Fairfax County could designate different times and days for when tennis and pickleball players can use its shared courts.
That is one of the changes under consideration by the Fairfax County Park Authority after its board approved a pickleball study report in December that highlighted concerns about the two sports competing for limited court space.
“This information would be posted onsite and is aimed at reduced conflicts between players of both popular sports,” Park Authority spokesperson Judy Pedersen said by email.
Intended to gauge demand for new facilities and illuminate existing issues in the county, the pickleball study kicked off with an online survey in December 2020.
The survey ultimately drew over 1,800 responses, 600 of which mentioned locations where people experienced conflict between pickleball use and another recreational activities, particularly tennis.
Respondents reported encountering often crowded courts, and one person recalled being told by a tennis player at Kemper Park in Oakton that the courts were for “tennis only,” even though the pickleball group had eight players.
In response to the sport’s growing popularity, Fairfax County has added 19 pickleball courts to existing tennis courts over the last 18 months. In November, two pickleball-only courts opened at Wakefield Park in Annandale.
With those additions, the FCPA now has 52 outdoor courts outfitted for pickleball, on top of six indoor courts in its recreation centers — a total similar to other similarly sized jurisdictions, according to the report.
However, the report also noted that the park authority has fewer facilities with six or more dedicated pickleball courts compared to other providers.
It recommended that the county create at least two pickleball-only facilities with at least six courts for large group drop-in play and tournaments, either by repurposing underutilized facilities or building new ones.
The FCPA is already looking at Lewinsville Park in McLean as a possible site for adding pickleball courts or converting the existing tennis courts into shared-use facilities.
Site constraints, the proximity of other facilities, and accessibility for populous areas in the county are among the factors that the county is taking into account when deciding potential court locations, according to Pedersen.
“Although we may potentially use park bond dollars in the future for the design and construction of pickleball-only facilities that could be used by larger groups, these projects would compete with the many other Park Authority projects, initiatives and capital needs of the entire park system,” Pedersen said.
Fairfax County Public Library has received a new shipment of rapid COVID-19 testing kits, but supplies are extremely limited, even compared to previous rounds of distribution.
Exactly 300 kits each will be available tomorrow (Wednesday) at the county’s Reston, George Mason, Chantilly, and Sherwood regional branches, FCPL announced this morning (Tuesday).
Because of the limited availability, each household will only be allowed to take up to four kits.
FYI #Fairfax: a limited supply of COVID-19 test kits will be available at Reston, George Mason, Chantilly & Sherwood regional libraries when they open Wed. at 10 a.m. Only 300 tests available at each so only 4 per household while supplies last. More info: https://t.co/fmCINLMzDl pic.twitter.com/ekg6F331iy
— Fairfax Library (@fairfaxlibrary) January 11, 2022
This is the first testing kit shipment of the year for Fairfax County as part of the Virginia Department of Health’s ongoing Supporting Testing Access through Community Collaboration pilot program.
FCPL has now gotten 35,862 kits since it joined the program on Dec. 1.
Shipments had stalled over the winter holidays due to government closures and supply-chain issues that have made rapid tests hard to obtain nationwide.
FCPL doesn’t have a timeline right now for its next shipment, advising community members to check its website and call their local branch for up-to-date information on testing availability.
“All we can do is make requests, and VDH fulfills them as they are able,” spokesperson Erin Julius said. “At this time we don’t know when the next will arrive or how many test kits it will contain.”
Demand for Covid testing remains high in Fairfax County, which is currently averaging 2,275 new cases a day. Details about a state-run community testing center coming to the county are expected to be announced this week.
FFXnow will officially launch next month as a new Fairfax County-wide news source and home to hyperlocal coverage of the Tysons and Reston areas.
Our Reston Now and Tysons Reporter sites will be folded into FFXnow, though each will maintain its brand identity as separate social media accounts and daily email newsletters focused on their respective coverage areas. The archives of those sites will also remain, for now, on their current domains.
Three full-time journalists will helm FFXnow’s coverage, which we eventually plan to expand to additional hyperlocal reporting areas within the county. Reston Now and Tysons Reporter readers can expect the same local coverage on which they’ve come to depend over the years, but with more coverage of county government and other countywide issues.
FFXnow will provide local government, development, business and breaking news, like our sister sites ARLnow and ALXnow do in Arlington and Alexandria, respectively. All three sites are publications of Northern Virginia-based Local News Now, which also today announced additional business partnerships and a key editorial leadership hire.
Readers can sign up for the FFXnow daily newsletter ahead of the official launch.
Fairfax County’s General Assembly delegation could get a serious shake-up in upcoming elections.
