Author: Angela Woolsey

Angela Woolsey is the site editor for FFXnow. A graduate of George Mason University, she worked as a general assignment reporter for the Fairfax County Times before joining Local News Now as the Tysons Reporter editor in 2020.

News

Housing developer seeks to demolish Sheraton Tysons Hotel instead of converting it

By Angela Woolsey
Welcome to Tysons West sign at a parking entrance with a glass high-rise building in the cloudy sky behind it.
The vacant Sheraton Tysons Hotel building seen from the ramp into Tysons West's parking garage (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The owner of the vacant Sheraton Tysons Hotel is rethinking its plans for the property, which has been sitting untouched more than two years after Fairfax County leaders approved a conversion.

JBG Tysons Hotel LLC, a fund managed by Bethesda-based developer JBG Smith, still wants to turn the approximately 7.66-acre site at 8661 Leesburg Pike near the Spring Hill Metro station into housing, but instead of retaining the hotel’s shell, the Tysons West developer is now seeking the county’s support for a full demolition.

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News

Construction worker rescued by crane after getting trapped at Lorton water plant

By Angela Woolsey
Rescue team hoists a person in a basket with a crane over a construction site, workers nearby in safety gear.
Firefighters lift a construction worker by crane out of pit at Noman J. Cole Water Recycling Facility in Lorton (via FCFRD/Facebook)

A construction worker was rescued from a precarious situation by Fairfax County firefighters this afternoon after getting stuck down a 40-foot concrete pit in Lorton.

Units with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched at 1:46 p.m. to the Noman M. Cole, Jr. Water Recycling Facility (9399 Richmond Highway) after the worker became suspended below ground while working on upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant.

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News

Loss of crossing guards creates ‘nightmare’ at South Lakes HS, RA board members say

By Angela Woolsey
Busy urban intersection with multiple cars and yellow school buses near crosswalks, trees, and a campus-style building in the background.
Traffic on South Lakes Drive outside South Lakes High School in Reston on Aug. 24, 2026 (courtesy Hunter Mill District School Board Representative Melanie Meren's office)

Reston Association’s Board of Directors is tentatively wading into the growing furor over Fairfax County’s elimination of crossing guards at public high schools.

Citing media reports, videos on social media and personal observations of harrowing traffic around South Lakes High School, RA Board President Travis Johnson suggested drafting a letter to Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay sharing parents’ safety concerns and supporting a restoration of funding for high school crossing guards.

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News

Teacher at Tysons daycare charged after allegedly hitting children

By Angela Woolsey
Single-story white building with a dark overhang and multicolored panels in the windows, surrounded by trees and a parking area.
FAZ Creative Education Learning Center in Tysons (via Google Maps)

An Alexandria woman has been charged with assault after allegedly hitting two children at the Tysons daycare center where she was teaching.

Detectives went to the FAZ Creative Education Learning Center at 1776 Old Meadow Road last Thursday (Aug. 27) after receiving a report of an assault, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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News

Pedestrian improvements, Metro wayfinding signs unveiled in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey
Modern glass office towers in a business district with a tall wayfinding sign in the foreground (tysons).
New wayfinding sign at the McLean Metro station near Capital One Center (courtesy Tysons Community Alliance)

Pedestrians in Tysons still have to contend with heavy traffic on routes 123 and 7, but a few changes recently implemented by the Tysons Community Alliance (TCA) will hopefully make parts of the urban center easier to navigate.

Last week, the community improvement organization announced that it has completed a redesign of the Westwood Center Drive and Cornerside Blvd intersection near the Tysons West shopping center, adding a crosswalk, sidewalk, painted road median and other improvements.

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News

Traveler with measles may have exposed others at Reston locations

By Angela Woolsey
Modern multi-story building with white and dark gray facade, balconies, and a barber shop on the ground floor under a bright blue sky.
Barber and Men's Spa in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

An individual who passed through Reston earlier this month might have exposed community members to measles, the Virginia Department of Health says.

The VDH was notified yesterday (Thursday) that a resident of another state with a confirmed measles case had traveled through Northern Virginia while infections on Aug. 16.

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News

Herndon Town Council candidate hopes to help community realize full potential

By Angela Woolsey
Selfie of a woman in a pink hijab smiling in a park with a red decorated train/float in the background.
Yasmin Shafiq in front of Herndon's caboose (courtesy Yasmin for Herndon)

Community service has been central to Yasmin Shafiq’s life for as long as she can remember, from her high school stint as a teen representative on the Reston Community Center’s Board of Governors to her current commitments as a county government worker and an election officer.

A resident of the Herndon area now since 2004, she hopes to apply her varied past experiences to a new role as a candidate for the Herndon Town Council, whose six seats will all be on the ballot for the upcoming Nov. 3 general election.

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News

FCPD: Man dressed as Ghostface charged with destruction of Lorton Station HOA building

By Angela Woolsey
Two-panel image: left shows a person in a black hoodie walking on a brick path, with a neon-yellow item visible; right shows a Ghostface mask, a red backpack, a black coat, yellow gloves, and yellow sneakers laid out on a striped carpet.
A man who allegedly destroyed the Lorton Station Community Association's windows multiple times was seen wearing a Ghostface mask in surveillance videos (via FCPD)

Just like the slasher movie villain he donned as a disguise, a man charged with destruction of the Lorton Station Community Association’s property kept coming back.

The Fairfax County Police Department arrested a 22-year-old man from Lorton on Aug. 17 after he allegedly destroyed the windows of the community association’s building at 9050 Lorton Station Blvd on six different occasions.

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Around Town

Sheeba, now open in Vienna, offers authentic introduction to Yemeni cuisine, owner says

By Angela Woolsey
Modern restaurant interior with a glowing arched display reading 'SHEEBA' and lit shelves along the wall, marble tables and pendant lights.
Inside Sheeba in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

When Nadir Naimi talks about his new restaurant Sheeba, the words “authenticity” and “customer experience” frequently crop up.

The first franchise of a growing, family-owned chain to open outside its home state of Michigan, the Yemeni eatery served dinner to its inaugural patrons in Vienna at 111 Church Street NW last Friday (Aug. 21).

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News

Driver hospitalized after crashing into tree on Route 123 in McLean

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department ambulance (file photo)

A driver was taken to a hospital earlier this afternoon (Wednesday) after crashing into a tree on Route 123 (Dolley Madison Blvd) in McLean during rush hour.

Police officers and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department personnel were dispatched at around 3:51 p.m. for the single-vehicle crash at the intersection of Dolley Madison and Mayflower Drive.

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