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

Springfield Town Center gears up for new school year with food drive and ‘Paw Patrol’

By Angela Woolsey
A LOVE sign at the Springfield Town Center entrance (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The dalmation and husky from “Paw Patrol” will be on call at Springfield Town Center (6500 Springfield Mall) tomorrow (Saturday) to give kids a day of fun before school resumes on Aug. 21.

Appearances by the animated dogs Marshall and Everest — or at least people costumed to look like them — are among the attractions promised for the mall’s “Fuel for School” event, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Grand Court near the newly opened Lego Discovery Center.

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Around Town

Vienna’s Blend 111 is closing, to be replaced by a French bistro

By Angela Woolsey
The restaurant Blend 111 in Vienna will close for good on Saturday, Aug. 12 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Tomorrow will be the chance to taste Blend 111’s tapas and cocktails.

The European and Latin American fusion restaurant will serve diners one final time on Saturday (Aug. 12) after more than four years at 111 Church Street in Vienna, an employee confirmed.

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News

UPDATED: Man killed in three-vehicle crash on Route 50 in Merrifield

By Angela Woolsey
Police direct traffic at Route 50 and Pickett Road after a three-vehicle crash (via VDOT)

(Updated at 6:30 p.m. on 8/13/2023) An 85-year-old man died Friday (Aug. 11) after getting seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash on Arlington Blvd (Route 50) in Merrifield.

Paul Hession, a resident of the Churchill neighborhood in the McLean area, was a passenger in a 2015 Toyota Camry that was turning left from westbound Arlington Blvd to Stonehurst Drive around 11:44 a.m. on Friday, the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release on Saturday (Aug. 12).

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News

UPDATED: Drivers critically injured in crash on Route 50 at I-66 near Fair Oaks

By Angela Woolsey
Route 50 has been closed at I-66 after a two-vehicle crash near Fair Oaks (via Google Maps)

Updated at 6:40 p.m. on 8/13/2023 — Fairfax County police have determined that the crash on Route 50 started when the driver of a 2007 Jeep Laredo rear-ended a 2023 Lexus. The driver then hit a Land Rover and a guardrail, drove across the grass median and went airborne, striking a 2009 Ford U-Haul Truck.

The Jeep and U-Haul drivers were hospitalized with injuries initially considered life-threatening, but their condition has since been changed to non-life-threatening.

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News

Pedestrian killed in crash at Kirby Road crosswalk in McLean

By Angela Woolsey
The crosswalk on Kirby Road at Old Dominion Drive in McLean (via Google Maps)

Updated at 6:15 p.m. on 8/13/2023 — The pedestrian in Friday morning’s crash was 86-year-old Brigitte Forster of McLean, Fairfax County police say.

The driver of the 2009 Toyota Sienna that hit her was turning left onto northbound Kirby Road from the Sylvestry at Vinson Hall parking lot when they “cut the turn short and entered the southbound lanes,” according to the police.

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Around Town

West Falls development unveils restaurant, child care retailers, coming next year

By Angela Woolsey
A rendering of the West Falls development in Falls Church City, now under construction (courtesy Hoffman & Associates)

The development now under construction on Falls Church City’s former high school site has landed its first retail tenants.

Hoffman & Associates, the developer behind the nearly 10-acre West Falls neighborhood, announced yesterday (Thursday) that the restaurants SEOULSPICE, BurgerFi and Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls will all open in fall 2024, along with the Spanish immersion preschool Tierra Encantada.

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News

Expanded Hunter Mill Road bridge reopens after two years of construction

By Angela Woolsey
The new, two-lane Hunter Mill Road bridge over Colvin Run (courtesy VDOT)

A critical vehicular link between Reston and the Wolf Trap area has been restored.

The new, two-lane Hunter Mill Road bridge over Colvin Run is now fully open, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced yesterday (Wednesday).

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Around Town

Lego Discovery Center opens in Springfield, ushering in new era for town center

By Angela Woolsey
Inside Lego Discovery Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The highly anticipated Lego Discovery Center has launched in Springfield, though it’ll be a few more days before the brick-building mecca officially welcomes the general public.

With a ribbon cut by scissors made out of Lego bricks and a burst of confetti, the 32,000-square-foot attraction opened its doors at Springfield Town Center (6563 Springfield Mall, Suite 12004) around 11 a.m. yesterday to dozens of kids, parents and other adults who snagged advance tickets.

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Around Town

Rent the Runway fashion pop-up set for return to Tysons Corner Center

By Angela Woolsey
Rent the Runway will have a pop-up sample sale at the mall from Sept. 1-25 (courtesy Tysons Corner Center)

It’s time to start practicing your best modeling poses.

The online fashion retailer Rent the Runway will sashay into Tysons Corner Center with a pop-up store this September. The business previously visited the mall for 10 days in January 2020.

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News

Katie Cristol draws on Arlington experience as new face of Tysons Community Alliance

By Angela Woolsey
Katie Cristol, formerly the Arlington County Board chair, took over as the Tysons Community Alliance's CEO on July 5, 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Katie Cristol wants to help Tysons become what the community imagines it could be.

Since taking over as the Tysons Community Alliance’s first permanent CEO on July 5, Cristol has been busy overseeing the creation of a Tysons strategic plan to identify priorities and needs for the 2,100-acre area envisioned by Fairfax County as an urban downtown where “people live, work and play.”

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