Halloween is Saturday — do you have plans?

If you are staying home to hand out candy, expect trick-or-treaters when it gets dark (about 6 p.m.) until about 8 p.m., though there are no official parameters.

Reston Now has been running events for adults and kids all week. Here are a couple more if you are still searching to get your spooky on.

Kalypso’s Sports Tavern at Lake Anne Plaza will have a live band on Friday and a DJ on Saturday. Come out the hear the Vandelays Friday beginning at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night is Kalypso’s “All Hallow’s Eve” Party with DH Ortiz from 9:30 p.m. to close. Saturday’s party will also feature a costume contest and prizes.

Herndon microbrewery Aslin Beer Company is hosting a Halloween costume party on Saturday. A prize for best costume will be awarded at 7 p.m.

The NextStop Theatre’s production of Deathtrap is happening Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. If you wear your Halloween costume to this Ira Levin thriller, you receive a free treat from concessions plus a chance to win NextStop prizes. Tickets: $35.

South Lakes High School’s Theatre Arts Department is presenting its annual “Fright Night” at 7 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $6 for students and $8 for adults, available online or at the door. The content appropriate for all ages.

Other events:

Daytime Trick-or-Treating at Reston Town Center

Dr. Tisseront’s Candy Buy Back

Meow-lo-ween at Fairfax County Animal Shelter

Howl-o-Ween at Lake Anne Plaza

Know of any other Halloween happenings? Tell us in the comments below.

Halloween at Aslin Beer Co./Aslin Beer via Facebook

Reston will be getting Fairfax County’s first bikeshare system, and Fairfax County officials expect it to be operational by late 2016 or early 2017.

The tentative plans for an extension of Capital Bikeshare have been in the works for more than a year, since the county completed a feasibility study in spring of 2014. Since then, bicycle program staff as been identifying potential vendors — the plan is to go with Capital Bikeshare, already in place in the District and Arlington — as well as station sites and additional money sources.

Last week, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors OKed the county’s application for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s FY 2017 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Grant Application. The grant will give the bike program $400,000 as seed money for bike share program. The money will go to pay for needed equipment such as 130 bicycles and 13 stations.

“We consider the TAP grant Fairfax County’s endorsement of the project,” said Fairfax County Bicycle Program Coordinator Adam Lind. “The project is ready to open into the design [process].”

Lind said the program will be seeking additional local funding, as well as sponsorship as the total estimated cost of system is close to $800,000. Federal funds can only be used for equipment and stations, not for operational costs, said Lind.

Lind was in Reston Thursday night to show bikeshare timelines, stations and take feedback from citizens.

Some of the highlights:

The system will start in Reston, with the goal of eventually expanding to Tysons Corner, Herndon  and Merrifield.

The design will not have to go through Reston Association’s Design Review Board as no stations are on RA land.

The next steps will be land acquisition, completing the design plan, and finalizing funding. Different sites have different challenges, such as whether they are on private property (i.e., Reston Town Center, Reston Hospital) or public land, and whether there is already a hard surface in place or one needs to be constructed.

Bikeshare stations can be moved, said Lind. For example, if a station is built at Restion Regional Library, which may get a new facility in a slightly different location in the future, the station can be moved near the new building.

The tentative timeline calls for opening in late 2016 or early 2017. Lind stressed that that estimate is rough as federal funding requires additional steps that could slow the down the process. Also, the he prefers the system open “when people are active and outside,” so the system likely would not open in deep winter.

All Reston stations are located north of the Dulles Toll Road (see graphic). Lind says the county looked into stations at various office buildings in south Reston, but decided the locations would throw off the balance of bikes throughout the day.

“People would ride to work on the south side and there would not be any constant flow,” he said. “Bikes would just sit by the workplaces all day.”

While Reston has 55 miles of Reston Association trails, the W & OD Trail and many bike lanes, one citizen in attendance questioned whether the community is bike-friendly enough to be safe for bikeshare riders, He pointed out that bikeshare riders are often occasional cyclists rather than experienced riders.

