(This story was updated at 12:15 p.m. after more information was released by the Fairfax County Police Department.)

A retired Fairfax County Police Department detective had crime come into his Reston home earlier this week.

According to FCPD, retired detective Bruce Wiley was awakened at about 3 a.m. Wednesday by “suspicious noises in his house” in the 1700 block of Beaver Circle. From the police release:

“He grabbed a flashlight and a collapsible baton and went to investigate. He found the intruder, who was wearing a full black mask over his face, in the process of stealing items from the home. Wiley pointed the flashlight at the suspect and told him to get on the ground. The suspect did not comply with Wiley’s commands, as he repeated his commands, Wiley closed in on the suspect, struck him once with the baton and took him to the ground. Meanwhile, Wiley’s wife called police.”

Officers responded took the 17-year-old suspect into custody.

Police say Wiley was a detective on the force for 28 years before retiring in 2010.

“During his tour of duty, Wiley responded to every type of call for service imaginable, from a cat stuck in a tree to a murder scene. He dealt with crime victims with sensitivity and compassion, and investigated crimes with tenacity and dogged determination, but he never thought that he would someday be a crime victim himself.”

Police say Wiley has used his “extensive job knowledge, training and experience to train other law enforcement officers in use-of-force situations.”

Another break-in at the home had been reported to have happened last week between 11 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Small electronic items were stolen in that case, police reported. A Fairfax County Police Department spokesperson said police “have reason to believe the same suspect might be involved.”

Picture of Wiley courtesy Fairfax County Police Department

Have Coffee with a Cop — The Herndon Police Department is inviting community members out to Virginia Kitchen (450 Elden St.) on Monday morning for coffee and conversation. [Herndon Police Department/Facebook]

Metro Rate Hikes Get Approval — As expected, the Metro Finance Committee voted Thursday to increase rates and reduce rush-hour service. The Board will make the final vote March 23 on what would be Metro’s first rate hike in three years. [WTOP]

County Seeking Input on New Website — As Fairfax County has plans to update its website, it is inviting feedback from the community in the process. The county has devised four example pages of possible new designs, as well as surveys to find out what is most important to users. [Fairfax County]

Local Artist’s Work Displayed at NYC Gallery — The art of Herndon-based Lisa Tureson is being exhibited at New York’s Touchstone Gallery through April 2. “Scribbles” was inspired by street art in Denmark. [Reston Connection]

Graphic design students at South Lakes High School have once again used their talents to create a new jersey design for members of the Reston Bicycle Club.

Bike Club member Ken Thompson said the annual design contest has been taking place for the past several years. Each year, the Bicycle Club selects a winning design through a member vote, and it is produced by a jersey manufacturer. The winning student receives a jersey, as does the school, and they are also made available for sale to club members.

This year’s winning design is by SLHS student Clark Bautista. In addition to the jersey, he will receive a $500 prize. Bautista took second place in the contest last year.

Other honored students this year were:

• Sierra Schuman, second place, $300
• Seiji Urano, third place, $200
• Maggie Mark, Ashley Wallace and Joycee Zhiyi, honorable mention, $100 each

The students’ teacher at SLHS is Amy Saylor.

Thompson said the awards presentation will take place around late May.

Jersey designs courtesy Reston Bicycle Club

Several local high school students will be heading to California next month after qualifying for the international DECA competition with their performances at the state competition last weekend.

DECA is an international association of teachers and students in marketing, management and entrepreneurship. Competitions are held across the world each year to allow students to show their skills in those fields and more.

Twenty-nine students from South Lakes High School participated in the state competition March 3-5 in Virginia Beach. Five individual students and three teams of students earned spots at the international competition in Anaheim, April 26-29.

Winning students were as follows:

• Sara Bhadra, freshman, Job Interview (third place)
• Kristine Paulikonis, sophomore, Principles of Hospitality and Tourism (state finalist)
• Vincent Giordano, freshman, Selling (state finalist)
• Isabelle Wnek, junior, Restaurant and Food Service Management (role play finalist)
• Allison McCue and Kimberly Yeatmen, sophomores, Hospitality Services Team Decision-Making (second place)
• Emily Taylor, Olivia Heatherly and Claire Thomas, seniors, Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research (second place)
• Peter Steidler and Liam Lawrence, sophomores, Business Law and Ethics Team Decision-Making (role play finalist)

In addition, Alex Loukili, a junior, was recognized as the top chartered association performer in the first round of the 2016-17 Virtual Business Challenge in Accounting, a collaborative effort between DECA-Marketing and FBLA’s Business Accounting students.

