News

FFX now

By Matt Blitz

A 12.5% salary increase for police officers will be under discussion later this week for inclusion in Fairfax County’s upcoming budget.

Other items under consideration in the mark-up package include more money for ArtsFairfax, funding for girls’ softball facilities, and establishing a self-help resource center in the Fairfax Courthouse library.

In many years, shifting revenue, expense, and administrative cost estimates enable adjustments to the advertised budget presented in February, opening up funding for some initially unaddressed items.

County Executive Bryan Hill left about $90.2 million in unallocated funds in the fiscal year 2024 advertised budget, but with adjustments, that has now risen to $110.4 million.

As a result, supervisors are able to submit items to be considered at a pre-markup discussion by the Board of Supervisors’ budget policy committee on Friday (April 28) and a mark-up session with the full board on May 2.

Seven items were submitted for the mark-up package, totaling about $26.5 million.

The biggest ask, by far, is a 12.5% salary increase for police officers at rank of second lieutenant and below from Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity. The raises would cost $26.2 million and come in addition to the 2% market rate adjustment increase already in the budget.

“Budgets should be about priorities and public safety is a priority. We are short about 200 officers; we have had to disband many of our specialty units to staff patrol, and changed shifts which have had a negative impact on our current officers,” Herrity told FFXnow. “It is past time to address a staffing shortage we have seen coming for many years. We can address the public staffing crisis without increasing the tax burden on our residents.”

He added that he’s “very optimistic” the board will approve at least some level of salary increase, if not the full 12.5%.

Last year, the county gave raises to certain public safety workers as part of the mark-up package, but it was a step increase and cost the county $6.1 million.

Herrity also is proposing to reduce supervisor office support budgets by $1.1 million, the same amount it was increased by in last year’s budget.

“This is a microcosm for the illogical spending in our County. Last year, no one answered my question about who proposed the $1.1 million increase for Board office budgets,” Herrity said. “We certainly do not need increased staff budgets, certainly not on top of the 38% salary increase. The money would be better spent focusing on improving access and customer service by county agencies as Board staff spend about 75% of their time helping residents with services.”

Also set to be considered is a proposal from Board Chairman Jeff McKay and Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw to provide $300,00 to reduce the “disparity between girls’ fastpitch softball and boys’ baseball facilities.”

In February, the two requested funding after a recent study revealed a widening gap in the quality and quantity of fields in the county available for softball compared to baseball. The supervisors asked for $1.7 million in one-time funding and a recurring cost of $300,000 for consideration in this year’s budget.

Other items that will be considered at the mark-up sessions in the coming weeks include:

• Expanding the Opportunity Neighborhoods initiative into Centreville at a cost of $413,000
• Establishing a self-help resource center within the law library at the Fairfax County Courthouse at a cost of $96,000
• An increase of $200,000 to ArtsFairfax for operating expenses
• Providing $350,000 to nonprofit projects that make home repairs and accessibility modifications so low and moderate-income households who are aging or disabled can stay in their homes

The 2024 fiscal year budget is set to be adopted on May 9.

WJLA

By Nick Minock

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — Inside the Fairfax County government center, county supervisors got an earful from residents at the most recent county budget hearing.

Several residents in attendance late last week asked supervisors for tax relief and pay raises for county employees, including teachers and police officers.

“The problem is we are losing good teachers. We are losing good police officers,” said Mattie Palmore, the Vice President of Mt. Vernon Police Advisory Committee. “They can’t afford to both work and live in our county.”

“More educators than ever are considering leaving the profession altogether,” said Emily VanDerhoff, the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. “And pay, while not the only factor, is a frequently cited reason that educators don’t feel valued enough to stay.”

The McLean Citizen Association sounded the alarm about public safety concerns.