“Are you going to throw a bunch of bikes into places where there are a lot of cars?” he asked. “All of those driveways are going to be key places where bikes and cars can meet.”

Lind pointed out that Fairfax County plans additional bike improvements (lanes, signage) countywide, as well as an awareness and safety campaign prior to the system opening.

“One of the benefits of bikeshare is it does get people used to using biking as a transportation alternative,” said Lind.

Graphic courtesy of Fairfax County

Fairfax County Police have arrested Sterling woman in connection with a burglary in Reston on Tuesday.

A resident of the 11600 block of North Shore Drive called police about 10:30 p.m. to report an unknown person entered the residence and took property, police said.

An officer on another case found the suspect with property belonging to the burglary victim. Jaclyn Watts, 29, of Sterling was subsequently charged with burglary, police said.

In other crime new in the Reston District Station in the last week:

UNLAWFUL ENTRY, 2200 block of Huston Place, Oct. 25. A resident reported an unknown person entered a vacant residence. Nothing was taken.

LARCENIES

• 11900 block of Bowman Towne Drive, property from residence.
• 2400 block of Centreville Road, wallet from business.
• 11500 block of Hickory Cluster, sunglasses from vehicle.
• 11600 block of Mediterranean Court, property from residence.
• 11500 block of Olde Tiverton Circle, bicycle from residence.
• 1800 block of Cameron Glen, property from vehicle.
• 1100 block of Dranesville Road, property from residence.
• 12000 block of Greywing Square, jewelry from residence.
• 300 block of Juniper Court, cash from residence.
• 1800 block of Cameron Glen Drive, phone from vehicle.
• 1700 block of Fountain Drive, cash from residence
• 2100 block of Gunnell Farms Drive, cash from residence
• 2300 block of Soapstone Drive, property from vehicle
• 13000 block of Worldgate Drive, wallet from business

At the Fairfax County Animal Shelter, a black or orange cat (or a mixture of both) is waiting for you.

The shelter — which has reached maximum cat capacity — says adoption fees will be half off for all “Halloween-colored” cats (including all cats with even a speck of orange or black) through Saturday, Oct. 31.

Cat adoption fees usually run $50-175, depending on age of the cat.

On Saturday, visitors will pull a rubber duckie out of the pool to see what their adoption fee discount will be on any other shelter animals. The discount will be a minimum of 50 percent, but pull the right duckie and your adoption fee could be waived entirely.

Also on Saturday, kids (and adults) can decorate a felt ghost to take home or hang at the shelter, and kids in costume can pull a treat from the prize bucket.

For more information, call 703-830-1100 or visit the shelter online.

When Fairfax County voters go to the polls on Nov. 3, there will be two bond issues: a $310 million school bond and a $151 million public facilities bond.

If passed, both will have significant money put towards projects in Reston.

Both South Lakes and Herndon High Schools are among the schools slated for improvement with the 2015 bond.

South Lakes will get $13,359,385 towards construction of the 40,000-square-foot addition that will add classroom space to the building, which has reached capacity.

The addition will enable South Lakes to get rid of many of its temporary classrooms. The school, which underwent a major overhaul and expansion less than 10 years ago, is designed for 2,100 students. It’s current enrollment is 2,446. The addition will give the school a capacity of 2,500.

However, if enrollment trends hold, the school could be at 2,900 enrollment, FCPS officials said in the most recent Capital Improvement Plan.

Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors last week approved the addition. The planning and other initial costs will be paid for with funds from a $225 million 2013 bond.

Herndon High would get $99 million from the bond for renovations.

Langston Hughes Middle School is set to get $3.7 million to initiate the planning stages for its renovation.

Nine elementary schools, none in the Reston area, would also benefit. See the full list on FCPS website.

