We Get Letters: The Spirit of Thanksgiving, Reston style

It must be the time of the year. We innocently post a heartwarming story about a $1500 HOA violation involving a door, and all of a sudden, people start getting all philosophical in the comments. Like this heartfelt missive:

it sucks, i have been living in Reston for about 10 years. The RA is the NAZI of Reston. They are in everybodys business. if you have a single family home they are all into what you have around your house. i hate it. my next move is out of Reston.
they love their trees so much, then why not take care of them.
most of the trees are in bad shape. trees falling all over in a strong wind storm. i also tell everybody i know not to purchase in Reston.

It's always nice to have a Realtor(tm) weigh in! Seriously, though, this comment prompted another response. Together, they neatly sum up, in a shiny mauve-colored bow, the different mindsets with which people approach the Reston way of life (consult pp. iv-401 of Reston covenant and disclosure documents):

After living here for over 25 years, I have raised a family, worked with and for our community, volunteered in our schools, and I too have had to deal with RA and the planned community governance of Reston, and I couldn't disagree with you more. I have watched Reston grow from a fledgling town, to a national leader in what a long term, planned community can offer. I too, at one time, battled with RA over the color of the trim on our townhouse. It seemed so petty, so insignificant, and the color I wanted wasn't but a few shades off of what was already offered in our cluster. However, after going through the process of requesting a color modification with RA, I had a much better understanding of the reasons behind the strict controls that are set in our community. I will never have to worry about my property value going down the tubes because some, shall we say, creative neighbor decided to paint their home purple with lime green trim (And I have seen a home like this in Great Falls). I will never have to worry about my neighbor deciding to park three junk cars in his driveway to try and piecemeal them into a fourth car. I would also like to mention, the color change that we had requested was granted, so I didn't find the process Naziesque, but democratic.

Yes, I agree, Reston has some strict, and sometimes rather petty guidelines by which it governs itself. However, the last time I checked, we in America live in a republic. Which by definition, affords and ensures a certain equality within and among its community. So, I guess if you would rather live in a place where there are no guidelines to protect you from that purple and lime green house going up next to yours, by all means, put your house on the market, and don't let the door hit you on the bum on your way out.

Forgive us for getting a bit choked up. Happy Thanksgiving, one and all.

This Week in Crime: Robberies and racial slurs, or just another week in paradise

Apparently, there are parts of Colts Neck Road where none shall pass.

A 28-year-old Reston man was reportedly walking down Colts Neck Road near Winterthur Lane at about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 6 when he saw two other men standing along the sidewalk ahead of him. When he approached the men, they confronted him and would not allow him to pass. The men reportedly grabbed him, took his cellular phone and an undisclosed amount of cash and fled. Police responded to the incident and no injuries were reported. One of the men was described as Hispanic, about 20 years old, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 200 pounds. He had short, black hair and wore a dark shirt and blue jeans. The second man was described as about 20 years old, 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 150 pounds. He wore a dark, hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Funny, we would have thought they were bridge trolls. Meanwhile, on Freetown Drive, someone spraypainted graffiti with words more akin to a washingtonpost.com message board than a garage door in a planned community:

Police responded to a report of graffiti at a home in the 2400 block of Freetown Drive on Nov. 11. At about 3:30 a.m., a man walking his dog heard noises near a neighbor's home and saw two people moving near a garage door. The neighbor then noticed that racial slurs and symbols had been spray painted on the door. Officers notified the homeowner, a 72-year-old Reston man, of the incident.

Now there's a pleasant surprise at 3:30 in the morning.

Flashback Monday: Maybe we should have read the brochure more closely

If prospective Reston homebuyers were enticed by the exciting scale model of the New Town(tm) and drove out to the hinterlands to see what was doing, they were probably handed this exciting brochure, detailing what is now called Waterview Cluster, but then were just the comfortingly anonymous "Smith Houses." Here's what the brochure said so elegantly, with such sophisticated use of typography and white space:

The Smith cluster of townhouses with its soft pastel colors and charming balconies is reminiscent of a quaint French fishing village.

