F.C. Black History Month Hoops Friday
Falls Church’s Tinner Hill Foundation is celebrating Black History Month with its annual Falls Church All-Stars Vs. the New York Magic Masters (a delightful Globetrotters-style team) at the Community Center this Friday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m.
The All-Stars include City elected officials and other celebrities along with some ringers from the high school. The event is preceded by a pre-game discussion at the Community Center entitled “Girls Got Game,” beginning at 5:30 p.m. A background letter on the event by Tinner Hill’s Ed Henderson is included on Page 18 of this edition.
Griffin’s Budget Plan for Fairfax Co. Unveiled
Fairfax County’s chief executive Anthony Griffin unveiled his proposed FY2011 budget Tuesday, dropping total expenditures by 1.1 percent below the FY2010 number and raising the real estate tax from $1.04 to $1.09 per $100 of assessed valuation. He proposed a “four-step strategy” to eliminate a projected $257.2 million deficit in the $3,294,107,694 general fund budget. Including the school transfer, the total proposed appropriated funds is $6,085,994,891. The budget includes 100 layoffs and a net reduction in the transfer to the schools, including cutting $2.1 million by eliminating middle school anti-crime and anti-gang resource officers at 26 schools. Griffin stressed that the “new normal” economic environment means that all FY2011 reductions will be permanent, with a very slow recovery expected from the current recession. This year’s real estate assessments in the county were mailed Feb. 23, with 80 percent of residential properties experiencing an assessment decrease and commercial properties showing an average overall decline of 18.29 percent. The first public hearing on the budget will be April 6.
Library Supporters Lash Out at Fairfax Budget Cuts
The Friends of Fairfax Libraries are mobilizing against proposed cuts to the country’s library services that will total 33 percent over two years and make the per-resident library spending the county the lowest in the D.C. Metro Area. Among other things, the libraries would be close two mornings and two nights a week if the cuts are adopted by the County Board of Supervisors, including cutting book, audio and magazine funding by 50 percent. A petition is being circulated at http://tiny.cc/fcpl.
Mobilization to Save Virginia Arts Funding Underway
The Virginia House Appropriations Committee announced Sunday a plan to reduce arts grants through the Virginia Commission for the Arts by 50 percent during FY2011, and elimination of the commission altogether by the end of FY2012, and a mobilization by Virginians for the Arts and their allies has been underway to urge state legislators to oppose the recommendation during a debate on the budget set for today, Feb. 25. Joining the effort in Falls Church have been Falls Church Arts, the Creative Cauldron, the BalletNova Center for Dance and the Art League. Arts supporters are urged to contact their local representatives and to weigh in with votes and comments to online polls being conducted by the Virginian-Pilot, the “Arts and Extra” blog of the Roanoke Times and by the Falls Church News-Press.
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F.C. Blues Festival Lands Pura Fe’ for June 10-13
International singing sensation Pura Fe’ will perform at the Tinner Hills Blues Festival June 10-13 at the Cherry Hill Park in the City of Falls Church, it was announced this week.
CrisisLink Fundraising Luncheon This Saturday
Faced with cuts in support from regional government sources, the CrisisLink hot line continues to experience record numbers of distress calls, and hopes to raise public contributions at its seventh annual luncheon and fashion show this Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Outback Steakhouse, 9549 Braddock Road, Fairfax, from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Pedestrian Dies in Hit-and-Run on Rt. 7 at 495
Fairfax Police were called to the scene of a hit-and-run accident at 3:30 a.m. yesterday that took the life of a 49-year-old adult male. The incident occurred on Rt. 7 near the exit for 495 on the edge of Tysons Corner. Identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Detectives say they have reason to believe the striking vehicle may be a silver or beige 1998-2002 Honda Accord extensive front end damage on the driver’s side.
