Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: A Night on the Town

Wow, things really are different in Herndon.

On the YouTubes: Not Quite the Love Boat

Here's some exciting, and almost exhaustive, video of the ongoing dredging operations at Lake Audobon. If you have young children, be sure to gather them around the computer screen, as this is almost as exciting as that Thomas the Tank Engine show they keep prattling on about, except that the RA's boats and backhoes (thankfully) don't have human faces or bad attitudes.

Here's what the videographer has to say:

Prior to the recent stream restorations, with each heavy rain, lots of dirt would be washed into the lakes which over time would make the lakes shallower where streams enter. The restoration projects are expected to greatly reduce the erosion from run off and create a healthier water system. Consequently dredging is expected to be required much less often and so I recorded this activity for posterity.

The dredging cycle begins with empty barges being pushed down the lake by a tug boat to the dredging platform. A backhoe on the platform then fills the barge with mud while the filled barge is pushed to shore for emptying. A second backhoe on land scoops the dirt into trucks for disposal. This cycle repeats for weeks until the job is done.

Another Restonian operative asks a question:

Will they leave the boats in the water and make gambling boats out of them?

We can only hope.

A Motorcycle Fatality and an Unsolved International Kidnapping: Today's Update is Just a Big Pile of Sad

Fairfax County Police said that a man who lost control of his motorcycle on Fairfax County Parkway on July 8 died from his injuries late last week.

On Thursday, July 8 around 9:50 p.m., a 48-year-old man driving a 2007 Suzuki sport bike was northbound on Fairfax County Parkway near Baron Cameron Avenue. As he approached a left curve prior to Walnut Branch Road, he braked, skidded and lost control of the motorcycle, which came to rest in a culvert approximately 30 feet from the roadway. The driver was separated from his motorcycle and landed adjacent to a paved pedestrian path. The driver was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

On Thursday, July 22, Robert Berlin, of 1325 Shallow Ford Road in Herndon, succumbed to his injuries. Police were notified of the death on July 27.

Alcohol and speed are considered possible factors in the crash.

Meanwhile, a kidnapping warrant against a Reston mother who left the country with her two children in 2004 is still in force, FBI officials said this week.

More than 5 1/2 years after two Reston brothers went missing, and nearly four years after a kidnapping warrant was issued for their mother, authorities are still trying to track down all three.

Authorities say the father of Alec and Dominic Gardner last saw his sons Dec. 6, 2004. That's when authorities say their mother, Stefanie Zachariadis Gardner, left Reston with the boys, then ages 3 and 1. A warrant for her arrest on international parental kidnapping charges was issued in U.S. District Court in Alexandria in August 2006.

Zachariadis Gardner and her sons are believed to be in Germany.
A notice that she is wanted in Virginia is listed on Interpol's Web site. An FBI spokeswoman said this week that the kidnapping warrant is still active.

[snip]

The boys' father filed an application to have the children returned to the United States under the Hague Convention, the treaty that establishes a civil process for returning children wrongfully removed from their country of residence. But German courts denied the application, Findlay said.

Alec Gardner is now 8 years old, and Dominic Gardner is now 7 years old. Stefanie Zachariadis Gardner, now age 35, is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and 120 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about the case can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 800-843-5678.

Pretty heavy for a Wednesday afternoon. Fortunately, the Connection is here to help with a heartwarming photo essay of a bunch of puppies cavorting at Reston's Fake Downtown. You're welcome.

RA Headquarters: New Location, Sassy New Attitude

Please to be enjoying these first pictures of the Reston Association's shiny new headquarters, located at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, which opened its doors bright and early at 8:30 this morning. Hey, what are those colorful, decidedly non earth-toned objects on the bookshelves in the background? We can only conclude that along with a new mailing address, this RA has a sassy new attitude! Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to paint the dingy exterior walls of Restonian World Headquarters a nice fuchsia.

Wow, you close for a few days to move, and check out the pent-up demand for pool passes!

All in all, this is just a painfully tantalizing glimpse of the wonders at the new RA headquarters. Hopefully the RA will post more in its next "Face Book" update.

This Week in Crime: Western-Style Gunslinging, Arlington Altercations, and Another Loudoun Runaway

As befits a street with an old-timey, vaguely western name, an unnamed gunslinger fired a gun inside a home on Barrel Cooper Court.

