Mom Has Daughter Arrested for Theft — “A woman living in the 600 block of Gibson Circle, S.W., told Vienna police on Sept. 27 at 12:30 a.m. that her juvenile daughter allegedly had stolen her cell phone and punched a hole in a wall. The resident advised police she wished to pursue charges.” [InsideNova]
Uptick in Sexual Harassment Reports at FCPS — “The 2017-2018 Fairfax County Youth Survey found that 14.2 percent of students reported being sexually harassed in the past year, an increase of a full percentage point from the 13.2 percent in the survey issued during the 2016-2017 school year. Female students are three times more likely than male students to report experiencing sexual harassment as 20.8 percent of girls said they had been harassed compared to 7.3 percent of boys.” [Fairfax County Times]
Hurricane Michael Could Soak Region — The remnants of Hurricane Michael, which is on a collision course with the Florida panhandle, could bring an inch or so of rain to Fairfax County between late Wednesday night and Friday. [Capital Weather Gang]
Tysons Firm Announces Merger — Tysons-based Telarix Inc. last week “announced its merger with Starhome Mach, the leading global provider of SaaS wholesale and retail roaming, clearing, settlement and fraud prevention solutions.” The combined company will be headquartered in Tysons. [Starhome Mach]
Domestic Violence Awareness Month in FFX — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Fairfax County held an event to remind residents to “make the call to end domestic violence.” The county’s 24-hour domestic and sexual violence hotline is 703-360-7273. [YouTube]
Fairfax County is under a Dense Fog Advisory this morning.
From the National Weather Service:
…DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EDT THIS MORNING…
* VISIBILITIES…One quarter mile or less at times.
* IMPACTS…Areas of dense fog will cause sudden reductions in visibility and rapidly changing conditions.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Dense Fog Advisory means visibilities will frequently be reduced to less than one quarter mile. If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue published the following tips for driving in foggy weather this morning.
A foggy start to Columbus Day this morning! There is a Dense Fog Advisory in effect until 10 a.m. Drive safely out there as our firefighters and paramedics do not want to meet you by “accident” this morning.
When driving this morning, please keep the following driving in fog safety tips, from the National Weather Service, in mind:
- Slow down and allow extra time to reach your destination.
- Make your vehicle visible to others both ahead of you and behind you by using your low-beam headlights since this means your taillights will also be on. Use fog lights if you have them.
- Never use your high-beam lights. Using high beam lights causes glare, making it more difficult for you to see what’s ahead of you on the road.
- Leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you to account for sudden stops or changes in the traffic pattern.
- To ensure you are staying in the proper lane, follow the lines on the road with your eyes.
- In extremely dense fog where visibility is near zero, the best course of action is to first turn on your hazard lights, then simply pull into a safe location such as a parking lot of a local business and stop.
Since Tysons Reporter launched last week, more than 10,000 visitors have come to the site for local news about Tysons, McLean and Vienna.
Thank you for exceeding our readership expectations! To make sure you’re getting all of our local headlines, be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter.
In case you missed any of them, here are the top 10 most-read articles on the site over the past two weeks:
- A Look Inside The Boro, the Massive New Development in Tysons
- Arhontiko Taking Greek Food From Mediterranean to McLean
- Morning Notes – Sept. 25
- Competition and Challenges Ahead for Tysons
- Father and Son Opening Tex-Mex Restaurant in Tysons
- New Shoe Store Hits Tysons Corner Center With $5,000 Kicks
- MoMo House Nepalese Restaurant Coming to Vienna
- Virtual Reality Entertainment Center Coming to Tysons
- Controversial Development Returning to Vienna Town Council
- BREAKING: Man Killed in McLean Pedestrian Crash
Todd Hitt, the founder of Falls Church-based Kiddar Capital and a member of the prominent construction family, has been arrested by the FBI and charged with securities fraud.
Earlier this year Kiddar made several announcements to some fanfare in the local business press: bringing on the son of a well-known local real estate developer to head the company’s venture capital group, making plans to invest significantly in homebuilding projects, and planning to relocate to a new office building in Falls Church.
Today, however, Hitt is due to appear in federal court in Alexandria, facing charges that come with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The company’s Twitter and Instagram accounts have been shut down. Its Facebook page remains active but has not posted new content since August.
More on the charges via a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia:
A Fairfax man surrendered to the FBI on an outstanding arrest warrant today in connection with being charged with having committed securities fraud.
According to court documents, Todd Elliott Hitt, 53, is alleged to have committed securities fraud in connection with his ownership and operation of Kiddar Capital, a self-described asset management firm based in Falls Church. According to the allegations, Hitt falsely claimed that Kiddar Capital managed $1.4 billion in assets and had offices located in Houston, Palm Springs, and London. The complaint further alleges that Hitt raised more than $16 million from investors by misrepresenting that Hitt would invest $6 million as a general partner as part of a planned $33 million purchase of a Herndon building adjacent to a future stop on the Silver Line of the Washington, D.C., Metro. According to the complaint, Hitt further failed to disclose to investors his extravagant spending, which included the leasing of private jets and the purchase of sports tickets and jewelry, among other things.
Hitt, who will make his initial appearance today at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, is charged with securities fraud, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the charges were unsealed. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark D. Lytle is prosecuting the case.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with significant assistance provided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
A large-scale Korean cultural festival is being held in Tysons this weekend.
The 2018 KORUS festival is taking place Saturday, Oct. 6 and Sunday, Oct. 7 in the parking lot outside Bloomingdales at Tysons Corner Center.
The event will feature food, music, cultural performances, vendors and more. It’s billed as “a celebration of the Korean American way of life, Korean heritage and culture, and the beauty of America’s diversity.”
