Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Mantua senior living community unveils first renovation in 43 years

Published November 21, 2023 at 9:30AM

Prospective residents and other community members cut a ribbon to celebrate The Virginian's renovation (photo by Jamey Simpson)

At 43 years old, The Virginian decided the time has come for a fresh look.

The senior living community held a grand opening last Friday (Nov. 17) to reveal the results of its first renovation since getting established at 9229 Arlington Blvd in Mantua more than four decades ago.

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Tysons man arrested for illegal machine gun possession

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 20, 2023 at 1:30PM

A Tysons resident was arrested after police found machine guns his home (courtesy FCPD)

Fairfax County police confiscated multiple machine guns last week from a Tysons man who was suspected of sending sexual messages to a juvenile.

Detectives began investigating Craig Strasbourger, 31, after receiving a tip in September from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline, which gets reports of child sexual exploitation incidents, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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Maryland man dies after crashing into Old Keene Mill Road jersey barrier

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 20, 2023 at 11:45AM

Northbound Backlick Road at Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield (via Google Maps)

A Maryland man died early yesterday (Sunday) morning after crashing into the jersey barrier at the Old Keene Mill Road and Backlick Road intersection in Springfield.

Issac Garcia Mendoza, 21, of Oxon Hill was seen driving north on Backlick “at a high rate of speed” around 1:21 a.m., according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

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UPDATED: Annandale man arrested for fatal shooting at Fairview Park Marriott

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 20, 2023 at 10:15AM | Updated November 20, 2023 at 12:56PM

The entrance to the Marriott hotel at 3111 Fairview Park Drive (via Google Maps)

Updated at 1 p.m. — Hiep Van Vo, the suspect in Sunday’s shooting at the Fairview Park Marriott, was arrested at 11 p.m. yesterday outside a Giant in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Fairfax County police said today (Monday).

Vo is in custody at the Montgomery County Detention Center “awaiting extradition back to Fairfax County,” according to police.

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BREAKING: Six teens seriously injured, one arrested in Idylwood crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 20, 2023 at 9:20AM | Updated November 20, 2023 at 8:44PM

Fairfax County Police Department Lt. James Curry addresses media after a crash in Idylwood injured six teens (via FCPD/Facebook)

Updated at 8:40 p.m. — The 17-year-old driver who crashed on Pioneer Lane this morning was arrested for driving under the influence, but the Fairfax County Police Department says it will wait to officially file charges after consulting with the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

“Charges are pending as the investigation continues,” the FCPD said in a news release. “Detectives believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.”

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Tysons-based Hilton named world’s best workplace in annual Fortune ranking

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 17, 2023 at 1:15PM

Hilton has been based at Park Place II in Tysons since 2009 (courtesy Hilton)

The best place to work in the world can be found right in Tysons, according to a new Fortune magazine ranking.

Hilton, the hotel company headquartered at Park Place II (7930 Jones Branch Drive), topped the 2023 World’s Best Workplaces list released yesterday by Fortune and Great Place to Work, a research and data platform that bills itself as the “global authority on workplace culture.”

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Oakton park, rec center no longer ‘Marr-ed’ by Confederacy-linked name

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 17, 2023 at 11:45AM

Oak Marr RECenter has been renamed Oakmont Rec Center (via Google Maps)

Fairfax County has shed another vestige of its Confederate past.

Oak Marr Park, which is home to the Oak Marr RECenter and Golf Center Complex, was renamed “Oakmont” earlier this month by the Fairfax County Park Authority board, which approved the change at its Nov. 8 meeting.

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Virginia Tech’s West Falls Church campus sold for redevelopment as construction hub

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 17, 2023 at 10:15AM

A new headquarters for HITT Contracting will anchor the redevelopment of Virginia Tech's campus near the West Falls Church Metro station (courtesy Gensler)

The remaking of Virginia Tech’s campus near the West Falls Church Metro station as a futuristic mixed-use development can officially begin.

The university and Falls Church City completed a sale of the 7.41-acre Northern Virginia Center site to developer Converge West Falls LLC last week, the city announced Wednesday (Nov. 15).

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Vote on proposal to preserve Vienna’s tree canopy delayed to 2024

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 16, 2023 at 1:15PM

Advocates collect petition signatures supporting a Town of Vienna tree conservation ordinance at Vienna Oktoberfest 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The future of Vienna’s trees will rest on a new town council.

When it met on Monday (Nov. 13), the current Vienna Town Council was scheduled to finalize a proposal aimed at preserving and enhancing the town’s tree canopy, which has declined over the past decade.

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MS-13 member pleads guilty to helping murder teen at Lincolnia park in 2016

By Angela Woolsey

Published November 16, 2023 at 11:45AM | Updated February 28, 2024 at 7:05PM

Remains of two murdered teens were found in Holmes Run Stream Valley Park in Lincolnia on March 2, 2017 (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 6:55 p.m. on 2/28/2024) Another suspect in the 2016 murders of two teens at Holmes Run Stream Valley Park in Lincolnia has pleaded guilty.

Edwin Orellana Caballero, a member of the gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, pleaded guilty yesterday (Wednesday) to one count of maiming in aid of racketeering activity in connection to the kidnapping and killing of a 14-year-old from Alexandria, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.