Four men were arrested after a high-speed police pursuit Wednesday night near the intersection of Sunrise Valley Drive and Fairfax County Parkway.

A police officer attempted to stop a car stopped on the 2000 block of Cocquina Drive when he noticed a traffic violation, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The driver, Douglas Arriola Acosta, 38, of Centreville, sped off in the car.

He was arrested after a police pursuit a short while later. The passengers, Ronald Medina Aguilar, 38, of Herndon, Jose Timeuz, 25, of Reston, and William Guillen Melendez, 29, of Reston, were charged with being drunk in public.

Acosta was treated at Reston Hospital Center for a K-9 bite and charged with speed to elude, driving while intoxicated, and driving on a revoked license.

Photos via FCPD

This is an opinion column by Del. Ken Plum (D), who represents Reston in Virginia’s House of Delegates. It does not reflect the opinion of Reston Now.

If the 91 scientists from 40 countries who analyzed more than 6,000 scientific studies on climate change are to be believed, the dire consequences of climate change will be felt as soon as the next couple of decades, within the lifespan of most of the readers of this column.

Do exaggerated weather conditions of hotter temperatures, excessive rains and winds with more hurricanes and tornadoes, droughts over many years for some regions, wildfires covering thousands of acres as well as the death of the coral reefs and some wildlife sound familiar along with recurrent flooding and disappearance of some beaches? All of these are signs of climate change.

The warning from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the second in as many decades. Will it be heeded? Many policymakers will not be around to feel the consequences of inaction, but what about the old-fashioned notion that we have a responsibility for future generations including our own progeny? Should we try to save the planet for them? Any one action by an individual will not change the course we are on with changes to our climate, but the serious and collective actions on the part of most citizens have the potential to make a difference.

I have heard arguments from those who take a religious view of the issue that they do not believe that the god they worship as the creator of the world would let humankind destroy it. Could it be that the same God who gave humankind dominion over the planet would have an expectation that we would be good stewards of the resources and protect them?

I support a total reversal of the insane policies on climate change of the current federal administration. I abhor this administration’s policies and practices to ignore the clear warnings and to pursue environmental rules based on personal and corporate strategies to make a monetary profit or to gain votes from a constituency. As I discussed in this column in prior weeks, I plan to provide leadership on issues at the state level that will curtail and reverse actions furthering climate change.

Now it is up to us individually to live our lives in a way that shows our mindfulness of the effects of climate change and our willingness to make changes ourselves that will start to reverse the damage. As consumers, we need to reward businesses that pursue climate awareness policies and actions and to not deal with those whose manufacturing processes and actions contribute to climate change.

We need to buy energy from renewable sources even if may cost more. We need to live in such a way that enhances the health of the natural elements around us. We need to plant more trees that can have a great impact on greenhouse gases. We need to walk or bike more and drive internal combustion engine vehicles less.

Who’s in with me? Let’s prove the scientists wrong by changing the way we live in order to preserve our planet. If it is too late for you, what about your grandchildren and their children?

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Official Herndon Town Council results are in  — Pradip Dhakal came in fifth place for the election, taking off Joe Plummer from one of the six candidates to take a seat on the council and sliding incumbent Bill McKenna to sixth place. [Reston Now]

Sharing mental health battles — Local first responders share their mental health battles in an effort to help others. [NBC 4]

Get your skates on — The Reston Town Center ice skating pavilion opens tomorrow at 11 a.m. for public ice skating and daily skate rentals. [Reston Town Center]

Herndon High School Theatre presents The Diary of Anne Frank — A performance of the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett begins tomorrow. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. [Herndon High School]

Photo by Tina

(Update at 7:55 a.m.: Service has resumed as normal). 

A deer on the tracks outside of McLean is causing some delays along the Silver Line this Thursday morning.

As of 7:40 a.m., Metro officials are advising customers to expect residual delays to Largo Town Center as a result.

The deer exited the Silver Line property at around 7:21 a.m. Trains to Wiehle-Reston East held for several minutes, driving slowly behind the deer.

Here’s more from social media:

Silver Line: Expect residual delays to Largo Town Center following an animal on the tracks outside McLean.

— Metrorail Info (@Metrorailinfo) November 8, 2018

https://twitter.com/lastnightsdinnr/status/1060501896732073984

https://twitter.com/lastnightsdinnr/status/1060501896732073984

https://twitter.com/spinsahar/status/1060495683717881857

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The 28th annual Reston Holiday
Parade returns to Reston Town Center on Nov. 23 (Friday) at 11 a.m., bringing a flurry of festive activities for participants.

Sissy Sheridan, a 14-year-old stage and screen actress born and raised in Reston, will act as the event’s grand marshal, leading the parade in a chauffeur-driven convertible.

She is known nationally for her popular children’s series, “Chicken Girls” and she also hosts the Nickelodeon show “DIY with Me,” as well as Netflix’s “Maniac,” which also stars Emma Stone and Jonah Hill.

Until January, Sheridan will appear in “Billy Elliot” at Signature Theatre in Arlington. After the event at around noon, Sheridan will be available for a meet and greet with fans in Fountain Square.

