Jazz Music Tonight at Lake Anne — The “Take A Break” concert series at Lake Anne Plaza will continue tonight with a performance by contemporary Brazilian jazz band Origem. [Lake Anne Plaza]

Metro Employees to Thank Riders Today — Nearly 700 Metro administrative employees will be at Metrorail stations during the afternoon commute today to “personally thank” customers for “their support and continued ridership” during SafeTrack. [WMATA]

Connolly Goes After Nikki Haley — The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations had to defend herself Wednesday when Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) targeted her actions at the U.N. [Washington Free Beacon]

Single Tracking to Cause Long Metro Waits — Starting Saturday until closing time Sunday, Silver Line Metro trains will operate just every 26 minutes. Fare hikes are also in effect, with $2.25 the minimum to ride the Metro. There will be no track work on the Fourth of July. [DCist]

MOM’s Organic Market to Celebrate 30th Anniversary Sunday — All MOM’s Organic Market locations will celebrate the franchise’s 30th anniversary with tastings and family activities. Locally, there is a store at 424 Elden St., Herndon. [PR Newswire]

Fairfax Police Inform About Snake Safety — With warm weather, snakes become more active around the area, so it’s beneficial to know which snakes are venomous and which are harmless. [Fairfax County Police Department]

File photo courtesy Carole Burnett

Gerry Connolly is winning so much he’s tired of winning.

That’s according to his own personal cover of Time magazine, which the U.S. congressman’s staff created in response to President Donald Trump’s current scandal.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that a slew of fake Time magazine covers featuring the president’s image hang in his golf courses. In response, Connolly tweeted out what may be the most noteworthy reaction yet.

Wow, my first cover of Time. Asked my staff to frame this and hang it in all four of my offices. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/Hx57ZJExR8 pic.twitter.com/y1HciTB5G1

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) June 27, 2017

Featuring a full headshot similar to the faux Trump cover, Connolly sprinkled the photo with headlines written in Trump’s linguistic style, such as “FITARA is a legislative smash!” (FITARA is a reform bill for federal information technology).

Jamie Smith, Connolly’s communications director, said that all credit for the tweet goes to the congressman.

“He saw the reports of Trump’s fake Time cover and thought this could be a fun way to highlight the absurdity of it,” Smith said. “We never expected it to go this viral. I guess we will have to hang our cover in our four offices.”

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the post had more than 5,200 retweets and 19,000 likes, with hundreds of replies and notable comments.

Omg just noticed the headlines. Congressman, your social media person deserves a raise.

— Sarah Mimms (@SarahMMimms) June 27, 2017

I never realized we had such a celebrity in the @OversightDems!

— Raja Krishnamoorthi (@CongressmanRaja) June 27, 2017

We have a winner. No more submissions today. The Internet is now closed.

— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) June 27, 2017

“The response has been incredibly positive,” added Smith, but there were a few left unimpressed.

Yawn. Nobody cares. Not even your constituents.

— The Mad Moderate (@MadMadModerate) June 28, 2017

U Need2 Stop Your Fake News Agenda!U will Need 2Apologize as CNN FallOut 4Lies!Try Work Instead of Attacking

— Sarah (@deltaweese) June 28, 2017

So, what do you think?

For kids who love movies and swimming, pools around the area are offering the perfect evening summer activity.

Reston Association’s “Dive-In Movie” series starts Thursday, when the Lake Audubon Pool (2070 Twin Branches Road) will stay open after hours, from 8:30-10 p.m., for a screening of “The Secret Life of Pets.” Movies will continue on select evenings throughout the summer at various other pools in Reston.

The event is free and the venue will provide popcorn and drinks. Families are encouraged to bring their own pool floats so they can relax while they watch.

“Anybody is welcome to come. If they don’t have their pool passes, they can sign up as a guest,” said Ashleigh Soloff, Reston Association events coordinator. “Kids like the event because they like to be at the pool at night when the pools are usually closed. We have the pool lights on so they can still swim.”

Soloff said the movie will be canceled, though, in case of rain.

For future movie titles and locations, or for weather-related updates, email [email protected] or call 703-435-6577.

Torres Linked to Previous Attack, Gang — A week before Darwin Martinez Torres was arrested and charged with murdering Nabra Hassanen, a woman reported he had punched, choked and sexually assaulted her. She also claims he is a member of the MS-13 street gang. [Washington Post] (Editor’s Note: The Fairfax County Police Department later said there is “no credible information” to support gang ties.)

