Metro Service Changes Start This Weekend — “Starting Sunday, Metro says riders will notice big changes when it comes to price and how often buses and trains come. The changes are part of an effort by Metro to lure back riders, something it has struggled to do during the pandemic. General manager Paul Wiedefeld tells 7News bus ridership is only about 55% what it was pre-pandemic, and rail is just 25% of what it once was.” [ABC7 News]
Fairfax County Firefighters Assist with Ida Response — A 16-person water rescue team with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department’s Virginia Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue Team was activated by FEMA yesterday (Thursday) in response to the impact of Hurricane Ida remnants in the Northeast. The task force recently returned from Haiti after the island was devastated by an earthquake. [VATF1/Twitter]
Virginia No Longer Worst State for Workers — “Conditions for workers in Virginia have improved considerably since Democrats took control of the commonwealth’s General Assembly in 2019, according to a new assessment by anti-poverty organization Oxfam America. Oxfam ranked Virginia the ‘worst state for workers’ in 2018 and 2019…but [it] leapt to #23 in the organization’s 2021 rankings, released Wednesday.” [DCist]
Lights Festival Coming to Roer’s Zoofari — “Beginning on October 15, Roer’s Zoofari will host a very different collection of animals from its typical apes and reptiles line-up. Come embrace our post-reality reality with unicorns and dinosaurs at LuminoCity Festival, a paid-admission, outdoor display of light art. The concept is simple: thousands of giant, light-up figures and environments that you walk around and look at, at night.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
To keep school buildings open five days a week, Fairfax County Public Schools has worked with county health officials to develop intricate procedures for handling reported COVID-19 cases, but the school system has been notifying students that they need to pause in-person learning by email, sometimes late in the day.
This has resulted in some students coming to school early the next morning without knowing that they are a close contact of someone who has contracted the coronavirus and shouldn’t be at school that day.
“Due to the quick turnaround of pause notifications, we are aware that students have incorrectly attended school on a small number of occasions, unaware that they should remain at home,” a FCPS spokesperson told Reston Now. “When this occurs, the school administration acts quickly to alert the student and send them home.”
The FCPS spokesperson confirmed that only one email is required to go out, though some follow-up calls are made, if time allows, to confirm that the communication has been received.
“Currently, email notifications go out in eight different languages to ensure non English speaking families are communicated to in their home language,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Follow-up phone calls, while not currently part of our required notification processes, may be considered as our protocol evolves. Our principals make every effort to reach all our families.”
Earlier this week, Reston Now received a tip from a South Lakes High School teacher that several of their students were in class even though they were sent notifications instructing them to pause in-person learning.
While the students had not directly tested positive for COVID, they were considered close contacts, and under FCPS policies, those students shouldn’t have been in class.
The teacher also says one student who came to their class was “obviously ill,” making them feel unsafe and not confident with school procedures and communications. They are considering their options about returning.
FCPS says teachers are not alerted about these notifications due to privacy concerns, and there is no manual check at the door to see if anyone is entering who shouldn’t be there.
When a student tests positive for COVID-19, principals at each individual school use seating charts to determine who should be considered a close contact, the FCPS spokesperson confirmed.
At that point, the school sends an in-person learning pause notification via email to those close contacts.
A pause typically lasts between one to three days, according to the FCPS website, while the county health department clarifies each student’s vaccination status and completes contact tracing.
The pause takes effect immediately when the notification goes out, the FCPS spokesperson said.
However, if an email goes out in the evening, students and their families might not think to check their email before heading out to school the next morning.
While the notification does go out in nine languages, including English, there remains a possibility that it could not be understood by some.
9% of students at South Lakes High School are “English Learners,” meaning they are learning how to communicate and learn effectively in English. Nearly 30% of Reston residents speak a language other than English at home, according to 2019 census data.
After FCPS sends the initial notification, the Fairfax County Health Department takes over with contact tracing, communicating how long quarantine should be, and providing public health guidance.
Since Aug. 13, South Lakes High School has had seven confirmed positive cases of COVID, according to the FCPS dashboard. This includes three staff and four students.
FCPS has updated its COVID-19 procedures and guidelines over the last week. On Monday (Aug. 30), it announced that all high school students will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to participate in winter and spring school sports.
Just today (Thursday), FCPS said it has worked with the Fairfax County Health Department to speed up the process of identifying students who are fully vaccinated so they can quickly return to in-person learning if they’re identified as a close contact to a positive COVID case.
“We appreciate our community’s patience as we navigate through these challenging times,” the FCPS spokesperson wrote. “As we do our best to provide safe in-person learning, five days a week as mandated by the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
As COVID-19 cases rise in Fairfax County Public Schools, so have concerns from parents, students, and staff, particularly when it comes to the cafeteria.
