Covering Annandale, Bailey's Crossroads, Lincolnia, and Seven Corners in Fairfax County, Virginia

Christmas trees collected through Jan. 16

The Fairfax County Recycling and Trash Department will collect Christmas trees during the first two weeks of January – through Jan. 16. Leave your tree in the curb and remove the tree stand and all lights and decorations. If you have a private trash/recycling collection service, contact that company to find out their Christmas tree … Continued

Gross hosts civic leadership seminars

Mason Supervisor Penny Gross’s annual Civic Leadership Seminars for community and homeowner association presidents and board members will start later this month. The first session, Jan. 24, will feature presentations from the police commanders of the three police districts – Mason, Franconia, and West Springfield – that serve the Mason District. The Feb. 28 session … Continued

Our top 10 blog stories in 2014

Here are the 10 most popular stories published in 2014 in the Annandale Blog, starting with the story that drew the most readers:   Woodson HS community copes with suicides, March 1 (This story got over 11,600 hits.) Stuart HS community unhappy with school’s leadership, June 6 (This piece got 92 comments, the most for  any … Continued

FCPS outlines solutions to school overcrowding

Portable classrooms handle the overflow at Glen Forest Elementary School. The proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for fiscal years 2016-20, released by Fairfax County Public Schools earlier this month outlines expected enrollment growth in the schools and offers a long list of short and long-term solutions to increase capacity. The CIP calls for a total … Continued

Gallows Road trees torn down to make way for assisted living facility

Six houses were demolished to make for an assisted living facility on Gallows Road. The developer of the Brightview assisted living facility under construction on Gallows Road was supposed to save a lot of trees, but the site looks mostly denuded. The property has been cleared to prepare for construction of a three-story 95-unit building … Continued

Police help needy family

McCaughey Officers from the Mason Police District made a difference this Christmas for needy family in the Culmore area.  Master Police Officer P. McCaughey learned of a family with no financial means to celebrate Christmas, so he encouraged his colleagues on the force and local churches to chip in and provide gifts and a Christmas … Continued

Judge rejects motion to dismiss suit against Bailey’s principal

The lawsuit filed by former employees against Bailey’s Elementary School Principal Marie Lemmon and Fairfax County Public Schools is going forward after federal judge T.S. Ellis III rejected the defendants’ request to have the case dismissed. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria Sept. 25 by a former assistant principal, two … Continued

Christmas holiday schedule

Fairfax County government offices close Dec. 24 at noon and will be closed Dec. 25 and 26. The courts are closed Dec. 24-26. Libraries are closed Dec. 24 and noon and are closed Dec. 25 and 26. RECenters and parks are closed Dec. 25 and operate on a regular schedule on Dec. 26. RECenters close … Continued

Not ready for Christmas? Don’t panic

By Annandale humorist Robert Schwaninger Like many things around the holidays, this column is woefully late. It is, therefore, the very symbol of Christmas. Unless you are one of those people who starts buying gifts in July for people who might be dead by Thanksgiving, I am reasonably certain that not everything has gone smoothly during … Continued

Bulova defends decision calling for audit of library friends

Following complaints by various library supporters about the Board of Supervisors’ Dec. 2 decision to impose an audit on friends of the library groups, Chair Sharon Bulova issued a lengthy statement explaining her reasons for the audit. Terry Maynard of the Reston Citizens Association’s Reston 2020 Coordinating Committee, Kathy Kaplan, a library volunteer and advocate, … Continued

New park planned for Mason District

Monch Farm Park is the triangular-shaped plot along Canard Street. [Image from Google Maps] Fairfax County has acquired a vacant 10-acre piece of land at 6570 Edsall Road in the Alexandria area of Mason District for use as a park, the Fairfax County Park Authority announced Dec. 17. The park will be known as Monch … Continued