USA Today Travel named it one of the best parades in 2016 and 2017. It includes Macy’s-style balloons, marching bands, dancers, antique cars, characters, as well as Santa and Mrs. Clause in a horse-drawn carriage. More than 1,400 performers are scheduled to participate in the one-hour, half-mile parade along Market Street. This year, the guest emcees are Angie Goff and Doug Kammerer of NBC News4.

The complete schedule for the parade and events planned for that day is available online.

Photo via Sissy Sheridan

Big plans are in the works to expand Solidcore, a DC-based fitness chain. Founder and CEO Anne Mahlum hopes to open 125 studios by 2022 and Reston is one location on the list.

The fitness company offers pilates classes, a boot camp for full-body workouts and other classes. It has locations throughout the country, including Arlington, Ashburn, Tysons Corner and the Mosaic District in Virginia.

Robin Diamond, a spokesperson for the company, told Reston Now that a location is planned for 12100 Sunset Hills Boulevard, JBG Smith’s RTC West Development. Thus far, several new restaurants have opened in the mixed-use development.

Diamond said Solidcore is likely to open sometime early next year. The studio will have 13 “sweatlanas,” a machine used for workouts.

An exact opening date has not been determined.

Photo via Solidcore

Reston-based Crafthouse, a Northern Virginia-focused eatery that offers a craft menu and local craft beer, scotch, and wine, is now franchising, the company announced this week.

Owner Evan Matz opened three locations in Fairfax, Arlington, and Reston in May 2017, positioning himself for rapid expansion in the coming years.

“Our goal is to have signature food and drink items that are available at every Crafthouse alongside menu favorites that are customized for that local community,” Matz wrote in a statement. “We will encourage each franchisee to feature what their region or state does best – North Carolina ribs or Maryland crab cakes, for instance – and source from local businesses for fresh baked buns, bread, local produce, meat, fish, brews, whiskey, wine and more. This way, Crafthouse can truly support and showcase its local neighborhood while giving guests the quality and consistency of a proven brand.”

Each drink menu has 50 craft beers and an addition 150 in bottles in cans featuring local, regional and national brews, with a special eye for local flavors. Each Crafthouse has a large Bavarian pretzel that’s paired with a house=made beer cheese, tacos, and burgers.

Matz hopes future locations will have a dining room and patio seating for around 150 guests, with square footage ranging from 3,900 to 4,500 square feet. Restaurants will offer lunch, dinner and weekend brunch options, as well as catering for private events and corporate meetings. Crafthouse was named the Best Sports Bar for Football Fans by Arlington Magazine.

Ideal franchise candidate should have liquid assets of at least $300,000 and a net worth of $1 million. More information about background and preferred qualifications is available online.

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(Editor’s note: This story was updated Thursday at 7:30 a.m. to reflect official results). 

Incumbent Grace Wolf Cunningham, a four-term councilwoman, lost her seat on the Herndon Town Council following a narrow and highly charged election.

Cunningham was replaced by newcomers Cesar Del Aguila and Pradip Dhakal. Incumbents Jennifer Baker, Sheila Olem, Bill McKenna and Signe Friedrichs were also elected to the council, maintaining much of the composition of the board. After official results were certified, Dhakal came in fifth place, moving McKenna to the sixth spot and booting Joe Plummer, another candidate who was previously projected to win, off the council.

Ten candidates ran for six open seats and margins between candidates remained characteristically narrow, as in previous years. Although Olem, Aguila and Friedrichs were separated by relatively comfortable margins, votes separating other candidates were minimal. Plummer lost to McKenna by 22 votes.

At around 11:30 p.m. on election night, it appeared the newcomer would secure the final seat on the board and that McKenna, a one-term councilman, was off.

Internal conflict that boiled over in the public arena was common in this year’s election. Olem, Friedrichs and Del Aguila — who ran a unified campaign — filed a lawsuit against Cunningham alleging she engaging in malicious prosecution over when the four-term councilwoman filed campaign law violations against the trio. The violations were squarely dismissed by the Virginia State Board of Elections.

The lawsuit is pending a decision following the election. The judge in the case rejected Cunningham’s attempt to dismiss the case.

Town of Herndon Mayor Lisa Merkel was re-elected as mayor, continuing a position she has held since 2012. The election was not contested. New council members will assume office on Jan. 1.

In Focus: Fairfax County

In other local and county election news, Fairfax County voters approved a $182 million bond to fund public safety improvements for a number of facilities, including fire stations, police training buildings and the renovation of civil and criminal justice facilities.

The measure was approved with just under 70 percent of total votes. As of 9:45 a.m., one precinct has not reported results, but the absence of that data will not alter results.

Meanwhile, voter turnout was high this year in Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Office of Elections estimated a voter turnout of nearly 70 percent, including absentee ballots. That number is up from nearly 46 percent in 2014.

This story has been updated.