A man discharged a gun at a home in the 11800 block of Barrel Cooper Court around 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 17 during an altercation. The suspect fled the home. No one was injured. Police continue to investigate.

A Reston man was charged with assault after an altercation in Arlington.

On June 27 at 12:20 am, after a verbal argument, the victim was assaulted by a white male subject. The suspect was located by police. He was charged with Assault and Battery. He was given a $2,500 bond.

For the second time in as many months, a Loudoun County teenager who ran away from home was found... in Reston.

A 15-year-old Ashburn girl who went missing June 12 was found July 22 unharmed in Reston.

At the time, she had made contact with her family but had not returned home. When she was found, she was taken back to Loudoun County, police said.

What is the appeal of Reston to these krazy kids today? Growing up in Sterling and Ashburn must be pretty boring if our beige community is suddenly becoming Excitement Central for teen runaways.

This isn't really about Reston per se, but if you're a glutton for bad puns and painful pop culture references, please to be reading this county police press release. Consider yourselves warned.

Finally, a "tip jar" was stolen from an undisclosed business at the Hunters Woods Plaza, which is pretty low by any account.

First Earthquakes, Now Wind: Shocking Photos, Videos From Sunday's HELLPOCALYPSEWINDGUST 2010 (tm)

This shocking photo shows the wake of devastation after a 75 mph gust of wind blew threw Reston Sunday afternoon, causing immeasurable damage to diners' corporate expense accounts. For a while, the National Weather Service was also reporting a "roof collapse" on a parking garage on Fountain Drive, but this might be what they were thinking of. Elsewhere in the region, the storms killed two people, but here in Reston, there was this. Also, the lights apparently went out at Target for a while.

Here's an eyewitness video that captures the raw terror of being at Ground Zero, or at least some midscale retail emporium, mere yards from the Morton's awning. Skip ahead to about 2:00 for the "good" part.


Much like this cinematic classic, the critics were less than kind.

Wow great idea lets stand next to the GLASS door during a tornado warning. Who ever taped this must be a moron.

First, earthquakes, now dangerous gusts of winds. When did our favorite earth-toned community move to California?

With Ceremonial Dumping of the Filing Cabinets, Reston Association Move Begins

At long last, we get a furtive glimpse of the contents of the Reston Association's filing cabinets! Apparently the RA got help from some interns at AOL to throw all those historic goldenrod copies of the DRB violations of yesteryear into some decidedly non-earth toned plastic totes to get ready for its move across the Toll Road to the fancy new place with the child labor cubbies.

In case you've been remiss in picking up your pool passes, RA headquarters is open today, but the phones are down. The building will be closed both tomorrow and Monday as the move continues, and the headquarters will reopen bright and early on Tuesday in its new location, at 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive.

Good luck, RA staffers, with the move. Just remember -- lift with your legs, not your back.

Spies Like Us: This Post is TOP SECRET

The Washington Post, which according to some recently declassified information is a "news-paper," has been running all week this big investigative report saying we all have TOP SECRET clearances and are all spying on each other or something, which is, well... yeah. Don't these people live here?

Anyhoo, the Post apparently got its hands on a computer with Internet access and managed to Google Google Maps, because they found 50 companies working on TOP SECRET projects in Reston. In case there are any highly competent Russian spies out there who take a minute away from friending each other on Facebook, here's the complete list, plus this handy TOP SECRET MAP.

Now that you've looked at this TOP SECRET map, please to be sure to print it out, cut the printout into tiny pieces, and then swallow every last one of them. Thanks. Now if you'll excuse us, our shoe phone is ringing.

Shocker: Metro Silver Line Possibly Delayed Until March 4, 2014

We were shocked -- shocked! -- to hear that the first smoking track fire on wheels to roll into the Reston Wiehle Metro station has been unofficially delayed by three months.

The construction of the first part of Metrorail's Silver Line into Northern Virginia has been unofficially delayed by three months but officials say their schedule is not falling off the tracks -- yet.

December 2013 has been the target date for when passengers would be able to ride Metro an additional 11.5 miles into Fairfax County, to Tysons Corner and the eastern edge of Reston.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is overseeing the Silver Line construction, is now projecting Metro's doors will open March 4, 2014 -- a 90-day delay from the official start date in December 2013.

Marcia McAllister, an MWAA spokeswoman, said that official December date has not changed but that the projected date -- used internally for planning purposes -- has indeed been moved back, noting that "there is more than enough time to make up the difference and open in December."

