Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Merrifield’s self-driving shuttle will transport its final riders this month

Published June 6, 2023 at 1:30PM

The autonomous, electric Relay shuttle at the Mosaic District (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County is winding down its groundbreaking experiment with self-driving public transportation.

The autonomous, electric Relay shuttle will cease operations after June 23, concluding almost three years of bussing passengers around the Dunn Loring Metro station and the Mosaic District in Merrifield.

News

Man arrested for Newington gun store burglary, but dozens of firearms still missing

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 6, 2023 at 11:45AM

A Fairfax County police car (file photo)

A man from Maryland was recently arrested in D.C. in connection with a gun store burglary in Newington, the Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Monday).

Arrested by Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents on May 22, the 20-year-old is one of four men suspected by police of stealing 53 firearms from Dominion Defense (7200 Fullerton Road) between 3-4 a.m. on April 29.

News

Firefighters contain large blaze at Lorton landfill off Richmond Highway

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 6, 2023 at 9:30AM | Updated June 6, 2023 at 12:38PM

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responds to a landfill fire in Lorton (via FCFRD/Twitter)

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) A massive fire broke out last night (Monday) at the Rainwater Landfill on Richmond Highway in Lorton, occupying Fairfax County firefighters for hours.

As of 9 a.m., the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department remains on scene in the 9900 block of Richmond Highway after units were dispatched to a reported outside fire at 11:03 p.m.

News

Tyco Road warehouse in Tysons gets pitch for pickleball courts

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2023 at 1:30PM

A warehouse at 8520 Tyco Road (via Google Maps)

Pickleball courts may be in store for a warehouse on Tyco Road, a still-industrial section of the Tysons West neighborhood.

A new commercial building permit application was submitted to Fairfax County on March 16, calling for a one-story addition with six pickleball courts at 8520 Tyco Road.

Countywide

Rise in child welfare cases puts strain on Fairfax County’s volunteer court advocates

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2023 at 11:45AM

Volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates get sworn in (courtesy Fairfax CASA)

Fairfax County’s child welfare system has seen abuse and neglect cases surge over the past year, taxing the dozens of volunteers charged with advocating for those children in foster care and court.

As of May, over 188 new kids have been placed in foster care or under a protective court order since July 1, 2022 — nearly double the 98 cases added the previous year, according to Fairfax CASA, a nonprofit that trains and supervises volunteer, court-appointed special advocates for children.

News

Police: Postal worker pepper-sprayed during armed robbery in Vienna

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2023 at 9:30AM

Vienna Police (file photo)

Vienna police are searching for a person who robbed a postal worker while armed with a knife and pepper spray on Friday (June 2).

Officers responded around 11:50 a.m. to a U.S. Postal Service employee’s report that they had been robbed in the 500 block of Church Street NE, the Town of Vienna Police Department said in a news release that afternoon.

News

Funds approved to shield Lewinsville Park pickleball courts from wind

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 2, 2023 at 1:30PM | Updated June 4, 2023 at 6:16PM

Pickleball players at Lewinsville Park in McLean (courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority/Flickr)

(Updated at 2:20 p.m. on 6/4/2023) Pickleball players at McLean’s Lewinsville Park will soon no longer have to contend with wind gusts.

The Fairfax County Park Authority Board approved a $2,382 grant during its May 24 meeting to support the installation of black privacy slats on the fencing around the park’s dedicated pickleball courts at 1659 Chain Bridge Road.

News

County blesses Montessori School of McLean’s plan to buy church site

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 2, 2023 at 11:00AM

Chesterbrook United Methodist Church and Montessori School of McLean share a building at 1711 Kirby Road in McLean (via Google Maps)

The Montessori School of McLean is on track to celebrate its 50th anniversary on the same site where it has spent the past half-century.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a special exception permit for the private school and child care center on May 23, allowing it to remain at 1711 Kirby Road even after the church that owns the 3.87-acre property relocates.

News

Metro station closures will affect Orange and Silver line train service, starting tomorrow

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 2, 2023 at 9:30AM | Updated July 13, 2023 at 4:15PM

The West Falls Church Metro station is one of four that will close for about three weeks, starting tomorrow (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The last train out of the Vienna Metro station for the next month will depart at 12:20 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

After that, the Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church and East Falls Church stations will all shut down, as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority begins to replace a 40-year-old steel rail extending to Ballston.

Countywide

American Legion Bridge would be even more congested without transit, study says

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 1, 2023 at 3:30PM

On the Capital Beltway at the American Legion Bridge into Maryland (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

If you find trips on the Capital Beltway into Maryland nightmarish now, imagine what they would be like without any transit options.

That’s the scenario posed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) in a new study on the value of the region’s transit network, including Metro, local bus services like Fairfax Connector and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE).