Taxes and spending concerns dominate Mason District budget meeting
Griffin Outgoing County Executive Anthony Griffin and Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross addressed local residents’ concerns about taxes and spending at a Mason District Town Hall Meeting on the Fairfax County budget March 14. Griffin, who’s retiring in April after serving as the county’s CEO since 2000, presented an overview of the advertised budget for … Continued
Help Piney the cat recover from a weeklong ordeal and fall from a tree
Piney The 4Paws Rescue Team is seeking donations from the public to help finance the veterinary expenses for a cat that was rescued after spending seven days in a tree and then falling 75 feet to the ground. As a result of the fall, Piney’s leg was broken in several places, and her thorax was … Continued
Trophy Mart moving out of Annandale
Longtime Annandale institution Trophy Mart is moving because “we are outgrowing our space” at 7221 Little River Turnpike, says store employee Jessica Cangemi. “We are looking for a larger, more accessible space,” added Josh Perelman, the store’s manager. Trophy Mart, founded in Washington, D.C., in 1951, sells all sorts of awards, plaques, and promotional products, as … Continued
Walgreens moving to Annandale, on Fuddruckers site
Lawrence Leber with the design for Walgreens Plans to replace Fuddruckers—one of the only family-centered restaurants in Annandale and the site of many a soccer party—with another, unnecessary drugstore is not sitting well with members of the Annandale revitalization committee. The new Walgreens would be located on a triangle-shaped property between Little River Turnpike, Backlick … Continued
Cop school: The 911 call center
My second class of the Fairfax County Citizens Police Academy, at the McConnell Public Safety and Transportation Operations Center in Fairfax, featured presentations on the 911 call center and the forensics lab. I already wrote about the Police Department’s crime scene investigations facility in December, so I’ll just report on the 911 operations here. About … Continued
Project Lifesaver tracks wandering Alzheimer’s victims
Hofrichter demonstrates the Project Lifesaver antenna If there’s someone in your household with a tendency to wander off and get lost, you might want to check into Project Lifesaver, a program that uses radio-controlled monitors to locate missing persons. The program is designed for people with Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism, Down’s syndrome, or similar conditions. Project … Continued
Sen. Marsden’s Richmond Diary: The 2012 state budget
In this edition of Sen. Dave Marsden’s periodic reports from Richmond, he explains why the Virginia General Assembly has so far failed to pass a budget. There has been much written this past week about Democrats voting down the Senate and House budgets. The Washington Post and other writers seem to think that this is … Continued
FXCO Planning Commission delays vote on infill developments
The Campbell and Ferrara property The Fairfax County Planning Commission again delayed action on proposed infill developments on the Peace Valley Lane and Campbell and Ferrara properties. Both proposals are bitterly opposed by the affected community associations. The commission approved a request by Janet Hall, the planning commissioner representing the Mason District, to defer a … Continued
The Annandale alphabet
All these letters are from signs on businesses in Annandale. Can you identify them? Some should be really easy, while others might be more challenging.
Play ball! It’s registration time for Mason District Little League
Calling all kids age 4-12: Baseball season is starting. Registration for baseball and teeball is now open for the Mason District Little League (MDLL) spring season and will close on March 20. The MDLL is an all-volunteer organization that serves Annandale, Alexandria, and Falls Church. The first games will be April 14 at Mason District … Continued
Efforts underway to coordinate trash cleanups along FXCO streambeds
Trash along the Accotink watershed [photo from Let’s Do It! Virginia] By Liz Kirchner Federal clean water regulations now require counties to show that their water protection strategies are working to reduce trash like plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts, and food containers in streams and rivers. To do that, Fairfax County is harnessing community concerns … Continued
Fairfax County Republicans go for Romney over Paul
Mitt Romney got 65.2 percent of the vote in Fairfax County in the Republican primary yesterday, which is a bit more than the 59.5 percent statewide vote for Romney, the Virginia Board of Elections reports. The Virginia Republican primary doesn’t have a huge amount of credibility, though, as Ron Paul and Romney were the only … Continued
Library proposed as solution to overcrowded elementary school
Bailey’s Elementary School is way overcrowded, and even if there was funding for an addition, there isn’t enough land, and it isn’t structurally feasible to add another story. So a group of parents have come up with an innovative solution—add some classroom space at the nearby Woodrow Wilson Library, which is scheduled to start renovations … Continued
FXCO Citizens Police Academy offers a glimpse behind the badge
This the first in a series of reports about my experiences in the Fairfax County Citizens Police Academy. A mock shopping center in the Criminal Justice Academy The first session of the Spring 2012 Fairfax County Citizens Police Academy took place March 1 at the Criminal Justice Academy in Chantilly and offered a tour of … Continued
Singing competition to benefit the homeless
Are you or your friends or kids trying to be the next Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood? Here’s your chance to get noticed: Enter the Capital County Challenge—A Battle of the Voices, a competition to showcase up-and-coming vocal talent in the country and country-pop crossover genre. There are two division: ages 8-14 and 15-22. The … Continued