More than 205,000 students and staff in Fairfax County went back to school on Aug. 23 after 18 months of mostly remote learning. Excitement about seeing friends and having in-person classes mingled with frustration over transportation issues and pandemic-related anxieties.
After more than a week of classes, some community members have expressed increasing alarm at the sight of crowded cafeterias during lunch, jam-packed school hallways, and what they feel is a lack of oversight by FCPS administrators.
FCPS has seen a clear uptick in COVID-19 cases since classes began, according to its dashboard, which displays cases that are self-reported by students and staff and shared with the Fairfax County Health Department.
As of yesterday (Wednesday), the school system had recorded 351 new cases in August, including 266 cases involving students and 84 among staff. 252 cases have come in since schools reopened on Aug. 23.
While this remains a small percentage compared to the division’s overall population, which is the largest of any Virginia school district, the numbers still have many worried.
An online petition urging FCPS to offer a virtual option for more students has now garnered close to 5,000 signatures, almost double what it had in mid-August.
FCPS has a virtual program, but enrollment for this year was limited to students who personally have a documented medical need. Eligibility wasn’t extended to students based on health concerns in their family or household.
“FCPS believes that students learn best in-person,” an FCPS spokesperson said. “We are focused on providing a safe and positive learning experience for all students.”
Lunch time has emerged as a particular concern, since students have to remove the face masks that are otherwise required inside school buildings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention characterize mealtime at schools as a “high-risk situation.”
In particular, elementary school students are at risk.
While about 80% of middle and high school aged students in Fairfax County have gotten at least one vaccine dose, children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible. At this point, it’s not expected that vaccines will be available for those children until this winter if not early next year.
A parent of a student at Westbriar Elementary School in Vienna told FFXnow that, during the first week, she saw students “elbow-to-elbow” inside the small cafeteria, eating and talking without masks on. The school has an outdoor space with a tent, the parent says, but it isn’t being used enough.
The student said they “don’t feel safe” during lunch and snack time in school.
The parent doesn’t fault the young students, but rather, the administrators for not adequately monitoring or providing better options.
When these concerns are brought up to administrators, the parent feels like they’re ignored or given unsatisfying explanations, such as that it was raining, even though the outdoor space is under cover, or that letting one class go outside and not another wouldn’t be “equitable.”
The Westbriar parent takes their student out of school for lunch every day due to their health concerns, but admits many other families don’t have the time or ability to do that.
In an email to FFXnow, an individual who identified themselves as an FCPS staff member expressed concern that there has been “no social distancing” during lunch periods, singling out Fairfax High School in particular.
When staff members approached the school administration with their concerns, they were told that the school is “doing what is required of us by the county,” the tipster said.
FCPS officials have stressed that maintaining six or even three feet of social distancing in cafeterias would be impossible with 99.5% of the student body back in school buildings.
However, beyond having general guidelines about mask-wearing and directing elementary schools to establish seating charts, the division has mostly left the logistics of meals up to the discretion of individual schools.
“The size of every school cafeteria is different and the number of students at each school is different,” FCPS says on its website. “The physical layout of each cafeteria varies from school to school depending on size and student enrollment. Some schools (but not all) will have outdoor cafeteria spaces or options. These may be used on days when the weather is good.”
In a statement, an FCPS spokesperson confirmed that individual “administrators are tasked with making decisions on their individual school lunch set-ups,” though outdoor eating is encouraged when possible:
Where possible, students will eat outside and 186 tents have been installed to serve this purpose. Schools are also using additional spaces to space out students during lunch. Plexiglass, forward-facing seating and additional spacing between students is also being used to create a safe environment for students during lunch. Finally, some schools are extending lunch so students can be more spaced out in cafeterias. The situation is being reviewed in every school to make sure they are doing everything possible to create a safe and healthy environment.
Melanie Meren, who represents Hunter Mill District on the Fairfax County School Board, says she has seen different schools use a variety of methods to try create distance between students based on each building’s layout, seating, availability of outdoor space, and population.
School board members shared concerns that they had received about crowded cafeterias with FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand during a work session on Aug. 24. The board then approved a federal relief spending plan last Thursday (Aug. 26) that included $10 million to hire monitors for cafeterias, classrooms, and outdoor spaces.
“The School Board has given clear direction to the Superintendent that students should be using outdoor areas — whether that’s at picnic tables, under tents, on yoga mats, etc.,” Meren wrote in an email. “The Board approved use of funds to hire in-person monitors to supervise students in smaller groups during meals. This direction reflects input I’ve heard from some families who want more social distance in place when masks are off while eating.”
