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

Fairfax County still under drought warning despite recent rain

By Angela Woolsey
Wolftrap Creek in Vienna on May 22, 2026 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A rainy Memorial Day weekend that canceled events and water park openings wasn’t enough to alleviate the drought plaguing Fairfax County and the rest of Virginia.

Almost the entire state remains under a drought warning, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality announced today (Friday). The only exceptions are Isle of Wight County and a few cities in the southeast, which are under a drought watch.

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News

Emergency response drill planned at Metro’s West Falls Church rail yard

By Angela Woolsey
Dulles Access Road bridge over the rail tracks at the West Falls Church Metro station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Don’t be alarmed if you see fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles swarming the West Falls Church Metro station area this Sunday (May 31).

Metro announced today that the West Falls Church Rail Yard to the north of the transit station near I-66 and the Dulles Access Road in Idylwood will host an emergency response exercise from 6 a.m. to noon that day.

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News

W&OD Trail expands operating hours in Herndon and Loudoun County

By Angela Woolsey
The Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Herndon (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park visitors can now officially enjoy the trail during the same hours at any point in its 45-mile length.

The board of directors for NOVA Parks, the regional authority that owns and operates the park, voted at its May 21 meeting to standardize 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily as the W&OD Trail’s formal operating hours, effective immediately.

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News

UPDATED: Man shot in Fair Oaks neighborhood after ‘verbal exchange,’ police say

By Angela Woolsey
Sign for the West Oaks Corner neighborhood in the Fair Oaks area (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A man was hospitalized after being shot in the West Oaks Corner neighborhood near Costco Thursday afternoon (May 28).

Police were dispatched to the 12200 block of Sessile Commons in Fair Oaks around 5:29 p.m. after 911 dispatchers received a call for a weapons discharge, according to scanner traffic.

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News

E-bike rider seriously injured in Dunn Loring crash, as county shares safety tips

By Angela Woolsey
Cedar Lane is closed at Electric Avenue in Dunn Loring after a crash involving an e-bike and a vehicle (via Google Maps)

An electric bicycle rider was critically injured in a crash on Cedar Lane in Dunn Loring earlier this afternoon (Thursday).

Fairfax County police and fire units were dispatched to Cedar Lane at Electric Avenue at around 3:35 p.m. for a crash involving a cyclist and a vehicle, according to scanner traffic.

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News

Range of factors driving Richmond Highway pedestrian safety ‘crisis,’ analysis finds

By Angela Woolsey
Richmond Highway in Mount Vernon (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

More than 60 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed or seriously injured in crashes on Richmond Highway over the past decade — and conditions appear to be worsening instead of improving, a new analysis says.

Skimpy lighting and crossings, along with alcohol intoxication, appear to be driving factors behind the frequent serious crashes that occur in the approximately 14-mile corridor from the Alexandria border down to the Occoquan River south of Lorton, according to Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS).

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News

Ex-CIA official charged with stealing millions of dollars in gold bars from federal government

By Associated Press and Angela Woolsey
The CIA seal next to a U.S. flag at the agency's Langley headquarters (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

A former senior CIA official with top secret-level clearance is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million from the federal government and stashing them in his home.

David Rush was arrested and charged with criminal theft of public money last week, according to federal court filings in Virginia, where he lives.

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News

Nurse campaigning for Herndon Town Council wants to give all residents a voice

By Angela Woolsey
Douglas Mejia (courtesy Doug Mejia for Herndon Town Council)

Though headlined by the Congressional midterms, this year’s election cycle will also feature critical local races in the Town of Herndon.

Douglas Isaac Mejia, a Herndon native and registered nurse, appears to be the first candidate to officially launch a bid for the Herndon Town Council, which will have all six seats on the ballot in November.

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Around Town

Summer music festival in Tysons to celebrate 50 years of go-go

By Angela Woolsey
The DMV Summer Kickoff Music Fest at Lerner Town Square in Tysons (courtesy Tysons Community Alliance)

Lerner Town Square in Tysons will come to life this Sunday (May 31) with the distinctive beats of go-go music.

Take over the parking lot at 8025 Galleria Drive from noon to 8 p.m., this year’s DMV Summer Kickoff Music Fest will double as a 50th anniversary celebration of the musical genre invented in D.C.

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Countywide

NOVA Parks boosts funding for staff, W&OD Trail plantings

By Angela Woolsey
NOVA Parks and Dominion Energy have been replanting cleared areas along the W&OD Trail with native trees and shrubs (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Over the next year, visitors can expect to see fewer invasive plant species and more native plantings along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and other regional parks.

The NOVA Parks Board of Directors adopted a fiscal year 2027 budget at its meeting last Thursday (May 21) that includes increased funding for invasive species management throughout the system, and for tree and shrubbery plantings along the 45-mile W&OD Trail, among other priorities.

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