Redistricting Fever: They Found a Phone!

Exactly a month to the day after the Fairfax County School Board enacted its awesome plan to transform South Lakes High School into a mecca of peace, love and Bratz understanding, the pro-school FairfaxCAPS has demonstrated its proactive approach to improving county schools by filing suit to stop redistricting forever and give every aggrieved parent in Fox Mill and Oakton Heights a pony and generate enough billable hours to move an entire team of lawyers to Great Falls.

On Friday, March 28, a suit was filed on behalf of 11 parents of children affected by the proposed redistricting plan, with the support of The Fairfax Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools (Fairfax CAPS).

The suit states that the School Board's decision was invalid because it was “arbitrary and capricious and undertaken in excess of its authority.”

It further maintains that the school board did not comply with its policy on school boundary adjustments and ignored information demonstrating that the redistricting does not “maintain or improve operating efficiency or instructional effectiveness of the schools impacted,” and that “the school board exceeded its statutory authority by considering the socioeconomic characteristics of the school population” in making its redistricting decision.

Fairfax County Schools declined to comment, most likely because they know they're totally guilty and are feverishly working to re-redistrict again so every elementary school in the county will feed into Langley High School.

Meanwhile, if you want to support this important legal boondoggle work and are hankering for some quality Indian cuisine or a Christmas ornament depicting your Oakton McMansion, you're in luck!

Tandoori Village Restaurant in Manassas has offered to DONATE 20% OF YOUR TOTAL BILL TO STOP REDISTRICTING!!!! A special note from restaurant owner, Abby Wahla:To all supportive guests: please identify yourself (that you want to STOP REDISTRICTING) to my husband, myself, or any staff member, so that we can keep a record for donations!

[snip]

Artist Andie Smarrelli, will DONATE 1/3 OF PRICE OF EVERY CUSTOM ORNAMENT SOLD TO STOP REDISTRICTING!!!! I am a craft artist and hand paint people's homes on hand blown glass ornaments. I have been doing these for years and only need a clear photo of the home with confirmation of the colors (door, shutters, etc) as they can sometimes be misleading in a photo. These make great gifts for yourself, parents, in-laws, Mother's Day, weddings, or for someone who is moving. I also have several interior designers and real estate agents who use them as thank-you gifts for their customers. My price is $75.00 and I am pledging $25 of each one sold through this effort to FairfaxCaps.

Activism meets commerce. Bet they don't teach that kind of all-American entrepreneurism in those fancy IB classes!

Tall Oaks Un-Giant To Open in May

Somehow forgetting to credit our own awesome, world-exclusive scoop, the local newspapers finally figured out that Tall Oaks Shopping Center is getting a new, international-themed grocery store, complete with beef blood and pork blood and whatnot.

Because the old media, ink-on-dead-tree types tend to do things like "ask questions," though, we now know more about the awesome new grocery. First of all, "El Grande Supermercado" translates into "Fresh World." The grocery store won't have a pharmacy, but it will open in May, as a flapping sign along Wiehle Avenue now suggests.

"Fresh World will carry things that you couldn’t find anywhere else," said Dallon Cheney, principal at KLNB, the leasing agent. The store specializes in seafood and fresh fish and its aisles are arranged by international foods. Super Ee, Fresh World’s parent company, currently owns a store in Springfield and there are plans to open more in Virginia and Maryland later in the year.

And like the Easter miracle of our aforementioned, world exclusive scoop, Fresh World could transform the vast stucco wasteland of Tall Oaks into a vibrant, bustling retail destination.

KLNB principal Dallon Cheney said several merchants near Fresh World's location in Springfield have been “so impressed by Fresh World” that they have expressed interest in opening locations in Tall Oaks.

The remaining vacancies will likely fill up also now that the center has a new anchor store, said David Ross, president of Atlantic Realty.

To figure out what stores would make the best fit, a community meeting is being planned to gather input.

Awesome. We love input. Like the input provided by this commenter:

i had a feeling the store that was interested in moving into that empty Giant space would not be your typical grocery store. The MO has become for an old, decrepit store to shutter and then the foreigners move in. They open an oriental grocery and tons of people flock to them. of course, most of those ppl don't speak English and/or are rude.

Guess we just met the Welcome Wagon.

Meet Your Neighbors: Why Does Reston Hate America?

It's somewhat shocking that a community that had its roots in the free-thinking 1960s would attract people who would dare protest the 5th birthday of our Glorious Reworking of the Middle East by standing in front of such glorious beacons of democracy as the Pizzeria Unos and the (appropriately named?) Banana Republic.