However, the onus remains on administrators at each of the county’s nearly 200 public schools to figure out how to implement tools like outdoor tents and cafeteria monitors, which the Westbriar parent finds less-than-ideal.
“Our principal is not a public health expert. This is totally out of her realm,” the parent said. “[Create] a health and doctor committee that can then go to these schools and give them wise words of wisdom and best practices.”
FCPS officials said during the Aug. 24 work session that they are working with an outside vendor to set up safety teams to monitor COVID-19 health practices at each school, like the ones that were deployed last year, but the hiring process was still underway at that point.
Dr. Amira Roess, a professor of epidemiology at George Mason University, says lunchtime in crowded, loud cafeterias is a huge concern for her, particularly for elementary school-aged children who aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine.
“We know from a lot of outbreak investigations that eating, projecting your voice, singing, shouting, does carry a significant probability of infection,” she said.
She recommends eating in shifts, moving outdoors, and setting a good example.
“If the adults around [younger students] are modeling good mask-wearing behavior and are reminding them to wear masks, they tend to follow these rules and they wear their masks,” Roess said, adding that regular and frequent testing would also be a good strategy to identify potential sources of outbreaks.
FCPS has mandated that all employees get vaccinated against COVID-19 by late October or submit to regular testing, and the school system announced earlier this week that high school students must be vaccinated to participate in winter and spring sports this year.
However, there remains fewer protections for younger students. FCPS’s lunch time procedures and guidelines remain the same for high schools as they are for elementary schools, save for a required seating chart.
Roess acknowledged that the cost and logistics of these measures can be a challenge for schools that are often already overcrowded and under-resourced, but they could prevent what public health experts fear will be a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases among children.
“The problem with a lot of children getting infected at once is that it’s just a numbers game,” Roess said. “We’re going to have a larger number of kids who end up with more severe cases and will need to be hospitalized.”
Photo via FCPS
Updated at 4:50 p.m. — All lanes and ramps at the Dulles Toll Road/Route 28 interchange have now reopened.
Earlier: All eastbound lanes on the Dulles Toll Road after Route 28 (Sully Road) in Herndon remain closed after a state police trooper crashed into a motorcycle during a pursuit this morning (Thursday).
According to the Virginia State Police, the pursuit began when a trooper tried to stop a motorcycle for speeding on the Dulles Greenway at 9:42 a.m. The biker had been going 84 miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone.
“The motorcycle refused to stop for the trooper and sped away at an excessive speed,” the VSP said in a news release. “A pursuit was initiated. The motorcycle continued onto the Dulles Toll Road where its operator lost control and crashed.”
Police clarified in an update that the crash occurred when the biker “pulled off to the shoulder and suddenly braked. The trooper was unable to stop in time and struck the motorcycle.”
The motorcyclist, who has been identified as an adult man, was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital to receive treatment for injuries that police say were life-threatening.
According to the VSP, the motorcyclist reached speeds of up to 130 miles per hour during the pursuit east on the Dulles Toll Road. He was wearing a helmet.
“The crash and pursuit remain under investigation,” state police said. A VSP crash reconstruction team is currently on the scene.
The Dulles Toll Road says all eastbound lanes on the toll road and the Airport Access Highway are closed as of 11:55 a.m. The Virginia Department of Transportation has also closed the ramps from north and southbound Route 28 to the eastbound Dulles Toll Road lanes.
11:55am update: All lanes EB on the Toll Road and Airport Access Highway are currently closed. Follow police direction for detours https://t.co/zlnZhiKquw
— Dulles Toll Road (@Dulles_Toll_Rd) September 2, 2021
All lanes EB onto the @Dulles_Toll_Rd are currently closed due to CRASH involving a Motorcycle. Traffic will be detoured from Greenway to RT 28 South. Follow police direction for detours.
— Dulles Greenway (@GreenwayRt267) September 2, 2021
Photo via Google Maps
(Updated 3:35 p.m.) Mark Sugden, a familiar face to customers and employees of the Target on Sunset Hills Road in Reston, has died, family and friends have told Reston Now.
Known for his ever-present smile and balloons, Sugden had been a constant sight at the back of the Target parking lot for the last six years. He usually sat on the curb and waved at passersbys, who sometimes stopped to hand Sugden money or groceries.
Sugden had been experiencing homelessness, and a GoFundMe had been set up to help with the costs of staying in a nearby hotel. He also suffered from bipolar disorder, depression, and several other physical limitations, as he told Reston Now back in May.
