Robberies in Fairfax County Police’s Reston District up 100 percent over this time last year, says Capt. Ron Manzo, commander of the Reston District Station.
Manzo, along with crime prevention specialist Katy DeFoe, were at Reston Association’s regular Board of Directors meeting last week to give an annual report on the state of crime — and crime prevention — in this part of the county.
The Reston District covers 40 square miles and includes Reston, as well as unincorporated Herndon and Great Falls.
Manzo said there have been 32 robberies in the Reston District so far in 2015. Twelve have been in south Reston, he said. At this point in 2014, there had been 16 robberies overall, he said.
However, many of the cases are not random, said Manzo.
“Most of the robberies are drug ripoffs,” Manzo said. “We have made arrests in six of them. The others are inactive due to lack of follow up.”
Manzo pointed out some other crime stats for 2015:
There have been three shootings in the Reston District this year. One was a homicide in unincorporated Herndon. One was a domestic situation in which a man shot his wife. The man was charged.
The third shooting was in Shadowood in May. Three men are facing gun possession and attempted robbery charges, but were not charged with homicide in the shooting that killed Rashad Kejuan Daye, 24, of Herndon.
Police said previously the apartment resident was protecting himself against the suspects, who were known to him.
Car thefts are slightly up — 62 so far this year compared to 60 through October of 2014.
However, DeFoe said the majority of stolen cars have been taken when the keys were in the car and/or the cars were left unlocked.
“We’re not locking our doors, we are not taking keys out,” said DeFoe. “We average about for or five [incidents of thefts from auto where doors were unlocked] per night. If they if not finding keys in the car, they will [search] through a car with unlocked doors.”
Manzo took over as the head of the Reston District Station early this year. He said one of his top priorities has been getting officers out of their cars and back on the streets and bike paths.
“Right off bat, that was one issue I saw with the NPU [Neighborhood Policing Unit] ,” he said. “I immediately put them back on bikes.”
He said the Hunters Woods area, especially the tunnels and paths, were a concern.
“There have been a couple of unfortunate cases on the trails,” said Manzo. “I need them out on bikes. “
Capt. Ron Manzo/Reston Now file photo
Reston may be getting closer to a bikeshare system.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday endorsed the county’s applications for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s FY 2017 Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Grant Application.
The county hopes to get $400,000 from the state as seed money for bike share program. Other projects seeking funding are Vienna Metrorail bicycle access improvements; a cinder bed bike path near the Franconia-Springfield Metro station; and improvements for bike access on Van Dorn Street in Alexandria.
Applications for the grant program are due Nov. 1.
County biking authorities conducted a feasibility study on a Reston bikeshare in 2014. They will give an update on the progress of the bikeshare plan Oct. 29 at Dogwood Elementary School at 7 p.m.
Capital Bikeshare, which has suburban programs in Alexandria, Arlington, and Rockville, Md., would offer those who live and work in Reston an additional way to access the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, as well as the future Reston Town Center station, Reston Town Center and other location.
The capital equipment needed for a Reston bikeshare station includes docking stations, bicycles and kiosks. The current projection is for 13 stations and 130 bicycles, which will cost about $766,000
The county will request $400,000 from TAP and pay $100,000 in county funds for the program. That would leave an additional $266,000 in funding necessary to get the program started.
The Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) guidelines state applicants are required to provide a 20 percent match, with grant awards covering the 80 percent remaining. Local jurisdictions are also required to pay for any cost overruns.
VDOT’s TAP regulations require the sponsoring jurisdiction to accept responsibility for future maintenance and operating costs of any projects that are funded.
Photo: Bikesharing in Arlington/ARLnow.com file photo
What does the future hold for transit and traffic as Reston continues to grow?
That’s the subject of a legislative forum hosted by the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
State and local transportation officials will share updates on transportation improvements in Reston. Some of the topics addressed include:
- State priorities, flow of money to localities and 6-year plan
- Challenges facing the regional authority and impact on Fairfax/Reston projects
- Fairfax County’s six-year plan and collaboration with the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance to prioritize regional projects
Panelists include Nancy Hiteshue Smith, Policy Director, Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance; Jim Dyke, Attorney, McGuireWoods LLP and Member of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Board; and Marty Nohe, Chairman, Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.
