the Annandale Blog

When the Edsall Park Swim Club opens on Memorial Day weekend, members will find the recreation facility looking better than ever, thanks to a Fairfax County Neighborhood Enhancement Partnership Program (NEPP) grant and lots of work by volunteers.

The pool used its $4,900 NEPP grant to construct a party pavilion and improve the landscaping. The plan is to eventually enclose the pavilion so it can be used by the community year round, said Bryan Woodcock, president of the swim club. Additional renovations to pool will also be completed in time for opening day.

This is the third NEPP grant to the Edsall Park community in the past three years. In 2012, the Edsall Park Civic Association received a $2,800 NEPP grant for a project titled “Working to Change our Neighborhood into a Community.”

In 2011, a handful of residents, including Woodcock, restarted the Edsall Park Civic Association, which had become moribund about 10 years ago. “We’re trying to revitalize the community,” he said. The group also started an effort to improve the pool, which hadn’t been renovated since the 1970s, and attract new members.

The 2012 NEPP grant was aimed at building the momentum from the effort to revive the civic association in 2011 by supporting a range of social activities, including a Spring Fling, National Night Out, two block parties, an Easter egg hunt, a yard sale, and a fall festival. The grant funds were used for supplies and advertising. To receive a NEPP grant, community associations have to contribute significant volunteer hours and in-kind donations.

That grant also supported the community’s project to control the feral cat population in Edsall Park through the humane Trap-Neuter-Release program. Since 2011, 20 feral cats have been spayed or neutered, one kitten was adopted, and a lost cat was returned to its grateful owner.

In 2011, the community got $5,000 in NEPP funds for pool projects, including a new pump house, new concrete work at the pool, plumbing, bathhouse improvements, and signage. Virginia Concrete, which has provided substantial assistance to the pool over the years, contributed the concrete and additional funding. The company sold land to the swim club more than 50 years ago, Woodcock says, and the property will revert to Virginia Concrete if the pool fails to open for three years.

By Elizabeth Kirchner

In a mid-April downpour, members of Friends of Accotink Creek and 30 Dominion Power employees filled the parking lot of the Audrey Moore RECenterwith trucks, rubber boots, and green reflective vests for a cleanup of Wakefield Run.

As the rain moved east, Philip Latasa, co-founder of the Friends group, reminded the damp volunteers that, in heavily developed regions like Annandale, rain channels heavy metals, nutrients, oil, and litter directly into streams and waterways and scours soil from stream banks, ultimately washing it all into drinking water sources and the Chesapeake Bay. The stream, a tributary of Accotink Creek that runs through Annandale, will undergo a restoration project this summer.

Philip’s inspirational words, most notably: “There’s a large oil heater that needs removal,” heightened the mood. Dan Brellis of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay; Asad Rouhi, an urban conservation engineer with the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District; and Friends of Accotink Creek each led a cleanup group.

Working on the mile-long stream on both sides of the beltway, the volunteers hauled away mattresses, lumber, shower doors, car parts, a toy samurai sword, countless plastic bottles, and that oil heater.

Through Dominion’s volunteer program, employees participate in an array of community projects, including mentoring young people, repairing state park trails, and reading to children. Several volunteers had participated in stream clean-ups before, and some had come from as far away as the Rappahannock and Shenandoah watersheds.

There will be lots more options for party planners in Annandale once the expansion of the Party

Co. and AnnSandra shops is completed in the next few months.

The Party Co., at 4421 John Marr Drive, Annandale, is moving to the much larger space vacated by Super Pets in the same shopping center. After that happens, the AnnSandra gift shop, which offers items for more upscale entertaining, will expand into the old Party Co. space.

The new Party Co. store “will be five times larger and will have a broader selection in every category,” said Richard Raport, president the Party Co., which operates four stores in the D.C. area. It will have machine rentals for things like snow cones, cotton candy, and popcorn; an expanded balloon section with custom balloon arrangements, including balloon arches and columns; in-store invitation printing; and a larger selection of greeting cards, he said. Cards will still be 49 cents.

The interior remodeling of the old pet store is just about finished, and the move should be completed in two to three months, said Raport.

All permits for the move were approved in April. “The process took longer than anyone anticipated,” said Fred Carey, manager of AnnSandra.

