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Reminiscences and Remembrances

Chantilly High celebrates its 40th birthday.

Chantilly High celebrated its 40th birthday, Friday evening, May 2, and alumni from several different graduating classes returned to participate in the festivities. They took SGA-guided school tours, viewed exhibits of current programs and learned Chantilly trivia. They also saw displays of Charger sports accomplishments while enjoying both chocolate and vanilla birthday cakes. The Robotics Team exhibited its award-winning technology and the SGA presented a Powerpoint of the school’s history.

For ‘Dedication and Devotion to Duty’

PFC Rick Call is honored as Sully CAC’s Officer of the Month.

Honored for his police work that helped solve cases in Fairfax County and Washington, D.C., PFC Rick Call is the Sully District Station’s Citizens Advisory Committee’s (CAC) Officer of the Month for April. He was presented his award by Lt. Bob Blakely, assistant station commander. A local high-school teacher contacted him about a female student who thought she’d been drugged and sexually assaulted. Call met with the student who told him she and a friend were picked up by a man in Centreville and taken to an indoor swimming pool in the District.

2012 Woodson Grad Wins Scholarship

Cochlear implants help him overcome deafness, find success.

Fairfax’s Will Andes lost his hearing as a newborn. A preemie, he developed an infection, and a high bilirubin level plus treatment with the antibiotic gentamicin caused a profound hearing loss. But he didn’t let it hamper his desire to accomplish to lead as normal a life as possible and accomplish worthwhile things. And now, he’s one of just five students in North America to receive a Graeme Clark Scholarship from Cochlear Americas.

New Life Proposed for Old Apartments

Modern, multifamily homes, townhouses planned in the City.

When Oak Knolls Realty Corp. acquired the Oak Knolls Apartments a year ago, more than 30 of the units weren’t habitable. “There was water damage and they hadn’t been maintained property,” said land-use attorney Lynne Strobel, representing the new owner. “Now they’ve undergone extensive renovations and 100 percent of the units are habitable.”

Hilarious Comedy in 19th-Century England

Oakton High presents ‘The Pirates of Penzance.’

Ahoy, mateys! There are pirates on the horizon – but this bunch sings, dances and makes people laugh. And they’re all in Oakton High’s production of “The Pirates of Penzance.” It’s a satiric operetta about a group of inept pirates off the shore of Cornwall, England in the 1880s. And they’ll commandeer the stage, this Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.

Do Your Best; Raise the Bar

Chantilly High named a Virginia Honor Band.

Being designated a “Virginia Honor Band” is the most prestigious title bestowed upon school bands by the Virginia Band & Orchestra Directors Association. And Chantilly High’s band has just received this recognition for the 12th time.

Out-of-This-World Celebration

The third annual Chantilly Day celebration is this Saturday, May 17 and, with two former NASA astronauts coming, it promises to be out of this world. The festival runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., rain or shine, in the Kmart and Babies R Us parking lots in the Sully Place Shopping Center, off Route 50 West in Chantilly. And there’ll be fun for the whole family. Free children’s activities will be provided by the Chantilly-Centreville Chamber of and its sponsors and are being coordinated by the Chantilly Youth Association (CYA). The fun includes a rock wall, moonbounces and trackless train, plus several sports-themed activities.

Local Man Going to Prison Again

27 months incarceration for cheating government.

True, Henry Washington Yeh’s parents helped him file a fraudulent tax return. But it was his fault, in the first place, for involving them in his illegal activities. And last week in federal court, he was the only one of the three Vienna residents sentenced to prison – 27 months. For Yeh, it wasn’t the first time a family member ended up in legal trouble because of him. And when he goes to prison, that won’t be for the first time, either. In Philadelphia in October 2009, Yeh was convicted of drug distribution and later sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

Vienna Parents, Son Sentenced in Court

Defrauded IRS on income-tax return.

It’s not every day that a judge sentences a son and his parents together – but that’s what happened Friday in federal court to a Vienna family. Ultimately, two family members received probation and the third was sentenced to prison.

