Countywide | FFXnow

Morning Notes

Published March 16, 2022 at 7:30AM | Updated March 16, 2022 at 8:40AM

Construction cranes above the Tysons skyline (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Suspect in Attacks on Unhoused People Previously Jailed in Fairfax County — “Gerald Brevard III, 30, had been in and out of jail in D.C., Virginia and Maryland on varying charges including assaulting a police officer and shoplifting, court records show. Most recently he served several months in Fairfax County jail after he was arrested on an abduction charge that was reduced to misdemeanor assault in a plea agreement.” [The Washington Post]

Man Arrested for Herndon Sexual Assault — “Andy Josue Calix Mejia, 23, of Sterling was arrested for sexually assaulting a juvenile last year in the Town of Herndon, according police…The incident happened March 25, 2021, in the 500 block of Florida Avenue.” [Patch]

First phase of stalled Mount Vernon Gateway project advances

By Fatimah Waseem

Published March 15, 2022 at 3:45PM

An apartment building is under the county's consideration (Photo via handout/Fairfax County Government).

The first phase of Mount Vernon Gateway, an approved mixed-use development by Richmond Highway, is moving forward.

Although there has been no movement on the larger project, which was approved in 2005, Elm Street Communities, Inc. has proposed a 280-unit apartment building on the 5.4-acre site.

EPA leader touts electric school buses in visit to Vienna elementary school

By Angela Woolsey

Published March 15, 2022 at 3:00PM | Updated May 25, 2022 at 1:58PM

EPA Administrator Michael Regan tours an electric school bus on display at Flint Hill Elementary School in Fairfax County (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Flint Hill Elementary School students let their green flag fly during a visit yesterday (Monday) from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan.

Invited by the environmental advocacy groups Mothers Out Front and Moms Clean Air Force, Regan stopped by the Vienna school to discuss the federal government’s plans to expand the use of electric school buses over diesel ones, a transition that he said Fairfax County Public Schools is helping lead.

Fairfax County police union calls 10% raise proposal ‘a good start’

By David Taube

Published March 15, 2022 at 2:15PM

Fairfax County police badge (via FCPD/Facebook)

The head of the Fairfax County Police Department’s largest union says a bigger pay increase could help recruit and retain officers, but there’s a lack of parity between experienced officers and new recruits.

Ali Soheilian, president of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association Fairfax County chapter, which has over 700 members, says experienced officers have missed out on several 5% merit increases.

High gas prices prompt some Fairfax County residents to adjust habits

By David Taube

Published March 15, 2022 at 12:45PM

A Sunoco gas station in McNair had its unleaded gas price surpass $4.41 per gallon on Sunday, March 13 (photo by David Taube)

Gas pump prices nationwide have been hitting record highs, with the average cost per gallon at $4.38 in Fairfax County today (Tuesday).

While there has been a slight dip since prices peaked on Friday (March 11), AAA reports that consumers “can expect the current trend at the pump to continue as long as crude prices climb.”

Richmond Highway revitalization group promotes eateries with bingo

By Brandi Bottalico

Published March 15, 2022 at 11:15AM

The bingo card to participate in Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation's Richmond Highway restaurant bingo (courtesy of SFDC)

Frequenting local restaurants in the Richmond Highway corridor could pay off in gift cards.

The Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation, a nonprofit that promotes revitalization of the corridor, is running a bingo campaign through April 11 to encourage residents to eat at the area’s establishments.

UPDATED: Police search for man charged with Kingstowne woman’s murder

By Brandi Bottalico

Published March 15, 2022 at 10:30AM | Updated March 16, 2022 at 8:49AM

Fairfax County Police are searching for Joel Merino who has been charged with murder in connection to his ex-girlfriend Hannah Choi's disappearance. Police have been searching a park in Prince George's County for Choi's remains (courtesy of FCPD)

(updated at 6 p.m.) Fairfax County police are searching for a Kingstowne man charged with murder after his former girlfriend went missing.

Hannah Choi, 35, was last seen in the 5300 block of Jesmond Street in Kingstowne, where she and her ex-boyfriend Joel Merino lived together, police said.

JUST IN: Police arrest suspect in Vienna Park apartment shooting

By Angela Woolsey

Published March 15, 2022 at 9:05AM | Updated March 15, 2022 at 7:11PM

Vienna Police vehicle (via Vienna Police Department/Facebook)

(Updated at 7:10 p.m.) Vienna police have identified a suspect in last summer’s fatal shooting at the Vienna Park apartment complex.

Andrew Gordiyenko, 20, from the Vienna area was arrested around 1 p.m. yesterday (Monday) and charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly shooting 21-year-old Matthew Chadwick on June 10, the Vienna Police Department announced today (Tuesday).

Morning Notes

By FFXnow.com

Published March 15, 2022 at 7:30AM

Fair Oaks Mall on a March Sunday (staff photo by David Taube)

Trucker Convoy Leaves Capital Beltway — “After a week of ineffectual laps around the Beltway, the ‘People’s Convoy’ is now jamming up part of I-395 in Arlington. The convoy…is intended to protest the Covid-related government mandates. It received considerable media attention last week but didn’t do much to disrupt traffic.” [ARLnow]

School Board Appeals TJ Admissions Ruling — “The Fairfax County School Board is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that invalidated the recently revised admissions system for the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology magnet school…Legal experts were divided over how the 4th Circuit is likely to rule.” [The Washington Post]

JUST IN: Woman dies after McLean crash on Georgetown Pike

By Angela Woolsey

Published March 14, 2022 at 6:55PM

A 63-year-old Springfield man died Sunday from injuries he sustained after a car struck him last week while he was in a median (via Fairfax County Police Department)

A driver hospitalized by a three-vehicle crash in McLean last Wednesday (March 9) has died, the Fairfax County Police Department confirmed today (Monday).

Karla Boggess, a 62-year-old resident of Berryville, is the first person killed in a vehicle crash in the county this year who wasn’t a pedestrian, according to police. At this time in 2021, there had been one non-pedestrian fatality.