There will also be representatives from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, Dulles Area Transportation Association, Comstock Partners and Reston Association.
The forum is 8 to 10 a.m. at Reston Station. Visit the chamber’s website for more information and registration.
Photo: Traffic on Wiehle Avenue / Credit Reston 2020
Reston and founder Robert E. Simon’s legacy will be featured in a segment on WAMU’s (88.5) “The Kojo Nnamdi Show” Thursday at 12 p.m.
Nnamdi’s guests will include former Reston Association CEO Milton Matthews and
Roger Lewis, Architect and Professor Emeritus of Architecture, University of Maryland College Park.
WAMU says “Robert Simon, the brain behind one of America’s best-known models of planned suburban development, recently passed away. But he left behind a legacy in Reston, Va., that continues to influence how neighborhoods are conceived and developed. Architect and urban planner Roger Lewis joins us to explore whether planned communities function as Simon intended – and where they still fit into the fabric of the D.C. region.”
A Go Fund Me account has been set up by friends of the young couple badly injured in a fire at their Purple Sage Court townhouse on Tuesday.
Liz and Tyler — friends asked that their last names not be used for privacy reasons — continue to recover at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.
The couple, unconscious from smoke inhalation, was carried from their second-floor bedroom by Fairfax County Fire and Rescue firefighters after fire broke out on the first floor of the townhouse about 6:30 a.m Tuesday.
Investigators are still trying to determine how the fire started. Friends say much of their household possessions and necessities were lost in the fire.
Liz and Tyler’s two dogs and two cats died in the fire. Firefighters were able to rescue a pet bird.
The couple will celebrate its first wedding anniversary on Oct. 24.
“They are two truly amazing, loving, caring, humorous (and so much more) individuals who did not deserve any of this,” wrote Stephanie Twombly, the friend who started the Go Fund Me account.
“They lived for their animals, and it is such a tragic loss,” she wrote. “Although I know that none of us can replace what was lost we can help them to rebuild their lives and try to overcome this great obstacle that has been placed in their way. “
The latest “most likely” track from the National Weather Service has Hurricane Joaquin veering towards the east, which makes Northern Virginia less likely to take a direct hit from the now-Category 4 storm.
However, the National Hurricane Center and the NWS both say the Mid-Atlantic may still see effects from the storm.
“The details of how significantly the storm will impact us will become clearer as the week progresses,” says the NWS Washington-Baltimore. “Sunday into Monday is the most likely time. Be aware that flooding from heavy rain, damaging winds, and tidal flooding will be possible Sunday into Monday.”
But first…Friday and Saturday.
Regardless of where Joaquin makes landfall, the forecast is, forecasters are calling for heavy rains Friday and Saturday. Three to five inches of rain may fall here through Saturday morning — while up 10 inches is predicted for Central Virginia.
“We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. “I hope Hurricane Joaquin turns and goes out into the ocean. That is what I am hoping for, but we have to prepare for the worst.”
McAullife, who issued a state of emergency for the commonwealth, warned citizens and governments to be aware that it is two systems weather forecasters are talking about.
“The first is going to occur,” he said. “The second we are monitoring.”
But if both system hit Virginia, McAuliffe said damage could be widespread. When asked if people could expect power outages, the governor said “if these two systems come together, it could be weeks. There are going to be major power outages with trees coming down. Flooding is going to affect every river in Virginia.”
Meanwhile, the governor said he has called up 700 National Guard troops, mainly t protect coastal Navy stations and NASA’s Wallops Island facility.
A flash flood watch is in effect for Reston and all of Northern Virginia on Friday and Saturday.
Fairfax County’s Emergency Information Office has these tips for staying safe and preparing for the storms.
