Gone Fishing — Grab your fishing pole and head to Lake Audubon Saturday for Reston Association’s Kids Fishing Derby. The free event is from 8 a.m. to noon. The event is for kids 15 and under accompanied by an adult. [Sign Up Genius]

Horses Needed — Frying Pan Park, which has been without draft horses since the death of longtime horse residents Jesse and Michael in the last few years, is still looking for replacements. [FCPA]

Dance Rain Date — The dance performances at the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival were cancelled due to rain, so the Greater Reston Arts Center is having a rain date. On June 15, Ravel Dance Studio will perform at 6:30 p.m. in Reston Town Square Park and Classical Ballet Theatre will perform at 7 p.m. at the Reston Rondo Sculpture by the Hyatt. Performances are free.

Coming soon to Reston Town Center: doggie playtime — as well as a few bunnies, lambs and other farm animals.

Reston Town Center will host special animal-focused events on Tuesdays and Wednesdays this summer. The animals will be fenced off in the pavilion.

Here’s what’s happening:

Dog Days of Summer, Wednesdays,  July 6-Sept. 29, 4 to 7 p.m.

Dogs and owners can frolic in the RTC Pavilion as it is transformed into an off-leash play area. There will be treats, toys, areas to cool off, pet-friendly giveaways, and more. Free. Rain or Shine.

Zoosday, Tuesdays, July 5 through Sept. 27, 4 to 7 p.m.

Enjoy an award-winning animal and miniature animal petting zoo with hands-on, educational experiences. There will be kid-friendly giveaways plus activities like Legos and Play-Doh. Free. Rain or shine.

The Fairfax County’s 911 Center says the Verizon fiber line damaged in last night’s pole fire in Reston may be limiting access to 911 services in the area today.

Verizon has been working on correcting the problem, which has been causing cable, cell and phone issues since the fire at about 6:30 p.m. last night.

A utility pole caught fire near Home Depot Wednesday, knocking out power to the area around Baron Cameron Avenue and Reston Parkway.

The intersection and nearby traffic lights were closed for about two hours, making for slow traffic at one of Reston’s busiest intersections. The intersection was closed again at mid-day today as crews continue to try and fix the issue.

Verizon customer service has given varying reports of when service will be restored. They said earlier today that it would be back by noon, but that has not happened as of 1:30 p.m.

Reports now vary from 3:45 p.m. to tomorrow morning.

@VerizonSupport any update on Reston, VA outage? VZ site says 345pm in one place and 745am tomorrow in another! What should I believe?

— Reed Meyer (@ReedMeyer) June 9, 2016

Some AT&T customers are also reporting issues.

.@attcares What’s up in Sterling/Herndon/Reston VA? Multiple phones down since at least 9:30AM EDT — Greg Pinto (@pilampinto) June 9, 2016

Imagine a Reston without the Silver Line. Not that difficult, since it has only been open for less than two years and the extension from Reston Town Center to Loudoun County won’t open until 2020.

A Washington Post reporter says it should never have been built. In an opinion column published Wednesday, Fredrick Kunkle summarized what a lot of area residents have been thinking this week: Metro should have fixed what it had before embarking on this $2.9 billion project.

Silver Line riders were among the most affected as Metro rolled out its SafeTrack program this week. The program, which aims to complete three years work of needed repairs in about 10 months, will involve 15 “Safety Surges,” which means single tracking, delays and other shutdowns.

The first surge means delays, crowded cars and other general chaos from Wiehle-Reston East (Silver) to Ballston (Silver/Orange/Blue) and beyond until June 16.

Writes Kunkle: “The argument goes that Metro’s leadership should have focused instead on overhauling and upgrading the nearly 40-year-old system before adding a new line in Northern Virginia. The Silver Line was a project either years before its time — or too late. And now there are plenty of people around eager to say, I told you so.”

He points out that Silver Line ridership has been below predictions and construction blew its budget, among other issues.