“In the last few years, crime has increased,” said Louise Epstein with Mclean Citizen Association. “People who used to shop at Tysons Mall are going elsewhere given the reported and unreported crime there. People are even buying and learning to shoot guns. Every time a crime is reported, a county official is quoted saying we are the safest jurisdiction of our size. Why are we comparing ourselves to Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City when we talk about safety?”

A county spokesman told 7News that the county executive proposed pay increases that would give 80 percent of county employees an average of a 4 percent raise, which includes a 2 percent cost of living increase.

“The Market Rate Adjustment (MRA) is one component of the county’s pay plan,” a county spokesman told 7News in a written statement. “Performance and longevity increases are also funded in the proposed budget and more than 80% of employees would receive a performance or longevity increase in addition to the MRA. The average increase is 4.39% for uniformed merit employees and 4.06% for non-uniformed merit employees under the proposed FY 2024 budget.”

Supervisor Pat Herrity said that is not enough, especially after supervisors voted to give themselves a 30 to 40 percent raise.

“You can’t take care of yourself and not take care of your employees,” said Herrity. “That sends the wrong message to our employees. I think workforce is the issue of our decade, whether you’re running a restaurant, whether you’re in private business, or whether you’re in the public sector, we’re all having workforce challenges. It’s always important to treat your employees well, but it’s even more important when you’re running a 15% vacancy rate. And the county has an over 15% vacancy rate across the board.”

Herrity is now proposing a 5.4 percent cost of living raise for all county employees instead of the county executive’s 2 percent raise and he’s proposing an additional 12.5 percent raise for police officers, second lieutenant and below.

“There are three things impacting public safety,” said Herrity. “There’s the national trend, there’s a little bit of a trend there. There is the Commonwealth’s Attorney, clearly, but there is also the shortage of 200 officers, and they are overworked. They’re overworked. Crime is going up.”

Herrity said he plans to introduce pay increases for teachers too. He says this would be funded by surplus dollars and finding efficiencies in the county budget.

“It’s a false narrative to say that we can’t take care of our employees and at the same time reduce the burden or eliminate the burden on our taxpayers,” said Herrity.

7News reached out to all Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Chairman Jeff McKay on Friday to hear their thoughts about the county budget. Herrity was the only Supervisor to respond to 7News on Friday.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will “mark up” the county budget on May 2, 2023, and they will vote on the final budget on May 9, 2023.

A Fairfax County spokesperson told 7News there is a General Fund balance of more than $110 million available for the Board of Supervisors to use for Fiscal Year 2024.

FFXnow

By Matt Blitz

A $28 million baseball and softball complex in Fairfax officially opened this past weekend, marking the county’s first foray into sports tourism.

The ribbon-cutting for Patriot Park North was held Saturday morning (April 15) with local officials, a Washington Nationals representative, and Little Leaguers all in attendance.

The new facility features four turf, 90-foot, full-size baseball diamonds, two 60-foot smaller diamonds, an elevated press and scouting box, concession stands, warm-up areas, streaming capabilities, and a baseball-themed playground.

The facility was designed, constructed, and is now run by the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA).

“This is a state-of-the-art facility for youth and adult sports,” Fairfax County Board Chairman Jeff McKay said in a county-produced video. “It is really rare, one-of-a-kind, to have a turf baseball field and to have this many baseball and softball fields in one location. It will not only help this community but it helps with tournaments and other big events.”

A collaboration with the Southwestern Youth Association, Patriot Park North is the first project to come out of a push by the Sports Tourism Task Force and a number of county agencies to build sports facilities that not only benefit residents, but also bring in tourism revenue by hosting tournaments and events.

Patriot Park North has 26 committed events between April and November, per the office of Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, who chairs the Sports Tourism Task Force.

Each event is “anticipated to net between $162,000 to more than $1 million” with a projected economic impact of more than $11 million, according to a press release from Herrity’s office.

