Restonians Jim and Karen Cleveland will be honored with the 2014 Legacy Award at the Devotion to Children’s 12th annual Red, Heart & Soul Gala on Nov. 12.

Devotion to Children (DTC) is a Northern Virginia nonprofit committed to providing access to high quality educational and childcare programs for children aged six and under from economically disadvantaged families.

The Clevelands, separately and together, are involved in a number of Reston and Northern Virginia organizations, including YMCA of Fairfax County Reston, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston Community Center, Reston’s Nature House, Reston Historic Trust, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Leadership Fairfax and the Initiative for Public Art Reston, among others.

Karen Cleveland is the Chair of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce. Jim Cleveland is the former president of the Reston Land Corporation, which was instrumental in the development of Reston and the first phase of Reston Town Center. Both are “Best of Reston” Award winners.

DTC says the Clevelands are being honored for their “devotion to helping this organization give children of working and unemployed families access to affordable, quality preschool, daycare, health and educational services.”

The Clevelands will accept the award at DTC’s Read, Heart & Soul Gala at the Tysons Corner Ritz Carlton Nov. 12. For tickets and sponsorships, visit the DTC website.

Photo: Karen Cleveland/Credit: GRCC

There could be 12 inches of snow all winter in Reston. Or there could be six snowstorms with 12 inches each.

You never know, and that is why Reston Association is working on getting the whole community prepared.

The community is invited to join reps from RA, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) and Fairfax County at the first “Snow Summit” Thursday at 6 p.m. at RA Headquarters, 12001 Sunrise Valley Dr.

Last winter was unusually snowy in Reston, with 11 FCPS snow days. But even after the snow fell, there was confusion among community members as to who was responsible for what: What is RA’s responsibility? What is VDOT’s? Is it right to ask residents to help clear sidewalks so children don’t have to walk to school in the street?

The goals of the meeting are to help educate the community about the shared responsibility for snow removal and create opportunities for grassroots collaboration and planning on a local level for improved snow removal solutions, RA says.

The idea was the suggestion of at-large board member Rachel Muir.

“We know that RA always does a remarkable job with our trails; they are usually the first places open during a snowfall and the best maintained,” she said in a memo to board members over the summer. “The source of the problem is often VDOT, Fairfax County, or contractors or clusters undoing or not doing a coordinated effort on snow removal.”

With the Silver Line now open, that also adds another level of accessibility issues at near Wiehle-Reston East.

While RA plows its 55 miles of paths, it does not shovel sidewalks unless they are on RA property. RA’s attorney explained at a meeting last winter that RA cannot shovel spots it does not own because of liability issues.

RA has recently drafted an agreement with the county that would grant RA the legal right to work on paths crucial to access to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. RA would be permitted to plow or provide other minor maintenance such as pruning or pothole repair. RA would not be responsible for major repair or capital replacement.

RA is also seeking a permit from VDOT to remove snow from VDOT sidewalks adjacent to RA property.

VDOT is responsible for plowing most public streets in Reston. It does not, however, shovel sidewalks. Some community members pitched in to shovel sidewalks near their subdivisions last winter, but it was far from 100-percent participation.

“Recognizing VDOT does not provide any snow removal on its sidewalks, if RA removes snow from VDOT sidewalks adjacent to RA property, but other adjoining property owners (individuals, clusters, condos) do not, there will be a very obvious discontinuation of cleared sidewalks at many locations throughout Reston,” RA documents state.

“If RA were to clear the sidewalks adjacent to its own properties, it would add approximately 5.6 miles to its snow removal inventory, although only half of those are VDOT owned. The other half are either owned by Fairfax County or unknown.  Additionally, most of the additional work will require the use of a snow blower and hand shoveling. The additional clearing would extend RA’s response time at least an extra day to remove an average snowfall.”

Photo: RA path plows/File photo

Goldfish Swim School is now open in Reston.

The first Virginia location of the national franchise opened this week at 12430 Pinecrest Rd.

Owners Gina and Ryan Bewersdorf built a 25-yard pool in the space on the first floor of an office building.

Goldfish offers lessons for children as young as 4 months old. The pool is also heated to 90 degrees to make the water more inviting for little ones, says Gina Bewersdorf.

