Outdoor screenings of movies, whether drive-ins or out on a lawn, have come a hit during the coronavirus pandemic. The Eden Center near Seven Corners is keeping that tradition going with an outdoor viewing of Ghostbusters this Saturday (Oct. 10) at 6:30 p.m.
The screening will take place in the Eden Center parking lot and will be free.
“Enjoy a delicious dinner at Eden Center then stay and watch the movie from your car,” the Facebook post for the event said.
Free popcorn and candy will also be provided. Guests are encouraged to come in costumes for a costume contest and trick or treat stations will be set up around the Eden Center.
Photo via Eden Center/Facebook
Tysons-based MicroTech, which earlier this summer was working to address PPE shortages, has won a $38 million contract with the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Army (DUSA) to review the department’s organizational structure and operations.
MicroTech is a veteran-owned business that provides support for infrastructure, telecommunications, cyber-security to both private and public sector clients.
“MicroTech is elated to have received this DUSA contract from the U.S. Army,” said Tony Jimenez, President and CEO of MicroTech, in a press release. “As a Retired Army Officer who has served on the Army Staff, I am always excited for an opportunity like this to help the U.S. Army implement transformational changes to its organizational structure, governance, and business operations.”
The DUSA directs the Army Science Board and Analytics Group, oversees the Civilian Leadership Service Management Office (CLSMO), and serves as the Deputy Chief Management Officer to the Under Secretary of the Army, MicroTech said.
Photo via MicroTech/Facebook
Fairfax County is seeing record numbers of locals turning out to vote early, in some cases leading to long lines at polls.
The County is planning to open more locations starting Wednesday, Oct. 14, as millions of Americans nationwide vote early in the election.
Upcoming voting facilities in the Tysons area include:
- McLean Governmental Center (1437 Balls Hill Road)
- Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive)
- Tysons Pimmit Library (7584 Leesburg Pike)
- Thomas Jefferson Library (7415 Arlington Blvd.)
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
The Board of Supervisors approved the receipt of a $58,212 compensation package to Fairfax County as reimbursement for this summer’s shutdown of stations along the Silver Line at the meeting on Sept. 29.
The planned shutdown had been in the works pre-COVID, but the nature of the closure changed when the pandemic hit.
“On December 11, 2019, WMATA announced the temporary closure of three Orange Line Metrorail stations west of Ballston Station during Summer 2020,” staff said in a report. “This temporary closure is part of a large construction project to rebuild 20 outdoor station platforms. The Summer 2020 shutdown was originally planned to impact four stations: Vienna, Dunn Loring and East Falls Church. Access to West Falls Church Station would be restricted but was going to remain open during the project because, it is equipped with three tracks and two platforms that can be reconstructed, one at a time. The West Fall Church Station was supposed to be the western terminus of the Orange Line during the summer months.”
When COVID-19 hit, Metro expanded those plans to include reconstruction work on all five Silver Line Metro stations, including West Falls church, to connect to Phase II of the Silver Line.
In total, nine stations were impacted.
The compensation is meant to help cover some of the costs to Fairfax County, like supplemental bus services, providing customer service and fare card loading services at the stations as Metro users were sent to buses.
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Former Dranesville District Supervisor Ernest Joseph Berger has died at age 88 in Johns Island, South Carolina.
During his time in McLean, Berger did not shy away from controversy. The former Dranesville District Supervisor and Army veteran came into office in 1994 with an array of conservative positions that put Berger at odds with many of his colleagues.
Friends and family of Berger praised his fiscal conervatism.
“Mr. Berger was an example of a true leader,” said Ann Green Baise. “He had a great business background, and he put that background to work for the citizens of Dranesville in a first rate way. An example of his foresight for the community was his appointment of Stu Mendelsohn to the School Board. He was a fiscal conservative and applied common sense to questions that arose in the community.”
A Washington Post article from 1994 said Berger worked to make financial reforms to Fairfax and run the county like a business, pushing for measures like converting the school bus system to a private company and easing restrictions on developers. Berger described himself as a bulldog when it came to watching the budget.
Despite the emphasis on fiscal policy, Berger also harbored a share of socially conservative positions that put him in hot water. According to the Washington Post article, Berger aggressively pushed for a Christian activist to be appointed to the Library Board in an effort to ban a gay newspaper from Fairfax County libraries.
The Sun Gazette noted that Berger died just three days after Lilla Richards, whom Berger defeated in his 1994 election.
“Ernie Berger was known to all as a strong Republican and a great man,” Fairfax GOP Chairman Steve Knotts said on the Fairfax GOP website. “We are thankful for Ernie’s service to Fairfax County; and we extend our sincere condolences to his many friends and loved ones.”
Photo via Fairfax County Government/Facebook
Falls Church police said that three people were sent to the hospital after they were struck by a vehicle on W Broad Street this morning.
The three victims were and adult and two minors, all of whom sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the driver of the vehicle remained on the scene and no charges have been filed at this time.
W Broad Street closed for roughly 30 minutes after the incident but has since reopened.
