A new fitness center is coming soon to Great Falls’ Seneca Square.
Orangetheory Fitness, a national fitness boutique that focused on training endurance and strength building, has signed a lease for 4,726 square feet of space at 1025 Seneca Road in the commercial plaza.
According to the company’s website, the location is expected to open soon. A company representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
The company has locations throughout the country, including several in the area. Local locations include Ashburn, Reston and Potomac Falls.
Photo via Google Maps
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The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
A major rewrite of Reston’s central planning document — the Reston Comprehensive Plan — could take additional time for review due to pending legal issues and concerns flagged by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
At the board’s land use policy meeting last week, county staff noted that the update to the plan — which was led by a 31-member task force over the last two years — contains language that is at odds with some countywide policies. The county’s attorneys office is reviewing the draft, which was written by the task force, for legal issues.
The ongoing review is expected to delay the approval process — which previously docketed for Nov. 2 before the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
Public comment on the plan is ongoing. The task force approved draft recommendations on Aug. 28 after 58 public meetings. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn convened the task force after he took office in 2020.
While lauding the overall effort led by Alcorn and the community, some board members characterized the update as ambitious or overtly prescriptive.
Rather than broadly limiting, restricting or expanding development, the plan makes site-specific changes to a limited number of areas. It also includes specific chapters dedicated to equity and community health.
The recommendations are intended to bring Reston — which is navigating the tension and opportunity of growth in transit-oriented areas and old development — into a new era.
“I am concerned that this may fail by its sheer weight,” Mason District Supervisor Gross said, observing that the draft appears to lean toward creating space for more William-Sonomas, a candle shop, than Dollar Stores.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said it’s important to recognize the plan is not the first in the county with a chapter dedicated to equity as a planning tool. The county’s One Fairfax racial and social equity policy, adopted in 2019, applies to the entire county.
“The last thing we want to do is confuse people that that’s not a standard,” McKay said.
Others questioned the decision to give the task force the authority to draft the plan instead of staff.
In a statement to FFXnow, Alcorn defended the approach, which he said is characteristic in community planning:
This is not new. Ever since the scandals of the 1960s (note these were referenced recently in a Fairfax County Times article on Edwin Henderson II) Fairfax County has practiced community-based planning where community task forces have been “given the pen” to ensure the direction and vision of the comprehensive plan reflects the will of the community. In my 16 years on the Fairfax County Planning Commission Mt. Vernon Commissioner and Planning Commission Vice-Chair John Beyers regularly referred to the comprehensive plan as “the people’s plan.”
This practice is noted in the 2011 Burnham Award from the American Planning Association when the Tysons plan was recognized as the best top comprehensive plan in the country. As for the recent Reston process, it is also true that much of the task force recommendation was drafted by County staff – frankly to the disappointment of some task force members. The task force recommendations include new proposed guidance on quality of life issues like equity and community health, and I look forward to continued community feedback and ultimately a recommendation from the planning commission that reflects the values that make Reston a special place.
Comparing the comprehensive plan amendment process to Seven Corners, Gross questioned why the task force led the writing when staff with professional expertise in policy writing and planning could have initiated the process with significant task-force and community input.
Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk encouraged staff and the board to use the “excellent” work by the task force as a foundation for the final update.
“Let’s think about this as an opportunity to use this excellent work as a way to be a foundation for the future changes that we could make,” Lusk said.
Now, county staff are leading a comprehensive effort to review the document — which has already piqued several issues.
Chris Caperton, deputy director of the county’s department of planning and development, said the plan includes “a lot of aspirational language” that appears to be “heavy-handed.”
McKay concluded that staff and board comments indicate that more time is needed for review.
“I think what’s clear here is this is going to take a while,” he said.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity encouraged staff to iron out the legalities of what developers should, could and are simply encouraged to do in Reston.
“The conflicts also make it more complicated for developers, ” Herrity said, adding that Reston is a critical economic corridor.
