A Vienna native has opened a new hair studio in downtown Vienna.
Sundown and Rise Up filled the former space of the Maple Avenue Market, which closed in February after nearly 10 years in downtown Vienna.
David McCarthy, the owner and stylist, grew up in Vienna and went to George Mason University before pursuing hairstyling, according to his bio on the salon’s website.
Sundown and Rise Up offers haircuts, blow-drys, coloring, highlights and balayage services.
The website describes Sundown and Rise Up as “a truly unique, open, creative, art-centered workspace in the heart of Vienna.”
The salon’s hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Mothers Out Front Fairfax, the local climate change branch of a national movement, is advocating for electric school buses in Fairfax County.
More than 40 people gathered at a room in the Patrick Henry Library (101 E. Maple Avenue) in the Town of Vienna for the “Clean Buses for Kids” campaign launch last evening (Tuesday).
Bobby Monacella, the co-leader of Mothers Out Front Fairfax and the mother of two kids attending the county’s public schools, told the attendees that electric buses seem like a “no brainer.”
“They are safer. They’re healthier. They are less expensive to expensive to operate. The maintenance is much less. The cost of electricity versus diesel is much less,” Monacella said.
She added that the push for electric school buses needs to start now because of the life cycle of diesel school buses.
“It made us realize we simply can’t buy one more diesel school bus because it lasts us 15 years and with the cost of fuel emissions, our kids’ future can’t wait for that,” she said.
Since electric school buses don’t have an engine, muffler or alternator that requires tune-ups, the lifetime fuel and maintenance savings over diesel buses total $170,000, according to a Mothers Out Front Fairfax press release.
Some places around the country have already made the switch from diesel to electric school fleets, including schools in California and New York.
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) runs one of the largest school bus fleets in the U.S. with more than 1,600 buses.
Karl Frisch, the Democratic candidate for the Providence District seat on the FCPS School Board, said that a switch to electric buses would attract companies, further diversifying businesses in the county.
Pat Hynes, who represents the Hunter Mill District on the school board, told Tysons Reporter that the cost of switching to electric buses is the main challenge facing the school board.
“I think it really comes down to the upfront cost not only for the buses, which are three times more expensive than the diesel buses, there’s also an investment that has to made in the infrastructure,” Hynes said, adding that the buses would need chargers.
Hynes said that “it’s a win, win, win” if the local government partners with the state government and also the local utility company to help defray the upfront costs.
Overall, Hynes said she thinks the school board will support the campaign as long as the electric buses aren’t more expensive than diesel-fueled ones in the long term.
“Every statement that the board has made in the last couple years in favor of taking some leadership on climate change has been supported almost unanimously,” Hynes said.
The school board and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors also jointly formed the Joint Environmental Task Force to lead on climate action, Hynes said, adding that the task force will hold its inaugural meeting on Sept. 3 at the Mason District Government Center (6507 Columbia Pike).
“That is where policy will begin for both boards — the school board and the county board,” she said.
Del. Mark Keam (D-35th District) said that the conversation about electric buses should be broadened beyond talking about the environment.
“This isn’t about Julie taking care of her daughter or me taking care of my kids… It’s about Mother Earth suffering,” Keam said. “That’s why I think this conversation should start and end with the bigger picture of climate change and where we are with this crisis.”
At the end of the campaign launch, the group urged attendees to sign a petition urging the school board to buy a test bus in 2020 and request a small number of electric buses by 2021.
The group aims to replace FCPS buses with electric ones by 2024.
“When moms get involved, things happen,” Keam said to cheers.
Crescendo Studios, a new music studio in Merrifield, plans to host a grand opening this Saturday (Aug. 24).
Located in the former MHz Studio at 8101 Lee Hwy, the studio offers private lessons, a band for kids ages 7 and up and camps focused on songwriting, bands and sound engineering.
The celebration will include food trucks, a free yoga class from 11 a.m.-noon and performances by the Fuzion de Ritmos Dance Company and Take the Cake Music.
The grand opening will run from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
The education-oriented music studio is also looking to use a currently empty space adjacent to the studio’s existing location to offer an expanded music program.
Photo via Crescendo Studios/Facebook
A Falls Church deli sold a $2 million Mega Millions lottery ticket to an Alexandria man who came in to buy a sandwich.
Calvin Kim went to the Saigon Bakery & Deli (6773 Wilson Blvd) in the Eden Center to buy a sandwich for his wife and ended up getting the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket with an add-on that doubled his prize, according to a Mega Millions’ post earlier in August.
“Matching the first five numbers in Mega Millions would normally win $1 million. But when Mr. Kim bought his ticket, he spent an extra dollar for the Megaplier,” the post said. “That extra buck doubled his prize to $2 million.”
Kim said he plans to put his winnings toward his retirement, according to the post.
“His ticket was the only one in Virginia to match the first five numbers in the May 28 drawing and one of just five nationwide. No ticket matched all six numbers to win that night’s estimated $418 million jackpot,” according to Mega Millions.
Image via Google Maps, photo via Mega Millions
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is now in effect for Fairfax County.
The National Weather Service issued the watch at 3 p.m. today (Tuesday). It will last until 9 p.m.
Forecasters say stray thunderstorms and showers are possible for the Tysons area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch (in pink) is in effect until 9 PM for most of our forecast area for the potential for damaging thunderstorm. Primary threats will be damaging winds and large hail. pic.twitter.com/PoSu9vIjcT
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) August 20, 2019
File photo
BAE Systems announced its new Robotic Operations Center in Tysons yesterday (Monday).
The new center will “customize and deploy suites of software robots that automate high-volume, repetitive tasks in support of U.S. national security missions,” according to a press release.
“The emphasis on security is driving a significant increase in the collection of data across the IT enterprise, giving analysts access to more data in greater detail than ever before,” Peder Jungck, the vice president of intelligence solutions at BAE Systems, said in a press release.
Known as ROC, the new center stems from BAE Systems’ partnership with UiPath to increase machine learning in the U.S. defense and intelligence communities earlier this year.
“The ROC streamlines IT operations, helping customers to take advantage of the vast sea of information to improve responsiveness while reducing cost and security risk,” Jungck said.
The multinational defense, security and aerospace company has a Tysons office at 1676 International Drive, Suite 1000.
Image via Google Maps
Ahead of the new school year starting next week, Fairfax County Public Schools debuted a new partnership with an app that will help parents track when the school bus will arrive.
After a pilot program, the FCPS Office of Transportation Services announced FCPS will offer the “Here Comes the Bus” app for the 2019-2020 school year yesterday (Monday).
“[The app] uses HTTPS like a bank or online store, making all communications between a device and the site are encrypted and secure,” according to FCPS, adding that the app uses GPS to track the locations of the buses.
Started in 2001 by a pair of graduates, the app has nearly 1.5 million registered users and is used in school districts across the country, spanning Orlando to San Antonio.
Since the app tracks the bus routes instead of individuals students, FCPS wants people to remember that bus substitutions can affect the accuracy of the app and that app shouldn’t replace communication with students about their whereabouts.
The app is free for parents and guardians and provides real-time bus locations through text or email alerts, according to FCPS. The app will be available to use starting next Monday (Aug. 26) for FCPS families.
After severe thunderstorms hit the area last night, around 100 people are left without electricity in Vienna.
Over by Maple Avenue and Lawyers Road NW, 56 customers are without power, while 57 people are left in the dark east of Wildwood Park. Both outages are due to power line damage, according to Dominion Energy.
Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 10 a.m.-1 p.m. today (Aug. 20) for both spots.
Maps via Dominion Energy
The Vienna Police Department may soon crack the three indecent exposure cases reported last week along the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.
Deputy Chief of Police Dan Janickey told the Vienna Town Council last night (Monday) that the police have “promising leads” for the three separate incidents with “what appears to be the same individual.”
A woman told the police that she saw a man masturbating in the woods between Park Street and Branch Road SE shortly before 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 12. The next day (Tuesday), another report from a woman said a man was masturbating in the woods near Park Street and Dominion Road SE.
Two days later on Thursday (Aug. 15), a woman told police that “she was walking near the W&OD Trail when a man came out from a wooded area and approached her with his pants down, exposing himself to her” around 7:30 a.m. near Park Terrace Court SE, according to a police report.
Janickey said that surveillance and patrols have increased along the trail and that the police department expects to close the case in the next couple of days.
Photo via Facebook
Friends, family and colleagues will soon have the chance to commemorate Paul Bolon, who was in the race for the Board of Supervisors’ Providence District seat before he died.
Bolon, 69, died from a heart attack at the Inova Fairfax Hospital after meeting voters on Sunday (Aug. 11), the Washington Post reported. A retired economist and manager from the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Bolon was running as the Republican candidate against Democrat Dalia Palchik.
Palchik posted on Facebook:
I was extremely saddened to learn overnight about the passing of my opponent, Paul Bolon. Paul and I did not know each other well, but we were both looking forward to honestly debating important issues, at a time of such bickering and division. All of my thoughts are with his wife and children today, I’m so very sorry for your loss.
His colleagues took to Twitter to remember him as a “great man.”
“I was very saddened to learn of Paul’s untimely passing — he truly was a great man,” Srilekha Palle, the Republican candidate for the Sully District, tweeted.
Joe Galdo, the Republican candidate for the Board of Supervisors’ chair, tweeted, “We lost a good candidate and a great man.”
Tim Hannigan, the chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee, said Bolon was a “personable, unfailingly civil, generous and always kind” person.
“Paul Bolon was a great candidate. A professional economist, he brought a clear-eyed, analytical perspective to issues facing our county,” Hannigan said. “As our committee’s Providence District Chairman, he served with distinction as a very effective grassroots leader and a tireless advocate for Republican values and Republican candidates.”
The memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Fellowship Baptist Church (11032 Oakton Road), followed by a reception at the Bolon residence.
Photo via Fairfax County Republican Committee
