The Friends of Reston is raising $15,000 to help send kids to camp.

The nonprofit arm of the Reston Association has commenced its annual fundraiser to give “economically disadvantaged children” a chance to attend Reston Camps this summer.

The goal is to raise $15,000. That covers the cost for about 27 children to experience a full two-week session of camp, including transportation and a camp t-shirt, a Friends of Reston spokesperson tells Reston Now.

For a two-week session, it can cost upwards of $510 per camper.

“This year, more than ever, children need the opportunity to meet new friends, explore their community, and have fun while learning new skills — Reston Camps provides this, and more,” Friends of Reston Executive Director Kia Cole-Hines writes in a press release. “FOR is grateful for all the donors who make this possible for children whose families are unable to afford this experience.”

Parents who wish to potentially take advantage of the scholarships for their kids can do so by applying through Reston Association’s camp registration process. Eligibility is determined during the application process.

Those that qualify for school lunch assistance are potentially eligible for the camp scholarship program, FOR spokesperson confirmed.

The Friends of Reston Camp Scholarship Fund was first established in 2001. Each year, individuals and businesses from across Reston provide contributions between $10 to $2,000 to the fund.

This year, Red’s Table in South Lakes Village Center is helping by asking diners to round up their payments for meals to the nearest dollar, with the extra change going to the camp scholarship fund.

“We are proud to support this campaign and hope Red’s Table can provide a significant contribution with the help of our customers,” Red’s Table owner Ryan Tracy stated in the press release. “As native Restonians, we’re very aware of the benefits of RA’s Reston Camps and want to help with making it possible for children in need through the Friends of Reston Scholarship Fund.”

Contributions can be made by donating online and by writing “Camp Scholarships” in the payment notes. Contributions can also be sent via mail.

While this fundraiser will be taking place through July, donations for the scholarship can be accepted all year round.

Local Birds Suffer from Mysterious Ailment — “People should refrain from feeding birds until scientists determine the cause of a mysterious ailment that has blinded and killed hundreds of birds in Maryland, Virginia and the District since at least late May, a federal agency said Monday.” [The Washington Post]

Dogwood ES to Hold Meeting on Principal Selection — Dogwood Elementary School will hold a virtual meeting today (Tuesday) at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the process for selecting a new principal with staff, families, and community members. The meeting will be conducted through BlackBoard. [Dogwood ES]

Herndon IT Firm Officially Bought by Booz Allen — “McLean, Virginia-based Booz Allen Hamilton, already the largest government IT contractor in the D.C. region, has completed its acquisition of Herndon-based Liberty IT Solutions for $725 million…Liberty IT Solutions has a backlog of more than $2 billion in IT modernization work. Booz Allen says the acquisition will immediately increase revenue growth and earnings.” [WTOP]

Reston Software Company to Be Acquired — “Investment firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners have reached an agreement to acquire Reston-based higher education software company Ellucian, according to an announcement from the companies released Monday…Ellucian provides enterprise resource planning software products such as student information systems, data analytics tools and graduation-tracking platforms for more than 2,700 higher education customers in more than 50 countries representing more than 26 million students.” [Virginia Business]

Arts organizations, museums, and hotels are some of the key targets for Fairfax County’s new initiative to get money to those in need, and informational sessions are providing help.

Approved by the county board last week, the PIVOT program will provide financial grants to small businesses as well as other recipients, and webinars about the effort will begin at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) in English and at 2 p.m. Thursday (June 17) in Spanish.

Links to the webinars can be found on the Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives website.

“Fairfax County is committed to helping businesses recover from the effects of the pandemic,” Board of Supervisor Chairman Jeff McKay said in a news release. “Through the PIVOT grant we will help those businesses who saw the greatest financial impact regain their momentum so they will be able to thrive in the reopening marketplace.”

Federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act is supporting the program with $25 million to the county.

Applications can be submitted online through a grant portal that will be open from June 23 to July 9. The money is being administered through the nonprofit Latino Economic Development Center, said Rebecca Moudry, director of Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives.