But of course! We're often reminded of the Riviera as we stroll through the cluster, and others in Reston have attempted to create if not an actual fishing village, at least an illegal fish labeling operation. Close enough in our books!

But wait -- there's more!

Architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith, F.A.I.A., has mixed sophisticated 2 bedroom gems with elegant 5 bedroom mansions... The Smith Houses are a short block or so from the Village Center and the daily convenience of city life.

Today, the former "gems" are referred to as "skinnys" -- though we doubt that anyone has ever referred to the larger ones as "mansions." But all in all, the creamy paper stock used to print the brochure undoubtedly convinced scores of people to come see what "city life" felt like in the new Reston, which basically meant being among the first in the world to buy townhouses that weren't, technically speaking, in a town. But hey -- lookit! A little model sailboat!

The Mercer auction, or Realtors say the darndest things...

This weekend's awesome fire sale auction of The Mercer condominiums isn't what you think. There's no signs of desperation here, just fiendishly clever marketing:

"This is not a distress sale, this is a marketing approach," said Jon Gollinger, AMP’s co-founder and east coast CEO. "We bring a community of buyers into the room." He said the developer decided to explore unique marketing opportunities "rather than wait out the market." Gollinger added that the companies AMP represents in home auctions are not ones that auction out of financial needs, but rather ones who think holding on to properties does not make sense when they have a good product to sell.

Hahahahahahahahaha! But wait -- there's more:

THE MERCER condo auction, according to Gollinger, will present the buyers with an opportunity to buy a quality product at "ridiculously low prices." For example, said Gollinger, a model of a two-bedroom condo that sold previously for $359,000 is being offered for $205,000 as the starting price in the Mercer auction. Similarly, a one-bedroom model previously sold for $289,000 will be offered for bidding at $155,000. "We haven’t seen these prices in decades in this market," said Gollinger.

"There is going to be a lot more of these, because they are friendly and it is the safest way to purchase a home," said Gollinger of the auction. "It’s a consumer-friendly process." He said auctions would also resonate with what he called the "technical generation," the younger buyers. "It’s something they are comfortable with, something they understand."

Let's clarify our earlier comment: Hahahahahahaha! In other words, it's kind of like eBay for home buyers, not collectors of 70s troll dolls. Bid with confidence, and let's see who this video offends:

Walker Nature House has a different, vaguely creepy concept of 'recycling'

So construction on the new, $1.5 million Nature House at the Walker Nature Education Center is now officially underway.

More than 40 years after it was initially planned and eight years after fundraising began, the Nature House at the Walker Nature Education Center is finally under construction. The groundbreaking for the Nature House was held on Wednesday and a crowd of more than 100, including employees of Reston Association, members of the Friends of Reston and community leaders, braved the cold to take part in the ceremony.

Awesome! As required by Reston Association bylaws and the loyalty oath included in the HOA rider, we love nature. But the project's eco-friendly LEED certification has a weird twist.

The current structure at the Walker Nature Education Center will be torn down in the next few days and more than 90 percent of the materials will be recycled.

Pieces of the original Walker Nature Education Center were removed from the building, cut into the shape of RA mascot Earl the Squirrel, and given to attendees as mementos.

That's one way to recycle a building. But Earl the Squirrel? Really? Is he like Joe the Plumber, only a plain-speakin' rodent who holds dear the heartland values of paintin' earth tones, followin' design review board directives, and speakin' gerunds without gs?

Who knows, but given the fact that he has an RA-sanctioned e-mail address (earlthesquirrel@reston.org), he's apparently on the payroll. Here's the only known photo of Mr. The Squirrel, presumably before he was carved up into keepsake-sized pieces of mauve-coated wood:



Have you seen this rodent?

Road Rules: Soapstone sidewalks could kill two soapy birds with one stone

People who live along Soapstone Drive in South Reston have long complained about the parked trucks, RVs, campers, boats and whatnot on both sides of the road, prompting talk of new parking regulations. They've also wanted a safe place to walk. Now, someone has come up with, as they say in the movies, A Plan: killing two birds with one stone.

