Smiley, who’s always got a smile on her face, is a Golden Retriever mix looking for her forever home.
Here’s what her friends at Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation have to say about her:
Meet Smiley, a girl who is sure to always know how to turn your frown upside down! Smiley is a calm and gentle girl who greets everyone she meets warmly and politely along with her friendly grin. (Her name is Smiley for a reason!) You can make her grin even bigger by providing her with some pets to the head and ear scratches — those are her favorite!
Smily has immaculate manners. We haven’t noticed that she jumps on people at all and when we were taking her out, she even offered a sit to be leashed without a treat lure! She also walks well on the leash with little to no pulling (even when passing other dogs) and explores confidently outdoors, unfazed by loud noises or passing vehicles.
Smiley will truly be an amazing addition to her new forever family’s home. Come meet her to see for yourself just how truly amazing she is!
Are you and Smiley the perfect match?
Meet Wonder, a sweet momma kitty who has taken good care of her seven babies (the “7 Natural World Wonder” kittens). She is now looking for her forever home with one of her kittens.
Here’s what Wonder’s friends at 4Paws Rescue Team have to say about her:
The 7 Natural World Wonder kittens were found at just 2 weeks old living outside near Blacksburg, Virginia, under the care of their mom, Wonder. They’ve spent the past couple weeks being pampered and loved by their mom and foster family in the safe indoors, which they gladly took to!
Wonder is the sweetest and most patient young mom of the 7 Natural World Wonders kittens. She cared and protected her babies outdoors before coming to her foster home with them. She loves to greet you at the door and stretches her neck out to make sure you give her some kisses and nose boops upon entering.
As her kittens are getting older and they become less demanding of her time, her incredibly sweet personality has blossomed more and more. Any time her foster family has a visitor over, she’s rolling on her back looking for a good scratch! She would prefer to cuddle than play right now, but we think once she has less mom demands she’ll have more energy for playtime!
Wonder is very petite, weighing only 5 pounds when she arrived. We’ve been working on gaining some healthy weight. Her calico coat is stunning with her pink nose and pink/black paw pads. After patiently caring for her babies for so long, Lady Wonder deserves a family who will give her the love and attention she’s shown her kittens.
She would do well being adopted with any of her kittens: Everest Cozort, Micho Cozort, Canyon Cozort, Reef Cozort, Rio Cozort, Aurora Cozort and Victoria Cozort.
Could you, Wonder and one of her kittens make the perfect match?
Want more local news delivered directly to your inbox each afternoon?
Never miss a headline when you subscribe to the Tysons Reporter daily newsletter. Get the latest news on local government, real estate, businesses and more.
More than 5,400 people have already subscribed — it takes less than a minute.
Thank you for continuing to support local news!
Meet Annie, the latest Pet of the Week. Annie’s human moved to assisted living and couldn’t take her along, so now she’s looking for a new home with a soft bed for naps and someone who’ll take her on slow walks.
Here’s what Annie, a senior Westie, shared through her friends at Westie Rescue of the Mid-Atlantic States:
I need a really soft bed to snooze in. I love slow walks and exploring the outdoors. I like sitting on a front porch watching everyone come and go. This way I get to bark at the big dogs. I am a very good-looking Westie with GREAT fur and a pretty face. I like a good neck and cheek scratch on your chair. I walk well on a lead; I like to meet other dogs, and I like people. I am VERY attentive. I like to play with humans and my toys for 20 minutes, then sleep for two hours. I come when called… well not so much… but I sit on command, and I am house trained unless my bladder is way too full from drinking too much water. I like to snooze in a dog bed, too. I sleep soundly so you will need to clap your hands to wake me. I like to be near you. I have a few quirks, but who doesn’t when you get older?
I am currently with Uncle Stephen sleeping in his home office in Northern Virginia. I sleep a whole lot. Did I tell you I have great fur, and I need a big doggy bed, and if you touch my muzzle or startle me I might nip you? Well, I was told to be upfront about myself. I like Uncle Stephen a lot and he can do almost anything to me as he is in charge around here, and I want to suck up to get some treats and go for walks!
