Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by a Pentagon City resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news, ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Flags flying in the wind at Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Sushi Spot Coming to Courthouse — “Restaurateur Nick Cordero, part of the father-son duo behind Don Tito, Bronson Bierhall and Taco Rock, plans to open a new sushi restaurant in Arlington, steps from the Court House Metro station. Saki, an omakase-style Japanese restaurant, is slated to open in late 2024 in about 4,500 square feet at the Commodore, a 20-story multifamily building being developed at 2025 15th St. N.” [Washington Business Journal]

Dem Primary Keeps Pledge — “Those participating in the springtime Arlington County Democratic Committee School Board caucus will be required to pledge their support to the Democratic ticket in November. The statement, which is largely symbolic as there is little real mechanism to enforce it, long has been part of local Democrats’ caucus process… the local party attempted to remove signing the statement as a requirement for participating in its nominating caucuses, but the Democratic Party of Virginia insisted it remain.” [Gazette Leader]

Mixed Thoughts on New Arena — “Before leaving his elected position at the end of 2023, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey gave a big thumbs-up to plans by the billionaire owner of the Washington Capitals and Wizards to use taxpayer subsidies to build a sports and entertainment complex in Potomac Yard in Alexandria… Based on her understanding of the proposal, [state Sen. Barbara] Favola said, ‘Providing state financial support for a sports complex when K-12 public education and other core serves are woefully underfunded is not a trade-off I am willing to make.'” [Patch]

Applications Open for Police Council — “The Arlington County Police Department is accepting applications to the Chief’s Advisory Council… The CAC consists of volunteer members from a diverse cross-section of our community who meet on a regular basis to provide the Chief of Police and department leadership with community insight on a wide range of public safety topics and activities.” [ACPD]

Erratic Driver Flees to D.C. — From Dave Statter: “This was different. An @ArlingtonVaPD officer reported a white pickup following and tailgating him on Four Mile Run last night. When he tried to get the driver to pull over he kept going east on Columbia Pike at slow speed, driving erratically. As they got near Washington Blvd. it turned into a chase.” [Twitter]

New WHS Wrestler Undefeated — “Wakefield High School junior Cameron Millsapps continued her undefeated season in girls wrestling by winning the 152-pound female weight class at the recent Battle of the Bridge tournament. Millsapps, a first-year wrestler, was 3-0 in the competition at Woodbridge High School with two pins, then a 7-3 decision in the championship match.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Thursday — Expect a mostly cloudy morning that gradually clears, with temperatures reaching a high of around 43°F. A northwest wind will start at 6-11 mph and increase to 12-17 mph in the afternoon, potentially gusting up to 25 mph. Thursday night will be clear with a low of approximately 25°F. The northwest wind will continue at 7-14 mph, with gusts of up to 21 mph. [Weather.gov]

Pedestrian injured after SUV runs into bank next to Pentagon City Metro station

By ARLnow.com
1/4

The driver of a Jeep careened into a bank in Pentagon City Wednesday night, injuring a pedestrian.

The crash happened shortly after 7 p.m. at 710 12th Street S., directly adjacent to the Pentagon City Metro station entrance.

The SUV went through the front of the Chase bank branch, potentially causing structural damage, according to initial reports. One pedestrian was struck and injured; they were treated on scene by medics and taken via ambulance to a local trauma center.

It’s unclear what led to the crash. The driver was still in the vehicle when police arrived, according to scanner traffic.

https://twitter.com/ogiuzi/status/1742729707437580321?s=20

Screenshot (top) via @ogiuzi/Twitter

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jan 3, 2024

By ARLnow.com

Good Wednesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Jan 3, 2024.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Thursday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

  • No events today. Have one to promote? Submit it to the calendar.

