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.
Police responding to a telephone threat against The Children’s School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Police responding to a telephone threat against The Children’s School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Update at 12:25 p.m. — The all clear was given, police told ARLnow around 11 a.m. “The school had elected to evacuate out of an abundance of caution. The all clear has since been given and officers are returning to service,” an ACPD spokeswoman said.
Earlier:The Children’s School, a preschool for the employees of Arlington Public Schools, has been evacuated after a threat.
Numerous police vehicles are on scene near the school, located inside an office building on the 4400 block of Fairfax Drive in Ballston.
“Police are investigating the credibility of a telephone threat,” Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow.
Savage was not able to elaborate on the nature of the investigation, nor the location to which students in the school were evacuated. The initial police dispatch suggested that person who called in the threat sounded like a teenager.
A permanent location for The Children’s School is currently under construction along Langston Blvd.
Light pole destroyed in Key Blvd in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Key Blvd in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Key Blvd in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Courthouse, in front of Burger District (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Light pole destroyed in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Crash that destroyed light pole in Courthouse (photo courtesy George Ishak)
Crash that destroyed light pole in Courthouse (photo courtesy George Ishak)
Crash that destroyed light pole in Courthouse (photo courtesy George Ishak)
Out of control cars and falling trees have made the past 24 hours the thing of nightmares for local light poles.
The pole carnage started just before 12:30 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), in Courthouse.
A delivery driver parked her SUV on the steep section of Wilson Blvd in Courthouse in order to pick up kabobs, but the car somehow started rolling down the hill after she got out. It crashed into a parked pickup truck, smashed some sidewalk seating and annihilated a light pole in front of Burger District at 2024 Wilson Blvd. Construction workers who were in the area ran to the scene and called 911, but luckily no one was hurt.
George Ishak, owner of Burger District, says it was his truck that was damaged. He was grateful, however, for the ultimate sacrifice made by the light pole.
“God protected me,” he tells ARLnow. “If the pole wasn’t there, the car could have easily gone into my store.”
The restaurant’s surveillance video of the crash, provided to ARLnow, is below.
Just a couple of hours later and less than a mile away, another light pole was felled by the dangerous combination of vehicles and gravity.
At the intersection of Key Blvd and N. Oak Street, among the office and apartment buildings of Rosslyn, a car rolled backward down a hill and crashed into a pole that looked uncannily similar to the first. The circumstances around the 3 p.m. crash were unclear, but the result was the same: what had once stood proudly along Key Blvd, sharing its light with the world, was now horizontal and shattered on the ground.
Police arrived on scene shortly thereafter, assessing the damage and talking to a man who was either the driver or a witness.
Unfortunately for the light poles of Arlington, the destruction has continued this morning.
Police were called to the intersection of 21st Street N. and N. Scott Street in the North Highlands neighborhood around 9:30 a.m. for a report of a tree that fell and demolished yet another light pole. No human injuries were reported. Officers remain on scene as of publication time.
Blossoms are out along Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Police Oversight Board Appointed — “The Arlington County Board is excited to announce the newly appointed members of the Community Oversight Board (COB)… The Oversight Board will consist of seven voting members who are residents of the County and reflect our demographic diversity along with two non-voting members with prior law enforcement experience.” [Arlington County]
Local Chef Feeding Ukraine Refugees — Bayou Bakery owner and chef David Guas is on “the frontlines in Przemyśl, Poland with [José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen], to give a helping hand to the emergency food relief for #UkraineRefugees crossing the border. Guas will be preparing and providing meals to help nourish those communities.” [Instagram]
Large Fight Near TJ Middle School — “3500 block of 2nd Street S. At approximately 3:47 p.m. on March 21, police were dispatched to the report of a large disorderly group of juveniles who appeared to be preparing to fight. Upon arrival, officers were approached by two juvenile victims who stated that they were physically assaulted by two juvenile subjects. Officers located the subjects in the area, detained them and determined one had sustained minor injuries consistent with being struck with BB gun pellets.” [ACPD]
Convoy Rumbles Through Arlington Again — From public safety watcher Dave Statter yesterday: “#TruckersConvoy2022 has made its presence known on I-395N, noisily crossing the 14th St. Bridge. @DCPoliceDept has the usual ramps blocked & #traffic is slowing.” [Twitter]
It’s Wednesday — A cloudy morning, then rain starting in the afternoon. Gusty winds and storms possible later tonight. High of 61 and low of 45. Sunrise at 7:08 am and sunset at 7:24 pm. [Weather.gov]
Arlington police say they’re now investigating a series of drive-by paintball and pellet gun shootings.
