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This week in crime: Here we go again
2007-10-24 17:10:00
Just another Saturday night in Reston: Two women were assaulted.At 10:10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, a 24-year-old Reston woman walked into the laundry room of an apartment in the 12000 block of Greywing Square. A man followed her in and grabbed her from behind. The suspect pushed the victim to the ground and fled when she screamed.A short time later a second woman was assaulted at approximately 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 30.A 19-year-old Reston woman was walking along a path near Colts Neck Road and Sunrise Valley Drive when she noticed a man walking on the path from Greywing Square.The man began following the woman and trying to engage her in conversation. The woman turned around and saw the man fondling himself. The suspect grabbed the victim but she was able to break free and run away.Both victims described the suspect as a Hispanic man in his 20s to 30s. He was approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 160 to 170 pounds. He had short brown hair that was slicked back.The u...
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They paved paradise (or at least the earthly representation thereof)
2007-10-24 16:59:00
Coming soon to Hunters Woods Plaza: More roving gangs with sticks! Actually, more likely they'll have canes.The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan Monday to build 210 condominiums for senior citizens across from the Hunters Woods Shopping Center.The United Christian Church of Reston currently owns a two-story church building on the property at 2222 Colts Neck Road. The church is consolidating its three Reston properties into one larger facility.It's not often you see a church get razed, but otherwise, we don't have too much snark for this particular project. It's close to other senior housing and the Reston Community Center, it includes some affordable housing, and the developer is at least saying the right things about things like parking and architecture and... oh, hell, this is getting boring. Insert the obligatory joke about the availability of the Clapper at the Hunters Woods Rite Aid and/or early bird specials at its restaurants and we'll be d...
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Reston Explained: Loudoun, the Other White Meat
2007-10-23 15:43:00
Occasion had it that we had to travel into the wilds of Loudoun County, to a subdivision of elegant brick townhouses surrounded by… piles of dirt.To be fair, this particular subdivision was nicer than most of the particleboard and vinyl shantytowns that pass for development in eastern Loudoun County. It even borrowed a few stray notes from the whole New Urbanism concept. The garages were relegated to outbuildings in the back, tastefully hidden from sight and leading into alleys that were actually called alleys. (How edgy! How urban!) You could conceivably walk to the massive strip mall under construction a short ways down the road, except that no businesses have opened there yet. A block in the heart of the subdivision had been left undeveloped and adorned with playground equipment, creating an effect vaguely suggestive of a New England village green.It was a beautiful sunny day, unseasonably warm, and while walking down the narrow streets to the green space, you could almost imag...
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Only in Reston...
2007-10-22 16:40:00
Could someone with free time on their hands trying to improve a pedestrian crossing near Reston Town Center be the inspiration for a Pulitzer-worthy, 1,100-word story.While there won't be a shiny new traffic light, complete with state of the art anti-encroachment lasers on loan from Haliburton and a speaker blaring the Macarena for the hearing impaired at the intersection of Market Street and Town Center Parkway, a new light and crosswalk are about to go into service on Reston Parkway, linking Fake Downtown to the expensive condos directly across the way -- and sparing the residents there the approximately 2.6 minutes it takes to walk to existing traffic light-guarded crosswalks 100 yards from their homes. Which is all good, because Reston Parkway never gets congested as it is.We're all for keeping Reston a walkable community, especially given the challenges of high-density development. But we're also all for asking people to actually--what's the word?--oh, right. Walk.

Sorry, Spike
2007-10-22 16:29:00
The Washington Post has endorsed incumbent Cathy Hudgins for the Hunter Mill district seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. Apparently with Herndon's day laborer center closed and problems with illegal immigration therefore completely solved forever, they didn't see the need for one-trick-pony third-party candidates jumping into the fray. The Post also gets bonus points for snark for calling Spike a "customer-service representative." Well played, Post. Well played.As for the Fairfax County School Board, the Post also endorsed incumbent Stuart Gibson for the Hunter Mill seat. In a pointed comment about the hay challengers have tried to make out of the current redistricting battle, they credited him for being "forthright in saying students need to be moved to under-enrolled South Lakes High School, a brave stance given some community sentiments."We wouldn't exactly call that a profile in courage, but as political stances go, it's a damn sight better than "If I thought t...
More About: Sorry , Pike

