Hospital Breaks Ground on New Building
Medical office building will add 180,000 square feet to campus.
The Reston Hospital Center broke ground on their new medical office building Monday, Sept. 17. The new building, which is estimated to be completed in late fall 2013, will add 180,000 square feet of physician offices and hospital services.
MWAA Releases Toll Rates to 2014
Community groups concerned about raises and effect on local traffic.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority has released its scheduled toll rate increases for the Dulles Toll Road up to 2015. Effective January 1, 2013, tolls at the mainline plaza will be $1.75 (up from $1.50) and the ramps will be $1.00 (up from $0.75).
Week in Reston
How many people travel on bikes or on foot in Reston? That's the subject of an upcoming project to count bicyclists and pedestrians. You may see volunteers at intersections watching as cyclists and walkers pass by.
Reston Lions Club Helps Residents of Lake Anne Fellowship House
The Reston Lions Club gave out Giant Food Gift Cards to victims of the derecho storms on Friday, Aug. 31. Residents of the Lake Anne Fellowship House were able to replenish food lost during a five day power outage.
Reston Homes on Display
11th Annual Reston Home Tour to be held on Saturday, Oct, 13, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Visit five outstanding private homes located in Reston’s renowned neighborhoods and clusters on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the 11th annual Reston Home Tour. Presented by Reston Historic Trust, this self-conducted tour offers exclusive viewing of “wow factor” destinations showing inspiring interior design, architecture, unique ideas, art collections, and renovation successes. Reston Home Tour ticket proceeds benefit Reston Museum, which is operated by Reston Historic Trust.
Global InfoTek, Inc. One of Six Primes on $300 Million
Global InfoTek, Inc. (GITI), of Reston, is one of six companies selected as a prime contractor by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to provide innovative revolutionary cybersecurity research, development and demonstration services. The aim of this Agile Cyber Technology (ACT) effort is to give the Air Force cyber space superiority in alignment with the national security cyber strategy.
Tolls Must Have Limits
The notion that the user of a public service should be the one to pay for it makes sense in theory. But when the service is a roadway and the payments are tolls, the system can feel a bit unfair and clearly needs limits. It made sense when I voted to approve an authority in the early 1980s to build a toll road in the Dulles Corridor to provide traffic congestion relief for western Fairfax County and to open the area for economic development. Using the toll method of financing meant that we got the road and expanded it decades before it would have been considered through the usual methods of road financing. It even made some sense that toll collections be used as a percentage of financing for the extension of Metrorail in the corridor, since the mass transit system would help relieve future traffic congestion on the Toll Road. But there has to be limits on the use of tolls, and clearly the level of tolls proposed for the Dulles Toll Road is too high.
Tornado-Like Storm Strikes Lake Anne Area
It felt like déjà vu on South Shore Drive near Lake Anne in Reston. A powerful wind and rain storm hit the area around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. The majority of the storm damage was concentrated, almost in a straight line, from North Shore Drive near Fairway Apartments to Weihle Avenue.
Plane Pull on Sept. 22 to Benefit Special Olympics
Superheroes Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor regularly come together to fight crime. Although humans don’t naturally possess super powers, you would be amazed at what a group of individuals can do when they put their minds—and muscles—together to accomplish a goal.
Week in Reston
The annual Tag Day fundraiser for the South Lakes High School Band is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8. Tag Day is the band’s largest fundraiser and supplements funding provided by Fairfax County Public Schools. The band members will fan across the South Lakes Community, knocking on doors and asking for your donations.
Robot to Assist in Spine Surgeries
Renaissance™, Mazor Robotics’ surgical guidance system, is the latest addition to Reston Hospital Center’s Institute for Robotic and Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery. Reston Hospital Center is the first, and only, hospital in the Mid-Atlantic region to offer Renaissance guided spine surgeries.
Sustaining Virginia’s Future
Of all the sources of information I cite in my weekly columns, none is quoted as frequently as The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (www.thecommonwealthinstitute.org). The institute is an independent staff of professionals who do analyses of state public policies with particular attention to the impacts on low and moderate income persons. Their July 2012 report, Frozen in Time: Virginia’s Revenue System Can’t Pull its Weight, provides the documentation for this column.
Fairfax Fumbles Master Plan, Reston Future-Part 2
As the Progressive reported last time, Fairfax Supervisor Cathy Hudgins’ Reston Master Plan Task Force has stalled, failing to complete Phase 1 of its work—i.e., plans for development in the rail corridor. With the train arriving next year and no plan in sight, the County caved and is now telling developers not to worry about a plan, just bring in their plans so construction can proceed. If you wondered why Reston should become a self-governing town, watch as the County turns planning as well as building over to developers.
Annual Lake Thoreau Boat Party
Lake Thoreau’s Boat Party, on Sunday, Aug. 26 consisted of various boats from the Lake Thoreau community tied up in the middle of the lake for a social gathering with friends and neighbors.
Reston Photographer Wins National Honor
Reston won another national honor, thanks to the talents of a local professional photographer. Two weeks ago, CNN Money Magazine listed Reston as one of the top ten "Best Places to Live."