The Fairfax Machine

Friday Download, 1/24: McLean Chocolate Festival, Improvicon, Lunar New Year celebrations and maple-syrup boils The week’s top Fairfax County headlines, the weekend forecast and things to do — for one last time before my new-job break.

This weekend in NoVA: The McLean Chocolate Festival, Improvicon, Jurassic Quest, Lunar New Year celebrations and maple-syrup boils.

Bridging U.S. divides, a dinner at a time Worsening polarization is splitting families, friends and neighbors. Can this Reston project help heal it?

BreadBreakers dinners like this one — five days before the re-inauguration of Donald Trump, 19 miles to the east — were their chance to “practice” engaging with people they might disagree with.

Graham’s goal: to stoke a movement of U.S. depolarization through connection.

Bridging U.S. divides, a dinner at a time Worsening polarization is splitting families, friends and neighbors. Can this Reston project help heal it?

“Families have been split apart” by worsening polarization, Graham said, and the six tables full of people in deep-blue Fairfax County seemed to agree. “There are so many important issues that we should be talking about, but we can’t even get there, because we can’t ... have a civil conversation.”

Bridging U.S. divides, a dinner at a time Worsening polarization is splitting families, friends and neighbors. Can this Reston project help heal it?

He greeted the participants as they entered — more returning faces this time; that was good — and, before their pasta dinner was served, took the microphone to explain the night’s program.

Bridging U.S. divides, a dinner at a time Worsening polarization is splitting families, friends and neighbors. Can this Reston project help heal it?

Michael Graham arrived at the Reston community center 43 minutes before his latest attempt to heal the discourse of the nation, wearing the three-day stubble of a young dad and the smile of a dogged American optimist.

Friday Download, 1/17: Fairfax Record Riot, NoVA Wine Expo and a battle of the bands The long weekend’s forecast and 17 ways to spend it, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

Here are 17 ways to spend the weekend around NoVA, if you’re up to brave the cold — including a massive records sale, the NoVA Wine Expo, and MLK weekend service events:

A Machine system update: I got a job I’ll take a few months off from this newsletter as I settle in. Then I’ll figure out what the next phase here looks like.

A Machine system update: I got a job

Friday Download, 1/10: More snow, an old English new year party, the Fairfax Funky Flea, and the Commanders in the playoffs The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

A little more snow is coming, so The Machine hopes everyone is following the time-honored Northern Virginia tradition of stockpiling food and toilet paper for a rapture-level event.

Here’s the latest forecast and 12 weekend happenings around NoVA:

Wall Street declares war on the Associated Press Gannett and Reuters come for one of the final corners for legacy media that had resisted the financialization of journalism.

I wrote about Gannett’s plan to kill off one of the last pieces of American legacy media to resist financialization: The Associated Press.

mattdpearce.substack.com/p/wall-stree...

Friday Download, 1/3: A pre-snow pool day in Herndon, a Bon Jovi tribute and two vintage markets at Dulles Expo Center The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

Snow is coming this weekend. Before it does, stop by Herndon’s Beach Resort day and pretend it’s summer.

Here’s the detailed forecast and our weekly list of things to do around NoVA — including the Big Flea, tribute shows and the Capitals’ Kids Day in Ballston.

Friday Download, 12/27: Menorah lightings, a Harry Potter movie marathon and Fredericksburg’s Riverside Christmas Spectacular The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

This weekend in NoVA: Menorah lightings, comedy shows, a Harry Potter movie-theater marathon, and the last gasps of Christmas:

Santa comin

This company rates news sites’ credibility. The right wants it stopped. NewsGuard, which prizes its nonpartisan criteria, has become a prime target of the GOP’s battle against disinformation watchdogs.

NewsGuard, which prizes its nonpartisan criteria, has become a prime target of the GOP’s battle against disinformation watchdogs.

Friday Download, 12/20: Mount Vernon fireworks, Frank Lloyd Wright home tours, and Greenberg’s Great Train & Toy Show The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

Happy Friday! Here’s the forecast for the weekend in NoVA and 17 ways to spend it, from caroling at Reston Town Center to an oddly timed lobster festival to the annual Stafford Christmas Parade.

The only constant in NoVA is the Tysons Santa Mike Graham has watched the mall and the world change from his Christmas set. The Machine visited to ask him 10-ish Questions.

Mike Graham, Tysons Corner Center’s 38-year Santa, has watched the mall and the world change from his Christmas set.

The Machine visited to ask him 10-ish Questions.

Friday Download, 12/13: Herndon WinterMarkt, Del Ray Candy Cane Bar Crawl, Swissmas at the Swiss Bakery, and Occoquan s’mores The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

Looking for something fun and wintry to do this weekend?

Here are a dozen ways to spend it around NoVA and D.C. — from Del Ray’s Candy Cane Bar Crawl to Swissmas in Springfield to the latest round of holiday markets.

BREAKING: Comstock drops plan to redevelop downtown Herndon | FFXnow Featured Event

BREAKING: Comstock drops plan to redevelop downtown Herndon

Energy demand is soaring in Virginia due to the boom in data centers, and that could result in higher utility bills for residential customers. Energy demand is soaring in Virginia due to the boom in data centers, and that could result in higher utility bills for residential customers.

Massive energy use by data centers could lead to higher electric bills.
annandaletoday.com/massive-ener...

AI slop is already invading Oregon’s local journalism The Ashland Daily Tidings — established as a newspaper in 1876 — ceased operations in 2023, but if you were a local reader, you may not have known because of an elaborate scam using artificial intelli...

Last month, I fell down an absolutely bizarre rabbit hole trying to figure out who was ripping off articles from Oregon journalists.

What I found was identity theft, plagiarism and an absolutely terrifying future for local journalism led by AI scammers.

My latest:

Friday Download, 12/6: Tree lightings, holiday craft markets, boat parades in Reston and Alexandria, and park events galore The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

NoVA has a packed slate of holiday events this weekend — from Christmas in Middleburg to holiday craft markets to boat parades in Reston and Alexandria.

Friday Download, 11/29: Holiday parades in Reston and Mosaic, Plaid Friday sales in Old Town Alexandria, and “Elf” with a live orchestra The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

Happy (Black) Friday, all. Here are the top local headlines of the week, a chilly forecast for this weekend and 15 ways to spend it — from tree lightings and parades in Reston and Mosaic District to brewery holiday markets to Old Town Alexandria’s Plaid Friday sales.

Fairfax County teachers just approved a historic contract What the union deal would change for employees and schools — and where the meals tax and casino might factor in

Teachers and staff of Fairfax County Public Schools voted this week to approve three-year contracts, after the first collective bargaining in decades.

Here’s what to know about what it means for employees and for schools, and where taxes (and maybe that Tysons casino) factor in:

Inside a sleek hotel, new moms find postpartum pampering and sleep The postnatal retreat in Northern Virginia, which offers services inspired by practices in South Korea, is one of only a few to have opened in the United States.

Sometimes called the “fourth trimester,” the postpartum period is mostly an afterthought in the United States, despite the physical and mental challenges that accompany the life-altering experience of having a baby.

That's where Sanu comes in.

Friday Download, 11/22: Cider and cookie fests in Alexandria, a holiday market at Mosaic, and a family fall fair in Springfield The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

There’s a chance of snow today in NoVA — but it wouldn’t be the fun kind.

Here are the week’s top local headlines, the forecast for the weekend and 14 ways to spend it around the area, from Mosaic District’s holiday market to the Old Town Cookie Crawl (if you can get off the waitlist):

The Machine’s Bluesky account is booting up ...