Around Town

Good Thursday evening, Fairfax County. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Aug 21, 2025.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Friday throughout the county, from our event calendar.

☀️ Friday’s forecast

Expect a sunny day with a high temperature of around 83 degrees and a 6 mph North wind. Moving into Friday night, the skies will remain clear, with the temperature dropping to around 61 degrees and a mild Southeast wind blowing at 3 to 5 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.


Around Town

Nicole started out as a regular customer at Big Planet Comics. She’d wait around after school, pick up comics, and get into conversations with the staff about books.

Eight years ago, they asked if she had any interest in working there.


News

The Town of Herndon is turning to the public for assistance with identifying the most hazardous spots on its roadways.

Feedback collected through an online survey and other avenues will help shape the town’s new Roadway Safety Action Plan, an initiative that aims to eliminate traffic deaths and drastically reduce serious injuries resulting from crashes over the next decade.


News

A local family is seeking help for funeral expenses after a rising South County Middle School student and her father died in a crash earlier this week.

Isabella “Izzy” Rios, 12, and Alberto Samperio, 46, were killed Sunday (Aug. 17) after their vehicle crossed a center line and struck an oncoming vehicle, the Virginia State Police said.


News

Though it’s not going to host their new stadium, Fairfax County continues to put its stamp on the Washington Commanders.

D.C.’s NFL team has granted the naming rights to its training facility in Ashburn to BigBear.ai, a Tysons-based contractor that develops artificial intelligence technology.


Countywide

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) has been ranked the fifth best high school in the county and the first in Virginia in a new U.S. News & World Report ranking.

Released on Tuesday (Aug. 19), the ranking highlighted the magnet school’s unique, STEM-focused program offerings and amenities, including its 15 specialized research labs, courses like DNA science and advanced marine biology, and a student-led academic journal.


News

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

RICHMOND—Bren Pointe residents in Fairfax County are closer to seeing steel transmission towers rise just outside their townhomes after Virginia’s regulators approved a new electricity line to serve a single planned commercial data center.


News

Home Depot in Reston has been the target of several shoplifting incidents this summer, and Fairfax County police believe they’ve identified the culprits.

Over the past month, the Fairfax County Police Department has arrested and charged seven people allegedly belonging to an “organized retail theft crew” that stole over $20,000 in merchandise across multiple occasions from the home improvement store at 1651 Reston Parkway.


Countywide
Cars pass the commercial building at 790 Station Street in Herndon (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

How Medicaid Changes Could Affect Va. — “Three major changes will land especially hard in Virginia, some experts believe. Modeling from KFF, an independent health research group, suggests that Virginia could lose just over a fifth of the Medicaid funding it currently receives from the federal government over the next ten years — one of the steepest reductions faced by any state in the country.” [WAMU]

Clifton Man Charged With Seeking Sex From Minors — “On July 5, at 12:45 a.m., officers responded to the 13000 block of Laurel Rock Drive in Clifton for a sex offense report. The complainant reported that the two juvenile victims were walking when a suspect approached them and solicited sexual acts.” A 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. [FCPD]

Federal Grant for Addiction Recovery Nonprofit Cut — “Ginny Atwood, co-founder of The Chris Atwood Foundation, said she recently learned a multiyear, $200,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services has been ‘wiped out overnight.’ It was COVID-related funding, Atwood said.” The nonprofit fears it could “potentially lose” its recovery community center in Fairfax if it isn’t able to replace the lost funding. [WTOP]

D.C. Marketing Agency Moving to Fairfax — “SweetScience Marketing is relocating its local operations from The Wharf in D.C. to the Mason Enterprise Center in Fairfax. The move for the tech-forward marketing agency is being supported by a grant from Fairfax City Economic Development.” The company anticipates moving into its new office at 10300 Eaton Place in the redeveloping WillowWood Plaza by Oct. 1. [Washington Business Journal]

GMU Catholic Chapel Addition Proposed — “The Catholic Diocese of Arlington recently filed a special permit amendment application with Fairfax County, seeking approval to build an addition to the chapel that serves students at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus.” The new space for the St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel would be used for offices and meeting rooms. [Patch]

End in Sight for Columbia Pike Roadwork — “Years of construction on Columbia Pike are finally nearing a conclusion, with county staff targeting ‘substantial completion’ by the end of this year.” Improvements include “wider sidewalks, street trees, new streetlights and better traffic signals,” including a new one at the S. Rolfe Street intersection near the pike’s east end. [ARLnow]

Reston Count Finds Uptick in Dragonflies — “The unusually pleasant August weather helped provide nice results and certainly kept the volunteers from fatiguing early. The final tally was 721 individuals from 16 species of dragonflies. For the last fifteen years, the average individual count has been around 440 dragonflies. The last time the count exceeded 700 was in 2020.” [Reston Association]

Art Installations to Beautify Annandale — “Two noteworthy art experiences will hit Annandale in the next couple of weeks. A new Artopolis show at Beanetics highlights stunning mixed-media and collage works by Theresa Martin, while renowned DC Comics artist Matt Johnston applies his mural skills to Flavor Hive, our new hot dining spot.” [Annandale Today]

It’s Thursday — There’s a 20% chance of showers both before noon and after 1pm, accompanied by a cloudy sky and a high near 76 degrees. At night, clouds will gradually clear to become partly cloudy, and the temperature will dip to a low of around 64 degrees. [NWS]