Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

McLean man pleads guilty to Covid relief fraud involving casino gambling, real estate

Published February 26, 2024 at 1:30PM

Casino chips (photo via Chris Liverani on Unsplash)

A McLean resident has pleaded guilty to spending federal COVID-19 relief funds intended for his home business on personal expenses, including gambling and real estate payments.

Mehdi Pazouki, 65, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday (Feb. 23) to defrauding the Small Business Administration of approximately $455,000 in loans created to help businesses survive during the pandemic, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern District of Virginia.

News

Police arrest men who allegedly stole car that crashed, medical vehicle from Inova Fairfax Hospital

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 26, 2024 at 11:45AM

Fairfax County police arrested Manassas resident Rickey Lowe for allegedly stealing a medical transport vehicle from Inova Fairfax Hospital (courtesy FCPD)

A man who allegedly stole a medical transport vehicle from Inova Fairfax Hospital last week has been located and arrested, Fairfax County police announced over the weekend.

Rickey Lowe, 32, of Manassas was arrested on Friday (Feb. 23) by Fugitive Tracking and Apprehension Unit detectives who found him “near a hotel in Manassas,” the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release on Saturday (Feb. 24).

Around Town

Tapas-style Indian restaurant Dhoom now open in Tysons Corner Center

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 26, 2024 at 10:15AM

The Indian restaurant Dhoom has opened in Tysons Corner Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A local family with decades of culinary experience unveiled a new restaurant last week that serves Indian food, tapas-style, at Tysons Corner Center.

Dhoom opened this past Thursday (Feb. 22) on the mall’s second floor near Shilla Bakery. Paired with the counter-service eatery Naan & Beyond, which opened earlier this year, the sit-down restaurant is the latest establishment run by the Arora family.

News

FCPD: Woman, 93, has died after getting injured in Bailey’s Crossroads crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 23, 2024 at 11:55AM

The intersection of Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and South Jefferson Street in Bailey's Crossroads (via Google Maps)

A 93-year-old woman died earlier this week from injuries she sustained in a car crash on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) in Bailey’s Crossroads, police say.

Gladys Bilbao, a Falls Church resident, was in the front passenger seat of a 2007 Toyota Corolla when the driver collided with a 2023 Toyota GR86 in the South Jefferson Street intersection around 7 p.m. on Feb. 16, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

Countywide

Striking Fairfax Connector workers demand better benefits and support from contractor

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 23, 2024 at 10:30AM | Updated February 23, 2024 at 3:54PM

Fairfax Connector workers represented by ATU Local 689 spent two weeks on strike in 2024 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Updated at 3:55 p.m. — Fairfax Connector service will stay suspended at least through this weekend (Feb. 24-25) as drivers and mechanics continue their strike, the Fairfax County Department of Transportation has announced.

FCDOT says it “expects negotiations to continue in good faith with the goal of completing a new contract very soon.”

News

Hybrid emergency and urgent care center could replace West Falls Church strip mall

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2024 at 2:30PM

Graham Center in West Falls Church (via Google Maps)

Graham Center’s days may be numbered.

The 61-year-old retail strip in West Falls Church has been targeted by the not-for-profit health system VHC Health for a future emergency department and urgent care center, according to a special exception application recently submitted to Fairfax County.

News

County to consider scaled-back vision for housing at Idylwood church site

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2024 at 12:15PM

St. Paul's Lutheran Church is seeking to sell part of its property in Idylwood, including a now-vacant building, to a housing developer so it can expand its sanctuary (via Google Maps)

Plans to build housing in front of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Idylwood have been resurrected.

After a previous attempt in 2019 sputtered out, the church has found a new developer partner to potentially buy vacant portions of its property at 7426 Idylwood Road and transform it with residential development.

News

JUST IN: Man dies in Richmond Highway corridor’s fourth fatal crash this month

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2024 at 11:30AM

Memorial Street is closed approaching Richmond Highway after a fatal single-vehicle crash (via Google Maps)

Another person has been killed in a crash in the Richmond Highway corridor.

Police and emergency medical services were dispatched to Memorial Street at Richmond Highway for a single-vehicle crash around 9:24 a.m. today (Thursday), according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

Countywide

UPDATED: Fairfax Connector suspends bus service as workers go on strike

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2024 at 2:20AM | Updated February 22, 2024 at 11:37AM

Fairfax Connector bus on Spring Hill Road (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 11:35 a.m.) Fairfax Connector workers have launched a strike after months of negotiations for a new labor contract with Transdev, the company that operates Fairfax County’s bus service.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, which represents about 638 bus operators and mechanics for Fairfax Connector, announced the strike just after midnight today (Thursday). Workers began hitting picket lines at garages in Herndon, Lorton and on West Ox Road in the Fairfax area at 2 a.m.

Around Town

Tysons theater offers deal for screenings of two Best Picture Oscar nominees

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 21, 2024 at 2:45PM

ShowPlace Icon Theatre at The Boro in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The 96th Academy Awards are just under a month away, which means there’s still time to catch up on this year’s nominees.

To help out, ShowPlace Icon Theatre in Tysons will host upcoming, “special” screenings of “Barbie” and “The Holdovers,” two of the films seeking to upset “Oppenheimer” on its steady march toward winning the Oscar for Best Picture.