Brew House To Host Beer Rally Tonight — Teams of three will run three laps around Lake Anne. Each lap is a mile and a half, and contestants can either run one lap each or all three laps together. There will be prizes raffled and a chance for free drinks. [Lake Anne Brew House/Facebook]

Reston Hospital Center Gives Out Scholarships — Last week, the medical staff of Reston Hospital Center awarded $15,000 worth of scholarships to 15 Fairfax and Loudoun County high school seniors. Hasmah Hussain, from  South Lakes High School, was one of the recipients. [Reston Hospital Center]

Modified Bus Schedule for July 4 — Fairfax Connector buses will run on a Saturday schedule on July 4. [Fairfax County Goverment]

E. Ethelbert Miller at Greater Reston Arts Center — Writer and literary activist will come to the Greater Reston Arts Center at 6 p.m. Thursday. Miller has been the editor of poetry magazine Poet Lore for 10 years, and he is the author of several collections of poetry and two memoirs.  [Greater Reston Arts Center]

Following the four Reston Association district meetings held last month, the Reston Association Board of Directors is hosting a communitywide meeting Wednesday.

The meeting will be held from 7-8:30 p.m. at RA Headquarters (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive). All RA members are invited to attend.

At the recent district meetings, members were invited to “provide feedback and hear updates on a variety of district and community-related topics,” according to the Association’s website. The discussions that took place during those meetings will be shared.

For those who can’t attend or want to make sure their voice is heard, the Board of Directors is also still inviting RA members to fill out a form to provide additional feedback about the priorities and strengths of the Association.

The deadline for providing comments is Friday. The form is available to download here. Once completed, submit by email to [email protected] or by mail to:

Reston Association, ATTN: CEAC
12001 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191

A local woman nearly became a victim to a trending child abduction scam, police say.

The woman says she received a phone call last week stating that her daughter had been kidnapped and that she would need to wire money to Mexico for her release. Police confirmed that the child was indeed safe and that this was a hoax meant to extort money from the victim.

A phone call of this type has been one of many in the area, police confirmed last month. If you receive a phone call like this, do not wire any money. Rather, immediately notify the police and check to see if your child is OK.

“These scammers will try to keep you on the phone with them so you cannot call police or anyone else and keep your mind distracted and frazzled for fear of your child’s safety,” according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

FCPD also reported in the past week:

LARCENIES: 

10300 block of Brittenford Drive, purse from vehicle

1700 block of Business Center Drive, cash from business

2200 block of Castle Rock Square, cellphone from residence

2500 block of Centreville Road, merchandise from business

13000 block of Henson Court, wallet from business

9800 block of Mill Run Drive, bag from vehicle

11500 block of North Shore Drive, bicycle from school

10700 block of Park Ridge Boulevard, wallet from vehicle

12300 block of Pinecrest Road, laptop computer from vehicle

11100 block of South Lakes Drive, beer from business

11100 block of South Lakes Drive, wallet from business

STOLEN VEHICLE: 

11300 block of French Horn Lane, 2007 Lexus ES350

Anyone with information about any of the incidents reported by FCPD should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), or text “TIP187” plus the message to CRIMES(274637).

In other crime news, a Herndon resident was detained early Saturday in Loudoun County after police say she was found drunk in public after an altercation in the One Loudoun plaza. Elizabeth A. Bellamy, 20, was arrested along with Bryan M. Moses, 25, of Maryland following the incident. Both were released on personal recognizance bonds.

Also, there there were two robberies recently in the Town of Herndon.

On June 15, police say an unknown suspect approached a woman in the 600 block of Center Street and demanded her phone. When she refused, police say she was pushed and the perpetrator snatched the phone, valued at $600, from her hand before riding away on a bicycle. The suspect is described as a juvenile Hispanic male. He was last seen wearing a dark flat-brimmed ball cap, dark T-shirt and dark pants. The case is still under investigation.

The next day, there was an armed robbery at a business in the shopping center in the 1100 block of Elden Street. Four suspects entered the business with handguns and wearing masks. Some were also wearing black pants. They took an undisclosed amount of money and they also took the store’s video surveillance system. All of the suspects spoke Spanish, police say. The case is also still under investigation.