Swimming classes are open for registration online and by calling (703) 348-3261. A drop-in lesson costs $23.75. One lesson per week in a group of four children costs $95 per month, and private lessons cost $220 per month.

Reston Station’s plaza is still a work in progress. On a typical weekday morning at the future mixed-use project at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, there are commuters heading to and from Metro trains and construction workers taking a break from building the high-rise BLVD apartments.

Ed Hardy and his crew are also hard at work, smoking and curing fresh bacon and turning it into all things bacon-related, yummy and for sale at his trailer parked on the plaza.

Hardy, 39, who has worked in kitchens from New York’s Gramercy Tavern and Aquavit to, most recently, Rockville’s Quench, set up his new business, Bacon N Ed’s, about a month ago.

After the Silver Line opened in July, Hardy thought the plaza — which is planned to have retail and restaurants eventually — would be an excellent spot to open his own place. Since developer Comstock was thinking about the plaza as a flexible food and festival space, Hardy says he approached them to be the test case.

“Even a guy living in McLean can recognize a food desert when he sees one,” said Hardy of the end of the Silver Line.

He sunk nearly $40,000 into acquiring a trailer and outfitting it with what he needs to both cure bacon and incorporate it into both morning and afternoon treats.

Egg Meat Cheese Biscuit, $5 (Ham, Bacon, Sausage patty); and egg, tomato, black bean and arugula wrap, $6; a BLT of course, $8; Veggie Banh Mi $9; and a fig-and-bacon Pop-Tart, among others.

Joining native Virginian Hardy in the business is his wife, Francoise Villeneuve, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and recently launched a confection line, Wiggly Leroux. Villeneuve’s cookies, hot chocolates and candy (stop by for a pumpkin spice marshmallow) are also for sale at the trailer.

Hardy is open from 6 to 10 a.m. and then again in the evening rush, but he is on the plaza curing bacon all day — about 25 lbs. a week.

He says he crowdsourced the cute business moniker through his Facebook friends. Some of the rejected names: “Barely EDible” and “Ed’s Crustachella Discount Shrimp Wagon.” Besides, Hardy says, breakfast is his favorite meal of the day.

Comstock spokeswoman Maggie Parker says she is pleased to have Bacon N Ed’s aboard.

“We are delighted to have a chef of Ed Hardy’s caliber operating a food truck on the Reston Station plaza,” she said, adding that the truck us “the first aspect of an exciting new retail concept in the works for delivery at Reston Station.

“Until full scale operations begin, Ed will be joined by other high quality food and service providers,” said Parker. “Stay tuned for more.”

Follow Bacon N Ed’s on Facebook and Twitter.

Fairfax Officer Saves Eagle — This was on the other side of the county, but so good we just had to share. Fairfax County Animal Control officer Kathy Prucnal rescued an injured American Bald Eagle at Huntley Meadows Park when she wrapped it in a blanket and took it to the vet for treatment. [Fairfax County Police]

Help Crimesolvers Solve Shooting  — Fairfax County Crimesolvers is asking for the public’s help in solving a shooting in the 9000 block of Oleander Avenue in nearby Oakton on the morning of Tuesday, October 21. No one was hurt, but a bullet was shot through the window. The shots may have come from the Oakton High School football field, where someone was shooting at the scoreboard. [Fairfax County Crimesolvers]

Kudos to McCool — South Lakes High School senior Andrew McCool advanced to the Virginia High School League Cross Country Championships after finishing 21st at the North Regionals with a time of 15:45 on Wednesday. McCool is the first individual SLHS boys cross country runner to qualify for States since 2001. The VHSL state meet is Nov. 14-15 in The Plains, Va.

Thanks, ‘Charlie Brown’— The Reston Community Players’ final two shows of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown are Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8. at CenterStage at Reston Community Center. They troupe is encouraging patrons to bring a canned item to donate at the shows to support the Thanksgiving Food Drive.

Election canvassers from both parties have been combing through Fairfax County voter records all day Wednesday, where they found one issue so far: a problem with the tally in the Cameron Glen precinct, which led to a more than 100-vote flip in Republican candidate Ed Gillespie’s favor, said Brian Schoeneman, 
Secretary of the Fairfax County Electoral Board.

The original Cameron Glen tally was Gillespie 514, Mark Warner 770 and Libertarian Robert Sarvis,29. Schoeneman said there was a counting error, and Warner’s total should have been 660.

