The Herndon Police Department is seeking the public’s help to identify a man involved in an indecent exposure incident.
At around 4:15 p.m. yesterday, a girl walked past a silver Toyota Scion as she got off the school bus at the intersection of Crest Drive and Old Hunt Way.
The man in the car asked her for directions. When she came close to the car, she realized he had no pants on and was exposing himself.
The suspect was described as a white male between 20 and 25 years old with a long beard. He was wearing only a gray hooded sweatshirt.
If you have any information or were in the area at that time, contact Detective Jeffrey Lange at 703-435-6846 or [email protected].
Photos via Herndon Police Department
From a performance on multiculturalism to a seminar on brain health, there’s a lot to do in Reston this weekend.
- Children can let their imaginations go wild at Box-A-Rama on Saturday. At the event from 9 a.m. through noon at Reston Association headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive), children can play with boxes of all sizes. All children must be accompanied by parents and caregivers. Tickets are $10 for RA members and $15 for all others.
- An open house is set for The Lake House (11450 Baron Cameron Avenue) on Saturday from 2 – 4 p.m. Enjoy light refreshments and talk to staff about the multipurpose uses of the space.
- At Reston Regional Library on Saturday, enjoy the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy,” from 2 – 4 p.m. as part of the library’s series on movies that began as books. The event is open to teenagers and adults.
- The American Association of Retired Persons is hosting a brain health seminar at Reston Community Center (2310 Colts Neck Road) on Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon. To register call 703-390-6157 or email karen.brutsche@fairfaxcoun
ty.gov. - Join the Greater Reston Arts Center and Reston Community Center on Saturday at 5 p.m. for an exploratory weaving workshop. Students will leave with a completed wall hanging. Tickets are $45 for Reston residents and $55 for all others. Register online.
- In a concert about friendship and multiculturalism, Mohammed Bilal and Josh “Boac” Goldstein use their friendship to actively challenge the American notions of black and white, Jew and Muslim, and urban and suburban. The performance, “The Color Orange,” will take place at CenterStage (2310 Colts Neck Road) on Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 for Reston residents and $20 for all others.
- On Sunday, watch 20 local figure skaters perform at the Reston Town Center Ice Skating Pavilion (1818 Discovery Street). The National Skating Month Exhibition will take place from 7:15-8:45 p.m.
- The Capitol Steps, a popular Washington-based music and satire troupe, will perform at the Hyatt Regency Reston (1800 Presidents Street) on Sunday at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Proceeds will go to Cornerstone. Purchase tickets online.
- Reston artist Rudy Guernica’s exhibit, “Lost in the Woods,” will be in the Jo Ann Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center Lake Anne from Jan. 9 through Feb. 4.
- In this exhibit, Paulina Peavy’s work will be on display through Feb. 17 at Greater Reston Arts Center. Peavy gave up control of her brush to an alien entity named Lacamo after attending a seance in 1932. Her work includes paintings, films and texts that she used to better channel Lacamo’s energy. A talk by GRACE’s executive director Lily Siegel is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. at the center.
(Editor’s Note: This is just a limited list of all the events taking place in the Reston area this weekend. If you have an event you would like to ensure is listed on the website, be sure to submit it to our Events Calendar.)
Photo via Reston Community Center
Site on Fairfax-Loudoun Line Part of Pitch for Amazon’s Second Headquarters — Fairfax County officials are pitching a site on the border of Fairfax and Loudoun counties as part of their pitch to lure Amazon’s second headquarters. Northern Virginia was listed among 20 locations selected by Amazon as the company decides where to locate new offices. [WTOP]
Teen music.ly Star from Reston Featured in The Washington Post — Jacob Sartorius, a 15-year-old Reston native, went from stardom on a social media platform to launching a music career. The “Sweatshirt” singer was featured by the Washington Post Express ahead of a show on Thursday. [The Washington Post]
Weekend Work on All Metro Lines Scheduled — Metro track work and other service disruptions on all lanes are planned for this weekend as large crowds are expected in the District. [WTOP]
Lorton Teen Accused of Murder of Reston Couple Remains in Critical Condition — The 17-year-old teenager who is suspected of murdering his girlfriend’s parents, who were reportedly concerned about his neo-Nazi views, remains in critical condition. Charges have not yet been served. [Patch]
Photo via Flickr user vantagehill
Construction of Phase 2 of the Silver Line extension into Loudoun County is nearly 76 percent complete, according to a quarterly update by Capital Rail Constructors.
At a Wednesday meeting, the lead contractor on the project told the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that the project is on track. By 2020, officials hope to open the second phase of the line, which brings 23 miles of track past Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County.
Precasting work at the Reston Town Center Station will be completed by February. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing outfitting will continue through the fall of this year while roofing will finish by June.
