News

Investigators are pressing additional charges against four people arrested earlier this year for allegedly setting fire to Fairfax County’s urban search and rescue training facility in Lorton.

The county’s Office of the Fire Marshal has charged 26-year-old Ricky Torres of Fairfax, 18-year-old Brice Bartley of Fairfax, 18-year-old Aidan Smith of Clifton and an unnamed 17-year-old with arson-related offenses, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) announced today (Thursday).


News

Fairfax County police are investigating a series of potentially connected burglaries targeting mostly fast-casual chain restaurants, dating back to July.

The first burglary was reported on July 13 at 8:05 a.m., drawing officers to a Taco Bamba in Springfield’s Backlick Shopping Center (6691-A Backlick Road).


Around Town

When photographer Lloyd Wolf sought to document a substance abuse rehabilitation program at Lorton Correctional Complex nearly four decades ago, his request was met with outright hostility.

It was the late 1980s, and Washington, D.C., was grappling with a crack cocaine epidemic and violent turf wars.


News

Plans for upgrades at two NOVA Parks-owned Fairfax County properties are getting a boost under the regional park system’s latest capital budget.

The fiscal years 2027-2031 budget adopted by the NOVA Parks Board of Directors on Sept. 17 allocates $1.5 million for campground renovations at Pohick Bay Regional Park in Lorton and $880,000 for light show improvements at Bull Run Regional Park’s Festival of Lights in Centreville.


News

Fairfax County leaders have reacted favorably to a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) proposal for expanding Express Lanes on I-95 to reduce traffic bottlenecks.

VDOT officials sketched out their plan on Tuesday (Sept. 22) for converting the existing reversible I-95 Express Lanes, which can be used only in one direction at a time, into a bidirectional network running 45 miles from Fairfax south to Spotsylvania County.


News

With the Fairfax County Animal Shelter’s Michael Frey campus closed for renovations for the next several months, conditions are getting a little cramped at its Lorton location.

To help more than 60 pets find their forever homes a little more quickly, Fairfax County Animal Services is partnering with the BISSELL Pet Foundation to waive all adoption fees during an “Empty the Shelters” event this weekend, from Friday (Sept. 25) through Sunday (Sept. 27).


News

Nearly 250 acres of land in Lorton that once served as a dumping ground for construction debris could soon become a haven for families and birding enthusiasts.

Waste Management, the owner of the former Lorton Landfill site at 10001 Furnace Road, broke ground on Sept. 2 on a new public park that will feature trails, a playground, an amphitheater, restrooms, and scenic views for taking in birds or the Potomac River to the east.


News

One adult and five teenagers have been arrested in connection with a fire that burned down a training facility for Fairfax County’s urban search and rescue team this summer, police announced yesterday (Thursday).

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department was dispatched at 5:20 p.m. on June 27 after receiving reports of heavy black smoke issuing from a storage facility in the 9900 block of Furnace Road in Lorton.


News

Visitors from around Virginia came to Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton to celebrate Women’s Equality Day at the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial last week (Aug. 26).

Hosted by NOVA Parks, Wednesday’s event commemorated the women who took part in the suffrage movement, which fought for women’s right to vote leading up to the implementation of the 19th Amendment in 1920.


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