A house fire in Vienna that killed a woman and two cats was caused by smoking in bed, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department reported this afternoon.
The county’s medical examiner identified the victim as 80-year-old Mae Woods and determined that the fire was accidental in nature.
The fire occurred early in the morning of Jan. 12, drawing first responders from Fairfax County and police officers with the Town of Vienna to the 900 block of Lauren Lane SE.
The fire caused $374,075 in damages, according to the FCFRD.
UPDATE- The Medical Examiner has identified the victim in the fatal house fire that occurred 1/12/21 in the 900 block of Lauren Lane SE, in Vienna, as Mae Woods, 80. Fire accidental in nature. Cause: Smoking in Bed. Damages: $374,075. #FCFRD @VPDVA @TownofViennaVA pic.twitter.com/FGyEv1UO1z
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 21, 2021
Fairfax Connector has suspended service to bus stop 2605 on Leesburg Pike and Laurel Hill Road until December to accommodate construction on Route 7.
The temporary bus stop closure took immediate effect around noon today, and it is expected to last until approximately the end of 2021, the Fairfax County transit system says.
According to Fairfax Connector, the suspension of service was necessitated by a traffic switch that began this week on Leesburg Pike between Lewinsville Road and Jarrett Valley Drive in the McLean area.
The Virginia Department of Transportation initiated a lane shift and closed direct access to Route 7 from Laurel Hill and Old Ash Grove as part of its Route 7 corridor improvement project, which is widening the highway between Tysons and Reston. The traffic changes will be in effect until late 2021.
Fairfax Connector advises passengers to use stop 2673 as an alternative to the closed stop. Stop 2673 is located near the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Lewinsville Road across from the McLean Bible Church.
⚠️ Effective immediately until December 2021, stop 2605 (Leesburg Pk/Laurel Hill Rd) will be suspended due to road construction. Use stop 2673 (Leesburg Pk/Lewinsville Rd) as an alternate. Thank you for your patience.
— Fairfax Connector (@ffxconnector) January 21, 2021
Photo via Google Maps
(Updated on 1/22/2021) Several restaurants in the Tysons area will take part in Metropolitan Washington Winter Restaurant Week starting next Monday (Jan. 25).
For two weeks through Feb. 7, restaurants around the D.C. region will offer prix fixe meals for two or four people. Takeout and delivery options are available, with some venues offering only “to go” meals.
Lunch and brunch meals for one cost $22. There are two dinner menus: one for $35 (or $60 for two people and $120 for four), and one for $55 ($100 for two, $200 for four).
Organized by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, the annual restaurant week was originally scheduled to launch this week but got delayed by one week “in consideration of the fluid nature of activities and regulatory measures” affecting the area, according to RAMW website.
The following local restaurants will take part in the promotional week:
Tysons
- Randy’s Prime Seafood and Steaks: lunch and $55 dinner menu (no takeout)
- Founding Farmers: lunch, $35 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining available)
- Chima Steakhouse: $35 and $55 dinner menus (no takeout, delivery, or outdoor dining)
- Fogo de Chao: two dinners for $60 (takeout and delivery only)
- Wildfire Tysons Galleria: lunch, $35 and $55 dinner menus, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout and delivery only)
- Eddie V’s Prime Seafood: $35 dinner menu only (takeout and delivery only)
- American Prime: lunch and $55 dinner menus, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout and outdoor dining available)
- Agora Tysons: $35 and $55 dinner menus, cocktail and wine pairings (indoor and outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery available)
Vienna
- Maple Ave. Restaurant: $35 dinner menu only (takeout only)
- Caboose Brewing Company: lunch and $35 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery available)
- Blend 111: brunch, lunch, $35 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout and outdoor dining available)
McLean
- The Capital Grille: lunch and $55 dinner menu (takeout and delivery available for Restaurant Week to-go dinner orders)
- J. Gilbert’s: lunch, $35 and $55 dinner menus, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout and delivery available)
Falls Church
- 2941 Restaurant: $55 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (dine-in, takeout, and delivery available)
- Trio Grill: $55 dinner menu only (outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery available)
Mosaic District
- Alta Strada: brunch, lunch, $35 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery available)
- Matchbox Pizza: $55 dinner menu, cocktail and wine pairings (takeout only)
Tysons area restaurants could get another boost this spring, when the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce is planning to host a second Tysons Restaurant Week after the inaugural one proved to be a success in October.