As the community continues to recover after last week’s brutal killing of a Reston teenager, one activist says the psychological impact on surviving youth will live on.

“For many of us in Northern Virginia, it’s really during Ramadan where we carve out special places to feel like home,” said Aya Saed, a Harvard Law School student and organizer for the Deeply Rooted Retreat for Black Muslim Youth. “For the crime to have happened in this moment is really quite traumatic to young people who are just starting to creating safe spaces for themselves and forever.”

Saed and other prominent members of the area’s Muslim community appeared on “The Kojo Nnamdi Show” today on WAMU to reflect on the slaying of Nabra Hassanen and discuss its implications on a future generation of Muslim children.

Nabra, 17, was attacked and abducted in the early morning hours June 18 while walking back from McDonald’s after an overnight service at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. She was beaten to death and her body was found in a Loudoun County pond. Fairfax County police say that her killing followed an extreme case of road rage.

“Any time this type of incident happens, it runs deep,” said Joshua Salaam, ADAMS Center chaplain, of the community atmosphere following Nabra’s death. “Any individual can point back to five [or] six incidents in the last year where the victim was a Muslim.”

Carmel Delshad, a news producer for WAMU, said young Muslims are fearful in a time when violence against them appears to be increasing.

“I think mosques are doing what they can to ensure extra security measures in place,” she said. “People are looking over their shoulder [and] they’re taking self-defense classes just to be prepared.”

Saed said that kids Nabra’s age, both locally and elsewhere in the country, have been rocked by what happened to her that morning.

“It’s worth talking about the kinds of psychological impact this is having,” she said. “For many young Muslims, this is the only reality that they know in the United States.”

Read More

Orangetheory Fitness is one of the newest fitness crazes around the nation, and now it’s coming to Reston.

The new location is will be at 11410 Reston Station Blvd., at the Aperture building near the Wiehle-Reston East station. It is scheduled for a September opening, said Maggie Parker, spokesperson for Reston Station developer Comstock Properties.

“They have a kiosk on the [Wiehle-Reston East Metro] plaza and they’re recruiting members,” Parker said.

Come party with us on Saturday!! 12-8! Lock in your pre-sale rates now!! pic.twitter.com/BJqxSiKv3H

— OTF Reston (@OtfReston) June 22, 2017

The Aperture building is being developed by the Bozzuto Group.

The fitness studio offers 60-minute workout classes that operate in the format of a group-personal training. The classes combine 10- to 30-minute intervals of running and weight training that add up to an hour of constant exercise.

According to its website, “Orangetheory’s heart rate monitored training is designed to maintain a target zone that stimulates metabolism and increases energy.”

There is a sign-up for an email newsletter available on the Reston location’s website.

Membership options include a basic package for four classes a month, an elite package with eight classes a month and an unlimited package. For more information on pricing, call 703-822-5272.

The Florida-based chain has hundreds of locations nationwide, including many in the area.

Who says you can’t celebrate July 4 three days early?

On July 1, Lake Fairfax Park (1400 Lake Fairfax Drive) will host a “Fireworks, Food and Family Fun” event from 7 a.m.-9:15 p.m. The all-day event will feature live music, a puppet show and a fireworks show, plus more.

Parking will cost $10 for the event, said Dave Hantagimana from the Lake Fairfax Park staff. That is up from last year’s parking fees, which were $5 a car. The year before in 2015, parking was free with a suggested donation.

The rain date for the event is Sunday, July 2.

All of the park’s usual amenities will be open for families to enjoy. The Water Mine Family Swimmin’ Hole will open at 10 a.m.

Join the national birthday celebration July 1 at Lake Fairfax Park for fireworks, games and more! https://t.co/XLLAT9KiwV pic.twitter.com/pCkxbOMHBk

— Fairfax County Parks (@fairfaxparks) June 26, 2017

Pedal boat rentals will also be available to take out around the lake at the rate of $7 for a half hour. At least one person in the pedal boat must be 16 or over. There will also be tour boat rides and the opportunity to take out a private boat.

Food vendors will be set up near the park entrance, according to the Fairfax County Park Authority flyer for the event.

Campgrounds are available for an overnight stay but reservations are recommended.