Call and schedule a visit today! There is only one of me, and I could use a new bed!
Are you and Ms. Annie the perfect match? Read her full profile and reach out.
One of the longest-running stories on Tysons Reporter has been plans to overhaul McLean’s downtown. The aim is to make it more vibrant and active, but critics of the plan say it still misses the mark on parking and stormwater management.
The McLean Community Business Center plan divides the 230 acres of central McLean into a few zones with greater residential density opportunities than currently exist — the idea being to incentivize more development in exchange for those developments including more public open space and community amenities.
The expanded density will allow for up to 3,850 residential units in McLean, more than triple the 1,280 units currently built in that area.
Robert Jackson, president of the McLean Citizens Association, said that in spite of some changes, the MCA still opposes the draft plan, due to a lack of specificity around water management requirements and changes that will shift the emphasis to underground parking garages, rather than surface parking.
“Some changes made, and we are pleased with some of them, but [those] two major issues remain unaddressed satisfactorily,” he said at a public hearing held by the Fairfax County Planning Commission on May 26.
Other concerns that emerged during last week’s public hearing included calls for more assurance that the new development won’t add to McLean’s flooding issues.
“The focus needs to address flooding and streambed erosion concerns,” local citizen Barbara Ryan said, “particularly as we are seeing downstream erosion in Pimmit Run.”
After the public hearing, the planning commission deferred its decision on whether to recommend approval of the proposed comprehensive plan amendment to June 9. The plan will then go before the Board of Supervisors on June 22.
Image via Fairfax County
Virginia is no longer requiring that people wear face masks indoors if they have been fully vaccinated, a move that reflects the COVID-19 pandemic’s waning threat in the state as vaccination rates rise and case rates fall.
However, there are some exceptions to the new rules. In addition to maintaining the state’s mask mandate for health care facilities, public transportation, and schools, the revised guidance lets businesses continue requiring masks within their establishments.
In the wake of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement, some businesses are continuing to mandate masks for all customers, while others are letting fully vaccinated customers go mask-free, depending on local and state regulations, though a few, like Trader Joe’s and Starbucks, are still requiring masks for employees.
With masks still “strongly recommended” in all settings for people who aren’t fully vaccinated, however, businesses largely seem to be relying on an honor system, raising questions for parents with children who aren’t eligible to be vaccinated yet and service workers who have to interact with a wide variety of customers.
Gov. Ralph Northam said earlier this month that he has not ruled out the possibility of vaccine “passports” as a means for people to prove they’ve been vaccinated before participating in certain activities, but for the time being, there are no plans to implement any such system.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told Tysons Reporter that he is “not aware of any concerns” from businesses about enforcing the new mask guidelines.
“I’m not aware of any concerns we have heard at this point, but per state guidance, businesses can make their own decisions about masking,” McKay said. “I encourage our businesses to do what they feel is best for the health and safety of their staff and customers.”
What approach makes you most comfortable when it comes to masks right now? Would you prefer that retail stores, theaters, and other businesses keep requiring masks to minimize confusion and risk, or should they let customers and workers go without masks, trusting that they’ve been vaccinated?
The cicadas are about to take over the world, or at least much of the East Coast, including Fairfax County.
After biding their time for the past 17 years, Brood X could start emerging in full force as soon as today (Monday), according to the first-ever cicada forecast by The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang.
From animals digging for a snack to holes in the earth made by cicada nymphs burrowing up from their underground lairs, signs of the insects’ impending arrival have become more plentiful in recent weeks. In fact, a few bugs have already been spotted, summoned out of their exoskeletons early by the rapidly warming weather.
https://twitter.com/dcstormchaser/status/1377946587641606147
The prospect of millions of winged insects crawling out of the ground might convince some people to stay inside until July, but as Fairfax County Park Authority naturalist and education and outreach manager Tammy Schwab told Tysons Reporter in March, cicadas are harmless — even edible.
