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

Recently opened Vienna restaurant champions cuisine from Arabian Gulf

By Angela Woolsey
Dar Mariam at sunset in Vienna (photo by Amy Woolsey)

After a couple months in business, Dar Mariam is starting to settle into its home in Vienna.

The restaurant celebrated its grand opening on Aug. 15 in the former Donutchew storefront at 107 Maple Avenue West, driven by a mission to bring authentic Arabian cuisine, particularly from Iraq and Kuwait, to a wider audience.

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News

Dominion Energy plans ‘selective’ tree removals on W&OD Trail with NOVA Parks’ support

By Angela Woolsey
People walking on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail east of Hunter Mill Road (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Dominion Energy is planning to take down more trees near its power lines along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail — this time, with the consent of NOVA Parks.

Starting next Monday (Oct. 20), the power company will begin “selective” pruning and removals of trees and other vegetation on a 2.6-mile section of the trail between its Clark substation in Vienna and the Hunter substation in Wolf Trap, just outside Reston.

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News

New plan emerges for developing Salona Park in McLean

By Angela Woolsey
The proposed meadow trail concept for Salona Park in McLean (via Fairfax County Park Authority)

The Fairfax County Park Authority is looking for the community’s feedback again on a proposal for developing Salona Park in McLean.

The new concept, which will be presented at a community meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Monday), centers on a half-mile-long walking trail that would loop around the approximately 10-acre site, which currently consists of undeveloped meadows and woods.

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Around Town

Fairfax, McLean eateries make WaPo food critic’s final 40 Best Restaurants list

By Angela Woolsey
The pad thai from Sorn Thai in McLean (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Longtime food critic Tom Sietsema wrapped up his 25-year run at the Washington Post last week with the release of his final fall dining guide.

Sietsema’s survey of the “40 Best Restaurants in and Around D.C.” is dominated by the District, which is home to all of the top-five ranked entries. But five Fairfax eateries still made the cut, along with one that will soon set up shop in the area.

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News

Future of Lake Anne AC services in question after cooling utility folds

By Angela Woolsey
Waterfront homes along Lake Anne in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Reston RELAC is dead again, and this time, a resurrection might not be on the table.

Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning, the utility that provides cooling services for most Lake Anne residents, discontinued operations last Thursday (Oct. 9) following a trying summer where mechanical issues led to reported temperatures of 85 degrees and higher in some homes.

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Countywide

White House begins firing federal workers amid shutdown, as Democrats call move ‘illegal’

By Associated Press and Angela Woolsey
Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget director, listens as he addresses members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.

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News

Developer breaks ground on $100M data center building in Chantilly

By Angela Woolsey
A rendering of the upcoming Chantilly Premier data center (courtesy Penzance)

A new data center is coming online in Chantilly.

Developer Penzance announced yesterday (Thursday) that it recently broke ground and secured $100 million in financing for Chantilly Premier, a three-story data center facility that will occupy approximately 12 acres of land adjacent to the Chantilly Auto Park south of Route 50.

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News

Longtime Reston resident and advocate remembered for military, community service

By Angela Woolsey
George F. Kain Jr. with his family on a cruise in Delray Beach, Florida (courtesy James Kain)

The many interests and accomplishments that shaped George F. Kain Jr.’s life were united by a genuine desire to help others and make the world around him a better place, his family says.

Kain, who died at his longtime home in Reston on Sept. 20 at the age of 90, was driven by a commitment to service, whether he was developing defensive plans for the U.S. Navy, helping shape Reston in its earliest years or even supporting emergency response teams with the telecommunications company Sprint.

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Around Town

GMU offers free performing arts tickets to workers affected by federal shutdown

By Angela Woolsey
George Mason University's Center for the Arts with cherry blossom trees lining Mason Pond in Fairfax (Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services)

Though it may be small solace for not knowing when their next paycheck may come, a night of music or theater could become at least a temporary escape for the thousands of workers affected by the ongoing federal government shutdown.

That’s what George Mason University hopes to provide by offering free tickets to select artistic performances for federal employees and contractors.

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News

Developer to expand community with new Ritz-Carlton condos in Tysons

By Angela Woolsey
Ritz-Carlton Residences in Tysons will be 20 stories tall with a rooftop-level lounge and observation deck (courtesy Renaissance Centro)

Tysons will see more construction in the new year, this time to manifest a condominium high-rise from the Ritz-Carlton.

The hospitality company has partnered with developer Renaissance Centro to bring its first residential building in Virginia to the Arbor Row neighborhood, just across the street from its hotel at Tysons Galleria.

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