The irony? While the protesters were carrying around signs saying "it's all about the oil," their lovely stucco-and-cardboard residences sit on land developed by an evil oil company, whose name -- and here comes the double irony! -- refers to the sandy region we've worked so hard to liberate and/or bomb, all because -- and here comes the triple, hat-trick irony! -- oil was so darned cheap back then that said evil oil conglomerate chose to invest in real estate to make more money! Oil cheap and real estate hot? Talk about a crazy, upside down world!

Anyway, if these folks truly had the courage of their convictions, they'd move to a community that wasn't created from whole cloth by a TexxonHalliburton conglomerate, like... say, Ashburn. Which, come to think of it, actually looks like a development created by an oil company. Go figure.

Caddyshack 2: Why Does the RA Hate Gophers?

Ah, Reston's gardening plots. Perhaps the finest example of the planned community's communal, Earth-friendly spirit. Except maybe for the pesticides and the gopher assassinations.

Of the four garden locations, the site at Lake Anne is the only one that is not completely organic, Greenberg said. Gardeners at all other plots are forbidden from using any pesticides or fertilizers containing chemicals.

First, we learned that the RA is condoning the napalming of tree stands, now this? Which makes us wonder: What kind of hell-spawn pests are menacing the good people of Reston's beloved tomatoes and carrots and whatnot?

She said sometimes moles, groundhogs and other animals get into the plots, so RA has been looking at adding a nesting area for red-shouldered hawks.

We have a simpler and more effective suggestion:

Metro's Silver Line: Insult to Injury

Remember that time Metro was going to build an awesome monorail ride through the wonders of Tysons Tegucigalpa, allowing riders to squint through the smoke from the track fires to get a glimpse of such architectural wonders as the Bed Bath N Beyond and Olive Garden? But then developers grassroots organizers in that fair community decided to spontaneously demand that a tunnel be built, all the better to maintain the area's Paris-like, pedestrian-friendly boulevards? And then they sued, leaving a Tysons car dealer as the person who made the most sense as other Tysons developers jumped ship out of embarrassment? Yeah, that was awesome.

Well, now that awesome lawsuit, which would have stopped Metro construction until a tunnel could be constructed out of millions of tiny, gilded mosaics that depicted the ghostly face of Crystal Koons, has been withdrawn, but not because of some touching, sitcom-like change of heart that happens precisely 24 minutes into the show. Instead, tunnel backers think the whole project is dead as a doornail.

TysonsTunnel.org president Scott Monett says the lawsuit is no longer necessary now that the government appears to be on the verge of denying federal funding for the project.

Funny, the last time we checked in, things were going just hunky dory. Do they know something we don't?

On the bright side, that leaves us with just one nuisance lawsuit to worry about.

At Tall Oaks, Hope No Longer Blooms Eternal, But a Grocery Store Still Returns from the Dead (OMG a very special Easter Restonian World Exclusive!)

It's only appropriate that on Easter, we discovered that the awesome empty Giant at the Tall Oaks Shopping Center Stucco Wasteland will soon be (ahem!) resurrected as another grocery store. Only it's not one of Food Lion's bleach-and-NASCAR-free Bloom alternatives. Instead, according to two festive multilingual signs in the windows, an "international" grocery by the name of El Grande Supermercado will soon take its place.

Thanks to our extensive language skills, we can ascertain that the store's name translates to "The Big Supermarket." There's apparently another iteration of the chain within spitting distance of the Mixing Bowl in Springfield and another on Gallows Road somewhere near Falls Church. They don't have a Web site, but fortunately, we can always count on the intelligent, well-travelled users of the Internets to give us the lowdown, in the form of the picture above and the thoughtful, in-depth review below:

Wtf. There's an "El Grande Supermercado" (which translates to "The Big Supermarket") in Springfield, West Virginia (the city we're staying in). Ha!! …okay fine…I thought it was funny.

-10: 35 pm

Omg! My mom just ate a peanut butter M&M. If you know my mom well enough, you'd pretty much know that she never eats anything "unfamiliar" LOL.

OMG! LOL! ROTFL! We totally feel like we've already been there now.

(Shout-out to an anonymous commenter for the tip.)

Just Call it No Oaks

Hey, guess what? Just four months after Giant vacated Tall Oaks Shopping Center Stucco Wasteland, the center may be on the verge of announcing an awesome new anchor tenant. Here's the thing, though: It probably won't be Bloom, it might not even be a grocery store, and it'll likely require a few teensy tiny site modifications to make the shopping center more visible from Wiehle Avenue, like cutting down a whole slew of trees.

KLNB Retail's Julie Cyphers, who oversees the leasing of Tall Oaks, said she “anticipates there being [an announcement] soon,” but would not elaborate because nothing has been signed.