McAllister said the construction timeline is behind schedule primarily due to February's massive snowstorms, which "substantially impacted" the construction work being done by contractors.

Meeting the December deadline had also been thrown into jeopardy because of lingering issues between Metro and MWAA over the cost of rail cars, which are set for delivery in November 2013, a month before the subway's scheduled opening.

At this pace, the Silver Line will nose its way into the particleboard subdivisions of Loudoun County by... well, never.

Midscale Retail? There's an App for That

All the ambience of Reston's Fake Downtown is now available on your fancy "smart phone." Reston Town Center has developed a free iPhone app allowing you to check movie times, and store names and... well, all kinds of stuff, we guess. We're not entirely sure, as we haven't been able to download it to our fancy 1987 cellular phone yet -- maybe we need to put the app on a 5 1/4" floppy disk, or something, so we can "load" it into the phone's briefcase transmitter?

So enjoy. If nothing else, you can use it on your iPhone while you're standing in line waiting to pick up another iPhone.

This Week in Crime: MS-13 Arrest, Plus an Ironic--and Tragic--HIt-and-Run

A member of MS-13 arrested in Reston over the weekend was one of 30 gang members and associates captured by federal and county authorities during a threee-day gang sweep.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) National Gang Unit announced Monday the arrests of 30 gang members and associates. Agents seized one weapon as part of this three-day law enforcement operation executed in Northern Virginia.

Working side-by-side with more than 60 local law enforcement authorities including deputies from the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office and detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department, this is the latest local effort in an ongoing national ICE-HSI initiative to target foreign-born gang members and gang associates in Northern Virginia.

Of the 30 arrests, 26 individuals were arrested on administrative immigration violations and nine were arrested for criminal offenses and face prosecution for various federal, state and local crimes including re-entry after deportation, assault, grand larceny, destruction of property and carrying a concealed weapon. Of those arrested, one was a U.S. citizen and 29 were foreign nationals. The 29 face deportation either now or when their criminal prosecution is complete.

Members and associates of MS-13, Mexican Pride and Southside Locos were arrested during this three-day multi-agency operation. Of those arrested, 10 are from Honduras, seven are from El Salvador, nine from Guatemala and three are from Mexico, and one is a U.S. citizen. One of those arrested was a woman.

Federal officials didn't identify all 30 arrestees, but one they did was 30-year-old Juan Otero Navarro, a Honduran national and a member of MS-13. He was arrested in Reston for illegal re-entry after deportation, and his criminal history includes convictions for carrying a concealed weapon and destruction of property. Federal criminal prosecution is pending for re-entry of a previously removed alien.

Meanwhile, a Charlottesville resident was charged with felony hit and run and DUI after gravely injuring a Reston VDOT employee working near a memorial for highway workers.

Less than a mile from the granite marker dedicated to the memory of fallen highway workers, a Virginia Department of Transportation employee has been struck and gravely injured by what police are calling a drunk driving hit-and-run.

It happened at 4:05am July 17, when Jose Porfirio Martinez, 50, of Reston, was operating a jackhammer inside a work zone at mile post 103 in a closed-off eastbound lane of I-64 on Afton Mountain.

Moments earlier, police had taken a report of an erratic driver in a car in that vicinity consistent with the description of the 1999 Buick sedan that struck Martinez, according to a State Police release. The driver of the Buick fled the scene, but a State Trooper located the suspect vehicle at the home of a 22-year-old Charlottesville resident and took her into custody. The suspect has been charged with DUI and felony hit-and-run.

If only irony was a felony.

Breaking: Reston Town Center Joins NASCAR Circuit

This fancy "stock car" was spotted in RTC as part of the FedEx office grand opening. But we think there's more happening than meets the eye here. Impressed by the intensity of previous races at Reston's Fake Downtown, NASCAR has apparently decided to create its first "short track" targeted at upscale audiences right here in Reston! Sure you might enjoy rubbing shoulders with the crowds at Richmond, Dover, or even Martinsville, but can you go to a Uno's, Gap or Apple Store in one of their infields? We think not.

