The red oak trees in the City of Falls Church are dying — and no one knows why yet.

At a recent Falls Church Tree Commission meeting, members said they noticed sick trees on city property and are confused about what is threatening the red oak population. Members brought up a theory, saying that a disease called leaf scorch may be to blame.

Kate Reich, the city’s arborist, said that the red oaks are showing signs of browning leaves and dying branches — both common signs of leaf scorch.

Leaf scorch can affect all shade trees and commission members at the meeting said they were unsure why the disease is just affecting red oaks.

If leaf scorch is to blame though, “At least half of our native trees are susceptible,” a commissioner said at the meeting.

The Tree Commission is unsure how many trees are affected by the illness because they are unable to account for sick trees on private property. Reich said she wants homeowners to be aware of the issue so they can eventually take steps to save their trees.

The commission is waiting to see if their theory is confirmed from samples of the dying tree sent to Virginia Tech for laboratory testing. Reich said that once they know the root of the problem, they will decide on a course of action.

“We don’t normally control tree diseases. Focusing on just a few trees takes scarce resources away from managing the whole tree population,” Reich said. “But enough red oaks are affected now that we decided this year to see if it will be practical to manage the problem.”

If leaf scorch is the cause of the problem, the commission said that they can give affected trees antibiotics to fight the bacteria and also relieve tree stressors such as crowding and drought.

Reich said the treatment is expensive though, and they don’t know how much it will cost until they decide how many trees to save.

“There is no treatment that is long term,” Reich said, adding that antibiotics only last up to three years.

Commission members said that they would want to focus on saving older trees with a strong branch structure.

Untreated trees will likely die according to Reich.

Photo via Dominik Scythe on Unsplash

New proposals to address transportation issues in the Town of Vienna will be unveiled and up for community discussion at a meeting next week.

The town commissioned the Maple Avenue Corridor Multimodal Transportation & Land Use Study to look at transportation needs and impacts from development. Kimley-Horn, a consulting firm that focuses on transportation, planning and engineering, started the study in the spring.

The study area spanned Maple Avenue from James Madison Drive to Follin Lane and also along Church Street from Lawyers Road to East Street, as well as Courthouse Road and Locust Street.

The $80,000 study was funded through capital improvement bond funds, according to a press release.

The study was broken into three phases:

• looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the current transportation conditions
• estimating the impact of future development
• brainstorming and evaluating possible strategies

Project Manager David Samba said in a press release that Maple Avenue’s dual functionality as a local street and a regional road in one of the challenges noted in the study.

“When you look at Maple Avenue, the first thing people tell you is that there’s too much traffic,” Samba said. “So some of our recommendations are geared toward finding ways to alleviate traffic congestion and bottlenecks.”

Kimley-Horn will present recommendations from the study at a meeting next Wednesday (Sept. 4).

“Transportation recommendations could include changes to vehicular access, geometric and operational modifications to specific intersections or locations, transit service improvements, enhancements to bicycle and pedestrian networks, and transportation demand management policies and strategies,” according to the Town of Vienna.

Ultimately, the town is looking to implement near- and mid-term solutions for transportation woes — like safety and accessibility — along the corridor.

“The firm received more than 150 responses to a community survey and obtained feedback and insights at two previously held community meetings,” according to the press release.

The community meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall Council Chambers (127 S. Center Street).

Veronica Youngblood, accused of murdering her two children in Tysons, may undergo a mental health evaluation, according to news reports.

Youngblood was arrested in Loudoun County and charged with murder after police found two girls with gunshot wounds in their Tysons apartment last year, Tysons Reporter previously reported.

The 5-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, and the 15-year-old died at the hospital.

The incident happened after a custody dispute between Youngblood and her divorced husband, WTOP reported.

In May, a Fairfax County grand jury indicted Youngblood with two murder charges, according to news reports.

The state attorney said Youngblood is considering an insanity defense, adding that her client has had mental health issues before, including suicide attempts and “a trauma background,” WTOP reported.

WTOP also noted that the judge agreed to delay the Nov. 4 trial. A new trial date has not been set.

