(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Fairfax County and surrounding areas starting tomorrow afternoon.

The watch will be in effect from Thursday afternoon to Friday morning.

More from NWS:

* Multiple rounds of rainfall will occur through early Friday. The heaviest rainfall potential will begin Thursday afternoon and continue into Thursday night. Storm total rainfall amounts through Friday morning are expected to range between 2 and 3 inches.

* Flooding of poor drainage and low lying areas will be possible, and some smaller streams and rivers may exceed their banks.

People are urged to monitor weather forecasts.

Residents in the City of Falls Church can get up to 20 sandbags per household, according to an email from the city.

The city’s Department of Public Works is providing the sandbags, which will be available on a first-come, first-served at the Property Yard A (between 215 and 217 Gordon Road) on Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“City staff will help with loading bags into a vehicle, but they will not be responsible for vehicle damage,” the email said. “Sandbags must be returned to the distribution site after the storm.”

To celebrate its 60th birthday, the Vienna Inn plans to host a range of community events, a spokesperson said.

Festivities began with a Kids’ Night on Monday (Feb. 3) at 120 E. Maple Ave, which featured a special menu, giveaways, activities, prizes and a photo booth, according to the event Facebook page.

There will be another Kids’ Night event on Monday (Feb. 10), the spokesperson said, adding the event will run from 5:30-7 p.m.

“A lot of our customers are like me and have been coming here since they were kids just like their parents,” Marty Volk, the owner of the Vienna Inn, said in a press release. “There are often three generations at a table on any given day.”

The spokesperson told Tysons Reporter that the location will add a few new menu items including barbecue ribs, healthy breakfast items, chicken sandwiches and breadsticks.

Every Tuesday, the location will host rib nights, where people can find deals on ribs and drinks.

Next Friday (Feb. 14), the eatery is hosting a Valentine’s Day party for families, according to a Facebook event. Perks include a gift for mothers, deals on wings after 5 p.m. and a treat for kids too.

The location also has “something big planned” for National Chili Day on Feb. 27, according to a press release, which added that the eatery usually serves more than 10,000 chili dogs a month.

Between first dates and bonding time with family members, the spokesperson said the community has strong ties to the eatery and owners will be hosting a Memorabilia Night, where people can bring in items of nostalgic value.

Though dates and more information hasn’t been released yet, the spokesperson said people can keep tabs on the Facebook page for dates.

Photo via the Vienna Inn/Facebook

A research team from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will study use-of-force incidents by Fairfax County police.

About nine months ago, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed Police Auditor Richard Schott to find an academic after a study released almost three years ago found that 40 percent of use-of-force cases in 2015 involved Black people.

After the study was released, Schott reviewed the police department’s data, but several of the supervisors called for more data.

The county announced today (Wednesday) a contract was awarded to a research team from UTSA in partnership with researchers from the University of Cincinnati on Jan. 27.

The study is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2021, the press release said.

More from the press release:

The study will build upon previous Independent Police Auditor’s reviews of Fairfax County Police Department’s (FCPD) use-of-force incidents. It is intended to identify patterns and trends in uses of force by the FCPD with emphasis on racial, ethnic, gender, or similar disparities across subpopulations.

The study will address the following questions specific to incidents that occurred between 2016-2018:

What factors or combination of factors contribute to the use-of-force by FCPD officers? Specifically, what role does civilian race, ethnicity, gender, or similar personal characteristics play in the decision to use force?

Does the rate of force experienced by persons of different races and/or ethnicities align with those groups’ representation among persons at risk for having force used against them by the police? Do disparities exist in rates of force experienced by different racial and/or ethnic groups relative to risk?

Is civilian race, ethnicity, or gender-related to the level of force used by the police while accounting for resistance and other relevant individual, situational, and environmental factors?

How can the FCPD improve its use-of-force data collection processes to help facilitate future analyses?

What steps can the FCPD take to help reduce bias in use-of-force incidents?

“The UTSA team will issue a public report detailing the study’s methods, findings, conclusions, and recommendations and present it to the Board of Supervisors,” the press release said.

A Tysons citizen group recently sent a list of concerns to Fairfax County officials.

The Greater Tysons Citizens Association was founded in 2008 and is made up of residents and organizations in the Tysons area, including the Vienna Town Council and McLean Citizens Association.

