(Updated at 8:50 a.m. on 4/20/2022) A provider of medical marijuana will open two dispensary locations in the Fairfax County area this summer.

Beyond/Hello plans to open new dispensaries in Fairfax (10521 Fairfax Blvd.) and Huntington (5902 Richmond Highway) that will provide medical-grade cannabis to local patients.


Masks Now Optional on Metro — “Effective immediately, Metro will make masks optional on Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess for its customers. Masks also will be optional for Metro employees. This change comes as a result of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) suspending enforcement, while the Biden Administration reviews a federal judge’s ruling.” [WMATA]

McLean Community Center Faces Anti-Equity Backlash — Protests of a “Drag Storybook Hour” at Dolley Madison Library last summer by some McLean residents have grown into broader opposition to MCC promoting diversity and inclusion in its programming. The tension has manifested in this year’s governing board race, where nine candidates, including a former Trump administration official, are vying for three open seats. [The Washington Post]


While Fairfax County’s goal of creating 10,000 affordable housing units by 2034 is laudable, ambition alone will not address all of the county’s existing needs, residents and housing advocates say.

Affordable housing groups, residents, and other community members raised issues at budget hearings last week with how the county is seeking to address gaps in affordable housing. Many called for funding increases, a request that will have to be balanced with potentially competing priorities, such as property tax relief.


On March 12, a resident of Fairfax County, or possibly the cities of Fairfax or Falls Church died from COVID-19.

Reported to the Virginia Department of Health within the past week, the most recent confirmed death brings the Fairfax Health District’s death toll from the pandemic up to 1,500 people.


In a sequence of events that could’ve been ripped out of a pulpy crime thriller, a man in Vienna was reportedly taken for a ride and robbed at gunpoint — potentially by a trio spotted patronizing a local gun shop earlier that day.

Around 2:40 p.m. on April 9, the man was picked up by three men in a vehicle, one of them an acquaintance, at the Giant shopping center (359 Maple Avenue), according to the Vienna Police Department’s recap for the week of April 8-14.


Fairfax County firefighters have been working for almost two hours now to extinguish a fire at an apartment in the Fair Oaks area.

Units arrived on the scene in the 4200 block of Mozart Brigade Lane before 11 a.m., the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department reported on social media.


The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority wants the public’s input on more than two dozen projects that could drastically change travel in the region.

The projects cover a six-year funding span and involve over $1.2 billion in requests, though the authority acknowledged it’s not immediately clear how much funding will be available.


Environmental advocates say Fairfax County’s government, residents, and businesses need to drastically accelerate their efforts to go green.

During budget hearings last week, speakers urged the county to increase its funding for environmental initiatives and recommended adopting electric vehicle rebates — which the state hasn’t been funding — as well as zero energy buildings and other measures.


In the morning and afternoon, traffic on Herndon Parkway in the southwestern part of town settles into a sluggish crawl. While some congestion is inevitable in a modern-day commute, some town leaders wonder if another culprit can be to blame: a rise in cut-through traffic in the town.

Councilmember Sean Regan, who is pushing the town to explore the issue, believes a big chunk of Herndon’s traffic problem is caused by out-of-towners who do not live or work in the town. Some are commuters from the west seeking a quick path to avoid the main toll plaza.


Vienna was shaken on Saturday (April 16) when a fire tore through a house that has stood in the town for more than a century.

Units from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were called to the 100 block of Park Street NE around 4:28 a.m. for a house fire.


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