“The opening of this facility is a milestone not just for the Springfield District, but for the county,” Herrity said. “It is one example of the many ways we can partner with great community organizations like SYA, in order to provide top-of-the-line sports facilities for residents and at the same time diversify our revenue and reduce the burden on taxpayers with sports tourism revenues. This is the first of what I hope will be many state-of-the-art athletic facilities we will be opening for our residents.”

It also may be the only completed sports facility of this nature for a while. Back in October, the county delayed plans to seek proposals for new facilities after the Board of Supervisors raised concerns that the task force’s site recommendations didn’t take equity into consideration.

The park authority was supposed to draft a new plan that also only included parkland it already owns by this past March, but that hasn’t been completed yet with May now being the target per Herrity’s office.

Since the Patriot Park North project was already underway, it wasn’t delayed by the equity review, which only applies to new projects. Since a plan has not been approved yet, no other completed projects appear imminent.

“The Chairman of the Board of Supervisor’s requested equity study and the desire to review the RFP delayed the County’s efforts attracting partnerships for future facilities by a year,” a spokesperson from Herrity’s office told FFXnow. “Despite that delay, we still have a couple interested parties for some very exciting new facilities.”

The county still has an interim agreement with Alpine-X to develop a downhill indoor ski slope in Lorton. A joint cricket and baseball facility is also being considered by George Mason University, whose Fairfax campus is about 4 miles away from Patriot Park North.

For the moment, though, the nearly $30 million Patriot Park North at 5447 Willow Springs School Road is the crown jewel of the county’s sports tourism efforts.

“This is a magnificent facility. We have facilities all over the county, but a lot of them are not sized for big events,” McKay said. “Why this is important to the county is that we can host those big events…and bring people into Fairfax County from other parts of the area just to see what a wonderful community we have here, what a great place to live, and to play.”

Connection Newspaper

By Mike Salmon

Changes to Lee Chapel Road are coming closer to fruition as officials from various agencies are planning a second meeting to fix the spot where two students were killed last winter.

In January, a car with three South County High School students aboard crested one of the steep hills, lost control and crashed into the woods, killing two girls and putting one in the hospital with serious injuries. This was not the first fatality at this location that’s happened through the years. There are several memorials of other fatal crashes, highlighting the danger of this road configuration.

Officials taking part in this road safety effort include representatives from the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Transportation, Del. Kathy Tran (D-42), Virginia Senator George Barker (D), Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), and Supervisor Dan Storck (D-Mount Vernon).

At the first meeting, the road improvement came down to three options and those were discussed more in depth, arriving at these options:

* Option One would be the removal of the primary hill, adding two 11-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side of the roadway, but this would not require a full closure of the road by VDOT and save about $2 million. This could be done without full closure, but construction would take longer and a maintenance of traffic plan would need to be implemented.

* Option Two is the removal of both hills, adding two 11-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side of the roadway, but this would require a full closure of the road by VDOT impacting residents and commuters in that part of the county and beyond.

* Option Three is to relocate the roadway as the first phase of the four-lane widening as shown on the comprehensive plan. This would construct a new two-lane roadway to the east of the existing roadway adjacent to the hills only. The existing roadway could remain in use during most of the construction; however it has a significant impact on park property. According to Tran, the county is in talks with the park authority about any improvements on their land.

The group has shown interest in Option Two and will meet again in coming weeks for further discussion. Funding is still undecided and the group continues to pursue various sources that include local, state and federal money. For all of these options, there will be public meetings to keep everyone informed of what is happening and when the construction would begin.

There are some short-term options currently in place or coming soon, and that includes signage and brush clearing. When the area is next paved, they will add rumble strips. The time frame for paving that part of the road is next fall. 

