Community Bids Farewell To Departing Council Members at Happy Hour

On November 27, community members packed The Falls to share stories with, bid farewell to, and thank outgoing F.C. Mayor David Tarter and council member Phil Duncan, both of whom are retiring after decades of service to the city.

F.C. Gift and Craft Show and Library Book Sale Draw Big Crowds of Holiday Shoppers

Last weekend at the Community Center, the Holiday Gift and Craft Show featured nearly 40 crafters and merchants showing their wares, attracting a big crowd with unique homemade items, baked goods, and more. On Saturday the show included a Children’s Holiday Shoppe, where volunteers helped kids choose and wrap gifts for friends and family. Across the street, Mary Riley Styles Public Library held a used book and media sale, with a room filled with stories, movies, and more!

GMU Annual Regional Leadership Awards To Recognize Outgoing Electeds

On Friday, GMU’s Annual Regional Leadership Awards Luncheon will be hosted by the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Regional Elected Leaders Initiative (RELI) at their Arlington campus.

Keynote speaker Dr. Stephen Fuller, GMU professor emeritus and past director of the George Mason Center for Regional Analysis, will provide a stark picture of the region’s economy and a pointed call for regional leadership and coordinated action moving forward.

In addition, Regional Leadership Awards will be given to Sen. Dick Saslaw, Fairfax County Supervisor Penny Gross, and Alexandria School Board member Meagan Alderton. Saslaw is leaving after serving for 48 years in the Virginia General Assembly, including 16 as the Senate Democratic Leader. Gross has 28 years in local office with leadership roles in many regional bodies, often focused on the Chesapeake Bay and the environment. Alderton has served five years in public office, with leadership roles in establishing the Public School Leadership Network and EduTutorVA.

Ireland’s Four Provinces Donates Sleigh Full of Toys for Local Children

Santa’s elves were hard at work at Ireland’s Four Provinces (105 W. Broad St., Falls Church) over the weekend, where guests donated a sleigh full of toys for local children at their annual Friends and Family Holiday Dinner. The donations were given to Falls Church City Public Schools and Welcoming Falls Church to be shared with children and families.

The restaurant will continue to collect toys through Sunday, December 10.

Falls Church Forward Hosts Welcoming Culture Discussion and Gift Wrapping

On Sunday, Falls Church Forward partnered with Welcoming Falls Church to host their final meeting of the year, at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, with a focus on the welcoming culture of The Little City.

The well-attended event featured presentations from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) and several local organizations serving vulnerable populations in the community.

Jill Kaneff, a demographer at NVRC, kicked off the event with an engaging report on ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic trends in our region.

Organization speakers included Homestretch executive director Barfonce Baldwin, F.C. Homeless Shelter executive director Julene Jarnot, Welcoming F.C. secretary and co-founder Paul Boesen, F.C. Housing Commission member and Adult & Family Literacy Center founder and director Hannah Jordan, and LGBTQ+ F.C. executive director Brian Reach.

After learning about the work being done in the community, participants stuck around to help wrap gifts collected from the Welcoming Falls Church holiday donation drive supporting refugees, immigrant families, and other vulnerable populations.

For more information on Falls Church Forward, visit fallschurchforward.org or email fallschurchforward@gmail.com.

Holiday Tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House

Tour Pope-Leighey House during special evening hours and see the home decorated for a mid-century holiday!

During the 1930s, Frank Lloyd Wright designed more than 100 affordable mid-century modern homes, constructed between 1936 and Wright’s death in 1959, including the Pope-Leighey House in 1940.

Commissioned in 1939 by Loren Pope, a journalist in Falls Church, the residence was sold to Robert and Marjorie Leighey in 1946. The house was in the path of an expansion of Highway 66, so Leighey gave the house to the National Trust, which relocated it to nearby Woodlawn and granted her lifetime tenancy. Leighey occupied the house until her death in 1983.

Tours are available during select 30-minute windows on December 8, 9, 15 and 16. $15 tickets are available at woodlawnpopeleighey.org.

Ideaventions Drone Team Wins First Place at National Robotics Competition

On December 2, team “Daedalus” from the Reston-based Ideaventions Academy for Mathematics and Science won first place overall in the Bell Advanced Vertical Robotics competition (Bell AVR) in Dallas, TX. The team also brought home the first place prize for Best Presentation.

For the competition, teams built a large main drone, and programmed a smaller drone, a ground vehicle, and three Sphero Minis (small robotic balls) to complete tasks for points in a simulated firefighting challenge.

The main drone gathered and dispensed “water” (25mm plastic balls) into burning buildings, while other vehicles completed recon paths.

As a result of their remarkable showing, Daedalus is invited to participate in an exhibition match at XPONENTIAL 2024, the global conference and exhibition for autonomy, in San Diego, CA.

Queen Taken from Her Castle: FCPD Searches for Stolen French Bulldog

Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division are seeking the community’s assistance to locate a stolen french bulldog.

On November 27 at 7:50 a.m., officers responded to a burglary of a home in the 7500 block of Tralee Woods Ct. in Springfield. The victim was alerted by a family friend that her dogs were running loose in the neighborhood. The family friend was able to retrieve two of the three dogs. The victim returned home and was unable to locate the third, a french bulldog named Queen.