Concrete work has been completed at the North Pavilion and precasting is almost finished. The breakdown of pedestrian bridges, provided by Capital Rail Constructors, is below:
Metal decking at the Herndon Station is complete as work on mechanics, roofing, skylights, elevators and the track continues. The concrete structure and utility work surrounding the South Pavilion has also been completed.
Most workers involved in the project — 58 percent — are from Virginia while 26 percent are from Maryland.
Photos via handout by Capital Rail Constructors
Two teenagers have been charged in connection with a robbery and attempted robbery in Sterling last month, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
Jordan McNally, 18, of Herndon, and a minor from Centreville were charged with robbery and attempted robbery on Friday. McNally was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of the minor.
Deputies believe the teens were involved in two incidents near the 22300 block of S. Sterling Boulevard on Dec. 23.
According to a Dec. 27 report about the incident, two suspects demanded cash from a man and his son as they walked a business in the area. One suspect appeared to brandish a box cutter during the incident.
That same day, the suspects approached a teenager in the same shopping center. One suspect demanded cash while showing a possible firearm in his waistband. A small but undisclosed amount of cash was taken by the suspects, according to the report.
McNally is being held on no bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center and the juvenile is being held at the Loudoun County Juvenile Detention Center.
Booking photo of Jordan McNally via Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
Fairfax County officials are pushing back against a move by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to charge for weekend parking at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station.
Beginning Feb. 5, WMATA plans to charge a $2 fee parking for Metro users who park in the Metro garage or lot on Saturdays. Parking is currently free at the 2,300-space garage, which is owned by Fairfax County.
“Over the past several years, WMATA’s image has been significantly tarnished. Charging for parking on Saturdays, especially when there are so many reasons not to charge, will not improve WMATA’s image,” county staff wrote in a statement.
The county’s Board of Supervisors, which must approve approve parking changes before they are instituted, will consider the matter at a Jan. 23 meeting. The county currently contracts with WMATA to remotely monitor parking garage gates and fare collections while WMATA maintains equipment and processes SmarTrip and credit card payments.
County staff charging fees could decrease weekend ridership — especially when demand for parking is already low on weekends.
“WMATA may actually lose more many from lost rail fares than it gains from the new parking fee,” according to a statement.
Staff listed other reasons to oppose the parking fee:
- Requires additional costs to maintain equipment and oversee personnel.
- Discourages new riders, who often try Metro on weekend, from using the service.
- Is inconsistent with the region’s goal of providing alternatives to single-occupant vehicles.
- Discourages Metrorail trips, ultimately increasing weekend congestion and air pollution.
- Makes an already challenging commute for weekend riders — who often deal with delays due to maintenance work on weekends — even harder.
In a statement, WMATA said charging for weekend parking will “allow Metro to maximize utilization of parking facilities without increasing the daily parking rate for Metro customers on weekdays.”
WMATA is also planning to extend the hours of parking fee collections on weekdays — a move the county officials support. Charges for parking will begin at 7:30 a.m. instead of 9:30 a.m. On Fridays, fees will continue through 2 a.m. instead of 1 a.m.
Additional fees collected through the change will generate additional revenue that will help pay off debt service payments on bolds sold to fund additional Metrorail parking. The garage was built by Comstock Partners’ through a public-private partnership with the county.
Comstock’s Reston Station development, a major mixed-use project, sits above the garage.
File photo.
Winter Sky Stargazing on Friday — Join the Walker Nature Center from 7-8:30 p.m. to learn more about the stars and folklore associated with celestial objects. Individuals, families and couples are welcome. Children must accompanied by a registered adult. [Reston Association]
Central Services Facility Renovations Continue — In a recent Reston Today video, Garrett Skinner, Reston Association’s director of capital improvement planning and projects, provides an update about renovations to the facility on 12250 Sunset Hills Road. The warehouse facility will be completed by late July. [Reston Today via YouTube]
Reston-based Company Pays $1.7 Million to Settle Overcharged Government Contract — Accenture, which is located in Reston, alerted the government that overcharges were caused by unauthorized purchases of copy toner “surreptitiously” made by a subcontractor on the contract, according to a statement. [U.S. Dept. of Justice]
Flickr pool photo via vantagehill
Two suspects in ski masks repeatedly punched a male victim as he walked towards a business in the Dulles Park Shopping Center on Sunday, according to the Herndon Police Department’s weekly press report.
The victim said the suspects used a stun gun on him and stole a red Adidas backpack valued at $60. The suspects fled on foot and the victim was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
Police are investigating the incident and issued the following description of the suspects: a black male wearing dark sweatpants, a sweatshirt and red shoes and a white or hispanic male wearing dark sweatpants, a sweatshirt and black shoes.
