Early voting for the next general election has just gotten underway, but Fairfax County’s elections staff is already planning for next year and beyond.
The county’s Office of Elections has requested $5 million to launch a multi-year rollout of new, updated voting machines as part of a $190 million spending package carried over from fiscal year 2022, which ended on June 30.
(Updated at 10:10 a.m. on 9/30/2022) Four people lost their home and a pet dog early Wednesday morning (Sept. 28) after a fire at their house in McLean.
Fairfax County and Arlington firefighters were dispatched at 1:45 a.m. to the 6900 block of Birch Street, near the West Falls Church Metro station area, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department tweeted at 7:06 a.m. that day.
Board Chair Calls on Youngkin to Withdraw Trans Student Policies — “I am so proud of the FCPS students who today stood together in support of their transgender classmates who are under threat by the proposed Model Policies. I joined the ~20,000 others providing comments to the Youngkin Administration stating my strong opposition to these Policies” [Jeff McKay/Twitter]
Teachers’ Union Also Opposes Proposed Policies — “Our union firmly opposes the VDOE 2022 Model Policies which will create an unsafe school environment for trans and nonbinary students if implemented. We urge our members to submit public comments against these proposed policies here” [Fairfax County Federation of Teachers/Twitter]
Across Fairfax County and Virginia, thousands of students walked out today (Tuesday) in protest of proposed state policies that would limit schools’ ability to support transgender and other gender-nonconforming students.
Students from more than 90 schools, including nearly 30 in Fairfax County, took a stand against policies introduced earlier this month by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin regulating everything from which bathroom a student can use to the definition of “the phrase ‘transgender student.'”
A family-owned chain of Tex-Mex restaurants will soon add Merrifield to its roster of locations across the D.C. area.
Guapo’s plans to take over the former Chevys Fresh Mex restaurant at 3052 Gate House Plaza, as the Washington Business Journal reported on Friday (Sept. 23).
There were undeniably hiccups along the way, but Fairfax County’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic earned an overall positive assessment from community surveys conducted this summer.
A general community survey issued in June received 2,148 responses, representing just a fraction of the county’s over 1.1 million residents.
A developer has officially filed plans with Fairfax County to bring housing, retail, and new office and academic facilities to Virginia Tech’s campus in Idylwood.
As a joint entity named Converge West Falls LLC, real estate investment firm Rushmark Properties and the construction company HITT Contracting have proposed replacing the existing Northern Virginia Center at 7054 Haycock Road with a 283,000-square-foot office building, up to 440 residential units, and a 2,000-square-foot retail pavilion.
Tolls on First Day of New I-66 Lanes Top $6 — “Washington-bound drivers paid an average of $6.10 during the Monday morning commute to use new Interstate 66 toll lanes from Gainesville to Centreville, according to the toll operator. The highest toll in the eastbound lanes was $6.50 at the peak of the commute, officials said.” [The Washington Post]
Monkeypox Vaccine Eligibility Expands — “The VDH announced eligibility expansion for JYNNEOS, the monkeypox vaccine to include people of any gender or sexual orientation living with HIV/AIDS or who were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the past three months.” [Fairfax County Health Department/Twitter]
With the national shortage of commercial drivers continuing to strain services from trash collection to school buses, the Town of Vienna plans to increase salaries and offer bonuses to bolster its maintenance workforce.
As part of a new incentive program, the Department of Public Works recommends that the town increase its entry-level salary for maintenance workers to $55,000 and offer a $2,000 hiring bonus to new employees with a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
Metro anticipates reducing the parking capacity at its West Falls Church station by over 700 spaces in order to accommodate a planned redevelopment of the property between I-66 and Haycock Road.
Under review by Fairfax County, the project would replace the Metro station’s surface parking lots with 24 acres of mixed-use development, including up to 900 residential units, 110,000 square feet of office, and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