Fairfax County Task Force Returns From Hurricane — “Today we warmly welcomed back VA-TF1 from their remarkable service to the victims of Ian. As always, the brave women, men and K9s of @VATF1 came through when the call to help arrived. They stand ready for the nation and the residents of Fairfax County.” [Jeff McKay/Twitter]
U.S. Opposes FCPS in Sexual Assault Case — “A recent filing in the U.S. Supreme Court supports a former Oakton High School student’s Title IX lawsuit against Fairfax County Public Schools over claims the student was threatened with discipline if she reported she was raped on a school outing.” [Patch]
Reston Golf Course Owners Say Underlying Zoning Would Allow Redevelopment — “The owners of Reston National Golf Course are not happy with Supervisor Walter Alcorn’s recent announcement that he would not support redevelopment of their property…[Weller Development partner] Siegel said the owners would be pursing redevelopment based on their legacy zoning rights.” [Patch]
Watch Out for Deer This Fall — “With fall deer breeding season now underway, police in Fairfax County, Virginia, are giving drivers tips on how to safely navigate the roads. Police say there are hundreds of reported accidents involving deer in Fairfax County. More than half of those happen during October, November and December.” [WTOP]
Falls Church to Vote Today on Movie Theater — “City lawmakers are set to vote Tuesday on a deal that could grant as much as half a million dollars every year for the next three decades to the developer behind the Founders Row project. The pay-as-you-go arrangement would essentially reinvest tax revenue generated by the sale of movie tickets and concessions as a way to offset the cost and economic risk of bringing in the theater.” [The Washington Post]
Vienna Elevator Replacements Delayed — “Due to supply chain issues, the Town Hall elevator replacement schedule has been delayed. As a result, Town Council and other public bodies will continue to meet at Town Hall as scheduled until further notice.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]
Route 7 Bus Study Turns to Falls Church — “The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has scheduled a community discussion [Tuesday] to look at the planned Route 7 BRT system.” While the route will begin in Tysons, tonight’s discussion “will mostly focus on the Falls Church section.” [ALXnow]
GMU Reports Increased Student Enrollment — “Bucking a statewide trend of declining college enrollment, George Mason University has welcomed its largest student body in school history for the fall 2022 semester, with a freshman class that set a new record for both diversity and academic accomplishment.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
It’s Tuesday — Clear throughout the day. High of 70 and low of 48. Sunrise at 7:15 am and sunset at 6:37 pm. [Weather.gov]
This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
By John V. Berry, Esq.
Our law firm has represented thousands of security clearance applicants and holders over the years. As such, one of the most common mistakes that security clearance applicants or clearance holders make is not being fully truthful on security clearance forms, e.g. e-QIP or SF-86. A significant percentage of our cases involves this very issue.
Here are three quick tips to consider:
Take Time to Complete Clearance Forms Accurately: One of the most common issues that we run across in representing those with security clearances are situations where the individual has completed their clearance forms with no intent to deceive, but erroneously.
Later, an investigator uncovers the mistake and wonders if the individual was attempting to deceive them. In those types of cases, we have to demonstrate the honesty and integrity of the individual involved to the clearance adjudicator and how the mistake was made. The far easier solution is to try to catch the mistakes in advance by taking the time necessary for accuracy.
Get Legal Advice if you are Hesitating About Whether to Disclose Something: Another common situation is when an individual doesn’t want to disclose something that has occurred in their past, say marijuana use on a security clearance form. When these individuals come to us ahead of time we remind them that not being truthful on clearance forms is the worst possible plan.
While not often charged, lying on security clearance forms can be considered a criminal offense. In many of these cases, just speaking with a lawyer knowledgeable in security clearances can help the person decide whether to disclose an issue or discontinue the clearance process if there is potential criminal liability. There are situations when it is better to back out of the security clearance process early than complete security clearance forms if there are significant criminal issues.
Rectify Old Mistakes: Another area where we counsel clearance clients is when a prior disclosure was never made, e.g. drug usage or an arrest. For those types of situations, we often counsel individuals to speak with their security officers to complete a supplemental security disclosure where appropriate. This often comes up when the non-disclosure occurred many years ago when the individual held a secret clearance but whose career has since been very successful and they are now seeking higher level clearances or will be undergoing polygraph testing.
Security clearance adjudicators will often given credit to an individual for voluntarily disclosing adverse information before it is uncovered (or even where it might never have been uncovered).
Honesty is always the best policy. However, mistakes are often made and can often be mitigated. The important thing to know as a security clearance holder or applicant is that these issues can often be overcome. When in doubt about disclosures, please get legal advice because each situation varies depending on the facts involved.
Contact Us
If you are in need of security clearance law representation or advice, please contact our office at 703-668-0070 or through our contact page to schedule a consultation. Please also visit and like us on Facebook or Twitter.
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
The Fairfax County School Board reaffirmed its support for transgender students last week as community members spoke out against policies proposed by the state that would limit their rights.