Photo courtesy FCPD

Plants have been reported stolen around the Tysons area three times this month, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The first report showed up in the Aug. 1 daily crime recap. Police said a cellphone and plant were stolen from a Falls Church home in the 2800 block of Bolling Road.

Several weeks passed and then the Tuesday (Aug. 27) recap said that plants were swiped from a Merrifield residence in the 8100 block of Lee Hwy.

The Wednesday (Aug. 28) recap said plants were taken from a McLean business in the 6800 block of Elm Street.

File photo

Anyone interested in the status of developments around the Town of Vienna is in luck — the town recently created an online development activity map.

The map groups planning and zoning applications by whether they are under review, approved or under construction/completed.

Here’s a breakdown of what those categories mean, according to the town’s website:

Under Review — Staff has received an application for rezoning, conditional use permit, site plan modification, subdivision, etc. and is reviewing for compliance with the Town Code, Comprehensive Plan, and State Code. Depending on the application type, the project also may  be subject to review by one or more of the following: Board of Architectural Review, Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Commission, Town Council.

Approved — Application has received final approval from staff or the appropriate board or commission.

Under Construction/Completed — Approved application is under construction or recently completed.

People can access the map by clicking on “Development Activity” on the town website’s homepage.

The tool lets people find projects by clicking geographic markers on the map or by selecting a project image icon. The map also includes information about upcoming board and commission meetings and links to documents.

Image via Town of Vienna

After extreme weather took a toll on Cherry Hill Park, the City of Falls Church has turned the remaining parts of the destroyed trees into art.

Recreation and Parks Director Daniel Schlitt commissioned a local artist to create statues from leftover stumps created by a violent storm last year that killed a few trees, Susan Finarelli, a city spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter.

Artist Andrew Mallon lives in Falls Church and specializes in chainsaw log-art. He began work on the installation in early August after Schlitt hired him for the job, Mallon told Tysons Reporter.

The installation includes four different statues, each scattered throughout the park.

The logs portray animals that would be found in neighboring forests, Mallon said. The art includes baby animals, because he thinks of parks as gathering places for families.

Mallon declined to say how much money the city paid him for the work, and Finarelli did not respond to a follow-up email.

The carvings were completed last Friday (Aug. 23) and are now on display for public viewing at 312 Park Avenue, Mallon said.

Cherry Hill Park will be a bit noisy the next few weeks. A local artist is using chainsaws to transform stumps into carved sculptures. Here are the "before" pictures. You're welcome to swing by to see the sculpting in progress! pic.twitter.com/LLauQN5RjF

— City of Falls Church (@FallsChurchGov) August 12, 2019

Photos via City of Falls Church

Police have identified the body found in Great Falls Park on Saturday as a 77-year-old retired pastor of a McLean church.

Around 9:45 a.m. on Saturday (Aug. 24), U.S. Park Police responded to a report from a kayaker about a dead body found at Great Falls Park (9200 Old Dominion Drive), police said.

U.S. Park Police said that the “investigation revealed that the man fell onto rocks.”

Police identified the man as Russell Larkin. He was pronounced dead on scene.

Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, tweeted that a search and body recovery took place on the Potomac River between Sandy Landing and Rocky Island.

Fairfax County Police Department said that Larkin had been reported missing around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, The Washington Post reported.

“The current pastor of Chesterbrook United Methodist Church told FOX5 Larkin was the pastor of that church from 2011 to 2016 where he was loved, respected and was a big part of keeping that church open when it faced some hard times,” FOX5 reported.

Search & Recovery (body) – Potomac River between Sandy Landing & Rocky Island @mcfrs SW710, SW710B, SW730, SW730B, BC702 on call @ffxfirerescue assisting (call originated from Va) @COcanalNPS (note: @mcfrs file photos) pic.twitter.com/QNVs70MSZb

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) August 24, 2019

U.S. Park Police have now identified body pulled from the Potomac River in Great Falls Park Saturday as 77 yr old Russell Eugene Larkin – he was discovered by kayakers…friends tell @fox5dc he was a well-loved former pastor of Chesterbrook United Methodist Church in McLean pic.twitter.com/G6aIVmk1SM

— Anjali Hemphill (@AnjaliHemphill) August 27, 2019

To celebrate new T-Rex stamps, the U.S. Postal Service will spotlight pictorial postmarks created by local kids with events at three Virginia post offices — including one in Vienna.

