A pedestrian at Fox Mill Shopping Center was injured in an attempted armed robbery and assault on Thursday, July 2, Fairfax County Police said.

Police said the victim was approached by two men while walking on the sidewalk at 1:07 a.m.

One of the suspects displayed a handgun and demanded money. The victim attempted to flee and was assaulted by the suspects. After a brief struggle, the suspects fled, police said.

The victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The suspects were described as two black males, one was wearing a hoodie and was about 5 feet 11 inches tall. Officers with the assistance from the police helicopter and K9 responded and checked the area for the suspects, but they were not located.

In other crime news:

LARCENIES

• 13100 block of Fox Hunt Lane, bicycle from residence
• 2000 block of Golf Course Drive, jewelry from residence
• 2200 block of Gunsmith Square, bicycle from vehicle
• 1500 block of Northgate Square, purse from vehicle
• 1800 block of Explorer Street, beverage from business
• 2300 block of Middle Creek Lane, property from residence
• 11500 block of Links Drive, phone from vehicle
• 10300 block of Shesue Street, property from residence

Reston Now occasionally highlights some of the area’s vacant spaces for your thoughts on what should open instead.

Often, the vacancy is filled practically by the time we get your thoughts. Sometimes, though, the vacancy lingers.

We’ve pulled together some of Reston’s longest spots sitting empty for an all-star edition. We left out Tall Oaks Village Center. While the 70,000 square foot retail center is only about 16 percent occupied, its new owners are planning to redevelop the center into mainly residential.

We also did not include anything where a new lease has been signed and work is being done to open soon, such as at the former Lakeside Inn, where Red’s Table is working towards an August opening.

Among the spaces:

Lady of America Fitness Center, Hunters Woods (Oct. 2103)

At Play Cafe, Hunters Woods (Feb. 2012)

Champps, Plaza America (Oct. 2013)

Burger King, North Point (Feb. 2014)

Have any thoughts on what should go in these empty spaces? Tell us in the comments below.

Plenty to see if you are in the market for a new home. Check out these open houses in Reston this weekend. For complete Real Estate information, check out Reston Now’s Real Estate section.

1348 Red Hawk Circle
5 BR, 4.5 BA SFH
$910,000
Open Sunday 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

2144 Whisperwood Glen Lane
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$367,000
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

2353 Horseferry Court
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$399,9999
Open Sunday 1 to 3 p.m.

12025 Creekbend Drive
4 BR, 4.5 BA SFH
$899,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

1520 Moorings Drive
2 BR, 1.5 BA Condo
$299,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

11603 Deer Forest Road
5 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$774,900
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

11620 Ivystone Court
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$260,000
Open Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.

11703 Old English Drive
2 BR, 1 BA Condo
$260,000
Open Sunday 12 to 3 p.m.

Pat Hynes, Hunter Mill representative to the Fairfax County School Board, was elected by chair of the board on Thursday.

Hynes was elected by the board for a one-year term. Sandy Evens (Mason District) was selected vice chair.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity,” said Hynes. “I enjoy working with [FCPS Superintendent Karen] Garza and my fellow board members.”

Hynes said challenges for the upcoming year include the budget (Garza has predicted a $100 million shortfall for 2016-17 unless cuts are made), school system’s strategic plan and the rollout of later high school start times.

Hynes, of Reston, was elected to the School Board in November 2011 and served as its vice chair in 2012. She is a former attorney who became a teacher, working in FCPS schools in Vienna and Reston 2002-11. She has worked as a teacher’s assistant in Loudoun County since being elected to the FCPS Board, but will take a leave of absence to focus on her new role as chair, she said.

She formerly served on the Superintendent’s Business and Community Advisory Committee and was a founding member of the Vienna Teen Center Foundation.

Hynes also served as PTA president at Louise Archer Elementary School and as president of the Malcolm-Windover Heights Civic Association and F.B. Meekins Cooperative Preschool.

Hynes earned her juris doctor degree from Vanderbilt University and her bachelor’s in economics from the University of Virginia.

Hynes Evans, who was elected to the School Board in March 2010, is the former chair of the School Board’s School Health Advisory Committee and served on the Board’s Transportation Task Force. She is a member of the steering committee of the Northern Virginia Healthy Kids Coalition; founding member of the Fairfax Education Coalition; and co-founder of Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal (SLEEP).

Evans served as the legislation committee chair of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs and as president of the Sleepy Hollow Elementary School PTA. She is a former staff writer for the Washington Post. Evans earned her bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Maryland-College Park.

Food Drive — Food pantry donations slow down in summer, but there are still area residents in need. The county is holding a Community Action Advisory Board July Food Drive. Drop items off at the Hunter Mill Supervisors office, 1801 Cameron Glen Dr. [Fairfax County]

Star Wrestler — More on Herndon Rattlers coach and Fairfax County Police Det. Jay DeWalt, who won two medals at the recent World Police & Fire Games. [Herndon Connection]

Silver Line Slowdown? — Is the addition of Metro’s Silver Line slowing cars on the other rail local rail lines? [NBC4 Washington]

The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for Northern Virginia and the entire Washington, DC Metro area Thursday night.

The heavy rains that are expected are coming just 24 hours after a deluge in Reston Wednesday night. The rain flooded several roads, and rescue crews had rescue several motorists trapped in their cars in the swift water.

The Flash Flood Watch is in effect until midnight tonight.

From the NWS:

WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. PORTIONS OF THE AREA HAVE RECEIVED HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE LAST WEEK…AND AS LITTLE AS ONE INCH OF RAIN IN ONE HOUR COULD PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING.

SMALL STREAMS AND URBAN AREAS WILL BE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO
RAPID RISES OF WATER ONTO NORMALLY DRY AREAS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.

Fairfax County Police will be conducting sobriety checkpoints in the Reston District Friday and Saturday nights.

Occasional sobriety checkpoints are one way police deter drivers from drinking and driving. Police do not announce the exact location in advance.

Fairfax County Police also participate in a region-wide public awareness program, Checkpoint Strikeforce.

The Reston District includes all of Reston, as well as unincorporated Herndon, Oak Hill and Great Falls.

A couple of weeks ago, students at Reston’s Buzz Aldrin Elementary School dumped chocolate sauce, marshmallows, whipped cream and other ice cream sundae accoutrements on school principal Shane Wolfe.

The kids were not suspended. In fact, they were applauded.

Earlier in the 2014-15 school year, Wolfe told the kids that he would allow them to turn him into a human ice cream sundae if they they read 3,000 books in the month leading up to Read Across America Day in March.

Not only did the students meet the goal, they surpassed it by 3,878 books, said Wolfe.

On the last day of school, students brought all types of toppings to school to transform Wolfe into a sundae at an end-of-the-year assembly.

“Anything that gets the students excited about reading and learning is fine by me, even if it means I get to wear tons of sticky ice cream toppings”, Wolfe said.  “It was a great way to end the school year and it didn’t taste too bad either,” said Wolfe.

Ukuleles on the plaza. Ukuleles for sale. Ukuleles sounds in the air.

There is only one ukulele festival in Northern Virginia and it is at Lake Anne this Saturday.

The sixth annual Ukulele Festival at Lake Anne Plaza will feature performances by acclaimed ukulele musicians, music demonstrations, a morning public jam session, and other family friendly activities.

Admission is free. The festival will take place rain or shine. There will be tacos, craft beer and Popsicles for sale. The Saturday morning farmers market and craft market will take place as usual, and most crafters will stay through the festival.

Here is the 2015 music lineup:

9 a.m. to 11 a.m. — Community Stage Morning Jam Session at Café Montmartre.

