Vowed that this is the season you get out there and really run? Then sign up for the Reston Runners’ annual Women’s Training Program.
The Women’s Training Program is coached by women for women. It is a series of eight weekly sessions, and it is a great way for walkers and runners to enhance their spring training or embark on new goals.
Sessions take place on Monday evenings, May 5 through June 23, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at South Lakes High School (meetings begin in the cafeteria, followed by outdoor workouts with coaches). There are guest speakers each week on topics such as running shoes, overall fitness and nutrition. Full speaker schedule.
This program is suitable for walkers, walk/runners, beginning runners, and advanced beginner runners. Each group is guided by experienced coaches who vary their workouts throughout the program.
The season culminates with the Women’s Distance Festival 5K at the YMCA Reston June 28.
The program fee is $40 fee, which includes a program technical shirt plus an end-of-season celebration on June 30.
If you have any questions, please send an email to [email protected].
Photo by Brian Kent Photography
Spurred in part by the arrest of an allegedly drunk and naked Reston woman after a St. Patrick’s Day party last month, the Arlington County Police Department is stepping up police presence at pub crawls.
A 26-year-old Reston woman was arrested on March 15 after allegedly showing up naked at the Arlington Magistrate’s Office. She and her husband had reportedly participated in the Shamrock Crawl in Clarendon earlier that day, and her husband had been arrested. The woman arrived at the magistrate’s office around 11 p.m. seeking to visit her husband.
She was drunk, completely naked and refused to get dressed or leave in a cab, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The woman was charged with indecent exposure and drunk in public. She was held in jail until sober, police said.
The incident speaks to the number and popularity of bar crawls in Arlington. At the Arlington County Board’s budget mark-up meeting earlier this week, the County Board approved an addition $42,000 to the police specifically for “pub crawl support.” Pub crawls in Clarendon, Courthouse and Ballston have drawn crowds close to 5,000-6,000 people, County Board Chair Jay Fisette said.
“I’m becoming a pub crawl expert, not by choice,” Arlington Police Chief Doug Scott told the Board Wednesday. “We are receiving crawl requests at a very escalated pace because they’ve been very popular. We thought we were going to have three, that went to nine, and it’s growing.”
Scott told ARLnow.com he’s planning a meeting with the Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association on April 30. He and the Board discussed the potential for regulatory measures for potentially reining in the crawls, or requesting the restaurants and/or organizers provide the funds for the police support.
“There are a lot of legal issues around some of the choices the manager and board will have in terms of how we address these crawls in the future,” Scott said.
Board Member Libby Garvey asked Scott if the crawls were “a little like Mardi Gras except all year long.” Board Member Mary Hynes, who lives near Clarendon, said she has had a hard time wading through the revelers when she wants “to go to the grocery store.”
Lines for bars extend far down the sidewalk for many of the bar crawls, which include crawls on St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween and other holidays. One bar crawl in late June last year led to 13 alcohol-related arrests, ARLnow.com reports.
“Our level of disorderliness really escalates on days where we have pub crawls,” said Scott. “I just signed off today on a comprehensive ground response. I think there’s no aspect of the community, especially around some of these bar locations, that are not impacted.”
Ethan Rothstein contributed to this story.
The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column reports that actress Susan Sarandon, her mother Lenora Marie Criscione and a others dining at Reston Town Center’s Passionfish on Tuesday night. From the Reliable Source:
According to our tipsters, Sarandon, who graduated from Catholic University in 1968, and her group of five were tucked away at a private corner table.
They entered through the restaurant’s discreet side door, not because the Oscar-winner feared flashing iPhones but because of Tuesday’s downpour. Passionfish’s general manager greeted the group outside with an umbrella and led them inside.
