Each election cycle requires some tweaks to Fairfax County’s polling precincts, and 2023 will be no exception.
This year’s proposed revisions aren’t quite as intensive as 2022’s, which affected over half of the county’s precincts to account for redistricting changes. However, they’ll still have an impact on hundreds of voters in a year when nearly all key state and local offices will be on the ballot.
According to a staff memo, Tysons has grown enough to need two polling places. With the Tysons precinct now exceeding 5,000 registered voters, the county recommends splitting it up to create a new “Jones Branch” precinct.
The Jones Branch precinct will take over the existing polling place in the Providence Committee meeting room (7921 Jones Branch Road). Staff have proposed relocating the Tysons polling place to The PARC at Tysons (8508 Leesburg Pike), the county-owned events venue that replaced the Container Store.
“This building is well-situated in the Tysons precinct…and will accommodate the continued growth in this area,” staff said in the agenda for last week’s Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting.
It costs the county $23,865 to add a precinct, a price tag that covers voting equipment, election supplies and notices to affected voters. There’s also an annual cost of $4,800 per year to staff the new precinct with the election officers for at least two elections.
Also in the Providence District, the county suggests renaming the Oak Marr precinct to “Oaktree Crossing,” since the polling site is no longer in the Oak Marr Rec Center.
The polling place was relocated to the Oakton Library in March 2021 “to provide the 4,000 voters a more accessible voting location,” according to staff. The Oak Marr Rec Center now hosts a different, small precinct called Island Pond that was created after redistricting.
Nearby, the Difficult Run precinct in Oakton is permanently moving to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax (2709 Hunter Mill Road) after getting relocated there temporarily last year when its previous site became unavailable.
The church already has a polling place for the Oakton precinct, but it will have “separate voting rooms” for each precinct, per the staff memo.
The county is also considering moving the precinct Spindle #2 out of the Centreville Regional Library, where it’s currently co-located with Spindle #1. The polling place would be relocated to Bull Run Elementary School and renamed “Robinson Mill.”
Staff recommends the change after the county’s election team “reported that the library cannot logistically support colocated precincts” based on last November’s election.
Finally, the county intends to rename the Franconia #1 and #2 precincts as Edison #1 and #2, since they’re both located in Edison High School.
“This name change will avoid voter confusion resulting from the renaming of the magisterial district from Lee to Franconia,” staff said.
As authorized by the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 21, a public hearing on the proposed changes will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7.
Four Displaced by Two-Alarm Tysons House Fire — A malfunctioning water heater started a fire in the 200 block of Trailwood Court that resulted in approximately $175,000 in property damages, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says. After an initial dispatch at 3:52 a.m. last Thursday (Feb. 23), additional Fairfax County and Arlington units had to be called to the two-story house, but no injuries were reported. [FCFRD]
Maryland Contractor Plans Fairfax County Move — “Amentum Services, Inc., a leading provider of engineering and advanced solutions and services to the U.S. government, allies, and commercial companies, will invest $495,000 to relocate its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland.” Its operations will be consolidated at 4800 Westfields Blvd in Chantilly, a move expected to create 157 new jobs. [FCEDA]
New Child Care Center Coming to Lorton — Expected to start pre-enrollment this May, Brynmor Early Education & Preschool will occupy the historic, currently vacant buildings P1 and P3 at Liberty Market, a development on the former Lorton Prison campus. The new facility will start with 154 kids from 6 weeks to 5 years old and include a “5,500-square-foot, enclosed outdoor play area.” [On the MoVe]
Hunter Mill Supervisor Launches Reelection Bid — “Walter Alcorn officially announced Saturday that he was running for re-election as the Hunter Mill District’s representative on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors…No candidate has come forward yet to challenge Alcorn in either the Democratic Party Primary on June 20 or the general election in November.” [Patch]
Northern Virginia Teens Struggling With Mental Health — “A recently released report shows that youth in Northern Virginia have experienced high rates of clinical depression, anxiety and feelings of hopelessness or sadness. The report from The Community Foundation of Northern Virginia further found that one in 10 high school students in the region had seriously contemplated suicide in the past year.” [Inside NoVA]
What to Know About “Long Covid” — As Fairfax County nears three years since its first COVID-19 case was confirmed, the county’s health department has launched a webpage with information about the long-term health effects experienced by some who’ve contracted the disease. The department notes that “long Covid” can involve physical and mental symptoms that vary from person to person. [FCHD]
Reston Security Tech Company Gets New TSA Contract — “When you go through security lines at the airport, it’s probably technology developed by Reston, Virginia-based Leidos that’s scanning you. And the company just received a new government contract that might make the process less intrusive for some passengers.” [WTOP]
Broadway Star Gives Tips to Tysons Theater Students — “As Marshall High School’s Statesmen Theatre prepares for its spring musical ‘Xanadu,’ there was no one better to help than one of the musical’s Broadway stars. Kerry Butler, who has played roles in Broadway musical premieres like ‘Hairspray,’ ‘Xanadu,’ ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘Beetlejuice,’ visited the high school theater program on Feb. 17.” [Patch]
It’s Tuesday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 58 and low of 45. Sunrise at 6:44 am and sunset at 6:01 pm. [Weather.gov]
(Updated at 10 a.m. on 2/28/2023) The fatal police shooting of a man accused of shoplifting sunglasses at Tysons Corner Center last week has local civil rights groups questioning the Fairfax County Police Department’s commitment to enforcing its own policies.