The South Lakes High School DECA chapter was also honored with the Annual Report Preferred Award, and SLHS marketing instructor and DECA sponsor Darlene Ricks earned the conference’s Outstanding DECA Advisor Award.

Photos courtesy South Lakes High School DECA chapter

Arlene Krieger and John Mooney, the two candidates in the race for the North Point seat on the Reston Association Board of Directors, made their cases Wednesday during a candidate forum at the Lake House.

The venue itself was a major topic of discussion during the event. The Lake House has been the subject of a great deal of community debate since its controversial purchase and costly renovation by Reston Association.

Krieger, a longtime community activist, said Reston Association’s board should have recognized from the start that it lacked the expertise to make such a deal.

“It is very, very foolish to initiate a plan when you have no idea what you’re doing and you don’t even know that you have no idea what you’re doing,” she said. “This thing should never have been taken on by this particular group of people. We need to recruit from the community experts who know what they’re doing, [and] we need to include them from the first day anything is planned.”

Mooney, a senior manager in Arlington County for 17 years, said major deals such as the Lake House purchase require an ability to do proper analysis from the get-go.

“[It’s about] making sure that we have the analytic capacity within Reston Association to deal with complex issues, to do upfront, thorough investigation of the issues so that we don’t make false starts and big mistakes,” he said. “We need that both for the renovations and the programming for income, we need advice on both of those.”

Mooney made similar statements when asked about the Lake Newport soccer field renovation project, which has been tabled indefinitely by the RA board after strong outcry from the community.

“When a community process becomes very divisive, so that fruitful dialogue can’t occur, the board needs to decisively and quickly stop the process,” he said. “We need careful and thorough analysis of complex proposals before endorsing them. … I think that could have been analyzed better, and to me it indicates an improvement the Association can make.”

Krieger said the community has “totally and completely made up its mind” on the soccer project, and RA stumbled out of the starting blocks by not including them in the discussion from Day One.

“The mistake Reston Association made again is that they started a project 10 months before the community and the affected parties knew about the project,” she said. “They once again underestimated the power of the community, and that’s why they got themselves again in so much trouble.”

Krieger said the community should always be involved from the outset of a project, and that she would work to create an ad hoc telecommunications committee in the attempt to better that communication. While Mooney agreed that community dialogue is important, he said it’s also important to remember that some projects need to be vetted before involving residents.

“[The community wants] the board to winnow issues down, to structure issues, so the community doesn’t waste time,” he said. “Then you engage the community fruitfully, otherwise the community becomes frustrated and will walk away from the whole process.”

Both Krieger and Mooney have been involved in the fight against redevelopment at St. Johns Wood, though that was a source of disagreement for them in Wednesday’s forum. Mooney cited his work on a critical analysis of the proposal that helped bring it to a stop; Krieger, though, said Mooney didn’t do as much as he claims.

“The reports were a composite of everyone else’s research,” she said. “The only original thing that John did [was when] I assigned John to do a traffic study at the Sept. 14 meeting. I figured out how to get this before the Board of Directors, nobody else could figure that out.”

Mooney said he was “astounded” by Krieger’s claims.

“What I did was not a composite of other people’s work,” he said. “It was the result of 80 hours-plus of careful analysis of the Reston Master Plan and the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan and identifying in very particular, quantified ways how this did not comply with the Reston Master Plan.”

The candidates also answered questions on assessment rates, transparency, potential golf course redevelopment and more. The forum can be viewed in full on the Reston Association YouTube channel.

The candidate who wins the race will serve the remaining two years of a term being vacated by Dannielle LaRosa, who announced in December she would step down. Voting will continue through April 3.

Candidate forums in the races for the Hunters Woods/Dogwood District and an At-Large seat will take place tonight, at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. respectively, at RA Headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive).

