The Town of Vienna’s first-ever restaurant week must’ve been a success, because the celebration of the local dining scene is coming back even bigger than before.
Vienna Restaurant Week will return for 10 days from March 3 through March 10 with about 50 restaurants, cafes and other eateries participating — over twice as many as in 2022, according to Vienna Economic Development Director Natalie Monkou.
“This year, Vienna Restaurant Week will bring more participation and excitement directly from our business community — where thoughtful menu design and a welcoming atmosphere to our visitors and residents is already palpable,” Monkou said in a statement.
Similar to the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s ever-popular, bi-annual restaurant week, which showcases the D.C. region’s dining scene, participants in Vienna’s campaign will offer set, three-course menus for brunch, lunch and dinner.
The brunch and lunch menus will cost $25, while dinner will be $35 to $40 per person. Discounted a la carte dishes will also be available, along with dine-in, takeout and delivery options.
The event is being sponsored by Vienna’s economic development division, which says it’s intended to “expose” local residents and visitors to the town, boost patronage for each participant, and “increase brand recognition” for both the restaurants and the town.
“The economic pressures that we have seen and experienced since the pandemic and continuing into this year remind us how important it is to support our local businesses and shine a spotlight on the Town’s food and beverage industry,” Monkou said.
The town encourages diners to keep up with the campaign by following the economic development division at @ExploreViennaVA on Instagram and Facebook. The hashtag #ViennaRestaurantWeek will be used to promote the event.
Participants range from long-standing staples of the town’s culinary scene, like The Virginian and Caffe Amouri, to newcomers like Akai Tori Ramen and Yakitori, which opened just last month. There are also a few restaurants from outside the town’s limits, including Settle Down Easy’s Oakton tasting room and Kusshi Ko in Tysons.
A full list can be found on the Vienna Restaurant Week website.
(Updated at 11:10 a.m.) The proposed 2024 budget has real estate taxes once again increasing for many, as home values across Fairfax County continue to rise.
At yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, County Executive Bryan Hill presented his proposed fiscal year 2024 budget. The $5.1 billion budget is up $280 million from last year — an increase of about 6%, largely due to real estate taxes going up.
While the budget calls for the tax rate to stay the same as last year at $1.11 per $100 of assessed value, the average bill is set to increase by about $520 for homeowners, thanks to a nearly 7% rise in real estate assessments.
Hill warned in November that assessments were likely to go up, and Board Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow last month that he expected real estate taxes to be a big discussion point during the budget debate. But the extent of the increase nonetheless elicited strong reactions from supervisors.
McKay said that, given last year’s numbers, the tax rate is “far too high,” while Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity called the increase “unacceptable.” They signaled strong support for finding a way to provide residential tax relief to residents.
The proposed budget includes $90 million in unallocated funds that can be used at the “Board’s consideration.” A huge chunk of this, if not all, could be used to lower residents’ tax burden in some form, as was the case for the current fiscal year 2023.
The county’s budget continues to rely on real estate taxes, more than three-fourths of which come from residential property owners.
Nonresidential real estate values also increased this year, but by less than residential values. This means that real estate taxes make up more of the tax base than in FY 2023, increasing by about 0.75%.
While seemingly a small tick up, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said the trend is going in the wrong direction and that commercial real estate taxes should make up at least 25% of the tax base. It currently only makes up just over 16%.
“Clearly, we are off. It’s not good and very disconcerting,” he said. “We need a plan or a strategy to address these issues.”
Hill’s budget plan proposes a $144 million increase in funds provided to Fairfax County Public Schools, which typically gets over 50% of the overall budget. That represents more than a 6% hike from FY 2023, which began on July 1, 2022.
The FY 2024 Advertised Budget proposal includes a 6.3% or $144.1 million increase for @fcpsnews in addition to support for programs like Head Start, school health, behavioral health services, crossing guards, field maintenance and other costs. pic.twitter.com/8cNyztgNbJ
— Fairfax County Government
(@fairfaxcounty) February 21, 2023
But that number is about $15 million lower than what Superintendent Michelle Reid initially requested.
As expected, the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers doesn’t agree with this proposal, writing in a statement that it “strongly encourages the Board of Supervisors to fully fund the FCPS budget request.”