In a separate incident, Fairfax County police spotted two men attempting to open doors of several cars parked near the 1300 block of Murray Downs Way on Friday at 4 a.m.
One man fled from police, but David Crevontay Pugnitti Webb, a 20-year-old Reston resident, was caught. He was charged with vehicle trespass and obstruction of justice, police said.
FCPD also reported the following crimes over the past week:
LARCENIES:
2200 block of Astoria Circle, packages from residence
11700 block of Briary Branch Court, camera and wallet from vehicle
2500 block of Centreville Road, beer from business
2300 block of Colts Neck Road, property from business
1400 block of Flynn Court, wallet from vehicle
11900 block of Killingsworth Avenue, wallet from business
11200 block of Lagoon Lane, cash from vehicle
11900 block of Market Street, merchandise from business
11100 block of South Lakes Drive, liquor from business
11400 block of Sunset Hills Road, wallet from business
11600 block of Vantage Hill Road, laptop bag and laptop computers from vehicle
1800 block of Wiehle Avenue, cigarettes from business
STOLEN VEHICLE:
11900 block of Democracy Drive, 2010 GMC SUV
Anyone with information about any of the crimes reported by FCPD should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), or text “TIP187” plus the message to CRIMES(274637).
Doug Meeker calls himself a corporate refugee. His son’s diagnosis with autism in 2003 pushed him off the corporate bandwagon and into the launch what he calls a “quest”: Life Sherpa.
The Reston-based app turns smartphones into personal trainers, giving young adults with executive functioning challenges like his 15-year-old son a step-by-step behavioral training program to traverse their day.
The concept is inspired by the Sherpas, an ethnic minority group in Eastern Nepal who have helped travelers like Edmund Hillary — the first person to climb Mt. Everest — navigate the treacherous mountain terrain.
The app’s main objective is to help young adults gain life skills as they transition into adulthood. It has drawn a diverse team of organizers, including members in Romania and India, who are united in their effort to help young adults overcome executive functioning challenges.
“The thing that keeps parents up at night is what happens they become adults. We can teach job skills to this population all day long, but… if they don’t have the basic life skills, it’s very hard to retain the job skills,” Meeker said. “The question comes down to this: How can we help this population gain more self-reliance?”
The app allows caregivers, therapists, counselors, school administrators and other stakeholders involved with the user to remotely monitor and measure their client’s progress.
But Meeker says the app’s goal was never to replace in-person human interaction critical to people’s success.
“What we really want to do is help the innovators scale their efforts. The more we can help them do that, the more we can free up resources to help more kids,” Meeker said.
Close to 100 clients are registered on the platform since its soft launch last in February last year.
Meeker said he believes the app will be successful because it draws on individual’s skills like close attentiveness to detail and the ability to solve complex problems.
The app also generates metrics and analytics to track client’s progress — departing from the days when clipboards and stopwatches were the primary tools for recording progress. Life Sherpa also uses consistent phrases and directions that are critical for successful behavioral therapy, he said.
Meeker hopes the app will continue to help young adults like his son — who is also a cancer survivor — transition into adult life.
“This is a personal quest. It’s all about creating ways for the individual to be independent and still be connecting to the people that are supporting them,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Doug Meeker
Grand Opening of Nordine Salon Set for Feb. 1 – Nordine Salon & Day Spa opened late last year at 11389 Reston Station Boulevard after moving from Reston Town Center in 2016. The full-service salon’s grand opening will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. For more information, contact the owner, Nordine Elbassi, at 703-707-6444. [Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce]
Box-A-Rama at Reston Association — Children will have the chance to construct anything they can imagine out of boxes of all sizes on Saturday at RA headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive) from 9 a.m. to noon. Tickets are $10 for Reston residents and $15 for all others. [Reston Association]
Technology Company in Reston Investigates Rape — Parabon Nanolabs is helping investigators develop a description of a suspect in the rape of a woman last August. The tool, Snapshot, uses phenotyping to determine the suspect’s features through crime scene DNA. [WNPV]
Photo courtesy of Heather Shaw Menis
Northern Virginia Community College Reston Center Moves — The center, which is an extension of the Loudoun campus and offers academic programs, events and workforce development opportunities, moved from its location on Wiehle Avenue to 1821 Michael Faraday Drive this week. [NOVA Loudoun Campus via Twitter]
Local Exhibit Shines Beam on Artist Who Believed in UFOs — In a feature in the Washington Post, writer Mark Jenkins delves into the work and life of Paulina Peavy. Her work is on display at Greater Reston Arts Center (12001 Market Street) through Feb. 17. The center’s executive director, Lily Siegel, will discuss the exhibit on Saturday at 3 p.m. [The Washington Post]
Magical Frolic at Reston’s CenterStage — David Siegel writes about “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a production by Reston Community Players that explains how Peter Pan came to be. Performances are scheduled at CenterStage (2310 Colts Neck Road) from Jan. 19 through Feb. 3 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with a Sunday 2 p.m. matinee on Jan. 28. [The Connection]
File photo by Fatimah Waseem
A plan to expand Langston Hughes Middle School (11401 Ridge Heights Road) heads to the Fairfax County Planning Commission today at 7 p.m.
