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  • Fairfax County’s ‘Road Shark’ campaign bites down on over 50,000 unsafe drivers – WTOP News

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    The program intends to make the roads in the Virginia county safer by focusing on high visibility enforcement, outreach and education to the public.

    Over the past seven months, nearly 50,000 drivers in Fairfax County got a written reminder from police to drive more carefully.

    Fairfax County and Virginia State Police held five weeklong crackdowns on speeders and distracted drivers as part of their Road Shark campaign.

    The program intends to make the roads in the Virginia county safer by focusing on high visibility enforcement, outreach and education to the public, the department said in a release earlier this year.

    The 2025 campaign ended Oct. 19 with almost 50,000 citations and warnings being written, a 43% jump from last year when only 35,000 tickets and warnings were given out.

    “We’re still seeing tens of thousands of people die every year on the highways in the United States, so we’re trying our very best to reduce that,” said Fairfax County Assistant Chief of Police Robert Blakley during the program launch.

    The last week of the campaign racked up 10,565 citations and warnings, with more than 900 of them for speeding. But the focus isn’t on the number of citations.

    “This campaign is not about writing tickets or seeing how many tickets and warnings we can write,” Blakley said. ”By seeing more blue lights and police officers out on the roadways, our residents are more likely to remember to look down at their speedometer, reduce the distractions in the cockpits of their cars and get home safe.”

    The annual Road Shark campaign has been going on since 1999.

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    Michelle Murillo

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  • Autumn’s guessing game: Is it cold, flu or allergies? – WTOP News

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    In the fall, the air is full of ragweed, mold and dust mites — on top of the usual viral infections. So when you start to feel off, it can be tough to know the difference. After all, some symptoms look the same.

    “With allergies, you’re going to have sneezing, maybe a runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, scratchy throat, sometimes you can have a cough,” Dr. Brian Yuen with Inova/GoHealth said.

    Health stories

    But he added respiratory infections, such as colds or flu, often bring additional symptoms.

    “You’ll see fever with that, body aches in addition to the upper respiratory symptoms,” he said.

    The timeline is another clue.

    “If you’ve got a viral respiratory illness, usually this will last approximately seven to 10 days, and then you’ll be better,” Yuen said. “Allergies, symptoms can persist for longer, several weeks to even months, and they can also fluctuate in intensity based on the pollen or allergy levels in the air.”

    And there’s a simple rule of thumb: “Usually with allergies, you’re not going to have fever, probably not going to have body aches with allergies, whereas you may have those symptoms with a respiratory infection,” Yuen said.

    Still, allergies can sometimes pave the way for more serious issues such as sinus infections. Yuen cautioned that if you develop worsening symptoms — fever, shortness of breath or wheezing — it’s time to seek medical care.

    For allergy season, there are some things you can do to try and lessen the impact.

    Avoidance

    For ragweed pollen allergies, the peak months are August through October, especially in the mornings. So try to keep windows closed and avoid being out during those peak hours. If you are out, change clothes and shower afterward to try and get the pollen off.

    For mold allergies, mold spores are often harbored in fallen leaves, compost or damp homes. Inside, try to use a dehumidifier and other ventilation sources to limit indoor humidity.

    If you have a dust allergy, it will likely flare up when you kick on your heating system for the first time this year, but you can lessen the impact by making sure those air filters have been changed, and vacuum with HEPA filters.

    Prevention

    If you know you have allergies, start taking your allergy medications.

    You also may want to have nasal sprays, eye drops and sinus rinse kits on hand to help when symptoms arise.

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    Michelle Murillo

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