Former NBA star Grant Hill stopped by his alma mater, South Lakes High School, on Tuesday.
SLHS girls basketball coach Christy Winters-Scott, a longtime friend of Hill’s since they both played at South Lakes in the late 1980s, tweeted this picture of Hill and some of the current SLHS girls basketball players.
GREAT to see @realgranthill33 today at southlakeshs What a fabulous surprise!!! #GoSeahawks… https://t.co/w9HVoatEmL
— ChristyWintersScott (@ChristyWScott51) June 7, 2016
Hill grew up on Lirio Court in Reston and attended Terraset Elementary, Hughes Middle and South Lakes. He was two-time All-American at Duke and played for four teams during his 19-year pro career. Hill retired last year and is a basketball announced for CBS and Turner Sports. He also is an investor in the Atlanta Hawks.
Photo Courtesy Christy Winters-Scott
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 on Tuesday to add a meals tax referendum question to the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
They say they are now prepared for a real fight on both sides of the issue, but ultimately it will be up to Fairfax County voters whether the 4 percent tax gets implemented in summer 2017.
The addition of a meals tax has been discussed for years, but was last put to referendum in 1992, where it failed.
However, the county is continually finding itself in an annual budget crunch, particularly as the needs of Fairfax County Public Schools are growing. The board says it will allocate 70 percent of the nearly $100 million annual expected meals tax revenue to the schools, with the remainder going for county services.
About $3 million of the nearly $100 million in revenue would go to back to restaurants/businesses to offset costs of implementing the meals tax, the county says.
The supervisors’ transfer to the schools was $2 billion this year.
Several supervisors said prior to Tuesday’s vote that they would like to see more specifically what the schools will do with the money. Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, a proponent of the meals tax, made a motion to delay the vote until after a joint retreat with the school board, which is scheduled for next week. The motion failed.
Still, several supervisors said the schools need to show a good faith effort in how they spend the extra money. FCPS teacher pay continues to lag behind neighboring counties, and Supervisor John Cook (Braddock) said “we are at a tipping point on needing to bring teacher pay up to market.”
“If I hear [the schools] say they are spending the money on an elite, special program and not on teacher pay, then I will campaign against it,” said Cook. “I am not happy about a meals tax. I worry about local places without a liquor license and a high profit margin. But it is time to have a dialogue.” Read More
The Reston Town Center pavilion will be a place of peace, spirituality and stretching this Sunday.
That’s when the eighth annual Love Your Body Day festival returns to Reston, and the space will be a sea of mats as students of yoga and other spiritually focused practices take part in the all-day event.
Love Your Body Day is the brainchild of Maryam Ovissi, founder of Reston’s Beloved Yoga. the event also kicks off Virginia Yoga Week by inviting teachers from other studios to take part and share the experience with both experienced and new yogis.
Ovissi will kick off the first yoga event at the main stage (in the pavilion at 10 a.m. Sunday). Classes are free and for all levels. Donations for participation in specific classes will benefit Cornerstones.
Here is the main stage schedule:
- 10 – 11:15 a.m. Opening Flow with BelovedYoga
- 11:15- 11:45 a.m. Virginia Yoga Week & Yogaville
- 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Down Dog Yoga
- 12:15- 12:45 p.m. Blue Nectar
- 12:45 – 1:15 p.m. Raj Studio – Kundalini
- 1:15 – 1:45 p.m. Honest Soul
- 1:45 – 2:15 p.m. Yoga 4 All Bodies~ Iyengar
- 2:15 – 2:45 p.m. Pure Om
- 2:45 – 3:15 p.m. Easy Day
- 3:15 – 3:45 pm Lululemon Ambassador Flow
- 3:45 – 4:30 pm CommUNITY Kirtan
There will also be a children’s area nearby. Here is what is happening there:
- 10:00 – 10:25 a.m. Story Yoga (ages 2 to 8)
- 10:30 – 10:55 a.m. Kids Flow Yoga (ages 5 to 10)
- 11:00 – 11:25 a.m. Adaptive Yoga (all ages)
- 11:30 – 11:55 a.m. Stress-Buster Yoga for Teens (ages 12-18)
- 12:00 – 12:25 p.m. Family Yoga and Kirtan (all ages)
- 12:30 – 12:55 p.m. Kids’ Kundalini Yoga Adventure (Ages 3 to 10)
- 1:00 – 1:25 p.m. Partner Yoga (ages 4 to 10)
- 1:30-1:55 p.m. Garden Yoga (ages 4 to 10)
- 2:00 – 2:25 p.m. Dream Goals Class with Ivivva (ages 6 to 14)
- 2:30 – 2:55 p.m. Fun with YoKid (ages 5 to 10)
- 3:00 – 3:25 p.m. Art of Living
- 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Laughter Yoga Party (all ages)
There will be live music (kirtan) and yoga discussions. See the Love Your Body website for the full schedule. There is also a vendor area with craft items, yoga-related products, healthy food and more for sale.
