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January 7, 2026

Neighbors,

While it feels more like spring this week, January is typically the coldest month in our region. Seasonably winter temperatures are forecast to return for the rest of this month.

When it gets frosty outside, most of us can put on warmer clothes and turn up the thermostat. However, there are many children in our community that don’t have this option.

This is why my office is sponsoring a coat drive for kids with Heritage Fellowship Church. While many winter clothing drives occur during the holidays, you can still give the gift of warmth in the New Year. I hope you’ll consider donating a new or gently used winter coat in any children’s size from infant to teen.

Drop off coats through Wednesday, Jan. 21 at my office at the North County Governmental Center, 1801 Cameron Glen Drive, Reston, or at Heritage Fellowship Church.

We’ve already distributed 500 coats since our drive began — but we still need more to meet the increased demand.

Together, we can make 2026 warm and bright for kids in need.

Regards,

Walter

• Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick
• Most Read Library Books in 2025
• Stop Telemarketers in 2026
• Dominion Tree Trimming on W&OD in Reston
• Protect Yourself from the Flu
• Reston Parkway Lane Closure
• Hunter Mill District Green Business Partners
• What's News in Vienna
• Events and Activities

Did you resolve to lose weight, exercise more, eat more healthily or save more money in 2026? Due to the so-called Fresh Start Effect, the new year is a perfect time to make a change.

While about half of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, only about 25% stick with them after 30 days. And the vast majority have abandoned their resolutions within four months, according to a 2023 Forbes Health survey.

Doubling down on willpower isn’t the solution for keeping your resolutions, however. Try some of these science-based tips instead:

• Take a positive approach: You’re more likely to be successful starting a new positive habit than stopping a bad one. Based on the “world’s largest” study on New Year’s resolutions, Swedish scientists found you are more likely to sustain “approach-oriented” goals than “avoidance-oriented” ones. If your goal is to stop eating desserts, for example, resolve to eat fruit several times a day rather than quit eating sweets. People who took a positive approach were much more likely to stick with their resolutions based on the more than 1,000 people studied. After a year, those who made approach goals exhibited a higher success rate – 59% – than those who made avoidance-oriented resolutions – 47%.
• Set concrete, achievable goals: You can increase your chances of success by setting concrete, achievable goals. Instead of resolving to exercise more this year, make your goal to walk 20 minutes a day or do 5 pushups every day.
• Start tiny: Stanford professor BJ Fogg recommends starting with a tiny step to your larger goal. When you achieve these tiny actions, they offer you early wins and motivation to keep going. You’ll reward your brain with dopamine, the neurotransmitter for pleasure and motivation. Fogg started tiny in his effort to floss his teeth regularly. He started with a goal to just floss one tooth, building the habit. Or you can approach your desired change as a “tiny experiment” as advocated by neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff.
• Make it fun: It’s important to choose an activity that you enjoy since research shows that you’re more likely to stick with something you like doing. If you don’t love running, for example, try pickleball, yoga or another activity that you’ll enjoy.
• Temptation Bundle: Pair your new habit or activity with something you like to do. For example, behavior change expert Katy Milkman, who was a varsity tennis player, couldn’t muster the motivation to exercise while in graduate school at Harvard. So, she tried a hack called “temptation bundling.” She paired her workouts with listening to audiobooks. Temptation bundling turns the activity that may feel like a chore into a pleasure instead.
• Do it with a friend: Pick an activity you can do with a friend or join a group. Milkman's research found that you’ll go to the gym 35% more frequently if you go with a friend rather than by yourself. Research has shown that you’re more likely to be active if you have friends that are too, and exercise is socially contagious.