The new, larger AnnSandra is expected to open this fall, Carey said. The store will continue to focus on fine china, crystal, flatware, gourmet foods, Vera Bradley bags, and housewares, but the men’s and baby sections will be expanded, and there will be a broader array of categories and manufacturers.

The shop often hosts special events, such as a lemonade and dessert iced tea party May 11, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., with a representative from the Juliska tableware company, and a donut tasting June 1, noon-2 p.m., with Stonewall Kitchen.

Both stores have been longtime Annandale institutions. AnnSandra has been here for 33 years, and the Party Co. is in its 23rd year.

A man was robbed last night at the McDonald’s at 6302 Little River Turnpike, in Lincolnia, a news release from the Mason Police District reports. When police arrived at around 7:40 p.m., the victim, a 53-year-old man from Alexandria, said he was attacked by two men in the parking lot.

He was knocked to the ground and kicked, and an undisclosed amount of cash was removed from his pants pocket. The victim did not require medical attention. The two suspects, as well as a third man apparently with them, ran toward Landmark Shopping Center.

All three suspects were described as black and between 25 and 30 years old. One suspect was approximately 6 feet tall and was wearing a striped shirt and carrying a backpack. Another suspect had dreadlocks and possibly a mustache.

There was also a robbery on April 30 on Williams Lane, behind Radley Acura on Columbia Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads, according to the Mason Police District. A 43-year-old Falls Church man was walking alone when he was approached by three men at about 9:30 p.m. One of the suspects displayed a knife and demanded money. The victim handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and the suspects fled toward Center Lane.

All three suspects were described as Hispanic. The suspect with the knife was 25-30 years old, approximately 5 feet 9 inches tall, with an average build, shaved head, and small goatee. He was wearing a white t-shirt with black sleeves. The second suspect, also 25-30 years old, was about 5 feet 9 inches tall with a skinny build. He was wearing dark clothing and had a bandana on his head.

Anyone with information on either of those cases can contact Crime Solvers (866/411-8477 or text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637) to leave an anonymous tip or call the police at 703/691-2131.

Officers from the West Springfield Police District made an arrest in an armed robbery case that occurred May 8 in Burke. Around 10:50 p.m., a woman entered a Shell gas station at 6054 Burke Commons Road, displayed a handgun and demanded cash from a store employee. The employee relinquished cash and the suspect left on foot. A short time later, a police officer located the suspect at Burke Centre Parkway and Pond Spice Lane and took her into custody. Chelsee D. Wright, 18, of Stafford, Va., has been charged with robbery and with the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, told a roomful of supporters May 9 that his priorities include ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, reproductive rights for women, and more funding for transportation and education.

“We’ve got to grow the economy here in Northern Virginia,” and that means addressing the transportation problem, McAuliffe said at a meeting of the Brigades, a network of Democratic activists. Noting that people in the region waste 73 hours a year sitting in traffic, he said, “it’s a quality of life issue.” His Republican opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, meanwhile, voted against the transportation bill recently signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and tried to stop the rail-to-Dulles project, he said.

Another priority for McAuliffe is education. “We have to stop demeaning teachers,” he said. Virginia ranks in last place among the states when it comes to teacher pay, he said; “we’ve got to pay teachers what they’re worth.”

He also called for restructuring the state Standards of Learning tests to make them more relevant to what students should be taught, full funding for the standards of quality in education, and more money for prekindergarten programs and community colleges, which are crucial for workforce training.

McAuliffe said he supports expansion of the Medicaid program, which would provide coverage to an additional 400,000 Virginians and create 33,000 healthcare jobs. “This is your money,” he said. If Virginia doesn’t accept it, the funds will go to other states, costing hospitals $200 million.

McAuliffe vowed to work to keep women’s health centers open, shut down payday lenders, support equal pay for woman, and work for marriage equality.

The Virginia election for governor is attracting national attention, and the Cuccinelli campaign is raising big money from the billionaire, ultraconservative Koch brothers. If the Democrats win this election, McAuliffe said, “we will stamp out the Tea Party.”


The 2012 Annandale Bed Race

Annandale’s wackiest event, the annual Bed Race, will take place tomorrow, 10 a.m.-noon, rain or shine (that is unless there is torrential rain and lightening).

