Big Book Sale — Friends of Reston Regional Libary’s Spring used book sale starts today. Big selections and big bargains to be had. [Reston Friends]

Reston On The Home Values List — Reston (zip code 20191) made Washingtonian’s feature, along with Bethesda, Silver Spring, Del Ray and Dupont Circle, on “Five Neighborhoods Around Dc Where Home Values Hold Steady.” [Washingtonian]

Cool Condo — Modern Reston takes us on a tour of a remodel at Lake Anne Plaza. [Modern Reston]

Several Virginia Starbucks locations recently began serving beer, wine and savory snacks as part of the new “Starbucks Evenings” program, but two Reston stores slated for the rollout are not yet participating.

Starbucks stores at South Lakes and North Point Village Centers in Reston have had Alcoholic Beverage (beer and wine) license applications with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board that are still listed as “pending.”

Starbucks announced last summer it would add the Evenings program, which was tested in New York City, for a nationwide audience. The two Reston stores, along with one in Great Falls, have been in the works since then, but a Starbucks spokeswoman said the addition is a “long and thoughtful process.”

The first DC-area stores started serving wine and beer a few weeks ago. Among them — stores at Tysons (Pike 7 Shopping Center), Chantilly (Chantilly Crossing) and Fairfax (Fairfax Boulevard).

Some of the highlights of the Evenings menu:

A secletion of craft beer

About a dozen wine selections (by the glass or bottle), including Alamos Malbec (Argentina), Erath Pinot Gris (Oregon), Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington),  and Villia Sandi Orisecco (Italy).

Small plates include truffle mac and cheese; spinach and artichoke dip; chicken skewers; truffle popcorn; and a cheese plate.

South Lakes Starbucks/file photo

Fairfax County Police detectives said they are seeing a new trend in area drug consumption involving highly concentrated marijuana resin boiled into various forms of hash or hash oil.

Some of the common street names: BHO (Butane Honey Oil), Wax or Earwax, dab or dabs, budder/butter, crumble, honeycomb, pull, snap, 710 (OIL upside down) and Shatter.

Police are urging residents to be particularly wary of Shatter, a “hard form marijuana derivative and has an extremely high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.” Read More

Get ready for prom season — for free.

Reston Community Center will host its 14th annual Diva Central Prom Dress Giveaway on Saturday, April 23 from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m. at RCC Lake Anne (1609-A Washington Plaza).

RCC has been collecting gently used formal items from the community to stock for its annual shopping experience.

Diva Central is open to any current high school student who is in need of a prom dress, shoes, jewelry and other accessories. Everything is FREE. Limit one dress per person.

“Prom is becoming an increasingly expensive experience for high school students. We hope to lessen that financial burden by giving local teens the opportunity to create their entire prom look for free,” says RCC Leisure and Learning Director Eileen Boone. “We always receive beautiful dresses and accessory donations from the community; it feels good to know that these items will become a part of a cherished high school experience for so many young ladies in the Reston area.”

This year, with the help of Boston Properties and the generosity of the Reston community, Diva Central has collected several hundred dresses for the giveaway event. In addition to prom dresses in all colors, sizes and styles, volunteers will be on hand to help teens select shoes, jewelry, handbags and other accessories to complete their prom look.

RCC file photo

Greater Reston Arts Center is prepping for a new exhibit, Wells & Barnes: Seats of Power, opening this week at the Greater Reston Arts Center.

Says GRACE:

“In this upcoming exhibition, Gayle Wells Mandle and her daughter, Julia Barnes Mandle, use the motif of chairs as a vehicle to examine society’s eternal power struggle.

Inspired by events in the Middle East and the United States, this series explores political and economic inequality through a variety of media, including large-format photography, painting, sculpture, installation, and embroidery.

Gayle Wells Mandle is based in Massachusetts and Julia Mandle resides in the Netherlands, where she recently received support from the prestigious Mondriaan Fund.

