If you are in need of a job, training or an upgrade in careers, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) may have what you’re looking for.

The FCEDA is offering a Hiring and Reskilling Virtual Career Fair on Thursday, Oct. 8, from 1-4 p.m., and more than 20 companies hiring for thousands of jobs in Northern Virginia are involved. Participation in the online event will be free after jobseekers register online.

The event is the third virtual career fair sponsored by the FCEDA this year. The previous two events drew over 800 attendees each, according to the organization.

FCEDA’s virtual fair is an active attempt to help workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The economic effects of the pandemic continue to be felt particularly hard among our residents in industry sectors such as hospitality, transportation and restaurants, so I am grateful that the FCEDA is working to reach those workers,” Jeffrey C. McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a press release. “This is a great way to make sure that all of our residents have access to open jobs and opportunities to gain new skills.”

The fair is open to people of all levels of experience. Open positions will include a variety of jobs and industries, and not all will require a college degree. Some participating organizations will offer candidates opportunities to train and be placed in tech careers for free.

Among the companies and organizations seeking job candidates or job training programs are:

• Amazon
• Walmart
• Wegmans
• Cox Communications
• Fairbrook Hotels
• George Mason University’s Continuing and Professional Education Division
• Marymount University
• Navy Federal Credit Union
• The Northern Virginia Building Industry Association
• Revature
• Securitas
• Smoothstack

The event will allow participants to view companies in a virtual lobby, view open positions, talk with human resources representatives and engage in video conferencing.

“The FCEDA is proud to present the Hiring and Reskilling Virtual Career Fair,” Victor Hoskins, president and CEO of the FCEDA, wrote in a press release. “We thank the companies that will be interviewing candidates at the fair and the organizations that offer reskilling and upskilling programs. Many people are in need of jobs because of layoffs at this unprecedented time. Each person hired saves a household. We at the FCEDA are here to help.”

Photo by Bruce Mars/Unsplash

Tysons Library Name Dropped in Restauranteur Memoir — “He mentioned Albert Camus’s ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ — he remembers reading it as a teenager at the library in Tysons Corner, Va, where he grew up…” [New York Times]

Capital One Center Wegmans Slated for Early November Opening — “The Wegmans location at the Capital One Center campus in Tysons is slated to open on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 9 a.m.” [Patch]

Fairfax County Outlines Online Car Tax Payment — “Avoid the lines October 1-5! Pay your car taxes online. See all ways to pay including online, by mail, by phone, in person or drop off.” [Fairfax County]

Tysons-based MicroStrategy CEO Defends Choice to Invest in Bitcoin — “Before the Covid-19 crisis, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company had about $500 million mostly invested in short-term U.S. government securities. Saylor began to question that conventional strategy when yields tumbled in the wake of the pandemic. ” [Bloomberg]

As Deirdre Johnson and Maurice “Mo” B. Springer join the Board of Directors at ArtsFairfax, they join an organization in the middle of transforming to adapt to the art scene changing to survive the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ArtsFairfax, founded in 1964 as a nonprofit supporting local arts and artists, is embroiled in an overhaul of its programming to support a community reeling from the health and financial impact of COVID-19. All funding has been reallocated to emergency relief and raising funds for grants to local artists. With the pandemic leaving many businesses closed, the organization has also started to look at more opportunities to use empty storefronts as temporary art centers.

Johnson, the vice president and asset manager of Federal Realty Investment Trust, has worked in real estate since 1992. Johnson pointed to the McLean Project for the Arts moving into 1446 Chain Bridge Road, a strip mall, as an example of how ArtsFairfax can adapt to utilize existing, vacant spaces.

“A more recent example is Traveling Players space in Tysons Corner Center which opened before COVID,” Johnson said. “From the mall’s perspective, TPE is attracting customers – teens and their families – and they are activating an unused space. Both of these are interim uses, and the term impacts the type of use. We have also seen pop-up/weekend uses for art exhibits and theatre performances.”

