Baron Cameron Park’s facilities have reopened after a death investigation last week prompted a brief closure.
Fairfax County police received a call around 1 p.m. last Tuesday (Sept. 3) about a dead body, a police spokesperson told Reston Now. Police conducted a death investigation and said that there was no threat to the public.
Judy Pedersen, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Park Authority, told Reston Now that the park’s facilities were closed “for a short time on Friday” in connection with the police investigation.
Pedersen said as of yesterday (Monday) morning that the park’s facilities have now all reopened.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of self-harm, call 911 or the Department of Human Services’ emergency services line at 703-527-4077.
Farmers and Makers Market at Reston Town Center — Every Tuesday until November, a market at Reston Town Center will feature local farmers and artisans selling a variety of items. The market is open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. today. [Reston Town Center]
Sprouts Hiring Fair in Herndon — From 8 a.m.-6 p.m. today and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), people interested in working at Sprouts can attend a hiring fair at the Crowne Plaza Dulles Airport Hotel (2200 Centerville Road). Interested applicants should bring copies of their resumes. Positions open include cashiers, clerks, department managers and administrative coordinators. [Facebook]
ARTSFAIRFAX Welcomes New Board Members — “New board members include Cathy “Smitty” Smith, a Realtor with Long & Foster; Scott Cryer of DLR Group; Jennifer Owen with Sandy Spring Bank; and d’Andre Willis of HGA. The 2020-21 board president will be Michele “Shelly” Hazel.” [Inside NoVa]
Herndon Police Department Seeking Detective — The police department is looking to hire an experienced detective to join the Criminal Investigation Section. “We have a great incentive package for those who qualify.” [Twitter]
Great China appears to have closed its doors for good at North Point Village Center.
The restaurant had its windows papered last week, according to a reader-submitted photo. As of today (Sept. 9), the sign is now gone at the restaurant’s spot at 1484 North Point Village Center.
The restaurant is no longer listed in the shopping center’s directory.
A building permit indicates that the address will be home to a new restaurant.
Hat tip to Laura Crielly
Second photo courtesy Laura Crielly
Paddywax Candle Bar is set to fill the former space of a wine bar at Reston Town Center.
A license is pending for the wine and beer for the Paddywax Candle Bar at 1816 Library Street. The Tasting Room Wine Bar and Shop left the spot in March.
People can create their own candles at Paddywax Candle Bar’s candle pouring workshops while enjoying food and drinks.
The Reston spot is one of several new spots from The Candle Bar Stores LLC, which also has new locations coming to Madison, Wisc. and Philadelphia.
Currently, Paddywax Candle Bar is in Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Photo via The Candle Bar/Facebook
A new barbecue restaurant chain is coming to a shopping center along Sunrise Valley Drive in the Herndon area.
Mission BBQ has a license pending to serve beer at 2445 Centreville Road, Suite 34B at the Village Center at Dulles.
Currently, Mission BBQ has locations in 16 states — with 16 spots in Virginia. The closest spots right now are in Chantilly and Sterling.
Photo via Mission BBQ/Facebook
A ceremony at the Great Falls Freedom Memorial will honor 9/11 victims on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
“Six residents of Great Falls perished in the 9/11 attacks,” according to Great Falls Freedom Memorial.
The annual remembrance ceremony on Wednesday (Sept. 11) is set to start at 7 p.m.
Frank Sesno, the then-CNN Washington Bureau Chief on 9/11, will be the keynote speaker. The event will also have patriotic songs, a raising of the flags by the Boy Scouts and a candle-lighting, according to the Celebrate Great Falls Foundation.
In the case of rain, the event will get moved to the Great Falls Library (9830 Georgetown Pike).
Attendees can find parking in the library parking lot. While there will be limited seating, attendees are encouraged to bring portable chairs.
