Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

UPDATED: Dominion worker injured in transformer explosion at Mars HQ in McLean

Published September 23, 2024 at 10:45AM | Updated September 23, 2024 at 12:06PM

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department at the Mars headquarters in McLean after a transformer explosion (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A Dominion Energy worker was injured by an electrical transformer explosion that occurred this morning (Monday) outside the Mars headquarters building in McLean.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units were first dispatched to 6885 Elm Street around 10 a.m. Additional responders were sent to the scene minutes later after a firefighter reported concern about the building catching fire, according to scanner traffic.

News

Three fatal pedestrian crashes under investigation by FCPD

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 23, 2024 at 9:00AM | Updated September 23, 2024 at 1:22PM

Fairfax County police vehicle with lights (file photo)

Fairfax County police are investigating three different fatal pedestrian crashes that occurred over the past week.

Last Thursday (Sept. 19) around 9:38 p.m., Oscar Daniel Martinez Granados, 24, of Woodbridge was hit by a driver in the 8100 block of Old Keene Mill Road near Irving Middle School in Springfield, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

News

UPDATED: Pedestrian killed in crash near Oakton Shopping Center

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 21, 2024 at 11:00AM | Updated September 22, 2024 at 8:03PM

Northbound Hunter Mill Road at Lynnhaven Place in Oakton (via Google Maps)

A woman was killed in a crash that occurred outside Oakton Shopping Center Saturday morning (Sept. 21).

Choon Kook, 80, from Vienna was hit by the driver of a Ford F-150 while walking at the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and Lynnhaven Place. She was transported to a hospital with injuries considered life-threatening, the Fairfax County Police Department reported in a tweet at 10:32 a.m.

News

New amenities proposed for park near Hybla Valley Elementary

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 20, 2024 at 2:30PM

The proposed Hybla Valley Park renovation concept plan (courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority)

The Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) is seeking community feedback on some potential improvements at Hybla Valley Park.

The agency is considering replacing the two existing tennis courts at the park near Hybla Valley Elementary School (3431 Lockheed Blvd) with a combination basketball and futsal court. A new playground has also been proposed.

News

Free movie, Winterfest Parade revival to enliven downtown McLean

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 20, 2024 at 9:45AM | Updated September 20, 2024 at 3:10PM

A welcome sign for the McLean Community Business Center (file photo by Catherine Douglas Moran)

McLean’s Winterfest Parade is reawakening after an extended hibernation.

The McLean Revitalization Corporation (MRC) announced earlier this month that the once-annual celebration will return on Dec. 8 for the first time since 2018. Coupled with a free movie screening tonight (Friday), the parade’s revival reflects a shift in the nonprofit’s efforts to boost activity in downtown McLean.

Around Town

Where to celebrate Oktoberfest in Fairfax County in 2024

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 19, 2024 at 3:45PM

A beer gauntlet at The Boro's Oktoberfest (courtesy The Boro)

October is still a couple of weeks away, but this coming weekend is a popular one for Oktoberfest celebrations in Fairfax County.

Several local breweries will host events, while other festivities will encompass an entire neighborhood. Whether you’re looking for the carnival atmosphere of the original Oktoberfest in Munich, a multi-week affair that kicks off this Saturday (Sept. 21), or a more low-key environment for feasting and socializing, options abound.

Countywide

FCPS superintendent named one of N. Va.’s most influential people

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 19, 2024 at 2:30PM

Superintendent Michelle Reid (staff file photo by James Jarvis)

The superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools is the second-most influential person in Northern Virginia — just behind occasional-FCPS-critic Gov. Glenn Youngkin, according to a new ranking.

Northern Virginia Magazine awarded Dr. Michelle Reid the no. 2 spot in its newly released list of the 50 Most Influential People in Northern Virginia, highlighting her efforts to guide the state’s largest public school system through the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

News

Franconia Governmental Center redevelopment divides residents, affordable housing advocates

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 19, 2024 at 9:45AM

County staff await a presentation at the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority's public hearing on an interim agreement to redevelop the Franconia Governmental Center site (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A push to redevelop the former Franconia Governmental Center site with affordable housing is still in its early stages, but passions are already running high among local residents and housing advocates.

Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) commissioners got to hear both supportive and oppositional arguments at a public hearing last Thursday (Sept. 12), as they weigh whether to accept an interim agreement with the project’s developers.

Countywide

Ex-Fairfax County deputy sheriff sentenced to prison for drug trafficking scheme

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 19, 2024 at 8:15AM

Fairfax County Sheriff vehicle (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A former Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy will serve six years in prison for distributing drugs to a jail inmate and to women who engaged in prostitution at an apartment he leased, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says.

The sentence was handed down yesterday (Wednesday) after Robert Theodore Sanford Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to distribute cocaine and opioids, including fentanyl and suboxone, and to providing contraband in prison.

Countywide

Project begins to replace invasive plants with meadows along W&OD Trail

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 18, 2024 at 3:45PM | Updated September 19, 2024 at 4:34PM

The W&OD Trail LOVE sign in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Dozens of volunteers will break out the work gloves and garden shears this Saturday (Sept. 14) to eliminate invasive plants around the “LOVE” sign by the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Vienna.

The cleanup will clear the way for a native plant meadow that its organizer, the nonprofit Sustainability Matters, hopes will spawn similar beautification efforts all along the 45-mile-long regional trail.