The shootings are believed to have been inspired by a viral TikTok trend dubbed the “Orbeez challenge,” which has led to numerous reports from across the U.S. of injuries and arrests from people being shot with pellets, paintballs or gel-balls.
ARLnow reported yesterday that four people were struck by paintballs shot from a passing car in Crystal City on Friday. One person was hospitalized. Today Arlington police said two recent incidents of people being shot by pellet guns, fired from passing vehicles, may be tied to the social media trend.
“The Arlington County Police Department takes these incidents seriously and continues to actively investigate to identify those responsible,” said the police department.
More from an ACPD press release, below.
The Arlington County Police Department is investigating four reports of paintballs and pellets being discharged from vehicles at community members in the last week. Similar incidents have been reported in other states and appear to stem from challenges originated on social media. While the motivation behind the Arlington incidents is unknown at this time, the Arlington County Police Department takes these incidents seriously and continues to actively investigate to identify those responsible.
Reported Incidents
ASSAULT & BATTERY, 2022-03160222, S. Eads Street at 12th Street S. At approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 16, police were dispatched to the report of disorderly conduct. Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was walking in the area when the suspect vehicle approached and discharged a pellet gun, striking the victim. The suspect vehicle is described as a maroon SUV.
ASSAULT & BATTERY, 2022-03180231/0254, 1400 block of S. Eads Street/15th Street S. at S. Eads. At approximately 7:24 p.m. on March 18, police were dispatched to the report of an assault. Upon arrival, it was determined the two victims were walking in the area when the suspect vehicle approached and the passenger discharged a paintball gun striking the victims, a parked vehicle and the door to a business. At approximately 9:10 p.m., police were dispatched to the report of an assault and determined two additional victims were walking in the area when they were struck by the suspect discharging a paintball gun from the vehicle. The suspect vehicle is described as a silver, older model four door sedan.
MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2022-03210246, Washington Boulevard at N. Highland Street. At approximately 4:54 p.m. on March 21, police were dispatched to the report of a person with a gun. Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was walking in the area when he was struck by pellets discharged from a vehicle. The suspect vehicle is described as a gray or light blue small SUV.
Report Information and Incidents to Police for Investigation
These remain active criminal investigations. Anyone with information related to these incidents is asked to contact the Police Department’s Tip Line at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] or anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
If you are the victim or witness of similar incidents, report immediately to police by calling the Emergency Communications Center at 703-558-2222 or 9-1-1 in an emergency. Provide the dispatcher with as much information as possible including vehicle description, license plate, direction of travel and suspect(s) description.
Nighthawk Pizza will open to the public on Thursday (March 24) at 3 p.m., in the large space at 1201 S. Joyce Street, after a series of private “friends and family” nights this week.
In addition to thin-crust pizza and beer, the menu includes a range of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, and cocktails — both handmade and on tap. The red-and-blue neon lights, bench seating and retro arcade games help to give the restaurant its 90s feel, partially offset by the abundant flat screen TVs that surround the large bar and the cavernous dining area.
“The design inspiration for the space was The Max from ‘Saved By The Bell,'” Parker noted.
In all, the brew pub has 10,000 square feet of space, plenty for the crowds Parker and company are hoping to attract from the growing neighborhood, which includes Amazon’s HQ2, set for a 2023 opening a few blocks away.