Urban Planner: Reston ‘Not Like Its Plan’ — A Harvard University Graduate School of Design urban planning professor comparing the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, to Reston: “Columbia’s development stuck more closely to its original plan than did that of Reston,” which is “not like its plan in a lot of ways.” [Baltimore Sun]

Metro Continues To Be Understaffed — Commuting to work and hear the dreaded “train will be moving momentarily?” WMATA says it’s due to overwhelmed Rail Operations Control Center workers, and it needs to hire 33 more people in order to get things sorted out. [WTOP]

Temperatures Will Roast Us — Buckle up and stay cool. Weather forecasts starting Sunday predict scorching heat through Wednesday. Triple-digit heat indexes are predicted along with potential record-breaking temperatures. [Washington Post]

County Police Warning of Fake Gold — A Fairfax County man is out $9,000 after con artists targeted him in an elaborate scam. Mandarin-speaking scammers seem to be preying on the Chinese community by selling them fake gold. [Fairfax County Police Department]

Volunteers Sought for All-Night Grad Party — South Lakes High School’s graduating seniors will attend a post-graduation party from 10:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. — unless they don’t get enough volunteer chaperones. Anyone interested in helping out will need to participate in a training session next week. [South Lakes PTSA/Signup Genius]

Photo courtesy Reston Association

For some athletes at South Lakes High School, the student-athlete lifestyle won’t end at graduation.

From ten different sports, 29 varsity athletes from the South Lakes Seahawks will play in college.

Playing baseball, Noah Luckenbaugh will continue his career at the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts. Dillon Suzuki will play at the United States Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, where he will also wrestle.

Marcus Cherry will play basketball at the Massanutten Military Academy in Virginia.

College football players will include Andrew Funaki at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and David Kroll at the University of Delaware.

There will be four South Lakes lacrosse players playing in college. Matt Hughes will play at Mercer University in Georgia; Taylor Newman-Farr will play at St. Joseph’s in Pennsylvania; Chris Sherbert will play at Virginia Wesleyan University; and JC Sipher will play at Denison University in Ohio.

Soccer players include Abby Alexa for Davis & Elkins in West Virginia; Jared Brewer for Penn State-Harrisburg; Conor Gill for Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania; Jenna Hirshfeld for Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts; and Jacob Schuh for Bridgewater College in Virginia.

Jazmyn Stokes will play softball for Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

Five swim and dive athletes will continue their careers in college. Megan Carney will swim at University of Mary Washington in Virginia; Gianmichel D’Allesandro will swim at UNC-Wilmington; Ben Gryski will swim at the University of Massachusetts; Emily Landeryou will swim at the United States Military Academy in New York; and Paige Sogandares will swim at the College of Wooster in Ohio.

The sport with the most SLHS athletes moving on to college is track and field, with six. Naomi Brindley will run at Radford University in Virginia; Erin Gray will run at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia; Devyn Jones will run for the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado; Timiebi Ogobri will run at The Citadel in South Carolina; Dimarcus Vilcheck will run for Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina; and Arianna Spencer will run at Linn University in Florida.

Two SLHS volleyball players will play in college. Kristin Allgaier will play at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and Charlotte Vollmers will play at Hollins University in Virginia.

In addition:

• Olivia Norman will be on the gymnastics team at George Washington University. Norman competes with the Chantilly Academy Gymnastics Gymstars club.
• Grace Obando will be a member of the triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Photo via South Lakes HS Athletics on Twitter

Following President Donald Trump’s recent announcement to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, Fairfax County is joining the Mayors Climate Action Agenda.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors endorsed joining more than 200 other municipalities nationwide in an effort to combat climate change. The three main takeaway points from the Mayors Climate Action Agenda are the development of a community greenhouse gas emissions inventory, the setting of near- and long-term emissions reduction targets, and the development of a climate action plan.

Ten years ago, Fairfax County was part of a similar agreement called Cool Counties. Cool Counties committed Fairfax County to cut the D.C. region’s greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

As Chairman, I was proud to launch Cool Counties. Great to see @SharonBulova and @fairfaxcounty once again leading on climate change. https://t.co/E6bt5lnP24

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) June 7, 2017

Through Cool Counties, the county has since reached its initial goal of cutting its per capita emissions by 10 percent. Helene Shore of local environmental activism group 350 Fairfax argues that this hasn’t been enough, but she’d glad the county has recommitted itself.