At a meeting on Thursday (Oct. 6), members issued a statement reiterating Fairfax County Public School’s commitment to policies that “will continue supporting our transgender and gender-expansive students, staff, and families”:
The Fairfax County School Board understands that our LGBTQIA+ students, staff, and families are worried about the impact of Governor Youngkin’s proposed model policies for transgender and gender-expansive students. Nearly one in five transgender and non-binary youth attempted suicide in the last year. LGBTQIA+ youth who found their school to be affirming reported lower rates of attempting suicide. It is necessary to ensure our school community is a place where all students can live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, harassment, or violence.
The statement followed walkouts in late September by thousands of students who opposed the draft policies from Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia Department of Education. Prior to the school board meeting, the LGBTQ staff advocacy group FCPS Pride led a protest in front of Luther Jackson Middle School.
Released on Sept. 16 and open for public comment through Oct. 26, the state’s draft policies direct schools to treat transgender and gender-expansive students according to their sex assigned at birth unless they present legal documentation of a change to their name or sex.
Even if a student changes their official school records, the policies say they must still use facilities based on their sex assigned at birth and prohibit schools from disciplining staff or students who misgender or deadname a student, citing free speech protections.
In its statement, the school board says FCPS will continue to adhere to its existing policy and regulation, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and promise acceptance of “a student or parent’s assertion of a student’s gender-expansive or transgender status.”
The policies allow students to use “a locker room or restroom consistent with the student’s gender identity,” which run opposed to the state’s new proposed policies.
When asked for a response to the school board’s statement, Youngkin’s office told FFXnow that the guidelines are not for the local school system to decide.
“Children belong to families not bureaucrats and school board members,” Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter wrote in an email. “Virginians spoke clearly last year and they continue to say that parents matter. Parents deserve to be involved in all critical discussions about their children. School boards should bring them into the conversation, not cut them out of it.”
Noting that most school districts in Virginia never adopted model policies under former governor Ralph Northam, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow last month that he believes the county would be on “safe legal ground” if FCPS sticks with its own policies.
Last week was the first school board meeting since Youngkin’s draft policies were released. The board also voted unanimously on a resolution to declare October “LGBTQIA+ History Month” in county schools.
Providence District School Board Representative Karl Frisch, who lost a bid this weekend for the House of Delegates, called the new state-proposed policies “shameful and divisive.”
“I’m proud of the policy and regulations we have implemented in Fairfax County Public Schools to protect and affirm our LGBTQIA students, particularly those who are transgender and gender expansive,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have not always moved fast enough. Generations of students and staff walked the halls of our buildings before they were treated with respect by our school division. Thankfully, we have made extraordinary progress, especially in recent years.”
He also commended students for protesting and deciding to “stand up for change.”
Other school board members, including Mason District’s Ricardy Anderson and Springfield’s Laura Jane Cohen, shared similar sentiments.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, many community members also shared concerns and fear about the policies. One FCPS student noted they were “terrified” by the governor’s proposals, and another called them “blatantly discriminatory.”
Several FCPS teachers also spoke, with one saying that the new policies would undermine a school system’s top goal of protecting students.
A number of speakers asked the school board to go beyond words and “take concrete actions” against Youngkin’s proposed policies.
Photo via Alexander Grey/Unsplash
Fairfax County and Virginia state police are looking for a 74-year-old woman who went missing in Reston early this morning (Monday).
Rabieb Tandee Palmer was last seen at 2:15 a.m. in the 1300 block of Gatesmeadow Way, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Police describe her as a white woman with brown eyes and brown and gray hair. She is 5 feet and 1 inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. When she was last seen, she was possibly wearing a red and white pinstriped sweater, black pants, and blue or purple New Balance shoes, according to the Virginia State Police, which is assisting in the search.
“The missing senior suffers from a cognitive impairment and her disappearance poses a credible threat to her health and safety, as determined by the investigating agency,” the VSP said in a senior alert.
Community members with any information about Palmer’s whereabouts can contact the FCPD at 703-691-2233.