Fairfax County’s Fire and Rescue Station 25, location on at Wiehle Avenue and Sunset Hills Road, is slated to be replaced if the public facilities bond passes.

If voters pass the bond, $51 million will be used to replace Station 25, as well as renovate or replace Merrifield, Penn Daw, Woodlawn, and Edsall stations.

Station 25 is one of the busiest stations in the county, Fairfax County says. It was built in 1972 and last renovated in 1986.

Fairfax County’s Capital Improvement Plan says $13,000,000 is needed for replacement as the building systems and infrastructure are well beyond the end of their life cycle. The replacement would include an expansion to a four-bay station.

The fire station lacks women’s accommodations to include bunk rooms, lockers and bathroom facilities to meet 50 percent of minimum shift staffing, Fairfax County officials said. It is also in need of a workout room, an expanded men’s locker room area and laundry facilities.

Other bond money will go to renovate the Franconia District Police station ($100 million); to build a new, joint animal shelter and police station in the South County area; for construction and renovation for the Police heliport, Operations Support Bureau facilities and Emergency Vehicle Operations and K9 Center.

Fairfax County Police say there is no evidence that an increase in the number of robberies in the Reston area this year is due to the opening of Metro’s Silver Line in Reston 15 months ago.

Last week, Capt. Ron Manzo, commander of the Reston District Station, told Reston Association’s Board of Directors that there had been a 100-percent increase in robberies compared to this point in 2014. The number has increased from 16 to 32.

Several Reston Now readers commented both on the article and on Reston Now’s Facebook page that Metro must be the reason for the increase.

Katy DeFoe, the Reston District Station’s Crime Prevention Specialist, said none of the robberies Capt. Manzo spoke about happened within a quarter-mile of Wiehle-Reston East. There was a robbery nearby on Roger Bacon Drive on Oct. 24, however.

DeFoe says the number of robberies includes nine commercial/bank robberies, including two bank robberies in the last two weeks. Neither bank was in the immediate vicinity of Wiehle-Reston East.

Of the 32 robberies, there have been seven arrests. All suspects arrested had a local (Fairfax County) address, said DeFoe.

DeFoe credits the rise in the number of robberies to a rise in reporting of crimes.

“I am not sure the number of incidents has gone up,” she said. “It is just being reported more. We have done a lot of work to get people to report to us.”

Overall crime is down 3 percent in the Reston District, said DeFoe.

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler told Reston Now in 2014 that combining an increased population with urban-style gathering spots does increase the chances for crime. But it doesn’t mean it has to increase actual crime rates — especially as Wiehle-Reston East stands now, where there is currently little development right at the Metro station.

It will at least November until Reston’s first nanobrewery opens its doors.

Lake Anne Brew House owners Jason and Melissa Romano purchased the former Singh Thai space at 11424 Washington Plaza last spring. They said they hoped to be open by October.

In a post on the business’s Facebook Page earlier this week, the owners said everything is “just WAITING to be hooked up and brewed on and start brewing some beer,” however Fairfax County Health Department regulations have stalled the process. And the regulations are taking extra time because this will be Fairfax County’s first nanobrewery.

“To make a long story short, there are some legislative changes happening in the Commonwealth, and at a local county level here in Fairfax,” Lake Anne Brew House said on Facebook. ” We are working hand-in-hand with the Fairfax County Health Department currently to get our plans reviewed and approved, a very time- consuming and untimely step that we never anticipated having to take.”

“Once their review is complete, we can finish our build-out, install our equipment and start brewing some beer. Our ABC and TTB [Alcohol, Tobacco and Trade] licenses are approved, and we are ready to roll as soon as the county gives us the green light.”

A nanobrewery  — a growing segment of the craft beer market — is a small microbrewery operation, typically producing fewer than three barrels at a time. A barrel is typically 31 gallons or two kegs.

When the brew house opens, the beer will be made on-site in the former kitchen space. There will be bar and inside seating, as well as seating on the deck overlooking Lake Anne.

