Editor’s note: Reston Now will be taking Memorial Day weekend off starting tomorrow (Friday). Except in the case of breaking news, publishing will resume on Tuesday (June 1).
More Early Voting Sites to Open Saturday — Fairfax County will add 13 more early voting sites for the June 8 Democratic primary on Saturday (May 29), bringing the total number of locations up to 16. In the Reston/Herndon area, the Herndon Fortnightly and Great Falls libraries will join the North County Governmental Center, which has hosted early voting since April 24. [Fairfax County Government]
Couple Killed in Springfield Shooting — “A husband and wife are dead following a shooting in a residential area of Springfield, Virginia, on Wednesday morning, according to police. Police Chief Kevin Davis said authorities believe the ‘shooter or shooters’ are ‘known to a relative of our two victims.'” [WTOP]
Fairfax County Considers Renaming Two Highways — “A list of possible new names for Lee Highway (Route 29) and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway (Route 50) could be ready as soon as this December. On July 13, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors could approve about 25 members for a task force to examine the possibility of renaming the highways and appoint the group’s chair.” [Tysons Reporter]
Herndon Businesses Burglarized — The Herndon Police Department is investigating multiple commercial burglaries where individuals smashed businesses’ front doors and windows with rocks and stole cash and cash registers. The first incident occurred overnight between May 17 and May 18 in the 600 block of Carlisle Drive, and the second happened shortly after 1 a.m. on May 18 in the 300 block of Elden Street. [HPD]
Herndon to Hold Memorial Day Observance — The Town of Herndon will observe Memorial Day on Monday (May 31) at Chestnut Grove Cemetery on Dranesville Road with an Avenue of Flags that will be erected from dawn until dusk. The holiday takes place on the final Monday of every May as “a day to remember all American lives lost during military service.” [Patch]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
More than 5,000 people in northern Fairfax County are currently without power, as a thunderstorm pummels the D.C. area.
According to Dominion Energy’s outage map, the largest outages are concentrated north of Tysons and in the east Reston and Great Falls area, which is currently experiencing three separate outages in the wake of the storm that started pouring rain earlier this evening (Thursday).
The most significant swath starts south of the Dulles Toll Road and extends all the way up into Great Falls past Riverbend Park, encompassing 2,806 people who have lost power due to a circuit outage, according to Dominion. A crew has been dispatched, but as of publication, there is no estimated time of restoration yet.
Another outage affecting 1,786 customers around Colvin Run and Lake Fairfax was also caused by a lost circuit with an estimated time of restoration pending investigation.
Finally, 687 people have lost power around Difficult Run Stream Valley Park. The cause and estimated time of restoration are both pending investigation.
In a Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued at 8:21 p.m., the National Weather Service advised residents to move indoors to the lowest part of their residence.
“Large hail and damaging winds and continuous cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms. Move indoors immediately,” the NWS said. “Lightning is one of nature’s leading killers. Remember, if you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.”
840p: Thjs line of storms from Baltimore to DC to Manassas really blossomed beyond expectations. Forecasting storms keep you humble. pic.twitter.com/sz9zKxFeZ8
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) May 27, 2021
Image via Dominion Energy
Fairfax County and other areas in Northern Virginia have been put under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning on top of a Severe Thunderstorm Watch that will be in effect until 10 p.m.
Here is the full alert from the National Weather Service, which is scheduled to last until 4:45 p.m.:
At 405 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Warrenton, moving northeast at 30 mph.
HAZARD…60 mph wind gusts.
SOURCE…Radar indicated.
IMPACT…Damaging winds will cause some trees and large branches to fall. This could injure those outdoors, as well as damage homes and vehicles. Roadways may become blocked by downed trees. Localized power outages are possible. Unsecured light objects may become projectiles.
* Locations impacted include…
Centreville, Reston, Annandale, South Riding, Herndon, Fairfax, Mantua, Dulles International Airport, Burke, Linton Hall, Oakton, Sterling, Chantilly, Merrifield, Bull Run, Haymarket, Arcola, Manassas, Sudley and Manassas Park.PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.
Reston residents will soon be able to track changes in the area’s land and urban development over time.