From the Office of Supervisor Pat Herrity

Fairfax VA – This morning, the Fairfax County, sports, and community leaders cut the ribbon on
Patriot Park North as a part of Southwestern Youth Association’s (SYA) Opening Day. Those
who attended the momentous occasion included Supervisor Pat Herrity of the Springfield
District – where the park is located, Mike Carney of the Washington Nationals, and many local
leaders.
As Chairman of the Sports Tourism Task Force, Supervisor Herrity championed the
development of Fairfax County’s first sports tourism project. The project is the result of years of
collaboration between SYA, The Sports Tourism Task Force, FCPA, Visit Fairfax, the Athletic
Counsel, the NOVA Travel Baseball League and other organizations.
The new baseball facility features four turf 90-foot baseball diamonds and two 60-foot diamonds
as well as related amenities ranging from playgrounds and concession stands to
scoring/observation towers and web cast cameras.
In 2017, the Board created the Sports Tourism Task Force with the goal of putting Fairfax
County on the map as a destination for sports competitions, competing for a share of the now
nearly 40-billion-dollar, recession-proof sports tourism industry. The goal of the task force is to
build high quality sports facilities for our residents, bring in tourism revenue to diversify our
revenues, reduce the tax burden on homeowners, and pay for the facilities as well as provide
quality tournaments for our residents to participate in without having to travel.
Between now and November, Patriot Park North already has 26 committed events, each
anticipated to net between $162,000 to more than $1 million within that six-month timeframe. In
addition, the projected direct economic impact during this period is estimated at over $11 million.
Supervisor Herrity commented as follows:
 
“The opening of this facility is a milestone not just for the Springfield District, but for the
county. It is one example of the many ways we can partner with great community
organizations like SYA, in order to provide top-of-the-line sports facilities for residents
and at the same time diversify our revenue and reduce the burden on taxpayers with
sports tourism revenues.” He further commented, “This is the first of what I hope will be
many state-of-the-art athletic facilities we will be opening for our residents.”

wusa9

By Katie Lusso

LORTON, Va. — Two hills along Lee Chapel Road in Fairfax County could soon be a thing of the past as officials consider safety measures.

In January, two South County High School students, Ariana Haftsavar, 16, and Ashlyn Brotemarkle, 16, were killed and another student was seriously hurt in a crash on Lee Chapel Road. 

Using evidence from the crash, detectives discovered the Lexus was traveling 100.7 mph before the crash. Police also said the car was airborne for about 130 feet.

The crash sparked outrage from the community and family members of the victims.

“Please change this road,” begged Bahman Haftsavar in January, the father of Ariana Haftsavar.

It also lead to a petition, created by two classmates of the teens who were killed, to make changes to the road. That petition got close to 14,000 signatures.

“It has been the site of several fatalities not just the latest one. It’s time to address this hill and take it out,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity.

While police would not confirm if the teens were “hill jumping”, Supervisor Herrity told WUSA9 the hills along Lee Chapel Road are notorious for exactly that.

“The hill is an attractive nuisance. It is encouraging our younger drivers to hill jump,” said Herrity.

In February, he and other Fairfax County supervisors met with VDOT and FCDOT.

By the end of March, Herrity told WUSA9 FCDOT and VDOT came back to them with three possible options:

1. Removal of the principal hill (this would include two 11-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side of the roadway and assumes VDOT would allow the road’s full closure during construction which would save about $2M in costs just related to maintenance of traffic were it to remain open).
2. Removal of both hills (this also includes two 11-foot lanes and a 6-foot shoulder on each side of the roadway and assumes VDOT would allow the road’s full closure during construction).
3. Relocate the roadway as the first phase of the four lane widening as shown on the comprehensive plan. This would construct a new two-lane roadway to the east of the existing roadway adjacent to the hills only. The existing roadway could remain in use during most of the construction; however it has a significant impact on park property.

Supervisor Herrity told WUSA9 he discussed the different options with Delegate Kathy Tran and Senator George Barker, and together, they agreed to focus on option two, the removal of both hills.

He shared that this is not a final decision, and that they’re currently looking into funding options.

They’ve also asked FCDOT and VDOT to work together to get better estimates for what this would cost, and what the timelines would be for design and construction.

Herrity told WUSA9 that it’s important to get these safety changes made.