Parker said his group of partners “is already looking for our next locations for Nighthawk, as well as developing other projects.” Additional locations in the D.C. area and other cities are expected to be announced “in the coming months,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nighthawk is not the only spring opening at Pentagon Row, which was renamed “Westpost” in 2020.
“Taco temple” Banditos Bar & Kitchen is set to open in April, one restaurant over and also overlooking Westpost’s central square and soon-to-be-dismantled-for-the-season ice skating rink. Also expected to open next month are a new, 34,000 square foot Target store, on April 3, as well as sushi restaurant Kusshi.
The would-be WBITN studios in 2019 (photo via WBITN/Facebook)
A television studio for a new home improvement TV network will not, in fact, open in the basement of an aging condominium building in Rosslyn.
Plans for an elaborate 4,000+ square foot studio space for WBITN — which stands for We Build It New — were first reported by ARLnow in March 2020. It was supposed to open in a lower level of the River Place South complex at 1011 Arlington Blvd, complete with 15 assigned parking spaces.
Despite receiving a use permit for the studio from the Arlington County Board, however, the studio was never built and has cancelled its plans.
The County Board voted to discontinue the use permit at its meeting this past Saturday.
In a report to the Board, county staff did not reveal a reason why the plans fell through, but noted that the business was cited for construction performed without a permit last year.
From the report:
During the first one-year review in March 2021, Code Enforcement inspected the property and cited the applicant for unpermitted work. The applicant worked with the Inspection Services Division to submit applications for the required permits, which required inspection upon completion of the work prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the audiovisual studio. At the time, staff recommended an Administrative Review in six (6) months to monitor the applicant’s progress towards compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code as well as a County Board review in one year (March 2022). The applicant has not yet acquired the required permits to operate the audio-visual studio, and no longer plans to pursue the audio-visual studio use. Therefore, staff recommends discontinuance since the applicant does not plan to pursue the audio-visual activity.
Sunset behind homes along 14th St. N. in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Road Improvement Project Discussion — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Tomorrow night: Virtual gabfest on the latest design for THE Ohio Street Safety Project at 12th Road North and 14th Street North.” [Twitter, Arlington County]
Indecent Exposure in Shirlington — “4000 block of Campbell Avenue. At approximately 7:29 p.m. on March 17, police were dispatched to the report of an indecent exposure. Upon arrival, officers located the suspect and took him into custody without incident. The investigation determined that approximately 20 minutes prior, the male suspect entered into the establishment and allegedly exposed himself to the female victims.” [ACPD]
Nearby: New Signs in F.C. — “Forty-two vehicular wayfinding signs have been installed to identify City boundaries for visitors driving into the City, and guide visitors driving to visitor-oriented destinations (City Hall, Downtown, Eden Center, State Theatre, etc.) and public parking. The City also plans to remove older signs that would conflict with the new signs within the next two weeks.” [City of Falls Church]
It’s Tuesday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 62 and low of 46. Sunrise at 7:10 am and sunset at 7:23 pm. [Weather.gov]
Arlington police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)
Someone in a passing vehicle shot several people with paintballs in Pentagon City this weekend, sending at least one victim to the hospital.
The two incidents happened about two hours apart Friday night, along S. Eads Street near the Amazon HQ2 construction site. At least four people were struck by paintballs fired by the passenger inside an older, silver sedan, police said.
From an ACPD crime report today:
ASSAULT & BATTERY (Significant), 2022-03180231/0254, 1400 block of S. Eads Street/15th Street S. as S. Eads. At approximately 7:24 p.m. on March 18, police were dispatched to the report of an assault. Upon arrival, it was determined the two victims were walking in the area when the suspect vehicle approached and the passenger discharged a paintball gun striking the victims, a parked vehicle and the door to a business. At approximately 9:10 p.m., police were dispatched to the report of an assault and determined two additional victims were walking in the area when they were struck by the suspect discharging a paintball gun from a vehicle. One victim self-transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. The suspect vehicle is described as a silver, older model four door sedan. There are no suspect descriptions at this time. The investigation is ongoing.