One of the bigger questions hanging over this year’s school budget is if the state will rectify a calculation error expected to lead to FCPS getting about $18 million less than anticipated. That includes about $13 million missing from the FY 2024 budget.
It remains unclear if the state will reimburse the missing money, or provide any extra, from its $2 billion surplus. When Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust asked when the state will make a decision on its budget, a few chuckles arose from staff about the uncertain situation.
Christina Jackson, Fairfax County’s chief financial officer, said the county is optimistic and is in a “better position” to see much-needed funds headed their way from the state.
As anticipated late last year, this year’s budget process may be one of the “one of the most challenging” in years. This is due to inflation, staff retention challenges, and surging real estate values.
“Balancing the impacts of inflation, the labor market and other economic pressures with the need to fund critical programs and services has made this a difficult budget year,” Hill said in a county press release. “But I am very proud of the work of our budget staff and all our employees in managing through these challenges and moving forward to meet the needs of our residents.”
Hill led off his presentation to the board by emphasizing that the aim of this year’s budget is maintaining and “stabilizing our core,” meaning county staff and existing programs.
“I know that the Board remains concerned about the retention and recruitment issues that our agencies have been facing over the past two years, and I have spent considerable time with my leadership team developing ways in which to tackle these issues,” Hill wrote in his budget message to supervisors.
In the budget is a $134.5 million increase in county disbursement, including a 2% market scale adjustment for most county employees. That’s lower than even what staff had recommended in order to stay competitive in hiring and retention. They had calculated a rate of 5.44%.
“The proposed Fairfax County budget misses the mark when it comes to giving workers the wages we deserve, ” Tammie Wondong, SEIU Virginia 512 Fairfax’s president and a 33-year county employee, said in a statement. “In fact, when the county funds the market rate adjustment (MRA) at only 2% when it should be 5.44%, let’s call it what it is — a pay cut.”
Inflation also adds $18 million to the budget this year, associated with cost increases to cover utility and information technology contracts and lease adjustments.
Supervisors will host a number of public meetings over the next few months to allow residents a chance to provide feedback on the proposed budget.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote and adopt the FY 2024 budget on May 9.
Photo via Machvee/Flickr
County Task Force Back After Assisting With Turkey Earthquake Rescues — “After an intense 11 days searching for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed buildings, members of Virginia Task Force 1 have returned home. They arrived at their base in Chantilly just before midnight on Monday, to a hero’s welcome organized by family and friends.” [WTOP]
Firefighters Tackle Brush Fires in Springfield — “As winds picked up across the DMV Tuesday evening, crews in Fairfax County dealt with several outside fires. According to a spokesperson from the Fairfax County Fire Department (FCFD), crews worked to extinguish multiple outside fires on Old Keene Mill Road near Harwood Place in West Springfield.” [WUSA9]
Gum Springs Residents Wary of County — “About 70 Gum Springs residents, including the newly elected officers of the New Gum Springs Civic Association, lambasted Fairfax County officials for what they termed years of neglect and disrespect at a Feb. 16 meeting at the Gum Springs Community Center.” [On the MoVe]
Man Exposed Himself to Kids in Vienna — “Fairfax County Police said they are looking for a man who exposed himself to three children on Feb. 15 in Vienna. Police said they have passed out more than 600 fliers in an attempt to raise awareness for the man for whom they are searching.” [ABC7]
Herndon Girl Arrested in D.C. Carjacking — “A 15-year-old girl from Herndon was arrested Sunday in connection with a pair of carjacking incidents and a stabbing that occurred over the weekend in Washington, D.C., according to a police release…MPD officers arrested the two suspects a short time later after the stolen vehicle was involved in a traffic accident in the 900 block of 17th Street, Northeast, according to the release.” [Patch]
Redevelopment Possible for Falls Church’s Eden Center — “When word spread that there could be plans for new retail and residential development surrounding the Eden Center, concern grew that it could lead to increased rent prices and drive out business owners…Known as the East End Small Area Plan, the new development proposal began with a community kickoff in November of 2021.” [DCist]
Loudoun Schools Spokesperson Seeks to Move Perjury Trial — “[Wayde] Byard was indicted on Dec. 12. He’s accused of lying to a special grand jury on Aug. 2 about when he learned about the sexual assault in a Stonebridge High School bathroom on May 28, 2021…In asking that Byard’s trial be moved to Fairfax County, Leffler argued that the attorney general’s office stated purpose of seeking justice for Loudoun residents disqualified county residents as jurors.” [Loudoun Times-Mirror]
Public Input Sought on Metro Budget — “Metro has opened the public comment period for the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget that seeks to expand service on Metrorail and Metrobus, provide more equitable fares, implement a low-income fare program, enhance public safety, and maintain a safe and reliable system through capital investments.” [WMATA]
McLean Kids’ Toy Store to Celebrate Relocation — “Come and join us to celebrate the New Year, New Neighborhood, and New Beginnings for our new McLean store location! On Saturday, February 25th, stop by in-store for giveaways, craft tables, and so much more. We’ll see you there!” [Child’s Play/Facebook]
It’s Wednesday — Possible light rain in the morning. High of 54 and low of 42. Sunrise at 6:52 am and sunset at 5:55 pm. [Weather.gov]
Opioid overdoses have been on the rise in Fairfax County since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
After declining between 2017 and 2019, overdoses increased in the Fairfax Health District from 285 in 2019 — 83 of them fatal — to at least 366 in 2022, including 63 fatalities, as of Sept. 30, according to the data dashboard that the Fairfax County Health Department launched last fall.
