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

N. Va. closed 2025 with more jobless residents than it started the year

By Scott McCaffrey
Men working in an office (via Austin Distel/Unsplash)

Northern Virginia ended 2025 with nearly 44% more people unemployed than it had started the year.

A total of 57,728 residents were counted as jobless for December, up from 40,203 a year before, according to figures reported Feb. 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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News

Planning commission supports affordable housing on Franconia Governmental Center site

By Scott McCaffrey
Rendering of affordable housing on Franconia Governmental Center site (via Soto Architecture & Urban Design/Fairfax County)

A proposal to build 120 units of affordable housing on a site now occupied by the Franconia Governmental Center has won the support of the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

Commission members voted without opposition on Feb. 4 to approve the plan by Franconia Development Partners, a consortium of several housing groups seeking to redevelop the 3.3 acres of leased county land at 6121 Franconia Road with a four-story apartment building.

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News

Fairfax County might consolidate ‘placemaking’ groups to reduce costs

By Scott McCaffrey
The Tysons Community Alliance held its official launch event on Feb. 22, 2023 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill last Tuesday (Feb. 3) to consider ways a number of “placemaking” organizations — including Visit Fairfax, Volunteer Fairfax and the Tysons Community Alliance — could be consolidated or restructured to reduce costs and be more operationally strategic.

“While each provides value, fragmentation and duplicative services dilute impact and reduce efficiency,” board members said in the directive to Hill.

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Countywide

Redistricting amendment vote could add complications for Fairfax elections office

By Scott McCaffrey
Fairfax County Electoral Board Chair Kate Hanley (screenshot via Fairfax County)

A potential statewide special election on mid-decade redistricting could put further stress on Fairfax County’s elections office, which has already been stretched thin over the past six months.

For now, however, the county’s election officials say the situation remains under control.

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News

Supervisors OK Flagship Carwash express location in Dranesville area

By Scott McCaffrey
A Flagship Carwash express location in Ashburn (via Flagship Carwash)

Fairfax County supervisors gave their blessing on Tuesday (Feb. 3) to a new Flagship Carwash express location near the intersection of Leesburg Pike and Dranesville Road north of Herndon.

“I’m very happy to see this coming through,” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said after the 9-0 vote.

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Countywide

Fairfax leaders mostly upbeat on Metro budget plan, as state considers funding options

By Scott McCaffrey
A train stops at the McLean Metro station platform in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County supervisors voiced cautious optimism last Tuesday (Feb. 3) about Metro’s proposed fiscal year 2027 operating and capital budgets.

“A financially stable and reliable transit network is essential to the economic vitality of Fairfax County, Northern Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and the entire metropolitan region,” county leaders said in a letter to Valerie Santos, who chairs the Metro board of directors.

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News

Fairfax board, Trump admin in sync on expediting upgrades to American Legion Bridge

By Scott McCaffrey
Traffic entering and leaving Maryland on the American Legion Bridge on Nov. 8, 2025 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has found itself aligned with the Trump administration on one issue: the need to update the American Legion Bridge.

The span over the Potomac River connecting Fairfax County with Montgomery County, Maryland, is “a critical transportation link,” but at more than 60 years old, it needs immediate attention, Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said when the board met on Tuesday (Feb. 3).

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Countywide

Fairfax board calls for VDOT to speed up reviews of housing projects

By Scott McCaffrey
Housing under construction in the Westfields area of Chantilly in 2024 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County officials are asking the Spanberger administration to make the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) more responsive to housing developments it must review.

In a letter to three new Virginia cabinet secretaries, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay expressed concern that current VDOT review process for new housing has placed roadblocks in the way of adding both market-rate and committed-affordable units:

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Countywide

Fairfax leaders mixed on quality of snow-removal efforts, propose volunteer program

By Scott McCaffrey
A layer of snow and ice covers Bluemont Way in Reston after Winter Storm Fern on Jan. 26, 2026 (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County supervisors in coming days will be compiling a list of positives and negatives related to the local and state response to late January’s crippling snow and ice storm.

Their comments and questions will then be forwarded to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and other agencies responsible for clearing snow.

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News

Fairfax County seeks more feedback on options for accessory housing units

By Scott McCaffrey
An accessory living unit designed by Backyard Homes located in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local residents have until the end of the month to submit feedback on proposed changes to Fairfax County’s rules for accessory living units (ALUs).

“We see ALUs as a valuable tool in the housing toolkit,” Casey Judge, a deputy zoning administrator in the county’s Department of Planning and Development, said in a Jan. 21 online community forum.

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