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Chocolate Festival Event Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 7
Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Fire Station 3, 4081 University Drive Join the Kiwanis Club of Fairfax for its Chocolate Lovers Pancake Breakfast. The menu features pancakes (regular and chocolate chip) and sausage. Coffee, juice and milk also will be served.
‘It’s Such a Good Fit’
Naomi Project joins Our Daily Bread to help struggling mothers.
For the past 19 years, the nonprofit Naomi Project of Northern Virginia has worked with high-risk, pregnant women and new mothers to help them have healthy pregnancies and babies. It’s now become a program of the nonprofit Our Daily Bread (ODB) and, on Jan. 22, the two groups celebrated their union. “It’s a natural offshoot of what we’re already doing with moms,” said ODB spokeswoman Heather Webb. “This is another way that we can help them build families and get on a better financial footing.”
‘You Start with a Box of Metal’
Local robotics team heads to two state championships.
It’s a big deal when a team, academic or athletic, reaches the state championships. But it’s even more impressive when that team does it in two, different states. Meet team Robowiz – 10 local students who’ve reached that level in both Virginia and Maryland. The eight boys and two girls live in Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax and are in grades eight through 10.
Fairfax County Looking at the Alternatives for I-66
Information presented on I-66/Route 28 interchange improvement.
One day, in the not-too-distant future, the I-66/Route 28 interchange in Centreville will be improved to reduce congestion and make life easier for every driver using it. But first, VDOT and area residents are deciding how best to proceed.
Centreville and Chantilly Roundups
Volunteer opportunities, free services, updates on road closures and other important community information for the Centreview community.
It’s ‘Like a Dream Come True’
Fairfax Police Chief Carl Pardiny eager to groom future leaders.
Col. Carl Pardiny was born and raised in Pittsburgh, but has spent nearly his entire, adult life with the City of Fairfax Police Department. He started its K-9 and Bike Patrol programs and was twice selected as the Department’s Officer of the Year.
Chantilly: ‘Only Excellence Is Good Enough’
CPMSAC celebrates its 30th anniversary.
The Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement Committee (CPMSAC) has come a long way in 30 years — and there’s more work to be done. But Sunday night, it took time out to celebrate three decades of dedication to area youth.
What’s on the Horizon for the City of Fairfax
On the horizon for local residents are some mixed-use projects, school-boundary changes, potential traffic shifts and the reopening of a historic and much-loved eating place.
‘[This] Will Change Our Lives’
Community, Paisano’s unite to purchase an accessible van.
Last Friday, Sept. 12, was a night when dreams came true. On Centreville High’s football field, the Wildcats trounced West Potomac, 54-0. And on the sidelines at halftime, Centreville senior Juwaan Espinal, 17, was presented with an accessible van.
‘A World-Class Place to Live, Work, Dine’
Fairfax Circle Plaza will be redeveloped.
The Fairfax City Council has taken the first step toward revitalizing the Fairfax Circle Plaza. At its May 27 meeting, the Council approved a huge, new, mixed-use project there, entailing a grocery store, retail businesses and multifamily housing.
Residents Have Their Say
Assisted-Living facility could pose traffic, drainage, noise problems.
As the number of senior citizens in Fairfax County continues to grow, so does the need for an assisted-living facility for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
‘15,000 Hot Dogs To Break Even’
Permit costs spur gas station’s request to sell alcohol, too.
Raj Gupta just wanted an OK to add hot dogs to his convenience store’s offerings at the Centre Ridge Exxon station.
Community Mourns Girl, 16
Missing since Sunday, she was found dead in park.
Just a month before her 17th birthday, friends, family members and classmates from Chantilly, Centreville and Fairfax are mourning the loss of a local girl.
Community Mourns Local Girl, 16
Missing since Sunday, Cara Golias was found dead in a park.
Just a month before her 17th birthday, friends, family members and classmates from Chantilly, Centreville and Fairfax are mourning the loss of a local girl. The body of Cara Lynn Golias, 16, of the City of Fairfax, was found Monday afternoon in Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton.
Fairfax Fall Festival Means Family Fun
Children’s rides, crafts, food and entertainment.
When it comes to family fun, it’s hard to beat the Fairfax Fall Festival. It’s set for Saturday, Oct. 11 (rain date, Oct. 12), from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and features a cornucopia of entertainment, including Journey and Bruce Springsteen tribute bands, a lumberjack competition, food, crafts and carnival rides.
Special-Needs Children Given Wings to Fly
Therapy and recreational center opens in Chantilly.
When Donna Shank’s son Ryan was diagnosed with autism eight yeas ago, she traveled throughout the Washington Metropolitan area to get treatment for him. “Most children with autism, and other children with special needs, require several different types of therapies, such as speech and occupational therapy and additional tutoring,” she said. “But it’s difficult to find all these services in one location. So my dream was to provide an all-in-one, integrated, therapy center.”
‘I’m Just Grateful My Son Is Still Alive’
Useful information about substance-abuse dangers.
Part Two If anyone knows about substance abuse, it’s Sarah McDade who, admittedly, has been to hell and back with her son. And she shared his story during a recent, substance-abuse forum at Madison High. Called “Protecting Against the Realities of Substance Abuse,” it was put on by Parents Reaching Out To Educate Communities Together (P.R.O.T.E.C.T.), a task force of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County. “My son had his own set of horrors,” said McDade. “I kept an eye on him and found out where he was going – and it didn’t matter. My son was already a drug addict at 15; he started with alcohol and went to marijuana. He had his first arrest, with two other boys. But the county evaluated him and said he didn’t have a substance-abuse problem.” Then when he was 16, he fell in the street. “He had a .27 blood-alcohol content, and .3 and above can kill you,” said McDade. “But my son was bullied and wanted to fit in; he thought drinking and using marijuana made him cool. He could be charming and he also had ADHD, and he bamboozled the psychiatrist we got him into prescribing him more drugs. Looking back, he probably peddled half of them.”
Five New Parks in Sully Woodlands
Residents are asked to submit their ideas for them
The Fairfax County Park Authority wants to hear residents’ thoughts about its new comprehensive plan for parkland in Sully Woodlands. So it held a recent public meeting in Centreville to let people see what’s proposed and comment on it.
Roundups
Time To Spring Forward Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, March 9, at 2 a.m. So before going to bed Saturday night, residents are reminded to turn their clocks, watches and other electronic devices forward one hour. CAC Meeting on Drugs The Citizens Advisory Committee of the Sully District Police Station will meet Wednesday, March 12, from 7:30-9 p.m., in the Sully District Governmental Center, 4900 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly. In an adults-only presentation, a detective from the Organized Crime and Narcotics division will talk about dangerous drugs in Fairfax County and what’s being done to combat them. R.S.V.P. to FCPDSULCPO@fairfaxcounty.gov or 703-814-7018.
‘The Best High-School Musicians in Virginia’
Three Madison students to play in All-State Band.
Three Madison High students will be performing this weekend in Blacksburg with the Virginia All-State Band. The talented musicians are senior Go Eun Jeong, junior Daniel Schwartz and sophomore Mike Niebergall. Only the top musicians in their district bands got to audition for All-State Band. Auditions were held Feb. 22 at JMU, with hundreds of students from across Virginia vying for a spot. Each had to play various scales, plus an excerpt from a song written solely for that audition. They also had to sight-read new music and play it on the spot.