A fatal hit-and-run crash forced the Falls Church section of westbound Lee Highway at Graham Road to closed for hours last night (Wednesday).
Fairfax County police officers responded to the 7300 block of Lee Highway before 10 p.m. An adult woman was pronounced dead at the scene. No description of the suspect vehicle has been released yet.
All of westbound Route 29 was closed in the surrounding area, leading to delays as traffic was diverted onto Graham Road, according to an emergency traffic alert from Fairfax County.
Lee Highway reopened around 4 a.m. today, but the Fairfax County Police Department says detectives with its crash reconstruction unit are still investigating the crash, which involved a pedestrian.
Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit are continuing to investigative this fatal hit and run crash involving a pedestrian. Lee Hwy is now open. Updates will be posted to our blog, https://t.co/lhGv3NDvYs, when available.https://t.co/3xQVbAwcod
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) January 28, 2021
Broad and Washington Project Unanimously Approved — “A major mixed use development project at the City of Falls Church’s central intersection of Washington and Broad Streets (Rts. 29 and 7) to feature a huge new Whole Foods grocery was approved unanimously by the F.C. City Council Monday night.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Bloomingdale’s to Experiment with Downsized Store at Mosaic District — “The retailer’s small-format concept, dubbed Bloomie’s, is set to open this fall in Virginia’s Mosaic District shopping complex, reported FN’s sister publication WWD. It’s expected to span roughly 22,000 square feet — a departure from the chain’s average department store size, which measures about 200,000 square feet.” [Footwear News, Mosaic District/Twitter]
Virginia Extends COVID-19 Restrictions Through February — Gov. Ralph Northam has extended mask requirements and restrictions on social gatherings through the end of February. He also announced that the state will get a greater supply of vaccine and addressed questions about a gap between doses distributed and doses administered in a news conference on Wednesday. [Patch]
First Responders Flash Lights for Kids at Inova Children’s Hospital — “Tonight, we were honored to participate in a “flashlight salute” at @InovaHealth Children’s Hospital along with @DLVFRD and @FairfaxCountyPD. We turned on our emergency lights and shined our flashlights at the kids and they returned the favor!” [Vienna Volunteer Fire Department/Twitter]
Virginia Makes COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards Permanent — “The new regulations, approved last week by Gov. Ralph Northam, require all employers in the state to provide personal protective equipment when workers can’t physically distance, close or control access to common areas like lunchrooms, develop safe “return to work” plans for workers recovering from COVID-19, and regularly clean areas with heavy foot traffic, among other measures. Employees who interact with the public must wear masks.” [DCist]
Photo via Vienna Volunteer Fire Department/Twitter
Vaping has reversed years of incremental progress in Fairfax County Public Schools in the number of students who report being drug-free, according to a report from the school system.
“The slow improvement FCPS had shown over the last several years on the drug-free youth metric ended during SY 2019-20 due to increased numbers of students who reported vaping,” the report said.
Over the last couple of years, vaping has emerged as the drug of choice among students in schools across the United States. Experts and school leaders have labeled it an “epidemic,” and studies have found that it is easy to access, targeted toward teens, and highly addictive.
In FCPS, one-third of middle and high school students reported alcohol and drug usage for the 2019-20 school year. The drug-free metric FCPS uses has not moved too much in recent years, but the uptick in vaping led to a “dramatic dip” for the 2019-20 school year, when 11% of students reported that they vaped, but did not use other drugs or drink alcohol.
The rapid downward trend due to vaping “requires direct and swift action to counteract, especially given the negative health impacts that have been associated with vaping,” the report said. It concluded that more funding may be needed to address the root causes of vaping.
FCPS included vaping in its drug-free metric for the first time for the 2018-19 reporting year. At the time, the report said, vaping did not have much of an impact — students who reported vaping also reported drinking or using other drugs.
Last year, the 11% of students who vape moved the needle 2 percentage points. When vaping is added in, the percentage of students who are drug-free drops from 79% to about 77%.
During the 2020 school year, 11.2% of students reported vaping while not using alcohol or other drugs. Broken down by grade level, 9% of eighth-graders, slightly more than 12% of sophomores and 12.5% of seniors reported vaping only.