Is It Going to Snow This Weekend or Not? — A few snowflakes are possible this weekend, but forecasts seem to indicate a growing chance that a storm previously predicted to hit us will miss the area. [Capital Weather Gang]

RA Focusing on Future of Golf Courses — In the latest “Reston Today” dispatch, Reston Association land-use attorney John McBride breaks down what’s going on with potential threats to Reston National Golf Course and Hidden Creek Country Club. [Reston Association/YouTube]

Seuss To Be Celebrated at Library — Children ages 4 and up are invited to Reston Regional Libary on Monday at 4:30 p.m. for a celebration of the works of Dr. Seuss. Steve Somers will present the stories at the event, co-sponsored by Friends of Reston Regional Library. [Reston Regional Library]

Reston Company Named to CNBC ‘Upstart’ List — Reston-based Cloudistics gives its customers “all the simplicity, elasticity and consumption characteristics of the public cloud, with the predictability of performance, cost and data governance that a private cloud offers.” Its work has been honored by recognition on CNBC’s list of 25 startups that are breaking industry barriers. [CNBC]

A number of Reston paving projects have been scheduled by the Virginia Department of Transportation for this year.

According to VDOT’s website, more than 1,300 miles of roads will be repaved in Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun and Arlington counties during the 2017 paving season. Among the scheduled projects are the following locations in Reston:

• the entire length of North Shore Drive (3.53 miles)
• the entire length of Colts Neck Road (1.82 miles), excluding the intersection with Glade Drive
• 1.93 miles of Glade Drive, from Glade Bank Way to Twin Branches Road
• 2.21 miles of Stuart Mill Road, from Fox Mill Road to Birdfoot Lane
• 1.07 miles of North Village Road, from Baron Cameron Avenue to Hollow Timber Way
• the entire length of Twin Branches Road (.85 miles)
• the entire length of Triple Crown Road (.43 miles)
• .13 miles of Wiehle Avenue, from Reston Parkway to Reston Avenue

In addition, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation has plans to make alterations to lane patterns and bike lanes on North Shore Drive, Colts Neck Road and Twin Branches Road as part of the repaving process. A community meeting on this issue is scheduled for March 16.

VDOT’s website shows the only repaving work completed in Reston in 2016 was along a stretch of Baron Cameron Avenue, from Leesburg Pike (Route 7) to near Browns Chapel Road.

Other roads in the area on the 2017 schedule include portions of Centreville Road, Frying Pan Road and McLearen Road in Herndon; and Lee Jackson Memorial Highway (U.S. Route 50) at the Fairfax County Parkway interchange.

VDOT says repaving work is “usually limited to outside of rush hours,” with work in residential areas typically scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Check VDOT’s interactive map for more.

Map via VDOT

After Reston parents raised concerns about being required to provide photos of their children for RA pool passes, the policy has been changed.

As reported last week, residents who decline to submit photos with their pool pass applications will be allowed to show another form of photo ID to gain access to a facility. Further clarifying in a post to the Reston Association website this week, CEO Cate Fulkerson said children of those parents will not be required to show anything other than their pool pass, just as in previous seasons.

“Should you still wish to opt-out of providing photos for your passes, please contact our Member Services team at 703-435-6530 or by email [email protected] with your name and address, and we will update your account accordingly. Please note, when choosing this option, the adults in your household will be required to show a photo ID matching the name and address on the pass. Youth pass holders will not be required to show an ID.”

Photos that are provided for pool passes will be stored in the WebTrac database, accessible to RA staff by swiping the card at entrances to pool facilities. Two facilities are piloting the scanning technology this year, and Fulkerson says the goal is to have the process up and running at all RA pools by the end of 2018.

Physical photos were printed on Reston Association pool passes until 1991. According to Fulkerson’s post, there has been a great deal of misuse of the passes since they were removed.

“Over the past 25 years, there have been many instances where non-members were able to use or even purchase non-member passes — at a greatly reduced rate — to gain entry into RA facilities. More specifically, violators were circumventing the need to pay their fair share by ‘borrowing’ RA member passes.”

Fulkerson and Laura Kowalski, RA’s deputy director of recreation, are expected to share more information about the updated pool admission policy at the March 23 meeting of the RA Board of Directors.

