For more than two years, director/producer Rebekah Wingert-Jabi and researcher/writer/producer Susan Jones have been scanned and documenting, filming and editing.

They amassed about 250 hours of film and 4,000 documents, all of which will be edited down into an hour-long film that will tell the story of Reston as it readies for it’s 50th anniversary.

The Reston Story has truly been a community effort, says Jones. The project has received financial support from dozens of Reston businesses and families. The filmmakers have also interviewed 70 subjects — from Reston founder Robert Simon to Reston pioneers to planning experts who talk about Reston’s groundbreaking style when it was founded in 1964, says Jones.

The filmmakers also put out the call for archival pieces such as home movies and family photos from the first 50 years. Jones says the variety they received will add richness and personality to the the story.

“There are three main reasons we are making this movie,” she said. “One, to celebrate Reston’s 50th anniversary. Two, to get Restonains on the same page about our history. And three, to show the incredible impact Reston has had on community development in the United Stated and beyond.”

Wingert-Jabi grew up in Reston and returned a few years ago to raise her own family here. She won a Peabody Award in 2013 for her work as the co-director on My Neighbourhood, the story of a Palestinian teenager forced to share a section of his house with Israeli settlers. 

The Peabody Award is a prestigious national awards program that recognizes distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable and webcasters, producing organizations, and individuals.

Those credentials will help The Reston Story as it tries to gain entrance in major film festivals, says Jones.

The film will be screened for sponsoring groups and individuals on April 5, which is also the public Founders Day celebration in honor of Reston’s 50th anniversary and Simon’s 100th birthday.

Then it will hopefully go to festivals later this year, said Jones.

After that, there will likely be screenings for the public in Reston. The filmmakers also hope to get the film shown on PBS. Eventually, it will be available for purchase on DVD.

While the film is still in its final editing stages, Jones says one of the messages that really comes through is how much people love the community.

“The enthusiasm all of the people we interviewed really comes through,” said Jones, a longtime Reston resident.  “It reinforces what I feel about Reston.”

Fresh Start in Fairfax — FACETS has helped 18 former homeless people in Fairfax County get settled into permanent housing. [WTOP]

It’s 5 p.m., So Forget The Latte — Starbucks announced it will start selling beer, wine and “evening” snacks at thousands of stores. No word on wether the nighttime menu will be available in Northern Virginia stores. The rollout is expected to take more than a year. [Washington Post]

PassionFish Company Up For a RAMMY — The RAMMYS, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s annual awards, were announced this week. Among the nominees for Restauranteur of the Year are Gus DiMillo, David Wizenberg, Jeff Tunks of Passion Food Hospitality, which owns several restaurants in the DC area, including Reston’s PassionFish. A second PassionFish will also open in Bethesda next year. [Washington City Paper]

Layoffs At Bechtel — Bechtel, the Reston-based contractor that helped build Phase 1 of Metro’s Silver Line, says it plans  to layoff more than 100 people as Phase 1 construction draws to a close (even though there are still many issues to fix before the rail extension can open). [Washington Business Journal]

Photo: Crocuses on the first day of spring/Credit: Monica Russ, Green Thumb Gardening

One Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board member called the Silver Line saga a “soap opera.” Another suggested the board start working with lawyers.

That was yesterday. Today, all parties are looking at many more weeks/months of delays before Metro’s Silver Line opens.

At the MWAA board meeting on Wednesday, Dulles Transit Partners, the contractor that constructed the $2.7-billion Phase 1 of the rail extension that will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue, said it could not predict when ongoing problems with the Silver Line would be fixed.

Therefore, it is impossible to predict an opening date. While no official opening has ever been set, there once was a time, more than a year ago, where the first passengers were estimated to ride the line by December of 2013.

DTP, a division of Bechtel, told MWAA in early February that it had reached “substantial completion.” But in their own review, MWAA found many problems. Among them — faulty connections in the loudspeakers at all five stations and ongoing issues with the Automatic Train Control System.

If the work is not satisfactorily turned over to MWAA by April 9, DTP could face millions of dollars in fines.

“Our goal is to have this wrapped up by April 9, before fines set in,” MWAA President and CEO Jack Potter said Wednesday.

While no completion date was ever given by MWAA, preliminary estimates were that the line would be completed by August or September 2013 and the first passengers would ride by the end of 2013. That later was pushed into early 2014. In January, the original problem with the ATC was discovered, delaying completion until at least spring. With this latest setback, could it be fall of 2014 — or even early 2015 — before the Silver Line sees riders?

Reston Now readers responded to a poll in Februrary. Of 506 votes, 27 percent said they predicted the line would open in August or September 2014; 26 percent said June/July 2014; 18 percent said 2o15.

Given the latest issues, what is your prediction now?