The U.S. Postal Service will issue Tyrannosaurus Rex Forever stamps on Thursday, Aug. 29.

More from the U.S. Postal Service about the stamps:

One design illustrates a face-to-face encounter with a T. rex approaching through a forest clearing; another shows the same young adult T. rex with a young Triceratops — both dinosaurs shown in fossil form.

The third and fourth stamps depict a newly hatched T. rex covered with downy feathers and a bare-skinned juvenile T. rex chasing a primitive mammal.

“The Nation’s T. rex,” the young adult depicted on two of the stamps, was discovered on federal land in Montana and is one of the most studied and important specimens ever found.

On Saturday, a T-Rex pictorial postmark created by a local 13-year-old will be available for “Customer Appreciation Day” at the Vienna Post Office.

The Vienna celebration will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. at 200 Lawyers Road NW.

The U.S. Postal Service also plans to host “Customer Appreciation Day” celebrations in Leesburg and Manassas.

“The event is an opportunity to show our customers how much we appreciate their business, answer their questions, and to celebrate a very special pictorial postmark specific to this community’s Post Office,” Postmaster Joquita Allen said.

Image via U.S. Postal Service

It’s not even fall yet and already a holiday decoration store is planning to return to Tysons Corner Center.

Tysons Reporter spotted a sign for A Christmas to Remember and several large, red ornaments hanging in a storefront in the mall.

Building permits indicate that A Christmas to Remember has been in Tysons Corner Center before.

The website for the store describes it as the “one-stop-shop for a personalized holiday shopping experience.”

“We offer a large selection of ornaments, lights, gifts and collectibles, in addition to officially licensed merchandise,” the website says.

The holiday store says it plans to open in Tysons on Sept. 28 — just a few days after fall starts.

The store will fill the former spot of the now-closed Charlotte Russe.

A GoFundMe campaign is raising funds to help a family with funeral and hospital costs after a McLean man was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on I-66 that also seriously injured his wife.

On Saturday (Aug. 24) morning, 28-year-old Joseph Castellano was driving a Toyota Rav4 on westbound I-66 near Centreville when a tractor-trailer collided with him and several other vehicles.

“The Toyota Rav4 ran off the right side of I-66 and over the Jersey wall, at which point it caught fire,” Corinne Geller, a spokesperson for the Virginia State Police, said.

His wife, Kate, was a passenger in the car. She was flown to a trauma center in D.C. and is still being treated for life-threatening injuries, Geller said.

A BMW sedan had struck the tractor-trailer, starting the series of chain-reaction crashes that involved eight cars, Geller said.

Police arrested and charged the driver of the BMW, 40-year-old Jonathyn Bland of Centerville, and the driver of the tractor-trailer, 34-year-old Shahbaz Singh of Fairfax, with reckless driving.

More from the GoFundMe page:

On Saturday August 24th we lost an amazing friend, brother, son, and husband to a terrible car accident. Joe Castellano died on impact.

Amazingly his wife Kate Castellano managed to escape the car and survive the crash. She was flown to a D.C. hospital with life threatening injuries.

I am setting up this Go Fund Me page to help the Family (families) with funeral, memorial, and hospital costs.

Joe and Kate touched the lives of many of us during our tenure at Mount Saint Mary’s University. They were kind to everyone, loved greatly, and did so much for everyone.

They were good Catholics and their faith and love for one another and to God could be felt by everyone around them.

If you could donate even a share to help, I would truly appreciate the kindness.

edit: I am a friend of both Joe and Kate. Joe was a classmate and friend and Kate became my friend and roommate during college.

The beneficiary of this fundraiser is Tony Castellano, Joe’s father.

Two days after the campaign started, more than 400 people have donated $26,728.

Megan Whelan, the GoFundMe page’s organizer, wrote on Monday (Aug. 26) that she raised the original goal of $10,000 to $30,000 after a flood of donations.

“I wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming response,” Whelan wrote. “It is a true testament to Joe and Kate’s impact on our lives and of course their families impact as well. Your kindness and thoughtful words are deeply appreciated.”

Photo via GoFundMe