Meanwhile, in the Other Other Other Anti-Reston: The Beast is Back

The Peasant from Less Sought-After South Reston writes in with terrifying news about our earth-toned community's doppelganger across the pond -- and by "pond," we still don't mean "Lake Thoreau." Not only has Reston, Berwickshire still not been named the #2 place to live in the U.K., its most terrifying resident has returned:

Whilst once more perusing the "w.w.w." set of tubes, I discovered big news in one of the alternate universe Restons.  Our wee cousins across the pond in bonnie Scotland report another sighting of the dreaded "Beast of Berwickshire".  And appropriately enough, it was spotted by an inhabitant of our Celtic doppelganger Reston.  

All the breathtaking details can be found in the Berwickshire News "news-paper." Here's the top of the story:

A MYSTERIOUS animal has reared its giant guinea pig-like head, four years after The Berwickshire News first reported sightings of a similar-sounding creature.

In 2006 motorist Mark Pentecost saw what looked like a large guinea pig sitting in the middle of the road near Eyemouth. And last week a Reston woman said a similar animal crossed in front of her car, on the Chirnside to Auchencrow road.

Joyce McLean and her daughter Louise were almost at Oldcastles Farm at around 10.30pm on Sunday, June 27, when they spotted the animal they believe to be a capybara - the world's largest rodent.

"We knew it was something strange as soon as it crossed in front of the car," Joyce said. "I knew I had seen something similar in the paper before and when we got back I looked in the archives - it was just the same as Mr, Pentecost said, like a giant guinea pig. 

But there's more! At great personal risk to himself, the Peasant has learned that the Beast has received an H-1 work visa, allowing him to work as a security guard at the new RA Headquarters once it opens next week. Here's a picture of one of its top secret training sessions in an undisclosed, but apparently appropriately earth toned location:

We feel safer already.

Fairway to Heaven: After Staff Recommends Denial, Planning Commission Defers Decision on Fairway Apartment Redevelopment

During a public hearing on Thursday, the Fairfax County Planning Commission postponed until September a vote on the awesome Fairway Apartments complex redevelopment, which would replace the current garden apartments off North Shore Drive with 941 "high-end condominiums" in a mauvescraper and assorted low-rise units (pictured in non DRB-approved burnt orange in the lovely high-tech rendering above).

The move came after county staff recommended denial of the project, saying, among many other things in a PDF long enough to clog the fancy 2400-baud modem at Restonian World Headquarters, that "the proposed development will dwarf and overwhelm the surrounding neighborhood" and reduce the overall amount of affordable housing -- which developer JBG had sneakily -- and shamefully -- tried to eliminate altogether earlier in the process. County staff added:

The applicant proposes a new "development node" which seeks to concentrate the maximum possible allowable density on the subject site without regard for resulting impacts upon the surrounding neighborhood and the natural and manmade environments."

A "development node" sounds like something you'd go see a surgeon about, but instead, county staff urged the developer to "propose a density at the low to mid end of the designated high-density residential range...and propose a site design which is compatible with the character of the surrounding neighborhood. It should not seek to create its own high density enclave absent a comprehensive review of the Plan." Oh, snap! But on the plus side, the JBG proposal included the most unintentionally hilarious architectural drawring since the "fanciful concrete bollards" associated with another Reston development:

Yes, trees. With fancy guy wires to keep them from falling down during earthquakes. And maybe frickin' laser beams to keep the squirrels guessing.

Despite this cutting edge commitment to ecology, the Reston Citizens Association also recommended the commission reject the proposal, saying in an awesomely short two-sentence letter that it "cannot support the Fairways re-development plans in any way." The RA Board also sent Supervisor Catherine Hudgins a letter saying that if the project does wind up being approved, traffic improvements along North Shore will be needed. In a slightly more verbose written statement, Reston resident David Edwards made this point:

The Fairways garden apartments, and a dozen other stable medium density residential neighborhoods that the old Reston Plan arbitrarily designated as “high density” forty years ago, must be re-evaluated in the context of 21st century situations and attitudes. The Reston community is currently undergoing a deep, soul searching process to modify the old Plan. High density, transit-oriented, mixed use urban core development will be permitted by the Reston community in proper locations that were never anticipated in 1964. However, stable, well maintained existing residential neighborhoods will be preserved as they were originally built.

The Planning Commission will vote on the Fairway proposal on September 22.