Graphic: Updated Hurricane Joaquin forecast/Credit: NWS
Get ready for a rainy weekend as a front that could cause up to a half a foot of rain heads towards Reston, only to possibly be followed soon after by Hurricane Joaquin.
Here is what you need to know:
The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch from Friday morning to Saturday evening. Rain will increase in intensity across the area Friday into Saturday, with two to four inches expected, with spots seeing higher amounts. Rain could fall over a short period of time on already saturated land.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued a state of emergency late Wednesday afternoon. The Executive Order operates retroactively to Tuesday, when parts of Virginia were deluged with 6 inches of rain.
The state of emergency allows state and local emergency responders to begin to prepare for the effects of rain forecast across the Commonwealth Thursday and Friday, as well as the potential that Hurricane Joaquin will impact Virginia.
“I cannot stress enough the imperative for Virginians to focus on the rainstorms that are headed our way tomorrow and Friday, well before Hurricane Joaquin could potentially impact Virginia,” Governor McAuliffe said in a statement.
“The forecast of up to 10 inches of rain in areas across Virginia could result in floods, power outages and a serious threat to life and property. As we continue to track the path of Hurricane Joaquin, I have instructed the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to make every preparation for a major event Thursday and Friday.”
The National Weather Service declared Joaquin a hurricane Wednesday morning when it was several hundred miles East-Northeast of the central Bahamas with winds of up to 85 mph. By Wednesday night, Joaquin had strengthened to a Category 3 (120 mph winds).
Said the NWS: “The storm may move closer to the Mid-Atlantic during the next several days. The details of how significantly the storm will impact us will become clearer as the week progresses. If it does impact us, sometime between late Friday through Monday is the most likely time. If the storm does reach the Mid-Atlantic be aware that heavy rain, wind, and tidal flooding will be possible.”
The Capital Weather Gang said on Wednesday “there’s no need to panic, but simply to begin thinking about hurricane and flooding preparedness and remaining tuned to the forecast, as it is likely to evolve substantially over the next 72 hours.”
“Hurricane Joaquin is forecast to come very close to the Mid-Atlantic coast, and possibly move inland, said the Capital Weather Gang. “At the very least, a period of heavy rain is likely. In a worst-case scenario, the region could contend with a dangerous, long-duration flooding event, widespread damaging winds and a significant surge of water up the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River.”
Some computer models have Joaquin making landfall in North Carolina; other say it will stay off shore.
Some weekend events may be altered due to the storm. Herndon High’s football game at Tuscurora has already been moved from Friday night to tonight. Washington Redskins and DC United officials also say they are monitoring developments that may affect weekend games.
Reston Now will update this story as it develops.
Graphic courtesy National Weather Service
Reston author Terry Catasus Jennings takes science and turns it into relatable stories that children can understand.
Her latest book, Sounds of the Savanna (Arbordale Publishing) came out last week. In it, Jennings (and illustrator Phyllis Saroff) explains how animals communicate — through sound. The mighty lion of the savanna roars, a lioness answers, the wildebeests respond and the day springs into action as a chain of sounds brings the African plains to life until the quiet night returns.
Jennings will hold a reading and book signing at the Reston Zoo Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Jennings, a 38-year Reston resident who has worked for the Smithsonian Institution, has also written books on Mount St. Helen’s and the women’s movement. The Mount St. Helen’s book, Gopher to the Rescue: A Volcano Recovery Story was honored with the National Science Teachers’ Outstanding Science Trade Book award in 2013.
She says she finds kids are very interested in science and history if the concepts are at a level they can understand.
“If you present it in an engaging way, it leaves them with an understanding that science is great — it is part of everything in our lives,” she said. “I think translating it to young readers is my strong suit.”
Jennings said she is particularly interested in physics, which she majored in in college, and hopes to pen books about electricity and magnets.
Jennings will have additional book signing events at Reston’s Used Book Shop on Nov. 7 and at The Baltimore Zoo on Nov. 8. She will also participate in George Mason University’s Fall for the Book on Oct. 3.
Learn more about Jennings on her website and on her blog for kids, KC’s Wild Facts.
