Updated at 1:40 p.m. — Corrects description of MicroStrategy and lease renewal date.

MicroStrategy Inc. scored $1 million to expand in Tysons.

The Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors approved grant funding from the Commonwealth at its meeting on Tuesday (May 21).

The funds will help the company with its tenant build-out of its facility (1850 Towers Crescent Plaza) in Tysons, which could lead to 300 new jobs at the facility, according to county documents.

Last March, MicroStrategy, which provides a data analytics platform, renewed its lease for its Tysons headquarters for $150 million, keeping the company based in Northern Virginia for another 13 years, the Washington Business Journal reported.

As part of the grant, Fairfax County must provide a local match, which will be in the form of accelerating construction on the Magarity Walkway project, a roadway improvement that is already planned and funded in the county budget. The road improvement was identified by coordinating with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

Fairfax County competed with another jurisdiction for the expansion of MicroStrategy’s headquarters, according to county documents.

The City of Falls Church is looking to reduce its residential parking and ramp up its multi-modal transportation options.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Transportation Planning Board (TPB) approved $680,000 in assistance for 13 projects, including one to support a residential parking standards update underway in Falls Church.

Details on the update are scarce, but according to the TPB:

This project will update multi-family residential parking requirements for new development in the area. An outcome of this project will include revisions to the city’s Traffic Impact Analyses tables, which are used to estimate potential traffic impacts of proposed land uses and assign parking requirements. The project will also support a potential revision to the city’s zoning ordinance. The updated standards would be intended for use in all future multi-family residential projects and useful to other jurisdictions in the region.

The look at residential parking follows a commercial parking requirements update approved in 2016.

The residential parking standards update would be one part of a broader effort to promote non-car transportation through the city. The FY2019 budget included $25,000 to restore a commuter incentive program.

Photo via Facebook.

Code Ninjas, a franchise aimed at teaching kids to code, recently arrived in downtown Falls Church.

A grand opening on Saturday (May 18) welcomed Code Ninjas into 510 S. Washington Street, Suite F.

Code Ninjas teaches kids ages 7-14 to code with a game-based curriculum, advancing from the white belt for beginners to the black belt — the most advanced status, according to its website.

Spanning more than three dozen states, Code Ninjas’ opening in Falls Church marks its 13th franchise location in Virginia.

The Falls Church location offers classes on Javascript, coding video games, creating websites, building Minecraft worlds and programming drones.

Candytopia is looking to bring its sugary art installations to Tysons.

Curated by Jackie Sorkin from TLC’s “Candy Queen,” the interactive art pop-up made with candy describes itself as an “outrageously interactive candy wonderland” with flying unicorn pigs and a marshmallow tsunami. The pop-ups usually last about four months.

Candytopia’s chief executive officer told the Washington Business Journal that the pop-up concept, which occupies between 14,000 and 25,000 square feet, is looking to open in the Tysons area in the next year.

Candytopia recently opened in Atlanta and Dallas and is “coming soon” to Houston. Tickets vary by location — regular admission for the Atlanta one costs $28, while the Dallas one is $30.

Previously, Candytopia has rolled into San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul and New York City.

Photo via Facebook

A Maryland man picked up drug and weapon charges at a CVS Pharmacy in McLean, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

Police say the man was arrested for obtaining drugs by fraud, along with other charges, after calling in a fraudulent prescription.

According to the police report, the incident occurred at the McLean CVS (1452 Chain Bridge Road) on Sunday (May 19) morning:

A pharmacist received a fraudulent prescription and notified our officers. The man arrived to pick up his medicine and was arrested. A loaded handgun with an extended magazine was found concealed in his backpack. [The man] was charged with obtaining drugs by fraud, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a loaded firearm in certain specified localities and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute.

Photo via Google Maps

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!

Monday (May 20)

• Sound Check Bingo — 7 p.m. at Caboose Commons (2918 Eskridge Road) — Caboose Commons at the Mosaic District is premiering a music trivia bingo night. The event mixes bingo and trivia contests where contestants hear 30-45 seconds of a song and must determine the title then find that song on bingo cards. Genres range from 80’s to Motown and country.

Tuesday (May 21)

• Capital One Blood Drive — 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Capital One Westpark (7900 Westpark Drive) — Inova Blood Donor Services will be on hand to receive blood donations. Photo ID is required, and visitors are asked to allow one hour for donation.
• Meet the Brewer: Tucher Brewery — 5-8 p.m. at Tysons Biergarten (8346 Leesburg Pike) — Michael Lassauer, the brewmaster of Tucher Brewery, will be at the Biergarten to talk and have a drink with customers. The event will also include free Tucher T-shirts and bottle openers.

Wednesday (May 22)

• Dine for a Cause — 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at Moby Dick House of Kabob (2676 Avenir Place) — Several local charity organizations are partnering together to host a fundraiser for refugees in Northern Virginia at Moby Dick. If the diner mentions the fundraiser, 20 percent of the meal proceeds will be donated to Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area to support refugees.
• First Mothers Out Front Fairfax Meeting — 7-8:30 p.m. at Green Hedges School (415 Windover Avenue NW) — Mothers Out Front, an organization fighting climate change, is hosting its first meeting to talk about a campaign to convert Fairfax County to an electrical school bus system.

Thursday (May 23)

• Soft Opening at City Works Eatery and Pour House — 6-9 p.m. at City Works Eatery and Pour House (1640 Capital One Drive North) — City Works at the Capital One headquarters is hosting a soft opening this week with a fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank. Seating is limited with reservations at $50 per seat.
• Creativity Showcase — 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Fusion Academy Tysons (1934 Old Gallows Road) — Fusion Academy is hosting an exhibition of student creativity with a gallery-style showing of creations and projects with complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

Friday (May 24)

• Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Debate — 7:30-10 a.m. at Valo Park (7950 Jones Branch Drive) — The Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia is hosting a debate between Democratic Board of Supervisors Chair candidates and Commonwealth’s Attorney candidates. The event is hosted by NBC4’s Julie Carey and is $15 per person.

