Countywide
A bench at the corner of Brandon Avenue and Bland Street near the highway in Springfield (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Early Voting Sites Expand — “From Annandale to Burke, Centreville to Great Falls, 13 additional early voting locations open Thursday. Thursday marks the start of 10 consecutive days to vote early, which ends Saturday, Oct. 31″ ahead of the Nov. 3 general elections. [Fairfax County Office of Elections/Bluesky]

Falls Church Moves Red Light Cameras — “Red light cameras went live today (Wednesday) at two of the most hazardous intersections in Falls Church. A 30-day warning period has begun for violators at the intersections of E. Broad Street with Washington Street and Roosevelt Street.” [ARLnow]

Fundraiser to Help Townhome Fire Victims — “A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the residents of a townhome in Springfield recover from a devastating fire on Oct. 18. The campaign was posted by a family friend, who says Nina Garcia, her two children, and her mother are ‘in urgent need of financial assistance as they begin to rebuild their lives.'” [Annandale Today]

State Faces Road Maintenance Gap — “Virginia needs to take significant resources from the state’s new construction budget to maintain its roads according to the Commonwealth’s Secretary of Transportation. Blame was put on the previous administration at a Senate Finance meeting Tuesday.” [WVTF]

Community Center Upgrades Planned — “The Minnie Peyton Community Center in Bailey’s Crossroads is getting an update.” The “piece-meal modifications,” including a conversion of locker rooms into storage space, LED lighting retrofits and a customer service desk replacement, are focused on supporting programs and bringing the building into compliance with current building codes. [Annandale Today]

Udvar-Hazy Adds Plane to Collection — “After a storied career, an F-117 Nighthawk is now on display at the National Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The aircraft arrived in Chantilly last week. Public viewing opened on Wednesday.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

New Signs Honor Black Community — “The Fairfax County Park Authority, in partnership with stewards of The Pines heritage, will unveil new interpretive signage honoring The Pines, a historically Black community established in Annandale in the early 1900s. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m. at Pine Ridge Park, located at 183 Woodburn Road in Annandale.” [FCPA]

Land Use Database Going Briefly Dark — “Fairfax County’s Planning and Land Use System (PLUS) will be offline Thursday, Nov. 5, from 5 p.m. to Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 a.m., while it transitions to a new cloud-based platform … During the transition, no applications or services will be available.” [Fairfax County Government]

It’s Thursday — Sunny with a high near 66 and a north wind around 8 to 10 mph. Night will be mostly clear, with a low around 47 and a north wind around 6 to 8 mph. [NWS]

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News

Good Wednesday evening, Fairfax County. Here’s a look back at today’s most-read stories and a look ahead to tomorrow.

📈 Today’s most-read stories

  1. Fairfax well-represented on 2026 list of 50 Best Restaurants in N. Va. (1,495 views)
  2. Beach-themed taco stand Surfside ready for McLean opening (1,223 views)
  3. FCPD seeks public’s help to find burglars targeting chain restaurants

🕗 More from today

Everything else we published today, Oct 21, 2026.

📣 Announcements

Workshops You’ll Love at Art House 7
Explore exciting fall workshops at Art House 7! Coming up October 24–25, master artist Teresa… [Announcement]

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Thursday in Fairfax County, from our event calendar.

⭐ Featured events

Lunch with Dr. T: Let’s Talk About Perimenopause and Menopause
Oct 23: A free lunch and talk on perimenopause and menopause with Kavita Tripathi, MD [Event]

🗑️ Shred Day with Lafayette Federal
Oct 24: Shred your documents safely and free [Event]

Child Safety Fun Fair & Car Seat Check
Oct 25: Get your child car seat inspected by a Nationally Certified Technician for FREE! [Event]

Building Your New Mom Village Mixer
Oct 29: First-time pregnant moms, new moms and perinatal providers – let’s connect! Note: this location is near MOSAIC DISTRICT. [Event]

Alloy! Celebration & Cocktail Party
Oct 29: Tephra ICA Celebration and Cocktail Party [Event]