The areas targeted will give relief to food services, lodging, retail, services, amusements, arts organizations, museums, and historical sites.

Potential monetary awards for individual businesses and nonprofits include the following:

• $18,000 for restaurants with less than $3.5 million in annual receipts or gross revenue per establishment
• $12,000 for retail, services, and amusements with less than $3.5 million in annual receipts or gross revenue per establishment
• $10,000 for large arts organizations, museums, and historical sites with annual receipts or gross revenue greater than $100,000
• $5,000 for smaller arts organizations
• $1,500 for food trucks that don’t belong to a restaurant
• $400 per room to hotels with a minimum of 10 rooms

The money will go to businesses that have no more than 500 employees, among other criteria. Nonprofits don’t have an eligibility restriction regarding the number of workers they have.

The new outreach comes after the county ended its Fairfax Relief Initiative to Support Employers (RISE) program last year, distributing around $53 million, one of several financial outreaches by the county.

The PIVOT grants will go to hotels first, then to other organizations if demand is too great. The county could also add to the funding in the future.

Photo via Clay Banks on Unsplash

The Fairfax Health District has officially surpassed the halfway mark for COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department’s data dashboard, 50.9% of all Fairfax Health District residents have now received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That amounts to 602,101 residents, including 63.1% of all people 18 and older.

713,791 people living in the district, which includes Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, have gotten at least one vaccine dose. That is 72.7% of adults and 60.3% of the total population.

The county announced on Friday (June 11) that its vaccine clinic at the Fairfax County Government Center is now accepting walk-ins from noon to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

The clinic will be closed this Friday (June 18), since county employees will have the day off in observance of Juneteenth. However, it will be open on Saturday, which will mark the 156th anniversary of the day when the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, learned that the Civil War had ended.

Walk-in appointments are also available at the Tysons Corner Center mass vaccination site, which is now open until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That state-run clinic will close on June 26.

The Tysons Community Vaccination Center and county health department clinics appointments can be scheduled through the Vaccine Administration Management System. People can find appointments at other locations, including grocery stores, pharmacies, and private health care providers, through vaccines.gov.

Meanwhile, the number of new COVID-19 infections coming in has slowed to the point where the Fairfax Health District actually has fewer total cases now than it did when Reston Now provided an update last Monday (June 7), according to Virginia Department of Health data.

That doesn’t mean no new cases have been reported, as six cases were recorded on Thursday (June 10).

However, 20 cases have been subtracted over the past week, including six today (Monday), which the county health department has said happens when there are duplicates or cases that actually occurred in another district.

As a result, Fairfax County is now averaging -2.9 cases per day for the past seven days.

As of today, 78,013 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the district compared to 78,034 cases a week ago. One more person has died from the disease transmitted by the novel coronavirus, and 10 more people have been hospitalized, bringing the totals up to 1,134 deaths and 4,131 hospitalizations.

Monday, June 14

• Fairy Houses (1:30-4:30 p.m.) — Kids can join this four-day summer workshop at Herndon’s Monroe Street Studio to build eco-friendly fairy houses. Using recycled materials like egg cartons and empty glass containers, design a home for magical, little flying creatures.

Tuesday, June 15

• In the Heights  (8-9 p.m.) – Before “Hamilton,” there was “In the Heights.” Virtually join Scrawl Books in Reston or other participating local bookstores for a book talk with Lin-Manuel Miranda about how he made his first Broadway hit, which is now a major motion picture.

Wednesday, June 16

• LGBTQ Icons at Congressional Cemetery (8 a.m.-8 p.m.) — D.C.’s Congressional Cemetery is believed to be the only cemetery in the world with a dedicated LGBTQ section. Take a self-guided tour to pay respects to some of the most important gay rights activists in history, some of who are buried here.

Thursday, June 17

• Summer Garden Tour and Tea (1 p.m.) — Take a tour of Green Spring Gardens in Lincolnia with a master docent and enjoy its beautiful summer flowers. Afterward, pick up a box filled with sandwiches, pastries, and cookies for an afternoon tea in the gardens.

