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

Taste of Vienna is back for a 10th year to showcase local restaurants

By Angela Woolsey
Himalayan Soul Foods was among the five food trucks at the 10th annual Taste of Vienna in 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Taste of Vienna has reached the decade mark.

The Vienna Volunteer Fire Department’s annual fundraiser will shine a spotlight on local restaurants for a 10th year this Saturday (April 29) from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. — coincidentally the same day as Taste of Annandale’s comeback.

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News

Centreville resident arrested after allegedly stabbing man, family dog

By Angela Woolsey
A Fairfax County police SUV with lights on (file photo)

Fairfax County police are investigating an apparent domestic dispute that involved a Centreville man and his family’s dog getting stabbed.

A 22-year-old man from Centreville was arrested by Virginia State Police on Tuesday (April 25) after a pursuit that extended into Lorton. He has been charged with malicious wounding, animal cruelty, and disregarding police commands to stop.

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News

Dominion Energy to begin prep work on undergrounding Tysons power line

By Angela Woolsey
Tysons to Spring Hill transmission line construction phases (via Dominion Energy)

(Updated at 12:15 a.m. on 4/27/2023) Preliminary construction activities will kick into gear this weekend on a long-gestating project to move part of an electric transmission line underground in the Spring Hill area of Tysons.

Starting this Friday (April 28) evening, Dominion Energy will close the Vesper Trail from Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) to Vesper Street so its crews can install a manhole needed for the project, spokesperson Peggy Fox said. The trail closure will last until Tuesday (May 2).

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News

Vienna Town Council approves larger tax rate reduction than first proposed

By Angela Woolsey
Vienna Town Hall (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Town of Vienna will reduce its real estate tax rate by a full cent for the upcoming fiscal year 2024, which begins July 1.

Approved unanimously by the town council on Monday (April 24), the reduction is bigger than the quarter-cent decrease first proposed by Town Manager Mercury Payton last month, but it still won’t be enough to completely counterbalance the rising property values most homeowners experienced this year.

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Countywide

FCPS expands background checks for employees in wake of ex-counselor’s conviction

By Angela Woolsey
The Fairfax County Public Schools administrative center in Merrifield (file photo)

Going forward, all Fairfax County Public Schools workers will be required to undergo regular background checks and notify the school system of any arrests while they’re employed.

The expanded background check policies will be implemented after an investigation last year found “systemic gaps” in the hiring process, FCPS announced yesterday (Tuesday).

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News

Vienna Elementary, one of Fairfax County’s oldest public schools, to throw 150th birthday bash

By Angela Woolsey
Vienna Elementary School from 1915. The four-room building burned down around 1919 and was replaced by the current school in 1923 (courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

When Vienna Elementary School celebrates its 150th anniversary next month, the occasion will double as a milestone for the entire Fairfax County Public Schools system.

Opened in 1923, the 74,904-square-foot home of the Vikings at 128 Center Street South is the oldest continuously operating public school building in the county, though the school as an institution can trace its origins back to the founding of FCPS in 1870.

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News

Columbia Pike intersection where crash killed teen secures funds for crossing beacon

By Angela Woolsey
A memorial at Columbia Pike and Tyler Street for Lesly Diaz-Bonilla, who was killed by a driver on Nov. 16, 2022 (photo by Ellie Ashford, courtesy Bailey's Crossroads and Culmore PBI Coalition)

To the relief of Bailey’s Crossroads residents, some traffic safety improvements are in the works for the often harrowing area where Columbia Pike and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) meet.

Perhaps the most urgent change will be the addition of a pedestrian hybrid beacon at the crosswalk across Columbia Pike at Tyler Street — the intersection where a driver hit and killed Justice High School student Lesly Diaz-Bonilla in November.

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Around Town

Fast food restaurant Z-Burger lands prime spot for new Vienna location

By Angela Woolsey
The fast food restaurant Z-Burger sells burgers, chicken sandwiches and milkshakes (via Z-Burger/Instagram)

McDonalds and Chick-fil-A will soon have some new competition for Vienna high school students looking to chow down while relaxing with friends after class.

The D.C.-based fast food chain Z-Burger is set to open later this spring in the former Pizza Hut at 541 Maple Avenue West, continuing an expansion into Northern Virginia that began in McLean and recently spread to Alexandria.

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News

Three people taken to hospital after crash that closes John Marr Drive

By Angela Woolsey
The intersection of John Marr Drive and Little River Turnpike has been closed after a crash (via Google Maps)

Updated at 11:25 a.m. — All lanes on John Marr Drive and Little River Turnpike have now reopened to traffic, police say.

Earlier: A crash on John Marr Drive in Annandale took down power lines and sent three people to the hospital this morning (Tuesday).

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Around Town

Volunteers wanted to plant cherry blossom trees in Tysons for Arbor Day

By Angela Woolsey
A cherry tree in front of the Vita Apartments on the Plaza at Tysons Corner Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Updated at 11:35 a.m. on 4/27/2023 — With rain in the forecast tomorrow (Friday), the cherry tree plantings have been postponed to May 6, the Tysons Community Alliance announced today.

Earlier: This year’s cherry blossom season has come and gone, but in Tysons, the seeds for future flowers are about to take root.

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