arms. Jones apologized for his texts but calls for him to drop out of the race were not unexpected. Realistically, with early voting underway for nearly the past month, it should be left to the voters to determine if his outrageous comments preclude his fitness for statewide office.

Contrary to J.D. Vance’s assertion that the Young Republicans who used racial and ethnic slurs were “just kids,” these were not teenagers snapping towels in a high school locker room. The age range for the Young

Republicans organization (and Young Democrats, too) is about 18 to 40; the Kansas men are 24 and 29, clearly not “just kids.” Whether deliberate or spur-ofthe-moment, the comments recall the “dirty tricks” of Richard Nixon’s young henchmen more than 50 years ago. Some of the young men (they were in their mid-20s then) who wrote the book that became the National Conservative Political Action Committee and other right-wing and evangelical Christian campaigns – Roger Stone, Karl Rove, Paul Manafort – still are with us. Other Nixonian tricksters – Kevin Phillips, Lee Atwater, Paul Weyrich, and Terry Dolan –are gone, but their templates and ideas are not.

The abuses of power during the Nixon Administration led to multiple White House and campaign staff convictions, prison terms, and a presidential resignation. Both parties in Congress were actively involved, together, in adopting new legislation to control potential usurpation of power by future presidential administrations. Until a decade or so ago, those controls were at least respected, if not always honored in the breach.

When Mr. Trump came down that golden escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president, he set in motion a massive decline for the alreadyfragile politics of this nation. Government is intended to protect and address the concerns of all Americans, not just the wealthy or a particular voting base. Trump’s rude, crude, rambling bloviations demean the Office of President and severely damage the trust built between America and its allies by previous administrations. Although use of the “f-bomb” may be routine in business and private life, hearing it used in public by the President of the United States at the Resolute Desk is shocking. For many younger people, the only context they may have for political speech and activity has been the past ten years. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder that trust in our federal government is being lost. Trump’s antics during his first term were a warmup for the massive destruction of the rule of law, democracy, and government services he has overseen since his inauguration in January. A strong moral compass, a prerequisite for both elected and appointed leadership in past years, is a quality sorely lacking in Trump world. Who will pick up the torch and restore our proud tradition of thoughtful and balanced decision-making for the benefit of all, not just the wealthy few?

Larceny from Vehicle, E Broad St, Oct 14, between 2:00 p.m. and 3:20 p.m., an unknown suspect stole a wallet and

various belongings from an unsecured vehicle.

Shoplifting, W Broad St, Oct 15, 1:00 p.m., an unknown suspect stole merchandise. The suspect is described as a Hispanic female in her mid-twenties,

6 | OCTOBER 23 - 29, 2025

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Grab Him By The Neussy!

Here’s a sampling of the incredible creativity seen on posters held by the some seven million Americans who came out of their homes last Saturday to rally on No Kings Day. Some were home grown Falls Church signs, but others were from everywhere among the 2,700 individual protest rallies that were held that lovely day. Grab Him By the neussy! (with Time magazine’s photo of his flabby neck), Omg, you guys! That’s Not What I Said! (Jesus talking), Pay no attention to the Nazi behind the curtain, Grandtifa, grandmas against fascism, Fun fact: Boston Tea Party was a protest against a tariff, Honk if you’re not in the Epstein files, Radicalized by basic human decency, If no mentally disturbed person should have an assault weapon why should a mentally ill president have an army?, Are your grocery receipts lying to you, or is Trump?, Obviously I don’t believe circumcision causes autism, but the evidence linking micropenises to fascism seems to be adding up, First they came for the media, then we don’t know what happened after that, If there’s any justice, “Big Beautiful Bill’ will be the name of Trump’s cellmate, I caught the woke mind virus, and all I got was empathy and critical thinking skills, Here lies science and evidence based medicine, 1543-2025, Sorry for being weird, this is my first dictatorship, Mike Johnson blocked me on Grindr, Which restroom should castrated Republicans in Congress use?, Billionaires are the only minority hurting America, F*ck Trump, His Whole Cabinet, Elon, ICE and the Dallas Cowboys, The Gospel is anti-fascist, Not a terrorist, just a former Republican, Our huddled masses will defeat your fascist asses, At this point, you’d have to pay me not to protest, No kings since 1776, January 6 was a criminal tragedy unpunished, Good trouble lives on, Citizens not subjects, Make Orwell fiction again, In democracy, no person is above the law, I’m here because I love our country, Say no to coward-ICE, No Faux King Way, If Kamala were president, we’d all be at brunch, This is not a left or right moment, it is a right or wrong moment.

Our favorite was not a pun or turn of a comical phrase, but one that simply said, “Defending democracy requires courage,” because that’s the truth. It’s what it’s going to require, whether that courage takes the form of persistence or something more demanding. We’re in a bad place right now, in terms of holding on to our democratic values, and to restore the nation to where it was even nine months ago is not going to be easy.

Without a doubt, humor and irony are massively wonderful tools in this fight. But it will get tougher for Americans the worse things get, and at this point we can count on that. So the challenge is going to be to keep the ranks of the seven million of us non-violent and democracy-loving citizens growing as the pressure mounts.

