Police Confirm Teen Death in Shreve Road Crash
On Monday, Fairfax Police confirmed that one teenager has died of the seven involved in a high-speed crash in Shreve Road adjacent Falls Church last Monday morning.
The News-Press learned through a GoFundMe campaign that one of the passengers in the Shreve Rd. accident passed away on Thanksgiving. Kevin Guardado Landaverde, a 14-year-old Longfellow Middle School student in McLean, VA, passed away on November 23, 2023, three days after he was critically injured in the tragic accident.
Shortly before 5:00 a.m. Monday, Nov. 20th, the Fairfax Police Department responded to a crash at the 2600 block of Pioneer Ln. on Shreve Rd. between Rt. 29 and Rt. 7.
Kevin Guardado Landaverde and his brother Jay Guardado Landaverde were among seven teenagers involved in the crash; six of whom were hospitalized under critical condition. While Jay was released from the hospital later that day, Kevin, the youngest victim, succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.
In the wake of this, a GoFundMe page titled “Kevin Guardado Landaverde” created by a community member to render financial assistance to the victim’s grieving family, has been set up. As of press time, over $50,000 was raised on the site from over 600 donors, mostly anonymous.
According to a Fairfax Police statement, “Detectives from our Crash Reconstruction Unit are continuing to investigate and working closely with the Office of the Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine when charges will be placed.”
Police said they believe alcohol and excessive speed were factors in the crash, initially moving to charge the 17-year-old driver with driving under the influence. However, after consulting with prosecutors, the FCPD decided to wait to file charges.
New Cafe Zevian Slated to Open in F.C. in March
At the site of the now-defunct Famile Restaurant below The Kensington in the 700 block of West Broad in downtown Falls Church, a new restaurant will open next March as the latest, called Cafe Zevian. All the contracts have been signed to move forward, according to owner Adam Kaplan, who is the current owner of the Sfizi restaurant just over a block to the west.
Kaplan, a native of Turkey, said cuisine at the Cafe Zevian will be “Mediterranean themed” and the hours will run daily from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Fairfax Disability Inclusion Awards Presented Dec. 11
The 2023 Martha Glennan Disability Inclusion and Equality Awards Ceremony is taking place on Monday, December 11, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. The event will be in-person at 12011 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, Conference rooms 200/206.
Jeremy Smith, Cheryl Johnson and University Mall Theatres and the Cinema Arts Theater are recipients of the Martha Glennan Disability Inclusion Equality Awards, honored for demonstrating a commitment to promoting equal rights and community inclusion for people with disabilities in our community. Remarks will be provided by Fairfax Supervisor Penny Gross.
Russian Anti-Press Campaign Notches 2 More Journalists
Russia’s crusade against a free press continues to rage on. The Vladimir Putin-led government has now opened a criminal case against Masha Gessen, a renowned journalist whose reporting for The New Yorker has been critical of the Kremlin, for allegedly spreading “false information” about Russia’s war on Ukraine. “The chances that I will ever be able to go back to Russia — I’m 56 years old — are pretty slim,” Gessen told The Washington Post. “That has a significant impact on my life and at some point, my journalism.” New Yorker Editor-In-Chief David Remnick said in a statement, “These charges are baseless and absurd, and The New Yorker stands with Masha Gessen.”
More Big Names Flee From Musk’s ‘X’ Site
Paris, France Mayor Anne Hidalgo quit X, calling the site a “global sewer” and saying the “platform and its owner intentionally exacerbate tensions and conflicts.” X “may lose up to $75 million in revenue as more advertisers pull out,” the New York Times reported last weekend.
Elon Musk is in damage control mode. On Monday he visited Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the trip wasn’t necessarily a PR victory. Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Musk that his platform “is a harboring of a lot of old hate which is Jew hate, which is antisemitism.”
And Haaretz Editor-In-Chief Esther Solomon called Musk a “blatant antisemite and publisher of antisemitism,” arguing that the billionaire conspiracy theorist “should be persona non grata in Israel.”