Morning Notes

FCPD Arrests Former Arlington Teachers Union Leader — “A former president of the Arlington teachers union, who was ousted last spring, has been charged with embezzling more than $400,000″ from the Arlington Education Association, whose headquarters are in Bailey’s Crossroads, just inside Fairfax County’s borders. Ingrid Gant was arrested Monday (Jan. 23) and faces four counts of embezzlement. [ARLnow]

Man Mistakenly Steals Tesla in Tysons — A 50-year-old man was taken into custody for driving while intoxicated and grand larceny after taking off in another man’s Tesla that was parked at Tysons Corner Center last Thursday (Jan. 19). Police say their investigation suggests “the man likely confused the victim’s car with his own Tesla which was found nearby.” [FCPD/Facebook]

Chap Petersen Gets a Primary Challenger — “Saddam Salim officially announced his intention Tuesday morning to challenge Sen. Chap Petersen in the June 20 Democratic Party Primary for the State Senate seat in the 37th District,” which includes Tysons, Vienna and Fairfax City. Currently working as a financial consultant, Salim says he “will fight for core Democratic values down in Richmond,” while Petersen said he welcomed the competition. [Patch]

Police Seek Help Identifying Suspects in Gaming Machine Thefts — Fairfax County police detectives are investigating a series of thefts involving money being stolen from convenience store gaming machines. According to the department, there have been six incidents between Dec. 29 and this past Saturday (Jan. 21) in McLean, Springfield and the Alexandria area. [FCPD]

Tax Relief Approved for Military Service Member Spouses — “The Board of Supervisors approved a lower real estate tax rate for the surviving spouses of military service members who died in the line of duty…The board’s action on Tuesday establishes a tax rate for these spouses at $0.01 per $100 of assessed value which is the lowest rate allowed under the state law passed last year.” [Fairfax County Government]

Cybersecurity Firm Plans Reston Relocation — “SpiderOak is moving its headquarters from Chicago to Reston, Virginia, and establishing a space cybersecurity laboratory. In the new laboratory, SpiderOak will provide for hardware-in-the-loop qualification testing.” The startup recently raised $16.4 million, led by a space technology platform tied to the Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. [Space News]

County Pensions Affected by Crypto Bankruptcy — “Genesis Global Holdco…filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday because of its exposure to collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and fallen crypto exchange FTX. Genesis owes over $3.5 billion to its top 50 creditors — and one of the creditors has ties to a $6.8 billion pension fund system in Fairfax County” [CoinDesk]

Tysons Tech Company Gets Funding Boost — The Tysons-based startup Sheeva.AI has “finalized a $9.25 million Series A funding round, led by strategic investors Reynolds and Reynolds Company, with additional funding from Poppe + Potthoff Capital GmbH and Pegasus Tech Ventures.” The company provides real-time location data that can be used for vehicle-related services, such as parking and automated curbside pick-up payments. [Press Release]

Rocket Launch Seen From Reston — “Rocket Lab launch this evening of Electron rocket from Wallops Island, Va. as viewed from Reston. Heading away from us in this image. Separation of two stages was visible earlier.” [Bill Burton/Twitter]

It’s Wednesday — Rain throughout the day. High of 53 and low of 36. Sunrise at 7:21 am and sunset at 5:22 pm. [Weather.gov]