Under the lights in the basement of the Falls Church Presbyterian Church is a theatre company unknown to many in The Little City called NOVA Nightsky, only five years old and ready to present its 25th production, “Anthropology” starting April 16.

The group is composed of dedicated theatre lovers, actors, writers, dancers, producers, and many with a Falls Church connection. They are motivated to present plays for and about women.

The founder and producing director, Jaclyn Robertson, said the name of the company originated at its first show in 2021 when the group performed outdoors during Covid at the American Legion building on Oak Street.  

The troupe liked their name so much, they decided to keep it. 

“We didn’t know if it’d be our first show or our last,” Robertson said in a group interview at the church, but NOVA Nightsky is still performing, its new show by Lauren Gunderson, one of America’s most produced living playwrights. 

“Anthropology” is an adult drama which embraces contemporary themes and problems of isolation, family friction, grief, new technologies and “how we cope,” Robertson said.

Some “moments are very sad, but it ends with a ray of hope.”

Four talented actors strike strong punches.  

The sister of Merril (Elyse R. Smith) has disappeared and is presumed dead – or is she?  

Using her engineering skills, Merril creates an artificial intelligence personification of her sister, “Angie” (Fosse Thornton), to help Merril manage her depression, but it’s not long before Angie starts to assume control and reveal she’s got some secrets about “Angie.” 

To make matters worse, without Merril’s approval, Angie invites Merril’s ex, Raquel (Hannah Ruth Blackwell) over to visit. 

Shall we resume where we stopped off?

Soon enough, Merril’s mother, Brin (Mattie Cohan), shows up, bewildered by what she hears and sees. 

NOVA Nightsky chose the play last year after its successful launch in London in 2023 and other performances around the world.  

Sarah Baczewski, the director of “Anthropology” and the company’s artistic director, beamed, “This show is great for us, a newer work which we wanted to spearhead and be the first in the DMV to do and show that it can be done on a community theatre stage.

“We loved it, compelling, a sci fi drama, psycho thriller, with humor,” which “tackles so many interesting issues.”

Robertson added that the play “checked all our boxes with four women in middle adulthood across multiple generations and a female playwright. We have an entire female production team with the exception of an amazing team of talented men” who handle technicals. 

Robertson thinks many in the audience will be able to identify with issues the play raises.

“’Oh, this could be my house,’” Robertson imagined possible audience thoughts.  The play will target “modern reality rather than the future, because AI is here now. What we’re coping with now as a society is very real.”

One of her goals when she founded the company “was to try and feature as many women as possible because we always have more women showing up than men at auditions and I wanted to feature roles for women in a very specific age bracket, sort of in the middle age of life, after your kids have left home.”

The group could not say enough good things about the church whose venue, the basement, is much warmer than the word “basement” implies.  It may be the first time the church stage has been used in 30 years, they said.

They think a Falls Church art district that includes NOVA Nightsky, the State Theatre and Creative Cauldron makes a lot of sense.  “Residents can walk to these places!” Robertson exclaimed.

The group has had plenty of experience doing outdoor shows, having performed them twice in the church parking lot and eager to present one at Cherry Hill Park, but the city, not so enthusiastic.  Ditto, the City of Fairfax.

Adam Ressa directs the outstanding backstage crew whose AI staging in a mysterious manner of ghostly holograms makes technicals worth the price of admission alone. 

He’s helped by Jeff Fitzgerald, Nate Eagle and Nate’s son, Alex, age 12. Sharon Kim is stage manager.

Thursday, April 16 is opening night with performances through April 25 on Thursdays and Fridays, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m.; Sunday, April 19, 7 p.m.; and Saturday, April 25, 2 p.m. 

The Thursday, April 23 show will be “pay what you can.”

Tickets online are $28 and at the door, $30.  Duration: Less than 90 minutes

Falls Church Presybterian Church – Memorial Hall, 225 E. Broad St., Falls Church 22046 with plenty of free lighted parking in the front and back.

The post NOVA Nightsky Debuts ‘Anthropology’ at Falls Church Presybterian first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

It’s easy these days to feel like nothing is working.

Gas prices creep up again just when you thought they might stabilize. The news from overseas seems to get worse by the day. Congress feels permanently stuck — more interested in fighting than governing. Billionaires come and blow up the Federal Government, then get bored and move on, leaving destruction in their wake.

I’ve heard from many of you that it often feels like no matter how hard you work or how loudly you speak, it doesn’t make much difference.