Among those disagreeing with him: Fairfax County Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova, who says the Silver Line has not been a drag on Metro’s other resources. She adds that there were plans for the line going back to the 1960s; that funding came from wide resources (not just local taxpayers); and that it has sparked commercial and residential growth in the county (including a major boom in Reston).

Washingtonian also points out the flaws in The Post’s reasoning in this piece.

“There’s a lot about the Silver Line that could have been handled differently — the timing, the quality of the construction work, the ridership expectations. But ditching it entirely? That would be the greatest error,” writes Washingtonian’s Benjamin Freed.

Kudos, Reston Flutist — Reston’s Aimee Toner, a Herndon High senior, recent won first place in the Fairfax County Band Directors’ Association’s Solo Competition. She played a flute solo of Sonata Appassionata. [Patch]

No Stars For Restaurant Heading To Reston — Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsma gives Founding Farmers a terrible review in this week’s Post magazine. Founding Farmers will open at Reston Station late this year or early next year. [Washington Post]

Nearby: A Place For Nit Picking — A business dedicated to lice removal has opened at 455B Carlisle Dr. in Herndon. [Patch]

Simon Book Signing — Author Kristina Alcorn will sign copies of her book about Reston founder Bob Simon on Friday, 5 to 7 p.m., at The Wine Cabinet at North Point. [Reston Now]

Photo: Sunset on Lake Thoreau/Credit: Sonya Payne

A utility pole caught fire near Home Depot about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, knocking out power to the area around Baron Cameron Avenue and Reston Parkway.

The intersection and nearby traffic lights were closed for about two hours, making for slow traffic at one of Reston’s busiest intersections.

Readers report Verizon/Verizon Fios service was also disrupted due to the fire. It is still out in some areas as of Thursday morning.

There were no injuries and officials are investigating the cause of the fire. Dominion Virginia Power says all power has now been restored.

Photo courtesy William Ho

Reston’s NVR is back on the Fortune 500 list after an eight-year absence.

The homebuilder and parent company of Ryan Homes was hit hard by the real estate downturn and was off the list since 2007-08.

But with a 16.1-percent jump in revenues this year over last, the company just barely makes it at No. 498. NVAR posted revenues of $5.2 billion last year.

Eight Fairfax County-based companies in a variety of industries made Fortune magazine’s 2016 list of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States. That is the same as in 2015.

Fairfax County has more companies on the list than 30 states and the District of Columbia, says the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority.

“The Fortune 500 list continues to demonstrate that Fairfax County is one of the best business locations in the nation, and the top location in the Washington area for large headquarters operations,” Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said in a statement. “The fact that we have eight companies from a diversity of industry sectors on the list also demonstrates the long-established and ongoing evolution of the county’s economy beyond our government contracting base.”

Fairfax County businesses on the Fortune 500:

43. Freddie Mac (Financial services)

88. General Dynamics (Aerospace and defense). General Dynamics plans to move its headquarters to a new building in Reston in the next several years.

112. Capital One Financial (Financial services)

118. Northrop Grumman (Aerospace and defense)

233. CSC (Information technology)

254. Hilton Worldwide (Hotels, resorts)

487. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding (Information technology)

498. NVR (Home construction)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to put the question of a meals tax to Fairfax County voters this November.

The tax would add 4 percent to your meal. That’s in addition to a 6-percent sales tax, and would be applicable on restaurant meals, poured beverages, takeout food and prepared food from grocery and convenience stores.

The tax would give Fairfax County an estimated $100 million annually. The supervisors said 70 percent of that would go to Fairfax County Public Schools; the rest would help fund county services.

Nearby jurisdictions, including Arlington, Alexandria, D.C. and the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Fairfax, already have a food tax. They would bot be subject to the Fairfax County tax.

So, how do you plan to vote?

The Taste of Reston — the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce’s annual celebration of all things food and drink — returns to Reston Town Center next Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18.