Possibly Rabid Fox Bites Woman, Cat — Animal Protection Police officers responded Tuesday to two different scenes in Great Falls where a fox had gone on the attack. A 71-year-old woman suffered serious injuries after being bitten “multiple times” around 3 p.m. in the 600 block of Ad Hoc Road; about an hour later and about three miles away, a 54-year-old woman fought off a fox that had bitten her cat. The fox believed to have been involved in both incidents was euthanized and is being tested for rabies. [Fairfax County Police Department]

Metro Station Work to Affect Toll Road Traffic — Eastbound traffic on the Dulles Airport Access Highway will be diverted onto the Toll Road on Saturday night into Sunday morning. The detours will be to allow workers to set large precast concrete elements for the future Herndon and Reston Town Center Metro stations. [Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project]

Reston-Based Soccer Academy Gets Leader — Tom Torres has been named the head of the Washington Spirit’s U.S. Soccer Girls’ Development Academy, which is scheduled to start play in Reston this fall. Torres has been a coach with the D.C. United’s academy for the past 10 years. [Black and Red United]

With Spring Showers Comes Flooding — With the start of spring less than two weeks away, county officials are reminding residents of tips to keep themselves and their homes safe from potential flooding. [Fairfax County]

The Metro board is set to vote Thursday to approve an FY2018 budget that includes 10-cent fare increases on rush-hour rides and 25-cent hikes at other times. Regular and express bus fares will also go up by 25 cents, while the rate for the bus to Dulles Airport will jump from $7 to $9.75.

The increases in fares are expected to raise $21 million for Metro as the transportation system works to shore up a projected $125 million shortfall in its budget.

Ridership on Metro plummeted from 2015 to 2016, with stations in Virginia seeing a decrease in users of more than 12 percent when comparing the fourth quarters of each year. Wiehle-Reston East’s decrease was 13.4 percent, the greatest drop among Virginia stations on the Silver Line, which had a 9 percent decrease overall.

Service frequency during rush hour outside of DC will also be decreased as part of the plan. For the Silver Line, trains will run every eight minutes instead of the current six-minute interval. The original proposal had called for off-peak frequency to be decreased as well, from 12 minutes to 15; however, that has been dropped from the final plan.

Virginia representatives on the Metro board discussed the proposed changes, as well as increased local contributions to the budget, during a January public forum in Reston.

The new rates are expected to go into effect around July 1.

The Fairfax County Planning Department will hear presentations Thursday on the advertised FY 2018-2022 Capital Improvement Program, with a number of Reston projects on the list.

The largest local project in the plan is the reconfiguration and redevelopment of Reston Town Center North, which includes replacing and redeveloping the North County Human Services Center, as well as the Reston Regional Library and Embry Rucker Shelter. An indoor recreation center is also expected to be part of the project.

From the plan:

Reston Town Center North (Infrastructure and Blocks 7 & 8) (Hunter Mill District): Approximately $76,000,000 is proposed to rezone and develop the overall master plan that reconfigures and provides integrated redevelopment of approximately 50 acres currently owned by Fairfax County and Inova at Reston Town Center North (south of Baron Cameron Avenue between Town Center Parkway and Fountain Drive), including the replacement of Reston Regional Library, Embry Rucker Shelter, currently on this site, and development of additional facilities to accommodate Human Services needs. The plan maximizes the development potential consistent with the needs of the community and in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan Amendment approved in February 2013.

North County Human Services Center (Hunter Mill District): $125,000,000 to fund a replacement facility for the existing North County Human Services Center located in Reston. The existing facility is within the redevelopment master plan area known as Reston Town Center North which will be reconfigured for an integrated redevelopment consistent with the needs of the community and in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan Amendment approved in February 2013. The proposed North County Human Services Center will also support a consolidation of existing leased facility spaces in the service area into one Human Services site to provide enhanced and integrated multidisciplinary services to residents in the western part of the County.

The 47-acre area is bounded by Baron Cameron Avenue, Fountain Drive, Town Center Parkway and Bowman Towne Drive.

The projects are expected to be paid for by Economic Development Authority bond financing, according to the report. Approximately $10 million will be required in FY2018 to fund the county’s share of the agreement with Inova that will provide for the real estate exchange, as well as design and construction of the campus site infrastructure.

Funding of $12,000,000 was approved as part of the fall 2016 Human Services/Community Development Bond Referendum for the shelter, and $10,000,000 was approved as part of the 2012 Library Bond Referendum for the library.

Also among the five-year plan are the continuation of current plans including the Silver Line expansion, the redevelopment of the Crescent Apartments site at Lake Anne, upgrades to Reston and Fox Mill fire stations, the addition to South Lakes High School, and improvements to Reston Community Center and the natatorium.

The workshop and public hearing on the Capital Improvement Plan will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center.

