Fairfax County planners estimate it will take $15 billion in transportation improvements to revamp Tysons Corner into a dense, walkable urban hub.

SAIC Inc., a federal contractor that already employs about 17,500 people in the Washington area, announced it has moved its corporate headquarters from San Diego to McLean.

Fairfax County police and FBI agents have arrested 20 people in connection with a massive mortgage fraud scheme that officials say may have involved as many as 200 properties valued at more than $100 million.

The second debate between Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell featured the most pointed and prickly exchanges between the candidates to date. The debate came as a new poll showed the race about even.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine awarded two state troopers the Commonwealth Public Safety Medal of Honor yesterday for saving people in a pair of fiery accidents on Interstate 66 in Fairfax County. Trooper Justin T. Mahalik was recognized for his actions after his police cruiser was hit from behind during a traffic stop in April 2008. Mahalik, who suffered broken bones, a spinal injury and burned legs in the crash, dragged his unconscious passenger to safety as his cruiser burned and ammunition in the trunk exploded.

Fairfax County police are surrounding a Falls Church house where they believe a man who allegedly shot and injured a woman is hiding.

The closure of 19 rest areas along Virginia’s major highways has received as much attention as any transportation issue since the region’s original inhabitants blazed the first trail. Many have complained. Some have raised safety concerns, as long-distance drivers will have fewer opportunities to catch restorative winks. Economic reality gave state officials few options. Closing the stops rates among the least bad of the available choices. The Commonwealth Transportation Board would like to privatize the areas, but Virginia needs federal permission to do so. Private stops in other states were “grandfathered” when the feds prohibited them elsewhere in the interstate network. Led by Reps. Eric Cantor and Bobby Scott, Virginia’s congressional delegation is applying bipartisan pressure on behalf of high-speed rail. A similar effort regarding private rest areas would be welcome. It also might be easier said than done. Businesses near stops probably would not relish the prospect of competitors located not off the interstates but on them. The concerns may be understandable, but privatization remains an attractive alternative.

A man on death row in two states is entitled to a new sentencing in Virginia because the jury that convicted him of the 1988 slayings of two college sweethearts was given unconstitutional verdict forms, the inmate’s lawyer argued in court yesterday. Attorney Michael A. Siem told the Virginia Supreme Court that the forms failed to provide an option for the jury to sentence Alfredo R. Prieto to life without parole even if it found he was eligible for the death penalty because the crimes were vile or because Prieto would pose a danger to the public.

HERNDON—Fairfax County police say a fire that killed two people in a Herndon home was a murder-suicide. Investigators say an autopsy determined 55-year-old Chi-Len Chen was stabbed and killed and 55-year-old Ho Bih Chen died in the fire. Police say both lived in the home. Neighbors reported the fire around 4 a.m. Thursday at the home in the 12000 block of Eddyspark Drive.

A pedestrian struck by a car in Fairfax County last week died of her injuries Wednesday, Virginia State Police said. Police said that on Feb. 24, Galia Falome Quispe, 37, of Vienna walked in front of a car traveling south on state Route 650/Gallows Road, just north of state Route 697, at 7:25 p.m. Police said she was crossing against the crosswalk signal.

A Centreville man charged with distributing heroin resulting in death has surrendered to federal authorities.

Fire victim was killed by smoke inhalation and burns.

The Faifax County commonwealth’s attorney says he will decide over the next month whether to seek the death penalty against a man charged in a Falls Church woman’s beating death.

Federal court documents show that a fourth fatal heroin overdose has been linked to a heroin ring in Northern Virginia. Matthew Greenlee, 23, of Fairfax County is charged in the September death of 20-year-old Carmen Somers of Falls Church, according to records in U.S. District Court. Charging documents say Greenlee provided Somers with heroin at his home. The documents say that when Somers became ill, Greenlee refused to call paramedics because of the presence of drugs.

The first fatality of 2009 on Virginia roads occurred in Fairfax County one minute into the new year.