Johnson also highlighted the symbiotic nature of art and local businesses.

“For Federal Realty, art has never been more important than it is today for shopping centers,” Johnson said. “Integrating art, design and performance touches people’s lives, increases educational opportunities and provides economic impact. Vacant spaces are a fabulous opportunity to showcase art right in the heart of a community which is its neighborhood shopping center.”

Springer is the President and CEO at Cardinal Insurance and Financial Inc., where he provides expertise in insurance and retirement options for his customers. Springer said the recovery from the pandemic has shown that ArtsFairfax can adapt and change as the situation requires.

“I don’t view ArtsFairfax as a static and myopic organization and as such I see the recovery from the pandemic given the initiatives in place particularly the strategies focused on engaging the community and the artist at large as a demonstration of the agility of the organization to satisfy the insatiable need of the arts community,” Springer said. “Its online programs, fund raising efforts to support the arts and the institution of viable programs to accommodate and support the new normal artist are facing are benefactors coming out of [COVID-19].” Read More

The Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said his overworked, understaffed office is in a state of crisis, which could have deep ramifications for public safety.

“Potentially innocent people could be wrongfully convicted, or guilty people could be left on the street, making our community more vulnerable,” he told the Board of Supervisors in a meeting on Tuesday.

The short-term solution he proposed involves hiring 20 staff for about $2 million. He said this would ensure the office does not fall behind when felony trials resume in November, after being postponed since March due to the coronavirus. The 20 staff would not be enough, for example, to handle the influx of  potential evidence that would need independent review if every police officer starts wearing a body camera.

To ramp up the number of cases his office can prosecute thoroughly and ethically, Descano said he needs 137 attorneys and support staff, which would cost $19.1 million.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors said they were surprised to hear Descano’s claim of unethical prosecutions and were experiencing a case of “sticker shock,” said Supervisor James R. Walkinshaw, of Braddock District.

“I think we’re all in a state of shock here,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey C. McKay said.

A plan would need to be developed to address how these changes would impact other areas of law enforcement and justice, including the police department and the Fairfax County Attorney’s office, he said.

“While it is an emergency, we cannot respond to it like an emergency,” McKay said.

Supervisor John Foust, the Dranesville District Representative, told Descano: “You’ve found the problem, but I’m not sure you’ve identified the solution.”

The Office of the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney prosecutes crimes that occur in Fairfax County and felonies that occur in Fairfax City and the towns of Herndon and Vienna. It tries cases in the county’s district and circuit courts, as well as the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court. The office works closely with state, county and local police departments.

But over the course of the year, Descano said he has had to cut back the number and scope of cases his office can prosecute.

The issue is a lack of state and local funding. Fairfax — the biggest jurisdiction in the state — receives less state funding in part because it tries to divert defendants from the criminal justice system. The state funds positions based on the number of defendants who make it to court and the number who are sentenced, Descano said.

He says local funding is low compared to surrounding jurisdictions, which spend up to four times what Fairfax County spends.

“A resident of Fairfax County can spend more on a gallon of milk than on the prosecution of crimes,” he said.

The ratio of officers to prosecutors is also imbalanced: For every prosecutor, there are 33 sworn officers making arrests, meaning prosecutors cannot keep up with the rate of arrests.

“We don’t have the time to do the cases properly,” he said. “The only way to give us more time is to add more staff. The reason we need this is without time, bad things can happen.”

These “bad things” include focusing on getting dockets cleared and farming out independent reviews of evidence to police officers.

“In essence, there were officers making case decisions as if they were attorneys, without the independent review of attorneys,” he said. “We like to think that has never happened in Fairfax County, but I’ve seen evidence that that has happened.”

Supervisor Pat Herrity, the Springfield District Representative, said he needs an executive session to be shown where the ethical issues are.