Main Stage

• 11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Aloha Boys (Hawaiian)
• 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Ukeabilly Mama (Donna Frost) (Blues/Folk)
• 1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Hula Monsters (Swing)
• 2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Gina De Simone & the Moaners (Blues & Swing)
• 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Isa Pacifika Dancers (Traditional Hawaiian Dance Performance)
• 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. – Stuart Fuchs (Folk, Classical, Jazz, Rock)
• 4:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Afternoon Jam Session lead by Gina DeSimone

The festival is hosted by the Lake Anne Merchants with support from the Reston Community Center, Friends of Lake Anne (FOLA), and the Northern Virginia Ukulele Ensemble.

Fairfax County says its program to remove distracting and illegal signs from major road medians has been a big success and will continue.

In July 2013, the county instituted a program to have the Sheriff’s Community Labor Force regularly pick up political campaign signs, advertising signs and more every week.

Fairfax officials that crews picked up 14,000 signs countywide the first year and 22,000 signs the second year, marking the program as a success.

Officials plan to expand the program with a second removal crew this year.

The county formerly picked up signs only when there was a complaint. Signs are now picked up on selected roads on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The program covers 63 streets — or about 200 miles of roadway — county officials said. Most are two-lane, divided highways. Locally, that includes Fairfax County Parkway, South Lakes Drive, Sunset Hills Road, Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive, among others.

Crews hit each of the 63 roads at least once a month, the county says. After the county removes a sign, it is stored for five calendar days at the I-66 Transfer Station where it may be reclaimed. Signs are destroyed after five days.

The Virginia Department of Transportation is still responsible for road maintenance. However, if a sign on any public road presents a safety hazard, drivers should contact VDOT at 1-800-FOR-ROAD or via their online form.

Median signs/Credit: Fairfax County

Searching For New Metro Chief — The WMATA Board of Directors is resuming the search for a new General Manager and Chief Executive Officer. The renewed search comes after gathering feedback from the public, community advocates, business leaders and stakeholders. [Metro]

Reston Trainer Returns To Top Form — Reston’s Chris Tate, who lost a leg in a dirt bike accident in 2010, has attained elite triathlon status. [Reston Patch]

Track Kudos — Reston’s Hannah Waller placed fourth in the 100 meters and fifth in the 200 meters in last weekend’s 2015 Hershey Youth Outdoor National Track and Field competition at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. Waller is a rising eighth grader and Langston Hughes Middle School.

Wednesday afternoon’s downpours resulted in flooding of many roads in and near Reston. A Flash Flood warning remains in effect for the entire area until 9:30 p.m.

At about 8 p.m. rescue crews had been to the scene of two swift waters rescues nearby: One at Stuart Mill Road and Birdfoot Lane, where three cars were reported stuck in high roadway flooding. One driver was on the roof of his car to avoid the floodwaters, authorities said. The other rescue was for several cars at Hunter Mill Road and Hunter Station Road.

Flooding has impacted the following areas as of 7:45 p.m.

• Hunter Mill Road is closed between Hunter Station Rd and Hunter View Road
• Lawyers Road at Hunter Mill Road closed
• Fox Mill Road at Folkstone Road is closed
• Fox Mill Road at Lake James Drive to Thoroughbred Road

Photo: Water at Reston Station/Credit: Bill Burton via Twitter

A group of Reston citizens is soliciting feedback on planned development at Tall Oaks Village Center — as well as additional suggestions it has organized — to make principals aware of their concerns about the new plan for the aging center.

Jefferson Apartment Group (JAG) bought the mostly empty 70,000-square-foot retail center in December 2014. JAG has held three meetings with residents since April, where it showed initial conceptual plans for 154 residences and a small amount of retail.

At the first two meetings, some residents were visibly upset at the residential plans and said the center had been mismanaged — but if good management came in, retail would stay. JAG representatives disagreed, saying there is stiff competition from other nearby shopping centers and little interest in Tall Oaks from retailers.

At a meeting in late June, JAG and Fairfax County Planning staff presented a new plan that offered a slight reduction in the number of townhomes and double the amount of planned retail space (for a total of about 7,000 square feet of shopping/restaurants).

Citizens at the June meeting were organized into focus group tables, where they offered feedback on the new plans. The consensus: the small groups generally liked the diversity of housing (including two garden-style condo buildings, four clusters of 2-over-2 townhouse condos and 100 townhomes), the addition of more retail and the move towards community space.

