Countywide

After a few comparatively mild days, the summer heat and humidity will be on full blast over the weekend in Fairfax County.

Like much of the rest of the D.C. region, Fairfax will be under a heat advisory tomorrow (Friday) from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., the National Weather Service announced this morning.


News

Commuters might want to think twice before braving Old Dominion Drive in McLean this afternoon (Thursday).

The road is undergoing paving work today, requiring alternating lane closures for both west and eastbound traffic from Briar Ridge Road near the Chesterbrook Shopping Center past Little Falls Road in Arlington County.


News

The City of Fairfax is starting to fill some key vacant positions, announcing the hiring of a new police chief and a human resources director this week.

As first reported yesterday (Wednesday) by ALXnow, Alexandria Assistant Police Chief Raul Pedroso has been selected to lead the City of Fairfax Police Department after a national search that drew “many qualified candidates,” according to the city.


Around Town

Sweetgreen is officially cruising into Chesterbrook Shopping Center in McLean, and it’s bringing a beach-inspired Mexican restaurant from D.C. along for the ride.

The fast-casual health food chain anticipates opening at 6220 Old Dominion Drive this fall. The 2,571-square-foot restaurant will be joined in the free-standing, former Truist Bank building by Surfside, which is expanding into Virginia for the first time.


Event

Join Comunidad for its Annual 5Dollar5K—a fun, family-friendly race that brings neighbors together in support of local children, teens, and families in Falls Church and Arlington. Run, walk, or cheer from the sidelines, and bring the little ones for a special Kids’ Dash! Registration is just $5, and children ages 12 and under participate for free. Comunidad is a community development organization based in the Seven Corners area of Falls Church. We hope you'll join us and together help us build comunidad!


News

Fairfax County is getting ready to make significant and much needed repairs to George Mason Regional Library in Annandale.

Like the Crossroads rehab facility similarly receiving an upgrade, the library at 7001 Little River Turnpike hasn’t received a renovation since the 1990s. Built in 1960, the facility received an addition in 1998.


News

Though Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) won’t leave its Reston Technology Center for a couple more years, the office building’s owner is already planning for a very different future.

JB Properties, an affiliate of the Tysons-based company Bognet Construction, has proposed redeveloping the four-story office building at 1821 Michael Faraday Drive with housing, bringing the property in line with the increasingly residential neighborhood surrounding it.


News

Two months after the death of Rep. Gerry Connolly, voters will begin casting ballots to determine his successor.

The early voting period for the 11th Congressional District special election begins tomorrow (Friday). It will run through 5 p.m. on Sept. 6, ending three days before the scheduled election day on Sept. 9.


News
A temporary Patrick Henry Library is now open at the Cedar Park Shopping Center in Vienna (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

D.C. Leads Nation in Traffic — A new report from Consumer Affairs has ranked D.C. as the city with the worst traffic in the U.S., putting it above Los Angeles, which previously held the no. 1 spot. “The average commute to work in DC is 33.4 minutes — the longest in the U.S. On an average weekday, traffic congestion lasts more than 6.5 hours. That’s the equivalent of spending 71 days in traffic each year.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

GMU Professors Criticize Board — “A group of George Mason University professors declared that the Board of Visitors had failed to defend President Gregory Washington and the institution from political attacks in a vote of no confidence.” The vote was “overwhelmingly approved” by the GMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (GMU-AAUP) as the university faces a series of investigations launched by the Trump administration. [Virginia Mercury]

More Data on ICE Arrests — “Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of people without criminal charges or convictions have jumped in D.C., Virginia and Maryland … In Virginia and D.C., people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 60% of daily ICE arrests in early June, per agency data obtained by the UC Berkeley School of Law’s Deportation Data Project.” [Axios DC]

Man Wanted for Hit-and-Run Arrested — According to the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, a 29-year-old man was pulled over by deputies on Tuesday (July 22) after he was seen drifting out of his lane on I-95, forcing another driver to swerve to avoid a collision. Showing signs of intoxication, the man is wanted by Fairfax County on a felony hit-and-run charge and was previously convicted of a DUI in 2018, the sheriff’s office says. [DC News Now]

Metro Investigates Duplicate Charges — “It’s been about two months since Metro gave riders the option to pay by simply tapping a contactless credit card or using Apple Pay at the gates, but rider Tanya Lervik — who commutes from College Park to Gallery Place — recently noticed some strange charges on her credit card account … She quickly started wondering how she could have been charged on the credit card even though she only uses her SmarTrip to pay.” [NBC4]

Stream Restoration Underway — “A stream restoration project underway in Seven Corners is aimed at reducing erosion in the Long Branch stream within the Hollybrooke community, between Patrick Henry Drive and Arlington Boulevard … Work on the $1.3 million Patrick Henry Outfall Restoration Project started in June and is expected to be completed in September.” [Annandale Today]

Drug Maker Plans Va. Facility — “In a vote of confidence for Virginia’s growing life sciences sector, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced plans to build its largest drug manufacturing facility in the world somewhere in the commonwealth — marking the company’s single biggest investment ever.” The facility will be part of a planned $50 billion expansion in the U.S. for the U.K.-based company [Virginia Mercury]

Temporary Library Open in Vienna — A temporary Patrick Henry Library opened Monday (July 21) at the Cedar Park Shopping Center in Vienna, offering limited services with construction on a permanent library expected to begin this fall. Local officials welcomed the facility at 262C Cedar Lane SE with a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday (Wednesday) that included free samples from nearby Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream and an open house. [Fairfax County Public Library]

Free Trees Available for Planting — “Community-based organizations in Fairfax County can apply to receive free trees for planting on private properties, through a program by Fairfax County’s Urban and Community Forestry Division (UCFD) of the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.” The program aims to increase tree coverage “in economically disadvantaged communities.” [DPWES]

It’s Thursday — Expect sunny skies and a high temperature near 90 degrees, accompanied by a south wind of 3 to 8 mph. Thursday night will be mostly clear, with the temperature dropping to around 74 degrees, and the south wind continuing at 6 to 8 mph. [NWS]


Announcement

While our Fall 1 season is in swing, we have some terrific opportunities for making art coming up soon. Our Fall 2 season runs late October through December, with six-week and three-week classes you’ll love. We have some new themes in the mix, including Acrylic Painting Fundamentals (adults) and Sculpting with Nature and Found Objects (4th-6th graders). Explore the wheel together at our parent-child ceramics class. And our perennials always shine: painting, drawing, ceramics, sewing, sculpture, and printmaking. Take a look now!

Fall 2 Session, Oct. 27-Dec. 20