Around Town

Taco Bell is working on a makeover in Reston, but when it will be delivered is not yet clear.

The fast-food chain closed its existing restaurant near the Wiehle Metro station at 11257 Roger Bacon Drive around mid-November, erecting a chain-link fence around the building to indicate that construction on a planned renovation is near.


Countywide

Fairfax County leaders have a nearly $300 million budget gap to fill between now and the time the fiscal 2026 budget is adopted in springtime.

“We have a lot of work to do,” County Executive Bryan Hill said last Tuesday (Nov. 26) at an occasionally testy joint meeting between the county’s Board of Supervisors and School Board.


Around Town

Tysons Galleria’s newest dining option serves up pasta made by hand right in front of customers.

Scolapasta launched with a soft opening on Nov. 21 in the mall’s third-floor food court, which has been steadily filling back up after an apparently ill-fated partnership with the food hall operator Urbanspace petered out last year.


News

Fairfax County leaders have not given up hope that Northern Virginia will ultimately land the new FBI headquarters.

As part of their 2025 legislative package slated for adoption tomorrow (Tuesday), county supervisors are reiterating their call to put the facility in Springfield, rather than a parcel in Greenbelt, Maryland, that the federal government selected last year.


Event

In its 14th year of production, Skye Ballet Center presents The Nutcracker. The absolutely gorgeous ballet will take place on Saturday, November 28th at 2 pm and 6 pm. Join us to a wonderful start to the holiday season!!

SBC Nutcracker
South Lakes High School
2:00 and 6:00 pm


Countywide
Families line up to meet Santa at Tysons Galleria (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Tysons Corner Center Draws Crowds for Black Friday — “Shoppers flooded Tysons Corner Center Friday, causing typical traffic slowdowns and lines outside of several stores. In some cases, the lines began forming prior to 6 a.m.” For many local families, Black Friday at the mall has become a tradition. [DC News Now]

Burke Townhouse Fire Contained — Firefighters with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department managed to contain a townhouse fire in the 10200 block of Fern Pool Court on Saturday (Nov. 30) “to the end unit, preventing significant damage to neighboring properties. All occupants evacuated safely. No civilian or firefighter injuries.” [FCFRD/Facebook]

County Progresses Toward Affordable Housing Goal — “Fairfax County is making progress toward its goal of creating at least 10,000 affordable homes by 2034 … Tom Fleetwood, director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, said the county’s approaching 35% of that goal with about 10 years to go.” [WTOP]

Police Search GMU Campus for Suspect — George Mason Police sent out an alert just before 9 p.m. on Saturday announcing that they were assisting in a search “for a wanted person” in the 4400 block of University Drive. A subsequent alert around 10:50 p.m. reported that the investigation had ended, but “no information was available about the nature of the investigation.” [Patch]

Virginia Could Elect First Female Governor — “Two women seem to have cleared the field for next year’s Republican and Democratic gubernatorial primaries. Rep. Abigail Spanberger has had the Democratic contest to herself since her lone competitor dropped out in April, while Winsome Earle-Sears’s long-anticipated rival for the GOP nod let it be known this month that he was taking a pass.” [Washington Post]

Church Street Stroll Returns to Vienna — Vienna’s annual Church Street Holiday Stroll will return tonight (Monday) with a tree lighting ceremony, visits with Santa, free marshmallow-roasting and, for the first time, a gingerbread decorating contest. “The merriment begins in front of the Freeman Store and Museum at the corner of Church and Mill streets on Monday, Dec. 2, from 6-8 p.m.” [Town of Vienna]

Ways to Help Kids in Annandale During Holiday Season — “For those of you who want to help the needy this holiday season, there are plenty of opportunities.” The Mason Police District Station is collecting toy and clothing donations, while the nonprofit New Hope Housing is seeking gift cards to Target, Walmart and grocery stores so residents can make needed purchases. [Annandale Today]

It’s Monday — Today will be sunny with a high near 38 and a northwest wind blowing 7 to 10 mph. Monday night will be mostly clear, with a low around 25 and a northwest wind at 6 to 9 mph. [NWS]


News

The undefeated, top seed and host Madison Warhawks (13-0) rallied to down the second-seed and previously undefeated Washington-Liberty Generals, 48-21, Saturday (Nov. 30) in the 6D North Region football final in Vienna.

It is the team’s fifth straight region crown, all won at home, and sets the squad up to host the Lake Braddock Bruins Dec. 7 in the first round of the four-team state finals.


Sports

A standout girls tennis season by the Potomac School Panthers was capped when three players from the high-school squad were selected to Division I all-state teams.

Juniors Riece Grimes-Thomas and Riley Williams made first-team private-school all-state. Sophomore Taylor Shen was chosen to the second team.


Around Town

Good Friday 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 — Nov 29, 2024.

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

  1. Herndon woman killed in crash on Fairfax County Parkway in Reston (35572 views)
  2. NEW: Whole Foods will relocate Idylwood store to Falls Church (13850 views)
  3. Fairfax property manager will go to prison for embezzling funds from local HOAs (8807 views)
  4. New Tysons office data shows gap between ‘haves and have-nots’ (8466 views)
  5. UPDATED: Hayfield pulls football team from playoffs as calls for outside investigation grow (7712 views)
  6. Mike’s American company to open new BBQ restaurant in Springfield (4826 views)
  7. Silver Line riders may see more trains, faster trips in their future (4577 views)
  8. Gunshot fired at Tysons senior living apartments under police investigation (3857 views)
  9. Planned Lincoln Street in Tysons raises concerns about impacts on Scott’s Run Trail (3786 views)
  10. Construction takes off on United Airlines flight attendant training center in Chantilly (2912 views)

📅 Upcoming events

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

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

☀️ Saturday’s forecast

Expect sunshine and a high of around 37 degrees during the day, accompanied by a west wind blowing at 9-15 mph and gusting as high as 24 mph. In the evening, the skies will grow cloudier as temperatures drop to approximately 26 degrees. Winds will shift to a northwest direction at 5-7 mph before becoming light and variable after midnight. 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.

We hope you have a great weekend! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋


Sports

On the strength of a strong fall season with only one loss in singles competition, Flint Hill School junior girls tennis player Margaux DeVaul was chosen as the Division I private-school state Player of the Year.

Her play helped the Flint Hill team win six matches during the high-school campaign and earn a berth in the Independent School League postseason tournament.