“Cars are faster and more powerful than they were when the road was designed. It has been the site of several fatalities, not just the latest one. It’s time to address this hill and take it out,” said Herrity.

He told WUSA9 they hope to get more information in the next 30-60 days. He also said there will be a public hearing before any final decisions are made.

Connection Newspaper

By Bonnie Hobbs

When sophomore Joshua “Shua” Michel left Chantilly High recently, he had a better idea of his summer plans than he did before entering the building. That’s because he got to speak with several employers there during a job fair.

Held March 25, the event was sponsored by Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), in partnership with the Connection Newspapers and Fairfax County Public Schools. The available jobs included full time, after-school, seasonal and volunteer positions, as well as opportunities for internships.

“I want to get a job this summer, but didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Michel “I was a lifeguard last summer, but I want something different.” The two employers that stood out to him were Merrifield Garden Center and Horizon Day Camp.

“At Merrifield, I’d either work with plants, be a cashier or do loading – for example, putting mulch into customers’ cars,” he said. “And at Horizon Day Camp, I’d work with younger children as a counselor. It’s for kids with cancer, and their siblings, and my uncle recently passed away from cancer.”

In addition, since computer science is Michel’s field of interest, a County Park Authority representative told him they might be able to find an internship for him in that area. Happy that he attended the job fair, he said, “Kids don’t have much of an idea what the job possibilities are, so this opens their eyes to some of their choices.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Urivez of Nando’s Peri-Peri Chicken talked with students about available jobs at the restaurant’s Mosaic District, Reston, Springfield and Alexandria locations. Pleased with the strong turnout, he said 30-40 people came to his table within the first hour alone during the 2-1/2-hour event.

“We’re hiring for both front and back-of-the-house positions,” said Urivez. “So we’re looking for food runners, cashiers and greeters in the front and people to do food prep and cooking in the back. We’ll train anyone to cook, as long as they’re willing to learn. We want to potentially help people change their lives and grow with us as well.”

Also there was Taunya Roberts, the restaurant’s senior manager. “We’re open to first-time job candidates and we’re excited about youth who want to start their career in the food and beverage industry,” she said. “We brought lots of brochures, explaining how they can explore with us.”

At another table was Joellen Broubalow, director of Horizon Day Camp at the Pozez Jewish Community Center on Little River Turnpike in Fairfax. Delighted to participate in the job fair, she said, “I’m a teacher and I’ve enjoyed meeting kids passionate about our mission and motivated. It’s a really fun experience.”

Horizon provides one staff member for every four campers. So, said Broubalow, “I’m looking for people interested in working with kids and bringing the joys of childhood to them and their siblings with cancer. And since we’re a free camp, we’re also passing out information about our walkathon and our programs to help spread the word so we can continue to make this camp happen.”

Junior Zoe Jones came to the job fair looking for an internship she could do during her senior year. She was especially interested in “writing jobs, things having to do with books, nature or horticulture, or analyzing data for the government.” So the jobs available at Merrifield Garden Center caught her eye. She said the job fair was “a good idea because it lets students know what jobs are out there and helps them get in touch with employers easier.”

As for freshman Shasin Timalsina, he came “to see what I should take in school for my potential career. I’m leaning toward the medical field, but I visited the Marines and Navy representatives and went exploring everywhere. It’s good to have this because, in school, you’re not connected to the real world. But here, you can see real-life jobs, plus stuff you can do around your community.”

Junior Ananya T. is an engineering student in the Chantilly Academy, so she “wanted to see if there were any internship opportunities in software engineering.” And Gateway fit the bill.  

“It has a summer internship where you can get work experience,” said Ananya. “You need to know a bit of Java [computer-programming language] and would apply it there.” She, too, liked the job fair because “some of us don’t know how to transition from going to school to being in the workforce, so it was nice to see all the opportunities.”