About a dozen five-person teams will race hospital beds along a stretch of John Marr Drive in front of Kmart. The teams represent local businesses—such as Pro Maxx and Silverado’s—and agencies like the police and fire departments. Government officials will hand out awards to the fastest team and best-decorated bed. The public is invited to come and cheer on the bed-racers in this fun community event.

The hospital bed race, sponsored by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, raises funds for the Virginia Special Olympics and community projects.

A speed monitor on Wayne Drive, Annandale.

Watch out, speeders. For the first time, the Mason Police District has a full-time traffic enforcement officer assigned to focus on speeding, pedestrian safey, and related issues.

Officer Mike Green will be using various devices on local streets to track speeding, such as portable screens that let drivers know how fast they’re going; tubes places across a road that record vehicle data; and small electronic monitors on a road that drivers usually don’t notice called “stealth pads.”

Those devices collect statistical information for the police; they don’t identify specific vehicles, said Green, an Annandale High School graduate who’s been at the Mason station for eight years.

If there are lots of complaints about speeding on a particular street, Green will put up a speed monitoring device. And if it shows a large number of people are speeding, an officer will be stationed there. He also promised to investigate complaints about parking and pedestrian safety issues involving students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology on Braddock Road.

The speed monitoring devices operated by the police are not used to determine whether traffic calming measures should be implemented. That is a separate program operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation at the request of neighborhood associations.

Meanwhile, drivers are urged to be extra alert, as VDOT crews will be mowing the grass and cutting back brush along roadsides and in medians throughout the area. The first round of mowing in Northern Virginia is expected to be completed by mid-June.

VDOT will mow grass three times through late October along interstates, primary roads, and high-volume secondary roads and twice along low-volume primary and most secondary roads. To report a problem, such vegetation blocking drivers’ view of traffic, visit the “report a road problem” section on the VDOT website or call 800/367-7623.

When it was their heat’s turn, the guys from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (above) pulled out some folding chairs, sat down, and popped open their cooler. After all, their bed was decorated like a trailer, and they were dressed up like rednecks. That stunt won them the award for the “most entertaining” team at the ninth annual Annandale Bed Race Saturday morning.

The award for the fastest bed was presented by Rep. Gerry Connolly to the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Navy Federal Credit Union bed got the “best decorated” award.

Pro Maxx Fitness in front.

The Bed Race is sponsored by the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, and the event raises money for the Virginia Special Olympics. Seventeen teams registered, paying a $500 entry fee, although not all of them showed up.

Fairfax County Chair Sharon Bulova aboard the firefighters' bed.

A section of John Marr Drive in Annandale was briefly closed, as the teams raced their beds up the street, made a u-turn, and ran back to the finish line. Each team has four people pushing the bed and one person lying on it.

The event organizer, Carol Ruess, the manger of the Annandale Shopping Center, got the idea for a bed race in Annandale while running a marathon in Hawaii and said she was inspired by the bed race in an episode of the M*A*S*H TV series. It’s actually hospital gurneys, rather than beds, in the Annandale race.

The bed race teams.

Other teams in the Bed Race included Trust Properties (representing Mason Supervisor Penny Gross), Pro Maxx Fitness, Burke and Herbert Bank, TD Bank, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hapmudo; Silverado (with a flowers for Mother’s Day theme), Beanetics (representing Connolly), Braddock Supervisor John Cook’s office, the Fairfax County Police, Burger King; and the Annandale Knights of Columbus, manned by youths in Venturing Crew 4522, a co-ed branch of the Boy Scouts.


Students from the Hapmudo martial arts studio perform before the final race.

Ready to run.

More than 20 members of Boy Scout Troop 150, along with siblings and parents, helped Michael Paladino with his Eagle Scout project to clean up the graves and fence at the cemetery at the Annandale United Methodist Church (AUMC) on Columbia Pike.

Paladino, an eighth-grader at Glasgow Middle School, said the scouts are fixing up the cemetery so it will look nice for a Memorial Day ceremony there conducted by American Legion Post 1776.

Paladino selected the cemetery for his Eagle Scout project because he wanted to give back to AUMC, which has hosted the troop for many years. One of the troop’s former scoutmasters, John Walter Mercer, is buried there. Troop 150 is one of the oldest Boy Scout troops in the country. It is planning an 85th anniversary celebration next fall at Mason District Park.

There are actually lots of old cemeteries in the Mason area that need to be restored.