The Graphic Devastation of EARTHQUAKE 2010 (tm): THE DAY THE EARTH SHOOK (mildly)

Sure, the "lamestream" media would have you believe there was no damage from the massive KILLER EARTHQUAKE that struck the D.C. area early this morning. But at great personal risk, an intrepid Restonian informant managed to snap this fancy cellular phone photo of emergency personnel RACING THE CLOCK to clear a tree that fell -- most likely due to mild surprise -- onto Wiehle Avenue near Lake Anne, blocking traffic and annoying the hell out of cut-through commuters from Loudoun County.

There are no words.

Justin Bieber has tentatively been booked for the fundraising telethon.

On the YouTubes: We Watch the Reston Association Videos So You Don't Have To

Andy Sigle continues the summer casual look, rocking out the Dockers on the tennis court in this month's fancy video from the Reston Association. There's talk about the proposed indoor tennisdrome, sans juicery. Larry Butler clutches a tennis racket while he stresses that the RA board has made no decision and that there will be plenty of opportunities for public input before the issue might get put to a referendum. There's an update on the ongoing stream deforestation restoration in the Glade, as evinced by a closeup of some horrid hellspawn bug the size of a dinner plate that FLOATS ON WATER we'll be seeing in our nightmares for weeks to come (skip ahead to about 1:57). There's also talk about the Asian Festival, July 31-Aug. 1, which is actually pretty rad. Finally, Andy stands dangerously on an outcropping of rocks at the edge of Lake Thoreau to introduce a segment on boating safety. "Make sure your boat meets all size and motor guidelines!" an RA staffer says helpfully. Words to live by, words to live by.

Fundraiser for South Lakes Teenager Killed in Reston Parkway Accident

A fundraiser is being held for the family of the 17-year-old who was struck and killed by a car while crossing Reston Parkway the night of July 1.

Jose Antonio Villatoro was a rising senior at South Lakes High School when his life was abruptly cut short. He was struck by an oncoming car on Reston Parkway when he attempted to cross the street a little after 9 p.m. Now friends and family recall positive memories of Jose and join together to ensure his optimistic attitude will live on.

In his time away from school, Jose worked at the Hunter’s Woods Safeway in Reston to help his family with financial expenses. Even though Jose only began working in April 2009, his coworkers easily remember his smiling face and gracious attitude.

In order to ensure a proper memorial service for Jose, Safeway employees along with South Lakes High School have joined together to raise funds for the family. Signs are posted throughout the store to encourage shoppers to donate money and take a moment to honor the memory of young Jose.

So far, more than $8,000 has been raised for the Villatoro family.

“The response has been unbelievable,” says Lindsay Trout, assistant principal for the 11th grade at South Lakes. “The students, faculty and alumni have really pulled together. The South Lakes community is a very rare group. It’s family at its very best.”

For more information on how to donate, contact David Schnoor at the Hunter’s Woods Safeway at (703) 716-4193, or send a donation, payable to "South Lakes High School", with "Jose Memorial Fund" in memo line, to South Lakes High School, c/o Lindsay Trout, 11400 South Lakes Drive, Reston, VA 20191

This Week in Crime: MS-13 Gang Sentencings, Plus More Fun Than You Can Shake a Can of Pepper Spray At

A 19-year-old Reston man pleaded no contest to participating in a gang-related shooting in Sterling Park back in September 2008.

On July 7, Hector Valdami Campos Aguilar entered an Alford plea on three counts of unlawful wounding, one count of using a firearm while committing a felony and one count of gang participation for the Sept. 17, 2008, shooting. An Alford plea can be entered when a defendant maintains his or her innocence but acknowledges there is enough evidence he or she could be convicted if the case goes to trial.

Campos Aguilar originally was charged with three counts of aggravated malicious wounding in the case, but they were dropped to unlawful wounding as part of the plea agreement.

Although he was 17 at the time of the attack, he was tried as an adult.

Yes, he was a member of MS-13:

According to court documents, Campos Aguilar was riding in the back seat of a car the day of the shooting, while Antonio Neftali Urrutia-Barrera, 20 -- also known as Duende -- was in the passenger seat. Both were members of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, street gang at the time.

The car drove by a group of young men near the intersection of East Poplar Drive and Buckingham Court in Sterling, then returned, and Urrutia-Barrera leaned out the window and fired shots at the group, injuring three, ages 19, 20 and 21 at the time.

Court documents state the MS-13 members in the car thought the men on the street were members of 18th Street gang, their rivals.