Despite these challenges, Sugden continued to have a positive attitude.
“He was just a really, down-to-earth, good person. He always treated everybody well,” his brother George Sugden told Reston Now. “[He was] one of those things that’s pretty rare these days — a good soul.”
A memorial and tribute was set up this morning (Thursday) in his honor in front of the Sunoco station on Sunset Hills Road. It’s expected to be there for at least the next few days for those who would like to pay their respects, friend David Ritter tells Reston Now.
There may also be a remembrance service at a later date, but the logistics are still being figured out, Ritter notes.
According to the original GoFundMe page, Sugden died on Aug. 27. The Fairfax County Police Department confirmed the death, though a cause is not immediately known. FCPD does not suspect foul play.
A new fundraiser has been launched to help with funeral costs. The goal is to raise $2,000.
Ritter met Sugden a few years ago and was immediately struck by Sugden’s positivity. He believed that attitude rubbed off on everyone Sugden met.
“It never ceases to amaze me how Mark affected people,” Ritter said.
Once, when it was snowing during the winter, Ritter went to check on Sugden and make sure he had everything he needed. When Ritter arrived, he found a line of cars already waiting to give supplies and food to Sugden.
In May, Reston Now joined Sugden for about an hour at his usual spot between the Target and Sunoco on Sunset Hills Road. Six people in cars stopped to say hello and help him out.
Each time, Sugden greeted them with a wave, a smile, and a thank you.
“Your smile makes me happy,” one woman told Sugden. After she drove away, Sugden said, “I love to see them smile back.”
Over the last several days, both Ritter and George have been hearing from the community about how much Sugden meant to them.
“[From] the stories and the people I’ve met in the last 24 hours, it’s obvious that he touched a lot of people without really going out of his way,” George said. “It was just the way he was.”
A 41-year-old Herndon resident is facing an assault charge for a fight that ended in him reportedly stabbing another man.
According to a weekly crime report released yesterday (Wednesday), the Herndon Police Department has taken out a warrant for aggravated assault against Dennis Cruz Antunez for the stabbing, which occurred on Aug. 26 in the 1000 block of Elden Street.
Police say the incident started as a “verbal altercation” between the suspect and the male victim, who was transported to Reston Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Herndon police also recently arrested a 21-year-old man for a 2019 rape.
“Oscar Martinez Alarcon, 21, of Herndon, was arrested for the forcible rape of a juvenile victim whom he met via social media,” the police report says. “He was transported to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center where he was held without bond.”
According to police, the incident occurred on Feb. 12, 2019 in the 1200 block of Elden Street. Martinez Alarcon was arrested on Aug. 23.
The HPD did not return a request for comment from Reston Now on what led to the arrest and whether there might be any additional victims by publication time.
Other major incidents in the weekly crime report include three cases from Aug. 24: another verbal argument that escalated into a stabbing on Elden Street and two robberies in the 1200 block of Springtide Place.
Labeled as an aggravated assault, the stabbing occurred in the 1100 block of Elden Street. The victim was reportedly punched and stabbed. Police say they have identified the suspect, but the case remains under investigation.
In one of the robberies, the victim reported that he was assaulted and had his wallet stolen “by a subject that is known to him.” In the other, the victim was assaulted and had his wallet and “other personal property” stolen by two men.
According to the report, police have identified the subjects in both cases, which are still under investigation.
The Town of Herndon also saw 11 reportable traffic crashes during the week of Aug. 23-29, which are defined by Virginia State Police as incidents that result in injury or at least $1,500 in property damages.
Virginia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Now in Effect — “A mandate that most of Virginia’s state workers will have to be vaccinated or agree to regular COVID-19 testing is taking effect. Gov. Ralph Northam’s order kicks in Wednesday and will apply to more than 120,000 executive branch employees.” [Associated Press/WTOP]
Reston Police Community Meeting Tonight — “Join the @FairfaxCountyPD Reston District Station for a Community Information Forum on Thursday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m. The virtual meeting will cover statistics, trends, cases from the previous month, and discuss upcoming events.” [Supervisor Walter Alcorn/Twitter]
Lake Anne Elementary Postpones Back-to-School Night — “Many families have asked for a virtual Back to School Night because people are hesitant to be around large crowds. In response to that request, we will be changing our Back to School Night to a virtual format on Tuesday, September 14, 2021…More details will follow in next week’s News You Choose.” [FCPS]
Park Authority to Honor Frying Pan Volunteers — The Fairfax County Park Authority Board will give Ronnie Billodeaux, Ed Robichaud, and Steve Williams the 2021 Harold L. Strickland Partnership and Collaboration Award, which recognizes teamwork in bringing state-of-the-art facilities to parks. The three volunteer wagon ride drivers worked over the winter to repair and expand picnic facilities at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon. [FCPA]
Photo by Ed Schudel/Twitter
Fairfax County police are on the lookout for a man who was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Fairfax County Parkway in Reston.
