Fairfax County Clears COVID-19 Vaccine Waitlist — The Fairfax County Health Department’s vaccine waitlist is now at zero, according to its data dashboard. That means everyone who registered before the county entered Phase 2 on April 18 has been invited to schedule an appointment. The department registered a total of 435,981 people. [FCHD]
Springfield Doctor Charged in Two Sexual Assaults — Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced yesterday (Tuesday) that Drew John Steiner, 58, a physician who practiced family medicine at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, has been indicted on charges of rape, abduction, and unlawful filming for allegedly sexually assaulting two women last summer. [WTOP]
Vienna Town Council Debates Future of Mulch Facility — “The town of Vienna’s leaf-mulching facility on Beulah Road, N.E., for decades has produced free mulch for residents, but also has aggravated adjacent neighbors with noise and a pervasive stench from the stored leaves. The Vienna Town Council on April 19 mulled options for the site’s future, but could not arrive at a clear consensus.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
ActiveFairfax Survey Deadline Extended — Fairfax County residents now have until May 15 to weigh in on the ActiveFairfax Transportation Plan, which will shape the county’s future efforts to plan for bicycles, pedestrians, and other forms of non-motorized transportation. The county held a community conversation on the plan for the Dranesville District last night, and a Providence District meeting is scheduled for April 28. [Fairfax County Government]
Virginia Becomes First Southern State to Abolish the Death Penalty — Gov. Ralph Northam signed legislation yesterday (Wednesday) that made Virginia the 23rd state to eliminate the death penalty. The move reflected a “dramatic shift” for a state that has recorded the second-most executions in the U.S. Del. Mark Keam (D-Vienna) celebrated the new law as “one of the most consequential votes” he’s cast in his 12 General Assembly sessions. [Associated Press]
Inova Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Site to Open Next Week — The mass vaccination facility that Inova Health Systems is setting up in Alexandria will open next Monday (March 29), Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay says. The site has the capacity to vaccinate about 12,000 people per day and “will be particularly helpful to those in South County.” [Chairman Jeff McKay]
Judge Sets Hearing for Park Police Shooting of McLean Resident — U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton has scheduled a status hearing for April 23 to determine whether the two Park Police officers charged in the 2017 fatal shooting of Bijan Ghaisar “can be criminally prosecuted by the state of Virginia…or whether they fall under amnesty for federal officers from state criminal laws.” [The Washington Post]
Virginia Senator Discusses Experience with COVID-19 — “During a Senate health committee hearing earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine made a surprising admission: Long after contracting COVID-19, the Virginia Democrat is still experiencing strange symptoms. Kaine revealed last May that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies following an onset of symptoms in March.” [U.S. News]
Falls Church Native Develops Website to Help Navigate Vaccine Registration — 20-year-old Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology graduate Eric Lin worked with a classmate at Harvard University to design a website called COVID Vaccines Info Guide that “would act as a one-stop-shop that provides comprehensive information for all 50 states.” [Falls Church News-Press]
McLean Resident Opposes Proposed Comprehensive Plan Changes — A Dominion Woods resident argues that Fairfax County’s proposals for revitalizing downtown McLean would overburden schools and create longer commutes by inviting an influx of new residents with “little upside” for existing residents. He says residential construction should be capped at 960 units over the next 10 years, high rises should be prohibited on properties next to Franklin Sherman Elementary School, and additional traffic studies should be conducted. [Connection Newspapers]
First Baptist Church of Vienna to Hold Free COVID-19 Testing Event — The campaign of Virginia lieutenant governor candidate Sean Perryman, who previously served as president of the Fairfax County NAACP, will provide COVID-19 tests at no cost at the First Baptist Church of Vienna from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday (March 20). Eligible individuals can preregister through the provider Inspire Diagnostics. [Patch]
Wolf Trap Fire Station Neighbors Skeptical of Wireless Tower Proposal — “The vast majority of residents who expressed their views at a March 15 online meeting hosted by the Great Falls Citizens Association said the proposed monopole would be an eyesore, offer still-inadequate coverage and potentially harm neighbors’ home values and health.” [Sun Gazette]
Vienna Resident Sentenced to 33 Months for Fake Bomb Threats — “A former Old Dominion University student has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for teaming up with white supremacists in a swatting conspiracy that targeted a Black church, his own university and a Cabinet officer, among others.” [WTOP]
