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Torres Trial Date Set for December

Bond denied for former police officer charged with murdering John Geer.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Aug. 19, former Fairfax County Police officer Adam Torres entered the circuit courtroom for his arraignment, dressed in a baggy, blue-green prison jumpsuit. Torres was indicted the previous Monday by a special grand jury for killing Springfield resident John Geer in August, 2013.

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Burke, Fairfax, Lorton and Springfield: Synchronized Swimmers Compete in North Carolina

Lake Braddock graduate and Springfield resident Connie Polnow has been doing synchronized swimming since she was 9 years old. Her teammate and rising West Springfield freshman Angie Borkowski has only been at it for a year. But together, they were among 29 members of the Northern Virginia Nereids squad who participated in the United States Synchronized Swimming Junior Olympics between June 29 and July 4.

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Burke: Volunteers and County Workers Recognized at Best of Braddock Awards

Thanks to Jim Watkins, a striking statue of a barracuda emerging from the water now graces the Commonwealth Swim Club. Watkins and other volunteers, members of the club, have helped maintain and repair areas of the facility, including restoration of the storm runoff channel, new lighting and landscaping.

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Burke Author Sherry Harris Launches Mystery Series

Sarah Winston found two bloody shirts in a bag of clothes from a garage sale. She knew one belonged to her ex-husband, the other to the woman he was sleeping with.

Mount Vernon: Lockard Named Interim Superintendent

Garza leaves Dec. 19.

Dr. Steven Lockard will take over for Dr. Karen Garza as Fairfax County Schools superintendent for the interim period while the School Board searches for her replacement.

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Fairfax County: Lockard Named Interim Superintendent

Dr. Steven Lockard will take over for Dr. Karen Garza as Fairfax County Schools superintendent for the interim period while the School Board searches for her replacement.

Housing Market: ‘Sell and Buy’

Sustained low interest rates and rising prices have energized the marketplace.

The local real estate market is thriving, with Realtors reporting multiple offers on homes in some areas and dwindling inventory of homes for sale. At least two things are contributing to this change in the market.

Housing Market: ‘Sell and Buy’ 4/24/2013 CV

Sustained low interest rates and rising prices have energized the marketplace.

The local real estate market is thriving, with Realtors reporting multiple offers on homes in some areas and dwindling inventory of homes for sale. At least two things are contributing to this change in the market. First, interest rates have been in the basement: Freddie Mac reported a 30-year fixed-rate of 3.57 percent for March this year, as opposed to 3.95 percent in March 2012 and 4.84 percent in 2011 (for reference, March 2005 was 5.93 percent).

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Lawmakers Wrap-up Richmond Legislative Session

Unspent TANF grant money, prisoner rights among social issues discussed.

On average, low income families in Virginia who are eligible and sign up for funds from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant receive $269 monthly and are cut off after five years. But lawmakers say there’s a lot more unexpended money available in the federal grant that, if it remains unused, could one day be taken back.

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Divided Fairfax County School Board Passes Salary Increase for 2016, to $32,000 from $20,000.

Just over a month after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to give the next board a $20,000-a-year pay raise, the School Board followed suit. In a 5-4 vote (three abstentions) at the April 9 meeting, the board approved raising the member salary from $20,000 to $32,000, with an additional $2,000 annually for the board chair.

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Springfield: Daventry Reassigned from Lee to West Springfield High School

Change scheduled to take effect for 2015-2016 school year.

Kelly Wevley’s daughter will be in middle school next year. As a Daventry subdivision resident, she will attend Washington Irving Middle School in Springfield. And under previous boundaries, she would eventually continue to ninth grade at Robert E. Lee High School while friends and classmates outside of Daventry would attend West Springfield High School.

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Fairfax: Police Auditor and Civilian Review Panel to Become Reality in 2017

Body cameras, mental health part of public safety focus

This year will see two historic firsts for Fairfax County, its police department and citizens: the beginning work of an Office of Police Auditor and Civilian Review Panel. “It’s very important people picked deal with facts, demand facts and make decisions based on facts,” Sayles said, “and communicate those in a way that’s not divisive." said Randy Sayles of Oak Hill who was a member of the Use of Force subcommittee of the Ad Hoc Commission.

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Sworn Officer Liaison Integral to Community Policing in North Springfield

Civic Association to hold community meeting on break-ins Oct. 5.

For North Springfield resident Jeff Schaefer, having a safe community starts with neighbors looking out for each other.

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Fairfax Station: ‘Steady’ Voting on Election Day

While most voters were likely fast asleep, chief election officer Sing Lee of Kingstowne was at Silverbrook Elementary School in Fairfax Station setting up voting stations at 4:30 a.m. An event in the school’s gymnasium the night before election day kept his team out until the morning. But it was critical to get the precinct open by 6 a.m. on Nov. 3.

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Lake Accotink Trail Improvements Announced

For anyone who’s been trapped by floodwater while taking a loop of Lake Accotink Trail, or struggled with the steep 30 percent slope down to that crossing of the lake, help is on the way. Eventually.

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Mason Neck Lions Cleanup Graffiti at Lorton Park & Ride

Graffiti isn’t art, it’s a crime. That’s the message the Mason Neck Lions Club is trying to remind people of as they’ve coordinated several graffiti removal projects in the Lorton and Mason Neck area over the past couple of years.

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Faces of Gum Springs, Alexandria

Residents reflect on their historic community.

Of the current residents of Gum Springs, several hundred are descendants of the original families who bought land and settled in one of northern Virginia’s oldest and historically black communities.

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Fairfax County School Board Approves $2.67 Billion ‘No Cuts’ Budget

Calls for general salary raises and additional $40 million for teachers, lowering elementary class sizes.

Members of the Fairfax County School Board have taken the next step in realizing Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza’s vision of no additional cuts in the Fiscal Year 2017 school system operating budget. T

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Police to Continue Improving Transparency

Public Safety Committee reviews recommendations for police use of force and communications; vote scheduled for June 21.

Fairfax County Supervisors and the Public Safety Committee met Tuesday May 10 to review police use of force and communications policy recommendations from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.

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Fairfax County: Supervisors Review Use of Force Guidelines

Public Safety Committee meets before June 21 vote: gun carry positions, release of information, body cameras discussed.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is standing by its Chief of Police and his department.