The Fairfax County NAACP wants “an independent, transparent and comprehensive investigation” into the death of D.C. resident Timothy McCree Johnson, who was shot by officers on Wednesday (Feb. 22) during a foot chase that extended a quarter-mile from the Nordstrom where he allegedly stole a pair of designer sunglasses.
In a statement released this morning, the organization says the information shared so far about the incident suggests the shooting was unwarranted based on the FCPD’s own use-of-force policy.
“The tragic killing of Mr. Johnson reminds us once again how unjust America’s policing truly is,” Fairfax County NAACP President Michelle Leete said. “The facts as we know them signal that the officers’ actions were entirely out of step with FCPD’s Use of Force policy.”
The FCPD major crimes bureau is conducting a criminal investigation into incident, while the internal affairs bureau is tasked with leading an administrative investigation, which will be reviewed by the county’s independent police auditor.
The NAACP has set up a Gofundme to help Johnson’s family with funeral expenses.
Effective as of Aug. 12, 2022, FCPD’s policy says deadly force “shall not be used to apprehend a fleeing misdemeanant (unless they pose an imminent threat of serious physical harm or death to the officer or others).”
Notably, the parenthetical is a revision from the prior use-of-force policy that was in place in 2021.
It allows deadly force to be used to apprehend a fleeing person if certain conditions are met:
- The officer has probable cause to believe that the individual committed a felony involving violence, and
- All other means to effect an arrest have been exhausted, and
- The felon’s escape poses a significant threat of serious injury or death to the officer or others.
(Correction: This article previously cited the FCPD’s 2021 use-of-force policy as the current one but has now been corrected to reflect the most recent update.)
“Suspicion of stealing a few pairs of sunglasses without the use or possession of a weapon do not satisfy any — much less all — of [the policy’s] requirements,” the NAACP said. “Whether or not Mr. Johnson was guilty of a crime, he had the right to due process, and for the sanctity of his life to be respected by police officers to the maximum extent possible.”
The NAACP says the police department should release “unedited camera footage” of the Tysons incident, a medical examiner’s report, and the officers’ identities and complaint histories.
FCPD policies dictate that the names of officers involved in a shooting be made public within 10 days and that body-worn camera footage be released within 30 days.
Known as General Order 540, the use-of-force policy is next set to be reviewed in August 2025.
“Our policies set the standards and expectations for all our officers’ actions and help guide the department’s training curriculum,” FCPD Public Affairs Bureau Director Katherine Hayek said. “A key part of our department’s proactive strategy is our continual review and update of all our policies. We do this to ensure we are incorporating national best-practices and feedback.” Read More
The overhaul of the Nutley Street and I-66 interchange is nearing completion, promising an end to the unpredictability that has characterized trips near the Vienna Metro station over the past three years.
Two new roundabouts at the interchange are scheduled to open tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, the Virginia Department of Transportation recently announced, cautioning drivers to yield to traffic in the loops when entering.
“As part of this traffic pattern change, the temporary traffic signals allowing left turns from the ramps from I-66 West to Nutley Street South and from I-66 East to Nutley Street North will be removed,” VDOT said. “Drivers will instead use the roundabouts to make these movements onto Nutley Street. This is the permanent routing for these movements.”