Photo via Great Falls Freedom Memorial/Facebook
Local Schools Receive “Common Sense Recognition” — Aldrin and Hunters Woods elementary schools in Reston and Clearview and Crossfield elementary schools and Carson Middle School in Herndon are a part of the 23 Fairfax County Public Schools recognized for their digital citizenship. [FCPS]
Fixing Up Reston Ball Field — The Reston Association recently uploaded a video about ball field maintenance. [YouTube]
Lights! Camera! Action! — People can watch “Jumanji” — a movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — at the Reston Community Center Hunters Woods today from 10 a.m.-noon. The movie is about four high school kids who become adult avatars in a video game’s jungle setting. The screening is free to attend and appropriate for all ages. [Reston Community Center]
Two Reston families said they’ve been waiting months to get their money back after suing a music school for “random” credit card charges.
Michele Chesser said that she learned about District Music Academy from a parent-teacher association event last June at a Reston school and signed up her daughter, who “loves music and trying new things,” for a free lesson.
“It was a good lesson,” Chesser said. “What I liked about District Music Academy is they come to the house. We don’t have to go anywhere.”
At first, she said she communicated mostly with the piano teacher who would come to the house. Then the business owner reached out later in the fall to let her know that the teacher had left and would be replaced by a new one.
A couple of months later, she noticed the company was double-billing her credit card for the lessons, charging her at the beginning and end of the month. In total, according to court documents, District Music Academy overcharged her $1,260.
Chesser said she contacted business owner Jeffrey Levin in November, and he took her credit card off of automatic billing, telling her that it was a billing mistake that was taking care of caused the issue.
In December, he offered to give her credit toward future classes, but Chesser declined, saying the amount he offered was incorrect.
At that point, Chesser said there was one lesson left that she had paid for. When that lesson came around on Dec. 28 at 3:10 p.m., Chesser said that the teacher never showed up — upsetting both her and her daughter.
“After a month of emailing and calling him, I realized he wasn’t going to do anything about it,” she said, so she contacted her credit card company, which was able to credit her two out of the five months of double billing. She decided to try to recover the rest of the money in court.
Earlier this year, she tried to serve Levin his court summons three times, finally resorting to a process server, according to court records. The judge heard the case in May and ordered Levin to pay the full amount.
But as of August, Chesser said she hasn’t gotten the money back.
“I don’t think I’ll ever see my money again,” she said.
The Breakdown
District Music Academy offers private in-home lessons, after school programs, entertainment for retirement communities in the D.C. area and other services, according to its website.
Chesser is not the only one in Reston who has sued Levin’s company for unwanted credit card charges in small claims court.
Anjia Nicolaidis told Reston Now that her daughter started ukulele and voice lessons once a month in February 2018 and the family scheduled lessons through August.
For a family with two full-time working parents, she said that District Music Academy seemed like a convenient solution, adding there are “not a lot of companies offering that in-home instruction in the immediate area.”
But by July of that year, Nicolaidis noticed double charges and “random charges.” When she reached out to Levin, “first there was some delay in getting him to acknowledge that our records and the teacher’s record were consistent,” she said.
“We asked for that reimbursement and gave him a number of opportunities to give it to us,” Nicolaidis told Reston Now, adding that Levin at first offered to make up the amount with credits to future lessons. After she declined the offer, the discussion over repayment broke down.
According to court records, Nicolaidis emailed Levin back on Sept. 10, writing:
As of this morning, September 10, 2018 you have not refunded the money you owe us. It has been a week since we received your email indicating you would process the refund. We have been corresponding about this issue for nearly two months…
We feel victimized and are in contact with other families that have had the same experience with District Music Academy.
Levin responded via email the same day, saying, “We have resolved all issues with our credit card system, but the process to refund the money is taking longer than expected. If it is acceptable to you, I can mail you a check today for the money due so that you can receive the fund more quickly.”
Nicolaidis said Levin never sent the check and she hasn’t heard from him since.
Herndon-Reston FISH, an organization that helps Reston and Herndon residents with short-term financial crises, has the new executive director.