#Virginia Senior Alert ACTIVATION: @FairfaxCountyPD is looking Ms. Rabieb Tandee Palmer, 74. Last seen 2:15 AM 10/10/22 near Gatesmeadow Way in #Reston. Call 911 or #Fairfax Co. PD at 703-691-2233. @VaDOTNOVA @fairfaxsheriff @ffxfirerescue pic.twitter.com/kYXgohGc8y
— VA State Police (@VSPPIO) October 10, 2022
Local Bus Changes for Indigenous Peoples’ Day — In observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, formerly known as Columbus Day, Fairfax Connector will operate on a holiday weekday schedule today (Monday). Metrorail is following a standard weekday schedule, but Metrobus is using a Saturday supplemental schedule. [Fairfax Connector, WMATA]
Local Tourism Spending Starts to Bounce Back — “Though still down from pre-pandemic levels, Fairfax County continued to make inroads in terms of rebounding tourism spending in 2021, according to new state figures. Domestic visitors spent an estimated $2.4 billion in Fairfax County in 2021, up more than 22 percent from 2020, according to figures reported Oct. 4 by the Virginia Tourism Corp.” [Sun Gazette]
Possible Sinkhole Closes Tysons Blvd — “Road damage closed a portion of Tysons Boulevard between International Drive and Park Run Drive on Friday, according to Fairfax County police. The incident was initially reported as a sinkhole, police said.” [ABC7]
Vienna Church Collects Kits for Hurricane Ian Survivors — “In response to the hurricane’s destruction, Vienna Presbyterian Church launched a fundraiser to create Gift From the Heart Relief kits that will benefit Florida residents…Cleanup bucket kits and hygiene kits can be delivered to Vienna Presbyterian Church on Wednesday, Oct. 19 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.” [Patch]
Groveton Workforce Training Center Gets Grand Opening — “With the grand opening of the new Workforce Innovation Skills Hub (W.I.S.H.) at the Hybla Valley Community Center on Saturday, Oct. 8, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk is fulfilling his campaign promise to deliver in his first term a workforce center in an economically challenged part of Southeast Fairfax County.” [On the MoVe]
Animal Shelter Adoptions on the Rise — “The Fairfax County Department of Animal Sheltering has seen a nearly 60-percent surge in pet adoptions in the last six months and is ramping up to meet the need with additional programs and a new shelter set to open next year.” [Sun Gazette]
Upcoming Mosaic District Restaurant Gets New Name — “The team behind Compass Rose and Maydan are putting the finishing touches on the first of two Northern Virginia restaurants…Their kebab-centric Eastern Mediterranean concept — opening next month in Fairfax’s Mosaic District — formerly went by Tawle. But owner Rose Previte has since decided to go with a more personal name that won’t be confused with Maydan’s family-style ‘tawle’ menu: Kirby Club.” [Washingtonian]
Virginia’s Pay-Per-Mile System Already Biggest in U.S. — “More than 7,000 Virginians have signed up to pay a fee for each mile they drive under a program launched this summer, putting the state at the forefront of a nationwide effort using new technology to prop up gas taxes that pay for roads.” [The Washington Post]
County Highlights Link Between Guns and Domestic Violence — “As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October and Family Services’ focus on domestic and sexual violence and firearms surrender, [Domestic and Sexual Violence Services advocacy services program manager Angela] Yeboah was featured on the Oct. 5 edition of the ‘County Conversation’ podcast.” [Fairfax County Government]
It’s Monday — Clear throughout the day. High of 66 and low of 44. Sunrise at 7:14 am and sunset at 6:39 pm. [Weather.gov]
The weekend is almost here. Before you consider whether your neighborhood school should have a speed camera or head to bed for some much-needed sleep, let’s revisit the past week of news in Fairfax County.
Here are the 10 most-read stories on FFXnow this week:
- Three dead after vehicle crashes in Tysons and Fort Belvoir, FCPD says
- FCPD to review viral traffic stop of mother on Richmond Highway
- Fairfax County proposes compelling developers to replace lost affordable housing
- Virginia’s limits on local authority are becoming “more intrusive” for Fairfax County, board chair says
- Fairfax County must pay MWAA another $40M for Silver Line Phase II
- New Route 7 travel lane opens earlier than expected in Reston
- County plans to get more HOAs on board with electric vehicle chargers, starting in Reston
- I-495 widening will require removal of cell tower in McLean, potentially affecting service
- Police: Vienna resident assaulted after confronting men leaving his apartment
- Shooter fires gun into car in Mount Vernon, killing man, police say
Ideas for potential stories can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the county are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.
Feel free to discuss these topics, your weekend plans, or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below. Have a great weekend, Fairfax County!