• Juneteenth Musical Celebration (5:30 and 7 p.m.) — Pay a visit to a secret garden in Alexandria for a Juneteenth celebration, featuring music, dance, and spoken word. This event is presented by the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts.

Friday, June 18

• The Biggest Little Farm (8-9:30 p.m.) — Catch a screening of the 2018 Sundance-selected film “The Biggest Little Farm” as part of the annual Environmental Film Series presented by the Friends of Reston. The screening will be outdoors but could be moved inside Walker Nature Center due to the weather.

Saturday, June 19

• Reston Pride (10 a.m.-2 p.m.) — Celebrate Pride Month and Juneteenth in-person at Lake Anne Plaza. There’ll be music, dancing, and drag performances, complete with recognitions of last year’s Reston Pride Award winners.

• Juneteenth at Frying Pan Park (12-2 p.m.) — The Herndon park hosts a family-friendly celebration that will allow all to hear, see, sample, and create crafts commemorating this day. Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz will talk about her book “Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine” with food vendors highlighting African American cuisine.

Sunday, June 20

• Mount Vernon Craft Beer Festival (6-9 p.m.) — Taste beers from across the region while experiencing Mount Vernon after hours. This annual festival will feature 32 craft beers, beer-making demonstrations, and live music.

Via Chip McCrea Photography

Preliminary work necessary for the eventual construction of a new pedestrian bridge on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail over Wiehle Avenue has begun.

Dominion Energy began work on an electric transmission line located at the W&OD Trail at the site on June 1 as part of the initial steps required to accommodate the eventual bridge, according to the company.

Additional elements of this work will require Dominion to remove existing structures, install new structures, and relocate transmission facilities.

Also, as part of this project, detours have been established between Isaac Newton Square and Michael Faraday Court from June to September for safety precautions.

The detours will remain in place when crews are not working. While some weekend work may be necessary during the course of the project, the current working hours for it are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Dominion.

Detours will direct trail users to either paved or gravel sections of the trail, which will be contingent on the work being performed at the time.

The gravel trail will be temporarily closed for a couple of weeks in June as improvements are made to it for trail users during the company’s construction efforts. Work will begin on the paved portion following the improvements on the gravel trail.

Construction on Dominion’s project is expected to last through August, with restoration of the work areas concluding by late August. This project is anticipated to be complete by September, at which point the detours will be removed.

Construction of bridge project itself is tentatively scheduled to begin in Summer 2022 and be complete in summer 2023, according to Fairfax County’s project site.

The bridge will replace the existing at-grade crossing at the site. The project is planned as a measure to improve vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian access near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, which was noted by Reston Metrorail Access Group’s plan.

Gun Discharged in Reston — According to Fairfax County police, a homeowner in the 1700 block of Torrey Pines Court reported hearing gunshots around 2:49 a.m. on Thursday (June 10). The individual found damage to a car and property, but no injuries were reported. Officers located cartridge casings nearby. [FCPD]

Teen Injured in Herndon Car Crash — A 14-year-old boy was hit by an SUV at the intersection of Centreville Road and Parcher Avenue in Herndon on Friday (June 11). The boy was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said. [FCPD/Twitter]

County Health Department Took on New Roles during Pandemic — The Fairfax County Health Department ceased in-person inspections of food establishments, pivoting instead to a virtual process intended “to minimize possible COVID transmission between Health Department staff and restaurant employees.” Other staff in the food safety program shifted responsibilities, such as working call centers or supporting vaccination clinics. [Fairfax County Times]

How Northern Virginia Is Spending COVID-19 Relief Funds — “Fairfax County, Virginia’s most populous jurisdiction, expects to receive $200 million of Rescue Plan funds over the next two years, officials there said. So far, $50 million of that has been dedicated to specific uses: to help the hard-hit hospitality industry and, over the longer term, to preserve and create more affordable housing in the county, officials said.” [The Washington Post]

Before we spend the weekend recovering from the Democratic primary election, let’s take a look back at the biggest stories on the site in recent days.