A Reston Now reader looked up into the sky Sunday and saw a mysterious object floating above.
Since Reston Now knows of no such UFO invasion, training exercises or robots-in-the-sky news, we are asking other readers — any ideas?
Some ideas floating around Facebook: an odd-shaped drone and an escaped mylar birthday balloon (could be an errant robot or Disney character).
Did you see it? In any case, tell us your theories in the comments.
This is an op-ed by Terry Maynard of Reston 2020. It does not represent the opinion of Reston Now.
As you were enjoying your summer, probably including a family vacation, our County leaders were — and are — planning to increase the allowable density in Reston’s transit station areas (TSAs) again through amendments to the zoning ordinance.
The reason: Fairfax County is running out of ways to generate taxes to cover its expenses as job growth and development falter. At this point, so close to another local election, they are neither ready to increase our taxes nor cut well-liked programs (other than parks and libraries, of course).
They have to add more taxable property — residential and commercial — to drive up revenues. And Reston and Tysons are the places they intend to do it.
The County’s Zoning Staff is preparing to allow increased Reston density in two ways.
In Reston alone, the County staff is planning to increase (or eliminate) the maximum allowable population per acre in the Reston Planned Residential Community (PRC) — a zoning category.
According to the Fairfax County’s demographer’s count, Reston now has a population of less than 62,000, about 10 people per acre. Reston’s current limit is 13 persons per acre for a total population of about 81,000 according to a county briefing. Using absolutely absurd “household population factor” values (ostensibly the typical number of people in a household by type of household), the zoning staff has put Reston’s population at more than 73,000 people or 11.7 people per acre (10 percent available capacity).
We are, in fact, more than 30 percent short of that capacity. Yet, if the “cap” is increased or deleted, it creates more “flexibility” for developers, which as the next paragraph will show, is the goal. Read More
Remember the other day, when you were humming a tune from the 1970s, still rolling around your brain or perhaps fresh from Deep Tracks on SiriusXM?
Larry Burnett, who has worked at The UPS Store at South Lakes Village Center for a decade, is humming some of them too. That’s because he wrote and played guitar a few of them, back when he was a member of the band Firefall, enjoying lots of hard living as a soft rock star.
Forty years ago, Burnett was playing “You Are The Woman,” “Just Remember I Love You,” “Strange Way,” and writing “Cinderella,” all Top 40 hits.
Now he is the man to see for your shipping needs.
“I am grateful it all happened,” Burnett, 63, says. “But I lacked gratitude then. I know there would people lining up around the block who would have been dying for the opportunity.”
Burnett’s still singing and songwriting, playing as a solo, duo and part of a trio at places like the Birchmere in Alexandria and the Tally Ho in Leesburg. He’s had the same guitar for 30 years and says “it would be difficult to live without it in arm’s reach.”
“Whatever’s there is still there,” he says of his love of music.
But a man’s still got to have a day job.
Burnett’s story is sort of a right-place-at-the right time, a pretty good singer and 
acoustic guitar player in the era of the singer-songwriter (think early 70s and the Eagles, Jackson Browne, America, Poco).
Burnett, who lives in Sterling, says he first picked up a guitar at age 8 and taught himself to play by ear by listening to a local folk music radio station and his mother’s record collection of Chet Atkins, Les Paul and Mary Ford, among others.
He formed a band at Alexandria’s T.C. Williams High School called The Broken Limbs.
“We were a bunch of white guys playing R & B,” he said. “We weren’t that good, but we were popular. We had personality and played pretty good music.”
That was also around the time Burnett discovered drugs, he said.
“I started shooting dope at 14,” he says. “It stayed with me a long time.”
He dropped out of T.C. Williams, went to live with his father in California and dropped out of high school there too.
By the early 1970s, Burnett was working construction, driving a cab and playing gigs around DC. He played Sundays at open mic night at the old Cellar Door in D.C. The sound and lighting guy recorded one of his sets, and then slipped the tapes to headliners like Bonnie Raitt and John Prine. The sound guy also gave one to Rick Roberts, a singer-songwriter who played with The Flying Burrito Brothers.