Not to alarm anyone...
2007-10-19 16:12:00
... but one of the cases of the nasty staph infections that are giving local TV newscasts something to cover besides corn mazes and car crashes was reported at Herndon High School.We now return you to your regularly scheduled panicking.
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Reston's vibrant economy, pt. 4
2007-10-19 16:01:00
Sprint Nextel has now definitively said they're not moving to the hinterlands of Kansas. Of course, they said this on a new "internal company blog," and we all know how accurate those can be.Reston-based Homebuilder Comstock reported that it sold 81 houses during the 3rd quarter. Yay! So much for the collapsing housing market! Oh, wait. In the same breath, they added that 78 of those home sales were summarily canceled. If our math is correct, that leaves a grand total of.... 3 houses sold. That's one a month -- not bad if you're a Realtor showing people around Reston's finer stucco and plasterboard creations, but not so much if you're a major homebuilder.
More About: Economy

Redistricting: A Tale of Two High Schools
2007-10-18 16:18:00
If it's fall, it's time to broach the ever-touchy subject of school redistricting once more. From our in-depth reporting (flipping through a nearly week-old copy of the Connection we found on the sidewalk), here's the crux of the situation:South Lakes, which is continuing a never-ending renovation, is under capacity. Herndon High School, which is just under capacity, currently takes in the students from Reston's so-called "good schools" -- you know, the ones named after astronauts, in North Reston, and they'd rather take on more students than lose their Restonites. Here's how one Herndon High School parent describes the situation:Areas served by Aldrin and Armstrong account for 750 seats in Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors classes at Herndon. Losing those students could have a tremendous impact on Herndon’s ability to offer AP and Honors classes to its students in the future. And band, too! Meanwhile, South Lakes' PTSA is talking up their school's diversity and its excel...
More About: Schools , Redistricting , Tale , Strict

That's a lot of light bulbs
2007-10-17 15:37:00
As part of a $500 million effort to reduce energy consumption and refreeze the polar ice caps and cure global warming forever, the Reston International Center will be getting... new light bulbs. And maybe a new air conditioning system. And a few "Please be kind: Rewind" signs for good measure. It's the thought that counts, right? Plus, it's free to the building's owners, as an investment firm will foot the bill for all those CFLs in return for the resulting energy savings. As another free-market devotee once famously said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world -- provided you can recoup your initial fixed investment costs by collecting the economic rent from the reduced energy consumption."At least he probably meant to say that second part.
More About: Light , Light Bulb , Bulbs

Art Sort of For Art's Sake
2007-10-16 19:44:00
The Reston arts scene makes its way onto the pages of the Washington Post, which provides an in-depth review of an interactive exhibit called "Flow" at the Greater Reston Arts Center.The experience was "awe-inspiring," said Vandenburg, who noted that "sometimes art in a museum can seem so lofty." Sham's piece is more enjoyable, she added, because "there's an artist who's telling you, 'Let's create something together.' "Yay! Fun! This being in the Washington Post, however, there must be a Deeper Meaning. How 'bout it, Post?But even more important, Sham said, "Flow" gives him the chance to make a statement about immigration: When the public contributes to the piece, it's a metaphor for the contributions that immigrants have made to this country."We all contribute pieces to the culture and to the land," said Sham, 53, who was born and raised in China. "Flow" is about "creating a common dialogue on the things we immigrants do."See? If you don't get it, you don't get it. Just d...
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Meet Your Neighbors: Spending More Time With the Chips
2007-10-15 15:43:00
There's nothing we can say about this guy that the folks at Business Wire didn't already get paid to write:SUNRISE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On April 17, 35-year-old Reston, VA native Lee Childs enrolled in a WPT® Boot Camp after leaving his job as a VP in applications development to take time off and focus on poker. Just two months later, Childs took his poker education to Las Vegas and played in the 38th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event—which boasts one of the largest fields in the world—and bested 6,348 players and world-class pros to make the final table, premiering tomorrow night on ESPN. Viewers tuning in will watch as Lee goes head-to-head with nine other top players to win a piece of the $59,784,954 pot, with over $8 million going to the winner.Unfortunately, Childs didn't win -- or at least so we gather from this writeup of the tourney:In what surely will be one of the most talked-about face-offs this year, Yang quickly declared an all-in reraise on the ...
More About: Time , Spending , Meet , Neighbors , Chips

