Nearly 14 years after Clifton Elementary School shuttered, its sign has been repurposed.
The sign now serves as a bulletin for local organizations, businesses, and community groups to promote events such as farmers markets, cultural celebrations and educational workshops.
The Fairfax County School Board voted 9-2 on July 8, 2010 to close Clifton Elementary School, citing declining enrollment, high renovation costs and poor well-water quality.
Clifton-area residents filed a lawsuit to keep the school open, arguing that the school board’s decision was arbitrary and based on misrepresented facts.
After a year of legal battles, the Virginia State Supreme Court sided with the school board, allowing the elementary school to officially close on June 21, 2011 — a few years shy of its 60th anniversary.
The site has since remained empty, which didn’t sit well with recently elected At-Large School Board Member Kyle McDaniel. So, he teamed up with his colleague on the board, Sandy Anderson, as well as Clifton Mayor Tom Peterson and Fairfax County Public Schools staff to turn the school’s old sign into a community notice board.
“It was a simple thing to do that didn’t cost us any money and helped the community,” he told FFXnow. “It also was a gesture to start trying to mend fences with the community that is still upset about the school closure.”
Anderson, who represents the Springfield District on the school board, expressed gratitude for the community’s support and enthusiasm for the sign’s revival.
“I’m so glad that FCPS has been able to take the small first step to reintegrate this property back into the Clifton community,” she said in a press release. “I look forward to continued progress.”
“Clifton is a special community, and I am proud to represent it on the school board,” McDaniel remarked. “This is a first step on a journey to repurposing more of the Clifton Elementary School site for more community use.”
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is on the scene of a two-alarm house fire in Clifton.
The fire broke out at a split-level home on the 13900 block of Whetstone Manor Court sometime around 9 a.m.
Two occupants were removed from the home. Scanner traffic indicated at least one of the occupants was a child who was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
As of 9:50 a.m., firefighters were working on bringing the fire under control.
#FCFRD is on scene of a two-alarm house fire in the 13900 blk of Whetstone Manor Court in Clifton. Units arrived with heavy fire and reports of two trapped occupants. Currently working to bring the fire under control. Two occupants were removed from the home. pic.twitter.com/FrVLoZwhZL
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) April 10, 2024
Image via Google Maps
The lead-up to Valentine’s Day has carried an extra note of sweetness for Paradise Springs Winery.
The Clifton winery is wrapping up a three-day stay in France for the fifth annual Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris, where it’s representing Fairfax County as one of just six participating Virginia establishments.
Held this Monday through Wednesday (Feb. 12-14), the international trade show is one of the world’s biggest events for the wine and spirit industry, drawing businesses and entrepreneurs from nearly 50 countries and an estimated 40,000 visitors this year.
“To think of the journey we’ve been on since opening the winery over 18 years ago, to now have our wine being well received globally by audiences in different regions that are known the world over for producing excellent wines, is a really satisfying feeling,” Paradise Springs Winery CEO and founder Kirk Wiles said in a statement.
Encompassing 36 acres in Clifton near Hemlock Overlook Regional Park, Paradise Springs (13219 Yates Ford Road) became the first winery in Fairfax County when Wiles and his family launched it in 2007.
The business crafted its first vintage — a reserve cabernet sauvignon — that fall, but its doors didn’t open to the public until Jan. 16, 2010 due to some legal wrangling with the county over whether the property was zoned for a vineyard, Paradise Springs says in its official history.
The winery has since expanded to a second location that opened in Santa Barbara, California, in 2014, making it the first bi-coastal wine brand in the U.S., according to Visit Fairfax, the county’s official tourism marketing agency.
At this week’s Wine Paris Vinexpo, Paradise Springs showcased its 2021 petit verdot — which was named a Virginia Governor’s Cup Case winner last year. It also poured a cabernet franc petit manseng and a specialty mix of petit verdot and tannat that will be served at the home of the U.S. ambassador to France this week.