"PUT A CURB along the side and build a sidewalk where everyone is parking," said Vicky Hamilton, an area resident for 21 years.

That's so crazy... it just might work.

Hamilton’s suggestion was met with approval from several other residents attending an informational meeting on the walkway project on Wednesday night, Nov. 5. "If the design is appropriate, the problem could take care of itself," said Sloan Wiesen, area resident and Realtor. Building the walkway on the road’s right-of-way would take away the unwanted parking along the side of the road while preserving the trees planted beyond the area. Designing the walkway in the right-of-way, said Wiesen, would also help the county avoid having to go through a land acquisition process. "Keep the trees and get rid of the cars," said Wiesen.

Unless you live in North Reston, anyway. But the county has taken a Google Earth photo of the neighborhood (click to enlarge) and added little dotted lines along both sides of Soapstone to show what a sidewalk might look like. They're also talking about putting a mugger-ific pedestrian tunnel under Soapstone, so as to keep free and unfettered pedestrian access to the 7-11. Sweet!

So why are people so up in arms over the parking along Soapstone?

Hamilton said she has seen people engage in strange, and at times, illegal activity on the side of Soapstone, including a man who sets up a shop to fix cars in the area.

What could be wrong with that? Sounds like a recipe for hilarity to us:

Update: Based on one commenter's request and our desire not to be confused with a washingtonpost.com discussion board or pro-school advocacy group, we've added this:

Diver Down: Reston Murder Suspect Denied Bond

So much for the claim that wetsuit-clad Reston engineer Evan Gargiulo shot a taxicab driver in Tysons Corner in self-defense.

When police found Mazhar Nazir shot to death in his taxi Nov. 2 in Tysons Corner, he was sitting in the driver's seat with his shoulder and lap seat belt fastened, a Fairfax County prosecutor said yesterday.

That revelation dealt a blow to the claim by Evan D. Gargiulo, 22, that he shot Nazir in self-defense as the cabdriver began to climb over the front seat to attack him after a fare dispute. A Fairfax circuit court judge then denied Gargiulo's request to be released on bond, bringing shouts of "Thank you!" from about 20 cabbies who attended the hearing to show their support for Nazir.

The rest of the sordid details:

Nazir picked up Gargiulo outside the Fur nightclub in Northeast Washington early Nov. 2. Gargiulo told police that he was wearing a scuba wet suit to a Halloween party and that a bag containing his wallet, keys and cellphone had been stolen inside the club. He persuaded Nazir to take him to his apartment in Reston for $75 and thought that he had more than $200 in cash in his wet suit.

According to Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway, Gargiulo told Fairfax police that once he got home, he saw his 9mm handgun and decided "at that time he's going to take that weapon with him." In his own words, he "felt vulnerable" after having his wallet and phone stolen, Rodway said.

Nazir then drove Gargiulo to Tysons, where Gargiulo had parked his sport-utility vehicle at a friend's. But Gargiulo still didn't have any cash, Rodway said. After some discussion, Gargiulo told police, Nazir tried to climb over the front seat to attack him, and Gargiulo shot him. "Mr. Nazir was seat-belted in his car" when he was found, Rodway then noted.

Rodway pointed out that Gargiulo then went to his own vehicle, without calling police, and drove past the cab without stopping to check on Nazir. The next day, Rodway said, Gargiulo went to D.C. police and made a report about his stolen items, not noting that he had shot someone.

Gargiulo's attorney, Barry Helfand, said that Gargiulo, originally from Hillsborough, N.J., had recently graduated from Penn State University and wanted to return to his job as a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin in Reston. But Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Leslie M. Alden ruled that Gargiulo was "a danger to the community" and ordered him held without bond.

There's really nothing funny about this story, to be sure, so here is a picture of a puppy in a wetsuit:

In North Reston, Treepocalypse Now

After temporarily holding off on cutting down dozens of trees in a North Reston neighborhood, Columbia Gas went ahead and gave them the axe.