🌤️ Thursday’s forecast

Expect a high of 43°F today with mostly cloudy skies clearing by mid-morning, and northwest winds initially blowing at 6-11 mph before increasing to 12-17 mph in the afternoon, with potential gusts reaching 25 mph. Tonight, skies will be clear with a low around 25°F, and northwest winds will prevail at 7-14 mph, gusting up to 21 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
– Nelson Mandela

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

NEW: The Freshman has closed in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Crystal City hangout The Freshman has permanently closed its doors.

The all-day cafe/bar/restaurant just announced on social media that it has closed, just under three years after opening in the spring of 2021, in the midst of the pandemic.

Owner and namesake Nick Freshman, in announcing the closing today, noted the lengthy delay in opening caused by Covid-19.

I am sad to announce that The Freshman has served its last espresso; we are permanently closed. I want to thank my staff for their tireless dedication, my investors for their unwavering support, my landlord JBG SMITH for their steadfast partnership, and lastly our loyal customers who made it a joy to be open every day.

When I began planning The Freshman in 2018 the landscape was very different. As the world changed, our team adjusted, pivoted, iterated, and endured. Now, with significant construction in our building on the way, it is time to move on. The good news is that Mothersauce Partners is growing, and you can look for our fingerprints on a number of exciting new projects; projects that are also new homes for many of the staff at The Freshman.

We hope to see all of you soon at our newest project in Rosslyn opening in Winter 2024!

Freshman’s Mothersauce Partners is revamping The Assembly food hall near the Rosslyn Metro station, the Washington Business Journal reported last month.

American Real Estate Partners has tapped Mothersauce Partners, the hospitality company behind The Eleanor, Thompson Italian and City-State Brewing Co., to oversee the roughly 27,000-square-foot space at Rosslyn City Center. AREP owns the building, 1700 N. Moore St., and opened the food hall in 2021.

Mothersauce hopes to freshen up the design, branding and concept curation at the food hall. Details are still being worked through, and AREP and Mothersauce said it is premature to reveal more details of the partnership ahead of a more formal launch in the new year. […]

The change comes more than three years after AREP tapped another firm to establish a food hall from inside what was then known as Rosslyn Metro Center, a 40-year-old mall that’s since gotten a major makeover.

The Freshman was one of the first restaurants to announce an opening in Crystal City, following the announcement of Amazon’s HQ2, the main office complex of which opened in nearby Pentagon City this past summer. Leased Amazon offices remain open in Crystal City.

Police: New York man pepper sprays construction workers on the Pike

By ARLnow.com
Road construction on Columbia Pike near the Foxcroft Heights neighborhood

A New York State man is in jail after police say he pepper sprayed two construction workers yesterday morning.

The incident happened around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday on Columbia Pike and S. Oak Street, near the Columbia Pike realignment and Arlington National Cemetery expansion project that is currently under construction.

Police were vague about the circumstances leading to the pepper spray being used, saying only that the 37-year-old suspect “allegedly initiated a verbal dispute with the two victims.”

The suspect fled on foot but was tracked down by officers and is now facing two counts of Malicious Wounding.

More, below, from the latest Arlington County Police Department crime report.

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2024-01020089, Columbia Pike at S. Oak Street. At approximately 11:32 a.m. on January 2, police were dispatched to the report of an assault that had just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined the male suspect approached a construction site and allegedly initiated a verbal dispute with the two victims before deploying pepper spray. The suspect then fled the scene on foot and was located and taken into custody by responding officers. The victims were treated on scene for exposure to the pepper spray. [The suspect], 37, of Clarence, NY was arrested and charged with Malicious Wounding (x2).

Morning Poll: How much snow do you think we’ll actually get this weekend?

By ARLnow.com
Snowy Clarendon in January 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In case you haven’t heard already, we may be getting snow this weekend.

There’s broad agreement among weather forecasters that a storm is on tap for Saturday into Sunday, though the big debate is how much of the precipitation will fall as snow in the D.C. area. As is often the case, our area is around the predicted transition from snow to rain.