The nonprofit’s Board of Directors announced at a recent annual meeting that Mary Saunders will fill the role, which was vacated when Lisa Groves stepped down at the end of June, according to a press release.
Saunders was previously the development director for Volunteer Fairfax and has been active in the area from serving as a former festival director for Reston’s Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival to a board member of the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center.
“As Herndon-Reston FISH celebrates is 50th anniversary, we are pleased to announce that Mary Saunders of Reston as our new Executive Director” Robert Reed, the board’s president, said. “A local resident for many years, she comes to us with great experience in management and development of nonprofit organizations in our area.”
Speaking on behalf of the board, Reed added, “We very much appreciate Groves’ service to FISH over the past five years and as a board member and volunteer prior to that.”
Photo 1 via Herndon-Reston FISH/Facebook, photo 2 via Mary Saunders/LinkedIn
Emergency Alert System Test Today — “FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission, reminds the public that it will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. The nationwide test message will be sent to radio and television stations beginning at 2:20 p.m. EDT… This is solely a test of alerting on radio and television.” [Federal Communications Commission]
Reston Lending Firm Raises Millions in Debt Funding — “Small business lending platform StreetShares has raised nearly $30 million in fresh debt funding, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.” [Washington Business Journal]
A Look Back at Herndon’s History — Herndon Patch’s regular “Remembering Herndon’s History” column delves into the Caywood Family. “Benjamin and Philena Caywood were prominent Herndon citizens who settled here before Herndon became an incorporated town, leaving a long Herndon legacy.” [Herndon Patch]
Photo via @vantagehill/Flickr
Town of Herndon police arrested a resident for allegedly assaulting someone.
Police said that a fight broke out among a group of people shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, in the 1100 block of Elden Street.
“The victim sustained lacerations to his hand when he attempted to break up the fight,” according to the police report. “He was transported to Reston Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.”
Police arrested and charged 33-year-old Jorge Daniel Cruz Martinez with aggravated assault, narcotics violation, and drunkenness.
Martinez is 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:
1800 block of Cameron Glen Drive, bicycle from residence
12700 block of Fantasia Drive, package from residence
13300 block of Glen Echo Circle, bicycle from location
4100 block of Hummer Road, merchandise from business
1900 block of Isaac Newton Square, wallet from location
1400 block of Lake Fairfax Drive, cash from location
1400 block of Lake Fairfax Drive, wallet and cell phone from location
1800 block of Library Street, cell phone from location
3300 block of South Jefferson Street, merchandise from business
12000 block of South Lakes Drive, tools from vehicle
11700 block of Sunrise Valley Drive, electronic devices from vehicle
11700 block of Sunrise Valley Drive, laptop bag and jewelry from vehicle
12000 block of Sunrise Valley Drive, purse from vehicle
1600 block of Reston Parkway, merchandise from business
STOLEN VEHICLES:
None reported
In a separate incident, Herndon police are investigating a robbery that happened on Monday, July 29, around 11 p.m. in the 12 block of Herndon Parkway.
Police said that two men robbed a man who was walking home and ran off with the victim’s wallet towards Parcher Avenue.
“The suspects are Hispanic males; one was wearing a mask, shorts, and white sneakers and the other was wearing a mask, pants, and white sneakers,” police said.
File photo
Recent pool-goers at the Pinecrest Swim and Tennis Club in Herndon might have noticed firefighters wearing their gear and uniforms for training in the water.
Units from the First Battalion on B-Shift completed various activities for self-survival and victim water rescue training, according to a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue post.
“All personnel swam two laps of the pool giving unit officers the ability to evaluate the swimming skills of each member,” according to the post. “This is valuable information to have ahead of being called to a water-related emergency as the officer now knows who their strong swimmers are and who to place in the water for victim rescue.”
More from the fire department:
Personnel then participated in backboard training with the lifeguard staff from the pool. They learned the actions lifeguards take to secure a victim to a backboard when they are suspected of a spinal injury from a pool mishap.