“Crystal City folks, watch out,” the victim posted. “Some idiots shot us with souped up paintball guns tonight…. this happened at the corner of 15th St and S Eads St.”
She added that it happened while walking home from the nearby Whole Foods store.
More on what transpired, from the victim’s post:
We suddenly heard what sounded like rapid gunfire. Immediately my ear got hit, [my husband’s] chest did too. We then kept getting hit all over non stop. With the adrenaline rushing we had no idea what was happening and thought we had really been shot, luckily it was only paintballs! We eventually see where it’s coming from, which was a car full of idiots shooting a souped up paintball gun and we were their targets. We tried to take cover behind a van but they turned down another road and started tearing into us again until we were out of their sight. […] They lit us up pretty good, the pictures don’t show how bad the bruises/welts are. My back and knee are covered. [My husband’s] wrist and shoulder got hit as well. One pic shows how close they got to my eye. It’s ridiculous that people think this is funny. Now that our adrenaline has calmed down we are thankful it wasn’t worse, but hope they find these punks before they do real damage.
Tap water in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Residents of Arlington, D.C. and part of Fairfax County will notice a different taste to their tap water today.
The Washington Aqueduct, from which our tap water is pumped across the Potomac and throughout Arlington, is starting its annual spring pipe cleaning today. The seasonal switch in the disinfectant used by the aqueduct will run through May 16.
During that time, residents will likely notice that their water smells and tastes a bit more like a swimming pool. That’s because chlorine will be used as the disinfectant rather than chloramine, which is used during all other times of the year.
The change does not affect water safety, officials say.
More from a recent Arlington County press release:
Arlington County, the District of Columbia and northeastern Fairfax County will clean out their tap water networks starting Monday, March 21, repeating a safe, annual process.
Service will continue uninterrupted during the procedure, which runs through May 16. During that time, drinking water from the tap may taste slightly different but the water is essentially unchanged thanks to the purification process.
Arlington and nearby jurisdictions receive their water from the Washington Aqueduct, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In an industry-standard practice, the Corps temporarily switches its system disinfectant from chloramine to chlorine to help clean pipes and maintain system flow.
The Aqueduct continues to add a corrosion inhibitor during the process to reduce the potential release of lead in regional system pipes.
During the spring cleaning, local water authorities continually monitor drinking water for safe chlorine levels as well as conduct system-wide flushing to enhance water quality. Residents may see open fire hydrants as part of the routine.
What to expect
This temporary cleaning can bring with it a slightly noticeable chlorine smell and taste to tap water. In response, customers can run the cold water tap for about two minutes before using, employ a filter system or let the water sit in a container for an hour or two to allow the chlorine smell and taste to dissipate.
Customers who take special precautions to remove chloramine from tap water during the rest of the year should continue such methods during the temporary switch to chlorine. As always, those with special concerns should consult their health care provider.
The region’s drinking water continues to meet or exceed all safety standards established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Health.
Officials at the March 2022 Arlington School Board meeting (via APS)
Earlier this month, the Arlington School Board meeting featured some business casual attire on the dais.
That was not well received by the Sun Gazette’s Scott McCaffrey. He took to his editor’s blog to rail against the “sans cravate” look for elected members and other top officials:
This has been festering for a while, but a couple of current members of the Arlington School Board – maskless since last week’s meeting! – are going commando, either without a jacket, without a tie, or without both. Even the superintendent, who makes an obscene amount of money and ought to dress the part, seems to prefer the jacket-and-sweater look, although there may have been a tie hidden underneath.
Some will call the informal look inviting, saying those who expect formality are Luddites and fuddy-duddies. What is that you say from the great beyond, oh sartorially splendid John McLaughlin? “Wrong!” And right you are.
