Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

FCPD: Annandale man charged with murder for fatal assault

Published September 9, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated September 9, 2025 at 4:15PM

Elmar Waldemar Xitumul Vasquez of Annandale (courtesy FCPD)

An Annandale man has been charged with murder after allegedly assaulting another man who later died from his injuries.

Detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department began investigating the death of Elmer Castro — a 32-year-old man with no fixed address — on Aug. 12 after the Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office reported the circumstances as suspicious.

News

JUST IN: Smithsonian to expand Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 9, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated September 10, 2025 at 11:14AM

Entrance sign for the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The airplanes at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center need a bigger hangar.

The extension of the National Air and Space Museum is embarking on the first major expansion of its public space since opening in Chantilly more than two decades ago, the Smithsonian Institution announced today (Tuesday).

News

Reston Association board split on proposed assessment increase

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 9, 2025 at 9:15AM

Reston Association's logo on its headquarters building (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Reston Association is weighing another increase in its annual membership fee, as staff hammer out a new budget for the coming year.

In an initial draft presented to the Board of Directors on Aug. 28, RA Chief Financial Officer Ed Vroom proposed raising the assessment to $923 in 2026 — an increase of $75 or 8.8% from the current rate of $848 — to keep up with rising capital project costs and inflation, among other challenges.

Around Town

More eateries coming to former Whole Foods spot in Idylwood

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 8, 2025 at 2:45PM

Potbelly is coming to Idylwood Plaza (photo by Rosan Choi)

A trio of fast-casual eateries is coming to Idylwood Plaza, further filling out space left empty by Whole Foods Market’s departure in February.

Potbelly and Qdoba Mexican Eats are both anticipating opening at the shopping center in the fall of 2026, property owner Federal Realty Investment Trust announced today (Monday).

News

Parking restrictions considered to stop overflow of boats on Hunter Mill District streets

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 8, 2025 at 9:15AM

Boats parked on a street in McNair Farms (via Hunter Mill District Supervisor's Office)

Despite being landlocked, some neighborhoods in Fairfax County’s Hunter Mill District have apparently become awash in boats.

Supervisor Walter Alcorn plans to propose expanding Reston’s Community Parking District in order to also ban boats and other large vehicles from parking on public streets in the McNair Farms area south of Herndon.

Countywide

UPDATED: FCPS ‘disappointed’ by dismissal of lawsuit to halt funding freeze

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 8, 2025 at 8:30AM | Updated September 8, 2025 at 10:40AM

Justice statue over the entrance to the Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County Public Schools has encountered at least a temporary setback in its bid to prevent the federal government from cutting off funding over its support for transgender students.

On Friday (Sept. 5), a federal judge in Alexandria dismissed the lawsuit that the Fairfax and Arlington county school boards had filed against the U.S. Education Department, denying their requests for an injunction to halt the funding freeze as the case proceeds.

News

Rally opposing tree clearings on W&OD Trail planned in Vienna

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 5, 2025 at 3:45PM

Trees line one side of the W&OD Trail along Dominion Road in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The chainsaws have gone quiet, but the fight to preserve trees along the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail isn’t over yet.

A number of elected officials, nonprofits and community organizations plan to renew pressure on Dominion Energy over its approach to tree clearings with a rally tomorrow (Saturday) in Vienna.

Around Town

Cirque du Soleil returns to Tysons with Mexico-inspired show

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 5, 2025 at 9:15AM

A Cirque du Soleil performer in rain during "Luzia" (photo by Matt Beard)

Cirque du Soleil is back in Tysons.

After visiting George Mason University’s Eagle Bank Arena last spring, the Canadian circus will once again open up its Big Top at Lerner Town Square (8025 Galleria Drive) for a new show, starting tomorrow (Saturday).

News

Camera theft, arson at Herndon business park under investigation

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 5, 2025 at 8:30AM | Updated September 5, 2025 at 4:04PM

Flags indicating Sunset Business Park in Herndon is open (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Local police recently arrested a man who’s believed to be behind multiple criminal incidents targeting the Sunset Business Park in Herndon, including two arson attempts.

The Herndon Police Department (HPD) dispatched officers to 268 Sunset Park Drive at 5:17 p.m. on Monday (Sept. 1) for a larceny after a security camera was reportedly stolen from one of the storefronts.

Countywide

Faced with tightening job market, recent college grads crowd N. Va. career fair

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 4, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated October 14, 2025 at 9:48AM

UVA Northern Virginia hosts the Virginia Universities Career Fair on Aug. 13, 2025 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The CIA is hiring, though its recruiters can’t comment in detail on why.

The McLean-based intelligence agency joined over 65 other employers at the University of Virginia’s Northern Virginia campus in Merrifield last month for a career fair that drew hundreds of college students as well as recent (and not-so-recent) graduates, all of them scrambling for a foothold in an uncertain economy.