No word as to why Sarandon and company were visiting Reston.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Virginia Doing Away With Extra E-Z Pass Fee — Gov. Terry McAuliffe has signed bill eliminating extra fees for the E-Z Pass transponder. [Washington Post]
Big Chance For Leidos — Reston-based Leidos Holdings will be the only D.C. area company able to bid for nearly $1 billion in architect-engineering services for the Air Force. The work will support military construction, military family housing, and sustainment, restoration and modernization programs worldwide. [Washington Business Journal]
Metro Work Resumes — Metro took a four-week break for cherry blossom season, but will resume doing weekend work again beginning Friday. [WTOP]
Honoring Jail’s “Rock Stars” — Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid tells volunteers they are all “rock stars” at a ceremony in their honor. Sheriff’s Office volunteers provide inmate programs that include employability and workplace skills, financial planning, responsible parenting, anger management, impact of crime awareness, alcohol and drug addiction recovery, educational advancement and spirituality. In 2013, these volunteers contributed more than 8,000 hours and presented 5,400 classes. [Fairfax County]
(Updated at 12:30 a.m.) Get ready to participate in Reston Now’s first annual Best Reston Businesses awards!
The Best Reston Businesses awards are a chance for residents and community members to choose their favorite restaurants, stores, services and more right here in Reston.
You can help by nominating your favorite businesses in any of the following categories here on RestonNow.com, starting Wednesday, April 23.
The categories will be:
- Architect, Remodeler or Decorator
- Bank
- Burgers
- Doctor
- Happy Hour
- Ice Cream, Bakery or Sweets
- Gym, Trainer or Fitness Business
- Kids’ Store
- New Business
- Outdoor Dining
- Overall Restaurant
- Pet Care
- Pizza
- Realtor or Real Estate Agent
- Salon or Spa
Nominations start Wednesday, April 23 and end Wednesday, April 30. Voting on the nominated businesses will then begin Monday, May 5 and end Friday, May 16.
Reston founder Bob Simon turned 100 years old last week. Thursday morning, he got a television shout out from The Today Show’s Willard Scott. Scott has been wishing Centenarians all over the country milestone birthday greetings on the show for years.
“He loves Reston,” Scott said. ‘He founded Reston and I remember that. I remember the day it opened up.”
See the clip on The Today Show website.
Read more about Simon’s birthday celebrations:
Reston photographer Jim Kirby has published a collection of some of his best work in a new e-book “Reston at Fifty: A Celebration in Pictures.”
The pictures range from athletic events to snowstorms to concerts on Lake Anne Plaza and Reston’s paths in fall.
Kirby says the book is a “pictorial celebration of the new town, including the natural beauty, the architecture, the people, and the culture of the community. Most of the photographs were taken in the last five years and depict Reston today, as I see my home town at fifty.”
The book is available ($5.99) on iTunes to download to an iPad or iBooks on Mac. A 30-page preview is also available for free. Customers can also purchase a print-on-demand copy from Blurb for various prices.
Kirby is a longtime Reston resident and former photojourmalist who now operates Jim Kirby Photography. He has previously published a book , “Harpers Ferry: A Crossroads in Time,” which tells the story of the West Virginia town.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said on Wednesday that it intends Dulles Toll Road tolls to remain steady through 2018.
MWAA CEO Jack Potter said the toll halt will be possible in part from a nearly $2 billion government loan the organization is slated to receive. MWAA applied for a $1.9 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan in February.
The (TIFIA) program provides federal credit assistance to finance major surface transportation projects of national and regional significance, says MWAA.
While the loan still requires final federal approval, it would benefit drivers on the toll road. By supplying financing at more favorable interest rates than through private capital markets, less money would need to be generated by tolls to cover long-term financing costs for the project.
MWAA is also counting on a previous commitment of $300 million by the Commonwealth of Virginia to offset toll increases, said Potter.
Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road have increased every year for the last five years. Some toll road-watchers such as Reston 2020 have estimated the one-way tolls would rise as high as $20 eventually if officials did not find alternate sources of funding Metro’s Silver Line Phase 2.
Potter said at MWAA’s monthly meeting: “We have already realized significant savings from debt refinancing, a lower-than-expected winning bid for the major design-build contract for Phase 2 of the project and the important contribution of $300 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia during the 2013 legislative session. Securing the TIFIA loan is the final piece of the puzzle to let us freeze toll rates for the next five years.”