Gateway co-founder MaiLinh Ho said it’s an educational company providing “upskilling and internship matching. Upskilling is training high-school and college students to improve on their professionalism and all the skills that make them employable and successful in their internships and beyond. We help set them up for success early, and we match them with healthcare, tech and business companies to work in digital media, research products, software engineering and medicine.”

Calling the job fair “amazing,” she said Chantilly’s was “particularly great” because students as young as middle school came. “They’re young minds eager to gain experience, and their parents were here supporting them,” said Ho. “We love to help students improve their local economy and empower them to find internship opportunities in their own backyards.” 

Another employer, Misha Horbunov of High Sierra Pools, talked to students about becoming lifeguards. “We manage several pools in this area and need to hire as many lifeguards as possible,” he said. “Our business is growing, and we have multiple places with pools needing lifeguards. They must be at least 15 years old and have swimming experience, and we’ll train them in pool skills, CPR and using an AED [Automated External Defibrillator].”

“It was great to have this [event] today so we could tell people who we are and what we do and could give them information about our flexible schedules,” he continued. “This let people know we exist.”

There, too, was Kwon’s Champion School from Centreville. “We offer training in several different martial arts,” said teacher Alex Lalos. “And we’re looking for teens, age 15 and up, to help with our summer camps and after-school care positions. At summer camp, they’d help supervise kids during games and crafts and help with field trips to, for example, Chuckie Cheese, laser-tag and rock-climbing places. After school, they’d help kids with their homework when they’re not in their martial-arts classes.”

Also thrilled with the job fair, Lalos said, “We got more people visiting our table today than last year and got some good candidates. I was very impressed.”

Supervisor Herrity was also pleased with the turnout. “We had more than 50 vendors and at least 600 kids,” he said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than helping someone get their first job, and this gives our students an opportunity to interact with employers in a low-pressure environment, surrounded by their peers.”

Fairfax County Times

By Heather Zwicker

More than 200 people participated in a town hall to discuss fentanyl on March 28 at Lake Braddock Secondary School. The forum was hosted by Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity and School Board Member Laura Jane Cohen. It was also streamed online via Facebook Live.

 Herrity opened the town hall highlighting the disturbing rise in the circulation of fentanyl, a very powerful, often fatal opioid in Fairfax County. And, he acknowledged there is no one solution to this issue, but that it takes “our school system, our police department, our community, CSB (Community Services Board) and the mental health professionals to address this,” he said.

“As we started to see this come into school systems around the country and into ours, the absolute shockingly small amount of this drug that can end your child’s life, it’s terrifying,” said Cohen, who lost her sister to addiction in 2017. She said she and her children have been having a lot of conversations about drugs and the danger of fentanyl in the community.

According to Fairfax County Police, pills are being purchased for $8 to $10 apiece here in Fairfax County and six out of 10 pills contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, whereas a month ago only four out of 10 pills contained a lethal dose.

“Two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose,” said Detective Kevin Reynolds. “If you go to your restaurant, sugar packets is one gram, which is 1,000 milligrams so if you think two grams out of that it kind of puts in your mind deadly the substance can be.”

Even though many lives throughout the county have been saved through the administration of naloxone, overdose data shows that more needs to be done to protect the community. 

“Fentanyl is here, it is being put into everything and it only takes a very small amount to kill,” said Herrity. “Awareness saves lives; every parent, every student, and every member of our community should have an understanding of how the opioid crisis has evolved with the circulation of fentanyl.” 

During the meeting participants heard from Nick Yacoub, a peer recovery specialist with the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board told the audience his story. Yacoub has been in recovery since 2007. After spending time in recovery, he had to answer for some legal charges against him and spent a little more than a year in jail which he said was a good thing and he got to mentor other people.

“The meaning and purpose I have today, what recovery has given me the ability to be of service to other people, the ability to show up for myself, the ability to look in the mirror and not hate what’s looking back,” said Yacoub. He said now he’s comfortable in his own skin. “If you are out there and you are struggling or you have a loved one who is struggling, or your child is struggling, there is hope.” 