Drivers in the area are no strangers to changing traffic patterns, but this time, the new arrangement is mostly here to stay.
Traveling from I-66 East to Nutley Street North
- Drivers traveling from I-66 East to northbound Nutley Street will take Exit 62 to Nutley Street North and stay to the left on the ramp. They will yield to southbound traffic, then use the roundabout to join northbound Nutley Street toward Vienna.
Traveling from I-66 West to Nutley Street South
- Drivers traveling from I-66 West to southbound Nutley Street will take Exit 62B to Nutley Street South and stay to the left on the ramp. They will yield to northbound traffic, then use the roundabout to join southbound Nutley Street toward Fairfax.
One temporary condition will still be in place. Drivers going from Nutley Street North to I-66 West and from Nutley South to I-66 East must use one of the new roundabouts to access the exit ramps.
“This is a temporary configuration for these movements while ‘bypass’ lanes are completed that will give direct access from Nutley Street North to I-66 West and from Nutley Street South to I-66 East without entering the roundabouts,” VDOT said.
The bypass lanes are expected to open late this spring.
The interchange reconfiguration is part of the Transform 66 Outside the Beltway project, which added 22.5 miles of new toll lanes on the interstate from the Capital Beltway in Dunn Loring to Gainesville.
Under construction since 2020, the new design for the Nutley Street interchange will be safer and more efficient for vehicles and pedestrians, according to VDOT.
A new grade-separated shared-use path will also be added. It will link to other pedestrian improvements planned around the Vienna Metro station as well as a multipurpose path proposed on the west side of Nutley into the Town of Vienna.
Passenger in Annandale Truck Crash Dies — The 27-year-old passenger of a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado that crashed into a tree and light pole by Little River Turnpike near John Marr Drive on Jan. 27 died at a hospital from his injuries last Tuesday (Feb. 21). The 29-year-old driver may face additional charges after already being charged with driving under the influence and without a license. [FCPD]
Government Center Affordable Housing Approved — Last week, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Residences at Government Center II plan and $14 million in funding. The development will consist of two mid-rise residential buildings with 279 units for those earning between 30 and 70% of the area median income, along with a childcare center and urban park. [Fairfax County]
School Board Asks for Annual Pedestrian Safety Review — “On Thursday night, the School Board unanimously voted to seek an annual School Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Assessment Program from the superintendent…The annual review will examine schools with the most pressing road safety needs, safety mitigation measures, timelines to implement improvements, and updates on past mitigation projects.” [Patch]
Great Falls Delegate Won’t Seek Reelection — “Virginia Del. Kathleen Murphy of McLean announced Friday she will not run for re-election this fall after being placed into the same district as a fellow Democratic delegate…Shortly after Murphy’s announcement, Sullivan issued a news release stating that he would run for re-election in that district in the fall.” [Inside NoVA]
School Board Adopts Advertised Budget — The Fairfax County School Board adopted the FY 2024 Advertised Budget on Thursday. Totaling $3.5 billion, the budget highlights include $2 million to add more pre-K classrooms, free access to middle school athletic programs, and $6 million to develop strategies for closing the literacy achievement gap. [FCPS]
Annandale to Appear on PBS Show Next Week — “If You Lived Here” will air an episode on Annandale on Monday, March 6 after recently visiting Vienna. In addition to touring local homes, the episode will feature the Artisans United collective, a second-generation Korean-American restaurateur, and the sports memorabilia and comics shop Collector’s World. [Annandale Today]
Construction Progresses on Springfield Garage — “Construction on track to be completed in Fall 2023. This commuter garage will provide more options for Connector riders. And the pedestrian bridge over Old Keene Mill Rd. will provide access to bus stops and connect Springfield Plaza to the garage.” [Fairfax Connector/Twitter]
Legislative Deal May Tighten Regulation of Dominion Energy — “Virginia lawmakers have reached a tentative bipartisan agreement to bring the state’s biggest utility…under tighter regulatory oversight — reversing years of actions that loosened the reins over the powerful company.” The proposal would increase the frequency of SCC rate reviews and require 85% of “over-earnings” be refunded to customers, among other provisions. [The Washington Post]
Unbuilt McLean Home Tops D.C. Area Real Estate Listings — A vacant, 5-acre McLean property at 7020 Green Oak Drive hit the market Friday (Feb. 24) for $50 million. The planned, 30,000-square-foot mansion will have six bedrooms, 10 full baths, 10 half-baths and amenities that include a rooftop putting green, a crystal champagne room, a bowling alley, swimming pools, a full-sized sports arena, and a disco pub with a full bar and cigar room. [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Monday — Rain in the evening and overnight. High of 48 and low of 35. Sunrise at 6:45 am and sunset at 6:00 pm. [Weather.gov]
(Updated at 2:05 p.m. on 2/28/2023) The food, beer and throwback tunes will flow when Yard House opens its doors at Tysons Galleria this weekend.