Love Your Body Festival/file photo
The nearly 500 members of Herndon High School’s Class of 2016 are heading for colleges all over the United States next year, as well as entering the workforce and military service.
While the greatest number of college students will attend universities in Virginia, there will also be former Hornets studying from coast to coast.
Below is a list of where students are enrolled, courtesy of Herndon High School.
Did you miss our list from South Lakes High School last week? You can find it here.
Congratulations, Class of 2016.
Helios Honors Area Businesses — Reston’s Leidos was among the 10 winners of the annual Helios Apollo Awards. Helios HR, a human capital management consulting and talent acquisition firm also based in Reston, recognizes organizations and their leaders for investing in their people through talent development programs. [Helios]
Fairfax County Sheriff Being Sued by Inmate’s Family — A $15.3 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed Friday in the case of a mentally ill woman who died after a struggle with sheriff’s deputies at the Fairfax County jail last year. [Washington Post]
Giving Circle Accepting Grant Applications — Reston’s Giving Circle of HOPE’s 2016 Grant Cycle opens on June 13. For 2016, the GCH will award grants of up to $7,000 to local nonprofits who help disadvantaged, low-income, or underserved people in the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun or Prince William, or the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax or Falls Church. Grant applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday Aug.12. [Giving Circle]
Optimist Club Honors Aldrin Volunteers — The Herndon Optimist Club recognized Julia Dowsett and Manal Megahed for their impact on the students at Reston’s Aldrin Elementary School. Dowsett, who works in the school office, was honored her leadership on the Aldrin READS program, which provides books for every child to have a home library. Megahed was recognized for her many years of commitment to Aldrin, its PTA and volunteering in the Herndon / Reston Community.
What Happened To The Big Thunderstorm? — There was supposed to be a severe storm Sunday afternoon, but it never really materialized. Here’s why. [Washington Post]
Photo: Walking near Lake Anne/Credit: Ashy via Twitter
Update, Tuesday, 7:30 a.m.: Cindy has been found and is safe, Herndon Police said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Herndon Police are asking area residents to be on the lookout for Cindy Guzman Serrano.
Guzman Serrano, 13, was last seen on Sunday, June 5. She may be in the company of two adult males. They may be traveling in a black four-door sedan, possibly an older model Pontiac.
Cindy is about 5-foot-6 inches tall and 125 lbs. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Please call 1-800-843-5678 or the Herndon Police Department 703-435-6846 if you have any details.
Photo: Cindy Guzman Serrano/Credit: National Center for Missing and Exploited Kids
Crowded cars. Waits of up to a half hour at the Wiehle-Reston East station. Clogged roads.
Welcome to the first workday of the first Metro Safety Surge, where Metro shuts or significantly alters service on a section of the system in order to make repairs.
Riders on Silver and Orange Line trains will be affected by track and other safety work through June 16.
While Metro warned in advance that trains would run every 18 minutes, social media statuses showed that waits were much longer for some riders.
Others who opted to drive to work reported clogged major roads.
Metro officials will brief the media this afternoon about how things went on Day 1. Metro says entries west of Ballston were down 26 percent as riders sought other ways to get to work (or telecommute). About 1,000 fewer riders (3,924 compared to 5,002) than on a typical Monday boarded at Wiehle-Reston East, Metro said.
