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

Visit Fairfax CEO continues to talk up the need for local conference center

By Scott McCaffrey
Visit Fairfax president CEO Barry Biggar (screenshot via Fairfax County)

As he approaches his 18th anniversary as CEO of Visit Fairfax, Barry Biggar has the same item atop his to-do list as when he started on the job: a conference center.

“We needed it 25 years ago, we need it today,” Biggar said during a Jan. 28 presentation to the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

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Countywide

General Assembly silences one bill to regulate gas leaf blowers, but another is still alive

By Scott McCaffrey
Gas-powered leaf blower (photo via Wikimedia Commons/Cbaile19)

Legislation allowing local governments to regulate or ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers is facing an uphill climb in the Virginia General Assembly.

A measure by Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) was deferred until the 2027 session by a vote on Friday (Jan. 30) in the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.

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Countywide

Fairfax apartment market favoring renters for now, but spring may bring changes

By Scott McCaffrey
Lease now sign for the Edmund Apartments at Halley Rise in Reston in winter (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Apartment hunters in Fairfax County are getting better deals than they did a year ago, with prices significantly discounted from the market peak last summer.

Median apartment rents in five major Fairfax corridors all showed declines in January compared to a year before, according to figures reported Jan. 28 by Apartment List. But all remained above the median rate for the D.C. metropolitan area of $2,116 for the month, price-wise.

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Countywide

FCPS budget proposal includes funding to expand athletics in middle, high schools

By Scott McCaffrey
Westfield High School's girls wrestling team in action (photo by Karen Bolt/FCPS)

The proposed fiscal year 2027 Fairfax County Public Schools budget includes funding to increase athletic programming and augment stipends to coaches.

“We’re expanding middle school sports again next year, as well as adding junior-varsity boys volleyball,” Superintendent Michelle Reid said during her Jan. 22 budget briefing to the Fairfax County School Board.

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News

Facility upgrade aims to contain stink affecting Braddock Road communities

By Scott McCaffrey
Existing Lincoln Lewis Vannoy Odor Control Facility (via Fairfax County Capital Facilities)

The Fairfax County Planning Commission has approved plans to modernize a facility used to reduce the amount of smelly — in some cases potentially lethal — hydrogen sulfide in neighborhoods near Braddock Road in the southwestern part of the county.

The unanimous vote on Wednesday (Jan. 28) paves the way for the 35-year-old Lincoln Lewis Vannoy Odor Control Facility to be replaced with more updated technology to limit unwanted smells emanating from pressure sewers in the vicinity.

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Around Town

Reston Community Players, Providence Players nominated for regional theater awards

By Scott McCaffrey
Stephen Yednock as Max Bialystock in the Reston Community Players' production of "The Producers" in spring 2025 (Heather Regan Photography via RCP)

Two Fairfax County community-theater organizations garnered a total of 34 nominations in the annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (WATCH) awards program.

Reston Community Players received 25 nominations, tying with Prince William Little Theatre for the most of any troupe, and Providence Players of Fairfax received nine.

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Countywide

Commuting disparities among Fairfax’s high, low earners raise equity concerns

By Scott McCaffrey
Traffic on Route 50 (Arlington Blvd) facing Seven Corners (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Lower-income Fairfax County residents rely more on their own vehicles to get to and from work, and are less likely to be able to telework throughout the week, than those at the top of the income spectrum.

Though not necessarily surprising, the data from the 164-page 2025 State of the Commute report recently issued by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) does have public policy implications.

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News

Community panel seeks outside experts to study Reagan National flight-path noise

By Scott McCaffrey
Plane at Reagan National Airport (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A citizens’ advisory panel is formally pressing for an outside consultant to be hired to analyze noise related to air traffic at Reagan National Airport.

But the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) appears disinclined to acquiesce to that request.

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Countywide

FCPS superintendent zeroes in on staff pay and other ‘essentials’ in proposed $4.1B budget

By Scott McCaffrey
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid presents her proposed fiscal year 2027 budget to the school board on Jan. 22, 2026 (via FCPS/YouTube)

Fairfax County Public Schools leaders say the proposed $4.1 billion fiscal year 2027 budget presented Jan. 22 by Superintendent Michelle Reid is fiscally responsible and worthy of full support by the Board of Supervisors.

School Board Chair Sandy Anderson termed it a “nothing-fancy” package that fits the economic times.

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Countywide

International service helps propel Dulles to new passenger record in 2025

By Scott McCaffrey
Ribbon-cutting at first Boliviana flight at Washington Dulles International Airport (via MWAA)

Ongoing growth in international travel helped propel Dulles International Airport to a record-setting year in 2025.

Officials with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) will not have confirmed final passenger counts until late February or March, but the authority’s president and CEO, Jack Potter, said the expectation is for a 6% increase from the record year in 2024.

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