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‘Painful’ Outlook Cast for County’s Budget

McLean Citizens Association discusses county’s $4.10 billion advertised budget.

Officials cast a dreary outlook for the ongoing budget negotiations for Fairfax County’s 2018 fiscal year.

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Italian Garden Concert to Benefit Amadeus

Italian Garden concert to benefit Amadeus

McLean Citizens Urge More Changes to FCPS Pensions

McLean, Great Falls Citizens Associations discuss county teachers’ pension system.

A vocal McLean citizens group wants to see more changes to the pension system for Fairfax County Public School employees.

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Body of Missing Woman Recovered

River Rescue team finds body in river.

The body of Becky M. McCleskey, 56, of Arlington, Va., was found in the Potomac River.

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Comstock Skips Constituent-Organized Town Hall

Representative uses tele-town halls to discuss issues with voters.

A microphone reserved for U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-10) remained silent during a town hall meeting on Friday, Feb. 24, where 150 of her constituents gathered to question her.

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Great Falls Town Hall Debates $57 Million Gap in School Budget

Where to cut?

The Fairfax County Public Schools projected a $57 million shortfall in its budget for next school year, which will impact the more than 188,000 students that are projected to be educated in the system next school year.

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Astronaut Tells Elementary Students To Reach For The Stars

“Find your dream.”

Former NASA Astronaut Sandy Magnus visited Chesterbrook Elementary School in McLean for National Engineers Week on Thursday, Feb. 23.

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Finding Chippewa

I walked into the Potomac Yard PetsMart in Alexandria with my partner on a Saturday morning in 2012 expecting to quickly go in to grab some cat litter and get out.

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McLean Mansion Engulfed by Fire

A fire destroyed a mansion at 818 Turkey Run Road on Saturday, Feb. 18.

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Dance Instructor Arrested

Chase Clark Peklo, 19, of Sterling was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 16, for carnal knowledge of children between 13 and 15 years of age and five counts of possession, reproduction, distribution, solicitation and facilitation of child pornography, according to police.

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‘Main Street’ Idea Revitalized for Downtown McLean

Property owners of the Old Dominion Shopping Center and the Chain Bridge Corner Shopping Center are working to redevelop the spaces into one combined mixed-use development.

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McLean High School Parents Dive Into ‘Eye-opening Data’

Results from the Fairfax County Youth Survey presented on Thursday, Feb. 2, at the McLean High Auditorium.

More McLean students reported taking drugs and drinking alcohol last school year than the overall percentage of the county’s public school system, according to Fairfax County Public Schools.

Three Thieves Escape after Theft in Tysons

The Fairfax County Police Department is searching for suspects who evaded capture on Thursday, Feb. 9, after a dangerous pursuit by car and foot.

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Board of Supervisors to Consider Sunrise McLean Application

The MCA Board of Directors urges the Board of Supervisors to deny the application.

The McLean Citizens Association voted to remain opposed to Sunrise Senior Living’s proposed assisted living facility on land at the northwest corner of Kirby Road and Westmoreland Street.

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Tex-Mex Coming Back To Great Falls Center

New Restaurant

Triny’s Tex-Mex Grill at Great Falls Center recently closed, but another will take its place. El Tio Tex-Mex Grill will open its fifth restaurant at the location.

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Great Falls: New Monthly Dinner Raises Money And Support For Police Officers

Community News

A group in Great Falls raised over $5,000 for the organization Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) that supports the families of officers who have been killed on the job.

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Family Tragedy Hits McLean

Langley High students pay tribute to slain classmate who sings no more.

The sudden death of sophomore James Wenjie Chen, 16, and his parents ripped through Langley High School and the McLean community on Friday, Jan. 27.

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School Board Punts McLean Highlander Deal Down The Field

The McLean High School Athletic Boosters is leading an effort to approve a $250,000 deal that would pay for three new scoreboards for the high school’s football, baseball and softball fields.

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Citizens Debate Proposed Assisted Living Facility in McLean

Nearly 200 people crowded into three rooms of the McLean Community Center on Tuesday, Jan. 24, to voice their opposition or support for the proposed Sunrise Senior Living development on land at the northwest corner of Kirby Road and Westmoreland Street.