A much-discussed senior living community is now open in Great Falls.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last month to open the Residence at Colvin Run at 1131 Walker Road. In attendance were a few local officials, including Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust.
The 53,000-square-foot facility is being run by IntegraCare, which also operates a senior living facility in Hunters Woods on Colt Neck Road.
The one on Walker Road is on nearly three acres of land near the Colvin Run Mill historic site. It has 62 units in a mix of assisted living apartments and memory care residents for adults 65 and older.
Amenities include a fitness center, an art studio, a theater with an audio system that pairs with hearing aids, an aviary with finches, a rustic-inspired pub, and a trail connecting to neighborhood businesses. It will also bring more than 50 jobs to the community.
The facility fills a need for senior housing in Great Falls, where more than a third of the population is over 55 years old. Residents 65 and older make up about 14% of Fairfax County’s total population.
“In our experiences, we’ve found that seniors want to continue to live in the communities that they raised their families in,” IntegraCare CEO Larry Rouvelas said at the groundbreaking in April 2021. “The need to build senior housing communities in the specific neighborhoods that people grew up in is an important part of their quality of life.”
The project was first proposed more than four years ago and got the county’s approval in early 2019.
Foust has been a supporter of the project since the beginning. He told Reston Now last year that the current demand for senior living communities “far exceeds any supply that we’ve been able to create.”
Having grown up in Great Falls, Rouvelas said in the press release that the Residence at Colvin Run is a community that “will make the parents of my friends proud.”
“The parents of my friends here carpooled me and fed me at their dinner tables,” he said. “Decades later, when the opportunity arose to run a senior housing community in Great Falls, I jumped at the chance. We will run a community that will make the parents of my friends proud.”
A pump station proposed for the Herndon Police Department site will be able to process 10 million gallons of water per day, town staff say.
The station is part of a broader retooling of Herndon’s Utility Master Plan, which outlines how the town will bolster its water infrastructure in preparation for development around the downtown and future Metro station.
Presented to the town council in 2017, that plan anticipated the town would need to increase its water capacity by an additional 1 million gallons per day by 2025. The town purchased new storage in 2018, bringing its total capacity to 5.7 million gallons per day, according to a staff report by the Herndon Department of Public Works.
However, a shift in development trends in favor of residential construction over commercial led staff to revisit its earlier estimates and conclude that a new pump station would make more sense than the previous plan to add two transmission mains.
“This would allow us to get the additional capacity that we will need in a much more economical and reliable fashion than our previous plans estimated,” Herndon Deputy Director of Public Works Tammy Chastain told the town council during a work session on Tuesday (Oct. 4).
The new pump station will be on the police station property at 397 Herndon Parkway, where it can be connected to an existing 24-inch-wide pipeline that runs parallel to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
The town council is slated to approve a pending agreement with Fairfax Water for the project on Tuesday (Oct. 11), kicking off the design process.
Fairfax Water would be responsible for designing, building, operating and maintaining the facility, while the Town of Herndon would cover the design and construction costs.
“They are the ones that are going to have to upgrade it and maintain it,” Chastain said. “If it needs major repairs, we’d probably be helping in funding that. It’s only for us right now, which is why we’re paying the full cost.”
Right now, the estimated cost is nearly $5 million — higher than what town officials suggested before initiating an engineering study in 2019 but lower than the over $6 million that would’ve been needed for two transmission lines, according to Chastain.
The funding will come from the federal COVID-19 relief that the town was allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act, which included water and sewer projects as a viable use of the money, Town Manager Bill Ashton confirmed.
“This is good news because we’ve been planning for this for years,” Mayor Sheila Olem said. “Unfortunately, we went through Covid, but now, we’re getting this funding for something we knew we were putting in anyway. This is great.”
The pump station is “a step amongst several” in Herndon’s utility plan, Ashton said. At some point, the town will also replace its storage tank on Alabama Drive with two smaller tanks that the pump will fill.
Since the station will be right next to the W&OD, Councilmember Sean Regan questioned how it might affect the greenery alongside the trail and whether anything will need to be replaced.
Ashton responded that the potential impact on green space is “a design consideration we would certainly look at.”
