Author: ARLnow.com

Pike Tapas Spot Lauded by Yelp — “Yelp has released its annual list of the Top 100 U.S. Restaurants of 2024, and this year one NoVA restaurant made the cut: Sabores Tapas Bar, an Arlington restaurant serving sharable Spanish and Latin American dishes. The restaurant was ranked No. 48 in the list of 100.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]

Bigger Building Proposed in Crystal City — “JBG Smith Inc., the principal developer at National Landing in Arlington, wants to go bigger on a long-planned office tower just down the road from Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 despite woes in the office market. The company filed a conceptual site plan Tuesday seeking to build a 312,000-square-feet building at 1800 S. Bell St. across the street from the Crystal City Metro station.” [Washington Business Journal]

Trash Collection Extended — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Bonus curbside collection runs will take place Saturday as tomorrow’s routes will likely involve heavy volumes due to last week’s weather disruptions. Regular Friday customers are asked to report any missed collection Saturday night at the earliest.” [Twitter]

Board Candidate Blasts Suit Defense — From Arlington County Board candidate Julie Farnam: “In yet another example of wasteful spending, Arlington County recently approved spending up to $750 per hour on expensive attorneys to fight its Missing Middle Housing lawsuit. This is happening as County departments are cutting their budgets and while the County is seeking more tax revenue from residents. This could negatively impact services that people count on, including childcare subsidies, neighborhood improvement projects, and drug counseling treatment programs.” [Patch]

Mixed Response to Deer Culling Poll — “Proponents of using lethal means to rid Arlington of what they say is a deer overpopulation didn’t get anywhere near unanimous backing from a new community survey. In fact, the responses to the county-government poll proved decidedly all over the map.” [Gazette Leader]

Crashes on Camera — From Dave Statter: “Three Arlington crashes the last two days that were at least partially #caughtoncamera.” [Twitter]

Serious DUI Crashes Rise Regionally — “The number of alcohol and/or drug-related traffic fatalities increased nearly 13 percent in the metropolitan Washington area between 2021 and 2022, according to the annual “How Safe Are Our Roads?” Report prepared by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) for the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program.” [MWCOG]

It’s Friday — Rain showers and drizzle are possible before 1pm. Clouds will later give way to mostly sunny skies and a high around 68 degrees. A westerly wind at 6 to 9 mph accompanies the 30% precipitation chance. Expect a mostly cloudy Friday night with lows near 45 degrees and a northwest wind at 7 mph. [Weather.gov]

Murder Suspect Nabbed After Carjacking — “A woman wanted for murder in Prince William County was arrested Tuesday after a carjacking in Arlington and  pursuit into Prince George’s County, Md. At 11:55 a.m., police were called to 2nd Street North in Arlington after a woman approached another woman from behind, grabbed her shoulders and demanded her car keys, Arlington County police said. A struggle ensued and the suspect indicated she had a gun, stole the keys and took the car.” [InsideNova, Twitter]

Theft Suspect Arrested After Bike Chase — “At least seven Fairfax County Police Department vehicles were involved in the pursuit. They get held up at a stop light in the eastbound lanes on Columbia Pike at the Arlington County border while a bicyclist passes by, headed in the wrong direction in the westbound lanes. The man was ultimately caught at the Columbia Pike and S. Greenbrier Street intersection.” [FFXnow, Twitter]

VSP Stops Dangerous Driver — From Dave Statter: “At 10:55 a.m., a driver stopped in the middle of I-395S Exit 8C to Crystal City, backed up in the roadway, and made a right turn in front of traffic to get off the exit and to the thru lanes. And all of this was witnessed by a @VSPPIO trooper who promptly went to work.” [Twitter]

‘Dippin Dots Attack’ at Mall — “This past Saturday evening, January 20, 2024, 1 was sitting in the food court at the Pentagon City Mall with my brother and my children when we were bombed from above. Dippin Dots suddenly landed all over us, our food, and our possessions.” [Reddit, Twitter]

Ranked-Choice Voting on Feb. Agenda — “What any final action will look like remains up in the air, but Arlington County Board members on Jan. 23 committed to addressing, within a month, the potential change to ranked-choice voting for Arlington County Board general elections.” [Gazette Leader]

WHS Basketball Team Stays Hot — “With a 10-point road victory over the McLean Highlanders, the Wakefield Warriors continued to increase their lead in the Liberty District boys high-school basketball standings. Wakefield (14-2) won, 45-35, on Jan. 22 to improve to 6-0 in the district.” [Gazette Leader]

Alexandria Facing Housing Suit, Too — “A group of opponents to the Zoning for Housing policy last year, which ended single-family housing zoning among other changes, has filed a lawsuit over the case. The lawsuit was filed in the Alexandria Circuit Court and argues the city violated its charter and the Virginia Constitution by not showing the impact on the real estate market or city infrastructure.” [ALXnow]

It’s Thursday — Expect rain and patchy fog with a high near 60 and south winds at 6-8 mph. There’s an 80% chance of precipitation, with new rainfall amounts ranging from a tenth to a quarter of an inch. Expect a nighttime low of around 55 and south winds at 5-7 mph. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon

New Field Check-in Process — “The Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) this spring will begin a pilot program using an phone-app-based check-in procedure at fields that have been reserved for group use… The process is expected to be simple – ‘you scan a QR code,’ Anselene said.” [Gazette Leader]

Wounded Duck Rescued — From the Animal Welfare League of Arlington: “Thank you Officer Votroubek & Blue Ridge Wildlife Ctr for saving this long-tailed duck! He had a bad wound on his wing but is on the mend. Long-tailed ducks breed in the Arctic & migrate along our northern coasts. We think was blown inland during last week’s storm!” [Twitter]

Another Water Main Break — From the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services yesterday: “Emergency Water Main Repairs: Crew working on broken main at 1800 S Glebe. SB traffic detoured around work site. Use alternative routes.” [Twitter]

School Board Photo Update Needed — “Few Arlington School Board members have made it two full terms of late, and one apparently continues to hang around even after his term has expired, at least on the school system’s Website. As of Jan. 22, the group photo of School Board members on the Arlington Public Schools Website continues to be one from 2022, taken when Reid Goldstein was serving as chair.” [Gazette Leader]

Award Nods for Local Theater — “Productions at the Signature Theatre in Arlington over the past year received a total of 20 nominations for the 40th Helen Hayes Awards, second only to Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Nominations in the 41 award categories were announced on Monday. The Helen Hayes Awards ceremony will take place on May 20 at The Anthem in D.C.” [Patch]

It’s Wednesday — Expect cloudy conditions with a high near 46 and a 40% chance of rain, as calm winds become southerly at 6 mph in the afternoon. Rain is likely on Wednesday night, mainly after 1am, as temperatures rise to around 52 by 4am with south winds at 6-11 mph. There’s a 70% chance of precipitation, with 0.1 to 0.25 inches of new rainfall possible. [Weather.gov]