Under Virginia law, breweries can sell pints of beer on site without the need for food service. Food service is required at bars. There won’t be a kitchen at Lake Anne Brew House, but Melissa Romano said previously they will sell simple snacks (similar to food operations at a winery) to go with the beer.

Photo courtesy Lake Anne Brew House

The Fairfax County Public Schools’ Budget Task Force should have final recommendations by Nov. 9 on how to close a potential $72 million shortfall for Fiscal Year 2017.

The task force has met seven times and was slated to deliver its final report to FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza on Oct. 15. The task force has requested additional time to prepare the report, which is now expected to be presented to the school board at its Nov 9 work session, a school spokesman said.

FCPS says it arrived at the latest budget gap figure (down from $100 million) by plugging in updated revenue and required expenditures and including a 3-percent transfer increase as included in the County’s budget guidance.

“The budget shortfall could fall above or below the estimate,” FCPS Department of Financial Services staff said at a board work session in late September.

“The shortfall contains uncertainty because there are costs and funding that are not determined until later in the budget process,” the Financial Services presentation said.

Garza has said a large portion of the school system’s rising costs are due to increases in compensation, rising health care costs and retirement fund contributions. The school system — now with 188,545 students — has a growing enrollment with an increased need for special services.

Garza will present her proposed budget in January. The final budget will be adopted by the school board in May — and it may contain changes such as increased class size, cutbacks in sports and activities and a reduction in staff positions, among others.

Meanwhile, FCPS Hunter Mill School Board member Pat Hynes, who also serves as the school board chair, is hosting the Hunter Mill  District Community Budget Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Madison High School (in the Lecture Hall), 2500 James Madison Drive, Vienna.

Hynes will be joined by Budget Task Force member Sridhar Ganesan,who lives in Reston, and a representative from the Office of Financial Services. They will give a brief budget overview, demonstrate a budget proposal tool, and answer questions about the process and how community members can make their voices heard.

Meanwhile, here are some of questions submitted by county residents to the Budget Task Force and the answers from the FCPS Office of Budget Services:

Q: What number/percentage are ESOL students and receive free/reduced lunch?

A:  English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) eligible students (service levels 1-4) are projected to be 17.0 percent (31,989) of FCPS enrollment in FY 2016. Students eligible for free/reduced lunch are projected to be 28.2 percent (53,170) of FCPS enrollment. A student may be in both of these categories.

The FY 2016 Approved Budget includes an overall net increase of 2,631 students over FY 2015 actual enrollment. ESOL students are projected to increase by a total of 885.

Q: Does the health insurance increase reflect the portion that FCPS pays? Does it already reflect any increase in the employee?

A:  The health insurance increase in the FY 2017 preliminary forecast reflects the projected change in the employer cost for health expenditures from FY 2016 to FY 2017. A change to the health plan premium rate affects both FCPS and the employee. FCPS contributes 85 percent of the established medical plan premium for employees enrolled in individual plans, and 75 percent of the established premium for employees
enrolled in mini-family or family plans. Also, FCPS contributes 70 percent of the established dental plan premium for employees enrolled in a dental plan.

Q: When did compensation last increase and by how much? What is the trend?

A:  Employee salaries increased for FY 2016. All employees will receive a market scale adjustment of 0.62 percent and eligible employees will receive a step increase that averages 2.5 percent. Read More

Reston Town Center has an easy and safe way for little ones to take part in the typically after-dark Halloween fun.

It is daylight Trick-or-Treating, and it takes place Saturday, Oct. 31 from 12 to 4 p.m.

Costumed children can visit participating retailers and the Information Center (next to BRB by the pavilion) for treats and goodies on Halloween afternoon. Look for the pumpkin flyer in the window.

The whole family can also enjoy a spooky, magical performance for all ages by Turley the Magician at 1 p.m. in Fountain Square.

