Police Uses of Force Prompt Town Hall — Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk’s office will host a virtual town hall on July 21 to discuss recent use-of-force incidents by Fairfax County police officers. Lusk, who chairs the Board of Supervisors’ public safety committee, said he shares community concerns “about both the nature of these incidents, as well as the frequency at which they are occurring.” [Rodney Lusk/Twitter]
Possible Reston Arts Center Delayed — Reston Town Center developer Boston Properties got approval to extend the deadline for when Fairfax County has to decide whether to build a new performing arts center by six months. A proffer agreement for the next phase of the center’s development allows the county to require an arts center or a park on the site along Sunset Hills Road. [Patch]
Local Students Take in New Images of Deep Space — “On Monday, the world got a look at the first image from the most powerful telescope ever launched into space, the James Webb Space Telescope…More images were released on Tuesday, and in Fairfax County, students taking part in summer learning programs got their first look with a NASA Solar System Ambassador in Burke, Virginia.” [WTOP]
Prepare for New Running Bamboo Regulations — “The effective date for a new ordinance designed to control the spread of ‘running bamboo’ is still nearly six months away, but Fairfax County’s Department of Code Compliance is already working to get property owners prepared.” [Patch]
Vienna Delivery Company Leases Warehouse — “Vienna-based LaserShip signed a lease for a full 105K SF warehouse building in Chantilly, Virginia, the company announced Tuesday. The property it leased, the Stonecroft Industrial Center, is located at 14850 Thompson Road…The lease represents an expansion of LaserShip’s Northern Virginia footprint, where it already operates in Chantilly.” [Bisnow]
Herndon Police Remind Drivers to Stop — “THIRTY citations were issued over the past two weeks for drivers failing to come to a complete stop. Stop. At red lights. At stop signs. Not only is this the law, but it keeps our town safer!” [Herndon Police/Twitter]
Mini Golf Enlivens Capital One’s Tysons Campus — “Eleven stories up, on a rooftop at the corporate campus of one of America’s biggest banks, grown adults are playing miniature golf…They’re at Perch Putt, an 18-hole mini-golf course complete with bright green Astroturf and undulating greens. It’s one of the more playful, if unexpected, amenities of the corporate landscape.” [Fast Company]
Vienna Community Group Auctions Custom Yard Signs — “Rustic Love and Vienna Arts Society, two nonprofits based in Vienna, have teamed up for an auction that launched Sunday. The auction features 20 heart signs built by Rustic Love volunteers and painted by Vienna Arts Society artists.” [Patch]
It’s Wednesday — Humid and partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 86 and low of 74. Sunrise at 5:56 am and sunset at 8:36 pm. [Weather.gov]
(Updated at 7:45 p.m.) More than 16,000 people in Fairfax County are currently without power after a rainstorm with high winds passed through the D.C. area earlier this evening (Tuesday).
As of 7 p.m., a total of 16,255 electricity users in the county had lost power, including 15,480 Dominion Energy customers, according to PowerOutage.US.
Sufficient health care, college degrees, and homeownership are becoming increasingly unattainable for Fairfax County residents with low to moderate incomes, a new report finds.
Late last month, Fairfax County released its “Needs Assessment” study, which comes out every three years with data on the current economic conditions in the county and the impact those conditions have on residents.
Fairfax County is under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and Flood Watch as storms are expected in the region this evening.
The National Weather Service issued the watches this afternoon. They both expire at 10 p.m.
A traveling exhibit chronicling the nearly 400-year-old struggle for Black equality is coming this month to the Reston Historic Trust & Museum.
“Determined,” a traveling exhibit by Virginia Museum of History and Culture, traces Black history in Virginia through stories about the struggle for equality and our collective ideals, according to a press release about the exhibit.
The exhibit, which runs from July 26 through Aug. 28, will have items and information chronicling Black history, including supplements from the Reston Museum. Specifically, the display features the stories of 30 people, including Mary Smith Peake and Barbara Johns Powell, with more than 100 objects and multimedia content.
Lake Audubon Terrace residents are protesting Reston Association’s decision to order the removal of their boats on the organization’s shoreline — a practice residents say they had been doing for years without issue.
In a petition discussed before RA’s Board of Directors in late June, the Lake Audubon Terrace Cluster asked permission to access the shoreline. They say the order has increased overcrowding, undermined their ability to offer mooring spots to owners near their homes, and “directly diminished” property values of owners who can’t access the shoreline.
Underground Utilities Proposed for Route 1 — Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck has joined many residents, businesses, and state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-36) as an advocate for moving power lines along Richmond Highway underground, though that isn’t in the current designs for widening the road. Advocates say undergrounding would limit storm damage and bring economic benefits. [On the MoVe]
Metro Plans for Budget Shortfall — “Metrorail has only recovered 42% of its ridership and Metrobus has recovered about 60%. This time, Metro officials are not banking on the cavalry — in the form of a federal bailout or additional local dollars — to arrive. Later this summer, board members and new Metro General Manager Randy Clarke will begin to calculate how to plug a $356 million operating budget gap.” [DCist]
Police Investigate Gunshot in Fair Oaks — “Fairfax County Police are investigating a shooting that occurred early Tuesday morning in the Fair Oaks area, according to the weekly crime report. Police responded around 3:18 a.m., for the report of a man firing a handgun into the air in the 12000 block of Thompson Road.” [Patch]
Bailey’s Crossroads Library Volunteer Honored — “Fairfax County officials gathered Saturday to honor Carmen Fernandez, a longtime pillar of the Culmore community. A conference room at the Woodrow Wilson Library in Falls Church now bears plaques in Fernandez’s honor.” [Fairfax County Public Library]
McLean Theater Group Retakes the Stage — “McLean Community Players is back after a three-year hiatus and will hit the Alden Theatre’s stage July 22 to 24 with ‘The Show Must Go On! A Musical Revue.’ The effort features an array of songs from past productions and shows the company hopes to perform in the future.” [Sun Gazette]
Local Hummingbird Photographers Get Focus — “I have been promised hummingbirds. I am, after all, at Green Spring Gardens, in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, prime hummingbird territory…Jane [Gamble] takes me somewhere we’re guaranteed to find hummingbirds: inside the house, where 46 hummingbird photos hang on the walls.” [The Washington Post]
It’s Tuesday — Rain in the evening. High of 87 and low of 70. Sunrise at 5:55 am and sunset at 8:36 pm. [Weather.gov]
A major fixture in Fairfax County’s historic wagon trade is undergoing major repairs.
