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

Fairfax leaders to honor police for response to 2021 attack on U.S. Capitol

By Scott McCaffrey
The U.S. Capitol Building in D.C. (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors next month will honor the efforts of local police to restore and maintain order at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

With the attack’s five-year anniversary nearing, the board voted 9-0 at its Dec. 9 meeting in support of a proposed commemorative proclamation sponsored by supervisors Rodney Lusk (Franconia) and Dan Storck (Mount Vernon) with Chairman  Jeff McKay.

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Countywide

Fairfax County board reworks towing rules, increases fees

By Scott McCaffrey
A-1 Towing truck in Rose Hill (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday night (Dec. 9) to raise the maximum base charge for trespass towing by 40% to the new state maximum of $210.

Maximum allowable fees for the drop charge, storage and administration also would increase. The new fees went into effect immediately.

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News

County board approves expansion of facilities for Barns at Wolf Trap

By Scott McCaffrey
The Barns at Wolf Trap entrance (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

New facilities to enhance the visitor experience at the Barns at Wolf Trap have been approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors voted unanimously at their Dec. 9 meeting in support of land-use changes requested by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts for a 9,300-square-foot addition to the 352-seat performance facility, located at 1635 Trap Road in the Vienna area.

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News

Advocates seek more protections for manufactured home residents in Fairfax

By Scott McCaffrey
The Harmony Place mobile homes front office in Hybla Valley (via Google Maps)

Residents of Fairfax County’s manufactured home communities pressed county leaders yesterday (Tuesday) to do more to protect the properties from redevelopment and those who live there from displacement.

“We don’t want to be moved out of the county — we’d like to stay in our homes,” said Denia Moya, a resident of the Harmony Place Mobile Home Park (8018 Richmond Highway) in Hybla Valley.

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Countywide

Fairfax board narrowly votes to oppose any casino legislation not requested by supervisors

By Scott McCaffrey and Angela Woolsey
A lobbying flyer shared with state lawmakers in January 2025 includes a rendering of Comstock's envisioned casino development in Tysons (via Access Point Public Affairs)

By the narrowest of majorities, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors went on record today (Tuesday) opposing any state legislation authorizing development of a casino property within the county’s borders.

The 5-4 vote was in support of a proposal from Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn to include a plank in the county’s 2026 legislative package stating opposition to any casino legislation until it is formally requested by a majority of supervisors and meets a number of other criteria.

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Countywide

Despite decline, Tysons remains priciest area in Fairfax to rent an apartment

By Scott McCaffrey
Now leasing sign for the Lumen Apartments in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The cost to rent an apartment is increasing in some parts of Fairfax County, but declining in others.

Four of seven corridors of the county posted year-over-year drops in median rental prices in November, while the other three showed increases, according to new data from Apartment List.

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News

Northern Va. leaders push back on Trump’s criticism of Dulles Airport

By Scott McCaffrey
Dulles International Airport departure level and parking lot (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Northern Virginia political leaders have reacted coolly to President Donald Trump’s criticisms of Dulles International Airport and his calls for a major rebuilding project there.

Trump called the airport “terrible” and suggested it was “incorrectly designed” during a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting. Hours later, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it would seek proposals for new terminals and concourses to replace or enhance the facility, which straddles the Fairfax and Loudoun line.

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News

Elected officials suggest higher sales tax could be top contender to fund N. Va. transit

By Scott McCaffrey
An Orange Line train pulls into the Vienna Metro station (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Despite political drawbacks, a sales-tax surcharge across Northern Virginia could end up being the main source to increase transit funding in the coming year.

Increasing the sales tax regionally is “probably going to be looked at,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said in a Dec. 4 legislative forum sponsored by the Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA).

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Countywide

Forecast: D.C. region could see declining home sales prices during 2026

By Scott McCaffrey
Home sold sign (file photo)

The Washington metro area is the only part of the Mid-Atlantic region where home sales prices are projected to decline next year.

In a forecast issued Wednesday (Dec. 3), multiple-listing service Bright MLS predicts the median sales price of homes sold in the D.C. region in 2026 will drop 1% to $616,700, following a projected 3% increase in 2025.

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Countywide

Fairfax County staff tentatively forecast $131M budget gap, as real estate tax growth slows

By Scott McCaffrey
Joint meeting of county supervisors and School Board members (via Fairfax County)

Fairfax leaders will have another funding gap to fill in the coming months, as they solidify fiscal year 2027 budget proposals for both the county government and school system.

How much additional funding the county will need to generate or cut, and where they will find it, remain very much up in the air.

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