County Elections Director Resigns — “Fairfax County’s general registrar has resigned after less than a year on the job and now the former election manager will serve as registrar until the term expires on June 30, 2023, county officials said. Scott Konopasek announced his intention to resign as general registrar during a closed session of the Electoral Board on March 24.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Depp-Heard Defamation Trial Will Be Televised — “Court TV will carry the televised feed of the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial, which is scheduled to begin next week in Fairfax County, VA. The network will be the pool feed provider for the trial, and plans to provide coverage of the proceedings.” [Deadline]
Centreville HS Students Behind Blood Type Bill — “Fairfax County high school students spearheaded a bill that will allow Virginia residents to indicate blood type on their license. Sen. George L. Barker, D-Fairfax, introduced Senate Bill 345 during the regular General Assembly session. The Senate and House approved the bill, which will take effect in July 2023.” [The Roanoke Star]
Fairfax County Has Strong Showing on “Best Places to Work” List — Of the 47 Northern Virginia-based companies to make the Washington Business Journal’s annual list of the “Best Places to Work in Greater Washington,” 28 are located in Fairfax County. The ranking is based on employee surveys about topics like leadership, culture, and benefits. [Fairfax County EDA]
Vienna Hires New Planning and Zoning Director — “Town officials chose David Levy after conducting a nationwide search and receiving applications from candidates in 10 states. Levy will assume his new job May 9 at a salary of $161,000.” [Sun Gazette]
Colvin Run Miller’s House Opens — “Ceremonies took place on Sunday, April 3, 2022, to officially cut the ribbon and open the doors of the historic Miller’s House at Colvin Run Mill in Great Falls…After extensive renovation, the house now offers an interactive design representing home life in the early and late 1800s.” [FCPA]
Blood Drive Coming to Reston — “The Reston District Police Station is hosting a blood drive with the INOVA Bloodmobile on Monday, April 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North County Governmental Center…Registration is required. Your blood donation will support Fairfax County Police Department’s Helicopter Division’s whole blood carrying program for medevac services.” [Hunter Mill District News]
It’s Friday — Possible light rain in the evening and overnight. High of 56 and low of 43. Sunrise at 6:43 am and sunset at 7:40 pm. [Weather.gov]
With two proposals to transform hotels into housing, local officials are exploring more creative ways to reach affordable housing goals.
In Herndon, a Residence Inn is slated to convert into a 17-unit affordable housing project spread across 11 buildings. Owners say the buildings are too difficult to maintain and industry demands haven’t kept with hotel brand standards.
“The physical layout of the various buildings on the property, the interior unit configuration, and the good condition of the underlying building structures, presents a unique opportunity with the Town of Herndon to repurpose the current building as multifamily units,” a March 2 application to the town says.
No matter how many times the name and owners change, the ground-floor restaurant in the office building at 226 Maple Avenue West seems destined to serve Thai cuisine.
Following in the steps of Tara Thai and the recently departed Tom Yum Thai, the newly opened Burapa THAI & Bar comes from a face familiar to local diners: co-owner Bo Boonyaket was the owner and chef at I-Thai’s Side Street & Sushi Bar in Tysons until it shuttered last year.
The McLean Community Center has a water problem, and it will take about $100,000 in repairs to fix it.
The MCC governing board unanimously approved that funding on March 10 for a roof repair project deemed “urgent” by the board’s Capital Facilities Committee.
A pre-construction meeting with Function Enterprises, the Springfield-based company enlisted as the vendor, is scheduled for the end of April, MCC Director of Marketing and Communications Sabrina Anwah told FFXnow.