Let me shift your focus south, down to Richmond, where Democrats recently won control of both houses in the legislature and the Governor’s mansion.

I love serving the people of Falls Church in the General Assembly, because that’s where we can get things done. And this session shows us how much we can get done when we have free and fair elections that reflect the will of the people.

I picked three bills that started as ideas and are now law to illustrate my point. 

The first is my bill banning unserialized ghost guns. These are untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home or purchased in parts, with no background check and no serial number. Law enforcement has been sounding the alarm about them for years. So have we.

But getting this bill across the finish line took time and not just because of partisan disagreement. Early on, some of my fellow Democrats were skeptical. The technology was new, the terminology was confusing, and there were real questions about how the bill would work. I spent years meeting with colleagues, law enforcement, prosecutors, and advocates — walking through what ghost guns actually are and why they posed a unique threat.

Eventually, we built consensus and passed the bill only to see it vetoed by a Republican governor who clearly understood the issue but didn’t seem to share the urgency. So, we came back the next year. And the next.

I introduced this legislation six years running before we finally had the votes to pass it and a Governor willing to sign it. Now, it’s the law in Virginia. In a few short months it will be illegal to buy, sell, manufacture, or possess these dangerous, untraceable weapons.

The second bill abolishes the common law crime of suicide. That may sound odd at first — after all, no one is prosecuting someone for attempting suicide. But the fact that it remained technically a crime created real legal complications. It discouraged people from seeking help, complicated crisis response, and carried a stigma that belongs in another century.

This bill also took years for a different reason. When legislators first heard it, many assumed it must be about assisted suicide. Some worried there was a hidden agenda. Others thought it was part of a broader debate about end-of-life care.

This bill did one simple thing: remove an outdated common law crime that no longer made sense. But getting people comfortable with that required dozens of one-on-one conversations. I met with colleagues individually, explained the narrow scope, worked with stakeholders, and reassured people that the bill did exactly what it said. No more and no less.

Year after year, those conversations added up. And this year, with a Democratic trifecta and broad bipartisan support, we finally removed this outdated relic from Virginia law.

Two tough issues. Years of work. Real change.

But progress doesn’t always have to take years.

The third bill the Governor signed came from a college student who reached out to me last summer. A thoughtful suggestion about how Virginia law could work better. We met, talked it through, drafted language, and introduced the bill in January. It passed both chambers. The Governor signed it. On July 1, 2026, it will be the law. One year from conversation to law.

That’s the government working the way it’s supposed to.

Slow when it needs to be careful. Persistent when the work is hard. And sometimes when the idea is right and the moment is right surprisingly fast.

At a time when the world feels unstable and Washington feels broken, Virginia showed that elections matter. Because voters chose a Democratic majority and a Democratic governor, we were able to finally get two long-stalled priorities across the finish line and still move quickly on new ideas.

If we want this kind of progress in Washington — if we want a Congress that can actually govern — the first step is leveling the playing field for the 2026 midterms. Here in Virginia, that starts with voting YES by April 21.

Because elections matter. They always have. And if this past week is any indication, they still do.

The post Delegate Marcus Simon’s Richmond Report April 2026 first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

The volume of misleading and deceptive claims in ads by pro-Trump forces urging a “No” vote on next Tuesday’s referendum in Virginia is deeply troubling and, in many cases, beyond the pale, like pro-Trump billionaire Peter Thiel’s heavy funding of so many of those ads.

In this column last week, I pointed to Lincoln’s concept of our “better angels” as essential to a nation committed to democratic values—an idea that remains critical if we are to heal and move forward.

At its core is the notion of mutual human respect.

My dad left his imprint on me in one very important way. His simple mantra was, “Your word is your bond.”

That idea, understood properly, lies at the heart of Lincoln’s “better angels.” It reflects a fundamental respect for others—the recognition that when you give your word, you are entering into a relationship built on trust.

If you commit to doing something for another person, do it. Be someone who can be counted on. Like anyone else, I’ve had moments when I promised to be somewhere or do something that, later, I didn’t feel like doing. But at those moments, my dad’s words would come back to me. And, time and again, I found that keeping my word was the right choice.

If you develop a reputation for not keeping your word, trust erodes. People may excuse it once or twice, but over time the damage accumulates. At minimum, if you cannot keep a commitment, you owe the other person honesty and advance notice.

