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.

Around Town

Annual bluebells celebration to take over Riverbend Park in Great Falls

By Angela Woolsey
Bluebell buds have emerged at Great Falls Park (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Cherry blossoms are so last week. In Fairfax County, April is the delicate bluebell’s time to shine.

The wildflower will take center stage at the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Bluebells at the Bend celebration, which is set to return to Riverbend Park (8700 Potomac Hills Street) in Great Falls on Saturday, April 11.

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News

Hilton in Tysons ranked among top companies to work for in U.S.

By Angela Woolsey
Hilton's headquarters building in Tysons seen from I-495 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Hilton is still among the best companies to work for in the U.S., but it’s no longer number one, according to Fortune.

After holding the top spot in 2024 and 2025, the hospitality giant, which has been headquartered in Tysons since 2009, slipped to no. 2 behind Synchrony — a financial services company located in Stamford, Connecticut — in Fortune’s annual ranking of the country’s 100 Best Companies to Work for.

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News

Property tax, water and trash bills will increase under proposed Herndon budget

By Angela Woolsey
The Town of Herndon's logo on a trash bin (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Town of Herndon is planning to maintain its current tax rates in the new fiscal year, but residents should still brace for increases in their property tax, water and trash bills.

Town Manager Dan Hoffman officially submitted a proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the Herndon Town Council yesterday (Wednesday) that holds local real estate, lodging and meals taxes at their existing rates of 27 cents per $100 of assessed value, 6% and 4.5%, respectively.

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Around Town

NEW: Tysons’ former Bed Bath & Beyond might turn into grocery store

By Angela Woolsey
The vacant Bed Bath and Beyond building at 2051 Chain Bridge Road in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A grocery chain appears to be working on a new store in Tysons, but unfortunately for residents of the Park Crest neighborhood, it won’t be filling the void left by Harris Teeter last year.

For the past couple of months, Fairfax County staffers have been reviewing renovation plans that would transform a portion of the former Bed Bath and Beyond building at 2051 Chain Bridge Road into an Aldi.

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News

Herndon Town Council signals support for prioritizing affordable housing

By Angela Woolsey
The Herndon Town Council chambers at 765 Lynn Street (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Herndon leaders took a long-awaited step last week to ensure affordable housing will be a priority in future development.

The Herndon Town Council directed town staff and a hired consultant on March 24 to develop guidance for promoting affordable housing until a more detailed, long-term policy can established as part of a comprehensive plan update for 2050.

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News

FCPD: Bailey’s Crossroads man charged with murder of infant

By Angela Woolsey
Misael Lopez Gomez has been charged with murder after his 3-month-old daughter was found unresponsive in a Bailey's Crossroads apartment (mugshot courtesy FCPD, apartment image via Google Maps)

A man in Bailey’s Crossroads has been charged with murder for the death of his infant daughter.

Fairfax County police officers were dispatched to an apartment in the 3400 block of Lake Street around 7:32 p.m. last Friday (March 27) after receiving a report of an infant “not breathing,” according to the police scanner.

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News

Nominations wanted for new award celebrating Lake Anne neighbors in Reston

By Angela Woolsey
A spring day at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

As Fairfax County continues to plan for the future of Lake Anne, a newly conceived award will honor individuals who have helped turn Reston’s oldest village center into the community it is today.

Radhika Murari, owner of Lake Anne Plaza’s OmBaked CBD Boutique (11414 Washington Plaza West), is currently seeking nominations for the inaugural Lake Anne Good Neighbor Award.

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News

Free pickleball courts set to open at Capital One Center in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey
The new Metro Park pickleball courts at Capital One Center in Tysons (courtesy Capital One Center)

The polarizing pop of paddles swatting pickleballs will soon accompany the comings and goings of commuters at the McLean Metro station in Tysons.

Capital One Center will open four new pickleball courts tomorrow (Wednesday) to replace the ice skating rink in Metro Park, the plaza at 1820 Capital One Drive South outside the Metro station’s recently added north entrance.

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News

Feds investigating FCPS over Fairfax HS assault allegations

By Angela Woolsey
The Fairfax County Public Schools administrative center in Merrifield (file photo)

The federal government has launched an investigation of its own into allegations that a Fairfax High School student groped multiple female students.

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday (Monday) on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that it’s opening an investigation into Fairfax County Public Schools “following reports from 12 high school girls who have credibly accused one male student — an illegal immigrant — of sexual assault.”

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News

Dog critically injured in hit-and-run crash on GW Parkway, driver sought

By Angela Woolsey
Buck, a 2-year-old Australian shepherd, at Belle Haven Animal Medical Centre after he was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash (photos courtesy Alicia Naylor)

A Belle Haven family is turning to the community for information and financial support after their beloved dog was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash on the George Washington Memorial Parkway earlier this month.

Owner Alicia Naylor was plastering her Belle View neighborhood with flyers for Buck — a 2-year-old Australian shepherd who went missing after slipping out of his harness around 8 p.m. the previous night — when she received a call that he had been struck by a driver at approximately 5:30 p.m. on March 12.

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