Officials are counting the votes because the election for U.S. Senate is still so close. At last count, incumbent Democrat Warner had 49.10 percent and challenger Ed Gillespie had 48.37 percent.

Warner still leads by 53,ooo votes in Fairfax County, the commonwealth’s most populous  jurisdiction. The Associated Press said Wednesday afternoon Warner leads by 13,000 votes overall.

Still, Warner made a victory speech at his campaign headquarters late Tuesday.

“I want to congratulate Ed Gillespie,” Warner said. “He ran a hard fought campaign. I’ve known what its meant to come up a little bit short against a Warner a few years back. But I wish him and I wish his family well. I know he will stay involved in Virginia and national politics.”

The canvass is expected to go on until Friday.

Gillespie, the former Republican National Committee Chair, has not conceded the race.

“It’s a testament to our volunteers and their incredible efforts that we were outspent two-to-one and yet the most recent unofficial tally has us separated by less than a percentage point out of more than 2 million votes cast,” Gillespie said in a statement. “Now we owe it to the voters of Virginia to respect the canvassing process that is underway to get an official result. We will be watching the results closely so that we can ensure Virginians have confidence in the accuracy of the results.

“It was an honor to run, and I will respect the decision reached by Virginia’s voters.”

A recount could happen if the trailing candidate requests it. If the margin of votes is less than half a percent of the total vote, the candidate can appeal to the State Board of Elections to request a recount, which the government will finance. If the margin is greater than 0.5 percent but less than one percent of total vote, the candidate may also request a recount, but has to pay for himself.

Virginia is still counting the votes for U.S. Senator, with incumbent Democrat holding a slim lead on Republican challenger Ed Gillespie. But Fairfax County’s votes have been totaled, and Warner won every precinct in Reston.

Here is a look at precinct-by-precinct Reston voting for Senate and for U.S. House. In the House 11th District, which includes Reston, incumbent Democrat Gerry Connolly won re-election, defeating first time candidate and human rights activist Suzanne Scholte.

Dogwood  (Voter turnout 41.5 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 484; Warner, 1,070; Sarvis (L), 58
• House: Scholte, 529; Connolly, 1,040

Hunters Woods (59.7 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 505; Warner, 914; Sarvis, 24
• House: Scholte, 529; Connolly, 852

Reston 1 (40 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 264; Warner, 794; Sarvis, 29
• House: Scholte, 286; Connolly, 763

Reston 2 (46 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 343; Warner 968; Sarvis, 36
• House: Scholte, 367; Connolly, 927

Reston 3 (51.9 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 220; Warner, 777; Sarvis 24
• House: Scholte, 230; Connolly, 752

Glade (53.6 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 504; Warner: 1,289; Sarvis, 49
• House: Scholte, 551; Connolly, 1,226

South Lakes (50 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 565; Warner, 1,471; Sarvis, 40
• House: Scholte, 620; Connolly, 1,393

Terraset (39.9 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 373; Warner, 1,035; Sarvis, 44
• House: Scholte, 396; Connolly, 994

Sunrise Vallley (55.6 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 390; Warner, 516; Sarvis, 15
• House: Scholte, 412; Connolly, 475

North Point (46 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 797; Warner, 1,207; Sarvis, 41
• House: Scholte, 856; Connolly, 1,133

Aldrin (51 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 876; Warner, 1,320; Sarvis, 38
• House: Scholte, 946; Connolly, 1,233

Cameron Glen (40.7 percent)

• Senate: Gillespie, 514; Warner, 760; Sarvis, 29
• House: Scholte, 540; Connolly, 627

For complete Fairfax County results, see this report from the Fairfax County Board of Elections.

The Mark Warner (D) campaign has declared victory in the Virginia race for U.S. Senate, however challenger Ed Gillespie has not yet conceded the race.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, Warner had 49.11 percent of the vote over Gillespie’s 48.34 percent, according to the Virginia Board of Elections.

The Warner campaign will hold a noon press conference to discuss a possible recount, which is allowed under Virginia law if the margin is less than 1 percent.

Canvassing to check votes began early this morning at the Fairfax County Government Center. A recount could happen if the trailing candidate requests it. If the margin of votes is less than half a percent of the total vote, the candidate can appeal to the State Board of Elections to request a recount, which the government will finance. If the margin is greater than 0.5 percent but less than one percent of total vote, the candidate may also request a recount, but has to pay for himself.

