Author: Mary Stachyra Lopez

Mary Stachyra Lopez is a staff reporter covering business, public safety, education, and other community issues. She covered Northern Virginia news for years at several media outlets, and spent half a decade as an editor on The Atlantic's audience team before joining Local News Now. 

News

UPDATED: Teen hit in crash at South Lakes HS, as criticism of crossing guard changes mounts

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
A concrete sign that reads "South Lakes High School" surrounded by brick casing.
South Lakes High School (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

South Lakes High School parents’ worst fears around the well-documented traffic problems at the Reston school came true this morning (Sept. 1) after a teen was struck by a car.

Around 7:54 a.m., parents called 911 to report the crash. According to social media posts from multiple witnesses, the force of the collision sent the youth into the air before he landed. Scanner traffic indicates his foot may have been injured.

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Countywide

FCPS solidifies plan to expand advanced academic programs in all middle schools

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Front entrance of Poe Middle School with a beige porte-cochère and the sign 'POE MIDDLE SCHOOL 7000 CINDY LANE' above the doors, brick wall facade, sunny day.
Entrance to Poe Middle School in Annandale (courtesy FCPS)

Within the next few years, all middle school age students who qualify for advanced academic programs in Fairfax County Public Schools will have the opportunity to take those courses without leaving their neighborhood schools.

Under a plan approved by the school board on a 10-1 vote last Thursday (Aug. 27), FCPS will transition over several years from a model that let many students opt out of their assigned local school to join other students at one with an established advanced academic program, or AAP, center.

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Countywide

Fairfax Connector launches free fare program, increasing help for some lower-income riders

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
Yellow and red tour bus crossing an urban intersection under a traffic light with tall office buildings in the background and a Sunoco sign nearby.
A Fairfax Connector bus on International Drive at Chain Bridge Road in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Some Fairfax Connector riders may now be able to ride free, thanks to help from new state funding, the county bus system announced last Thursday (Aug. 27).

The Connector will offer a new Transit Ridership Incentive Program, called TRIP100, offering 100% off fares to eligible riders, up from the 50% discount previously provided.

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News

Fairfax County conviction of youth who allegedly shot person in the face reversed

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
The Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A man convicted as a teen in a Fairfax County court for allegedly shooting a person in the face during a drug deal had his conviction reversed this summer due to violations of his right to a speedy trial.

Virginia’s Court of Appeals reversed the young man’s 2023 conviction for unlawful wounding on July 14 after finding that a deadline extension granted for the trial didn’t qualify for an exception specifically allowed by the state’s speedy trial law.

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News

FCPD releases video of officer shooting Annandale man who reached for his gun

By Mary Stachyra Lopez
First-person police body‑camera view showing an officer aiming a taser in a leafy outdoor area; on-screen caption says 'Taser! Taser! Taser!'
A Fairfax County police officer falls back into a wooded area after Annandale resident Nehemia Fuentes Banegas appears to have reached for his gun (Screenshot via FCPD)

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis suggested today (Aug. 26) that the man who last month apparently tried to grab an officer’s gun during a mental health crisis may have been attempting “suicide by police.”

Davis’ remarks came at a press conference during which the Fairfax County Police Department released roughly three minutes of body camera footage depicting the officer searching for and ultimately shooting the man, who had fled into the woods near Americana Drive in Annandale on July 28.

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Countywide

Fairfax County’s discontinuation of high school crossing guards draws criticism

By Mary Stachyra Lopez and Angela Woolsey
Image of a crosswalk with students visible in the distance walking across the road. A brick high school building is visible in the background.
Students from Rocky Run Middle School cross Stringfellow Road in front of Chantilly High School just before the school's dismissal time on the first day of school. (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

As many Fairfax County high school students drive or walk to school this fall, they’re arriving at a building without a dedicated crossing guard — and, only a few days into the new academic year, several elected officials say that absence is already creating problems.

This past spring, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors eliminated funding for crossing guards at all public high schools, a move that was expected to save the county about $1.89 million in police staffing costs.

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News

Approval of new cell tower signals first wave of improved wireless service in Town of Vienna

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Vienna’s town council unanimously gave its blessing last night (Aug. 24) to a new AT&T rooftop telecommunications facility that could help alleviate some longstanding issues with dead zones and weak cell phone coverage.

The new facility at 527 Maple Ave East, located on top of a three-story building that includes offices for a health care provider, florist, and other businesses, will consist of three antenna arrays and surrounding screening.

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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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