Fairfax County

The curlicue letters of cursive handwriting, once considered a mainstay of American elementary education, have been slowly disappearing from classrooms for years. Now, with most states adopting new national standards that don't require such instruction, cursive could soon be eliminated from most public schools. For many students, cursive is becoming as foreign as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. In college lecture halls, more students take notes on laptops and tablet computers than with pens and notepads.

Amazon.com plans to add 500 employees to its Fairfax County Web Services business, further cementing the Dulles Corridor as a major center for information technology and big data storage. Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) made the announcement, highlighting the Seattle-based online retail giant's growing role as a computer storage provider through its Amazon Web Services division, which the company established in 2006. In a news release, McDonnell said Amazon will create a Herndon area office "to support...

Librado Cena told police he was angry that another driver kept honking at him one afternoon last month, so he followed the man's car into the parking lot of a Fairfax mall and confronted him, according to court papers. Cena sprinted up to 63-year-old William Hays O'Brien, according to the court papers, yelled and struck him in the head. About 10 days later, O'Brien died of his injuries, becoming the first homicide victim in Fairfax City in five years, police said. "It is tragic," said Andrew Bercraft, whose...

As a year-long study of Fairfax County school discipline policies nears its end, some School Board members and parents are questioning whether any substantial changes will come out of it. The board plans to consider revised regulations relating to student rights and responsibilities at a meeting Thursday, with a final vote scheduled to come in two weeks. Notable proposed changes focus on how parents are notified when their child is under investigation for possible discipline, and they would soften punishments for...

James A. Wood III, 41, a former managing principal and director of planning and strategies at the Washington architectural firm Perkins and Will, died March 9 at Capital Caring hospice in Arlington. The cause was brain cancer, said his wife, Adrienne Wood. James Alford Wood III was born in Washington and raised in Burke. He was a 1990 graduate of Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County and received a bachelor's degree in interior design from Virginia Tech in 1996. After graduation, Mr. Wood joined the firm Ai, which...

MARYLAND Petition targets law ending death penalty A new battle has begun over the future of Maryland's death penalty — soon after Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) signed a bill abolishing capital punishment. MDPetitions.com said Friday that it would lead an effort to gather enough signatures to force a public vote next year on the law. If it gathers 55,736 valid signatures by June 30, the repeal law will be put on hold pending a statewide vote in November 2014. One-third of those signatures must be...

A band director with the Fairfax County schools has been placed on administrative leave after he was charged with soliciting a 15-year-old online, authorities said Monday. Fairfax County police said Michael K. Cook, 43, of Centreville was arrested Aug. 31. He works at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, which has more than 4,000 students in grades seven through 12. Police said in a statement that the alleged victim "was not a student at the school or anyone under the arrestee's supervision.

When Andrianna Ayiotis begins classes as a 16-year-old freshman at the University of Southern California next fall, the Fairfax County schools student won't yet have her driver's license. A junior at George C. Marshall High School, she was one of only 40 students accepted into a program offered at USC for mature and academically advanced rising seniors who are ready to start college early. In addition, the majority of her tuition will be covered through scholarships and grants. Tina...

Virginia lawmakers welcomed Teach for America to the state this year with a unanimous vote so that the selective teaching corps could obtain an alternative license and deploy its army of elite college graduates as rookie teachers to school districts in need. But Northern Virginia schools are unlikely to hire any of its members anytime soon. Officials from several of Washington's suburban school systems said they are only beginning to explore the possibility of partnering with the organization, which...

Fairfax County These sales data recorded by the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration were provided by Lender Processing Services. For information about other residential real estate transactions, visit ww.washingtonpost.com/homesales . ANNANDALE AREA Americana Dr., 4901, No. 102-Nhu H. Do and Kim M. Truong to Dieu H. Tran and Thang D. Lien, $155,000. Annandale Mains Ct., 7710-Rafael and Linda Camacho to Tae Wha and Kyu Ja Kim, $615,000. Briar Creek Dr., 8207-Christopher A....

