Countywide
Vienna Town Hall courtyard in rain (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Condolences for Rep. Connolly Continue — “Fairfax County joins the community, the commonwealth and the nation in mourning the passing of U.S. Rep. Gerald E. ‘Gerry’ Connolly, whose career in public office began in the county, and whose legacy will continue to shape the region for generations.” [Fairfax County Government]

Plans Shared for D.C. Military Parade — “The upcoming ‘America 250’ military parade in Washington, DC, will fall on June 14 to commemorate the Army’s 250th birthday; the date is also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, something that surely has no significance at all. Here is the most up-to-date information on the celebration that’s bringing, among other things, lots of tanks to the city.” [Washingtonian]

New Bookstore Planned in Falls Church — “The Dark, Unbound plans to sell books by ‘underrepresented voices in the fantasy, science-fiction, speculative fiction and horror genres,’ in a cozy, moody atmosphere. It is in the works at 112 W. Broad Street, where Dominion Camera closed in September.” [ARLnow]

Bridge Repairs to Affect Metro Service — “On Saturday May 24 through Monday May 26, free shuttle buses will replace trains between Cheverly and Eastern Market on the Orange Line and Addison Road and Eastern Market on the Blue and Silver lines.” Several stations on the eastern end of all three lines “will be closed as crews make repairs to aerial structures over the Anacostia River.” [WMATA]

Design in the Works on Library Renovation — “A project to renovate the George Mason Regional Library in Annandale is in the design phase. The interior space will be rearranged, but the footprint will not change … The $15 million project was included in a library bond referendum approved by voters in 2020.” [Annandale Today]

N. Va. Opposition to Data Centers Growing — “Such community opposition is the focal point of a recent report by Data Center Watch, a research organization tracking data center opposition. A key finding: ‘$64 billion in U.S. data center projects have been blocked or delayed by a growing wave of local, bipartisan opposition.'” [Virginia Public Media]

Chantilly Student Fixes Broken-Down Car — “Elizabeth Mulenga was about 15 minutes from home on April 13 when her car started to jerk as she drove near Chantilly High School … Using the skills he learned in auto classes at Chantilly Academy, [senior Om] Desai helped Mulenga completely fix the issue on the spot.” [WTOP]

It’s Thursday — Likely showers before 2pm, with possible thunderstorms from 2-5pm. Expect mostly cloudy skies and a high near 68. The chance of precipitation is 70%. At night, there’s a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm, followed by a slight chance of showers until 2am. Clouds will gradually clear, with a low around 53. [NWS]


Around Town

Good Wednesday 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 — May 21, 2025.

📅 Upcoming events

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

⛈️ Thursday’s forecast

Showers and potential thunderstorms are expected mainly before 5pm, followed by a possibility of more showers and thunderstorms afterwards. The high will be near 66, with light winds becoming west 6-11 mph in the morning and gusts up to 21 mph. There’s an 80% chance of precipitation, with new rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch, but possibly higher in thunderstorms. Thursday night will see a chance of showers before 8pm, mostly cloudy skies, a low around 52, and a west wind around 9 mph. The chance of precipitation drops to 30%. 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

Some restaurants whose names may be familiar to Fairfax County residents will be cropping up at Dulles International Airport in the coming months.

The airport, which sits just west of the border in Loudoun County, plans to revitalize and expand its shopping and dining experience with eight new venues over the coming year. Another three retail tenants will be added at Reagan National Airport.


Announcement

The Virginia Hurricanes Girls Basketball program is holding tryouts for its 3rd Grade and 5th Grade travel teams, competing in a full schedule this Fall and Winter season. Join a competitive, supportive program built to develop skilled, confident players on and off the court.

Registration is required at: https://www.virginiahurricanes.net/basketball/aau-teams


Countywide

A long-coming, sometimes bitter battle over the right to represent thousands of Fairfax County government workers ended in victory last week for one union, even as another cried foul over the election process and results.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local Virginia 512 announced last Friday (May 16) that county government workers have elected it as their exclusive bargaining unit for future contract negotiations after the largest organizing push among general government employees in Virginia history.


Event

Communities are how we actually experience Congress's impact on our lives. Congressional Communities is hosting a free public briefing making the case for putting communities, instead of districts, at the center of how members of Congress, their staff, and we ourselves think about representation. Speakers Warren Glimpse (ProximityOne) and Dan Carracino (Congressional Communities) will use Virginia's 8th District as a real-world example.


Countywide

The battle over Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology’s student admissions policy isn’t quite over after all.

More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court passed on an opportunity to weigh in, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares accused Fairfax County Public Schools today (Wednesday) of “intentional” discrimination against Asian American students applying to the magnet school in Annandale.


Countywide

D.C.-area leaders continue to find common ground elusive when it comes to increased collaboration between the region’s bus systems.

While the possibility of merging all local bus systems has already been taken off the table, the DMV Moves task force is still searching for the sweet spot where systems could work better among themselves and with Metrobus.


Around Town

Barnes & Noble is preparing to start a new chapter at Tysons Corner Center.

The bookstore chain will reintroduce itself to the D.C. region’s largest mall next month, more than a year after closing its longtime, two-story outlet last May.


Countywide

Rep. Gerald “Gerry” Connolly, an influential Democratic voice for nearly 30 years as a local and national legislator, has died. He was 75.

Connolly, who represented Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, died this morning (Wednesday) at his Mantua home of esophageal cancer, an illness he had battled on-and-off since November 2024, his family announced.


Countywide

Memorial Day is coming up next Monday (May 26) with several commemorations and festivities planned around the region to mark the long weekend.

One of the biggest local events is ViVa Vienna, an annual celebration organized by the Rotary Club of Vienna.