The department updated the dashboard last week to better illustrate two trends: the presence of fentanyl in nearly all overdose deaths and an increase in overdoses among youths, including kids and teens.
The dashboard now lists people 17 and under as a distinct age group and provides data specifically on fatal overdoses involving fentanyl “to help Fairfax County residents better understand the threat that opioids, including fentanyl, pose in the community,” Director of Epidemiology and Population Health Dr. Benjamin Schwartz said.
The platform previously only highlighted fatalities based on whether they involved prescription opioids or heroin, though the health department notes that overdoses may stem from multiple drugs.
Of the 63 deaths reported in 2022 through September, 61 or 97% involved fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be used for pain management like morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. In 2021, fentanyl was used in 103 fatal overdoses, compared to 23 for other prescription drugs and 12 for heroin.
“There is an urgent need to bring information to light to make sure teens and families know that the risk is real and that fentanyl poisonings are happening here in our communities,” Schwartz said, stating that the epidemic continues to affect people of all genders and all racial and ethnic groups.
Fairfax County has recently focused its efforts to combat opioids on teens after seeing “a concerning number” of nonfatal overdoses in early 2022, specifically in the Richmond Highway corridor.
The Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, saw five nonfatal overdoses among kids 17 and under just this past January, according to the opioid dashboard. There were 27 nonfatal overdoses in that age group in 2022.
Drug use in schools has emerged as a concern in light of overdoses in Alexandria City and especially Arlington County, where a 14-year-old student died earlier this month.
As of Feb. 4, the Fairfax County Police Department had responded to 26 overdoses among youths 17 and under since Aug. 1, 2022, including one death. Police responded to 30 youth overdoses — five of them fatal — between Aug. 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022.
FCPD spokesperson Tara Gerhard says none of the fatalities occurred on school grounds, noting that the provided statistics “are subject to revision based on lab results and or additional investigation.”
In response to the continued prevalence of overdoses, the county advises community members to talk to their kids or others affected by substance misuse, and to dispose of unused or expired medications. It also suggests taking a training class for administering naloxone, the overdose-reversing drug that could soon be available over the counter.
The FCPD has partnered with Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board to give presentations about drug issues at local schools. Over 20 in-person sessions have been scheduled this year through March, and a virtual session will be held on March 21, according to Gerhard.
Led by the county’s Opioid and Substance Use Task Force, efforts to curb youth overdoses have also included expanding the availability of naloxone to FCPS staff, working with the court system to provide educational and intervention services, and pushing for more treatment options, Gerhard said.
She noted that the county also has programs focused on adults, since the majority of overdoses still involve people between the ages of 20 and 64.
The county has a few options for accessing its substance use-related resources:
If the situation is immediately life-threatening, call 911. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel carry medication that can prevent deaths from opioid overdose.
Call the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) Entry & Referral line at 703-383-8500, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to access behavioral health services, including substance use treatment services for youth and adults.
If it’s after business hours, call CSB Emergency Services at 703-573-5679 or the Fairfax Detoxification Center at 703-502-7000; both are available 24/7.