Michael Paladino (second from left) with fellow scouts from Troop 150.

The Mason Police District is seeking information from the public on a vehicle that was involved in a hit and run accident on Gallows Road in Annandale May 12.

The police cruiser was traveling southbound on Gallows Road at around 12:30 a.m. when an unknown vehicle traveling westbound on Masonville Drive ignored a stop sign and entered Gallows, where it struck the cruiser in the rear quarter panel, causing it to spin and strike a utility pole. The officer was not injured.

The suspect did not stop and continued in the direction of Little River Turnpike. The vehicle is described as a dark four-door sedan with damage in the front passenger side.

If you have any information about this accident, call the police at 703/691-2131 or report a tip anonymously to Crime Solvers, 866/411-8477, or text “TIPS187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637.

What’s it like to ride in a hospital bed as it races down John Marr Drive? Watch Bob Kovacs’video of highlights from the Annandale Bed Race on Saturday, May 11, and find out:

There are 80 videos on Kovacs’ Annandale Arts You Tube channel.

Vintage baseball cards

After 21 years in Annandale, Ron Savino has sold Ron’s Collector World, the comic book/sports memorabilia store in the Annandale Shopping Center on Columbia Pike.

But don’t worry; the store isn’t closing. It’s been purchased by two guys who have been longtime collectors and have plans to bring in more vintage comics, sets of sports cards, and autographed items—including a lot of gems from their personal collections, such as original Iron Man comics ($500 to $800) and vintage comics from the 1940s.

Damon Hudson and Steve Weber

The new owners, Damon Hudson and Stephen Weber, are tentatively planning a reopening celebration for the new shop, renamed Collector’s World, sometime in June. Another partner in the store is David Miller of Annandale, who has known Weber since the seventh grade.

Ron Savino, his wife Diane, and brother Vinnie Savino, the longtime manager of the shop, have tentative plans to retire to Florida, Vinnie says.

Vinnie Savino pointed out some of the current treasures in the shop: a unique double baseball card featuring Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper and Mickey Mantle autographed by both of them ($3,500), a double card autographed by Harper and Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III ($2,500), and a card of Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg with a piece of his jersey ($700).

Hudson said he was driving down Columbia Pike when he saw the shop, stopped in, and learned it was for sale. “It was a twist of fate. Thirty days later we bought it,” said Weber. As serious collectors, Hudson and Weber are thrilled to have their own store, but are keeping their day jobs as federal contractors.

Vinnie Savino

Hudson, who specializes in sports memorabilia, pointed out some of his favorite items, like an autographed RGIII jersey in a frame ($700), the perfect item for a “man cave.” There are also autographed footballs and basketballs, jerseys, and action figures. For kids, there are Pokemon and Yu Gi-Oh card sets. The new Game of Thrones collectible cards are there, too.

Weber, the comics specialist, says they hope to host special events with fans invited to dress up like comic book characters, Friday “buying days” where fans can bring in items they want to sell, and trivia challenges. Members of the military will get a 15 percent discount.

Collector’s World, 7030 Columbia Pike, Annandale, is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

Acosta

Caitlin Acosta of Falls Church started abusing prescription medications at age 12 and spent the next several years getting deeper into the local drug culture. Now 24, Acosta volunteers with recovery programs to help youths struggling with addiction.

She told her story at a media briefing May 14 at the Mason Government Center in Annandale organized by the Unified Prevention Coalition (UPC) of Fairfax County to focus public attention on what UPC Executive Director Diane Eckert called an “epidemic” of prescription drug abuse.

The UPC and its partners are sponsoring Operation Medicine Cabinet Cleanout, a campaign to promote the safe disposal of expired, unused, or unneeded medications. During May 27 through June 1, people can drop off their meds at police stations throughout the county, including the Mason Police Station. (Only pills and liquids will be accepted, not pressurized canisters or needles.)

According to Eckert, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription medications get them from the medicine cabinets of family or friends; only 5 percent get them from drug dealers.

The abuse of painkillers and other prescription drugs can lead to overdoses, accidental poisoning, trips to the emergency room, and even death, she says. To prevent those drugs from getting into the wrong hands, she urges people to keep them locked up and “count your pills.” Even though parents might trust their own kids, their kids’ friends might be another story. Youths looking for prescription drugs often find them in the bathrooms of grandparents or even open houses.

