Construction on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in the City of Falls Church is almost over.

The W&OD Trail closed at Grove Avenue and N. West Street starting Aug. 19 and is expected to open back up on Friday, Sept. 6, according to a tweet.

The closure brings a series of changes including the temporary rerouting of paths, paving paths that were previously gravel, widening paths, burying utilities, creating safer crossings and eventually realigning the path with the new Founders Row development, Mike DePue, a W&OD Trail spokesperson, said.

DePue said the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority is also in the design process to install dual paths that will ease congestion.

“The goal of dual surface trails is to separate bike traffic from pedestrian traffic to improve user safety and enjoyment of the trail,” he said.

Work continues on the temporary trail detour in Falls Church… pic.twitter.com/j5OprfwiRe

— The W&OD Trail (@WODTrail) August 28, 2019

Photo via The W&OD Trail/Twitter

Fairfax County police arrested two D.C. men in a parking garage near Tysons Corner Center for alleged larceny on Labor Day (Monday).

While police were investigating several car break-ins in a parking garage in the 1900 block of Chain Bridge Road, they said they saw a man crouched behind a car.

“He was arrested and officers then found another man sitting in a white van that contained stolen property from the earlier thefts,” according to the police report.

The two men were charged with seven counts of larceny from a motor vehicle, destruction of property, possession of burglarious tools and possession of stolen property. They were held without bond.

Last Saturday (Aug. 31), police arrested a 24-year-old Fairfax man in connection with a stolen auto from the Tysons Galleria parking garage.

“Officers used garage surveillance footage to locate the suspect in the mall,” police said.

Police arrested and charged the man with auto theft, possession of burglarious tools, possession of forged banknotes, possession of marijuana and displaying altered/fictitious registration. He was held without bond.

Image via Google Maps

A meeting tonight (Wednesday) will provide an update on the upcoming work near the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is currently working on its Transform 66 project.

The meeting will provide a construction update on:

• the planned closure of Vaden Drive Bridge over I-66 from fall to summer 2020
• rebuilding the Route 123 interchange
• the design for the Nutley Street interchange

The meeting will take place 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Providence Community Center (3001 Vaden Drive) with presentations at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Image via Google Maps

Tysons Reporter is back with its new monthly crime map showing where the incidents occurred in Fairfax County Police Department’s McLean District Station.

We went ahead and pulled together all of the incidents noted for the McLean District Station in FCPD crime recaps from Aug. 1-31, weeded out the ones that are not in the Tysons Reporter coverage area and plotted them in the interactive map above.

The McLean District Station covers crime in Merrifield, Dunn Loring, Falls Church, McLean, Tysons and Great Falls.

The map only includes information from FCPD and does not include reports to the police departments in the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church.

Use the icon in the top left corner of the map to toggle between the various types of crimes displayed.

Fairfax County’s weekday police recaps are not comprehensive lists of every incident and the addresses are approximate. FCPD also notes that information in the recaps “is generally based on initial reports made to the police department.”

Anyone with information about any of these crimes should call 703-691-2131 or 1-866-411-TIPS(8477).

Updated at 5 p.m. on 9/4/19 — Power was restored at 1:27 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). “The outage was caused when a third-party, non-Dominion contractor cut into one of our energized cables,” a Dominion Energy spokesperson said. 

Updated at 5:15 p.m. — Battalion Chief Steve McFarland told Tysons Reporter that said that the three workers were injured while installing a conduit box and that the power outage resulted because of the incident.

Updated at 4 p.m. — Three people were injured in an electrical incident at a job site in the 8200 block of Greensboro Drive, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue tweeted. 

One person was transported by the Fairfax County Police Department’s helicopter to a local burn center, while the other two people were driven to a local hospital. 

The Fairfax County Police Department tweeted that the three people had non-life threatening injuries. 

Sgt. Greg Bedor, a police spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter that the police department received the call about the incident at 3:30 p.m. 

Units are on scene in the 8200 block of Greensboro Drive with three patients who were electrocuted. One transported by @FairfaxCountyPD Helicopter to local burn center. Two transported by ground to area hospital. #FCFRD #FairfaxCounty pic.twitter.com/anISDlBcIs

— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) September 3, 2019

Earlier: More than a thousand people are without power along Greensboro Drive in Tysons this afternoon (Tuesday).