The American sports bar chain will open on the mall’s second level, near Crate & Barrell, on Sunday (Feb. 26) — slightly later than previously anticipated.
The 14,236-square-foot restaurant will have an outdoor patio, a bar with 130 taps of craft and import beers, and a glass-enclosed keg room that can hold up to 4,000 gallons of beer.
“Yard House is all about bringing people together over great beer and food paired with an awesome classic rock playlist,” Yard House said in a statement. “We’re excited to finally open our doors and welcome the Tysons Galleria and the McLean community in to experience our energetic vibe.”
Owned by Darden Restaurants, Yard House has over 80 locations in the U.S. The Tysons restaurant is the fourth in the D.C. area, joining locations at Springfield Town Center, D.C.’s Chinatown and Gaithersburg, Maryland.
The operating hours will be 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m.-11:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to Tysons Galleria. Curbside pickups and online deliveries are also available at varying hours.
“Guests can toast to happy hour Monday-Friday from 3-6 p.m. featuring half-price appetizers and $1-$4 off beer, wine and cocktails,” Yard House said.
The menu has over 100 items, including burgers, pizza, tacos, steak, seafood and a variety of salads and desserts. The Nashville-style hot chicken and poke nachos are among the most popular dishes, according to Yard House.
Tysons Galleria has been busy with openings recently, welcoming the movie theater CMX CinéBistro in late January and the restaurant Jiwa Singapura just last week. All three tenants are located in the renovated wing that once belonged to Macy’s.
Still to come to the mall this year is a Dior clothing store, which is slated to open in June.
(Updated at 9:50 a.m. on 3/1/2023) The College Board’s much-debated course on African American identity and history will be available in several Fairfax County high schools this fall as part of a pilot program.
While the state scrutinizes the course, Fairfax County Public Schools plans to offer Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies at the following schools in the next school year, which will begin on Aug. 21:
- Chantilly HS
- Fairfax HS
- Hayfield HS
- McLean HS
- South County
- Westfield HS
- West Potomac HS
- Woodson HS
The course’s availability at each school is “pending student interest/enrollment,” FCPS says.
(Correction: FFXnow was initially told that Centreville High School would be among three schools participating in the pilot, but FCPS says the school won’t be offering the course this coming year.)
According to FCPS, the participating schools “self-selected” for the pilot “based on student and teacher interest.” Principals filled out an interest form sent out by the College Board, which launched the pilot at 60 schools last fall after spending over a decade developing the course.
“FCPS supports offering students multiple opportunities to achieve their academic goals and pursue their academic interests,” an FCPS spokesperson said. “College Board AP courses offer students the opportunity to take nationally recognized curricula with potential college credit, which is why we sought this opportunity for our students.”
A nonprofit focused on access to higher education, the College Board oversees the SAT as well as the AP Program, which provides college-level courses that high school students can take to earn college credits.
The organization released an official framework for its new African American Studies course on Feb. 1, days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state rejected the course as “indoctrination” for its inclusion of LGBTQ studies, the Movement for Black Lives and other topics.
The document has drawn criticism from some educators and advocacy organizations for shifting away from subjects and texts in Florida’s complaint. The College Board has denied letting the state influence the curriculum, though it said it independently chose to remove terms like “intersectionality” that are often “misunderstood, misrepresented, and co-opted as political weapons.”
Virginia is one of four states reviewing the course. Gov. Glenn Youngkin has directed Education Secretary Aimee Rogstad Guidera to see if the course violates his executive order prohibiting “inherently divisive concepts” in public schools, spokesperson Macaulay Porter said.
The order defines divisive concepts as ideas that suggest an individual can be racist or sexist based on their identity or bears responsibility for past oppression, citing “critical race theory” as an example even though the academic theory views racism as a structural issue, rather than an individual one.