The town hall included a panel of County experts from the Fairfax County Opioid and Substance Use (OSU) Task Force, Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD), Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB), and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) who shared information about drugs and fentanyl in our schools as well as resources for help with addiction. During the presentation, town hall participants were trained in how to administer naloxone, a life-saving opioid reversal drug. At the end of the town hall, all in-person attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and received a usable dose of naloxone. 

Back in 2016 after a couple of deaths in his neighborhood, Herrity hosted an opioid town hall to raise awareness of the dangers of heroin and prescription drug abuse, discuss the steps being taken to address the crisis, and the practical steps that can be taken to reduce the growing epidemic by citizens and their families. As a result of those efforts, the County has a robust array of services and programs addressing this public health crisis.

Resources shared during the town hall are available at https://bit.ly/413nJCz.

wtop

By Dick Uliano

Concerned that the deadly drug fentanyl is in schools and neighborhoods, parents gathered at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, Tuesday night to learn what they can do to protect their kids.

More than 100 residents heard from a panel of experts, including school leaders, police and experts in substance abuse treatment.

A veteran detective with Fairfax County police told parents that pills laced with fentanyl are a big threat. They sell for $8 to $10 per pill, about four times cheaper than just two years ago.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity sponsored the community meeting to boost awareness about the risks fentanyl poses to the school community.

“The goal here is really to educate, to let parents know what to look out for, to let kids know what to look out for,” Herrity said.

The detective said fentanyl is showing up in many recreational drugs, and it’s so powerful that even tiny amounts can kill. The community meeting offered training for administering naloxone, the drug used to reverse opioid overdoses.

“Lives are being saved across the county every day because of naloxone … being saved by individuals as well as police and fire that arrived on the scene,” said Herrity.

The 18-year veteran police detective recommended that concerned parents check their kid’s cellphones. He said cash apps should be monitored so parents can see where the money is going. The detective also told parents about encrypted apps commonly used for drug transactions, including Signal, Telegram and TextNow.

The detective also said that many of the illegal pills are shipped by U.S. mail, so parents should make sure they know what packages are arriving at the house.

FFXnow

By Vernon Miles

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently honored a local police district that help crack down on a string of car thefts earlier this year.

At a meeting last week, the Board of Supervisors recognized the Franconia District Police Station and the Fairfax County Police Department’s Auto Crimes Enforcement Team.

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said Lorton has seen a rash of vehicle thefts this year.

“Car thefts are on the rise around the region including an apparent coordinated effort around Lorton in January targeting Kia and Hyundai vehicles,” Storck said. “In January alone, 33 vehicles were stolen in Fairfax County.”

Lorton in particular had nine vehicles stolen, Storck said. In response, police increased their presence in the neighborhoods and were able to make two significant arrests in January.

“The Lorton community had a significant number of autos being stolen and the community was very frustrated,” Storck said. “They were teenagers regrettably but fortunately they were then stopped.”

Beyond just the issue of vehicles being stolen, Storck said there were concerns about the stolen vehicles being used in other crimes.

Chairman Jeff McKay said his own car had been stolen years ago and shared the sense of frustration and unease that can bring.

“As someone who had their own car broken into many years ago, I can tell you, the victims of that…feel personal violation,” McKay said. “I don’t think anyone understands what it feels like to have your car stolen. It’s not the same as other crimes committed against persons, but that particular crime against property is a personal intrusion that not only has an effect on people, but has the potential to give the wrong impression about the safety of a community.”

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said his hope is not only that community members feel safe, but that the crackdown instills a wariness in criminals.

“This is just another example of the quality of our force,” Herrity said. “When we see an issue, we go out and get in front of it and solve it. I think it sends a message we need to send not just to our community… but the message it sends to the bad guys: if you come to Fairfax County, we’re going to get this solved.”