With that store filled, Cyphers said she is optimistic about the remaining vacancies in the shopping center, which combined with the Giant space total 49,366 square feet of empty space, double the amount of occupied 24,634 square feet.

“We're talking to a number of folks,” she said about the center's other vacancies. “I feel like we'll probably pick up speed once the anchor store is in.”

After courting Bloom with an awesome postcard campaign and meetings with RA officials, it looks less likely that the awesome, less NASCAR-intensive Food Lion variant, is a viable option.

“There are some hurdles with Bloom,” said [RA CEO Milton Matthews]. “They would possibly want changes to the interior and exterior.”

Furthermore, Bloom's negotiations for new locations typically last a year, Matthews said.

“We don't want to wait a full year,” he said.

Yeah, that would be a bummer. Of course, those issues might be the same for any grocery store, and we all want easy access to leaky jugs of 2% milk and hilarious seasonal novelties, right?

Tara Coonin said she hopes above all else that any new tenant in Giant's old space would indeed be a grocery store.

“As long as it's a grocery store, we don't care. That's just my worst nightmare because that space would be perfect for a large gym,” she said.

We certainly don't want Tall Oaks' massive, empty parking lot filled with 'roid rage-fueled pickups, do we? So that brings us back to those, um, tall oaks:

Coonin said negotiations with Bloom raised this concern as well, with Bloom concerned that the center simply wasn't visible enough.

Part of the solution may be removing some of the trees behind the stores on Wiehle Avenue, a move that the RA would likely support.

“The association owns a lot of easements, we're committed to them getting more visibility to the stores in there,” Matthews said.

The RA actually supporting the wholesale removal of trees? Check the sky for flying pigs. And bring on the Agent Orange!

Reston's Vibrant Economy, pt. 17: How the Reston Home Depot singlehandedly solved the global warming crisis

Reston's awesome Home Depot(tm), which is a great place to wander around and stare randomly at various home-improvement implements like doors and huge sheaths of siding (hopefully they're up to snuff in the Cluster of the Year(tm)!) and terlets and whatnot before buying a tacky potted plant and a box of Tic-Tacs and slinking out the door, apparently just singlehandedly solved the global warming crisis, with a little help of coal-plant loving Dominion power:

Jenna Caudillo of Falls Church, Va., today purchased the 1 millionth compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb sold under Dominion Virginia Power's discount program for the energy- and money-saving bulbs. Caudillo purchased the bulb at The Home Depot in Reston.

"At our house we try to do little things to reduce the impact on the environment and save money," said Caudillo. "We have found replacing regular bulbs to be a simple and cost-effective way to reduce our electric bill and help the environment without any noticeable change to our lifestyle. And of course, it helps to have the discount, too."

Problem solved! So feel free to drive your Escalade to the Home Depot parking lot, crank up the AC, and leave it idling while you go inside to buy a new charcoal grill or six.

Meanwhile, in the other Anti-Reston: We don't cotton much to them tall buildings

Remember Columbia, that other planned community in Maryland with lots of earth tones and Satanic street names and a distaste for all things related to Christmas? Well, they're at it again. When that planned community was designed, in their infinite wisdom planners decided to reserve the absolute heart and soul of the town, its geographical and spiritual center, for a shopping mall. Yeah, that Orange Julius was awesome.

Anyhoo, they're planning to revitalize their "town center" and whatnot, and even though they brought in one of the people behind Reston's Fake Downtown, folks there know one thing: they don't want their awesome mall to look like Reston's Fake Downtown.

Resident Sal Cosentino said he didn't want to see a "high-density downtown area" in Columbia, like Ward designed in Reston Town Center. Cosentino, who has visited Reston, said he felt as though he were being "compressed by buildings." There was scattered applause.

Yeah, that's definitely how we feel when we wander around Reston's Fake Downtown, our necks wrenched into permanent kinks from looking up at all them tall buildings all the time as we wonder what in tarnation happened to the Ruby Tuesday's. Then we see the comforting glow of the Macaroni Grill across the street in its low-rise strip mall -- definitely built to scale for mere mortals like us, not the towering giants who feel at home in Pizzeria Unos -- and all's right in the world.

Welcome to Lakeport! Just watch where you park

Congratulations to Lakeport Cluster for being named the RA's 2007 cluster of the year (PDF). Sweet! Fortunately, the cluster has its own Web site, so we didn't have to leave the house to do a little of what those stuffy, old-media dead tree folks might snidely call "reporting" on what makes this little slice of Reston so special.

