Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Vandals damage country club golf course in Vienna, police say

Published July 29, 2022 at 1:30PM

The entrance to the Westwood Country Club in Vienna (via Google Maps)

Vienna police are on the lookout for men who reportedly damaged the Westwood Country Club’s golf course last week.

Surveillance video footage showed “a group of unidentified males” destroying the grounds and equipment of the country club at 800 Maple Avenue East between 2 and 3 a.m. last Saturday (July 23), the Vienna Police Department said in a flier included in its crime recap for the week of July 22-28.

Around Town

Bad Axe Throwing is out at Mosaic District but aims to reopen elsewhere

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 29, 2022 at 11:00AM

Bad Axe Throwing has vacated its Mosaic District space (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The former Bad Axe Throwing spot at the Mosaic District in Merrifield is being wiped clean.

Work to demolish Suite 190 at 2985 District Avenue has been underway for the past month, based on Fairfax County permits, as property owner EDENS prepares the space for a potential new tenant.

Countywide

Morning Poll: Should Fairfax County’s major roads have lower speed limits?

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 29, 2022 at 9:30AM | Updated December 9, 2022 at 2:00PM

Cars head south on Richmond Highway (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Driving on Richmond Highway in Fairfax County could get a little slower, potentially by the beginning of next year.

Virginia Department of Transportation staff said last week that the speed limit should be reduced from 45 to 35 mph along a 7.31-mile stretch of the roadway from the Capital Beltway at the Alexandria border to Jeff Todd Way in Mount Vernon.

Around Town

Photos: Cirque du Soleil prepares for Friday’s ‘Kurios’ Tysons premiere

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 28, 2022 at 2:15PM | Updated July 29, 2022 at 12:13PM

Cirque du Soleil acrobats rehearse a banquine act ahead of Kurios' July 29 premiere in Tysons (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Cirque du Soleil is almost ready to shine its lights on Tysons once again.

After a three-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canada-based circus and entertainment company raised its big top tent at Lerner Town Square (8025 Galleria Drive) on July 21 in anticipation of premiering its “Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities” show tomorrow (Friday).

News

Pedestrian bridge over Beltway in Tysons expected to finish this fall

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 28, 2022 at 11:00AM

Construction continues on the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over I-495 in Tysons (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Construction on the bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the Capital Beltway in Tysons will take slightly longer than anticipated.

The Virginia Department of Transportation says the first phase of the project — which will eventually connect Tysons Corner Center and the McLean Metro station via Old Meadow Road — is now expected to be completed this fall, behind the previously advertised summer 2022 timeline.

News

Police: Motorcyclist dies from injuries after Braddock Road crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 28, 2022 at 9:30AM

Fairfax County police car (file photo)

A motorcyclist has died after crashing on Braddock Road near the Fairfax area almost a month ago, the Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Wednesday).

Sterling resident Brian Perry was riding a 2007 Kawasaki motorcycle, traveling east on Braddock on June 29. Around 6:17 p.m., he reached a section of road near the Fairfax County Parkway intersection that transitioned from pavement to milled asphalt, lost control of the bike and crashed, police say.

Countywide

After joining FCPS during pandemic, new teachers upbeat about futures in education

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 27, 2022 at 3:00PM

Riverside Elementary School teacher Shelby Press with students in Fairfax County Public Schools' Young Scholars summer program (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Amelia Carr’s first year working for Fairfax County Public Schools was miles apart from what she had imagined when she declared that she wanted to become a teacher in her sixth-grade yearbook.

The Bucknell Elementary School kindergarten teacher began her career as an educator in the unpredictable world of September 2020, when classes were confined to the computer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

News

Virginia Tech campus redevelopment finds new life with possible Falls Church sale

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 27, 2022 at 2:15PM

Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center in Idylwood (via Google Maps)

A redevelopment of Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center (7054 Haycock Road) in Idylwood is back on the table.

The Falls Church City Council authorized agreements on Monday night (July 25) that will terminate the university’s 40-year lease for the 2-acre parcel and allow the city to sell the land to Converge West Falls LLC, an entity of developer Rushmark Properties.

Countywide

Plastic bag tax could raise over $1M for Fairfax County in first year

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 27, 2022 at 11:45AM

A plastic grocery bag (via Christopher Vega on Unsplash)

Fairfax County is on track to bring in more than $1 million in revenue from the first year of its plastic bag tax.

In the first five months after the tax took effect on Jan. 1, the county government received over $500,000, the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination said in a memo to the Board of Supervisors.

News

Tysons Corner Center invites local artists to ‘activate’ mall

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 27, 2022 at 11:00AM

Tysons Corner Center is now home to one of three "LOVE" signs in Fairfax County (courtesy Tysons Corner Center)

Local artists could get their work seen by tens of millions of people under a new partnership between Tysons Corner Center and Fairfax County’s official arts agency.

Property owner and developer Macerich announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it has teamed up with ArtsFairfax on an initiative to enlist individual artists and groups “to activate several spaces” in the mall with temporary installations.