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Letters to Editor

Traffic Circle Response

Editor,

I’m not sure how anyone could complain about the new traffic circle being built at Maple and West Annandale Rd, like someone did in last week’s letters. I live 2 blocks away and generally consider that intersection to be the most dangerous pedestrian crossing in Falls Church so I’m very happy the city is improving it. It’s more than an update to the intersection. It’s a fundamentally safer redesign for how that road works. I hope that will be an end to cars speeding at 70 miles per hour down West Annandale Rd to avoid the lights on Broad St. We needed more traffic calming around Big Chimneys Park where little kids cross on their own and get on and off their school bus every day.

Joseph Schiarizzi

Maple Ave. Roundabout

Editor,

I support for the Maple Ave (and hopefully future) traffic circles in Falls Church.

I’m neither a planner nor engineer; however, just a quick Google of “do traffic circles work” results in nearly unanimous favorable results.

For example:

U.S. DoT: “…fewer severe crashes, 90 percent fewer fatalities and 75 percent fewer injuries, fewer

pedestrian/bicycle crashes, 30-50 percent increase in traffic capacity for intersection, less delay waiting at stops & signals…”

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: “…the tight circle of a roundabout forces drivers to slow down, and the most severe types of intersection crashes – right-angle, left-turn and head-on collisions–are unlikely…”

AAA: “…improves traffic flow, reduces congestion and idling, lower accident rates…”

Traffic Injury Research Foundation: “…research indicates when roundabouts are first implemented there tends to be a small increase in crashes; however, these are most often more minor rear-end collisions. This increase also disappears as drivers learn how to safely navigate a roundabout…”

MythBusters: “…more efficient…”

European studies from the 1970s to present. There are so many studies (and so many roundabouts) in Europe – here are two examples: Netherlands “…the number of accidents in a year dropped by 51 percent and injury accidents decreased by an average of 44 percent...”, Switzerland: “…roundabouts studied 4-8 years after they were converted show there were reductions of 75 percent in total accidents and 90 percent in the number of injuries…”

My only concern is that unfamiliar drivers may not know how to navigate roundabouts, but that’s simply an argument for requiring refresher driving tests.

Michael Slonim

CORRECTION

In last week’s issue, due to a technical error, the names of Fran and Tom McMahon were incorrectly placed beneath

the article about Voting for Spanberger. Their names should have appeared with their letter on Roundabouts.

The News-Press Endorses in Falls Church This Fall: For City Council

Marybeth Connelly, Laura Downs, David Snyder, Arthur Agin.

For School Board

Kathleen Tysse, Anne Sherwood, MK Hughes, Sharon Mergler.

From the Sept. 18 N-P Editorial:

“We are confident in our endorsement decisions, also, not only because of what we’ve observed with our own eyes and ears covering local government here week in and week out for, low, these many years, because we because we have sought important counsel from among those who work behind the scenes in City Hall and at the City schools. We are mainly motivated by a desire to get it right for our readers and all citizens of Falls Church.”

School Board Candidates Forum: Focus Was on Qualifications

the neighboring Arlington County school system, it nonetheless is an issue that will impact the next school board budget request.

The new apartments that have come online in the last year may provide at least a partial explanation, as they are smaller than usual, with many studio and utility options among them.

Some, like F.C. Council member and candidate for re-election Marybeth Connelly, stated this week that the enrollment numbers will eventually coincide with estimates, that this fall’s numbers are an anomaly.

The other issue concerned signing the pledge advanced by the City’s venerable civic association, the Citizens for a Better City (CBC). The pledge calls on candidates for local offices in the City of Falls Church not to accept outside contributions. The only candidate who did not sign the pledge is incumbent Lori Silverman.

She explained at the candidate forum that she is a professional fundraiser for Democratic candidates such that the pledge “goes against what I do and what I’ve built a career over 20 years.”

In her first run four years ago, Silverman accepted contributions from outside labor union groups. She said the issue should be where the money is coming from. “To me, there’s a big

difference between Planned Parenthood and the NRA,” she said.

While Silverman accepted significant labor union funds for her campaign when she was first elected in 2021 for a total of roughly $23,000, since 2022 she has raised $13,565 with a very small labor union component, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).

According to a new report, as of yesterday, Oct. 21, her overall total this time is still the most among the five candidates, followed by Hughes with $10,723 (from 76 individual contributors), Mergler with $9,132, Sherwood with $8,517 and Tysse with $2,067.

The moderator of the forum last week, PTA leader Mike Sakata, said that “the purpose of the pledge was, and remains, that Falls Church City elections are conducted with civility and remain local, affordable and accessible.”

On the issue of the school systems’ top challenges, in her F.C. League of Women Voters Guide responses, Silverman said “population growth” is the top. “We need to ensure our budget recognizes that growth, provides the supports necessary, and ensures that each new position is going to be filled with someone who will advance our students’ needs.”

On top challenges, Mergler focused on “cell phone use and the integration of artificial intel ligence in our schools.” AI, she said, “raises concerns around equity, academic integrity and privacy. Inclusive conversations with staff,

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Sherwood identified her top challenges as “AI and academic integrity,” as well as “national pressures that include economic uncertainty and changes to the education landscape.”