Fairfax County launched an interactive Reston Transportation Hub in January as the start of the Reston Data Visualization project. The hub features data about vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit developments.
“This will help us capture changes over time,” Beth Elliot, an urban centers section planner for the Department of Planning and Development, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors during a land use policy committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday).
Right now, the dashboard only features one year of data — specifically, from 2019.
“But in the future, as we add additional data, you’ll be able to see how it’s progressed and where changes have occurred,” Elliot said.
Since its release, the Reston Data Visualization project has continued to evolve as more data becomes available and put into the digital system. Elliot says the planning department hopes to release additional sections of the project in the “next few months.”
“With this tool, our goal is to move towards an interactive format which allows us to present more data than a static format would provide, and utilize current technology compared to a printed document,” Elliot told the board. “We also hope this will allow us to have users access the data they’re specifically interested in, compared to, say, a 200-page report where you’re flipping through trying to figure out which page you care about.”
The additional phases to be rolled out include applications that present information for zoning activity and urban parks in Reston.
Elliot added that the department is planning to develop the Tysons Annual Report into an interactive platform, starting with an upcoming publication in October, as the department coordinates with the agencies responsible for putting together the progress report.
“I have to say, in the month and a half or so since I was briefed on this, it just keeps getting better,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said. “Data is added, and I think this has quite an upside over the years and as data becomes available.”
The Fairfax County Democratic Committee wants county leaders to fire newly hired county Police Chief Kevin Davis in response to continued controversy surrounding his history as an officer.
The local political group passed a motion at its general membership meeting yesterday (Tuesday) recommending that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors fire Davis, reopen the police search, and implement a transparent hiring process.
“We believe we need to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom, to end racial inequity in policing, end police brutality and build a police force built on trust where our residents don’t need to worry about protecting their families from the police sworn to protect and serve them,” FCDC said.
Davis’s hiring has drawn vocal criticism from civil rights advocates and community groups since he was appointed as retired Chief Edwin Roessler’s successor on April 23, particularly in the wake of an NBC4 report on two lawsuits that he faced while working as an officer in Prince George’s County, Maryland in the 1990s.
In one case, Davis reportedly stopped and violently arrested a driver, eventually leading to a $12,500 jury award to Mark Spann, who is Black. The other case involved Davis and a group of narcotics officers illegally detaining a 19-year-old, who later sued and won a $90,000 judgment.
Davis has also faced renewed scrutiny for his 2015-2018 tenure as commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, which included a secret aerial surveillance program and a six-day lockdown of the predominantly Black Harlem Park neighborhood that is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the ACLU’s Maryland chapter.
“Hiring a candidate with a history of racially charged use of force incidents in their past is not starting from a place where community trust can be built,” FCDC said.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay has repeatedly expressed confidence in Davis as Fairfax County’s new police chief.
A spokesperson from his office declined to comment on the FCDC motion, which was developed by the committee’s Black caucus. The committee says in a press release that it was “overwhelmingly” supported by its 1,000-plus members.
In lieu of a comment, McKay’s office shared a letter sent to FCDC on May 20 that touted Davis’s “ability to implement progressive reforms,” citing his efforts to implement changes in Baltimore like the introduction of body-worn cameras and a revised use-of-force policy that emphasizes deescalation.
The letter, which was signed by all nine Democratic supervisors, also defended the level of public engagement used during the police chief hiring process. The search included a pre-screening panel, a survey that generated over 3,000 responses, and an outreach campaign with over 275 community meetings and calls.
Davis also participated in a public input session during his first week as the new police chief — albeit with continued controversy.
“We are confident that this year’s process was the broadest and incorporated both extensive public input and intentional inclusivity,” the Board of Supervisors letter said. “Regardless, we commit to looking at our entire public participation process for future personnel decisions and establishing a framework for further improvement.” Read More
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Reston Association is relaxing COVID-related pool restrictions starting Memorial Day weekend.
Beginning Friday (May 28), RA pools will go back to full, pre-COVID capacity, RA spokesperson Mike Leone told Reston Now in an email.
This comes as the state and the county will also completely lift capacity restrictions for outdoor pools starting May 28.