Metro will hold 15 of these Safety Surges over the next 10 months as it undertakes much-needed repairs on an accelerated schedule
Photo: Waiting for a train at Wiehle-Reston East June 6/Credit: Chris Pyburn via Twitter
Alumni and parents of alumni gathered at Reston’s Nature House recently to say farewell to Lois Male, a founder and teacher at Hunters Woods Preschool for decades.
Male has gotten two generations of Reston-area children off to a good start at the play-based school located at the community room at the Glade Pool.
Male was among the neighborhood moms who started the cooperative preschool in 1970. She began teaching there in 1972, and has been there ever since.
Even though Reston has changed since the early 1970s, HWPS has mostly stayed the same. Male says kids learn best from discovering the world around them — there is time for more formal work later.
“It is still fun to kind of hold back on some things,” Male told Reston Now in 2014. “We can take apart an iron. We go outside and look for bugs. When the kids come in, they have choices. They learn to be attentive in a group, to be a friend and respect each other. This will help them when they get to the ‘big school.’ “
Fellow Hunters Woods teachers presented Male with a handmade quilt with the school logo on it as a retirement gift.
Photo: Fellow HWPS teachers present Lois Male, second from left, with a handmade quilt with the school logo on it/Credit: HWPS
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve on Tuesday the steps necessary to get a meals tax referendum on the ballot for November’s general election.
The supervisors are seeking to add a 4-percent meals tax because it will give the county an extra estimated $99 million annually. Seventy percent of that would go to Fairfax County Public Schools, which has faced budget constraints the last several years.
FCPS, which has nearly 200,000 students, received a transfer of just over $2 billion from the supervisors this spring. The county gives 52 percent of its budget to the schools.
The tax would be on restaurant meals, of course, but also prepared foods sold at grocery and convenience stores. Surrounding jurisdictions such as the towns of Herndon and Vienna, as well as Arlington and Alexandria, have meals taxes.
Checking In With FCPD — Crime is up, but so is the “culture of engagement,” according to Fairfax County Police’s annual report [Fairfax Times]
Summer Bucket List — If you are making summer plans for the whole family, check out this “Summer Bucket List” for Reston and beyond. [Modern Reston]
South Lakes Lax Season Ends — South Lakes High School’s boys lacrosse season ended Friday in the first round of the Virginia 6A Championships. The Seahawks lost 13-7 to Colonial Forge, finishing the season at 15-3, including a conference championship, first-ever regional tournament victories and their first trip to the state tournament.
Welcome to first workday of Metro’s new SafeTrack program.
The repair project — which will include 15 “safety surges” — over the next 10 months began Saturday, with single tracking and reduced trains on the Silver and Orange lines from Wiehle-Reston East to Ballston. The surge will last until June 16.
Metro is conducting the rolling repairs in order to complete three years of needed changes and improvements in about a year.
Metro says expect significantly longer wait times and crowded trains on the Silver and Orange lines the next 10 days.
Orange Line trains will run only every 18 minutes between Vienna and Ballston, while Silver Line trains will run every 18 minutes. Additional trains will be placed in service east of Ballston.
Here is what you need to know to get around today:
Here is the main SafeTrack page with a detailed schedule of surges and their impact.
Are you driving downtown or along the Silver/Orange lines? There may be increased road traffic as well.
The Washington Post’s Dr. Gridlock tested the ride from Silver Spring to Wiehle-Reston East over the weekend. Here is how it went.
Fairfax County Department of Transportation officials held an online chat on Thursday. This transcript may answer some of our questions.
Check out more Fairfax County options on this page, including a direct bus from Reston to Pentagon, Fairfax Connector schedules and more.
Good luck — and let us know how your commute goes on Monday.
It’s been a week since the Reston Association Board voted to move $430,000 from its Operating Fund to use towards unexpectedly large expenses incurred by renovations at the Tetra/Lake House property.
RA purchased the building for $2.6 million in summer 2015 in order to fend off feared commercial development and add a community space.
A variety of things led to the overrun, including the previous tenant opting not to rent back for 2016 and rehab costs that came in much higher than expected, RA officials said.
