FBI HQ Search Almost Holds Up Bill to Fund Federal Government — “The biggest hold-up to releasing the text on Monday came, instead, from a dispute among Democrats…related to the location of the FBIs new headquarters.” Senators clashed over whether to add language that would favor Maryland in the site selection process or to stick with guidelines that would give Virginia an edge. [Politico]
Sushi Takeout Coming to Inova — Hissho Sushi Inc. “will launch five franchise locations at Inova Health System hospitals, including Inova Fairfax Hospital, where it applied in November to open a carryout only location serving more than 100 prepared meals a day, according to Fairfax County permit data. The first of the five is set to open next month at Inova’s Gallows Road campus” [Washington Business Journal]
Turnout Low in 35th District Race — “Turnout has been low during the early voting period in Fairfax County, Virginia, as voters choose a candidate to replace Mark Keam, the longtime Democratic state delegate who resigned in September…Early voting started Nov. 23; Election Day is Jan. 10.” [WTOP]
Fundraiser Helps Daycare Director After Fort Belvoir Area Crash — “Gianna Grizmala, the director at the Northern Virginia Academy of Early Learning in Landsdown was the recent recipient of a new car after hers was totaled by a driver running a red light near the intersection of Telegraph Road and Beulah Street in Virginia, courtesy of a GoFundMe campaign that was launched on her behalf.” [Daily Voice]
Sheriff Who Died From Covid Gets Mortgage Paid Off — “The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has fully paid off the mortgage on the home of fallen Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Frederick Henry Cameron Jr. as part of its annual Season of Hope Campaign. Sgt. ‘Butch’ Cameron died from complications as the result of contracting COVID-19 while on duty at the Fairfax County Judicial Center.” [WUSA9]
Local Students Graduate From Public Health Program — “The Fairfax County Health Department, together with Edu-Futuro and Stronger2, honored 14 Fairfax County high school students as the inaugural graduates of the Public Health Youth Ambassador Program. The educational and empowerment program connects local high school students from communities of color with public health careers.” [FCHD]
Weigh in on Use of Covid Relief Funds for Homeless Services — The Consolidated Community Funding Advisory Committee (CCFAC) will hold a virtual public hearing on Jan. 10, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. to get input on Fairfax County’s proposed HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)-American Rescue Plan (ARP) allocation plan. The county got $7.88 million “from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address homelessness assistance and supportive services.” [Housing and Community Development]
It’s Wednesday — Clear throughout the day. High of 41 and low of 28. Sunrise at 7:25 am and sunset at 4:51 pm. [Weather.gov]
There will be kebabs galore at the Mosaic District in Merrifield this afternoon.
Kirby Club, a new restaurant concept from the owners of Compass Rose and Maydān in D.C., will open its doors at 4 p.m. today, as first reported by Washingtonian.
Serving up eastern Mediterranean food, with a particular focus on kebabs, the restaurant is at 2911 District Avenue in the spot formerly occupied by Jinya Ramen Bar, which moved to a larger space a couple of doors down this summer.
“Kirby is the gathering, a celebration,” co-owner Rose Previte said. “It’s the joy of community and family and a sense of belonging. It’s our healing after Covid. We lost it for a long time and now that we have it back we crave and cherish the joy that coming together brings us.”
Kirby Club is the first Virginia location for Previte and fellow owner Mike Schuster, who developed the concept with co-founder and partner Mayu Horie. The team also includes Chef Omar Hegazi, whose previous work includes a tenure as sous chef at Bourbon Steak in D.C.’s Four Seasons hotel.
Initially called Tawle after the Arabic word for “table,” the concept was renamed to avoid confusion with Maydān’s “tawle” menu and pay tribute to a Lebanese American social club that Previte’s grandparents started in Akron, Ohio, in 1933.
According to a press release, Previte’s grandparents wanted to name the club after their home village of Kherbet Khanafar in Lebanon, but they figured it might be a handful to pronounce, leading to “Kirby Club” as a nickname.
“The club was created to preserve culture while fully embracing life in America,” the press release said. “Wherever the gathering, food was at the center, bonding old and new, heritage and new generations to foods made anew with American twists and local ingredients.”
Here’s more from the press release on Kirby Club’s food and drink offerings:
The menu revolves around kebabs, a universal love language shared across multiple countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. At the heart of the menu are Chef Hegazi’s Kebabs including Dukka Shrimp marinated in sesame, hibiscus, coriander and Chicken Shish Taouk with garlic, cumin and fenugreek. Guests can opt for a Kebab Shindig, a full-blown kebab party with one of each kebab plus dips and spreads like Havuc, a seasonal carrot dip with garlic and lemon, or Bessara made of fava beans, tahina and cilantro. To share or split, there are Picnic Platters such as the Beef Rib with cumin, allspice, Aleppo pepper, pomegranate, pickles, sweet & spicy harissa, as well as a wide range of shareable starters like Falafel, fava beans, parsley, coriander, sumac onions, bread, pink tahina.
