A new addition to Tysons Corner Center, Brookiegirl is a Black-owned, father-daughter run business that now offers shoppers specialty skincare products.
Dad and daughter duo Bobby and 16- year old Brooklynne Hand decided to start the business after Brooklynne struggled to find suitable products for her sensitive skin.
With two locations becoming increasingly popular in Maryland, the Hand family decided to open a third location in Tysons on Aug. 14, according to Bobby.
Products include bath bombs and teas, lip balms, body butter, hand soaps, body mists and even hand sanitizer. Offerings range in price from around $4 to $35.
For the pair, a location in Tysons Corner Center is a milestone since the traffic and notability of the mall will likely open doors in the future.
“If you’re a retailer, you want to prove yourself at Tysons Corner,” Bobby said. “Tysons is like our Times Square for the area. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”
Sales and turnout at the Tysons location so far have been great, according to Bobby, who added that foot traffic in the mall allows people to try out Brookiegirl’s products. “We are hitting the mark that we thought we might have hit, even if COVID wasn’t a factor.”
When it comes to product brand and identity, Bobby said that they think of a “Broookiegirl” as someone who “not only is a well rounded and empowered lady of various nationalities, ages and races but someone who is a defender of her own imagination, beliefs and is big on defending others’ individuality.”
Since they are a military family, Bobby said that individuality and hard work is an American trait they work to embody.
All of Brookiegirls products are produced locally by young adults looking to enter the job market, often in college or high school who want to learn about the business or the beauty industry, according to Bobby.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, the company’s growth means that Brookiegirl was able to bring back all of its employees to once again operate at full capacity.
“That made us feel great – not only that they felt we were able to take care of them and they trusted us to provide a safe space, but they wanted to continue growing the business,” Bobby said.
Bobbygirl is open seven days a week offers discounts for military, veterans and first responders.
Photo via Brookie Girl/Facebook
The Town of Vienna said it has investigated a pair of claims made online in late August about police harassment and said the events weren’t quite as sensational as they sounded on social media.
The town said in a press release that no formal complaint was submitted, but the claims were still investigated internally by the Vienna Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Unit.
“The claims posted on social media have been determined to be unfounded and, in large measure, inaccurate and untrue,” the police said.
The Town of Vienna provided a full review of the claims investigated:
According to the posted statement, the 20-year-old complainant said that he was detained without cause while walking home. He then claimed that he was transported in the back of a Vienna police vehicle to his home where a second officer also responded. There the two officers allegedly attempted to “pressure” the complainant’s mother into making false accusations against her son related to a broken wall in an attempt “to use that as a way to arrest me.”
In reality, and confirmed by the Fairfax County Public Safety Communications Department, the complainant called 911 on that date seeking police help related to a domestic incident involving his mother. In the recorded phone call, the complainant says that his mother is infringing on his constitutional rights. Vienna police did respond to this domestic disagreement related to room cleanliness and a hole in the wall that the complainant allegedly caused. Police mediated between the two parties and then left the residence. A review of in-car video shows that the complainant was not transported in the back of a Vienna police vehicle for any reason on that date.
As part of the investigation of alleged improper police conduct, Vienna detectives spoke with the mother briefly before her son ended the conversation and asked police to leave the home. When asked by investigators, she said that there was “no problem” with how officers responded to the June 25 incident. There were no issues, she said, and she was unclear why officers were following up on the incident. Investigators attempted to interview the complainant, but he declined to speak with officers.
After an extensive investigation, the Town of Vienna finds these allegations unfounded and the investigation is closed.
The second claim deals with a woman who said claimed she was interrogated by Vienna Police at Yeonas Park while eating lunch with her two adult children in her vehicle:
After an investigation, the Vienna Police Department finds the officer in this incident to be in compliance with normal police procedures, and no improper police conduct occurred.