Vaping appears to have also led to an increase in drug-related suspensions. Through March 2020, the number of students with suspensions for drug and alcohol offenses was 448, an increase of 6 percentage points when compared to the 2018-19 school year — 424 offenses through March 2019.
The report found that Asian and Black students were more likely to be alcohol and drug-free than Hispanic or white students.
In its report, FCPS concluded that its current interventions may not be enough to lessen vaping and other kinds of drug and alcohol use among students overall. The report said it is unclear whether any of FCPS’s traditional interventions would have specifically impacted vaping rates.
For example, substance abuse specialists were “likely managing students with more serious drug abuse issues,” the report said. Further, the “enhanced access to middle school health lessons would likely have had only an indirect or low-level impact on vaping.”
Photo via Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Eating outdoors may not sound especially appealing when temperatures are hovering in the 30 to 40-degree range, but that is exactly what some local restaurants are urging patrons to do so they have a chance of outlasting a grueling winter.
With COVID-19 still limiting people’s ability and willingness to dine inside, Caboose Brewing Company, which runs Caboose Tavern in Vienna and Caboose Commons in Merrifield, joined forces with Reston’s Lake Anne Brew House in December to launch the #BundleUp campaign.
The grassroots initiative encourages customers to don blankets and winter clothing so they can eat and drink outside. It is open to all restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, and other food establishments, though the organizers are not keeping a tally of everyone who’s participating.
“A lot of people feel safer when they’re outside with people, so I think it’s catching on,” Caboose Events and Marketing Manager Courtney Beazell said. “It’s getting the response that we wanted. We’re hoping that more people will continue to promote it and continue to use it.”
Over the campaign’s two months of existence, it has evolved to include a “collaboration brew” that Caboose is offering to other restaurants and bars, along with a Bundle Up bike ride.
According to Beazell, Lake Anne Brew House owner Melissa Romano proposed developing a brew to spread the word about the Bundle Up campaign. Caboose was already planning to sell a “Wee Heavy” scotch ale for the winter before realizing that the new brew would be a perfect fit for the campaign.
The brewery started canning the ale on Jan. 5, producing 36 cases to sell to restaurants, breweries, and bottle shops. Wee Heavy is also available to customers on tap at Caboose Tavern.
Caboose sold out its supply, with buyers coming from across Northern Virginia and even as far away as Richmond, but the recipe is available on the company’s website for any breweries still interested in participating.
Caboose Brewing Company owner Jennifer McLaughlin says the collaboration brew has helped create a sense of community within Fairfax County’s craft beer industry.
“We’re all in this together, and everybody’s suffering right now,” McLaughlin said. “Just knowing that there are other restaurants and breweries out there that are going through the same thing and that you’ve got friends out there going through the same thing, that helps.” Read More
Fairfax County employees are now prohibited from providing information about a person’s immigration or citizenship status to federal immigration authorities unless required by law or court order.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to adopt the new Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy yesterday (Tuesday) as part of a board matter introduced by Chairman Jeff McKay, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, and Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik.
While Fairfax County has long maintained that it does not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless mandated, McKay, Foust, and Palchik say the need to turn those guidelines into a formal policy has been heightened the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected local Latino communities in particular.
“While there are no known instances of General County employees voluntarily sharing information about a resident’s immigration status, such policies are no doubt critical steps forward in building community trust and transparency,” the board matter said. “They also help quell fear in our community and ensure everyone feels comfortable getting the assistance they need from local government.”
The immigrant rights groups ACLU People Power Fairfax and CASA hailed the trust policy as “a major victory” after a four-year campaign urging Fairfax County to bar agencies from voluntarily disclosing information to ICE.
Advocates have argued that information-sharing with ICE can undermine public safety, as fear of detention or deportation discourages immigrants from reporting crimes, seeking medical attention, going to school, accessing basic needs assistance, and utilizing other critical local government services.
CASA says Fairfax County’s new policy is the first of its kind in Virginia.
“For four years, we have marched, spoken out and stood up for our rights as immigrants, and now we can finally breathe easier,” Luis Aguilar, CASA’s Virginia state director, said. “We are grateful for the leadership of Chairman McKay and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, who stood strongly in support of immigrant families by voting through this critical county policy change.” Read More
F45 Training is moving into the Mosaic District.
