Morning Notes

Former Glasgow MS Counselor Faces New Charge — “A former counselor at a northern Virginia middle school has been charged with providing false information to the state’s sex offender registry. Virginia State Police said they arrested Darren Thornton, 50, on Thursday in Richmond. Thornton’s tenure as a counselor at Glasgow Middle School…has prompted multiple investigations.” [Associated Press/WTOP]

Counselor Conviction Raises Reporting Questions — “Fairfax County leaders and Virginia’s Attorney General are calling for changes after a counselor convicted of sexually soliciting a minor stayed employed at a middle school years after his arrest.” A letter asks the General Assembly to look at “how Virginia handles information sharing regarding the arrest and conviction of people between jurisdictions within the state and across state lines.” [WUSA9]

Richmond Highway Developers Seek Help With Rising Costs — “Fairfax County has taken steps to spur more development along Richmond Highway. It modified its land use plan across a 7.5-mile stretch of the corridor in 2018 to enable more than 15M SF of potential development near transit centers…But since that time, the pandemic and inflation have made projects that would add density to the corridor much harder to pencil, developers said.” [Bisnow]

Great Falls Teen Cooks Up TikTok Following — “No one tells the story of [Matthew] Merril’s remarkable journey better than he does, and he repeats it often in zany, fast-paced cooking segments on his TikTok (@matthewinthekitchen) and Instagram (@mmerril) pages, where he demonstrates how to whip together everything from cookies to a formal Thanksgiving dinner.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Lake Accotink Park B-Day Party Starts Early — “Join our 60th Anniversary Party at 10 a.m. and enjoy an extra hour of fun at Lake Accotink Park this weekend. Due to increased community interest, anniversary activities will begin an hour earlier…The carousel and mini golf will now open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022.” [Fairfax County Park Authority]

Local TV Station to Highlight Tysons — “I am so excited to join [Friday’s] Fox 5 DC Zip Trip to highlight Providence District happenings, upcoming initiatives, what makes Tysons a great place to live, work, and visit! We have a great lineup of special guests and I hope you can tune in!” [Supervisor Dalia Palchik/Twitter]

Park Authority Offers Sale on Rec Center Memberships — “Take advantage of the membership sale that starts on Sept. 1 and runs through Oct. 15, 2022. Whether you’re a new or returning member, you can save up to 15% on the purchase of an annual membership.” [FCPA]

I-395 Lane Closures Coming to Springfield — “The southbound I-395 general purpose lanes will have lane closures at Edsall Road (Route 648), weather permitting, Monday night, Aug. 29 and Tuesday night, Aug. 30 for bridge painting work…Each night, the left two lanes of southbound I-395 at Edsall Road will be closed at 10 p.m., followed by the left three lanes at 11 p.m.” [VDOT]

Notable Defense Official Buys McLean Mansion — “Gil Cisneros, a high-ranking Pentagon official, former Democratic congressman and lottery jackpot winner…and his wife, Jacki, purchased a newly constructed, 6-bedroom home in McLean for $8.037 million, according to public records. The 9,100-square-foot home…features six bathrooms, three half-baths, an in-ground swimming pool, a four-car garage and four fireplaces.” [Washington Business Journal]

Oakton Day Round Two Draws Crowd — “Some 400 local residents, community representatives and volunteers on Aug. 14 attended the second annual ‘Oakton Day in the Park,’ held in Oakton Community Park on Hunter Mill Road. With the backdrop of music from local performer Chris Devine, attendees enjoyed a wide range of activities.” [Sun Gazette]

It’s Friday — Humid and partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 88 and low of 73. Sunrise at 6:34 am and sunset at 7:50 pm. [Weather.gov]

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