Saturday (May 25)

• ViVa! Vienna! — 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday on Church Street — Amusement rides, live music, vendors, carnival food and more will be available all weekend at the family-friendly Vienna festival.
• To the Moon and Back — 4-5 p.m. at Total Wine (1451 Chain Bridge Road) — To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, Schlafly Beer is debuting a new beer: Luna Lager. Tickets to the event are $15.

Sunday (May 26)

• Memorial Day Weekend Concert — 4-6 p.m. at Saint Luke Catholic Church (7001 Georgetown Pike) — The Fairfax Choral Society Symphonic Chorus will be performing a series of songs to honor veterans, including several patriotic American classics. Tickets for the event are $25 — or $5 for students or $40 for reserved seating. Kids 13 and under are free.

Photo via Facebook

The Vienna Town Council will tackle a proposed outdoor music and art festival during its work session tonight (May 20).

Movers and Shakers for Vienna Arts, a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports the arts, wants to hold a two-day festival, which would double as a fundraiser, with juried art vendors, live music, food and beer in 2020.

Unlike the Town of Vienna’s two current outdoor festivals with craft vendors — ViVa! Vienna! and Oktoberfest — the proposed one would require items sold by vendors to be handmade.

“Vendors that make their own products cannot compete with prices of goods sold by vendors that sell buy/sell or imported items,” according to town documents. “The overall quality of items sold at an art show with no regulations is not as high as a festival that requires only hand-made items.”

The document also said that high-quality artists selling handmade crafts may refuse to participate in events that also allow the sale of imported items.

The proposed Movers and Shakers Music and Art Festival returns tonight to the Town Council after its organizers made adjustments based on previous comments from the Town Council.

While town staff said in the documents that limited funding and resources are concerns, they noted that the festival “could generate visitors to Town and additional spending at local businesses.”

The festival has support from the Parks and Recreation director, according to the documents.

A bond referendum coming up in November could help fund capacity additions for James Madison High School in Vienna.

The Fairfax County School Board approved the request for the Board of Supervisors to put a $360 million bond referendum on the November 2019 ballot. Much of the items in the referendum focus on mitigating chronic capacity problems.

Madison is one of 11 high schools in Fairfax that is over 100 percent capacity.

Two other high schools — Justice and West Potomac — are also set to receive additions through the referendum, while Falls Church High School is scheduled for upcoming renovations.

According to the FY 2020-2024 Capital Improvement Program (CIP):

Capacity enhancement additions are needed at West Potomac High School, Justice High School, and Madison High School to accommodate forecasted capacity needs. The relocation of three modular additions is also proposed to provide additional capacity relief to schools in need.

While the budget does not list specifics on the James Madison High School, the CIP says capacity enhancements could include interior modifications, modular additions and temporary classrooms.

Photo via Google Maps

Virginia residents have until right before midnight tonight (May 20) to register to vote for the June 11 primaries.

A total of 49 Republican and 45 Democratic primaries spanning the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia Senate and local offices will be held on June 11. For Tysons-area residents, upcoming retirements have several spots open on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

The Hunter Mill District, which covers Vienna and Reston, and the Providence District, which covers Tysons and Merrifield, both have five Democrats vying for the seats. The primary will also determine which of the four Democrats in the race for the Board of Supervisors chair will face Republican Joe Galdo in the November election.

People eligible to vote can register or update their voter information in person before 5 p.m. at a local registration office — the one for Fairfax County is at 12000 Government Center Parkway, Suite 323 — or online until 11:59 p.m.

Are you registered to vote? Do you need to update your registration information? If you want to vote in the June 11 primaries, the deadline is Monday (5/20). Go to https://t.co/Z4PThNmbjG and be #ReadyToVote pic.twitter.com/alsgdfPuIE

— VA Dept of Elections (@vaELECT) May 17, 2019

Flickr pool photo by Mrs. Gemstone

Fairfax County is getting closer to developing a program for the police, fire and emergency response agencies to use unmanned aircraft.

The county’s Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider tomorrow (Tuesday) approving the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) program, which proposes to incorporate drones into government operations with a particular focus on public safety.

“A UAS program would provide enhanced operational capability, safety, and situational awareness for first responders, other staff or volunteers, affiliated partners, and the community,” according to the draft agenda for the county board meeting.

The draft notes that unmanned aircraft are able to operate in possibly hazardous environments that could harm first responders.

Some examples of drone usage include:

• search and rescue
• damage assessment
• fire incident/scene management and investigations
• hazardous materials responses
• geospatial data acquisition

Drones would not be used to conduct unauthorized surveillance activities or to harass individuals, the draft says.

The proposal was first brought up last year and the Board of Supervisors directed staff to conduct community outreach on the proposal. After several task force meetings on the proposal and half of a dozen public meetings, the proposal is now seeking the Board of Supervisors’ approval.

If the program is approved, staff would apply for an FAA Certificate of Authority (COA) to comply with federal requirements and also create a steering committee for oversight of the program.

Fairfax County falls under the “No Drone Zone” that placed restrictions on flying unmanned aircraft after 9/11 and requires FAA authorization within a 15-mile radius from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The fire and police departments and Office of Emergency Management would initially receive about six to eight unmanned aircraft — costing the agencies about $3,500 per drone, according to the draft.

Photo via Flickr/Joe Loong