According to a release from the Falls Church Police Department:
At approximately 11:01 a.m. on October 7, City of Falls Church Police were dispatched to the report of pedestrians hit by a vehicle at the intersection of W Annandale Road and W Broad Street. Three victims — an adult and two minors — were transported to Virginia Hospital Center with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene until police units arrived.
W Broad Street was closed for approximately 30 minutes after the incident. Police are still investigating the collision, and no charges have been filed at this time.
Photo via Google Maps
Tysons Chamber Hosting Free Webinar for Nonprofits Facing Pandemic Issues — “Experts in risk mitigation, pandemic related grants, and remote employee morale will be discussing best practices and lessons learned.” [Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce]
TeamLogic IT Opens Tysons-Focused Office — “TeamLogic IT, a national provider of managed IT services and technology support for businesses, just opened offices in Northern Virginia focused on the Reston and Tysons Corner markets.” [Franchising.com]
McLean-based Mars Company Announces Big Reduction in Palm Oil Supply to Prevent Deforestation — “U.S. confectionary, food and pet care giant Mars claims to have eliminated deforestation from its palm oil supply chain after shrinking the number of mills it works with from 1,500 to a few hundred, it announced this week.” [GreenBiz.com]
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
An upcoming meeting of the McLean Citizens Association tomorrow (Wednesday) will be dedicated to Lilla Richards, a former Dranesville District Supervisor who died on Sept. 22 at 81.
Richards, who had also served as the MCA president, was renowned in the area for her civic activism. She was one of the founders of the McLean Citizens Foundation and helped secure a permanent home for the McLean Project for the Arts.
According to a tribute written by the MCA:
Lilla Richards, a former Dranesville District Supervisor, passed away September 22, at age 81. Former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis who served with Lilla described her as a “professional citizen.” He said, “she never deviated from her moral compass or her commitment to making McLean one of the most attractive residential communities in the county.”
Lilla was a strong activist for her community. She served as President of the McLean Citizens Association and the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Association. She helped found the McLean Citizens Foundation and worked to find a permanent home for the McLean Project for the Arts at the McLean Community Center and was critical to the creation of the Old Firehouse Teen Center.
Her institutional knowledge about Fairfax County’s zoning ordinance helped bring about many positive land-use and environmental changes to Fairfax. Lilla’s archives are located in the Virginia Room at Fairfax Library. She was a Fairfax County giant and will be missed.
Photo via McLean Citizens Association
Construction has finished on new condo complex The Bexley Condominiums (1761 Old Meadow Road) in Tysons.
Developer NVHomes said on the website that move-ins at the project started in September, with virtual grand opening celebration scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10.
The development is located along Old Meadow Road, just sound of the McLean Metro station and Capital One headquarters. The road in front is being realigned to be better connected to the Capital One facilities. The project is part of a slate of new developments aimed at transforming Tysons East into a fully fledged community.
The condo units start at $679,990 with a two bedroom, two bath unit and $1,199,990 for three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath units.
“Elegant condominium flat in a walkable McLean location near Tysons,” NVHomes said on the website. “Generous list of included features, such as quartz countertops, LG appliances, and owner’s spa bath.”
Photo via NVA Condos/Twitter
Mosby’s Raiders led a guerrilla campaign against Union supply and communications lines throughout Northern Virginia during the Civil War. Today, Mosby Woods Elementary School honors the group’s commander, John S. Mosby, but that could change.
A public hearing on potentially renaming Mosby Woods Elementary School is scheduled for the Wednesday, Oct. 7, school board meeting. The change was proposed by Providence School Board representative Karl Frisch and at-large member Karen Keys-Gamarra.
Like countless other discussions about renaming or removing honors to the Confederacy or Confederate soldiers, there’s been vocal support and opposition to the change. Feedback emailed to the School Board fell along the now-familiar arguments that the outdated name does not represent diversity of the school district, or that Confederate leaders should be judged by contemporary rather than modern standards.
“As the parent of a 5th grader who has been at Mosby Woods since kindergarten, I strongly support changing the name,” one anonymous parent said in an email to the School Board. “We are long overdue to remove honorifics for those who fought to separate and destroy our nation.”
Potential name replacements included Mosaic Elementary School — in relation to the nearby Mosaic District — or renaming the school to honor recently deceased Chadwick Boseman, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or the less-recently deceased Alexander Hamilton.
Others made the case that Mosby was less of a cut-and-dry case, as Mosby himself wasn’t a dyed-in-the-wool secessionist the way Confederates like Jubal Early were.
“I understand and support the current movement to remove Confederate monuments, memorials, and public buildings named for Confederate leaders,” the emailer wrote. “However, I would note that the case of John Mosby is not as clear-cut as many of the others, and I would urge people to read up on this person before jumping to a conclusion. John Mosby was against slavery and secession. Although he personally opposed the Confederacy’s positions, he joined the war out of a sense of patriotism and loyalty to the state of Virginia.”
Despite Mosby’s recorded opposition to slavery, he did own a slave during the war. Mosby joined President Ulysses S. Grant’s administration in the years after the war and became a vocal opponent to the Lost Cause mythos.
If the change is approved, the Superintendent will return with a recommendation for a new name. Comments on the name change can be emailed to [email protected].
Image via FCPS