Hughes, who goes by “MK,” defined top challenges as “managing enrollment growth, supporting and retaining excellent educators, navigating the rise of technology like AI and

concerns about screen use and preparing for external uncertainties.”

Tysse said about top priorities, “Falls Church is not immune from current social and political turmoil. Many families of vulnerable children feel less safe, public education is under increased scrutiny, countless community members have lost their jobs and school enrollment is less predictable.”

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Guest Commentary: Ballston Square Protesters Unite Against Trump

By David Hoffman

A nine-year-old boy named Caleb, a 3rd grade student at Glebe Elementary School, stood in Ballston’s Welburn Square Saturday and with his parents, he chanted, in his own soft but deeply resonant voice, “No Kings!”

Caleb was holding the sign he had created for this event which drew an entirely peaceful crowd of about 400, overwhelmingly white and middle class, of all ages, united to speak out against Donald Trump and his record of tyrannical rule.

Utterly reminiscent of the antiVietnam-war gathering in 1967 at the Pentagon, famously dubbed by Norman Mailer an “army of the night,” the highly animated yet perfectly unthreatening gathering in Welburn square lived up to its name: However, this was an army of the day, well-spoken indeed, but nevertheless burning with fierce zeal.

In Ballston – one of about 2,700 No Kings rallies nationwide – people in green costumes like the frogs first appearing in Portland Oregon, and yellow ones for banana peels, stood together joyously in their determination to oppose President

of harshly cracking down on immigration, indiscriminately deploying the armed National Guard militias into cities like Washington DC, and ferociously going after his many critics and political opponents, reminiscent of 250 years ago, when George Washington, and the 13 colonies then together in revolt, drove another King – George III and his Hessian mercenaries and British Redcoats – out of what became America and “a Republic, if you can keep it,” in the famous challenge voiced by Benjamin Franklin.

For soft-spoken Caleb, this determination was top of mind for his self-drawn poster depicting the American flag with a caricatured king wearing an uneasy crown and a diagonal slash mark drawn across it representing total opposition. “I drew the crown on it and drew a line through it, cancelling it out because we’re not a monarchy and because we shouldn’t have kings in America, because we’re a democracy, not a monarchy!” he repeated for emphasis.

But Caleb was not alone in Welburn Square in rejecting the authoritarian rule of kings in favor of democracy. Also speaking out was

81-year-old Arlington resident Terry Rea, who invoked the Holocaust where she lost her uncle and grandmother during World War Two, saying “the theme of this rally is “Never Again!”

Terry was brought to America from her birthplace after the war in England. She grew up “very sheltered” in affluent Beverly Hills and attended the University of California at Berkeley in the 1960s, where she cut her teeth opposing wrongful authority -- literally alongside Mario Savio and the “Free Speech” movement on campus then. Most of her life was spent as a resident of Falls Church, she explained, until moving recently with her husband to live in senior housing in Arlington. “The younger me would have been frightened to be here, but not me,” she stated with emphasis, “because everything is at stake now: women’s rights, immigrants’ rights, everybody’s rights! I couldn’t just complain and be depressed,” she added as she joined in the ongoing crowd chant of “No Kings, No ICE!”

Also at the Welburn Square rally was the slightly younger (in her 50s, she said) Ballston resident Marcie Burns, who told me that

‘No Kings’ is to do what you can, wherever you can, that it’s so openended, and that you can be involved like this, in your own community.”

Meanwhile in Middleberg Virginia, anti-Trump author E. Jean Carroll preached resistance to a crowd gathered at a film festival in the tony horse farm country there. Aged 81, Carroll was also appearing at a screening of the new documentary film “Ask E.Jean,” directed by Ivy Meeropol, about Carroll who in a 2019 book “What Do We Need Men For?” accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store fitting room in either 1995 or 1996.

When Trump denied this had happened and accused her of lying,

Carroll sued him in 2019 and again in 2022, for both defamation and sexual battery. She won jury verdicts in her favor both times and Trump has been ordered to pay her a total of $88.3 million in damages. (He has appealed these verdicts, and she has yet to receive any of the money.)

Echoing the rhetoric from the No Kings rallies, according to the Washington Post, Carroll told the dozens gathered at the film festival that Trump exhibits vindictive behavior characteristically. She urged all Americans to remain alert, adding that “It should scare all of you, every single person in this room should be terrified of that.”

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“Paper” Exhibition with a French Touch

By Mark Dreisonstok

The current Falls Church Arts Gallery exhibition, running October 4 – November 16, 2025, focuses on artworks that are “created on or include paper.” Both theme and material are simple, and yet the show exhibits unexpected variety.

We start with Suzanne Updike’s “Library Lion,” in which we see a remarkable example of a “reduction linocut.” Frederick Walton devised the material we know by a similar name, linoleum, in the 1800s. This work, however, might best be described as a more modern example of the even earlier process known as woodblock printing so commonly used in classical East Asian art. Here the artist uses it simple but impressive effect to depict “one of the lions guarding the library on Fifth Avenue in New York City.”

