Week In Review: Local High Schools Graduate Nearly 800 Seniors; Business Owner Arrested For Embezzlement

Nearly 800 students graduated from Marshall and Madison High Schools on Friday.

Cheers and whistles echoed throughout D.A.R Constitution Hall on Friday morning as George C. Marshall High School graduated the Class of 2011.

Commencement speaker Jason G. Green, associate counsel to President Barack Obama, and faculty speaker Hendrick Booz gave the 314 seniors last pieces of advice in the Washington, D.C. venue – including some thoughts from Obama himself on the keys to success.

Later in the day, James Madison High School's Class of 2011 sat among classmates, faculty and staff as seniors for the last time on Friday at their commencement ceremony at Robinson High School.

Before they became Warhawk alumni, the 469 graduates were offered words of wisdom from one of their own: John Brenkus '89, the original “Mr. Madison” and Vienna native who is now the co-creator and host of the Emmy Award-winning show “ESPN Sports Science.”

The owner of a Church Street landmark

Michael Paul Willis, 28, of Vienna, the owner of the Nielsen's Frozen Custard, was charged with two counts of embezzlement for not paying Town of Vienna meals taxes during several periods over the last year.

"[Owners] act as agents of the town to collect meals tax, so when it's not turned over to the town that’s considered embezzlement," Vienna Police Officer Bill Murray said.

Police said Willis did not pay meals taxes from May to July 2010 and for September 2010.

The felony warrants were a last-resort measure by the town after several attempts to get Willis to pay business license fees and file meals tax returns, Murray said.

NEWS

Vienna Police -- the third robbery at the bank since March.It's not clear if the same suspect is responsible for all three robberies, Police said. Police said the suspect approached an employee who was unlocking the bank before 8 a.m. this morning. Inside the bank, the suspect revealed a weapon and demanded money. The suspect took off on foot. Nobody was injured in the robbery, Police said.

Vienna would need to sell its water and sewer systems for at least $28 million to be compensated for its costs, consultants To stay in it, the town could need to invest at least $12 million in improvements over the next 10 years. In either scenario, water and sewer rate hikes are likely. The town is wrestling with the issue as water becomes more expensive and many underground pipes need to be repaired or replaced.

takes a look at the pipes current conditions and future costs.

After six months of public debate and countless hours-long meetings, the Vienna Town Council It will take effect June 20.Under the ordinance, which has been contested in a series of lively public hearings since December, work in residential areas will not be permitted on Saturdays until 9 a.m., instead of 7 a.m. as the current code states. It will continue to ban contractor work on Sundays, along with lawn mowing, excavation, demolition and other construction activities, and will also specifically ban this work on six federal holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.Any of these activities that are done for pay will be prohibited on Sundays, according to the proposed code. Residents will be permitted to do this type of work on their own home on Sundays after 9 a.m. The ordinance exempts contractors working at recreational facilities from the Sunday ban.

A Fairfax County firefighter has filed a new case after a judge threw out “We only had eight instances of sexual harassment and he wanted more,” said Ellen Renaud, the attorney who is representing Stacey Bailey. Bailey filed a suit last September alleging several incidents of sexual harassment by firefighters that she has worked with in Fairfax County.In a separate case, Renaud also represents Mary Getts Bland, a former Fairfax County firefighter who was awarded $250,000 by a jury last month, after suing the county for continued sexual harassment throughout her career in the fire department. The county has appealed the verdict

when he allegedly robbed the BB+T on Chain Bridge Road.  Records say he was arrested with dye-stained pants and could be connected to other Vienna and McLean robberies

After a year and a half of construction, pedestrians and officials on Wednesday celebrated the opening of a new W&OD Trail bridge over the Capital Beltway at Sandburg Street, The new $2.4 million bridge is 30 feet longer and four feet wider than the structure that first carried walkers, runners and bikers over the highway in the early 1960s.

With the one-year anniversary of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan approaching, Nine applications –by the Georgelas Group, CARS, JBG Rosenfeld Retail, NV Commercial/Clyde’s, SAIC/Dittmar, Capital One, MITRE, Cityline Partners and LCOR – were displayed at Spring Hill Elementary School in McLean, detailing mixed-use residential, business and commercial projects in Tysons.

SCHOOLS

Rising Madison High School sophomore Julia Meadows took home the Featured Actress award for her performance in this year's Dandelion Wine 

: Dozens of Madison High School seniors were honored Tuesday during an annual convocation ceremony in the school's gym.

School board candidates hoping to win the Fairfax County Republican Committee's endorsement for at-large seats made their pitches to party members Thursday night — with one notable exception. Steve Stuban, whose family tragedy has become a lightning rod for supporters who , could not speak at the meeting, due to restrictions on political activity by his employer, the Department of Defense. So instead, Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity and incumbent school board member Patty Reed (Providence District) spoke in support of Stuban's .

. The Hunter Mill District candidate will run against Pat Hynes this fall.

Young actors from Flint Hill, Wolftrap and Sunrise Valley Elementary Schools hoped to whisk audiences off to Agribah this weekend

After they tossed their caps inside Robinson High School on Friday, much of James Madison High School's class headed to the Vienna Community Center

COMMUNITY/ARTS

Working in Tysons Corner usually means a few things: Thousands of people, traffic headaches, non-existent sidewalks and minimal choices for lunch outside of chain restaurants, company delis or cafeterias and mall food courts.What can a discriminating foodie do to break up the routine?

Biking is for everyone, as long as they have the right attitude, said our

The two newest Fairfax County Police Department “bomb dogs,” which work with the agency’s Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Unit, will be hitting the streets in early July. Meet the dogs in this video.

As summer approaches, parents discuss what guidelines they set for their children in

A national organization is asking communities to "dump the pump" Thursday and

In our weekly a national study showed that the Vienna metro stop is the most romantic subway stop in the country.

SPORTS

the fourth in the league's 59-year history to go undefeated