However, RA plans to honor reservations made for Memorial Day weekend, since it had instituted a reservation system for that time period prior to the county and state announcements.
“Our priority will be to honor all Members with reservations through May 31st,” Leone clarified in an email. “If there is available capacity at a pool after Members with reservations arrive, those without reservations will be permitted to use the pool until it reaches capacity limits.”
Beginning June 1, the majority of RA pool facilities will open with no reservations required.
Due to popular demand, though, RA will continue to have lap swim and water fitness reservations at some locations throughout the summer. If space is available, walk-ins will be permitted.
Physical and social distancing will also no longer be enforced starting June 1, but RA is asking residents “to be mindful of personal space.”
RA will also still require masks inside its facilities, regardless of whether a resident is fully vaccinated or not. Masks are not required, though, when patrons are in the water, eating, drinking, and exercising, or for people who have a medical exception.
Virginia and Fairfax County both are no longer requiring masks in most settings for those who are fully vaccinated.
Five more RA pools will be opening on Saturday (May 29), joining the North Shore and Ridge Height heated pools, which both opened on May 15. Then, the rest of the RA pools will open for the season on June 12.
Pool season is getting underway as debate heightens about the possible “repurposing” or, even, closure of a number of pools.
Last week, RA staff recommended that Golf Course Island, Newbridge, Tall Oaks, and Shadowood pools be “seriously considered for repurposing” due to their low usage. RA CEO Hank Lynch is scheduled to further discuss his budget recommendations at the board of directors meeting on Thursday (May 27).
A recent year-long evaluation by RA’s recreation facilities work group found that a number of decades-old facilities, including some pools, are in need of a considerable amount of work and repairs.
RA recently renovated several of these pools, including an ongoing $3.5 million facelift for Lake Thoreau and a resurfacing of Glade pool’s slide.
Tall Oaks and Shadowood are both currently closed due to ongoing renovations.
Photo courtesy of Reston Association
(Updated at 2:10 p.m. on 5/27/2021) Beanstalk, an indoor vertical farming start-up, is putting down roots in Herndon with plans to invest more than $2 million to open a facility and farm this fall.
The Virginia-based company is expanding and opening a “scaled-up version” of their existing farm in the Lorton/Springfield area right off of Herndon Parkway and near the impending Herndon Metro station, Beanstalk co-founder Michael Ross writes Reston Now in an email.
The Herndon location will have research, growing, and package operations.
“This new facility will produce the equivalent of over 50 acres of traditional farmland and allow us to expand into more local grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and restaurants,” said Ross, who founded Beanstalk with his brother Jack.
The company grows pesticide-free leafy greens and herbs year-round using robotics and hydroponic — or soil-less — growing technology. It says it saves space by growing in layers and vertically as opposed to horizontally.
Beanstalk sells its salad mixes and herbs at grocery stores, local farmers markets, and online.
Jack Ross was selected by Virginia for a STEAM catalyst award back in 2018 for his development of an automated indoor growing production system. The technology allows Beanstalk to “produce food four times as efficiently as traditional hydroponic farming,” according to a press release from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
The brothers opened their 3,000 square-foot Springfield/Lorton facility in 2018, and the company expects to have annual sales of over $5 million in the next three years.
“We have created a new technology that produces better tasting and more nutritious vegetables, herbs, and fruits than what are available today,” Ross said. “Our farms are also sustainable as they consume 95% less water, have zero chemical run-off, and are over 100 times more productive use of land.”
The company’s co-founders are in their 20s and both were raised in Alexandria, went to high school in D.C., and played youth sports across the region.
“I particularly spent a lot of time in Herndon and Reston in high school, which is how I originally got to know the area through events like the Herndon Festival,” said Ross, who studied aerospace engineering in college.
He tells Reston Now that they evaluated “dozens of cities” in the D.C. area for their expansion but decided on Herndon because of the town’s “incredible community” and prioritzation of sustainability.
“Herndon is a very unique place within Northern Virginia in that it feels like a small, close-knit town with all the benefits of a larger city,” he said.
Beanstalk is expected to create 29 jobs in Herndon, some of which are already open for hiring.
