Dis-Patches from NoVa This Week

A look at top stories from Patch throughout Fairfax County:

The Lorton Community Action Center nearly doubled its size this week with the addition of new food pantry. The addition was made possible by a donation from a South County family totaling $250,000. The new building will be dedicated in the early Spring.

Phase one of a development project will bring 290 apartment homes to Richmond Highway. Phase two is major commercial development.

Members of the Annandale Regional Planning Study middle and high school committee, tasked with figuring out options to help solve the issue of overcrowding at Annandale High School and Poe Middle School, presented their options to parents at the second of four outreach meetings on Thursday. The committee made the first presentation to the FCPS School Board on Monday.

Del. Joe Morrissey (D-74th) is starting off the Commonwealth's General Assembly session with a bill that would make a simple stop at a grocery or convenience store a bit more expensive.

Falls Church City Public Schools Superintendent Lois Berlin presented her fiscal year 2012 budget to the school board Tuesday night. The proposed budget, however, did not include a raise for the teachers in the school system.

Geoff Gallante, 10,  who has been playing trumpet since he was 4 years old, is rapidly making a name for himself in the band and orchestra circuit.  He has performed at the White House and The Kennedy Center, and most recently, at a Washington Wizard's game. When asked if the young musician ever gets stage fright, his father responded, “he’s cool as a cucumber when he goes out there.”

Senator Toddy Puller (D-36th) has introduced a bill that would force the Joint Commission on Health Care to study eating disorders in Virginia.

Cameron Vaughn was selected to participate in the 2011 Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl in San Antonio, TX.  Vaughn started as a running back for the East team in his second straight year playing in the prestigious game with the top seventh and eighth graders from around the nation. The selections came after two standout years playing running back and outside linebacker.


Langley High School students vandalized McLean High School and hurled insults that bordered on racial slurs during the first basketball game between the two long-time McLean cross town rivals in December. According to a story in the Saxon Scope, the Langley High School student newspaper, "At the game, which was hosted at McLean, Langley students hurled insults at McLean’s step team, shouted demeaning messages at the opposing fans, and even managed to put seventeen holes in McLean’s gym bleachers using their feet. By the end of the game, the police were involved, and an officer was injured," the Scope story said.

Council to Consider Alternative Street Solicitation Ordinance
Herndon’s street solicitation ordinance was once again the focus of the Town Council’s Tuesday public hearing as the council members discussed considering an amended ordinance. During the comments from the council portion of the meeting, CouncilmanJasbinder Singh made a motion to put an amended version of the street solicitation ordinance on the council’s Feb. 1 and 8 meetings, as well as release the amended version to the public.

Herndon Resident Chronicles America's Blues, Jazz, Soul Food Venues
Herndon resident Ron Rudison has loved jazz, blues and soul food for most of his life. He has a footlocker full of old vinyl records, and enjoys artists like Miles Davis and Quincy Jones, he said. His love of music and experiences eating at soul food restaurants throughout the country are what led him to write “American Blues, Jazz and Soul Food,” a book focused on the three art forms.


Unity of Fairfax Church in Oakton plays host to one of Northern Virginia's Smart Markets, year-round farmers markets that offer locally produced food and a friendly atmosphere for shoppers.


Dels. Jim LeMunyon and Mark Keam teamed up to reintroduce legislation Jan. 5 that would require General Assembly votes be retrievable online under members' names. Under the current system, those interested in monitoring the voting records of state politicians must look up individual bills to see how their own politician voted.

Vienna Native Khristin Kyllo Remembered by Community, Close Friends

Khristin Kyllo, 18, a 2010 James Madison High School graduate and a Princeton University freshman, died in her dorm room Thursday of natural causes, the university reported. Kyllo was a basketball and softball athlete at Madison who was set to play softball at Princeton. Her friends and community members say "when she walked into a room, sunshine followed her." What they'll miss most is her competitive spirit and warm heart, they said.