Countywide

In between the sprawling lawns of Loudoun County and the riverside lofts of Alexandria lie clusters of struggling, predominantly non-white neighborhoods that are increasingly left out of the success and prosperity experienced by Northern Virginia as a whole, recent research notes.

In fact, conditions in some of those neighborhoods — called “islands of disadvantage” — have been in decline for years.


News

The Town of Herndon is formalizing its donation program for cultural festivals in an effort to create a system for supporting and encouraging events that encourage cultural celebrations and promote its brand.

The move follows the council’s adoption of a policy statement that supports community cultural festivals on Oct. 24.


Sponsored

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News

A top-tier Italian soccer club is making a play for Tysons.

AC Milan, which claims to be the “most popular Italian football brand” in the U.S., announced last month that it has chosen Fairfax County as the site of its first youth training academy in North America.


Countywide

Fairfax County is looking to update its guidelines for how rental and mobile home developers can assist displaced tenants for the first time in a decade.

Director of Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development Tom Fleetwood presented the proposed guidelines to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a housing committee meeting last week (Nov. 28).


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.


News

Cornerstones, a Reston-based nonprofit organization, has expanded into Sterling.

The nonprofit organization — which has offered food and other supports for individuals and families in need since it was founded in 1970 — opened the Free from Hunger Center last week.


Around Town

(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) The winners of Vienna’s first-ever holiday display lottery have been revealed.

A menorah and illuminated dreidel were installed late last month at the Town Green, joining a live Christmas tree — also a first for Vienna — that was lit during the annual Church Street Holiday Stroll last Monday, Nov. 27.


Around Town

(Updated at 1:30 p.m. on 12/8/2023) A growing chain restaurant that specializes in poke bowls is making its first foray into Fairfax County.

Poke Bros. says it anticipates a “large audience of hungry customers” for today’s grand opening of its new franchise in Lorton Marketplace. Doors will open at 9453 Lorton Market Street, Suite 17, at 11 a.m.


Countywide

Local Family Mourns Loved Ones Killed in Gaza — Hani Almadhoun and his family are “numb with grief” after his brother, sister-in-law and their four children were all killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza the morning after Thanksgiving — just before a pause in attacks that resumed Friday (Dec. 1). A memorial service was recently held in Franconia. [NBC4]

Lumber Yard Closes After Two Centuries in Business — Smoot Lumber yard shut down Friday after operating for more than 200 years. Located in Springfield at the border with Alexandria City, the “supplier of mouldings, doors and windows has been a staple for local builders since it was founded in 1822.” [ALXnow]