Week In Review: Duesterhaus' Car Found, Vienna's Bond Rating Threatened Because Of Debt Crisis

It's been a month since Vienna native Tom Duesterhaus 

But the mystery behind the McLean man's disappearance deepened Thursday, just three days before his 38th birthday, 

Duesterhaus' car had been parked in a commercial garage near the Rosslyn Metro station since June 17,  the day he disappeared, his father Rich said in an email to Patch.

Lucy Balsten, Rich Duesterhaus' sister, said attendants at the parking garage finally noticed the car and called police. A security camera tape later showed Duesterhaus parking the car and walking away, she said.

"So far the detective that has gone through the car has found nothing that would help us know where Tom is at," Rich Duesterhaus said. 

"Finding the car does not seem to have helped us at all with where Tom went or is at this time," he wrote. "Since we already were 99% sure he was in VA Beach on [June] 18th the location of the car since the 17th doesn't shed much light other than he chose not to take the Youth Apostle Institute car."

The family had a reunion last weekend that had been planned since January, and "Tom's siblings had hoped that he might return for that but of course that did not happen," Richard Duesterhaus wrote. He said that his family hopes his son will show up.

Fairfax County police were not immediately available for comment.

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As the debt crisis continues on Capitol Hill, officials from Vienna, Fairfax County and other Virginia municipalities are protesting a decision by Moody's Investor Service to review their bond ratings for a possible downgrade.

The town and county were among more than 100 local governments put on notice because of the federal debt crisis. Local governments protect high bond ratings because it generally reduces interest rates when they borrow, saving their taxpayers money.

Virginia has more municipalities under review — 15 — than any other state in the country. Aside from Vienna and Fairfax County, they include Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax City, the Fairfax County Water Authority, Herndon, Loudoun County and Prince William County.

David Jacobson, a spokesperson for Moody's, said because of their ties to the federal government, Fairfax County and Virginia would be susceptible to a downgrade if the U.S. defaults next week. Four variables played into Moody's decisions on putting municipalities on review: reliance on capital markets; dependence on federal revenues; sensitivity to macroeconomic cycles; and financial resources to offset the risks, such as a rainy day fund.

Both Standard & Poor's Rating Services and Moody's raised Vienna's general obligation bond rating from "AA" to "AAA" in 2010. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s also assigned "AAA" and "Aaa" bond ratings  to the town’s series 2010 public improvement bonds.

Standard & Poor's analysis said the rating increase was "based on (the town’s) continued strong financial performance, including consistently very strong unreserved fund balances."

The Vienna Town Council has kept a low ratio of net debt to taxable property value, Mayor Jane Seeman said. It has also kept its ratio of debt service  to general fund disbursements below 10 percent.

Seeman said the downgrade would not affect Vienna's ability to meet its financial obligations, but would affect new projects it has wanted to take on.

. The conversation moved to Twitter on Friday as a vote loomed.

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Fairfax County Police are investigating a series of incidents in which The reports indicate a man follows young women into retail stores, causes a distraction, cuts them and then slips away, police said in a statement. The victims have all been women in their teens or early 20's.

On Monday, police responded to a call from Forever 21 in Fair Oaks Mall around 5:30 p.m. An 18-year-old woman reportedly suffered a one-and-a-half inch wound in her butt. Detectives are considering a possible link to four other incidents in Fairfax County retail stores since February. Before Monday, the most recent case occurred June 20 in a Marshall’s at Greenbriar Shopping Center.  Another incident happened at Tysons Corner mall on June 18, Police said.

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NEWS

A Virginia Beach man who ran a mortgage-rescue business out of Vienna and McLean was charged by a federal grand jury this week f Howard R. Shmuckler, 67, was arrested Wednesday and will face seven counts of wire fraud in United States District Court on Aug. 11. Each charge carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years. 

