The Vienna Town Council is pausing its plans to speed up the Maple Avenue Commercial zone update due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December, Councilmember Steve Potter proposed that the town use a consulting firm, calling the work on the zoning ordinance a “log jam.”

Last night, the councilmembers were originally set to consider a contract award for consulting fees, but Town Manager Mercury Payton said that the coronavirus pandemic is delaying plans to hire the consultant.

Councilmember Pasha Majdi praised the delay in a statement, saying that using nearly $250,000 from allocated funds and prior reserves in the town’s budget should be put on hold for the moment.

“For months I’ve been calling for prudent budgeting and spending, which requires delaying nonessential spending at least until revenues stabilize,” Majdi said. “We need to refrain from nonessential spending during the pandemic.”

As the town grapples with the pandemic, the Vienna Town Council is also looking to extend the moratorium on the zoning ordinance from June 30 of this year to June 30, 2022.

Yesterday, the Fairfax  County Health Department announced that the county’s COVID-19 dashboard now includes more granular zip code data.

The newly expanded data also offers information on probable cases, deaths by age groups and COVID-19 testing by week, according to the county.

“Per the direction of Governor Ralph Northam, and in coordination with Virginia Department of Health (VDH), case rates are now presented by 5-digit ZIP codes,” according to the county. “The recent data release is a change from VDH’s long-standing policy not to disclose data at the ZIP code level.”

The data from the dashboard shows that the Dunn Loring zip code 22027 has the highest number of cases per 100,000 people: 39 cases among a population of 2,362.

“Cases represent a place of residence and not necessarily where transmission may have occurred. This information should not be used to measure individual risk,” according to the dashboard.

As of today, Fairfax County has reported 6,470 cases, 972 hospitalizations and 253 deaths, according to the state health department.

The Fairfax Health District, which includes the county and its cities and towns, has 45 outbreaks with 41 at long term care facilities and one each at a correctional facility, educational setting and healthcare setting.

Map via Fairfax County 

Police Make Arrest in Assault Along W&OD Trail — Falls Church police arrested a 23-year-old man from Stafford for allegedly pursuing a woman along the W&OD Trail on Saturday, May 9. [City of Falls Church]

Metro May Limit Operations Until 2021 — “As states start to reopen their economies, Metro has crafted its plan to slowly ramp service back up — but don’t expect pre-pandemic levels of service until sometime in early 2021.” [DCist]

FCEDA Head Tapped for COVID-19 Group — “Victor Hoskins, President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), is one of 45 experts tapped to serve on the Washington, D.C.-area’s COVID-19 Strategic Renewal Task Force. Hoskins is the only member on the task force representing one of the region’s economic development organizations.” [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]

Stuff the Bus is Back — “On Saturday, May 16 and Tuesday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fastran buses will be parked at locations throughout Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax to collect food donations. However, unlike past years, the buses will not be parked in grocery store parking lots.” [Fairfax County]

U.S. Census Response in Fairfax County — “As of Friday (May 9), Fairfax County’s self-response rate is 72.7% — well above Virginia’s overall rate of 63.5%, according to census data.” [Reston Now]

Fairfax County put out an all-call for independent authors who want to submit their work to the Virginia Author Project Contest.

The statewide fiction contest allows people to compete for several prizes, according to Fairfax County.

To qualify, each submission must be independently published, either in the adult fiction or young adult fiction genre, written by a Virginia resident and available in certain file formats, the website said.

Prizes include:

• $500 each in adult and young adult categories
• Honors at the 2021 spring IAP Reception
• Opportunities to promote your book(s) at Virginia public libraries
• Inclusion in a full-page print spread in Library Journal
• Opportunities to earn royalties through the IAP Select collection

Anyone interested can submit their work online before May 31.

The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.

We’ve scoured the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!

Though many in-person events are canceled, organizations and businesses are setting up digital events to keep people occupied.

Year-round, the McLean Community Center offers courses for adults hoping to pick up other workplace skills. People can take courses on things including digital marketing, computer science, education and even leadership. These online courses range in price but are available online.