Start off Spring by taking part in Reston Association’s annual Kids’ Trout Fishing Day on Saturday.

RA annually stocks the Snakeden Branch with trout and teams with Trout Unlimited to offer fishing fun for kids.

Here is what you need to know:

The event is for kids 12 and under and runs from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Fishing will be at the Snakeden Branch stream between Soapstone Drive and Lake Audubon.

Free, but registration is required. Register near the 7-Eleven on Soapstone.

Trout Unlimited members will help clean the fish you catch.  

Fairfax County Police are introducing a new online tool that citizens can access to be better informed of incidents happening nearby.

Police say the new crime mapping tool “is designed to help users better understand where police are responding, and offers users a general description of the incident.”

Developed in conjunction with the Fairfax County Department of Information Technology’s GIS branch, the new crime mapping application will be a valuable asset for residents, neighborhood civic associations, businesses, and anyone who wants to know the latest police-related events in their neighborhoods, said police.

Here is how to use it:

Go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/policeevents/#police, type the address of the location, and all police-related events within a specific radius will populate the screen.

Information is, typically, a day behind real-time events.

Users may inquire about any location they like; their child’s school, a local business district, a potential area they’d like to move.

Users can also search by incident type (such as assault, larceny, burglary or sex offense), by date, by location and date range.

Will Silver Line Have Gold-Level Impact? — Metro’s Silver Line, when it finally opens, will drive population and employment growth and produce an average of 200,000 square feet of net office demand annually through 2017 in Tysons Corner, says an analysis from CBRE. The Silver Line’s Phase 1 will end at Reston’s Wiehle Avenue. [Washington Business Journal]

Kudos For Fairfax Chamber’s Gordon — Virginia Business magazine named Gerald L. Gordon,  president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), to its “50 Most Influential Virginians” list for the second straight year. The magazine described Gordon as a “hard-charging leader who scores deals. ” [Virginia Business]

Warner Wants To Ease College Tuition Sticket Shock — Sen. Mark Warner says he has a plan to ease the pain of paying for college. He told a group of educators this weekhe’s working on legislation in three areas: greater flexibility for borrowers in paying off student loans; stronger rules that require specific, early information about college costs and future earnings for prospective students and their parents; and federal assistance for needy high school students who want to take community college courses. [Hamptonroads.com]

Hunters Woods ES Speller Wins Again — Hunters Woods Elementary School’s Jae Canetti recently won the Fairfax County Spelling Bee for the third straight year. Jae will head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which this year will be held May 25-31 at National Harbor’s Gaylord Hotel. [Fairfax Times]

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.

More than a dozen years ago, the idea was hatched to offer commemorative bricks to Restonians for a permanent place at Lake Anne Plaza.

Since then, nearly 700 bricks have been dedicated at Reston’s original village center, says Lynn Lilienthal, longtime Reston resident and former chair of the Reston Historic Trust.

And with Reston’s 50th anniversary and founder Robert E. Simon’s 100th birthday approaching next month, 2014 will be a big year for commemorative bricks. About 50 bricks will be dedicated at the 2014 Founder’s Day on April 5. That’s about twice as many as in a typical year, says Lilienthal.

“When we started the project, we thought it would be a good fundraiser,” said Lilienthal.

While the nonprofit Reston Historic Trust does make some money from the bricks, Lilienthal says she is proud of the way the bricks have turned into a historic timeline of Reston founders, original residents and other people who have had an impact on the community over the years.

Most of the bricks honor people who still live in Reston, but many memorialize those who are no longer with us. The latter is particularly important at the 50-year mark, as many founders have died, Lilienthal says.

Simon purposely designed Reston without a cemetery as he thought the funeral home business was money-hungry. So the bricks serve as kind of memorial, though Lilienthal makes it clear “they are commemorative, not a graveyard.”

Among some of the people memorialized in the bricks are members of Simon’s family: his parents Robert E. Simon Sr. (1877-1935) and Elsa (1885-1964), as well as sisters Helen, Betty and Carol, and his late son, Paul.

Other memorials include former Reston Used Book Shop co-owner Victoria Reid, who died in 2004; arts and civic leader Ann Rodriguez (2009); and Leonard Taylor, Norma Cruz Kahn and Norma Lang Steuerle, who perished on American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001.

This year, seven bricks have been purchased by “The Kids on The Plaza,” a group of people who grew up in Reston and are now in their 40s and 50s. They raised money to honor 11 among them who died young but will now be memorialized near where they spent so many good times at Lake Anne.

If you are looking for a particular brick, stop by the Reston Historic Trust and Museum at Lake Anne Plaza. The museum has a database of where each brick is located.

If the contractor building Metro’s Silver Line does not fix ongoing problems and satisfactorily turn the project over to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority by April 9, it will face fines of $25,000 a day.

