Top 17: Teen Killed by Neighbor, Semi Crash Closes Schools, Search for Bodies Continues, Build Your Own Fairfax Budget

Patch has 31 community sites in Virginia and D.C. Here are some of the top stories from around the region over the past week.

17. Historic West Point Acceptance: Manassas Park senior Jacob Williams has been accepted to the prestigious United States Military Academy at West Point—the first student in the small high school's history to do so. Jacob, along with his family, were recognized March 18 before the Manassas Park City School Board.

16. Baseball Field Renovations: The McNaughton Field Complex in Mount Vernon will soon get a makeover. The field has been the home of Woodlawn Little League since the 1960s. The fields are in need of improvement and the renovations will provide state of the art facilities for Woodlawn Little League players and a "safe and amazing place to play their ballgames," WLL Board member Kerry McConnon told Patch. 

15. HealthWorks Launched in Herndon: The new location of HealthWorks for Northern Virginia opened March 11 welcoming patients in need at its new address on the third floor of 1141 Elden St. Health Works was created when the Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic merged with Loudoun Community Health Center in 2012. JSFC was founded in Herndon in 2002. The merger of the two organizations will allow them to triple the number of people they serve.

14. Car on W&OD Trail?: You're cruising along one morning, commuting by bike on the W+OD Trail, when you run into a car. You read that right: A car. That's what happened as one cyclist was traveling the trail recently. In a YouTube video, reposted by Vienna's Spokes Etc., a local bicyclist with a handlebar camera comes upon a black sedan, idling in the middle of a trail also being used by bicyclists and runners.

 Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said he will attempt to dissuade Walgreens from opening a store on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray after local residents took to City Hall March 16 to protest early plans for the drugstore. “Believe me, from my perch I’m going to try to do everything I can to try and encourage Walgreens to look elsewhere,” Eullie said. The nation’s largest drug retail chain has a contract to purchase the entire retail strip at 1509-1517 Mount Vernon Ave.

12. Arlington Boundary Recommendation: Arlington Public Schools on Wednesday unveiled Superintendent Pat Murphy's recommended boundary changes for seven North Arlington elementary schools. The changes are necessary to accommodate a new elementary school in Williamsburg, part of a larger effort to deal with overcrowding as the population of students in the public school system continues to grow. 

11. Landmark Mall Redevelopment: Landmark Mall owner Howard Hughes Corp. has submitted plans to redevelop part of Landmark Mall, but officials with the city of Alexandria and the Howard Hughes Corp. are keeping mum on specifics.

10. GU Looks to Add More Housing: Georgetown University is taking a new critical look at its on-campus space to identify additional opportunities for increased density in student housing. So, those next 100 acres GU has been touting may not be used for student housing. At a "Planning 102" meeting on campus Tuesday, representatives from GU and its master planning team discussed moving students out of the surrounding community and creating a more social and residential-oriented campus environment where students would want to live.

9. Beer Garden Comes to Arlington: A modern German beer garden is coming to the Courthouse area this summer in place of sports bar Velocity 5. “We are going to renovate this place and make it brand new,” said co-owner Matt Rofougaran. The focus of Arlington Social Haus Biergarten and Restaurant will pivot to local beers, craft beers, and German beers. In all, they will offer 100 varieties of beer, 35 of them on tap.

8. Braddock Road Bottleneck Discussed: During peak commuting hours, long lines of cars back up at the intersection of Pleasant Valley and Braddock roads in Centreville, with drivers often waiting over 10 minutes for their turn at the stop sign. That situation just might change in the next few years. VDOT is considering plans to make some major changes at that intersection, which a large number of commuters from the South Riding area use.  

7. Search for Bodies Continues: The White Oak community received the Stafford County Sheriff's Office first public statement one week after the arrest of Dennis Paul Benzie and a week spent watching crime scene investigators come and go. WUSA-9 reported Wednesday night that law enforcement is searching for bodies on the property at 881 Belle Plains Road. Police arrested Dennis Paul Benzie on March 15 and executed a search warrant on the property. 

6. Montgomery County Ruled Out for FBI: The agency in charge of reviewing sites for the new location of FBI headquarters is currently reviewing responses to the recent request for information (RFI). According to the Office of Supervisor Jeff McKay, about 35 responses were received. One of the six potential sites being considered is located in the Springfield area across from the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station. The new FBI facility will be the work location for about 11,000 people, according to The Huffington Post.

5. Semi Crash Closes Schools: The driver of a tractor trailer that took out several power lines and damaged at least three utility poles on Euclid Avenue near Manassas Drive on Thursday has been charged with reckless driving, Manassas Park Police said. The name of the driver wasn't released by police.

4. FCPS Needs Second Chance Program: More than two years after parent advocates rallied for widespread reform to Fairfax County Public Schools' disciplinary procedures, a community committee has made more than 50 recommendations to overhaul the system's practices. Among them: creating a "second chance program" for first-time drug and alcohol offenders, requiring schools in most instances to notify parents before students are questioned and establishing a standing committee to oversee reform.

3. Build Your Own Fairfax County Budget: Residents who think they can balance a budget better than their elected officials will get the chance to prove it thanks to a new tool introduced by a Fairfax County supervisor Tuesday. Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock) is launching a program over the next two weeks that allows residents to build their own Fiscal Year 2014 budget plan based on the current package proposed by County Executive Ed Long. Long has proposed a $7 billion budget that raises the real estate tax rate and eliminates about 90 county jobs.

2. Teen Sentenced in Drug Deal: Judge Benjamin N. A. Kendrick sentenced Erick Joseph Cox, 19, of Oakton, last week to four years and 11 months in the Virginia Department of Corrections in connection with a December 2011 beating in South Riding. Cox pled guilty Nov. 13 to one count of felony malicious wounding in Loudoun County Circuit Court.

1. Teen Killed in Sterling: A legally owned .40 caliber handgun was the weapon used in the fatal shooting of Park View High School student Caleb A. Gordley, who had entered a neighbors home around 2:30 a.m. on March 17 and reportedly ignored repeated warning to stop, according to new information provided Thursday afternoon by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators are reviewing the case with the Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, and no determination is expected before all related information has been reviewed, including the report from the medical examiner’s office. The new LCSO information also reveals that Gordley, 16, was struck in the left rear shoulder.