Burke and Springfield: Independent Carey Campbell Enters Braddock Supervisor Race
Carey Campbell announced he has entered the race for Braddock District supervisor as an Independent, joining incumbent Republican John Cook and Democrat challenger Janet Oleszek.
Dr. Seuss-themed 23rd Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards
Wesley Pan of Great Falls-based Boy Scouts of America Troop 55 was humble about receiving the Youth Volunteer Group award. “We’re just happy to help the community and make a difference,” he said.
What's Coming in Springfield?
Sites and developments
GSA Warehouse 6808 Loisdale Road, Building A. The large warehouse off Loisdale Road in Springfield is in the running to become the new headquarters of the FBI. The building, owned by the General Services Administration (GSA) is competing with sites in Greenbelt and Landover.
Fairfax County School Board to Consider Nondiscrimination Policy Change
When the members of the School Board reconvene on May 7, they’re scheduled to act on whether or not to add “gender identity” to the list of nondiscrimination categories for all Fairfax County Public Schools students, employees or applicants for employment.
Protest Precedes Police Meeting at Fairfax County Government Center
Themed subcommittees announced at second police review commission meeting.
Increased Fairfax County Police presence was noticeable at the rear of the room after three masked men entered the second meeting of the Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
Transurban Begins Grant Program for Express Lanes Corridor Nonprofits
Transurban, the company that operates the 95 and 495 Express lanes, announced earlier this month the launch of a community grant program for non-profit organizations working in or benefiting the Express Lanes corridor.
Springfield Family Donated Books to Establish Libraries in Africa
As parents of three homeschool children, North Springfield residents Adam and Jerritt Dayhoff go through a lot of books. They were reminded just how many books, as well as how many they weren’t using, when the family moved to the area in September 2012.
Fairfax County and Springfield Communities Celebrate the Life of Karen Brown
Springfield resident Sam Martin remembers Karen Brown as the exemplary neighbor. “She was a wonderful friend who wouldn’t drive by the house without stopping,” he said. “She was always welcoming you in, and a fantastic cook.”
Thomas Jefferson Class of 2019: 70% Asian, 1.6% Black
Some say unbalanced admissions demographics at Northern Virginia’s top high school speaks to system-wide equity problems.
Consider: 70.2 percent Asian, 20.7 percent White, 5.1 percent Multiracial/Other, 2.4 percent Hispanic, 1.6 percent Black: This is the ethnic breakdown of the 493 students admitted to the 2019 class of the Fairfax County Public Schools magnet institution Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
Fairfax County Pays $2.95 Million to Settle John Geer Wrongful Death Suit
More than seven months after the Geer family lawyer Michael Lieberman filed a $12 million wrongful death civil suit in Circuit Court against Fairfax County Police, the two sides reached a $2.95 million settlement, announced Tuesday, April 21.
Nordstrom Rack Opens at Springfield Town Center
Seattle-based family clothing retailer Nordstrom will open the 176th location of its Nordstrom Rack discounted store at Springfield Town Center.
West Springfield Theatre Presents 'Merrily We Roll Along'
For a group of high school drama students full of hopes and dreams for the future, the message in performing a show where the tragic consequences of poor decisions are played out over the course of 20 years isn’t lost on them.
Melissa Belote Ripley Went From Summer League Standout to Olympian
Melissa Belote Ripley’s former swimming coach Ed Solotar had two requirements: “You’ve got to want to win and want to get better,” said Belote Ripley, who was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Springfield. “To have to have that burning desire to always be the best, a fire in your belly to really want to win, to work -- that was easy for me, that’s just how I was.”
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Completes Purchase of Springfield Town Center
The Philadelphia-based firm Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust announced April 1 it had closed on acquiring Springfield Town Center from the previous owners at Vornado Realty Trust, based in New York.
Missing Civil War Marker Plaques Find a Home at Fairfax Station Railroad Museum
When Fairfax Station native Lee Hubbard was stationed with the U.S. Army in Baltimore, he would come home every weekend, sometimes more often than that. On a visit in the spring of 1959, Hubbard and his brother Bob went to check out something some local children had been talking about.
Prisoner Escapes from Fairfax Hospital, Gets Recaptured
Social media aids manhunt
Around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, March 31, Wossen Assaye overpowered the female member of his two-guard private security detail while the male was out of his hospital room. Assaye was reportedly in shackles on a hospital gurney before the struggle.
