Author: Jared Serre

Jared Serre covers local business, public safety and breaking news across Local News Now's websites. Originally from Northeast Ohio, he is a graduate of West Virginia University. He previously worked with Law360 before joining LNN in May 2024.

Countywide

Fairfax County fire department seeks to revitalize ‘Adopt a Hydrant’ program

By Jared Serre
Snow covers a fire hydrant on Park Street in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is hoping to improve fire response by enlisting the help of the community.

The department re-launched its “Adopt a Hydrant” program earlier this month, allowing residents to assist firefighters by ensuring fire hydrants remain accessible during an emergency.

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News

Some Fairfax City councilmembers object to cost of joint health and community center project

By Jared Serre
The planned Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center from Layton Hall Drive and Blenheim Blvd (via City of Fairfax and Fairfax County)

The Fairfax City Council approved a handful of special exceptions for the forthcoming Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center last week, but not every official was on board.

Three of the councilmembers — Stacy Hall, Rachel McQuillen and Thomas Peterson — symbolically voted against each of the zoning requests at the council meeting last Tuesday (Oct. 14), though all items ultimately passed by a slim majority vote.

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News

Shooter in botched Bailey’s Crossroads robbery sentenced to prison

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by James Jarvis)

An Alexandria man who shot another man during a botched robbery in Bailey’s Crossroads will spend the next decade behind bars.

Abner Neftali Selen Barrera, 26, was sentenced Friday (Oct. 17) to 10 years of active incarceration for his role in the incident, which left the other man with non-life-threatening injuries.

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News

JUST IN: Chantilly man sentenced to prison over cold case sexual assault

By Jared Serre
Police say they have connected Edward Eugene Pottmyer, 58, of Chantilly to two sexual assaults and an exposure case (courtesy FCPD)

A Chantilly man accused of carrying out three sex crimes nearly 30 years ago is headed to prison.

Edward Eugene Pottmyer, 59, was sentenced to 10 years of active incarceration today (Friday), having previously pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery and one count of abduction.

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News

Former PTA president announces Braddock District school board campaign

By Jared Serre
Tom Dannan (courtesy Dannan for School Board)

No special election is on the calendar, but that hasn’t stopped a former PTA president from seeking a potential seat on the Fairfax County School Board.

Tom Dannan, a Democrat from Burke, is the first declared candidate looking to succeed Rachna Sizemore Heizer as the school board’s Braddock District representative, he announced yesterday (Wednesday).

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News

Braddock candidates talk Lake Accotink, affordability and more in forum

By Jared Serre
Ken Balbuena, Rachna Sizemore Heizer and Carey Chet Campbell (staff photos by Jared Serre)

The three contenders seeking to represent the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made their case to voters last night (Wednesday).

A capacity crowd packed Braddock Hall to hear from the aspiring successors to James Walkinshaw, who resigned after winning election to Congress in September.

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News

Double murder trial for Herndon man postponed to next year

By Jared Serre
Brendan Banfield (mugshot via FCPD)

The long-awaited trial for a Herndon man accused of orchestrating the killings of his wife and another man has been postponed once again.

Brendan Banfield’s trial is now scheduled to begin Jan. 13, with Fairfax Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate granting a continuance in court yesterday (Wednesday). The trial had been been scheduled to start Oct. 20 (Monday), having been previously continued earlier this year.

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News

New poll finds ‘growing’ opposition in Fairfax County to potential Tysons casino

By Jared Serre
A "No Tysons casino" sign outside the McLean Hamlet neighborhood (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

One new poll suggests that a “growing supermajority” of Fairfax County voters would oppose a casino in Tysons.

The poll, commissioned by the lobbying group Freedom Virginia, found that three-quarters of county residents are against the potential project, with roughly 50% being “strongly” against a casino.

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Around Town

Wonder food hall to open first Fairfax County locations this month

By Jared Serre
Wonder in Franconia (photo courtesy Wonder)

A New York City food hall venture is slated to open its two latest D.C.-area locations in Fairfax County later this month.

Wonder, which describes its food halls as a one-stop shop to conquer any craving, will soon begin serving diners in Franconia on Oct. 23 and in Reston on Oct. 30.

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News

Report: Reston-based company may lay off nearly 100 employees

By Jared Serre
Peraton has its headquarters at 1875 Explorer Street in Reston Town Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A Reston-based information technology company may lay off nearly 100 people by the end of this year.

Citing “uncertainty around the future of some contracts with federal agencies,” the contractor Peraton issued layoff notices to 92 employees earlier this month, the Washington Business Journal reported last week.

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