Reston Town Center North map (2015) via Fairfax County

Reston School Profiled for Educational Model — The partnership between Berthold Academy (11480 Sunset Hills Road) and educational startup AltSchool is garnering attention. The goal of the revolutionary program is to modernize the Montessori education experience. [Education Dive]

Public Session Planned on Herndon PD Body Cams — Police officers in Herndon recently evaluated the effectiveness of body cameras during a pilot program. The next step for the department, before full deployment of the program in April, will be a public meeting March 30. [Herndon Police Department]

‘Giver’ on Stage at NextStop Through Sunday — NextStop Theatre Company (269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon) is performing “The Giver” through this weekend. A reviewer says the production is “acted by an extremely capable cast” and it “not only lives up to the promise of the book, but also adds another layer of depth to the story for those familiar with it already.” [DC Metro Theater Arts]

Have a family heirloom, piece of art or an antique you think might be worth a fortune?

Reston Association’s biannual “Appraisal Roadshow,” a chance to uncover treasures already in your possession, is scheduled for Tuesday. Ashleigh Soloff, RA community events supervisor, said the event is always well-attended and there have been some big finds in the past.

“We had one woman who had a piece of jewelry estimated at $10,000,” Soloff said.

Experts from Peenstra Appraisals and Gouterman & Associates will examine items for authenticity and value during the “fun, educational and rewarding forum,” Soloff said. The event, for people 55 and over, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at Reston Association headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive). Cost to participate is $10.

For more information, email Soloff at [email protected].

Photos of previous Appraisal Roadshow event courtesy Reston Association

Hundreds of displeased residents braved chilly temperatures Saturday to participate in a march to protest paid parking at Reston Town Center.

“We believe it’s a huge success, despite the cold weather,” organizer Guarang Shah said. “Final numbers are 450-plus.”

Reston Town Center patrons and business owners have been making their displeasure known since RTC owners Boston Properties announced last year their plan to institute paid parking. The initiative went into effect Jan. 3, after which businesses have said their customer base has dwindled.

Reston Town Center paid parking protest https://t.co/Fgbvs74YXf

— Dave Emke (@emkedave) March 4, 2017

The throng of protesters began their afternoon march in the parking lot of Winwood Children’s Center on New Dominion Parkway. Aaron Gordon, owner of Red Velvet Cupcakery at RTC, stood among the protesters in the parking lot and said the support shown by local residents means a lot to merchants affected by the decision by RTC owners Boston Properties.

“It feels like we’re not the only ones in this battle; it feels like everyone has the same anger,” Gordon said. “We’ve been making the argument that we’re down in sales and customers are no longer coming, and this proves our point.”

The protesters were not given permission by Boston Properties to march within Reston Town Center; however, the marchers’ path did cut through — under the close eye of security — as they worked their way back to New Dominion Parkway. After looping around Not Your Average Joe’s, the protesters lined up along the parkway and were greeted by a large amount of honked support from passing motorists.

Marchers were encouraged to document the event on social media with the hashtag #parkfreertc.

#ParkFreeRTC we marched and feel glad we did! pic.twitter.com/wSWajO6XTx

— Kevin #BLM #ItsChaosBeKind (@KevinPrecht) March 4, 2017

https://twitter.com/AvenueFoche/status/838124043328946177

Boston Properties has said that the paid parking initiative is “here to stay” and that the distress claimed by businesses is being overblown. Gordon, who is organizing a group of merchants considering legal action against Boston Properties, said he is hopeful that the company will eventually see business in the Town Center is down “disastrously” and will have a change of heart.

“If there are 500 people out here, that represents 50,000 people that feel the exact same way,” Gordon said. “Just as Boston Properties is saying they’re never going to take away paid parking, we’re never going to go away.”

Wendy Warren, of Herndon, was one of the former Town Center patrons who came out Saturday to support the cause. She said she and her family visited RTC two or three times a week prior to paid parking. Now, they go to the Mosaic District or One Loudoun instead.

“There are no other suburban shopping areas around here that have paid parking, or such a poorly designed app,” she said, citing concerns that have been raised by a number of people who’ve spoken out against the system’s ParkRTC app. Boston Properties insists the app is secure.

Wendy’s husband, William, said Boston Properties should consider a different approach to its paid-parking initiative.

“Three hours of free parking, so that you could come here for something like dinner,” he said. “They state they want it to guard against commuter parking, but they could easily accommodate for people who want to come use the amenities here at the Town Center.”

Shah said if Boston Properties didn’t take notice of Saturday’s protest, there will be more to come.

“If they don’t change their mind, there will be another march,” he said. “We are already planning another march that will take place in summertime.”