morning notes

GW Parkway Will Be Closed on Sunday — “The northbound lanes of the GW Parkway will be closed this Sunday between Spout Run in Arlington and Chain Bridge Road in McLean. The closure, from about 6 a.m.-4 p.m., is for the removal of ‘an abandoned vehicle that is below the road near the Potomac River.'” [ARLnow]

Alexandria Man Found Guilty in Springfield Killing — “A 28-year-old man who fled to Ethiopia after the killing of a young couple in Virginia was convicted for a second time in connection with the December 2016 deaths, authorities announced Thursday. Yohannes Nessibu was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in the shooting of 22-year-old Henok Yohannes.” [The Washington Post]

Fairfax Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking — “According to court documents, in March and April 2022, Calvin Ray Brown, 50, and a co-conspirator sold counterfeit pressed pills containing fentanyl to a Fairfax County Police Department confidential source and undercover detective on multiple occasions…Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.” [DOJ]

Drive-Thru Taco Bell Proposed in Fairfax — “Planning commissioners expressed concerns about a pre-application proposal Monday evening from ABTB Mid-Atlantic, LLC to construct a Taco Bell restaurant with a drive-thru in the Boulevard Marketplace Shopping Center…Some commissioners said the new Taco Bell would likely experience the same traffic and parking issues already observed at similar drive-thru restaurants along Fairfax Boulevard.” [Patch]

Child Care Enrollment Starts Next Week — “Registration for 2023-2024 Fairfax County School Age Child Care (SACC) will begin on March 9. Registration will open on a rolling basis in alphabetical order by school…The SACC School Year Program…offers before- and afterschool care for children attending kindergarten through sixth grade in most Fairfax County public elementary schools and several community centers.” [Neighborhood and Community Services]

Couple Found Dead in Fairfax Home — Fairfax County police are conducting a death investigation after an adult man and woman were found dead in a home on the 8900 block of Walker Street. Police believe preliminarily that the “elderly couple” died in a murder-suicide incident. [FCPD/Twitter]

Four Displaced by Two-Alarm Tysons House Fire — A malfunctioning water heater started a fire in the 200 block of Trailwood Court that resulted in approximately $175,000 in property damages, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says. After an initial dispatch at 3:52 a.m. last Thursday (Feb. 23), additional Fairfax County and Arlington units had to be called to the two-story house, but no injuries were reported. [FCFRD]

Maryland Contractor Plans Fairfax County Move — “Amentum Services, Inc., a leading provider of engineering and advanced solutions and services to the U.S. government, allies, and commercial companies, will invest $495,000 to relocate its headquarters from Germantown, Maryland.” Its operations will be consolidated at 4800 Westfields Blvd in Chantilly, a move expected to create 157 new jobs. [FCEDA]

D.C. Area Sees Record High Temperatures — “It’s official: Thursday is Washington’s warmest Feb. 23 on record and one of the toastiest afternoons so early in the year. The high temperature at Reagan National Airport hit 81 degrees, breaking the previous record of 78 degrees set on Feb. 23, 1874…The high was 80 degrees at Dulles, surpassing the previous record of 77 degrees on Feb. 23, 2017.” [Capital Weather Gang]

Dulles Toll Road Ramp to Close Overnight in Tysons — “The ramp from eastbound Dulles Toll Road/Airport Access Road (Route 267) to northbound I-495 (Capital Beltway) is scheduled to close during overnight hours beginning on or about this Friday night, Feb. 24 through early morning, Monday, March 12. This ramp closure is necessary for crews to demolish the eastern section of the bridge from northbound I-495 to eastbound Dulles Toll Road” [VDOT]

Fire at Commercial Building in Merrifield — Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units responded to a building fire in the 2800 block of Dorr Avenue in Merrifield around 6 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday) that reached two alarms. The fire was extinguished after about an hour, and no injuries were reported. [FCFRD/Twitter]

Ribbon Cut on Penn Daw Development — “I was thrilled to speak at the South Alex ribbon cutting ceremony. In 2020 this entire building complex fell victim to a devastating fire, and now just three years later, we are here celebrating the completion of the renovations!” The grocery store Aldi is set to open at the development next week. [Jeff McKay/Twitter]

County Task Force Back After Assisting With Turkey Earthquake Rescues — “After an intense 11 days searching for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed buildings, members of Virginia Task Force 1 have returned home. They arrived at their base in Chantilly just before midnight on Monday, to a hero’s welcome organized by family and friends.” [WTOP]

Firefighters Tackle Brush Fires in Springfield — “As winds picked up across the DMV Tuesday evening, crews in Fairfax County dealt with several outside fires. According to a spokesperson from the Fairfax County Fire Department (FCFD), crews worked to extinguish multiple outside fires on Old Keene Mill Road near Harwood Place in West Springfield.” [WUSA9]

Fire Danger Heightened Today — “There is an increased fire danger for Tuesday, February 21st. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged during this time and remember to properly dispose of smoking material.” [Ready Fairfax/Twitter]

Mount Vernon School Board Rep to Retire — “Karen Corbett Sanders, the Mount Vernon District representative to the Fairfax County School Board, announced Feb. 15 that she will not be running for a third term later this year…Corbett Sanders told On the Move that her decision not to pursue a third term was difficult and one that she didn’t take lightly.” [On the MoVe]

FCPD Focuses on Stopping Teen Distracted Driving — “Police in Fairfax County…are ramping up traffic enforcement during distracted-driving month, partnering with schools to educate the most distracted drivers — teenagers…Officers have written 5,000 more citations and warnings to speeding and distracted drivers than this same time last year.” [WTOP]

Fire Department Adds Data Dashboard — “Our Fire and Rescue Department is constantly updating the ways it provides service to meet the needs of residents…The department launched RescueVision to provide real-time situational awareness and decision support at the 911 dispatch center.” It offers a look at service availability, transport locations and how coverage compares to other departments. [Fairfax County Government]