Countywide

Fairfax County is among several localities across the country leaning on a new partner for 911 calls: artificial intelligence.

An AI-powered system will provide the Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (DPSC) with support for handling non-emergency calls, Scott Brillman, the agency’s director, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Oct. 1).


Countywide

Fairfax County has hired a new library director who brings a wealth of experience with him.

Eric Carzon will assume Fairfax County Public Library’s top position on Nov. 4, the county announced on Monday (Sept. 30). Recruited from Montgomery County, Maryland, where he was a regional manager, he succeeds Jessica Hudson, who left the position earlier this year.


News

The owner of a gas station in Tysons is seeking to formalize the property’s side hustle as a U-Haul vehicle rental site.

Petroleum Marketing Group submitted an application to Fairfax County on Sept. 25 requesting a special exception amendment to allow a truck rental establishment in conjunction with its BP gas station at 8217 Leesburg Pike.


News

Work will start this month on improvements to pedestrian and bicyclist connectivity around the Innovation Center Metro Station.

Fairfax County public officials broke ground yesterday (Wednesday) on the Innovation Station North Neighborhood Access Project, which will directly link the Metro station’s kiss-and-ride parking lot to adjacent neighborhoods at Farougi Court and Apgar Place.


Countywide
A bus shelter near the Kingsley Commons townhomes in West Falls Church (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Cell Service Disruptions Resolved — Fairfax County announced at 8:40 a.m. that a “fiber line issue” affecting cell phone service for multiple carriers in several areas has been resolved. The disruption temporarily may have impacted people’s ability to call 911. [Fairfax County Government/Twitter]

Error Jeopardizes Fatal Police Shooting Case — Defense attorneys for Wesley Shifflett will seek a mistrial after prosecutors played body camera footage during their closing arguments yesterday (Wednesday) that wasn’t admitted into evidence. The former Fairfax County police officer is on trial for involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting Timothy Johnson in Tysons last year. [Washington Post]

Shelter Takes Animals Rescued From Hurricane — “Homeless animals rescued from flooding caused by Hurricane Helene arrived in Fairfax Tuesday night, thanks to Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. The shelter took in nearly 70 cats, over 20 puppies, and eight dogs from Yancey and Mitchell counties in North Carolina.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Details Emerge on Post Office Relocation — The U.S. Postal Service says its new facility at 2923 E. Lee Street in Groveton “is nearly ready” and could start operating “in the next month and a half.” With the Alexandria Community Post Office in Mount Vernon Plaza closing, the Engleside office will expand to accommodate some routes and carriers. [On the MoVe]

Engineering Company Opens Dunn Loring Office — “Congratulations to @ENSCO_Inc on your new office in Dunn Loring! I hope this space will help serve your needs as you continue to grow in the aerospace, national security, and transportation sectors. We look forward to another 50 years of success!” [Gerry Connolly/Twitter]

Korean American Bank Adds Fairfax County Branches — PromiseOne Bank, which is based in Duluth, Georgia, and focuses on Asian American communities, opened new branches in Annandale and Centreville this month. The locations were acquired from Bank of Hope, a Los Angeles-based company that now has no physical base in the D.C. area. [Washington Business Journal]

Frontier Airlines Plans Dulles Return — “Discount carrier Frontier Airlines announced it’s launching 22 new routes in December, including nonstop service from Dulles International Airport to Tampa International Airport…Frontier returns to Dulles after discontinuing its operations at the airport in the first quarter of 2022.” [WTOP]

Blind Reston Woman Finds Footing as Ballroom Dancer — “Davida Luehrs raises her arm to indicate to her dance partner her readiness to begin. Typically, in ballroom dancing, the dancer who leads gives this signal. But Luehrs is legally blind and cannot see her dance partner, so this is one of the many modifications devised to enable her to fulfill her dream of competing in ballroom dance.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

It’s Thursday — Expect partly sunny skies and a high around 74 degrees, accompanied by light and variable winds. As night falls on Thursday, the sky will transition to being partly cloudy with a low temperature of about 62 degrees, and a gentle breeze from the south. [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 — Oct 2, 2024.

📅 Upcoming events

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

🌤️ Thursday’s forecast

Expect clouds to gradually give way to mostly sunny skies with a high near 73 and a calm wind turning south around 5 mph in the afternoon. For Thursday night, the skies will be partly cloudy, with a low around 61 accompanied by a light southeast wind. 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

After an opening-game loss, the Potomac School Panthers (3-1) have found a winning formula and bounced back strong to win three straight football games.

The private-school team’s latest victory was 20-14 in McLean over the visiting St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes Saints of Alexandria on Sept. 28 in non-conference play.


Sports

They rallied and came close with a second-round surge, but the nine-year run as Liberty District golf champions came to an end this season for the Langley Saxons.

Langley also had won 14 of the last 15 of the district’s high-school crowns.


News

Reston Association is throwing its support behind federal legislation that would exempt community associations from having to report information about their owners under a law designed to root out fraud and other shady dealings.

The organization sent letters to Rep. Gerry Connolly and senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner yesterday (Tuesday) urging them to co-sponsor the Community Association Reporting Exemption Act, which would exempt some homeowners and community associations from requirements that RA calls “burdensome.”