Springfield: Getting into Marian Homes
Remodeling project to provide for residents with intellectual and or physical disabilities.
When the new residents of Marian Homes’ latest remodeling project move in to the Gresham Street house in north Springfield, Fairfax resident and Marian volunteer John Germain hopes they feel at home.
Northern Virginia Training Center in Fairfax to Close by March 2016
From institution to community, finding homes for those hard to place.
Joseph McHugh has lived at the Northern Virginia Training Center for 35 years, moving in when he was a teenager. McHugh has cerebral palsy and colostomy and severe spasticity issues. At the training center, McHugh works with a speech pathologist, nurse, on-campus dietician and is close to an X-ray machine, dental facility and clinic on the grounds.
Fairfax County School Board Votes Down Veterans Day School Holiday
Fairfax Station resident Steven Hunt, retired U.S. Navy, put it bluntly: “Votes count, words don’t.” That was following a vote in which all but two members of the Fairfax County School Board voted against an amendment to the 2015-2016 calendar that would have made Veterans Day a school holiday.
Del. Dave Albo to Seek Re-election
Del. Dave Albo (R-42) recently announced he had submitted paperwork on March 18 to run in the Republican primary and seek re-election for his seat.
West Springfield High School Hosts Job and Opportunity Fair
Robinson graduate Jackson Muse was looking for some professional direction. Currently a junior political science major at Shepherd University in West Virginia, he’s worked at Barnes & Noble but is potentially interested in counseling for the Fairfax County Park Authority, or helping open the new Wegmans at Hilltop Village Center.
League of Women Voters Hosts Forum on Firearms, Domestic Violence and Suicide in Burke
Among intimate partner homicides in Fairfax County in 2009 and 2010, firearms were the fatal weapon 60 percent of the time, nearly double the next closest implement: knives. Fairfax County domestic violence coordinator Sandra Bromley shared this and further information at an information forum on gun use in domestic violence and suicide held at Pohick Library on March 22.
Fairfax County Town Hall Budget Meeting Scheduled in Franconia
Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee) and Fairfax County School Board chairman Tammy Derenak-Kaufax were scheduled host one of the last town hall meetings for the advertised FY2016 county budget on March 25 at the Franconia Governmental Center in Alexandria.
Emotional Beginning for Fairfax County Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission
While several other members of the recently created Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission stated their general intent to listen and learn and help, Salvatore Culosi had a more specific request.
Students From Around Fairfax County Recognized for Promoting Peace
After a friend of South County High School senior Sakira Coleman was sexually assaulted while running on a local public path, Coleman decided to take action and started the “Fight for Your Right to Run at Night” program.
Nova nursing students awarded Harriet H. Fatzinger Memorial Scholarships at Fort Belvoir
In 2011, Mount Vernon resident Dr. Glenn B. Fatzinger and his daughter Jennifer created a pair of scholarships to memorialize their wife and mother Harriet H. Fatzinger.
No Evidence of Problems with Foxes and Coyotes in Springfield
Though it’s not uncommon to have additional sightings of wildlife such as foxes and coyotes in late winter and early spring, according to Fairfax County Police Department spokesperson Lucy Caldwell, Animal Control Services doesn’t have any anecdotal information pointing to problems with the two species.
First Meeting Set for Fairfax County Police Commission
With endorsement, albeit non-unanimous, from the Board of Supervisors, the ad hoc commission organized by board chairman Sharon Bulova to review Fairfax County Police Department practices will hold its first meeting March 23.
Telegraph Road Widening Completed in Alexandria
Though the morning of the ribbon-cutting was damp and chilly, Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee) said he was thankful the ceremony was scheduled for Wednesday rather than Thursday.
West Springfield Grad’s Nonprofit Helps New Mothers
Rather than diving into the surf at a sunny southern beach, Springfield resident Sarah Musa spent the first day of her spring break delivering care packages to Howard University Hospital.
Fairfax County hosts first Inmate Resource Fair.
They’re hoping the third time will be a charm: 34-year-old Demeterius Spann of the Richmond Highway area of Alexandria and 29-year-old Nydale Sheppard of Reston have each been incarcerated three times.
Swimmers From Around Fairfax County Raise $23,000 for Breast Cancer Research
In the last five years, young swimmers on the Shark Tank Racing Squad have seen one family lose a mother from breast cancer and another’s grandmother diagnosed.
