A lawn mower key reported to the Vienna police as stolen was later found buried in the dirt.
A Vienna resident in the 100 block of Hickory Circle SW reported on Wednesday, May 15, that the key to his lawn mower was stolen between 5:30-7:08 p.m.
“It was located in the dirt underneath plants that were close to the lawnmower,” Juan Vazquez, a spokesman for the Vienna Police Department, told Tysons Reporter.
Photo via Facebook
Memorial Day is coming up on Monday (May 27). Check this list in case you are planning to visit government facilities around Fairfax County this weekend while honoring people who died while serving in the U.S. military.
County-wide
All county offices, schools and libraries will be closed on Memorial Day.
County trash and recycling collection won’t have any changes for Monday and Recycling and Disposal Centers at the I-66 Transfer Station (4618 West Ox Road) and the I-95 Landfill Complex (9850 Furnace Road) will be open on Memorial Day. Residents with private collection will need to contact their haulers.
Vienna
Town of Vienna offices will be closed on Monday, but refuse collection will take place as scheduled.
The Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE) will have reduced hours on Memorial Day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Falls Church
The Mary Riley Styles Public Library will be closed on Sunday and Monday.
The Community Center (223 Little Falls Street) will be open from 2-6 p.m. on Sunday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.
City Hall, city government offices and courts will be closed on Memorial Day.
McLean
The McLean Community Center and the Old Firehouse Center will be closed on Monday.
Other Closures
Metro trains and buses and the Fairfax Connector will be operating on a Sunday schedule (8 a.m.-11 p.m.) on Memorial Day.
The Department of Motor Vehicles will be closed on Monday.
Speaking of closed offices, Tysons Reporter will be on a break as well on Monday.
The three-day family festival ViVa! Vienna! returns to the Town of Vienna for Memorial Day weekend.
Attendees can enjoy live entertainment, amusement rides and items from more than 160 vendors during the free festival, which kicks off on Saturday (May 25) and ends Monday (May 27) at 245 W. Maple Avenue.
Some of the activities during the festival include the semi-finals for Vienna Idol, a blood drive on Sunday and Monday, more than two dozen entertainers performing on three stages and a Memorial Day Tribute at 1 p.m. on Monday.
ViVa! Vienna! is set to have 24 different amusement rides. Tickets for the rides cost $1 each. Rides for small children require three tickets per ride and major rides require three to five tickets.
Ahead of the event, the Town of Vienna has tweeted some black and white photos of previous ViVa! Vienna! attendees.
Started by the Rotary Club of Vienna more than three decades ago, the annual event donates all of the proceeds to charities.
This was taken three years ago at ViVa! It's the time to create memories so you can look both back and forward at a weekend some would call the birthplace of summer. Hope they're both back for this one. ViVa! Vienna! takes you to that time starting 10am this Saturday #nostalgia pic.twitter.com/4Q74nmohEa
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) May 22, 2019
Video via YouTube
The Sunrise Senior Living Facility proposed for downtown Vienna received approval from the town’s Planning Commission last night (May 22).
The senior facility has faced a myriad of concerns around its parking, retail space and location at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street.
After public hearings, dozens of residents and some of the planning commissioners said they are worried that the parking spaces might not accommodate all of the visitors, employees, shoppers and roughly 100 residents.
Recent modifications that the Planning Commission OK’d last night dropped the number of units from 83 to 82, removed the mezzanine, reduced the retail to 2,264 square feet, altered the fence height and removed the grand staircase inside the facility — changes the developers said addressed town residents’ previous criticisms.
The changes mirror a solution proposed by Planning Commissioner Mary McCullough at the May 8 meeting to reduce the retail space to free up the parking spaces that retail employees and shoppers would use.
“The improvements are a true reflection that you listened,” McCullough told the developers last night.
While most of the planning commissioners said they thought the modifications improved the project, Commissioners Sharon Baum and David Miller said they still had reservations.
Baum said that she wanted to see more retail space instead of less, while Miller brought up a concern about the senior living facility’s placement.
“Is this the use we want at this corner?” Miller asked, questioning how many of the older residents would visit nearby retail and restaurants. Miller said that he would rather see apartments or condominiums, hinting at younger residents.
Ultimately, the Planning Commission approved the modifications and the proposal.
“Is it perfect? No,” Michael Gelb, who chairs the Planning Commission, said. “I haven’t seen a perfect project yet.”
Next up, the proposal has a Vienna Town Council meeting scheduled for June 3. Town Council has until Aug. 2 to make a decision.
Rendering via Town of Vienna
The Town of Vienna is no stranger to landing on lists for prime spots to live.
For the second year in a row, Vienna nabbed the #1 spot for “The Best Places to Live in Virginia” list by HomeSnacks, which uses data from the Census, FBI, OpenStreetMaps and other sources to rank areas around the country.
HomeSnacks analyzed 62 places around the state and determined that Vienna’s low unemployment rate, “very stable household median incomes” and low crime rate made it stand out.
HomeSnacks used several criteria to evaluate its national “Best Places to Live” list this year, including high population density, low unemployment rates, median income adjusted for the cost of living, low housing vacancy rate, high expenditures per student, low student-teacher ratios and low crime.
So what do you think? Which of the following criteria do you think makes Vienna so desirable?
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
Freddie Mac Expanding Tysons Footprint — “The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. has signed a full-building lease at 1550 Westbranch Drive, a six-story building Rubenstein Partners and Griffith Properties bought for $27.75 million in 2015, according to sources familiar with the deal.” [Washington Business Journal]
Hunter Mill Democrats Focus on Vienna — “Five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Hunter Mill District supervisor tried to differentiate themselves May 15 at a debate in Vienna… Several candidates said public officials should listen to residents’ concerns, a topic fresh on the minds of Vienna voters who on May 7 ousted a Town Council incumbent and voted in two development critics.” [Inside NoVa]
Vienna Crafter Makes Wigs for Cancer-Fighting Kids — Janet O’Grady, a crafter from Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Vienna, helps knit Disney-inspired wigs for The Magic Yarn Project, which is based in Alaska. Kids fighting cancer receive the wigs for free. [The Arlington Catholic Herald]
Firefighters Mow Man’s Lawn in Vienna — Firefighters and medics responded to a report of a man feeling ill while mowing the lawn. After the medics took him to a nearby hospital, the firefighters “saw mowing not done so they finished up so he would not have to worry about it upon return home.” [Fairfax Fire and Rescue/Twitter]
Langley Student’s STEM Project Lauded — “Hana Abouelenein, a sophomore at Langley High School, has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the AAUW McLean area branch’s STEM Excellence Award, presented to a female student or team from a high school in the McLean area with an outstanding project in the field of Engineering presented at the Fairfax County Regional Science Fair.” [Inside NoVa]
Pool Party Season Almost Here — With Memorial Day weekend coming up, Patch has a list of when pools in the McLean area are open during the day. [McLean Patch]
A mom told Vienna police that a man recorded her young son in the bathroom at Whole Foods (143 E. Maple Avenue).
The incident was reported last Thursday, May 9, around 4:55 p.m.
“A citizen reported that her 9-year-old son was in a stall in the men’s restroom when a man reached over the stall with his cell phone and began to record him,” the police report said.
The boy then left the bathroom and immediately told his mom what happened, according to the report.
Photo via Facebook