Wexton, Democratic incumbents celebrate Election Day victories — Local voters also turned out in numbers the surpassed recent midterm elections. The Fairfax County Office of Elections estimated a 69.7 percent turnout for the general election, up from 45.7 percent in 2014. [Fairfax County Times]

DMV2Go in RTC today — The wireless office on wheels will offer DMV services today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the pavilion. Services include driver’s license and ID card applications and renewals, driving records, decals and more. [Reston Town Center]

Reston Association budget hearing, assessment increase proposal tomorrow — RA will hear comments from members about its plans to increase assessments by $11 at a hearing tomorrow (Thursday). [Reston Association]

Robert Sapolsky to speak at CenterStage tonight — Sapolsky, a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, will speak tonight. His lectures touch on topics like stress, baboons, the biology of individuality, memory aggression and schizophrenia. Tickets are sold out but the box office will maintain a waitlist today for any returned tickets. [Reston Community Center]

Photo by John Pinkman

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is asking for $550,000 in state grants to fund two pedestrian safety projects in Reston.

The county is seeking $385,000 to add a pedestrian refuge island and flashing beacons to an existing crosswalk across South Lakes Drive at the eastern intersection with Tanbark Drive near South Lakes High School. The second project would add a pedestrian refuge island and rapid flashing beacons to improve safety at an existing crosswalk at Bluemont Way and Discovery Street for $165,000.

In late October, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to request funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan grant program, which funds targeted improvements in areas with the potential for pedestrian crashes.

If the state awards funding to the county, county staff will draft project administration agreements with state transportation officials. The funding proposal for Reston is part of a $2.6 million request to the state. VDOT will notify jurisdictions about projects that have been selected for funding this month. Construction on approved projects is expected to begin in April, with a completion date of December 2019.

Construction is intended to happen on an expedited schedule in order to get “maximum return” on limited funding, according to state officials. As a result, projects that require right-of-way or easement acquisition, roadway widening and the replacement or relocation of curb and gutter will not be considered by the state.

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After some delays, Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls is opening tomorrow (Nov. 7) in Reston Town Center.

The Annapolis-based restaurant will open its first Virginia location at 11939 Democracy Drive. Malcolm and Kim Gilbreath, the Reston couple running the Reston location, said they’re looking forward to welcoming new customers to the location.

The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The chain opened in 2014 with a flagship shop in Main Street in Annapolis, Md. Along with other locations in Maryland, Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls has a footprint in Delaware and South Carolina.

Photo via Malcolm Gilbreath

A man stole items from the Safeway in Hunters Woods Village Center, hit an employee and exposed himself as he left the grocery store on Sunday night.

Mario Cubias Rodriguez, 21, of Reston, was charged with simple assault, petit larceny, indecent exposure, and public intoxication, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. The incident happened at around 7:43 p.m.

In a separate incident on Saturday, a man came home to find a stranger sleeping on his couch at his home on the 11800 block of Freedom Drive at around 2:09 a.m.

Constantine Aldrin, 37, of Reston, was charged with unlawful entry.

On Nov. 1, a man awakened a woman who was sleeping outside on the 1800 block of Cameron Glen Drive, pepper-sprayed her and tried to hit her.

John Ector, 50, was arrested and charged with malicious wounding. The incident happened at around 2:20 a.m. The woman was minor injuries.

As we reported yesterday, a man was abducted and robbed after a car resembling the ride-share he requested showed up in place of the car.

FCPD also reported the following minor incidents in recent days:

LARCENIES:

1800 block of Cameron Glen Drive, license plate and bag from vehicle

2400 block of Centreville Road, liquor from business

2400 block of Centreville Road, property from business

2600 block of Paddock Gate Court, jewelry from residence

1800 block of Presidents Street, microphones and transmitter from business

12500 block of Misty Water Drive, cell phone and laptop computer from residence

12500 block of Rock Ridge Road, backpack from vehicle

South Lakes Drive at Reston Parkway, purse from vehicle

11800 block of Sunrise Valley Drive, beer from business

STOLEN VEHICLES:

None reported

Photos via Fairfax County Police Department

What you should know before heading to the polls — View your sample ballot online, which includes a public safety bond referendum and two state constitutional amendments. Voters should bring their photo identification and plan ahead, as poll locations will be very busy during peak commuter hours. [Fairfax County Government]

Solidcore is coming to Reston — The DC-based fitness chain, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, is opening 125 studios by 2022 and one of them will be located in Reston. [Washingtonian]

Reston Town Center Farmers Market canceled today — Due to inclement weather, the second-to-last farmers market in Reston Town Center has been canceled. Next week is the last day to take advantage of the market, which began this fall. [Reston Town Center]

Flickr pool photo by vantagehill

A man who was using a ride-sharing app to get home was abducted when a car matching his ride pulled up instead of the car he requested on Saturday.

The man realized he had climbed into a car that he did not request when he saw three other men in the car. As the car drove out of the parking lot on Dranesville Road around 2 a.m., one of the men hit the victim several times and stole his phone, wallet, and passport.

The victim was then pushed out of the car in a cul-de-sac. His injuries were not life-threatening and the investigation is ongoing.

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