Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Oscar-nominated filmmaker graduated from Fairfax County Public Schools

Published February 28, 2025 at 1:15PM

Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott host the announcement of the 97th Oscars® nominations, on Thursday, January 23, 2025. (photo by Richard Harbaugh / The Academy)

And the Oscar could go to…a Fairfax County Public Schools graduate!

RaMell Ross, an alum of Lake Braddock Secondary School, will get his second chance to win an Academy Award this Sunday (March 2), when he and co-writer Joslyn Barnes are competing in Best Adapted Screenplay for “Nickel Boys.”

Around Town

Author Kwame Alexander to visit Reston school for Read Across America Day

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 28, 2025 at 11:15AM

Children's author Kwame Alexander reads his book "The Crossover" with jazz bassist Amy Shook accompanying for Read Across America (via National Education Association)

A school in Reston has been chosen to host the centerpiece event of this year’s nationwide Read Across America campaign.

Local author Kwame Alexander will visit Langston Hughes Middle School at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday (March 2) to celebrate Read Across America Day as well as the 10th anniversary of his 2015 Newbery Medal win for the bestselling novel “The Crossover.”

Around Town

Fitness company targets Tysons for first Northern Virginia studio

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 28, 2025 at 9:00AM

A Pvolve studio (courtesy Pvolve)

A fitness chain endorsed by “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston is extending its reach to Northern Virginia.

Pvolve announced this week that it has signed a franchise agreement with Dr. Mona Keshtkaran for two studios in the region. The New York City-based company also has deals for its first franchises in Chicago and Seattle.

News

UPDATED: Woman fatally shot by husband at Chantilly home, police say

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 28, 2025 at 8:00AM | Updated March 2, 2025 at 5:32PM

Fairfax County Police Capt. Kent Bailey briefs on a fatal domestic shooting in the 13000 block of Pennypacker Lane in Chantilly (via FCPD/Twitter)

Fairfax County police are investigating a fatal shooting in Chantilly that’s being described as domestic in nature.

Officers responded to a home in the 13000 block of Pennypacker Lane around 6:09 a.m. today (Friday) after getting a 911 call reporting that multiple gunshots had been fired inside the house.

News

Reston man sentenced to prison for sexually exploiting teens

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 27, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated February 27, 2025 at 1:46PM

The Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A Reston man has been sentenced by a federal judge to nearly two decades in prison for preying on teens he encountered online — more than three years after Fairfax County courts dismissed similar charges against him.

Xavier Dejuan Jackson, 28, was sentenced to 19 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff in Alexandria today (Thursday) after he pleaded guilty last year to sexually exploiting a child, transporting minors and attempting to coerce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

News

Person taken to hospital after large house fire in Vienna

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 27, 2025 at 10:05AM

Firefighters battle house fire on Blair Street NW in Vienna (via Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department/Facebook)

A home in Vienna was devastated early this morning (Thursday) by a sizable fire that sent one person to the hospital.

More than two dozen units with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) responded to the 300 block of Blair Street NW at 1:15 a.m. after 911 received multiple calls for a house fire.

News

NEW: Tree clear-cutting along W&OD Trail alarms local officials and residents

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 27, 2025 at 9:00AM

A tree stump left by Dominion Energy near the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (courtesy NOVA Parks)

Some tree trimmings and removals were expected when Dominion Energy initated a project last year to replace electrical lines in the Vienna section of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail, but the extent of the clearings has taken local residents, elected officials and even the agency that owns the trail by surprise.

Starting in November, the utility began cutting down trees and vegetation along a 4-mile stretch of the trail from Vienna to Dunn Loring at a much more “aggressive” scale than it has in the past, according to Paul Gilbert, executive director of the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority (NOVA Parks).

Around Town

N. Va. artist finds inspiration at home in new Tephra ICA exhibit

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 27, 2025 at 8:15AM

Left: Marie B. Gauthiez, In Between, 2024. Right: Marie B. Gauthiez, The Bedroom, 2024 (courtesy of the artist and Tephra ICA)

The latest exhibition at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) stays close to home when it comes to both artist and subject matter.

The Reston museum is launching “We Dwell in Between,” a solo show by Northern Virginia-based artist Marie B. Gauthiez, today (Thursday) at its satellite gallery in the Signature apartments (11850 Freedom Drive). An opening reception and talk by Gauthiez will be held tonight at 6-8 p.m.

Around Town

Annual showcase of McLean student artwork to return in March

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 26, 2025 at 2:30PM

A promotional banner for McLean Project for the Arts' upcoming 2025 Youth Art Shows (courtesy McLean Project for the Arts)

The students of McLean will take center stage in two new arts exhibitions set to open next month.

To celebrate Youth Art Month, which is typically held every March, the McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) is bringing back its annual youth art shows, which showcase work by students in elementary through high school in the McLean and Langley pyramids.

Around Town

Rooftop bar to open at Reston Town Center’s Marriott hotel this weekend

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 26, 2025 at 1:15PM

SYN Rooftop Bar and Lounge at Marriott's AC Hotel and Residence Inn in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

At Reston Town Center’s newest dining venue, customers will be able to munch on wagyu sliders and sip cocktails while looking over the Metro station 16 stories below.

SYN Rooftop Bar & Lounge, which takes its name from the Greek word for “together,” is set to open on the top floor of Marriott’s recently launched AC Hotel and Residence Inn (1975 Opportunity Way) this Saturday (March 1).