<sh>Police Nab Three Teens
<bt>Fairfax County police responded last Friday, Nov. 25, around 3:45 a.m. to Centreville's London Towne community for a report of a vehicle tampering. Near the intersection of Gothwaite Drive and Paddington Lane, they discovered a car with a broken window and a missing radio.
However, a witness was able to provide a description of three juvenile suspects and their car. A nearby officer then spotted the vehicle and found evidence inside it that linked the trio — all from Gainesville, two 16-year-olds and one 17-year old — to the grand larceny. Following their arrest, the boys were released into their parents' custody, and police say charges are pending.
<sh>Police Charge One with DWI
<bt>Police officers from the Fair Oaks District Station conducted a sobriety checkpoint from Saturday, Nov. 26, at 11 p.m. to Sunday, Nov. 27, at 2 a.m., to deter and apprehend drunk drivers. Some 596 vehicles passed through the checkpoint on Monument Drive at I-66 in the Fair Oaks area.
All motorists were stopped, and the drivers were checked to make sure their abilities to drive had not been impaired by drugs or alcohol. Police charged one driver with driving while intoxicated and three others with driving without an operator's license.
<sh>Free Carseat Inspections
<bt>Certified technicians from the Sully District Police Station will perform free, child safety carseat inspections, Thursday, Dec. 1, and Thursday, Dec. 8, from 5-9 p.m. each day, at the station, 4900 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly. They'll make sure the seats are correct for the child’s age and height, the child is securely placed in the seat and the seat is properly installed in the vehicle.
No appointment is necessary. But residents should install the child safety seats themselves, so the technicians may properly inspect and make adjustments, as necessary. Call the Sully District Child Seat Information line (703-814-7000, ext. 5140) to confirm dates and time. For additional child seat inspection times throughout Fairfax County, call the Fairfax County Operations Support Bureau at 703-280-0559.
<sh>Our Neighbor's Child Toy Drive
<bt>Our Neighbor's Child provides toys and clothes, each year at Christmastime, for more than 600 families in the local area. And on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., ONC volunteers will be receiving toy donations in front of the Wal*Mart in the Fair Lakes Shopping Center. Those who'd like to help may select a paper ornament from the giving tree inside the store, purchase the item listed on it and then drop it in the ONC collection box outside the store.
<sh>Sully Land Use, Transportation
<bt>The Sully District Council Land-Use and Transportation Committee will meet Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sully District Governmental Center, 4900 Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly. Agenda items include the Dulles Discovery project involving the federal government and the Middleton Farms residential and office project at Route 28 and Horsepen Creek. Call Jeff Parnes, evenings, at 703-904-0131.
<sh>Clifton Town Council Mtg.
<bt>The next meeting of the Clifton Town Council will be Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m., in the Clifton Town Meeting Hall, 12641 Chapel Road in Clifton.
<sh>Springfield Dist./Fairfax Land-Use
<bt>The Springfield District/Fairfax Center Land-Use Committee will meet Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m., in rooms 4 and 5 of the Fairfax County Government Center. Call Marlae Schnare at 703-451-8873.
On the agenda is a proposal by the Lincoln Property Co. for a mixed-use development in the Fairfax Towne Center. The site is the northwest corner of the intersection of West Ox Road and Monument Drive.
The developer would like to change the existing, three-acre, surface parking lot there into the spot for a five-story building. The first floor would contain 20,000 square feet of retail space, and the four floors above it would consist of 140,000 square feet of multi-family residential space. Planned are 164 units with underground parking.
<sh>Elementary School Boundary Mtg.
<bt>The third boundary meeting for the new west Fairfax elementary school will be held Thursday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m., at Liberty Middle School, 6801 Union Mill Road in Clifton.
Earmarked for a September 2006 opening, the $16 million school will be on Dixie Hill Road, in the Fair Chase subdivision near the Fairfax County Government Center and Route 29. It will have 36 classrooms and the same floor plan as Centreville's Colin Powell Elementary, which it's being built to relieve.
Students may also be shifted to the new school from Greenbriar East and West elementaries, as well as from Poplar Tree, Brookfield, Willow Springs and Fairfax Villa. Anyone interested in participating in the boundary process is welcome to attend the meeting.
<sh>No 'Miracle of Lights'
<bt>The annual, "Miracle of Lights" holiday display in Bull Run Regional Park will not be happening this year, since its independent promoter is unable to produce it. And Paul Gilbert, executive director of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, is disappointed.
"Unfortunately, we were informed too late in the season to seek another producer," he said. "We have been encouraged by the volume of calls and e-mails from local residents seeking information about the 'Miracle of Lights' and will make it a priority to offer a similar, holiday-themed feature in the near future."
<sh>Volunteer for County Posts
<bt>A number of county boards, authorities or commissions have vacancies available for either the Sully District or at-large representative. Anyone interested in serving on any of them should contact Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) at 703-814-7100 or Sully@fairfaxcounty.gov. The following positions are available:
Advisory Social Services board (four-year term), Child Care Advisory Council (two years), Commission on Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (four years), Engineering Standards Review Committee, Human Rights Commission, Human Services Council and Road Viewers board.
<sh>WFCM Needs Donations to Help Local Needy Families
<bt>Each month, Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM) provides food, personal-hygiene and cleaning items to some 300, low-income, working families of all races and religions in western Fairfax County. Its food pantry and clothes closet are at 13981 Metrotech Drive in Chantilly, and it's in great need of donations from the community.
The 10 most-needed items are: Cooking oil (22-34-ounce bottles), flour, (2-5-pound sizes), complete pancake mixes and syrup, juices (preferably concentrate), spaghetti sauce, feminine-hygiene products, deodorant and laundry detergent. Food and personal-product donations are accepted Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at WFCM's back door.
WFCM's thrift shop is open to the public, Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Clothing, household items, miscellaneous donations are accepted Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the back door. Call 703-988-9656 with questions or to volunteer, or see www.wfcmva.org.
<sh>Blood Donations are Sought
<bt>The Inova Blood Donor Center in the Centremed I Building on Route 29 in Centreville (across from the Centreville Multiplex Cinemas) is in urgent need of blood donations — especially O positive or negative, as well as A and B. They're accepted Tuesday-Friday, noon-8 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. For an appointment to give blood, call 703-322-1970, or drop in at your own convenience.