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McLean Community Outlook 2017

Projects Under Scrutiny in McLean

Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville) and Benjamin Wiles, his staff aide who works on land-use issues, identified some of the developments within the Dranesville District - and specifically in McLean - that they will be focusing on over the next couple of months.

McLean Citizens Urge County to Address Its Multi-Billion-Dollar Problem

Two resolutions call attention to county’s pension system.

Citizens in McLean are worried about the county’s pension system and the county’s inability to pay for the obligations it owes its retirees.

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Share: Poverty is Not Seasonal

Donations received during the holidays enabled Share to help more people from Great Falls, McLean, Pimmit Hills and Vienna area than it has ever helped before.

McLean Family Restaurant

McLean Family Restaurant

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McLean: Renowned Hip-Hop Artist Challenges President-Elect’s Character

Chuck D speaks at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration at the McLean Community Center.

“It is not about Trump,” he said. “This is about a polarized nation … the whole planet is watching every second of what goes down [in Washington, D.C.]. Character is at stake … That’s what’s going on right now.”

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Bids for Renovation of McLean Community Center Came in Under Budget

Community News

Bids to renovate the McLean Community Center, which was built in 1975, have been submitted and are lower than anticipated. “The process is pretty straightforward,” says Teresa Lepe, spokesperson for the Building Design and Construction Division of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services.

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McLean’s ‘Meeting Place’

Gov. Terry McAuliffe praises McLean Family Restaurant for ‘the best food in all of America.’

A family-owned restaurant in the Salona Village Shopping Center on Chain Bridge Road has been serving McLean for the last 47 years and has become a meeting place for the area’s high-profile elected officials, including Virginia’s governor.

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Reston: MLK Keynote: ‘How Did We Get From Barack Obama to Donald Trump?’

Reston Community Center’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration

“It was 10:45 p.m. when we heard in our little earpieces that the network was going to call the election for Obama at 11 o’clock.” Reality set in for him. “Looking around the table, I said, ‘Oh dear. When they call the election for Obama, they’re going to go to the black guy, and so I better think of something to say,’” he said, making the audience burst into laughter.

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McLean: Preparing to Prosper in 2017

Q&A: Supervisor John Foust looks into year ahead.

Q & A with Supervisor John Foust: What are you looking forward to in 2017? Do you have any personal New Year's resolutions for yourself, or major milestones you anticipate reaching?

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Great Falls Grange Revisited

Community groups coming together to take over operations of the historic building.

“Great Falls doesn’t have a gravity point,” says Jorge Adeler, owner of Adeler Jewelers in the Great Falls Village Centre. “It doesn’t have a place that unifies the community … Great Falls never has enjoyed a place that we can call ours.”

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Great Falls: Stormwater Management, Sewage Systems Discussed

Speakers Share Sewage Stats

Up to 167 homeowners in Great Falls are on the hook for following a Fairfax County Health Department regulation when it comes to monitoring their septic systems, but many are unaware.

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McLean: Man Killed in Crash on Lewinsville Road

Car Crash

Chad Cheatham, 33 of McLean, died in a single-car collision on Thursday, Dec. 29.

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Great Falls: Holiday Light Contest Results Are In

Holiday Decor

The three winners of the Celebrate Great Falls Foundation’s Holiday Decorating Contest have been selected. Each of the three winners received $200 rewards.

Police Out to Catch Drunken Drivers in Fairfax County

Grant funds new DWI Enforcement Squad.

A new squad of police officers has started patrolling the county and they have only one mission: to combat impaired driving.

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Police Chief’s Cruiser Hit by Drunken Driver

News

Fairfax County Police Department Chief Col. Edwin Roessler Jr. was rear-ended by a drunken driver in Centreville on Monday night, Dec. 12.

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McLean Student, Teammate Make National STEM Competition Finals

When Lauryn Wu of McLean was in sixth grade, her math club was dominated by boys, but she didn’t let that intimidate her. “I still went because I thought that math problems were interesting and I was good at math,” she said.

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Season of Giving in Full Swing at Share in McLean

More than 275 families, or more than 800 people, attended Share’s holiday program on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the McLean Baptist Church on Chain Bridge Road.