CSB Peer Outreach Response Team (PORT) provides outreach, engagement and resource navigation to individuals who have serious opioid and other substance use challenges. If you or someone you know could benefit from PORT services, call 703-559-3199.
Photo via DEA/Flickr
The all-affordable residential high-rises planned at Dominion Square West are officially moving forward.
During its meeting on Feb. 15, the Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing’s (APAH) project, which will replace parking lots currently used by auto dealerships with two 21-story buildings.
In addition to providing 516 units for people earning 60% of the area median income or less, the development will contain private and publicly accessible open spaces and a 33,500-square-foot, two-story community center, all of it supported by a five-story underground parking garage.
“I think this is great,” Dranesville District Commissioner John Ulfelder said. “It fits what we agreed to earlier, it’s going to be a terrific opportunity, and that it’s going to be all affordable is amazing.”
Early in 2022, the commission approved a 175-unit building at 1592 Spring Hill Road that was intended as the first phase of development for the 2-acre parcel.
However, a $55 million investment from Amazon enabled APAH to tackle both phases of the project at the same time. The developer filed a new plan with the county last summer.
“We really think that getting these units online quicker, getting the community center online quicker and the significant increase in the number of units really is a great thing for the county, a great thing for the Tysons area,” said Scott Adams, a McGuireWoods land-use attorney representing APAH.
The community center will be operated by Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services and feature a full-size gym, meeting spaces, multi-purpose rooms, kitchen, administrative offices, and flexible classroom spaces, according to a county staff memo.
It will also have a 1,900-square-foot skypark — the second level of a courtyard with play equipment, outdoor seating, grilling stations and other private amenities for residents. The skypark will be open to the public when not being used by the community center.
Public forums held last year confirmed there’s “a distinct need” for a community center to serve both residents of the new development and Tysons in general, Adams said.
“There was a desire and a need for these types of facilities where they can have community meetings, where they can have CPR classes, where they have those recreational opportunities that really just don’t exist right now,” he said.
Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina said she prefers this location for a community center over The View, a mixed-use development planned at the Spring Hill Metro station that had proposed a similar facility.
With the community center going in Dominion Square, The View’s developer will likely provide support for a new athletic field instead, county staff recently told FFXnow.
As discussed at a Tysons Committee meeting last month, several commissioners suggested the county needs to be more “strategic” or thoughtful about what public facilities are needed in Tysons and where they should be located.
“While we’re concerned about community centers and having too many of them or having them in the right spot, schools I think is another thing for us to consider where they are,” Hunter Mill District Commissioner John Carter said. “We have one maybe committed. We’re probably going to need more in Tysons over time.”
According to a Dec. 27 letter, Fairfax County Public Schools projects Dominion Square West will result in 43 to 70 new students for the Marshall High School pyramid.
While that isn’t expected to push the schools over capacity, FCPS warns increased residential density “will necessarily increase [student membership], which may negatively impact the instructional program to the detriment of the students involved.”
Adams said the Tysons area should have more capacity by the time the development opens. Planning is underway to convert the Dunn Loring Center into an elementary school, though the boundaries won’t be determined until construction begins next year.
Fairfax County hopes to make use of American Rescue Plan funding to help provide housing for some of those most in need.
In a meeting of the Board of Supervisors Housing Committee last week, staff from the Department of Housing and Community Development said a tranche of federal funding could help local residents in more extreme levels of poverty than most affordable housing programs in the county assist.
“This is a rare funding opportunity specifically targeted to reducing homelessness and can serve populations at the extreme low end of the spectrum,” said Thomas Barnett, deputy director of the Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. “This provides not just housing, but money for supportive services that we know people need.”
Fairfax County was awarded $7.88 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
According to the presentation to the committee:
HOME-ARP funds must be used to primarily benefit individuals or families from the following qualifying populations:
- Homeless
- At risk of homelessness
- Those fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking
- Other families requiring services or housing assistance to prevent homelessness
- Households at greatest risk of housing instability
Barnett said there are around 88 permanent supportive housing projects in the pipeline that the nearly $8 million in federal funding could go toward. The funding comes as Fairfax County deals with an uptick in people experiencing homelessness, caused in large part by the pandemic and related economic turmoil.