Construction is currently underway on the boutique, high-intensity gym franchise’s latest site at 2980 District Ave., which is currently home to the education center Kumon and expects to also add the Japanese barbeque restaurant Gyu-shige soon.
Husband-and-wife owners Kerri Palmer and Earl Pinto decided to bring F45 to the Mosaic District after trying out the franchise’s site at The Boro.
F45’s approach to workouts appealed to both of them, which Palmer says is a rarity, and they thought it would be a good fit for the Mosaic District based on the other businesses in the development and the number of residents and visitors it attracts.
“I think that the Mosaic District is magical, and I actually think it’s going to be one of the best territories that F45 will have,” Palmer said. “…Our business is one that has a great energy and a great vibe to it, and I think Mosaic District aligns with that as well.”
Palmer says F45’s functional training classes differ from other gyms because the workouts continually change, rather than relying on the same routines and equipment.
“It’s really engaging, and it challenges your body in different ways than the traditional gym would challenge your body,” she said.
Acknowledging that some people might be skeptical of a gym opening during a pandemic, Palmer expressed confidence in F45’s COVID-19 protocols. Studios across the franchise are placed at five tiers that range from all-virtual to fully open depending on the public health situation of their individual locations.
F45 Mosaic will determine what approach to take once it gets closer to opening.
While the process of establishing the business has taken longer than anticipated, Palmer says their landlord and contractor, as well as Fairfax County staff have been supportive as she and Pinto have navigated unfamiliar territory.
This is their first attempt at starting a business together. Palmer works in the banking industry, while Pinto has a government job.
Palmer and Pinto have been documenting the construction process with regular updates on the F45 Mosaic Facebook and Instagram pages.
The current plan is to hold a soft opening for F45 Mosaic in May and a grand opening in June, “as long as everything continues to meet the timelines we have, and we’re very optimistic that will happen,” Palmer said.
Photo courtesy F45
David Rohrer, deputy county executive for public safety, will take over as interim police chief for the Fairfax County Police Chief on Feb. 1.
The appointment was made by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) as Edwin Roessler, the current police chief, retires next month.
It isn’t the first time Rohrer has worked for the Fairfax County Police Department. From July 2004 to October 2012, Rohrer served as the first-ever deputy county executive for public safety.
He jumpstarted his career in 1980 as a patrol officer in Fairfax County. During his 32-year tenure, he worked his way up to several ranks of the department as captain, major, and deputy police chief.
In a statement, Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill said he expects the transition to be “seamless.“
“I work closely with Deputy County Executive Rohrer on a daily basis and I could not be more confident in his ability to see the Police Department through this period while we search for a new chief,” he said.
As the deputy county executive for public safety, Rohrer currently oversees the police, Fire and Rescue Department, the Department of Public Safety Communications, the Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Animal Sheltering, and the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center.
Meanwhile, a nationwide search is underway to select the next new police chief. The county is working with POLIHIRE to conduct the search. A community survey to identify key skills, characteristics, and traits for the new hire is open through Saturday (Jan. 30).
Photo via Fairfax County Government
Fairfax County Expects COVID-19 Vaccine Supply to Remain Limited Until March — The county health department has vaccinated approximately 35,200 people since late December, but the current waitlist has more than 156,000 residents. The pace of incoming doses is not expected to increase until March due to changes in the state’s allocation procedures. [Fairfax County Health Department]
Representatives Request Mass Vaccination Site for NoVA — “Representatives Gerald Connolly, Don Beyer, and Jennifer Wexton, who are all Democrats, sent a joint letter Tuesday to Robert Fenton, FEMA’s acting administrator, requesting that Northern Virginia be selected as the location of one of the 100 community mass vaccination sites that the Biden administration has proposed creating throughout the country as part of its effort to combat the covid pandemic.” [Washingtonian]
Verizon Outage Disrupts Remote Learning for Students — A cut fiber cable in Brooklyn took out Google, Slack, Amazon, and other sites for many Verizon customers on the East Coast, including in the D.C. area. Fairfax County Public Schools acknowledged that the issue might prevent students from logging into their online classes. [Washington Post, FCPS/Twitter]
Lidl Eyes May Opening for Merrifield Plaza Store — Updated at 11:05 a.m. — The grocery store chain announced that it would move into a space previously occupied by Office Depot last June. The $5 million renovation is happening in conjunction with a facelift for the entire shopping plaza. [Greater Merrifield Business Association]
McLean Contractor Lands $87 Million Deal with Navy — “McLean-based defense contractor Alion Science and Technology Corp. announced Monday it has received an $87 million task order to help the Naval Surface Warfare Center develop a vertical launching system and training equipment for the naval base in Port Hueneme, California.” [Virginia Business]
Staff Photo by Jay Westcott
Electric vehicles can now get their batteries recharged at Idylwood Plaza.