Embedded in all this is respect—not just for others, but for their time and their dignity.

This applies directly to truth-telling more broadly.

We don’t assign enough importance to it. Too often, we treat a lie as something fleeting—something that, if it goes unnoticed, carries no real consequence.

But that misses something fundamental: a lie is not just a private act. It is an imposition on others. It distorts their understanding and manipulates their decisions. In that sense, lying is a form of harm—an assault on the trust that makes human relationships, and democratic society, possible.

Too often, the burden is shifted. The liar assumes it is up to others to detect the falsehood and correct it. If no one does, then so be it.

“Well,” the shrug seems to say, “you didn’t catch me.”

Modern society has, in some ways, adapted to this. We build institutions, regulations, and enforcement mechanisms on the assumption that people will lie if they can get away with it. If they are caught, they are punished. If not, they move on.

But a healthy democracy cannot function on that basis alone. It depends on a shared commitment to truth—not just fear of consequences.

That is why the current moment is so troubling.

Some of the messaging surrounding this referendum has gone beyond ordinary political disagreement into the realm of distortion—misleading claims, misattributed positions, and, in some cases, the use of imagery and rhetoric that invoke painful chapters of our history in ways that confuse rather than clarify.

When that happens, the damage is not just to a single campaign. It is to the broader civic fabric.

I have long believed that one of the enduring contributions of major religious traditions has been their emphasis on virtue—on instilling habits of honesty, responsibility, and respect for others. However imperfectly expressed, those values have helped sustain social trust.

When political actors instead lean into deception, especially while invoking those same traditions or moral language, the result is doubly corrosive.

Voters in Virginia now face an important decision. They deserve to make it based on clear, honest information—not confusion or manipulation.

If we are serious about Lincoln’s “better angels,” then the responsibility does not rest only with those producing the messages. It rests with all of us—to demand better, to seek the truth, and to hold one another accountable.

Because in the end, a democracy cannot function if truth itself becomes optional.

The post Shame on Trump, Thiel For Election Lying first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

This month’s history column takes us back to April 1961. A review of the stories from the local newspapers supports an ongoing theme in my mind: that we are always “living in interesting times” (a phrase that has been used to reflect a time of danger and uncertainty). The danger and uncertainty are reflected in stories about the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba on April 17, 1961. At that time, the news reports referred to a “failed rebellion by Cuban exiles.” Eventually the involvement of the CIA, and the authorization of the invasion by President Kennedy, came to light. 

The fear of the Soviet Union, and of communism in general, can be seen in international news and local news. On April 16 the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, and the first to orbit Earth, a scientific advancement that would be matched a year later by Arlington resident John Glenn (who lived on North Harrison Street from 1958 until 1963). Locally, concerns about communism are evident in the “Religion News” section of the Northern Virginia Sun, which included notices of upcoming services. Walker Chapel had a notice headlined by the phrase “Communists and the World Revolution.” The title for their Sunday service was “Karl Marx’s Challenge to Christianity.” St. George’s Episcopal Church advertised an upcoming talk by Dr. Charles Lowry, the author of the book, “Communism and Christ.” 

There was a National Civil War Centennial Celebration Commission in 1961, with representatives of many states participating in a meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 12, the 100th anniversary of the firing upon Fort Sumter. The New Jersey delegation created a stir by objecting to segregated seating at the meeting (South Carolina still had segregated seating laws). A second Civil War was averted when the group moved its meeting to a naval base. The Northern Virginia Sun had a number of Civil War articles published that April, including a long summary of the “anguish” of Robert E. Lee in resigning his commission from the U.S. Army on April 20, 1861. 

The Washington Afro-American provided plenty of coverage about the slow pace of desegregation in the Arlington public schools. But the story that got my attention involved a vote held by the Arlington Education Association, which represented 982 Arlington schoolteachers. This was a whites-only group. A separate group, the Arlington Teachers Association, with 84 Black teachers as members, had asked for a merger of the groups. The request was approved by the Arlington Education Association, by a vote of 519 to 463. I am kind of shocked that 463 teachers wanted to retain its whites-only status. Meanwhile, in other school news, the combined 5th and 6th grade class at Fairlington Elementary School was praised for presenting a play about the United Nations entitled “A Better World.” Hope was in the air for some of our youngsters! 

