O, muse, send me your cleverest rhymes, your liveliest verses and most starry-eyed odes to nightingales.

So says Fairfax County Public Library, as time ticks down on its second annual poetry contest.


(Updated at 5:25 p.m.) McLean Central Park is getting a new playground, but the exact design will depend on whether a group of local moms can raise nearly $400,000 by the end of this year.

Ideally, the facility will have a rubberized surface to cushion the ground, tot lot fencing, additional seating and plenty of shiny, modern equipment, including an adaptive tandem swing and other elements accessible to people with disabilities.


(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) One person died and two people were seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash at the Route 50 (Arlington Blvd) and Patrick Henry Drive intersection in Seven Corners early this morning (Friday).

Emergency responders with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched to the scene of a crash with injuries around 1:11 a.m., according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.


Reminder: County Libraries Closed Today — “All FCPL branches will be closed…Friday, April 21 for Staff Day so all FCPL employees can participate in professional development. Regular hours will resume Saturday, April 22.” [FCPL]

New Social Studies Standards Approved for Virginia Schools — “After more than eight months of debate, the Virginia Board of Education reached a compromise and approved new guidance for what students will learn in history and social studies classes from kindergarten through 12th grade…The standards will require, for the first time, that Virginia students to be taught about racism” [The Washington Post]


(Updated at 6:45 p.m.) A man has been taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after getting stabbed in Reston.

Fairfax County police officers, including a K9 unit, are currently at the scene in the parking lot of a Sunoco (12191 Sunset Hill Road) near RTC West.


Community organizer Erika Yalowitz has suspended her campaign for the Virginia State Senate’s 37th District.

One of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, Yalowitz announced today (Thursday) that she is withdrawing from the race and will instead endorse her opponent, Saddam Azlan Salim, a financial consultant and vice president of the Fairfax Young Democrats.


Another round of compensation increases could be on the horizon for some Town of Herndon bodies.

The Herndon Town Council is considering a proposal to increase the compensation for members on the Architectural Review Board (ARB), Historic District Review Board (HDRB), Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, resulting in an annual increase of $20,400 overall.


Some more construction could be in store for the southwest corner of Chain Bridge Road and Tennyson Drive in McLean.

The owner of the McLean Professional Park is seeking to replace six buildings in the office complex with a five-story, 104-unit multifamily residential building, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Monday (April 17).


Retired CIA staffer Lisa Downing is challenging Jeff McKay for Fairfax County’s top governmental seat.

Last week, Dunn Loring resident Downing announced her candidacy to chair the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Running as a Democrat, she will face off in the June primary against current Chairman Jeff McKay, who was elected in 2019 after representing Franconia District (then called Lee District) on the board for over a decade.


The robots are taking over the Mosaic District.

Starting today (Thursday), a fleet of boxy, self-driving bots will roam around the mixed-use Merrifield neighborhood, delivering food from restaurants in a pilot program by the delivery service Uber Eats and the robotics startup Cartken.


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