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

McLean Day festival returns in full, with ride preview on Friday

By Angela Woolsey
McLean Day returns with amusement park rides like the Himalaya, pictured from 2019 (courtesy McLean Community Center)

Thousands of people are expected to descend on Lewinsville Park Saturday (May 21) for the first full-fledged McLean Day since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

After getting canceled in 2020 and limited to a drive-thru event last year, the McLean Community Center’s annual outdoor festival will return for its 107th year with all of the usual carnival rides, live entertainment, food vendors, and family-friendly activities.

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Countywide

Proposed ‘community improvement district’ in Tysons could be model for county

By Angela Woolsey
The Boro in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County has big plans for Tysons, and to realize them, it may end up laying the groundwork for a new approach to economic development.

Now in its second decade of life, the nonprofit Tysons Partnership tasked with fulfilling the county’s vision for Tysons has been spent the past couple of years — and part of a $1 million grant — reinventing itself, with a revamped website here, a change in leadership there.

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Countywide

JUST IN: Child with measles may have exposed people at Inova Fairfax Hospital

By Angela Woolsey
Inova Fairfax Hospital (via Google Maps)

People who were at Inova Fairfax Hospital’s emergency department earlier this week may have been exposed to measles, the Virginia Department of Health reported today (Wednesday).

According to VDH, an unvaccinated child who contracted measles while traveling abroad had visited the hospital at 3300 Gallows Road during the following times:

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Countywide

NEW: Lidl is coming to Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons, replacing Staples

By Angela Woolsey
Staples has permanently closed its store at Pike 7 Plaza in Tysons (via Google Maps)

Office supplies are out, and cheaply priced groceries are in at Tysons’ Pike 7 Plaza.

The German grocery store chain Lidl has signed a lease for space in the shopping center at 8305 Leesburg Pike, spokesperson Chandler Spivey confirmed to FFXnow.

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News

FCPS proposes social media policy, drawing line between professional and personal speech

By Angela Woolsey
Fairfax County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools is establishing clearer ground rules for its employees’ use of social media.

Under a proposed new policy, FCPS workers will be prohibited from expressing their personal beliefs, disparaging other community members, and other actions on accounts affiliated with the school system.

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News

Vienna Town Council approves $48M budget, cuts real estate tax rate

By Angela Woolsey
Town of Vienna sign on Maple Avenue (file photo)

Vienna residents’ next property tax bills won’t be quite as high as anticipated, even as the town commits to raising employee salaries and other additional costs.

The Vienna Town Council voted unanimously last night (Monday) to adopt a $48.7 million budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 with a real estate tax rate of 20.5 cents per $100 of assessed value — a 1.75-cent cut from the current rate. The new budget will be in effect from July 1 through June 30, 2023.

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Around Town

Jack’s Ranch returns to Tysons, this time with full barbecue menu

By Angela Woolsey
Jack's Ranch has expanded its menu to reflect its focus on Texas-style barbecue meats (courtesy Jack's Ranch)

Jack’s Ranch wants to reintroduce itself to Tysons, and this time, its full identity will be on display.

The Texas-barbeque-meets-Italian restaurant debuted at the Lumen Apartments (1755 Tysons Central Street) in November, but a combination of factors, including the surging omicron variant of the coronavirus, prompted a closure on Dec. 25.

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Countywide

Power issues linger for some after thunderstorm, hail

By Angela Woolsey
A Virginia Department of Transportation truck in Mount Vernon after a May 16, 2022 storm (staff photo by Brandi Bottalico)

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Hundreds of people in Fairfax County are still without power after a thunderstorm swept through the D.C. area late yesterday afternoon (Monday).

Outages have been significantly reduced overnight, with the number of people affected dropping from more than 8,000 to about 500, as of 9:30 a.m., according to PowerOutage.US.

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Countywide

JUST IN: Two hospitalized by Route 28 crash in Chantilly

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

Updated at 8:15 p.m. — All Route 28 lanes have now reopened, but a man remains hospitalized, and police are continuing to investigate the crash.

Earlier: Two people have been transported to the hospital, one with life-threatening injuries, after a two-vehicle crash on Route 28 in Chantilly.

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