The county has begun demolishing and repairing the Historic Dranesville Tavern (11919 Leesburg Pike), which was built in the 1830s to serve the wagon trade that supplied the Piedmont area of Virginia. Crews have started a $191,000 project to root out termite damage in the building’s structure.
After dropping earlier this summer, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 caseload has essentially leveled off over the past month.
With 297 new cases reported today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District is averaging 412 cases per day for the past week, thanks in part to a deluge of 641 cases on Friday (July 8), according to data from the Virginia Department of Health.
A new exhibit that strips the functionality of instructional diagrams or objects is coming this week to Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art‘s satellite gallery in Reston Town Center.
Baltimore-based artist Danni O’Brien will bring her work, “Cross Sections,” for display at the Signature Apartments at 11850 Freedom Drive from Thursday (July 14) through Oct. 11. An in-person reception and talk with the artist is set for Thursday, August 4 at 6 p.m. in the building’s courtyard.
The name for Lee District has officially changed.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the name “Franconia District” for the Springfield, Franconia, Kingstowne, and Hybla Valley area represented by Rodney Lusk, who brought forward the proposal after community input.
Fire and Rescue Rejects Agreement in Sexual Harassment Complaint — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that a former Fairfax County firefighter was sexually harassed by a captain in 2017 and demoted after she reported it. But the county fire department has refused an agreement requiring improved efforts to address sexual harassment, new training, and a $150,000 award to the woman, raising the possibility of a federal lawsuit. [The Washington Post]
Pedestrian Killed in Lorton Crash Identified — The Fairfax County Police Department says Keith Thomas, 24, was walking in the southbound lanes of Richmond Highway when he was hit by the driver of a 2005 GMC Sierra at 1:28 a.m. Friday (July 8) at the I-95 interchange. The driver called for help, but Thomas was struck by other vehicles and ultimately died at the scene. [FCPD]
McLean Man Sentenced for Covid Relief Fraud — “A McLean businessman who bilked nearly $1.6 million from federal coronavirus relief programs and spent much of the money on a mansion with its own movie theater and cigar room was sentenced Friday to two years and nine months in prison.” [The Washington Post]
West Springfield House Fire Reported on Sunday — “4:24 a.m., units dispatched for a house fire in the 8500 block of Grigsby Drive in West Springfield area. Crews arrived on scene with heavy fire on the 1st floor and fire from the roof. Fire has been extinguished. Fire Investigators on scene to determine cause.” [FCFRD/Twitter]
Burke & Herbert to Consolidate in Kingstowne — “The bank will remain headquartered at 100 S. Fairfax St. in Old Town Alexandria, but a ‘large portion’ of its local workforce, currently dispersed across the area, will shift to 5680 King Centre Drive in Kingstowne. Burke & Herbert paid $22 million for that 113,000-square-foot building July 1, according to Fairfax County records.” [Washington Business Journal]
Virginia Workers Leave Over Telework Policy — “More than 300 employees from five state agencies have resigned since Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Virginia’s new telework policy in early May, according to records obtained by 8News. This includes 183 Virginia Department of Transportation employees, 28 of whom cited ‘telework options’ as the reason for leaving.” [ABC8]
Vienna Band Director Steps Away — “A long commute to and from Anne Arundel County, Md., has prompted Cornelius Young to give up his post as music director for the Vienna Community Band, but he leaves with good memories of the group and the town. Young, who has been with the band since October 2014, decided to try for the job after not being selected to lead Annandale High School’s band.” [Sun Gazette]
Reston Student on Performing “Newsies” — “Reston Community Players’ new apprentice program is designed to help students ages 13 to 18 interested in theater gain pre-professional performance and technical experience. That’s exactly what Anna Schoenborn, a rising junior at South Lakes High School in Reston is gaining this summer with RCP’s production of ‘Newsies.'” [Patch]
It’s Monday — Clear throughout the day. High of 82 and low of 66. Sunrise at 5:54 am and sunset at 8:37 pm. [Weather.gov]
The weekend is almost here. Before you squeeze in a post-work workout 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:
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.
A Flood Watch has been issued for Fairfax County and the rest of the D.C. area.
The alert will be in effect from 11 p.m. today (Friday) through 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday), according to the National Weather Service, which warns that “excessive” rainfall may lead to flash flooding.
Since 1991, people outside the Town of Herndon have been able to take advantage of its parks and recreation scholarship program, which awards fee waivers to participants enrolled in federally-funded, low-income programs.
A proposal before the Herndon Town Council aims to restrict eligibility for that program to town residents. If adopted by the council, the move would align with neighboring jurisdictions that offer fee waivers to residents only.
