Thanksgiving week kicked off in Reston with balmy temperatures, which belies the forecast of a white Thanksgiving.

Yes, snow the day before and on Thanksgiving is a possibility, maybe even a probability, forecasters said.

It would be the first snow on Thanksgiving since 1996, says the Capital Weather Gang.

The weather will turn on Tuesday, says the National Weather Service. There will be a chance of rain between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., then rain and snow likely. It will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent, with amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

On Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year, there is a 90 percent chance of precipitation with lows in the 20s. The chances for snow continue right through Thanksgiving morning.

WTOP has some advice to time your travel:

If you are headed north on Interstate 95, to get ahead of the system, drivers should aim to complete their trip (or at least make it through much of Pennsylvania) by 10 a.m. Wednesday.

If you are traveling south on I-95, I would wait until the storm system has passed, probably after 7 p.m. (or later) Wednesday.

If you are traveling along I-81, I would leave on Wednesday as early as possible (Tuesday night would be ideal), especially if you are headed south.

How much accumulation, if any, will Fairfax County see? As of Monday afternoon, the NWS was predicting up to two inches around here, but that could change.

Reston Now will bring you an updated forecast as the week goes on. Meanwhile, check your travel plans and be ready for delays.

Reston Station will be hosting a Thanksgiving food truck mini-market Monday through Wednesday evenings this week.

Two weeks ago, Reston Now told you about Bacon N Eds, the truck offering all things bacon, and Wiggly Leroux, artisinal confections, being sold on the plaza by a husband-and-wife chef team.

This week, the duo will be joined by The Bratwurst King, a Restonian who has been selling Austrian goodies from his truck for several years; Meat Crafters, also offering sausage specialities; and Lobster Maneia, which has been offering its lobster at the Wednesday Smartmarket Farmers Market on Wednesdays.

The trucks will be at the Reston Station plaza on the North side of the Weihle-Reston East Silver Line Station from 4 to 7 p.m. all three days.

Contributions from the community enabled Cornerstones to distribute more than 900 Thanksgiving baskets and grocery certificates to families in need over the weekend.

The Reston nonprofit says that about 100 volunteers, including Individuals, families, and volunteer groups such as scouts, religious organizations, businesses, and schools, helped distribute the items on Saturday.

Each family was provided with a Thanksgiving basket, many of which were decorated by donors with holiday messages and pictures.

The baskets included:

• 3 cans assorted veggies and 2 cans fruit
• 1 bottle cooking oil; 2 lb. bag of flour and 2 lb. bag of sugar
• 1 box instant potatoes or macaroni & cheese or stuffing
• 1 box rice, 1 box biscuit or muffin mix
• 1 snack (pretzels, chips, nuts, etc.)
• 1 box of dessert mix
• 1 $25 gift card (Giant/Safeway/Shoppers) for the purchase of a turkey/ham entrée

“For many in our community with stressed budgets and financial challenges, a Thanksgiving dinner just isn’t possible,” said Cornerstones CEO Kerrie Wilson.

“Cornerstones has been hosting this annual Thanksgiving food drive for more than a decade, to allow families in need in our community to focus on paying bills, buying food, and remaining in their homes.”

Cornerstones is also holding a winter coat drive and a Gifts for Kids drive this holiday season. Visit Cornerstones’ website for more details.

Photos courtesy of Cornerstones

Northern Virginia Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia list is out — and not one Reston restaurant is on it.

While Reston, particularly Reston Town Center, is a hub for food and drink in this part of Fairfax County, apparently it’s not the spot with the best food and drink.

To be fair, Northern Virginia covers a large area, with picks from Arlington’s Liberty Tavern to Loudoun’s farm-to-table The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm making the cut.

There are fine dining stalwarts like Trummer’s on Main, 2941, L’Auberge Chez Francois and The Ashby Inn on the list. There are quirky locally owned places too, like Vienna’s Maple Avenue Restaurant and Pazzo Pomodoro mentioned.

Reston, however, comes up empty. No Passionfish. No Ariake. Nothing at Reston Town Center.

Do you think that is an oversight or a correct assessment? Do you have a Reston spot that should be among the top 50? Tell us in the comments.

Friday, Nov. 28 marks the starts of the 2014 holiday shopping season, and Reston Town Center will usher in “the most wonderful time of the year” with a full day of activities.