Last week, Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. cut down dozens of trees in her Reston subdivision to clear out a swath of land where its pipelines lie. Almost 60 trees were cut down in Carleen Basik's yard alone, transforming her woodsy back yard into a leaf-strewn field. Her neighbors' homes stand nakedly beyond it.

"Every window used to look like a picture postcard," said Basik, 55, who hired a lawyer and took time off work in an attempt to fend off the "tree massacre," as she calls it. "Now it looks like a war zone. I feel like I'm in a fishbowl. And I don't want to live here anymore."

At a meeting last month with Columbia Gas, residents lobbied the company to study whether the tree roots were actually posing a threat to the gas line before chopping them down. But the chain saws began buzzing less than a month afterward. The company's disregard for the neighborhood's wishes was "profoundly disrespectful," said Bob Seitz, 61, whose house is now starkly visible from the Basiks' back deck.

Of course, Columbia Gas says it "slightly scaled back plans" as a result of complaints from the neighborhood, which we guess means they didn't napalm the entire site from orbit just to be sure, the end.

Flashback Monday: Wiehle emerges

The year was 1915, and here is what would ultimately become everyone's favorite planned real estate development. Unlike just 25 years before, people had started congregating near what would eventually become Reston Parkway, perhaps subconsciously aware that a Macaroni Grill would someday be built nearby. Of course, that hamlet was the drunken village of Wiehle, which was no match for the larger, more established town of Herndon, where no doubt they were concerned about the scourge of underemployed Irishmen loitering along the W&OD railway, looking for work. Perhaps the newly formed Herndon Heights suburb was home to that era's day labor center, before Samuel Gompers and other reactionaries of the time shamed the town into shutting it down.

And no, we don't know for sure if the labor reformer was still active in 1915, or if he'd ever visited Herndon. We just like saying "Gompers."

This Week in Crime: And you thought you had lousy coworkers, plus a real fish story

Talk about an awkward carpool.

A man was reportedly stabbed by a coworker Nov. 4 after the two became involved in an argument on their drive home from work. They stopped the car at about 6:15 p.m. near Parcher Avenue and Spring Drive. As one man exited the vehicle, he reportedly assaulted and stabbed the other man, a 51-year-old Reston man, in the upper body. The man fled on foot and the Reston man was treated at the scene for minor injuries. A warrant for malicious wounding is pending.

Parcher Avenue... that sounds familiar. Wonder why?

• A sandwich was reported stolen from a business in the 13100 block of Parcher Avenue.

That must be it.

Meanwhile, we're not exactly sure whether to call this white-collar crime, or blue-collar crime, or what. But something fishy was definitely going on:

Peter Xuong Lam, of Fairfax, Va., was found guilty by a federal jury in Los Angeles of conspiring to import mislabeled fish in order to avoid federal import tariffs, the Justice Department announced today. Lam also was found guilty on three counts of dealing in fish that he knew had been imported contrary to law. Arthur Yavelberg, of Reston, Va., a co-conspirator, also was found guilty of conspiracy to trade in misbranded food.

According to evidence presented during the two week trial, two Virginia-based companies, Virginia Star Seafood Corp., of which Lam became president, and International Sea Products Corporation, illegally imported more than ten million pounds, or $15.5 million worth, of frozen fish fillets from Vietnamese companies Binh Dinh, Antesco and Anhaco between May 2004 and March 2005. These companies were affiliated with Cafatex, one of the largest producers in Vietnam of a fish called Pangasius hypophthalmus.

Mmm... We can't get enough of that hypopthalmus.

Further evidence presented at trial showed that Kich Nguyen, the head of the Vietnamese producer, Cafatex, imported the fish to his son, Henry Nguyen who oversaw Virginia Star, International Sea Products and a third company, Silver Seas, of which Yavelberg was titled president.

Lam then knowingly marketed and sold millions of dollars worth of the falsely labeled and illegally imported fish to seafood buyers in the United States as basa, a trade name for a more expensive type of Vietnamese catfish, Pangasius bocourti, and also as sole. All of the fish sold was invoiced to match the false labels that were still on the boxes. The jury convicted Yavelberg of marketing the fillets, without necessarily knowing they had been mislabeled.