If you think switching our clocks twice a year is a confusing mess, in 1961 there was “extreme confusion” year-round in Virginia. Governor Almond was considering a special session of the General Assembly, as 25 Virginia communities had switched to Daylight Saving Time, while the rest of the state remained on Eastern Standard Time. If you lived in Richmond and crossed into Hanover County, you would be in a different time zone. And I learned that for years there had been a one-hour time difference with the District of Columbia, which must have been a challenge for those commuting from Arlington. 

On the lighter side, there was an editorial in the Northern Virginia Sun expressing joy and hope in the upcoming baseball season for the new expansion team, the Washington Senators (not to be confused with the Washington Senators who left town to play in Minnesota). Unfortunately, the team finished tied for the worst record in the American League. The final game at historic Griffith Stadium in September 1961 was played with 1,498 loyal fans in attendance. This second iteration of the Washington Senators also left town to go to Texas in 1971. Fortunately, in 2005, Major League Baseball agreed to move the bankrupt Montreal Expos to Washington. Hopefully the Nationals are here to stay! 

The post Our Man In Arlington 4-16-2026 first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

Meridian sports have enjoyed a successful week with several impressive victories among the pile of games played. The teams had a combined total of 13 wins to just six losses.

Baseball holds claim to Meridian’s most dominant victory of the week, a 26-1 blowout over Manassas Park. A few days later, the Mustangs suffered a close 8-6 loss to Brentsville. This puts the team at 3-5 on the year. The young team has shown lots of potential this season and should continue to improve as the season progresses. 

Boys lacrosse has continued to be perfect this season. The team built on their superb 4-0 start this week by winning three more games, bringing their record to 7-0. Their most recent win against Forest Park was their most dominant yet, a 16-8 rout that solidified the Mustangs as one of the best in the district. 

Girls lacrosse suffered their first loss of the season this week, falling to 6A opponent Robinson 12-7. This brings their overall record to 3-1. However, the Mustangs enjoyed a nonconference victory over 6A Alexandria City. Their next game on April 16 will be against a very strong opponent in Kettle Run, who boasts an undefeated record of 6-0. 

Softball has been unable to find their footing in the still-young campaign. They’ve yet to emerge victorious in any of their matchups this season. Despite the challenging start, the team has plenty of games to improve upon their rocky start.

Boys and girls tennis have been two of the most impressive Mustang teams this season, with neither having suffered a loss thus far. Both squads played two matches this week, winning all of them by a long margin. The boys beat both Warren County and Brentsville by a score of 9-0, while the girls beat the same two schools 8-1 and 9-0 respectively. 

Boys soccer played three games this week and won them all, improving their overall record to 5-1. Aside from their lone loss, the Mustangs haven’t allowed more than one goal all season. This excellent defense coupled with the team’s experienced and explosive offense makes a strong case for them to defend their state title this year.

Girls soccer has also played three games this week, emerging victorious in two of them. Their record now sits at 5-2, with multiple dominant wins. In the Mustangs’ most recent game, against 5A Falls Church, they steamrolled the competition, winning 7-0. 

The post Meridian Sports Recap: 4/7 – 4/13 first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

July 20, 1969 was a warm summer day in the Washington region, perfect for picnics and outdoor recreation.  It also was the day that changed civilization forever, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin achieved what humans had dreamed of for millennia – walking on the moon.  That was more than 55 years ago, but the memory and national excitement about the feat still is very fresh. My date (we would get married the following year) and I decided to go to Burke Lake Park so he could do some fishing.  I packed a picnic lunch and my little transistor radio so we could listen to the broadcast of the moon landing.  For those too young to remember, the transistor radio was a small battery-operated radio that used new semiconductor technology rather than traditional vacuum tubes.  Not needing a plug or outlet and a little larger than a deck of cards or a bar of soap, the transistor radio meant music and news could accompany you anywhere. Very old school compared to devices today, but it was transformative for the time. 

There were other visitors in the park, and we sensed both excitement and fear.  Excitement for what might be, and fear for what might, or might not, happen. Fortunately, the moon landing came off as planned by NASA, and all of America breathed a sigh of relief.  Even Walter Cronkite, the “most trusted man in America” for his nightly anchoring of the CBS Evening News, was speechless when, later that evening, astronaut Armstrong stepped out of  lunar module “Eagle” onto the moon’s surface, uttering his famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” comment. For a few days at least, America was united in celebrating mankind’s most significant scientific triumph at the time, but it wasn’t long before some people accused the government of conspiratorially manufacturing the landing in a movie studio. 

