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.

Countywide

New federal budget funds Fairfax County homeless shelter, pedestrian projects

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County's existing Patrick Henry Family Shelter (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) Congress has passed another short-term budget package, averting a partial shutdown of the federal government just hours before a midnight deadline.

In addition to funding the Justice Department, Housing and Urban Development, and other key agencies, the slate of bills passed 75-22 by the Senate on Friday (March 8) includes $12.7 billion in “pork” — money designated for local projects requested by lawmakers for their constituents.

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Around Town

McLean Starbucks to close temporarily for renovation

By Angela Woolsey
Starbucks is planning an interior renovation of its shop at the Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean (courtesy Starbucks)

Starbucks is preparing to update its shop in McLean’s Chesterbrook Shopping Center.

The coffee house at 6214 Old Dominion Drive will temporarily close for about a month during the interior renovation, which is slated to begin on next Monday, March 18. A sign posted to the door says that the last day of business before the closure will be this Saturday (March 16).

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News

Resignation opens extra spot in McLean Community Center governing board race

By Angela Woolsey
McLean Community Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The deadline has arrived for candidates seeking a spot on the McLean Community Center’s governing board.

Nominating petitions must be filed by 5 p.m. today (Monday), according to MCC, which made the forms available at its main facility at 1234 Ingleside Avenue. Candidates need signatures from 10 residents of the McLean tax district (Dranesville Small District 1A) to be eligible for the ballot.

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News

Three pedestrians killed in separate crashes in Fairfax County on Sunday

By Angela Woolsey
Westbound I-495 approaching the exit to Telegraph Road near Alexandria (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 12:50 p.m. on 3/12/2024) Fairfax County was the site of three different fatal pedestrian crashes yesterday (Sunday), two of them occurring just minutes apart in the same proximity on the Capital Beltway (I-495).

According to the Virginia State Police, troopers responded first at 3:39 a.m. to a crash on the westbound I-495 shoulder, east of the exit to Telegraph Road at the Alexandria border.

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News

National architecture firm consolidates N. Va. offices in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey
Little Diversified Architectural Consulting recently moved its D.C. area office to Pinnacle Towers in Tysons (courtesy Little Diversified Architectural Consulting)

The architecture consulting firm that helped design Capital One Center’s baseball stadium now has a base of its own in Tysons.

Little Diversified Architectural Consulting moved into a new office in Pinnacle Towers (1753 Pinnacle Drive) at the end of February, a spokesperson for the national company announced on Feb. 29.

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Around Town

Tennis and pickleball retail store gets set for expansion to McLean

By Angela Woolsey
The Rockville-based store Tennis Topia is expanding with a new location in McLean (photo by Doug McKinney/Tennis Topia)

(Updated at 4/14/24) A retail store that sells tennis and pickleball equipment is expanding to McLean after almost two decades in Maryland.

Tennis Topia anticipates opening its second location on April 20 at 6262 Old Dominion Drive, taking over suites F and G, which respectively belonged to a hair studio and a dry cleaner.

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News

West Falls developer launches sales for new mixed-use condominium building

By Angela Woolsey
The Oak, a new mixed-use condominium building in Falls Church, will feature rooftop terraces among its residential amenities (courtesy of Hoffman Realty)

A mixed-use condominium building taking shape in the upcoming West Falls neighborhood is now seeking prospective residents.

Developer Hoffman & Associates announced on Monday (March 4) that it has opened sales for the 126 condos in The Oak, a 174,000-square-foot, 11-story building under construction at 255 West Falls Station Blvd in Falls Church.

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Countywide

Virginia House seeks more data for Fairfax senator’s bill to allow more accessory living units

By Angela Woolsey
State Sen. Saddam Salim testifies before the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns on his bill to require accessory living units (via Virginia General Assembly)

Final consideration of state Sen. Saddam Salim’s (D-37) proposal to expand the availability of accessory housing units in Virginia will wait until next year.

A Virginia House of Delegates committee voted on Feb. 23 to table Senate Bill 304, until 2025, suggesting that the delay would give Salim and other legislators more time to refine the bill and collect data on existing local policies allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which are known in Fairfax County as accessory living units (ALUs).

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Countywide

Former Trump advisor’s legal group sues FCPS over LGBTQ-inclusive policies

By Angela Woolsey
A community member waves an LGBTQ pride flag at the rally protesting Virginia's model policies on transgender students (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 12:25 a.m.) A right-wing legal group led by Stephen Miller, a former advisor to Donald Trump when he was president, is challenging Fairfax County Public Schools over its policies supporting transgender students.

America First Legal filed a complaint against the Fairfax County School Board on Monday (March 4) arguing that the school system is discriminating on the basis of sex and religion by letting students use the names, pronouns and bathrooms that match their gender identity.

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Around Town

Yellow Diner from Tysons restauranteurs to open in Vienna this spring

By Angela Woolsey
The new restaurant Yellow Diner is slated to open in March 2024 in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Updated at 3:35 p.m. on 4/2/2024 — Yellow Diner officially opened in Vienna on Monday, April 1, operating from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for brunch and 5-10 p.m. for dinner every day except for Tuesdays.

Earlier: An end to the long, winding road to an opening for Vienna’s Yellow Diner is in sight.

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