Retired Priest Found Not Guilty of Sexual Abuse — “Terry Wayne Specht, 69, of Pennsylvania was found not guilty by a jury in Fairfax County of one felony count of aggravated sexual battery of a child younger than 13, court records show. Investigators claimed the assault took place in 2000, according to an indictment, when Specht was chaplain and assistant principal at St. Paul VI Catholic High School.” [The Washington Post]
Vehicle Hits Pedestrian in Groveton — Fairfax County police officers were dispatched to the 7200 block of Fordson Road yesterday morning (Thursday) after a driver hit an adult, male pedestrian. The crash closed the street between Richmond Highway and Lockheed Blvd for more than an hour. Initially considered life-threatening, the man’s injury condition was later upgraded. [FCPD/Twitter]
Victim in Annandale Hit-and-Run ID’d — Dalchoon Park, 74, of Annandale died Sunday (Oct. 2) after a driver hit her while she was crossing Annandale Road in the 4200 block, Fairfax County police say. The driver left the scene without providing aid and remains unidentified, though a witness said a “small white SUV or sedan” stopped in the area before driving away. [FCPD]
Local LGBTQ Students Targeted After Transgender Policy Protests — “In the days after the walkout and the tremendous media coverage it generated, [the Pride Liberation Project’s] internal communications — including a private Zoom meeting and a message board created for students — were accessed by conservative activists who subsequently began sharing screenshots and other information from the group online and with right-wing media.” [Salon]
Inova Buys More Land Around Fairfax Hospital — “Inova Health System is pleased to announce the purchase of approximately 35 acres of land adjacent to the north of Inova Fairfax Medical Campus. The land is currently developed and used under a long-term ground lease to RBDW Amberleigh LLC as the Amberleigh apartment community. Inova has no immediate plans for the land and will have no role in operation of the housing units for the duration of the term of the ground lease.” [Inova]
County Farmers Markets Offer Hot Food — “The Fairfax County Park Authority farmers markets are pleased to announce the 2022 hot foods pilot program for the remainder of this year’s market season. Customers will now be able to purchase a hot breakfast or dinner at the McLean, Annandale, Kingstowne and Oak Marr farmers markets from select vendors.” [FCPA]
Rep. Wexton and Challenger Hung Cao Face Off — “Inflation and abortion kicked off the 90-minute forum Wednesday night, capturing the divides on two issues that have largely defined the campaign narratives in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District and beyond as the nation reels from inflation at a 40-year high and wrestles with the fallout of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.” [The Washington Post]
Fairfax County NAACP Praises New Park Signs — “The Fairfax County branch of the NAACP has awarded NOVA Parks executive director Paul Gilbert a Freedom Fund Community Advocate Award, which celebrates community members who fight for equality and a better future…Under Gilbert’s leadership, NOVA Parks has unveiled nine new interpretive signs in the past year that showcase a more diverse history.” [Sun Gazette]
It’s Friday — Clear throughout the day. High of 73 and low of 55. Sunrise at 7:11 am and sunset at 6:43 pm. [Weather.gov]
This sponsored column is written by the team at Arrowine & Cheese (4508 Cherry Hill Road in Arlington). Sign up for the email newsletter and receive exclusive discounts and offers. Experience Arrowine’s Tastings & Events. Have a question? Email [email protected].
What if, during your life, you could only practice your chosen profession 45 times? Well, that’s winemaking! Think about it: 45 times, that’s it. And you have to get it right each time, no matter the circumstances. Mother Nature is rarely consistent, perhaps never. Every year a winemaker has to make an enormous amount of decisions based on what the vintage gives them to work with.
Let me explain: we discussed the notion of “terroir” before. A “successful” wine must transfer or speak of the place it is from; that’s the whole enchilada, nothing less, or why drink wine in the first place?
We choose a particular varietal, a Pinot Noir or Sauvignon Blanc, from a “specific place” with an expectation of what it will taste like and how it will work with a particular food or moment. But how do we form these expectations?
The winemaker’s job is to seamlessly get the land’s soul into the bottle without screwing it up. And, to capture not just the particular varietal or blend but to bottle “the vintage,” to pleasantly give you the flavors or expression of that particular growing season, that is the Art, my friends! And great winemakers embrace this challenge.
They know they are working with a product that doesn’t lend itself well to intervention, manipulation, or strongarm tactics. As a winemaker, you listen to the grapes, they don’t listen to you. No matter what you could do to change the nature of the fruit (technology today allows for this, lipstick on a pig), a cosmetic. Trying to change the soul of the wine is a fool’s errand.