What do the residents of Lakeport want us to know about their neighborhood? According to the notice front and center on their site, where not to park:

Some time ago the Lakeport Board of Directors suspended the enforcement of our parking regulations due to problems with the towing company. Since that time, adherence to the Lakeport parking regulations, which are outlined in the Lakeport Handbook, has become lax.

All residents should be aware that, effective immediately, parking regulations will be enforced and those automobiles parked in violation of the Handbook guidelines will be subject to towing.

Flyers will be placed under the windshield wipers of all vehicles parked on common property so that everyone will be aware of the resumption of enforcement of our parking regulations by towing.

Awesome! Not only do they have snide fliers, but they have their own handbook (PDF), which includes helpful tips like this:

Signs and attention-attracting paraphernalia detract from the overall appearance of the Cluster. The Cluster Association regulates the type and design of signs permitted in the Cluster.
• All permanent signs must have Cluster Association and Reston Design Review Board approval – and approval is not likely.

So much for that blinking "over 30 million Web pages served" sign we were planning on putting on the roof. This goes on for a few more pages, so we'll skip past the detailed description of trash protocol, which points out that trash cans are "ugly."

Fortunately, Lakeport isn't just resting on the laurels of decades of standards regulating everything from decks to house numbers. They're taking a bold step into the 21st century with a new draft siding and trim standard (yet another freaking PDF). Among other things, it says:

Finished channel-design overlapped cedar boards with horizontal orientation and a 4.75”exposure (repeat) -Phase 2 (all other units): rough-sawn bevel-design overlapped cedar boards with horizontal orientation and a 6”exposure (repeat) -Alternative for Phase 1 or Phase 2 units (applicable ONLY if ALL4 to7 contiguous units in a row submit their DRB applications at the same time and replace ALL cedar siding on a DRB-approved schedule): Overlapped HardiePlank in the Cedarmill pattern (a manufactured fiber-cement siding) with horizontal orientation and a 6”exposure(repeat).

That clears everything up. For this, and many other reasons, we're sure, Lakeport decidedly deserves its honor from the Reston Association (filed in triplicate, on recycled paper only please).

Meet Your Neighbors: Shiny Happy People

One thing about people from Reston: They love mauve. Also, they stay busy-- or at least busy enough to provide for the local newspapers touching tales about the Human Struggle, or maybe determination, or another one of those terms you see at the bottom of all the inspiring posters in your sales manager's office.

Take 60 years young Ken Stringer, who was one of three Fairfax County residents who climbed Mount Aconcaqua in Argentina, which the article tells us is "the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas."

Tom Hughes, 51, of Vienna, Bob Gaskins, 41, of Chantilly and Ken Stringer, 60, of Reston, flew to the state of Mendoza in Argentina on Jan. 16 to tackle the eight-day climb to the summit, which peaks at 22,841 feet. Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on earth, measures 29,028 feet.

The trio had previously tackled Mount Rainier in Washington state in 2004. While that peak reaches 14,410 feet, Hughes said Rainier is technically a bit more difficult than Aconcagua. Rainier is additionally much colder throughout the entire climb. While the peak of Aconcagua was covered in snow, the base of the mountain was enjoying an Argentinian summer.

“It was a big change within two days, you didn't know what you were going to be wearing from one minute to the next,” Hughes said. “We started out in shorts and short-sleeved shirts ... and by the time we got to the high mountain we were wearing big thick down coats.

From that brave tale of layering, we move on to someone you'd expect to see during the weather cutaways on the Today Show, not Reston: 100 years young Hazel Loney, four generations of whose family now call Reston home.

Hazel Loney moved to Reston from California two years ago to be closer to her daughter, Carol Bley, her granddaughter Betty Bley and her great-granddaughter, Betty's daughter Mackenzie MacDonald. The four women all share red hair and a love of music.

Then they'd all probably like the members of Laidback, a rock-and-roll combo that calls Reston home:

It’s hard not to love a band that pays musical tribute to Chuck Norris.

Sweet!

Laidback is just such a band, building and mixing rhythms and patterns in an organized but energetic way, making every song – including the aforementioned track “Chuck Norris” – sound like it came from a jam-session-meets-recording-session. The Reston-based group’s sound is vaguely reminiscent of earlier Dave Matthews Band, but happily the vibe is more “get up and dance” than “go make out in the corner.” Laidback tours around the mid-Atlantic, but keeps a home date the first Friday every month at Carpool, 208 Elden St., Herndon. Their next show is Friday, March 7.

Laidback is a Reston-based band consisting of 5 members: Brett Whitson - Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar; Brian Raubacher - Lead Guitar/Vocals; Garrett Wilhelm – Drums; Brad Hodson - Bass Guitar; Dave Adams - Percussion/Vocals

Tragically, the newspaper article neglected to say just how many years young any of them were.

