Fairfax Dispatch: News From Across the County

A cold snap hit the region this week calling to mind the severe weather that plagued the area last year. The falling temperatures make one mindful of various health and safety issues that could arise as a result. This week several Patch sites provided readers with hints on how to care for themselves, their food and their pets.

Guilty pleas from cat collectors
The two Annandale women who kept more than 160 cats in their Annandale home, Eleanor Kaufer and Paula Burns, pled guilty at their court date on Thursday, Dec. 9. to the unfit petition issued to them by the Fairfax County Animal Control. They were additionally charged with cruelty to animals and having unsanitary conditions and will return to court on Feb. 10, 2011 for those charges. Meanwhile, the animal shelter is still seeking donations for the cats. 

Everything from the theater seats, to the faucets, to the popcorn maker was up for grabs this week at a massive liquidation sale and auction at the now closed 10-screen Mount Vernon Multiplex on Richmond Highway.

Mount Vernonites attended the Council of Citizens' Associations Planning and Zoning Board meeting Monday night to hear about a Costco proposed in vacant retail space on Route 1 that was formerly occupied by the Mount Vernon Multiplex. Citizens had an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions to the attorney and project manager after the presentation.
 

Patch interviewed Jim LeMunyon, Virginia's delegate for the 67th district, after a last weekend about his views on the push to give police more power to check on immigration statuses, Fairfax County Public Schools' upcoming boundary study and other topics.


West Potomac parents questioned principal Cliff Hardison and FCPS school board member Dan Storck about the county's push to eliminate honors classes where there is an AP or IB equivalent at a West Potomac PTSA meeting Monday night and then again at a town hall meeting Tuesday morning.

Professional Photographers Take Free Family Portraits for the Holidays
On Dec. 4, Help Portrait called several professional photographers into Franconia United Methodist Church.  They set up backdrops and professional lighting and even had hair and makeup artists on hand for last minute primping. Thanks to the event, which was set up by Koinonia, a local charity in the greater Rose Hill area, more than 80 familes were able to sign up and take home professional family portraits.

Our country's founding father was known for keeping exotic animals on his farm at Mount Vernon. Keeping up with tradition, Aladdin the camel is residing at the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens during this holiday season.

Residents got a closer look at what a future Tysons may bring at a county-sponsored open house Monday night at George C. Marshall High School. Among the applications displayed were CityLine's plans for a 340,000 square foot office building, which would go up near the intersection of Dolley Madison Boulevard and Colshire Drive, and The Georgelas Group's 18-building town center, at Spring Hill Road and Route 7, near the future Tysons West metro station.


The phase of Fairfax County's Bicycle Master Plan that will outline a strategy for creating and connecting bike paths through and around Tysons Corner will be completed by mid-February. The plan for Tysons includes on- and off-road paths that will connect new Tysons streets and developments to McLean, the Town of Vienna, the City of Falls Church, the neighborhoods of Dunn Loring and Pimmit Hills and the W&OD Trail. 

Burke Resident Jerry Gordon, the President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, was recently named the Virginia Business Person of the Year by Virginia Business magazine. Gordon talks in our Q&A about how fast the county has grown in the past few decades, the high rate of minority and woman-owned businesses in the area, and what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Dominion Power's EnergyShare program provided volunteer services and grant money to Reston Interfaith and other organizations across Northern Virginia on Thursday at Four Seasons townhomes in Herndon. More than 40 Dominion volunteers worked with Reston Interfaith to make weatherization improvements to 11 of the organization's transitional homes located in Herndon, as well as the Embry Rucker Community Shelter in Reston.