Market Street will become a smorgasbord of food options and the Reston Town Center will become a lively beer garden at the two-day event.

Here is what you need to know:

Taste of Reston hours are 3 to 11 p.m. on Friday and noon to 11 p.m. on Saturday.

Parking is free in Reston Town Center’s seven garages.

Admission is free, but tickets are needs for food and drinks. You can buy tickets on site or online in advance.

There will be a wide variety of dishes from your favorite restaurants, including Not Your Average Joe’s, Obi Sushi, Community Canteen, McCormick & Schmick’s and many more. See the list of food vendors on the event website.

There will be no shortage of beer and wine. Alcohol will be sold in the pavilion and on trucks on Library Street, as well as in the Taste of Reston lounge. Bud Light; Devil’s Backbone; Shock Top Belgian Wheat; Stella Artois; as well as four local craft brews. A selection of wines from The Wine Cabinet will also be available.

Live entertainment will take place on four stages, including a family fun zone for the kinds. Check out the schedule.

Volunteers are still needed. Check in to see if you and/or a team from your company can help.

Note: There are no carnival rides as in past years due to construction at the surface lot, ordinarily the site of the rides and games.

The overrun on Reston Association’s purchase of the Tetra building will have implications that will reach far into the future.

That’s the analysis of Reston 2020’s Terry Maynard, who crunched the numbers and found some of these key points:

Not counting the Tetra subsidy of $275,000 for external repairs, the Tetra budget will be $624,640 over budget by year-end. That’s $28-$30 per RA household; not an absence of impact on assessment fees as reported in RA’s Pro Forma Financial statement in RA’s referendum marketing “Property Purchase Fact Sheet” no matter how cleverly disguised by cuts elsewhere in RA spending.

As a result, the entire Tetra effort will be in the hole more than $400,000 by year-end versus the Pro Forma Financial statement’s prospective surplus of more than $200,000.

Still uncompleted repairs, particularly improvements to Tetra’s grounds, and the need for new furnishings will add to the growing cost next year and beyond.

By the end of 2020–the final date presented in RA’s Pro Forma Financial in the Voter’s Guide–RA will probably be more than one-million dollars in the hole, costing Restonians $40-$50 per household instead of the $10-$12 projected by RA.

Beyond that timeframe, a published pre-referendum analysis showed that RA will not operate Tetra in the black until 2048 using RA’s own assumptions and other conservative ones the beyond 2020 endpoint of RA’s Pro Forma Financial statement.

In 2015, Reston Association purchased the 33-year-old building — now called the Lake House — on the shores of Lake Newport for $2.6 million, which was nearly twice its assessed value.

RA plans to use the building for community and recreational space, and event rentals and afterschool care are expected to bring in about $100,000 annually.

But RA announced in recent weeks that the project, still under renovation, is experiencing large cost overruns. The RA Board voted last week to move $430,000 from its operating fund to cover the current deficit.

Maynard’s analysis say “it is unlikely Tetra will ever be profitable given RA’s track record of recovering less than 27 percent of the costs on all the other facilities it operates from swimming pools to the Nature House. Our assessment fees pay the other 73 percent of those costs.”

Read the rest of his study on Reston 2020’s blog.

Supporters of saving the former American Press Institute building have started an online petition to protect the Brutalist building from the wrecking ball.

The building was designed by noted architect Marcel Breuer, who also planned Atlanta’s Central Library, the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City, and buildings at Yale University and New York University, among others.

The building housed the API from 1974 to 2012. It has been vacant and for sale since 2012.

Sekas Homes is looking to rezone the 4.6-acres of land from industrial to residential in order to build 34 townhouses and 10 condominiums at 11690 Sunrise Valley Dr. A county staff report recommends approval of the application.

There has been a last-minute effort, including letters from the Fairfax County Architectural Review Board and state historical society, to stop that process.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission toured the empty building last week and will make a recommendation on June 16.