Property owner Federal Realty Investment Trust announced yesterday (Monday) that the Falls Church shopping center on Leesburg Pike has joined Tesla’s Supercharger network, which encompasses more than 2,000 electric vehicle charging sites around the world.
Eight individual charging stations have been installed in the Idylwood Plaza parking lot near Tara Thai. It is Federal Realty’s first Northern Virginia property to be outfitted with Tesla’s charging infrastructure and its fourth in the U.S., according to a press release from the real estate company.
“We are excited to host Tesla charging stations at Idylwood Plaza”, Federal Realty Vice President of Asset Management Deirdre Johnson said. “The addition of the Tesla chargers further enhances the variety of options available for EV drivers at Federal properties along Route 7, which includes EVGO at Pike 7 [Plaza] and the Volta charging stations that are becoming available at Falls Plaza later this year.”
Other Tesla Supercharger sites in Fairfax County include the Vienna Wawa, the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, and Springfield Town Center. Another site on Route 123 in the City of Fairfax is currently projected to open in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The Tysons area’s network of electric vehicle chargers is also expected to expand this year with a station at Tysons Corner Center from the Volkswagen subsidiary Electrify America.
Photo courtesy Federal Realty
(Updated at 11:55 p.m.) More than 100 people have signed up to compete in Virginia’s inaugural Smart City Challenge, and organizers expect more to join in the coming weeks.
The proceedings kicked off on Saturday (Jan. 23) with remarks from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and panel discussions on how technology could be used to address societal challenges, from COVID-19 and natural disasters to the availability of healthy food and efficiency of traffic lights.
The month-long competition will conclude on Feb. 18 when participants pitch projects designed to improve modern communities by tackling issues in housing, transportation, health, education, and other sectors.
People can also register for virtual discussions on topics like female leaders in innovation and the future of housing, even if they are not taking part in the competition.
“I can’t wait to see the impactful solutions that come out of the Smart City Challenge,” Northam said. “In fact, I hope we can implement some of them right here in our Commonwealth to create high-paying jobs and advance equitable and inclusive opportunities for all Virginians.”
Spearheaded by the nonprofit accelerator Smart City Works and McLean coworking hub Refraction, the 2021 Smart City Challenge is part of Virginia’s efforts to position itself as a leader in the development of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and other kinds of “smart” technology.
According to Refraction CEO Esther Lee, who briefly served as Virginia’s commerce secretary under Northam, Virginia Tech’s plans to build an innovation campus in Alexandria helped draw Amazon to Northern Virginia.
In addition, the Herndon-based Center for Innovative Technology has teamed up with Stafford County to establish a Smart Community Testbed that Northam says will enable Virginia to deploy technology ranging from wildfire-detecting sensors to a WiFi-equipped park in Fredericksburg.
Given the amount of construction and traffic in the area, Tysons could be another prime location to experiment with smart technology, particularly when it comes to climate and energy efficiency issues, MITRE Labs Senior Vice President, General Manager, and Chief Futurist Charles Clancy says.
Headquartered in McLean, MITRE is a sponsor of the Smart City Challenge, along with Fairfax County, Dominion Energy, and several other local governments, businesses, and educational institutions. The company will host a discussion about resilence and sustainability on Feb. 12, and Clancy spoke on one of the panels for the kick-off.
“How can smart city technology…further reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions, particularly in an environment where, post-pandemic, we expect upwards of 50% of employees to not be in the office every day, all day?” Clancy said. “…Tysons is a great playground to experiment with that, given the density of office space and, of course, mixed-use [development]. It’s a microcosm of all those issues in one.” Read More
