Countywide

For the first time in over four decades, Fairfax County’s police officers and firefighters got an opportunity this year to negotiate their pay, benefits and working conditions with the local government.

The collective bargaining process led to new contracts for Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department employees that union representatives and county leaders both lauded as meaningful wins for public safety workers.


News

A decision on the proposed redevelopment of two linked office buildings on Worldgate Drive in Herndon is going to wait until January.

At a meeting on Monday (Dec. 18), the Herndon Planning Commission voted unanimously to defer the decision on whether to recommend approval of plans to redevelop 13100 and 13150 Worldgate Drive into a residential community with a 360-unit apartment building, 49 standard townhouses and 52 units of stacked townhouses.


Countywide

The public can get a closer look at Fairfax County’s efforts to combat climate change with an updated Climate Action Dashboard.

The dashboard updates, released yesterday (Dec. 18) by the Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC), include a new interactive map and sector-specific landing pages, so community members interested in buildings, for example, can view those metrics separately ones about waste.


News

Construction has begun on a development that promises to bring hundreds of affordable housing units to Tysons.

Officials with Fairfax County, nonprofit developer Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) and other partners broke ground yesterday (Tuesday) on the Dominion Square project, which has been newly renamed The Exchange at Spring Hill Station.


Countywide

Next Phase of Dulles Airport Taking Shape — “A team of planners at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is working on a new vision for Dulles — one that could vastly expand the airport’s footprint and include construction of a new runway, concourses and completion of the AeroTrain system. The new master plan also could incorporate the next generation of transportation options…known as air taxis.” [Washington Post]

Burke Man Charged With Indecent Exposure —  “At 12:46 p.m. on December 16, officers responded to a sex offense at the intersection of Coffer Woods Court and Blincoe Court in Burke. A victim observed a man running on a nearby trail exposing himself.” Police arrested a 53-year-old man, who “may have exposed himself on multiple other occasions along the Pohick Stream Valley Trail.” [FCPD]


News

An explosion that occurred while firefighters were putting out a blaze at Build America Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads in early November was caused by a backdraft, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.

Investigators have determined that the fire and “dramatic” explosion were accidental, resulting from degraded power lines that arced and sparked an “underground fire involving the insulation of adjacent communication lines,” the FCFRD reported today (Tuesday).


News

Reston Association’s Board of Directors selected the web development company CivicPlus as the vendor for its website redesign — a project that has been in the works since 2020.

At a Dec. 14 board meeting, RA Chief Operating Officer Peter Lusk said staff have been working on fine-tuning the details of the new design.


Around Town

(Updated at 11:30 a.m. on 12/20/2023) A Spanish fashion brand that has started utilizing artificial intelligence to design its clothes is coming to Tysons Corner Center.

Mango recently announced that it will expand to the D.C. area for the first time with four stores opening in 2024, including one in the region’s largest mall. New locations are also planned at 950 F Street in D.C.’s Penn Quarter, the Westfield Montgomery mall in Bethesda, and Pentagon City.