Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Traffic Alert: ‘Significant’ delays expected due to oversized vehicle load on I-66 and I-495

Published August 26, 2026 at 2:15PM | Updated August 26, 2026 at 4:04PM

Traffic on I-66 East near the Vienna Metro station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

An oversized vehicle will be heading north through Fairfax County this evening (Wednesday), contributing to what are expected to be “significant travel delays,” the Virginia Department of Transportation warns.

The “oversize load” is scheduled to travel through Virginia on I-77 North, I-81 North, I-66 East and the northbound lanes of the Capital Beltway (I-495) as it heads from North Carolina to Maryland between 7 p.m. today and 5 a.m. tomorrow morning (Thursday).

Around Town

Lidl grocery store might be coming to Plaza America in Reston

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 26, 2026 at 1:45PM

Vacant storefront previously occupied by Whole Foods Market at Plaza America in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A new grocery store appears to have been secured for Reston’s Plaza America.

The German discount chain Lidl has “just signed” a lease for the former Whole Foods Market space at 11660 Plaza America Drive, according to a site plan recently updated by CBRE, the retail broker for the shopping center.

Countywide

Virginia awarded $353M from Meta settlement of teen social media addiction lawsuit

By Angela Woolsey and Associated Press

Published August 26, 2026 at 11:45AM | Updated August 26, 2026 at 12:07PM

Screenshot of social media mobile apps

Meta has agreed to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by 47 states, state attorneys general announced today (Wednesday).

The agreement guarantees $353 million for Virginia alone, making it one of the largest consumer protection settlements in state history outside of settlements with tobacco companies in the 1990s, Attorney General Jay Jones said in a statement.

Countywide

Fairfax County’s discontinuation of high school crossing guards draws criticism

By Mary Stachyra Lopez and Angela Woolsey

Published August 26, 2026 at 10:00AM | Updated September 2, 2026 at 1:03PM

Students from Rocky Run Middle School cross Stringfellow Road in front of Chantilly High School just before the school's dismissal time on the first day of school. (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

As many Fairfax County high school students drive or walk to school this fall, they’re arriving at a building without a dedicated crossing guard — and, only a few days into the new academic year, several elected officials say that absence is already creating problems.

This past spring, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors eliminated funding for crossing guards at all public high schools, a move that was expected to save the county about $1.89 million in police staffing costs.

Around Town

Hershey to close pop-up store and experience in Tysons next month

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 26, 2026 at 9:15AM

Hershey Super Sweet Adventure at Tysons Corner Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Hershey Super Sweet Adventure will soon kiss Tysons Corner Center goodbye.

The sweets-celebrating attraction — which consists of both a ticketed experience and a retail store — is slated to close on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 7) after staying at the mall for more than four months.

News

Man charged with multiple burglaries in Reston, including theft of a gun

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 26, 2026 at 8:30AM

A rifle and other items allegedly found in the belongings of a man charged with stealing from and burglarizing vehicles in Reston (via FCPD)

A 31-year old man is facing a range of criminal charges in connection with multiple thefts and burglaries from vehicles in the Reston area.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, detectives in its Criminal Investigations Division began investigating after receiving a tip from a community member who met one of them at a National Night Out event on Aug. 4.

News

Construction ‘coming together’ on Virginia’s first hybrid emergency and urgent care center

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 25, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated August 25, 2026 at 6:18PM

VHC Health hosted a beam-signing ceremony for its combined emergency and urgent care center now under construction in West Falls Church (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Though a distinctive clock tower added over a decade ago to hide a cell tower still looms in the background, the northwest corner of Arlington Blvd (Route 50) and Graham Road in West Falls Church otherwise looks very different now than it did at this time last year.

In place of the old Graham Center retail strip, demolished last fall, has emerged the skeleton of VHC Health’s upcoming combined emergency and urgent care center, which officials say will be the first facility of its kind in Virginia.

News

Utility pole falls near first responders on scene of Baron Cameron Avenue crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 25, 2026 at 2:00PM | Updated August 26, 2026 at 7:33PM

A utility pole was pulled down onto a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department ambulance responding to a crash at Baron Cameron Avenue and Bracknell Drive in Reston (via FCFRD/Facebook)

Two people have been hospitalized following a crash this morning (Tuesday) on Baron Cameron Avenue in Reston that resulted in an ambulance getting entangled in electrical wires.

Fairfax County police officers and firefighters responded at 11:31 a.m. to the intersection of Baron Cameron Avenue and Bracknell Drive near the Spectrum at Reston Town Center for a two-vehicle crash that sent one car into a utility pole.

News

FCPD: Man charged with Hybla Valley shooting that hospitalized one

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 25, 2026 at 10:00AM

Jihad Oliver White and guns allegedly found in his home (courtesy FCPD)

One man is in the hospital, and another has been arrested after an argument escalated to a shooting in Hybla Valley over the weekend.

Officers were dispatched to the 7900 block of Fordson Road in the Gum Springs area at 6:24 p.m. on Saturday (Aug. 22) for the reported shooting, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

News

New brand of delivery robots takes over George Mason University’s Fairfax campus

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 25, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated August 25, 2026 at 11:34AM

Avride delivery robot on a college campus (courtesy Avride)

Community members who visit George Mason University in Fairfax this fall might notice a change in the boxy robots that putter around the campus, bringing food to hungry students.

The Austin-based company Avride announced last week that its autonomous delivery robots will roll out to more than 25 college campuses across the U.S., including GMU, by the end of September.