I took 25 clients on a river cruise five years ago. I planned each visit, and when I sat back and looked at each winemaker I selected to visit, women ran 80% of them! Some of you might disagree, but I believe women are better suited for making wine. Women seem to approach winemaking from a more cerebral, nurturing perspective. They are more apt to deal with the realities of the vintage, to let the vintage speak, allowing the wine to be what it is intrinsically, and not forcing it to do or taste as they “think” it should. Perhaps it has something to do with maternal instincts. I’m not a psychologist, so I can only guess.
Now for the nitty-gritty, decisions, decisions. It all starts with picking the harvest date. The hard and fast rule is harvest takes place 100 days after flowering. But it’s not that easy; here’s why; when I started in this business 45-plus years ago, “Brix” were everything. People harvest according to the sugar content of the fruit. Winemakers squished a grape, placed the juice on a refractometer, and read the sugar content of the juice. That told you the potential alcohol level, and when you hit “your number,” you picked. Today winemakers get more up-close and personal. They go into the vineyards weeks before the harvest and observe.
They examine the stalks. Are they ripe, woody (overripe), shriveled, or green and healthy? Then they look at the all-important skins (healthy mature skins are everything in making red wine, especially). Grape skins are the primary source of tannins, allowing the wine to age gracefully. The all-important skins also contain phenols or compounds that enable the wine to develop complex aromas. Are the skins ripe and not bitter when you bite into them? Are they fragile, easily broken, damaged, or sunburned?
Then comes tasting the entire berry, not just for sweetness but maturity; the skins, the flesh, and the pips. Then you are ready to go, or maybe not? More on that next week!
Cheers,
Doug
Photo by Kym Ellis on Unsplash
The preceding sponsored post was also published on FFXnow.com
Fairfax County deserves more local authority, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay says, calling Virginia’s Dillon Rule “increasingly more intrusive” in day-to-day operations.
The Dillon Rule dictates that localities only have the authority to create laws, set guidelines, and wield power if the state expressly grants it to them.
However, McKay argues this system treats counties as so “unsophisticated” that they need the state to make decisions for them — an assumption that seems particularly outdated for a locality like Fairfax County, which is home to nearly 1.2 million people and an annual budget of $4.7 billion.
“It’s a…broken, inconsistent, and non-responsive system for our constituents that needs modernization,” McKay told FFXnow. “Every time we need something, we’ve got to go to Richmond and beg because most [Virginia] localities don’t need or want that authority. And that’s a problem.”
McKay told Axios D.C. last month that he wanted the county to have more control over its destiny, including the option to levy personal income taxes.
He calculated that Fairfax County only gets 23 cents for each dollar it pays in state taxes. While some disputed that exact calculation, McKay says the county sends enough revenue to the state that it should have more authority to determine how it’s generated.
“I think the county should have the authority to levy any tax that they want and let their voters hold them accountable,” he said. “The state should not be telling them, ‘You can’t raise revenue this way or that way or any other way.’”
If allowed to do this, he would consider a personal income tax as a means to lower — or, even, eliminate — the real estate tax, which provides over $3 billion, or roughly 68% of the county’s annual revenue. He says it would be a fairer, more equitable, and less risky way of raising revenue.
The Dillon Rule’s restrictions on local authority go beyond taxes, hampering day-to-day operations of the county, McKay says, arguing that the “one-size-fits-all” mentality of governing no longer works in a state where counties are diverse in size, population, and budgets.
For instance, rewinding to 2020, McKay says he and other Northern Virginia leaders had to “compel” then-governor Ralph Northam to delay rolling back Covid restrictions in the region.
At the time, Fairfax County’s infection numbers were a lot closer to those in D.C. and Montgomery County than to Roanoke or smaller Virginia localities. Yet, while D.C. and suburban Maryland could keep their covid restrictions in place, Northern Virginia was initially on the same timeline as the rest of the Commonwealth.
“I didn’t have the same authority that they had to do what they were doing,” McKay said. “I was beholden to negotiating, in essence, with the governor about what was in the best interest of Fairfax County.”
McKay says the Dillon Rule is also a factor in the case of the Glasgow Middle School counselor who was arrested last year for a sex crime but stayed employed by Fairfax County Public Schools for months after.
“Another example of a challenge in my community that…fell through the cracks because of a lack of detail, lack of aggressiveness, and lack of awareness of what the Virginia standard or requirements are for localities reporting these incidents,” he said.
