Juneteenth is just under a week away, but in many places around Fairfax County, the celebrations will start this weekend.
Officially known as Juneteenth National Independence Day, it is observed annually on June 19, the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to liberate some 250,000 enslaved people who had not been freed despite President Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
A Fairfax County seventh-grader reached the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee before being eliminated, while three other Northern Virginia spellers were knocked out in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Nargiza Muzhapaer, 13, who attends Pinnacle Academy in Chantilly, was one of only 45 spellers to reach Wednesday afternoon’s semifinal round. The bee, being held at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., started with 245 spellers.
A Fairfax elementary student might soon see her artwork on Google’s homepage.
Google announced today (Wednesday) that Arya Pribadi, a student at Greenbriar West Elementary School in Chantilly, has been named a finalist in its “Doodle for Google” contest. Her drawing, which depicts a family of four celebrating the COVID-19 vaccine, was selected from tens of thousands of K-12 student submissions nationwide.
Another office building in the sprawling Westfields section of Chantilly is being targeted for redevelopment as housing.
Developer Network Realty Partners wants to replace a vacant office building at 14101 Newbrook Drive and some of the adjacent office building’s parking lot with 109 single-family townhouses and two multi-family condominium buildings, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Friday (March 8).
A Chantilly office has landed AT&T for a rare full-building lease.
In late February, the telecommunications company signed a lease for 111,000 square foot at 4807 Stonecroft Blvd, part of the Westfields International Center at Dulles office park. It will take over the building in 2025 under a long-term lease, building manager Stream Realty Partners announced on Feb. 29.
Mustang Sally Brewing Company is hoping to serve up something new out of its brewery in Chantilly.
The business, which currently operates as a production brewery with a tasting room, hopes to expand its food service at 14140 Parke Long Court in an effort to become more competitive in the brewing industry.
South Block may be on the verge of an East Coast expansion, but for its next location, the regional juice and smoothie bowl chain is sticking relatively close to home.
Announced in a Halloween Instagram post, South Block’s 16th shop is set to open in The Field at Commonwealth (14383 Newbrook Drive) in Chantilly this summer. Construction will begin within the next couple weeks, South Block founder and CEO Amir Mostafavi told FFXnow in an email.
(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) An 8-inch natural gas line was ruptured near Westfield High School this morning (Wednesday), forcing a closure of Willard Road in Chantilly.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue responders, including a hazmat team, were dispatched to the 14800 block of Willard Road around 10:26 a.m. for a “hazardous material emergency,” according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
Centreville-based nonprofit Tender Hearts has donated over 100 Nepali-language children’s books to Fairfax County Public Libraries with the aim of connecting local Nepalese families and children to their cultural roots.
Prabha Bhattarai Deuja, founder and president of Tender Hearts, recently delivered the books to the Chantilly branch of Fairfax County Public Libraries, according to a news release.
Fairfax County is getting a new warehouse or data center next to the Chantilly Auto Park — though unhappy residents and local stakeholder groups say they may take the issue to court.
After a lengthy public hearing on Tuesday (Jan. 23), the Board of Supervisors voted 8-1 to approve a rezoning of a 12-acre plot off Route 50 for industrial use. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity was the sole dissenting vote, and Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn was absent.
