About

In the summer of 2008, three residents with children in Falls Church City Schools decided to create an online resource for City information, and chose the name Falls Church Times [email] to differentiate it from opinion blogs. As others joined, the product expanded. Some things, however, have not changed:

• Non-Profit
• No personal attacks or mean-spiritedness
• Willingness to publish opposing points of view

While we still enjoy reading paper journalism, there are so many online advantages: We can update night and day, not just once a week. We have essentially unlimited space for all kinds of news and information about our City as well as comments from our readers. And if we get something wrong, we can correct it immediately.

Contributors have included, but are not limited to:

Annette Hennessey [email] — City resident for over 10 years with a part-time job, full-time kids, and very little time to search for information. Wanted a one-stop solution, so collaborated with friends and neighbors to design fallshurchtimes.com, a community-based web resource for the City. I focus on the Schools pages, as well as recruiting contributors and story ideas. Write me to volunteer or suggest a story. Read Annette’s stories.

George Bromley — Twenty-nine-year City resident, retired after many years with Treasury, looking forward to new adventures in journalism. Read George’s stories.

Scott Taylor – Moved from the District to become a City resident in 2004.  My wife Michelle and I have three children, two of whom are 2009 GMHS graduates. Our youngest will graduate in 2013. There are many uniforms in my life — I have been flying professionally since 1986, and also work at the nexus of aviation, environmental, and energy policy as a Reservist attached to an Air Staff office in the Pentagon. Read Scott’s stories.

Stephen Siegel — Built a journalism business in the District in the 1990s, contracting with newspapers around the country to be their Washington correspondent. Needing a break after covering some dirty and unpleasant political campaigns, I decamped in 1998 for Chicago, hoping to meet a nice, Midwestern girl. That task accomplished, my wife, Jennifer, and I moved back to the area in 2008 and settled in Falls Church City. We have one child, Andy. Read Stephen’s stories.

Andrew Finein — Born in and raised in the City of Falls Church. I’m currently a senior at George Mason High School and duel-enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College. I’ve been making videos and volunteering at Falls Church City Television since I was 13. Since then, I’ve become the producer of the George Mason Coffee House and have received a handful of awards for my work. I am currently attending University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois to major in Mass Communications. Read Andrew’s stories.

Christine Kilgore [email] — City resident for 7 years with two children at MEH.  I work as a freelance medical and health care writer for various publications and am interested in health issues in the Falls Church schools and the community.   I love receiving suggestions and hearing about medical/health care  experiences, so please don’t hesitate to contact me. Read Christine’s stories.

Former contributors to the Falls Church Times that we remember fondly include:

• Jo Ryden, whose sysadmin skills rescued and maintain the technology
• Stan Fendley
• the late A.C. Miller
• Sally Brett, who we’re still trying to lure back to write more
• Kathleen Donovan for stories and photos
• Jon Brooks who kept us apprised of George Mason High’s march to the 2010 state soccer championship.
• Jimmy Scarano served as our Food Editor until May 2010.   Read Jimmy’s stories.
• Kathy Washa
• David Witzel
• Tracy Back & Steve Stroup for exciting photos of GMHS sports
• George Southern, the “Man About Town” was an original member of the team a the driving force to launch the Falls Church Times and form its character. Read George’s stories

Please let us know who we’ve missed.

Write for the Falls Church Times

Interested in contributing to Falls Church Times?  We would love to have your help.  We’re looking for people to write and/or contribute information on topics of interest to the city.

Just write us at [email protected]. Your fellow residents and readers will thank you!

Expressing Your Opinion

There are three ways to express your opinion in the Falls Church Times:

• A COMMUNITY COMMENT (article length);
• A LETTER TO THE EDITOR (shorter); or
• A comment  below any story itself.

1. All comments should be civil;
2. Commenters should seek accuracy in statements of fact and should be open to correction of inaccuracies;
3. We reserve the right to edit comments for grammar or typographical errors;
4. We reserve the right to edit or delete offensive comments.  Anonymous comments will be held to a higher level of civility and will be edited or deleted if, in our view, they are excessively harsh or critical;
5. We encourage transparency, including use of commenters’ full names and cities of residence where possible.  We believe such disclosure encourages the goals of civility and accuracy and adds credibility to commenters’ statements.