Positions currently open in Herndon include a director of research and a senior electrical engineer. Ross notes that other jobs will be available soon in engineering, research, and operations, and the company will be looking for farmers later this year.
“We look for people from all backgrounds who want to bring locally grown food to their community and are curious, ambitious, and skilled,” Ross said.
Beanstalk is receiving financial support from both the state and Fairfax County in the form of grants that total $200,000.
As expected, local leaders say they are thrilled that Beanstalk decided Herndon is the place for them to grow.
“We are always looking for innovative investments to move our economy forward in Fairfax County,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay said in the governor’s press release. “Beanstalk’s new facility will not only bring new jobs to the community, but it also is a creative solution to using advancements in technology to increase access to fresh food options.”
Herndon Mayor Sheila Olem also welcomed the Ross brothers and Beanstalk to town.
“Theirs is exactly the kind of innovative, jobs-producing business we are looking to attract to our town’s commercial sector, and we applaud their application of technology toward provision of healthy, locally-grown produce,” she said.
Beanstalk’s mission is not only to grow fresh produce using new, more-efficient, sustainable technology, but to provide food at its freshest, Ross says.
“By growing in a farm within the community, we deliver food at peak freshness, which ensures all the taste and nutrition of the food is there when you take your first bite,” he said.
Photo courtesy Michael Ross
Second COVID-19 Vaccine Could Be Approved for Teens — “Biotechnology company Moderna announced Tuesday that its two-shot coronavirus vaccine produced the same protective immune response in teens as it does in adults, and the firm said it plans to submit the data to U.S. regulators for review in early June. If authorized, the vaccine would become the second available for adolescents as young as 12.” [The Washington Post]
Fairfax County Updates COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard — The Fairfax County Health Department launched an updated version of its vaccine dashboard yesterday (Tuesday) with data on administered doses, how many people have gotten vaccinated, demographic breakdowns, and other information. [FCHD]
Preliminary Work Begins on W&OD Wiehle Bridge — “Preliminary work is being performed @ the Wiehle Ave intersection in Reston in preparation for the eventual bridge there. Over the next couple of weeks, Dominion Energy will be making improvements to the gravel trail so that it may be used as a detour as they relocate facilities.” [The W&OD Trail/Twitter]
Man Hit with Bottle in Castle Rock Square — Police responded to the 2200 block of Castle Rock Square in Reston around 11:49 p.m. on Monday (May 24), when a man was hit “in the upper body with a bottle by someone known to him,” the department says. The victim in the incident, which was not a stabbing as initially reported by a scanner, said that he didn’t want the case to be investigated by officers. [FCPD]
County to Hold Meeting on Proposed Bicycle Lanes — Fairfax County will hold a virtual meeting at 6:30 p.m. on June 8 to discuss striping changes that would create bicycle lanes on several roads. The Hunter Mill District proposals focus on Herndon, adding lanes on segments of McNair Farms Drive and Thomas Jefferson Drive and converting the “underutilized” outside travel lanes on Coppermine Road to buffered bike lanes. [FCDOT]
Herndon Company Recognized for Veteran Hiring — “Herndon-headquartered Serco North America earned the designation VETS Indexes 5 Star Employer as part of the 2021 VETS Indexes Employer Awards. The designation recognizes Serco’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, developing and supporting veteran employees, military spouses and others in the military community.” [Fairfax County EDA]
Photo by Marjorie Copson
A new Korean fried chicken restaurant will open in North Point Village Center this summer.
Bbq Chicken at 1432 North Point Village Center in Reston is targeting a July 4 opening, a restaurant representative tells Reston Now. Build out is currently about 75% finished.
The location was previously a Jerry’s Subs that closed in September 2019.
The restaurant is part of a national franchise with close to 2,000 locations across the country, but this is the first one in the Reston/Herndon area. There is a location in Falls Church.
Several more locations of bbq Chicken are being planned for the area, including in Herndon and Ashburn, by the end of the year, the restaurant representative says.
The franchise specializes in Korean fried chicken with menu options for spicy, honey garlic, and more traditional Korean flavors like galbi (sweet with sesame seeds) and gang-jeong (cinnamon and spicy).
