Around Town

For the next week, desserts will be a force for good at several restaurants and bakeries in Fairfax County.

Tatte, Bourbon Boulevard and other local establishments are participating in this year’s Bakes for Breast Cancer, an annual fundraiser that encourages bakers to donate proceeds from their dessert sales to support breast cancer research.


News

The Virginia Department of Transportation is urging drivers to avoid traveling on southbound I-495 in McLean tonight (Thursday) while its crews finish realigning the highway.

Three southbound lanes will close to traffic, starting at 8:30 p.m. with a single left lane and continuing with two other lanes by 9:30 p.m. The closures will extend from Georgetown Pike to the area just south of the American Legion Bridge.


News

No special election is on the calendar, but that hasn’t stopped a former PTA president from seeking a potential seat on the Fairfax County School Board.

Tom Dannan, a Democrat from Burke, is the first declared candidate looking to succeed Rachna Sizemore Heizer as the school board’s Braddock District representative, he announced yesterday (Wednesday).


Announcement

We love fall at Art House 7 and can’t wait for you to explore all our offerings. Painting, drawing, ceramics, and sewing/crocheting are our perennials, along with less traditional mediums. Kawaii Style Drawing and Digital Art are among our new classes for kids. We offer an excellent 6-week program for high schoolers preparing their college portfolios. Want something shorter? We have 3-week classes, including linocut notecards. Love ceramics? We have a dedicated studio that comfortably accommodates wheel and hand-building classes. 

Fall 1 Session begins Tue. Sep. 8.


News

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved developer Comstock’s request to build an elevated pedestrian bridge connecting two of its new office buildings in the Reston Row portion of Reston Station.

The plan to build the secure passageway somewhere between the fourth and seventh floors of the buildings will meet the needs of a Fortune 500 company planning to lease space in the buildings, a representative of the developer told supervisors at the public hearing on Tuesday (Oct. 14).


Event

The Reston Museum is honored to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lambda Kappa Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority with a new exhibit, unveiled on September 13, 2026, immersing museum visitors in the chapter’s rich legacy of sisterhood and service to our community. Established with the help of the late Cathy Hudgins, former member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the chapter has made significant contributions to the people of Fairfax County through extensive service and charitable investments. Admission to the museum is free to the public.


News

The three contenders seeking to represent the Braddock District on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors made their case to voters last night (Wednesday).

A capacity crowd packed Braddock Hall to hear from the aspiring successors to James Walkinshaw, who resigned after winning election to Congress in September.


Countywide

Fairfax County leaders are welcoming renewed efforts giving localities the ability to electronically monitor vehicle noise and fine those whose vehicles exceed state limits.

Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) plans to reintroduce legislation on the subject during the 2026 General Assembly session, his office confirmed. In this year’s session, his measure made it to the desk of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), but was vetoed.


News

A new supply of townhomes could be in store for Pimmit Hills, meeting a demand evidenced by the speed at which developer EYA’s Tysons Ridge neighborhood sold out.

The owner of the nearby office complex at 7600 Leesburg Pike secured the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval on Tuesday (Oct. 14) for a redevelopment that will replace the two existing buildings with over 100 townhomes.


News

The long-awaited trial for a Herndon man accused of orchestrating the killings of his wife and another man has been postponed once again.

Brendan Banfield’s trial is now scheduled to begin Jan. 13, with Fairfax Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate granting a continuance in court yesterday (Wednesday). The trial had been been scheduled to start Oct. 20 (Monday), having been previously continued earlier this year.


Countywide
A hill at the I-495 and GW Parkway interchange has been cleared by construction (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Judge Blocks Federal Worker Firings — “President Donald Trump’s administration for now must stop firing workers during the government shutdown, a federal judge ordered on Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said the cuts appeared to be politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought.” [Associated Press/ARLnow]

Vienna Man Charged With Keeping Classified Documents — “A prominent foreign affairs analyst and senior State Department adviser was arrested over the weekend and charged with illegally storing sensitive government records after federal agents found more than 1,000 pages of secret documents at his home, the Justice Department said Tuesday.” [New York Times]

Youngkin Quiet on Paused Federal Grants — “Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration is not providing Virginia legislators or the public details of hundreds of millions of dollars of paused federal grants, according to records requests and documents acquired by VPM News and WAMU.” Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings most recently told a state Senate committee in September that $466 million in grant funds have been paused or canceled. [VPM News]

Parents Worried by Special Education Cuts — Recently, some state elected officials and “members of the Fairfax County Special Education PTA (SEPTA) gathered to address cuts that could affect not only children with disabilities but all children. Parents of children with disabilities expressed alarm at the U.S. Department of Education cuts that happened over the weekend.” [NBC4]

Paving Work to Close Dulles Toll Road Lanes — “ALERT: The two left eastbound lanes of the Dulles Toll Road will be closed for paving beginning at 10 a.m. on October 16. thru October 20. The lanes will closed from Leesburg Pike through the main toll plaza. Prepare for potential delays and avoid the left lanes.” [Dulles Toll Road/X]

Loudoun Struggling to Draw Young Adults — “Families are increasingly moving away from the D.C. region, a trend that’s especially true in one of the wealthiest Virginia suburbs. Loudoun County is the only D.C. area suburb that didn’t add to its 25-44 age group population, according to a WTOP analysis of census data from 2024.” [WTOP]

Grand Opening Coming for Reston Sushi Restaurant — “Kusshi Sushi, a Montgomery County-born restaurant brand known for its modern take on Japanese dining, will officially open its eighth location on Saturday, October 18th, at Reston Town Center … Kusshi will host an exclusive Bluefin Tuna Cutting Ceremony at 4pm on opening day.” Limited seatings will then be available for a curated tuna omakase tasting menu. [MoCo Show]

New Crime Novel Set in N. Va. — Author Patricia Cornwell “has sold a staggering 100 million books, and in her latest novel, Sharp Force — the 29th installment in the Scarpetta series — the character is once again on the trail of a serial killer. And this time around, the victims are in Northern Virginia.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

It’s Thursday — Expect sunny conditions and a high temperature around 62 degrees, accompanied by a north wind blowing at 9 to 14 mph and gusts reaching up to 26 mph. Thursday night will be clear with the temperature dropping to a low of around 42 degrees, while the north wind continues to blow at approximately 8 mph. [NWS]