Searching for a new home? Start with these open houses this weekend.

1703 Ascot Way
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$269,900
Open Sunday, 2 to 4 p.m.

11753 Indian Ridge Road
4 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$549,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

1599 Autumn Ridge Circle
3 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$447,500
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11103 Watermans Drive
4 BR, 3 BA TH
$574,750
Open Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m.

1924 Lakeport Way
4 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$649,900
Open Sunday,  1 to 4 p.m.

11406 Windleaf Court
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$389,999
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11300 Gatesborough Lane
3 BR , 2 BA SFH
$549,900
Open Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m.

11218 Wedge Drive
4 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$760,000
Open Sunday, 12 to 3 p.m.

12165 Abingdon Hall Place
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$475,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

For more open houses and complete real estate information, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate Section.

This week’s Reston Pet of the Week is Bentley, a playful Pug puppy. Here is what his owner Sarah has to say about him:

Meet Bentley. Bentley loves to snuggle and give puppy kisses. He enjoys running round playing with his Kong Tennis balls as well as chase the children around in the neighborhood.

Bentley is a singleton, meaning he was the only one in the litter. He is used to getting all the attention and we can’t go anywhere fast because everyone wants to meet him. We don’t mind because of the happiness he brings to everyone he meets. He also never stepped on grass until he came home to us. He is from Illinois.

Bentley loves Reston Town Center and we are looking forward to exploring Lake Anne. Bentley is a love bug. If you see him please come and say hi.

Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.

Lake Audubon is the only undefeated Reston Swim Team Association team after the Barracudas narrowly beat Lake Newport 594-582 on Saturday. 

“What I love about RSTA and this meet in particular was the obvious support for all swimmers,” said Blake Kohn, Lake Newport parent. “At the end of relays and an extremely competitive meet, the round of applause was the loudest I’ve ever heard. Everyone was proud of all the kids on both teams.”

Triple event winners for Lake Audubon were Ellie Crump, Sabrina Groves, Suya Haering, and Aidan Scanlan. Double event winners were Emily Fritz, Angelika Giavis, Matthew Hughes, Bryce Onozuka, Sasha Osinovsky, Alana Pudner, and Abigail Spigarelli.

For Lake Newport, triple event winners were Jack Edgemond, Anna Redican, Mara Redican, Casey Storch, and Alan Yu.  Double event winners were Amy Edgemond, Dylan Jones, Maggie Karim, Emi Redican, Lauren Spar, Connor Witt, and Amy Zhao.

The competitive spirit was strong at other meets as well, as several swimmers set new team and league records:

Darius Truong continued his record-setting streak with new Lake Anne records in Boys 11-12 50-meter Breaststroke (36.73) and 50-meter Butterfly (30.77), replacing his own records from just last week. The Butterfly time also established a new RSTA league record.

Two swimmers for Glade bested team records set by older siblings, with Clara Landeryou setting a new record in the Girls 8 & Under 25-meter Butterfly with a time of 19.01, besting her sister’s record from 2011 of 19.02, and Hunter Ellis besting his brother’s time of 29.38 in the Boys 11-12 50-meter Freestyle with a new time of 29.03.

Hunter Ellis also set a new Glade record in the Boys 11-12 50-meter Butterfly with a new time of 31.53, beating his own record set earlier this season.

Tyler Ellis of Glade set two new records of his own, breaking an RSTA league record set in 1979 by John Fedak in Boys 13-14 50-meter Freestyle with a new time of 25.60, and a new league record in the Boys 13-14 50-meter Butterfly with a time of 27.58.

Siblings were on a streak Saturday, with five members of the Redican family of Lake Newport all participating in record-setting swims. The Lightning’s mixed age relay team of Vania Zeledon, Mara Redican, Anna Redican, aEmi Redican and Katie Storch set a new league record with a time of 2:05.16 in the 200-meter Freestyle Relay, while the Boys 8 & Under 100-meter Freestyle relay team of Sean Redican, Michael Zhou, Joseph Redican, and Robbie Keys set a new Lake Newport team record with a time of 1:22.02.

Hailey Brown set a new Ridge Heights team record in the Girls 8 & under 25-meter Backstroke with a time of 21.88, beating her own record from earlier this season.

Hunters Woods’ Jack Ham set a new team record in the Boys 13-14 50-meter Backstroke with a time of 31.01.

Click through for team highlights.

Read More

Looking for a new home in Reston? Start with these open houses this weekend.

