Around Town

Good Monday 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 — Feb 10, 2025.

📅 Upcoming events

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

❄️ Tuesday’s forecast

Snow mixed with rain is expected, transitioning to all snow after 4pm with a high near 34. Light south wind in the afternoon with a 90% chance of precipitation and potential for 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulation. Overnight, snow is expected mainly before 4am with a low around 31, east wind shifting to northeast, 100% chance of precipitation, and 2 to 4 inches of additional snow accumulation. 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.


Countywide

Fairfax County Public Schools is joining the growing roster of D.C.-area school systems planning to close early tomorrow (Tuesday) in anticipation of a snowstorm.

All schools and offices will close three hours early tomorrow, and morning and afternoon classes for preschool special education students have been canceled, FCPS announced.


News

The Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants and loans has left early childhood education programs like Higher Horizons in Bailey’s Crossroads facing financial uncertainty, even after a court ruled the funding must resume.

On Friday (Feb. 7), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) met with staff and educators at the nonprofit Head Start provider to discuss the lingering effects of the freeze, which was triggered by a White House directive pausing federal aid while the administration reviewed how the funds align with its policy goals.


Countywide

Fairfax County and other localities across the state may get more time to address state-mandated limits on public accessibility for some criminal records.

Legislation moving toward likely adoption in the Virginia General Assembly will give local governments an additional 12 months — until July 1, 2026 — to implement changes to the current expungement process that had been mandated four years ago.


Event

It’s time to get festive. In partnership with Angelika Film Center, the Coca-Cola Holiday Caravan is rolling into Mosaic to kick off the season! Take photos with the iconic Coca-Cola Polar Bear and see the truck before it heads to the next stop on its nationwide tour.

Catch Elf on the big screen, enjoy kids activities and face painting, send a letter to Santa and soak up all the festive fun!


Around Town

Gagawa is now serving up more than a dozen flavors of chicken at Tysons Corner Center.

The mall announced the Turkish restaurant chain’s grand opening in an Instagram post on Jan. 22, though its doors appear to have quietly opened earlier in late December.


Countywide

Individuals who believe they have been wrongfully convicted in Fairfax County now have a new way forward.

The county’s Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP), announced today (Monday) the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit that will review challenged cases, establishing a process to potentially “secure more just outcomes.”


News

A contractor based at Reston Town Center is angling to take over an office building near Herndon whose former occupant is also now based in Reston Town Center.

Peraton, a national security and technology company started in 2017, plans to open a new campus at Woodland Pointe, a 6.77-acre office complex just south of Dulles Toll Road that previously served as Volkswagen’s North American headquarters.


Countywide

The mere sprinkling of snow that visited Fairfax County on Saturday (Feb. 8) might’ve been a prelude to a legitimate storm expected tomorrow (Tuesday).

Anticipating potential “heavy snow,” the National Weather Service has upgraded a watch issued yesterday to a Winter Storm Warning for the D.C. region that’s currently set to be in place from 1 p.m. tomorrow until 7 a.m. Wednesday morning (Feb. 12).


Countywide
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge seen from the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Refuge in Belle Haven (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Family Mourns Hit-and-Run Victim — “Erica Tibbs; her partner, Christian Saidi; and their son, Hezekiah, had just stepped off a bus after dinner at McDonald’s Jan. 29” when an SUV driver struck the woman and boy on Richmond Highway. Tibbs, who died at the hospital, “was loved, valued and respected in the community,” according to her aunt. [NBC4]

Advocates Propose W&OD Trail Rail Line — A new coalition of businesses, nonprofits and transit supporters called NOVA-TRAC is advocating for a commuter rail line alongside the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. “By building a consensus town by town, we hope to gain momentum to get an official feasibility study commissioned by Loudoun and Fairfax counties in partnership with state and regional agencies.” [Greater Greater Washington]

Governor Candidates React to Federal Worker Cuts — “The Trump administration’s aggressive push to cut government jobs is reverberating in the early stages of this year’s race for governor in Virginia.” Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the top Republican contender, said she “backed Trump’s effort to take inventory of federal spending,” while former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger said the gutting “will cause damage across the state.” [Associated Press]

Annandale Student Leads Anti-Trump Protest — “Hundreds of people chanted ‘stop the coup’ along with other sentiments, at a rally organized by a motivated student from Annandale. Those in attendance at the Virginia Capitol on Feb. 5 protested President Donald Trump’s recent flurry of executive orders, as well as Elon Musk’s unprecedented access to federal government systems.” [VCU Capital News Service/Annandale Today]

Whole Foods Opens in Falls Church — “Over 100 shoppers flocked to 103 E. Broad Street this morning (Friday) to see the new 45,000-square-foot grocery store … The new store replaces a previous Whole Foods at the Idylwood Plaza, which closed permanently Monday, Feb. 3.” [ARLnow]

Insurance Company Leases Reston Station Office — Comstock Holding Companies announced on Friday (Feb. 7) that FM Global, a commercial property insurance and loss prevention company, has signed a lease for 32,000 square feet at 1906 Reston Metro Plaza. The company serves “businesses in over 130 countries that span across a variety of industries.” [BusinessWire]

County Sells $400M in Bonds — “Fairfax County successfully held a $400 million general obligation bond sale on Jan. 22, securing a competitive interest rate of 3.57%.” The money will fund schools, public safety, parks, transportation, library and human services capital projects. [Fairfax County Government]

Park Authority Hiring for New Mount Vernon Rec Center — “The Fairfax County Park Authority is excited to announce open hire events for the newly renovated Mount Vernon Rec Center, which is reopening in May 2025 and looking to fill over 290 part-time positions across multiple departments.” [FCPA]

It’s Monday — Expect mostly sunny skies and a high near 44, accompanied by a northwest wind blowing at 5 to 7 mph. As night falls, the sky will become mostly cloudy, with temperatures dropping to around 30 and a calm wind. [NWS]