Learn more: Check out these books at the library on how to effectively change your habits:

• How to change: the science of getting from where you are to where you want to be 
• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything
• Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World
• Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick

And, if you’re trying to eat more healthfully in 2026 learn what this scientist who studies “super agers” eats. (Hint: it involves a Mediterranean diet.) His research suggests that the key to longevity and health is your lifestyle — not genetics. Check out his book at the library: Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity

What’s happening: While we’ve started a new year, it’s not too late to read the most checked-out books of 2025. These were last year’s five most-read print and digital books for adults at the Fairfax County Public Library:

Top 5 Print Books

• The Women by Kristin Hannah: As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, nurse Frankie McGrath is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
• The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny: In this 19^th novel in the Armand Gamache series, the inspector takes pursuit across Québec and across borders to investigate a potential terrorist plot that could kill and sicken thousands of Canadians.
• James: A Novel by Percival Everett: A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.
• The Waiting by Michael Connelly. Renée Ballard and the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago
• We Solve Murders by Richard Osman: Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life, and his days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy's business now. As a private security officer, Amy Wheeler is on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D'Antonio alive....Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer have Amy sending an SOS to Steve.

Top 5 eBooks

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt: For fans of A Man Called Ove, this new novel is a charming and witty exploration of a widow’s friendship, reckoning, and hope with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors — until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.
• The Women: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: This 2025 All Fairfax Reads pick tells the tale of Elizabeth Bennett in this comedy of manners, romance and neighborhood drama first published in 1813. And a couple good movies have been made from this book too.
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese: Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, this New York Times bestselling novel follows three generations of a Christian family in Kerala, South India, that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.
• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb: In this memoir, a psychotherapist takes you behind the scenes of her world. She explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives —a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys (even one from the waiting room).

Digital checkouts on the rise: Digital loans continue to rise with the Fairfax County Library reaching over 4 million digital checkouts last year. This milestone means our library ranks first in Virginia and 22^nd nationwide.

On Dec. 22, the library’s 4-millionth digital loan was eAudiobook Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class by Rob Henderson.

If you haven’t read an eBook, eAudiobook or eMagazine yet, check one out on Libby by OverDrive. (Find instructions on using this app.)

Put a “STOP” to Telemarketing

Calls and Texts in 2026

What’s happening: Before you ignore or hang up on that next telemarketing call or delete that unsolicited text message, consider telling them to stop.

This might sound fruitless, but telemarketers are now required to stop calling or texting if you tell them to stop, thanks to a new state law that took effect on Jan. 1. For text messages, reply with the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" or "STOP.” Telemarketers are required to honor your request for at least 10 years.

The law also restricts them to calling only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., unless they’ve obtained your prior consent. They’re also required to identify themselves when calling or texting, and they may not display false or misleading identification information on your phone.

Violators face fines: Telemarketers who don’t follow the law could be fined between $500 to $5,000 per violation, and individuals are entitled to take legal action to collect these fines too.

Be wary of scammers: Of course, the new law won’t stop the unrelenting scam calls and texts we all get, so exercise caution before you respond. Follow these tips for avoiding scams, including:

• Don’t answer unidentified or suspicious calls or texts.
• Don’t share personal or financial information in response to a request you didn’t expect.
• Resist the pressure to act immediately.
• Don’t click links — go directly to a company, bank or government agency’s website.

What’s happening: Dominion Energy is selectively trim trees along a 2.7-mile stretch of the W&OD Trail between its Hunter Mill Road substation and the Reston substation on Sunset Hills Road.

In coordination with NOVA Parks and Fairfax County’s urban foresters, the utility identified 19 trees that need to be removed because they are dead, dying or diseased.

Although Dominion said they would begin work on Jan. 20, it appears they’ve already started clearing invasive brush (such as Porcelain berry) along the trail, as well as trimming some trees. The work is expected to take two to three months.

To prevent trees from falling on its power lines or trail users, Dominion conducts routine tree trimming every two to three years for every transmission line along the W&OD.

While no one likes to see trees come down, I’m pleased that this time Dominion is taking a more careful, selective approach than their destructive clear-cutting last year in Vienna.

What’s next: Later, Dominion will apply herbicides to areas they’re currently clearing in Reston to prevent invasive plants from overrunning them.

More importantly, they’re continuing to negotiate with NOVA Parks on a memorandum of understanding to guide future tree trimming along the W&OD, including restoring areas they clear and controlling invasive plants.

This combined strategy of killing invasives and robust replanting with native species will provide a beautiful park and support pollinators which provide a vital ecosystem service.