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Quarterback Promotes ‘Phones Down. Touchdown.’ Initiative

Redskins’ quarterback urges region to put phones down while behind the wheel.

“If I get sacked in a game, I can get back up and move onto the next play — for the most part,” he said. “But when you text and drive, you might not get back up.”

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Great Falls Lights Up for Christmas

Holiday Celebration

Hundreds of people assembled in the field of the Great Falls Village Centre for the community’s annual Christmas tree lighting on Sunday.

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McLean WinterFest Parade Celebrates Eighth Run

Holiday

More than 60 groups marched down the mile-long parade route for the WinterFest Parade in McLean on Sunday, Dec. 4. “It’s been around for a long time,” says Maureen Scholz a seven-year member of the parade’s steering committee.

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McLean: Addiction Is Not 'Somewhere Else'

Former NBA player talks to McLean about countywide drug problem.

Herren believes parents “hover over [their] kids academically, apply pressure athletically and drop the ball socially and emotionally.” He urged parents to play an active role in making sure their kids don’t need substances on a Friday night.

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McLean: Langley High to Perform First Play in Renovated Performing Arts Center

Theater

Students will be performing their first stage play “Harvey” at the newly remodeled Langley High School Performing Arts Center from Thursday, Dec. 1, through Saturday, Dec. 3. “I always select a season based on the students I have,” says Karasek. “I like to challenge them as artists.”

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Great Falls: Amalthea Ridge Plans Expansion

”You can’t keep a scientist out of the lab,” says Sarah Wehri. “I was making soap for my daughter who had super sensitive skin,” she says. “Lotion would make her breakout, so I made my first lotion for her. It was a fun challenge to start with.”

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McLean: Gratitude Abounds at Lewinsville Thanksgiving Dinner

“It’s not always easy to be grateful … we get used to the comforts around us,” Spencer Deese, 25, said during a short message during the dinner’s worship service. “Gratitude takes practice, just like any other skill.”

Great Falls: Route 7 Under Construction For 6 Years

The main challenge of the project: Maintaining the traffic while VDOT widens the road.

The Virginia Department of Transportation plans to spend $234 million on improvements to nearly seven miles of Route 7, which include widening it from four to six lanes between Reston Avenue and Jarrett Valley Drive. The project will be awarded to a contractor by January 2018 with construction starting by March 2019 and finishing in late 2025—a total of six years.

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McLean: Kirby Road Sidewalk in Three Years

Two preliminary designs for new sidewalk on Kirby Road connecting pedestrians to Chesterbrook Elementary School were presented to the community on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at a public meeting in the school’s cafeteria. The final design will be completed in 2017, land required for the projects will be acquired in 2018 and construction will start and finish in 2019.

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Santa HQ Opens at Tysons

Santa Claus makes special stop for service members

“What better way to say thank you to those who have served and our military families than to bring them Santa Claus?” says Becca Willcox, spokeswoman for Tysons Corner Center. “We’re lucky to have him here so early.”

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Mark Zetts Honored for ‘Selfless Devotion’ to Community

McLean Citizens Association presents resolution recognizing years of Zett’s leadership on planning and zoning issues.

The McLean Citizens Association voted unanimously to approve a resolution expressing its “deep gratitude and appreciation” for his “exceptional dedication and selfless devotion” to MCA and the McLean community. Mark Zetts was a member of the MCA’s Board of Directors since 2002, he spent more than nine years as chair or co-chair of the association’s Planning and Zoning Committee.

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Thousands Cast Ballots at Great Falls Library

Fairfax County expected thousands of voters to cast their ballot at the Great Falls Library off Georgetown Pike yesterday.

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Tuesday at Langley High: School is Out and Voting is In

Election 2016

Fairfax County Public Schools were closed for Election Day, but people woke up early to vote at Langley High School off of Georgetown Pike yesterday.

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McLean: Election Viewpoints 2016

Who did you vote for and why?

By 7 a.m., 361 people had submitted a ballot. The high school was the polling location for both the Chain Bridge and Langley precincts in McLean and the county’s Office of Elections expected nearly 6,000 voters to pass through its doors by the time it closed at 7 p.m.

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