In-car video shows that the Vienna officer’s conduct not only was appropriate but his interactions courteous and kind. The officer ran the vehicle’s tags because it was parked across three parking spaces at the Vienna Little League fields, which is posted as private property. When he did so, he learned that there was an outstanding Missouri warrant for the vehicle’s owner, who is the woman who posted the complaint; however, Missouri declined to request enforcement of the warrant due to the expense of transportation and nature of the criminal charge involved. The officer asked the woman to step out of her car so that he could discuss with her the warrant, including possible ways to address the situation, without disclosing it to her children. She was informed that she was free to use the adjoining Town of Vienna Park, which is open to the public.
The Vienna Police Department has attempted to contact the woman who posted the complaint; she has not responded to requests to be interviewed or to file a formal complaint.
Despite finding the two claims of harassment to be unfounded, the Town of Vienna said in the press release that if there are any complaints about a police officer’s behavior, they should be reported to the police department by calling 703-255-6366 or sending an email to [email protected]. Civil rights claims can also be filed with the Department of Justice.
“The Vienna Police Department takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and officers are expected to interact with all individuals, regardless of skin color, appropriately, respectfully, and, whenever possible, courteously,” the town said.
Photo via Facebook
(Updated 12/22/2020) Like many independently-owned restaurants, the pandemic has taken a giant slice of revenue from local pizzerias. Owners in the Tysons area say “tremendous” community support is the key ingredient helping them survive.
Tysons Reporter talked to five owners to find out what it’s like running an independent pizzeria during the pandemic. All but one of the restaurants are currently open and taking orders.
Most of the owners noted they saw prices soar for popular pizza ingredients. “Cheese and pepperoni are through the roof,” Marty Volk, the owner of Church Street Pizzeria and Lombardi’s Pizza in Vienna, said. “The pricing almost doubled.”
Some pizzerias chose to raise their prices, while others didn’t. “If you don’t increase the price of your pizza with the cheese doubling, you’re just taking profit out of our pocket so you have to pass it on to the customer,” Volk said, adding that pizzas with cheese now cost an additional $0.75.
Here’s what the owners had to say about how they have adapted their operations to keep making the dough and why they are grateful for the local community. Read More
Labor Day is around the corner and there will be closures around the area.
All Fairfax County government offices, public schools, and public libraries will be closed on Monday (Sept. 7), according to the county website.
Trash and recycling will be collected on a regular schedule if community members are customers of Fairfax County, the website said, which added that people with a private company should contact the company directly. However, the administrative office will be closed on Monday.
The Fairfax Connector will be running on a Sunday Schedule on Monday.
The Metro will be running on a Sunday Schedule from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Monday, according to the WMATA website.
The Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church (120 N. Virginia Ave) will be closed on Monday, according to the website, along with all city offices.
In the Town of Vienna, all government offices and the Vienna Community Center will be closed but waste collection will run on a regular schedule, according to the website.
The McLean Community Center will be closed on Monday.
Tysons Reporter will also have the day off Monday.
Photo via Jon Sailer/Unsplash
Funding Metro Project — “A project submitted by the Fairfax County government remains in contention for Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) funding, even as a number of other regional projects have been delayed for consideration due to sharp dropoffs in available funding.” [Inside NoVa]
Acquisition Takes Flight — “McLean-based communications satellite services provider Intelsat Corp. announced Monday it will acquire in-flight broadband connectivity provider Gogo Inc.’s commercial aviation business for $400 million.” [Virginia Business]
New Space for Shows — “The Creative Cauldron, a home-grown theater with some of the more successful performance and educational programs in the Little City’s history, has been promised 5,000 square feet for an expanded venue as a part of the Broad and Washington project.” [Falls Church News-Press]
New Auto Care Shop Rolls Into McLean — “McLean Automotive Service Center, a family-run business for nearly 70 years, has been turned into another locally-owned business.” [Patch]
Photo by Michelle Goldchain
Fairfax County is under a Tornado Watch until 10 p.m. today (Thursday).
