Tinner Hill Blues Festival Begins June 10
Next Thursday, June 10, the annual Tinner Hill Blues Festival , a Tribute to John Jackson, kicks off in the City of Falls Church, running through Sunday, June 13. The fete opens with a concert at the State Theatre next Thursday featuring Chuck Brown, the “King of Go-Go,” with Bobby Parker, Miss Nadine Rae and Band, and comedian Nicky Sunshine.
Friday, an original theatrical production of “Tinner Hill: Portraits in Black and White” will be performed at the ArtSpace Falls Church under the auspices of Creative Cauldron, while Falls Church Arts will present an artist exhibition at the same location of “A Step Back in Time,” involving black and white photographes of vintage and current Tinner Hill and surrounding areas. A full exposition of the weekend’s events will be in next week’s News-Press, and are on line now at www.tinnerhill.org.
F.C. Real Estate Tax Deadline Extended to June 7
The first installment of Falls Church City Real Estate taxes are due June 5. However, since the 5th is a Saturday, payments will not be considered late until after the close of business Monday, June 7th according to City Treasurer Cathy Kaye. Anyone with questions about the tax bill, should call the Treasurer’s Office at (703) 248-5046. For anyone wishing to pay the bill in person, the office is located in Suite 103E at City Hall, 300 Park Ave.
Vice Mayor Lippman Reports from Afghanistan
Falls Church Vice Mayor Hal Lippman is back in Kabul, Afghanistan, writing to the News-Press that he is part of a five-person team contracted by the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) “to develop a five-year performance management plan for counterinsurgency, stabilization, Afghanization, and traditional development.” In late February, he writes, a new “regional stabilization strategy” was launched focused on “building the capacity of Afghan institutions to withstand and diminish the threat posed by extremism, and to deliver high-impact economic assistance, especially in the agriculture sector, to create jobs, and draw insurgents off the battlefield.” Lippman says it is “in the early stages of implementation, so it’s too soon to have any good feeling for how it’s all going to work out.”
Traffic Disruption on Rt. 7 in Tysons Friday Night
This Friday night, June 4, all three east-bound lanes of Rt. 7 between Spring Hill Road and Route 123 in Tysons Corner will experience major delays. The lanes will be shifted 40 feet in preparation for construction of the Tysons Central 7 Metro rail station in the median of Route 7. Several lane closures will take place overnight between the Best Buy and Route 123, and traffic signal changes will take place at Marshall Drive and the Route 7-Gosnell Road-Westpark Drive intersection. Crews will restripe the lanes in time for the new traffic pattern to be in place by 9 a.m. Saturday morning, June 5. Fairfax Police will be on site to direct traffic and provide safety for motorists and construction crews.
F.C. Annual Sewer Rehab Underway
In the City of Falls Church, one westbound lane of Rt. 7 between Roosevelt St. and Buxton Road will be closed during the day Friday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to about 3 p.m. for sewer rehab work, the City announced yesterday. An annual sewer rehab effort will line about 9,100 linear feet of sewer main pipe with polyester resin on 19 City streets, a project expected to continue through the end of June. Customers will be notified and provided with more detailed information shortly before the sewer line serving their residences is slated for rehab. The streets to be affected are: Brice, Cleave, E. Broad, Ellison, Greenwich, Great Falls, Hillwood, Lincoln, Linden, Meridian, Parker, Patterson, Scipio, Shirley, S. Oak and S. Washington.
Pizzeria Orso Opening Tuesday
Falls Church’s eagerly anticipated pizza restaurant, Pizzeria Orso (400 S. Maple St.), is set to open on Tuesday, June 8, a post on the restaurant’s Facebook fan page reported yesterday. The team behind the critically-acclaimed 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church, husband and wife Edan and Thea MacQuaid will run the 117-seat restaurant. Edan is a trained pizzaiolo who has cooked at popular D.C. restaurants 2Amys, Pizzeria Paradiso and Red Rocks.
Big Year for Copperheads in Fairfax Co.
An unusually high number of copperhead snakes have been spotted recently in Fairfax County, and bites have been reported in the Dranesville, Hunter Mill and Springfield districts. Normally, any significant volume of sightings do not occur until August, when babies begin to hatch. Virginia is home to three poisonous species of snakes, the Timber Rattlesnake, the Cottonmouth and the Copperhead. While death from snake bite is extremely rare, officials report, they can be painful and cause numerous symptoms, including swelling and bruising, nausea and muscle twitching. It is important to seek immediate medical attention for anyone or any pet who is bitten. Important tips include keeping pets on leashes at all times, never approach a copperhead or pick up any snake, do not apply a tourniquet if bitten but keep the bitten body part immobilized and area-level with the heart, and get to the nearest hospital.