To complement the food, house-crafted cocktails include the Wanderer of WANA made with tequila, orange blossom, mango, lime, sumac-Aleppo salt; and large-format cocktails including Camellia Kirby made with gin, apricot tea, campari +vermouth.
The restaurant will be open from 4-10 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Other recent arrivals at the Mosaic District include Neuhaus Belgian Chocolate and Junction Bistro and Bar, which both opened this past fall.
Fairfax County is poised to halve Fairfax Connector fares for low-income riders, beginning in February, through a pilot program.
The Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP) is a state grant initiative that aims to increase transit ridership. Reduced fares would only apply to individuals whose annual income is at or below 225% of the federal poverty level by household size. That would put the eligibility cap around $29,000 for an individual or $59,625 for a family of four.
The state awarded the county roughly $5.5 million for a three-year pilot program, which includes a county share of $4.2 million.
But at a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ transportation committee meeting last week, staff and board members concurred that permanently cutting fares for the bus system was not a financially prudent decision and could impact quality of service.
Instead, staff recommended continuing the county’s existing free fare programs, including free student bus passes and reduced fares for seniors and passengers with disabilities. Other programs include free transfers to and from WMATA bus and rail service and free rides for children under 4.
Staff also recommended expanding free fare to children between ages 5 and 11 with a paying adult.
Board Chairman Jeff McKay said that he supported the recommendation.
“I do think if we were to go full fare free, I am worried out about our capacity issues to be able to accommodate and degradation of service that may come as a result of that,” he said.
However, he said he was concerned that only up to two children could be eligible for free fares when traveling with a parent or guardian, asking the county to examine removing that cap.
Fairfax County Director of Transportation Tom Biesadny said his department would gladly look into the issue — which has remain untouched since the service began.
Bus fare reductions and eliminations have gained momentum in the D.C. region, as local leaders look to encourage the use of transit after ridership tumbled due to the pandemic. D.C. will waive Metrobus fares starting July 1, and Alexandria’s DASH system has been fare-free since fall 2021, though the operating costs may not be sustainable long-term.
John Zarbo of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation noted that while free fares would provide equitable access, increase ridership and cut fare collection cost, the possible repercussions were more severe.
Consequences include the loss of roughly $9 million in yearly ridership revenue, an increase in non-destination riders that could lead to security issues, and possible Title VI civil rights concerns on the impact of free fares to non-economically disadvantaged riders.
Staff also noted that the county would lose data specific to riders or fare categories because of the lack of a fare box, and the program could result in an inequitable benefit to county riders with only Metrobus options.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said she hopes the county will continue to find ways to invest in the program.
“We’re building lifelong riders,” she said.
When Fairfax County Public Schools resumes classes in January, students and staff may once again be required to wear face masks — but only around students with disabilities who request the accommodation.
Virginia settled a lawsuit last week with parents of 12 immunocompromised students who argued that the end of Covid-related face mask requirements in schools violated their right to a free, appropriate public education.
As part of the settlement, the state agreed that, if requested by a parent, schools must allow “some amount of required masking as a reasonable modification” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Virginia Department of Education was directed to send guidance on “peer masking” to the schools attended by students in the lawsuit, including Stenwood Elementary School in Dunn Loring.
“The health and well-being of our students and staff remain a top priority. FCPS is aware of this settlement and is currently assessing how it impacts operations,” FCPS said in a statement.
The settlement only directly applies to the specific schools attended by the plaintiffs’ kids, who have asthma, cystic fibrosis and other conditions that put them at high risk of getting severely sick if they contract COVID-19.
However, when announcing the settlement on Dec. 12, the ACLU of Virginia — one of several organizations representing the parents — expressed hope that it will signal to other schools that they should consider requiring masks when needed for students with disabilities as well.
“We’re hopeful that every school in Virginia will view this settlement as a sign that they should make similar accommodations for their students, even if they are not part of the case,” ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Eden Heilman said.
The complaint was filed in federal court in Charlottesville on Feb. 1, shortly after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order making masks optional in schools took effect.
FCPS and six other school districts sued Youngkin in an effort to block the order, arguing that universal masking was still necessary as the country was just starting to exit the biggest surge in COVID-19 cases of the pandemic.