11438 Links Drive
4BR, 3.5 BA TH
$575,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

12350 Lima Lane
3 BR, 3 BA SFH
$647,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2010 Lakebreeze Way
4 BR, 3.5 BA TH
$760,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

11917 St. Johnsbury Court
3 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$350,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2257 Castle Rock Square
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$179,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

1404 Northgate Square
2 BR, 2 BA Condo
$219,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

1503 Stuart Road
5 BR, 3.5 BA SFH
$897,500
Open Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m.

1611 Barnstead Drive
2 BR, 1.5 BA TH
$359,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.

2078 Whisperwood Glen Lane
2 BR, 2.5 BA TH
$350,000
Open Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m.

12000 Market Street
3 BR, 2 BA Condo
$599,995
Open Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For complete real estate information, visit Reston Now’s Real Estate Section.

This week’s Reston Now Pet of the Week steps out of the box a bit and into the fish tank.

Meet, Fins, a freshwater fish. Here is what his owner Wendy has to say:

Hi-Hi-Hi-Hi-How Are You? Feed Me! Hey Where Are You Going? FeedMe! Over Here! Hey,Human — You Need Glasses Or What?-Hi-Hi-Hi-Hi…Food Goes In My Mouth. HIIIIIIIIII!

You might think that’s a dog talking, but in fact it is a freshwater fish. Fins is a member of a rock dwelling African cichlid species that hails from Lake Malawi.

Fins was our very first fish and is now about 4.5 years old. When we got him, he was a scared-to-death two-inch long silver creature. Now he’s a six-inch long, blue and orange fish who commands the tank as he swims around it, and settles in any cave he wants to.

In our house, we are allergic to both cats and dogs, and while at the start I was unsure whether fish could be pets in the same way that cats or dogs are, a lot of fish species have big personalities and are very attuned to humans. That’s mostly because we give them food.

However, watching fish being fishy is one of the most relaxing activities I can think of, and on a daily basis, we slow down and hang out and really enjoy the company of other people, because of our fish.

He likes chasing girls, making sure the other boys don’t fight, and food.

Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.

This is an op-ed from S. John Massoud, Vice-President of Dulles Airport Taxi and Arlington Blue Top Cabs.

For the past several months, I have been reading and hearing about how my industry has been holding back Uber and other ride sharing apps from being allowed to operate. It is time to clear the record about some falsehoods and other spin being put out by these ride sharing apps and those who are speaking on behalf of the ride sharing apps.

The taxi industry in Virginia has no issue with Uber and other ride sharing apps being allowed to operate. To the contrary, we are very proud of our industry and the job that we do transporting passengers from one location to another. We fear no competition. However everyone should be concerned with the concept of Uber X.

For those of you who do not know what Uber X is, it is a low-cost ride sharing service in which a passenger calls for an unlicensed driver to pick them up in their private vehicle and is transported in that vehicle. The average Uber passenger does not really understand the inherent dangers of this system. And they are as follows:

1. Uber X drivers carry no commercial insurance, only standard vehicle insurance. Meaning that if an Uber passenger is injured while taking a trip, they will not be covered by the driver’s insurance as the driver is using his/her private vehicle for commercial purposes while not having commercial insurance. And while Uber states they have $1 million dollar insurance coverage on all of their vehicles, such insurance is not available on the open market. And Uber has not filed to be self insured under the laws of Virginia, meaning each Virginia passenger in an Uber X vehicle is being transported in an uninsured motor vehicle.  (for those of you who think I am making this up, talk to the family of the 6-year-old girl in San Francisco who was run over by an Uber X driver last year.) Read More

Two Lake Anne swimmers set three records in Reston Swim Team Association meets on Saturday.

Emily Meilus broke her own records from 2013 in backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. In the Girls 15-18 50-meter backstroke, she set a new time of 30.55. In the 50-meter Breaststroke, she set a new time of 37.39, taking off more than a second from her 2013 record. In the 50-meter Freestyle, Meilus set a new time of 27.86, replacing her old time of 28.02.

Darius Truong continued his domination of the 11-12 boys age bracket with new records in butterfly (31.89), breaststroke (37.06), and freestyle (29.79). His new freestyle time bested a record set in 1997 by Bobby Burns.

In other pool action, Lake Audubon and Lake Newport both won their meets, setting up a showdown between the two undefeated RSTA teams for this Saturday, July 12 at Lake Audubon.