St. Patricks Day, Reston style

The word "poop" spray scrawled in green spray paint on a neighborhood sign off Center Harbor Road in North Reston.

Hey, at least the vandal(s) respected the spirit of the holiday -- and Reston's nature-friendly ethos -- in their choice of spray paint. Reston go bragh!

Redistricting Fever: Injunction Junction, What's Your Function?

FairfaxCAPS, the positive, pro-school, not-gonna-sue group that thinks all Fairfax County schools are awesome, but that some are more awesome than others, is getting ready to sue.

FairfaxCAPS, Inc. directors are taking steps needed to file, on behalf of interested parties, a lawsuit requesting a court-ordered injunction to stop the redistricting. A local law firm with a special expertise about education law in Virginia is being selected.

Sweet! Guess someone found a phone.


They have, as they say in the movies, a plan:

If the lawsuit is successful, a court-ordered injunction against the redistricting in effect would block the February 28 redistricting decision and restore the previous high school boundaries. Future steps would be up to the School Board, but School Board members have acknowledged many flaws in their process, and would need to pursue other options, including potentially conducting a new boundary study with an improved and transparent and fair process.

Awesome. But we've seen LA Law and Boston Public, so we know that nuisance lawsuits and natty pinstripe suits and Corbin Bernsen's rugged good looks don't come cheap. What's the damage?

Everyone wants to know what this legal action will cost. At this time a final cost is not known but it is expected to exceed six-figures. The focus has been on maximizing prospects of cost-effective litigation that is both time-sensitive and cost-sensitive.

Several people have asked how much they should give to this effort. Regrettably, given legal costs these days, FairfaxCAPS is asking for parents, neighbors, and residents to contribute as much as possible. Many Fairfax residents have already contributed in the four- and five-digit ranges per family (between $1,000 – 10,000). This is obviously a personal decision. We appreciate the value of every contribution and believe it is important to get as much support as possible to show that this truly is a community response.

Wow. Ten grand will almost get you into a Bratz-free private school.

Speaking of which, parents in shockingly Bratz-intensive Fox Mill and other neighborhoods now redistricted into the newly refenestrated South Lakes High School are looking for ways to pupil-place their kids in other schools. Folks in Reston who want their kids to take AP classes instead of IB have done this for years. It's really not a big deal, but now it'll have all this fun political frisson added into the mix. We can't wait to see the first application that says "It's all about the band programs."

Metro Silver Line: Keep Clapping!

Hey, remember that time the Feds were going to cancel funding for Metro's awesome E-ticket ride nonstop through the wonderland of Tysons Tegucigalpa directly to the end of the mile-long, slow as molasses security lines at Dulles? But then after people started whining about the need for mass transit and gas prices and no-bid contracts and tunnels and whatnot, they decided to give Virginia officials another month to file some awesome paperwork in quadruplicate before officially rejecting the plan? Yeah, that was awesome. So March 1 rolled by about... oh, 12 days ago, and no word on the project. Whazzup with that?

Well, apparently Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Margaret Peters are now BFFs! They released a joint statement last week saying everything's hunky-dory, and then went off to see an early show of "Step Up 2 the Streets" or maybe listen to some Bobby Sherman records or something:

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said in a joint statement on Friday that they are making progress in efforts to get federal funding for the project.

While Kaine said things were going just peachy, Peters repeated her earlier concerns about the project costing just too darn much because that's what pencil-pushing Washington types love to do, so we'd all better hold off on the Bobby Sherman records.

In the meantime, a report from one of those hippy-dippy public interest groups says that Metro is already saving hundreds of millions of dollars in oil, largely because folks sitting in darkened train tunnels while someone drones on inscrutably about a track fire over the static-filled PA system can't drive until the aforementioned track fires are put out and they're deposited in their exurban kiss-n-ride lot. The usual suspects are hoping this will make the Bush administration appointee change her mind, since if there's one thing that makes their ears prick up in Pavlovian fashion, it's the word "oil."

In the meantime, people inTysons Tegucigalpa are whining about all the growth planned for their cozy, village-like community.

“They're trying to stuff a 10-pound melon in a five-pound sack,” said Ed Stabler, a Vienna resident who works in McLean.

Hmm. Maybe they should have thought about that before spending several years bickering about tunnels vs. monorails.

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 16: When power amplifiers are banned, only criminals will have power amplifiers

A Reston company pleaded guilty to illegally selling technology with military applications to China.

WaveLab Inc. pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria to unlawful export of electronic components.

In court documents, the company's chief executive, Walter Zheng, admitted that WaveLab shipped hundreds of power amplifiers to China even though it knew the technology had military applications and required an export license that WaveLab lacked.

