Live Fairfax is a bi-weekly column exploring Fairfax County. This recurring column is sponsored and written by Sharmane Medaris of McEnearney Associates. Questions? Reach Sharmane at 813-504-4479.
Happy New Year Fairfax!
Reston
Bestselling and award-winning author Kwame Alexander and illustrator Dara Coulter will visit Reston later this month for a book signing and reading.
Alexander and Coulter will take part in the event at Scrawl Books (11911 Freedom Drive) on Sunday at 4 p.m. The team is celebrating the release of “An American Story,” a picture book that tells the story of teacher struggling to help her students understand the history of American slavery.
Tysons Corner Center Sees Uptick in Arrests — “Arnest supervises the [Fairfax County Police] Tysons Urban Team. It’s a unit that launched in 2013. Data shared with WUSA9 shows the unit made 787 arrests in 2022. That’s compared to 377 in 2021 and 406 in 2020. They say…those number[s] were likely smaller because of the pandemic.” [WUSA9]
Nashville-Style Chicken Sandwich Chain Coming for Hybla Valley — “A rapidly expanding restaurant chain has plans to open a new location in the Hybla Valley section of Alexandria. Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken recently signed a lease with KLNB to occupy an end space at 7508C Richmond Highway.” [On the MoVe]
Fairfax County ended 2022 with a “medium” level of COVID-19 in the community, the first time it reached that level since August.
Continuing an upward trend that began around Thanksgiving, the county is averaging 291 cases per day for the past week, the highest weekly average since Aug. 13, per Virginia Department of Health data.
A daycare provider from a Montessori school in McNair has been arrested for assaulting a child.
Wesal Houd Abu Issa, 42, of Herndon was arrested on yesterday (Wednesday) for allegedly restraining an 18-month-old to a chair using tape at Little Oaks Montessori Academy (12525 Dulles Technology Drive), according to Fairfax County police.
Within the next six to nine months, the inventory of burial sites at Chestnut Grove Cemetery in the Town of Herndon will be maxed out.
That’s why the town is embarking on an expansion of burial sites within the existing cemetery property, according to Cindy Roeder, the director of the town’s parks and recreation department.
Fairfax County property owners are officially required to contain running bamboo on their property — or face potential fines.
Effective as of Jan. 1, the county’s new running bamboo ordinance calls for property owners to get the invasive grass species under control and imposes civil penalties on property owners who let it “spread to adjacent properties or any public right-of-way.”
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(Updated at 8:45 a.m.) Two Shot in Bailey’s Crossroads — “Officers are in the 6000 blk of Glen Carlyn Dr in Bailey’s Crossroads for a shooting. Two victims taken to the hospital with injuries not considered life threatening. No suspect description. Call 911 w/info.” [FCPD/Twitter]
Summer Camp Registration Coming Up — “Registration for Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) summer camps serving children ages 3 to 16 will begin Jan. 10, 2023. Registrations fill up very quickly, so families are encouraged to visit the Park Authority Camps webpage to view more than 1,000 programming options to prepare” [FCPA]
It could be a little more expensive to visit some Fairfax County parks this upcoming year.
The Fairfax County Park Authority is soliciting public feedback on a proposal to push up fees at local park facilities.
A bestselling author who wrote a book on the cost of racism will be the keynote speaker for Reston Community Center’s 38th annual Reston Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration.
The main event on Monday, Jan. 16, features Heather McGhee, the author of The New York Times bestseller “The Sum of Us: What Racism Cost Us and How We Can Prosper Together.” The address begins at 11 a.m. at RCC Hunters Woods. Tickets are $5 for Restonians and $20 for all others.