By Brian Trompeter

After having waited five months in vain for Virginia’s secretary of transportation to address concerns about the Interstate 495 Express Lanes Northern Extension (“495 NEXT”) project, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors now is sending a more urgent message.


(Updated at 11:35 a.m.) Fairfax Connector workers have launched a strike after months of negotiations for a new labor contract with Transdev, the company that operates Fairfax County’s bus service.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, which represents about 638 bus operators and mechanics for Fairfax Connector, announced the strike just after midnight today (Thursday). Workers began hitting picket lines at garages in Herndon, Lorton and on West Ox Road in the Fairfax area at 2 a.m.


A Loudoun County nonprofit organization is expanding into Reston with a new food distribution site at Cathy Hudgins Community Center.

Better A Life plans to give out food every Wednesday at noon at the community center, followed by the launch of cooking classes in March. The organization also plans to start a homework club, which includes a free hot dinner for children each week and the mentors that assist them.


Fairfax County police have made an arrest in one of two fatal pedestrian crashes that occured on Richmond Highway this past weekend.

Kelechi Uzodinma, 61, of Woodbridge was arrested on Sunday (Feb. 18) after allegedly hitting a pedestrian in the Richmond Highway and Brevard Court intersection in Mount Vernon’s Woodlawn neighborhood around 10:40 p.m., the Fairfax County Police Department reported today.


Upgrades to Ferndale Avenue and improvements to police infrastructure are among the new projects proposed in Herndon’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal year 2025-2030.

The CIP is a part of the annual operating budget and includes funding for transportation, sewer and other public facility projects.


As anticipated, Fairfax County is looking at a tight budget for the coming year that will once again lean primarily on residential property owners to offset a declining commercial tax base.

County Executive Bryan Hill has proposed a 4-cent increase in the real estate tax rate, even as he presented an advertised fiscal year 2025 budget to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors yesterday (Tuesday) that largely limits spending to obligations like public schools and employee compensation.


TSA Gives First-Ever Tour of Springfield Warehouse — “In a non-descript building right off I-95 in Springfield, Virginia, there are thousands of artifacts from the Transportation Security Administration. Old X-ray machines, explosive detectors, TSA call kiosks, counterterrorism pamphlets and guides are all stored, in a warehouse containing the wall-to-wall physical history of the agency.” [NBC4]

Tysons Developer’s Real Estate Plans Unclear — “Lerner Enterprises hasn’t announced any acquisitions, sales, renovations or new office leases since 2022. The 72-year-old firm also hasn’t provided updates on the millions of square feet of planned development it has in its pipeline, including the fate of two demolished shopping malls where communities have been waiting years to see activity.” [Bisnow]


As third seed, Cougars finish 3-0 in the competition

For the third-seeded Oakton Cougars, it was deja vu all over again as the girls high-school basketball team went 3-0 to win the Concorde District tournament crown, including an upset for the second year over the higher-seeded Madison Warhawks in the semifinals.


The animal family at Frying Pan Farm Park is one member smaller this week following the death of a Belgian draft horse.

Charlie died in his sleep on Feb. 15 at the age of 20, the Fairfax County Park Authority announced last Friday (Feb. 16).


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