Acosta said she started taking Percocet she found in her parents’ medicine cabinet at age 12 because, “I was uncomfortable with who I was. I felt I was not cool enough and not pretty enough.”

She was suspended from school in the seventh grade when administrators discovered the pills in her backpack and was charged with a felony. That only made things worse, and she started hanging around with a tougher crowd and taking more drugs and drinking heavily. By the time she was 18, Acosta said she felt “empty all the time,” depressed, and anxious and soon became addicted to Oxycontin and Xanax.

Eventually, she told her parents, and they helped her “cultivate a moral compass” and overcome her addiction. “It’s a miracle that I’m alive and healthy and happy,” she says.

As a student at George Mason High School, Acosta said drug abuse was common, and lots of kids with prescriptions for Adderall and Ritalin were selling pills to their peers who needed a boost while studying for exams.

A Fairfax County youth survey reports 6 percent of high school students have abused prescription medications within the previous 30 days.

1953 Chevy.

Every Friday evening during the warm months, the Juke Box Diner parking lot (at the John Marr Drive and Columbia Pike intersection in Annandale) turns into a showcase for classic cars—many with the giant fins and powerful engines of decades past.

You might find a tomato red 1967 Dodge Charger or 1966 lime green Mercury Cougar lovingly restored by Mike Cumberland of Arlington, for example, or Lawson Cook of Falls Church showing off his baby blue and white 1967 Thunderbird or black 1953 Chevy.

Mike Cumberland with his 1957 Charger.

Cumberland has been working on his Charger on weekends since he bought it in 2000 for $4,000. The engine’s been overhauled, the interior has been restored, and he just installed new breaks. “It will never be done,” he says. It gets just 15 miles per gallon, and Cumberland mainly just drives it around to car shows in Northern Virginia.

Don’t be fooled by that 1953 Chevy, though. Cook totally replaced just about everything inside. The only originally pieces left are the frame and body and he’s driven it as far as Myrtle Beach, S.C.

A Corvette Stingray.

“I’ve been fooling around with these cars for 40 years,” Cook says. There are people who restore old cars and sell them for a profit, but Cook says, “You have to really like fooling around with this. It’s a miracle if you can sell it for what you paid.”

While most of the car enthusiasts come to the Juke Box to show off their dream machines and reconnect with other car hobbyists, sometimes there is some buying and selling going on. [No one was interested in my 1995 Camry though.]

Restoring old cars has to be fun, Cook says, noting that he doesn’t get too upset when his young grandson accidentally scratches one of his cars.“You can’t let it drive you crazy. If you start worrying about everything, it isn’t fun anymore.”

The design for the facade of the new building at 7250 Columbia Pike.

The owners of the property on Columbia Pike, Annandale, across from the Walgreens construction site are seeking two retail tenants for the building they’re putting up.

Mohamed Uddin and Hassan Iqbal of Alexandria hope to start construction on a 5,400-square foot building in three to four months. The Annandale Commercial Business District Planning Committee approved their proposed design for landscaping, streetscape improvements, and parking May 14.

The existing structure on that property is being demolished. It had housed the Sunset Grille, which closed almost a year ago, and Annandale Rental, which relocated to Springfield in January. The other business on that site, New York Pizza Factory, is staying and will have a new façade as part of the new building.

Harry Lee of NBI Realty of Annandale is handling leasing for the new building, and the Koreana Group of Annandale is doing the construction.

These buildings are being demolished.

Someone left a couple of sofas next to a Planet Aid donation box by the Annandale Kmart parking lot.

As communities like Annandale are increasingly becoming inundated with donation boxes, efforts are under way to fight back.

At the request of Mason Supervisor Penny Gross, the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning is exploring options for tightening the restrictions on the boxes or banning them outright. It’s a nationwide problem. In recent weeks, local governments in Lincoln, Neb., Schaumburg, Ill., amd Simi Valley, Calif., have taken steps to ban donation boxes.

Among the complaints: Some of the boxes are poorly maintained, and trash often accumulates around them. And while recycling is better than dumping unused goods in landfills, some of the boxes are deceptively labeled to give the impression that they support charities when, in fact, they are actually operated by for profit companies that sell the donated items to textile recycling companies.