Officers are currently on the scene at the Walnut Branch Road intersection, the Fairfax County Police Department reported at 8:41 p.m. today (Wednesday).
The crash apparently involved two vehicles. One driver was taken to the hospital, where he ultimately died. The driver of the other car that police say instigated the encounter left the scene on foot.
Police describe the driver as a “heavy” Hispanic man with long hair who was wearing a black shirt.
Officers on scene of a fatal hit & run crash on FFX County Pkwy at Walnut Branch Rd, Reston. One person, driver, taken to the hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Driver of striking car ran from scene on foot. Officers searching for Hispanic man, heavy, blk shirt, long hair. pic.twitter.com/qyFHv7E9ER
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 2, 2021
Around noon on June 12, a pedestrian trying to reach a pathway by Dogwood Pool on Green Range Drive in Reston was nearly hit by a vehicle, because the trail was blocked by parked cars.
Three days earlier, another driver failed to yield and sped through a left turn at the Westpark and Galleria Drive intersection in Tysons, almost colliding with a person who was using the crosswalk.
Those are two of more than 350 “near miss” traffic incidents that community members have reported to Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS) since the advocacy group launched a survey on June 17 to collect data on dangerous roadways across the region.
Developed with the help of Virginia Tech graduate students, the Near Miss Survey allows walkers, bicyclists, drivers, and other road users to report instances where they came close to getting into a crash or accident but were fortunate enough to avoid it.
The resulting map highlights specific incidents as well as hotspots that are especially accident-prone, with the goal of helping local transportation and public safety officials see what areas need their attention and how they can improve policies and infrastructure to make streets safer.
“It gives people an opportunity to report on areas that might be dangerous,” Phil Kemelor, the Mason District board member for Fairfax Families for Safe Streets, said. “Just because it doesn’t result in a specific accident like with someone getting hit or killed, it’s still something people should know about.”
While the survey is still new, some trends have already emerged. Unsurprisingly, there tend to be more incidents at times with more traffic, such as the afternoon rush hour, and failure to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks is the most frequently reported issue.
Kemelor notes that the reported incidents haven’t been weather-related, since they’ve all occurred during clear conditions, and they are rarely one-time issues.
“Those reporting the incidents cite multiple occurrences at the locations mentioned,” he said.
The Near Miss Survey project grew out of conversations between NoVA FSS founder Mike Doyle and Tom Sanchez, who teaches urban affairs and planning at Virginia Tech.
As a capstone requirement for the master’s program, graduate students take a year-long studio class where they work on a project with a client from the community.
For the 10 students who took the class during the 2020-2021 academic year, that client was Families for Safe Streets, which began in the City of Alexandria in 2017 and has since added Arlington and Fairfax chapters.
Sanchez says the idea of collecting near-miss data appealed to the class, because there was no existing source for that kind of information, even though a split second could be the only difference between a close call and a tragic collision.
“Even though [a crash] didn’t happen, it could’ve easily,” Sanchez said. “So, it’s a very good indicator of where there may be, say, bad street design or poor visibility or bad signage or lots of other potential problems.”
Limited to Zoom meetings due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the students built the mobile platform that collects, analyzes, and maps the near-miss data over the course of two semesters.
Now that the platform is online, the focus has shifted to giving NoVA FSS the resources maintain it indefinitely and raising awareness about the tool. One of the biggest challenges for NoVA FSS so far has been figuring out ways to incentivize people to report an incident, Sanchez says.
“You’re on your bike or you’re walking and you almost get hit by a car. You’re not thinking, hey, I need to get on my phone and I need to record that information. You’re thinking…I’m glad I didn’t get hurt,” he said. “So, part of their campaign to increase the visibility of [the survey] is really to get the word out about…this benefits us all if we can gather this information and map it and highlight where some of these dangerous places are so we can go out and fix it.”
In addition to encouraging community members to share the survey link, NoVA FSS has reached out to local officials to discuss the project. The Fairfax chapter, for instance, recently had a call with the Fairfax County Police Department to let them know about the collected data.
The FCPD says its traffic safety division uses record management systems and “a variety of open sources” like the near-miss survey to monitor traffic incidents and crashes. That data gives police a better understanding of existing trends and helps them develop enforcement strategies.