After a tense MWAA board meeting on Wednesday, it looks as though contractor Dulles Transit Partners may be hard pressed to make that deadline.

It was revealed Wednesday that there are still significant problems with the 11-mile rail extension, which will run from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue. Problems range from speakers in the stations that are not up to fire code to continuing issues with the Automatic Train Control System.

DTP told MWAA on Feb. 7 that it had reached “substantial completion” on the $2.8 billion project. However, after a 15-day review period, MWAA found issues in 7 of 12 areas, including performance issues with the ATC system, water leaks in buildings, and elevator and escalator problems.

If the work is not finished starting April 10, DTP would face a $25,000-a-day penalty until the work is done.  If the project is not completed 92 days after that April date, the contractor would have to pay roughly $2.3 million in fines, plus an additional $75,000 a day.

Ultimately, if the project is delayed more than six months from that April date, DTP could be required to pay more than $9 million total. Under the terms of the contract, the payments are capped at $60 million.

“Our goal is to have this wrapped up by April 9, before fines set in,” MWAA President and CEO Jack Potter said Wednesday.

Pat Nowakowski, executive director for the Dulles Corridor Rail Association, said there is no estimated opening date for the Silver Line and there is no projected date for when DTP will be done fixing the issues. He said “when the contractor submits paperwork this time around, they are working to be certain the project is complete.”

WTOP reports that the entire speaker system and the ATC system may have to be replaced, which could delay the project even further. WTOP also says that the MWAA Board is assembling a legal team in case the contractor misses another deadline. MWAA officials said the cost of the corrections will be covered by a contingency fund.

While no completion date was ever given by MWAA, original estimates were that the line would be completed by August or September 2013 and the first passengers would ride by the end of 2013. That later was pushed into early 2014. In January, the original problem with the ATC was discovered, delaying completion until at least spring.

Fairfax County Public School students will already be in school until June 24 in order to make up snow days.

But the FCPS calendar only builds in makeup plans for 10 snow days, so that is as far as the calendar goes for now.

The winter of 2013-14 will go in the books as the snowiest winter since the 2009-10 “Snowmageddeon,” which shut down the system for more than a week straight.

Monday’s 11-inch storm — a rarity for Northern Virginia in March — was No. 11 for FCPS students this year.

Virginia law requires public schools to provide at least 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time annually. But it also allows the state Board of Education to waive the requirement if districts shut down in the aftermath of a state of emergency declared by the governor. A state of emergency has been declared twice this winter, including during the snow storm on March 3.

FCPS was last granted a waiver from the requirement in 2010 following the nearly two feet of snow that fell in back-to-back February storms.  The district needed to schedule five make-up days, but only found time for four in the spring calendar. The board waived the requirement for the fifth make up day.

FCPS spokesman John Torre said the system is looking at a variety of options but no decisions have been made.

“Several options could be considered including adding another day at the end of the year, adding minutes to the school day or seeking a waiver from the state,” he said.  “No decision has been made yet as to which option will be pursued.”

Students will also attend school on April 7, which was a previously scheduled teacher workday. It will be a full day for elementary students, who otherwise usually have early release on Mondays.

The Lake Anne Coffee House, a fixture at Reston’s Lake Anne Plaza for decades, is looking for a new owner.

Owners Susan and Jimmy Sohn have run the coffee shop for about eight years and now want to retire, says Susan Sohn.

The Sohns are selling the store by owner.

“People have asked about it,” she said. “But so far no one has made an offer.”

Lake Anne has had a coffee house since its start in the late 1960s, when Common Grounds Coffee House became a popular spot for meetings and just hanging out in the burgeoning community.

Lake Anne Coffee House has had a series of owners. The Sohns bought the businesses from Alfredo Melendez in 2006. Melendez later took over  — for the second time — the food counter inside Lakeside Pharmacy. He closed that counter, Cafe Lakeside, last month as the Lakeside Pharmacy is also getting ready to be sold.

Real estate sources say the lunch counter at Lakeside Pharmacy will be leased separately from the pharmacy space. So far, no deal has been signed for the space.

Back to the 1980s in Reston — Xanadu is playing for two more weekends at Reston Community Center’s CenterStage. Maryland Theatre Guide says “…if you enjoy a brief throwback in time and timely songs, with those manipulative melodies, there’s ‘Xanadu’ for you.” [Maryland Theatre Guide]

No Track Work Till April — Metro is taking a four-week weekend track work break in order to not have any disruptions during Cherry Blossom season. [Metro]

Think Summer — Registration is now open for summer academic programs sponsored by Fairfax County Public Schools. Among the offerings: STEM Camp, Institute for the Arts, online summer school, and Tech adventures camp. [FCPS]

There’s An App for Alcohol — Oak HIll’s Ben Katz, a recent Virginia Tech grad, has created a “VABC” app for the iPhone and the Android. The app (99 cents on iPhone, free on Android)  allows you to compare between 2,300 types of drinks, and it also incorporates review ratings of the various brands from both the Beverage Testing Institute and the Wine Enthusiast. [Washington Post]

The St. Patrick’s Day snow was one in a series of storms this seemingly never-ending winter. The white stuff — nearly 50 inches of it around here in total so far, according to the National Weather Service — has snarled traffic, canceled school 11 times and generally shut down Northern Virginia for a half-dozen days.

