Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Report: Amazon to run planned data centers in Herndon area

Published September 27, 2024 at 3:00PM

A site plan for Renaissance Technology Park's planned redevelopment as a data center campus (via Fairfax County)

Amazon is looking to add an industrial park near Dulles International Airport to its network of Northern Virginia data centers.

Amazon Data Services has applied for air pollution control permits from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to allow data center facilities at 13860 and 13876 Redskin Drive in Renaissance Technology Park, a warehouse complex just east of Route 28 in the Floris area of Herndon.

News

McLean’s Clemyjontri Park faces week of repairs, starting Monday

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 27, 2024 at 11:15AM

Planned maintenance and repair projects at Clemyjontri Park will be done in phases, starting with Zone 1 (courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority)

Different portions of McLean’s popular Clemyjontri Park will close in phases next week to allow for repairs.

Contractors hired by the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) will arrive at the park on Monday (Sept. 30) to conduct maintenance on the playground equipment. Work is expected to wrap up next Friday (Oct. 4), if the weather cooperates.

Countywide

New report finds hot spots for ‘near miss’ traffic incidents in Fairfax County

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 27, 2024 at 9:00AM

Signs indicate pedestrian crossings are ahead on Beulah Road (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

If you nearly get swiped by a turning car while walking across a street in Fairfax County, there’s a good chance that you or another community member has had a similar experience in that same spot before, newly released survey data indicates.

The inaugural “Near Miss/Dangerous Location” summary report from the Fairfax chapter of Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NOVA FSS) found that 90% of the incidents recorded by pedestrians and cyclists since 2020 were recurring events — a higher rate than in Arlington (82%) or Alexandria (74%), the two other jurisdictions analyzed by the volunteer-run nonprofit.

News

Trump supporters to hold car rally in Fairfax County this weekend

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 26, 2024 at 3:45PM | Updated September 27, 2024 at 9:17AM

Vehicles with Trump 2024 flags (via Northern Virginia Car Rally for Trump flyer)

Some local Donald Trump supporters will rev up their engines this Sunday (Sept. 29) as a display of enthusiasm for the Republican presidential nominee.

Organized by activists from the D.C. area’s Vietnamese community, the Northern Virginia Car Rally for Trump will be “an unforgettable day of patriotism and support,” according to an event notice posted on the Fairfax County Republican Committee’s website.

News

New historical marker tells story of long-standing Black church in McLean

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 26, 2024 at 1:15PM

A historical marker commemorating Gunnell's Chapel is unveiled at Clemyjontri Park in McLean (courtesy Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services/Flickr)

A historical marker now stands in McLean’s Clemyjontri Park as a monument to the site’s past as a center of social and spiritual activity for the local Black community.

Fairfax County officials, historians, students and present-day community leaders unveiled the marker commemorating Gunnell’s Chapel and its founder, Robert Gunnell, at a dedication ceremony last Saturday (Sept. 21).

News

Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run on Richmond Highway, fourth fatality in a week

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 26, 2024 at 9:30AM | Updated September 26, 2024 at 12:22PM

Southbound Richmond Highway at Woodlawn Trail in Hybla Valley (via Google Maps)

A pedestrian was killed by a driver who fled on Richmond Highway near Mount Vernon Plaza this morning (Thursday).

Fairfax County police officers were dispatched around 6:47 a.m. to Richmond Highway at Woodlawn Trail in Hybla Valley for a crash that left a man on the ground with “serious head trauma,” according to scanner traffic.

Around Town

Mosaic District fall festival adds petting zoo for 2024 return

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 26, 2024 at 8:15AM

A crowd at the 2023 Mosaic Fall Festival (photo courtesy of EDENS)

With the autumnal equinox now in the rearview mirror, the Mosaic Fall Festival is waiting to sweep back into Merrifield.

The annual seasonal celebration will bring food, music and animals to the Mosaic District this weekend (Sept. 28-29) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

News

County funds approved for future arts center in downtown McLean

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 25, 2024 at 2:30PM | Updated September 25, 2024 at 2:53PM

The McLean Project for the Arts hopes to build a new arts and education center at the Signet condominiums (rendering by CannonDesign)

A campaign to bring an arts center to downtown McLean will get a sizable contribution from Fairfax County.

The county’s Board of Supervisors voted 9-0 yesterday (Tuesday) to invest $500,000 from its Economic Opportunity Reserve (EOR) in the future arts and education center proposed by the nonprofit McLean Project for the Arts (MPA).

Countywide

JUST IN: Another person has died at Fairfax County’s jail

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 25, 2024 at 11:30AM | Updated September 25, 2024 at 1:13PM

Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A man held in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center died last weekend.

John Boos, 37, was found “unresponsive” in his cell by a sheriff’s deputy Saturday night (Sept. 21), prompting the deputy to call a medical emergency, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) announced on Monday (Sept. 23).

Countywide

NEW: Former Fairfax County sheriff’s sergeant charged with assaulting arrested man

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 25, 2024 at 8:15AM

Fairfax County sheriff logo (file photo)

A former sergeant with the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has been charged with assaulting a man during an arrest earlier this month.

Joshua Silver was arrested yesterday (Tuesday) and charged with assault and battery after appearing to punch the man in the head multiple times when he was brought to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center on Sept. 11, according to in-car video shared by the sheriff’s office.