That lawsuit was rendered moot once a bill requiring schools to allow parents to opt their kids out of wearing a mask became law on Feb. 16. FCPS made masks optional on March 1, though the school board filed a brief supporting the families who sued.
Acknowledging an initial court ruling from March, the settlement says the state law and executive order don’t prohibit schools from considering and fulfilling mask requirement requests to accommodate students with disabilities.
Under the agreement, schools are expected to look at alternatives, such as ventilation improvements or social distancing, before requiring masks. They must also “take every reasonable step” to ensure a student whose parents don’t want them to wear a mask doesn’t have to.
The settlement also required the state to pay $295,000 to cover the suing parents’ legal fees.
“This settlement is a step toward righting a wrong,” Tasha Nelson, one of the parents, said. “Children like mine should not be told they cannot participate safely in school or that they have to be segregated. They have a right to the same education as every other child. As adults, it’s our responsibility to make sure that we include everyone in our decisions and come up with solutions that provide equity in school.”
While Covid cases haven’t gotten close to last winter’s levels, they have been climbing over the past few weeks, with the Fairfax Health District averaging 260.3 cases per day for the preceding week, as of yesterday (Monday).
FCPS has reported a total of 5,969 cases among students and staff since this school year began on Aug. 22 — exceeding the 3,669 cases seen over the same time frame in 2021. Students are now on winter break until Jan. 3.
Photo via Mika Baumeister/Unsplash
Explosion Reported at Navy Federal Building in Vienna — “Units responded 800 blk of Follins Ln SE, Vienna for reports of an explosion. A mechanical issue w/ fire protection system resulted in buildup of pressure causing moderate damage to several floors. No injuries.” [FCFRD/Twitter]
County Library Sees More than 10 Million Book Checkouts — “For the seventh year in a row, Fairfax County Public Library has ranked among a handful of public libraries with more than 2 million digital checkouts for the year, and the library is on track to record just over 10 million loans overall for 2022. But what do those loans look like?” [FCPL]
Dead Man Found in Fairfax Portable Toilet — “The body of a deceased man was found early Saturday morning in a portable toilet behind the Sherwin-Williams and CVS in the Westfair Shopping Center, a City of Fairfax Police spokeswoman confirmed on Monday.” Police said no foul play was suspected. [Patch]
Brace for Coldest Christmas in Decades — “An explosive storm system is slated to develop in the Washington area late in the workweek, bringing a combination of wind and cold to create the coldest Christmas holiday in several decades…The Washington area is primarily in the warm sector of the storm, which will limit wintry weather but mean plenty of rain.” [The Washington Post]
Woodlawn Is Getting a Dunkin’ Donuts — “Construction has begun on a next-generation Dunkin’ restaurant at Woodlawn Shopping Center. Slated to open in the first quarter of 2023, the establishment will feature several new features and technologies designed to improve the customer experience, according to a Dunkin’ spokesperson.” [On the MoVe]
Local Giant Pharmacies Offer Flu Testing — Giant Food now has on-site testing for the flu and strep throat, available to people 3 and older, at its pharmacies in Springfield and Reston. The chain said “it is the first grocery retail pharmacy in the region to offer flu and strep throat testing to customers.” [Patch]
Virginia Could Look at NFL Stadium Again — “The Washington Commanders may yet be welcome in Virginia, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has proposed spending $500,000 to study ways to encourage the NFL franchise to build a stadium in the state after lawmakers rebuffed the team earlier this year.” [The Washington Post]
Top Oakton Student Athlete’s Number Retired — “One of the most well-known athletes in the history of the Flint Hill School was at the Oakton campus Dec. 16…A 1987 graduate of the private high school, now-Atlanta resident Dennis Scott returned for a ceremony to retire his basketball jersey No. 24 for a second time.” [Sun Gazette]
It’s Tuesday — Clear throughout the day. High of 39 and low of 27. Sunrise at 7:24 am and sunset at 4:51 pm. [Weather.gov]
Winter is coming, and with temperatures projected to top out in the 30s and low 40s next week, staying warm will soon become even more of a challenge for many Fairfax County residents.
To help those in need get through the season, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik’s office will launch a winter clothes drive today (Monday), collecting coats, gloves and hats of all sizes for donation to local shelters.
New and gently used items are being accepted until Jan. 19 at the Providence District Office (3001 Vaden Drive), which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. A flyer says additional drop-off locations will be shared, but as of press time, the office was still waiting to confirm the other sites, including one at Tysons Corner Center.
“Holding donation drives is an opportunity for people to get involved and give back to the community,” Palchik said in an emailed statement. “What some may deem as a small donation is a big help to those in need. The collected winter gear will be donated not only to our unsheltered community members but also those who may not be able to afford them.”