Correction: This article has been updated to note that 2941 Restaurant and Agora are offering their Restaurant Week menus for dine-in customers as well, not just for takeout and delivery as previously stated.
Fatimah Waseem contributed to this report.
Staff photo by Ashley Hopko
Fairfax County’s planning staff recommends that the Arizona College of Nursing’s proposed expansion into Fairview Park be approved.
Staff says in a report released on Jan. 14 that it does not anticipate there to be significant impacts from the addition of a nursing school to an eight-story office building at 3130 Fairview Park Drive.
“The proposed nursing school will not significantly alter the existing office use or transportation conditions to and from the site,” the report said. “Therefore, staff is in support of this application and all issues have been resolved.”
Tysons Reporter first reported in August that the Phoenix-based Eduvision, Inc. is looking to expand its Arizona College of Nursing into Virginia by turning offices in the Fairview Park development into seven classrooms. If approved, this would be the first Virginia location for the nursing college, which currently has 10 campuses in Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida, and Utah.
Eduvision’s proposal requires Fairfax County to approve a college/university use on one floor of the office building in question, which occupies 6.29 acres in a mixed-use development located at the southeastern intersection of I-495 and Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard).
The proposed school would not involve new construction to the existing building or three-floor parking garage, and it would not alter the site’s open space, according to the application.
The county staff report states that allowing a college/university as a secondary use would be consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan and contribute “to the long-term vision of the Merrifield Suburban Center.”
While the college is expected to follow roughly the same operating hours as an office, Fairfax County staff estimate that a school would generate an additional 200 trips per day compared to a one-floor office.
“Staff believes that these trips can be accommodated by the surrounding transportation network,” the report said.
The Fairview Park building is approximately four miles south of the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.
As part of the project, Eduvision has committed to providing space to accommodate the future construction of a pedestrian and bike bridge that would cross I-495 to connect Fairview Park with the Inova Fairfax Hospital campus, according to the report.
The Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan and Bicycle Master Plan both recommend having a publicly accessible, multiuse bridge across I-495, and the site at 3130 Fairview Park Drive had been identified as a possible landing location.
Eduvision has also agreed to improve curb cuts on the site for accessibility and install at least five bike racks “in close proximity to the entrances of the building and the parking garage,” the report says.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.
Image via Google Maps
Choolaah has left the Mosaic District in Merrifield.
The fast-casual Indian restaurant shut its doors on Mar. 19 for what was expected to be a temporary hiatus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the chain announced in a Facebook post on Jan. 5 that the closure is now permanent “despite our efforts to find a viable pathway for reopening.”
“This has been a challenging time for our friends, families, community and country,” Choolaah said. “That being said, we are heartened by the amazing support and kindness shown throughout this difficult period. We thank you for the warmth, joy and delight you have brought us over the years and hope to be back in the future.”
The announcement drew an outpouring of emotions from commenters, with multiple people calling the restaurant their favorite place in the Mosaic District.
Wholesome International, the company that owns Choolaah, and EDENS, the Mosaic District property owner, did not return requests for further comment from Tysons Reporter by publication time.
However, a Mosaic District employee told Tysons Reporter that the closure possibly stemmed from the owners being unable to afford rent payments for the space.
Choolaah opened its first and only Fairfax County location at the Mosaic District in December 2016. The chain started in 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio, and now has five venues.
Choolaah has a location in Sterling that remains open. That restaurant also closed last spring due to the pandemic, but it reopened for delivery, takeout, and curbside pickup service in July. The company says on Facebook it is looking at “new opportunities in the area.”
The Mosaic District has lost several tenants in the past year. Other departures include the restaurants Brine, Cheesetique, and BGR Burger Grilled Right, the furniture retailer Great Gatherings, the chocolate shop Artisan Confections, and the jewelry store Alex and Ani.
Photo via Google Maps
About 40% of Fairfax County residents 16 and older are now eligible to register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment after Virginia expanded phase 1b to include anyone 65 and older as well as people with medical conditions or a disability that puts them at high risk of severe illness if they contract the disease.
Eligible populations now include:
- Healthcare workers and long-term care facility employees
- People age 65 and older
- People who are 16-64 years old and have high-risk medical conditions
- Essential frontline workers, including school staff, corrections and homeless shelter workers, grocery store workers, and police, fire, and hazmat first responders
However, the Fairfax County Health Department’s registration system has been plagued by technical issues and struggled keep up with the high demand for the vaccines. In addition, limited supplies mean that even people who are able to register might have to wait months to secure an appointment.
While the process has been less than ideal so far, Fairfax County has administered more than 45,000 vaccine doses, and 4,620 residents have been fully vaccinated, as of Jan. 20, according to Virginia Department of Health data.
Have you been able to successfully register for the COVID-19 vaccine yet? Have you tried to register but been frustrated by the county’s system? If you’re not eligible yet, are you planning to get vaccinated once you are?
Photo by Karen Bolt/Fairfax County Public Schools
The Town of Vienna joined other communities across the U.S. yesterday (Tuesday) in taking a moment to mourn and honor the more than 2 million people around the world who have died from COVID-19 over the past year.
About two dozen mask-wearing town residents and public officials gathered at the corner of Park and Church streets in front of the Vienna Presbyterian Church to ring the chapel bells for 20 minutes starting at 5:30 p.m.
“Given our longstanding existence in this community, it’s really important for us to help lead these types of efforts, so we wanted to ring the bells so the whole community can hear,” Vienna Presbyterian Church Director of Missions Sue Hamblen said. “We just thought it was something VPC should do.”
The ceremony commenced with brief remarks from Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert, who was joined by Town Councilmember Howard Springsteen’s wife, Anne Driscoll, as the first bell ringers.
Vienna Presbyterian Church leaders invited staff members and some people in the community who they knew lost a loved one to COVID-19 to sign up in advance to ring the church bell, but anyone who attended was allowed to participate.
Colbert described the vigil as a show of unity fitting for a town where she has seen people support each other with acts of kindness throughout the pandemic.
“This year has been unbelievably sad and challenging for so many people,” Colbert said. “So many sad, unnecessary lives have been lost, and I’m proud that Vienna and that my home church is part of this today.”
Hamblen concluded the ceremony with a prayer that the church’s mission partner in South Africa had shared so that it could be spoken all around the world. She also provided a moment for people to say the names of COVID-19 victims that they knew.
Among those who rang the bell were Vienna Presbyterian Church congregation members Bill and Judy Ichord.
The couple does not personally know anyone who has died from COVID-19, but Judy Ichord has two nieces who work as nurses and contracted the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, one of whom was only in her first year of training at a hospital.
“We just think it’s a time when the country really needs to come together and pull together and remember those who we lost, but also think about the future together as Americans and human beings,” Bill Ichord said. “The whole world needs to heal right now.”
Organized by President Joe Biden’s inaugural committee, the national COVID-19 memorial encouraged people to ring a bell and light a candle for a collective moment of remembrance. It took place on the same day that the U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed 400,000, including 754 people in the Fairfax Health District alone, as of this morning.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. to light the Reflecting Pool, while the bell at the National Cathedral rang 400 times, each toll representing 1,000 Americans who have died from the novel coronavirus.
While the pandemic has not yet abated, Hamblen says it’s important for communities to have an opportunity to come together and mourn their losses.
Vienna Presbyterian Church will put a video of the ceremony on its website so that people who were unable to come can watch it.
“It was a collective experience, and so, I think our grief should be collective and our honoring of them should be collective,” Hamblen said. “That’s why we want to do it as a community. We haven’t been able to gather. Funerals haven’t happened, and so, this is our effort to join people together to mourn as a group.”
(Updated at 5:45 on 1/21/2021) A Falls Church resident who reportedly shot a teenager and had an armed confrontation with police last month has been indicted on two counts of attempted capital murder.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced yesterday (Tuesday) that a grand jury also indicted Glenn Allen Meyer, 61, on two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“My top priority as Commonwealth’s Attorney is to keep our community safe in a manner that accords with our values,” Descano said in a statement. “I will therefore always act to hold individuals who needlessly attempt to take the lives of others accountable.”
Fairfax County police arrested Meyer on Dec. 19, two days after responding to a report that a 17-year-old boy had been shot in an apartment on Peach Orchard Drive in Falls Church. Upon entering the apartment, two police officers exchanged gunfire with Meyer, ultimately shooting him.
A member of the police SWAT team was also struck by a bullet in the exchange, according to Descano’s statement.
Both Meyer and the teenager were transported to a local hospital and survived their injuries. Meyer is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Upon announcing the indictment, Descano also said that his office “found no violations of criminal law” by the police officers who fired their weapons.
Identified as Master Police Officer Lance Guckenberger and Police Officer First-Class Matthew Grubb earlier this month, the officers were put on administrative leave for the duration of the criminal and administrative investigations into the incident.
The Fairfax County Police Department told Tysons Reporter that both officers have returned to full-duty status following the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s declaration that there was no basis for criminal liability. The department’s internal administrative investigation is still ongoing.
Dozens of local artists and arts-oriented organizations got welcome news last week when ArtsFairfax announced the recipients of $567,138 in emergency relief and recovery grants on Jan. 15.
A nonprofit that serves as Fairfax County’s designated local arts agency, ArtsFairfax created an Emergency Relief and Recovery Grants program in order to provide quick funding to an industry that has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program comes in lieu of the agency’s usual grant programs, which were suspended for fiscal year 2021.
“The impact of COVID-19 continues to have a devastating effect on the arts community, yet we have seen the arts continue to provide arts education, senior engagement, family entertainment and so much more,” ArtsFairfax president and CEO Linda S. Sullivan said.
Out of the $108,500 in funding requests that it received, ArtsFairfax has awarded $101,950 in emergency relief grants to 40 different Fairfax County arts organizations. It also raised private funds to support $28,300 in grants to 29 individual artists.
In addition, 39 arts organizations will receive operating support grants for FY 2021. These funds are awarded annually to nonprofit arts organizations in Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church to support basic operations.
ArtsFairfax is awarding $436,888 in operating support grants for this fiscal year after receiving $913,933 in requests from 39 different organizations.
“The arts will be a vital part of our health and economic recovery,” Sullivan said. “We need to support the arts today, so they are here for us tomorrow.”
With in-person performances and exhibitions largely suspended for the past year, the pandemic has taken a significant toll on the American arts and culture industry.
The nonprofit Americans for the Arts estimates that, as of Jan. 11, arts and cultural organizations have lost $14.8 billion nationally as a result of COVID-19. 63% of workers in the arts sector have become unemployed, and 95% have reported a loss of income.
According to a dashboard from Americans for the Arts, nonprofit arts organizations in Fairfax County have reported a median financial loss of $30,000 for a total impact of $4.3 million, though that is based on a small sample size of 55 respondents.
The McLean Project for the Arts is one of several organizations to get both an emergency relief grant and an operating support grant from ArtsFairfax. The grants combine for more than $30,000, according to MPA Director of Communications and Public Affairs Deborah Bissen. Read More
What to Know About the 2021 Presidential Inauguration — Inauguration Day has arrived, and with it came a host of street closures and transportation service changes in the D.C. area, as local public officials advised residents to stay home and avoid traveling downtown. [Fairfax County Emergency Information]
FEMA Declines to Reimburse Virginia for Capitol Riot Response — “The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied requests from Maryland and Virginia for an emergency declaration to cover expenses associated with responding to the Capitol riot and increasing security around President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.” [The Washington Post]
MetroWest Developers Look to Bring New Apartments to Vienna Metro Station Area — “Pulte Homes and the CRC Cos. are both pushing ahead with new construction on the 56-acre site, located just across Interstate 66 from the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro stop. The companies could start work in 2021 after years of delays on what would eventually be a combined total of six buildings with at least 980 units and 41,500 square feet of retail.” [Washington Business Journal]
1st Stage Teams Up with Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce on Food Drive — Food donations for the Capital Area Food Bank can be dropped off at the 1st Stage theater and offices between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. from today through Friday, and from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 23). [1st Stage Theatre/Twitter]
Cunningham Park Elementary School Students Learn About Government with Mock Election — First graders at Cunningham Park got a virtual chat and tour of Vienna Town Hall with Mayor Linda Colbert before participating in a fictional mayoral election with storybook characters as candidates. [FCPS]