Lake Audubon Barracudas 650, Lake Anne Stingrays 451

Triple event winners for Lake Audubon were Suya Haering, and Sophia Sobenes. Double event winners were Natalie Abbey, Zachary Bell, Jacob Bowen, Alaina Cordts, Robby Cordts, Elizabeth Crump, Angelika Giavis, Sabrina Groves, Ashley Gurney, Kaliyana Haering, Jackson Harriot, Aidan Scanlan, and Adrianna Smith.

For Lake Anne, triple event winners were Francisco Espinoza, Joanne Fu, Daniel Pons, Darius Truong, and Devin Truong. Double event winners were Adrianna Barkhordari, Sean Hagerup, Neil Kumar, Emily Meilus, Caroline Miller, and Fred Zhang.

Autumnwood Piranhas 504, Glade Gators 468

Triple event winners for Autumnwood were Joanie Belo, Mikayla Kirr, and Kalista Majoros. Double event winners were Bailey Copeland, Delaney Kirr, Valerie Kovacs, James Lyon, Luke McDermott, Evan Melnick, Natalie Metz, Michael Norford, Madison Raikes, Josephine Taylor, Jair Valenzuela, Donovan Wilson, and Liam Wilson.

For Glade, triple event winners were Clara Landeryou, Emily Landeryou, Sophia Landeryou, Joseph Letteri, and Webb Nims. Double event winners were Kathyrn Becker, David Clark, Tor Davidsen, Kellie McCrea, Natalie McCrea, Karan Murari, and Zea Nims.

Lake Newport Lightning 638, Hunters Woods Blue Marlins 461

Triple event winners for Lake Newport were Jeffrey George, Emi Redican, Alina Shannon, Siena Shannon, Meghna Sharma,Casey Storch, Zoe Van Winckel, Alan Yu, and Vania Zeledon. Double event winners were Max Biear, Liam Brennan, Michael George, Dan Ni, Mara Redican, Grant Romero, and Andrew Shedlock.

For Hunters Woods, triple event winners were Mary Byron and Ashley Thai. Double event winners were Sylvia Cheng, Amanda Cornette, Nolan Dunkel, John Evans, Jack Ham, William Harvey, Ryleigh Line, Ashley Turner, Ryan Vintimilla, Timothy Vu, and William Yao.

— Photos and info submitted by Lyn Fiscus Cordts

Lynn Bowersox, Metro’s assistant general manager for customer service, communications and marketing, answered questions from future Silver Line readers recently in an online chat hosted by The Washington Post.

After five years of construction and more than six months of recent delays, the Silver Line will open on Saturday, July 26, Metro officials said last week. The first train will leave the Wiehle-Reston East station at noon.

Here are some of the chat highlights.

Q: Is this line similar in nature to the MARC, but it just happens to run parallel to the Blue Line in some parts, use the same rails and stations to the Blue & Orange lines?

A: The Silver Line will look and feel just like the existing Metrorail lines. There are five new stations in the first phase — four in Tysons Corner and one in Reston.  The line will serve these five new stations, and then connect them via the existing Orange and Blue lines with about 2 dozen other stations from East Falls Church, through Downtown DC, to Largo.

Q: How long will a commute take from Herndon into the city at 7:30 a.m. peak rush?

A: Herndon is part of Silver Line’s second phase, which will open in a few years.  If you’d like to check travel times from the Wiehle-Reston East station (closest to Herndon), you can do that here.

Q: Has Metro taken into account the crowds and problems on the Orange Line that will be created by running a full week of non-passenger Silver line testing starting July 20th? Orange line trains will drop back to their planned intervals when the Silver line starts, but there will be no Silver line to supplement. So we will have all the bus riders and people that would otherwise be rerouted from WFC in particular, waiting for trains at least 6 minutes or more apart. It will be a long week for commuters.

A: During the week of simulated service, those “Silver Line” trains will carry passengers between East Falls Church and Largo Town Center.  They will be labeled as Orange Line trains through that segment.  So, that week, stations like East Falls Church, Ballston and Court House will actually see a service increase.

Q: What percentage of Silver Line riders do you anticipate will be former Orange Line Riders (those for whom the Silver line will be more convenient) as opposed to new riders?

A: About 25-30 percent will be existing (Orange Line) customers. The rest are expected to be new riders to the system.

Q: Will there be parking at Wiehle when the Silver Line begins service? Driving by this weekend, it did not look like the garage was near completion.

A: Yes it will be ready, opening at 9:30 a.m. on July 26. For details, you can visit the LAZ Parking website at lazparking.com. (Reston Now editor’s note: The garage has been complete for nearly a year. What you see under construction is the future BLVD apartments that are located on top of the parking garage.)

