Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

JUST IN: Lorton private school employee charged with child solicitation

Published May 22, 2026 at 3:45PM

Lawrence Lofzewski (courtesy Fairfax County Police Department)

A former police officer who now works at a private school in Lorton has been charged with child solicitation, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today.

Detectives in the FCPD’s Child Exploitation Unit received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Lawrence Lofzewski, a 37-year-old Springfield resident, “had posted disturbing online content regarding minors,” according to a press release.

Around Town

First Friday Night Live! concert of season canceled due to rain

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 22, 2026 at 11:15AM

A banner and light stand set up for a Friday Night Live! concert in Herndon (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The rain that’s expected to persist in the D.C. area throughout Memorial Day weekend has already put a damper on one summer tradition.

Tonight’s Friday Night Live! concert in Herndon has been canceled due to the inclement weather, organizers announced this morning (Friday).

News

Person and dog rescued from two-alarm McLean house fire

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 22, 2026 at 10:10AM

A Fairfax County Fire and Rescue engine at a house on Turkey Run Road in McLean (via FCFRD/Facebook)

A McLean resident was hospitalized as a result of a fire that broke out at their home in the Langley High School area early this morning (Friday).

Firefighters were dispatched to the 900 block of Turkey Run Road for the house fire at around 12:49 a.m., according to scanner traffic.

News

Choral singer, McLean arts center namesake among winners of 2026 ArtsFairfax Awards

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 22, 2026 at 9:15AM

The 2026 ArtsFairfax Awards will go to Bruce Berlage, Karen and Jim Cleveland, the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation and Thomas Beveridge (courtesy ArtsFairfax)

Support for the arts can take different forms, as evidenced by the honorees who will take center stage this fall at the 2026 ArtsFairfax Awards.

ArtsFairfax announced earlier this month that this year’s recipients of the annual awards will be longtime McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) donor and board member Bruce Berlage, Reston community leaders Karen and Jim Cleveland, the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation and D.C.-area singer, conductor and composer Thomas Beveridge.

Around Town

Inova to host blood drive at ViVa Vienna festival this weekend

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 22, 2026 at 8:30AM

A map for ViVa Vienna on display at the 2025 festival (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Attendees of this weekend’s ViVa Vienna will have an opportunity to give back to the community in more ways than one.

Inova has partnered with Vienna-based Bards Alley Bookshop for a blood drive that will take place during the annual festival this Sunday and Monday (May 24-25).

Countywide

Late Rep. Gerry Connolly’s final bill in Congress heads to president’s desk

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 21, 2026 at 1:45PM

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (right) talking with late Congressman Gerry Connolly in July 2022 (courtesy Office of Senator Mark Warner)

The final bill introduced by the late Gerry Connolly dealt with the disease that took his life early in his ninth term representing Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

In a rare moment of unity, the Senate voted unanimously yesterday (Wednesday) to support the Gerald E. Connolly Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act, sending the bill to President Donald Trump almost a year after it passed the House of Representatives on June 3, 2025.

News

Fairfax County completes largest solar energy project so far on I-95 landfill

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 21, 2026 at 11:45AM

A sign warns against trespassing at Fairfax County's I-95 Landfill Complex in Lorton (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Land in Lorton that once served as a waste disposal site has been transformed into Fairfax County’s largest solar power project so far.

After about a year of construction, a completed 5-megawatt solar array now sits on 37 acres in a closed portion of the I-95 Landfill Complex at 9850 Furnace Road, the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) announced Wednesday (May 19).

News

Despite repeated vandalism, Vienna church keeps free food, hygiene pantries going

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 21, 2026 at 10:00AM

The Little Free Pantries at Emmaus United Church of Christ in Vienna (courtesy Emmaus)

The Little Free Pantries outside Emmaus United Church of Christ in Vienna have gotten battered over the years, but despite repeated acts of vandalism, they’re still standing.

Though cleaning up and repairing the damage can be a hassle, sometimes temporarily taking the boxes out of commission, the church remains undeterred in its commitment to making donated food and hygiene products available to passersby in need.

News

Tesla fire on Dulles Access Road sends one to hospital

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 21, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated May 21, 2026 at 11:44AM

Tesla vehicle on fire on the Dulles Access Road in Tysons (via FCFRD/X)

An electric vehicle crashed and caught fire on the Dulles Access Road in Tysons yesterday (Wednesday), sending one person to the hospital.

Units with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched for an electric vehicle fire in the westbound lanes of the Dulles Access Road near Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) in Tysons at 5:03 p.m., according to the emergency scanner.

Countywide

JUST IN: Spanberger signs one bill to rein in ICE, vetoes another

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 20, 2026 at 12:45PM | Updated May 20, 2026 at 2:52PM

Scenes from a Jan. 11, 2026 ICE Out for Good protest on Maple Avenue in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has taken a mixed approach to bills from Fairfax state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) intended to counter the Trump administration’s draconian approach to immigration enforcement.

The governor announced today (Wednesday) that she has signed SB 352 and its House of Delegates companion HB 1482, which ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces, while vetoing legislation (SB 351 and HB 650) that would restrict federal immigration agents from conducting civil arrests in certain public places, including courthouses, schools and health care facilities.