If ever there has been photorealism, “We’ll Always Have Paris” would be it! This work at first glance appears to be a scratchy blackand-white analog photograph, but upon further inspection, to one’s amazement, it is in fact a charcoal drawing. Here we see an odd angle of the Eiffel Tower through which captivating details become prominent parts of the image. The building, as many may know, was originally conceived for the 1889 World’s Fair. The tower is an incredibly complex engineering feat, and here we see that incredible form equally impressively flattened onto paper, holding the three dimensionality with jaw-dropping detail. To create such a work in any medium is something extraordinary, but to do so with a powdery, free-flowing, easily movable medium such as charcoal places this work in a league all its own.

Moving from this impressive work of the Eiffel Tower, the visitor to the exhibition notices many other works in the show also depcit a French theme. Keith Thurston, the Falls Church Art Gallery director, noted that for this exhibition “we could have had an entire wall of France-inspired art!” Francophiles will enjoy, for instance, Susan Sanders’ monochrome photograph “A Wedding,” in which bride and groom are seated outdoors at a café in Paris with just a touch of a 1940s noir film. The artist notes: “To bring out the bride’s beauty and the soft elegance of her dress, I chose to print on Hahnemuhle ‘Torchon.’ This is a paper with

muted texture and cool white tones.”

Continuing along French paper lines, Nancy Newman’s watercolor “Bienvenue” depicts a home front from a French town. The artist’s crinkled Masa paper lends the stones a textured look. The “welcoming” title makes the audience wonder at the title—perhaps the painting is from the perspective of the homeowner returning home from a long journey.

French art aficionados will also admire James Hengst’s intriguing combined image of an Auguste-Louis Lepère 1911 etching of Reims Cathedral with a 2019 photograph taken in this location by Mr. Hengst himself. Sylvie Kostrzewski’s hot air balloon in three-dimensional paper rounds out our “tour de France,” for the artist notes: “As a French woman, I have always been fascinated by hot air balloons. The sculpture is made with folded pages of a Japanese book.”

We move to a wonderful and much-needed tribute to the recent past with Gretchen D’Amore’s “Morning Commute,” for she paints warmly and with vibrant colors the days when commuters were seen reading newspapers on the metro instead of being glued to their cell phones. While on the subject of vivid colors, it is also a welcome and seasonal sight to see the changing hues of leaves in DiCarlo’s “Morning Walk at the MSV: Shenandoah, Virginia,” a highly realistic acrylic painting. The leaves are green and yellow, yet with an autumnal monochromatic background.

In our final appreciation of a work from the “Paper” exhibition, seven mysterious slender figures are shown in this acrylic artwork by Elise Ritter-Clough entitled “Messengers.”

Artist Ritter-Clough explains that “the intention was to create an ethereal and other-worldly depiction of spirits.” Although the spirits are faceless, they are wearing warm-toned fabric with intricate patterns in red and orange with cool tones of blue and green behind them, again a tribute to the lively use of color on paper in artworks which may be seen aplenty in this exhibition which has something to offer for all.

‘No Kings’ Rally Draws Democracy Supporters in Falls Church

Titans of America: The Fragility of a Nation at the Mercy of Servers

by

Part 4 of this series points squarely to the broader issue of accountability. If the Titans of America have become the unelected architects of our digital era, then it falls to citizens and their representatives to decide whether this concentration of power is sustainable, or whether new frameworks of oversight are required. Without such measures, we risk surrendering democratic authority to a small group of technocrats whose primary allegiance is to shareholders and personal ambition rather than to the public good. Accountability is not just a question of ethics. It is a question of survival. This week’s massive Amazon Web Services outage drove the point home. On October 20, 2025, AWS’s U.S.East region crashed, dragging down platforms across the globe: Venmo payments stalled, Reddit and Snapchat went dark, Fortnite players were kicked offline, and businesses from small startups

to multinational corporations scrambled to explain to their customers why everything had suddenly stopped. The culprit was a glitch in AWS’s loadbalancing and DNS systems, a single technical hiccup with global consequences.

But this was not an isolated event. AWS has suffered significant outages nearly every year since 2015. In 2017, its S3 storage system failed and took down tens of thousands of sites.

In 2020, a breakdown disrupted Zoom meetings at the height of the pandemic. In December 2021, AWS collapsed again, knocking out Netflix, Disney+, Ring cameras, airline ticketing systems, and even some 911 call centers. What was once brushed off as bad luck is now a predictable pattern. Outages are not rare accidents; they are recurring facts of digital life.

Cloud companies promise near-perfect reliability, often advertising 99.999 percent availability. But when you run the world’s internet, even the missing fraction adds up. One hour of AWS downtime can cost Fortune

500 companies millions. Across industries, a single large outage can erase billions of dollars in productivity and commerce. Because AWS controls roughly one-third of the world’s cloud market, more than Microsoft and Google combined, every second of downtime radiates through banking, logistics, entertainment, healthcare, and even national defense.

Once, the federal government required redundancy in its communications systems. During the Cold War, backup lines, analog switches, and alternative pathways ensured that no single failure could cripple the country. That philosophy has been abandoned. Today, efficiency and profit have driven everything onto single platforms. Local governments and hospitals no longer keep analog backups. States do not maintain independent servers. Even the Department of Defense has admitted it cannot easily unplug from Amazon or Microsoft without crippling operations. If the Titans falter, America falters with them.

The danger is not just tech-

nical. If corporations control the infrastructure, they control the switch. During the Covid19 pandemic, Meta admitted it removed or down-ranked thousands of vaccine-related posts. Some were misinformation, but others were legitimate reporting that got caught in the dragnet. Google has quietly adjusted search algorithms that bury independent outlets while boosting corporate partners and advertisers. Investigative publications have documented sudden algorithmic declines immediately after publishing stories critical of powerful interests.

Today, these decisions are framed as moderation. Tomorrow, they could silence whistleblowers, labor unions, or community newspapers exposing corruption. When truth itself is filtered through algorithms designed for profit, democracy is not what citizens choose to believe. It is what they are permitted to see.

This fragility is not abstract.

Here in Falls Church, a single AWS outage could freeze city services, delay tax refunds,

block access to health records, or stall election reporting. A corrupted database could wipe out thousands of voter registrations. Even a one percent loss of the voter file would be enough to swing a local race. What once sounded like science fiction is now a matter of simple math, waiting for its first failure. History has already taught us what happens when unchecked power concentrates in too few hands. The robber barons of the 19th century controlled steel and railroads. When they stopped the trains, the nation stopped. Today’s barons control information itself. If they flip the switch, society does not just pause. It collapses.

This week’s AWS outage is not the last. It is not even the most severe we will see. More outages will come. Hardware fails. Software breaks. Humans mistype. And when they do, the consequences will spread faster and cut deeper, because America has built its civic and economic life on platforms it does not own, cannot regulate, and cannot replace.

PICTURES FROM AROUND F.C.

FALLS CHURCH VFW Post served the last of this season’s Honor Flights. North County Honor Flights provides chartered air service for Day trips to DC for Veterans and has visited the Falls Church VFW annually as part of their service.The Posts welcomed the veterans who enjoyed a Dinner provided by Lost Dog Cafe and received a mail call with letters of support and thanks for their service. (Photo: News-Press)

and

IN A POST-SHOW FEEDBACK SESSION with the audience following another performance of their Helen Hayes Award-recommended musical, “Turn of the Screw,” at Falls Church’s Creative Cauldron, the writer and director team of Matt Conner (left) and Steven Gregory Smith (center) shared how they came to do this adaptation of a Henry James novella. The not-to-be-missed show runs through this Sunday, Oct. 26. (Photo: News-Press)

The Falls Church VFW is again this year seeking submissions for their national scholarship programs – Patriots Pen and Voice of democracy. This year’s theme is “How are you showing Patriotism and Support for our Country”. Submission deadline is coming up on October 31st. For detailed information visit the VFW’s website at VFWPOST9274.org or contact the post Chapain directly at Chaplain@vfwpost9274.org or (703)639-7535.

News & Notes

Warner, Kaine Hail Airspace Bill, Warn of Health Care Cuts

U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today applauded the Commerce Committee’s passage of crucial airspace safety legislation. The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which passed out of committee unanimously, includes critical measures backed by Sens. Warner and Kaine and comes in response to the January 29, 2025 collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

“Congress owes it to the traveling public to address the systemic flaws that contributed to the January 29 crash over the Potomac River. This bipartisan legislation is a good step forward, and we are pleased to see it pass out of the Senate Commerce Committee,” said the senators. “This legislation takes concrete steps to help prevent future incidents and ensure greater oversight, better coordination, and a fundamental improvement in the safety and security of all American air travel. We will continue to work on this and other measures that make travel as safe as possible.”

The January 29 crash over the Potomac River exposed multiple system failures, including the Army Black Hawk not transmitting safety-enhancing ADS-B technology (radio systems that aircraft use to share their positions with each other and with air traffic control), unsafe route design for mixed traffic near DCA, and lack of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Defense (DoD) coordination to prevent future incidents. The ROTOR Act addresses these specific failures, as well as broader long-standing FAA air traffic controller shortages, FAA internal safety management systems, and the need for important post-accident safety reviews.

The two Virginia U.S. Senators also issued a warning this week about an impending catastrophe for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) – the community-based health care providers that deliver comprehensive primary and preventative health services to low-income families and those who are underserved and uninsured.

“Between the changes being brought on by the Big, Ugly Bill and the looming expiration of health care tax credits for Americans, there is a terrifying storm brewing for health care in the Commonwealth,” said the senators. “This could be the start of a vicious cycle where tens of thousands of Virginians lose coverage, leaving community-based health care providers in dire financial straits and with no choice but to serve fewer people, eliminate important health services, or shut operations entirely. We can’t afford to turn our backs on the health centers that prevent folks from falling through the cracks, and we can’t afford the widespread consequences this will have on health care costs and our economy. Our Republican colleagues who supported tax cuts for billionaires should act to save the health care tax credits that make it possible for many Virginians to afford their health insurance.”

