Author: FFXnow.com

N. Va. Officials Push State to Pay More for Metro — “In Virginia (as usual), the funding picture is more complicated. The state pays a little less than half of the regular bill for Metro, with the six Northern Virginia jurisdictions served by Metro picking up the rest of the tab. Now, those jurisdictions say they’re counting on the state to also go halfsies on the stopgap funds.” [DCist]

Rules for Temporary Outdoor Dining Advance — “Proposed new outdoor-dining rules, modeled on ones implemented during the pandemic, on Jan. 10 earned the unanimous recommendation of the Fairfax County Planning Commission.” Hunter Mill District Commissioner John Carter got support for a motion to have no size limits on outdoor dining areas and an amendment to require the same operating hours as the restaurant. [Gazette Leader]

Audit Identifies Metro Safety Issues — “Metro workers responsible for maintaining key safety systems that help prevent collisions are not following internal procedures, and the engineers who are supposed to oversee them sometimes don’t notice because they aren’t looking at the data, according to an audit by the transit agency’s independent regulator.” [Washington Post]

Bomb Threat Reported at Lake Braddock School — Security at Lake Braddock Secondary School was stepped up yesterday (Thursday) after an anonymous student made a threat to bomb the school on TikTok. Activities continued “as regularly scheduled after the building was cleared” ahead of students arriving at 7:30 a.m. [WUSA9]

Public Hearing on Chantilly Data Center Coming — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing next Tuesday, Jan. 23, on a proposal to build a data center or warehouse off of Route 50 in Chantilly. Residents of the nearby Pleasant Valley community told the planning commission in September that the data center would be bad for their neighborhood and the environment. [The Connection]

Grocery Store Under Construction in Hybla Valley — “Renovations have begun at the former Safeway site at Mount Vernon Square, and the projected opening date for the new Fresh World supermarket is mid- to late summer 2024, according to Joshua Kim, a property management representative for Mt. Vernon Square LLC, which purchased the shopping center last June.” [On the MoVe]

FCPS Delays Classes After Snow — “All Fairfax County public schools and school offices will open two hours late tomorrow. Central Office employees may report two hours later than their regular scheduled time, but no later than 10 a.m…Central offices will open to the public at 10 a.m.” [FCPS]

Man Arrested for Impersonating Police Officer — “A 31-year-old Georgia man is facing charges after City of Fairfax police said he impersonated a law enforcement officer and deceived four people into paying him money. Officials said they were made aware of multiple cases of fraud in June 2023.” [WJLA]

D.C. Area’s Snow Drought Is Over — “It’s official! Over 1” of snow so far in DC & Baltimore, first time in approx. two years we’ve had this much snow! Through 7 PM,” Dulles International Airport had recorded 1.8 inches of snow, surpassing 1 inch for the first time in 673 days, while the same amount at National Airport broke a 728-day drought. [National Weather Service/Twitter]

Vienna Cancels Morning Classes for Snow — “Due to inclement weather, Vienna Parks and Rec. classes and programs scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 16 are cancelled until 1 p.m. at the Community Center and Bowman House. Essential Town employees must report as scheduled. Liberal leave is in effect for all other Town employees.” [Town of Vienna/Twitter]