Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

Reston trail reopens after FBI investigation

Published October 29, 2025 at 5:30PM

The woods along Snakeden Branch Trail in Reston where FBI agents were investigating (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Snakeden Branch Trail has reopened in Reston after an extended closure due to an FBI investigation.

Residents reported that a white van was parked near a bridge along the trail for much of today (Wednesday), and FBI agents wearing white jumpsuits were spotted working in the woods.

News

Vienna Town Council urges FCPS to keep town’s students at Madison High School

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 29, 2025 at 1:45PM | Updated October 29, 2025 at 3:47PM

James Madison High School in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Vienna leaders are taking a stand against the latest proposal to come out of Fairfax County Public Schools’ systemwide boundary review.

The Vienna Town Council unanimously approved a resolution on Monday (Oct. 27) opposing a boundary adjustment that would assign an estimated 91 students within the town’s limits to Marshall High School in Idylwood instead of the local James Madison High School.

Around Town

River-Sea Chocolates unveils new retail shop at Reston location

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 29, 2025 at 10:00AM | Updated October 29, 2025 at 3:45PM

Customers visit River-Sea Chocolate Shop in Reston (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Reston residents no longer have to travel to Chantilly to indulge in a bar or box of River-Sea Chocolates.

The chocolate maker recently began welcoming customers to a retail shop at 11495 Sunset Hills Road, Unit 100, months after expanding there with a new, larger production facility.

Around Town

McLean shopping center to unveil Sweetgreen, finished renovations next month

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 28, 2025 at 2:45PM

Sweetgreen salads and bowls (courtesy Sweetgreen)

November will be a busy month for McLean’s Chesterbrook Shopping Center, bringing a new restaurant and the completion of a multi-million-dollar renovation project.

Sweetgreen announced today (Tuesday) that it will officially open its doors to customers on Nov. 11 at 6220 Old Dominion Drive in Chesterbrook Shopping Center.

Countywide

Food for Neighbors prepares to ramp up support for N. Va. school food pantries

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 28, 2025 at 1:45PM | Updated October 28, 2025 at 11:08PM

Food for Neighbors volunteers sort donated food for students on Oct. 25, 2025 (courtesy Food for Neighbors)

Hundreds of volunteers congregated at sites across Northern Virginia on Saturday (Oct. 25) to collect, sort and distribute donations to local school food pantries.

Timed to coincide with National Make a Difference Day, the sorting events were organized by the nonprofit Food for Neighbors to help the many students in the region who struggle with getting consistent access to food — a challenge expected to worsen as the federal government shutdown approaches a month in length.

News

Piazza at Tysons development embraced as potential Route 7 game-changer

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 28, 2025 at 9:15AM | Updated October 28, 2025 at 10:18AM

A rendering of The Cube and Piazza Lawn in Piazza at Tysons from Spring Hill Road (via WDG Architecture)

A mixed-use development that could transform a corner of Tysons West sailed through the Fairfax County Planning Commission last week after more than five years of review.

All of the commissioners present for the Oct. 22 public hearing recommended that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve a conceptual development plan for the Piazza at Tysons, which would replace a gas station and the Tysons 3 shopping center near the Spring Hill Metro station with housing, office, over 2 acres of park space and, potentially, a public arts and culture center.

Around Town

Upcoming bistro Town seeks to energize McLean dining scene

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 27, 2025 at 2:45PM

Town, a new American restaurant, is coming to 6671 Old Dominion Drive in McLean (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A new restaurant is taking shape in McLean, one that its owners hope will give local residents a reason to dine in town instead of driving down Route 123 into Tysons.

Described on its Instagram page as an “American neighborhood bistro,” Town will join forces with the recently relocated Moby Dick House of Kabob to revitalize a retail center on Old Dominion Drive left dormant by Café Oggi’s closure in early 2022.

News

Lake Anne residents still awaiting clarity after cooling service shuts down

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 27, 2025 at 1:45PM

The fountain at Lake Anne in Reston (staff photo)

Two weeks after Reston RELAC announced it will cease operations, Lake Anne residents who have relied on the cooling service for decades are still looking for clearer guidance on how to prepare for next summer.

After informing customers, the owners of the utility, known formally as the Reston Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation, sent a letter to Reston Association Chief Operating Officer Peter Lusk earlier this month stating that they “will no longer provide chilled water service,” co-owner Mark Waddell said in an Oct. 19 update.

Around Town

Four Fairfax County restaurants ranked among 10 best in Northern Virginia

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 27, 2025 at 9:15AM

A plate of sushi from Modan in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairview Park’s 2941 Restaurant is back on top in Northern Virginia Magazine’s annual list of the region’s 50 best restaurants.

After dropping to second last year, the West Falls Church-area restaurant returned to the no. 1 spot for 2025, a feat it has now managed in three of the past five years. Both times it missed (in 2024 and 2022), 2941 was bested by The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm in Lovettsville, which closed its doors for good at the end of August.

News

Police charge juvenile with fatally shooting Herndon HS student

By Angela Woolsey

Published October 27, 2025 at 8:30AM

Fairfax County police car close-up (file photo)

The suspect behind a recent shooting in the Herndon area that killed a student from Herndon High School is also a juvenile, Fairfax County police say.

The unnamed “juvenile male suspect” has been charged with second degree murder, using a firearm in the commission of a felony and shooting from a vehicle, the Fairfax County Police Department announced on Saturday (Oct. 25).