F.C. Meetings to Be Streamed on City Web Site

The City of Falls Church’s City Council, Planning Commission and School Board meetings will all be broadcast live on the City’s web site beginning in September, Director of Public Information Barbara Gordon told the News-Press yesterday. The City has contracted with Granicus, a firm specializing in providing “live streaming video” on web sites. Feeds from the City’s live cable telecasts will be put up online, making it possible for the meetings to be watched anywhere there’s access to the web.

F.C. Meetings to Be Streamed on City Web Site

The City of Falls Church’s City Council, Planning Commission and School Board meetings will all be broadcast live on the City’s web site beginning in September, Director of Public Information Barbara Gordon told the News-Press yesterday. The City has contracted with Granicus, a firm specializing in providing “live streaming video” on web sites. Feeds from the City’s live cable telecasts will be put up online, making it possible for the meetings to be watched anywhere there’s access to the web. Also, all the videos will be archived on the site, and will be searchable by topic. Arlington and Alexandria already have the feature on their web sites, Gordon said.

Jennison Wins Fairfax Dems OK for Special Election

At a special meeting Tuesday night, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee unanimously endorsed John Jennison as a Democrat in a special election to replace Fairfax School Board member Phil Neizelski-Eichner, who resigned to take a federal appointment. Jennison had won the endorsement of the Providence District Democratic Committee the night before. Also Tuesday, the Fairfax Democratic Committee unanimously elected Mary Ann Hovis as its chair, replacing Scott Surovel, who resigned to run in a special election for the Virginia House of Delegates.

Neighborhood Security Meeting Held With Local Police

Over 50 citizens from the Broadmont neighborhood of Falls Church and North Arlington assembled in Falls Church’s City Hall Monday to discuss the recent spate of crimes in the areas. Arlington police officers joined Falls Church Police Chief Harry Reitze and F.C. Vice Mayor Hal Lippman to talk about shoring up security in the area, near the East Falls Church Metro. Creating a “Neighborhood Watch” program was one suggestion from the law enforcement officials. Lippman said the meeting was “reassuring but sobering.” A car jacking incident near Banneker Park in Falls Church was described as “out of any pattern” in the area, and Lippman reported the number of residential burglaries in Broadmont has been zero in the last three years. However, unlocked cars and visible accessories, such as GPS devises, are invitations to theft, the meetings’ attendees were told.

Shields: F.C. Prepping With Region for Flu Pandemic

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields told the City Council Monday that City officials are in on-going deliberations with their counterparts in other jurisdictions in the region to prepare for an escalation come colder weather of the on-going global Swine Flu, H1N1, pandemic. “Among the things that we are considering are mandatory vaccines, procedures and criteria for school closings,” Shields said. He noted that the flu has reached official pandemic levels on the planet, and is expected to continue to grow.

Webb, Warner Announce $ for Affordable Housing

Virginia’s U.S. Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has approved $44.2 million to jumpstart affordable rental housing programs in Virginia. Funded by the federal Recovery Act stimulus program, HUD’s new Tax Credit Assistance Program provides grants to state housing finance agencies to resume affordable rental housing projects throughout the country, while also creating jobs in the hard-hit construction industry. “These grants should help unlock the credit markets while supporting shovel-ready projects,” Sen. Warner said. Currently, as many as 1,000 projects, containing nearly 150,000 units of housing, are stalled across the U.S.