"As Duende rolled down the window, the Defendant encouraged and urged him in the shooting by repeatedly slapping the back of the seat and yelling, 'Shoot them!! Shoot them!!'" court documents stated.

One of the victims suffered a gunshot through the arm; another suffered a shot through the torso from behind; and the third was left paralyzed from the waist down.

None of the three were 18th Street gang members, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said.

A judge will sentence Campos Aguilar Dec. 9.

Urrutia-Barrera is serving 60 years in federal prison on several convictions for 2008 gang-related crimes.

Another MS-13 member was sentenced in June for his role in driving gang members to a 2008 shooting in Reston:

June 11, another MS-13 member and Sterling resident, Jose Enrique Rivas Ayala, 26, also known as "Pequeno", was sentenced today to 150 months in prison for driving MS-13 members to a shooting in Reston.

Meanwhile, a San Diego man has been arrested after having some fun with a gun and a can of pepper spray in South Reston:

A man was arrested after allegedly pointing a gun at a 35-year-old acquaintance and her friend, a 44-year-old man, and preventing them from leaving a home in the 2400 block of Pyrenees Court on Sunday, July 4 around 6:17 p.m. The suspect also allegedly sprayed the male victim with pepper spray. [The suspect] was arrested and charged with two counts of abduction, three counts of brandishing a firearm and assault by a chemical substance. The victims did not require medical attention.

A Reston truck driver was sentenced to two years in prison following a 2009 crash that killed two people on I-81.

The defendant was sentenced by Judge Amy B. Tisinger after a plea agreement amending two charges of involuntary manslaughter down to misdemeanor reckless driving was accepted. In addition to two years of incarceration, the defendant must pay a $5,000 fine, and his license is suspended in Virginia for a year.

He was behind the wheel of a 2006 Peterbilt tractor-trailer that rear-ended a Honda occupied by Stone T. Weeks, 24, and his 20-year-old brother, William "Holt" Weeks, on July 23 at about 10:15 p.m. at northbound mile marker 296.

The car was then pushed underneath another tractor-trailer, and all three vehicles caught fire.

Traffic had stopped because of an earlier crash at mile marker 302. Driver inattention on the defendant's part was to blame for the brothers' deaths.

And finally, another Reston man ran into a spot of bother following a Phish concert in upstate New York. Drugs? At a Phish concert? Color us amazed.

Meanwhile, in the Anti Anti-Reston: Columbia Named 2nd Best Place to Live in U.S.

Where's the outrage? Money Magazine just ranked Columbia, Maryland, our Satan-worshipping, Christmas-hating planned community doppelganger across the Potomac, the second best place to live in the nation. For some reason, Reston didn't make the list, even though according to the magazine's fancy interactive charts, we have higher income levels and lower taxes than Columbia, basically making us Ayn Rand's dream come true, except maybe for the rules about what colors you can paint your fences.

To be fair, Money paired Columbia with historic Ellicott City, Maryland -- but they also could have paired Reston with "historic" Herndon, what with its vintage bike path and seafarin' namesake who never set foot in the town. Here's what they had to say:

Columbia offers a wide range of housing, tons of parkland, and a major music venue.

A "major music venue" put Columbia over the top? Apparently, the key to quality-of-life nirvana is seeing Foghat and Lynyrd Skynyrd every summer. But wait -- there's more!

But those varied amenities are far from the only reasons this duo has risen to No. 2 from No. 8 in 2008. It's also an economic powerhouse with a jobless rate just as enviable as Eden Prairie's.

The nearby National Security Agency and the Fort Meade Army base together account for more than 8,000 jobs, and the government plans to move thousands more positions there by next year. Baltimore and D.C. are within commuting distance (30 and 60 minutes, respectively).

As for housing, the foreclosure rate is one of the lowest in Maryland, yet homes are affordable -- by Northeast standards, anyway. Factor in excellent schools and a diverse population (17% of residents are black, 14% Asian), and you can see why this place has become a magnet for families.

Adding insult to injury, nearby cloverleaf intersection Centreville was ranked #30 -- for no apparent reason.

This historic town (it has some Civil War sites) is a close-knit suburban community with a great location. Washington, D.C., is anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half away, depending on traffic.

We'd go with an hour and a half.

Centerville is also 20 minutes from Herndon, Tysons Corner, and Reston.

So Centreville's main selling point is that it's only 20 minutes from Reston? Really?