The building is the only Breuer-designed project in Virginia and should be given historical designation, some say. Others are of the opinion that it is an outdated office building that is ripe for redevelopment. A planning commission public hearing was held last month.

Here’s what the petition says:

The American Press Institute (API) building in Reston, VA, is under the threat of demolition.

It is the only building in Virginia by the internationally acclaimed architect Marcel Breuer, “a master of Modernism” who also designed the Whitney Museum of American Art (now the Met Breuer), UNESCO Headquartersin Paris, and the HUD buildingin Washington, D.C.

For nearly 38 years, tens of thousands of news media executives — representing a “Who’s Who in Journalism” — attended leadership seminars in the nonprofit’s Breuer-designed headquarters in Reston.

• The API building is historically and architecturally significant.
• It is a crucial chapter in Reston’s rich history.
• It should have a second life instead of being torn down.

That’s why we’re asking you to sign this petition to save the API building.

On June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission will make a final decision on a local developer’s application for rezoning the property from business to residential and a demolition permit.

If the commission and, soon after, the Board of Supervisors approves this plan, the building will be razed so that single- and multi-family housing can be built on the site.

A growing coalition — local and nationwide — questions this plan given what’s at stake, including:

• Fairfax County Architectural Review Board (ARB)
• Fairfax County History Commission
• Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
• Reston and other Fairfax County residents
• Community leaders
• Architects, historians and preservationists
• Journalists and other news media executives across North America who attended API programs
• Former API staff members
• Those who believe that architectural treasures should be preserved

Not Everyone Pleased With JBG Merger — JBG Companies, which is developing several Reston’s biggest projects, is planning a merger with New York-based REIT, Inc. Some investors are pushing back, though. [Washington Business Journal]

Honor Fairfax County Architecture — Nominations are now open for Fairfax County’s Exceptional Design Awards. Know of a project completed in the last five years that should be honored? Nominate it by June 17. [YouTube]

Route 7 Meeting Next Week — The Virginia Department of Transportation is preparing to widen about seven miles of Route 7 near Reston/Great Falls. The public can get a progress report June 16 at Colvin Run Elementary School, 1400 Trap Road, Vienna, VA from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. [VDOT]

Who Wants To Be A Tech Star? — Reston-based ThreatQuotient is in this week’s Capital Business cybersecurity competition. [Washington Post]

Photo: Wildflower meadow in Reston/Credit: JGS via Twitter

South Lakes High School senior Carlos Lenz won two top awards at last week’s second annual Virginia High School League (VHSL) Film Festival.

Lenz won Best Documentary chosen by the Grand Jury for his six-minute film, Papa Fred, which follows Lenz’s grandfather, Fred Gedrich, a runner who has completed hundreds of races, as he faces cancer treatment.

“What’s remarkable to me is he never lost his passion for running, or his spirit, despite being diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma/leukemia just a few months earlier,” Lenz narrates in the film.

Gedrich ran everyday for 32 years. Watch the short film (above) to see what happened when cancer broke his streak.

“It was like a combination of me looking for an idea and my grandfather recently being diagnosed with leukemia,” says Lenz. “He wanted to have his story kind of told. … It was an interesting task to undertake and very challenging. I believe everything worked out as a result.”

Lenz has acted in plays at SLHS, but says his real passion is film. He has taught himself the basics of filmmaking and has been making movies since he was young, he said. He will study film at George Mason University next year.

Lenz also won the top honor in the Best Commercial-Public Service Announcement chosen by the Grand Jury for Be the Difference, about suicide prevention.

Other winners from Fairfax County Public Schools included  Shaun Saleih and Sam Sikora of Robinson Secondary School, Audience Choice Documentary for Ram Pride, and Shank Rai of Annandale High School, Audience Choice Commercial-Public Service Announcement for McDonald’s All Day Breakfast.