Five Fairfax County School Board members, including chair and at-large member Rachna Sizemore-Heizer, sent a letter to Youngkin and Guidera on Tuesday (Feb. 21) urging them “not to impede the teaching” of the AP course.
Also signed by Stella Pekarksy (Sully), Melanie Meren (Hunter Mill), Karl Frisch (Providence) and Laura Jane Cohen (Springfield), the letter says the review continues “an alarming pattern of disregard for the academic needs” of Virginia students after last year’s cancellation of a Black History Month Historical Markers contest for students and proposed changes to history and social studies standards of learning.
“As the entry point for the first enslaved Africans in the colonies and home to the nation’s first Black governor, Virginia has been the backdrop for vital pieces of African-American history,” the school board members wrote. “We have a moral obligation to teach our students about both the darkest times from our past and the inspiring progress we have made as a country.”
One school board member not among the signatories told FFXnow she agrees Youngkin’s administration should support the course, but most board members got the letter less than 24 hours before it was sent to the state, giving them little time to review it and offer feedback.
Notably absent are the board’s two Black members: at-large representative Karen Keys-Gamarra and Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson.
In a joint statement to FFXnow, Keys-Gamarra and Anderson said their decision to refrain from signing “has nothing to do with our lack of support for the course” or their colleagues’ concerns about the state potentially interfering.
“Rather, we believe we could have benefitted from intentional collaboration with our Board colleagues, other Northern Virginia school boards, and organizations engaged in education work to present a more robust and impactful argument,” they said.
They said the letter lacked “essential historical context that would emphasize the extent of the crisis currently impacting K-12 public education,” including Virginia’s history as the base of the Confederacy and Jim Crow laws that segregated schools.
They also suggested the letter should’ve acknowledged that prohibiting the AP course would affect all students, not just African American and Black students.
“Restricting access to this history, places Virginia students at a distinct competitive disadvantage as their lack of knowledge could impede their ability to excel at the college level and beyond,” Keys-Gamarra and Anderson wrote.
It’s unclear if Virginia can actually bar schools from offering African American Studies, since AP courses are chosen by local school districts, not the state Board of Education. The College Board’s pilot is set to expand this fall and continue through 2024.
An alleged attempt to shoplift a pair of designer sunglasses from Tysons Corner Center’s Nordstrom ended in a fatal police shooting on Wednesday (Feb. 22).
The man shot and killed by two police officers near a mall parking lot that evening was D.C. resident Timothy McCree Johnson, the Fairfax County Police Department reported yesterday (Thursday). He was 37 years old.
According to the department, officers in its Tysons Urban Team went to Nordstrom around 6:30 p.m. after getting a report of a theft.
“Asset protection reported a man was concealing designer sunglasses,” the FCPD said. “An officer observed the man exiting the store near a parking garage. As he exited the store, an anti-theft alarm was activated as he fled.”
As Police Chief Kevin Davis indicated in an initial briefing that night, two officers chased Johnson through the garage, across a parking lot and into a wooded area, where they both fired their guns and hit him once in the chest.
Johnson was transported to a hospital, where he died.
The FCPD says the officers “gave [Johnson verbal] commands to get on the ground.” The officers were both assigned to the Tysons Urban Team, one as a uniformed officer and the other in plainclothes.
One of the officers has been with the department for seven years and the other for eight, according to the FCPD, which says their names will be released within 10 days.
“As per department policy, the officers have been placed on restricted duty status, pending the outcome of the criminal and administrative investigation,” police said.
Criminal and administrative investigations into the use of force are underway. Davis said on Wednesday that police were searching the scene for potential evidence, including any weapon that may have been discarded, but the press release doesn’t indicate whether anything was found.
Davis said the man shot by police was “well known” to local law enforcement in the D.C. region and had “a violent criminal history.”
However, Johnson’s mother has disputed that characterization, telling the Washington Post that he “was trying to get on the right track” after landing in custody for a parole violation. She described him as a father of two, “a loving person” and an artist who planned to go to barber school.
Melissa Johnson told the Post that she believes her son was unarmed when police shot him.
There are no cases involving a Timothy McCree Johnson in Fairfax County General District Court records.
A search of D.C. courts turns up a record for a 2017 civil wrongful death lawsuit involving a defendant with the same name. Stemming from a fatal vehicle crash, the complaint was dismissed after two months.
A federal district court in D.C. also convicted a Timothy McCrae Walker — who was apparently also known as Timothy McCree Johnson — in 2006 on felony gun charges.