The Virginia race was a surprisingly close one. It looks to end with Democratic incumbent Warner bucking the Republican tide that enabled the GOP to take control of the Senate.

Read more about the changing momentum of this race in this Washington Post story. Read more about the candidates in this previous Reston Now story.

In Fairfax County, Warner earned 175,687 votes to Gillespie’s 122,790. Warner also received more votes in all Reston precincts.

This story will be updated as vote tallies become official.

Photo: Mark Warner/Reston Now file photo.

(Updated Wednesday, 7 a.m.)

Virginia 11th District Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) won another term to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, defeating main challenger Suzanne Scholte (R).

Connolly was declared the winner about 9 p.m. When all the votes were in, Connolly had 57 percent of the them to Scholte’s 40 percent. Joe Galdo (Green) and Marc Harrold (Libertarian) each earned less than 2 percent of the vote.

The 2014 midterm election marked Reston voters’ return to Connolly’s congressional district. Reston had been in the Virginia 8th District (then represented by Democrat Jim Moran) for a decade before 2010 redistricting returned the heavily Democratic bloc to the 11th.

Connolly, a former Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, has been in Congress since 2008.

At his campaign gathering in Crystal City Tuesday night, Connolly thanked the 11th District voters “for placing your trust in me once again.”

“I shall strive to redeem their trust and to honor their values in all I do,” Connolly said.

Tuesday night’s victory marked the 10th consecutive election win for Connolly.

“We’re a divided country. It’s not just Congress that’s divided; our communities are divided: and our states are divided. And that’s because we share some values and we differ on others,” Connolly said.

Nearby, Republican State Del. Barbara Comstock was an easy winner (57 percent of the vote) over Democratic Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust (39 percent) in the 10th District. In the 8th, Don Beyer (D) earned 67 percent of the vote to defeat several challengers.

The two questions asked to Fairfax County voters also passed by large margins.

A Constitutional amendment allowing the Virginia General Assembly to provide property tax exemption to  surviving spouses of an armed forces member killed in action passed with 197,088 Fairfax County voters saying yes and 32,373 voting no.

Fairfax County also asked voters to authorize a $100 million transportation bond, which received more than 164,000 favorable votes.

The transportation bond is slated to provide:

• Spot road improvements to increase roadway capacity, reduce congestion, improve safety, and improve transit access ($16 million)
• Pedestrian improvements to improve capacity, enhance safety and complete missing pedestrian links that connect neighborhoods, and improve access to schools, Metrorail stations and activity centers ($78 million)
• Bicycle improvements that include developing new bicycle facilities, constructing trails, adding bicycle parking and enhancing accessibility ($6 million)

The Senate race between Mark Warner (D) and Ed Gillespie (R) was close and still being counted Tuesday night.

Photo: Gerry Connolly addresses supporters in Crystal City Tuesday night/Credit: Connolly campaign

Meet The Artisans — Modern Reston introduces us to The Soap Engineers, artisan soap makers who sell their wares at Reston Farmers Market at Lake Anne. [Modern Reston]

Run The Mustache Mile — Registration is still $30 through Thursday for Saturday’s Mustache Mile, a race to benefit men’s health causes. The race is at Reston Town Center and has several different race categories from which to choose. [PR Races]

“Rebuilding Reston” — Couldn’t make it to the “Rebuilding Reston” workshop at Reston Association HQ with Mark Fenton last week? You can watch the whole two-hour presentation on YouTube. The workshop with public health and planning consultant Fenton concentrated on how communities can can add amenities become more walkable, bikeable and add other healthy amenities. [YouTube]

Best Of Reston Nominations Close Friday — There is still time to nominate businesses and individuals for the annual awards that honor those who give back to the community. [Reston Now]

Officers from Fairfax County Police’s Reston District Station report two burglaries this week, both in unincorporated Herndon.

Both break-ins took place on Saturday.

Police said a resident in the 13200 block of Keach Place reported someone entered the residence and took property. In the second incident, a resident of the 12800 block of Kettering Drive in Fox Mill said someone entered the residence and took property.

The locations are about four miles apart. Police do not know if the break-ins were related.