“We are fortunate to have great relationships with our community partners,” the department said in a statement. “One of our second lieutenants from our traffic safety division attends monthly meetings with the Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets to share our data and hear their concerns. We would encourage community members to reach out to their district station for any traffic enforcement requests.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program coordinator has also been in touch with NoVA FSS and “looks forward to continued information and data sharing,” VDOT spokesperson Kathleen Leonard says.
She noted that VDOT has a form where people can report roads and sidewalks that are blocked or in need of repair and a Pedestrian Safety Action Plan Map that identifies “priority corridors” based on crash data.
“Safety is always our top priority and balancing the needs of all modes is a key consideration at each stage of the project development process,” Leonard said. “Data makes our projects and programs better and crash data is a key factor in the overall project development process.”
NoVA FSS says the data collected by its near-miss survey will help inform its advocacy efforts around infrastructure improvements, traffic laws and regulations, and other aspects of road safety, with the ultimate goal of achieving Vision Zero and eliminating all traffic fatalities and injuries.
“The survey, it’s open,” Kemelor said. “We just want as many people to know about it to put their information into it.”
The post Street safety advocates map reported close calls on Fairfax County roads first appeared on FFXnow.
MOD Pizza is about to get some competition in Herndon.
The Tysons-based Crust Pizzeria Napoletana is adding a second location at 360 Elden Street in Herndon Centre, just across the parking lot from the fast-casual pizza chain’s Herndon franchise, which opened last year.
Construction on the space, which is listed as 2,400 square feet in size by the shopping center, has been underway for a couple of months now, Crust Pizzeria owner Kevin Ejitemai told Reston Now earlier this week.
Adjacent to a Popeyes, the new pizza eatery has taken over the site previously occupied by the family-owned restaurant Italian District, which was a casualty of the economic challenges introduced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ejitemai.
Italian District has been reported closed on Yelp, whose last review for the restaurant is dated July 14, 2020.
Crust Pizzeria Napoletana opened off of Old Courthouse Road on the Vienna side of Tysons in 2015. It prides itself on being “the only authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in the area” and features a wood-fired oven that was handcrafted in Naples, Italy, according to the website.
For the restaurant’s first expansion, Ejitemai says he wanted to stay within Northern Virginia to maintain some proximity to the existing location. Herndon seemed like an ideal place to attract both residential and commercial customers.
“Herndon is an up-and-coming area,” Ejitemai said. “There’s a lot of technology firms around that could give us good lunch [business], and then a lot of homes around for dinner.”
The Herndon location will have a menu identical to the one in Tysons, which offers small plates, salads, pasta, and sandwiches, along with the signature 12-inch-wide pizzas.
It will also boast a wood-burning oven imported from Italy. Ejitemai says the oven and the ingredients that Crust Pizzeria uses — including double zero flour for the dough, bufala mozzarella, and San Marzano tomatoes — are what distinguish it from other pizza makers.
“[The oven] will be showcased inside of the store burning wood, so it’s not just having food. It’s an experience in our restaurant,” he said, describing the softness of the pizza dough as “like silk cloth in your mouth.”
According to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Authority, Crust Pizzeria has applied for a retail license so it can sell wine and beer on the premises. The license has been pending since July 28.
Ejitemai says he hopes to open the Herndon pizzeria before Christmas, though the exact date is “a moving target” with work to revamp the site ongoing.
Photo via Google Maps
Fresh off relocating to a new headquarters, technology business and defense contractor Leidos is adding to its footprint in Reston.
The addition at 11929 Market Street is for an “agile software development factory and cyber operations training center,” the company told Reston Now.
“This continues our investments and growth in Reston/Fairfax County/VA and will bring added high-tech jobs to the area,” Tom Doheny, strategic communications and media relations director, said in a written statement.
Leidos says the move is intended to serve customers’ needs, develop products and services, and act as an annex to its recently completed headquarters at 1750 Presidents Street.
Building, electrical, plumbing, and gas inspections have occurred throughout July and August at the space for office improvements, which also involved an interior demolition permit that Fairfax County issued on Aug. 12.
“RTC’s commercial leasings have always defied, and continue to defy, gravity,” Reston Town Center Association Executive Director Robert Goudie said in a statement. “It speaks, I think, to the compelling live, work, visit proposition that we work so hard to continually extend and enhance. This is a place where leading companies want to be, and for good reason.”
The Fortune 500 company moved to its new headquarters at 17Fifty, a 17-story office building, in March 2020 after previously occupying 11951 Freedom Drive, also in Reston Town Center.
Photo via Google Maps
Updated at 2 p.m. — Reston Association has closed all of its pools for the remainder of the day “due to “due to the current and continued threat of hazardous weather.”