Chantilly Day: Food, Fun, Music and Astronauts

Third annual Chantilly Day celebration is May 17, 2014

Fun for the whole family is planned for the third annual Chantilly Day celebration, Saturday, May 17, at the Sully Place Shopping Center, off Route 50 West in Chantilly. There’ll be two U.S. astronauts, live music and dancing, food and children’s activities. The festival runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., rain or shine, in the Kmart and Babies R Us parking lots. The day’s events will include onstage performances by the Chantilly High Jazz Ensemble and Latin Dance Club, School of Rock Centreville, a pet adoption, trackless train, robotics demonstration, business expo and awards ceremony.

City Council Approves Spending $8.1 Million

It’s full speed ahead for some major projects in the City of Fairfax. On April 22, the City Council approved spending $8.1 million to develop and improve City-owned downtown properties and to renovate and expand the Police Department’s Firearms Training Center.

City of Fairfax Adopts Budget

Real-estate tax rate is lowered by two cents.

The Fairfax City Council adopted the City’s FY 2014-15 budget last week, lowered the existing real-estate tax rate by two cents and gave raises to the city employees. In a special meeting, last Wednesday, April 30, the Council set City residents’ new real-estate tax rate at $1.04 per $100 assessed value, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

22 Years in Prison For Child’s Death

A Fair Lakes woman has been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for murdering an 11-month-old boy in Vienna, nearly three years ago. She is Carol Nadine Lutsky, 22, of Summit Manor Court.

Woman Convicted of Tax and Wire Fraud

Fair Oaks tax preparer filed false returns with the IRS.

Thuy Tien Le, 40, pleaded guilty last week in federal court to preparing false income tax returns and committing wire fraud. She admitted that she did so while running her Fair Oaks-based, tax-return preparation business called T2 Advantage Services LLC. She was convicted last Wednesday, April 30, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

‘Entertaining for Whole Family’

Chantilly presents children’s play, ‘Goldilocks on Trial.’

Somebody’s been inside the three bears’ home and eating their porridge. But did she commit a crime? That’s for the jury to decide in Chantilly High’s upcoming children’s play, “Goldilocks on Stage.” The curtain rises Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 17, at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, May 18, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the door or via www.chantillyhsdrama.com.

Remembering Jeffrey By Helping Others

Angel Kisses 5K/2K is set for Mother’s Day.

Superheroes do some pretty amazing things, such as thwarting villains and saving people. In life, Chantilly’s Jeffrey Virostek only got to pretend to be a superhero; but in death, he’s become a real one. He was only 4 in September 2003 when he succumbed to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). But a fund his parents started in his name has enabled many nonprofit organizations to help other children in their battles against cancer.

22 Years in Prison for Child’s Death

A Fair Lakes woman has been sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for murdering an 11-month-old boy in Vienna, nearly three years ago. She is Carol Nadine Lutsky, 22, of Summit Manor Court. The tragedy occurred Oct. 5, 2011. Town of Vienna police officers were called to the 1100 block of Lakewood Drive S.W. regarding a baby who was reported to be unresponsive. But before they arrived, the caretaker, Lutsky, then 20, transported the infant to his biological mother who was in Reston at the time. The baby was then rushed to Reston Hospital, from where – because of his critical and deteriorating condition – he was Medevaced to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The boy, Nehemiah Williams, died the next day, on Oct. 6.

End of an Era for Town Council

Mike Polychrones steps down, moves to North Carolina.

For nearly two decades, Mike Polychrones has been a fixture on the Vienna Town Council. But Tuesday morning, after voting in the Town election, he and his wife Patti headed south to their new home in North Carolina. His last Council meeting was April 28 and, at its outset, he was honored by Mayor Laurie Di Rocco and Del. Mark Keam (D-35). Di Rocco gave Polychrones a plaque “in recognition of dedicated service” from 1996-2003 and 2004-2014, and Keam read a resolution from the Virginia General Assembly thanking him for all he’s done.

Fairfax Council: Three Men, Three Women

Silverthorne re-elected mayor; incumbents, Miller, Loftus win.

Tuesday, May 6, was a great night for incumbents and women in the City of Fairfax. Mayor Scott Silverthorne and all four current City Council members were re-elected, and two women replaced the two men – Dan Drummond and Steve Stombres – who’d stepped down from the Council.

‘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.”

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