In other crime news this week:

LARCENIES

• 10400 block of Beach Mill Road, property from vehicle.
• 1800 block of Discovery Street, phone from location.
• 11400 block of Gate Hill Place, package from residence.
• 2700 block of Prince Harold Court, property from vehicle.
• 2300 block of Hunters Woods Plaza, phone from location.
• 2000 block of Royal Fern Court, materials from location.
• 1600 block of Washington Plaza, property from residence
• 11400 block of Washington Plaza, larceny from a cab driver.
• 11100 block of Sunset Hills Road, property from vehicle.

STOLEN VEHICLES

• 11600 block of Plaza America Drive, 2000 Ford E150.

The Reston Master Plan Phase II community feedback process will continue this week with a meeting Saturday at 8:45 a.m. at Aldrin Elementary School, 11375 Center Harbor Rd.

This meeting, third in series of discussions with Fairfax County planners this fall, will concentrate on the Baron Cameron retail area; pedestrian circulation and safety; Reston’s Village Center and Community Spaces; and Tall Oaks Village Center.

Phase I of the new Master Plan was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this year. That portion lays the framework for development and density around Reston’s transit stations.

Fairfax County officials say the the current comprehensive plan, last updated in 1989, requires revision because Reston no longer has a master developer to update the plan for Reston; the plan for Reston has outdated elements; and population expected to grow with the arrival of Metro.

Phase II of the Master Plan, which will guide residential neighborhood and village center redevelopment, kicked off in June. After accepting public feedback during the summer, planners wrote a working draft “strawman text.”

The strawman text was presented to the community at a meeting on Sept. 13. There was a second community meeting Oct. 18, where residents discussed the pros and cons of the existing village centers. and convenience centers. The future of the largely empty Tall Oaks Village Center emerged as a universal concern.

The Baron Cameron retail area — which contains Home Depot — presents its own challenges. The 22-acre parcel was originally planned to be part of Reston Town Center, but was never developed to the same scale or design as town center or the nearby Spectrum.

However, with the Spectrum slated for a massive mixed-use overhaul, the Master Plan should address the future of Baron Cameron shopping center, which has a variety of stores, many of them locally owned.

“This area continues to serve as an important location for community serving retail and is
planned for retail uses at 0.25 FAR to maintain its existing character,” the working draft states. That density number is the same as the other village centers.

“Opportunities should be sought to improve pedestrian connectivity within the retail center and improve connectivity more broadly to the surrounding neighborhoods and neighboring commercial areas for all modes of transport including pedestrian, bicycle, transit and vehicles. In addition, if existing buildings are redeveloped with new retail buildings, the planning and design of the redeveloped sites should provide for environmental sustainability, green technology, and an appropriate transition to the surrounding neighborhoods.”

Fairfax County voters went to the polls at a slow but steady pace on Tuesday.

Polling place officials said it seemed to be a typical turnout for a sunny day in a midterm election year.

Up for vote in Reston: U.S. Senator; U.S. House of Representatives VA 11th; a Constitutional Amendment for spouses of veterans killed in action; and a $100 million Fairfax County transportation bond. Have not voted yet? Get up to speed on candidates and issues with our Reston Voter’s Guide.

As of about 10:45 a.m., 850 out of 4,600 registered voters had voted at South Lakes High School, Reston’s largest precinct, said poll supervisor Ed Robichaud. He said the South Lakes precinct had already had 200 early voters as well.

At the Cameron Glen polling place, 436 had cast votes by mid-morning, officials said. That’s about 11.6 percent of registered voters and a typical pace for a non-Presidential year, they added.

In 2010, for example, the last midterm that was a also a presidential race, the national voter turnout was 36.9 percent, says the Pew Research Center. Turnout rebounded to 53.7 nationally for the 2012 Presidential Election. Turnout is usually shy of 50 percent in Fairfax County during non-Presidential years, county statistics show.

Fairfax County said morning turnout on Tuesday was averaging between 10 and 20 percent.

Incumbent Sen. Mark Warner (D) cast his ballot Tuesday at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria. While Warner, seeking his second term, has been leading in all major polls, the margin Warner holds over Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie has been narrowing in recent weeks.

The Senate race is important because 13 states have tight races, and a few Republican victories can earn the party control of the Senate. Read more about tipping Senate control in The Washington Post.

The polls will be open until 7 p.m.

Reston Now will bring you full results when they are available.