Author: Emily Leayman

Emily Leayman is a senior reporter at ARLnow, ALXnow and FFXnow. She was previously a field editor covering parts of Northern Virginia for Patch for more than eight years. A native of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, she lives in Northern Virginia.

News

QTS Data Centers takes office lease for headquarters at Reston Row

By Emily Leayman
The office building at 1800 Reston Row Plaza (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A data center operator with multiple locations in Northern Virginia is establishing company headquarters in Reston.

Reston Station developer Comstock Companies announced that QTS Data Centers signed a lease at 1800 Reston Row Plaza in Reston Station. The data center operator will occupy 77,000 square feet in the building’s entire 11th, 12th and 13th floors.

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News

Pressure grows on Fairfax County to deny substation for data center in Lincolnia

By Emily Leayman
Map of Plaza 500 site with substation (via Dominion Energy)

An earlier version of this story referred to the State Corporation Commission approving a substation, but the SCC approval only incorporates transmission lines.

As plans for the first phase of data centers have been submitted in Lincolnia just outside Alexandria city limits, residents are focusing opposition on an electric substation under review.

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News

What Fairfax County voters need to know for the dual congressional primaries Tuesday

By Emily Leayman
Voting at Lake Braddock Secondary School (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Fairfax County voters will head to the polls Tuesday (Aug. 4) to cast their votes in Democratic and Republican primaries, which will determine nominees for the 2026 midterms.

Polls will be open between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday. Voters are not registered by party in Virginia, so they can choose to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. As of Aug. 1, Fairfax County has over 817,000 registered voters.

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News

Janet Howell, longtime former state senator in Fairfax County, dies at 82

By Emily Leayman
Older woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes rests her chin on her hand, wearing a teal necklace and blue knit sweater.
Virginia Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, watches the vote tally board during the Senate session at the state Capitol in Richmond, Va., March 7, 2020. Howell, the veteran Democratic Virginia state senator who co-chairs her chamber’s finance committee, announced Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, that she will not seek re-election. (via Steve Helber/Associated Press file)

Janet Howell, a former Democratic state senator who had represented parts of Fairfax County for decades, has died at age 82.

Howell was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 1991, taking office in 1992 as senator for the 32nd Senate District. The district included Reston, Tysons, Wolf Trap, northern Chantilly and portions of McLean and Arlington County. Before retiring on Jan. 10, 2024, Howell was the longest-serving woman in the state Senate alongside current President pro tempore Louise Lucas (D-18). When Democrats took control of the chamber in 2019, she was the first woman to chair the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

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News

New Hunter Mill District planning commissioner slated to be appointed

By Emily Leayman
Paul Thomas was nominated to be the new Hunter Mill District planning commissioner (courtesy of Paul Thomas)

A new face on the Fairfax County Planning Commission to represent the Reston and Vienna area could be in place before the commission’s next meeting.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn will recommend Paul Thomas to be the district’s planning commissioner at the Aug. 25 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting. With the board’s approval, Thomas would begin serving on Sept. 1.

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Around Town

Investment firm, not a restaurant, to open in former Four Sisters space at Mosaic District

By Emily Leayman
Curved glass entrance of a modern brick building, framed by purple flowering trees on both sides.
The space at 8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1, in the Mosaic District has been vacant since Four Sisters closed in May 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

It turns out that the replacement for Four Sisters at Mosaic District won’t be a restaurant after all.

Investment and financial advisory service Charles Schwab confirmed to FFXnow plans to open a new branch at 8190 Strawberry Lane, Suite 1 in Merrifield. That’s the former location of Vietnamese restaurant Four Sisters, which closed in May 2023 after 30 years.

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News

New I-66 slugging network launching this fall to help commuters bypass tolls

By Emily Leayman
Modern office building with purple vertical louvers under a clear blue sky, with a crosswalk in the foreground.
The Monument Drive Commuter Parking Garage near I-66 in Fair Oaks (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The community-organized carpooling tradition known as slugging will soon expand to one of Fairfax County’s busiest commuting corridors.

Slugging, a form of carpooling that connects drivers and passengers on a common route, will have a September kickoff in the I-66 corridor. The initiative is being led by the I-66 Slugging Network, a coalition of residential groups and public agencies who want to create a slugging community along the interstate.

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Countywide

Taxes, paid leave program on minds of N. Va. business leaders after General Assembly session

By Emily Leayman
Capital One Center in Tysons on a misty morning (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Optimism among Northern Virginia business leaders is improving, although some expressed worries about taxes and the state’s approval of a paid family and medical leave program.

That’s according to the second-quarter 2026 Business Leader Survey released last week by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and public relations firm Pinkston, revealing the sentiments of the region’s CEOs, senior executives and business owners.

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Countywide

Paid leave, gun restrictions and more laws taking effect in Virginia on July 1

By Emily Leayman
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signs legislation on Monday, May 11 that will create a paid family and medical leave program in Virginia (via Office of Gov. Abigail Spanberger)

More than 1,100 bills came out of this year’s Virginia General Assembly session, and many will take effect tomorrow (Wednesday).

After Democrats gained a trifecta with last year’s election of Gov. Abigail Spanberger and control of the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, legislators’ bills focused on priorities like immigration enforcement, gun control, housing and tenant protections, reproductive rights and more.

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Countywide

Judge blocks Fairfax lawmakers’ assault weapons ban from taking effect

By Emily Leayman
The Virginia State Capitol building (file photo)

A Virginia judge has hit pause on a new state law prohibiting assault weapons, preventing it from taking effect next week as planned.

The legislation, introduced by Fairfax County state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) and Del. Dan Helmer (D-10), was scheduled to ban the sale and manufacturing of assault-style firearms starting July 1. But yesterday (Thursday), a judge in Lancaster County issued an injunction that puts the law on hold amid a pending lawsuit and directs Virginia State Police to not enforce the ban.

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