morning notes

One Injured in Fair Oaks Kitchen Fire — “Units are on the scene of a small kitchen fire in the 12000 blk of Ridge Knoll Drive in the Fair Oaks area. The fire is out. All occupants are accounted for. One civilian suffered minor injuries. No reported firefighter injuries.” [FCFRD/Twitter]

Tire Thefts at Tysons Dealership Under Investigation — “Fairfax County Police are investigating after the tires and rims were stolen off of four vehicles that were parked at a car dealership in Tysons Corner. It happened around 7 a.m. on May 10, at the Ourisman Honda of Tysons Corner dealership.” [WUSA9]

Belle View Pet Store to Expand With Dog Spa — “Pampered Pet and Boutique Barkery, a pet boutique that opened in October 2021 at Belle View Shopping Center, is expanding its presence there with the summer 2023 opening of a dog spa. Pampered Pet Bark Bath will open in mid-to-late July in a space two doors down from the pet shop, said Karencita Echeverri, owner of both businesses.” [On the MoVe]

Chantilly Man Raises Concerns About Liquor Lottery — “A state-run lottery to give Virginians first dibs on pricey whiskeys suffered from what was likely a human-induced flaw that wildly skewed the results, allowing several lucky participants to win multiple times…Something seemed awry as the winners posted about their good fortune online or discussed it in online chats, said Gus Guimond, 30, a Chantilly resident who belongs to the ‘DMV Bourbon Drinkers’ club on Facebook.” [The Washington Post]

Reminder: Richmond Highway Speed Limit Lowered Today — The speed limit on Richmond Highway (Route 1) will decrease from 45 to 35 mph between I-495/I-95 and Mount Vernon Highway, starting today (Tuesday). The change is intended to improve safety on the roadway, which has seen at least 12 fatal pedestrian crashes since 2015. [DCist]

Missing Oakton Man Found Dead in Shenandoah — “The body of missing George Mason University student, Mateo Cobo Zevallos, 21, was believed to be found Sunday afternoon around 12:15 p.m. at Shenandoah National Park, according to the National Park Service.” The Fairfax County Police Department confirmed yesterday (Monday) that Zevallos was found deceased, with no foul play suspected. [WUSA9]

GMU Graduates Protest Youngkin Speech — “About a dozen George Mason University students walked out of their graduation ceremony Thursday morning during Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s commencement speech…Of the graduates who did stay, some in the audience held signs reading ‘We will not debate humanity’ and ‘Mason demands action.'” [ABC7]

Democratic Committee Announces Endorsements — In this year’s school board races, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee has endorsed Ilryong Moon, Ryan McElveen, and Kyle McDaniel for the at-large seats, incumbent Melanie Meren for the Hunter Mill District and Mateo Dunne for Mount Vernon. More than 3,300 voters cast ballots in the committee’s first-ever endorsement caucus. [FCDC]

Missing Oakton Man’s Car Found — “Shenandoah National Park announced Wednesday morning that a gray Honda belonging to Mateo Luis Cabo Zevallos, 21, was found in a parking lot at mile 21 on Skyline Drive. Zevallos was last seen May 5 leaving his home in Oakton en route to George Mason University.” [Inside NoVA]

First Ride Suggests I-66 Trail Criticisms Merited — The newly opened 66 Parallel Trail segment between the Vienna Metro and Cedar Lane is “not a very pleasant ride, but it’s not as bad as the pictures make it out to be,” DCist’s transportation reporter says. On the upside, the trail has “direct connections to places people want to go,” but concerns about noise and vehicle fume exposure in places next to the highway “bear out.” [DCist]

Capitol Police Push to Expand Presence After Assault — “The U.S. Capitol Police wants to increase the number of field offices it has around the country to investigate threats to members of Congress, as well as more funding to beef up cooperation with local police departments, the agency’s chief said Tuesday, a day after a man…attacked staff members of Rep. Gerald E. Connolly” [The Washington Post]

Sister of Man Killed by FCPD Speaks — Nechelle Lemagne, sister of the man shot and killed by police in Penn Daw on May 11, says her brother “was definitely murdered,” expressing bafflement at Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis calling the officers heroes. “Nechelle said she isn’t defending her brother’s actions but questions the way police handled it.” [ABC7]

Clemyjontri Carousel Temporarily Stalled by Birds — “The Fairfax County Park Authority took its Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible carousel at Clemyjontri Park in McLean out of operation May 5 because the birds had placed nesting material in its main gear.” The carousel is expected to resume operations this weekend after staff removed the material and installed a Plexiglas barrier to prevent the birds from returning. [Gazette Leader]

Man Who Assaulted Connolly Staffers Previously Called Office — Rep. Gerry Connolly “said that staffers had previously talked to the man on the phone and he seemed off. Pham’s father said in an interview that his son was schizophrenic and has been ill since his late teens. The father said that his son had been refusing to take his medication and that he had unsuccessfully sought help for him.” [The Washington Post]

Man in Connolly’s Office Attack Tied to Earlier Assault — “The suspect is accused of attacking another person shortly after 10:30 a.m. Monday. He approached a woman sitting in her car in the Chantilly area, asked her if she was white and then smashed her windshield with a bat, police said. He’ll be charged with a hate crime and destruction of property.” [NBC4]

Youngkin Vetoes Undergrounding Utilities Bill — “On Friday, May 12, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed legislation that would have funded an underground electricity distribution line along Route 1 in Fairfax County in support of the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit project. The legislation had passed unanimously in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate.” [On the MoVe]

Police Share Plans for Future DUI Checkpoints — “Throughout the year, our Fairfax County DUI squad will host sobriety checkpoints throughout the County. District stations will also host sobriety checkpoints, between the hours are 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. The focus is to recognize those community members who are impaired and get them off the streets safely.” [FCPD]

Dead Bodies Found in Culmore and Groveton — “Two dead bodies were found in different areas of Fairfax County hours apart Saturday, police said. One body was found behind a business at the 3300 block of Glen Carlyn Drive…Hours later, officers responded to a call about another body found at the 7100 block of Mint Place” [WUSA9]

School Board Calls for Review to Address Drug Use — “As part of this review, the Board is asking the Superintendent to consider the merits of various initiatives, including creating a recovery high school, providing students and staff with access to fentanyl testing strips, placing naloxone in all classrooms with appropriately trained classroom-based staff, offering naloxone training to high school students” and more. [Karl Frisch]

Student Sports Officially Coming to Middle Schools — “For the first time, Fairfax County Public Schools is planning to launch an athletics program for middle school students. The program would start with cross country this fall. An outdoor track program would be offered in spring 2024. There would be no cost to students.” [Annandale Today]