1. Most expensive homes sold in Reston in May
2. Reston’s Pica Deli closes after three decades due to COVID-19
3. Herndon’s ‘Friday Night Live!’ concert series releases schedule for summer return
4. What Reston and Herndon residents need to know about Tuesday’s primary
5. Silver Line Phase 2 will open no earlier than February 2022, MWAA says

If you have ideas on stories we should cover, email us at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip. Photos from around the Reston and Herndon area are also welcome, with credit always given to the photographer.

Feel free to discuss these topics, your socially distanced weekend plans, or anything else that’s happening locally in the comments below.

(Updated at 5:30 p.m.) Abrar Omeish doesn’t regret taking a stand on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, but if she could go back, she might have expressed her opinion a little differently.

The at-large Fairfax County School Board member sparked a heated local debate about one of the most contentious subjects in global politics last month when she recognized Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that concludes a month of fasting, with a tweet decrying Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as “apartheid and colonization.”

As the board’s only Muslim member and the first Muslim woman elected to a school board anywhere in Virginia, Omeish says she felt a responsibility to speak up about the escalating violence that, at that time, had killed 10 people in Israel, including two children, and 192 people in Gaza, including 58 children.

Her May 13 tweet was part of the larger #EidwithPalestine hashtag that went emerged after Israeli security forces stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem amid tensions over Palestinians being evicted from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

“The idea was [Muslims] celebrate [Eid], but it’s bittersweet because we can celebrate while mourning and knowing that our Holy Land is being disrespected and people are being killed in their efforts to defend it,” Omeish told Reston Now. “…Being, like you said, the only Muslim voice, I felt tremendous pressure, and it’s not like I didn’t anticipate backlash.”

That backlash came from expected sources, given the school board’s decidedly Democratic makeup, as the Fairfax County Republican Committee chair called for Omeish’s resignation or removal and endorsed a parent-led campaign to recall her and other school board members that originally stemmed from frustrations with pandemic-related school closures in the fall.

However, the tweet also drew some criticism from colleagues and allies.

Hunter Mill District School Board Representative Melanie Meren said in a tweet on May 14 that she was “aghast” and “appalled,” calling Omeish’s sentiments alienating to members of the community, including herself, and a setback to Fairfax County Public Schools’ equity-related efforts.

“Rebuilding of relationships will need to happen,” Meren said.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington nixed plans to honor Omeish for supporting the recognition of additional religious holidays in the FCPS calendar. Four other school board members were still honored at the advocacy group’s annual membership meeting on May 20.

“The language Ms. Omeish used in this Tweet is deeply offensive and inflammatory to all who support Israel,” JCRC President Ronald Paul and Executive Director Ron Halber said in a joint statement on the decision. “…It is irresponsible of her to use her public platform to publicly advance controversial political views that target and marginalize Jewish students and their families and divide our community.”

The letter went on to say that conversations about why JCRC found Omeish’s comment offensive were unproductive as she “continued to stoke the flames of division and acrimony” by not removing the tweet or taking “affirmative steps to try to stem the vitriolic, hateful rhetoric on social media triggered by her remarks.”

For her part, Omeish says JCRC’s statement was “a complete mischaracterization” of how she approached their interactions, saying that she “got yelled at on the phone aggressively” and has “been threatened by JCRC multiple times” about her stance on Israel.

“They told me, if you don’t take this down, we will post a statement about you and it’s not going to be pretty,” she said. “They would say things like that to me, and for me, I’m like, look, I respectfully reject the threat. I’m not going to change my position because you’re scaring me.”