Gayle Wells Mandle says it is her responsibility as an “artist to draw attention to world events that affect our well-being. “

“My inspiration is drawn from crumbling infrastructure and detritus left by ‘civilization,’ ” she says in her artist’s statement. “For years I’ve been questioning the ever-growing global economic imbalance.”

There will be an opening at GRACE, 12001 Market St. at Reston Town Center, Friday, April 22, 6 to 8 p.m.

The exhibit opens Thursday and will run until June 18. Admission is free.

Work by Wells and Barnes/Courtesy GRACE

Restonians are invited to look into the future of Reston development at an open house Wednesday at South Lakes High School from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins has scheduled the community meeting, titled “Reston…Blueprint for the Future,” to give residents an opportunity to gather information on proposed, planned and anticipated development activity within the Transit Station Areas.

It is not known whether Hudgins or other county officials will be introducing any new projects.

The open house is at South Lakes High School, 11400 South Lakes Drive, in the cafeteria, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, here is a list of development already in the works:

RTC West – under construction on Sunset Hills Road.

1831 Wiehle Avenue – application recently received by county to convert office building into residences.

1760 Reston Parkway – 23-story office building already approved but will go back to supervisors for tweaks.

Signature Residences — Apartments under construction on last remaining Reston Town Center parcel.

Reston Heights Phase II (VY) – under construction on Sunrise Valley Drive. Read More

Break To Make Beer — After an opening weekend in which patrons drank 3,000 pints of beer, Lake Anne Brew House says it will a pause to make sure it brews much more to keep up with customer demand. The Brew House will be closed this week and will reopen on April 29. [Facebook]

Fairfax County Firefighter Still Missing — Nicole Mittendorff, a Fairfax County Firefighter/EMT who serves at a station in Burke, is still missing after her car was found in Shenandoah National Park last week. Fairfax County Fire Rescue officials gave an update on Tuesday. [Washington Post]

Local High School Rankings — The Washington Post’s annual Challenge Rankings are out. The index score is the number of college-level tests given at a school in the previous calendar year divided by the number of graduates that year. Also noted are the percentage of students who come from families that qualify for lunch subsidies and the percentage of graduates who passed at least one college-level test. South Lakes High School is No. 67 and Herndon High comes it at No. 24 for 2016. [Washington Post]

Former SLHS Football Player Gets NFL Looks — Norfolk State’s Deon King, a linebacker who played at South Lakes HS, may get a shot in the NFL. [Virginian-Pilot]

Ben & Jerry’s, which closed at Reston Town Center last fall, is slated to re-open April 30 in its new space at 11916 Market St.

Reston Ben & Jerry’ owner Cliff Hallock said the new space should be fully ready, pending any permit issues, to be offering scoops of Cherry Garcia, Americone Dream and Cookie Dough ice cream, among other favorites.

Ben & Jerry’s was formerly located at 11928 Market St. That space has been taken over by clothing store Madewell, which plans to open next week.

Hallock said the new space is being built out and is still being configured to its long-and-narrow shape. He said he plans outdoor seating and limited indoor seating at the new store.

A $16.8 million boost in state funding and additional money from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will result in practically closing the Fairfax County Public Schools’ projected multimillion shortfall for 2017.

FCPS had been facing a potential $67 million budget gap when it began planning for Fiscal Year 2017 earlier this year. The schools asked the county for about $2 billion, or half the county’s $3.99 billion budget, which is a 6-percent rise from last year.

At a budget mark-up session on Tuesday, the supervisors said they would provide an additional $33.6 million to schools. This was done by allocating an entire penny of the tax rate and using reallocated funds from Third Quarter Review, said Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova.

This will give the schools, which will receive 52.7 percent of the County’s General Fund budget, enough to “address teacher compensation, preserve existing programs, and begin working to decrease class size,” said Bulova.

“It is up to the elected officials on the School Board to determine the pay plan for teachers and how to prioritize funding for specific school programs such as language immersion and fourth grade strings,” Bulova’s office said in a statement.

The School Operating Transfer will now be increased by $88.4 million, or 4.8 percent over FY2016.

FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza said the schools now have “the opportunity to make a significant and critical investment in teacher salaries, and reduce class size, while not cutting vital student programming.”

“I am hopeful that this is reflective of a turning point in our community,” she added in a release. “This reinvestment in our community’s most important asset, our schools, will provide great dividends for all the citizens of Fairfax. We look forward to continuing to work as partners with the Board of Supervisors to solve future budget issues in the best interests of the residents of Fairfax County. “

The supervisors will vote on the final budget on April 26. The schools will adopt their budget on May 26.

At Tuesday’s session, the board also voted 7-3 in favor of a $1.13 tax rate for FY2017, an increase from the FY2016 rate of $1.09 per $100 of assessed value. The 4-cent increase will generate approximately $93 million in additional county revenue.

The rise in the real estate tax rate will result in about a $303 increase in taxes next year for the typical Fairfax County homeowner.

The new budget year begins on July 1 — but the county and the schools are already forecasting a similarly large budget gap for 2018.

That is why the supervisors are also considering adding a meals tax referendum in the November election. A 4-percent meals tax — similar to the ones in Arlington, Alexandria and town of Herndon, Vienna and Fairfax City — would provide about $90 million of revenue for the county annually.

Read more about the budget markup overall impact on this post from Fairfax County.

Karen Garza/file photo

Updated story, 2:45 p.m. Tuesday: Noah Clemente was located safe and sound about 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

Original story, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday: A Langley High School junior may be missing after he was last seen in Reston Monday night.

The family of Noah Clemente, said he was last seen on the W&OD Trail in Reston about 5 p.m. yesterday.

A family member said they are concerned about the Great Falls teen’s safety, but there are some clues he may be a at a friend’s house.

Nonetheless, they have put out the word to help find Noah, a two-sport athlete at Langley. Nick Clemente said in a Facebook post:

“My brother Noah Clemente is missing. He was last seen at 5PM in Reston on the W&OD trail. Please call me at 703-638-4749 if you see him. Please share this post, to get the word out as well.”

The afternoon farmers market returns to Reston Station’s plaza on Wednesday, April 20.

Smart Markets, which operates several area farmers markets, will be in Reston Wednesday afternoons (3 to 7 p.m.) through November. Smart Markets relocated the Reston market to Reston Station, at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hill Roads next to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro, last year after several seasons in an office park at Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive.

Reaction from the community was mixed, though, as some patrons did not like having to park in the parking garage and make their way up to the plaza.

Smart markets says it will have $1 “Market Parking” on Wednesdays. Here is how to access it:

Follow the signs for “Park X” in the Reston Station garage. They are marked with a blue “X.”  You can use your ticket to pay the $1 “Market Only” parking fee at a pay station before returning to your vehicle (if you’ve come in no earlier than 3 P.M. and stayed no more than 60 minutes). The Park X entrances are the first two left turns after entering the garage from Reston Station Boulevard.

• Arno’s French Pastries (pastries, baked goods)
• Casero Bolivian Creations (bread, banana bread, baked goods)
•  Celtic Pasties (British hand pies)
• El Tenedor De Nacho
• Fabbili Cellars (Wine from Loudoun County)
• Fossil Rock Farm (fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs)
• Greenheart Organic
• Honey Brook Farms (chicken, eggs, baked goods)
• Ignacio’s Produce (fruits and vegetables)
• Kneaded Nourishment Bakery
• Phil’s Dills (pickles)
• Tyson Farms and Orchards (fruits and vegetables)
• Uncle Fred’s BBQ Smoke Shack (BBQ prepared on site)
• Valley View Bakery (bread)
• Whim Pop (popsicles)
• Lothar Erb’s Artisanal Sausages (bacon, smoked meats, gourmet sausage)
• Cabin Hill Farm
• Cascade Beverage Company
• Power & Balance Fitness
• Side Street Catering
• Silver Box Baking

Fossil Rock Farm is also offering preordered Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscriptions. Boxes of produce and other farm items can be picked up at the Wednesday market in Reston.