But the reality is the cost gap is large and RA officials are not going to abandon the project. In fact, RA CEO Cate Fulkerson says the association needs to get Tetra/Lake House ready for business in order to start making money at the 3,000-square foot building on the shores of Lake Newport.
RA will begin after school care programs at Tetra/Lake House in the fall, and plans to rent it for events, meetings and parties. RA expects to eventually bring in more than $100,000 annually from those things.
But that does not mean the expenses will stop. The renovations, which have been somewhat scaled down as costs climbed, are not done. And at the May 26 RA Board meeting, representatives of the Lake House working group showed the board an elaborate landscaping and parking lot renovation idea that would cost a not-yet-identified amount should RA go forward with it in the future.
What should happen now? Should RA look for proffer and sponsor funding to pay for future costs? Should it cut their losses and sell the building? Should it charge non-RA members higher rates for rentals?
Do you think RA members will end up paying more than a few dollars in their annual assessments because of the deficit? Do you have any money-making or money-saving ideas?
Chat in the comments and have an nice weekend.
The nearly 500 members of South Lakes High School’s Class of 2016 are heading for dozens of colleges, as well as military service and the workforce next fall.
While the greatest number of college students will attend universities in Virginia, there will also be former Seahawks studying from coast to coast.
Below is a list of where students are enrolled, courtesy of SLHS’ career services office.
Want to see how some of the numbers compare to the Class of 2015? Revisit this list from last year on Reston Now. Note: We plan to have numbers from Herndon High School next week.
For every group of Reston residents floating around on a summer night on Lake Thoreau, there’s another party that’s stalled, swearing and sometimes, paddling to shore.
That’s why Erin Cloney has started a business to help the unique issues of Reston boat owners. Cloney has discovered, like so many Restonians, that the neighborhood pontoon and deck boats need special care.
Those boats mainly run on batteries and small motors, and those need special attention to work properly, he said. Many boat owners don’t realize until it is too late and they are out of power, said Cloney, who calls himself the company’s “Chief Problem Solver.”
“Everyone out there on the lake has problems,” said Cloney, a seven-year resident of Lake Thoreau. “And every spring, I tow people back.”
That’s how SolvTec LLC was formed. Cloney, an electrical and security engineer by day, has started this side business to keep Reston’s boats in, well, ship-shape.
For $20 ($30 if not on Lake Thoreau), he will come over and investigate your boat problem. He checks the motors, the batteries, even the electrical outlets, where the problem sometimes originates. Prices after that vary with the issue and the solution.
Cloney can also do small decking, lighting and upholstery repairs. He will even come tow you if you get stranded on your boat (and then of course help you fix the motor so it does not happen again). See a full list of services here.
The only thing Cloney can’t do is pull a boat out of the water — but he can call someone who can.
He says Reston’s boats run on standard marine batteries, and many Reston residents don’t “properly care for them” and they wear out quickly.
“The battery industry is kind of a scam,” he said. “The industry does not want them to last long. They want you to turn them in so they can recycle them.”
But most boat owners want to have a beer and float around the lake.
“They want to go out and have their glass of wine and not worry about how to get back,” said Cloney. “
Having a boat issue? Visit SolvTec’s website or call 770-540-7750 or email [email protected].
Photo courtesy Erin Cloney
Roosters Men’s Grooming Center, the latest in a series of men’s salons to open in the past year in Reston, is now taking clients on Market Street at Reston Town Center.
The salon opened last month in a previously unfinished space at 11990 Market St., on the ground floor of Midtown Condominiums. Roosters joins PR Barbers, which opened last fall on Market Street, and North Point Barber Shop, new to North Point in May.
Roosters, a national franchise, is offering high-end grooming just for men, including hair cuts and “color camouflage,” beard trims, head shaving, hot towel shaves and more.
Roosters says it aims to combine the “charm and comfort of of an old school barbershop updated for the modern man.”
Some of the special offerings: Roosters Club Cut ($45); Signature 7-Step Facial Shave ($38); Head Shave ($45); and Camouflage (gray blending, $40).
Roosters’ hours are Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (571) 325-2888 or visit Roosters website for an appointment.