If you are facing a Halloween candy overload next week, here is a way to unload some, give back, have some fun and even earn a little money.

Reston orthodontist Stephan Tisseront is holding his annual Halloween Candy Buy-Back event on Monday from 12 to 4 p.m.

If you bring leftover candy to the event, $1 per pound will be donated to Children’s National Medical Center; $1 per pound will be given back to the candy donor; and all candy will be sent to U.S. military troops overseas.

This is the 10th annual post Halloween candy buy-back at Dr. Tisseront’s office.

Since Monday is a school holiday, there will also be carnival like fun for all ages, including Hot Apple Cider, Temporary Tattoos, Balloons, and a raffle for prize at 3:45 p.m.

Tisseront Orthodontics is located at 11720 Plaza America Dr. The event will be outside, in the plaza in front of the office.

Previous Tisseront Candy Buy-Back/ Reston Now file photo

Reston citizens will have another chance to weigh in on the future of Reston Town Center North at a community meeting Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. at  South Lakes High School.

The meeting is a continuation of the conversation on Sept. 19, where county officials discussed the community’s needs regarding Embry Rucker Community Shelter, Reston Regional Library and the North County Human Services Building, which houses mental and social services.

In late September, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a land swap between the Fairfax County and Inova. The swap will help the county organize the 49-acre site better in order for it to be rezoned and redeveloped in parcels.

First up: Parcels 7 and 8 (see attached map), which houses Embry Rucker and the library. Both are aging and in need of expansion, officials said at previous meetings. A Request for Proposals for those facilities was put out to developers several months ago. The county has not yet released the results.

Fairfax County voters approved $10 million in funding for the new library as part of a 2012 bond issue.

Citizens attending the September meeting spoke up about adding a nursing home to replace Cameron Glen Care Center, which closed in 2014. Many also wanted to make sure the library got proper attention — and that citizens would not be shortchanged if the library was temporarily relocated during construction.

The redevelopment of all parcels will take up to 10 years, Andrew Miller, Project Coordinator of the Public-Private Partnerships Branch of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said at a previous meeting.

The Town Center North project also includes the county’s acquisition of Reston Towne Green, a five-acre parcel from the Fairfax County Park Authority. In exchange, the park authority has rights to build a 90,000-square-foot recreation center in RTC North. It also ensures that Reston Town Center North will have a 2.6-acre public park in the center of the development.

Eventually, the proposed redevelopment, which runs from New Dominion Parkway to Bowman Town Drive and Town Center Parkway to Fountain Drive, may also include building residences, a performing arts center, offices, and retail, among other amenities.

Inova owns the parcels with Sunrise Assisted Living, the Emergency Care Center and the former Cameron Glen building. Inova has no immediate plans for redevelopment, a representative said.

Graphic of Reston Town Center North grid courtesy Fairfax County

Halloween is this Saturday. Planning on partying?

You can get a free and safe ride home thanks to the Washington Regional Alcohol Consortium’s (WRAP) Halloween SoberRide program.

Here is what you need to know:

SoberRide program will be offered from 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31 until 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. You must be 21 or older.

To receive a free cab ride home (up to a $30.00 fare), please call 800-200-8294 (TAXI). AT&T customers may dial #WRAP from their wireless phones.

Riders are responsible for any fare over $30.

All requests for SoberRide service must be called to and dispatched from 1-800-200-8294.  Do not call a taxi company directly for SoberRide service as the ride will not be covered under this program.

You cannot reserve a SoberRide or schedule a pickup in advance. To receive a ride, you must call 1-800-200-8294 (TAXI) during the program hours. A SoberRide call operator will direct your request to the correct participating cab company.

WRAP’s SoberRide has helped to ensure greater Washington, DC residents have a safe way home on high-risk holidays. Since 1993, WRAP has provided over 62,773 safe rides home on holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, December party season/New Year’s, Independence Day and Halloween.