“I had not heard that before this issue came up and I think we ought to peel the onion on that skin a little bit,” he said.

Deputy County Executive David Rohrer, a former police chief for Fairfax County, defended previous commonwealth’s attorneys as well as the police department.

“I only observed the highest integrity and ethics in their staff,” he said.

Tyson’s based startup HomeValet is gearing up to find a solution to the “last yard” of contactless delivery.

After the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for contactless delivery, HomeValet’s Co-Founder and COO Jack Simms said the company’s temperature-controlled “smart-box” is the future of delivery.

HomeValet’s Smart box which is slated to go to market “later this fall” Simms said. The product is a box where anything from groceries to gadgets purchased online can be delivered. People can make purchases and manage delivers with their app, having a contactless experience with their delivery

“The future of grocery was already getting interesting when we started HomeValet,” Simms said in a statement. “This crisis, however, has dramatically accelerated the need and demand for immediate ‘last-yard’ solutions. So, while our work has not necessarily changed, we believe it’s become more important.”

While Simms said his company was working on the box before the pandemic, the demand for such an item is there. Because of social distancing concerns, many food delivery services have offered “contactless delivery” where costumers pay in advance and the delivery driver drops the food off at the front door, rather than directly handing it to the customer.

Simms said the pandemic has created a sense of urgency within his company. While his co-founder John Simms, filed the original patent years ago, the pandemic has rapidly changed consumer habits and has sped-up their timeline, pushing them to go to market sooner.

“What has been interesting about the pandemic for us however is that we have seen consumer needs transform overnight at an accelerated pace,” Simms said. “The consumer habits we predicted when ideating HomeValet and expected to grow over time, are now firmly embedded in consumers’ daily lives from contactless delivery to grocery delivery and disinfection.

On Sept. 15 HomeValet announced the acquisition of Envolve Engineering LLC, an engineering firm based in Indiana. In a press release, HomeValet said the engineering company’s knowledge of the supply chain will allow the Tysons-based startup to better scale-up production.

Image via HomeValet

Police arrested, and then released on bond, former Thoreau Middle School Principal Yusef Azimi after police say he failed to report complaints of suspected child abuse.

The investigation into the failure to report complaints to either child protective services or police spun out of the investigation into Matthew Snell, who was arrested last year on charges of sexually abusing a student.

“As a result of an investigation involving former teacher Matthew Snell, Detectives confirmed that complaints of suspected child abuse were reported to Thoreau Middle School Principal, Yusef Azimi in Oct. 2019,” police said. “However, the complaints were not subsequently reported to CPS or the police, as required by law. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Azimi, 41, of McLean, with failure to report suspected child abuse.”

Police said Azimi turned himself in Wednesday afternoon at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, where the warrant was served. Azimi was released with a $3,000 unsecured bond.

The Thoreau Middle School website indicated that Azimi is no longer principal at the school, replaced with interim Principal Sharamaine Williams

“This arrest is the culmination of an exhaustive investigation into Snell which lasted nearly 12 months, included approximately 30 interviews and 24 search warrants,” police said. “If you suspect a child may be a victim of abuse you are asked to call our Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800, option 4.”

Police said tips can also be submitted anonymously by phone via 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or by text, typing FCCS plus the tip to 847411. Tips can also be submitted online. Tipsters are eligible for cash rewards of $100 to $1,000 if the information leads to an arrest.

Fairfax County Child Protective services can also be contacted at Fairfax County Child Protective Services (CPS) Hotline 703-324-7400.

Photo via Fairfax County Police Department

A month after opening Bansari Indian Cuisine (2750 Gallows Road) in Merrifield, Yash Bhatt picked up the phone.

It was Tim Carman, a food critic for The Washington Post.

He had been ordering takeout from the new Punjabi-style restaurant, enjoyed the food, and was writing a review.

“We had no clue,” Bhatt said. “We were serving him like a normal customer.”