Overshadowed by the war in Iran and Mr. Trump’s unprecedented attendance at Supreme Court arguments about birthright citizenship, the April 1 launch of Artemis II may not have caught the attention of many, but those rocket lift-offs are mesmerizing.  The sheer power, the bone-shaking noise, the incendiary clouds of flame and smoke reflect decades of scientific research and development and billions of public and private dollars spent on expanding space travel.  It also reflected the bravery of the four-person crew who trained for the mission for years but also knew the dangers of space flight. Their reports back to Mission Control and the American people were filled with hope and more than a bit of awe about viewing Earth rise over the edge of the moon.  

The splashdown of the Integrity capsule into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego ten days later similarly awed those who watched it.  As in 1969, there was both excitement and fear for the crew as they hurtled at extraordinary speeds back into Earth’s atmosphere. Only when bright orange and white chutes deployed and gently guided the capsule into the three-foot waves did many breathe a little easier.  My daughter was transfixed and shouted “wow!” repeatedly.  That’s when I remembered that her experience with space flight was tinged by the tragedy of the Challenger explosion when she was in elementary school.  

The successful launch and return of Artemis II and Integrity brings back the positive curiosity that fueled previous generations. The poet Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) wrote that “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”  In Dickinson’s eyes, hope was a bird. Thankfully, the Integrity crew reinvigorated hope with a similar, but larger and more powerful, symbol at a time when hope, for many, seems elusive.

The post A Penny for Your Thoughts 4-16-2026 first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

Citizens of Falls Church and environs may think their vote won’t matter here because we can expect a strong “Yes” vote next Tuesday on the referendum that is aimed at countering Trump’s efforts nationwide to gerrymander Congressional districts in his favor.

But every vote here matters enormously, given that the final tally will be a statewide one and there are no assurances how things may go elsewhere in the state. The unprecedented level of downright deceptive advertising by pro-Trump forces, run from outside the state by the likes of pro-Trump billionaire Peter Thiel, may wind up confusing enough voters that the overall referendum will fail. Or, at least we can be confident of the fact that the outcome will be close.

So, yes, your vote matters, a lot. In fact, this could be one of the most consequential votes of all in the national push to get rid of Trump. If it passes, it authorizes the Virginia state legislature to redraw the state’s 11 U.S. Congressional district maps in a way that will enhance chances for a Democratic majority in 10 of the districts. This would represent a gain of four Democratic congressmen in the state, a move that would offset efforts by Trumpers in Texas, North Carolina and other states to slant changes in those states to their advantage.

Please, take the trouble to vote this time! Nothing would be more apropos than for the City of Falls Church to claim its oft earned position as No. 1 in the entire state for voter turnout than this time around. It would make a powerful statement against Trump’s power grab.

The landslide election in Hungary this week to oust the Trumpian leader Viktor Orban there is a powerful signal to the entire world. The way to defeat tyranny is with a winning vote that is so overwhelming that the mere thought of overturning it is deemed futile. So it must be next week in Virginia, and across the nation this November. The spirit of this upcoming vote must carry with it the sense of what Democrats and fair-minded people generally will do faced with Trump’s treachery and tyranny. They will not deal lightly with it, and if they don’t, the Trumpians really should fear this.

Not the least of their crimes, the estimated 650,000 lives lost in just the last year and a half due to craven cuts in the budget for the Agency for International Development (AID), as documented by Nicholas Enrich in his new book, “Into the Wood Chipper.” The book title is taken from a quote by Elon Musk when he took over Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and assigned unqualified youth to take a hatchet to the US AID and other budgets.

The post Take the Trouble to Vote ‘Yes’ Tuesday first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

The Meridian Mustangs improved to 8-0 on the year with a convincing 16-5 victory over the Kettle Run Cougars. The Mustangs continue to improve as the season progresses, each win more dominant than the last.

The Cougars kept up with the Mustangs during the first quarter, even leading 2-1 for a grand total of 23 seconds. The Mustangs, however, were relentless, scoring three goals in less than two minutes. By the end of the first quarter, the Cougars found themselves trailing 4-3.

Senior Jack Moore’s second goal of the game kicked off the scoring in the second quarter. This score marked the 100th goal of Moore’s high school career, an incredible milestone. Head coach William Stewart expressed his pride in Moore postgame.