More, below, from the Capital Weather Gang, which has yet to get too excited about the possibility of significant snowfall:

Rain and snow are likely to fall in the D.C. region this weekend, as a significant winter storm impacts much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. In the D.C. area, precipitation could go back and forth from rain to snow during the storm, perhaps mixing with a little sleet. How much snow, and whether it is cold enough for it to accumulate, depends on the exact track of the storm, which is still uncertain.

The storm has the potential to produce anything from mostly rain to shovelable snow across the area, although as of now the odds lean toward more rain than snow. The best chance for accumulating snow is north and west of the District, where temperatures will be the coldest, with decreasing chances to the south and east.

Of course, with a slight change in the track of the storm, we could end up with snowman-worthy accumulation. But the probability of that happening at this point is well below 50%.

Given the forecast, and perhaps keeping in mind our area’s propensity for predicted snow storms turning out to be duds, what is your snowfall prediction at this point?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
GW Parkway at dusk near Roosevelt Island (Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon)

Winning Lotto Ticket Sold — ” A $1 million winning ticket in Virginia’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle was sold in Arlington, along with four other winning $1 million tickets across the state, according to the Virginia Lottery. Winning ticket No. 485284 was bought at the Harris Teeter at the corner of South George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike in Arlington.” [Patch]

Garvey Is ‘Ultimate Survivor’ — “Marginalized and at times even ridiculed by Arlington’s political establishment for her opposition to the Columbia Pike streetcar project, County Board member Libby Garvey a decade later has emerged unscathed.” [Gazette Leader]

Crystal City Hotel Sold — “An affiliate of JBG Smith Properties has sold the Crystal City Marriott for nearly $66 million, or about $191,836 per room, as the Bethesda developer continues to prune what’s left of the properties it picked up through its 2017 acquisition of Vornado Realty Trust’s D.C.-area business.” [Washington Business Journal]

Yorktown Wins Local Tourney — “With two convincing victories, the Yorktown Patriots won the four-team Reagan Sharnae Way Holiday Invitational girls high-school basketball tournament at Annandale High School. Yorktown routed Gar-Field, 57-24, in the first game, then Annandale, 71-40, in the second. The wins snapped a six-game losing streak for Yorktown (3-9).” [Gazette Leader]

Minor Earthquake Felt — “A small earthquake occurred near Rockville, Md., early Tuesday… The 2.3-magnitude quake, according to initial estimates, occurred a few minutes before 1 a.m. at a depth of about 9.5 miles.” An ARLnow reader described hearing “a low rumble” in Arlington. [Washington Post, Twitter]

It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies with a high near 47, accompanied by a light and variable wind that will shift to northwest at around 6 mph. Later Wednesday night, there’s a slight chance of rain, starting after 1am. The skies will be cloudy, and the temperature will drop to around 34. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jan 2, 2024

By ARLnow.com

Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Jan 2, 2024.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Wednesday’s forecast

Expect a mostly sunny day with a high around 47 degrees and light, variable winds turning northwest at around 5 mph in the morning. As for Wednesday night, there will be a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 2am, with cloudy skies and a low of about 34 degrees. The calm wind will become north around 5 mph after midnight, and the overall chance of precipitation is 20%. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The only source of knowledge is experience.”
– Albert Einstein

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Fight over Columbia Pike parking space leads to gun charges

By ARLnow.com
File photo

A 26-year-old Virginia man is facing several charges after a dispute over a parking space over the weekend.

The incident happened Saturday afternoon, in the area of Penrose Square. Police say the man flashed a gun during the altercation.

More, below, from today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.

BRANDISHING, 2023-12300122, 2400 block of Columbia Pike. At approximately 2:46 p.m. on December 30, police were dispatched to the report of a brandishing. Upon arrival, it was determined the male victim and male suspect became involved in a verbal dispute over a parking space which escalated into a physical altercation during which the suspect allegedly brandished a firearm. The suspect fled the scene in his vehicle and was located by responding officers. A firearm was recovered. [The suspect], 26, of Stafford, VA was arrested and charged with Brandishing, Assault & Battery and Concealed Weapon Violation.

