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

Veterans Day 2022: What’s open, closed and happening in Fairfax County

By Angela Woolsey
Flags outside the Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Veterans Day is tomorrow, marking the 104th anniversary of the official end of combat in World War I.

Government offices for Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and the towns of Vienna and Herndon will be closed for the federal holiday, which extends to Fairfax County Public Schools students and the court system.

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Around Town

Bonchon’s Tysons restaurant opening delayed until the spring

By Angela Woolsey
Bonchon anticipates opening its new Tysons restuarant in March 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Tysons residents will have to wait a little longer to bite into Bonchon’s crunchy, double-fried chicken — at least without venturing to Fairfax, Annandale, Reston and beyond.

The Korean fried chicken chain won’t open its upcoming location at 8603 Westwood Center Drive until March, a public relations representative told FFXnow.

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Around Town

Settle Down Easy Brewing toasts Oakton with new ‘tasting room,’ opening Saturday

By Angela Woolsey
Settle Down Easy Brewing will have a grand opening for its Oakton Tasting Room on Nov. 12 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 2:10 p.m. on 11/13/2022 to correct zip code) It’s going to be a busy Saturday for Settle Down Easy Brewing. In addition to marking its fourth anniversary, the Merrifield area brewery will throw a grand opening party for its new Oakton restaurant and bar from noon to 8 p.m.

Replacing the shuttered Austins Big and Tall store in Hunter Mill Plaza at 2952E Chain Bridge Road, The Oakton Tasting Room is envisioned as not just a place to grab dinner and drinks, but as the kind of hangout spot that Settle Down Easy owner Frank Kuhns says is missing from Oakton — despite nearly 37,o00 people calling it home.

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News

Police: Oakton resident fatally shoots man who entered home with ‘large landscaping rock’

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County police car (file photo)

(Updated at 6:05 p.m. on 11/13/2022) A man was shot and killed in Oakton last night following an apparent fight with a homeowner that led the latter to retrieve a gun, police say.

The Fairfax County Police Department is currently investigating the fatal shooting in the 11400 block of Waples Mill Road as a self-defense case, Second Lt. James Curry told media yesterday. Preliminarily, there’s no indication that the two men involved in the incident knew each other, he said.

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News

County paves way for construction on MetroWest town center — now with pedestrian improvements

By Angela Woolsey
Until a third residential building is constructed, the MetroWest town center will include an interim plaza (via Fairfax County)

A path has been cleared for construction to begin soon on the long-awaited MetroWest town center, promising retail and pedestrian safety enhancements near the Vienna Metro station in Oakton.

As recommended by the planning commission in late October, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last week to remove a limit on the number of residences allowed at the mixed-use development before work also starts on planned office buildings.

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News

Custom home builder pleads guilty to defrauding McLean residents

By Angela Woolsey
A construction worker on a house building frame (via Josh Olalde on Unsplash)

(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) A 57-year-old contractor from Centreville could face up to two decades in jail for using his custom home building company to defraud McLean homeowners.

Pedro Felipe Valdes Sanchez pleaded guilty yesterday to defrauding “several couples” who hired his company to build or remodel their houses in and around McLean, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

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News

Man, 93, dies after SUV crashes into his car on Old Keene Mill Road

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County police car with lights flashing (file photo)

Another driver has died after a vehicular crash on Fairfax County’s roads, bringing the non-pedestrian death toll up to 16 people.

The most recent casualty is John Rowley Jr., a 93-year-old Springfield resident who died Monday evening (Nov. 7) after an SUV crashed into his car on Old Keene Mill Road in the West Springfield area that morning.

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News

Proposed design of new Dunn Loring Elementary School to be unveiled

By Angela Woolsey
The Dunn Loring Administrative Center is slated for replacement with an elementary school (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Local residents will get their first glimpse of the planned Dunn Loring Elementary School later this week.

Fairfax County Public Schools will kick off the public input portion of the project’s design process on Thursday (Nov. 10) with a meeting at the Gatehouse Administrative Center (8115 Gatehouse Road) in Merrifield.

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Around Town

McLean Pizza has permanently closed after 50 years in business

By Angela Woolsey
McLean Pizza and Subs is permanently closed (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

McLean Pizza and Subs has served up its last slice.

The Italian and Greek restaurant at 1434 Center Street is permanently closed after supplying the neighborhood with pizza, pasta, subs and more since 1962, according to its website.

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Countywide

Fairfax County’s second-ever poet laureate revealed by ArtsFairfax

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County Executive Bryan Hill, Fairfax Poet Laureate Danielle Badra, and Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay (courtesy AE Landes Photography)

Fairfax County has a new ambassador for poetry.

Danielle Badra will serve as the second Fairfax Poet Laureate through 2024, leading a program to bring poetry-related activities to local parks, ArtsFairfax shared yesterday.

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