His favorable review, published last week, buoyed the team.

“You feel that sense of pride when, not knowingly, you were doing the right thing the whole time,” he said.

The reward came after months of work and new obstacles caused by the shutdown. With regulatory agencies reachable only by mail or email, obtaining permits was slow going, but Bhatt “can’t complain.”

News of the restaurant is spreading. Outdoor dining fills up quickly, but people are skittish to eat indoors, he said.

The small team he has is “going crazy” trying to keep up, but Bhatt said “it is exciting to hear the phone ring all the time.” Bhatt wonders if it’s time to hire more wait staff.

The restaurant used to be Punjabi by Nature, but the owners wanted out of the business, Bhatt said. His wife Nirali and head chef Deepak Sarin, who used to cook for Punjabi by Nature, became co-owners in June. The space was closed for renovations and opened in mid-July. Read More

In a presentation to the School Board earlier this week, Superintendent Scott Brabrand announced that some students could begin returning to classes in schools in late October.

By late October, administrators estimate that 653 teachers can teach 6,707 students in school buildings for anywhere between one half-day to four full days a week.

The district is targeting students who receive special education services, attend preschool, are English-language learners, newcomers to U.S. schools or have limited formal education. High school students can also come for certain technical-education courses.

The move was heavily criticized by members of the School Board, who said Brabrand’s plan lacked important data that parents and teachers need when planning to start heading back to school.

Fairfax County Public Schools must now wait until a formal grievance process has concluded to impose discipline against students and employees found to have committed sexual harassment or assault.

With three members abstaining and one not present, the Fairfax County School Board voted 7-1 on Sept. 17 to amend the FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities book, which contains the district’s student conduct policies, to specify that discipline in Title IX cases cannot be dealt until the completion of the grievance process, including any appeals.

The board also agreed to discuss its new sexual harassment regulations further at a future work session to potentially bolster protections for both people who file complaints and those subject to the discipline process.

Necessitated by new federal rules regarding Title IX cases, which concern sexual and gender-based discrimination, the Student Rights and Responsibilities amendment is an extension of a new district regulation that dictates how Fairfax County schools will handle sexual harassment complaints.

Effective as of Aug. 26, Regulation 2118 establishes a separate process for reporting, responding to, and resolving sexual harassment complaints than the one used for other offenses, such as drug use and even sexual misconduct that does not meet the definition of harassment.

Where other potential student conduct violations are generally addressed by school principals, formal complaints of sexual harassment will be reviewed by Title IX investigators in the FCPS Office of Equity and Employee Relations, and hearing officers under the superintendent are now responsible for determining whether a complaint is founded and what discipline to impose.

All appeals go to the school board’s appeals committee except for an appeal of a complaint’s dismissal, which would be heard by the district’s deputy assistant superintendent. Read More

McLean Automotive Service Center (1387 Chain Bridge Road) is a beloved local landmark of old town McLean, having been around since 1953. Now, the shop has transitioned into a Craftsman Auto Care, the latest in a local franchise of auto shops.

Just as so many car owners have trusted their vehicles to the shop, owners James and John Justice said in a press release they are turning the brick and mortar establishment over to Matt Curry, owner of Craftsman Auto Care.

“I’ve seen how Matt operates and how he treats his customers and employees, and I’d like that for my business,” James Justice said. “I’ll miss the people, but I know I’m leaving them in good hands. It’s time to let someone else tackle the challenges of keeping up with technology, and I’m ready to enjoy retirement away from the auto repair industry.”

The McLean location is the fifth for Craftsman Auto Care, joining Alexandria, Chantilly, Fairfax, and Merrifield.

“We are honored that the Justice brothers trust us with the legacy their father started when he opened McLean Automotive in 1953,” Curry said. “It’s a big responsibility, and I was humbled when I learned Craftsman was the only business that they considered to carry on their heritage.”

Craftsman Auto Care is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Photo via Google Maps