In other notable incident, which took place one day prior on Friday afternoon, a 31-year-old Virginia man is accused of kicking a police officer and trying to grab the gun of another.

From ACPD:

ASSAULT ON POLICE, 2023-12290134, Fairfax Drive at N. George Mason Drive. At approximately 2:45 p.m. on December 29, police were dispatched to the report of a suspicious person with a knife. The preliminary investigation determined the victim was stopped in her vehicle when the male suspect allegedly ran towards her driver’s side door while displaying a knife. The victim drove away and called police. Responding officers located the suspect in the 4800 block of Fairfax Drive and attempted to take him into custody. The suspect refused to comply with the officers’ commands and actively resisted arrest. With the assistance of additional officers, the suspect was taken into custody during which he kicked an officer in the chest. The suspect provided officers with false identifying information but was subsequently positively identified. During a search incident to arrest, the suspect grabbed the holster of an officer’s firearm. Knives were recovered on the suspect. [The suspect], 31, of Manassas, VA was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery, Assault on Police, Attempt to Disarm Law Enforcement Officer of their Firearm, Identity Theft and Obstruction of Justice.

The evening of New Year’s Day, meanwhile, a man’s Canada Goose jacket and wallet was reportedly stolen by a teen boy at the Pentagon City mall. The teen was later apprehended near the Metro station, according to police.

GRAND LARCENY, 2024-01010144, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 5:58 p.m. on January 1, police were dispatched to the report of a larceny just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined the male victim was sitting with his jacket on the back of his chair when the juvenile male suspect ran by, grabbed his jacket and continued running out of the building. Responding officers canvassed the area and observed the suspect in the metro. The suspect then ran from the officers and, following a foot pursuit, he was taken into custody in the 1200 block of S. Hayes Street. The victim’s jacket, which contained his wallet and cash, was recovered. Petitions were obtained for the juvenile suspect for Grand Larceny and Obstruction of Justice.

Arlington Pet of the Week: Leo

By ARLnow.com
1/2

Please welcome the adorable Siberian Husky, Leo as the newest Arlington Pet of the Week.

This beautiful ball of fluff is living it up in Arlington with his parents.

They had this to say about Leo:

Leo is assumed to be born at the end of February of 2022. He came to his parents, Andria and Austin Winger, unexpectedly yet serendipitously at 5 months into his life.

Leo is a Pisces who enjoys extremely long walks, multiple daily visits to the dog park (his faves are Benjamin Banneker or GlenCarlyn), chicken and lots of attention. Leo brings joy to every human and animal he meets (except that one squirrel and those few mice, RIP).

Leo’s favorite snacks are dried duck feet, dental chews, and the meatiest treats you can find. His favorite toys are his ropes and chuck it balls.

His best friend is a mini Aussie named Lonnie and the two of them run the Bluemont neighborhood. Leo is a frequenter of many local Arlington establishments and loves living here.

Keep up with Leo and his many adventures by following him on Instagram @leodehuskrio!

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with 2-3 paragraphs about your pet and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos.

Bank swaps branch locations in Ballston

By ARLnow.com
1/2

A bank has moved its branch from one side of Ballston to the other.

Citizens Bank vacated its branch at 4075 Wilson Blvd just before the new year, after opening a new branch at 800 N. Glebe Road, on the western side of Glebe.

It’s unclear what might replace the branch’s former location, in a storefront that’s catty-corner from Ballston Quarter mall, on the same block as Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken.

Ballston is home to a number of bank and credit union branches, including PNC, Chase, Capital One, Navy Federal, Wells Fargo, Truist, Bank of America, Sandy Spring and Citibank. A First National Bank branch is expected to open soon near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Stuart Street.

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