Q: Why doesn’t the Silver line just end where it connects with the Orange line and trains turn around to head back the other way towards Reston East (and eventually Dulles and beyond)?

A: I believe this option was studied as part of the planning/environmental work that was done before the line was constructed. Such an option would not attract as many riders, would result in a less convenient travel experience, and would have the effect of creating crowded platforms at East Falls Church.

Q: Will the Silver Line opening during the summer months while a percentage of people who normally commute are on vacation help or hurt as the bugs are worked out of the system? Fewer passengers might mean that fewer people are delayed if there are issues but fewer people might also mean that it won’t get a real stress test from peak passenger demand.

A: I think it will definitely help for the reasons you’ve noted in your question. We know from experience (e.g. Rush Plus) that commuting habits are slow to change. It gives us an opportunity to ramp up to full ridership over the next year.

See the full chat transcript on the Washington Post site.

Photo: Silver Line commemorative SmarTrip card/Credit: Metro

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia for Wednesday.

With high humidity and temperatures expected to reach the upper 90s this afternoon, forecasters are warning those spending time outside or in a building without air conditioning to expect an elevated risk of heat-related illnesses as the heat index will make it feel like it is more than 100 degrees.

From the National Weather Service:

… HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON HAS ISSUED A HEAT ADVISORY… WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING.

* HEAT INDEX VALUES… AROUND 105 DEGREES WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S… AND DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW TO MID 70S.

* IMPACTS… RISK OF HEAT-RELATED ILLNESS FOR THOSE WITHOUT AIR- CONDITIONING OR THOSE OUTDOORS FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HIGH TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE.

TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE… RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.

TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK… THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY – CALL 9 1 1.

The Reston Association Board of Directors last week approved a request for three homeowners on Sourwood Lane to hold a controlled deer hunt on their property.

The homeowners say their properties are overrun with deer, who eat the ground cover (which will lead to erosion) and may harbor Lyme Disease-carrying ticks.

RA’s board voted to allow the deer hunt. The homeowners will hire Suburban Whitetail Management, a professional wildlife management firm, to use crossbows and hunt the deer from 12-foot high tree stands in order to avoid hitting other wildlife and people.

Reston Now readers have many opinions on this development. Here is what some of you had to say in the article comments:

Animal LOVER in the right places:  Last year my cousin was seriously injured (his collar bone was broken) when a deer slammed into him while he was rollerskating through our Reston neighborhood. He spooked the a herd, and in the scramble one of the larger deer ran him over. Overpopulation of deer in our areas is a serious issue that needs to be resolved in a manner that may not seem humane to all. Overpopulation will only lead to more incidents like this.

Preserve Reston: Disgusted…what about those of us who value the quality of life those deer provide to us? Disturbing and selfish.

Steward of Animals: It seems to me that birth control is a reasonable alternative to killing the deer. On another note, killing by bow and arrow is cruel because when the arrow misses the mark the animal is exposed to hours of a slow death. If we must kill the deer, resort to shooting the animals.

Cathie Gorman Freeman: I, too, hate the idea of killing the deer. What I hate more is driving down Soapstone and finding the bodies of the recently frolicking Bambi’s dead by the side of the road. Do what must be done to manage the ever-growing herd. At least someone will benefit from the donated meat.

Juli Vermillion: I am very against this hunt. I live about a block away from the proposed hunt and have lived here for over 10 years. The deer population has remained constant. I suggest if people don’t like deer doing what deer do, then perhaps they should move back into town. The deer have a right to live too and people have so many more options. I for one moved to Reston precisely because I can live in peace with nature.

Sub40 10k: I see tons of deer along my morning runs along the W&OD we could hunt them and then donate the meat to the homeless shelter next to the library; maybe we could go with the “born to run” method and run down one of the deer and exhaust it then kill it with a spear (wanted to do this with antelope in Texas but this could do) alternatively we could release mountain lions as a natural predator.

JR: Urban deer populations are out of control and without proper management the forested areas that make Reston a special place will be lost. Between the overpopulated white-tailed deer and the continued expansion of non-native invasive plants natural forest regeneration no longer occurs. The amazing oaks and hickories of our RA natural areas look great and are special today, but there are no young trees able to grow to replace them. The deer eat all of the young trees and in their place invasive plants replace them. …  Not only should we be encouraging this deer management activity but also we should be requesting that our RA dues be spent to maintain our natural areas.

PL: I am strongly against this and I have lyme disease. If these deer are killed, then others will move into the area and then what?