Perhaps labeling the fish "The Best of Lake Anne" was the dead giveaway.

Welcome to Reston! Now fork out $1500 for a new door

Reston blogger Rebecca recently became a homeowner for the first time. Of course, she became a first-time homeowner in Reston, which means that instead of a basket full of fruit and discount coupons from local merchants, she probably got a friendly letter from the HOA.

You probably can't read the note I wrote on the arrow - but the arrow is pointing toward the 'ILLEGAL' door on my house that is going to cost me $1500 to replace... SO frustrating!

Wow... it's so clearly... undoorlike. And non-earth-toned. And partially opaque.

We're sure replacing it with a mauve, windowless slab of wood will do wonders for the aesthetics.

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 29: That Giant Sucking Sound

Here's one of the cheerier things you'll read about the awesome Reston-Herndon commercial real estate market:

Leasing of commercial office space in the Washington area had its biggest quarterly drop in more than a year as financial markets slid into crisis and economists predicted a deep national recession.

Along the Dulles Toll Road, where developers built buildings in hope of lining up tenants later, the vacancy rate for Reston and Herndon was 18.6 percent compared with 11.7 percent a year ago. Asking rents were flat at $31.14 per square foot compared with $31.16.

That's compared to a regional vacancy rate of 11.5 percent, which is no great shakes, either. But there are Signs of Hope! Time Warner leased nearly 200,000 square feet of office space at South Lake at Dulles Corner, which will probably be filled with friendly customer-service reps telling people that the serviceman will be there sometime between 9:30 a.m. and March, plus Strayer Education is moving to a new building in Herndon by 2010, which will be just in time for all of us to enroll for remedial classes in gun repair and taxidermy once we've lost the last few remaining jobs anywhere, the end.

Road Rules: They paved paradise and put up a no-parking Large Area Community Parking District (LACPD)

All of a sudden, Soapstone Drive residents have noticed that people park trucks, antique campers and boats along their street. They're not happy about it, either.

"This is a complete embarrassment," said Todd Harbour, a resident on Soapstone Drive. "This is like a creeping obesity," he said of the problem. Harbour added that the neighbors are experiencing vandalism and illegal activity in the area. "We have robberies, two last week," said Harbour, commenting on the two robberies of a 7-Eleven store on Soapstone Drive.

Right. Because the recent spate of robberies have been a creeping obesity that have marred the comparatively svelt 7-11 and its plentiful supply of 92-ounce Super Big Gulps, Big Bite chili cheese dogs and whatnot. Fortunately, Fairfax County has, as they say in the movies, A Plan:

AS PART OF a solution to the problem of trucks, boats, motor homes and other vehicles parking along state-maintained roads, Fairfax County is considering implementing a Large Area Community Parking District (CPD) in Reston. The parking district would prohibit some, not all, of the vehicles that park on roads such as Soapstone from doing so. It would outlaw watercraft, motor homes, camper trailers and vehicles over 12,000 pounds from parking in the district, which would approximately match the tax district that supports the Reston Community Center. A community meeting on the issue was held at Langston Hughes Middle School on Thursday night, Oct. 30.

"Many parts of Reston are calling in" about problems similar to those on Soapstone Drive, said Merrily Pierce, a transportation liaison in Supervisor Catherine Hudgins’ (D-Hunter Mill) office. She said a significant concern in Reston is the parking of recreational vehicles on the sides of roads. Creating a CPD for Reston would at least start solving the problem, removing boats and vehicles that weigh over 12,000 pounds from the sides of the community’s roads, said Pierce.

Great. So people are happy, right?

It [a CPD] is not really going to affect what I and my neighbors have been complaining about for years," said Harbour. "CPD is not a solution to the problem we are raising," he said.

A public hearing is "likely to be scheduled" on Dec. 8. That plenty of time to move the trucks, boats, RVs and other eyesores to a place where they won't be noticed... like, say, Herndon.