Fairfax County’s wine scene remains small. Paradise Springs is joined by the Winery at Bull Run, which opened in Centreville in 2012, and Woodlawn Press Winery, a family-owned microwinery located just off Richmond Highway in Mount Vernon.
However, as chair of the Virginia Wine Board for the past eight years, Wiles says attending the Wine Paris Vinexpo represents a significant step forward for the state’s wine industry.
“To be here in this moment is validating for the Commonwealth — being recognized as producing some of the best wine in the United States,” he said. “The goal is to reach new audiences that don’t know the quality of Virginia wine, and the more people that know about our exceptional product, the higher the demand will be.”
(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) An 85-year-old man who crashed head-on into a sedan on Clifton Road last month has died.
The crash may have been the result of a medical emergency suffered by 85-year-old Manassas resident Charles McCallister, who was driving north on Clifton Road during the afternoon rush hour on Jan. 24 when he veered over the center line and collided with a 2017 Honda Civic, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Officers were dispatched to the crash near Johnny Moore Lane around 6 p.m., according to the police.
McCallister and two young children who were also in his 2021 Ford Escape at the time of the crash were all transported to a hospital. The children’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, and they later got released, but McCallister died from his injuries on Jan. 28.
“Hospital physicians believed that the crash was caused by a medical emergency,” the FCPD said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to detectives on Saturday (Feb. 3) that McCallister died from the injuries he sustained in the crash, not “the underlying medical emergency” that led to the crash.
McCallister was the first person to be killed in a vehicle crash on Fairfax County roads this year, but the FCPD reported a second fatality yesterday (Sunday) after a two-vehicle crash in Burke sent seven people to the hospital. One passenger died, and two occupants had injuries considered life-threatening as a result of the crash at Braddock Road and Bradfield Drive, an area plagued by speeding.
(Correction: This story initially identified the location of Sunday’s crash as Annandale, but the intersection is located closer to Burke.)
There was also a fatal crash on I-66 in the Centreville area on Jan. 3.
At this time in 2023, there had been three fatal crashes, according to the police department.
Image via Google Maps
(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) Speed was likely a factor in yesterday’s fatal two-car crash on Route 29, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Sohail Iqbal, 30, of Manassas died at the scene after the driver of a 2013 BMW M3 plowed into his Hyundai Sonata around 12:24 a.m. at the intersection of Route 29 and Clifton Road, just outside Centreville, the police department reported today (Wednesday).
The BMW driver was taken to a hospital with injuries considered life-threatening. The driver is still in the hospital, as of this afternoon, the FCPD confirmed.
The BMW was traveling at a speed that’s believed to have contributed to the seriousness of the crash, according to police.
“Detectives continue to investigate to determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash,” the FCPD said.
According to the FCPD, a preliminary investigation by its Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives indicates that the BMW driver was headed south on Stringfellow Road when they collided with the Hyundai, which was traveling south on Route 29.
“The collision forced the Hyundai across the intersection, onto the embankment, and into a concrete utility pole foundation,” the FCPD said.
The crash damaged the pole, requiring repairs to a traffic signal that blocked lanes on Route 29 until around 4:20 p.m. that day, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Scanner traffic indicated that the BMW ended up in a 7-Eleven parking lot (13305 Route 29) just over the border in Clifton.
Iqbal appears to be the 39th person killed in a traffic crash in Fairfax County this year, nine of them pedestrians, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles data. There were 66 fatalities in 2022 — the most since the database launched in 2010.
The FCPD says there have been 19 fatal vehicular crashes in 2023 so far, matching the number seen last year.
Image via VDOT/Twitter
One driver was killed and another hospitalized with serious injuries in a two-car crash on Route 29 in the Clifton area early this morning (Tuesday).
A Fairfax County police officer reported at 12:25 a.m. that he “just had a vehicle roll over in front of me at the Clifton 7-Eleven,” describing an occupant as “trapped and unresponsive,” according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
Police confirmed to the dispatcher that the crash involved two cars, and both drivers were found unconscious.