“Chronic homelessness has increased disproportionately during the pandemic,” Barnett said. “[It’s] up 34% in the last 5 years.”
Even within that category, some supervisors said they’d like to see funding targeted specifically on addressing youth homelessness. The most recent Point-in-Time Count — a survey of people experiencing homelessness in the span of one night — found 91 people between the ages of 18-24 experiencing homelessness in Fairfax County.
“We have, as you point out, a rare funding opportunity with a big infusion of funds,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay said. “I’m still troubled by, when we get that Point-in-Time Count, that homeless youth count…I would like more information coming back as to what strategies we might employ to help with that, to use this rare opportunity funding to solve what we know is always a difficult thing to work with under normal circumstances, can any of this be used to accelerate that.”
Fairfax County is seeking public feedback to reduce the chances of future residents and visitors confusing Tysons Corner Center with Tysons Galleria, among other potential mix-ups.
The county launched a Tysons Wayfinding and Signage Survey on Feb. 14 in partnership with the Tysons Community Alliance, which formed last fall as the next-stage evolution of the nonprofit Tysons Partnership.
“We are excited to be working with the County on this important initiative,” Tysons Community Alliance acting CEO Rich Bradley said. “Wayfinding is the first touch point for many people as they enter and move around a place. It should be welcoming and reflect the area”s sense of community and as such we want people to participate in the survey and provide their ideas.”
Focused on how to “improve the experience” of getting around Tysons, questions in the survey deal with modes of transportation used for traveling, ways people describe Tysons, and the usefulness of digital signage for sharing information.
The survey will be open until Monday, March 6 at 11:59 p.m.
Survey responses will play an important role in informing the development of a Tysons-wide wayfinding strategy. Be sure to submit your feedback before the survey closes on Monday, March 6 at 11:59 p.m.
— Dalia Palchik (@SupvPalchik) February 14, 2023
Officially created on Oct. 13, 2022, the Tysons Community Alliance serves as an advocacy organization for residents, businesses and other stakeholders in the area, overseeing the implementation of the county’s comprehensive plan.
The group has been tasked with developing branding for Tysons, supporting its economic growth, placemaking, and improving mobility. Its funding comes from the county budget and an economic opportunity grant, though it will likely be supported by a special tax in the long term.
In addition to conducting the wayfinding survey, the alliance is getting ready to launch an updated logo, website and social media accounts, all of which will be formally unveiled tomorrow (Wednesday), per a media alert.
“Bookmark this page to discover why the time is right to join the vanguard of stakeholders who are committed to the ongoing evolution of Tysons, a thriving 21st century destination for business, retail and families,” the page at tysonsva.org says. “Our new website is launching soon!”
The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) is expanding the use of automated license plate reader technology across the county, despite concerns from civil rights groups.
The department will install 25 automated license plate readers (ALPRs) around Fairfax County by the spring, FCPD spokesperson Sergeant Hudson Bull confirmed to FFXnow.
This expansion of the program comes after an eight-week “test period,” where the camera system was placed in two locations and assisted in “over 35 cases which have led to over 60 arrest charges,” Bull said.
Based on that data, the trial period has now been extended an additional 10 months to Oct. 31, 2023.
Over the next nine months, cameras will watch more than two dozen “high-crime” areas in the county.
“The camera placement is based on data showing where most stolen vehicles are recovered and where most crime occurs that we believe these cameras could assist us in solving,” Bull said.
The camera system comes from Flock Safety, which has installed ALPRs in more than 2,000 localities across the county.
The ALPR cameras capture license plates, vehicle color, make and model, and send a “real-time alert” to law enforcement when a stolen car or a vehicle used in a crime is detected within a database.
During the initial trial period in November and December, FCPD says the system helped it recover six stolen cars worth an estimated $350,000. In one car, fentanyl and methamphetamines were found, and another had more than five pounds of marijuana, police say.
The system also helped police locate two missing persons when the cameras detected vehicles associated with those cases.
“Two persons were quickly located by officers and safely returned home after alerts were sent,” Bull wrote. “The officers can also search the cameras in cases when a person has been missing for several hours but there is a delay in reporting.”
While Flock Safety and FCPD tout ALPRs as crime prevention and solving tools, local civil rights groups have a number of ethical and privacy concerns about the county expanding the program.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA) said it wasn’t aware of the program’s expansion prior to being contacted by FFXnow.
