One chosen Player of the Month, another Rookie of the Year
As they entered their next levels of competition following standout high-school baseball careers, the Morabito brothers of McLean each quickly learned that making successful hitting adjustments would become a key to any future batting success.
Fairfax County Police Sgt. Jacob Pearce briefs media at the scene of a stolen police cruiser crash in Fair Oaks (via FCPD/Facebook)
When an officer went to investigate an allegedly stolen vehicle at Fair Oaks Mall this morning (Friday), one of the vehicle’s passengers commandered the officer’s cruiser and crashed it near the Fairfax County Government Center, police say.
The Fairfax County Police Department says it arrested three people in the incident, which sent two officers and the person who allegedly stole the police cruiser to the hospital.
Worker installing solar panels on a roof (via Bill Mead/Unsplash)
Fairfax County has shelved plans to create a “green bank,” instead redirecting those funds to a new initiative that offers residents educational and technical support to make their homes more energy efficient.
The Board of Supervisors voted on June 11 to reallocate $638,955 initially designated for the green bank — a publicly financed institution that facilitates funding for residential and commercial clean energy projects — to a new pilot program called Electrify Fairfax.
The Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) began preliminary concept design and programming evaluations in May to establish an updated cost estimate for the long-planned emergency homeless shelter, according to public information officer Sharon North.
The sun on a hot and humid summer evening (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
The heat and humidity that have plagued the D.C. area this week are expected to intensify in the next day or two, the National Weather Service says.
The NWS has issued a Heat Advisory for the entire region, including Fairfax County, that will take effect at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and continue until 8 p.m. A high of 99 degrees is currently forecast, which could combine with humidity to make the day feel as hot as 105 to 107 degrees.
The Moon is visible above the Vienna Community Center (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
Park Authority Offers Advice for Staying Safe in Heat — “Summer is heating up, but fun in the parks doesn’t stop! Still, the Fairfax County Park Authority is encouraging residents to play it safe when it comes to enjoying the outdoors in the summer heat. Here are five ways to help beat the heat and have some fun at the same time.” [FCPA]
Vienna House Fire Extinguished — “Around 6:30am [Thursday], #FairfaxsBravest and @CityofFairfaxFD responded to a house fire 2400 blk of Carey Lane in Vienna. Smoke was showing on arrival and fire was found in the basement. The fire was extinguished with minimal overhaul. No injuries reported.” [Fairfax County Fire and Rescue/Twitter]
Monument Drive Parking Garage Now Open — Fairfax County marked the grand opening of its new Monument Drive Commuter Parking Garage and Transit Center yesterday (Thursday) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The $43 million facility “is part of a broader initiative to expand and enhance the Fairfax Connector bus service, ensuring reliable and efficient public transportation options for all.” [FCDOT]
Starbucks Workers in Annandale Rescue Kittens — “When cat rescuer Juli Verrier set out to save a feral cat at the Bradlick Shopping Center parking lot, she had no idea it would lead to a heroic rescue of five newborn kittens by Starbucks employees…The kittens now have Starbucks-inspired names: Bean, Brew, Matcha, Latte, and Cookie Crumble.” [Annandale Today]
Realtor Seeks $7.95M for McLean Home — “There may be no one more familiar with McLean’s luxury single-family market than [Mark Lowham], the CEO of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. The listing agent for some of the region’s most expensive residential sales ever is going it alone to sell his home of 14 years at 6450 Kedleston Court, a 9,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, seven-bath Georgian colonial in McLean’s Langley neighborhood.” [Washington Business Journal]
Funding Needed for Fairfax City School Renovations — Fairfax City will seek voter approval of a $220 million bond referendum in November to fund renovations of its elementary schools, Providence and Daniels Run, and a new roof for Fairfax High School. [The Connection]
Unproductive Special Session for Virginia Senate — “Things didn’t go according to plan Tuesday as the Senate spent a whole day in Richmond without taking up a single bill. Supporters of bills to legalize skill games and reverse recent cost-cutting measures imposed on a program that allows some military families to get tuition-free college filled a meeting room…to see the Senate act on the two hot-button issues that were expected to be on the agenda.” [Virginia Mercury]
County to Expand Public Safety Retirement Program — “Fairfax County supervisors in mid-July plan to extend retirement-buyback options to more of the county’s public-safety personnel.” Sheriff’s office employees, police helicopter pilots and public safety communications workers would become eligible to buy up to four years’ credit toward retirement if they have “prior active-duty military service or full-time work with another U.S. federal, state or local law-enforcement agency.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Friday — The weather will be sunny with a high temperature near 95 degrees, accompanied by a mild south wind at 3 to 6 mph. For Friday night, expect mostly clear skies and a low temperature around 75 degrees, with the south wind continuing at around 6 mph. [NWS]
A Metro train on elevated tracks above Route 7 in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
In the D.C. area, the summer solstice has brought a reminder that heat doesn’t just make people sluggish. It can affect transportation infrastructure too.
Metro has instituted a systemwide speed restriction, limiting all trains to a maximum of 35 mph when they’re above ground due to rail temperatures exceeding 135 degrees Fahrenheit. The limit took effect today (Thursday) at 2 p.m.
The Virginia ABC store at 8413 Old Courthouse Road in Tysons (via Google Maps)
The shelves at the Tysons ABC store are a little emptier today after an apparent shoplifting incident last night (Wednesday).
Officers were called to the liquor store at 8413 Old Courthouse Road at 7:58 p.m. for a report of a larceny, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
A Virginia State Police vehicle (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Virginia State Police are investigating a fatal motorcycle crash that occurred on Route 28 in the Centreville area on Monday (June 17).
According to the VSP, Juan Rossi Jr., a 25-year-old from Centreville, was riding his 2017 Yamaha YZF on the Route 28 North exit ramp to I-66 East when he “lost control, ran off the road, and hit a guardrail.”
Glory Days Grill at Pan Am Shopping Center in Merrifield (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
Construction will begin this month on a facelift and amenity upgrades at the Pan Am Shopping Center in Merrifield, property owner and developer Federal Realty announced today (Thursday).
Scheduled to start in late June and finish by the end of this year, the renovation will “refresh and modernize” the 228,000-square-foot shopping center at 3089 Nutley Street SW, according to a press release.