Halber and JCRC Associate Director Guila Franklin Siegel disputed Omeish’s characterization of their interactions in a statement to Reston Now:

“We took no pleasure in having to rescind Ms. Omeish’s award. But there is no place for the divisive and offensive language she used in her May 13th Tweet or for her insulting insinuations about the JCRC. We never have and never would threaten anyone. Ms. Omeish stands out among the thousands of elected officials and interfaith leaders from every background who have successfully partnered with the JCRC in nearly a century of community-building. We hope Ms. Omeish undertakes the hard work necessary to understand how her hurtful language impacted members of the Jewish community, including our children in FCPS schools. For the benefit of the entire FCPS community, we hope to be able to work with Ms. Omeish in the future to pursue unity, equity, and mutual respect in Fairfax County.”

Omeish got another opportunity to engage with Jewish leaders, as she promised in a follow-up tweet, at a roundtable convened on May 23. Read More

In the market to buy a home? Or just want to take a look around?

There are 169 homes currently for sale in Reston, according to Homesnap. Breaking it down, that’s 92 condos, 33 detached homes and 44 townhomes. Additionally, as of June 6, 72 new listings have hit the market in the past four weeks.

Find number of open houses in Reston this weekend — particularly for townhomes — including:

• 12154 Tryton Way
  3 BD/3.5 BA townhome
  Listed: $995,000
  Open: Sunday, 1-3 p.m.
• 11532 Hemingway Drive
  4 BD/3.5 BA townhome
  Listed: $850,000
  Open: Sunday, 1-4 p.m.
• 12136 Chancery Station Circle
  3 BD/2.5 BA townhome
  Listed: $785,000
  Open: Sunday, 2-4 p.m.
• 11727 Arbor Glen Way
  3 BD/3.5 BA townhome
  Listed: $649,900
  Open: Saturday and Sunday, 1-3 p.m.
• 1605 Fieldthorn Drive
  2 BD/2 BA townhome
  Listed: $400,000
  Open: Saturday, 1-3 p.m.

Photo via James Lee on Unsplash

After a year of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fourth of July fireworks displays will return to Fairfax County.

Lake Fairfax Park will once again host a fireworks display on Saturday, July 3. Fireworks will begin at dark, around 9 p.m., but attendees are encouraged to arrive by 8 p.m. to find a place a park and a spot to watch.

Tickets for the event are now available online for $10 per car and will be $15 on the day of the event. Ticketed entry begins at 10 a.m.

Food trucks will be on the site throughout the day for attendees.

The following day, on July 4, the Town of Herndon will host a free celebratory fireworks display for the public at 9:30 p.m. from the Herndon Centennial Golf Course.

The town’s suggested viewing spots are around the Herndon Community Center and the softball field at Bready Park. The town will have event parking and access to Bready Park starting at 8 p.m., but the park’s turf field will be closed during the event.

Parking will be available at Herndon Middle School, Herndon Community Center, and the municipal parking lot on Center Street. People may also park at the Station Street municipal parking lot and watch the display from the Herndon Municipal Center Town Green.

Cars parked in the Herndon Community Center and Bready Park lots will not be released until the fire marshal and Herndon Police declare the area safe.

Due to the display and parking, traffic in the town may be rerouted beginning at 7:45 p.m.

Herndon’s July 4th Celebration will not have food concessions or other entertainment this year, and spectators in and around the park are encouraged to maintain physical distancing while watching the display.

Pets, alcohol, glass containers, grills or cook stoves, and personal fireworks — including sparklers — are not allowed. For safety reasons, the fire marshal also prohibits any persons on the golf course or in its parking lot from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

The rain just keeps coming.

While a Flash Flood Warning issued yesterday (Thursday) for the D.C. region, including Fairfax County, was canceled ahead of schedule at 7:15 p.m., the National Weather Service has extended the Flash Flood Watch that was set to end at midnight through today (Friday).

Issued at 3:03 a.m., the new alert will be in effect through this evening, as showers and thunderstorms are expected to bring two to four additional inches of rain to the area.

Here is the full alert:

…FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING…

The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has expanded the

* Flash Flood Watch to include portions of Virginia and West Virginia, including the following areas: in Virginia, Clarke, Eastern Loudoun, Fairfax, Frederick VA, Page, Shenandoah, Warren and Western Loudoun. In West Virginia, Berkeley, Eastern Grant, Eastern Mineral, Eastern Pendleton, Hampshire, Hardy, Jefferson, Western Grant, Western Mineral and Western Pendleton.