Thanks to the Big, Ugly Bill, 41,357 Virginians – 27 percent of the Commonwealth’s FQHC patients – are now at risk of losing their health care coverage. This shift is projected to cause an annual revenue loss of $21,381,559 for Virginia’s FQHCs. To make matters worse, if Republicans allow enhanced premium tax credits to expire, 25,533 Virginians – 23 percent of Virginia FQHC patients – will face a potential loss of coverage due to higher marketplace rates. This shift is projected to cause an additional annual revenue loss of $10,851,618 for FQHCs.

Altogether, Virginia’s health centers could face a combined projected annual loss of $32.2 million dollars – an unimaginable quantity for health providers who regularly operate on thin margins in order to care for Virginia’s most vulnerable populations.

Equality Arlington Assails Winsome Sears’ Remarks

Equality Arlington, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of the LGBTQ+ community, issued a statement this week expressing alarm and outrage at Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears’ anti-LGBTQ+ remarks during the gubernatorial debate with U.S Rep. Abigail Spanberger this week.

“Earle-Sears declared that firing workers for being gay and denying a marriage license to a same-sex couple do not constitute discrimination. We are also appalled by her continued attacks on the very existence of transgender individuals in our commonwealth,” the statement said..

“The Virginia Human Rights Act outlaws discrimination in employment, public accommodation, and education based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, military status, or disability. We are deeply concerned that, if elected governor, Earle-Sears will instruct Virginia agencies to disregard non-discrimination laws and protections for people who she does not believe deserve them,” the statement continued.

Also with Election Day just two weeks away, yesterday, Winsome Earle-Sears continued to double down on her support for an extreme six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. If Democrats retain their House majority, they plan to pass a constitutional amendment that would protect reproductive freedom in Virginia. Earlier this year, Earle-Sears left a handwritten note that she is “morally opposed” to the amendment.

Virginia is the only state in the South that has not instituted further abortion restrictions after

the fall of Roe v. Wade. While Earle-Sears wants to ban abortion in Virginia, her opponent Abigail Spanberger has been clear that she will protect reproductive freedom throughout the Commonwealth.

F.C. Seoul Prime Named Among Top 10 in Region

Falls Church’s recently opened modern Korean steakhouse in Founders Row, Seoul Prime, has been named by Northern Virginia Magazine among the Top 10 best restaurants in the entire Northern Virginia region this month.

The endorsement states, “We can all agree: Korean barbecue is delicious. But from bulgogi to soybean stew, it’s not the most creative or varied of cuisines. Unless you get your ’cue at Seoul Prime. There, the team behind Honest Grill kicks the Korean steakhouse concept up several notches with original creations that taste every bit as fantastic as they sound. Try the heirloom tomato and burrata salad. Dressed in kimchi vinaigrette, tigerstriped tomatoes share space with creamy, oozy cheese and pickled biquinho peppers.

“But the beef is still the centerpiece. There are three ‘tours’ and à la carte options. Pick the mid-range prime steak tour that starts with a hulking, dry-aged rib-eye. The four-meat assault of ideally caramelized protein cooked at your table culminates in marinated prime short ribs that melt in sweet delight.”

Buttigieg Stumps for Spanberger in Virginia

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in Virginia Tuesday speaking at a pro-Spanberger rally in Charlottesville. He said, “Abigail’s race isn’t just about who will serve as Virginia’s next governor. It’s also one of the first major tests of what kind of country we’re going to be a year into Donald Trump’s second term.

“Abigail represents the kind of leadership we need right now,” he added. “She served our country in the CIA, then in Congress, where she consistently prioritized results over rhetoric. Now she’s running for Governor to bring that same sense of integrity and service to Virginia. I’ve seen firsthand what kind of leader Abigail is. When we worked together on transportation projects to benefit the Virginians she represented, she stayed focused on results – grounded, practical, and determined to make life better for the people she serves. She doesn’t lead with slogans or soundbites; she leads by doing.”

Merrifield Garden Center in Gainesville Sold to Data Center

A notable piece of NoVA property will become a data center. Merrifield Garden Center’s owners have reportedly sold their 38-acre Gainesville property for $160 million.

A sign posted at the retailer says, “After 17 years in operation, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors to the Gainesville location of the Merrifield Garden Center. We anticipate that our last day of operation at this location will be December 31, 2025.”

According to the Prince William Times, the land was purchased by Black Chamber Partners LLC, which is part of a private equity firm focused on Northern Virginia data center development. The Gainesville property sits within the county’s data center opportunity zone overlay district, which allows data centers to be built by right.

The $160 million sale equates to more than $4.2 million per acre. According to land records, the owners bought the property in 2004 for about $2.3 million and opened the garden center in 2008. Merrifield Garden Center also operates two other Northern Virginia locations in greater Falls Church and Fairfax.

Fairfax Supervisors OK More Condos in Pimmit Hills

A new supply of townhomes could be in store for Pimmit Hills, meeting a demand evidenced by the speed at which developer EYA’s Tysons Ridge neighborhood sold out.

