The primaries today (June 11) for Tysons-area voters will determine the Democratic nominees for two Virginia Senate seats; the Hunter Mill District, Providence District and chair for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; and the Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Any registered voter can participate in the primaries. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Here’s a refresher on who the Democratic candidates are for each race:
Board of Supervisors chair:
- Reston developer Timothy Chapman
- Lee District Supervisor Jeffrey McKay
- Georgetown law professor Alicia Plerhoples
- Fairfax County School Board Member At-Large Ryan McElveen
Providence District seat on the county board, which covers Tysons and Merrifield:
- Technology professional Linh Hoang
- former Vienna Town Councilmember Edythe Kelleher
- Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner
- Providence District School Board Member Dalia Palchik
- Rotunda Condominium Unit Owners Association board member Erika Yalowitz
Hunter Mill District seat on the county board, which covers Vienna:
- Former Fairfax County Planning Commissioner Walter Alcorn
- Lawyer Laurie Dodd
- U.S. Air Force veteran and community advocate Shyamali Hauth
- Recent Roanoke College graduate Parker Messick
- Comstock Companies executive Maggie Parker
District 31 in the Virginia Senate, which encompasses McLean:
- incumbent Barbara Favola
- community activist Nicole Merlene
District 35 in the Virginia Senate, which encompasses Falls Church:
- incumbent Dick Saslaw
- lawyer and activist Yasmine Taeb
- attorney and small business owner Karen Torrent
Commonwealth’s Attorney:
- U.S. Army helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor Steve Descano
- incumbent Raymond Morrogh
Chef Geoff’s will soon say goodbye to its Tysons spot in less than two weeks.
Geoff Tracy, who runs the Tysons location and almost a dozen other restaurants, told Tysons Reporter that the restaurant will close on Friday, June 21, after 10 years at 8045 Leesburg Pike.
Tracy said that the decision not to renew the lease prompted the upcoming closure — something that he said he’s known about for a while. “It would require a massive investment [to stay],” he said.
Tracy said he’s open to looking at locations with “plenty of parking and inexpensive rent” for another Tysons restaurant. Most of the Tysons staff have been placed in the other restaurants he manages, he said.
In an email to customers, Geoff reminisced on memorable events at the Tysons spot — kicking off the restaurant with a fundraiser for Children’s Hospital in June 2009, winning a RAMMY for Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene and achieving a “legal victory over the state of Virginia’s happy hour restrictions.”
The original Chef Geoff’s is in northwest D.C. at 3201 New Mexico Avenue. Tracy also co-owns Cafe Deluxe, which has a location in Tysons at 1800 International Drive.
“It was a nice run in Tysons for the last 10 years,” Tracy said.
Image via Google Maps
An 82-year-old man from Falls Church died after he was struck on I-495 near Tysons on Saturday (June 8).
Barrington Holt was driving his 2014 Honda Accord northbound on I-495 when he ran off the right side of the interstate and struck a concrete barrier and a guard rail, Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police, said.
Holt got out of his car and tried to cross the northbound lanes of I-495 when he walked in front of a northbound tractor-trailer.
“The tractor-trailer tried to avoid Holt by braking suddenly, but was unable to avoid striking the man,” Geller said. “The tractor-trailer was then rear-ended by a northbound tractor-trailer.”
The fatal crash occurred less than a mile south of Route 7 around 12:30 a.m.
Holt died at the scene, Geller said. The tractor-trailer drivers, who were both wearing seat belts, were not injured.
Virginia State Police Trooper L. Vajglova is investigating a fatal crash in Fairfax County, Geller said.
Map via Google Maps
Vienna police have recently been called for reports of people banging on a resident’s door in the 400 block of Onondio Circle SW.
A resident reported Friday, May 31, that a stranger banged on his front door and window around 12:30 a.m. before fleeing.
“This incident has occurred multiple times in the past few weeks,” the police report said.
The resident also reported to the police Friday, May 24, that he thought that one of the people in a car that drove past his house before 9 p.m. resembled the person from the night before (May 23) who banged loudly on the front door of the home, possibly trying to gain entry around midnight.
Police said the resident opened the door, and the person ran off.
“The resident believed there may have also been two other individuals in the yard,” according to the police report. “All three fled from the area in an unknown vehicle.”
The resident told police that two other similar incidents happened during the late night and early morning hours in the past two weeks.
Photo via Facebook
Fairfax County Voters Receive Mass Political Texts — “An unknown number of Northern Virginia residents have received anonymous, unsolicited text messages linking to WAMU’s coverage of an ethics complaint filed against a top candidate for chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors… The texts were not sent by WAMU.” [WAMU]
New Bike Trail Needs a Name — The Fairfax County Department of Transportation wants the public’s help with naming a new bike and pedestrian trail along the I-66 corridor. The online survey is open until June 30. [FCDOT]
Man Struck and Killed on I-495 Near Tysons — “Around 12:33 a.m. [on Saturday, June 8], a sedan traveling north on I-495 near Route 7 in Fairfax County when the car ran off the right side of the interstate and struck a concrete barrier and then the guard rail. The sedan’s driver, an adult male, exited his vehicle and was attempting to cross the northbound lanes of I-495 when he crossed in front of a northbound tractor-trailer.” [Inside NoVa]
Fires Erupted Around Vienna — Firefighters got a two-story house fire in the 9000 block of Edgepark Road under control yesterday (June 9). On Saturday, firefighters extinguished a deck fire in 8500 block of Pepperdine Drive. [Twitter, Twitter]
Local Students Win National Merit Scholarships — Students from James Madison and McLean high schools were among the 26 Fairfax County Public Schools students who won 2019 Merit Scholarship awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. [FCPS]
Tysons may not have the liveliest nightlife at the moment, but that could soon change as more late-night restaurants and places to hang out open. “Tysons After Dark” will highlight a different spot every week.