Finally, personnel donned structural firefighting gear and walked off the pool’s edge into the water to feel the impact of falling into [the] water while wearing the protective clothing.
Firefighters conduct a variety of tasks inside and outside a structure while operating at a house fire and many of the residences have swimming pools. A firefighter falling into the water with gear on poses a significant safety concern due to the added weight as the gear tends to pull firefighters under the water. The training today was conducted to provide firefighters with techniques on how to react and exit a pool should they face this situation while operating on an incident scene.
Recently, units from 1st Battalion on B-Shift participated in training at @pinecrestpool. Personnel completed various activities as part of the training geared towards self-survival and victim water rescue. Learn what they did: https://t.co/KDi7OGMFVS #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/19KiN7HIn5
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) August 6, 2019
Photo via Fairfax County Fire and Rescuefire
Virginia State Police arrested a Herndon man for allegedly trying to murder a police officer following a Clarke County shooting.
Police charged 33-year-old Timothy B. Neal with attempted capital murder of a police officer, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and shooting into an occupied vehicle, according to Virginia State Police.
Shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday (Aug. 5), a Clarke County sheriff’s deputy responded to a medical emergency call at a farmer’s market in the 4800 block of Harry Byrd Hwy (Route 7), Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police, said.
“When the Deputy and an ambulance arrived on scene, the male subject who reported being in distress had left the market on foot,” Geller said.
More from the Virginia State Police:
The Deputy began a search of the area for the male — later identified as Neal — and located him walking in the median of Route 7. Neal was compliant with the Deputy’s request for an ID. The Deputy had returned to his patrol car and was seated inside checking the man’s information when Neal pulled a concealed weapon from his waistband and fired at and struck the Deputy’s vehicle.
The Deputy immediately took cover and returned fire. Neal was struck and was transported to the Winchester Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The Deputy was not injured in the incident.
At the request of the Clarke County Sheriff, the Police Shooting Investigation Team, out of the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Culpeper Field Office, is investigating the officer-involved shooting. The incident remains under investigation at this time.
Neal is being held without bond at the Northwest Regional Adult Detention Center.
File photo
Before we head off into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on Reston Now this week.
- Body Found Near Hunters Woods Shopping Plaza
- Local Real Estate Developer Involved in Herndon Project to Serve Six-Year Sentence
- Señor Ramon Taqueria Opens on Baron Cameron Avenue
- Local VA Delays Expected Opening Day at Lake Anne Plaza
- Ideas Floated for New Performing Arts Center at Reston Gateway
If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip.
If you would like us to follow-up with you about your tip, please include your contact information. In recent days, we have received tips with incomplete phone numbers and email addresses.
Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.
Photo via Señor Ramon Taqueria/Facebook
This week’s Summerbration Fun Brunch will bring Cello Fury to Reston for a free concert.
Self-described as “a cello rock powerhouse featuring three cellists and a drummer,” Cello Fury performs original music combining cello sounds with rock beats.
The performance will take place at Reston Station Plaza from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday.
Parking is free on weekends in the Metro parking garage.
Tomorrow (June 29)
- Síneadh Fada with Foley Academy of Irish Dance (11 a.m.-1 p.m.) — Enjoy free Irish dancing outside the Jahn Building atop Wiehle-Reston East Metro.
- Bookworms Club (11 a.m.) — This book club for young readers meets regularly on Saturdays at Scrawl Books.
Sunday (June 30)
- Guesstimation Game (all day) — Preschoolers to sixth graders can learn how to guesstimate at the Herndon Fortnightly Library.
- Reston Runners (7 a.m.) — The Reston Runners will meet at the Lake Anne Village Center for 3- and 6- mile walks, 10- and 17-mile runs and a 12-mile trail run.
- Sunday Art in the Park: Two Bass Hit (7-8 p.m.) — Professor of Bass Donovan Stokes will lead a diverse program of jazz, gypsy jazz and other international music for two basses at the corner of Market and Explorer streets in Reston Town Center. The event is free and open to all
Photo via Cello Fury/Facebook