The FCPD didn’t immediately respond to FFXnow’s comment request seeking to confirm whether Johnson was the person in those cases.
The Virginia State Police is seeking the public’s help to identify a driver who died after crashing an allegedly stolen car into a cement wall on the I-495 Express Lanes near I-66 this morning (Friday).
The black 2018 Maserati Quattroporte sedan was headed “the wrong way at an excessive rate of speed” when it hit the cement jersey wall in the northbound express lanes at Exit 49 at 4:30 a.m., police said.
“The impact of the crash caused the vehicle to immediately catch fire,” VSP said. “The driver did not survive the crash and the body is being transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Manassas for autopsy, examination and positive identification.”
The driver was the only occupant of the sedan, which had been reported stolen in Prince George’s County, according to police.
The state police asks anyone who might’ve seen the Maserati driving south in the northbound toll lanes before the crash or who has information on the driver’s potential identity to call 703-803-0026 or email [email protected].
D.C. Area Sees Record High Temperatures — “It’s official: Thursday is Washington’s warmest Feb. 23 on record and one of the toastiest afternoons so early in the year. The high temperature at Reagan National Airport hit 81 degrees, breaking the previous record of 78 degrees set on Feb. 23, 1874…The high was 80 degrees at Dulles, surpassing the previous record of 77 degrees on Feb. 23, 2017.” [Capital Weather Gang]
Dulles Toll Road Ramp to Close Overnight in Tysons — “The ramp from eastbound Dulles Toll Road/Airport Access Road (Route 267) to northbound I-495 (Capital Beltway) is scheduled to close during overnight hours beginning on or about this Friday night, Feb. 24 through early morning, Monday, March 12. This ramp closure is necessary for crews to demolish the eastern section of the bridge from northbound I-495 to eastbound Dulles Toll Road” [VDOT]
Man Arrested for Assault in Herndon — “A Herndon man was arrested for assault on Saturday in connection with an altercation that occurred at a residence in the 600 block of Dulles Park Court, according to the weekly crime report.” The 26-year-old man has been charged with “aggravated assault (strangulation), abduction, preventing a call to emergency services, and assault.” [Patch]
State Bill Expands Alcohol Permits at Dulles Airport — “The legislative tweak, which extends mixed-beverage carrier licenses to financial institutions…will allow McLean-based Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) to serve more than cranberry juice, soda and tea when it opens its long-awaited lounge at Dulles International Airport later this year, and, later, its Capital One Landing at Reagan National Airport.” [Washington Business Journal]
Tysons Old Navy Gets New Home — “Get a jump start on your spring wardrobe and celebrate the grand opening of Old Navy’s NEW location at Tysons Corner Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 10AM. The first 100 visitors will receive a free tote bag and the first 200 visitors will receive $15 off a $75 purchase!” [Tysons Corner Center/Facebook]
Stray Guinea Pigs Found at Lorton Park — “A person was walking their dogs at the Laurel Hill Equestrian Center when they saw a ‘tiny black and white animal.’ After searching through the thorny blackberry bushes for nearly an hour, they caught 14 guinea pigs, according to Fairfax County Animal Shelter.” [ABC7]
Metro Proposes Design Change for New Trains — “Metro is exploring a drastic change to its upcoming new 8000-series trains: an open gangway. Open gangway trains have no doors between cars, allowing riders to freely move through parts of or the entire length of the train. It can improve train capacity, and provide more space for people who use wheelchairs and people with bikes, strollers, or luggage.” [DCist]
Local Companies Make “Best Places to Work” List — “Twenty-eight Fairfax County-headquartered companies placed on Virginia Business magazine’s 13th annual Best Places to Work list. In all, 41 of the 100 companies on the list have a presence in Fairfax County.” Herndon’s SmartEdge IT LLC topped the small employers list, while Fairfax-based MBP came in second for large employers. [FCEDA]
Vacant Annandale Bank Building Draws Interest — “There is ‘lots of interest’ in two vacant spaces in the former Bank of America building at 7220 Columbia Pike in Annandale, says real estate agent Michael Falcone of Century 21 Commercial New Millenium…Falcone says businesses that have expressed interest in the building include a grocery market, banks, cafés, bakeries, and an aerial aerobics company.” [Annandale Today]
It’s Friday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 68 and low of 41. Sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 5:57 pm. [Weather.gov]