“The ACLU is always concerned about the efforts to expand mass surveillance,” ACLU-VA senior staff attorney Matt Callahan told FFXnow. “We consider the privacy of individuals and their freedom of movement to be a core value of society.”
He noted that the organization believes decisions to use ALPRs and other tracking or surveillance technology should be “in the public’s hands” and not solely left to law enforcement or individual vendors like Flock.
“What we often see is that the public doesn’t favor the kind of widespread expansion of surveillance technology for law enforcement,” Callahan said. “At a minimum, they ask for additional privacy safeguards, like individual audits by outside agencies to make sure that the information is not being misused.”
Flock Safety noted that the cameras “capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, not people or faces,” and “are not intended for minor traffic or parking violations.”
Data retention has also been a source of debate in the county and Virginia for a number of years.
A Fairfax County judge ruled in 2019 that maintaining a database of photos of vehicle license plates violated Virginia privacy law. A year later, the Virginia State Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying police could keep this data indefinitely.
In 2021, a bill proposed in the State Senate would have limited the storing of data collected by ALPRs to 30 days if there’s no warrant or ongoing investigation. That bill failed, but a similar one is currently being considered in the General Assembly.
The FCPD confirmed that it can collect and store license plate data for up to one year, but Flock Safety’s system only stores data for 30 days.
“Because the storage of LPR data is provided in the initial cost of the Flock Safety system, the FCPD will only keep the data for 30 days…collected by the Flock cameras,” Bull said.
While storing data for a month is less problematic than a whole year, Callahan says it still brings up plenty of worries when it comes to privacy.
“It still lets law enforcement go back and map out travel patterns of people who come under suspicion later. They can basically reconstruct where someone’s been a month at a time,” he said. “That’s…different than merely checking if a stolen car is in a specific place at a specific time.”
Bull said FCPD has heard these concerns, particularly from the NAACP’s Fairfax County branch, and has “directly responded” by ensuring data is used only for “law enforcement purposes.” The department is keeping records of each officer’s use of the system.
There’s an auditing feature as well “supervised by administrators of the system,” and in accordance with the county’s Trust Policy, FCPD has “opted out” of gathering information regarding “immigration status violations,” Bull said.
Despite those promises, the Virginia ACLU remains concerned.
“A license plate is enough often to link that to a person’s identity. The whole point of this technology is to use that information to figure out who was traveling where and when they are in a specific place,” Callahan said. “This information has significant implications for the privacy of individuals who use Virginia’s roads and highways.”
Fire Danger Heightened Today — “There is an increased fire danger for Tuesday, February 21st. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged during this time and remember to properly dispose of smoking material.” [Ready Fairfax/Twitter]
Mount Vernon School Board Rep to Retire — “Karen Corbett Sanders, the Mount Vernon District representative to the Fairfax County School Board, announced Feb. 15 that she will not be running for a third term later this year…Corbett Sanders told On the Move that her decision not to pursue a third term was difficult and one that she didn’t take lightly.” [On the MoVe]
Five-Vehicle Crash Closes I-495 — Two people were evaluated for injuries not deemed life-threatening after a five-vehicle crash on northbound I-495 before I-66 in the Dunn Loring area. The crash closed the Capital Beltway for about an hour, and first responders had to extinguish a fire around one car. [FCFRD/Facebook]
Virginia Among States Scrutinizing AP Course — “At least four more states will review the new Advanced Placement African American studies course to see if it conflicts with their policies or laws restricting the teaching of race…Officials in Arkansas, Virginia, North Dakota and Mississippi said they had questions and planned reviews before deciding whether the new class may be taught in their classrooms.” [The Washington Post]
Springfield Woman Convicted in Gang Case — “A Springfield woman was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in prison for witness tampering in connection with a federal trial against four people accused of violent gang activity in Virginia, California and other states, according to federal prosecutors.” [Patch]
Staffing Still a Challenge for McLean Police Station — “Residents learned that the McLean police district still has a 30-percent vacancy rate among officers, the same vacancy rate as a year ago…The police district has 38 open positions that it needs to fill, [Captain Carolyn Kinney, who heads the McLean police station] said.” [Patch]
Mount Vernon Celebrates George Washington’s Birthday — “While George Washington’s actual birthday is Feb. 22, large crowds gathered at his estate outside Alexandria, Virginia, to celebrate and learn a little more about the nation’s first president…Overall, Mount Vernon staff estimated Monday’s daily attendance at nearly 20,000 visitors.” [WTOP]
Spring Water Flush Begins — “Each spring, Fairfax Water flushes its water mains by opening fire hydrants and allowing them to flow freely for a short period of time. During this time, the treatment process switches from using combined chlorine to free chlorine.” Treatment began for the McLean and Falls Church areas yesterday (Monday) but isn’t set to start for the rest of the county until March 20. [Fairfax County Government]
County Summer Camp Registration Opens — “Registration for 2023 Camp Fairfax begins on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, at 8 a.m. The summer day camp is open to rising first through seventh graders living in Fairfax County or the City of Fairfax. Camp Fairfax gives campers the opportunity to explore interests in performing arts, visual arts and sports/team-building.” [Neighborhood and Community Services]
It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 61 and low of 45. Sunrise at 6:53 am and sunset at 5:53 pm. [Weather.gov]
Nikole Hannah-Jones, the investigative journalist behind “The 1619 Project,” is coming to McLean.