The commission will vote on a proposal by the Fairfax County School Board to add three new buildings to the current site. The school is operating at 115 percent of its capacity, according to current capacity utilization rates,
Plans, reviewed by the county’s Dept. of Planning and Zoning in late December, call for a 3,500-square-foot art studio with a canopy at the front of the school.
A two-story building would be attached to the back of the building, with classrooms and administrative offices on the main level and library and science labs on the second level. A courtyard will rest between the school and the two-story building. Another one-story building will include about 1,350 square feet with an expanded cafeteria.
The number of parking spots will increase from 115 to 153, including new parking that will replace existing multi-purpose courts and 38 spots along Seahawks Drive.
The project is expected to cost roughly $41.7 million in construction-related expenses.
At the meeting, the commission will also hear public testimony on a plan to reduce the age requirement for McNair Senior Apartments (13430 Coppermine Road), which houses 139 independent living units on roughly three acres.
The applicant wants to reduce the minimum age of residents from 62 to 55 and change the project’s official classification from “housing for the elderly” to “independent living facilities.”
The meeting (agenda here) will begin at 7:30 p.m in the board auditorium of Fairfax County Government Center (12000 Government Center Pkwy). A livestream will be available online.
Founding Farmers plans to open its Reston Station location in early 2018.
The opening of the restaurant, originally set for summer 2017, was delayed due after plans to the 10,000-square-foot location (1901 Reston Metro Plaza Drive) were revamped.
No firm opening date has been made public, although the company has begun hiring for all positions and expects to open in the first quarter of this year. In August, a company representative told Reston Now the restaurant will open next month.
A spokesperson for Comstock Partners, the owner of Reston Station, said the company went back to the drawing board to improve the design and layout of the restaurant after opening a new location — Farmers & Distillers — in the District.
“After opening their downtown D.C. restaurant a year ago, they decided to make some major changes to better improve operations,” said Maggie Parker, vice president of communications and community outreach for Comstock Partners. “They can’t wait to open.”
The Reston restaurant rests on the ground floor of a planned 200-room hotel at Reston Station and on top of the 3,500-space Reston Station Transit Facility. A large mezzanine is planned at the site, which sits next to the 45o-unit BLVD at Reston Station.
The farmer-owned restaurant include a full-service menu and bar with breakfast, lunch and dinner and a Farmers Market buffet brunch on weekends. A “First Bake” menu will offer takeaway breakfast and coffee on weekday mornings, according to the restaurant’s website.
Founding Farmers is owned by more than 47,000 family farmers of the North Dakota Farmers Union and is supplied by hundreds of family farms, according to its website.
No update was available on when Sweet Leaf, a locally owned cafe chain scheduled to open next to Founding Farmers will open. Signage on the store front indicates an opening in the winter of last year.
(This post was updated on Friday, Jan. 12 at 10:29 a.m. to include background about Founding Farmers).
Photo by Fatimah Waseem
Support Herndon Middle School’s Chorus at MOD Pizza in Reston — Bring this flyer to the restaurant on 11642 Plaza America Drive all day today. MOD Pizza will donate 20 percent of the bill to the choir. [Herndon Middle School Chorus via Twitter]
Plans in the Works to Bring Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls to Reston — A company representative told the Washington Business Journal the franchise could open a Reston location this year. The lobster restaurant’s menu includes lobster rolls, sandwiches, salads and soups. [Washington Business Journal]
Scrawl Books, an independent store that opened in late 2015, is turning a page next month.
The store is moving from its pop-up location on 11862 Market Street to 11911 Freedom Drive in mid-February as the building undergoes renovations this year.
The future site is currently being used as the leasing office for the Signature apartments, a 508-unit residential project with nine levels of underground parking.
“It is a perfect space for Scrawl Books, with room for browsing and our full schedule of author readings, book clubs, and story times,” said Rachel Wood, the bookstore’s owner.
Since November 2016, the bookstore had a pop-up shop on Market Street shared with Truffle Shots and Ella Rue. Over the last year, Scrawl Books sprawled over the entire store, according to Wood.
A grand opening and ribbon cutting is scheduled for Feb. 18. As the move takes place, the store is open at Urban Pop at Reston Station on weekdays from 4-8 p.m. and on Sundays at ArtInsights (11921 Freedom Drive). Books can also be purchased online.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Wood
