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Drivers face a major bottleneck near Tysons starting Friday, Jan. 24, as northbound Interstate 495 traffic drops from six lanes to two.

The reduced traffic will shift into the 495 Express Lanes for roughly one mile. Traffic changes and lane closures will extend for about three miles, beginning at the Route 7 interchange and continuing beyond Lewinsville Road. Motorists are advised to avoid the northern Beltway this weekend.

Mason District parents, meanwhile, are urging Fairfax County Public Schools not to postpone later middle school start times. FCPS awarded Prismatic Services a contract in September 2023 to develop a plan for starting middle school at 8 a.m. or later in fall 2025. An online petition calls on the school system to keep that timetable.

Virginia lawmakers advanced two proposals intended to protect access to contraception amid national scrutiny of reproductive rights. House Bill 1716 passed the House of Delegates on Thursday, while a companion measure cleared the Senate Education and Health Committee. Supporters could still encounter opposition from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

A 56-year-old woman recently told Fairfax County police that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted between ages 11 and 14 while working at a Great Falls horse barn, where she cleaned stalls and fed horses. Her account led authorities to charge an 81-year-old man with taking indecent liberties with a child younger than 14.

Two bipartisan efforts to reduce Virginia’s legal-notice publication requirements for local governments have failed for now. A House bill sponsored by Vienna Del. Holly Seibold died Friday, Jan. 17.

Antojitos de tu País, a restaurant popular among local Venezuelans, continues to operate from the Fairfax commercial kitchen it moved into in 2015. Though less widely known than Arepa Zone, the business has become a passion project for Febres and Arellano and serves an almost entirely separate customer base.

Annandale High School basketball players are also spending their winter Wednesdays helping younger students. Members of the boys and girls teams walk to Braddock Elementary School each week to mentor third graders who need additional support with reading comprehension.

Friday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies, a high near 33 degrees and northwest winds of 5 to 9 mph. The night will be mostly clear, with temperatures falling to around 15 degrees. Winds near 5 mph are expected to become calm after midnight.