“I’m blessed to coach such a talented player, one of only a few that I’ve coached to reach that milestone. Super proud of him, and I think he’d be the first to say that his teammates set him up for a lot of those goals,” coach Stewart beamed.

It was this goal that truly kicked the Mustangs into another gear. By halftime, they had stretched their advantage all the way to 9-4, helped significantly by Moore, as well as a first half hat trick by fellow senior Hayden Kusic.

The second half played out pretty similarly to the second quarter. Meridian continued to control the game, adding on another seven scores before the clock hit triple zeros. Another impressive win by the Mustangs improves their overall record to a perfect 8-0, the best in the region.

“I’m proud of the guys for showing consistency for four quarters. To be able to win by that margin of victory shows that, top to bottom, everybody gave a great effort,” coach Stewart reflected.

Despite the phenomenal season Meridian has enjoyed thus far, coach Stewart remains wary of challenges down the road and discourages his squad from becoming complacent.

“We have to take it one game at a time, trying to ignore records, and just battling psychologically, mentally, and physically…we’re just trying to get better every day.” coach Stewart commented.

For their next contest on April 17th, the Mustangs will travel to Western Albemarle High School to take on Warriors.

The post Mustangs stay perfect with win over Kettle Run first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

The Falls Church City Council voted unanimously Monday night to advertise a real estate tax rate with no increase for the coming fiscal year, setting an early marker as it heads into the final phase of budget deliberations.

The 7-0 vote establishes the maximum rate the Council can adopt when it finalizes the budget later this spring. Under state law, the rate can be lowered but not raised above the level voted on this Monday.

While preliminary, the action signals a clear inclination by the Council to avoid a tax rate increase, and Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi again intimated her interest in a one cent cut in the rate. In addition to the relief it would provide City homeowners, it would also go further to distinguish Falls Church from the region, where fiscal pressures in Arlington and Fairfax, the City’s immediate and much larger neighbors, are particularly severe this year.

Falls Church taxpayers are reminded that at $1.185 per $100 of assessed valuation, the City’s tax rate has actually declined significantly in recent years, down from $1.355, due to the benefits of the City’s recent-years’ aggressive commercial economic growth.

By contrast, in Fairfax County, leaders are working to close a budget gap approaching $300 million, with tens of millions in reductions under consideration. Among the areas potentially affected are human services programs, including child care assistance, senior services and other public support programs that have seen rising demand in recent years. Fairfax County Public Schools, which accounts for more than half of county spending, is also facing a significant shortfall, raising the possibility of cuts to after-school programs, staffing levels and other support services.

Arlington County faces a smaller but still significant gap, estimated in the range of $30 million to $40 million. While large-scale cuts are more difficult due to the structure of its budget, officials there have signaled that reductions could affect discretionary programs, staffing and the pace of capital projects if additional revenues are not identified.

For Falls Church, the central budget driver remains its public schools, which account for the largest share of city spending. The City operates under a revenue sharing agreement with the schools, which are in themselves now bound by collective bargaining agreements with its employees. 

One of the major changes in the City Manager’s current proposed budget is higher than usual salary increases for the police department. Police starting salaries would increase by 14 percent to keep pace with nearby jurisdictions like Arlington, which recently announced a $90,000 starting salary.

Implementing these higher police salaries is estimated to cost the city $400,000. Other city staff are proposed to receive a 4 percent merit-based increase.

To balance the budget while funding these raises, the proposal includes eliminating seven vacant positions, including one school resource officer.

Council members also opted, for now, not to pursue implementation of a Commercial and Industrial (CNI) tax rate, which would shift a greater share of the tax burden onto business properties. While the option has been discussed as a way to ease pressure on residential taxpayers, concerns about its potential impact on the city’s commercial base and long-term economic competitiveness led the Council to defer action at this stage.

Each penny on the real estate tax rate is equivalent to 1-10,000 of the assessed value of a property. In Falls Church, the median home value is $1,073.900, the highest in the region. A penny on that value translates into $107.

The proposed budget documents and discussions indicated that personal property tax rates are currently projected to remain unchanged. While overall tax bills may rise due to a 6.9 percent increase in property assessments, the tax rates themselves are proposed to stay flat.

The proposed FY2027 budget does include increases for sanitation (5%), stormwater (7%), and solid waste fees.

Monday night’s vote reflects an effort to balance those demands while maintaining a measure of tax restraint, even as neighboring jurisdictions move closer to decisions that could reduce services more severely.