The outage spans east of the Greensboro to the Spring Hill Metro stations along Greensboro Drive and is affecting 1,555 customers, according to the Dominion Energy power outage map.

An employee at United Bank told Tysons Reporter that she heard what sounded like an explosion before the power went out around 3:30 p.m. — it is unclear if the loud sound is connected to the outage.

Dominion Energy expects power to be restored between 5-10 p.m. today (Sept. 3).

The cause of the outage is “pending investigation,” according to Dominion Energy.

The traffic signal is out at the intersection of International and Westpark drives, according to Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Police Department tweeted that traffic lights are out at Greensboro and Westpark drives.

Traffic lights are out at Greensboro Dr./Westpark Dr. Our motor units are working to have the lights restored as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience – please stay clear of the area! #FCPD pic.twitter.com/0XGdZFPOuN

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 3, 2019

Map via Dominion Energy

Jay Westcott contributed to this story

A local sci-fi author recently teamed up with big names to expand his fictional world.

David McGoings is the creator of “Catharsis: 2066” and a Falls Church resident. He began the project as a book trilogy but decided to expand it into a multi-media project featuring Star Trek’s Robert Picardo and famous narrator Greg Tremblay.

“Catharsis: 2066” follows the lives of six characters interacting with aliens come to earth and change the world’s history forever. The storyline explores the characters’ feelings and struggles as they deal with a changing environment and the ripple effect of their actions.

“It’s about the breakdown of society and the interactions of the people,” McGoings said.

McGoings told Tysons Reporter that the first book is currently finished and is in the process of publication. Next, he wants to implement a video series and work on the last two books in the trilogy.

He isn’t sure when the first book will be released to the public. As a teaser, Tremblay and Picardo from “Star Trek: Voyager” agreed to narrate the first four chapters. There is also a trailer with artwork from Rob Joseph.

“It started out as just a pitch, but most people in the industry when putting their name on something or helping out with something, they have to like the product first,” said McGoings.

Within the first week of the narration’s release, he said he received more than 2,000 new social media followers and attention on several online forums encouraging art from people of color, including Planet Ebjon, a Facebook page dedicated to Marvel DC characters and the Entertainment Universe.

“It has motivated me as well as pushed the envelope a little on how far you can go when writing a book if you have the tenacity or drive to keep with it,” McGoings said.

Until this point, McGoings said all the proceeds for his book have come out of his pocket or from donations from friends and family. In hopes of reaching his $8,000 goal for the trilogy and a YouTube video series, McGoings started a GoFundMe where people can donate to support the project.

In the next few weeks, McGoings and Joseph will sponsor a social media contest for fans where people will have the change to enter for a piece of signed custom artwork. Fans can check out the book’s Facebook page for upcoming details.

Eventually, McGoings said he wants to write full-time and hire a literary agent, to help him market his books to publishers.

“It’s probably one of the hardest parts of the process, besides writing the book itself, is to find an agent,” McGoings said. “It’s hard to grab the attention of somebody.”

Images courtesy David McGoings

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!

Thursday (Sept. 5)

• Falls Church Art Show –11 a.m.-6 p.m. at Falls Church Arts (700 W. Broad Street) — Local artists showcase their latest work at this annual event.

Friday (Sept. 6)

• Old Firehouse Family Movie Night — 7-9 p.m. at The Old Firehouse (1440 Chain Bridge Road) — This event gives families the chance to gather and watch Disney’s “Frozen.” Tickets are $3 per person, which includes unlimited popcorn.
• The Piano Guys — 8 p.m. at Filene Center (1551 Trap Road) — The YouTube sensations will perform a live concert of their new album “Limitless.” Tickets are $38 and include a free download of the album.

Saturday (Sept. 7)

• Food For Others Tysons 5k and Fun Run — 8-10 a.m. at Tysons Corner Center Mall (1961 Chain Bridge Road) — This charity 5k invites participants to raise money for the hungry through Food for Others. Participants can purchase tickets for $35 beforehand and meet at the parking lot outside L.L.Bean on the day of the race.
• Coding Day for Beginners — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at  WeWork Tysons Corner (1775 Tysons Blvd) — This free event offers participants an inside look into how HTML, CSS and JavaScript work. Participants are asked to bring a laptop but free coffee and lunch will be provided.