The National Weather Service issued the alert shortly after 3:30 p.m.
Forecasters say that residents in the Tysons-area may see heavy thunderstorms this evening.
Be Aware: There is a POTENTIAL for TORNADOES and DAMAGING WIND GUSTS from severe thunderstorms this afternoon & early tonight for a large part of our area. Stay weather aware & be ready to seek shelter if warnings are issued or severe weather threatens. #vawx #mdwx #dcwx #wvwx pic.twitter.com/GB9xtpM4WE
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) September 3, 2020
BREAKING: Tornado watch issued for entire region until 10 p.m. Storms with torrential rain, localized damaging winds likely through this evening. A few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.
Updates: https://t.co/5SDZ7bq9nl pic.twitter.com/k08D1HvUJ7
— Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) September 3, 2020
Stay weather alert this afternoon and evening as scattered to numerous severe storms are expected to move across our area from west to east. The main threat will be damaging wind gusts, but tornadoes cannot be ruled out. For the latest forecast visit https://t.co/t54l4ELo2o pic.twitter.com/UwlivesMBs
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) September 3, 2020
Two Tysons-area theaters are recent recipients of the 36th annual Helen Hayes Awards.
Tysons-based 1st Stage Theatre and Falls Church-based Creative Cauldron were both nominated in several categories earlier this year. In total, 1st Stage Theatre has 18 nominations, while Creative Cauldron has nine this year.
While the awards show is slated for later this month, recent announcements revealed that the theaters have won some awards.
Award announcements began Aug. 31 and will continue until Sept. 11. So far, 1st Stage has won “Outstanding Lighting Design (Hayes)” for “The Brothers Size” and Creative Cauldron has nabbed the “Outstanding Lead Performers in a Musical (Helen)” award for Nora Palka in “On Air.”
Each year, Theatre Washington presents awards to over 90 theatres and artists around the D.C. area in honor of Helen Hayes, who is known as the “First Lady of American Theatre,” according to Theatre Washington. The year-long nomination process for the Helen Hayes Awards includes 40 judges attending around 200 productions.
An in-person Helen Hayes Awards Ceremony was supposed to be May 18th, but due to COVID-19, it was moved to a virtual ceremony. This year’s virtual ceremony will be held on Friday (Sept. 25).
People will have to wait to see if the two local theaters have more of their nominations turned into awards.
Photo via Rob Laughter/Unsplash
Updated 11:15 a.m. — The VDOT in-person meeting will be held on Oct. 8, not Oct.7.
As traffic congestion increases on I-495, the McLean Citizens Association approved a resolution at last night’s meeting in support of a project to add express lanes.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is considering the express lanes as part of an expansion along the highway in McLean leading up to the American Legion Bridge
The changes, as they stand, would extend the I-495 Express Lanes north from the I-495 and Dulles Access Road interchange up to the American Legion Bridge and add two new tolled express lanes in each direction.
Discussion during MCA’s meeting last night on the express lanes focused on environmental concerns and the Maryland Department of Transporation’s plans to update its side of the bridge.
When it comes to environmental factors, the proposed changes would destroy 118 acres of trees and interfere with Scott Run’s Nature Preserve along with the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, according to the proposal.
Yet another concern with the removal of trees would be the elimination of sound and visual barriers for some McLean residents, a board member said.
To minimize harm to the trees, MCA requested in the resolution that VDOT conduct a study to determine the species of trees that will be removed and that VDOT tries to minimize harm to healthy and established foliage, like having a replanting program.
Additionally, the project currently does not have a stormwater management plan, despite evidence that watersheds and drainage ponds would be interrupted.
The MCA indicated conditional support for the project as long as VDOT address these issues and make amends for potential damage.
“[The] greatest impact of the project will fall on the Scott’s Run Nature Preserve and GW Parkway. And every effort should be made to minimize the footprint of the facility and avoid temporary use of parkland during construction,” an MCA board member said at the meeting.