At its meeting the board also authorized the issuance of $450 million Dulles Toll Road Revenue Refunding Bonds.
The $2.8 billion Phase 1 — which will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue — received $900 million in federal money. Phase 2, from Wiehle to two additional stops in Reston/Herndon then into Loudoun County and Dulles International Airport, received none. Construction of Phase 2 is expected to begin soon with an estimated opening in 2018.
File photo courtesy of MWAA
Herndon High Girls Soccer Ends Epic Losing Streak — The Hornets beat Oakton 3-2 last week, the first time the team won a Conference 5 (or Concorde District) match since May of 2003. [Washington Post]
SLHS Student Freshman Headed to Gymnastics Championships — South Lakes freshman Olivia Norman of Herndon finished fourth in the Region 7 Level 9 Regional Championships in Hampton, Va. last week. She has earned a spot in the Level 9 Junior Olympic (JO) Eastern Championships to be held May 1-4 in Bradenton, Fla. Norman trains with Chantilly Academy Gymnastics.
New Security Chief For Airports — After an extensive public search, the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has confirmed Bryan Norwood as the new vice president for public safety. Norwood has been chief of police in Richmond, Va., and a special agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, among other posts. Norwood will oversee the management and operations of the Authority’s Fire and Rescue Department and Police Department at Reagan National and Dulles International airports and the Dulles Toll Road.
State Science Award for South Lakes Student — SLHS’ Alina Cartwright earned first place in the Environmental Sciences category at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair. Cartwright’s experiments was The Effect of Fertilizer Runoff on the Metabolic Gaseous Emissions of Aquatic Plants Common to the Chesapeake Bay.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is warning citizens about a phone scam in which perpetrators claim a person owes a fine for not appearing for jury duty.
From the Sheriff:
Scammers, identifying themselves as deputy sheriffs, are calling residents of Fairfax County and surrounding jurisdictions, claiming that the resident failed to appear for jury duty and must pay a court fee to avoid arrest.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is in no way associated with this scam. Sheriff’s deputies will NOT call you asking for money nor threatening you with arrest.
If you receive a threatening phone call related to jury duty, please hang up immediately. Do NOT give out personal information such as your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, passwords or any other identifying information.
Regularly monitor all of your monetary accounts and always use strong passwords.
Classic Reston is a biweekly feature sponsored by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce that highlights businesses, places and people with deep roots in Reston.
The sounds of construction equipment are as common as the noise of schoolchildren as Reston’s Terraset Elementary School is in the midst of a major renovation and expansion.
When the work is complete, the school will have more than 100,000 square feet of new offices, art and music rooms, classrooms and parking areas. The new Terraset will expand from a capacity of 600 students to around 900.
Going away will be the dual pedestrian bridges over the courtyard that were part of the innovative design of the school when it was constructed in the 1970s. The school itself will remain mostly built into the landscape, something that earned it national attention when it opened in 1977.
Terraset, translated means “built into the earth,” and coming out of the 1970s energy crisis, the school was touted as the first school on the East Coast to use solar panels as an energy source. In the school’s early years, the solar panels stretched across the entry courtyard.
The Fairfax County School Board designed Terraset as an experiment in moving away from oil dependency at its schools. FCPS applied for a $625,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to pay for the panels, but it was turned down.
The county then found another money source for the project: Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the former king of Saudi Arabia.
The arrangement earned lots of national attention.
“I remember various times when there would be tour groups walking around the school, peeking into the wall openings,” said Susan Sather, a Reston resident who was a student at Terraset in 1977.
“Usually the groups were reporters, but at least a couple of times it was the Saudis in full length white robes with head coverings [but exposed faces]. I only remember Saudi men. I know the opening was covered by all the DC news channels, and everyone was watching that evening to see ourselves.”
But, alas, the panels were built for Saudi Arabia’s hot climate, not Virginia’s fluctuating temperatures. The energy savings were negated by repair costs and safety issues. Ice that formed on the panels in winter made several fall, and that was a safety hazard for children. The panels were removed in the late 1980s.