Police are investigating a targeted home invasion robbery that occurred in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County on Wednesday. A 24-year-old Maryland man was sleeping in a home in the 37000 block of North Rosser Street around 2 a.m., when three men woke him up and demanded money, Fairfax County police said. Two of the men had handguns, police said. The suspects took an undisclosed sum of cash, jewelry and electronics. A 45-year-old Alexandria man was also home at the time of the robbery.

Projects Proposed 1. Campus Point Realty, San Diego. Application to rezone 18.1 acres from C-4 (High Density Office) to PTC (Planned Tysons Corner Urban) for a hotel, multifamily residences, offices and retail, at 1710 SAIC Dr., 1707 and 1709 Goodridge Dr., 8301 Greensboro Dr. and on Solutions Drive. (RZ-2010-PR-022) 2. Seven Corners Hospitality, Greenbelt. Site plan for a 101,866-square-foot hotel on 1.91 acres zoned PDC (Planned Development Commercial), at 6430 Arlington Blvd.

THE REGION THE DISTRICT Man, 21, fatally shot in NE on Saturday District police are investigating the shooting death of a 21-year-old man who was killed early Saturday in Northeast Washington's Bloomingdale neighborhood. Police identified the victim as Dontel Price of Northeast. He was shot about 3:20 a.m. in the first block of S Street NE, near the campus of McKinley Technical High School. Police said he died at a hospital. Authorities did not release other...

An Alexandria man is facing multiple charges for allegedly torching a sedan and firing shots at an unoccupied office building in Fairfax County on Saturday night, police said. Officers and firefighters found a Toyota Camry fully engulfed in flames around 11:20 p.m. Saturday in the 5500 block of Cherokee Avenue in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, police said. A handgun and a gas can were discovered near the vehicle and it appeared shots had been fired both at the office building and within the building, Fairfax County...

Ken Cuccinelli II is launching his first television ad since being named GOP nominee for Virginia governor on Monday, featuring the widow of a slain Fairfax County police officer, who endorses the attorney general. The 60-second spot will air statewide, campaign officials confirmed on Sunday. The campaign would not say how much the ad buy cost. Officer Michael Garbarino was mortally wounded in May 2006 when an 18-year-old mentally ill man drove to the Sully District police...

Thousands of Fairfax County school employees are likely to receive raises in January as the School Board looks to boost lagging morale in the workforce. Board members focused on teacher compensation Thursday as they worked to finalize next year's $2.5 billion budget and address recent reports that Fairfax employees have sought jobs in neighboring districts with higher pay . "We already look bad," said board member and former Fairfax teacher Pat Hynes (Hunter Mill). "This business about Fairfax County not...

The book Laura Murphy wants removed from Fairfax County classrooms is considered a modern American classic. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a masterpiece of fiction whose author's 1993 Nobel Prize in literature citation said that she, "in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality. " But Toni Morrison's " Beloved ," Murphy said, depicts scenes of bestiality, gang rape and an infant's gruesome murder, content she believes could be...

3 Solo, left, is available from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Amelia is available from the Humane Society of Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Animal Shelter, 4500 W. Ox Rd., makes pets available for adoption by residents of Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and Prince William counties, as well as Vienna, Fairfax City, Falls Church and Alexandria. More pets can be seen at www.petharbor.com . Animal viewing and adoption hours are noon to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

THE DISTRICT 1 man killed, 3 others injured in shootings Four people were shot, one fatally, in the District on Wednesday and Thursday, D.C. police said. Two of the shootings took place in Southeast Washington, near where a 3-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet last week. In one incident, two men were shot about 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the 2400 block of Elvans Road SE, near the Forest Ridge apartment complex just off Suitland Parkway. Officer Anthony Clay, a D.C....

The Fairfax County school system is seeking applicants for a position on the influential facilities planning advisory council. Established in 2010, FPAC , as the 13-member group is known, works with the administration to help develop long-range plans for the school system's facilities needs. The council also advises the School Board on issues pertaining to transporation, construction, renovations and boundary studies. In recent months, FPAC was involved with the broad boundary...