In that earlier incident, Ye Olde Sun Gazette had enough heft in the community that it got the elected official to mend his ways and return to a tie. Not sure our whining about it will make the current elected officials do the same. Nobody seems to care any more about keeping up appearances and maintaining standards. But they should. Sloppiness reflects badly on the School Board, the school system and the community.
Please, fellas, have a little self-respect. This is not Bradenton Beach, Fla., a community I have some knowledge of, where flip-flops and Hawaiian shirts are the norm for men at some meetings. Northern Virginia is supposed to be a little higher up the political food chain.
Officials did not make the same out-of-the-norm sartorial choices at this past weekend’s Arlington County Board meeting — the men on the dais were all wearing suits and ties (though at least one suit jacket came off after a little while).
Many may agree with McCaffrey, but surely some do not. It’s 2022, lots of people are working from their pajamas at home, and perhaps the old ways of dressing should become another pre-pandemic relic, outside of courts, cotillions and the upper echelons of government.
It’s been a decade since Mark Zuckerberg’s hoodie made business headlines and of all the problems we have in the world, tech executives and local elected officials ditching neckties remains pretty low down the list. There is, some may believe, a happy medium between a sea of suits and the State of the Union scene from Idiocracy.
What do you think? Should our top local officials keep up suit-and-tie norms as part of their public service, or can the dress codes be relaxed a bit?
Amazon HQ2 under construction in Pentagon City, with the Pentagon in the foreground (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction Milestone for HQ2 — “Metropolitan Park, the first phase of our second headquarters’ development in Arlington, Virginia, is taking shape as we celebrate an important milestone: the ‘topping out,’ or completion of the highest floor of the building. So much has changed since we began construction more than two years ago in National Landing, and we can’t wait to welcome Amazon employees and the Arlington community to Metropolitan Park in 2023.” [Amazon, Twitter]
Covid Rate Low in the ER — From Virginia Hospital Center emergency department chief Dr. Mike Silverman: “This past week was the best COVID week we’ve had in a long time in the ER. We actually didn’t have any positive cases among our ‘symptomatic’ patients and just a handful or so among all comers to the ER. Our percent positivity rate was <2%. Hospitalizations remains low and we are returning to normal with in-person meetings and some options about mask wearing in non-clinical areas.” [Facebook]
Girl Found, Parents Eventually Located — “The parents of the little girl who was found unattended on the Martha Custis Trail in Arlington, Virginia, have been found on Saturday night. The girl was found behind a Giant grocery store on Langston Boulevard-U.S. 29 and Spout Run Parkway just before midnight Saturday.” [WTOP]
Arlington Gets HUD Grant — “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded more than $2.8 million in FY 2021 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition Awards to Arlington. The awards will provide funding to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.” [Arlington County]
Aircraft Company Opens Local Office — “California-based Stratolaunch, which is testing the largest aircraft ever built, has established a permanent D.C.-area office. It’s in National Landing, the Crystal City area of Arlington County, Virginia. Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.” [WTOP]
APS Students Serve as Pages in Richmond — “Two students at Swanson Middle School recently finished an 11-week program as pages with the Virginia House of Delegates. This selective program welcomes eighth and ninth-grade students to Richmond from across the commonwealth to learn about the legislative process and assist the House of Delegates. Chandani Rathod and Jacqueline Ake were the only two students chosen from Arlington County.” [Arlington Public Schools, Twitter]
Yes, Traffic is Getting Worse — “With more people returning to work, the D.C. region has seen an increase in drivers and that number could continue to shoot up. ‘It has been a steady climb,’ said Mary DePompa, WTOP Traffic anchor. Despite the rise in gas prices, the boom in the number of drivers appears to be a recent trend.” [WTOP]
It’s Monday — Clear throughout the day. High of 67 and low of 41. Sunrise at 7:11 am and sunset at 7:22 pm. [Weather.gov]