“One day, Rick called me and said he got me a plane ticket to Colorado, where he lived, the next day [to start forming a band],” says Burnett. “I was due in court the next day on drug charges. I told him if it didn’t go well, I would be tied up for the next 5 to 40 years. If I am not there, start without me.”
The charges didn’t stick. Burnett made it to Colorado. They formed a band and cut a demo for Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers opted not to sign them, but they took the tape to Atlantic Records, which did.
The first album, Firefall was released in May 1976 and was Atlantic’s quickest record to reach Gold status at the time.
There were six more albums and about five years of near-constant touring as headliners and as openers for the Steve Miller Band, the Doobie Brothers, The Band and the Electric Light Orchestra. They were the opening act for Fleetwood Mac during the Rumors era.
“I was a huge fan of all those people,” said Burnett. “I was in heaven.” Read More
It’s nearly fall, and so begins a new round of outdoor activities, festivals and other fun in Reston. Here are a couple of things happening this weekend.
ChalkFest — Beginning mid-day Friday, Market Street will turn into a colorful row of chalk murals at the second annual ChalkFest at Reston Town Center. Professional artists will get started today, with the 4-by-8 foot spaces opening up to amateur artists, including children, on Saturday.
The event is sponsored by and will benefit the Initiative for Public Art Reston (IPAR). There still may be room to register in your division. Visit the ChalkFest website.
Reston Association’s Community Yard Sale — RA’s annual sale includes 95 tables of household goods, baby items, toys, and other things for bargain shoppers, Vendor tables are sold out, but hundreds of shoppers are expected. Sale is in RA Headquarters parking lot (12001 Sunrise Valley Drive) from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Get there early for best selection.
Diving Dogs — The Chesapeake Dock Dog Diving Club returns to Lake Anne Plaza for a free demonstration. The trained dogs perform extreme leaps and jumps, landing in the lake. The event is sponsored by Lake Anne Plaza’s PetMAC, which will also have animal rescue groups and animals for adoption on hand. The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m.
A year ago yesterday, the Silver Line’s first train rolled into Wiehle-Reston East.
After years of talk, political maneuvering, construction, construction delays and budget busting, Reston was finally connected to Washington, D.C. by rail.
Phase 1 of the Silver Line has five stations that run from Tysons Corner to Reston. Additional stations will be part of Phase 2, which will stop at Reston Town Center, Herndon, Route 28, Dulles International Airport and Ashburn.
However, Wiehle-Reston is the end of the line until at least 2019. It is the only Phase 1 station with parking (3,300 spaces at the Comstock-Fairfax County garage). That makes it by far the busiest of the five stations.
It only took a few weeks for the Reston stop to exceed expectations after it opened July 26. 2014. By mid-September, Wiehle-Reston East was counting more than 8,000 entries daily, surpassing first-year ridership goals. Overall Silver Line ridership was about 60 percent of where Metro expected it to be after a full year.
Wiehle-Reston East is now seeing more than 9,100 entries daily. Other stations: McLean, 1,842; Tysons Corner, 3,423; Greensboro, 1,185; and Spring Hill, 1,441 (17,088 Silver Line entries daily).
“Wiehle-Reston East continues to be the Silver Line’s commuting powerhouse, surpassing first-year ridership projections with nearly 9,200 boardings, or 18,400 weekday entries and exits last month,” a Metro spokeswoman said.
There have been some growing pains, though. Many commuters have complained the Silver Line saves them neither time nor money; Metro service in general suffers delays and issues daily; and the addition of the Silver Line may have slowed Metro service overall.
There has also been criticism of faulty timed lights getting in and out of the Wiehle-Reston East garage, as well as a poorly designed kiss-and-ride area.
Still, it has had an impact on the Reston economy. Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Mark Ingrao says his organization has seen a 22- percent increase in membership from new businesses or businesses new to Reston in the last year. The chamber itself also moved its headquarters from the Reston Town Center area to within walking distance of Wiehle-Reston East.