The Council will continue its budget work in the coming weeks, including public hearings and work sessions, before adopting a final budget and tax rate, typically in May.

Although the unanimous vote suggests a broad level of agreement among Council members, the most difficult decisions still lie ahead as the city works to reconcile competing priorities.

The post F.C. Council’s Preliminary Vote: No Tax Rate Change first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.

As Virginia voters prepare to decide a high-stakes redistricting referendum in voting that concludes on election day next Tuesday, April 21, a relentless wave of misleading advertising and controversial messaging by pro-Trump ‘Vote No’ proponents is sowing confusion and raising alarms among election officials, civil rights leaders, and political observers.

The News-Press, along with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, former U.S. President Barack Obama and many other responsible leaders have urged a ‘Vote Yes’ on the referendum.

The ballot measure would temporarily give the Democrat-controlled General Assembly the power to redraw congressional district lines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections—authority currently held by a bipartisan commission established in 2020. Supporters argue the move is necessary to counter aggressive partisan redistricting ordered by President Trump in Republican-led states.

Early voting in the election concludes Saturday, and the final election day is next Tuesday. Polling places in the three precincts of Falls Church will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.

In recent weeks, voters across the state—particularly in Black communities—have reported receiving mailers and text messages from ‘Vote No’ proponents containing misleading claims about who supports or opposes the referendum. Some of the materials falsely suggest that prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, oppose the measure, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

The News-Press was among the first mainstream news organizations to call out the deception campaign by pro-Trump elements in its April 2 edition that identified in a Page One article the role of billionaire Trumper Peter Thiel in bankrolling the effort with up to $5 million in contributions. Later, an article in the Washington Post confirmed the Thiel role in an April 10 story. 

Many ‘Vote No’ ads have gone further, drawing widespread condemnation for invoking imagery from the civil rights era. Flyers and mailers distributed by groups opposing the referendum have featured references to Jim Crow laws and even images of the Ku Klux Klan, implying that the redistricting proposal would harm Black voters. Civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, have denounced these tactics as “manipulative” and “misinformation,” warning that they echo historical efforts to suppress minority voting.

“It’s a lot of confusion,” one NAACP leader said at a recent community meeting, describing how the ads have muddied public understanding of the ballot question.

Television ads, billboards, and flyers have also come under scrutiny for using images of political figures in ways that imply endorsements that do not exist. Election officials warn that such tactics, while not always illegal, can blur the line between persuasion and deception.

Several Virginia political leaders, elected officials, and civil rights advocates have publicly condemned the deceptive advertising and misinformation surrounding the April 21 redistricting referendum. Their statements have focused on both the misleading content and the use of racially charged imagery.

State Attorney General Jay Jones issued one of the strongest rebukes, accusing outside groups of deliberately misleading voters—particularly Black voters—through inflammatory tactics. He said the ads “deliberately exploit the history of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement to mislead Black voters and suppress participation.”

Several members of Virginia’s U.S. House delegation released a joint statement condemning the mailers. They “strongly condemn the deceptive and offensive mailers being sent to Black voters across Virginia.” The statement added that the materials “misuse imagery from the Civil Rights Movement… weaponizing one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history… to scare voters and manipulate the outcome.”

Congressman Bobby Scott criticized the broader misinformation environment and its impact on voters. “The problem with misinformation is, if you don’t respond to it, people will believe it… we gotta spend time responding to this nonsense.”

State Sen. Mamie Locke, chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, emphasized the harm of racially targeted messaging. She called the mailers “deeply offensive and deceptive,” warning they manipulate historical trauma to influence voters.

Civil rights leaders affiliated with the NAACP have been among the most vocal critics. Gaylene Kanoyton (NAACP Virginia State Conference political action chair) warned voters, “Don’t be fooled into voting ‘no,’” describing the campaign as rooted in misleading claims and out-of-context quotes. NAACP leaders more broadly said they were “standing… to fight against that disinformation” so voters can make informed decisions. anoyton also noted the confusion these tactics create, saying, “It’s a lot of confusion… no different than when… they tried to scare people out of voting.”

Wes Bellamy (Virginia State University, former Charlottesville vice mayor) criticized the use of respected Black leaders’ words out of context. He called the tactic “distasteful, dishonest… and poor politics,” warning of backlash against efforts to “misinform and trick voters.”

The post Tuesday’s Referendum On Voting Fairness first appeared on Falls Church News-Press Online.