The owner of the nearby office complex at 7600 Leesburg Pike secured the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval last week for a redevelopment that will replace the two existing buildings with over 100 townhomes.

The board held separate public hearings and votes that day on a plan amendment to increase the density of housing allowed on the approximately 10-acre site and a related rezoning application with more granular details about the proposed project.

Constructed in 1986, the two four-story buildings at 7600 Leesburg Pike have struggled to attract tenants in recent years — a familiar story for older office properties in Fairfax County, noted Walsh Colucci Lubeley and Walsh land use attorney Lynn Strobel, who represented the Texas-based affiliate of SitusAMC that owns the site.

wds.

This Week Around Falls Church

Thursday, Oct 23

Playtime with Early Literacy Center

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Mary Riley Styles Library (Lower Level).

Creative Cauldron: The Turn of the Screw (musical)

7:30 p.m.

410 S Maple Ave (Cauldron black box at 127 E Broad St).

Friday, Oct 24

Fall Baby Time

10:30–11:00 a.m.

Mary Riley Styles Library.

Medicare 101

2:00–3:30 p.m.

Mary Riley Styles Library (Upper Level).

Falls Church Ghost Tour (to support local food drives)

6:00 p.m.

Departs Cherry Hill Farmhouse. 90-minute, 1.5-mile walking tour. A donation of $10 or canned goods is requested. Register at fallschurchghosts.eventbrite.com. Recommended for ages 14+. No pets, except owls.

Creative Cauldron: The Turn of the Screw 7:30 p.m.

The Legwarmers: ’80s Halloween (FRIDAY) 9:30 p.m. The State Theatre.

Saturday, Oct 25

Falls Church Farmers Market

8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. City Hall lot (300 Park Ave).

Sing Books with Emily 11:00–11:30 a.m.

Mary Riley Styles Library.

Halloween Carnival

1:00–5:30 p.m.

Two sessions: 1–3 & 3:30–5:30, Cherry Hill Park.

Autumn Concert: Crooked Sparrow

2:00–3:30 p.m.

Mary Riley Styles Library.

Oddball Cinema: Quatermass Horror Movies

2:00–4:30 p.m. Mary Riley Styles Library.

Planting Garlic

Time TBD

Extension Master Gardener volunteers demonstrate the whys and hows of final fall food garden tasks. Learn how to make the most of your vegetable plot.

Falls Church Ghost Tour (to support local food drives)

6:00 p.m.

Departs Cherry Hill Farmhouse. 90-minute, 1.5-mile walking tour. A donation of $10 or canned goods is requested. Register at fallschurchghosts.eventbrite. com. Recommended for ages 14+. No pets, except owls.

Creative Cauldron: The Turn of the Screw

7:30 p.m.

The Legwarmers: ’80s Halloween (SATURDAY) 9:30 p.m. The State Theatre.

Sunday, Oct 26

Creative Cauldron: The Turn of the Screw (final day)

2:00 p.m. Matinee performance.

Author Talk: Cara Gormally

2:00–3:00 p.m.

Mary Riley Styles Library.

Blessing of the Pets

Sunday (Drive-Thru)

2:00–4:00 p.m.

Sleepy Hollow United Methodist Church, 3435 Sleepy Hollow Rd. Stay-in-your-car event with blessings and goodies for pets, trick-or-treat bags for kids, and photos in costume.

Holy Comforter Concert

Series: Modern Musick

4:00 p.m.

Church of the Holy Comforter (543 Beech St). Featuring the periodinstrument ensemble Modern Musick, performing works from 18th-century Naples. Free admission, donations requested; reception follows.

Here Come the Mummies Doors 6:00 p.m. The State Theatre.

Evade

Recently

Fury

Monday, Oct 27 Fall Storytime 10:30–11:00 a.m. Mary

Company symbol

Smudge

Modifies

Kings’ chairs

Chemist’s workroom

Snaky letter

Odor

Autumn tools

Hat fabrics

ACROSS 1. Bowler or fedora

Greater 8. Teen trouble

Bartender’s rocks

Again

Anchor 15. Pony panic

Division preposition 18. Or ____! (threat) 19. Appended

Syrup source

Meridian Girls Volleyball Runs Streak To Six, Field Hockey Gets Set For Playoffs

By Ryan McCafferty

Another week is in the books on fall sports season at Meridian High School, with plenty of results to write home about. Golf wrapped up its campaign with a third-place finish in the State championship last Monday, while everybody else still has their sights set on postseason promise. Let’s recap.

Football took a tough loss at Brentsville, losing 40-21 after taking an early 14-0 lead. The Mustangs dropped to 3-4 on the year, but on the bright side, they’ll be back home this week for Senior Night against Warren County on Friday. This should be a get-right game for PJ Anderson’s group after dropping back-to-back contests for the first time this season.

Field hockey’s winning streak continued, beating Brentsville 4-0 on the road last Tuesday and Kettle Run 1-0 on Thursday to improve to 13-1. Anne Steenhoek’s squad still hasn’t lost since its opening contest of the year, and should be positioned to win the regular season Northwest District title while securing home field advantage throughout the Regional playoffs.

