Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

Countywide

UPDATED: Fairfax supervisors restore crossing guard funding after residents rally for action

By Scott McCaffrey, Mary Stachyra Lopez and Angela Woolsey
Group of people protesting outside a modern office building, some holding signs and chatting in daylight.
Hunter Mill District School Board Representative Melanie Meren speaks at a rally to call for crossing guard funding on Sept. 15, 2026 outside the Fairfax County Government Center in support of restoring crossing guards (staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted today (Sept. 15) to restore funding for crossing guard services at a number of public high schools.

The board unanimously approved a fiscal year 2026 budget carryover review package that included $707,908 in funding and 11 full-time police positions to restore coverage of 11 crossings at 10 high schools for the remainder of fiscal year 2027, which began on July 1 and will end on June 30, 2027.

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Countywide

Sluggish August home sales in Fairfax may portend a softer fall market

By Scott McCaffrey
A for sale sign for a house in Vienna coming soon to the market (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County saw a slight decline in home prices and a more substantial drop in overall sales in August, as buyers pulled back in the wake of increased interest rates.

According to one key regional analyst, that could be the precursor to a sluggish remainder of the year.

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News

Candidates for Virginia’s 8th District offer mixed views on tackling AI, data centers

By Scott McCaffrey
Two men in suits sit at a panel table, with a microphone between them; left man has gray hair and blue tie, right man is bald with glasses and a red tie.
8th District U.S. House of Representatives candidates Don Beyer and Tony Sabio (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) and his three challengers expressed wariness of data centers and artificial intelligence in a recent debate that kicked off the eight-week sprint to Election Day.

But several of the contenders also warned against rushed efforts to corral the emerging technology at the expense of the good it could provide.

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Countywide

Data centers hurting efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, D.C. region leaders told

By Scott McCaffrey
CoreSite's Reston data center campus (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Washington region will likely fall well short of its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of data centers is the prime culprit.

With just four years to go, the region is less than halfway toward meeting agreed-upon emissions reduction targets by 2030, according to new data presented by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) on Wednesday (Sept. 9).

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News

Environmental group honors Del. Sullivan for work on clean energy, data centers

By Scott McCaffrey
Man in a gray blazer speaks into a handheld microphone at a public event, with a banner in the background.
Del. Rip Sullivan, D-6 (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

A Fairfax County legislator on Sept. 1 was honored by the Virginia League of Conservation Voters for his work on clean energy legislation and addressing the impacts of data centers.

Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) was one of six General Assembly members awarded by the group for their legislative leadership during the 2026 session.

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Countywide

Fairfax Connector, CUE see drops in ridership despite broader N. Va. transit growth

By Scott McCaffrey
Yellow and red Fairfax Connector bus stopped at an intersection with a police car beside it; destination sign reads '427 Farm Credit' on the front. A Capital One Center bus stop sign is in the foreground.
A Fairfax Connector bus on Scotts Crossing Road in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Local bus networks serving both Fairfax County and Fairfax City posted year-over-year passenger declines in fiscal year 2026, even as transit usage increased more broadly across Northern Virginia.

Fairfax Connector saw a drop of 1.1% and Fairfax City’s CUE service was down 4.5%, according to data from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation as analyzed by FFXnow.

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Countywide

Fairfax County leaders expect more ‘trying times’ as new budget discussion kicks off

By Scott McCaffrey
Man in a dark suit and striped tie speaks into a microphone while gesturing with his right hand, seated at a table with papers in front of him.
Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay at budget carryover meeting (screenshot via Fairfax County)

Fairfax County officials have started making preparations for what they anticipate will be another challenging budget season next spring.

“The low-hanging fruit is gone,” Philip Hagen, director of the county’s Department of Management and Budget, told the Board of Supervisors at its Budget Policy Committee meeting on Sept. 1.

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Countywide

Fairfax’s jobless numbers remain elevated but are stabilizing, state data suggests

By Scott McCaffrey
Virginia Career Works advertises job transition resources on a Metro train (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County in July recorded its largest number of residents employed since September 2025, but jobless totals remained higher than at the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term.

With 616,156 county residents employed in the civilian workforce and 21,819 looking for jobs, Fairfax’s July 2026 jobless rate was 3.4%, according to figures reported Sept. 2 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.

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News

County may add $300,000 for Royal Lake Park cleanup efforts after microburst

By Scott McCaffrey
Calm lake bordered by dense green trees with a rocky shore and a gravel path on the left where two people walk under a blue, cloudy sky.
Royal Lake in Kings Park West on June 22, 2026 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County staff have proposed using $300,000 in unspent funds to support ongoing cleanup of Royal Lake Park in Burke following a devastating microburst in June.

The neighborhood was the hardest hit by a June 22 thunderstorm that knocked out power to more than 25,000 people across the county.

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News

Supervisor Storck seeks funding for two more 24-hour ballot drop boxes

By Scott McCaffrey
A ballot dropbox at the Fairfax County Government Center (staff photo by James Cullum)

A Fairfax County supervisor is pressing his colleagues to add funding for additional ballot drop boxes to support future elections.

Currently, the county operates a single permanent voter dropbox at the Fairfax County Government Center, for a community of about 1.1 million people spread across approximately 400 square miles.

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