The residents in attendance also requested even more stores and a more cohesive community open space, as well as another exit to Wiehle Avenue and more integrated space with the existing Tall Oaks Assisted Living building.

The citizens group is driving that message home and asking other citizens to chime in on a short survey.

The group has taken JAG’s plans and amended them with “citizen options,” sketching out additional green space, more integration with Tall Oaks Assisted Living, and more retail. The group has even designated what the retail should be, such as “pizza,” “Pho,” ‘dry cleaners,” and “dog groomers,” which are current Tall Oaks’ tenants, as well as “grocery/deli” and “sit down restaurant.”

Says the citizens group:

We are gathering data to present to Cathy Hudgins, the Reston Planning and Zoning Committee as well as the [Reston Association] Design Review Board regarding our desires for Tall Oaks.

The consistent theme from the community meetings has been: ample retail/services needs to be provided, green space, inclusion of the Assisted Living Facility, and parking.

We have put together two options that address these concerns. We would like the retail to stand out with a different hardscape distinguishing the Village Center from the residential areas.

We don’t know if Jefferson Apartment Group (owners of the seven-acre property) is open to changes, but WE NEED TO HAVE OUR DESIRES KNOWN and DATA can speak louder than words.

JAG representatives say the redevelopment is still in the planning stages. The company has not applied for a zoning change or filed any other official documents.

Photo: Rendering of Tall Oaks redevelopment/Credit: JAG

The former American Press Institute headquarters may be a future housing development.

Vienna-based Sekas Homes has submitted a Fairfax County rezoning application for the property located at 11690 Sunrise Valley Drive. The company seeks to change the parcel from industrial to Planned Residential  to construct 37 urban-style single family attached dwelling units, as well as parking and recreational amenities, the application says.

The existing office building and surface parking will be removed, the application said.

Access will be provided via a single full movement access point off of Roland Clarke Place and the development will be served by private streets and alleyways, the applications said.

The building was occupied by API from 1972 until 2012, when the organization merged with the Newspaper Association of America. The modernist building designed by architect Marcel Breuer was sold for $5 million in 2013.

The building site is adjacent to JBG’s Reston Heights, which contains two hotels, the Mercer Condos and offices. Further expansion of Reston Heights is set to begin soon for the parcel that formerly contained Chili’s Bar & Grill.

The expansion, approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2013, will have a six-story residential building, a 15-story residential building, a five-story building that incorporates a parking garage with residences and retail space; and a 10-story building that mixes office space, parking and retail space.

JBG recently announced that 24-Hour Fitness will be an anchor tenant.

Meanwhile, there also may a big new development in the works for the south access point of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

CESC Commerce Executive Park, L.L.C. has filed a rezoning application for 1850 Centennial Park Drive, 11400 Commerce Park Drive and 11440 Commerce Park Drive  to rezone from Industrial District to Planned Development Commercial (PDC).

Those office buildings are located on the south side of the Dulles Toll Road from the metro station. There is direct access from a stairway between the office buildings and the toll road.

The applications calls for approximately 500 new dwelling units, a hotel with approximately 175 rooms, a new office building of approximately 400,000 square feet, and “complementary retail/active uses integrated into the ground floor to enrich the pedestrian experience.”

The property owners say two existing office buildings will be retained (totaling 356,496 square feet of office space). The application also includes an option to convert the proposed hotel to multifamily residential, and the proposed new office building to multifamily residential and/or hotel.

That development would be one of several in the immediate vicinity of the Metro station. Comstock’s 528-unit BLVD apartments at Reston Station will begin leasing later this year. Construction has recently begun on a project by The Bozzuto Group and Chuck Veatch at Sunset Hills Road and Reston Station Boulevard that will bring 421 units. Developer JBG has also filed a rezoning application to turn an office building at 1831 Wiehle Av. (Sunset Hills and Wiehle Avenue) into 504 residential units.

API building/Credit: Showcase.com