Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Cherry blossom bicycle ride and more events teased at Tysons Community Alliance website launch

Published February 23, 2023 at 12:10PM | Updated February 23, 2023 at 12:42PM

Tysons Community Alliance announces the inaugural National Cherry Blossom Festival Family Bike Ride at its launch event (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) The National Cherry Blossom Festival is coming to Tysons this year.

Tysons Corner Center will host a family bicycle ride on April 2 as part of D.C.’s annual celebration of its cherry trees at the Tidal Basin, the Tysons Community Alliance (TCA) announced during its official launch event yesterday (Wednesday) at Valo Park.

News

Mike’s American Grill in Springfield reopens after Valentine’s Day fire

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 23, 2023 at 10:15AM

Mike's American Grill in Springfield was hit by a fire on Valentine's Day (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Mike’s American Grill is back in business.

The beloved Springfield restaurant reopened to diners yesterday (Wednesday), just over a week after a three-alarm fire broke out in its kitchen on Valentine’s Day.

Countywide

Camp Fairfax summer program to restart registrations after technical issues

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2023 at 3:00PM

Kids play rugby in the Camp Fairfax program (via Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services)

Registrations for Fairfax County’s School Age Child Care (SACC) summer program will reopen tomorrow (Thursday) after technical issues disrupted its scheduled launch yesterday.

Camp Fairfax started allowing families to register at 8 a.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 21), but the Fairfax County Office for Children, which oversees the program, reported at 9:13 a.m. that “technical difficulties” had taken the system down.

News

Family seeks county’s help preserving historic cemetery near Freedom Hill

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2023 at 2:15PM

Gloria Runyon and Dee Dee Carter, descendants of the Carter family, speak a dedication ceremony for new signs at Freedom Hill Park recognizing their family's history (via FCPA/YouTube)

Fairfax County may get involved in the preservation of a cemetery belonging to a family with deep roots in the Vienna area, predating the formation of the U.S.

The Board of Supervisors directed staff yesterday (Tuesday) “to investigate options for addressing safety concerns” and the long-term care of the Carter Family Cemetery, a small plot near Tysons in what was once the historically Black community of Freedom Hill.

Around Town

Vienna Restaurant Week will return in March to support local dining scene

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 22, 2023 at 11:00AM

Vienna Restaurant Week returns next month (courtesy Town of Vienna (TOV) Economic Development Division)

The Town of Vienna’s first-ever restaurant week must’ve been a success, because the celebration of the local dining scene is coming back even bigger than before.

Vienna Restaurant Week will return for 10 days from March 3 through March 10 with about 50 restaurants, cafes and other eateries participating — over twice as many as in 2022, according to Vienna Economic Development Director Natalie Monkou.

Countywide

Fentanyl and youth overdoses among concerning trends in opioid epidemic, county says

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 21, 2023 at 3:45PM

A bag of fentanyl pills (via DEA/Flickr)

Opioid overdoses have been on the rise in Fairfax County since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

After declining between 2017 and 2019, overdoses increased in the Fairfax Health District from 285 in 2019 — 83 of them fatal — to at least 366 in 2022, including 63 fatalities, as of Sept. 30, according to the data dashboard that the Fairfax County Health Department launched last fall.

News

All-affordable housing with Tysons community center near Spring Hill Metro approved

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 21, 2023 at 2:15PM | Updated April 11, 2023 at 2:47PM

Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing's proposed two 20-story affordable housing buildings in Dominion Square West, seen from the southwest (via KGD Architecture/Fairfax County)

The all-affordable residential high-rises planned at Dominion Square West are officially moving forward.

During its meeting on Feb. 15, the Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing’s (APAH) project, which will replace parking lots currently used by auto dealerships with two 21-story buildings.

News

Fairfax County wants to know how people travel in and navigate Tysons

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 21, 2023 at 10:15AM

A "Welcome to Tysons" sign on Route 123 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County is seeking public feedback to reduce the chances of future residents and visitors confusing Tysons Corner Center with Tysons Galleria, among other potential mix-ups.

The county launched a Tysons Wayfinding and Signage Survey on Feb. 14 in partnership with the Tysons Community Alliance, which formed last fall as the next-stage evolution of the nonprofit Tysons Partnership.

Around Town

Creator of ‘1619 Project’ will address Virginia’s role in American racism at McLean talk on Sunday

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 17, 2023 at 1:30PM

Nikole Hannah-Jones will speak at the McLean Community Center's Alden Theatre on Sunday (photo by James Estrin/The New York Times)

Nikole Hannah-Jones, the investigative journalist behind “The 1619 Project,” is coming to McLean.

Anyone hoping to snag a last-minute ticket to her talk at the McLean Community Center on Sunday (Feb. 19), however, is out of luck. Seats filled up quickly once registration opened last month, and the waitlist has exceeded 400 people, according to the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), which organized the free event.

News

School board directs funds to future early childhood education center on Route 1

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 17, 2023 at 11:45AM

The Fairfax County School Board owns land in Woodlawn that it's considering using for an early childhood education center (via Google Maps)

Undeveloped land in Mount Vernon near Richmond Highway that had been eyed for an elementary school is now being considered for an early childhood education center instead.

As part of its approval of the latest Capital Improvements Program (CIP) on Feb. 9, the Fairfax County School Board voted unanimously to reallocate $500,000 in bond funding to the proposed center, which will take the place of a planned Route 1/Pinewood Lakes elementary school.