News | FFXnow - Part 513

Morning Notes

Published July 24, 2023 at 7:30AM

An airplane flies above Chantilly (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Tysons Contractor Will Settle Fraud Lawsuit — “Defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton has agreed to pay $377 million to settle a long-standing Justice Department lawsuit alleging that the Northern Virginia-based company overcharged the U.S. government to help cover losses in other areas of its business, federal authorities announced Friday.” [The Washington Post]

Burke Residents Call for Traffic Light After Fatal Crash — “A petition garners over 1,100 signatures for Fairfax County to install a stoplight at the site of Tuesday’s fatal crash along Burke Centre Parkway. Police said that speeding was likely a factor, as man driving a car, collided with four teens. The driver, Rebekah Zarco, 17, was killed immediately.” [DC News Now]

FCPD: Woman sexually assaulted at Marriott hotel in Merrifield

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 21, 2023 at 3:00PM

Courtyard Marriott in Merrifield (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) A woman staying at the Courtyard Marriott in Merrifield was sexually assaulted yesterday (Thursday), Fairfax County police say.

Officers were called to the hotel at 2722 Gallows Road at 1:30 p.m. for the assault, which had just occurred, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

After 10 years, disability services nonprofit relocates Merrifield HQ

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 21, 2023 at 2:15PM

Inside Venture X's coworking space in Merrifield (courtesy Venture X)

Like many organizations, The Arc of Northern Virginia is rethinking its approach to office work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The local chapter of the national nonprofit, which provides services and advocacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will move its headquarters to the recently opened Venture X coworking space at 3060 Williams Drive in Merrifield.

Proposal to add long distance flights at National Airport fails to take off

By Fatimah Waseem

Published July 21, 2023 at 1:30PM

Washington Reagan National Airport (file photo)

A proposal to add long-distance flights at Reagan National Airport has officially failed, to the relief of area representatives who feared it would undermine Dulles International Airport.

The House of Representatives rejected the proposal — which was included in a package of changes to the Federal Aviation Administration’s policies that passed overall — by a 229-205 vote on Wednesday (July 19).

JUST IN: Gas leak shuts down Route 7 in Wolf Trap

By Angela Woolsey

Published July 21, 2023 at 11:45AM | Updated July 21, 2023 at 12:28PM

A gas leak has closed Route 7 at Forestville Drive/Beulah Road in Wolf Trap (via FCFRD/Twitter)

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A gas leak has closed Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Beulah Road and Forestville Drive in the Wolf Trap area.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units are currently at the scene and expect to be there for “an extended period of time,” the department said at 11:39 a.m.

Fairfax County growth skews toward mixed-use areas, multifamily housing

By Melanie Pincus

Published July 21, 2023 at 10:15AM

Reston Station is among the new developments that have popped up around Fairfax County over the past decade (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Growth in Fairfax County is focused in Tysons, the Dulles Suburban Center and other mixed-use areas.

In addition, growth in multifamily housing units outpaced growth in single-family housing between 2010 and 2023, and office space continues to lead the way in non-residential development potential, county staff said in a presentation at the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s policy plan committee meeting on July 13.

Morning Notes

By FFXnow.com

Published July 21, 2023 at 7:30AM

Road signs on Route 7 in Tysons (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

County Breaks Ground on Housing Project Near Arrowhead Park — “The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Michaels Development, members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and other partners celebrated the groundbreaking of The Lodge at Autumn Willow on July 20th, new affordable housing for older adults” at 13090 Autumn Willow Drive. It will have 150 independent living units, outdoor amenities and walkways. [FCRHA]

Six People Displaced by Annandale Apartment Fire — Firefighters were dispatched around 11 a.m. on Tuesday (July 18) to a fire at a three-story building in the Fairmont Gardens Apartments. There were 11 people in the building at the time of the fire, but no one was home in the unit where the fire was started by “an electrical event involving an extension cord,” resulting in an estimated $93,750 in property damages. [FCFRD]

Suspect in Herndon area Father’s Day shooting arrested for robbery

By Fatimah Waseem

Published July 20, 2023 at 3:00PM

A Fairfax County police mugshot for Zaire Davis, a suspect in two shootings and a robbery (via FCPD)

Local police have arrested a 20-year-old Woodbridge man in connection with a Father’s Day shooting in in the McNair neighborhood.

Zaire Davis was arrested on June 29 for a robbery that happened in Annandale on June 25 — a process during which a detective noticed a “striking resemblance” to a sketch released to the community related to the June 18 shooting.

Plan to redevelop languishing office site in Springfield rejected

By Fatimah Waseem

Published July 20, 2023 at 11:45AM

The commission rejected the proposal at a meeting this month (Photo via handout/Fairfax County Government).

A plan to reinvigorate a 15-acre site in Springfield that was the pinnacle of the local market four decades ago has been derailed.

At a July 11 meeting, the Fairfax County Planning Commission rejected a proposal seeking a special exception to redevelop Versar Center — a site with two office buildings that sits on a floodplain between the Virginia Railway Express and the I-95/I-495 interchange.

Morning Notes

By FFXnow.com

Published July 20, 2023 at 7:30AM

Vehicles use the I-66 Express Lanes by the Vienna Metro station tracks (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Memorial Created for Teen Killed in Crash — “The uncle of a teenage girl killed in a fiery crash in northern Virginia said she just left church service and was heading to eat with her brother and friends when the deadly collision occurred. Henry Zarco brought a stuffed teddy bear, flowers and a balloon” to the crash site on Burke Centre Parkway. [FOX5]

Telegraph Road Ramp Closes in Newington — “The ramp from Telegraph Road (Route 611) to southbound Fairfax County Parkway (Route 286) will be closed from 10 a.m. Thursday, July 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, July 31 for stormwater pipe repairs…Drivers are asked to follow posted detour signs.” [VDOT]