Here’s the schedule of events:

8 a.m. — Reston Town Center stores and the ice skating pavilion both open early.

8 a.m. — Gingerbread Man Mile, a one-mile kids fun run to benefit Children’s National Medical Center. Online registration closes Nov. 25 at 8 p.m.

11 a.m. — The 24th annual Reston Town Center holiday parade. This year’s theme is “Home for the Holidays.

The Reston Holiday Parade features 60 groups and thousands of spectators. There will be Macy’s-style balloons, musicians, dancers, antique cars, characters, community groups, dignitaries, Washington Nationals Racing Presidents, and the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus in a horse-drawn carriage.

Honoring the “Home for the Holidays” this year, the parade will have an Americana theme, offering a big welcome to members of the military and their families. Before the parade starts, thousands of American flags and jingle bells will be handed out to spectators lining the route.

The Grand Marshals for this year’s parade also honor our troops.

Grand Marshals: The Cowart Family. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Kris Cowart, his wife Nicole, and daughter Lizzie are from Baton Rouge, La., and reside in Springfield.

Junior Grand Marshal: South Lakes High School student Nathan Rulona, who is the Battalion Commander of the JROTC program, leading 151 students while maintaining a GPA of over 4.0 in the IB diploma program.

Special guest parade emcees will be Angie Goff and Doug Kammerer of NBC4 Washington.

After the parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus will stay for visits and photos until 4:30 p.m.  Any donation for a 5 x 7″ photo will benefit South Lakes High School.

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. — Mini-Train Rides. All donated proceeds will benefit a local charity.

5:00 p.m. — Frosty Follies. Music and dance performance by Metropolitan School of the Arts, on Market Street in front of the tree.

6:00 p.m. — The tree lighting attracts a gathering of approximately 5,000 people to Fountain Square for a half-hour Sing Along of traditional Christmas songs. Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive in a horse-drawn carriage to magically light up the huge Christmas tree in Fountain Square, followed by traditional holiday songs led by The Reston Chorale and brass quintet.

6:30 p.m. — Horse-drawn carriage rides begin. Proceeds benefit local charities. Pick-up location is in front of Talbots on Market Street. $5 per person; children 5 and under ride free with adult.

Photo: 2013 Reston Town Center Holiday Parade/Credit: Mike Heffner

Metro On Sunday Schedule Thursday — That is just one of several changes for the rail service over the holiday weekend. [Metro]

County Establishes Resident Curator Program — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors passed a new law establishing a Resident Curator program. The program will let people live rent-free in historic properties in exchange for renovating them, but many specifics must be worked out before it goes into effect. [Fairfax County]

Bridging The Americas Through Birds — Seven classes from Lake Anne Elementary are taking part in Bridging the Americas/Unidos por las Aves, is a cross-cultural environmental education program that partners classes in grades 2 through 8 in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, New Hampshire and Vermont with classes in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paired classes learn and exchange information about the migratory birds that winter in Latin America and return to the US and Canada each spring to breed.

Vote For Tech’s Best — Voting is open to choose the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s 2014 Tech Company of The Year. Several Reston firms are in the running, including Cooley LLP, Clarabridge and Hopecam. [NVTC]

Photo: Window of small change consignment at Lake Anne Plaza

Looking for a new home for the holidays? Start with these open houses this weekend.

1705 Lake Shore Crest #12
2 BR, 1.5 BA Condo
$298,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11213 Hunting Horn Lane
5 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$679,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11436 Tanbark Lane
6 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$675,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11800 Sunset Hills Rd. #314
3 BR, 2 BA Condo
$649,900
Open Sunday, 1 to  3 p.m.

10987 Thrush Ridge Road
3 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$639,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2307 Ballycairne Court
3 BR, 4.5 BA SFH
$624,900
Open Sunday,  1 to 3 p.m.

2255 Cedar Cove Court
3 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$619,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

12000 Market Street #189
3 BR, 2 BA Condo
$550,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

Fairfax County Police said they have identified a suspect in the Nov 16 hit-and-run accident in Reston that left a woman severely injured.

“A suspect, and suspect vehicle, have been identified relating to the hit and run investigation on Reston Parkway,” Public Information Officer Lucy Caldwell said yesterday. No one has been charged, she added.