In the letter dated Jan. 29, the association noted that with the upcoming 10-year-anniversary of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan, the group is worried about the impact of Tysons’ transformation on surrounding communities.

The letter was sent to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission and School Board.

The letter goes on to outline four main concerns:

• traffic congestion
• reaching the goal of 20 urban athletic fields in Tysons
• infrastructure funding and Tysons school planning
• recent interpretations of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan

The association then provided requests for each item.

For traffic congestion, the association would like the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to look into short- and long-term solutions with community members.

As the athletic fields, the group would like the Board of Supervisors to revisit a follow-on motion decision that allowed a developer of The View to make a monetary contribution to be allocated to a community center.

“We urge investigating and pursuing other funding sources for construction of the Tysons community center,” the letter says. “We urge the PC and BOS to return to the long-accepted practice of requiring in-kind contributions rather than monetary contributions when the calculated field contribution exceeds 1/3 field.”

The association had several suggestions for the school issue:

• complete the revamp of the methodologies used in the capital improvement and proffer formula for better school population projections
• increase staffing in the facilities branch of FCPS
• identify and implement new options to acquire land and fund construction of new schools

Finally, the group requested that the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission have an in-depth review regarding interpretations of the comprehensive plan and any “potential ramifications.”

Tysons Reporter received a copy of the letter from the McLean Citizens Association (MCA).

Sally Horn, the chair of the Greater Tysons Citizens Association, is set to discuss the letter with the MCA tonight.

The MCA meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue).

Fairfax County police say that a T-Mobile in McLean was robbed Monday night.

The incident happened shortly after 7 p.m. at 1400 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 100.

“A man entered the store, implied he had a gun and demanded items from inside the safe,” police said. “He left the store in a car and lookout information was broadcasted.”

Police said that the car was later stopped in D.C., adding that charges are pending further investigation.

In a separate incident, police say that someone stole lawn equipment from a home in the 7400 block of Allan Avenue in the Falls Church area.

A developer wants a proposed retail building in Falls Church to house a kids’ play center.

Bob Young, the developer, told the Falls Church Planning Commission Monday night that Scramble, a self-described “European-style play center” in Alexandria, would be a tenant.

“It’s what I would call a high-end, indoor children’s playground,” he said. “It will have a cafe. It will have an area for parents to work on their computers.”

Fairfax One LLC wants to redevelop the lot, which is across from the Protestant Episcopal Church and currently being used as a surface parking lot for the church, under a land lease agreement with the church, according to city documents.

Called Southgate II, the development would add a 12,000-square-foot retail building at 130 E. Fairfax Street. (Southgate I is at 116 E. Jefferson Street.)

While the redevelopment would remove parking spaces, the developers told the commissioners that churchgoers will be able to use the parking at the redevelopment and at an adjacent property on Sunday mornings.

“[The church] would have exclusive use of parking 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Sundays,” Young said. “Scramble would be closed.”

The project includes solar panels on the roof, which would provide roughly 25-30% of the electricity use, Young said.

Discussion of the proposed building and kids’ play center was mostly limited to comments from a handful of commissioners.

Vice-Chair Brent Krasner was the most vocal with his concerns, calling building a “very suburban, strip mall feel.”

Krasner also questioned if Scramble would be the best tenant, saying that the kids’ center seems to be better suited to “industrial” areas.

“I’m not saying there’s no use for it here,” Krasner said, adding that he doesn’t know if the space would “translate” well to a future tenant if Scramble were to close.

In response to Kranser’s comments, Young said that the building is “probably a step in the right direction,” emphasizing that the “filthy parking lot” could add tax revenue to the city as a commercial building.

“There’s good and then there’s best,” Krasner quipped back.

Not all of the feedback from the commissioners focused on concerns. Commissioner Cory Weiss, who described herself as a “semi-young mother,” called the building “a great opportunity.”

When Weiss asked the developer if the project could be more pedestrian-friendly, Young said that constraints on the site, like being “dense with underground utilities,” would make that difficult.

The site also has some restrictions from the church, although Young did not elaborate much on what those restrictions entail.

“We have a lot of constraints that are put on us by the church itself,” Young said. “We had to work through a lot of issues with the church.”

A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 2, according to the documents.

Image via Google Maps

Shoppers who bring their own bags to Whole Foods can help raise money for the Foundation for FCPS.