Diwali: A Celebration of Inner Light – Hosted by the Brahma Kumaris
Nov 1: Celebrate the spirit of Diwali with us at the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center for a joyful and uplifting afternoon for the whole family. [Event]

Dialogue for Democracy
Nov 3: Dialogue for Democracy invites high school students from across the DMV to George Mason University. [Event]

How Retirement Communities Work – A Free Workshop
Nov 4: Interested in learning about how Continuing Care Retirement Communities work, but don’t know where to start? Join us on 11/4 to learn more! [Event]

Submit events, announcements, or home listings to FFXnow.

☀️ Weather update

Today: Fairfax County saw a high of 66° at 2:25 p.m. (2° below normal), a low of 43° at 4:50 a.m., no rain and a peak gust of 22 mph.

Tonight: Clear, with a low around 41. North wind around 7 mph.

Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 64. Northwest wind 7 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Thanks for reading!


News

The City of Fairfax’s public meetings are currently inaccessible online after the platform that hosts its videos and agendas detected a vulnerability in its web programming language.

“Granicus has identified a PHP vulnerability and temporarily took all Media Manager services offline as a precaution, while they assess any potential impact,” the city said in a notice issued this morning (Wednesday).


Around Town

Fairfax County had a strong showing in this year’s round-up of the 50 Best Restaurants in the region by Northern Virginia Magazine.

Unveiled in full at noon today (Wednesday), the annual tribute to Northern Virginia’s top dining establishments features a total of 24 eateries in Fairfax, including five that made the ranked top 10 released last Friday (Oct. 16) and seven that are making their first-ever appearances on the list.


Event

If you are interested in learning more about Continuing Care Retirement Communities (also known as "Life Plan Communities"), whether for yourself or for a loved one, please join our free workshop on Wednesday, November 4 from 5:00-7:00 at the Arlington office of Long & Foster. We are hosting this workshop in conjunction with Lisa Bates of the Williamsburg Landing community, which is a particularly excellent model of the way these communities work, and one you may wish to consider!

– How do Continuing Care Retirement Communities work?
– What do they offer?
– How much do they cost, and what are the financial models offered?
– How do you how to evaluate them, and choose the one that's right for you?
– How do you make a plan for a move like this?
– How do you handle a lifetime's worth of possessions?


Around Town

Frying Pan Farm Park’s popular bovine competition, billed as “the slowest race you will ever cheer for,” is set to return to the Herndon-area park this week.

Seven cows will take to the “race track” Thursday evening (Oct. 22) for the seventh annual NASCOW FundRACER at the farm (2709 West Ox Road) in the Frying Pan area south of Herndon. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., with cows taking to the track at 6 p.m.


News

Details are coming into sharper focus for a planned VIP terminal and lounge facility serving Dulles International Airport.

As FFXnow reported in July, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) signed an agreement with Ireland-based daa International to locate the 37,000-square-foot facility on a 1.2-acre parcel of land located near the airport’s Cargo 6 building.


Around Town

Fairfax County fans of D.C.’s Surfside will no longer have to cross the Potomac River to indulge in its tacos and laid-back beach vibes.

The Tex-Mex restaurant is set to open in McLean’s Chesterbrook Shopping Center at 6218 Old Dominion Drive tomorrow (Thursday), property owner Federal Realty confirmed to FFXnow.


News

Fairfax County’s elected leaders struggled yesterday (Oct. 20) to formulate the correct balance between public safety and individual privacy, as they discussed the future of automatic license plate readers (LPRs) in the county.

“There are questions that still need answers,” said Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who chaired the supervisors’ Safety and Security Committee that spent two hours going over the subject.


News

Fairfax County police are investigating a series of potentially connected burglaries targeting mostly fast-casual chain restaurants, dating back to July.

The first burglary was reported on July 13 at 8:05 a.m., drawing officers to a Taco Bamba in Springfield’s Backlick Shopping Center (6691-A Backlick Road).