Angela Woolsey | FFXnow

JUST IN: Three FCPS employees charged with separate crimes in past week

Published June 5, 2026 at 5:50PM | Updated June 5, 2026 at 7:24PM

Left to right: Stephanie Gale, Matthew Thorsen and Trevor Papavasiliou (courtesy FCPD)

Three people employed by Fairfax County Public Schools were arrested this week for different crimes at local schools, including one case of allegedly inappropriate behavior with a student.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, Langley High School math teacher Matthew Thorsen, 38, was taken into custody at his home in Reston yesterday (Thursday) after detectives found that he had “engaged in unlawful and inappropriate contact with a student.”

News

Funding awarded for Pickett Road safety study, but not Kingstowne improvements

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2026 at 2:45PM

A pickup truck passing a pedestrian crossing on Pickett Road in Fairfax City (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax City has received funding for a study to identify potential safety improvements along heavily used but crash-prone Pickett Road.

The city was awarded $80,000 for the planned roadway safety audit by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB), which approved a total of $980,000 in grants last month for 12 different local transportation consulting projects in Virginia and Maryland.

Around Town

Facebook parent company Meta plans to sell AI glasses at Tysons Corner Center

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 5, 2026 at 9:15AM

Inside a Meta Lab in Honolulu (via Meta)

The company behind Facebook is bringing its artificial intelligence-enhanced glasses to Tysons Corner Center.

Meta anticipates opening its first “Meta Lab” retail boutique at the mall sometime in June, the company’s vice president of retail, John Koryl, told Fairfax Real Estate Insider reporter Austin Wright, who first confirmed the plans for a Tysons store.

News

JUST IN: Driver charged with manslaughter for fatal Christmas crash on I-495

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 4, 2026 at 4:40PM

Virginia State Police vehicle (photo by John Calhoun/JC Photography)

An Ohio man previously charged with reckless driving is now also facing involuntary manslaughter charges for his alleged role in a crash on the Capital Beltway (I-495) that killed an Annandale woman and her granddaughter.

The Virginia State Police served warrants with the two additional charges to Devin Juliana, a 48-year resident of Steubenville, earlier today (Thursday), according to a press release.

News

Lofts at Reston Station developer given a week to nail details of plan for second phase

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 4, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated June 4, 2026 at 3:39PM

Conceptual rendering of Pulte Group's proposed Lofts II at Reston Station development (via Land Design Consultants/Fairfax County)

After approximately seven years of work and revisions, Pulte Group is still racing down to the wire to finalize plans for an expansion of its Lofts at Reston Station residences that will satisfy Fairfax County officials.

The county’s planning commission agreed yesterday to defer a decision on whether to recommend approval of the developer’s rezoning application until next Wednesday, June 10 — less than two weeks before a scheduled June 23 public hearing before the Board of Supervisors.

Around Town

Free Summer Entertainment Series returns with varied lineups despite reduced budget

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 4, 2026 at 8:30AM

Musicians perform at Nottoway Park in Vienna for Hunter Mill Melodies on Aug. 14, 2025 (courtesy Fairfax County Park Authority)

The Fairfax County Park Authority has unveiled event lineups for this year’s Summer Entertainment Series, which will feature more than 100 outdoor concerts, movie screenings and other free diversions.

Kicking off with Springfield Nights at Burke Lake Park and Arts in the Parks at Frying Pan Farm Park on June 24, the 2026 offerings won’t be quite as extensive as in previous years after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors adopted a fiscal year 2026 budget that reduced funding for the series by $136,000.

News

McLean man sentenced to prison for threat to longtime Trump ally

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 3, 2026 at 1:45PM

President Donald Trump discusses improvements to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with Kennedy Center Executive Director Richard Grenell in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, August 13, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

A McLean man will spend more than a year in prison for threatening violence against former Kennedy Center president and longtime Trump ally Richard Grenell.

Scott Allen Bolger, 33, was sentenced today (Wednesday) to a year and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty in February to transmitting a threat via interstate commerce, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.

News

UPDATED: Motorcyclist’s injuries from Richmond Highway crash no longer critical

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 3, 2026 at 11:15AM | Updated June 3, 2026 at 11:58AM

Police vehicles and a tow truck block southbound Richmond Highway at Mims Street after a crash that seriously injured a motorcyclist (via 511 Virginia traffic camera)

A motorcyclist was hospitalized this morning (Wednesday) as a result of a crash on Richmond Highway in Lorton.

Police officers and medics with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched to Richmond Highway at Mims Street for a crash with injury at 8:24 a.m.

News

Proposed redevelopment would quadruple housing at Merrifield apartments site

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 3, 2026 at 10:00AM

Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station apartments sign (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The owner of the Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station Apartments is seeking to transform the 1960s-era residential neighborhood into a mixed-use development befitting its proximity to Metro.

Malkin Properties’ proposed redevelopment would replace the 706 existing garden-style apartments at 8130 Prescott Drive with up to 2,975 multifamily units — a more than fourfold increase — complemented by 25,000 square feet of “neighborhood serving” retail, according to a rezoning application submitted on Monday (June 1) to Fairfax County.

News

Herndon adopts sign standards for new development near Metro station

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 2, 2026 at 2:45PM

Nell at 555 apartments under construction along Herndon Parkway (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

As construction progresses on the first mixed-use development to emerge north of the Herndon Metro station, the town has finalized guidelines for signage to identify that project and those that follow.

The Herndon Town Council voted unanimously and without discussion on May 26 to adopt a zoning ordinance amendment with a sign plan for the Herndon Transit-Oriented Core (HTOC), an approximately 38-acre area on the north side of the Metro station, bounded by Van Buren Street, Herndon Parkway and the Dulles Toll Road.