Around Town

South Lakes High School’s parent-teacher-student association (PTSA) will get a holiday season boost from a local business for its food pantry and other activities.

Throughout the coming week, the Reston location of Great Clips will donate money to the PTSA for each paying customer it sees. The fundraiser is set to launch tomorrow (Saturday) and continue through Friday, Dec. 20.


Countywide
Tysons Central office building can be seen behind Shake Shack at Pike 7 Plaza (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Reston Native Engaged to Selena Gomez — “While Gomez, a global superstar, and [Benny] Blanco, a chart-topping producer, have captured worldwide attention, it’s Blanco’s Northern Virginia roots that make this romance even more special for NoVA fans.” Born in Reston, Blanco attended Langston Hughes Middle School and South Lakes High School. [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Fairfax City Police Chief to Retire — “Erin Schaible announced on Thursday that she was retiring as the chief of police for the City of Fairfax Police Department. Schaible was hired as Fairfax City’s first female chief in January 2019.” The news came after the Fairfax City Council voted to terminate City Manager Laszlo Palko on Tuesday (Dec. 10), but a police spokesperson says the timing is coincidental. [Patch]

Boundary Adjustment Considered for Lincolnia School — “The Parklawn Elementary School community came together Dec. 11 to hear Fairfax County Public School’s plans for a boundary study to relieve overcrowding … The Parklawn boundary study is separate from the ongoing FCPS district-wide boundary study, which is looking at all county schools.” [Annandale Today]

Park Authority Releases Call for Farmers’ Market Vendors — “Calling all local farmers and food producers! Applications are now open for food producers to participate in the wildly popular Fairfax County Park Authority Farmers Markets in 2025. If you’re passionate about what you grow or make, this is your chance to share it with the community!” [FCPA]

Police Station Hosts Winter Clothing Donation Drive — “The Fair Oaks District Station is hosting a Winter Coat, Hat, and Glove Drive to support local children in need this winter season. [The] drive ends: Saturday, Jan. 4. Your donations will make a huge difference by keeping kids in our community warm throughout the colder months.” [Fairfax County Government/Twitter]

Pricey McLean Mansions Land Buyers — A 16,000-square-foot home at 1113 Langley Lane with “an indoor sports court that doubles as an entertainment pavilion” has a buyer who’s expected to pay over $11 million. Another mansion in the Langley Farms neighborhood — a 14,000-square-foot house at 1150 Chain Bridge Road with a sauna, tea house and outdoor koi pond — is also now under contract after being listed for over $22 million. [Washington Business Journal]

Where to See Christmas Lights in N. Va. — “Looking for the best and brightest neighborhood Christmas lights? Check out our annual list of some of Northern Virginia’s most popular neighborhood holiday light displays, plus a few professional twinkling winter wonderlands.” [Inside NoVA]

It’s Friday — Expect mostly sunny skies during the day with a high temperature close to 41°F and a gentle breeze from the northeast. Heading into Friday night, the skies will turn mostly cloudy with temperatures dipping to about 28°F, accompanied by a 6 mph northeast wind. [NWS]


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 — Dec 12, 2024.

📅 Upcoming events

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

🌤️ Friday’s forecast

Expect mostly sunny skies with highs near 40 and light north winds during the day. In the evening, the weather will be mostly cloudy with lows around 26, accompanied by a mild northeast wind at around 6 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.


Sports

In the final stages of the fourth quarter, the Marshall Statesmen boys basketball team held a five-point lead and appeared poised to improve to 4-0.

Then the visiting Statesmen hit a couple of late-game bumps in the road, resulting in a 59-53 overtime road loss to the Lake Braddock Bruins (1-2), who won for the first time this high-school season.


Event

Spend the evening with Washington Spirit alum and former USWNT player Joanna Lohman, a true DMV women’s soccer legend.

This is your chance to meet Joanna in person, hear the stories behind the career, the competition, and The Amazing Race, and experience the kind of sports moment you’ll still be talking about long after the night is over.


Sports

Finally, the Lake Braddock Bruins won a close basketball game.

After opening their season with two- and three-point losses, the boys high-school team rallied to win a tight contest by defeating the visiting Marshall Statesmen, 59-53, in overtime in non-district action Dec. 10.


News

George Mason University officials opened community engagement efforts on Wednesday (Dec. 11) to determine a development plan for the 190-acre western portion of the school’s main campus in Fairfax.

The forum at the Fairfax City Hall attracted about 100 participants and was designed to “usher in a process that gets the community engaged,” Andrew Lieber, the university’s senior associate athletic director for capital planning, said.


Around Town

Neighborhood Restaurant Group will shake up its presence at the Mosaic District in Merrifield in 2025.

Retail butcher Red Apron closed its doors permanently earlier this month after 11 years in operation, but the storefront located at 8298 Glass Alley will remain in the family.


Countywide

By the Fairfax County government’s math, local residents are being shortchanged nearly $570 million annually in education funding by the state government.

Facing a $292.7 million gap between expected revenues and expenses projected for the coming fiscal year, county leaders would like their state lawmakers to leave from Richmond next year with some of that funding in hand.