As she often did, Barbara Newman stopped to say hello to one of her neighbors around 3:30 p.m. Friday outside the Farmside Place house she had lived in for more than a decade, this time asking if he would mind helping her replace some smoke detector batteries the next day. But less than an hour later, Fairfax County Police were called to the McLean home of Newman’s psychiatrist Mark Lawrence, whom Newman allegedly shot before turning the gun on herself in a murder-suicide Fairfax County Police are still investigating Both died of gunshot wounds, police said.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a resolution backing the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's proposal for completing Phase 2 of the Rail to Dulles project. The resolution reiterates Fairfax County’s commitment to completing Phase 2. “Rail to Dulles continues to be Fairfax County’s No. 1 transportation priority," Chair Sharon Bulova said.

Last week, the  to scrap the planned underground Metro station at Dulles International Airport in favor of an above-ground station. That, and other changes, is expected to trim about a $1 billion from the cost of Phase 2. Under the resolution approved Tuesday, the county agrees to pay for a $83 million station on Route 28 – and two Metro parking garages – as long as the county government receives adequate financing, including loans from the federal government.

Fairfax County fire units responded  Fairfax County Fire Captain Keith Cross said units responded to the McDonald's at 544 Maple Ave. W around 8:23 a.m. after a contractor hit a two inch gas line. Washington Gas responded shortly afterward and plugged the leak. No surrounding businesses suffered from exposure, Cross said.

A firefighters' union and commercial real estate developers , while her opponent's campaign is backed by a former administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency. — $100,000 more — than Michael "Spike" Williams, her Republican rival for the chairman's seat, according to campaign disclosures filed by both campaigns for the period between the beginning of April and the end of June.

, which means Vienna/Fairfax-GMU will become just "Vienna" by June 2012

SCHOOLS

The last time  appeared before the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, a  left him just seven votes shy of an endorsement for an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board. On Tuesday, pulling ahead of candidate Jeannie Armstrong by just two votes to earn the committee's third endorsement for the at-large seats.

Of the 197 members of the FCDC who voted Tuesday at the special meeting at Fairfax High School, 99 voted for McElveen and 97 for Armstrong, with one vote for no endorsement. More than 500 members voted at the first endorsement meeting. Armstrong said she would not run for an at-large school board seat without the FCDC endorsement.

. Discipline reform has become a key issue in this school board race. See how the candidates stack up

Middle school students would be able to take required Virginia tests in reading and math earlier in the school year if the state approves a request from the Fairfax County School Board. Students who pass the tests would be able to spend the rest of the school year on other lessons, and the other students could get help before they take the tests again. 

COMMUNITY/ARTS

There are many people that keep the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department running each day – but none of them are quite like Sam Savia. Savia has been volunteering at the department for more than 70 years. "[It is] a remarkable milestone that few career or volunteer fire department personnel will ever attain and a first for any member of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department," the department said. (Follow the link to watch the video).

 Our biking columnist gives a guide to biking advocacy organizations in Vienna, Fairfax and beyond

. Made in Vienna is a series about locally-grown businesses. Bonnie Fitzgerald turned her love of mosaics into a career.

.  Davidson is a 16-year veteran of the department, and has worked out of numerous stations, including those in Tysons and Dunn Loring.

 The Area between James Madison Drive and Nutley closed afternoons and nights, and remained open for morning rush hour.

Have an old parking ticket from Washington, D.C. sitting shamefully in the glove compartment of your car?  The temporary ticket amnesty program applies to all open parking tickets, citations for moving violations and photo-enforcement tickets issued before January 1, 2010. The program runs through January 27, 2012.

Young amateur artists and charity combine for a good cause at Monday evening at McCracken’s Eclectic Evening for Novaco. C.J. McCracken, a rising senior at W.T. Woodson High School, a Fairfax City-based nonprofit organization that provides housing and other service for homeless victims of domestic abuse. A portion of the proceeds from the evening will go towards Novaco’s efforts to help domestic abuse victims.

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Businesses and nonprofits in Fairfax are working

SPORTS

A "front door approach" led a 14-U baseball team from Vienna

Video: : Redskin DE Lorenzo Alexander discusses the end to the NFL lockout.