A teenager and a 75-year-old woman have died after a crash that occurred on the Capital Beltway (I-495) on Christmas.
Virginia State Police troopers and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched around 10:39 p.m. yesterday (Thursday) for a crash at the 49-mile marker near the I-66 interchange in Idylwood.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The developers of a Virginia offshore wind project are asking a federal judge to block a Trump administration order that halted construction of their project, along with four others, over national security concerns.
Dominion Energy Virginia said in its lawsuit filed late Tuesday (Dec. 23) that the government’s order is “arbitrary and capricious” and unconstitutional. The Richmond-based company is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, a project it says is essential to meet dramatically growing energy needs driven by dozens of new data centers.
Fairfax County Democrats are once again asking voters to select a nominee for an empty House of Delegates seat on short notice.
The 17th House of Delegates District Democratic Committee will hold a firehouse primary this Sunday (Dec. 28) after House Speaker Don Scott scheduled a Jan. 20 special election to fill a seat vacated by Del. Mark Sickles on Wednesday (Dec. 24).
Efforts to repurpose Gateway Regional Park in the City of Fairfax into a wetlands education facility could both start and be completed in the coming year.
“That’s the plan,” new NOVA Parks executive director Justin Wilson told members of the Fairfax City Council at its Dec. 9 meeting.
Reston Association’s Land Use Advisory Committee is no more.
After nearly two hours of sometimes heated discussion, the community association’s Board of Directors voted 5-3 with one abstention at its Dec. 11 meeting to remove the body from its list of committees tasked with studying various issues and making recommendations to the full board.
The Fairfax County Police Department has confirmed that the man found dead in a median on Fairfax County Parkway on Wednesday (Dec. 24) was a pedestrian killed in a crash.
Officers responded at 9:43 a.m. that day after a community member who was driving by on the parkway reported seeing a possible body in the grassy median near Old Plains Road in the Fair Oaks area.
Annandale Church Houses Santa Bone Fragment — “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And he’s in Annandale. Well, at least a bone fragment. Deacon Elmer explains that the small piece of one of the saint’s finger bones came to the church in the 1980s, donated by a parishioner who obtained it in Rome. It’s believed there are fewer than 20 relics of St. Nick currently in the United States.” [WAMU]
FCPD Officer Arrested for DUI — “On December 23, officers from the DWI Squad arrested Austin Wilkerson, 26, of Springfield, a 4-year veteran of the department, who was off-duty at the time of the incident.” Assigned to the Mount Vernon District station, Wilkerson has been charged with driving under the influence and “placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an Internal Affairs Bureau Investigation.” [FCPD]
Sentencing in Fatal Teen Overdose Case — “Last week, a federal judge sentenced 24-year-old Liam Conaway to 20 years in a federal prison. Prosecutors said he admitted obtaining the fentanyl-laced pills and selling them to [Fairfax County teen Cayden] Foster. Conaway was a student at James Madison University, and prosecutors said Cayden and Conaway had consumed pills together during Conaway’s school break from JMU.” [WTOP]
Former TJ Student Makes Olympic Team — “Congratulations to TJ alum Brandon Kim ’20! Brandon has been named to the Team USA Short Track team by US Speedskating and will represent the United States on the world stage at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics this February! We’ll be cheering Brandon on all winter long, Go Team USA!” [FCPS/Facebook]
Federal Cuts Hit D.C.-Area Nonprofits — “Laura Tomasko, senior policy program manager at the Urban Institute, said her organization’s new analysis looks at how D.C.-area nonprofits fared and what could happen next … Their analysis shows 43% of nonprofits in the D.C. area reported experiencing a disruption to their government funding, compared with 33% of nonprofits nationwide.” [WTOP]
Lawmakers Could Loosen Liquor Rules — “Changes to a law restricting liquor sales at Virginia restaurants are still on the mind of at least one state legislator representing Arlington.” Del. Patrick Hope (D-1) says “he is ‘open to revisiting’ a law that mandates that no more than 55% of a restaurant’s sales can come from liquor or mixed drinks.” [ARLnow]
Korean Seafood Restaurant Opens in Annandale — “A new Korean restaurant in Annandale specializes in raw blue crab marinated in soy sauce. GJ2_4U is located at 7031 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, between Kabob Corner and Iron Age, in the space formerly occupied by Thai Food.” [Annandale Today]
Capital Bikeshare Sets New Ridership Record — “Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) broke its all-time annual ridership record in November, reaching 6,369,376 trips in 2025. This surpasses the previous annual record of 6,114,324 trips, set in 2024 … However, while annual totals have reached new heights, recent monthly ridership has cooled significantly.” [Greater Greater Washington]
It’s Friday — There’s a 40% chance of precipitation, with rain likely between noon and 4pm, followed by a chance of sleet after 4pm. The day will be mostly cloudy with a high near 35. At night, the chance of precipitation increases to 80% with a low around 35. Expect rain mixed with sleet before 10pm, turning to rain until 1am. [NWS]
Fairfax County saw no year-over-year change, but across the D.C. region overall, deaths connected to impaired driving were down 26% from 2023 to 2024, according to new data.
The recently released annual “How Safe Are Our Roads? Report” by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments recorded 74 fatalities connected to alcohol- and/or drug-related vehicle incidents last year — 100 fewer deaths than in the previous year and below the five-year average of 90.
Christmas is in the air, which means many local government services are about to wind down so their workers can take off for the holiday.
Like on Thanksgiving, municipal offices for Fairfax County and the towns of Vienna and Herndon will all be closed tomorrow and Thursday (Dec. 25) for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Fairfax City will close its government offices starting at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Another one of Fairfax County’s veteran state lawmakers is leaving the House of Delegates for a job in the incoming administration of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger.
Del. Mark Sickles (D-17), who has represented Franconia, Huntington, Rose Hill and Hayfield in Richmond since 2004, has been appointed as Virginia’s next secretary of finance, Spanberger’s transition team announced today (Tuesday).