This Week in Crime: Grand Theft Auto Reston

Four lovable scamps went out for a romp in a car they found parked in South Reston last week. It's the stuff that coming-of-age teen movies are made of in Hollywood, but in Reston, it's just plain old auto theft.

Two Reston teens were arrested for allegedly stealing a vehicle after a police officer initiated a traffic stop on the car near the intersection of Wiehle Avenue and Sunrise Valley Drive at about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 29. An investigation led to the boys' arrest. About 30 minutes before, two of the boys, ages 14 and 15, were reportedly walking nearby and were chased by some acquaintances. They ran and hid inside a 1998 Chevrolet 2500 van that was parked close by in the 12200 block of Laurel Glade Court. When they discovered the keys were inside, the boys allegedly drove away. They picked up two friends, also 14, and were stopped by police a few moments later. All four boys were released to their parents and petitions for auto theft were obtained for the two boys who allegedly took the vehicle. The 14-year-old boy was also charged with driving without an operator's license.

Sigh. Where are the Coreys when you need them?

RCC Reopens: Move along folks, nothing to see here

After being closed for many, many months, the Reston Community Center has reopened. So what exciting new things will people see when they walk into the brand-spanking-new facility?

Gordon said a lot of work went into the renovations, but few of the changes are visible.

Long story short: They've got a bitchin' new AC, plus the stage has a bunch of new pulleys and whatnot you won't be able to see either, the end.

Flashback Monday: It's Only a Model!

Imagine living in the planned community of the future! Better yet, imagine squinting as you peer at this lovely model of Lake Anne and its environs ca. 1963, pondering where you'd park your oversized car with the vestigial fins, what with the obvious lack of garages and carports. Also, notice the distinct lack of mauve. The alabaster models make Lake Anne look a little like the Acropolis, if the Acropolis was set along a lakeside instead of a rock overlooking Athens and was made up of townhouses and mid-rise condos, instead of temples and whatnot.

Sales, of course, increased once it was announced the finished townhomes would be larger than 4 inches tall.

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 28: Layoffs at Accenture, plus other disasters in the making

Even "green-collar" jobs or "bright-collar" jobs or whatever the hell they call the smarty-pants consulting jobs that seem to employ about 99.5 percent of D.C.-area residents these days aren't safe in this economy. Accenture is laying off nearly 100 employees at its Reston office.

The New York-based consulting giant, located at 11951 Freedom Drive, will cut 98 workers Jan. 2, according to a notice filed by the company with Virginia.

Combined with its D.C. office, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) employs around 3,000 in the area and works with many federal departments and technology corridor clients in area.

“It’s important to know we are doing everything we can to find other employment opportunities within the company for these folks,” said Peter Soh, of corporate communications for Accenture. “We are a large global consulting firm and it’s our normal business practice to constantly evaluate our workforce and make sure it meets the changing needs of our clients. From time to time we find we need to rebalance our workforce. That’s what this action is here.”

He says the layoff is “not a reflection of the marketplace.”

Riiiiiight. Meanwhile, Reston will be home to a summit to save another industry in crisis -- and this one doesn't involve spastically dancing open house signs.

The American Press Institute (API) will host an invitation-only, closed-door "summit conference" Nov. 13 in which 50 CEO-level executives will ponder ways to revive the newspaper business.

The one-day conference at API's Reston, Va., headquarters will be "a facilitated discussion of concrete steps the industry can take to reverse its declines in revenue, profit and shareholder value."

Good luck with that! At this point, that's kind of like holding a facilitated discussion of concrete steps the passengers of the Titanic could have taken to rearrange deck chairs to "reverse declines in the ship's buoyancy."

This Week in Crime: Who doesn't have an extra $130 in their wet suit?

Evan Gargiulo, the Reston engineer who shot and killed a taxi driver in Tysons Corner on Sunday, has told police he did so in self-defense because the driver was angry that he couldn't pay the $130 fare.

Evan D. Gargiulo, 22, has been in jail since he surrendered to Fairfax County police Tuesday in the weekend slaying of Mazhar Nazir, 49, of Baileys Crossroads. A judge yesterday denied Gargiulo's request to be released on bond.