The bbq Chicken spokesperson says the company is expanding the number of locations in Northern Virginia, because Korean fried chicken has traveled well and can be easily prepared for pick-up and delivery.
They chose North Point Village as the restaurant’s introduction to Reston because the shopping center provides substantial parking with good access for delivery drivers.
The shopping center also will have a sushi restaurant opening in it in November of this year. Earlier this year, Christie-Adam Salon and Spa opened, replacing another hair salon.
North Point Village Center is owned by Lerner Retail, whose portfolio includes the to-be-redeveloped Spectrum at Reston Town Center.
North Point Village Center opened in 1993 and was the last of Reston’s five village centers to be built.
Photo via bb.q Chicken US/Instagram
(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) Efforts to rehabilitate the Turner Farmhouse in Great Falls have been underway for a few years now, and community members will get a chance to glimpse the progress that has been made later this week.
The Fairfax County Park Authority will host a watch party at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday (May 27) for the premiere of a virtual open house to showcase the 116-year-old property, which is located at 10609 Georgetown Pike in the 52-acre Turner Farm community park.
Built in 1905 as part of the Turner family’s dairy farm, the Turner Farmhouse is now part of the park authority’s Resident Curator Program that enables individuals and nonprofit or for-profit organizations to lease historic properties in Fairfax County rent-free in exchange for a commitment to rehabilitating the property.
Preceded by the Stempson House in Lorton, the Turner Farmhouse was the second property added to the program after it was established by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2014. Other sites include Herndon’s Ellmore Farmhouse, which will be restored by the disability support services nonprofit ServiceSource.
The nonprofit Turner Farmhouse Foundation led by equestrian Sarah Kirk has been the resident curator since Nov. 1, 2018. Turner Farm primarily hosts equestrian facilities for horse riding, but it also has a picnic pavilion, a playground, and an observatory park, though the latter has been closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic also prompted the park authority to go virtual for the upcoming Turner Farmhouse open house, which will be streamed on the FCPA YouTube page. The agency held similar premiere watch parties for the Stempson House on May 1 and the Hannah P. Clark House in Lorton on May 15.
According to the FCPA news release, open houses are held annually for each of the Resident Curator properties under rehabilitation to fulfill the program’s requirement that “reasonable public access” be provided for the sites.
The park authority says the 3,216-square-foot, four-bedroom Turner Farmhouse “is significant due to its Queen Anne style architecture and because it exemplifies the cultural, economic, and historic heritage of the Springvale and Forestville/Great Falls communities in Northern Virginia.”
The original dairy farm exemplified the kind of farm that was prevalent in the Great Falls area during the early 20th century, according to the county.
FCPA Resident Curator Program Manager Stephanie Langton says the Turner Farmhouse Foundation has helped preserve a vital community asset that serves as a reminder of Fairfax County’s rural history.
“Two and a half years into a twenty-year lease, Ms. Kirk has made substantial improvements to the Queen Anne style farmhouse and the milk house outbuilding on the property,” Langton said by email. “Exterior and interior improvements continue at the farmhouse, with repairs to be made on the garage structure and historic crib barn remaining as well.”
Photo via Fairfax County Park Authority
After months of virtual classes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a consensus emerged in Fairfax County that in-person learning is the ideal approach for students, but for the thousands of students who attend Stride Inc.‘s kindergarten-to-12th-grade schools, online classes are the norm, rather than the exception.
Stride says it has provided virtual learning to more than 2 million people since launching as K12 Inc. in 2000, but last Tuesday (May 18) represented a first for the Herndon-based company, as a dozen students and their families gathered at its corporate headquarters for the first-ever K12 National Spelling Bee.
“Spelling bees are a rite of passage for students everywhere, but it’s never been done online at this scale,” Stride CEO James Rhyu said in a statement.
The competition featured 12 students from nine states, including Virginia, who advanced to the finals after winning contests within their schools and regions. There were four finalists each at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, all of them from Stride’s online public school program.
Stride schools regularly offer activities and events for students to interact with classmates in person, including student clubs, field trips, and extracurricular activities, but the spelling bee championship gave students a chance to meet peers from around the country, Director of Corporate Communications Emily Riordan says.
