F.C. Declares Victory in Voter Turnout Challenge
The City of Falls Church will receive a gift bust of Thomas Jefferson from the City of Charlottesville, the result of having the higher voter turnout in Tuesday’s election.
In a friendly competition, Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner accepted the challenge from Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris to bet on which jurisdiction would bring out the highest percentage of voters. Falls Church won, with over 81.94 percent of active registered voter turnout out Tuesday, the highest percentage in Virginia. Charlottesville’s turnout was 68.7 percent of active registered voters. “I look forward to displaying the bust of Thomas Jefferson at City Hall,” Gardner said yesterday. “But the real winners are the citizens of both cities for participating in the nation’s electoral process.”
Sobriety Check Point Produces 4 Arrests
Fairfax County police officers conducted a sobriety checkpoint to deter and apprehend intoxicated drivers on Saturday, Nov. 1, from midnight to Sunday, Nov. 2, at 3 a.m. near the intersection of Arlington Blvd. and Annandale Road. Of 378 motorists stopped, there were four arrests made for DWI. Ten summonses were issues for miscellaneous traffic offenses. Eight officers and four auxiliary police officers participated in the checkpoint.
Veteran’s Day Service in F.C. Tuesday
A special Veterans Day ceremony will be held at the Falls Church City Veterans Memorial in front of the Community Center, 223 Little Falls St., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. The event is organized by the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks in conjunction with the American Legion Post 130, American Legion Post 224, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Martin Leppert Sipes Post 9274, Catholic War Veterans Paul and Lacques Post 1652, Northern Virginia WWII Veterans, the Veterans Memorial Committee, the Falls Church Daughters of the American Revolution and other dedicated volunteers. Speakers will include F.C. Mayor Robin Gardner and Marvin McFeaters of the Greater Falls Church Veterans Council. Retired Falls Church City educator Harry Shovlin will deliver the keynote address.
City of F.C. Launches Online Auction
The City of Falls Church has launched an online auction running through Nov. 13 to sell surplus property and equipment, including eight used or confiscated vehicles, personal property and other assets. The items can be viewed and bids made at www.govdeal.com. The bidding will end at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13.
Afghan Women’s Advocate Speaks in F.C.
Nasrine Gross, founder of the Roqia Center for Women’s Rights, Studies and Education in Afghanistan, spoke to a gathering of the Rotary Club of Bailey’s Crossroads and students from the J.E.B. Stuart High School’s Interact Club last week on the struggle to achieve human rights for the women in Afghanistan. Gross, a U.S. citizen with an Afghani heritage, said that illiteracy approaches 90 percent among women, and said that the civil rights accorded to them in the nation’s constitution are generally ignored. Poverty, the movement of international refugees, the continuing war, drought, lack of employment and growing numbers of disabled children and adults are among the added complicating factors inhibiting women’s rights, she said. Through her foundation, she is teaching co-educational adult literacy in villages where she sets up shop for a few months at a time, before moving to others. It is one of 65 current projects of her non-profit, which has a partner organization in the U.S., the non-profit Kabultec, which accepts donations designated for Roqia.
N-P Only Newspaper in N.Va. Endorsing Obama
According to a tally published by the Virginia Press Association and Editor and Publisher.com yesterday, a majority of Virginia-based newspapers are out of sync with the voting population of the state, 13 having endorsed GOP Presidential candidate John McCain, while the state’s voters gave a clear majority to Democratic President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday, who was endorsed by four. Those endorsing Obama were the Falls Church News-Press, the Staunton News Leader, the Richmond Free Press and the Williamsburg Gazette. The News-Press was the only newspaper to endorse Obama in the Northern Virginia region that provided the overwhelming bulk of his statewide margin of victory.