With major shopping centers nearby and the Bull Run Mountains an hour's drive away, Centerville lives up to its name.

Note to factcheckers: We're not exactly sure the "Bull Run Mountains" are an hour away. But there's definitely some bull in this list.

Update: Reston was ranked #16 on the magazine's list of "top-earning towns," with a median income of $122,212. And also, Columbia appears to have changed the name of Satan's Wood Drive, but we're not fooled for an instant.

On the YouTubes: Relive the Magic of the Reston Festival: 'Lots of Foof'

It's like we were there. "Lots of foof," is how the YouTubes description puts it.

If you can't get enough, there's more from the same narrator/videographer. Also, we've received unconfirmed reports that this photo was also from the Reston Festival, which, if true, will make us reevaluate the merits of the event.

Sadly, there don't appear to be any YouTubes from the Ukulele Festival at Lake Anne yet, but here's what it might have sounded like, based on a video from across the pond (and by "pond," we don't mean Lake Thoreau).


Wait for the classy chorus.

Open Thread: Gone Fishin'

To celebrate the 4th of July, your favorite "web logger" decided to get out of Dodge. In our defense, we had to leave before next weekend's Ukulele Festival, but we'll be back in time to step over all those snapped strings.

If you're still in town, please document any atrocities from next weekend's Reston Festival or the aforementioned ukulele nightmare in the comments below, or just let us know if Reston melts into an earth-toned blob in the heat. And courtesy of our favorite correspondent, The Peasant From Less Sought After South Reston, please to be enjoying this video about what makes Reston (and America) great: midscale retail and dining opportunities:


(photo from this person's Flickr feed.)

This Week in Crime: Robberies, Brandishing Firearms and a Pedestrian Fatality

A Herndon man trying to cross Reston Parkway on Thursday night lost his life when he was struck by a car.

Police responded to the report of a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on Reston Parkway near Glade Drive on Thursday, July 1 shortly after 9 p.m.
Crash Reconstruction detectives determined that a 17-year-old male was attempting to cross the northbound lanes of Reston Parkway from east to west, not in a crosswalk. He ran into the path of a 1987 Toyota pickup truck driven by a 50-year-old Reston man, traveling northbound on Reston Parkway in the left lane.
Jose Antonio Villatoro of 12305 Scotch Bonnet Court in Herndon was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital. He died at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 3.
Neither speed nor alcohol were factors contributing to this crash.

Meanwhile, a group of people -- including one teenager -- robbed a man in Northgate:

Police responded to a robbery around 1 a.m. on Sunday, June 27. A 23-year-old man was assaulted and robbed of his wallet and money in the 1400 block of Northgate Square. The suspects were described as black. One was about 13 years old. The victim was taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

And a 43-year-old Reston woman was arrested for brandishing a firearm at two people late that same Saturday night:

A 43-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly pointing a gun at a 26- year-old man and two women, ages 32 and 51, in the 11600 block of Vantage Hill Road around 3:35 a.m. on Sunday, June 27. [The suspect] of Vantage Hill Road in Reston, was taken to jail and charged with brandishing a firearm. No one was injured.

There must have been a full moon the night of the 27th.

Sallie Mae to Reston: 'Let's Get the @*$% Out Of Here'

Sallie Mae, the student loan business with a hilariously foul-mouthed chief executive, is moving its headquarters from Reston to Delaware.

Sallie Mae is moving its headquarters and hundreds of jobs from Reston to Delaware, the student loan giant said Thursday.

The move will take a bite out of the local economy, and it could force Sallie Mae employees to make difficult choices. In addition to uprooting lives, relocating to Delaware could force many employees to sell homes in a depressed real estate market.

A few hundred of the approximately 700 headquarters jobs will remain in Reston, company spokeswoman Martha Holler said.

A fixture of the local business establishment, Sallie Mae has been in the Washington area for almost 40 years.

The move is a reaction to the federal government's decision to cut the middlemen out of the government student loan business, though the company still participates in the usurious lucrative private student loan market. In fact, it's moving to Delaware for much the same reason your friendly credit card companies did back in the 80s -- the state's laws are highly supportive of price gouging aggressive lending practices. And hey -- Delaware!

Sallie Mae chief executive Albert L. Lord broke the news to employees at a Thursday meeting, before the move was publicly announced. Lord told workers that even if they are not required to move, they are welcome to follow the leadership to Delaware.