Police had been looking for a red sedan that fled the scene.

The accident occurred about 6:30 p.m.on Reston Parkway near the Spectrum Center, where the victim had been shopping, family members said.

The victim, a woman, was struck when she was crossing Reston Parkway with her teenage daughter, police said.

Witnesses said the victims were not walking in a crosswalk. Groceries were spilled all over the road, which was briefly closed.

There is no crosswalk at that location, though the accident led to many comments by readers calling for one on the previous Reston Now story.

The woman was transported to a hospital, where she had surgery for organ damage, as well as a fractured right leg and broken and dislocated elbow. The child was not injured.

Meanwhile, Fairfax County Police are stepping up awareness of pedestrian safety. They say 400 pedestrians have been injured in the county in the last three years. Read more about FCPD’s campaign on the department’s blog.

The Reston Association Board voted on Thursday to authorize a referendum for the 343 users of the RELAC air-conditioning system.

The 343 Lake Anne-area homeowners are bound by the Reston deed to use the lakewater-cooled system which was touted as revolutionary in the mid-1960s, but has been met with frustration at its inefficiency in recent years.

Some users have complained it is expensive, mold producing and cannot cool the top floors of some of the townhomes. Several homeowners have used a medical exemption to allowed to install, at their own expense, an additional air conditioning system.

Last summer, 110 homeowners signed a petition asking RA for the referendum.

The RA board approved the referendum for January. The question to be asked:

Air-Conditioning Units. In any residential Cluster in which central air-conditioning service is available to the Lot line, no individual air-conditioning units of any type shall be permitted. This covenant may only be amended or revoked by at least a two-thirds vote of the Category A Members of all residential Clusters on the service.

At the public hearing portion of Thursday’s regular board meeting, several RELAC users spoke in favor of keeping the system, one calling it an “aesthetic catastrophe” to change the system. Others asked that the referendum be delayed until summer, so users would have more time to see how it is running under new management.

Vernon Wiley, who also lives on Wainwright said RELAC provides excellent cooling for his home.

“As far as I am concerned, there is nothing wrong with system and I would like to stick to the status quo. Allowing homeowners to get off RELAC may raise rates. In the worst case, RELAC may no longer be possible, and collapse. If this happens, it will force other homeowners to seek other systems, which may cost thousands of dollars.”

Blake Travis of Maple Ridge disagrees.

“Those of us in favor of referendum are not trying to kill RELAC, but we want a choice,” he said. “It is a faulty system.”

Travis said he does not think the only alternative is a “loud air conditioning unit.”

“Units today are extremely quiet,” he said. “Street traffic is louder than what you will hear from an air conditioner.”

RA last held a RELAC referendum in 2008. It was defeated 130-100.

In other RA Board news:

The Board voted that the 2015 assessment rate will be $642. It also established a reduced rate of 50 percent for property owners qualifying for Fairfax County real estate tax relief.

The Board authorized $30,000 to hire an urban planning consultant as Reston and $30,000 to conduct a parks and recreation survey that will be useful for the next budget planning round for 2016-17. The money is available in the budget, RA directors said.

Photo: Townhomes on Wainwright are on the RELAC system

(Updated, Friday 10:44 a.m.)

South Lakes High School is under increased security today as a threat of violence at the school was discovered on social media on Thursday, said Principal Kim Retzer.

Sources said that after a fight this week in the 10th grade locker pod, one student said on social media he would bring a gun to school.

There was much chatter about that on tumblr and Twitter Thursday night, and parents and students alerted the school. Many sophomores told their parents they wanted to skip first period Friday due to fear.

The student who originally posted the threats was intercepted by the school security officer this morning, sources said.

Parents and students received this memo from Retzer this morning:

A threat directed at South Lakes High School was discovered on social media yesterday.  Fairfax County Police were notified and determined the threat was not credible but, as a precaution, the FCPS Office of Safety and Security and Fairfax County Police have provided additional assistance for the school.

This, of course, raises the issue of the appropriate use of social media and how the irresponsible use of these tools can waste resources and cause unnecessary concern and anxiety. We hope this information will put to rest any rumors that continue to persist regarding this incident.

The anonymity provided by certain applications only complicates our efforts to provide a safe and non-threatening learning environment. We will continue to have discussions with students about appropriate uses of technology and supervise technology usage in school. However, we need your assistance as much of this activity takes place outside the school day when students are not under our supervision.

The safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. The adults responsible for keeping students safe can do their jobs more effectively, if students are willing to report problems or suspicious behavior and I encourage you to engage your children in discussions about maintaining a safe school environment. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the school office.

Kim Retzer
Principal

Construction crews at Reston Town Center have made lots of progress building Barcelona and Bartaco in the 10,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of The Avant residential building at Town Square Street and Explorer Street, but no opening date has been set yet.

Representatives at Barteca, the company’s Connecticut headquarters said they did not want to speculate on the opening. However, there has been a recent Craigslist posting for a General Manager, so hiring should begin soon.

The Connecticut-based restaurant group announced last fall that it signed a lease for the Reston locations. Construction work began in July.

Barcelona has several East Coast locations, including one at Logan Circle in D.C.. The restaurant is known for tapas and other Spanish food, as well as a long wine list — featuring, of course, lots of Spanish wine.

Bartaco has five locations (three in Connecticut and one in Atlanta) and is known for craft margaritas and interesting twists on Mexican food. The restaurant is an inexpensive, very casual taco stand, but with unusual ingredients (in addition to the usual favorite ones) such as felafel, tofu, or fried oyster tacos.

Photo: Facade of Barcelona at Reston Town Center

Huge Cash Infusion for Sweetgreen — Sweetgreen, the fast-casual salad restaurant local chain with an outpost at Reston Town Center, just got an $18.5 million investment from some big names to expand to the West Coast. [Eater DC]

Teslas For Sale Nearby — In the market for an uber-expensive Tesla car? The automaker has received zoning approval to open up a showroom at 8500 Tyco Road in Tysons Corner. [Fairfax County Board of Supervisors]

Ted’s Has a Thanksgiving Treat — Where can you get all the Thanksgiving foods (turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberries and more) in one pastry? At Ted’s Bulletin (in D.C. and Reston), where they have a special Thanksgiving Pop-Tart. [Washington City Paper]

Talk About Heroin — Fairfax County is holding an Ask Fairfax! online chat about the county’s growing heroin problem in Monday, Nov. 24 at 3 p.m.  Join in the discussion with Captain Paul Cleveland from the Fairfax County Police Department’s Office of Organized Crime & Narcotics and Peggy Cook, director of Residential Treatment Services for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board. [Fairfax County]

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a plan this week to pay $8.7 million towards a Silver Line underpass structure on Town Center Parkway from Sunrise Valley Drive to Sunset Hills Road.

The supervisors said in county documents it is crucial to get the underpass built soon rather than try and construct it when Phase 2 of Metro’s Silver Line is already running. The funding will go towards planning the $157 million project.

Fairfax County Department of Transportation staff worked with Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on the plan, which calls for construction of a four-lane divided roadway under the Dulles Toll Road.

The Town Center Parkway Underpass Rail Support Structure project was part of the Board of Supervisors’ Six Year Transportation Priorities for FY2015 to FY2020, which was approved by the Board earlier this year.

According to FCDOT’s project timelines for the Six Year Transportation Priorities, the Town Center Parkway Underpass Rail Support Structure project is scheduled to begin implementation in FY 2015.

Phase 2 of the Silver Line, which will run from Reston’s Wiehle Avenue to Reston Parkway and Herndon, Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County, is under construction and expected to open in 2018. Phase 1, which opened in July, runs from Tysons Corner to Wiehle Avene.

Said the supervisors:

The extension of Town Center Parkway from Sunset Hills Road to Sunrise Valley Drive west of Edmund Halley Drive is recommended in the County’s Comprehensive Plan.

This improvement is necessary to achieve the vision of the Reston Transit Station Areas, and enhance connectivity of the overall roadway network.

Constructing the underpass structure beneath an active Metrorail line in the future would cause significant interruption to the rail service. To help eliminate, or at least minimize this disruption as much as possible, the county has proposed to fund the design and construction of the rail support structure as part of the Phase 2 Metrorail project that passes over the future underpass, thus allowing Metrorail tracks to span the future roadway extension.

This work would ensure that Phase 2 of the Silver Line would be supported when the  future underpass is constructed, and limit disruption to Metrorail service during construction of the underpass.