From now until June 30, Whole Foods’ “Nickels for Non-Profits program” will donate to the foundation every time shoppers re-use a bag.

The Nickels for Non-Profits program donates a nickel to a chosen local non-profit every time shoppers bring a reusable bag to discourage the use of new bags and to support local organizations.

Participating stores include the ones in Tysons (1635 Boro Place), McLean (7511 Leesburg Pike) and Vienna (143 Maple Avenue E.), along with the Whole Foods in Fair Lakes and Springfield.

The foundation helps provide teacher grants, employee recognition and funding for kids in need and for music education, according to its website.

For the first time, City Works will soon host “Brew U Beer School,” a free four-week event teaching guests about different types of beer.

The “school” will have four sessions, each from 6-7 p.m. on Mondays, from Feb. 10 until March 2 at the restaurant (1640 Capital One Drive North), according to a press release.

Each session will be led by beer industry experts and breweries. The event is for “anybody and everybody who wants to learn about beer,” according to spokesperson Colleen Rooney.

“We really want to engage the local community and get them more interested in beer,” Rooney said.

While people can choose whether or not to attend all of the sessions, the more workshops attended will increase people’s chances of winning a raffle for either a $100 City Works gift card or tickets to the Washington Nationals Home Opener and World Series Ring Ceremony.

Here are the topics attendees can expect to learn about at each of the sessions:

• Feb. 10 with Allagash Brewery: the history of beer and how to pour and serve beer correctly
• Feb. 17 with Vasen Brewing: different styles of beer, how to pair beer with food and how to cook with beer
• Feb. 24 with DC Brau: how beer is made with different brewing processes and ingredients
• March 2 with Old Ox and Premium Distributing: beer distribution and draft systems

The sessions are free “to make it accessible to the wider community,” Rooney said. People interested in “Brew U Beer School” can register online.

Bakeshop in Falls Chuch will host its first weekly happy hour tomorrow (Feb. 5), offering guests deals on sweet treats.

The eatery, located at 100 E. Fairfax Street, will offer two for $4 cupcakes and classic cookies, $3 lattes and $2 espresso or drip coffee from 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday, according to its Facebook page.

An employee said the location hopes the deals will drive more traffic towards the shop.

“We’re still growing in the Falls Church community and we thought this would be a fun way to get to know more of our neighbors,” a spokesperson for the shop said. “If the community enjoys it, we’ll expand the items offered and perhaps have it more days in the week.”

Foodies can only find the specials at the Falls Church location, not the Arlington spot, according to the employee.

“If it goes really well, we plan to do something similar in the Arlington location as well,” the spokesperson said.

Typically, cupcakes cost about $2.75 each, according to the website. The bakery also offers various types of bread, pies and vegan options.

Photo via Bakeshop/Facebook

Three McLean teenagers decided to leave behind the minimum wage grind and embark on their own entrepreneurial journey.

TeenServ is an online platform that connects students to adults who need short-term jobs done, like pulling weeds, cleaning or other types of housework. It began in 2018 under Ben Jeannot, Jack Lannin and Quin Frew, a group of friends who are still in charge of the service’s development and outreach.

The idea quickly spread after the boys decided to promote the service within their own friend groups, according to Lannin.

Since September, the team said they managed to recruit around 200 teenagers from eight area schools including Falls Church, Herndon, Marshall, McLean and Oakton. 

Teens who sign up for the app can accept jobs they are most interested in and make about $17 per hour, according to the founders.

“Because it’s pretty much a free market system, it allows teens to choose jobs they want and think are fair,” one of the members told Tysons Reporter. 

Another group member added that all of the jobs are screened by the founders before being added to the list of available opportunities. This way, they can ensure the jobs are safe and within limits of the site user agreements.

“We tend to stay away from animals or babysitting,” a group member said, adding that any job that involves the liability of a living thing, besides plants, is also off the table. 

Twice a week, the boys said they will meet to discuss goals and next steps.

Currently, Lannin said the majority of their marketing is done through word of mouth and social media presence — including  Instagram and Facebook. The group’s Instagram account has more than 800 followers as of Monday (Feb. 3).

Two promotions were recently announced on the company’s Instagram. The first promotion offers workers an extra 12 percent on top of the listed rate for a job if they bring along a friend, according to TeenServ’s Instagram.

There is also a job lottery that automatically enters students in a giveaway for every job they complete within a certain month.

Photo courtesy TeenServ