Meanwhile, in the other anti-Reston(s): Foreclosure Hell or Loonie-Sized Hail, Pick Your Poison

As the entire D.C. housing market continues to go up in flames, one of the hotspots is likely to be our tolerant neighbor to the west, Herndon.

The Washington region now has one of the fastest-growing foreclosure rates in the nation, as 15,613 homes went into foreclosure during the one-year period ending in February.

Although communities have felt the effects of the housing crisis for months, the report reveals that foreclosures in the Washington region have been increasing at a surprisingly quick pace, outstripping those of most major metropolitan areas.

Although Prince William and Prince George's counties have experienced the most home foreclosures, the report identifies several communities as potential "hot spots" for future foreclosures, including Centreville, Falls Church, Herndon and Vienna in Fairfax County.

Let's just hope that Ed McMahon didn't buy property there.

Or, if foreclosed homes and the mosquitos that can kill you that breed therein aren't your cup of tea, you could try Reston's other doppelganger. No, not the evil Columbia, Maryland, but Reston, Canada, which we learned about when ping-pong sized hail rained down from the heavens, presumably damaging their mauve homes and maple trees and hockey goals and whatnot. But it could be even worse: a nearby community reported "Loonie-size hail."

Given the fact that the Canadian dollar's now worth as much as the U.S. greenback for the first time in a zillion years, we'll be outside with a bucket.

Meet Your Neighbors: Big Dreams in the Big City (or at least Herndon)

So, when they're not busy attending informative conferences or worrying about finding a place to park at the 7-11, what do folks in Herndon do?

They eat strawberries. Lots and lots of strawberries.

Despite competitive eater Ian “The Invader” Hickman's great successes, he says he still feels he has some unfinished business when it comes to strawberries.

Having previously competed twice and finishing no better than third place at the annual National Strawberry Eating Championship in Delaplane, Hickman would love nothing more than to win this coveted title for his home state of Virginia and finally add strawberries to his long list of eating titles.

"This event is in Virginia, it's my house," Hickman, 25, declares."The sweetness of these delicious strawberries can only be fully realized when a Virginian brings the title home where it belongs.”

Last year's champion ate 9 pounds of strawberries in seven minutes.

Hickman, a Herndon resident who stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs only 165 pounds, has established several world records and captured several national eating titles since he started competing in 2005 at the age of 22. His accomplishments include downing 10 pounds of chili in only five minutes, capturing the National ¼ lb. Hot Dog Eating Championship, and grabbing the World Black & White Cookie Eating Championship.

A billing consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, Hickman says he generally attends one or two contests a month and particularly likes to win those within driving distance from his Herndon home.

So how, you may ask, are dreams born? Basic cable.

Hickman said he first became interested in becoming a competitive eater after watching actor John Candy eat a huge steak in the movie "The Great Outdoors," and later consumed his own 64-ounce porterhouse in a Lexington, Ky., steakhouse that offered the meal free to anyone who could finish it in less than 45 minutes. Hickman ate the steak – along with a side and a salad – in only 19 minutes.

"That's when I knew I might have talent as a competitive eater," he said.

You, too, can dream big. Really big.

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Residents vote to preserve the sanctity of Big Gulps

In our tolerant neighbor to the west, Herndon residents re-elected virtually everyone involved in shutting down the day labor center, rewarding the town council for protecting their most precious bodily fluids, the 72-oz. Dr. Pibb Super Big Gulps from the Elden St. 7-11, and solving the nation's immigration problems forever and giving Lou Dobbs valuable talking points for his anti-immigrant screeds, which a grateful nation enjoys nightly.

Herndon voters reaffirmed their support yesterday for a mayor and Town Council that garnered national attention for closing down a job center for day laborers, saying it had become a magnet for illegal immigrants.

Voters reelected Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis and most of the incumbents on the six-member council, who were elected in 2006 amid outrage over the taxpayer-subsidized center. Council member J. Harlon Reece, who had initially supported the center and stepped down to challenge DeBenedittis, was succeeded by Richard F. Downer.

"Two years ago, people said that it was a fluke that we got in the way that we did," Vice Mayor Dennis D. Husch said. "This year, we had the exact same results. . . . I'm pleased the previous election was validated."

And how!

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Town Elections Show Shocking Diversity of Opinions (About Diversity)

Tuesday's Herndon Town Council elections aren't about such silly concepts as "hope" and "change." They're about preserving unfettered access to Super Big Gulps at the Elden Street 7-11.

Ky Truong looked out the window of the Herndon Shell station he manages at what he calls "a lot of problems": clusters of immigrant day laborers, who he says have been trampling his flower beds and bothering customers since September, when the town shuttered its controversial day-laborer hiring center. Truong wants it reopened.

But on the eve of Tuesday's municipal elections, the chance of that happening looks close to nil. Asked at a recent political forum if they would consider reopening the site if Fairfax County provided funding, 12 of 13 candidates for Town Council said no. The other said "absolutely not."

