Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Comstock redevelopment deal collapse leaves former Herndon mayor ‘devastated’

Published December 18, 2024 at 3:45PM

Herndon's downtown master plan calls for an existing public parking lot to be replaced by a garage (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Herndon leaders past and present are surveying the aftermath of Comstock’s decision to officially pull the plug on its long-percolating downtown redevelopment project, but so far, they’re not blaming the developer.

With details of its separation from Comstock still being worked out, including the fate of the Arts Herndon building that would’ve been demolished, the Town of Herndon declined to comment beyond interim town manager Chris Martinez’s announcement last Tuesday (Dec. 10).

Around Town

J. Crew Factory to open new store in Tysons tomorrow

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 18, 2024 at 2:45PM

J.Crew Factory is set to open at Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons (courtesy Federal Realty)

J. Crew Factory is ready to unveil its new store at Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons.

The discount clothing store will open its doors at 8387-D Leesburg Pike tomorrow (Thursday) around 10 a.m., shopping center owner Federal Realty announced today.

News

Construction to begin next year on Virginia Tech’s West Falls Church campus redevelopment

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 18, 2024 at 9:00AM

HITT Contracting is preparing to start construction in 2025 on a new headquarters building at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center campus in Idylwood (via HITT/Gensler)

Shovels are almost ready to dig into Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center in Idylwood.

HITT Contracting will begin construction in January on its new headquarters at the 7.41-acre academic campus, with an official groundbreaking ceremony on Jan. 23, Jaclyn Randolph, the construction firm’s senior communications manager, says.

Countywide

FCPS wins funds to replace more school buses with electric models

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 17, 2024 at 9:00AM

Fairfax County Public Schools electric school buses parked at charging stations (via FCPS/YouTube)

A new federal grant will enable Fairfax County Public Schools to upgrade more than three dozen school buses to more environmentally friendly models.

Virginia’s largest public school system will receive $12.9 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program — enough to replace 43 buses with electric or zero-emission vehicles, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced last week.

News

FCPD: Two men arrested at Reston Target, charged with forgery

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 17, 2024 at 8:15AM

Target on Sunset Hills Road in Reston (via Google Maps)

Two men from California are facing forgery charges for an alleged fraud scheme aimed at Target in Reston.

Officers patrolling the 12100 block of Sunset Hill Road last Wednesday (Dec. 11) as part of a Christmas Anti-Theft Team were contacted around 5:21 p.m. by the department store’s loss prevention officer, who reported a man who was suspected of committing fraud at another location the previous day, the Fairfax County Police Department says.

News

Fatal crash shuts down I-95 North near Lorton

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 16, 2024 at 3:45PM | Updated December 17, 2024 at 1:47PM

I-95 North blocked south of Lorton Road due to a fatal crash (via Statter911/Bluesky)

A driver was killed in a multi-vehicle crash on I-95 near Lorton that brought the northbound lanes to a standstill this afternoon (Monday).

According to the Virginia State Police, two drivers were traveling “at a high rate of speed” around 1 p.m. when one of them — the driver of a 2013 BMW 650I convertible — changed lanes and hit a third vehicle, a 2020 Mercedes E-Class near the 163-mile marker south of Lorton Road.

News

JUST IN: Herndon man accused of killing wife now charged with child abuse

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 16, 2024 at 3:15PM | Updated December 16, 2024 at 3:52PM

Brendan Robert Banfield, 39, of Reston (courtesy FCPD)

A Herndon man already charged with murder in connection with the killings of his wife and another man in their home is now facing new charges.

A grand jury indicted Brendan Banfield, 39, on one count of felony child abuse and neglect and one count of felony child cruelty for his actions on Feb. 24, 2023, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced today (Monday).

News

Vienna Police: Man charged with hit-and-run crash that injured pedestrian

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 16, 2024 at 9:45AM | Updated December 18, 2024 at 11:50AM

A Vienna police car blocks Park Street after a hit-and-run crash on Nov. 28, 2024 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A man was arrested last week after allegedly fleeing a crash in Vienna that left a pedestrian with serious injuries on Thanksgiving.

The pedestrian had gotten dropped off by a Lyft driver in the 900 block of Park Street SE around 8:15 p.m. on Nov. 28 and was crossing the street when a vehicle in the residential street’s northbound lane hit him, according to the Town of Vienna Police Department.

News

Driver killed in second fatal one-vehicle crash on Georgetown Pike of 2024

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 16, 2024 at 9:00AM

Georgetown Pike approaching Towlston Road in Great Falls (via Google Maps)

Fairfax County police believe a man killed in a car crash on Georgetown Pike this weekend may have been speeding.

Officers were called to the 8600 block of Georgetown Pike in Great Falls at 6:54 a.m. on Saturday (Dec. 14) after Ederson Lima Gislon, 40, of Maryland veered off the roadway in a 2024 BMW M8 and hit a tree, the Fairfax County Police Department said yesterday.

News

JUST IN: Teen charged with manslaughter for fatal Oakton crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 13, 2024 at 1:30PM

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

A teenager is facing manslaughter and reckless driving charges in connection to a fatal crash that occurred outside Oakton Shopping Center last month.

According to police, the 17-year-old was driving a Toyota Camry north on Hunter Mill Road “at a high rate of speed” when he hit a 2001 Acura sedan turning left into the shopping center at Lynnhaven Place around 11:20 a.m. on Nov. 9.