What’s happening: Respiratory illnesses — especially flu — are spreading at a high level in Fairfax County, according to the Respiratory Illness Dashboard.

The flu accounted for nearly 11% of urgent care and ER visits in Fairfax County based on the dashboard’s latest data.

Nationwide, the CDC reports that 48 states including Virginia have “high” or “very high” levels of flu activity. The spike is driven by a new flu variant called subclade K, causing a sharp increase in illness and hospitalizations. The CDC estimates that flu has caused at least 11 million illnesses, 120,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths so far this season.

Why it matters: It’s still not too late to get the flu vaccine, and it takes about two weeks for your body to build up immunity. While the flu is surging across the U.S., the virus likely hasn’t hit its peak, medical experts say. Flu season most commonly peaks in February during the past 40-plus years.

While this year’s shot isn’t a perfect match for the new strain since it emerged after the vaccine was developed, experts say that the vaccine still offers effective protection from severe illness. Early data from the UK indicates that the vaccine is 30-40% effective in preventing adults from being hospitalized.

Flu prevention: Follow these tips to protect yourself from flu and other respiratory illnesses.

COVID booster recommended: While COVID isn’t currently surging, the CDC in November quietly recommended that adults age 65 or older get a second shot. The agency made the same recommendation for people who are immunocompromised, and there’s no need to provide documentation to prove this status. For people in both groups, the second shot ideally should be given six months after your first, but you may receive it as soon as two to three months later, depending on the vaccine you got.

Covid vaccines are still effective against infection, emergency room visits and hospitalization based on a study of last year’s vaccine. It provided the greatest protection four weeks after the shot: offering 44.7% effectiveness against infection, 45.1% effectiveness against emergency department visits, and 57.5% effectiveness against hospitalization or death.

For the next two weeks, the right lane of northbound Reston Parkway is closed along the bridge over the Dulles Toll Road. As a result, the left-turn lane on the northbound Reston Parkway to the westbound Toll Road is also closed. It’s temporarily being used as a through lane during the ongoing road work.

These lane closures are needed for bridge repairs, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. The agency expects the closures to be in place until Monday, Jan. 19 at 9 a.m.

Photo: Trace - The Zero Store owner Mala Persuad (center) with Fairfax County Office of Environment and Energy Coordination Director John Morill (right), receiving a certificate for participating in a pilot project. The store is located in Vienna.

What’s happening: Hunter Mill District’s Green Business Partners recently gathered for a social hour at Spaces Reston Station. This networking event brought together these businesses that have pledged to take sustainable actions through this county program.

Not only was this a social gathering, but also it was a ceremony to recognize the businesses that participated in the Facilitated Impact Tracking Pilot project, including Leidos, Trace - The Zero Waste Store and Tysons Community Alliance. It’s a new tool that will help Green Business Partners to more easily track their sustainability actions.

In the Hunter Mill District, ten businesses are partners, including

• Attune
• BXP
• ICF
• Leidos
• River-Sea Chocolates
• Scrawl Books
• Trace Right Labs
• Trace - The Zero Waste Store

What’re these partners doing? They’re taking a wide range of actions to reduce their climate impact:



River-Sea Chocolates, which has a shop in Reston, is reducing its fuel use and waste, establishing an organizational fuel reduction goal of at least 10% for the upcoming year and preparing a plan for waste reduction with measurable and actionable goals. (Watch this video below to learn more.)

At Lake Anne, Scrawl Books is focusing on environmentally preferable purchasing, reducing its transportation-related carbon emissions and reducing waste. The store works to minimize packaging and selects vendors based on sustainability criteria. The shop is also transitioning its company vehicles to electric or plug-in hybrid to reduce emissions, as well as offers commuter benefits, telework and flexible schedules and EV charging to its employees.

Located in Vienna, Trace-The Zero Waste Store, which is the area’s only full-service bulk refill store, selects vendors based on sustainability and responsible business practices, minimizes packaging and reduces waste through zero-waste practices, recycling and e-waste programs and the collection of hard-to-recycle items. The store also participates in the Sustain Fairfax Challenge to track climate actions. (Watch this video below to learn more.)