Yes, two years after the day labor center first started getting the attention of right-wing talk radio, ultimately prompting a vast uprising of irate 7-11 patrons that shuttered it, thereby solving the nation's immigration problems forever and giving some deep thinkers a place to hang their hats, people are still thinking about little else in our accepting neighbor to the west.

But day labor remains a divisive force that could influence the election. Council members who opposed the center boast of fulfilled promises and have raised doubts about challengers' pledges not to reopen it. Challengers talk of "reuniting" the town. Letters to local newspapers and online postings are consumed with the topic. If anything, some observers say, the issue has receded only because three years of debate has drawn deep, indelible battle lines.

All of the sudden, obsessing about indoor tennis courts doesn't seem so stupid after all.

Reston's Vibrant Economy, Part 18: Anyone want a 60-year ARM on a townhouse?

Reston's awesome housing stock of faux stucco, mildewing concrete and taupe-painted wood hasn't managed to escape the throes of the foreclosure crisis.

According to a Fairfax County-generated list, 156 residential properties in Reston entered foreclosure between January 2007 and February 2008. Southgate Square, Reston’s largest cluster with 178 townhomes, was among the hardest hit areas. Eleven properties in the cluster entered foreclosure during that time period, according to the county list.

Regular contestants of this site's high-low game know Southgate Square well. Other past high-low winners are represented on streets with multiple foreclosures, including Market Street (9 foreclosures), Stoneview Square (9 foreclosures), Coquina Drive (7 foreclosures), Castle Rock Square and White Cornus Lane (6 foreclosures).

FORECLOSURES HAVE hit areas of Reston that are long-established as well as some newer properties. Market Street in Reston Town Center was home to nine properties that entered foreclosure — five of them in the Savoy Condominium — between January 2007 and February 2008. The Savoy was built in 2004. Shadowood Condominium, established in 1974 as one of Virginia’s first condominiums, in South Reston was also hard hit in the same time period, with 15 foreclosures on the two streets that comprise the development — Stoneview Square, nine foreclosures, and Castle Rock Square, six foreclosures.

Meanwhile, neighboring Herndon has had nearly double the number of foreclosures.

According to a Fairfax County generated list, there have been 389 foreclosures in Herndon, both incorporated and unincorporated, between January 2007 and February 2008... n addition to nationwide economic trends, according to Town of Herndon Vice Mayor Dennis Husch, last year’s drought and decline in construction jobs along with questionable home loans from banks contributed to the foreclosures in Herndon. "It was just a perfect storm," said Husch. "When construction jobs tailed off and drought hit last summer, a lot of people couldn’t find jobs."

All of this means it's a great time to buy!

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.

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: The sessions were okay, but you should have seen the souvenir stands

Remember how Herndon's Crowne Plaza hotel was going to host that awesome, vaguely racist conference? About 50 protesters tried to enter the hotel to disrupt the American Renaissance Conference on Saturday, but police held them back. Too bad, because it sounds like they missed quite a show inside:

Among the seminars were "Understanding the African Mind" and "Mexico From the Inside: Who the Mexicans Are and Why They Do What They Do.'' For sale outside conference rooms were neckties decorated with Confederate emblems and books such as "Race Differences in Intelligence'' and "Zoological Subspecies of Man.''

The Post felt compelled to point out that of the 100 attendees, "most of them [were] white men." You think?

Meanwhile, Jared Taylor, the group's founder, pointed to national politics to say they're not so extreme after all:

Taylor said a theme of the conference was the intersection of immigration and race, which he said is reflected in the presidential campaign. "The country is catching up with us,'' he said.

So are some local politicians, at least in our enlightened neighbor to the west.

Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Crisp manners (and sheets) on display

Ah, Herndon... city of tolerance, now-uncrowded 7-11 parking lots and K-Mart. What awesome news do you have to share?

Remember that time a Herndon hotel was going to host a fun racist convention this weekend? Well, it's still on, and protesters are planning to demonstrate.

David Welliver, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Herndon, told The Times that despite extreme pressure, he has no plans to cancel the event, which will take place Feb. 22-24.

The biannual New Century Foundation/American Renaissance convention is organized by Oakton resident Jared Taylor, who calls himself a "race realist" and publishes American Renaissance magazine, which he has done for nearly 20 years.

"Taylor is a Nazi pig," Jeff Adler, spokesman for the militant group Jewish Defense Organization, told The Times in November. Upon hearing about the convention, Adler began a campaign, called Operation Nazi-Kicker, to prompt the Crowne Plaza hotel to cancel what he called the "meeting of hate." He also said a physical protest was not out of the question.

Operation Nazi-Kicker? Well, that doesn't sound tolerant at all!

Anyway. We're sure the Herndon Crowne Plaza is an awesome hotel, with top-notch conference facilities and probably a couple of those ice machines with the complementary buckets and tongs and whatnot. But why did this group decide to meet there?

