A sign for Park Valley Church in Haymarket (via Google Maps)
A man accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Haymarket megachurch last year has been found competent to stand trial on federal hate crime charges.
U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston set an Oct. 21 trial date for Rui Jiang of Falls Church after holding a competency hearing Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria, the Associated Press reported.
Inside the Lego Discovery Center in Springfield (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)
A Springfield 7-year-old is a budding LEGO superstar.
After winning a regional LEGO competition in D.C. in May, youngster Lawrence Ross Jr. came up just short in the recent LEGO Mini Master Model Builder of North America competition.
White Oak Elementary School in Burke (via Google Maps)
Fairfax County police have arrested a special education teacher at White Oak Elementary School in Burke for assaulting multiple students.
On April 12, Child Protective Services received a referral that a teacher was seen assaulting a student at school, police said in a Saturday news release.
Detectives took on the case and determined that between September 2023 and this April, Elizabeth Yoshimi Nagagata, 62, of Fairfax allegedly assaulted three students on separate occasions, the release said.
On Friday, Nagagata was arrested and charged with seven counts of simple assault. Nagagata was held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Detectives would like to speak with anyone who may have information about this case or others possibly related. Those with information are asked to please call the Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 4.
Preserved bottles with cherries found at George Washington's Mount Vernon (courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies' Association)
Following the spring discovery of two 200-year-old bottles of plump cherries at Mount Vernon, archeologists have now unearthed another 35 glass bottles containing more berries from the 18th century.
Of the 35 bottles recently discovered in five storage bins in the mansion cellar, 29 are intact and contain perfectly preserved cherries and berries, likely gooseberries or currants, Mount Vernon said in a news release.
Former NBA guard Delonte West was arrested Thursday morning in Fairfax after a brief police foot pursuit.
West, who is listed as a Maryland resident, was being served a warrant for violation of conditions of release and charged with resisting arrest, according to a Fairfax County Police Department statement. He is being held on bond, police said.
Pinnacle Academy student Nargiza Muzhapaer at the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee (photo by Craig Hudson / Scripps National Spelling Bee)
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.
Safeway at Engleside Plaza in Mount Vernon (via Google Maps)
Someone bought a Powerball ticket for Monday night’s drawing that is now worth $1 million. The winning ticket was bought at Safeway, located at 8646 Richmond Highway in [Mount Vernon’s Engleside Plaza].
The million-dollar question now is: Who has that ticket?
Jersey Mike's Subs at Old Keene Mill Shopping Center in West Springfield (via Google Maps)
U.S. Department of Labor investigations at four Northern Virginia Jersey Mike’s franchise locations have found the operator allowed more than a dozen employees under the age of 16 to perform dangerous tasks and work longer than permitted hours.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that JM Burke LLC — the Charleston, South Carolina-based operator — violated the Fair Labor Standards Act at locations in Ashburn, South Riding, Springfield and Sterling, according to an agency news release.
Shreve Road approaching the Pioneer Lane intersection in Idylwood (via Google Maps)
Detectives have charged a 17-year-old boy with DUI-related manslaughter and maiming in a Nov. 20 crash that killed one teen and seriously injured four others in Fairfax County’s Idylwood area.
In a news release, Fairfax County police said the boy was driving under the influence in a 2003 Lincoln Aviator when he crested a hill on Shreve Road “at a high rate of speed” around 5 a.m. that morning.
Comedian Nate Bargatze will bring his stand-up show to George Mason University's EagleBank Arena tonight (photo by Craig Hunter Ross)
Friday night’s performance by comedian Nate Bargatze is expected to draw the largest crowd ever to EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, according to Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which operates the arena.
Over 10,400 tickets have been sold for the event, which would break the arena’s record of 10,356 patrons for a concert by Phish on Oct. 8, 1994, Monumental said in a news release. The arena, originally known as the Patriot Center, opened in 1984.