At the hearing, Chief Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Ian M. Rodway said Gargiulo had been dressed in a wet suit and wig while attending a Halloween party at a downtown Washington nightclub, Fur, when his wallet, cellphone and car keys were stolen. Gargiulo was "distraught" by the theft and hired Nazir's Dial Cab to take him back to his apartment in Reston, Rodway said.

Gargiulo believed he had several hundred dollars in his wet suit, defense lawyer Steven Garver said, and agreed to pay Nazir $75 for the ride. Once at his apartment, Garver said, Gargiulo picked up a key to his Nissan sport-utility vehicle -- and his 9mm pistol. "Feeling vulnerable, he decided to pick up and take the gun," Garver said.

Who wouldn't?

Gargiulo then asked to be taken to the Rotonda condominium complex in Tysons Corner, where his friend lives, because Gargiulo's car was parked there and he did not want it to be towed from a visitors' lot, Garver said. When they arrived, Gargiulo realized that he also had lost the cash that was stashed in his wet suit, Garver said.

Again, who hasn't had this happen to them? But this is where things get ugly.

Nazir, who told him the fare was now $130, was understandably upset, Garver said. He said Nazir handed Gargiulo his phone and told him to call his friend in the Rotonda, but the friend was still at the party downtown.

Garver said Nazir "got angry, threatened my client" and "was trying to come over the front seat at my client." The two men struggled, Garver said, and Gargiulo "just instinctively reached in, pulled his gun and fired."

Gargiulo then called his parents in Hillsborough, N.J., using Nazir's phone, retrieved his SUV and drove away, Rodway said. He did not call police or tell them his side of the story until Wednesday, Rodway said.

That must have been an awkward conversation. Meanwhile, despite this week's election of some consequence, the comments on the Washington Post story about Gargiulo have predictably degenerated into a full-fledged race war, the end.

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 27: Reston Town Center condos to be auctioned, ostracizied by other, full-price condos

As if we all didn't already know this, it's always a great time to buy (or sell!) real estate in Reston. But now a condo complex near the Great Wall of Reston Town Center is throwing in the towel. C'mon, guys! No one likes a quitter!

It's a sign of the times and a boon for homebuyers that The Mercer, a high-rise condominium in Reston, Virginia, is auctioning off their remaining one and two-bedroom homes. The starting bids are set at more than 45 percent below previous asking prices.

The minimum selling price for the eight one-bedroom homes is $155,000. The 22 two-bedroom homes have minimum selling prices starting at $205,000. Previous asking prices were $280,000 to $390,000.

Amenities at this high-end development include private balconies and terraces, ceramic tile baths and upgraded kitchens with stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets and granite counters. The building has private parking, valet services, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a business center and a high-tech media room.

Sweet! The auction is set for 4pm on November 23, but frankly, we think the developers didn't try enough spastically dancing open house signs.

This Week in Crime: Soon we'll have more mugshots than Facebook

So when we first heard about the taxi driver found dead in Tysons Corner on Sunday, we thought that maybe the MASSIVE CRIME WAVE had moved on to other areas. Turns out our criminals are now commuting.

A Crime Solvers tip was instrumental in helping homicide detectives identify the suspect in the murder of Mazhar Nazir. Evan Gargiulo, 22, of 1727 Port Place in Reston (pictured at right) was arrested and charged with one count of murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Gargiulo turned himself in at the Reston District police station at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4.

Wonder if he voted first. Now more details have emerged about Gargiulo, including perhaps the oddest bit of incriminating evidence since C.S.I. Herndon went off the air:

On Tuesday, officers interviewed the anonymous caller and were told that Gargiulo had attended a Halloween party Saturday night wearing a wet suit, neoprene diver's boots and a blond wig.

Police searched Gargiulo's apartment, in the 1700 block of Port Place, on Tuesday afternoon, and found a wet suit and neoprene boots, court records say. Officers also found a 9mm handgun and two magazines for it, the search warrant says. The items were seized for testing.