Fairfax County Landlords Can Apply to Provide Rental Assistance — Fairfax County has launched a portal where landlords can access emergency rental assistance funds to help tenants who have been financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The portal is part of the county’s efforts to reduce evictions, which have continued despite state and federal moratoriums. [Fairfax County Health Department]
Cases over Bijan Ghaisar’s Death Stall in Court — A federal judge assigned to oversee a criminal case and civil lawsuit against U.S. Park Police officers for the 2017 fatal shooting of McLean resident Bijan Ghaisar “has made no moves to hold any hearings on the cases or provide a pretrial briefing and discovery schedule.” The officers were indicted by a Fairfax County grand jury in October but are seeking to have the cases moved to federal court. [The Washington Post]
Statewide Tornado Drill Scheduled for Today — Virginia will conduct a tornado drill at 9:45 a.m. today (Tuesday) as part of its first-ever Virginia Severe Weather Awareness Week, which started yesterday and will last through March 19. The alert will be issued through NOAA Weather Radio stations as well as local radio, TV, and cable outlets. [Fairfax County Emergency Information]
Falls Church City Council Gives Initial Approval to New Noise Ordinance — The city council voted 7-0 to give a preliminary “OK” to a measure that would permit up to 75 decibels of sound up to 10:30 p.m. in business and industrial areas on Friday and Saturday nights. Dates for a public hearing and final approval have not yet been scheduled. [Falls Church News-Press]
Fairfax County Chairman Criticizes Proposed Metro Cuts — Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay says that Metro’s proposed fiscal year 2022 budget would be “frustrating and could be harmful in both the short- and long-term to Metro and our Northern Virginia economy,” especially in Tysons. Federal relief funds are expected to stave off the cuts, but they have not been officially taken off the table yet. The public comment period ends today at 5 p.m. [Inside NoVA]
James Madison High School Kicks off Renovation — “We have officially kicked off renovation season! Fencing was installed in our main parking lot today. Changed traffic patterns and relocated parking spaces are just the start of what spring will bring us!” [@JamesMadisonHS/Twitter]
McLean Private School Rallies Support for Food Drive — Students, parents, faculty, and staff at The Langley School all chipped in for a three-week food drive to support the D.C. nonprofit So Others Might Eat. The effort produced more than $5,000 in monetary contributions and more than 2,000 donated non-perishable food items. [Sun Gazette]
El Tio Tex-Mex Grill has been ordered by a federal court to properly compensate workers at all its restaurants, including its locations in McLean (1433 Center Street) and Falls Church (7630 Lee Highway).
Federal investigators found that Mejia Corporation, the company that operates El Tio, had violated labor laws by not paying minimum wage and overtime to tipped employees, particularly bussers and food runners, the U.S. Department of Labor reported yesterday (Wednesday).
A consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia requires El Tio to pay $848,006 in back wages and liquidated damages to 209 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets rules for minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor in the U.S.
“This employer failed to pay workers the wages they had legally earned, and then attempted to conceal that violation,” DOL Wage and Hour Baltimore District Director Nicholas Fiorello said.
Investigators in the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division determined that El Tio did not pay wages to tipped employees when they worked more than 80 hours in a pay period, forcing them to depend entirely on tips for those hours.
El Tio also paid kitchen staff standard rates instead of overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. Federal investigators say that the restaurant chain falsified payroll records to suggest it had paid overtime.
The violations encompassed all four of the El Tio restaurants that Mejia Corp. currently runs, all of them in Northern Virginia. Fairfax County has three El Tio venues, with a Great Falls location (9835 Georgetown Pike) in addition to the ones in McLean and Falls Church. The original El Tio is in Gainesville.
A fifth El Tio in downtown Washington, D.C., was also included in the investigation and court judgment, but that location permanently closed its doors in November 2019.
This is the second time in three years that El Tio has come under federal investigation. Mejia Corp. agreed to pay $40,000 in 2019 to settle an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit that alleged at least three male servers at the Gainesville El Tio had been subjected to harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex.
On top of requiring the employer to pay back wages and damages, the judgment issued by the Baltimore-based U.S. District Court in the labor case prohibits El Tio from violating any FLSA provisions in the future.