Tuesday (May 12)

• Virtual Happy Hour Trivia — Providence Players of Fairfax in Falls Church is hosting its first-ever virtual happy hour. This free event allows people to gather and test their knowledge from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The attendance link will be shared on Facebook closer to the event time.
• The Mather, Life Plan Community Coming to Tysons — A new retirement community is hosting an online event so people can become familiar with its offerings. People can attend this free seminar by going to the meeting web address and entering the web ID, which is 900-136-155. This event will be held from 1-2 p.m.
• Preparing for our New World: Proactively Steer Your Business During COVID 19 — The Tysons Chamber of Commerce is offering this free workshop for business owners to overcome challenges brought on by COVID-19. It will take place from noon until 1 p.m. and people can register online.
• Virtual Town Hall: Strategies for Survival in the Arts — The  McLean Project for the Arts is co-hosting a town hall about how the arts will survive from 6-7:30 p.m. “Following the event, organizers will host an ‘After Hours: Drinking About Art’ virtual social gathering and digital salon party with live audio-visuals and chat conversations,” a press release said.

Thursday (May 14)

• Limited Beer Release + Virtual Happy Hour — Caboose Brewing Company is offering a free evening of trivia while people enjoy a new beer that they can pick up and drink at home. People can find the event link on Zoom and log in using the meeting ID: 211 500 5344 and password: 2DdDa4.

Saturday (May 16)

• Fermenting Foods with Craig Ulsh — From 1:30-3:30 p.m. people can take a class from East Meets West Yoga Center, learning how to ferment their favorite foods. The class cost is donation only.

Photo courtesy Caboose Brewing 

Fairfax County recently created a map pinpointing local groups looking for donations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The map allows users to find nonprofits and organizations within a specific region of Fairfax County so they can help people within their own communities.

Users can search for charities by the proximity to an address or by clicking on one from the general geographic overview.

The charities listed on the website are accepting items including personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, baby products and paper items, the page said. Throughout the county, 22,620 households are at or below the poverty level, according to the website.

Charities collecting monetary donations can be found on the webpage as well.

People can learn more about a charity by reading an overview from Volunteer Fairfax.

County-wide:

• The Shepherd’s Center of McLean-Arlington-Falls Church
• American Red Cross in the National Capital Region
• Blood Donor Services, Inova Health System
• Britepaths

Vienna:

• McLean Bible Church
• Family Preservation and Strengthening Services (PASS)
• MK9s Service Dogs
• Second Story
• The Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna

McLean:

• Lewinsville Retirement Residence
• Share Inc.

Falls Church:

• Falls Church-McLean Childrens Center
• Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Administration
• Falls Church Community Service Council (FCS)
• New Hope Housing (NHH)
• Northern Virginia Dental Clinic, Inc.
• NOVA ScriptsCentral, Inc.
• Shelter House, Inc.
• The Arc of Northern Virginia
• Computer C.O.R.E.

Image via Fairfax County

Cirque du Soleil was planning to bring “Alegría” to Tysons this summer, but that show is now suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and a different one will come to the big top next year.

Cirque du Soleil announced today (Monday) that “KOOZA” is set to come to Tysons next summer. The show will run from July 21-Sept. 19, 2021.

“Cirque du Soleil has had to suspend all its shows and pause the touring schedule temporarily,” according to the press release.

More about “KOOZA” from the press release:

A return to the intimate and fundamental human elements of circus, KOOZA combines thrilling acrobatic performance with the art of clowning. We follow The Innocent as he takes a journey of self-discovery through a comic kingdom of eccentric characters, electrifying thrills and out-of-the-box surprises.

Presented in a colorful mélange, KOOZA springs open like a bejeweled toy box to capture the audience’s imagination and set their pulse racing. Sheer human effort — performance in its rawest, purest form — is showcased in all its splendor and fragility.

KOOZA is an eclectic mix of characters and rich set that draws the audience into Cirque du Soleil’s fantasy world. The show features 50 acrobats, musicians, characters and clowns from 15 countries, showing more than 1,200 pieces of costume in one single show. Along with a live musical performance on stage, KOOZA ensures a “once in a lifetime” experience.

Since the show will no longer go on for “Alegría,” ticket holders can expect to be contacted by a Cirque du Soleil representative via email with details on how to redeem and exchange their tickets for “KOOZA.”

Tickets for “KOOZA” in Tysons start at $44.

Photo by OSA Images/courtesy Cirque du Soleil

Following more details to reopen Virginia later this week, Fairfax County’s chairman joined Northern Virginia leaders in saying that the region is not ready yet to ease restrictions.

On Sunday (May 10), McKay, along with the top officials for the City of Alexandria and Loudoun, Prince William and Arlington counties, said in a letter to the governor saying that regional threshold metrics should be used instead of statewide metrics for reopening the five localities.

“While it is certainly useful to examine statewide metrics as we gauge the success of current public health policies, we feel strongly that any changes to current policies be guided by what is occurring in our region,” the letter said.