“Two four-door vehicles, we have one up in the 7-Eleven parking lot, extensive intrusion, T-bone accident,” a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responder reported at 12:30 a.m., per the scanner. “We also have a second vehicle into the traffic pole, on its wheels again, in the intersection.”
One of the drivers — an adult man — was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was taken to a hospital with injuries initially considered life-threatening, the Fairfax County Police Department said at 1:16 a.m.
The Route 29 and Clifton Road intersection was closed as the department’s Crash Reconstruction Unit investigated. The hospitalized driver’s condition was later upgraded to non-life-threatening, the FCPD reported in an update at 4 a.m.
The intersection didn’t reopen to traffic until shortly before 8:30 a.m., according to police.
Officers investigating a 2 car crash on Clifton Rd/Lee Hwy in Clifton. One driver, an adult male, was pronounced deceased at the scene and other driver taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The intersection of Clifton Rd/Lee Hwy closed. Please avoid the area #FCPD pic.twitter.com/8DNjbzAbrE
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 5, 2023
Image via Google Maps
And then there were five.
Del. Dan Helmer of Fairfax County announced Wednesday morning that he is joining the race for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District next year.
Helmer, a U.S. Army veteran who was first elected in 2019, led the House Democratic Caucus’ campaign effort this fall, which resulted in Democrats picking up three seats and regaining control of the chamber.
The 10th District is currently represented by Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat, but Wexton announced earlier this year she will not seek reelection for health reasons.
Other Democrats who have announced campaigns for the seat are:
- Current state Sen. Jennifer Boysko of Fairfax County
- Former Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn
- Former Virginia Secretary of Education Atif Qarni
- Current Del. David Reid of Loudoun County
Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall had been mentioned as a candidate, but she ruled out a run Tuesday, saying she wanted to focus on her third term as board chair.
The 10th District includes all of Loudoun County — making up more than half its voters — along with all of Fauquier and Rappahannock counties and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. It also includes the western half of Prince William County and about 15,000 voters in the Clifton and Union Mill areas of southern Fairfax County.
After knocking off Republican Barbara Comstock in 2018, Wexton won reelection to the newly drawn 10th District last year with about 53% of the vote, defeating Republican Hung Cao.
Helmer was reelected Tuesday to House District 10, defeating Republican Jim Thomas with over 58% of the vote. His district covers southwestern Fairfax, including the town of Clifton and the Centreville area. Before redistricting after the 2020 Census, he also represented a small portion of Prince William.
Helmer is the son of an immigrant and the grandson of refugees and Holocaust survivors, according to a news release from his campaign. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and served tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea. He currently owns a small business and continues to serve as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
“My grandparents came to America to escape the Nazis,” Helmer said. “It’s why I volunteered to serve our country and protect the democracy that took us in. While I was proud to serve, I lost friends in Iraq and Afghanistan because politicians lacked the courage to stand up to President Bush’s misguided wars. Our democracy failed us.”
He said democracy faces greater threats today: “MAGA extremists are seeking to undermine free and fair elections and strip away the right to an abortion, all while coddling a gun lobby that floods our streets with weapons of war.”
According to the release, in the General Assembly, Helmer supported gun safety bills, the repeal of Virginia’s “Right to Work” laws and women’s healthcare.
He lives in Fairfax with his wife, Karen, a public school educator, and their two sons.
Photo via Dan Helmer/Facebook. This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
(Updated at 10 a.m. on 11/16/2023) A week after polls closed, the next mayors and councils for the towns of Vienna and Clifton have been decided.
The Fairfax County Electoral Board certified the local race results for this year’s general election yesterday (Tuesday), including for a Vienna Town Council contest where write-in votes exceeded votes for two of the seven candidates on the ballot.
However, none of the submitted candidates received enough votes to shift the outcome of the race, according to the Fairfax County Office of Elections. Vienna Transportation Safety Commission chair Beth Eachus, who began campaigning as a write-in candidate in September, received 1,803 of the 2,073 write-in votes, county election officials said.