Updated at 12:10 p.m. — A Tornado Watch has been issued for the D.C. area, including Fairfax County, until 7 p.m.
Updated at 11:30 a.m. — All activities scheduled to take place in Fairfax County Public Schools this afternoon and evening have been canceled due to the anticipated inclement weather.
Updated at 10:25 a.m. — All of the closed roads in Reston have reopened to traffic, except for the Browns Mill, Beach Mill, and Leigh Mill closures listed below, according to a 10:13 a.m. update from the Fairfax County Police Department.
Earlier: Several roads in Reston have been closed after a thunderstorm courtesy of Tropical Depression Ida passed through Fairfax County overnight.
“We are expecting several inches of rain today from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, picking up in intensity in the early afternoon until around midnight,” Fairfax County said in a post on its emergency information blog. “We have already experienced an early morning storm that has led to power outages, swift water rescues and numerous road closures due to downed trees and flooded roads.”
Road closures due to flooding and downed trees have been reported throughout the county, but as of 8:30 a.m., they have been particularly concentrated in the Reston District Station area, according to the Fairfax County Police Department:
Reston District Station
Browns Mill Rd and Pennycress Ln, closed due to down tree
Beach Mill Rd and Clubview Dr, closed due to downed tree
Hunter Mill Rd and Cedar Pond Dr, closed due to flooding
500 bock of River Bend Rd, closed due to flooding
1100 block of Springvale Rd, closed due to flooding
Leigh Mill Rd and Kelso Rd, closed due to flooding
Walker Rd and Murphy Dr, closed due to downed tree
Hunter Mill Rd and Cedar Pond Dr, closed due to flooding
With more rain expected to fall today, the National Weather Service has extended a Flood Warning for northwestern Fairfax County until 11:30 a.m., citing Reston, Herndon, and Great Falls among the areas that could experience flooding.
“At 8:20 a.m. EDT, stream gauge reports indicated water levels continue to rise across the area. Flooding is ongoing,” the NWS said in its alert.
A Flash Flood Watch is also now in effect for much of the D.C. region, including Fairfax County. It is currently set to last through tomorrow (Thursday) morning:
* A round of heavy thunderstorms early this morning may result in localized flash flooding, especially in the Washington and Baltimore Metropolitan Areas. Additional thunderstorms with heavy rainfall are expected across the area this afternoon and evening. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches are expected, with localized amounts up to 6 inches possible.
* This amount of heavy rainfall will not only result in the potential for considerable flash flooding of creeks, small streams, and urban areas, but also the potential for river flooding on the main stem rivers.
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is urging people to avoid driving through flooded or closed roadways, noting that stalled and trapped cars put the driver, passengers, and first responders in unnecessary danger.
“By now, many drivers across Fairfax County know which roads traditionally flood,” the department wrote in a blog post. “FCFRD asks that if you need to be on the roadways today that you stay informed and plan alternate routes around flooded roadways. Our firefighters and paramedics do not want to meet you by (a preventable) ‘accident’!”
A lot of rain throughout today. Several flooded roadways already this morning. PLEASE, do NOT attempt to drive, or walk, through flooded roadways! #TurnAroundDontDrown! Stay weather aware throughout the day! Plan alternate routes! #weather #traffic #FCFRD pic.twitter.com/SmZWO7bvoc
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) September 1, 2021
Flash Flood Watch in Effect for Ida — The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch and Hazardous Weather Outlook for Fairfax County that will be in effect today (Wednesday) through tomorrow morning, as the remnants of Hurricane Ida pass over the region. The county advises avoiding flooded streets, moving valuables from basements, and making sure storm drains and gutters aren’t clogged. [Fairfax County Emergency Information]
Alcorn Denies County/Golf Course Development Deal — Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn told the citizens’ advocacy group Rescue Reston that Fairfax County is not aware of any deals to redevelop one of Reston’s two golf courses. A Rescue Reston board member said his group had been told a development deal was “in the works with the county,” which Alcorn denied. [Patch]
Eagerness and Uncertainty Mix in High School Football’s Return to Reston — “By 6 p.m. Friday, the only remaining evidence of that afternoon’s thunder and rain were shallow puddles dotting the back parking lot at South Lakes High School in Reston…It was time for a football game. This matchup between the Seahawks and Robinson was one of about 50 games played across the D.C. area last weekend — the official return of fall football.” [The Washington Post]
RA Announces Labor Day Weekend Pool Schedule — The North Shore, Ridge Heights, Lake Newport, and Glade pools will all be open from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 4-5) and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 6). While the summer pool season is coming to a close, the North Shore and Ridge Heights pools will remain open through Sept. 19. [Reston Association/Twitter]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
A new art show and sale at Lake Anne Plaza’s Reston Art Gallery and Studios (RAGS) will benefit COVID-19 relief efforts in Nepal.