In addition, while some annual cicadas pop up every year, the once-every-other-decade appearances of the periodical variety are natural phenomena unique to the U.S., a product of the creatures’ unusually long life cycles.
Fairfax County has been doing its part to turn anxiety over Brood X into excitement, inviting community members to a game of Cicada Stroll Bingo and highlighting the environmental benefits of cicadas.
How are you planning to greet Brood X? Are you ready to embrace the swarm, or does the idea of stepping outside in the next two months fill you with dread?
Photo courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority
After months of economic uncertainty and upheaval, movie theaters are hoping to make a comeback in 2021.
Last weekend, the monster mash-up “Godzilla vs. Kong” scored the biggest opening at the U.S. box office since the COVID-19 pandemic threw Hollywood’s release calendar into disarray in March 2020. The recent reopening of theaters in the major markets of New York City and Los Angeles has the industry hoping for a revival this summer, despite the loss of some beloved exhibitors.
Locally, the ShowPlace ICON Theatre at The Boro announced earlier this week that it will reopen next Friday (April 23). This will essentially be a second chance for the theater to introduce itself to Tysons after it held a grand opening in February 2020 only to be shut down by the pandemic a month later.
Like other theaters in the area, ShowPlace initially opened its doors again in August, but a dearth of major new releases and the challenges of operating under Virginia’s capacity limits led the venue to close again in September.
The theater hopes the opening will stick this time, offering “Welcome Back” discounts on tickets and concessions. A recent poll suggests audiences are becoming more comfortable with the idea of sitting in a darkened room among strangers.
However, much of that confidence hinges on vaccines taking effect, and with COVID-19 cases on the rise again, going to an indoor movie theater still poses some health risks, particularly for people who have not been vaccinated yet.
With ShowPlace planning to reopen, how comfortable do you feel right now about going to the cinema? Have you already taken in a blockbuster or Oscar contender, or are you waiting for vaccines to become more widespread?
The Town of Vienna is funding a sidewalk project that aims to make the town a little more pedestrian-friendly, but walkability remains a big topic throughout the car-heavy Tysons area.
With coronavirus shutting down most international travel, more emphasis was put on traveling by foot around neighborhoods. In Tysons, that led to temporarily closing a section of Tysons Blvd last year to accommodate more pedestrian traffic.
At the northern end of the area, McLean is also in the process over updating some of its busted sidewalks to help make walking around downtown less of a chore.
This year’s graduating classes may get to celebrate their achievements with socially-distanced graduation ceremonies.
Earlier this week, Gov. Ralph Northam released preliminary guidance for graduation ceremonies at high schools and universities this spring and summer.
“We are releasing this guidance early to allow schools to begin planning for this year’s events,” Northam said Wednesday (March 17) in a statement. “While graduation and commencement ceremonies will still be different than they were in the past, this is a tremendous step forward for all of our schools, our graduates, and their families.”
Northam wants all outdoor ceremonies to be capped at 5,000 people or 30 percent of venue capacity.
Indoors events are limited to 500 people or 30 percent of the venue capacity. All attendees must wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines to the extent possible.
Seating areas should be reconfigured to accommodate social distancing, among other recommendations pitched by Northam.
Updated guidance is expected to be released as part of a forthcoming executive order.
The guidance comes as Fairfax County Public Schools prepares for a return to five days of in-person classes in the fall. Since Feb. 16, more than 98,000 students and staff members have resumed in-person classes.
More than two-thirds of the state’s public school teachers and staff have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The statewide positivity rate for COVID-19 also continues to fall, currently standing at 5.4 percent.
Last year, some Fairfax County students celebrated with car parades, while other schools returned to virtual celebrations or graduate photo opportunities. FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand told the school board on Tuesday (March 16) that he was “confident” there will be in-person ceremonies for the senior Class of 2021.
With this in mind, we’d love to know what you think about how and if in-person graduation ceremonies should resume this year. Let us know in the poll below.
Photo via Andre Hunter on Unsplash