“We’d like to see 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. We wish that other mayors would hop aboard — it’s important that we address this at a local level and that local governments keep working towards renewable energy, since our central government won’t be doing much work it seems. We don’t have much time left and it’s important that we keep working forward.”

Fairfax County is encouraging residents to get involved, especially in reducing their electricity emissions. Residents can sign up for discounted solar panels, get expert advice on energy savings, checkout a thermal camera from the library and apply for a matching grant to fund any possible projects that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The potential for a nursery school at St. John Neumann Church looks a lot more likely.

On May 17, the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a special permit amendment that will allow the addition of the nursery school. Located at 11900 Lawyers Road, the projected nursery and pre-school would be one of several in the Reston area.

The Rev. Joseph T. Brennan made the official announcement in the church bulletin last week.

“I want to share an update on the potential of a preschool at St. John Neumann. On Wednesday, May 17, 2017 the Board of Zoning Appeals for the County of Fairfax, Virginia approved the proposal to permit the addition of a nursery school. This is a significant step towards the possibility of a pre-school opening in the Fall of 2018. Please stay tuned as we continue to work out the next steps and examine the feasibility of this endeavor.”

A parish survey that was conducted last year indicated an interest in pursuing the school.

Fairfax County School Board Makes Referendum Requests — The Fairfax County School Board is requesting a school bond referendum for $315 million be placed on the ballot for the November general election. The money in the referendum would go toward a plan for a new elementary school in the Herndon area as well as construction, renovations and other work at numerous other schools. [Fairfax County Public Schools]

Metro to Retire All 1000 and 4000 Series Railcars by July 1 — Months ahead of schedule, WMATA announced that they will retire their oldest and most unreliable metro railcars by July 1. This is to make room for the influx of newer, chicer 7000-series railcars. [WMATA]

McAuliffe Coming to Lake Anne — Gov. Terry McAuliffe is scheduled to be at Lake Anne Brew House (11424 Washington Plaza W.) at about 4:45 p.m. Friday. The governor will be honoring the brew house for its three medals in the recent Virginia Craft Beer Cup. [Lake Anne Plaza/Facebook]

Meteor Was Visible Across DC Area — A fireball that briefly lit up the sky at about 10 p.m. Tuesday was seen across the region, including in Reston. [Capital Weather Gang]

Fairfax County Government Warns Against Gas Station Scammers — Fairfax County officials say there have been 21 cases at 15 gas stations where account information has been stolen via Bluetooth and money has been robbed. The scam is new and high-tech, and there are no warning signs. [Fairfax County Government]

File photo courtesy Ryan Goff

The proposal to renovate Reston Community Center’s aquatics center continues to move forward.

Monday, the Community Center Board of Governors worked to further budget plans for the Terry L. Smith Aquatics Center. The budget and Capital Project plans will be available to the public June 19.

Leila Gordon, RCC executive director, said the board has directed staff on how to proceed with the plan.

“They directed staff to proceed with coordination with county departments — specifically, the Departments of Management and Budget, Public Works and Environmental Services/Capital Planning and Building Development Branch, and the Procurement and Materials Management — to pursue the optimum process and approaches to realizing the project goals and to making our budget and Capital Project plan available to the public on June 19, 2017 in as complete and accurate a presentation as possible.”

The processes for the aquatic center renovation will continue as planned. The proposal calls for a new zero-depth entry attached to the existing lap pool, a new family changing room, private showers, a larger and deeper area in the warm water pool, and overall improved air and acoustics quality.

Reston resident Gordon Gerson submitted a request for additional deep-end safety features and for the locked closets in the locker rooms to be converted into private changing rooms.

“We will continue to explore the optimum solutions to the many challenges having the one building, the one source of funding and the several competing audiences to serve create,” said Gordon in response. “I remain very optimistic that we will arrive at a good solution that you and your constituents will participate in achieving.”

Gordon has previously said she believes the upgrade could cost up to $4 million. Tax rates would not be affected by the project, Gordon said.

The annual public hearing for programs and budget will be held Monday, June 19 at 6:30 p.m. at RCC Hunters Woods (2310 Colts Neck Road). Residents who plan to attend are encouraged to send an email to [email protected] to RSVP. Written comments or questions can be submitted to the same address, with a full name and address included.