Hope you like corn fritters...
2007-10-15 05:01:00
Sprint Nextel continues to deny rumors its headquarters will move from Reston to Kansas, disturbing lack of Macaroni Grills notwithstanding. Of course, in these enlightened days of corporate disclosure, that can mean only one thing. Sprint Nextel employees with teenage children may find it instructive to rent the educational documentary Footloose.
More About: Corn , Hope

Get thee to a distillery!
2007-10-12 21:21:00
Saturday's Reston Homes Tour features, among other things, a South Lakes townhome once featured on a HGTV program (let's hope it's not this show), a "collector's world of antique tramp art" (whatever that means), a Town Center penthouse (hope it has a view of the Macaroni Grill!), two North Point homes, and a book signing by former White House chef Walter Scheib at the Linden Springs Manor House, better known as the ole' Virginia Gentleman distillery -- a name and a metier which were both apparently too undignified, too old-fashioned for the New Town (tm) of Reston. So now they're using the site to -- surprise! -- build more condos, a truly Restonian endeavor.More details on the event are here.

Beware the Alan Parsons Project
2007-10-12 15:39:00
Vandals armed with BB guns shot out windows of more than 75 cars in Reston and McLean last weekend. This is a disturbing development -- just yesterday, Reston was shocked to its stucco and plaster foundations by a brazen robbery using sticks. Now Reston's criminal element has apparently upgraded to BB guns. What's next? Numchucks and ninja stars? Sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads?The mind reels.
More About: Project , Beware , Alan , Parsons , Arson

This week in crime: When sticks are outlawed...
2007-10-11 15:41:00
Quite possibly the most pathetic attempted robbery at Hunters Woods Plaza to date:HUNTERS WOODS PLAZA,2300 block, 6 p.m. Sept. 30. A 32-year-old man on a bicycle passed a group of three males and a female on a path, and one pushed him against a utility box. The males, armed with sticks, robbed the bicyclist of his cellphone. The bicyclist obtained a stick of his own, and they fled.Just remember: When sticks are outlawed, only outlaws will have sticks.
More About: Crime , Week , Tick , Sticks

This is the rare opportunity to have... something
2007-10-10 17:24:00
...like landlording duties for two Lake Anne businesses (but not the successful one). Read this breathless, and nearly gramatically correct, Realtor copy:This is the rare Opportunity to have the Commercial Condo in Lake Anne of Reston in VA. However, the condo sales for only Hair salon and jewerly shop. Total 3000SF BUT NOT includes restaurant (CAFE)(1200SF).Does not include restaurant (CAFE). You cannot buy the restaurant (CAFE). Do not even look at the restaurant (CAFE). Funny, the last time I was at Lake Anne, I didn't see a place called "restaurant (CAFE)," though I think the au courant lowercase name with the winking tautological self-reference would go over as well as faux tapas. But there's more! (Just not the restaurant (CAFE).)Profitable income with strong tenants. The current tenants are Hair salon and Jewerly repair shop. More info, please e-mail me. I will send the Rent roll.Rent roll? Is that something like this?Restonite: Six months behind web memes since 2007 (tm).
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Reston's vibrant economy, pt. 3
2007-10-10 06:02:00
As expected, Sprint Nextel CEO Gary D. Forsee has been shown the door. But don't feel too bad for the guy -- he stands to fill his golden parachute with as much as $57 million. Not bad for a guy that lost more than 700,000 customers this year.Not as well-known is the fact that Forsee had been agitating for Sprint to move its headquarters from Reston to Kansas, where most of its employees work. Now that's just ridiculous -- does Kansas have a Macaroni Grill? And if Sprint moves to nowheresville, it'll lose its close symbiotic ties to other tech juggernauts like... well, AOL. Oh, right. Never mind.Meanwhile, Sallie Mae is suing its one-time suitor for refusing to buy it, to the tune of $900 million. But there's a silver lining -- if the investment group decides to go through with the merger after all, all is forgiven!Then they just have to run Sallie Mae.
More About: Economy