The names and vote totals of the other write-ins weren’t identified.
Instead, budget analyst and former Fairfax County School Board candidate Sandra Allen has secured the last of six council seats with 2,053 votes — just seven more than the 2,046 that went to Shelley Mountjoy, a former community college professor and creator of the Vienna Votes outreach project.
Allen will join Vienna Planning Commissioner Jessica Ramakis and Board of Architectural Review Chair Roy Baldwin as newcomers to the council. All three incumbents — Howard Springsteen, Chuck Anderson and Ray Brill — won reelection.
A total of 5,981 ballots were cast in the town council race — a 48.5% turnout rate for the town’s 12,323 registered voters, according to the county elections office.
With voters allowed to choose up to six candidates, the 22,463 votes cast broke down as follows:
- Howard J. Springsteen — 3,535
- Jessica Ramakis — 3,465
- Charles “Chuck” Anderson — 3,418
- Ray Brill, Jr. — 2,951
- Roy J. Baldwin — 2,922
- Sandra Allen — 2,053
- Shelley Mountjoy — 2,046
- Write-in votes — 2,073
Mayor Linda Colbert also won a second term after running unopposed.
This was the Town of Vienna’s first November election since the Virginia General Assembly adopted a law in 2021 requiring all municipal elections still held in May to move.
Clifton mayor defeated by write-in votes
While Vienna didn’t see a successful write-in campaign, Clifton Mayor William Hollaway has been unseated after receiving 62 votes — five fewer than write-in candidate Thomas Peterson, according to the Virginia Department of Election results. A total of 131 votes were cast.
A lawyer, Holloway hasn’t faced any official opponents since 2010, when he was first elected as mayor.
His successor will be a familiar face for the town’s 330 residents. Peterson previously served as mayor of Clifton in 2006 to 2010, and his family runs the popular Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot.
Peterson told NBC4 that his wife had encouraged him to run after the candidate filing deadline had passed. His campaign consisted of just 10 yard signs, but Clifton voters “were excited to actually have a choice for the first time in 12 years,” NBC4 reported.
The Clifton Town Council race, which featured five official candidates vying for five seats, also saw a write-in victor in Mary Hess, who received 71 of the 471 total votes cast — more than incumbents Stephen Effros (65) and Darrell Poe (48).
Fairfax County’s overall voter turnout for the 2023 general election ended at 41.1%, a slight drop from the last time local races were on the ballot in 2019, according to the county elections office. The 323,816 ballots tallied include 3,900 provisional ballots and 9,476 mail-in ballots received after Election Day on Nov. 7.
The best place to eat in Northern Virginia right now is an upscale restaurant tucked away in an office building outside Merrifield that also houses the U.S. headquarters of defense contractor BAE Systems.
At least that’s the designation bestowed upon 2941 by Northern Virginia Magazine’s food critics, whose ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the region for 2023 hit newsstands on Friday (Oct. 27) as part of its November issue.
While the full list can only be found in print, reviews for the top 10 restaurants are online, led by 2941. Located at 2941 Fairview Park Drive, the restaurant impressed the magazine’s critics with the artistry of both its cuisine and setting, which features landscaping, a koi pond and a view of an artificial lake.
“Inside the soaring space, a talented contemporary American kitchen staff transforms top-flight ingredients into culinary art,” the review said, highlighting a five-course tasting menu curated by Executive Chef Bertrand Chemel as well as a la carte dishes like a “grilled rib-eye with crisped potatoes.”
Self-described on its website as “one of the most celebrated restaurants in the metropolitan area,” 2941 previously topped Northern Virginia Magazine’s annual rankings in 2021 and came in second last year. It has also been recognized in the past by Washingtonian, Eater DC and the Washington Post.
“We’re ecstatic to share that we’ve been ranked as the #1 restaurant in Northern Virginia!” the restaurant said in a Facebook post. “This recognition wouldn’t be possible without our incredible team and the support of our loyal customers. Thank you for making…us the best in the region.”