* Through this evening

* Additional showers and thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 additional inches are expected to re-develop early this morning and persist into this afternoon.

* More heavy rainfall may cause additional flash flooding.

The weather has already dampened one parade in Reston, as the Reston Community Center canceled the second concert in its “Take a Break” series last night. The band Justin Trawick and the Common Good was scheduled to perform at Lake Anne Plaza from 7 to 9 p.m.

The concert series, one of several that RCC programmed for this summer, will resume next Thursday (June 17) with Origem, which the community center describes as “Brazilian jazz with a twist.”

The threat for flash flooding persists in the Mid Atlantic again today.

Each year, more deaths occur due to flooding than from any other thunderstorm related hazard – and half of those are the result of a vehicle being driven into floodwaters. #TurnAroundDontDrown https://t.co/ffxF3YDP4y

— National Weather Service (@NWS) June 11, 2021

The Flash Flood Watch that took effect at noon today (Thursday) has now been upgraded to a Flash Flood Warning for Fairfax County.

The National Weather Service says an additional one to two inches of rain could fall in the affected areas, including Reston and Herndon, until 8:15 p.m.

Here is the full alert, which was issued at 5:05 p.m.:

* Flash Flood Warning for…
Central Fairfax County in northern Virginia…
Southeastern Loudoun County in northern Virginia…
The Western City of Alexandria in northern Virginia…
The City of Fairfax in northern Virginia…
The City of Falls Church in northern Virginia…

* Until 815 PM EDT.

* At 505 PM EDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 1 and 3 inches of rain have fallen. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.

HAZARD…Life threatening flash flooding. Thunderstorms producing flash flooding.

SOURCE…Doppler radar.

IMPACT…Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

The NWS advises against traveling, noting that the majority of flood deaths occur in vehicles.

“A Flash Flood Warning means that flooding is imminent or occurring,” the NWS said. “If you are in the warned area move to higher ground immediately. Residents living along streams and creeks should take immediate precautions to protect life and property.”

StarKist Co. is relocating its headquarters from Pittsburgh to Fairfax County.

The food manufacturer known for its tuna is investing $3.6 million to relocate its corporate and administrative headquarters, occupying approximately 24,000 square feet at 1875 Explorer St. in Reston, according to a news release from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office.

“StarKist is proud to make Reston, Virginia our official global headquarters starting in April 2022,” Andrew Choe, president and CEO of StarKist, said in the release.

The 10-story property was developed by Boston Properties in 2008. It’s located in Reston Town Center and totals 253,643 square feet of space.

Northam noted Virginia is now home to 800 corporate headquarters, and Fairfax County “consistently attracts top talent and is well connected to key customer markets and major metro areas.”

Known for its brand mascot Charlie the Tuna, StarKist began as the French Sardine Co. in 1917 by Martin Bogdanovich, who immigrated from Croatia to California, and four associates. The company says it started selling products with the StarKist name in 1942.

The company announced in May it would relocate to Virginia in 2022 but did not indicate at the time where the new site would be. Its Pittsburgh headquarters will close March 31 next year.

A company spokeswoman declined to answer questions about how many employees will be at the new headquarters and the company’s hiring plans, but Northam’s office says SunKist’s arrival in Reston will create 83 jobs.

One job listing posted nine days ago confirmed the Reston location, but another posting from over a month ago listed Washington, D.C. but said the position was in Pittsburgh.

“I am so pleased to thank StarKist for choosing Fairfax County for its new headquarters,” Fairfax County Economic Development Authority President and CEO Victor Hoskins said. “This is a testament to the growing attractiveness of Northern Virginia to a wide variety of industry sectors and companies that know we have the assets and talent base to succeed here.”

StarKist comes as Volkswagen Group of America is also moving its headquarters nearby to Reston Gateway, and Metro’s Silver Line anticipates opening next year.