Man Bites (or at least gives chest compressions to) Dog
2007-10-09 04:29:00
Even heartless cynics like us can't help be moved by a good dog rescue story.During a visit to Lake Anne near Reston, Va., with his family, police officer Lance Hamilton administered mouth-to-snout resuscitation to his dog, Bailey, after the dog was injured near a dock. The dog was injured while in the water as he fetched a ball. So, all those warnings about not drinking, wading, swimming, or even looking too closely at the algae-clogged water are true! But back to the canine drama unfolding as we speak:Hamilton held the dog's mouth closed and breathed rescue breaths through the snout while uncle Greg Dunphy gave chest compressions, reviving Bailey after about a minute. Of course, you realize the actions described in the above paragraph are illegal in 23 states. But that's not important right now! We need to get back to the Tale -- or is it the Tail? -- of Hope!An electrical problem on the dock was found soon after and fixed before anyone else could be injured... Russell Porter, ...
More About: Chest , Bite , Compress

Who the heck is 'Spike,' anyway?
2007-10-05 18:27:00
In November, voters -- or at least the handful of folks aware enough to vote in an off-year or whipped into a premature frenzy to vote against Hillary Clinton -- will chose the supervisor for the Hunter Mill district, which includes Reston, Herndon, and Vienna.Incumbent Cathy Hudgins, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from three independent candidates: Marie Huhtala, Mike "Spike " Williams and Geraldine Butkus. Based on a cursory skim of a week-old issue of the Connection, here's what we know about the challengers so far:Huthala was one of the leaders of the group that opposed development near the South Reston Park & Ride lot, and is pro-referendum.Butkus, who's running as the Green Party candidate, apparently didn't want to contribute to the piles of bagged, unread Connections littering Reston, because she declined to be interviewed.Spike's big issue is apparently illegal immigration, and his big selling point, according to one of his supporters, is that he walks "in lock-step ...
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Time to polish those resumes
2007-10-05 15:40:00
Sprint-Nextel is apparently looking for a new CEO. Just don't bring your iPhone to the interview.
More About: Time , Resumes , Polish

Meet Your Neighbors: Weird Animals
2007-10-04 18:30:00
One benefit of all that green space: bizarre freaky animals.This, apparently, is an emaciated coyote that someone photographed wandering around their backyard. Of course, Reston being Reston, here's what one person had to share about the experience:Whatever it is ... it leaves droppings on my sidewalk and I have to scoop it up so my neighbors won't think it's my dog!First things first! Another contributor had this to share:Maybe you should contact the Reston Zoo and see if they've had any "escapees" lately.And speaking of escapees, here's a cute 'lil critter that was discovered wandering around Reston a few months back. Owning alligators has been illegal in Virginia since 1991 (except for "educational purposes" -- whatever that means), but you can still buy 'em in Pennsylvania. That, and fireworks, too. Plus, they've got outlet malls! Maybe we should do the Keystone state's tourism commercials.
More About: Weird , Animals , Meet , Neighbors

You heard it here second
2007-10-04 04:23:00
Shocking, but true: In an interview, Robert E. Simon revealed that Reston was inspired by a town in New Jersey.Yes, even North Reston.

Reston's vibrant economy, pt. 2
2007-10-02 21:56:00
A group of buyers are reducing their offer for Sallie Mae by 17 percent. I dunno -- if you were a homebuyer who bought a Reston condo at the peak of the market, that might not sound too bad.
More About: Economy

And that was before he rented 'Gigli': This week in crime
2007-10-01 20:34:00
A man was robbed outside of Hollywood Video at the Hunters Woods Shopping Center last Saturday. For those keeping track of such things, this is the second robbery in the past month at Hunters Woods.
More About: Crime , Week