1965 Luther Jackson graduates from Springfield and Alexandria remember the county’s only African American high school.
Florence King was pretty impressed with her school bus driver. The Alexandria resident grew up on Old Telegraph Road and rode the bus to both Drew Smith Elementary School in Gum Springs and Luther Jackson High School, prior to desegregation. King graduated from Luther Jackson in 1965.
Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce to Install New Chairman
Sean O’Connell looks to expand and increase dialogue among membership.
In his 30 years as a certified public accountant with the firm PBMares, Sean O’Connell has worked in Harrisonburg, Fredericksburg and spent close to the last decade in northern Virginia.
Fairfax County Swimmers Shine at States
Swimmers from 36 high schools from around Virginia competed in the Virginia High School League 6A state championship held in Richmond on Feb. 20.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova Bulova to Create Transparency Review Commission
Group would include citizens, legal community and other organizations.
When Alexandria resident Natasha McKenna was removed from life support and died on Feb. 8, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office posted a release on the county website.
Community Reviews Plans for Silas Burke Property
Members of the Burke and West Springfield communities were invited to review the plans of Sunrise Development, LLC to build an assisted living facility on the property of the Silas Burke House.
Fairfax County School Board Discusses New AAP Center at Poplar Tree
Board seeks more community feedback before taking action.
Greenbriar West Elementary School is far from the only Fairfax County Public School with an overcrowding problem.
Dead or Alive: Virginia General Assembly Lawmakers Pick Their Legislative Highlights at the Crossover
HB1872: Would have required the Board of Education to arrange a special training program for principals working with struggling schools.
Virginia General Assembly Reaches Crossover
Bills live, die or fold into other legislation before review by the opposite chamber.
As the current meeting of the Virginia General Assembly neared the one-month mark, legislators in the House of Delegates and Senate had to finalize work on bills they would send to their counterparts for consideration.
New Aldi to Open on Backlick Road in Springfield
German grocery fills vacancy left by Fischers True Value.
For years, the family-owned Fischers True Value hardware store on Backlick Road was a Springfield mainstay.
‘Stuff the Bus’ in Springfield Brings in 1,200 Pounds of Food for Koinonia
For the past five years, Fairfax County has put together “Stuff the Bus: Helping Fairfax Families” food donation events in collaboration with local grocery stores, nonprofit organizations and Fastran buses with drivers from MV Transportation.
Burke, Fairfax Station, Springfield and Mount Vernon: Describe your ideal Valentine's Day Date
Sev Kerat, senior at South County High School, Springfield resident: “We’d go ice skating, or something else active to move about and set the mood. Doing an activity makes me feel relieved instead of uptight.”
Grace Presbyterian in Springfield Hosts Holy Land Film Series
For more than three generations, peace has eluded Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, an area known as the Holy Land.
First Art Steffen Scholarship Awarded to student in Centreville
For nearly three decades, Edward Arthur “Art” Steffen taught at Fairfax County Public Schools.
Uber prominent at state Sens. Marsden and Saslaw joint town hall in Falls Church.
Though over a dozen taxicabs sat in the parking lot of Sleepy Hollow Elementary School, inside it was clear everyone drove themselves.
Matthew Charged In West Potomac Alumna Hannah Graham Murder
Suspect faces life in prison.
Nearly five months after the disappearance of University of Virginia sophomore and West Potomac High School alumna Hannah Graham, the primary suspect in her death investigation has been indicted by a grand jury in Albemarle County.
Fairfax County Judge Orders More John Geer Materials Released
Family’s lawyer’s motions supported.
Though extensive, the thousands of pages of documents, dozens of audio files and handful of videos released last month by Fairfax County, documenting the shooting death of Springfield resident John Geer, aren’t exhaustive.
Teen Sex Trafficking Information Forum Held at West Springfield High School
Amy DiGiulian of Springfield came to the meeting for general information on human trafficking. “I had an overall concern,” said the mother of students at Robert E. Lee High School, Key Middle School and Garfield Elementary School.
Fairfax County Goes Public with Geer Documents
FCPD report confirms John Geer was shot while unarmed, hands raised.
Of the seven eyewitness accounts of the shooting death of John Geer, only one describes Geer quickly bringing his hands down to his waist. That was the perspective of PFC Adam Torres, the officer who shot Geer in the chest, killing him in the doorway of his home on Aug. 29, 2013.