Fairfax County elected officials seem in alignment on their top priority for the 2026 Virginia General Assembly session.
“Number one is always K-12 education funding,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said at the annual legislative public hearing, held Saturday (Jan. 10) at the Fairfax County Government Center.
The blitz of special elections facing Fairfax County voters to start 2026 is ramping up this week, with the ballot for the Braddock District School Board seat now solidified and voting opening or in progress in three state-level contests.
Democratic voters in the Braddock District have chosen Tom Dannan, a local business owner and Terra Centre resident, as their preferred candidate to succeed Rachna Sizemore Heizer, who vacated the district’s Fairfax County School Board seat in December to serve as its new supervisor.
A Tysons man will spend nearly two years in prison for fraudulently claiming that he didn’t receive more than $1 million in luxury watches he had ordered, when he was actually attempting to resell them for profit.
Jaivin Raj Karnani, 45, was sentenced Thursday (Jan. 8) to one year and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud, announced federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Jury selection began this morning (Monday) in the postponed trial against a Herndon man accused by prosecutors of concocting a scheme with his family’s au pair to frame a stranger in the fatal stabbing of his wife.
Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields’ home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.
A preschool-aged child diagnosed with measles recently visited the medical center at Fort Belvoir, among other locations in the D.C. region, the Virginia Department of Health says.
The child, who lives in Northern Virginia, was present at the Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center Emergency Department and Executive Medicine Suite (9300 DeWitt Loop) at Fort Belvoir between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and from 10 p.m. to midnight last Friday (Jan. 9), potentially exposing other patients, visitors and staff.
The Fairfax County School Board could opt for a geographical reference, rather than a person, for the newest high school’s name.
On Thursday (Jan. 8), Superintendent Michelle Reid presented Western High School as her final name recommendation for the future school at 2949 Education Drive in the Herndon area.
A near-constant cacophony of car horns issued from the core of Maple Avenue in Vienna yesterday afternoon (Sunday), and this time, it wasn’t an expression of frustration with congestion.
Instead, passing drivers were honking in support of protestors lining both sides of the town’s main street in response to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shooting poet and mother Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday (Jan. 7).
A drizzly, foggy evening served as the setting of another crash on Maple Avenue in Vienna that left a pedestrian critically injured.
The crash occurred around 8:10 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 10) when a driver heading toward Tysons on Maple Avenue East struck the pedestrian near the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail crossing, according to the Town of Vienna Police Department.
Fatal Fairfax County Parkway Crash — “According to Fairfax County Police, officers responded [on Jan. 10] to a fatal crash at Fairfax County Parkway and Huntsman Boulevard in Springfield. Police said the driver, an adult female, was pronounced deceased at the scene.” [FOX5]
Survey Shows Child Care Challenges — “Virginia’s employers say the lack of affordable, high-quality child care is hurting businesses, with 88% of survey respondents reporting employee lateness or absences, and 65% reporting reduced work hours, according to results published last month by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, the Richmond Fed and the Virginia Chamber Foundation.” [Virginia Mercury]
Drone Helps With Crisis at Fair Oaks Mall — “After receiving multiple reports of a man armed with a bow and arrow threatening people outside the mall, police activated a drone as part of its Drone as First Responder initiative.” The drone showed the man was only holding a stick while experiencing a mental health crisis, so officers could “dial down their response,” Police Chief Kevin Davis told ABC 7News. [Patch]
Tysons Company Moves HQ to Alexandria — “A financial planning firm headquartered in Tysons Corner will soon be relocating to Old Town. Pillar Wealth Partners will embark on its next chapter when it opens in the Atrium Building at 277 S. Washington Street on Feb. 1. An office warming and ribbon cutting will be held Feb. 10 to celebrate.” [ALXnow]
Smoothie Cafe Under Construction — “A Bora Bora Smoothie Cafe is coming to a long-vacant building in Bailey’s Crossroads. Fairfax County issued a building permit for a commercial addition/alteration for the property at 5807 Leesburg Pike on Jan. 1, stating the tenant will be Bora Bora.” The manager at the Tysons location told FFXnow the Bailey’s Crossroads one is expected to open in a couple of months. [Annandale Today]
Sports Card Shop Owner Retired From Pentagon Police — Before opening Goatz Sports Cardz in Herndon on Jan. 3, owner Bryan Janick served for four years in the Marine Corps and 12 years with the Pentagon police. While he had been a sports card collector since he was a kid, he “got back into it, hard core” during the pandemic and “jumped at the chance” to retire and open his own store when the Trump administration began offering “deferred retirement options” last year. [Washington Business Journal]
Vienna Wawa Paid With Prop Bill — A customer at Wawa in Vienna paid for a purchase “using a fake bill that was marked ‘Movie Prop Use Only'” on Jan. 4, police say. “The man later returned to the store, stating that he realized he had paid with a fake bill, and he wanted to pay for his earlier purchase. The store did not suffer any monetary loss, and the fake bill was turned over to the police department.” [Vienna Police]
Reston Represented at Capitals Youth Hockey Night — “On Jan. 3, the Capitals hosted Youth Hockey Night ahead of their game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena, part of Youth Hockey Weekend in the nation’s capital region. Reston was represented at Washington Capitals Youth Hockey Day by … Stephen Reider, a Herndon–South Lakes varsity high school player, and Paxton Worthy, a 14U player from the Reston Raiders.” [Reston Letter]
It’s Monday — Expect a mostly sunny day with highs reaching around 46 degrees, accompanied by west winds at about 8 mph that will shift southwest later in the afternoon. The night will be partly cloudy, with temperatures dropping to about 31 degrees; southwest winds around 6 mph will become calm as the evening progresses. [NWS]
Photographers braved the cold to capture moments from their New Year’s Day hikes for a chance to win the Fairfax County Park Authority’s (FCPA) First Hike Fairfax photo contest.
The annual contest invited Fairfax County residents to submit photos from their first hikes of 2026 on the park authority’s more than 420 parks and 334 miles of trails.
