One of the Washington region’s most famous fine-dining establishments is under new ownership — and it’s a name many Northern Virginians know well.
L’Auberge Chez François, an award-winning French eatery in Great Falls, is now part of Reston-based Thompson Restaurants, led by Warren Thompson, a longtime regular at the prestigious French eatery.
Under a blazing summer sun, volunteers spent Wednesday evening planting an American flag at every mailbox in McLean Hamlet, transforming the 507-home neighborhood into a patriotic display ahead of the Fourth of July and the nation’s 250th birthday celebration.
The effort, organized by the McLean Hamlet Community Association, saw a team of volunteers spread throughout the neighborhood, placing one miniature American flag at each home while others decorated neighborhood entrances with patriotic ribbons and larger American flags.
A Herndon man was arrested Thursday after a hit-and-run involving a dump truck that eventually burst into flames in Fauquier County.
On Thursday afternoon, deputies responded to a vehicle fire involving a dump truck on Route 17 in Bealeton. Once on scene it was determined the dump truck caused a three-vehicle crash. The dump truck was fully engulfed in fire, and the driver had fled on foot.
With the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial just a stone’s throw away, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed landmark reproductive freedom and contraception access legislation Wednesday during a ceremony at Occoquan Regional Park.
The new law, the governor said, protects the right of Virginia women to access and use birth control and reduces the cost of contraception across the commonwealth.
The Washington region lost over 62,000 federal jobs from January 2025 to January of this year, putting the region’s federal workforce at its lowest figures since 1990, according to a new Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments analysis.
The D.C. region’s 16.5% dip in federal workforce was topped only by nearby Baltimore, which shed 20.5% of its federal jobs over the same time frame. The New York statistical area lost 7.4% of its federal jobs, and Philadelphia dipped 10.1%.
State Del. Elizabeth Guzmán on Wednesday launched a campaign for Virginia’s new 7th Congressional District following Tuesday’s redistricting referendum approval.
Guzman, a Prince William resident who represents Virginia’s 22nd House District, joins a crowded field in the new 7th District, including former first lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe, state Del. Dan Helmer and several others.
America’s birthday party continues.
The United States Mint on [March 23] unveiled a Revolutionary War-themed quarter at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, continuing the yearlong celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.
Laasya Mohan, a fourth-grader at Floris Elementary School in Herndon, won the 2026 Fairfax County Spelling Bee on Sunday (March 22).
Mohan, who is 9, and first runner-up Aadhya Vijayakumar, 13, an eighth-grader at Rocky Run Middle School in Chantilly, will both advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington in late May.
Mark Crutchfield said his son Brandon was a typical teenager with a quick wit, a love for sports and acting and a knack for making others laugh — until he lost his life to a fentanyl overdose Nov. 4, 2022 at 20 years old.
Crutchfield, a Fairfax County resident and licensed counselor working in addiction treatment, said his son was raised on a strong anti-drug message, and he believed his son understood the risks of drug use. But, as the grieving father says, drugs do not discriminate.
Jim Larranaga liked to bring in sports psychologist Bob Rotella for two reasons.
The George Mason University men’s basketball coach did so if he believed an individual player needed some help. Or he did so if he felt he had a good team that needed some extra clarity to tap into their potential.
