The trial for a Herndon man facing charges in the slaying of his wife and another man will begin nearly two years after the killings occurred.
Brendan Banfield, 39, was indicted Monday (Sept. 16) on four counts of aggravated murder in connection to the stabbing of his wife, Christine Banfield, and the shooting of a man at their home in the Frying Pan area in February 2023.
The Fairfax County County Board of Supervisors is exploring its taxing options, including possible taxes on meals and event admissions, in the hopes of reducing its reliance on property taxes.
Supervisors discussed new revenue diversification proposals at Tuesday’s (Sept. 17) budget policy committee meeting after calling on County Executive Bryan Hill to identify ways to ease the tax burden on homeowners and fill reported shortfalls in state funding for public schools.
An internal investigation is underway after a police officer shot and killed a Reston woman during a welfare check on Monday (Sept. 16).
In an update on the incident released yesterday (Wednesday), the Fairfax County Police Department identified the officer as a 14-year veteran assigned to the Reston Patrol District with crisis intervention training (CIT).
A former Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy will serve six years in prison for distributing drugs to a jail inmate and to women who engaged in prostitution at an apartment he leased, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia says.
The sentence was handed down yesterday (Wednesday) after Robert Theodore Sanford Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to distribute cocaine and opioids, including fentanyl and suboxone, and to providing contraband in prison.
Car Tax Payment Deadline Looming — “Personal property taxes — better known as car taxes — are due on Monday, Oct. 7. Bills were mailed this summer, and there are many convenient ways to pay.” The tax can be paid online, by phone, by mail and in person at the Fairfax County Government Center or a designated library. [Fairfax County Government]
Animal Cruelty Investigation in Reston — “An officer with Fairfax County Animal Protection Police is investigating the report of an animal cruelty incident involving dogs at a home in Reston, according to court documents…The witness told police he saw a man ‘using a child’s bicycle to strike what he believed to be a dog in the backyard of the residence.'” [Patch]
Longtime Fairfax Senator Gets Portrait — “Virginia’s longest-serving state senator when he retired in January, [Richard] Saslaw is getting his own permanent perch in the white-columned building where he spent 44 years as a senator and four before that as a state delegate: an official portrait. Unveiled on Wednesday afternoon in the General Assembly Building, the painting was installed afterward in the Capitol next door.” [Washington Post]
Solar Energy Program Opens to Residents — “Solar Switch is back for another round. The group buying program helps residents learn about and save on rooftop solar systems, optional electric vehicle chargers and/or battery storage…To date, over 6,000 households have accepted an offer from Solar Switch, including 248 in Fairfax County.” [Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination]
Reston Safeway to Stay Put — “The Chevy Chase Land Company…announced a total of 105,954 square feet of eight new leases and six renewals in their office and retail portfolio in Chevy Chase and Bethesda, MD, as well as Reston…Safeway and Cafesano both renewed leases totaling 56,835 square feet at South Lakes Village [Center].” [CityBiz]
West Falls Church Medical Center Plans Move — “ProHealth Medical Center is slated to relocate to an office nearly five times its size, Human Resources Manager Haley Bui told ARLnow. Currently located at 2946 Sleepy Hollow Road, the provider intends to move to a 7,200-square-foot office at 107 Park Place sometime between April and June of 2025.” [ARLnow]
McLean Home for Sale for Over $22M — “A nearly 3-acre McLean estate marked by a ‘timeless’ 14,000-square-foot mansion and lush landscaping has hit the market for $22.25 million.” Features of the property at 1150 Chain Bridge Road include a “library with built-in bookcases…lower-level game and exercise rooms and sauna, an outdoor pool, tea house and koi pond and an expansive north lawn the listing describes as ideal for a ‘game of croquet or garden party.'” [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Thursday — Showers are possible before 11am and after 2pm, accompanied by mostly cloudy skies and a high around 78°F. Expect a 20% chance of precipitation. Thursday night will be partly cloudy, and the temperature will drop to around 63°F. [NWS]
Dozens of volunteers will break out the work gloves and garden shears this Saturday (Sept. 14) to eliminate invasive plants around the “LOVE” sign by the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Vienna.
The cleanup will clear the way for a native plant meadow that its organizer, the nonprofit Sustainability Matters, hopes will spawn similar beautification efforts all along the 45-mile-long regional trail.
A reformer pilates studio is coming soon to the Village Center at Dulles south of Herndon.
Club Pilates is slated to open a 2,539-square-foot location in the plaza, which is anchored by Giant. It already has a location at Fox Mill Shopping Center in Herndon.
The path to the Sugarland Run trails behind Hunters Creek pool in Herndon is more straightforward now following the completion of a pedestrian bridge.
The Town of Herndon’s Department of Public Works held a ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this week to celebrate the new bridge, which is now open for public use.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has begun looking at reducing speed limits on a select number of roads across the county.
The board’s transportation committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday) included a preliminary discussion on how the county can get the ball rolling on addressing roads with speed limits of 25 mph.
The greatest concentration of wealth in Fairfax County isn’t in the mansions of McLean or the waterfront estates near Mount Vernon that once counted former football team owner Dan Snyder among their residents.
The county’s wealthiest spot is, in fact, a sliver of Dunn Loring off of the I-495 and I-66 interchange that’s packed with single-family homes, according to the Business Journals Wealthy 1,000, a ranking of the 1,000 wealthiest zip codes in the U.S.