“Other employers in this industry should use the resolution of this case as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law and avoid such violations,” Fiorello said. “Workers who face similar circumstances or anyone with questions should call us to speak confidentially with a trained hour and wage professional.”
The DOL Wage and Hour Division has a toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), and more information on the division’s work can be found at www.dol.gov/whd.
Photo via Google Maps
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
Dense Fog Advisory for Fairfax Co. — “A Dense Fog Advisory has been issued until Noon today for portions of the region. If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.” [Twitter, Twitter]
State Offices, Courts Closed Today — Courts and DMV offices are closed today across Virginia for the state holiday known as Lee-Jackson Day. More closures are planned Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Vienna Ash Trees Devastated by Insect — A “Vienna Town Council agenda item on Jan. 7 revealed a harsh truth: An invasive insect called the emerald ash borer utterly has laid waste to the town’s ash trees. The insects have killed every ash tree in town, Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman told the Council.” [InsideNova, Tysons Reporter]
UPDATE: Detectives arrive at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center with double murder suspect Megan Hargan. She was extradited from West Virginia. Megan Hargan is expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning for the murder of her sister and mother. https://t.co/JRJrJj1iL2 pic.twitter.com/Uupwk3jQz6
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) November 19, 2018
The following article excerpt is from our content sharing partner, FairfaxNews.com.
Detectives arrived [Monday] at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center with double murder suspect Megan Hargan, who was extradited from West Virginia. Hargan, 35, is expected to be arraigned Wednesday morning for the murder of her sister and mother.
Helen Lorena Hargan, 23, and her mother, Pamela Denise Hansen Hargan, 63, were found dead on July 14 in a home in the 6700 block of Dean Drive in McLean. They had both been shot. Fairfax County detectives arrested Megan Hargan near her home in Monongalia County, West Virginia, earlier this week.
The bodies were discovered by officers after a 9-1-1 call reporting someone in the home might have been killed. Detectives determined early in the investigation that the scene was staged to appear to be a murder-suicide.
Read more at FairfaxNews.com
A man accused of threatening to blow up the Starbucks in the Yorktowne Shopping Center, in the Falls Church section of Fairfax County, is due in court for a preliminary hearing next month.
David Velasquez, 28, is facing a felony charge of making a bomb threat in connection with the Saturday afternoon incident, which prompted the evacuation of the cafe and surrounding businesses. His preliminary hearing for the bomb threat charge is scheduled for Dec. 19, court records show.
If convicted on that charge, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
Velasquez is also charged with being drunk in public. It’s the 10th time he’s been arrested and charged with being drunk in public in Fairfax County so far this year, according to General District court records.
More on the bomb threat from a Fairfax County Police Department press release:
A 28-year-old Fairfax man is facing charges for threatening to bomb a Starbucks in the Yorktowne Shopping Center around 4 p.m. on Saturday. David Velasquez was drunk and passed out inside the Starbucks, located at 8104 Arlington Boulevard when an employee woke him and asked him to leave.  Velasquez refused and said he had a bomb in his backpack that would explode in two minutes. He then went inside the bathroom and would not come out.
Employees immediately evacuated the business and called 9-1-1. Our officers arrived and asked adjoining business to evacuate as a precaution. Negotiations were attempted for almost 70 minutes before Velasquez finally walked out of the front door and was arrested. Due to his level of intoxication, Velazquez was taken to an area hospital to be medically treated.  Velasquez was then taken to the Adult Detention Center, where he was charged with threats to bomb or damage buildings , and being drunk in public. He was held on no bond. Our Explosive Ordinance Division responded and examined the backpack, which did not contain any hazardous items.
Veronica Youngblood, accused of murdering two children in Tysons, is scheduled to go to trial this Friday (Nov. 2).
Youngblood was arrested in Loudoun County and charged with murder after police entered an apartment in the 1500 block of Lincoln Circle and found two children with gunshot wounds.
One, a five-year-old girl, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other was taken to the hospital where she later died.
While authorities did not release the names of the victims, in accordance with Virginia law, it was widely reported that Youngblood was the mother of the children.
Because the case involved crimes against children, it will be prosecuted in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, according to an employee in the clerk’s office.
Youngblood will be represented by a public defender. Whether the case is open to the public will be at the discretion of the presiding judge.
Photo courtesy FCPD