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Burke: Friends of Sadie Blood Drive Returns on Valentine’s Day

In early 2010, friends of the Lauer family in Burke pulled together and organized an impromptu blood drive to support three-month-old Sadie Lauer, who was then diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Sadie underwent several surgeries to remove the cancerous mass in her neck, which required a large supply of replacement blood. The drive fell on Valentine’s Day.

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Burke and Fairfax Station: Three couples making businesses and marriages run hand-in-hand.

Some find it harder than others to keep their work and personal lives separate. In the case of three Burke businesses, their owners have completely merged the two, and been living happily ever after.

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Fairfax County: Public Safety Committee meets to discuss Ad Hoc Police Review recommendations and the Diversion First initiative

Just over a year since Natasha McKenna died following multiple shocks from a taser, while in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention center, her name was never raised during the Feb. 9 meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee meeting. Two audience members stood on one side of the Government Center conference room, holding posters bearing a picture of McKenna’s face and text including “Black Lives Matter.”

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Fairfax County: Training Center Residents Relocated

They’re all gone. As of August 2015, there were still 55 residents with mental or physical disabilities receiving services at the state-owned and operated Northern Virginia Training Center on Braddock Road.

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Clifton’s Ping Pong Tournament a Smash Hit

The staccato of plastic meeting wooden table and rubber-clad paddle in rapid succession filled the Clifton Town Hall as little orange balls whizzed back and forth, competitors across a range of ages and skill levels vying for the title of Ping Pong Champion.

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Nearly 3,000 Pounds of Food Donated During Clifton Stuff the Bus Event

As shoppers hustled in the sliding doors at the Giant Food in Clifton, many on last-minute errands in preparation for Sunday’s Super Bowl 50, five-year-old Selena Padeway was eager to hand them another shopping list.

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Lorton: More than a Game

In Lorton, Monopoly tournament tests skills against chance.

Almost 100 players gathered at the Woodbridge Moose Lodge 583 in Lorton on Saturday, Feb. 6 for the ninth year to play a friendly but serious game of Monopoly.

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Alexandria: Making of a Megachurch

Alfred Street Baptist Church prepares for 181,151-square-foot expansion.

On Sundays, Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the city’s oldest black churches, is one of the most popular spots in Alexandria’s Historic District. According to Deacon James Garrett, the church has added more than 3,000 new members over the last eight years. If all goes according to plan, it’s going to get a little more spacious inside Alexandria’s historic Alfred Street Baptist Church, but some residents are concerned it comes at the cost of crowding their neighbors.

Week in Fairfax

Weekly happenings in Fairfax.

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Alexandria: War of Passive Aggression

South rises again in Alexandria to fight renaming streets and moving memorial.

Speakers at a city meeting compared the potential plans to de-Confederate Alexandria to everything from the backlash against soldiers returning home to Vietnam to ISIS and the Taliban. At the second meeting of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Confederate Memorials and Street Names, a public comment section sparked tensions and highlighted a deep divide in how Alexandrians still view a war over 150 years ended.

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Alexandria: Rotary Club Accepting Grant Applications

Deadline is Feb. 26.

The Rotary Club of Alexandria is accepting applications for its annual Grants Program which provides financial support to nonprofit organizations that advance literacy for children and adults or improves the lives of children, youth, seniors and others with special needs in the Alexandria community.

Area Roundups

Volunteers are needed to drive cancer patients to treatment for The American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery program in Northern Virginia.

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‘Mercy Street’ Shines Light on Alexandria

PBS series draws attention to Alexandria’s landmarks.

The Office of Historic Alexandria has joined Extraordinary Alexandria to celebrate the spotlight on its heritage and present new visitor experiences for fans of the PBS miniseries, “Mercy Street.”

Alexandria: City Health Department Offers Guidance on Zika Virus

Case of Zika virus in Virginia was imported from outside the U.S.

As of Feb. 8, there is one known case of Zika virus in Virginia, according to Alexandria Health Department Director Stephen Haering.

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Alexandria: Stowe Honored as Officer of the Year

American Legion presents inaugural award.

Alexandria Police officer Carl Stowe Jr. was presented with the 2015 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award Jan. 13 by American Legion Post 24 in Old Town.