Around Town

This summer will be Cold Stone Creamery’s last at Vienna Marketplace.

The ice cream shop will vacate 205 Maple Avenue by Aug. 31 to make way for fast-casual restaurant Taïm Mediterranean Kitchen, according to a leasing agent for KLNB, which owns the shopping center.


Countywide

Facing financial constraints, Fairfax County hopes to defer some public safety projects as part of its bond referendum plan.

At a Fairfax County Planning Commission meeeting late last month, county staff announced intentions to establish a 2024 bond referendum for the Tysons Fire Station. The move would push a referendum for the Chantilly Fire Station from 2024 to 2030 and plans for the fire department’s well-fit training facility to 2030.


News

The Town of Vienna intends to lower its real estate tax rate for a third consecutive year, as home values continue to soar.

Released on Monday (March 6), the town’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 — which will begin on July 1 — cuts the real estate tax rate by a quarter of a cent, decreasing it to 20 cents per $100 of a property’s assessed value.


Countywide

High School Students Will Get Free Virtual Mental Health Services — “Fairfax County Public Schools has partnered with Hazel Health, giving some 61,000 students access to the service, according to the county’s contract…A pilot program was expected to launch by the beginning of January but was delayed. Access to Hazel Health’s services is expected to be available later this spring” [WTOP]

Doctor Gets Prison Time for Prescribing Drugs in Fatal Overdose — A federal judge sentenced Dr. Robert Cao, 39, of Lafayette, Louisiana, to 15 months for “illegally prescribing controlled substances to a man who died of an overdose” in Fairfax in May 2021. A former Falls Church resident, Cao wrote prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone to the victim at least five times despite not being his doctor. [NBC4]


News

(Updated at 12:10 p.m. on 3/9/2023) A plan to reconfigure the West Falls Church Metro station’s parking and bus facilities in anticipation of redevelopment will soon be finalized.

The finance and capital committee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Board of Directors is set to vote tomorrow (Thursday) on whether to accept a staff report recommending the proposed changes, which would significantly reduce the number of parking spaces and bus bays at the station in Idylwood.


Around Town

Though they won’t appear among the best director nominees at the Oscars this Sunday (March 12), female and gender non-conforming filmmakers will be celebrated tonight (Wednesday) at the Mosaic District.

The Merrifield neighborhood’s Angelika Film Center (2911 District Avenue) is hosting Lunafest — a traveling film festival that showcases movies by and about women — to mark International Women’s Day.


Countywide

County Advertises Flat Real Estate Tax Rate — “The advertised real estate tax rate is $1.11 per $100 of assessed value. That is the county’s current rate and was proposed to remain the same under County Executive Bryan Hill’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal. The same rate or a lower rate can be adopted during the budget process, but a higher rate can not be considered.” [Patch]

Eight Displaced by Pimmit Hills House Fire — Fairfax and Arlington county firefighters were dispatched to the 2000 block of Griffith Road at 9:02 p.m. on Monday (March 6) after an unattended candle ignited a fire in the one-story house. No one was injured, but eight people were displaced and the fire caused about $30,000 in damages. [FCFRD]


Countywide

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Over the past two years, salaries have ticked up for local elected officials across Northern Virginia, and Fairfax County doesn’t want to get left out.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 today (Tuesday) to consider raising the annual pay to somewhere in the $125,000 to $130,000 range for board members and up to $140,000 to $145,000 for the chairman at a public hearing later this month.


News

A 26-year-old man from Vienna died on Saturday (March 3) after crashing in the Rosslyn tunnel on I-66.

Virginia State Police are now investigating the single-vehicle crash in Arlington County, including to determine whether “excessive speed” was a contributing factor, according to a news release.


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