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

County police and firefighters secure pay raises, benefits in first collective bargaining agreements

By Angela Woolsey
Police and fire department representatives with Fairfax County's bargaining team after the Board of Supervisors voted to approve their new collective bargaining agreements (courtesy IAFF Local 2068)

For the first time in over four decades, Fairfax County’s police officers and firefighters got an opportunity this year to negotiate their pay, benefits and working conditions with the local government.

The collective bargaining process led to new contracts for Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department employees that union representatives and county leaders both lauded as meaningful wins for public safety workers.

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News

Affordable housing development breaks ground near Spring Hill Metro station

By Angela Woolsey
The Exchange at Spring Hill Station, an affordable housing project, broke ground in Tysons (courtesy Fairfax County Government)

Construction has begun on a development that promises to bring hundreds of affordable housing units to Tysons.

Officials with Fairfax County, nonprofit developer Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) and other partners broke ground yesterday (Tuesday) on the Dominion Square project, which has been newly renamed The Exchange at Spring Hill Station.

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News

Cause of ‘dramatic’ explosion during fire in Bailey’s Crossroads identified

By Angela Woolsey
The Fairfax County Fire and Department responds to a utility emergency at Build America Plaza in Bailey's Crossroads (via FCFRD/Twitter)

An explosion that occurred while firefighters were putting out a blaze at Build America Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads in early November was caused by a backdraft, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.

Investigators have determined that the fire and “dramatic” explosion were accidental, resulting from degraded power lines that arced and sparked an “underground fire involving the insulation of adjacent communication lines,” the FCFRD reported today (Tuesday).

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Around Town

Spanish fashion company Mango plants seeds for Tysons Corner Center store

By Angela Woolsey
The Spanish fashion company Mango opened its flagship U.S. store on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2022 (courtesy Mango)

(Updated at 11:30 a.m. on 12/20/2023) A Spanish fashion brand that has started utilizing artificial intelligence to design its clothes is coming to Tysons Corner Center.

Mango recently announced that it will expand to the D.C. area for the first time with four stores opening in 2024, including one in the region’s largest mall. New locations are also planned at 950 F Street in D.C.’s Penn Quarter, the Westfield Montgomery mall in Bethesda, and Pentagon City.

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News

Proposal to reuse Sheraton Tysons Hotel as housing moves forward, despite park space concerns

By Angela Woolsey
Tysons West developer JBG Smith is seeking to convert the Sheraton Tysons Hotel into housing (via Fairfax County)

The potential benefits and challenges of converting commercial properties into housing both emerged during a public hearing last week on a proposal to repurpose the now-vacant Sheraton Tysons Hotel at 8661 Leesburg Pike.

Promising up to 544 new residential units, the project will boost the supply of housing in Tysons with a unique, market-rate affordable option, a representative for developer JBG Tysons Hotel touted at the hearing before the Fairfax County Planning Commission on Thursday (Dec. 14).

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News

Ashburn man charged with reckless driving for fatal Route 28 crash

By Angela Woolsey
Northbound Route 28 at the exit to Westfields Blvd in Centreville (via Google Maps)

An Ashburn man was charged last week with reckless driving — almost a month after his alleged speeding killed a motorcyclist on Route 28.

Gael Cruchet, 53, received a summons on Friday (Dec. 15) charging him with exceeding the speed limit by over 20 mph while driving a 2016 Acura TLX sedan in the lead-up to the crash on Nov. 16, the Fairfax County Police Department announced.

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News

Tysons Towers apartment building owner seeks to add more parking

By Angela Woolsey
Vehicles parked at the Tysons Towers apartments (via Google Maps)

The available parking at the Tysons Towers apartments has proven inadequate, the property owner says.

Identified in Fairfax County property records as the Fairfax Education Association Retirement Housing Corporation, the owner is seeking to add 24 parking spaces at the apartment building, which exclusively houses seniors 62 and older and people with disabilities.

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News

Oakton HS marching band rocks the vote as finalist in Metallica competition

By Angela Woolsey
Oakton High School Marching Cougars perform their Metallica showcase "Parade to Black" at a varsity football game against Westfield (courtesy of David Custer)

Oakton High School’s marching band could win $15,000 from playing “Enter Sandman” and other Metallica tunes.

The Marching Cougars, as the band is called, was selected as a national finalist in the inaugural “For Whom the Band Tolls” competition, which invited high school and college marching bands to submit videos showcasing their performances of Metallica’s work.

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News

First-ever Tysons strategic plan aims to turn county’s downtown into a destination

By Angela Woolsey
Tysons Community Alliance CEO Katie Cristol announces the Tysons strategic plan's release in 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

When Fairfax County adopted its Tysons Comprehensive Plan in 2010, it wasn’t quite creating a community from scratch. After all, the area had history: first as home of the Manahoac tribe, then as rural farmland and finally, as a suburban crossroads known for malls and offices.

However, transforming car-centric sprawl into a place people not only want to go to, to take a phrase from the Washington Post, but also stay in remains a formidable challenge.

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News

Grants approved to fund improved facilities at McLean, Reston area parks

By Angela Woolsey
The Cricket Association of Fairfax County is seeking to replace the cricket pitch at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston (via FCPA)

Some facility upgrades are in the works for three Fairfax County parks.

The Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) Board approved a total of $55,325 in Mastenbrook grants on Wednesday (Dec. 13) to help fund improvements at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, McLean Central Park and Frying Pan Farm Park south of Herndon.

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