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

Fairfax City’s chocolate festival returns with venue change, new charity run

By Angela Woolsey
A sign for Fairfax City's Chocolate Lovers Festival hangs over a banister at Old Town Hall (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax City’s annual Chocolate Lovers Festival is returning for its 34th year later this week, assuming the weather is more cooperative than it was for the McLean Chocolate Festival.

Kicking off with a free concert on Friday (Feb. 6) and continuing through Sunday (Feb. 8), the festival will feature a variety of tasting opportunities, culinary crafts, entertainment and — in a new addition for this year — a 1-mile run for charity.

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News

Scott’s Run Nature Preserve will close this spring for another sewer project

By Angela Woolsey
The Potomac River seen from Scott's Run Nature Preserve in McLean (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Scott’s Run Nature Preserve will be off limits to visitors for a third consecutive spring to allow more sewer upgrades.

The park at 7400 Georgetown Pike in McLean is scheduled to close on Monday, Feb. 16 for an “urgent” project to rehabilitate a siphon facility that carries wastewater across the Potomac River to D.C. Water’s Potomac Interceptor in Maryland, according to the Fairfax County Park Authority.

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Weather

JUST IN: FCPS to open two hours late, with snow possible overnight

By Angela Woolsey
A solitary truck travels along Burke Center Parkway on Jan. 25, 2026 during Winter Storm Fern (staff photo by Dave Facinoli)

Fairfax County Public Schools will start classes on a two-hour delay tomorrow (Wednesday), as the region continues its slow recovery from the Jan. 25 winter storm.

Like they did today (Tuesday), school and administrative offices will open on time, as will afternoon preschool and adult education classes.

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Around Town

Dance company that canceled Kennedy Center visit to offer free show at GMU

By Angela Woolsey
Doug Varone and Dancers will perform at George Mason University's Center for the Arts on April 25, 2026 (photo by John Landry)

A New York dance company that recently nixed scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center is coming to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts instead.

Doug Varone and Dancers will visit the Fairfax performing arts venue (4373 Mason Pond Drive) on Saturday, April 25 for a free show in the concert hall, the Center for the Arts announced today.

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News

New agreement aims to protect both trees and power lines along W&OD Trail

By Angela Woolsey
A sign posted in October 2025 tells Washington & Old Dominion Trail users that Dominion Energy will replant a cleared area with native trees and shrubs as invasive species encroach (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

After months of negotiations and pressure from both elected officials and community members, Dominion Energy and NOVA Parks have settled on a new path forward for managing trees near power lines along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad Regional Park.

Dominion and the regional park authority, which owns and manages the 45-mile-long W&OD Trail, have reached an agreement governing vegetation management activities that, among other provisions, requires the utility to provide advanced notice of any major maintenance work and to plant native species in affected areas when possible.

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News

Proposals for affordable housing on Columbia Pike, Dulles Greene sites take shape

By Angela Woolsey
True Ground Housing Partners' proposed Dulles Greene affordable housing development (via KTGY/Fairfax County)

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) is moving forward with plans to transform two mostly vacant sites into affordable housing after identifying potential partners for both projects.

The authority approved an interim agreement at its Jan. 22 meeting with True Ground Housing Partners allowing it to commence “pre-development activities” for a 9.6-acre property at 13500 Dulles Greene Drive near the Innovation Center Metro station in Herndon. The process will include a physical site review, community engagement and a financial feasibility assessment.

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Countywide

JUST IN: Fairfax County to open schools on two-hour delay Tuesday

By Angela Woolsey
School bus behind snow pile at Cunningham Park Elementary School in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

As anticipated, Fairfax County Public Schools will resume classes tomorrow (Tuesday), albeit on a two-hour delay.

“This means all schools will begin two hours after their regularly scheduled start times,” FCPS said in an announcement. “Central and school offices will open on time. Central and school office 12-month employees must report to work on time.”

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Countywide

Winter storm update: Surge in sledding injuries, Herndon tennis center damaged

By Angela Woolsey
A front-end loader helps clear snowcrete from the intersection of Route 123 and International Drive in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Like the rest of the D.C. region, Fairfax County is still working its way out from under the mounds of snow and ice left behind by Winter Storm Fern.

On top of the three deaths from medical emergencies reported by the Fairfax County Police Department, the Jan. 25 storm resulted in a “significant” surge in sledding-related injuries throughout last week, according to Inova.

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News

Gas-fueled fire destroys Franconia townhomes, but no one injured

By Angela Woolsey
A firefighter responding to a townhouse fire in the 6500 block of Gladys May Lane in Franconia (via FCFRD/X)

A fire that appears to have been fueled by natural gas blazed through two Franconia townhouses last night (Sunday), leaving the residence in ruins but its occupants apparently unharmed.

Several Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units responded to the 6500 block of Gladys May Lane in the Enclave at Long Branch neighborhood around 9:09 p.m. for the fire, which started in one unit near the end of a townhouse row before “quickly spreading” to an adjacent unit, according to the fire department.

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News

High-rise apartments, townhomes could replace Tysons Concourse offices

By Angela Woolsey
Berman Enterprises is proposing to redevelop the Tysons Concourse office complex with housing (via VIKA Virginia/Fairfax County)

A Maryland developer wants to build a mix of housing in place of the Tysons Concourse office buildings near the Spring Hill Metro station.

When completed, the development would deliver more than 1,000 new homes across two high-rise apartment buildings and several blocks of townhouses and triplexes, according to a proposal from Berman Enterprises, submitted to Fairfax County on Jan. 23.

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