With a sweet and salty menu, Teas’n You offers bubble tea fans a spot to hang out long after work ends.
Right along Leesburg Pike behind Tysons Corner Center, the fusion tea house serves up milk tea, slush teas, Thai tea and coffee with salty snacks — basil popcorn chicken and garlic parmesan fries. It might sound like a limited menu, but this Tysons Reporter editor found the basil popcorn chicken filling paired with a regular sized drink.
Macarons are also on the menu. A single signature flavor costs $2.90, while a season one is $3.25. Customers can also get a box of five ($13.75) or 10 ($25.95).
According to the Teas’n You website, the baked goods are made fresh daily in-house.
Unlike some tea spots, Teas’n You has a roomy yet cozy feeling interior with ample seating, with some tables just meant for one person and others for four customers.
Teas’n You is open until 9 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, the shop closes at 8 p.m.
Fairfax County police said that generators were stolen from a Merrifield business.
The incident occurred in the 2800 block of Merrilee Drive.
Map via Google Maps
Janitors who are part of the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ protested K&S Management Services, a Vienna-based non-union cleaning contractor, yesterday (June 6) in Tysons.
With 75,000 commercial office cleaners’ contracts set to expire this year, Jaime Contreras, the vice president for 32BJ SEIU, told Tysons Reporter that the union will help with bargaining.
“Today we are focused on K&S, which is the largest non-union cleaning company in Virginia — also a company who is known to violate workers’ rights to organize on the job,” Contreras said. “They were found guilty by the National Labor Board of firing a worker for simply trying to organize on the job.”
That former K&S worker, Geofredo Castro, told the crowd in Spanish and with an English translator that he decided to organize his workers with 32BJ because “there were lots of injustices and they didn’t pay us a fair salary and we didn’t get almost any benefits.”
“I went to the K&S office to give them the petition that I signed with my coworkers but afterward, they fired me unfairly,” the translator said. “With the help of the union, last month we won our case against K&S, and they were obligated to pay me $1,500 for all of the labor violations they committed against our workers.”
32BJ SEIU filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that K&S was engaging in unfair labor practices, which included Castro’s firing. K&S settled in May.
In an unrelated incident, a K&S employee filed a sexual harassment claim in January against a supervisor at a worksite in D.C.
Julie Karant, a spokeswoman for the union, said that 32BJ SEIU hasn’t heard from K&S about the allegations and said that the company is under investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for sexual harassment.
K&S said in an emailed statement to Tysons Reporter:
K&S respects its employees and their right to engage in concerted activity. However, as far as K&S is aware, no petition has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board to initiate the process for voting in which the employees are given the opportunity to participate in a free and fair election to determine if they want to be represented by the union. K&S has voluntarily agreed to take steps to ensure that the employees’ rights are protected.
K&S takes charges of sexual harassment seriously and strives to provide an environment that is safe and provides equal opportunities for all employees. We try to prevent sexual harassment, and if claims of harassment are made, we will investigate and take appropriate action. Beyond that, we cannot comment on specific charges filed by individual employees.
Around 4:30 p.m., the protesters shouted in English and Spanish “K&S, shame on you” and “When we fight, we win” as they made their way from 1800 Tysons Blvd to 1751 Pinnacle Drive — one of the Tysons buildings that K&S cleans.
Del. Ken Plum (D-36th District), who stood out with his orange shirt in a crowd of purple, told the protesters that he is fighting for “fair work, fair pay” in “the center of wealth in the United States.”
Orthodontics company Candid has a “coming soon” sign in Tysons Corner Center.
Candid offers a direct-to-consumer approach by shipping clear, orthodontist-designed, aligners for about $2,000 to customers. Recently, the company raised $63 million, Forbes reported.
Candid will be a tenant of BrandBox, a collection of pop-up stores in the mall. Located on the lower level, Candid will neighbor The Lounge near H&M.
Currently, Candid is looking to hire a retail sales associate.
Happy Friday — today is National Doughnut Day.
The U.S. national day takes place annually on the first Friday in June. If you want to celebrate, here are some spots around Tysons that sell doughnuts:
Doughnuts aren’t the only items on the menu at the Bolivian restaurant (7177 Lee Highway) in Falls Church. Camba Cafe also serves breakfast sandwiches, cheese bread, empanadas and lunch sandwiches. The cafe is open today from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken
The Falls Church location (7511 Leesburg Pike) offers doughnuts, fried chicken, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, coleslaw, tater tots and cheddar biscuits.
The June special doughnut flavors are cake batter, raspberry lemonade, chocolate espresso Cookies n’ Cream and blackberry passion fruit Boston cream pie.
The spot is open today from 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Dunkin’ Donuts will offer a free doughnut with any drink purchase today while supplies last at participating stores.
The chain’s local locations:
- Tysons: 8119 Watson Street; open 24 hours
- Merrifield: 2750 Gallows Road, Unit E; 5 a.m.-9 p.m.
- Vienna: 314 W. Maple Avenue; 5 a.m.-8 p.m.
- Falls Church: 101 E. Annandale Road; 5 am.-10 p.m.
Photo via Camba Cafe