However, Terraset’s commitment to the earth remains. While the addition will provide a more traditional classroom structure for the building, the main part will remain underground. Children have always played on the “roof” of the school, which is a grass-covered field. Nearby is the school’s butterfly garden and an outdoor learning area.
Photo: Terraset’s solar panels in the late 1970s/Credit: Reston Historic Trust
Easter is Sunday, April 20. Reston has lots of great places to go for a special Easter Brunch and most of them are still taking reservations. Call the one you want to make sure they have a table for you. Meanwhile, here is what is on the menu:
Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro
Westin Reston Heights
Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Reservations: 703-234-3550
Three course prix-fixe menu priced at $55 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. Dishes include roasted vegetable frittata, rack of lamb, and mini French pastries. The menu includes your choice of mimosa, bloody Mary, or sparkling wine. Children’s menu is available upon request.
From noon until 3 p.m., little ones can enjoy the baby lambs, ducks, bunnies, and goats from Reston’s petting zoo and as well as an Easter Egg Hunt on the lawn between the Sheraton and Westin properties.
Mon Ami Gabi
Reston Town Center
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Reservations: 703-707-0233.
Mon Ami Gabi will have its Sunday Brunch featuring a Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar, Eggs Benedict, Quiche Lorraine, Seafood Crepe, Waffles Bananas Foster and Vanilla French Toast. A children’s menu is also available, and all children will leave with a surprise Easter basket of treats from Mon Ami Gabi.
Jackson’s
Reston Town Center
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
No reservations, but there is call-ahead seating: 703-437-0800
Jackson’s will be open and serving Sunday Brunch on April 20. Check out the brunch drink menu as well as Brioche French Toast, Filet Mignon and Eggs, Chicken and Waffles and other favorites.
Tavern 64
Hyatt Regency Reston
11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Reservations: 702-925-8250
Tavern 64’s Easter Brunch offering is $54 per person, which includes a choice of entrees (steak, lamb, fish or omelettes are among the many choices), as well as a soup, salad and dessert buffet.
Clyde’s
Reston Town Center
10 a.m.
(703) 787-6601
Clyde’s will have a special Easter Brunch Menu. Among the items: Ham and Cheddar Biscuits, Applewood Smoked Ham, Eggs Benedict and Baked French Toast, as well as a children’s menu.
PassionFish
Reston Town Center
12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Reservations: 703-320-3474
PassionFish will have its dinner menu and several special Easter Brunch items available Sunday. Offerings include Crab Cake Eggs Benedict and Eggs Sardou.
Pat Nowakowski, executive director of the Dulles Corridor Rail Project, will step down to take a position with another transit agency, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced on Wednesday.
Nowakowski has been the face of the Silver Line project as it proceeded from idea to the brink of opening.
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter says MWAA will conduct a nationwide search for Nowakowski’s replacement.
MWAA is currently in a two-week review period after which it hopes to turn over the $2.8 billion Phase 1 of the rail line to Metro. Phase 1 will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue.
While an opening date was never officially announced, riders were at first expected to be on the rail by December 2013. However, several construction issues — including problems with the Automatic Tracking Control System — have delayed the rail opening by several months.
MWAA on Wednesday approved the request of its Dulles Corridor Committee to pay $1.8 million to Alstom Signaling of New York to upgrade the ATC system.
Construction contractor Dulles Transit Partners on April 9 submitted the project for “substantial completion.” That was a redo of its Feb. 7 submission. MWAA found issues in 7 of 12 areas. Those issues have now been fixed, MWAA officials said.
Once the Silver Line Phase 1 is open, work will begin on Phase 2, which will run from Wiehle Avenue to Reston Parkway, Herndon and several stops in Loudoun County, including Dulles International Airport. The second phase is slated to open in 2018.
Nowakowski joined MWAA in January 2009 after a nearly 30-year career at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
Photo of Pat Nowakowski via Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance.
