Top 7 Fairfax County News Stories of the Week

Updated: Former Swim Club Coach Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Abuse

Former swim coach Rick Curl pleaded guilty to one count of child sex abuse Thursday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, NBC 4 reports.

Charges were brought against Curl in November after a former swim student's allegations of abuse were reported by the Washington Post. The student claimed Curl abused her for five years in the 1980s.

At Fort Belvoir, 21,000 Federal Employees May See Furloughs

Sequestration will mean furloughs — unpaid days off — for federal workers across the country, and Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County will certainly feel the pain. The base is home to 21,100 civilian employees at 26 Department of Defense agencies, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Washington Headquarters Services and the U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command. 

"The assumption is that the offices and units will continue to operate on a full schedule, and supervisors and commanders are still looking at priorities, and also what can be put off to tomorrow," said Don Carr, Fort Belvoir spokesman. "Because what you can't do today is something that may have to be done tomorrow."

Fairfax County to Register Chronically Homeless

Fairfax County will be abuzz next week when volunteers spread across the area to gather data on the county's homeless population. They will gather individual histories, names and will take photographs, as part of the county's 10-year plan to eradicate homelessness. 

"We want to put 150 of the county's homeless in housing in the next three years," said Sherry Eddlekamp, the South County corridor volunteer captain. "We don't want the homeless population to think that we are locating them to let the police or authorities know where they are, and I know that's a big concern for them."

State of the County: Fairfax's Future Is Development

Revitalization and development will drive Fairfax County's economy in 2013 and beyond, Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said in her annual state of the county address Wednesday.

Talking to members of the media Wednesday morning, Bulova said massive development projects in Tysons, Merrifield and Springfield will create "bright days and years ahead" — but the threat of sequestration was also making business owners hesitant to commit to a relocation or expansion in the county.

Officials: New Fairfax Employee Pay Plan Needs More Work

Proposed changes to Fairfax County employee compensation were met with criticism and questions from county officials and union representatives earlier this week.

County Executive Ed Long Tuesday first presented a new employee compensation structure to supervisors in December, which would disband the current system — in which employees are eligibile for pay increases every year — and replace it with an odd-even schedule for cost of living and merit raises.

No Pay Raises for Fairfax Employees Expected in FY2014, County Exec Says

Fairfax County employees likely won't see a raise in Fiscal Year 2014, according to County Executive Ed Long.

The county faces dramatic budget shortfalls over the next two years and pay increases this year might not be financially feasible, Long told supervisors Tuesday during a divisive discussion of a new proposed employee pay structure.

Metro Police Arrest Suspect in Connection With Saturday Morning Auto Theft

Metro Transit Police have announced the arrest of the suspect in Saturday morning's auto theft. Isom Cooper, 49, was taken into custody Saturday afternoon by Fairfax County Police at a hotel on Van Dorn Street near the Capital Beltway, according to a metro news release.

FCPD and Metro Transit Police detectives interviewed Cooper and subsequently arrested him in connection with the car theft. Other charges may be pending.