The company has agreed to forfeit $85,000 (€55,134) _ roughly equivalent to the profits from the sales. It could be forced to pay a fine of up to $500,000 (€324,317) when it is formally sentenced on June 6. A man who answered the phone at WaveLab said everyone was too busy to talk and hung up.

Shocking. Dismaying. Downright unpatriotic. What the hell is a power amplifier, anyway?

Meanwhile, the usual suspects lost wheelbarrows full of money this last quarter: Millennium Bankshares Corp. lost $9.9 million in 2007, which sounds pretty bad until you realize that Sprint Nextel, which will soon be renamed the Kansas Down Home Cellphone, BBQ and Whatnots Corp., lost a staggering $29.45 billion--that's billion, with a "b"--in the fourth quarter alone. They should probably check all the desk drawers before decamping to Kansas. And Albert Lord, the trash-talkin' CEO of Sallie Mae, had his salary cut from $3 million to a mere $1.25 million. But Sallie Mae only lost $1.64 billion last quarter, so those performance incentives ought to be kicking in just about any time now!

This Week in Crime: We know better than to make jokes about the dedicated public servants of the U.S. Postal Service

A suspicious package was left in front of the Herndon Post Office this morning. Police blocked off the main parking lot for about 30 minutes before sounding the all clear.

Redistricting Fever: The real truth about Bratz (OMG A Restonian World Exclusive)

During the respectful public discourse about the recent uneventful West County redistricting decision which no one hardly noticed, one of the many reasons proffered for not wanting to send children to South Lakes High School, aside from IB band programs neighborhood inclusiveness socioeconomics school spirit football real estate values was Bratz dolls. No, really. Seems that some people thought that kids in the South Lakes district supposedly played with Bratz dolls, while the good-hearted children from decent places like Oakton Heights and Fox Mill only played with Barbies -- but of course only the multiethnic Barbies, because no one there sees race! -- and this apparently said something about upbringing, or propensity to take IB, or whatever. So imagine our surprise when we visited Freecycle earlier today:

Offer: Brazt Styling Head

smaller head, you can fix hair, or put on makeup. Just the head, no accessories

near fox mill shopping center

That's right. Ladies and gentlemen, the Smoking Bratz.

Restonian on Your Side(tm): Consumer Watch

Should we be concerned that every one of the gas pumps at the Exxon on Wiehle Avenue has a bright red REJECTED sticker on it, courtesy of the state department of Weights and Measures?

More to the point, should we be concerned that the gas station is still open for business when every one of its gas pumps has a bright red REJECTED sticker on it, courtesy of the state department of Weights and Measures?

That is all.

This Week in Crime: Catching up

Earlier this week, a Vienna woman was charged with murdering her husband at their home on Cromwell Road, which, as the Connection points out, "is one of those narrow, hilly country roads where big houses sit on large plots of land."

Winding its way between Vienna and Reston, Crowell Road's genteel manner was shattered in the middle-of-the-night hours early Monday morning when, Fairfax County Police said, 52-year-old Marysusan Giguere shot and killed her husband, Ronald.

That's a shame, but it's really not lurid enough for, say, a Dateline NBC spot.

On the 100-foot-long driveway leading to the Giguere home, a seething diatribe, rife with sexual allegations and accusations, was hand-painted in white paint.

Known throughout the community for caring for stray or injured animals, the Gigueres have large decorative stone dogs guarding their home. Fairfax County Animal Services removed seven dogs, two cats, two horses, several goats, and many pet birds from the home on Monday.

Much better.

Meanwhile, a Fairfax County jury handed down two death sentences for a 1988 double-murder on Hunters Mill Road near Reston.

A Fairfax County jury told Alfredo R. Prieto yesterday that he should die for killing a young couple on a field near Reston nearly two decades ago. There were no witnesses to the crime, but prosecutors believe Warren H. Fulton III was on his knees when Prieto shot him in the back. Then Prieto shot Fulton's girlfriend, Rachael A. Raver, and raped her as she lay dying.

Virginia will now contend with California to see which would be the first to get Prieto, 42, to the death chamber. In 1992, Prieto was convicted of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Ontario, Calif., but his appeals could stretch nearly 10 more years. In Virginia, they could be exhausted in five.

The families of Fulton and Raver were in the courtroom yesterday to hear, at long last, the jury give its verdict: two death sentences. The victims were just 22 when their bodies were discovered Dec. 6, 1988, in a vacant lot along Hunter Mill Road.

And finally, should we be concerned about this comment from an earlier post about the fun New Year's eve fracas?

Its all about friendship. And if he had real friends, they wouldn't have snitched. ITS NOT OVER.