“We are always looking for new ways to provide students with experiences that further enrich their academic pursuits, to give them space to demonstrate what they know, and to connect with each other,” she told Reston Now. “…The National Spelling Bee is one way we’re bringing together students from different schools, but who share the experience of attending public school online.”
Students at the event were required to wear face masks for its entirety, and they completed health screenings prior to arriving, according to a press release from Stride.
However, some students still attended virtually instead of traveling to Herndon, including Washington Virtual Academy (WAVA) third grader Ilyannie Gonzalez, who participated remotely from the other side of the country.
Ilyannie ultimately won the elementary school-level championship, beating out three other students who were attending in person after 18 rounds.
“Competing in the Spelling Bee is a dream come true for me,” she said before the competition started. “I love the challenge, and I am able to expand my vocabulary by learning words that are new to me. Most importantly, I would be making my family and my WAVA community proud.”
Like many other online education providers, Stride reported an increased demand for its services during the pandemic.
In an earnings presentation for the third-quarter of fiscal year 2021 on April 20, the company said that its enrollment had gone up from 122,100 students on March 31, 2020 to 185,300 students one year later, including 155,800 general education students.
In addition to hiring more than 1,300 teachers for the 2020-2021 school year, Stride rebranded in November to reflect its efforts to branch out into adult education and acquired two businesses with the goal of expanding its technology and healthcare career training offerings.
The past year hasn’t been entirely positive for Stride. According to NPR, the company was fired by Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida after technical issues led to a disastrous launch of the district’s virtual learning platform, and online charter schools in general have drawn criticism for students’ performance and a for-profit business model funded by taxpayer money, rather than tuition.
Still, Stride believes the past year has shown that virtual schools can be viable option for students looking for more flexibility than traditional public schools, and the National Spelling Bee suggests social interactions don’t have to be sacrificed in the process.
“Unlike a lot of their brick-and-mortar peers this past year, learning in an online setting is not new for these students, and neither is the opportunity to connect with their classmates and show off what they’ve learned to family and friends,” Rhyu said. “We’re proud of each of the Spelling Bee finalists, and we’re excited to celebrate with them here in Herndon.”
Photo courtesy Emily Riordan/Stride Inc.
Bow Tie Cinemas at Reston Town Center is reopening on Friday (May 28), just in time for the holiday weekend.
Making good on a March promise, the movie theater will open its doors for Memorial Day weekend, marking the return of audiences more than a year after it closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company told Reston Now two months ago that they hoped to open by this coming weekend, but it depended on the major movie studios releasing films into theaters, as opposed to streaming and on-demand services.
With vaccinations up across the country and region, that appears to be happening. According to Bow Tie Cinemas, the major new Hollywood releases waiting to greet Reston moviegoers include “A Quiet Place Part II”, Disney’s “Cruella,” and “Spiral: Saw.”
“I am thrilled that we are finally able to reopen our Reston location,” Bow Tie Cinemas Chief Operating Officer Joseph Masher said in the press release. “By exercising our health and safety protocols, we have been able to successfully provide a clean atmosphere for our guests to return to the cinema.”
Masher says the chain has not recorded any cases of COVID-19 transmission among patrons or staff since it first reopened some locations last summer.
“Guests have been returning, and leave feeling a sense of normalcy that has been sorely missed during the pandemic,” he said.
The Reston Town Center theater will reopen with a series of safety and health protocols in place in accordance with the National Association of Theater Owners’ CinemaSafe initiative, which commits participants to following guidelines that, in some cases, are stricter than what Virginia and Fairfax County now require.
The state will lift capacity limits on movie theaters and other entertainment venues starting on Friday.
Bow Tie’s protocols include 100% reserved seating, the installation of plexiglass barriers at box office and concession stands, contact-free ticket and concession purchasing, and enhanced cleaning.
Additionally, all staff must wear a mask, even if they are fully vaccinated.
“Bow Tie Cinemas staff must wear masks at all times, whereas fully vaccinated customers are welcome to remove their mask,” a Bow Tie Cinema spokesperson confirmed to Reston Now in an email. “If a customer has yet to be vaccinated, we ask that they continue to wear their mask unless they are actively eating and drinking in their seat.”
There are also several promotional offers for those who come to the Reston Town Center theater on the first weekend.
From May 28 to 30, a purchase of a non-alcoholic beverage comes with a free small popcorn and entry into a raffle for free movie tickets. Reston customers can also continue to rent out an entire theater for up to 30 guests for a private screening.
Bow Tie Cinemas is one of the last movie theaters to reopen in the area, with theaters in Herndon, Tysons, and Dulles already showing movies again.
Bow Tie Cinemas acquired the theater at Reston Town Center from Rave Cinema in 2011.
Former Herndon Teacher Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography — “A former Herndon High School teacher accused of taking inappropriate photos of dozens of students and possessing thousands of images of child pornography and other lewd material pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Monday. Raphael Schklowsky, 38, of Reston admitted his guilt on nine counts as part of a deal with Fairfax County prosecutors.” [The Washington Post]
Police Still Looking for Fatal Hit-and-Run Suspect — Fairfax County police have determined that a car that left the scene of a crash that killed a pedestrian in Great Falls last week was a 2017 black Ford Fusion. Detectives believe the car model is a SE, Titanium, Platinum or V6 Sport package. [FCPD]
Electrify America Announces Agreement With Hyundai — The Reston-based electric vehicle charging network operator announced yesterday (Monday) that it will “provide all-electric Hyundai IONIQ 5 drivers with two years of unlimited 30-minute complimentary charging sessions from the date of purchase at Electrify America charging stations.” [Electrify America]
Kids’ Hair Salon Opens in Sterling — The children’s hair salon company Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids has opened a franchise in the Town Center at Sterling shopping mall. Franchise owners Viral & Ami Doshi say the salon features kiddie cars, Xbox stations, and a glamour station, and each haircut includes washing, cutting, and styling as well as a balloon, lollipop, tattoo, and donation to a charity of the customer’s choice. [Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids]
Photo via vantagehill/Flickr
Fairfax Connector suspended fare collections last year as a temporary health measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the public bus system is considering longer-term adjustments to its fare policies with support from a new state grant program.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is one of 12 transit agencies in Virginia that have expressed interest in the Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s new Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP), which will fund projects that increase connectivity in highly populated areas or remove barriers for low-income individuals by reducing or eliminating fares.
While fare collection resumed on Jan. 4, county leaders see reducing or subsidizing trip costs as one way to encourage more people to ride the Connector, which is the largest local bus system in Northern Virginia, transporting approximately 30,000 passengers on 91 routes in ordinary times.
“Access to transit is crucial in promoting equity county-wide and for many a barrier is cost,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Jeff McKay said. “Our Department of Transportation is committed to looking into how we can provide aid to those experiencing economic hardship.”
Created by the General Assembly during its 2020 session, TRIP was conceived before the novel coronavirus arrived in the U.S., but Virginia Transportation Secretary Shannon Valentine told the Commonwealth Transportation Board during a May 18 workshop that the pandemic illustrated how vital public transportation is for essential workers, DCist reported.
“Fares turned out to be an obstacle. So we are really trying to use this as an opportunity,” Valentine said, according to DCist.
DRPT has split TRIP into two programs: one focused on regional connectivity, which could include everything from integrated fare collection systems to the creation of bus-only lanes on significant routes, and one focused on reducing the impact of fares on low-income users, which could involve eliminating fares, creating zero-fare zones, or providing subsidized or free passes.
Virginia has allocated a total of $129 million to the TRIP initiative through fiscal year 2027, including $88.4 million for the connectivity program and $39.6 million for the fare program, according to a presentation that DRPT delivered to the Commonwealth Transportation Board.
Legislators limited the fare reduction program to 25% of the initiative’s annual funding, but the General Assembly gave the program an additional $10 million in the state’s fiscal year 2022 budget, raising its total to $12.5 million for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1.
DRPT released a draft policy last week outlining how TRIP will be implemented, including how projects will be evaluated for grant funds. The resolution is open for public input through June 18, and the CTB is scheduled to vote on it on June 23.
The department has also made a draft of the program’s application guidelines available for public comment until July 7. Read More
