Tim Peterson | Stories

Back to profile

Tim Peterson

Stories by Tim

Pedestrian Dies after Being Struck in Lorton Road

Farman Batalia, 70, of Lorton, died early in the morning on July 30 after being struck by a vehicle while crossing Lorton Road near the intersection with Armistead Road.

Tease photo

Fairfax County Seeks Partner to Develop Training Center Property

Deadline for offers on the surplus land is Sept. 1.

Potential buyers have until September to make their offers to purchase the roughly 80 acres of property along Braddock Road where the Northern Virginia Training Center currently sits.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station and Clifton: Teens Charged in Little Rocky Run Car Fires

Four teenagers from the Centreville and Clifton area were charged with setting fire to vehicles, Fairfax County Police announced July 23, associated with 11 vehicle fires in the Little Rocky Run neighborhood over the last several weeks.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station: Saving the Whitehall Family Farm

Growing responsibly and benefitting veterans

As Fairfax resident Jeff Waters guided his nimble four-wheeling cart over a bumpy dirt path through the woods on his family’s 200-plus-acre farm, he said confidently, “It’s a lot closer to being done than it looks.”

Tease photo

Fairfax County Ad Hoc Commission Subcommittees Report

“It is well past time for the Fairfax County Police Department to start providing timely, honest and effective communications with everything it does.” When former director of Fairfax County public affairs Merni Fitzgerald delivered the final report and recommendations of the communications subcommittee of the Fairfax County ad hoc commission to review police practices, commissioner Joseph Cammarata responded immediately to those words in report’s introduction.

Tease photo

Fairfax: Special Grand Jury Begins Hearing Testimony in John Geer Case

Since shooting John Geer dead in the doorway of his Springfield home on Aug. 29, 2013, PFC Adam Torres of the Fairfax County Police Department has remained at work, albeit out of the field, but undisciplined by police and unprosecuted for any criminal wrongdoing.

Tease photo

Fairfax County School Board Honors Retiring Leaders, Adopts Budget Review and Audit Plan

In their last meeting of the summer, Fairfax County School Board members began by remembering former superintendent Dr. Robert Spillane, who recently died, and recognizing outgoing members of the school system’s leadership team.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station: New Christ Church to open in August

This is what the founders of Christ Church first envisioned in the mid-1980s. Though they first met in elementary schools, including Silverbrook Elementary school in Fairfax Station, the idea was always to form a regional church with a major road presence, said the current church executive director Debra Merrill.

Tease photo

Baptist Youth Campers Repair Lorton Homes

Jeff Moten started the week with 31 teenagers on his lawn. Baptist youth from around Virginia arrived at his Lorton property around 9 a.m. on Monday, July 13. By 10, they had cleared much of the natural overgrowth in his front and back yards, begun stripping his home’s roof and removing debris from a rear room where the floor had collapsed.

Fairfax County Police Release Updated In-Car Video Program Guidelines

In a January 2015 informational video, Fairfax County Police said around 600 of the department’s cruisers, spread across all eight law enforcement districts, were equipped with in-car video recording devices.

Lorton Woman Reportedly Robbed and Touched Inappropriately

A 33-year-old woman was robbed outside her car in a Lorton apartment complex around 2:15 a.m. on Sunday, July 5, according to Fairfax County Police and the Crime Solvers community program.

Tease photo

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.

Tease photo

Muslims at the Fairfax Islamic Center Break Fasts Together

One voice carries a melody in Arabic through the two-story hall of the Islamic Center Northern Virginia Trust, as over a hundred men bow their heads to the carpeted ground.

Tease photo

Clifton Film Festival Returns to Workhouse Arts Center

Fairfax resident Dani Weinberg thought she wanted to be a journalist. That was until she joined the crew of her high school’s television program “Good Morning Robinson.” Combined with her photography for the Robinson Secondary School newspaper, Weinberg started getting “really into film.”

Rabid Fox Found Near South Run RECenter

Less than a month after a woman was injured by a rabid raccoon, police responded to reports of a fox “acting abnormally” in the same area: the South Run/Burke Lake Trail near the South Run RECenter.

Tease photo

Fairfax: City of Fairfax Band Children’s Concert July 16

Each year, the City of Fairfax community band gives its youngest fans a chance to try their hand at the shiny, twisty and just plain loud instruments in the ensemble.

Tease photo

Coming Home to Queen of Peace in Springfield

Residents with disabilities move into new group house on Gresham Street.

Ten months ago, the unassuming single-level house on Gresham Street in north Springfield was a private residence. Today it’s the permanent home of four individuals with disabilities, and a fifth is on the way.

Tease photo

Lorton and Mount Vernon Area Roundups

A 2-year-old boy was pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital on June 18, Fairfax County Police announced Friday, June 19.

Tease photo

Health Curriculum To More Closely Align with State

School Board approves recommendations from advisers, with amendments.

Though it was the second packed house in as many months, it may be early yet to call crowded Fairfax County School Board meetings a trend.

Tease photo

Fairfax County: Police Release Use of Force Review

Review explained at latest Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission meeting.

Nearly a year ago, Fairfax County sought an outside opinion on its police department’s use of force. That July 2014 assignment went to the Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum.

Fairfax Station: South County Graduate Completes Attendance Streak

Cara Yates has never missed a day of school. Ever. From kindergarten on, the South County High School 2015 graduate kept a perfect attendance record the whole way.

Lorton: Two-Year-Old Boy Rescued from Pool Bottom

A 2-year-old boy is in life-threatening condition at Inova Fairfax Hospital after being found, unresponsive, at the bottom of a pool, Fairfax County Police said.

Tease photo

Fairfax County: Questioning Family Life Curriculum

The Fairfax County School Board’s May 7 meeting drew a passionate and boisterous crowd that filled the Luther Jackson Middle School auditorium and spilled out into the main lobby. That night the board voted in favor of adding “gender identity” to its nondiscrimination policy for students, employees and applicants for employment.

Tease photo

Mount Vernon and Lorton: New Gunston Hall Roof Completed

Approaching Gunston Hall in Mason Neck, the 18th-century plantation home of George Mason, its roof appears to gleam golden in the sunlight.

Tease photo

Mount Vernon: New Wegmans Opens in Alexandria

Nearly 2,000 in line for June 14 opening morning.

At any other Wegmans grocery store in Virginia, Woodbridge resident Braden Cheney’s job wouldn’t exist. A 2000 graduate of W.T. Woodson High School, Cheney is manager of The Pub, a full-service restaurant and bar operating within the store.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station: 200 Walk Burke Lake for Nepal Earthquake Victims

When the 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal in April this year, Madhu and Yashoda Bhandari of Lorton felt the shocks in their United States home. Both are originally from the Nuwakot district, one that was hit violently.

Fairfax County: Primary Voting

While November’s elections are still months away, voters have the opportunity to select Democratic representatives for several races in the party’s primary on June 9.

Tease photo

Clifton: Wined Up Toys

Clifton Wine Festival returns for eighth year.

With 15 participating wineries, tasting some from each at the eighth annual Clifton Wine Festival sounds overwhelming. One of the festival organizers, Holly Turner of Burke, doesn’t think making the rounds will be a problem.

Lorton: Young Girl Drowns in Pool

Around 4 p.m. on Memorial Day, Fairfax County Police answered a report of an unresponsive child at a pool in the 9000 block of Lorton Station Boulevard.

Tease photo

Fairfax County: Moving on ‘Move Over’

Police crackdown, educate about law protecting emergency roadside vehicles and drivers.

Fairfax County Master Police Officer Joe Moore’s front and rear-mounted radar machines whistle and beep with varying frequency as cars barrel past on Interstate 66 around the Fairfax County Parkway.

Tease photo

Fairfax: Northern Virginia Training Center Property Put on Market

Facility for people with disabilities scheduled for March 2016 closure.

According to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, 63 residents still live and receive treatment at the Northern Virginia Training Center, located in Fairfax alongside Braddock Road.

Tease photo

Fairfax County Police and Fire Join for New Training

Generally, if 2nd Lt. Karen Maslona was handling a live crime scene, a “warm zone” with a potentially active shooter, medical personnel wouldn’t be allowed in the area until the situation is completely neutralized.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station: Landscaping Business Uses Goats

Their names are Alvin, Beau, Cyrano de Bergerac, Ivy, Chuck, Tippy and Valentino. Five of Oakton resident Charlotte Del Duca’s seven “children” are 15 months old. The other two are almost a year. And they weigh between 100 and 130 pounds.