The hands that built Reston's Fake Downtown (tm)

Some undocumented workers got shafted while building one of the new shiny high-rises in Reston's Fake Downtown.

About a dozen immigrant drywallers — some illegal — were never paid for their work last summer at a Reston Town Center project by their employer, Salvador Blanco, an unlicensed labor broker, according to contractors on the job.

Among them was Flor and her husband, Juan Carlos, both illegal immigrants from El Salvador. The couple, who asked to be identified by their first names only because they feared deportation, said when they weren’t paid for a month’s work, their family back home had to sell what little property they had to cover the medical bills for their sickly 4-year-old daughter.

The workers eventually received compensation totaling about $35,000 from C.J. Coakley Co., the subcontractor that hired Blanco, and Hitt Construction, the general contractor, after carpenters union officials alerted the contractors and property owner, Boston Properties, of the problem.

Sounds like they were lucky. But according to the sensitive, thoughtful readers of the Fair-N-Balanced(tm) Washington Examiner, the unlucky ones are.. well, the rest of us.

llegal immigrants working with an illegal labor broker; using forged documents; not paying taxes and hiding to avoid deportation -- supposedly don't get paid. Well, BOO-HOO! Judging by their definite pattern of dishonesty, why should anyone believe them?
- - -
Ahh, isn't that to bad, they had to sell off property in their country. If they have property why are they here??? That is the chance you take when you are here illegally. Even your own people mess you over and try to exploit you, do yourselves a favor and go home, so these kinds of things won't happen to you. And you are always crying about some sick kid, the only kids we care about are the ones that may never see their parents again because they are fighting a WAR. GET REAL

If you think that's unsympathetic, imagine if they'd been caught loitering at the Elden Street 7-11.

Democracy in action

The four candidates for the RA board squared off for the first time earlier this week, and the heated debate was blistering, full of catchy jibes like "Change you can Xerox" and "Yes we can."

Actually, not so much. Instead, folks talked about newcomer nights and indoor tennis facilities.

Four candidates are running for two seats; Cheryl Beamer is running for reelection against John Bowman for the Hunters Woods/Dogwood position and Richard Chew is running against Barbara Zicari for the At-Large seat being vacated by Bill Keefe.

So who's for hope, and who's for change? We're not sure, but there was some interesting discussion about transparency.

Two questions asked at Monday night’s forum for Reston Association (RA) Board candidates related to the board’s work behind closed doors.
Forum moderator Robert Goudie, member of the forum organizer Alliance of Reston Clusters and Homeowners (ARCH), asked when the candidates felt it was appropriate for the board to hold executive sessions.

"It sends the wrong message to the members," said Richard Chew, candidate for an At-large representative. Chew’s opponent Barbara Zicari said she did not think the executive sessions are held with ill intent. All board members are dedicated volunteers and if she is elected she would be "most interested in being honest with people I am representing."

John Bowman, challenger for the Hunters Woods/Dogwood seat, said a specific reason should be given when an executive session is called. He said he understood that certain issues need discussions behind closed doors, but that the directors should also go on record with their opinions about what was discussed when they reassemble for the vote, which has to be conducted in an open session. "We just need to be careful how we send the message," said Bowman.

"The RA shoots itself in the foot when it appears to be hiding something and it isn’t," said Cheryl Beamer, the Hunters Woods/Dogwood incumbent. For example, she said, she could not understand why discussions about RA headquarters do not take place in the open session.

There was also some talk about something having to do with the Nature Center and staffing and... oh, where are the sound bite-worthy jibes?

While the general perception was that RA is performing its job well, the forum suggested communication with members could be improved. Bowman said there is a perception in the community that there is a need for more open governance from RA.

"A casual [RA] member who wants to learn more about how we arrived at a decision will find a daunting challenge" in an attempt to find supporting documents and history of an issue or a decision, said Bowman. He called the lack of readily available supporting documents for members who are not actively involved in the decision-making process "passive disenfranchisement." He said the Association should be proactive in communicating its decisions and intentions to the members.

Robin Smyers, the RA vice president, asked the candidates how they would seek to improve RA’s communications. Bowman said he is a big believer in technology, which could help members find relevant artifact documents for decisions that took place two years ago, or even a month ago.

Is he talking about the Internets? That's pretty cutting edge, especially with the Sprints and the AOLs and whatnot all fleeing. Who's going to help set up that series of tubes for us simple folks so we can read 20-page impact studies from the comfort of our mauve-colored homes?

Anyhoo, two more forums will be held on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at RA headquarters at Isaac Newton Square and on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. at the Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods.

'Okay, kids. This is what a subpoena looks like. Can everyone say 'subpoena'?'

Remember how FairfaxCAPS, the awesome pro-school group with lots of friendly pictures of kids of all ethnicities on its Web site, was going to take a positive, proactive approach to helping Fairfax County's school system make sure everyone gets a fair shake, except maybe for a few malcontents in South Reston who take some weird foreign classes? Well, in the wake of last week's redistricting decision that eliminated the Madison Island and maybe Gilligan's Island, and forced kids from affluent neighborhoods to attend the newly fenestrated South Lakes High School, not so much.

In the wake of the decision, the largest of the citizen groups opposed to the boundary changes, Fairfax County Coalition of Advocates for Public Schools, continues to accept pledges of donations through its web site for its legal fund.

The form's disclaimer states that “pledges made here will only be used in the event of a lawsuit against Fairfax County School Board.”

Founder Nick Pesce told The Times on Feb. 25 that the group would have thirty days to file a lawsuit after a decision.

FairfaxCAPS Communications Committee member Scott Chronister would not disclose the amount the group has raised for the legal fund, but said the group is considering options.

“We're looking at what the best way is to try to ensure Fairfax County Public Schools be held accountable for their actions,” he said. “This could include legal action and it will most definitely include non-legal activities.”

FairfaxCAPS are opposing what they called a flawed process, study and decision. Chronister said the group will continue as a watchdog for the School Board.

“They are not working for the educational benefit of the kids in our county,” he said.

Well, it's nice to see they're thinking about all Fairfax County students, even the ones who might play with Bratz dolls, and that there's no vested interests. Right?

Chronister, who lives in a Fox Mill neighborhood that has been redistricted into South Lakes from Oakton, has a “vested interest” with children in 10th grade, sixth grade, second grade and two-year-old twins.

His sixth-grader will be his first child to possibly attend South Lakes, since the boundary changes grandfather current high school students.

At the core of the fight is setting a good example for his kids, Chronister said.

“We teach our kids they should not allow themselves to be bullied on the school yard. I don't think we as parents should be allowed to be bullied by the School Board,” he said.

Right. Because the folks who've been opposed to this have set such a good example all along.

This week on an exquisitely special 'Reston Heights': You can check in anytime you like, but you can never leave

When the awesome Westin Hotel in Reston Heights opens in April, it won't just be a place for weary business travelers to sit in darkened conference facilities and watch pay-per-view porn once they're back in their rooms. It'll be exciting for local residents as well!

The upcoming opening of the Westin Reston Heights will spark the launch of the 35-acre Reston Heights project, a master-planned community that will serve as a decidedly upscale lifestyle center.

"While many people primarily associate Reston with Reston Town Center, there is so much more to our town, and we are thrilled to play a major role in bringing new opportunities to the community," said The Westin Reston Heights Director of Sales and Marketing David Catalon.

According to Westin Reston Heights General Manager Sami Zeitoun, the hotel will be a hub for area residents as well. In addition to offering residents the opportunity to energize their spirits with a relaxing weekend getaway, the hotel will unveil Vinifera, a new restaurant offering innovative American cuisine, showcasing seasonal and sustainable products making it a fresh, new dining destination for area residents.

Sure, if that's your bag instead of Chili's fresh, reasonable fare. And who wouldn't want to get away from it all by getting away from, say, North Reston or Lake Anne or even the Town Center to South Reston? As we all know, they're all as different as peas and carrots!

Moldgate Revisited: The Saturday Night Massacre (only on a Monday, and with more mold)

Remember how a whistleblower with courage and pluck, kind of like Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich only not a woman, dared stand up to the monolithic Fellowship Square Foundation and say its Lake Anne buildings were filled to the gills with scary, toxic mold? We sort of forgot about it, too, but it turns out that after getting fired, he's now been evicted.

An ex-employee of the Fellowship Square Foundation was evicted from the Lake Anne location Monday after he refused to move out upon his termination in August.

Oliver Thomas was hired by the Fellowship Square Foundation as the chief of maintenance for both buildings on April 1, 2003. He was fired in August 2007 in what he believes was retaliation for his vocal concerns about mold and bacteria growing in the building's infrastructure.

Thomas and his family maintain that the 35-year-old building's heating and cooling system is corroded and contains mold that has caused the family severe allergies and health problems.

Director James Garrett said Thomas was fired because of insubordination.

Thomas filed a lawsuit against the Foundation for wrongful termination but continued to live in the apartment initially provided by his former employer.

Wow. Nearly six months without paying rent before getting evicted? Is the apartment still available?

Anyway, Thomas has a lawyer and a lawsuit and a new job and a new apartment. The real question is whether or not folks at the Fellowship House actually got their newspapers this week.