Virginia’s new redistricting maps, which were unanimously approved by the state Supreme Court late last month, created four open General Assembly seats, while pairing some long-time incumbents.
The maps also altered U.S. House of Representatives electoral boundaries. They are in effect for the 2022 general election, which will have members of Congress and the state Senate on the ballot.
Intended to reflect population changes shown by 2020 Census data, the maps were drawn by two court-appointed “special masters” — one Democrat and one Republican — after a nonpartisan commission failed to complete the task. It was a contentious process in comparison to Fairfax County’s redistricting efforts last year.
Under the new maps, there are three open seats representing Fairfax County in the House of Delegates and one open seat in the state Senate, according to analysis by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project:
House of Delegates
- District 11, which is bounded by Hunter Mill and Lawyers roads in Oakton to the north and Braddock Road past Fairfax City to the south
- District 15, which encompasses Burke up north to Little River Turnpike and reaches the Loudoun County border to the south
- District 19, which follows Telegraph Road starting in Hayfield and includes Lorton, Mason Neck, and parts of Prince William County
Senate
- District 33, which covers Burke into Prince William County
The county’s Congressional districts for Reps. Don Beyer, Jennifer Wexton, and Gerry Connolly remain intact, though with District 10 shifting further south, Wexton now represents a smaller portion of county residents than before.
However, at the state level, four House and two Senate districts now have incumbents living within the same district lines, requiring them to make a choice: run in a primary against a colleague, move to another district, or retire.
Throughout the redistricting process, the special masters said aligning with incumbents’ residences was not a priority compared to other considerations, like compactness and preserving communities of interest.
“It’s a challenge for any incumbent when paired with a colleague after redistricting, especially within the same political party, to decide whether he or she should continue on or call it a day for the public service,” said George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government professor David Ramadan, a former delegate himself. “Bottom line, this is politics, and each member is going to do what that member thinks is best for them.”
Long-time incumbents Kathleen Murphy and Richard “Rip” Sullivan have been paired in a district that extends from the Arlington to Loudoun county lines, encompassing McLean, Great Falls, and Wolf Trap.
The district includes mostly Murphy voters, according to VPAP. A McLean resident, Sullivan’s previous territory of House District 48 also represented parts of Arlington.
This district encompasses Falls Church City, Idylwood, Merrifield, and the Fairfax County side of Seven Corners, extending south past Lake Barcroft to Columbia Pike.
Most residents are currently represented by Marcus Simon, but there are also some constituents of Kaye Kory.
After criticizing the draft maps for “trying to be cute” in early December, Simon said after the finalized maps came out that he is looking “forward to continuing to represent Fairfax County and Falls Church in the General Assembly for many years to come.”
Covering Springfield down to the Occoquan and the Loudoun County border, this district pairs outgoing Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn and Delegate Kathy Tran.
The newly formed district mostly consists of Tran’s constituents, potentially leaving the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House in Virginia vulnerable even in a primary.
Dan Helmer and David Bulova are paired in a district that includes Centreville and Clifton, extending to the Loudoun County border. Bulova was first elected in 2006, while Helmer took office more recently in 2019.
Helmer, whose voters make up a majority of the district, said that he looks “forward to continuing to fight for our values in the future.” FFXnow also reached out to Bulova, but has yet to hear back as of publication.
Rumors have emerged that Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw could be retiring after being drawn into the same district as Senator Dave Marsden. Saslaw, who’s served in the Senate since 1980, has not announced any intention as of yet.
Marsden plans to run for reelection in the district, which has Springfield, Annandale, Lake Barcroft, and George Mason. He told FFXnow that he and Saslaw have spoken about the situation, but declined to give details beyond that.
Marsden says compacting the district into Fairfax County, as opposed to it extending into Alexandria and Prince William County, makes the job easier for him and reduces the need to commute to various events.
However, he believes pairing incumbents will cost the General Assembly experienced lawmakers.
“We count on those who’ve been there for years,” he said. “They help and teach you. This is a part-time job and we need that. We could lose…legislators with lots of institutional knowledge.”
FFXnow contacted Saslaw, but hasn’t heard back as of publication.
Janet Howell and Jennifer Boysko face a similar situation in this district that covers Herndon, Reston, McLean, and Great Falls up to the Potomac River.
There’s been some retirement talk around Howell, a veteran of the Senate since 1992. Boysko is a relative newcomer, first elected to the House of Delegates in 2016 and to the Senate in 2019.
Boysko says compacting the district and bringing Herndon and Reston back together “makes more sense,” but she laments being put in competition with Howell, who she describes as “the dean of the Senate” and a “true pioneer for women in government.”
Howell hasn’t responded to a request for comment from FFXnow, but Boysko says they have spoken.
“There’s an ongoing dialogue between the two of us,” she said. “I think the world of her.”
Nonetheless, Boysko says she plans on running again and winning.
When lawmakers convene for the next session later this month, redistricting will certainly be a topic of conversation, Ramadan says.
“Colleagues sitting next to each other that have the same interests in legislation are now going to have it in the back of their minds as well: ‘Oh, I’m running against this person, possibly, in a primary,’” he said. “That’s going to change the atmosphere and it’s going to look like a totally different legislative session than a regular session.”
Fairfax County has a new single-day record for COVID-19 infections.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, the county reported 3,463 new cases on Saturday (Jan. 8), surpassing the previous daily record of 3,111 cases set on Dec. 31. Before Dec. 22, the county had only seen more than 1,000 cases in a day once — on Jan. 17, 2021.
Now, with an additional 1,938 cases coming in today (Monday), the county is averaging 2,168 cases a day for the past week. That is the highest weekly average of the pandemic, even after cases dipped during the middle of last week, when a snowstorm closed some testing and vaccination sites.
In total, the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, has recorded 141,395 cases, 4,338 hospitalizations, and 1,260 deaths due to the disease caused by the coronavirus.
While hospitalizations remain relatively low in Fairfax County, which is currently averaging 4.7 a day, Virginia as a whole reported an all-time, single-day high on Friday (Jan. 7), prompting Gov. Ralph Northam to declare a state of emergency today to increase bed and staffing capacities.
Inova Health Systems, which serves Northern Virginia, admitted 94 patients with Covid last week after averaging fewer than 10 a week between April and Christmas last year, according to Northam, who emphasized that the majority of people being hospitalized with the disease have not been vaccinated.
“Vaccines work, plain and simple,” the governor said. “To protect yourself, to stay out of a hospital, get vaccinated.”
According to FCHD data, 938,926 Fairfax Health District residents have gotten at least one vaccine dose, amounting to 79.3% of the population. That includes 89% of adults, 94% of 16 and 17-year-olds, 89.3% of people aged 12-15, and 44.7% of children aged 5-11.
As of today, 832,236 residents — 70.3% of the population — are fully vaccinated, including 79.7% of adults. According to the VDH, 32.3% of Fairfax County residents have received a booster or third dose, including 40.8% of adults.
Demand for Covid testing has soared in the wake of the omicron variant’s arrival. The district’s seven-day moving average has jumped from 2,481 daily encounters on Nov. 28 to 5,292 encounters as of Jan. 6, when nearly a third of tests — 32.8% — came back positive.
With many testing sites booked days, even weeks in advance, Gov. Ralph Northam announced last week that VDH will open nine community testing centers across the state in coming weeks, including one in Fairfax County.
According to the announcement, the facility will be at or near the mass vaccination site that has been operating out of the former Lord & Taylor store at Tysons Corner Center since October, but the county health department said on Friday (Jan. 7) that it couldn’t confirm the exact location yet, since the contracts were still being finalized.
The county did confirm that the testing site will provide drive-thru PCR testing services and require appointments, with the capacity to administer about 500 tests a day, five days a week.
“PCR test results are usually available within a few days and are very effective in detecting an active COVID-19 infection, even if asymptomatic,” FCHD spokesperson Tina Dale said by email.
More details about the facility, including the location, opening date, and how to make an appointment, are expected to be announced early this week.
For now, Fairfax County has a range of testing options at local pharmacies, health care providers, and other community sites. Inova and the county health department also offer testing for people who are symptomatic, though the county hasn’t shared dates for its mobile lab yet.
(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) Fairfax County Public Library will close on Sundays and Mondays starting this coming Sunday (Jan. 16) through April 1 to deal with a staffing shortage.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said on Twitter this morning (Monday) that the changes were prompted by staffing issues due to the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases and recruitment challenges.
FCPL confirmed that all of its branches will be closed on Sundays and Mondays for the near-future in a news release:
- Regional libraries: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays
- Community libraries: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays
- Access Services branch located at the Fairfax County Government Center will maintain its usual hours from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays
Libraries will remain open for regular hours Tuesdays through Saturdays.
All libraries will remain open for their regularly scheduled hours Tuesday through Saturday.
Regional library locations: Tuesday-Wednesday 10AM-9PM and Thursday-Saturday 10AM- 6PM.
Community library locations: Tuesday 10AM- 9PM and Wednesday-Saturday 10AM- 6PM.— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) January 10, 2022
“The current surge in COVID-19 cases and a high number of vacancies necessitated this change in hours,” FCPL spokesperson Erin Julius confirmed to FFXnow.
Fairfax County is currently averaging 2,168 cases per day, more than at any other point in the pandemic. That’s three times the peak case rate seen last winter, when the library system was still limited to online and curbside pickup services.
Updated at 4:05 p.m. — Fairfax County Public Schools will be closed again tomorrow (Friday) due to tonight’s anticipated snowfall, using its last allotted traditional snow day.
Fairfax County Public Schools reiterated its commitment to in-person instruction today (Thursday), even as it acknowledges that surging COVID-19 cases will likely result in staffing shortages.
In a message sent to families and staff, Superintendent Scott Brabrand shared a plan for managing the anticipated strain on teachers and other staff and minimizing potential disruptions once classes resume after winter break, which has now been extended by four days due to the snowy weather.
“These weeks ahead will challenge us all and we need to work together,” Brabrand said in a video. “We must expect that things will change often and we must be flexible. Most importantly, we must be understanding, patient, and come from a common expectation that this is not business as usual.”
With classroom supervision as a priority, FCPS plans to fill teacher vacancies with substitutes, other faculty or staff members, and volunteers with teaching experience from its central office and management staff.
However, if no one is available to cover for an absent teacher, schools could have one teacher lead two classes or combine multiple classes under a supervisor for asynchronous learning, where students work on assignments independently.
If as many as 11 to 25% of classrooms at a particular school have no dedicated teacher, the entire school would shift to asynchronous instruction, with students getting the option to access lessons in person or from home.
FCPS notes that it may not always be possible to continue providing a livestreaming option that was introduced in the fall for students who are required to pause, quarantine, or isolate due to a COVID-19 exposure or positive test.
Staffing shortages are expected to affect other school operations as well, particularly transportation. An unusually high deficit in bus drivers resulted in delays of up to an hour when the 2021-2022 academic year started in September.
“Expect that there will be delays in bus routes with more double-backs that may mean students will arrive after the bell,” FCPS says. “Schools will adjust instruction to ensure that no child is missing important classroom time.”
FCPS advises parents to drive their children to school or have them walk or bicycle if possible. The school system now has an app that tracks bus delays.
FCPS says meal services have not been affected so far, but if there are increased staff absences, it could switch to bagged lunches, rather than the usual cafeteria menus.
FFXnow asked FCPS for the number of teacher and other staff vacancies it currently has, but did not receive a response by press time.
“We will reassess, adapt, and adjust if needed,” Brabrand said. “I have faith that our FCPS family can and will get through this together.”
Health protocols implemented last year, including mask requirements, will remain in place, but FCPS is not requiring COVID-19 testing or vaccinations for students, though the latter is strongly recommended for those who are eligible.
While FCPS reported relatively low COVID-19 infection rates last month, cases among students, staff, and visitors jumped from 631 in November to 1,312 in December. There have been 25 new cases reported this month, as of Jan. 5, including 13 staff infections and 11 among students.
Fairfax County as a whole is currently averaging more than 2,000 new cases a day.
Earlier this week, the fast-spreading omicron variant and still-limited availability of testing had some parents and teachers urging FCPS to postpone reopening and provide an option for students to learn virtually.
(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) Up to 5 more inches of snow could come to Fairfax County and nearby areas.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory, warning that an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow is forecast to come between 9 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday) and 5 a.m. Friday (Jan. 7). It said drivers should expect slippery road conditions.
A winter weather advisory means that hazardous weather is “occurring, imminent or likely.”
The chaotic weather comes after over more than a half foot of snow fell across the county on Monday (Jan. 3), causing crashes and shutting down services, roads and power.
Per the alert:
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THURSDAY TO 5 AM
EST FRIDAY…* WHAT…Snow. Total snow accumulations 2 to 4 inches. Isolated high amounts of around 5 inches are possible.
* WHERE…The District of Columbia, portions of northern and central Maryland, and northern Virginia.
* WHEN…From 9 PM Thursday to 5 AM EST Friday.
* IMPACTS…Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Friday morning commute.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…The heaviest snow is expected between 10 PM and 2 AM when snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour are possible.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
Slow down and use caution while traveling.
When venturing outside, watch your first few steps taken on steps, sidewalks, and driveways, which could be icy and slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury.
Fairfax County Public Schools announced just after 5 p.m. that classes will be canceled again. Students were scheduled to return from winter break on Monday, but it has now been extended four extra days.
“Across Fairfax County, we continue to receive reports of roadways, sidewalks and pathways that remain unsafe for our students, and so we are closing schools out of an abundance of caution, and the concern for safety of our students,” FCPS said on social media.
Unlike with previous cancellations, the school system says its COVID-19 testing sites will all be open for students and staff experiencing symptoms. Plans to resume meal kit distributions are also move forward.
Across Fairfax County, we continue to receive reports of roadways, sidewalks and pathways that remain unsafe for our students, and so we are closing schools out of an abundance of caution, and the concern for safety of our students.
— Fairfax Schools 🌟 (@fcpsnews) January 5, 2022
Fairfax County Public Schools won’t hold classes for a third consecutive day this week, citing inclement weather in an announcement released just before 5 p.m.
The region could see freezing rain between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday), according to the National Weather Service, following Monday’s snowstorm that pummeled the region with over half a foot of snow in areas.
The NWS has issued a “Potential Winter Commuting Hazard” for Fairfax County, warning that there is a 30-50% chance of light freezing rain after 4 a.m. “that could turn into a glaze of ice on area roads.”
“Plan ahead by staying off the roads if possible,” the county said in a blog post. “If you do need to travel, allow for additional time and be extra cautious and alert while driving.”
FCPS said in a Facebook post that meal distribution will return at regular locations on Thursday (Jan. 6), and school offices will open later in the day tomorrow (Wednesday).
The school system tentatively expects to open its COVID-19 testing sites to staff and students who are experiencing symptoms, though a final decision won’t be made until tomorrow morning. Pre-registration is required, and only PCR tests will be available.
Testing is not required for students to be able to return to schools, whenever they reopen.
FCPS’ announcement comes after Monday’s snowstorm caused tens of thousands of Fairfax County homes to lose power and hundreds of crashes. As of this evening (Tuesday), Dominion’s power outage map showed over 7,000 customers in the county with electric issues.
The storm disrupted travel, but Fairfax Connector buses were slated to resume tomorrow (Wednesday). County officials asked commuters to use its BusTracker system in case any detours were still in effect.
Freezing rain expected near/just east of I-95 corridor early Wednesday. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect. pic.twitter.com/s7XnZzrFJ5
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) January 4, 2022
2022 is off to a sobering start, as COVID-19 cases continue to soar in Fairfax County.
The county is now averaging 2,132 cases per day for the past week, according to Virginia Department of Health data. That dwarfs last winter’s surge, which peaked at a seven-day average of 697 cases on Jan. 17.
The weekly average had never entered four digits until this past Christmas, when the county hit 1,008 cases. Now, the county is seeing more than twice as many infections a day, reporting a new single-day record for the pandemic of 3,111 cases on New Year’s Eve (Friday).
With another 1,416 cases coming in today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District — which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church — has recorded a total of 125,708 COVID-19 cases.
There has been a slight uptick in hospitalizations as well, with the county averaging 5.57 a day for the past week after seeing fewer than two per day as recently as Dec. 18. Still, the hospitalization rate remains below last winter, which averaged nearly 17 cases a day at the surge’s height, and its all-time high of 33 a day on May 3, 2020.
Overall, the Fairfax Health District has seen 4,300 residents hospitalized and 1,260 people die due to the novel coronavirus.
VDH still lists the delta variant as the dominant strain in Virginia, but the time lag required for genomic sequencing and reporting suggests the omicron variant is more widespread than currently apparent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that, as of the week that ended Dec. 25, the newer, highly transmissible variant comprised 58.6% of all cases in the U.S.
Health officials warned last week that the current surge — the Commonwealth’s fifth of the pandemic — might not peak for several more weeks, making it “likely that its true impact on public health and the health care delivery system is yet to be fully felt.”
“The best defense against serious illness and hospitalization from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated,” State Health Commissioner Dr. M. Norman Oliver said. “If you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted and are eligible, please do so now. Do it for yourself, your family, and your community, including the health care workers we depend on to be there when we truly need emergency care.”
Vaccinations appear to have leveled off in the Fairfax Health District, though facility closures during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays have likely played a role in the decline in administered doses.
The mass vaccination sites at the Fairfax County Government Center, South County Government Center, and Tysons Corner Center were closed today due to snow.
According to the Fairfax County Health Department, 933,257 district residents, or 78.9% of the population, have received at least one vaccine dose. That includes 88.6% of people aged 18 and older, 93.6% of 16 to 17-year-olds, 88.9% of people aged 12-15, and 43.2% of 5 to 11-year-olds.
About 70% of the district’s population is now fully vaccinated, amounting to 828,505 residents. That includes 79.5% of adults. 327,704 residents — about 28% of the population — have gotten a booster shot or third dose.