The textile recycling trade is profitable, and thus growing and increasingly competitive. A source within the industry describes incidents of companies raiding the bins of competitors and stealing or putting trash in competitors’ bins.

Goodwill of Greater Washington, which recently opened a store in Annandale, views the donation boxes as “our biggest threat” to collecting second-hand clothes for its retail outlets, said spokesperson Brendan Hurley.

As a result, Goodwill launched a campaign in partnership with Applebee’s to encourage people to donate unneeded items to Goodwill, rather than in some random box. The organization is inviting schoolchildren to design artwork to wrap around bins that will be installed in the parking lots at Applebee’s restaurants.

The “Goodwill Kids’ Bins” program is being piloted with Bucknell Elementary School in Fairfax County, and the first bin will be unveiled May 18 at the Applebee’s at 6310 Richmond Highway in Alexandria.

A mock-up of a Goodwill donation box wrap designed by kids.

“The goal is to replicate the campaign by placing student-designed Goodwill bins in every Applebee’s restaurant throughout the region,” said Hurley. Eventually, “Goodwill would like to have all of its donation bins custom-designed by area students, making them unique while building a sense of community spirit and pride.”

Goodwill also sells donated items it can’t sell in its stores to textile recyclers. “The primary difference between us and the for-profit corporations is that the revenue we generate off of those sales goes directly towards funding our mission, not into the pockets of for-profit corporations that don’t provide any charitable support,” Hurley says.

As a result of several complaints from residents of the Ravensworth-Bristow community in Annandale about door-to-door solicitors, officers from the West Springfield Police District have issued warnings to several unlicensed solicitors and told them to leave them the neighborhood.

The solicitors are associated with these companies: Power Home Remodeling (based in Chester, Pa.), E Enterprises Inc. (Lutherville, Md.), the Smart Circle International (Plano, Texas), and Fast Trak Management (Falls Church).

When one resident asked to see a solicitor’s license when someone from Power Home Remodeling knocked on his door, the man ignored him and went to the house next door. The resident thought the solicitors might be connected with a series of day-time burglaries that have plagued the neighborhood.

He later learned that Power Home Remodeling sends dozens of young adults with criminal records and outstanding warrants into a neighborhood and that the Fairfax County Police Department is investigating the company. Another resident was alerted by her dog that there might have been a solicitor lurking in her backyard and she was concerned that he could have been casing the house for a burglary.

If salespeople or guys looking for work come to your door, the police suggests asking to see a solicitor’s license. If they don’t have one, or you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood, call the police non-emergency number, 703/691-2131.

In addition to the possibility of break-ins, there are plenty of unscrupulous people out there trying to con the elderly into overpriced yard work or home improvements. The police refer to those scammers as “woodchucks,” and the Mason Police commander, Capt. Carol Wilhite, has made cracking down on them one of her top priorities.

Jackson

The Republican Party of Virginia selected an extremist, Tea Party slate of candidates for statewide offices May 18. In a surprising move, delegates to the GOP Convention in Richmond chose Bishop E.W. Jackson from Chesapeake, Va., as candidate for lieutenant governor over several better-known politicians.

Jackson was elected on the fourth ballot, beating six others for the nomination. Jeannemarie Davis of Fairfax, considered more of a moderate than the others, was knocked out in the first round. Prince William County Board of Supervisors chair Corey Stewart was eliminated in the third round, and Pete Snyder, a technology entrepreneur in Fairfax, lost in the final round.

With only about 8,000 delegates voting at the convention, it seems unlikely Jackson would have secured the nomination if the Republicans had held a statewide primary instead. Among the comments attributed to Jackson: “Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.” “Democrats have an agenda worthy of the Antichrist.” Gay people are “perverted.”

The Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor will be selected in a primary June 11. Two people are running: Aneesh Chopra of Arlington, former chief technology officer in the Obama administration, and Ralph Northam, a physician representing the Norfolk area in the state Senate.

For attorney general, the Republican delegates nominated state Sen. Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg, the more extreme candidate, over Del. Rob Bell of Albemarle County. Obenshain will go up against whoever wins the Democratic primary: state Sen. Mark Herring, whose district includes parts of Loudoun and Fairfax counties, or Justin Fairfax of Fairfax County, a former federal prosecutor.

