Firefighters, medics and other Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department employees will have a union represent them in the county’s first collective bargaining negotiations for public workers in over 40 years.
Over 800 FCFRD workers participated in a 13-day election last month to determine whether to have union representation for contract talks with the county government, which will establish pay, benefits and other working conditions.
If you plan on driving the newly extended I-66 Express Lanes next month, make sure there are at least two other people in the car to avoid paying a toll.
The entire length of the I-66 toll lanes will shift from HOV2 to HOV3 in early December, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) recently announced.
County Chair Reacts to Club Q Mass Shooting — “I want to be unequivocal: I stand with our LGBTQIA+ community. The repugnant violence we saw in Colorado Springs has no place in society. We will never give in to the forces of hate or oppression. My heart breaks for the victims and their families.” [Jeff McKay/Twitter]
Developer Hopes to Obtain Land for Housing at Innovation Station — “While the details haven’t been hammered out, Peterson hopes the county would sell or ground lease its parcel for some nominal price, Taylor Chess, Peterson’s president of development, said in an interview. Such a deal would help to make the project economically viable over the long haul” [Washington Business Journal]
Another child care facility is planning to add itself to the mix in Herndon.
Celebree School of Herndon, a private company that offers early childhood education, plans to open in the summer of 2023 at 12700 Sunrise Valley Drive — a Reston address that is on the border with Herndon.
Fairfax County’s new online platform for permitting, zoning and other land use activities has hit a speed bump.
A backlog of applications has emerged since the county finished rolling out its Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) on Oct. 31 due to issues with the technology, Fairfax County Land Development Services confirmed.
(Updated at 11:25 a.m.) Barnes & Noble is turning a page on its history at The Spectrum at Reston Town Center.
The company plans to open a location in the spring of 2023, 10 years after shuttering its location in the same shopping center at 11816 Spectrum Center. It will occupy nearly 28,000 square feet of space in the shell vacated by Office Depot. (Correction: The previous Barnes & Noble at The Spectrum closed in 2013, not 15 years ago as initially reported.)
One person is dead and another critically injured after a car apparently going well over the speed limit drove off an I-95 ramp in Springfield, crashed into trees, landed on a separate highway ramp and collided with another vehicle on Monday (Nov. 14).
According to the Virginia State Police, which responded to the crash at 11:16 a.m., the incident began as 19-year-old Bryan Osorto-Tejeda of Fredericksburg drove a 2013 Honda Accord north on I-95, taking the ramp to go west on Franconia Road (Route 644) “at a high rate of speed.”
Tysons ID Verification Company Under Investigation — ID.me may have misled the public and Congress with “baseless claims” that the U.S. lost $400 billion to fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims. A House subcommittee says new evidence suggests the company used claims of “rampant” fraud “to increase demand” for its services, making it harder for those who needed aid to receive it. [Gizmodo]
Mixed Bag for Metro — “New Silver Line riders, an increase in train availability, shorter wait times and an apparent decrease in fare evasion provided tempered optimism to Metro leaders in the face of a new financial snapshot Thursday that showed rail ridership continuing to struggle…Metro said it recorded about 7,000 trips Tuesday at the new Silver Line stations.” [The Washington Post]
Residents of a mobile home community off Route 1 held a rally Tuesday (Nov. 15) to voice concerns that new ownership could push out current residents.
At a gathering with representatives of community organizers Tenants and Workers United, residents from Engleside Mobile Home Park and Ray’s Mobile Home Colony shared concerns that a recent purchase of the property could lead to rent hikes and evictions.
It has been five years since U.S. Park Police officers pursued and shot McLean resident Bijan Ghaisar in Fort Hunt, ultimately killing him.
Still seeking closure and accountability for the officers involved, Ghaisar’s family will mark the five-year anniversary of the shooting with a candlelight vigil at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. at 7 p.m. today.