Recycling Event Returns — R4 Collection Day (Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reston!) is back at Reston Town Center on Friday, April 22 from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring computers, components, electronics, cell phones, paper for shredding, compact fluorescent bulbs, eyeglasses, and hearing aids. Participating organizations include Secured Shred, Turtle Wings, and more.

Help Pets In Need — GoodDogz.org and Reston Town Center are teaming up for a pet supplies drive through May 7. Items such as dog beds, blankets, toys, grooming products, leashes, and crates can be donated in building lobby collection bins in advance of the May 7 Pet Fiesta at RTC. Items will be given to organizations supporting pets in need.

Large Jump in Reston Office Rents — Rents for offices close to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station have jumped since the Silver Line began running in July 2014. According to real estate analysts JLL, average rents have increased 23.6 percent since 2011 for all properties located within a quarter mile of the station, and they increased 22.4 percent in 2015 for buildings in the Commerce Metro Center complex, located immediately south of the station. [Virginia Business]

Runners From Reston — Here’s how Reston runners finished in yesterday’s Boston Marathon. [Boston Marathon]

A woman who formerly worked as a student teacher at a Herndon elementary school has been charged with four counts of using the Internet to solicit a child, Fairfax County Police said.

Fairfax County Police and the FBI said Kathleen Antonina Capitano, 24, of Shallotte, North Carolina, arrived in Herndon on Saturday with the apparent intent of meeting a 13-year-old boy for the purposes of engaging in sex.

Officials said Capitano originally met the boy when she was a student teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools’ Coates Elementary School in Herndon in 2015.

Unbeknownst to Capitano, law enforcement authorities had been alerted to her online communication with the child and were waiting for her in Virginia. She was taken into custody.

Detectives said they met with the teen and his parents prior to Capitano’s arrival in Fairfax County.

The case is still under investigation and additional charges are possible. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Solvers electronically by visiting http://www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text-a-tip by texting “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES(274637)** or by calling 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131Call: 703-691-2131.

Photo: Kathleen Antonina Capitano/FCPD

Former Fairfax County Police officer Adam Torres pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Monday for his involvement in the fatal 2013 shooting of an unarmed man at a domestic disturbance call.

The murder trial for Torres, now 33, was scheduled to begin at the Fairfax County Courthouse on Monday.

Torres, who was fired from the department last summer, apologized to the family of John Geer during the plea hearing in Fairfax Circuit Court before Circuit Judge Robert J. Smith.

Torres was one of several officers at the scene when police were called to Geer’s Springfield home in August of 2013. Geer had been fighting with his girlfriend, and police were talking to him in the doorway of his home.

Torres said during the investigation he thought he saw Geer, 46, reach for a gun and he then fired a shot at Geer’s chest. A gun was later found nearby, but was not in Geer’s hand at the time.

“I am truly sorry for my actions. I’m heartbroken for Mr. Geer’s children,” The Washington Post reported Torres said in court. “There are no words I can say today that can adequately express my remorse.”

Prosecutors and the defense had agreed to a 12-month sentence for Torres, who has been in jail without bond, but Judge Smith declined to accept that on Monday, the Post reported. Instead, Smith asked for a standard pre-sentencing report and scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 24. By then, Torres will have served 10 months.

The plea marks a quick end to a lengthy case. The FCPD received marked criticism for not saying anything about it for over a year. The department was also part of a nearly $3 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Geer’s family.

In the wake of the shooting, Fairfax County Supervisor Chair Sharon Bulova last year created an Ad Hoc Commission to review police policies on use of force, communications, recruiting practices, mental health and independent oversight of the department. The commission issued a detailed report last fall.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the Geer family, the friends of Mr. Geer, our community, and the men and women of the Fairfax County Police Department as the justice system concludes its course in this tragic loss of life,” FCPD Chief Edwin Roessler said in a statement following the plea.

“The men and women of the Fairfax County Police Department have fully cooperated with all authorities during this investigation,” Roessler said. “The action of one former employee is not reflective of the honorable work done day-in and day-out by all members of our department.”

Adam Torres/FCPD photo