More than 50 works from Ugandan and Nepali artists will be on display and on sale starting tomorrow (Wednesday) through Thursday (Sept. 2) with a reception tomorrow at 5 p.m.
The show is being presented by Scott DeLisi, the former U.S. ambassador to both Uganda and Nepal, and his organization Engage Nepal. Proceeds will go toward funding a pediatric intensive care unit in a Nepal hospital that will help care for young COVID patients.
“Nepal has been devastated, so we are doing all we can to help,” DeLisi wrote in the press release. “This includes the sale of these wonderful paintings and photos donated by a variety of artists, including many from Uganda who truly wanted to help the people in Nepal in a time of need. I met those artists when I served as Ambassador in Uganda and was so touched by their kindness and concern.”
Currently, the hospital has constructed the ward with beds, and the local government has provided two ventilators, DeLisi elaborated to Reston Now in an email.
“But much remains to do,” he noted.
The show and fundraiser are being held in Reston thanks to local artist and former Foreign Service officer Rosemarie Forsythe, whose month-long show “Illuminations” is set to debut at the Reston Art Gallery on Sept. 3.
“I learned about Engage Nepal through a former Foreign Service colleague who is on the board of directors,” Forsythe said in the release. “I spent over a decade as a Foreign Service officer in the late 1980s to late 1990s. I like to think that this event is my way of showing appreciation for the time I enjoyed traveling, hiking and mountain climbing in Nepal.”
RAGS Director Pat Macintyre said she is “honored” to host the event.
“All artists are world artists, and we are honored to host this event and help raise awareness of this global concern,” Macintyre wrote. “We hope that our community of Reston and beyond will enjoy Engage Nepal’s art show and support the work of this important organization.”
Artworks that will be featured in the show include a painting of the African Cape buffalo, Ugandan wooden sculptures, and works from artist Lima Mugalu.
“[She’s] one of the most active female artists in Uganda,” DiLisi told Reston Now. “She paints women celebrating weddings, at introduction ceremonies, and in other social interactions using mixed media, acrylics and fabrics.”
Prices range from $50 to $850. Monetary donations will also be accepted.
DiLisi says that he’s touched by the gallery’s willingness to host the show and sale.
“I have to say…that the community spirit of everyone associated with Reston Art Gallery has touched me,” DiLisi said. “Their willingness to act to help kids in need in Nepal has been heartwarming.”
Starting over Labor Day weekend, transfers between Metro trains and Fairfax Connector buses will be free.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) said yesterday (Monday) it has partnered with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) to provide free transfers on nearly all Connector bus routes beginning on Sunday (Sept. 5).
This lines up with Metro’s new policy of also offering free bus transfers, which was first announced earlier this month.
“Fairfax Connector has historically aligned fare policies with Metrobus and by doing so, helps create a seamless experience for users when moving between transit services provided by WMATA and the County,” FCDOT spokesperson Robin Geiger wrote in an email. “That’s why we are partnering with WMATA to extend their program to Fairfax Connector bus service to provide good customer service and provide incentives to ride transit.”
The two exceptions will be the Fairfax Connector Express Service and the Wolf Trap shuttle. Both will be discounted by $2, though, with the use of WMATA’s SmarTrip card or app.
This is a pilot program that will operate for the next 10 months, through early July 2022, Geiger says.
Fairfax Connector serves all Metro stations located in Fairfax County. This will include all Silver Line Phase 2 stations once those open, Geiger confirms.
Additionally, the Wolf Trap shuttle will start again operating on Sept. 5. The shuttle runs between the West Falls Church Metro station and Wolf Trap National Park’s Filene Center.
The new policy is part of a larger push to encourage increased ridership on the Fairfax Connector as schools, offices, and other public places reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We hope that when people go back to their workplaces, they consider returning to or trying transit for the first time,” writes Geiger. “Now, is the time to ride because the free transfer from Fairfax Connector to Metrorail or from Metrorail to Fairfax Connector saves money and because Fairfax Connector continues to provide a safe and healthy environment on buses.”
In May, county officials said they were reviewing possibly reducing or even eliminating fares altogether on the Fairfax Connector.
To help with this, the county was planning to apply for grant funds from Virginia’s Transit Ridership Incentive Program. The application deadline for the program is Sept. 17. Geiger says there’s currently no additional information on the possibility of reducing or eliminating fares.
