The county’s sleekest new school was named “Cardinal Elementary” after three years of accelerated construction and controversy over names and boundary changes affecting the greater neighborhood of Westover.

Our soldiers are protectors of our democracy. But Americans honor our veterans in different ways. Ask yourself, when did you last attend a Veterans Day or Memorial Day service? Several times in recent years, at ceremonies held in Falls Church where attendance is usually above 100 persons, those attending were asked how many are veterans or members of their immediate family? Yep, all responded “YES.” Rarely can you find the non-veteran citizen who takes the time to attend ceremonies meant to honor those who gave their lives or now live their lives with the disabilities caused defending the Constitution.

The lead headline in yesterday’s Washington Post read, “U.S. School Officials Face Dark New Reality,” with the subhead, “Board Members Resign, Or Consider It, Amid Wave of Threats and Abuse.” The lengthy article by Hannah Natanson citing the patterns of intimidation and threats against school board members in Northern Virginia jurisdictions adjacent Falls Church and nationwide notes in conclusion that, “They’re not going to stop.”

November is National Family Caregivers (NFC) Month. President Bill Clinton signed the first declaration of NFC in 1997, and each president since has done the same. This year’s theme is “Caregiving Around the Clock,” and anyone who is, or has been, a family caregiver knows that caring for an older adult or adults with disabilities can be an all-day/every day and all night/every night commitment.

Earlier this week, Virginians cast their votes for the next Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. All of the seats in the House of Delegates were also on the ballot in districts that were drawn over a decade ago. The pundits predicted a nail biter and that was just what happened on November 2, with Glenn Youngkin winning by the narrowest of margins.

“When will things go back to normal?” It’s a question asked more times than we can count, and I bet you can relate. The uncomfortable truth is, never. But you already knew that. We’re living in the new normal.

Force of habit, my reading of the candid new memoir by bold-face broadcaster Katie Couric homed in on things Arlington. In her multi-media rollout of “Going There” launched Oct. 26, the hometown girl who became “America’s sweetheart” justifiably name-drops personages from her famed, if hyped, journalism career.

To the winners in Tuesday’s important election, we say congratulations. There will be plenty of post-mortem evaluations and assessments on why things turned out the way they did. Sadly, it was bogus “dog whistle” issues of “defunding the police” and “critical race theory,” more than programmatic plans for improving the lives of people, that dictated pro-GOP outcomes in the statewide races.

Statements given to the News-Press by all six candidates for City Council in Falls Church.