No one is feeling the pinch more than locally owned small businesses, who have seen customers slow — and even disappear.

Emad Ramzy, manager of Enviro Cleaners, a dry cleaner at 11519 Sunset Hills Rd., says on a typical snow day, the day’s receipts fall to about half of what they would be on a regular day.

That’s if the store is even open. The cleaner was closed during the storm on March 3, so that day gets a 100 percent loss in the books.

“Hopefully, when spring comes, we’ll get a lot more customers,” he said.

Jenny Nguyen, manager at Hair and Nails Care, a beauty salon at South Lakes Village Center, said the shop has opened late and closed early several times this season. It has also been closed two of the last three Mondays due to snow.

Usually, regular customers find time to reschedule, she said.

“Sometimes, if it is urgent, like they need services because they are going away, they might go someplace else,” she said. “So you risk that.”

Over at Lake Anne Coffee House, co-owner Susan Sohn said business has been “very bad” this winter.

“On snow days we have almost no business, maybe 2-3 customers,” she said. “But it is not like the bills and taxes stop. I hope winter stops soon.”

World of Beer, the large bar and restaurant slated for the ground floor of The Avant apartment building, is eyeing a mid-May opening.

The restaurant is also now hiring for several positions, including bartenders and servers.

Interested in joining the team? Stop by 1888 Explorer St. You can also send your resume to [email protected] or visit the Reston location’s website. Training for employees will start in April, according to the World of Beer Reston Facebook page.

World of Beer is part of a national franchise. Evan Matz, the Reston owner, also owns the Ballston location. Metz said last spring he though the youthful energy at Reston Town Center made it an ideal place for a World of Beer.

The 4,500-square-foot location will feature about 500 beers (about 50 on tap) that will rotate throughout the menu, as well as a full menu featuring specialities such as crab pretzels, flatbread pizza and sandwiches.

WOB will also have drink specials nightly and happy hour Monday through Friday. There will be live music Thursdays through Saturdays, as well large-screen TVs for live sports events. There will be patio seating in warm weather.

Meanwhile, World of Beer’s Ballston location is also touting itself as a place for corporate meetings and other daytime work activities.

Photo of World of Beer’s Ballston location/Credit: ARLnow.com.

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In the wake of several years of lean funding and a scrapped “beta plan” in 2013, the Fairfax County Library Board of Trustees plans to ask the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for an additional $1 million for the next fiscal year.

The trustees voted last week to request an additional $1 million that would be used for youth service, staff training and technology upgrades, the Fairfax Times reports. The board had previously submitted a request for a $1 million increase in its budget for books and other material, aimed at restoring some of the reductions made in leaner budget years.

County Executive Ed Long has allocated $25.7 million for the library system, a slight increase over the fiscal 2014 adopted budget but also a slight decrease in total funding as compared to the amended budget for the current fiscal year.

This is due to one-time money the Board of Supervisors gave to the the library system at the close of fiscal 2013.

The current budget proposal includes $275,000 for library employee pay raises, $250,000 in additional funding for materials (to purchase about 13,000 items) and $61,500 for computer replacement. Long has proposed increasing the materials budget by $250,000 per year over the next four years to reach the $1 million total that the library system requested.

The library system had proposed a “beta plan” for Reston Regional — the busiest branch in the county — and other libraries in 2013. That plan included a new staffing model that suggested getting rid of trained children’s librarians and going to a one-desk staffing system in order to save money.

That was met with protest from library supporters. Ultimately, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors scrapped the plan. The supervisors also were shocked to learn that thousands of books were being thrown away rather than recirculated.

The book dump was discovered by Reston resident Kathy Kaplan, who was honored last week as Reston Citizen’s Association Citizen of the Year for her efforts.

The library trustees are currently looking at new solutions that will cut costs but keep service levels intact.

The $1 million for materials and $1 million for other needs that the Board of Trustees is requesting this year would be in addition to the increased funds already included in Long’s budget, library director Sam Clay told the Fairfax Times.

The $250,000 included in the budget would allow for the purchase of about 13,000 additional items, according to the budget document.

To see the breakdown of the FY 2015 Advertised County Budget, visit the Fairfax County website.

The Board of Supervisors will adopt the budget April 29.