Girls’ volleyball has also been red hot as of late, and picked up two more wins last week to improve to 13-5.

Milena Racic’s group beat Liberty (Bealeton) at home last Tuesday and Manassas Park on the road Thursday, each in three sets, extending its winning streak to six with each of the last four being three-set sweeps. They’ll look to keep the momentum going

against Warren County tonight.

Boys’ volleyball was able to pick up a win last week, beating Alexandria City in five sets last Wednesday. Unfortunately, it came sandwiched between a pair of road losses at McLean last Tuesday and South Lakes on Thursday. Shannon Hladky’s squad drops to 4-15 in what’s been a season of gaining experience for the young club, and they’ll close it out with one more shot to finish on a high note at Marshall tonight.

Finally, cross country wrapped up its regular season at the Third Battle Invite on Saturday, boasting some impressive showings. William Anderson won the Varsity B race for the boys, while Michelle Malheiro finished fifth for the girls.

F.C. Council Candidates Vie in Debate

Continued from Page 4

noting a problem with encouraging restaurants in mixed use buildings and suggesting the 2010 Arlington shift to encourage more office spaces instead. But Downs countered that there is now a glut in Arlington office space that is a major headache for them.

Downs also attributed commercial development here with the 17 cent tax rate reduction, the construction of a $120 million new high school, and the retention of a AAA bond rating for the City, which she said is “a phenomenal, huge feather in our cap.” Thompson said that the City

needs to hold developers more accountable on affordable housing, and that there should be “no big building” to address the problem.

Downs and Connelly touted the 99 new affordable housing units that the current Council has elicited from developers during the recent growth period.

Our Man In Arlington

Bill Fogarty

What were your Halloween traditions growing up? Your answer, of course, depends on when you were born and where you were living. As with many of these types of questions that I ask of Arlingtonians, the answers vary. For me, growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, the traditions were very basic: usually, a homemade costume, with a plastic pumpkin or perhaps a pillowcase to collect treats from the neighbors. We would go to every house on the block, including the scary neighbors who, in our view, did not like children. (They did give out candied apples, which I never ate).

I do not remember any tradition of “scary” tombstones or other types of house decorations, but I do recall folks being concerned about neighborhood pranks on the night before Halloween. In our area it was referred to as “Goosey Night”, though I understand that other regions might have called it Mischief Night or Cabbage Night (where incorrigible youths would throw cabbages at houses). Other pranks generally included soaping car windows, throwing toilet paper in trees, or moving neighborhood objects.

I am teaching a course this fall for Encore Learning, about life in Arlington from 1900 to 1930. In reading the many interviews on file at the Charlie Clark Center for Local History, I did find one reference to a turn-of-the-century tradition of pranks on the night before Halloween (though the person being interviewed sadly did not divulge any specific type of prank). Otherwise, Halloween involved modest costumes for the children, and homemade sweets from the neighbors.

As a community, we seem to be at a cultural point of making Halloween “the new Christmas” (that is, when it comes to decorations on people’s front lawns). Is it just me, or have you noticed not only the many decorations, but also the early “start period” for putting up those decorations?

These days, there also appears to be a proliferation of Halloween-related events for people of all ages. And to that end, I would like to segue to a shout-out for our community’s Museum of Con -

temporary Art Arlington (MoCA Arlington is their acronym). MoCA Arlington is yet another one of Arlington’s non-profit treasures. It was established in 1974 and has been housed since 1976 in an historic school building at Wilson Boulevard and Monroe Street. Their front lawn is very noticeable, with a large statue of Lady Liberty reclining on the grass, created by artist Zaq Landsberg, called Reclining Liberty. Their facility includes nine exhibition galleries, working studios for twelve artists, and three classrooms.

MoCA Arlington now has another location in the National Landing neighborhood, known as the MoCA Arlington Innovation Studio + Store, which has lots of activities for children and adults. In September I visited the studio, and had a terrific discussion with current (it changes every 6 to 8 weeks) artist-in-residence, David Amoroso. MoCA Arlington also sponsors a “MoCA On the Move” program each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the nearby Metropolitan Park. There is so much going on that the best I can do is point you to their website for more information (mocaarlington.org).

Their Halloween-related events begin with a dog costume contest, Howl-ween!, on October 21 at Metropolitan Park. Their big event is on Saturday, November 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., as MoCA Arlington is hosting an evening picnic on the lawn of the Museum site on Wilson Boulevard. It will be a “Dia de los Muertos” celebration, with family-friendly activities (such as mask decorations), vendors, performances, and games. The artist David Amoroso is building a large-scale altar on the front portico of the building where your loved ones who have passed may be honored. And you can visit the exhibits in the galleries that evening.

MoCA Arlington is an independent non-profit organization, and not a county agency, as it holds a lease with Arlington County to operate within the building. With their mission of enriching community life by connecting the public with contemporary art and artists through exhibitions, educational programs, public programs, and artist residencies, MoCA Arlington is just one of numerous examples of the value of partnerships between the County and our many non-profit institutions in Arlington.

Critter Corner