Author: Mary Stachyra Lopez

Mary Stachyra Lopez is a staff reporter covering business, public safety, education, and other community issues for Local News Now. She has previously worked at Patch.com, the Arlington Catholic Herald, and The Atlantic.

Around Town

Korean pot rice restaurant coming to former Tippy’s Taco in Centreville

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Storefront windows with colorful food posters and a central 'COMING SOON!' sign announcing a new restaurant opening.
Dam-Sot is coming soon to Centreville (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

A Korean pot rice restaurant is set to fill the space in Centreville’s Centrewood Plaza vacated this summer by longtime tenant Tippy’s Taco House.

Dam-Sot, a restaurant specializing in premium rice dishes, will open at 14119 St. Germain Drive near the Giant food store that anchors the shopping plaza.

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News

Immigrant advocacy nonprofit to open community center in Annandale

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
A rendering of an orange and brown building, with the parking lot visible in the front.
A rendering of the exterior of We Are CASA's new Fairfax Welcome Center (courtesy We Are CASA)

A nonprofit focused on advocating for immigrants and the working class plans to open a community center along Little River Turnpike in Annandale that it hopes will become a hub for workforce training, youth programs, legal clinics and other social services.

We Are CASA hopes to partially open and offer some services inside the 11,000-square-foot Fairfax Welcome Center by the end of 2027, Jossie Flor Sapunar, the group’s national communications director, told FFXnow over email.

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Around Town

Taco Bell seeks to open drive-thru near busy Centreville arterial roads

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Aerial map with four marked points A–D along Old Centreville Rd near Braddock Rd, showing surrounding buildings and a parking lot.
Site proposed for a Taco Bell drive-thru restaurant in Centreville (via Fairfax County)

Good news for future Centreville-area commuters craving a crunchy quesarito or chalupa: Taco Bell appears to be planning a new drive-thru on a secondary road just off Routes 28 and 29.

Plans were submitted to Fairfax County by Centreville Investors LLC last week seeking a conditional rezoning and permission to build a new, 2,800-square-foot building, complete with drive-thru and a Taco Bell sign, at 5866 Old Centreville Road.

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News

Man convicted of second-degree murder for Woodlawn shooting

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Brick campus building with tall windows and white accents, shaded by dense green tree branches over a sidewalk.
The Fairfax County Courthouse (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

A Fairfax County jury found an Alexandria man guilty yesterday (Thursday) of fatally shooting a man during an attempted vehicle break-in in Woodlawn last year.

Tavon Tykee Ferguson was convicted of second-degree murder and use of a firearm while committing a felony after an eight-day jury trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

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Countywide

FCPS updates digital literacy lessons, but state law complicates kindergarten device limits

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Side view of a yellow school bus with its stop sign extended, showing bus number 835 and an 'Emergency Exit' label along the top edge of the window row.
A Fairfax County School bus (staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

As Fairfax County Public Schools students prepare for their first day of school next Monday (Aug. 24), the Fairfax County School Board is making its own back-to-school to-do list. Near the top of the agenda: an updated digital literacy curriculum.

A work session on Tuesday (Aug. 18) provided a glimpse of the tasks ahead for the school board this year, and staff’s efforts over the summer to implement high-profile mandates around the curriculum, including updates related to artificial intelligence literacy.

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News

Nonprofit opens Fair Oaks counseling center to serve at-risk youth and their families

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
A modern white office building with glass windows, three stories tall, surrounded by a parking lot and greenery (aerial view).
Youth For Tomorrow's new Fairfax Counseling Center is located at 12011 Lee Jackson Memorial Highway, Suite 504. (Courtesy YFT)

A faith-based nonprofit focusing on services for at-risk youths and their families has expanded its services in Fairfax County through a new office.

Youth for Tomorrow (YFT), a Prince William County-based organization that provides services for children, adolescents, and adults experiencing emotional, behavioral, or family challenges, opened a counseling center at 12011 Route 50, Suite 504, on July 1.

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Around Town

Bookstore owner to open literary ice cream shop in Fort Hunt

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Smiling woman in a cap pushes a purple ice cream cart on a bicycle under a white umbrella labeled 'Fabled Ice Cream' in a sunny yard.
Ally Kirkpatrick and her pedal-powered Fabled ice cream cart (courtesy Elis Linares)

The founder of Old Town Books in Alexandria is starting a new chapter as the owner of a literary-inspired ice cream shop set to open in Fort Hunt next year.

Fabled Ice Cream — a small-batch brand that longtime Fort Hunt resident Ally Kirkpatrick launched last summer — will open at 7940 Fort Hunt Road in the Hollin Hall Shopping Center.

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News

Congressional Dems to investigate ICE agent who pointed gun at woman in Bailey’s Crossroads

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Three speakers at a Capitol Hill press conference, with a crowd of microphones in front and a woman in sunglasses on the left.
Reps. Don Beyer and Suhas Subramanyam announce an investigation into an ICE encounter in Bailey's Crossroads during a press conference Aug. 19. (Screenshot via C-SPAN)

Congressional Democrats representing Northern Virginia are launching an investigation into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents’ conduct after an officer pointed a gun at a local woman in a Bailey’s Crossroads parking lot last week.

Reps. Don Beyer (D-8) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-10) announced the investigation yesterday (Wednesday) on Capitol Hill after meeting with Carolina Molina, a Loudoun County resident who filmed her encounter with ICE.

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News

Animal shelter’s Fairfax campus to temporarily close for HVAC renovations

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Fairfax County Animal Shelter on West Ox Road (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Fairfax County Animal Shelter’s Michael R. Frey campus in Fairfax will soon close for about six months as the Ox Road facility undergoes building improvements and HVAC system updates.

Beginning Aug. 31, services such as reunifications with a lost pet and pet pantry requests will move to the shelter’s Lorton campus (8875 Lorton Road), according to the animal shelter’s website. Animals housed by the shelter will also move to the Lorton campus. Field services, community outreach events and off-site events will not be affected by the closure.

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News

UPDATED: SUV crashes into gas line on Ox Road, prompting evacuations

By Angela Woolsey and Mary Stachyra Lopez
SUV perched on a street curb/green post with a group of rescue workers around it
Workers try to extract the vehicle that hit a gas line on Ox Road Wednesday (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

An SUV driving the wrong way crashed this morning (Wednesday) into a Washington Gas regulation station on Ox Road (Route 123) near Burke Centre Parkway in Fairfax Station, resulting in a gas leak that forced evacuations of a nearby school, day care and church.

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) responded at around 10:57 a.m. to the intersection, where it was immediately clear that there was a leak, said Deputy Chief Dave Barlow.

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