In terms of MDOT’s involvement with the project, many board members expressed concern about misalignment with the state’s timelines.
For example, the VDOT 495 NEXT project is expected to be completed years before MDOT improves the American Legion Bridge and the portion of I-495 between the GW Parkway and I-270, according to the resolution.
Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said earlier this year that timeline misalignment would be a “huge” mistake.
Still, VDOT predicts that Virginia’s part of the work will reduce cut-thru traffic on local roads, increase I-495’s capacity and improve travel time on I-495 — even if Maryland doesn’t do anything, the resolution said.
Despite barriers and concerns, MCA Transportation Committee Chair David Wuehrmann suggested at the meeting that other board members vote in support of the resolution.
“If you’re not inclined to vote for this, you need to think about what will replace it,” he said, noting the importance of congestion relief on I-495.
Inevitably, the resolution passed last night by a 25-5 vote from the MCA board members.
Going forward, VDOT is scheduled to have an online public hearing on Oct. 5 and an in-person meeting on Oct. 8, according to an MCA board member.
Wuehrmann said that the MCA now has three goals when it comes to the 495 NEXT project — to reaffirm support for the project, encourage VDOT to commit to environmental relief and work toward congestion relief at the American Legion Bridge and connecting roads.
Image via Google Maps
Despite canceling in-person shows, Wolf Trap found a way to put their costume-making skills to work this summer by making and donating masks to the Vienna community.
When Gov. Ralph Northam announced the stay-at-home order through June 10, Wolf Trap’s Opera Costume Department realized shows wouldn’t be happening and decided to find another way to employ some of their artisans.
Initially, Wolf Trap just planned to make masks for its foundation board and staff, as well as artists from its opera residency. But they also knew they wanted to help the community, so they worked with the Vienna Business Association to provide masks to restaurants, according to Lee Anne Myslewski, the vice president for Opera and Classical Programming at Wolf Trap.
“We determined that partnering with the VBA would get them to organizations and individuals that needed them,” said Myslewski.
Of the 1,000 masks made by the company, 130 went to the VBA, according to Peggy James, the VBA’s executive director.
The masks are made from three-ply pre-shrunk cotton, and some mask material comes from unused off-cuts from previous shows, according to a newsletter from the VBA. They have large and medium masks to give out to Vienna businesses.
“I really appreciate that they are big supporters of the Vienna community,” said James. “We are very appreciative of their membership and their generosity.”
In addition to restaurants, masks were also given to nonprofits, teachers and other businesses around Vienna, according to James.
While the mask donation was a hit, Wolf Trap says that it was just a one-time thing, and hopefully, they can resume performances soon. “We hope to be able to make opera sets and costumes again next summer,” said Myslewski.
Wolf Trap is still offering virtual concerts for both adults and children on their website.
Photos courtesy of Peggy James
A new tutoring service and study space will soon open in McLean, offering families a place to bring kids for extra help in school or just find a quiet place to work.
Called ‘The STUDY studio on Elm,’ the facility is located at 6846 Elm Street in McLean and run by Carly Latessa, a Northern Virginia native, the website said. The studio posted on Facebook that it opens next Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Students seeking a place to study outside of school can sign up for either a private desk or room at the studio. The location also offers places for group work too.
Pricing varies depending on the time of day and time. For example, a desk can be reserved for $8/hour from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. and $5/hour from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.
Memberships are available on a monthly basis for $50 f0r an individual and $80 for families with two kids. “Membership fees cover cleaning supplies, strong wifi, snacks, water refill, printing and a committed staff,” the website said.
The business also offers flexible tutoring options starting at $35/hour. “Tutoring sessions can be held at our space, in your home or virtually,” the website said adding that tutoring is also available for a wide variety of subjects.
Tysons Reporter reached out to Latessa for an interview but didn’t receive a response.
Image via Google Maps