In addition to advocating for a centralized, statewide notification system, county and school leaders are looking into the FBI’s Rap Back program, which notifies employers if a worker’s fingerprints are added to its database in connection with criminal activity. However, FCPS can’t join unless the entire state enrolls.
As reported last week, McKay also cited the conflict between FCPS’ policies on the treatment of transgender and other gender-nonconforming students and those proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration as another example of local authority being usurped by state lawmakers.
Even on less contentious matters, the Dillon Rule has slowed down the county’s ability to act, McKay says. It took at least five years for the General Assembly to allow the installation of solar panels on a county-owned closed landfill in Lorton.
“The idea that we couldn’t be greener sooner because the state didn’t give us express permission to do that was terribly frustrating to me,” McKay said. “We literally could not use the property that we own for what we want to do with it, that benefits Virginia, without getting General Assembly approval.”
If the county decides to address ongoing trash service issues by franchising haulers, that again would require a change in Virginia state code and another visit to the General Assembly.
When he tells residents that even some of the most basic county functions have to be approved by state officials, they often find it “maddening.”
“This is a problem of a part-time legislature in Richmond who likes the authority that they have to create one size fits all answers,” he said. “And we’re left holding the pieces.”
But a reevaluation of how the Dillion Rule is used in Virginia appears unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Del. Paul Krizek (D-44) told Axios D.C. last month that ceding the power as McKay suggested is a “non-starter” that he doesn’t envision coming up in the General Assembly anytime soon. McKay said he’s not surprised by state lawmakers’ reluctance to change.
“They love their lever of control, and in essence, for it to go away, you’d be asking people who think they have control to cede that control,” he said.
McKay conceded that there are smaller towns, cities, and counties in Virginia that don’t want or need the type of authority that Fairfax County is seeking.
He proposes that maybe localities over a certain size or budget could have more decision-making powers — or, over time, there will be perhaps an “annual erosion” of the Dillon Rule.
“The members of the Board of Supervisors and the 12 members of the school board…have a much better pulse on what’s going on and the day-to-day lives of our residents than people at the state level who may have never even visited Fairfax County,” McKay said. “I think [local authority] is important for effectiveness, efficiency, and direct representation.”
The South Lakes High School PTSA’s annual “Do It Your Way 0.5K” fundraiser for its food pantry is back for a fifth year — and yes, there will be doughnuts this time.
Advertised as “the most rewarding 650 steps you’ll take this year,” the yearly walk has become one of Reston’s most popular fall events, drawing over 300 participants in 2021, according to the PTSA.
SLHS PTSA Food Pantry co-founder Roberta Gosling says the group hopes to get over 500 attendees this year.
After going virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fundraiser returned in-person last year. The 2022 iteration allows walkers to participate either in person at Lake Anne Plaza from 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 16 or “online” by completing the 650 steps at any point during the weekend of Oct. 15-16.
Registration is now open, costing $10 for students, $25 for adults, $60 for families, and $25 per person for teams. A limited number of VIP entries are available for $100, which covers the cost of registration and offers “front row seats to all the action and additional goodies,” according to the webpage.
Race packets will be available at Lake Anne Brew House (11424 Washington Plaza West) from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 15 and on the day of the race, starting at noon. For the first 500 people who register, the packet will include a bib, finisher medal and other swag from the fundraiser’s sponsors.
The first 500 registrants will get a race packet filled with cool SWAG including a race bib, finisher medal, and other special goodies provided by event sponsors.
Other highlights include the race’s “famous” mid-point doughnut station, which will be back for the first time in three years. There will also be a live raffle for an $800 custom necklace with the food pantry’s logo donated by sponsor Aspen Jewelry Designs, the PTSA said in a press release.
All proceeds will go toward buying food, toiletries and other critical items for the South Lakes High School food pantry, which distributes those goods to more than 275 families in the South Lakes pyramid each week, according to the PTSA.
Launched in 2017 to address food insecurity among students, the food pantry initially focused on the high school before expanding to the full pyramid after a year. The PTSA says approximately 4,200 students in the pyramid qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, including about 830 high schoolers.
The pantry opens to South Lakes students every Thursday at the end of the school day. More than 140 students came to “shop” during the week of Sept. 23, Gosling said.
The PTSA also conducts curbside distributions to around 125 families in the pyramid, providing food, feminine hygiene products, and a “bonus item,” such as paper towels or laundry detergent. The pantry also mails grocery gift cards to families and delivers grocery bags to Langston Hughes Middle School.