“With close to 30,000 visitors and participation from over 50 vendors, retailers, and community groups; 20 performance artists; and more than 100 volunteers, the festival truly represents the Korean American community nationwide,” says the KORUS website.
More from event web page:
The 2018 KORUS Festival will be held at Tysons Corner Center and will be the perfect showcase for this fantastic journey!
The annual festival will be located in the Bloomingdale’s Parking Lot (by LL Bean, Bloomingdales and Le Pain Quotidien) and invites people of all ages and ethnicities will come together to celebrate the Korean American way of life, Korean heritage and view stunning cultural performances, demonstrations, contests, food offerings, arts & crafts, and so much more.
A new Thai restaurant recently opened in McLean.
Chiang Mai Thai Cookhouse is located at 6813 Elm Street, in the former Italian Deli space. It appears to have opened in August.
Offering Northern Thai cuisine and a frequently-changing menu, the restaurant is somewhat unique in its approach to dining in.
“We are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week,” Chiang Mai’s website says. “We accept walk-ins only; no reservations. We have a tiny dining room and can only seat groups of 4 or fewer.”
“Our dishes are served as family-style and will be sent to your table once they are made, in no particular order,” the website adds.
The listed business hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. on weekdays, and noon-9:30 p.m. on weekends.
So far reviews have been good, with 4.5 stars on Yelp.
“This was some mighty fine tasting Thai food, I actually love that the [desire] of the Chiang Mai Thai Cookhouse is to avoid fusion or American Thai food… and stick to the authentic favors as close as possible,” said one review. “I ordered the Kaosoi, northern Thai sausage, papaya salad and Nam prik oong. Every dish is well prepared, well cooked and well served.”
Photos via Chiang Mai Thai Cookhouse
Columbus Day in Fairfax County — Fairfax County government offices and schools will be closed and the Fairfax Connector will operate on a modified holiday schedule due to the Columbus Day holiday. Vienna Town Hall will also be closed. [Fairfax County, Fairfax Connector, Twitter]
Vienna Fund Raises Quarter Billion — Vienna-based Aldrich Capital Partners “has spent three years proving out its entrepreneur-driven investment thesis — and it just closed a $256 million outside fund to bring it to life.” [Washington Business Journal]
Tysons Company Makes Another Acquisition — “DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC), the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, today announced the acquisition of argodesign, a nationally known product design consultancy based in Austin, TX.” [Business Wire, Fast Company]
New Coworking Space Coming to Tysons — “Short for the Brandywine Experience, the first Bex is set to open soon from ground-floor space at 8260 Greensboro Drive in Tysons, a nondescript, seven-story office building. It’s not big, at about 6,300 square feet, but Brandywine hopes it will have an outsized impact on occupancy rates across its Northern Virginia portfolio.” [Washington Business Journal]
Reminder: Voter Registration Deadline Approaching — “The deadline to update your voter registration information and register to vote is Monday, Oct. 15, for the upcoming Nov. 6 general election. There are 754,493 registered voters in Fairfax County, including 695,925 active registered voters.” [Fairfax County]
The Void, described as a “virtual reality entertainment center,” is opening a location at Tysons Corner Center.
The VR business, which is backed in part by Disney, opened its first location in Utah and has since expanded to cities like Toronto, London and Dubai. The Tysons location will be The Void’s first D.C. area location, and is part of an expansion that includes new locations in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York City and Philadelphia.
The company’s website and a large sign outside of the future Tysons location, on the movie theater wing of the mall, only say that it is “coming soon.”
Among the virtual reality experiences offered by The Void in Tysons will be “Ghostbusters Dimension” — as seen in the video below — and “Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire.”
Fast-growing restaurant chain Pokeworks is now hiring for its new location in Tysons Corner Center.
The build-your-own poke bowl eatery will be located on the lower level food court of the mall. Pokeworks touts its “healthy, customizable Hawaiian poke bowls, burritos, and salads” which feature a choice of marinated raw fish or cooked proteins.
Pokeworks is planning a job fair next week in an attempt to staff up for its forthcoming opening, according to one of the co-franchisees.
“We will be conducting a hiring open house at our restaurant on Monday, Oct. 8 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.,” Viengkeo Tzong told Tysons Reporter. “We are actively looking to hire crew members and anticipate a grand opening towards the end of the month.”
“We are very excited to be a part of the Tysons community,” Tzong added.
Virginia is a good place to retire and Fairfax County is the best locality in the state for retirees, according to new rankings from SmartAsset.
The company says Fairfax is No. 1 thanks to a variety of factors, including proximity to parks, medical care, shopping centers and other amenities.
If you’re looking to retire in the great outdoors, Fairfax County may be the perfect place for you. The region houses many national parks, including Great Falls National Park and Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first sanctuary for bald eagles. You can also visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
You’d also have more than 300 miles of hiking trails to tackle as you stay active. In fact, the Fairfax County Park Authority runs more than 400 parks among more than 20,000 acres. Some feature wildlife preserves and working farms. But nature isn’t Fairfax’s only perk. You also have more than 200 regional shopping centers. And don’t worry too much about your wallet. The region’s mid-range 16.7% tax burden falls well below that of major cities. So it would behoove you to invest in tax-advantaged savings vehicles like a 401(k) or individual retirement account (IRA). And where can you use your hard earned savings? At tons of recreation centers, including an ice-skating rink and Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. You also have more than 800 playgrounds you can bring the grandkids to. And if you need it, Fairfax has more than 13 medical centers per 1,000 people. Overall, Fairfax County is definitely the place to retire in if you love the outdoors and still want some action in your life.
Also making the list: Falls Church at No. 2 — “perfect for the person who also likes a vibrant city lifestyle” — and Vienna at No. 7 — “those who enjoy the arts or intend to focus on continuing education will feel right at home.”