A systems engineer for Lockheed Martin in Reston, Gargiulo graduated from Penn State this spring, where he coached the school's club swim team. He was also a lieutenant in the National Guard.

Attorney Steven Garver described Gargiulo as "a really nice, good kid" who had not been in any previous trouble.

"It's just a horrible tragedy for everybody involved and their families," Garver said. "I'm sure if everybody could roll back the clocks, it probably wouldn't have happened." He declined to elaborate, saying that "eventually, the facts will come out."

Meanwhile, an arrest has been made in the attempted armed robbery of the Fox Mill Giant in early October. Police are still looking for a second suspect.

An election squeaker: Obama takes Reston by razor-thin 2-1 margin, instead of anticipated 93-1 margin

There goes that mandate! After a nail-biter of a day, Barack Obama won Reston by a razor-thin margin of 66.4 percent to 33.6 percent. Turnout was high -- between 75 and 85 percent across all precincts, though so many people got up early to stand in long lines when the polls opened at 6 am that the precincts were actually quiet by day's end.

Voters at the Sunrise Valley precinct apparently hate hope and unicorns and multiflavored ice cream, though, because only 56 percent of voters there flipped the lever for Obama -- the lowest percentages he garnered in Reston. North Point and Aldrin were almost as in the tank for that sad grampa guy, with only 59 percent of voters in both precincts backing Obama. No doubt they'll be first in line for reeducation once the Obama administration begins its reign of hope-flavored terror.

But the super-close results weren't the only scare. Reston was actually cited in a list of Virginia election irregularities by a voting rights group.

* Early this morning, a Fairfax County police officer reportedly was pulling over African Americans outside a Reston, Va. polling station. Though the officer wasn't writing out tickets, he was checking people's identification.

We wonder if the Russian observers called them out on this. But come on, people! Don't they know we have a MASSIVE CRIME WAVE going on?

We Get Letters: So Much for Microwaved Tapas

Rebecca writes in:

I am a HUGE fan of Tavern on the Lake. I like to go there to watch football games, to enjoy live music, to enjoy the great drink specials, I know the bar tender by name, my boyfriend and I can walk back to his house from the Tavern - so no need to drive… I regularly crave the nachos from their menu - oh - so, so yummy! We really hoped that these owners were here to stay - but, well, the windows now have drawn blinds! It looks like the TVs and all alcohol has been removed! On Saturday when I last walked by there was a big bin of unopened mail in front of their store front. What happened? We had no warning on this one.

Well, the restaurant has been for sale since at least February, and according to the listing at the time, the Tavern folks were leasing. So either a) someone bought the property or b) the restaurant owners didn't want to go through the slow winter season, when foot traffic around Lake Anne Plaza begins resembling that in an East German park ca. 1975, with a pending sale hanging over their heads.

Anyone know for sure? Let us know in the comments.

Democracy, or something reasonably representing it, in action

In an age-old tradition that speaks to the most cherished of this country's democratic traditions, thousands of Reston residents, including these layabouts loitering at Lake Anne Village Center, lined up before dawn to vote in a preference poll to tell a member of the county board of supervisors which people to appoint to a community center board funded by a small tax district. Oh, wait -- that's already happened. Apparently there's been a bit of a fuss about a presidential election or something this fall, too. We've been too busy following more pressing developments involving area trees to pay attention, frankly.

Flashback Monday: Faces of Reston (some more frequent than others)

Do you ever wish you had access to a time machine so you could be instantly transported back to whatever pivotal point of history strikes your fancy? If you've answered "yes," no doubt the first place you've wanted to visit, before ancient Greece in all its glory or perhaps the signing of the Constitution, was a mauve planned community in its prime, before all the Macaroni Grills and vibrant primary colors and whatnot.

In the absence of a functioning time machine, though, you can still go to the Reston Museum, where they're displaying this whimsical stick-your-head-in-the-cutout-and-take-a-photo thingy from 1974. Though this picture makes us wonder whether the folks at the Reston Museum have access to, if not a time machine, some sort of unspeakable human cloning technology, as they seem to have at least two Bob Simon clones on their hands.