For the drive, Palchik’s office has teamed up with the Providence Community Center, local homeowners’ associations, and the Tysons Community Alliance, which was formed in October to replace the Tysons Partnership as a nonprofit organization that advocates for the area and guides its evolution.
Recipients of the winter clothing donations will include The Lamb Center, a shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness located on the border of Oakton and Fairfax, and Tysons-based Second Story, which focuses on helping kids, teens and families.
While this drive will support Providence District residents, including Tysons, Oakton, Merrifield and the area around Fairfax, the North County Government Center will host a final drop-off date for Reston’s annual Winter Coat Closet on Jan. 14.
Photo via Eli Pluma/Unsplash
Tysons Corner Center at night (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Contrary to some reports on Twitter, there were no gunshots at Tysons Corner Center last night, Fairfax County police confirmed.
Officers with the Tysons Urban Team did take two people into custody at the mall as part of an investigation into a robbery in Arlington County, the department said.
The FCPD said that it was working with the Arlington Police Department on the case and had located three suspects at Tysons Corner Center. Two of the suspects were taken into custody, and a firearm was recovered, but no shots were fired.
“The investigation continues. One suspect outstanding. No outstanding threat to the mall or community,” police said.
A handful of tweets from around 8 p.m. yesterday say that “everyone” in the mall started running, mentioning a possible active shooter and stores going into lockdown.
According to the Washington Post, the robbery suspects ran when officers arrived, which may have triggered a fire alarm, but no evacuation was ordered. Neither of the suspects was holding a gun when they were detained.
The FCPD didn’t immediately respond to FFXnow’s inquiry seeking to confirm the Post’s reporting.
Gun-related anxieties have been high at Tysons Corner Center since three shots were fired on June 18, triggered a panicked evacuation. The suspect in that incident was indicted in September.
The mall was also evacuated on Aug. 7 after the sound of a light fixture shattering was mistaken for gunfire.
Tonight, our TUT officers located three suspects involved in a robbery in Arlington. No shots were fired. Two suspects taken into custody and a firearm was recovered. The investigation continues. One suspect outstanding. No outstanding threat to the mall or community.
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 19, 2022
was inside Tysons Corner and saw a crowd running towards the exit, so told my husband that we should just leave. as we exit the garage, they announced to evacuate the mall immediately. we saw this outside Macy’s. don’t know what’s happening but stay safe! pic.twitter.com/t4ZKdZGTGg
— marj (@marjanneco) December 19, 2022
Tysons Arrest Leads to Retail Theft Ring Bust — “With some great information from our partners at Nordstrom and Bloomingdales, officers assigned to our Tysons Urban Team were able to make apprehension. At the time of the arrest, the woman had a booster bag containing over $3,700 in stolen sunglasses…The group is linked to prior thefts over the previous several days of over $25,000 in merchandise in the DC Metropolitan area.” [FCPD/Facebook]
Possible Shots Fired in Herndon — “Town of Herndon Police responded early Thursday afternoon for the report of possible shots being fired in the 300 block of Elden Street, according to a 1:17 p.m. post to the department’s official Twitter account. Police reported that one subject was detained at the scene and there were no victims.” [Patch]
Fast-Casual Health Food Restaurant Gets Fairfax Ribbon-Cutting — “Fairfax City is Roots Natural Kitchen’s 12th location, which was chosen due to its proximity to George Mason University and access to the larger Washington, D.C. area, according to Caballero…Although Friday was the official ribbon-cutting, the restaurant has been open for about two weeks.” [Patch]
Belle Haven House Goes All Out on Christmas Decor — “Over 250,000 lights. Three hundred plastic blow molds. Twelve fully decorated artificial Christmas trees. More than 100 inflatable holiday decorations ranging in size from 2 feet to 15 feet…That’s what it takes for Kurt Farmer to transform his Alexandria home into Farmer’s Christmas House.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]
Some Social Media Apps Banned for State Employees — “Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin banned the use of TikTok, WeChat and other ‘Chinese-owned mobile phone applications and websites on state government technology’ on Friday. The ban applies to all executive offices and executive branch agencies.” [NBC4]
Author Discusses Opioid Epidemic in Tysons — “[Beth] Macy spoke on Tuesday night at a book signing event hosted by Bards Alley Bookshop at 1st Stage theater in Tysons. Macy’s newest book is Raising Lazarus, a sequel to her 2018 book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America, on which a Hulu limited series is based.” [Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office]
Anti-Drunk Driving Initiative Launches — “The Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s SoberRide initiative is now in operation for the holiday season, and will remain available through Jan. 1. The effort teams with Lyft to provide free rides home to those who may have had too much to drink during the holiday season. It will be operational nightly from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Local Volunteers Honored by County — “Fairfax County recently announced the winners of its 2022 Environmental Excellence Awards, and both honorees in the ‘Individual County Resident’ category are from around the Richmond Highway corridor.” The honorees were a longtime Hollin Hills Civic Association chair and a senior student at West Potomac High School. [On the MoVe]
It’s Monday — Clear throughout the day. High of 37 and low of 27. Sunrise at 7:24 am and sunset at 4:50 pm. [Weather.gov]
With winter on the horizon, Fairfax County is still racing to suck up the last leafy vestiges of autumn.
Specifically, the county’s crews have yet to pick up leaves in McLean and Idylwood, as a combination of staffing shortages, equipment issues and an early leaf fall have delayed collections, the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services acknowledged yesterday.
The county will deploy multiple trucks and has hired an additional contractor to collect leaves in both areas on Monday (Dec. 19), a deviation from its typical approach of serving each of its nine collection areas separately.
“By dividing resources, it will take additional time to complete each area,” DPWES said. “Service in both remaining areas will begin concurrently. Vacuum collection staff have been working 10-hour shifts and most Saturdays and will continue to do so.”
About 25,000 residents receive leaf collection services from the county, all of them concentrated on the east side, especially the Mason District. Pickups have been completed in areas three through nine.
Public works services nationwide have been affected by a depletion of truck drivers and other essential employees. Fairfax County had to make some tweaks to its yard waste collections last fall due to a shortage of haulers, and trash pickups continue to be a struggle.
DPWES says it doesn’t have “a mechanism in place” allowing residents to get their leaf collection taxes refunded, but they can opt out of county services by petitioning the Board of Supervisors to “de-create” their vacuum leaf district.
According to the county website, the petition process to create or expand sanitary districts reopened on Dec. 1, but with DPWES apparently at full staff and equipment capacity, the department plans to use private contractors for any additional service areas.
When new development comes up for review in Fairfax County, one of the first questions often asked is “how will this impact vehicle traffic?”
A proposed shift in Fairfax County’s analysis could change that and put more emphasis on alternative modes of transportation.
A new approach cagily named “Additional Measures of Effectiveness” could rework the way the county evaluates the transportation piece of new development. The bottom line could be less emphasis on car traffic and more on infrastructure for bicycles, buses, pedestrians and more.
“Measures of effectiveness are quantitative measures that gauge performance of some level of effectiveness in transportation planning,” Gregg Steverson, deputy director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, told the Board of Supervisors’ transportation committee on Tuesday (Dec. 13).
Currently, the county mainly measures the level of service — how much traffic roadways can support — and the amount of vehicle delay and queuing expected. But Steverson said that focus keeps cars at the forefront of transportation development.
“Our roadway and network changes get codified in terms of ‘what will this do to traffic’ instead of ‘how will this impact bike usage’ or ‘what’s our access to transit going to be’ or ‘do pedestrians feel safe walking here,’” Steverson said. “As such, a lot of our recommendations center on road widening, which, in activity centers, means widening them beyond what is necessary given the multi-modal area.”
Steverson said if the county wants to become more multimodal and make bus, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic as viable as cars, it needs to update its measures of effectiveness to match that. That could mean transportation analyses for new developments specifically for pedestrians, bicycles and transit.
“We’re looking to have analysis be just as multimodal in nature as our county is striving to be,” Steverson said. “This is not a change in policy. This is a strategy to take those existing policies and develop an analysis to mirror those policies.”
This shift wouldn’t apply universally. The presentation noted that the county is broken up into “tiers” of similar land uses, with different modes of transportation emphasized in different areas. For example, the type of bicycle and transit-focused development might be more heavily emphasized in Tysons’ urban environment, but not as much in low-density, residential neighborhoods.
The revision is still in its formative stages, with more meetings and presentations scheduled throughout the first half of 2023. Steverson said staff still has to talk to the Virginia Department of Transportation to get “buy-in” on the idea and do outreach to advocacy and citizen groups.
Steverson said staff also has to sort through what the right amount of measurements are, saying that adding too many variables could overburden developers and overcomplicate the county’s development process.
While there are still significant details to be ironed out, the transportation committee expressed enthusiasm for the idea.
“I think we definitely need to be moving on this,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said. “This has come up in a number of different forums over the last few years: the need for other measures of effectiveness for the transportation system. I do encourage staff to continue thinking more about where various other measures of effectiveness would be appropriate and what those might be.”