Fairfax: Panel Discussion to Follow Film on College Rape Crime

“The Hunting Ground” tells the story of a number of college students who survived sexual assault. After a free screening on the campus of George Mason University, sponsored by Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D-41), there will be a panel discussion by several experts on the subject matter.

Tease photo

Fairfax County School Board Passes $2.6 Billion Budget for 2016

Employees receive step pay increase but lose portion of planned market scale adjustment.

$7.6 million: That’s how much Fairfax County Public Schools said the School Board needed to cut to meet the goals set out in its Fiscal Year 2016 Advertised Budget.

Tease photo

Clifton Caboose Twilight Runners Race Despite Rain

Late spring showers went from light to heavy as runners lined up to begin the annual Clifton Caboose Twilight Run on Saturday, May 16. Undeterred by the rain, competitors in the one-mile run-walk race took off around 6 p.m., followed shortly thereafter by five-kilometer runners.

Tease photo

Ride of the Patriots Rolls Back Through Fairfax

For the 17th year, the Fairfax Harley Owners Group and Patriot Harley-Davidson are sponsoring a Memorial Day weekend group motorcycle ride to honor service men and women, veterans, prisoners of war and those missing in action from all wars.

Tease photo

Fragile X Walk at Burke Lake Draws Over 200

Like many parents and children, one of Burke Centre resident Monica Peña’s biggest challenges with her son Nicolas is communication. Unlike most children, “Nico” was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome at birth.

Tease photo

McAuliffe Signs Bill to Get Food Trucks Rolling in Virginia

Food trucks, those compact mobile restaurants that have become wildly popular on the streets of Washington, D.C., are getting closer to expanding their tread-print in Virginia.

Tease photo

Fairfax County: Police Commission Holds Public Forum

Deborah Moronese of Vienna said a disagreement with her son over his use of Wi-Fi in their home prompted him to call Fairfax County Police.

Fairfax Station and Lorton: Area Roundup

New Chick fil-A, deadly motorcycle accident

Jonathan Wesley Wright, a 25-year-old man from Dumfries, died May 11, several hours after crashing his 2013 Ducati motorcycle into the rear of a box truck.

Tease photo

Lorton: Hope & Health Festival Returns for Third Year

Linda Patterson, executive director of the Lorton Community Action Center, said about a fifth of the local population their organization serves is suffering from chronic health-related issues.

Tease photo

New Girls Golf Program Begins at Burke Lake Golf Course

Erin Herbig of Clifton admits signing her daughters up for golf lessons was a decision to benefit the whole family, not just the girls Summer and Kolby.

Tease photo

Fairfax County School Board Adds "Gender Identity" to Nondiscrimination Policy

Discrimination is bad, and everyone should have a safe environment in which to learn. These sentiments were common to the Fairfax County School Board members and the hundreds of parents who packed the auditorium and front lobby of Luther Jackson Middle School for the board’s May 7 meeting.

Tease photo

Clifton and Fairfax Station Homes Tour Returns for 43rd Year

Clifton residents Mark and Sharon Gottlieb are expecting hundreds of house guests. Gottlieb’s mother Lois, an apprentice of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed their 10,000-square-foot home overlooking the Occoquan River and oversaw its construction between 1994 and 1996. And the couple is happy to share it, for a day.

Clifton: Farm Brewery Plans Halted

Plans for a farm-slash-brewery in the Clifton area have been shelved, according to the offices of Del. Tim Hugo (R-40) and supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield).

Tease photo

Dr. Seuss-themed 23rd Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards

Wesley Pan of Great Falls-based Boy Scouts of America Troop 55 was humble about receiving the Youth Volunteer Group award. “We’re just happy to help the community and make a difference,” he said.

Tease photo

What's Coming in the Fairfax Station, Lorton, Clifton Area

Gambrill Pointe subdivision Gambrill Pointe Court and Ridge Creek Way. These 20 homes on roughly 11 acres are in the process of being sold.

Tease photo

Lorton: Chill and Cloudy Skies Don’t Damper SpringFest Fairfax

Nina Mendez of Springfield is a big fan of Earth Day. “I want to clean the world and make it better,” she said.

Tease photo

Fairfax Station: Garden Club Brightens Blue Star Memorial

Since its dedication on June 10, 2007, ladies of the Dominion Valley Garden Club have maintained a colorful, patriotic garden in front of the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum.