Late night drivers around Tysons may experience some detours this weekend and next week if they travel around the interchange connecting I-66 and I-495 near Merrifield.

A 68-year-old man who was rescued by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) in Tysons took the unsual but gratifying extra step of calling the unit months later to update them on his progress and thank them for saving his life.

Rae Cronmiller, an avid swimmer, collapsed on Dec. 15 in the locker room at Sport & Health (8250 Greensboro Drive) in Tysons after experiencing a cardiac arrest following a one-mile swim. A physician in the locker room initiated CPR and a crew from Engine 429 in Tysons was already at the Sport & health for training. They were able to respond quickly and rescued on Dec. 15 after experiencing a cardiac arrest.

Cronmiller has recovered and got onto Zoom with his family to thank the physician and the FCFRD crew that saved his life.

“It was very moving,” Cronmiller said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what happened to me, and how fortunate I am to have the best group of force responders in the world. You saved my life. I am of sound mind and body now, I feel better or as good as I did before the swim. I have you folks to thank and the individual who was there. If he’s able to watch this, I really appreciate his efforts.”

Several of the people involved in the rescue were on the call with Cronmiller and said, once the pandemic is over, they’d love to meet with him in person to shake his hand and see how he’s progressing. Andrew Rose, one of the paramedics who arrived, was among those on the call.

“It’s wonderful to see you doing so well,” Rose said. “We’re always thinking of you and looking for updates. We’re absolutely thrilled to see you at home with your family.”

“I’m so happy we were able to be there with you that day,” Calvin Alexander, another one of the paramedics said.

Sarah Thomas, a dispatcher involved with the rescue, said it isn’t often that FCFRD get to hear about the aftermath of a rescue.

“We never get the opportunity to hear any results, so we never know if somebody lives or not,” Thomas said. “So it is truly inspiring to see you and hear you. Thank you for that, because we never get to hear it or see it.”

The full release from the FCFRD is below: Read More

Tysons theater 1st Stage is continuing its earlier shift towards online classes with a new series of acting courses aimed to help introduce adults or children to acting or continue their education.

Each course consists of six classes with prices starting at $100 per course.

Classes are taught over Zoom sessions. The deadline for registration is Monday, Sept. 21.

Classes for adults include:

• Playwriting (Tuesdays, Sept. 29-Nov. 3 from 4-6 p.m.) — The class will introduce students to playwriting concepts like idea generation, dramatic action, character and dialogue development.
• Beginning Acting (Thursdays, Oct. 1-Nov. 5 from 6-7 p.m.) — The class will introduce students to developing believable characters within the play text and teach acting techniques.
• A Director Prepares (Tuesdays, Sept. 29-Nov. 3 from 1-2 p.m.) — The class will introduce students to direction, particularly on the production, preparation, and conceptualization aspects. The class will also touch on casting and working with designers and actors.
• Beginning Voice Training (Fridays, Oct. 2-Nov. 6 from 1-3 p.m.) — The class introduces students to healthy singing techniques, including warm-ups and cool downs, vocal exercises, and simple songs.
• Play Reading and Discussion (Fridays, Oct. 2-Nov. 6 from 7-8 p.m.) — The class will involve reading and discussing plays, as well as discussing analytic techniques.
• Introduction to Improvisation (Wednesdays, Sept. 30-Nov. 4) — The class is an introduction to the basics of improvisation, like “yes, and…” as well as other foundational improv techniques.
• Intermediate Improvisation (Sundays, Oct. 4-Nov. 8 from 1-2 p.m.) — Students will build on more advanced improv skills and concepts from the earlier Intro to Improv class, with a focus on creating characters and scenes quickly, bold choices, and working together to form a scene.

Five courses are available for grades 1st through 12th.

Classes include:

• Drama Games (1st-2nd Grade, Mondays, Sept. 28-Nov. 2 from 4-4:45 p.m.) — The course introduces children to basic acting skills with games, activities and exercises.
• Introduction to Improvisation (3rd-6th Grade, Wednesdays, Sept. 30-Nov. 4 from 4-4:45 p.m.) — This class will cover the basics of improv concepts and building on natural instincts.
• Beginning Improv (Middle School, Thursdays, Oct. 1-Nov. 5  from 4-4:45 p.m.) — Similar to Introduction to Improvisation, Beginning Improv will focus on teaching improv concepts.
• Building Your Book (High School, Fridays, Oct. 2-Nov. 6 from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.) — This intermediate class aims to help advanced singers through warmups, cooldowns and exercises. The class is geared towards polishing songs with vocal, musical, and dramatic performances.
• Play Reading And Discussion (High School, Saturdays, Oct. 3-Nov. 7, 12 p.m.-1 p.m.) — The class will focus on reading and discussing plays with classic and modern analyzing techniques.

The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant had once taken up a key corner spot in Tysons Corner Center, right across from the Barnes & Noble. But while other restaurants are reopening from pandemic closures, Gordon Biersch is gone for good.

The closure is a latest for the franchise, which had four other regional locations close earlier this year. While the Tysons location was reportedly “not on the chopping block” in March, according to eater, the following months put additional challenges on many restaurants.

With the Tysons location gone, the closest Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant is in Annapolis, Maryland.

The Tysons location still held a special place in the heart of some locals, though, which took home the Great American Beer Festival gold medal in 2018 for a Czech-style pilsner, DC Beer reported. The Tysons Corner Center location brewed beer on-site and offered tours in pre-pandemic times.

Photo via Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant

A new cafe could be coming to a former drive-thru United Bank at 7787 Leesburg Pike.

Applicant Mohamed Rafaei is seeking a permit from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to convert the first floor of the building (built in 1980) into a restaurant.

“The proposed sit-down restaurant will replace the first-floor financial institution,” a report on the project noted. “The proposed hours of operation for the restaurant are 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., 7 days a week. Approximately 4 employees and a maximum of 72 patrons are proposed.”

The application noted that the second floor of the building is currently an office, which would continue to be in use after the restaurant change. Given that the site is zoned for office buildings and hotels, a special exception is required for a restaurant use, but a staff report said the restaurant could support the surrounding offices and is “in harmony” with the Comprehensive Plan.

There was once a local Tysons establishment called Mint at 8346 Leesburg Pike, next to the former Tysons Biergarten, but it’s unclear if the two are related.

Photo via Google Maps

After several weeks in the mid 200 range, COVID-19 figures for Fairfax County swelled to over 400 new cases per week in mid-August.

While the data at the time showed cases continuing to trend downward, the window of COVID-19 diagnoses meant that the figures for the mid-August timeframe increased substantially in the following weeks. The week of Aug. 16 there were 434 new cases — the highest number of new cases per week since May.

While higher than the average, the number of new cases was still higher than the peak of 1,400 new cases the week of April 26. The weeks after August showed a substantial decline as well, to just 99 cases for the week of Aug. 30, the change to earlier weeks showed those figures could increase with time.

One of the highest densities of cases was the 22027 area code, which includes Dunn Loring and parts of Idlywood, but the zip code is small enough with a population of only 2,362 that a count of 71 confirmed cases was disproportionately high.

The other areas nearby had roughly 200 confirmed confirmed cases each except 22043, which includes Merrifield and parts of Tysons, which had 353 cases.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash, image via Fairfax County

A new $112 million bond referendum on the ballot this November could help finance a series of improvements to parks and recreational facilities around Tysons and McLean.

Several recreation centers around the County are slated for improvements and renovations as part of the bond, including extensive renovations at the Providence RECenter.

A report on RECenters from 2018 found that the Providence one, which was built in 1982, is not equipped to handle the growing need nearby. The facility is only 48,655 square feet, one of the smallest in the system despite having the second largest number of nearby residents served by the facility. The report recommended that Providence and three other RECenters be expanded to suit the climbing need.

The report notes that the Providence RECenter’s market is predominately older adults with a modest household income.

The bond could also finance upgrades to Ruckstuhl Park in Idylwood and McLean Central Park in McLean. The bond could also help advance design work at the long-awaited recreational additions to Salona Park in McLean.

Photo via Fairfax County

The Town of Vienna said it has investigated a pair of claims made online in late August about police harassment and said the events weren’t quite as sensational as they sounded on social media.

The town said in a press release that no formal complaint was submitted, but the claims were still investigated internally by the Vienna Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Unit.

“The claims posted on social media have been determined to be unfounded and, in large measure, inaccurate and untrue,” the police said.

The Town of Vienna provided a full review of the claims investigated:

According to the posted statement, the 20-year-old complainant said that he was detained without cause while walking home. He then claimed that he was transported in the back of a Vienna police vehicle to his home where a second officer also responded. There the two officers allegedly attempted to “pressure” the complainant’s mother into making false accusations against her son related to a broken wall in an attempt “to use that as a way to arrest me.”

In reality, and confirmed by the Fairfax County Public Safety Communications Department, the complainant called 911 on that date seeking police help related to a domestic incident involving his mother. In the recorded phone call, the complainant says that his mother is infringing on his constitutional rights. Vienna police did respond to this domestic disagreement related to room cleanliness and a hole in the wall that the complainant allegedly caused. Police mediated between the two parties and then left the residence. A review of in-car video shows that the complainant was not transported in the back of a Vienna police vehicle for any reason on that date.

As part of the investigation of alleged improper police conduct, Vienna detectives spoke with the mother briefly before her son ended the conversation and asked police to leave the home. When asked by investigators, she said that there was “no problem” with how officers responded to the June 25 incident. There were no issues, she said, and she was unclear why officers were following up on the incident. Investigators attempted to interview the complainant, but he declined to speak with officers.

