The owner of a local “exotic” snack shop has been arrested as part of a drug ring investigation by county police.

Last week, the Fairfax County Police Department announced it had arrested four individuals related to an investigation into an “extensive drug ring” in the Mount Vernon District.


Over vocal protests from members of the public, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of a plan to build a data center in Chantilly.

Following a five-hour public hearing that started on Sept. 20 and ended well past midnight on Sept. 21, the recommendation passed with six votes in favor, including from Evelyn S. Spain, who represents the Sully District where the data center would be built.


The community will soon get a chance to comment on whether a temporary cricket field near the Innovation Center Metro station should be opened up to affordable housing proposals, even as the search for a replacement athletic facility continues.

The Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 yesterday (Tuesday) to schedule a public hearing on the proposed transfer of county-owned land at 13500 Dulles Greene Drive for Oct. 24 at 4:30 p.m.


(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Operations at the McLean Community Center (MCC) are starting to look a lot more like 2019 — at least as far as its budget is concerned.

The center’s governing board will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) to gather community input on its proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, which will begin July 1, 2024 and end on June 30, 2025.


Where to See Fall Foliage in Fairfax County — “Autumn is officially here and our estimated 44 million trees will be putting on a spectacular show of colors lasting a few weeks in October (though this year’s drought-like conditions may impact some colors)…Check out Visit Fairfax’s best locations for leaf peeping” [Fairfax County Government]

Metro Shares Options to Address Budget Gap — “Metro said Tuesday it is considering three options for addressing a $750 million budget shortfall next summer, but all would require additional money from D.C., Virginia and Maryland to prevent service cuts that transit leaders say would irreparably harm its rail and bus networks.” [Washington Post]


A casino may still be on the table for Fairfax County, though it faces some long odds to becoming a reality.

According to a new report by Patch, the real estate company Comstock is interested in building a casino in the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station area, where it owns nearly 80 acres of land for the still-growing Reston Station development.


The new signs planned for Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean won’t point to their corresponding businesses with big, flashing arrows, but that’s essentially the effect property owner Federal Realty hopes to achieve.

The developer got the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s support on Sept. 14 for a special exception that would allow more signage space at the shopping center on Old Dominion Drive.


At a time when cities from D.C. to San Francisco are grappling with historically high vacancy rates, Fairfax City is feeling pretty good about the rising demand for its commercial space.

General commercial vacancy rates have dropped from 6.6% at the beginning of 2023 to 6% in the third quarter, Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED) — a partnership between the city’s economic development office and the Fairfax City Economic Development Authority (EDA) — reported last week.


The assessment fees that Reston Association members pay every year are expected to go up again in 2024, based on a newly proposed budget.

To cover the actual costs of running the organization, the annual assessment would need to increase to $872 next year — a 14.3% jump from the $763 that RA charged this year, RA CEO Mac Cummins said in a report to the board of directors.


A Bailey’s Crossroads resident has been arrested after allegedly threatening violence at a church in Haymarket.

Rui Jiang, 35, posted multiple “threatening” messages to his Instagram account on Sunday (Sept. 24), including ones where he pointed a gun at pictures of churches, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.


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