We feel for you, Sallie Mae employees. We really do.

Just Another Thursday Night in Reston: An Eyewitness Account

A Restonian Secret Operative shares this account of some hijinks that occurred in South Reston last night:

Riding home from a night-ride tonight we encountered ten or twelve folks wandering along South Lakes near Ridge Heights (including one rather interesting dude roaming topless through the grass by Lake Thoreau, and a counterpart wearing a trenchcoat and carrying a flashlight). Arriving at Ridge Heights we found a crowd gathering around a small car that had gone right off the road and into the brush. No reported casualties; bystanders said there'd been two people in the car, and everyone was okay..."airbags." On the curb, a man sat with his head in his hands. We heard sirens in the far distance (probably tending to more important crimes in North Reston, where someone undoubtedly was casing a respectable brick fronted Lake Newport home looking for the loose iPads) but it took a good ten to fifteen minutes before they arrived on scene, though clearly this adventure had been going on for some time. (A call to emergency services said they had vehicles en route to "South Lakes and Twin Branches", which makes us wonder if all the fun started further up the road [which explains the wandering hordes], or if the parties in question did not know, for some reason, exactly where they were. Hmmm. Why would that be?)

Anyway, a car in a ditch is always news, right? Especially when it coincides with street roaming night people in South Reston.

Sigh. Thursday nights just haven't been the same since Cheers went off the air. Anyone know what happened? Document the atrocities in the comments.

This and That: A Random Cycle Through Reston News

Wow, the lines for the new "i-Phone" moved even faster than we thought! Actually, this is a picture of last weekend's Reston Grand Prix, though it sounds like there were no spectacular, NASCAR-like dust-ups this year.

Reston should really use this next story in its advertising: Turns out a teenage girl who ran away from her home in Sterling this week did so because she missed Reston. Having logged some time in Sterling, we sympathize. (The girl was found and returned home unharmed.)

All hail Carol Ann Bradley and Patrick Kane, who were recently named Lord and Lady Fairfax 2010 for the Hunter Mill District. We're not exactly sure what that means, but we assume they have free reign to lop the heads off any disrespectful serfs homeowners.

In case you forgot we live in Virginia, a new law allows people with concealed handgun permits to bring them into restaurants that serve alcohol. This is not to be confused with the old law, which permitted people to bring guns into restaurants that serve alcohol so long as they were visible. Totally different crackpot law!

Collectively, several hundred gun owners are expected to assemble at seven celebrations, including eateries in Charlottesville, Norfolk, Woodbridge, Reston, Vinton and Yorktown.

We're pretty sure we know which restaurant they'll be going to in Reston. Get ready for loaded guns and potato skins!

The not-stairs sculpture we recently tried to name has moved outside as part of "Gaps," a partnership between the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), Initiative for Public Art-Reston (IPAR), and The Washington Sculptors Group (WSG). And the critics are raving!

Lucile Mellema from Falls Church said the exhibit and several pieces intrigued her in particular. “I walked around that piece maybe five times and I still don’t get it,” she said, pointing to “Metamorphosis.”

She did say it was beautiful, though.

Reston resident Peter Raymond has been named one of Consulting Magazine's top 25 consultants. Consultants? Living in Reston? Knock us over with an earth-toned feather!

Reston's non-profit Hub Theatre has found a permanent home at the New School of Northern Virginia. And South Lakes High School's drama department won five Cappies Awards for its production of "Les Miserables," which is French and has lots of singing.

Connector bus fares went up on Monday.

Reston advertising firm Resonate Networks raised $5 million in funding for its "attitudinal targeting," which is just a fancy way of saying why visitors to this "web log" see ads for law enforcement academies and DNA firms promising to find out "Who's Your Baby's Daddy?" Also, NCI Information Systems of Reston won a $12.8 million contract from the Army to, we don't know, maybe strap missiles to dolphins or something. And Accenture's Reston office won a contract with the Internal Revenue Service to, we don't know, strap tax returns to dolphins or something.

Fun (if morbid) fact: Before passing away at the University of Virginia Hospital in June, Manute Bol was at Reston Hospital Center.

Finally, "Mrs. Reston," Sheri Jenkins, was named second-runner up in the Mrs. Virginia United States pageant on June 5. Who knew we had a Mrs. Reston? Someone ought to introduce her to Lord and Lady Fairfax.