Jerry Gordon, President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, says the Metro’s economic impact can be seen countywide.
“We have direct evidence that two companies that are in Tysons Corner are there because of the Silver Line,” Gordon told Reston Now. “Instelsat moved from DC, and they told us ‘no Silver Line, no Intelsat.’ The county was also able to retain Cvent in Tysons. Without the Silver Line, Cvent undoubtedly would have left.” Read More
The Fairfax County Planning Commission has recommended for approval a parking lot expansion for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in north Reston.
The church — which had recently looked into building a new facility elsewhere in Reston — seeks to add 39 parking spaces to its existing 23-year-old site at 1515 Poplar Grove Dr. The parking capacity will increase from 121 to 160 spots, planning documents show.
The site is adjacent to residential town houses, Armstrong Elementary School, a public elementary school, a power substation and a park authority-owned property.
Residents of adjacent cluster Birchfield Woods were unhappy with a 2014 proposal that would take up additional space and remove additional trees. The plan has since been amended to its current form.
Church officials told zoning staff they looked into a parking agreement with Armstrong Elementary as a possible alternative to expansion.
The church said it had pursued parking agreements with public schools previously.
“The church is self-insured. Public schools does not accept that form of insurance,” Rinker Design, the firm hired by the church to do the expansion told county staff in a letter. “The church also has concerns about the safety of families crossing Lake Newport Road. It is a busy street. The church does not consider this a feasible option.”
“The church feels that additional parking is needed to meet the needs of their congregation, to be a good neighbor to the adjacent townhouse residents, and to provide parking with a safe access to the church. There will be no changes to the existing building or current use.”
Some of the development conditions:
- The church must submit a tree preservation plan and narrative for the site and the site will include a tree preservation fence.
- Supplemental landscaping is proposed to include shrubs, 51 evergreen trees and nine deciduous trees. Interior parking lot landscaping is proposed to include six additional trees.
- Stormwater quality will be addressed through permeable pavement, Filterra and storm filter structures.
- The county is permitting a waiver of a barrier requirement between the church and the surrounding areas because a 25-foot vegetative barrier already exists.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to give final approval to the expansion on July 28.
Map of Church of Latter-Day Saints location/Credit: Fairfax County
Reston’s Emilia Cirker was sent packing on Sunday night’s episode of Food Network Star.
The 36-year-old Restonian had been doing progressively better as the competition to earn a Food Network show reached its halfway point.
Initially criticized for being somewhat cold on camera, Cirker seemed more relaxed each week and appeared to be enjoying herself, getting along well with the other contestants and cooking food the judges appreciated.
But a challenge in the style of a comedy club improv performance was Cirker’s undoing. The contestants had to “improv” a dish using assigned and unusual ingredients. Then they had to do a four-minute (an eternity in Food Network camera time) performance that included randomly selected topics.
One of Cirker’s: Watching Food Network. Cirker took a gamble and did some impressions of the other contestants, including one who works as a drag queen.
The judges were not impressed.
“It came off as mean spirited,” said Food Network executive Bob Tuschman.
Cirker said she stood by her performance. She said she knew “I have to do something risky, something that’s going to show who the real Emilia is.”
“I think that I definitely know what they meant that my performance came off as cold, as mean almost. I get it,” Cirker said in her Food Network exit interview. “But I wish what they had seen is that I took a huge risk and I put myself out there, and you’re not going to accomplish anything if you don’t take risks and you don’t fall flat on your face by taking risks, right?”
“So I stand by the fact that I took a risk; I wish I would have thought about doing it in a different manner. So that it was still funny and lighthearted and a new side of Emilia, but without making the audience feel like I was, like, honestly, throwing my finalists under the bus.”
The competition was filmed last spring in Los Angeles. Cirker, a graduate of L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, works by day as a software company executive. She is also a cooking instructor, as well as a former pastry chef for the Washington Redskins.
Read more about her in this previous Reston Now story.
Photo: Emilia Cirker of Reston (right) stands before Food Network judges/Credit: Food Network.