What’s the Green Business Partner program? It supports county businesses to create a carbon neutral economy through collaboration and learning opportunities that advance climate action.

It’s free to join, and businesses that become partners get a variety of benefits, including a listing in the county's online Green Business Partners directory

Join today and learn more: No matter what size, every business can take steps to reduce their energy, water use and waste. Join today. (Read more about the basic requirements to join.)

To learn more, contact the Green Business Partner Program by email or call the Fairfax County Office of Environment and Energy Coordination at 703-324-7316. Or attend an upcoming Green Business Partner event to learn more and meet business owners whose companies are already partners.

The new Vienna-Carter Library will take its place, offering a 19,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility. It will be a green building that aims for 50% energy reduction over current standards, and it will use all electrical systems and equipment. Construction on the new branch is anticipated to be completed in early 2028.

The new library is named in honor of William and Lillian Carter who led the effort to open the Patrick Henry Library as an integrated facility in the 1960s.

Until it opens, visit the temporary branch for the Patrick Henry Library at the Cedar Park Shopping Center, located at 262 Cedar Lane, Unit C. It’s open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Town Council Sworn in Jan. 2.

I offer my congratulations to Vienna’s new Town Council and Mayor Colbert. They were sworn in on Jan. 2 at their first meeting of 2026.

Hon. Judge Steve Shannon administered the oath of office to Mayor Linda Colbert and Councilmembers Chuck Anderson, Roy Baldwin, Jessica Ramakis, Howard Springsteen, Doug Francis and Dann Nash.

It was only the second time in Vienna’s history that the entire council was sworn in at the same time. The first was in January 2024, following a change in Virginia election laws that required municipal elections to be placed on the November General Election ballot. (Before then, town elections were held in May, and councilmembers were elected on a staggered, two-year term cycle.)

The current council will serve until January 2028, and I look forward to working with them and the mayor.

🚶🏻‍♀️‍➡️Take a Winter Night Hike on Jan. 9 at Walker Nature Center. (To get notices about all of Reston Association’s upcoming events and trips, email them.)

💠Get a beginner-friendly origami lesson on Jan. 9 at the Reston Regional Library.

⚡ Join me at AAUW’s talk about The Future of Energy in Virginia on Jan. 10 at the Vienna Community Center.

⭕Take Intro to Hoop Dance on Jan. 10 at Mindshift Gym.

⭐ Stargaze on Jan. 10 at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

🖼️Join the reception for “From Wood to Watercolors” on Jan. 11 at the Jo Anne Rose Gallery at Reston Community Center.

🩸 Give blood on Jan. 13 at the Red Cross Blood Drive at Reston Hospital Center.

💬 Join former U.S. ambassador to Estonia for a talk and discussion on “Trump 2.0 Foreign Policy” on Jan. 16 at Reston Regional Library.

🎭 Watch the comedic play “She Kills Monsters” by the Reston Community Players starting Jan. 16 at Reston Community Center.

🙋🏽Take part in community service projects on Jan. 17 at Reston Association in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

🎼 Listen to the musical “Tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” on Jan. 17 performed by the Reston Community Orchestra and opera singer Alia Waheed.

🎤 Listen to jazz vocalist Akua Allrich on Jan. 18 at Reston Community Center.

🚮Volunteer for the MLK Trail Clean Up Challenge starting Jan. 19 and win prizes like tickets to Meadowlark Gardens or a bike tuneup from The Bike Lane.

🎤 Listen to “Girlfriend in a Coma,” a tribute to Morrissey and The Smiths, on Jan. 23 at Capital One Hall.

🧊 Attend Ice-Travaganza on Jan. 24 at Reston Town Center to see ice sculptures, ice carving and more.

🎞️ Watch the Crawley family’s adventures in “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” on Jan. 28 at Reston Town Center.

Find all events for these local organizations: Reston Community Center, Town of Vienna Parks and Recreation Programs, Tephra ICA and Arts Fairfax. Find other community events in the Reston Letter.