(Updated at 12:35 p.m. on April 1) Firefighters are “hitting hot spots” at a now-out fire in a home by the Fox Mill Elementary School.
The fire in the garage extended to the attic, according to tweets from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue. The fire broke out at a two-story single family home in the 12700 block of Bradwell Road around 4:30 p.m.
A neighbor alerted the three people inside the home to the fire within the attached garage, the fire department said. “Working smoke alarms were present, however, it is unknown if they activated due to the location of the fire,” a post from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said. The three people were taken to a nearby hospital for a check-up according to the fire department.
The three people accepted the Red Cross’s assistance.
Fire investigators are still investigating the cause of the fire, which caused $107,500 worth of damages.
Address of house fire- 12700 block of Bradwell Road in Fox Mill area. Fire is out crews hitting hot spots. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/cKDXDSZtdC
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) March 26, 2019
Units currently on the scene of a 2 story single family home with a fire in the garage and extending to the attic. Units are actively engaged in suppressing the fire. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/VU9HdzpXPc
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) March 26, 2019
Photos via Fairfax County Fire and Rescue/Twitter, map via Google Maps
Town of Herndon police arrested a resident for felonious strangulation and misdemeanor assault.
Police arrested 29-year-old Dennis Michael Markley on last Wednesday (March 20), the day after he allegedly tried to strangle someone he knows, police say.
He is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
The Fairfax County Police Department’s Reston District Station reported the following incidents in recent days:
LARCENIES:
1100 block of Center Harbor Road, license plate from vehicle
2400 block of Centreville Road, cell phone from location
2400 block of Centreville Road, bicycle from residence
9692 block of Farmside Place, cell phone and computer from residence
1800 block of Golf View Court, laptop computer from residence
1700 block of Jonathan Way, book bag and cell phone from residence
11500 block of Olde Tiverton Circle, painting from residence
11400 block of Washington Plaza, cash from vehicle
STOLEN VEHICLES:
None reported
In February, Herndon police arrested 77-year-old Nhan Pham in connection with a domestic assault that caused her husband’s death, according to the Herndon Police Department.
As of March 18, the grand jury amended the charges to murder, according to the March 26 police report.
File photo
Lake Anne will have a new art exhibit ahead of Founder’s Day.
The exhibit will run from April 1-29 at the Jo Ann Rose Gallery (2310 Colts Neck Road). Founder’s Day, which celebrates Reston’s founder Robert E. Simon, Jr. and the community’s history, will be held on Saturday, April 6, at Lake Anne Plaza.
“In this exhibit, artists step back and focus on things that evoke feelings — anger, happiness, serenity — and give color to them through their art,” Reston Community Center’s website says. “They hope to capture the intensity of a moment and convey the message that reality is not what we see, but what we discover and create for ourselves.”
Pat Macintyre, the founder of the League of Reston Artist, is a sponsor of this exhibit, according to RCC.
A reception is set for Sunday, April 7, from 2-4 p.m.
Photo courtesy Reston Community Center
Fairfax County is looking into who should pay for and manage a community-based performing arts center set for Boston Properties’ Reston Gateway project.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a feasibility study with private and public entities at its meeting last week on Tuesday, March 19.
“The community has demonstrated strong interest and support for such a facility,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins wrote in her motion, which Chairman Sharon Bulova read due to Hudgins’ absence.
The 60,000-square-foot performing arts center is slated for the mixed-use project, which includes nearly 2 million square feet of office space, two hotels with 570 rooms and 162,300 square feet in retail and restaurants. Located on the north side of Sunset Hills Road between the Reston and Town Center parkways, the project will connect the future Reston Town Center Metro station to the border of Reston Town Center.
Block J has been identified as a possible location for the performing arts center, according to Hudgins’ motion. The feasibility study aims to assess if the county or another entity can finance, construct, maintain and program the performing arts center.
Before the board voted, Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth cautioned the board about the upkeep the performing arts will require.
“Having worked through a lot of this sort of thing with the Cap One project in Tysons, we found that operating and maintaining some sort of arts center is costly,” Smyth told the board. “It requires the right people to do it.”
Photos via Fairfax County and Cooper Carry
As construction gears up for widening Route 7 from Reston to Tysons, “Pardon Our Dust” meetings starting later this spring with information on the upcoming work phases and schedules.
The proposed Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) project will transform nearly seven miles of Route 7, between Reston Avenue and Jarrett Valley Drive, which is just before the Dulles Toll Road interchange.
The project will widen Route 7 from four to six lanes, add shared-use paths and revamp intersections along the corridor.
The project aims to “increase capacity, improve safety and traffic flow and enhance mobility for cyclists and pedestrians, all in conformity with Fairfax County’s Comprehensive Plan,” according to VDOT.
Washington Gas has been busy with work along the corridor to replace a little under 7 miles of pipeline along Route 7 from Bishop Gates Way in Herndon to the intersection of Baron Cameron Avenue and Springvale Road.
The schedule for the project on VDOT’s website says:
- late summer 2018-summer 2020: final design
- early 2019-early 2021: right of way
- spring 2019-summer 2023: utility relocation
- spring 2019-summer 2024: construction
The project is slated to finish in July of 2024, VDOT says.
Specific dates and locations for the “Pardon Our Dust” meetings, which will periodically occur from this spring through summer 2023, have not been announced yet.
Map via Virginia Department of Transportation
South Lakes JROTC Team Wins Award — “The South Lakes JROTC Marksmanship Team won the Spicer Cup, the Fairfax County rifle team championship, finishing the 2018-19 season undefeated. Team members are Kridsada Cheunchom, Julie Pasette, Noah Davidson, Alexandra Perez, co-captain Isbella Dunkle, captain James Liddle, Victor Pineda, Mishal Khattak, Aiza Shabaz and Logan Jones.” [Fairfax County Public Schools]
W&OD run or walk — At 6:30 p.m., the Reston Runners will start and end a 50-minute walk or run at One Life Fitness Gym in Isaac Newton Square. [Reston Runners]
PJ party at the library — The Herndon Fortnightly Library will host pajama party storytime from 6:30-7:15 p.m. [Fairfax County]
About nine floors below Google’s future Reston Station offices is a co-working space called Spaces.
Spaces opened at 1900 Reston Metro Plaza back in December and currently occupies the fourth and fifth floors of the 16-story, Helmut Jahn-designed building, Maggie Parker, a spokeswoman for Comstock Companies, told Reston Now. (Google is set to take the building’s top four floors.)
Spaces boasts roughly 42,000 square feet of office space, a 6,000-square-foot business club, two meeting rooms and 364 co-working desks at the spot by the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, according to its website.
Memberships start at $99 per month, and office space starts at $799 per month. “Dedicated desks” with locker storage start at $450 per month. Members and non-members can also book the meeting rooms for events.
Spaces at Reston also offers virtual offices, which include mail handling services and telephone answering for businesses that want a physical address sans office space.
Some of the businesses that have found a home at Spaces include Krazy K-9 Dog Training, tech company Webera and consulting business KVortex.
Spaces’ co-working areas span the world, including more than 48 spots around the U.S. Nearby locations are in Arlington and D.C.
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Locals in Reston will have a chance to provide feedback this week to the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) on a study looking at the Fairfax County Parkway from Route 7 to Route 1.
FCDOT is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) on the “Fairfax County and Franconia-Springfield Parkways Alternatives Analysis and Long Term Planning Study,” which stretches 31 miles and consists of 83 intersections and 17 interchanges.
Some questions that the study wants to address include:
- the degree to which existing intersections should be considered for conversion to interchanges or under/overpasses
- how transit should be integrated into the corridor
- bicycle/pedestrian mobility
Tolling is off the agenda after FCDOT sought feedback from the community last fall. “Strong public participation, with more than 200 people attending meetings and 15,150 responses to the online survey, informed the formulation of strategies that will be discussed at the upcoming round of public meetings and led to the removal of tolling along the parkway as one of the approved strategies for improvement,” according to a FCDOT press release.
Ultimately, the study will provide recommendations for 2040 and beyond and will consider whether or not changes should be made to the county’s current transportation plan.
The meeting is set to take place on Thursday (March 28) at the Armstrong Elementary School (11900 Lake Newport Road).
The meeting will start with a presentation at 7 p.m. followed by a question and answer period at 7:30 p.m. and time for public input activities at 8 p.m. The Reston event is one of three public information sessions — the other two are at Fairfax and Springfield.
Locals will be able to give their feedback to the FCDOT study team in person. For people unable to attend the meeting, FCDOT will upload the meeting presentation to the study webpage by Thursday, April 4, and accept feedback through an online survey until midnight on Monday, May 6.
The input is meant to guide the study team to determine which improvements will be developed for screening and testing.
Courtesy via VDOT
Ahead of her tour stop at Reston Community Center, Grammy-nominated jazz singer and songwriter Jazzmeia Horn shared with Reston Now details on her upcoming album and when Restonians can expect to see her again.
Horn told Reston Now her 2017 album “A Social Call,” which earned her a Grammy nomination in 2018, was a bold, political statement. Her next album “Love and Liberation” will explore how the act of love is a liberating choice, adding that listeners can expect some love songs.
Horn’s own self-love story came from accepting her deeper voice. Now, she wants to encourage her daughters to embrace their individuality.
The album is set to debut this summer.
Horn is also working on plans for a world tour. While she said she doesn’t think she’ll back at RCC this year, Restonians might see her next year on the second half of her tour.
She is set to perform on CenterStage (2310 Colts Neck Road) at 8 p.m. on Saturday (March 30). Tickets cost $20 for Restonians and $30 for everyone else.
“I want everyone to have a great experience — to have an openness and to enjoy the music and be free,” Horn said.
Photo by Jacob Blickenstaff
Now that winter is gone, the Town of Herndon has made plans for its annual spring clean-up.
The town-wide spring clean-up week is set to run from Monday, April 8, to Friday, April 12. Residents will be able to discard large or bulky items on the curb for pick-up on their scheduled trash collection day.
Items that will get picked up include:
- appliances without their doors
- furniture
- vehicle parts and plumbing fixtures under 50 pounds
- tires
- some smaller building materials
Residents should not place loose yard waste, auto parts weighing more than 50 pounds, large quantities of building materials, brick, electronics and household hazardous waste outside — those items will not get picked up.
Photo via Google Maps
Weird Brothers Coffee is saving up its coffee grounds and chaff for gardeners.
“Just bring your own bucket and scoop and help yourself!” the Herndon coffee shop posted on Instagram.
Weird Brothers Coffee is a disabled-veteran-owned, small-batch coffee roaster at 321 Sunset Park Drive that was started by two brothers.
Gardeners can use coffee grounds as fertilizer, help alter pH levels of the soil, deter pests and attract worms, according to CNET.
Woo hoo! @weirdbroscoffee is #sustainable! I need these for our hydrangeas! https://t.co/je4O928sHu
— Lisa Merkel (@merkette_) March 22, 2019
Photo via Weird Bros Coffee/Instagram
(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) A Herndon man is facing charges after Vienna police say he was caught placing posters for a white nationalist group around the town, Reston Now has learned.
Last Saturday afternoon, a caller told police that two men were placing posters on light posts at a shopping center at 180 Maple Avenue, according to Vienna police.
Officers responded and observed one of the men placing a Patriot Front poster on a Town of Vienna utility box in the area of Nutley Street and Maple Avenue, Vienna officials told Reston Now.
Patriot Front is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “white nationalist hate group.” It was described as a “political activist organization” in Vienna’s weekly crime report; an inquiry from Reston Now confirmed that Patriot Front was the group behind the posts.
Police issued a summons to a 21-year-old Herndon man, Brendan Smith, for destruction of property, according to a town spokesman. The man was released on his signature, the report says.
Earlier this year, Patriot Front tweeted that its “activists” put up the posters around Herndon and Reston in January and then in Reston again in February and March. Posters were also recently placed around Vienna and Arlington, according to the group’s social media account.
The posters include slogans like “reclaim America” and “better dead than red.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Patriot Front broke off from the alt-right group Vanguard America in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Yoga at the library — The Herndon Fortnightly Library has yoga for adults tonight from 5:30-6:30 p.m. [Fairfax County]
Art class — ArtSpace Herndon will have a class tonight taught by Melanie Zucker Stanley from 5-8 p.m. [ArtSpace Herndon]
Carbon monoxide PSA — Here are some tips and tricks for preventing carbon monoxide accidents. [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue]
Photo courtesy tictacjoe
Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now this week.
- Jinya Puts Reston Town Center Spot Back on Website
- Fairfax Police Discover Guns Used in Robberies, 450 THC Vape Pens in Herndon Man’s House
- Reston P&Z Committee to Take Up High-Rise Condominium Proposal Along New Dominion Parkway
- Public Art Reston Picks Artist to Transform Colts Neck Road Underpass
- Here’s the Progress on the VY at Reston Heights Retailers
If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.
Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.
Apple is bringing the beats to its Reston Town Center store tomorrow.
People can sign up to explore how to make beats in GarageBand, a digital audio workstation, on iPads. Producer Swizz Beatz and “Apple Creatives” will show participants how to create their own vibes, ranging from hip-hop to EDM to R&B beats.
People can bring their own iPads or have one provided to them.
The event runs from 3-4:40 p.m. at 11949 Market Street.
Tomorrow (March 23)
- All Gardeners’ Meeting (10 a.m.-noon) — All users of community garden plots in Reston can attend the annual All Gardeners’ meeting at the Reston Association’s headquarters. The meeting will include discussions on soil management, gardening with return on investments and gardening tips.
- Dog Tales (10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.) — Kids ages 5 to 12 can read to a trained therapy dog for 15-minute sessions at the Herndon Fortnightly Library. Kids can bring their own books or choose one from the library.
- Fundamentals of Figure Drawing (2:30-4:30 p.m.) — Participants can pay $200 for an eight-week drawing at ArtSpace Herndon. This week’s session, taught by John Koebert, will focus on human figure drawing using a live model in the studio.
Sunday (March 24)
- Walk or run (8 a.m.) — The Reston Runners will go on a 3- and 6-mile walk and a 10-mile run. The group will meet at North Point Village Center.
- History of World War II (2-4 p.m.) — Harry Butowsky from George Mason University will present the second part of his six-part lecture series at the Reston Regional Library.