Detectives determined a suspect entered the victim’s home and attempted to take all three dogs. When unsuccessful, he took Queen and left the home. Surveillance footage showed the suspect carrying Queen to a four-door Nissan, possibly an Altima or Sentra, and leaving the area.

The suspect was described as a Black man, 5’8”, wearing a white t-shirt, gray shorts, and blue Crocs.
Detectives are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the West Springfield District Station at 703-644-7377 and ask to speak with a detective. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or by web at fairfaxcrimesolvers.org.

Tysons Man Charged With Possession of Illegal Machine Guns, Child Pornography

On November 17, Fairfax County Police detectives arrested Craig Strasbourger, a 31-year-old resident of Tysons, with charges related to automatic weapons.

After conducting a thorough investigation on devices belonging to Strasbourger, detectives obtained additional warrants for three counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, one count of Solicitation of a Minor, and one count Possession of Animal Sexual Abuse Material.

Strasbouger was arrested and is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

BAE Systems, Red Hat, and The Weather Company Announce Collaboration

BAE Systems is revolutionizing military simulation environments through a new collaboration with Red Hat and The Weather Company.

This strategic collaboration more seamlessly incorporates weather data into various synthetic training environments, including modeling and simulation, adding a new level of realism to simulations.

BAE and Red Hat showcased live demonstrations of these solutions at I/ITSEC 2023 in Orlando, FL last month.

The companies also exhibited next-generation constructive simulation environments, digital twins of the Earth for simulation, and the most advanced synthetic training environments. This collaboration harnesses real-time and forecasted weather into common terrain models and use cases for the military, including air defense, infantry, communications, and special operations.

“In defense analysis, planning and simulation, weather can influence an aircraft’s performance, the tempo of ground operations and the viability of critical infrastructure,” said Sheri Bachstein, CEO of The Weather Company. “To help effectively address these challenges as weather events become more intense, it’s critical now more than ever to incorporate reliable, globally scaled, real-time and predictive weather data and insights into defense planning and simulation environments.”

SeER Awards Grants to Funds Local Teachers’ STEM projects

The Science Education Research Foundation (SeER) awarded eight grants to STEM educators to support both classroom teaching and science-related projects. Of those, two were awarded to teachers at Falls Church High School.

Shannon Gray and Paul Naanou were awarded a grant to enhance the physical classroom environment for mathematical problem solving. Bridany Keys was awarded a grant to modernize classroom tools and the curriculum for learning statistics.

SeER is a science- and education-focused 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Formed in 2022, it funds projects led by teachers and researchers that aim to enhance STEM thinking and action in K-12 learners.

I-66 Express Lanes Celebrate One Year of ‘Game-Changing’ Transportation

The 66 Express lanes outside the Beltway marked the first full year of operations this week. The managed-lane mega-project has shown itself to be a game-changer for the region.

Delivered ahead of schedule and within budget despite supply-chain issues, a global pandemic, and historic inflation levels, the privately financed project has proven to be a boon to the local economy and workforce. Since construction began in 2017, a total of 9,073 employees have worked on the project, including a daily average of approximately 2,000 on-site workers during the peak construction period. In addition, the project hired 400 local firms as subcontractors.

That workforce has forged an entire ecosystem of new, vital transportation improvements throughout the I-66 corridor, featuring two park-and-ride lots with more than 4,000 spaces, 63 new or reconstructed bridges, 12 rebuilt or improved interchanges, numerous safety enhancements, and more than 18 miles of new pedestrian and bike trails along the I-66 corridor.

3 Step Home Sale Launches Innovative Seller Concierge Program

3 Step Home Sale, a leading real estate solutions and investment firm based in Falls Church, is changing the industry with its new Seller Concierge Program, designed to help homeowners buy property in the current high-priced real estate market.

The program pairs the company’s experienced team of real estate investors with top-performing real estate agents to facilitate the sale and renovation of properties on behalf of sellers.

With funding tightening for institutional cash buyers, 3 Step Home Sale recognized the need for creative solutions to get properties sold and transferred to buyers in today’s climate of rising interest rates.

“Many cash buyers have lost their warehouse lines of credit and stopped buying houses, while smaller cash buyers are being priced out by skyrocketing hard money loan rates,” said Josh Cohen, the CEO of 3 Step Home Sale. “The number of legitimate cash buyers able to perform in this market has dropped dramatically. Our Seller Concierge program offers a new approach that benefits sellers, buyers and agents alike.”

The company renovates and prepares properties for sale without requiring an upfront acquisition from the seller. This saves on closing costs, loans and holding fees. Once renovation is complete, 3 Step Home Sale markets the move-in ready home at an affordable price to prospective buyers.

Sellers receive a higher sale price by avoiding excessive fees, buyers gain access to renovated homes at reasonable prices, and agents get improved listing conditions and quicker sales.

“With over 15 years of experience, we saw the need to adapt to changing market forces and develop win-win solutions in real estate,” said Cohen. “The Seller Concierge program helps sellers maximize proceeds, gets houses sold fast for agents, and expands homeownership opportunities for buyers.”

For more information about the company and to get a cash offer, visit 3stephomesale.com.