2941 isn’t the only Fairfax County restaurant to place in the top 10. It was joined by Nostos in Tysons (No. 6), L’Auberge Chez François in Great Falls (No. 8), Trummer’s in Clifton (No. 9) and Trio Grill in Merrifield proper (No. 10).
Praised for proving that there’s “much more to Greek cuisine” than gyros, Nostos (8100 Boone Blvd) was among Washingtonian’s “very best restaurants” in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Its owners are behind Vienna’s incoming Yellow Diner, which is expected to open at 501 Maple Avenue West early next year.
L’Auberge Chez François has been operating at 332 Springvale Road since 1976, when it moved from its original home in D.C. Also recently lauded by Washingtonian, the French establishment is a “captivating destination for celebrating life’s special moments” with “masterful cuisine” and “exquisite service,” according to Northern Virginia Magazine.
Trummer’s (7134 Main Street) originally opened as a fine dining restaurant in 2009, but it has been steadily evolving into a more casual American bistro, dropping the “on Main” portion of its name in 2019. Northern Virginia Magazine highlights its “skillful” blending of “Austrian and regional American traditions.”
Near the Mosaic District at 8100 Route 29, Trio Grill comes from Metropolitan Hospitality Group, which is also behind Open Road, Circa and El Bebe. When it opened a decade ago, Northern Virginia Magazine dinged the eatery for not taking more risks with its menu, but it now says Trio Grill offers “a night of fine food and camaraderie.”
Falls Church was also represented with Ellie Bird at No. 5 and the Vietnamese restaurant NUE coming in seventh. Both restaurants opened earlier this year in the city’s new Founders Row development on West and Broad streets.
(Updated at 1:20 p.m.) Former speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Eileen Filler-Corn announced Wednesday she will seek Virginia’s 10th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives next year.
The 10th District is currently represented by Democrat Jennifer Wexton, but she announced in September she will retire at the end of her current term after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder.
Filler-Corn, a Democrat, does not live in the 10th District, which consists of all of Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, western Prince William County, the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and Clifton in Fairfax County. She currently represents the 41st District in the House of Delegates, which generally consists of the Burke and Burke Centre areas of central Fairfax County.
While members of the Virginia General Assembly must live in the districts they represent, U.S. House members are not required to do so. Rep. Abigail Spanberger won reelection in the 7th District last year even though the district’s boundaries were moved to Northern Virginia from the Richmond area.
Filler-Corn was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2009. After Democrats won control of the House of Delegates in the 2019 election, she served as speaker during the 2020 and 2021 General Assembly sessions. She was the first woman and the first Jewish person elected to that position. She decided not to run for reelection to her House seat this fall after redistricting placed her into a district with another Democratic delegate.
Filler-Corn had been considered a potential candidate for governor in 2025. Current Gov. Glenn Youngkin cannot run for reelection.
Filler-Corn said in a statement that Democrats in the 10th District encouraged her to run for the seat. “As a Jewish American, I have deeply felt the tragedies of the past few weeks. Congress has been left rudderless at a time of global uncertainty. The American people and our allies abroad deserve better than this.”
Other potential Democratic candidates mentioned for the 10th District seat include Phyllis Randall, who is seeking reelection this fall to a third term as chair of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, and current Del. David Reid of Loudoun.
Wexton first won the 10th District seat by ousting Republican Barbara Comstock in 2018, but the seat became slightly more conservative in redistricting after the 2020 Census. In last fall’s election, she held off a challenge from Republican Hung Cao by about 6 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Spanberger, whose 7th District includes eastern Prince William and all of Stafford County, is also eying a run for governor in 2025, which would leave both the 7th and 10th district seats without incumbents heading into the 2024 congressional elections. Spanberger defeated Republican Yesli Vega, a Prince William supervisor, by about 5 percentage points last fall.
This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