Sunday (Sept. 8)

• Wolf Trap National Park Garden Tour — 10 a.m.-noon at Wolf Trap (1551 Trap Road) — This free event allows guests to tour the park in coordination with the National Parks Service.
• Uniquely Virginia Festival — noon-4 p.m. at the McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Avenue) — This festival features products created in northern Virginia. Admission is free and there will be live music and sample tastings.

Photo via Wolf Trap

The City of Falls Church is looking to implement a pilot program for scooters as a deadline nears for scooter regulation.

Legislation passed during the General Assembly session in January allows localities to regulate scooters and motorized skateboards, however, the localities have until Jan. 1, 2020 to take action to implement any regulations. After that date, the scooter companies can zoom around as they see fit.

Scooters, an increasingly popular alternative transportation option, are already around the area.

The City Council is set to discuss the proposed pilot program, which would allow the city to regulate bicycles and motorized skateboards, scooters and bicycles for hire, at a work session tonight (Tuesday).

The proposed program would allow the motorized vehicles and bicycles for hire to ride on the sidewalks and streets and would limit speeds to 20 miles per hour for bicycles and motorized bicycles and to 10 miles per hour for scooters and skateboards.

Additionally, the city would cap the maximum number of devices to 25 per company, allowing the company to increase the number with extra permit fees. Each company would have to pay a permit fee of $100 per device.

The proposed pilot program is set to go before the City Council for a review on Sept. 23 ahead of a planned adoption in October or November.

The City Council is also scheduled to discuss spot pedestrian improvements tonight.

“The ultimate goal is to provide an adequate and safe walkway system and for the city to ultimately achieve ‘Walk Friendly Community’ designation,” City Manager Wyatt Shields wrote in a memo to the mayor.

City staff chose several projects recommended by the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation totaling $100,000 — the amount set aside in the FY 2020 city budget for short-term spot improvements for pedestrian safety.

One project costing $45,000 would install a new sidewalk at S. Oak Street near Seaton Lane to close an 80-foot “missing link” along the busy corridor near TJ Elementary School.

The staff also recommended a $40,000 improvement that would install a new sidewalk at 304 S. Maple Avenue, closing a 60-foot gap in the sidewalk.

Finally, the staff plan to use $15,000 to install handicap-accessible ramps at locations that need them.

Some of the projects identified by the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation didn’t fit the city’s budget, like removing utility pole obstacles.

Fairfax County wants community input as it looks ahead to the next 20 years.

To solicit ideas and feedback, the county is hosting six community meetings around the county this month. The county will use the input to identify priority areas and success metrics for the county-wide strategic plan.

The Tysons and Falls Church area meeting will take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Marshall High School (7731 Leesburg Pike) on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

The county is especially interested in these nine areas:

• cultural and recreational opportunities
• economic opportunity
• education and lifelong learning
• effective and efficient government
• health and environment
• housing and neighborhood livability
• mobility and transportation
• safety and security
• self-sufficiency for people with vulnerabilities

“Whether you are new to Fairfax County, have lived here all your life or are somewhere in between, we’re interested in your vision for the future of the county and your community,” according to the county website.

People interested in attending who need childcare, transportation assistance, interpretation services or ADA accommodations can reach Angela Jones at 703-324-5302, TTY 711, or [email protected].

Photo via Facebook

An event management company in the Falls Church area now has more space and more employees after a recent expansion.

Started in 1987 as a woman-owned company called Capitol Services Inc., CSI DMC is a full-service destination and event management company.

After three decades in the City of Falls Church, the company moved from its old 4,750-square-foot office at 108 N. Virginia Avenue to an 8,175-square-foot office right outside the city, according to a press release.

“We had been bursting at the seams in our headquarters space for a quite a while, and I knew we had to make a move to create more space for our business growth — although just down the road, we think Arlington Boulevard is a perfect spot to put down some new roots,” Amberlee Huggins, the company’s president, said in a press release.

The company increased its employees by 25% in the last year, Asha Sedalia Bruot, a spokesperson for the company, told Tysons Reporter.

The company now has more than 135 employees worldwide with 35 based at the new Fairfax County headquarters.

Photo courtesy CSI DMC