The candidates for governor on the November ballot will be Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and Terry McAuliffe, an entrepreneur and former chair of the Democratic Party. Cuccinelli has garnered national attention for his attempts to ban birth control, roll back women’s rights, and harass a UVA scientist researching climate change.

The shopping center on Annandale Road being developed by Bill Page Honda.

Fairfax County Planning and Zoning Department (DPZ) staff have agreed to strengthen provisions on community involvement and public outreach in Fairfax Forward, the proposed plan for overhauling the way changes are made in the county’s land use policy.

The county, however, is not expected to go along with recommendations calling for community groups with a stake in land use changes to appoint members to the committees that advise the county supervisors.

Fairfax Forward would replace the Area Plans Review (APR) process for updating the county’s Comprehensive Plan with a more holistic system. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a public hearing, followed by a vote, on Fairfax Forward July 9.

At a meeting of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations May 16, Meghan Van Dam of the DPZ told the group the planning staff is willing to consider recommendations by the Providence District Council to ensure that local residents will have meaningful opportunities to review and comment on proposed land use changes. She also said the staff would improve community outreach to ensure local residents know about upcoming plan reviews.

Members of the Fairfax Federation also want to a uniform rule in Fairfax Forward spelling out how the county’s supervisors deal with the task force or committee on land use in their districts. Charlie Hall of the Providence District Council said land use committees should be representative of the broad community, including PTAs, business groups, citizens’ association, and homeowners associations, and those groups should be able to appoint representatives to the committee. If the supervisor appoints the members, the committee is more likely to go along with the supervisor’s agenda.

Some supervisors have land use committees that operate that way, and some don’t. In the Mason District, the supervisor appoints the members of the Mason District Land Use Committee (MDLUC). That committee meets once a month to review development proposals before they are presented to the Planning Commission. The MDLUC hears comments from the public and votes to recommend whether the Planning Commission should approve or reject a land use proposal, but it’s recommendations aren’t binding.

The Mason District Council agreed to endorse the Providence District Council’s comments on Fairfax Forward and added an amendment to require supervisors’ land use committees to have members appointed by the community.

Marianne Gardner, director of the planning division in the DPZ, said the supervisors would likely oppose a “one-size-fits-all” requirement on how members of these advisory committees are selected.

Van Dam said Fairfax Forward would focus on four types of planning studies:

activity centers, such as Annandale, Bailey’s Crossroads, and Seven Corners, as well as areas around transit stations and the Tysons urban center.
neighborhood studies, including low-density residential areas.
communitywide planning studies, and
amendments to the Comprehensive Plan authorized by the Board of Supervisors.

Fairfax Forward outlines a series of proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan that could be undertaken within the next two years. The only one in the Mason District is a proposal to redesignate the Lincolnia area from a “suburban neighborhood” to a “community business center.” That effort has not begun yet.

A man was robbed at gunpoint as he took his toddler out of his vehicle at around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, May 17, in a parking lot in the 4500 block of Commons Drive in Annandale, according to a news release from the West Springfield Police District. The incident occurred near Braddock Elementary School.

Two men produced a weapon and ordered the victim to hand over his money, then fled. There were no injuries.

The suspects are described as black, between 18 and 25 years old. One man was tall with a muscular build with short hair and clean shaven. He wore a white T-shirt and blue jeans. The other man was thin with a short goatee and light complexion and was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers, 866-411-TIPS/8477, text “TIP187” plus your message to CRIMES/274637, or call Fairfax County Police, 703/691-2131.

Edsall Park Swim Club totally revitalized

Dominion brings energy to Wakefield Run cleanup in Annandale

Expanded Party Co. and AnnSandra will offer more options for entertaining

Suspects sought for robberies in Annandale area

McAuliffe's priorities include transportation, education, equality

In Annandale, hospital beds are for racing

Mason police cracking down on speeders

Annandale teams take part in 9th annual Bed Race

Boy Scouts clean up Annandale cemetery

Information sought in hit and run accident involving police cruiser

Annandale Bed Race captured on video

Sports/comics shop has new owners

Prescription drug abuse among youths usually starts at home

Friday night sights: Classic cars at the Juke Box in Annandale

Tenants sought for new building on Columbia Pike in central Annandale

Donation boxes increasingly under fire

Police investigating solicitors in Annandale

Virginia Republicans select candidates for November ballot

More public involvement urged for Fairfax Forward

Armed robbery in Annandale