Annandale Chick-fil-A Opens Today — “Chick-fil-A will open Thursday, April 7, at 7130 Little River Turnpike, Annandale…To celebrate the grand opening, the restaurant will surprise ‘100 local heroes making an impact in Annandale with free Chick-fil-A for a year.'” [Annandale Today]
Starkist HQ in Reston Now Open — Relocating from Pittsburgh, the tuna manufacturer opened its new corporate and administrative headquarters at 1875 Explorer Street in Reston Town Center on Tuesday (April 5). The office can accommodate more than 70 employees, and the company is marking its arrival with a community distribution event for the Reston-based nonprofit Feed the Children. [Starkist]
Commonwealth’s Attorney Expands Diversion for Non-Violent Crimes — “Under the program, called Taking Root, Fairfax prosecutors and defense attorneys can jointly recommend to judges that certain people accused of crimes be assigned to intensive programming instead of being prosecuted…The new program expands on existing diversion programs in Fairfax that have narrower eligibility requirements.” [DCist]
Masks No Longer Required at GMU — “In a message to the school community posted Tuesday, university president Gregory Washington announced GMU had switched to a mask-optional policy on all its campuses. He said the decision reflected low transmission and positivity rates in Fairfax County and nearby communities.” [WTOP]
Great Falls Group Has Ideas for Beltway Bridge Design — “When the construction dust settles, the orange cones are gone and work crews have relocated to snarl traffic elsewhere after completion of the 495 NEXT Project, the Great Falls Citizens Association (GFCA) hopes an extra-nice-looking bridge will take Georgetown Pike over the Capital Beltway.” [Sun Gazette]
Vienna Could Get Specialized License Plate — The Town of Vienna plans to introduce a town-themed license plate after the Virginia General Assembly unanimously approved a bill from Del. Mark Keam letting localities cover the fees for the first 350 prepaid orders required by state law. The law takes effect on July 1, and the town council will then move to decide on a design. [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Squirrels Trigger Car’s “Check Engine” Light in Franconia — “Craftsman Auto Care — Alexandria, an auto repair shop at the Festival at Manchester Lakes shopping center, found three baby squirrels sleeping under the hood of a customer’s vehicle…As for the check engine light, it turned out that the babies’ mother squirrel had chewed through wiring in the vehicle.” [Patch]
It’s Thursday — Rain until evening. High of 55 and low of 46. Sunrise at 6:45 am and sunset at 7:39 pm. [Weather.gov]
The finalists for the D.C.-area restaurant industry’s annual RAMMY Awards are out, and a few Fairfax County hotspots made the cut.
Organized by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), a regional trade and advocacy group, the 40th annual RAMMYs represent a shift toward normalcy after two years of slightly modified proceedings to reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Break out the spoons and waffle cones, Tysons.
An ice cream truck is pulling into The PARC at Tysons and doling out free scoops tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday (April 8).
The local caterer Tyson’s Creamery will be parked at 8508 Leesburg Pike from noon to 4 p.m. on both days as part of The PARC’s “Spring Is Blossoming” celebration, which kicked off with some spring break pop-up activities on Monday (April 4).
Work is underway to understand the state of homelessness in Fairfax County.
The county conducted its annual Point-in-Time Count this past January, where public and nonprofit workers travel to shelters, transitional housing, and other sites to document the number of people experiencing homelessness on one night.
“We’re analyzing the results, and we’ll be publishing the results along with the other D.C. region communities in May,” Tom Barnett, the deputy director of the county’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness, told FFXnow.
Tysons Galleria’s transformation of its former Macy’s store is nearly complete.
The mall has fully leased the redeveloped, 260,000-square-foot wing with the addition of a new restaurant from Malaysian chef Rashidin Abd Rashid expected to open this fall, Brookfield Properties public relations and marketing manager Rachel Willie says.
Willie confirmed that Rashid, also known as Chef Mamu, has signed a deal for roughly 10,000 square feet of space that will house Jiwa Singapura, which translates to “soul of Singapore,” as reported on Thursday (March 31) by the Washington Business Journal.
The Fairfax County School Board is set to require recess at the middle school level for the first time starting next school year.
Under a health and wellness policy revision to be voted on this month, middle schools would be required to have a 15-minute supervised recess break, and elementary school students will get two recess breaks per day, totaling at least 30 minutes.