Anyone hoping to snag a last-minute ticket to her talk at the McLean Community Center on Sunday (Feb. 19), however, is out of luck. Seats filled up quickly once registration opened last month, and the waitlist has exceeded 400 people, according to the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), which organized the free event.
Fortunately, Hannah-Jones has agreed to let the county make a recording of the event that will be shared “for a limited time” with attendees and everyone on the waitlist, FCPL Director Jessica Hudson says.
“We are honored and excited to host Ms. Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award winning author, and creator of the landmark 1619 Project, during our Black History Month celebration,” Hudson said in a statement. “Authors are chosen for a variety of reasons including educational value, because they inspire a high level of interest among our diverse community members, and for their ability to offer unique insight into important cultural and social issues.”
Since launching in The New York Times Magazine on Aug. 14, 2019, The 1619 Project has ignited vigorous debate among academics and the general public alike over its argument that racism and slavery are foundational — not incidental — to American history.
The initiative won awards for Hannah-Jones, including a 2020 Pulitzer Prize, and has expanded with a teaching guide, podcast, the nonfiction book “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story,” the kids’ book “Born on the Water,” and most recently, a documentary series on Hulu.
The project’s longevity surprised even its author — as has the intense backlash, which has manifested in everything from historians disputing specific claims to politicians banning it from classrooms.
Far from being wary, Hannah-Jones wants to visit states like Virginia, where pushback to her work and the once-niche academic concept of critical race theory has evolved into broader fights over how history is taught in schools and access to books. She spoke in Arlington last year for “Banned Books Week.”
“It’s really important for me to go into places that are having these battles,” she told FFXnow. “Really, I see part of it as standing up for teachers and librarians and students’ right to learn, but of course, in a place like Virginia or a place like Fairfax County, or a place like Arlington, or really anywhere, we are daily seeing how the legacy of slavery is shaping lives, and people don’t often recognize that.”
Virginia plays a central role in The 1619 Project. In addition to harboring the first ship to carry enslaved Africans to the land that would become the U.S., Virginia enacted many of the first laws to institutionalize slavery and passed a Racial Integrity Act defining racial categories to prohibit miscegenation.
“Virginia in many ways is ground zero for everything else we see in America,” Hannah-Jones said.
The laws have been relegated to the past, but their consequences haven’t. For example, Fairfax County’s current housing challenges are partly the product of decades of discrimination.
The outcry over changes to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s admissions policies echoes the area’s massive resistance to integration as a battle over “who should get access to the, quote-unquote, best public schools in the community,” according to Hannah-Jones.
While Sunday’s talk at The Alden (1234 Ingleside Avenue) won’t include book signings, Hannah-Jones says she’s looking forward to the Q&A portion as an opportunity to hear from the community — and judging by the lengthy waitlist, McLean residents are equally eager to hear from her.
“A lot of times, the people who oppose the teaching of these histories, who support these divisive concept laws and book bans get a lot of attention, but I don’t think they represent most Americans,” she said. “The fact that there are so many people who want to engage with these ideas and have thoughtful conversations about them is very heartening.”