Metro’s Silver Line has not yet opened, but the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority (MWAA) is already seeking a $1.8 million technology upgrade of the Automatic Train Control system.
MWAA is building the Silver Line rail extension. The 11-mile, $2.8 billion Phase 1 of the Silver Line will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue. When it is satisfactorily completed — a decision that could come in the next two weeks — the project will be turned over to Metro, which will then conduct its own testing before setting an opening date.
The Dulles Corridor Committee of the MWAA Board of Directors on Wednesday approved awarding a sole source contract to Alstom Signaling, Inc., of Henrietta, N.Y. for an Automatic Train Control (ATC) technology upgrade.
Alstom previously installed the Horton Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) as part of the design of the Automatic Train Control System. That system is used throughout the existing Metro system, MWAA says.
But in testing the system for the Silver Line, the RTUs have proven faulty.
“The Horton RTUs have proven unreliable in the Phase 1 application,” MWAA documents read. “Increased reliability can be achieved by incorporating the use of integral circuit boards in the Alstom Vital Processor Interlock (VPI) instead of using RTU equipment.”
“This is a reliability issue, not a safety issue,” the documents read. “The technology upgrade will take one year to complete.”
MWAA says that it will advise Dulles Transit Partners, the Bechtel unit that constructed the rail line, to make adjustments to improve reliability. It also says that once service begins, WMATA (Metro) will provide “extra staffing at the Project’s expense to ensure reliability” and that Alstom is the only contractor able to provide the necessary equipment for the upgrades.
MWAA officials said early Wednesday that roughly $23 million is available in the Silver Line contingency fund.
The ATC system has been a bug in constructing the Silver Line — and it is crucial to get it right. In 2009, the system failed to detect the presence of a train on the tracks leading to a Red Line crash that killed nine people and injured dozens of others.
In June, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff said he was troubled by unauthorized design changes Alstom made without consulting Metro. In addition, because of a shortage of equipment, Alstom workers allegedly moved some control boards from one monitoring station to another, which meant they were checking the same set of boards rather than new ones, according to The Washington Post.
In November, more issues with the ATC system were found, leading to a delay of several months.
While an official opening date was never announced, Phase 1 was originally estimated to be ready to hand off to Metro last summer for a December 2013 opening. Last spring, that was moved to a November turnover. In November, the project was delayed further while problems with the Automatic Train Control System were addressed.
On Feb. 7, DTP announced it had reached “substantial completion,” meaning it felt the construction was finished. MWAA completed a two-week review and found a host of problems, including some with the ATC system.
DTP says it fixed the problems, and on April 9 — the same day $25,000 a day penalties would kick in as part of the construction contract — submitted the project again. MWAA is in the midst of another 15-day review.
Once MWAA signs off on the DTP’s work it will turn the Silver Line over to Metro, which then has 90 days to complete its own testing.
No Deal for “House of Cards” in Virginia — After the popular Netflix series’ agreement with the state of Maryland recently fell apart, the next-best place would be Virginia, right? However, Commonwealth officials said the production company’s list of demands was too long. [WAMU]
Will Bikeshare Stall Affect Reston Plan? — Fairfax County officials are looking into the feasibility of a bikeshare in Reston. However the bankruptcy of the bike manufacturing company has stalled plans for other upcoming Capital Bikeshare expansion plans. [Washington Post]
Human Trafficking An Issue In Fairfax County — Police officials say it affects all areas. They are stepping up efforts to stop it. [The Centreville Independent]
Herndon Metro Planners Need Your Input — Herndon Metrorail Stations Access Management Study is conducting a citizen survey to get ideas for pedestrian and bike access. Tell them your thoughts online [ HMSAMS ]
Kudos For John Marshall Bank — Reston’s John Marshall Bank has been ranked as the Top Community Bank in the Washington area by SNL Financial. The community bank, with total assets of $662 million and loan growth of 15.02 percent, was also ranked No. 26 in the country.
Photo of Reston founder Bob Simon taken April 10, 2014 courtesy of Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce.