An unflattering report published by Taylor's New Century Foundation titled “Hispanics, a statistical portrait,” caught the attention of El Pueblo Unido, a Latino empowerment organization.

Oh.

Anyway, that group and others are planning a protest march on Saturday. Taylor says he's prepared.

“So what can we expect,” wrote Taylor on the Web site VDARE about expected protests. “Perhaps a dozen shaggy, braying throwbacks to the 1960s who will divert conference-goers and passing motorists alike with quaint slogans and eccentric attire. Nothing could be more edifying than the contrast between the detritus on the sidewalk and the crisp, good manners in the conference hall.”

Good manners. Crisp good manners. Hopefully as crisp as their freshly starched sheets.

This Week in Crime: From Sordid to Sad

Seven people have been arrested in connection with a series of six burglaries that took place in Reston from Dec. 23-Jan. 16.

Jerome Sheppard, 21, of Manassas was charged with three counts of burglary and two counts of grand larceny. Jesse Terry, 18, of Reston, was charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of grand larceny. Jivon Bryant, 22, of Herndon, was charged with one count of burglary. Michael Green, 22, Jose Veloso, 22, and Nechelle Wooten, 22, all of Reston, were each charged with one count of receiving stolen firearms. One juvenile was charged with two counts of burglary.

Personal property including electronics, computer equipment and guns were stolen from the homes. This was an apparent organized, coordinated effort on the part of all suspects involved.

Or maybe it just seems impressively organized because this time the perps didn't just waltz into a series of open, unlocked garages.

Another Reston man pleaded guilty to robbing a strip club in Baltimore.

Alexander Reiff, of Reston, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with all but eight years suspended. He pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery and using a handgun in the commission of a crime of violence.

Police said Reiff and Gregory Eaton Jr., 29, of Hyattsville, walked into Fantasies Nightclub in the 5500 block of Pennington Ave. shortly before the 2 a.m. closing on April 5.

They were armed with a Ruger 9 mm handgun and a 12-gauge shotgun, announced a robbery and ordered about 20 patrons and employees to the floor, prosecutors said. Eaton then discharged the shotgun into the ceiling, police said.

Two off-duty city police officers then shot Reiff and Eaton, police said. Eaton died at Maryland Shock Trauma Center; Reiff, who prosecutors said was wearing body armor, survived.

And finally, a former Herndon Middle School teacher pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquincy of a minor.

Richard Chad Forsythe, a former Herndon Middle School teacher, pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor on Monday, Jan. 28. Forsythe, 38 of Sterling, was sentenced to 12 months in jail during a hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

After learning of Forsythe's relationship and "inappropriate contact" with a 16-year-old Reston girl, Fairfax County police arrested Forsythe for custodial indecent liberties in January 2007, according to police reports.

Forsythe, who remains free on bond, has been suspended without pay from the school system since his original arrest in January 2007.

We should hope so.

Reston Road Rules 2: Watch where you park!

Now that there won't be an awesome Metro station whisking Reston residents to the Bed-Bath-N-Beyond in Tysons Tegucigalpa, we should be thankful for the myriad park-and-ride lots and garages in the area, allowing us to live large on those awesome shiny orange-and-yellow buses. Just don't do anything stupid, like park your car in one.

Signs of trouble with the Herndon-Monroe park-and-ride garage surfaced long before the first commuter's car rolled into the $20 million facility off the Dulles Toll Road that Fairfax County opened in 1999.

Fresh cracks appeared last spring and chunks of concrete began falling away, creating safety concerns that prompted officials to fence off about 100 spaces.

A new study found "significant deterioration" in the garage roof because of the poor quality of the concrete. Drains were misplaced and inadequate for dealing with storm runoff. In some spots, water and salt had eaten through the concrete and exposed the reinforcing steel bars to corrosion. The engineering firm, Walker Parking Consultants, also questioned whether the garage had adequate supporting steel to withstand high winds or earthquakes.

The county says the building is safe but needs considerable work.

We think we'll just hitchhike.

Meanwhile, the proposed awesome improvements to Rt. 7, which include a new 29-lane elevated ramp and blinking directional signs ordering half-awake Sterling soccer moms to divert through Great Falls without stopping for coffee at the 7-11 on their way to their soul-numbing clerical jobs in McLean or wherever, have been funded. Well, actually, it's just a turn lane, but you wouldn't know that from what Great Falls residents are saying.

Some residents who live on or near Georgetown Pike appealed to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority not to add funding to the project, arguing that adding a turn lane and lengthening the existing turn lane will channel more traffic onto the scenic two-lane road that cuts through the center of their community and is already slowed by existing bottlenecks.

"Georgetown Pike is truly an historic road, having under its surface in a number of places the oldest engineered roadbed in this country -- roadbed engineered by George Washington," Eleanor Anderson, a member of the Great Falls Citizens Association's transportation committee, wrote to the authority.

Maybe they should just put up a sign: George Washington Sat in Traffic Here.