After an extensive investigation, the Town of Vienna finds these allegations unfounded and the investigation is closed.

The second claim deals with a woman who said claimed she was interrogated by Vienna Police at Yeonas Park while eating lunch with her two adult children in her vehicle:

After an investigation, the Vienna Police Department finds the officer in this incident to be in compliance with normal police procedures, and no improper police conduct occurred.

In-car video shows that the Vienna officer’s conduct not only was appropriate but his interactions courteous and kind. The officer ran the vehicle’s tags because it was parked across three parking spaces at the Vienna Little League fields, which is posted as private property. When he did so, he learned that there was an outstanding Missouri warrant for the vehicle’s owner, who is the woman who posted the complaint; however, Missouri declined to request enforcement of the warrant due to the expense of transportation and nature of the criminal charge involved. The officer asked the woman to step out of her car so that he could discuss with her the warrant, including possible ways to address the situation, without disclosing it to her children. She was informed that she was free to use the adjoining Town of Vienna Park, which is open to the public.

The Vienna Police Department has attempted to contact the woman who posted the complaint; she has not responded to requests to be interviewed or to file a formal complaint.

Despite finding the two claims of harassment to be unfounded, the Town of Vienna said in the press release that if there are any complaints about a police officer’s behavior, they should be reported to the police department by calling 703-255-6366 or sending an email to [email protected]. Civil rights claims can also be filed with the Department of Justice.

“The Vienna Police Department takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and officers are expected to interact with all individuals, regardless of skin color, appropriately, respectfully, and, whenever possible, courteously,” the town said.

Photo via Facebook

The McLean Citizens Association would like a little more space between neighbors on corner lots.

Currently, homes built on corner lots fall under a special set of zoning parameters. While the zoning law says the home must be at least 25 feet from the front and side streets, homes can be built with as little as 12 feet between them and rear lots — though some in the MCA said there are lots with as little as 8 feet of distance.

The result are tiny back yards on homes built at an angle and very little space between the corner lot and their catty-corner neighbor.

In a resolution approved on Wednesday (Sept. 4), MCA calls for Fairfax County to change the regulations so the setback is at least 18 feet if at an angle or 25 feet if set squarely.

“In recent years redevelopers have increasingly been targeting corner lots in order to take advantage of Fairfax County’s unusual corner-lot rear setback requirement… by placing large houses with square footprints squarely onto corner lots, with only a rump ‘rear yard,'” the resolution said.

The resolution noted that the unique corner lot calculations mean homes on street corners can be 25 percent larger than interior lots within the same subdivision. The MCA said recent corner lot permits with inadequate setbacks have resulted in increased stormwater runoff, reduced natural light and reduced privacy.

It’s a problem county staff are aware of and have been making efforts to amend. As part of Fairfax County’s efforts to modernize its zoning regulations — called zMOD — the county has a section specifically about corner lot setbacks:

Corner lots need to provide the minimum front setback adjacent to both streets, but in the referenced districts, the rear setback can take the dimension of the side setback. For instance… a corner lot is required to provide a 35-foot front setback from the lot lines which abut each street, and a 15-foot setback from the lot lines which abut both adjoining lots, in lieu of providing a 25-foot setback from the rear lot line.

The zMOD document notes that in older residential areas experiencing redevelopment, older homes are being replaced with new homes that maximize the lot’s space, “leaving limited usable rear yard area.”

“Staff has received comments about this setback provision, noting that the additional lot width required for a corner lot as compared to an interior lot more than off-sets the additional front setback requirement,” staff said in the document. “The attached draft now requires that a 25-foot rear setback be provided.”

The MCA resolution also includes information about technical changes requested, like adjusting where the “front lot line” is located for the corner lots. But the resolution also encouraged Fairfax County to act more swiftly on the issue than the framework of the zMOD ordinance would indicate.

“County staff are aiming for public hearings in spring or summer of 2020 on the new Zoning Ordinance arising from zMOD, and effectiveness of the new ordinance is expected to follow enactment by an interval of some months,” the resolution said. “The MCA urges Fairfax County to enact and implement such reform by the end of the first quarter of 2020.”

Image via McLean Citizens Association

Three cafeterias in Tysons office buildings are being investigated as part of a Cyclosporiasis outbreak.

Since May 1, 2019 there have been 39 confirmed cases of Cyclosporiasis in Virginia, according to the Virginia Health Department.

According to a press release:

• Capital One Building at 1600 Capital One Drive
• Valo Park Building at 7950 Jones Branch Drive

Valo Park is home to the corporate headquarters of newspaper giant Gannett.

The source of the outbreak has not been found, but health officials warned that the illness could be contracted by consuming food contaminated with feces or stool that contains the parasite.

Symptoms can begin one week after exposure to the parasite, and typically include explosive diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, aching muscles, and a low-grade fever. Symptoms can last days or a month for some, but others can be a carrier of the parasite and experience no symptoms.