Around Town

A chain restaurant dedicated to wood-fired grilling has its first Fairfax County location in the works.

Firebirds, which specializes in hand-cut steaks and seafood, is set to open in Franconia at Festival at Manchester Lakes (7027A Manchester Blvd, Unit 28), a shopping center at the corner of Manchester Blvd and Beulah Street.


Around Town

First Watch is bringing its avocado toast and million dollar bacon to more spots around Fairfax County.

The fast-casual cafe, which serves made-to-order food and drinks for breakfast, brunch and lunch, will open at least two more locations in the county next year — with a third potentially also in the works.


News

Fairfax County police are investigating potential connections between some recent ATM break-ins and armed robberies in the Lincolnia area.

Officers responded to the TD Bank in Pinecrest Plaza at 6566 Little River Turnpike around 3:08 a.m. yesterday (Tuesday) after getting a call that three people were attempting to “forcibly access” the ATM, according to a news release from the Fairfax County Police Department.


News

(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) Marcia St. John-Cunning no longer needs to run as a write-in candidate to become the Franconia District’s next school board representative.

The former Fairfax County Public Schools interpreter and family liaison re-qualified for the general election ballot yesterday (Wednesday) after a county judge let her submit two more pages of signatures supporting her petition for candidacy.


News

(Updated at 11:10 a.m. on 10/30/2023) The Democratic-endorsed candidate for the Fairfax County School Board’s Franconia District seat has been disqualified due to an error on her petition to get on the ballot.

The Fairfax County Office of Elections has posted a notice on its website informing voters that Marcia St. John-Cunning was disqualified yesterday (Wednesday) by a Fairfax County Circuit Court order. A judge ruled that her petition was invalid because of an error in her address on its front page.


News

(Updated at 6 p.m.) A project to enhance the capacity of a key rail line through Fairfax County is chugging along, thanks to a major infusion of federal cash.

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority has been awarded $100 million in federal funds to design and build a bridge that will allow Virginia Railway Express and Amtrak trains to cross over tracks approaching the Franconia-Springfield station (6880 Frontier Drive), Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced yesterday (Thursday).


Around Town

Though the heat of summer is waning, Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard hopes Franconia residents are still in the mood for some chilled desserts.

The Pennsylvania-based chain will hold a grand opening tomorrow (Thursday) for its new shop in Hayfield Shopping Center (7592 Telegraph Road), which is anchored by Planet Fitness and Goodwill.


News

Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk is asking the owner of Rose Hill Plaza to lower the number of residential units and increase retail space in its next redevelopment proposal.

The six-decade-old shopping center located off Franconia Road is slated for significant redevelopment but has met some community opposition in terms of how exactly that will be done and what the new center will include.


News

Nearly 9,000 people in Fairfax County are without power after this afternoon’s storms, the most intense of which have moved on into Maryland.

As of 5:30 p.m., 8,971 Dominion Energy customers in the county had lost power, according to the real-time tracking database PowerOutage.US.


News

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) An extra $150,00 is being requested to add a “unique lighting feature” to the colorful “Springfield” welcome sign set to be installed on a pedestrian bridge near Old Keene Mill Road later this year.

At last week’s Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk proposed that the board consider spending $150,000 from the fiscal year 2023 carryover adjustment on a lighting feature to “complement” a welcome sign going up on the pedestrian bridge near the new Springfield Commuter Parking Garage.


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