Around Town

Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but Christmas is already in the air at Tysons Corner Center.

After adding holiday decor to its Plaza earlier this month, including a 40-foot-tall walk-in tree, 10-foot-tall snowflakes and a sleigh, the mall rolled out the red carpet today (Thursday) for Santa Claus, who arrived at 7:30 a.m. for a VIP event in Fashion Court on the first floor outside Nordstrom.


Countywide

(Updated at 10:55 a.m. on 11/10/2023) About 40% of registered Fairfax County voters participated in this year’s general election, which decided state and local representatives who will shape policies on issues from abortion to land use in the coming years.

As of Friday (Nov. 10), 308,855 of the county’s 787,171 registered voters cast a ballot — a 39.2% turnout rate, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections.


News

Three men have been arrested for coercing women into sex work at “high-end” brothels in Massachusetts and Virginia, the Department of Justice announced yesterday (Wednesday).

Locations used for the brothels include units in Hanover Tysons and Avalon Mosaic, apartment buildings in Tysons and Merrifield, according to a court affidavit by a Department of Homeland Security special agent.


Countywide

Location Chosen for New FBI HQ — “Federal officials have decided the FBI will leave its iconic but decaying headquarters in downtown Washington for the Maryland suburbs, multiple people familiar with the decision said Wednesday…An empty 61-acre plot outside the Greenbelt Metro station” will win out over another Prince George’s County site and a Springfield warehouse favored by Virginia. [Washington Post]

Departing Pandas Pass Through Fairfax County — The Smithsonian National Zoo’s three giant pandas traveled through Fairfax County yesterday (Wednesday) on their way to Dulles International Airport. With the departure of Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji, the D.C. zoo will be panda-free for the first time in over 50 years. [Fairfax County Government/Twitter]


News

Vienna residents will have to wait a few more days for the results of the town’s first-ever November election.

While Mayor Linda Colbert was easily reelected in an uncontested race, the makeup of next year’s town council remains less clear, thanks to a slew of write-in votes that could determine one of the six open seats.


News

An information technology consulting firm based in Reston is growing faster than any other company in the D.C. area, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Goldschmitt and Associates topped the newspaper’s 2023 ranking of the 50 fastest-growing companies in the region, as determined by the average percentage of revenue growth it saw from 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022.


Countywide

Propelled by a near-sweep of races in Northern Virginia, Democrats have retaken control of the Virginia House of Delegates and retained control of the state Senate.

With a few races still to be called early Wednesday, Democrats appear to have won at least 51 seats in the 100-member House and 21 seats in the 40-member state Senate, according to results compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. This will mark the third consecutive election that control of the House has shifted — Democrats wrested it away from Republicans in 2019 but lost it in 2021.


Around Town

First Watch is bringing its avocado toast and million dollar bacon to more spots around Fairfax County.

The fast-casual cafe, which serves made-to-order food and drinks for breakfast, brunch and lunch, will open at least two more locations in the county next year — with a third potentially also in the works.


Countywide

FCPD Touts License Plate Reader Tech — “Fairfax County Police launched its license plate readers in November 2022 using technology from Flock Safety and Axon to help solve crimes and find missing persons. According to police department data, 335 cases have involved license plate reader technology in the first year of the program.” [Patch]

Urgent Care Center Coming to Penn Daw — “The South Alex mixed-use development in Penn Daw has landed its second retail tenant with the signing of a lease earlier this year between Combined Properties and Inova-GoHealth Urgent Care. The urgent care center will occupy a vacant space near the Aldi supermarket, which opened this past March.” [On the MoVe]


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