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

SCOOP: Pat Herrity mulling run for lieutenant governor, could decide in coming weeks

By Jared Serre
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity at the groundbreaking for Inova's Franconia-Springfield Hospital (staff photo by James Cullum)

Fairfax County’s most prominent Republican policymaker is mulling a run for statewide office.

Pat Herrity, the lone conservative voice on the county’s Board of Supervisors, will announce within the next two months whether or not he will seek the office of lieutenant governor next year, he told FFXnow.

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News

Gold refinery could be coming to Lorton from Tennessee-based manufacturer

By Jared Serre
Eastman Minerals is proposing to build a gold refinery at 8532J Terminal Road in Lorton (via Fairfax County)

A gold refinery could soon call Lorton home, but the project, spearheaded by Eastman Minerals, needs some help getting off the ground first.

The Tennessee-based company petitioned Fairfax County last Wednesday (Nov. 13) for a special exemption to allow the refinery at 8532 Terminal Road, where it will serve “national and international clients,” according to Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh land use planner Bernard Suchicital.

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News

Driver who killed 93-year-old in Route 7 crash to serve 18 months in jail

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The man convicted of involuntary manslaughter following a crash in Bailey’s Crossroads that claimed the life of a 93-year-old woman will spend the next 18 months behind bars.

Isai Jimenez Paz, 24, of Arlington, received a 10-year sentence in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Friday (Nov. 15), though eight years and six months of that sentence are suspended, according to court records.

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Around Town

Chicken salad eatery unveils plans for grand opening in Chantilly next week

By Jared Serre
Chicken Salad Chick in Chantilly (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Three months after Chicken Salad Chick opened its first Northern Virginia location, another will open its doors.

Chantilly is the chain’s next home, with Chicken Salad Chick opening its doors in Greenbriar Town Center next week (Wednesday), the company announced.

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Around Town

Boba tea chain to open first D.C.-area cafe in Fairfax City

By Jared Serre
The Alley during its soft opening (staff photo by Jared Serre)

A new option for boba tea is set to open its doors this weekend in Fairfax City.

The Alley will hold its grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 11017 Main Street, filling a 1,700-square-foot storefront in Fairfax Junction — formerly known as the Westfair Shopping Center — near the Fairfax Blvd intersection.

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Around Town

One-stop-shop for Lego bricks opening soon in West Falls Church

By Jared Serre
The location of Bricks & Minifigs in West Falls Church (staff photo by Jared Serre)

Brick by brick, West Falls Church will soon be home to one of the area’s few Lego superstores.

Bricks & Minifigs is set to open later this month in the Shops at West Falls Church, located at 7395 Route 29, as a one-stop-shop for Lego products — both new and old. The national Lego-reselling chain also opened a franchise in Herndon this past June.

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Countywide

FCPD warns against street racing, calling it ‘a very violent crime’

By Jared Serre
A Cybertruck and a Lamborgini set up for a race on Leesburg Pike at Westwood Center Drive in Tysons (via @ccj_media/Instagram)

A viral video depicting a street race on Leesburg Pike in Tysons has forced the hand of the Fairfax County Police Department.

Police Chief Kevin Davis and other officials warned at a press conference last week that those caught drag racing on Fairfax County streets will be found and prosecuted to the extent of the law.

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News

FCPD: All suspects in September crime spree, including gun store theft, arrested

By Jared Serre
Fairfax County police logo (file photo)

All seven suspects believed to be connected to a gun store robbery in Newington have been taken into custody, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis announced today (Friday).

Four suspects were seen on surveillance footage ramming a stolen vehicle into Dominion Defense in the early morning of Sept. 18, gaining access and emerging with 14 stolen firearms — a “brazen crime,” Davis said at a press conference this morning.

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News

Man sentenced to prison for West Falls Church cold case murder

By Jared Serre
Jose Lazaro Cruz has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife, Ana Jurado, in West Falls Church on April 30, 1991 (courtesy FCPD)

A man who fled the U.S. shortly after being accused of the 1991 killing of his estranged wife in West Falls Church will sit behind bars for the next two decades.

Jose Lazaro Cruz, 60, was sentenced yesterday (Thursday) to 20 years in prison for the stabbing death of Ana Jurado, which occurred more than 30 years ago in the 3100 block of Cofer Road.

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Countywide

Fairfax County voters stick with Dems, but turnout down from last presidential elections

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

After reporting record turnout levels in 2016 and 2020, Fairfax County saw a noticeable dip in voter participation for this year’s general election.

The county reported a voter turnout of 68.35%, with 561,368 of its 821,347 registered voters casting a ballot either on Tuesday (Nov. 5) or during the 45-day early voting period, according to unofficial results that will be certified after noon tomorrow (Friday), the deadline for the county’s elections office to receive mail-in ballots.

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