We all want to reopen our economy in the safest, data-driven way possible. Regardless of the Governor’s decision about how we move forward, we will continue to monitor our local statistics and be fully transparent about where we stand as a region. (5/7)

— Jeff McKay (@JeffreyCMcKay) May 10, 2020

The health directors for the five localities also sent a letter to the state health commissioner. “Based on our assessment, we do not believe that the Northern Virginia region has met the criteria for moving into Phase 1 at this time,” the letter said.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Friday that his plans to begin the first phase on Friday (May 15) as part of “Forward Virginia” include these new restrictions:

• Restaurants with open air space will be allowed to seat guests outdoors but at 50% capacity while other in-door only restaurants will be only be allowed to offer takeout and delivery.
• Residents will be under a “safer at home” suggestion.
• Retail businesses will be able to open at a 50% capacity.
• Fitness centers must remain closed unless they offer outdoor facilities.
• Entertainment and amusement centers will still be closed.
• Churches and places of worship will be allowed to gather at 50% capacity.
• Private campgrounds and specific public camping facilities will be reopened.
• A 10-person gathering limit for private parties will be still be required.

If the number of COVID-19 cases rise with the new orders, Northam said that there is a chance tighter restrictions will once again go into place.

“The virus is still in our communities and we need to continue our vigilance,” he said. “We may be living with it for months or maybe years.

Northam stressed that his proposed plan is an easement of the temporary restrictions: “We are not opening the flood gate here.”

Prior to the governor’s announcement, McKay and other local leaders had been pushing the state’s administration to provide more collaboration with the reopening plans.

For places like Fairfax County, Northam said on Friday that they may be allowed to reopen at a slower pace and that he will announce more details early this week.

“I have said from the beginning this is a dynamic-fluid process,” he said.

Catherine Douglas Moran and Ashley Hopko contributed to this report 

Image via Virginia.gov

How’s the Local Hospital Doing? — “Several hospitals in Virginia and Washington, D.C., received top grades for safety, while others didn’t quite measure up, according to new spring 2020 ratings released by the Leapfrog Group recently.” The Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church received an “A” grade. [Patch]

Police Investigating Suspicious W&OD Trail Incidents — “Falls Church Police are seeking information after receiving a report of a man following a woman in a suspicious manner on the W&OD trail this past Monday… Police say they are investigating two other incidents similar to Monday’s, that happened on April 18 at about 1 p.m. and April 21 at about 1 p.m.” [Falls Church News-Press]

MCA Says OK to New Office Building Plan — “McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members on May 6 unanimously backed a resolution supporting Capital One’s proposal to convert an unbuilt hotel into a new office building.” [Inside NoVa]

Vienna Man Promoted in U.S. Army — “The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s (USASMCDC) deputy commander for operations – Vienna native David Stewart – was promoted to brigadier general in a ceremony at the command’s Peterson Air Force Base headquarters on May 4.” [Inside NoVa]

Earlier this week officers from the McLean District Station held a birthday parade for Max, who just turned 4. He loved seeing the cruisers and was excited to play with his new police coloring book. Happy birthday, Max! 🎉🎂🎈 #FCPD pic.twitter.com/sJL9FyzOuJ

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) May 9, 2020

Work at the Vienna Market project at Maple & Pleasant is about to get a little loud. Steel beams for the commercial building will be driven into the ground over the next few weeks. pic.twitter.com/Tfa2LGWhY4

— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) May 11, 2020

Photo courtesy Tejal Patel

Nightlife is zilch in Tysons at the moment due to the pandemic. After a brief hiatus, the “Tysons After Dark” series is back to highlight different online activities from local organizations and offerings from eateries that keep people busy once the sun goes down. 

Crafty souls can now join kindred spirits on project adventures thanks to a weekly event hosted by TINT.

Every Wednesday from 7:30-8:30 p.m., the “maker space” in Falls Church will host Zoom meetings where people can gather to work on their own projects while hanging out with others, according to the event page.

Though the meetings used to be in-person, Carissa Englert, the shop’s owner, began hosting them remotely to abide by social distancing measures.

“They started when I opened the shop back in the Fall of 2019 and became a quick favorite with customers who liked to come “stitch ‘n’ b*tch” with their fellow crafters (knitters, stitchers, crocheters, weavers, etc.) each week,” Englert said.  “When COVID started happening, I started getting requests to host them online instead of in person.”

This event is free and open to the public. Participants can find the link on the Facebook event page.

TINT opened in September and offers people a place to learn and practice textile and fiber arts, according to its website.

Photo via TINT/Facebook