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.

ACPD Investigating Carjacking at Mall Parking Lot

By ARLnow.com

A man was carjacked in the Pentagon City mall parking garage last week, the latest in a spate of such incidents over the past few months.

The crime happened just before 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23.

“The male victim parked and exited his vehicle when he was approached by an unknown suspect,” Arlington County Police said in a crime report. “The suspect brandished a firearm, demanded the victim’s keys and fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle.”

“The suspect is described as a black male, skinny build, approximately 6’06” tall wearing a dark jacket and dark pants,” the crime report continues. “The victim’s vehicle is described as a black Mercedes C300 with Maryland license plate 4DF8053.”

There have been a number of robberies and attempted robberies in the garage since last summer.

In July, a would-be armed robber was shot and killed with his own gun in the mall parking garage, at 1100 S. Hayes Street. Most recently, on Sunday, Jan. 19, a woman was sitting in her car inside the garage when a man with a gun approached and stole her cell phone, according to a crime report.

ROBBERY, 2020-01190177, 800 block of Army Navy Drive. At approximately 5:25 p.m. on January 19 an officer on patrol was flagged down by a citizen requesting assistance. The investigation determined that between 5:05 p.m. and 5:20 p.m., the female victim was sitting inside her parked vehicle when an unknown suspect approached her, brandished a firearm and demanded her cell phone. The suspect fled the scene on foot after stealing the cell phone. The suspect is described as a black male, late teens to early 20’s, wearing a dark colored sweater, a hoodie pulled over his head and dark pants. The investigation is ongoing.

NBC 4 reported on Friday that the crimes have left shoppers “on edge.” The mall did not respond to the station’s request for comment.

Healthy Scratch: Quick End for ‘Dirt’ Eatery?

By ARLnow.com
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After opening here last year, Dirt has closed its Ballston outpost, at least for now.

The small, Miami-based restaurant chain opened its 4121 Wilson Blvd location to fanfare last April, touting its health-oriented and vegetarian options. It joined an increasingly crowded Ballston restaurant scene that has seen numerous openings since the Quarter Market food hall in the renovated Ballston Quarter mall opened in early 2019.

Below the slogan “EAT CLEAN” in the window, a sign posted over the weekend said “we’re sad to inform you that DIRT is closing their doors on Sunday the 26th.” Another small sign posted on the storefront today said simply “sorry, we are closed!”

It was not immediately clear whether the closure is permanent. No one answered the restaurant’s phone line this morning. A key lockbox could be seen hanging from the locked front door.

In May a kitchen flash fire, reportedly caused by a can of cooking oil placed too close to the stove, seriously injured an employee and prompted a temporary closure of the restaurant.

Pike Pizza Restaurant 1000 Degrees Flames Out

By ARLnow.com
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(Updated at 10 a.m.) Just over three years since it first opened, 1000 Degrees has served its last customer.

The quick-service Neapolitan pizzeria at 3400 Columbia Pike shut its doors within the past few of days, posting a note in the window that reads: “Dear customers, We apologize for any inconvenience but we are permanently closed.”

While 1000 Degrees is a chain, with locations from Connecticut to Texas, the Pike location was owned by a “long-time, local entrepreneur,” according to a press release from its October 2016 opening. The pizzeria offered customers the ability to design their own thin-crust pizzas or order a variety of special pies, including a barbecue bourbon chicken pizza, a Philly cheesesteak pizza and a classic margherita pizza.

The restaurant also offered wings and salads.

Acclaimed, local Neapolitan pizza restaurant Pupatella recently opened a half mile away from 1000 Degrees’ now-former location.

Hat tip to @MZappa777

Local Elementary Student is a Finalist to Name the New Mars Rover

By ARLnow.com

It’s T-minus 15 hours until voting closes on a contest for students to name NASA’s next Mars rover.

One of the submission happens to be from an Arlington fourth grader.

Barrett Elementary student Oliver (a last name was not provided) submitted a name that has become a finalist in the contest: ENDURANCE.

Here’s what Oliver wrote about the name in an essay:

“Endurance” is the right name for the Mars 2020 Rover. The Endurance was the ship of Ernest Shackleton, a great leader and one of the first Antarctic explorers. Antarctica and Mars both have a harsh and unforgiving surface and environment. The Endurance was on a scientific mission, just like Mars 2020. No matter what went wrong, Shackleton stuck with it. I know the NASA team will do the same for the Mars 2020 mission.

I think about space all the time. I love watching NASA TV. My favorite events were New Horizons, ISS space walks, and the Mars Insight landing. My school was the first NASA Explorer School in the state of Virginia.

Shackleton’s journey inspired kids to explore over a century ago, but “Endurance” needs a second chance to survive! Today, we are so excited for Mars exploration and soon, the first human to step foot on Mars.

Oliver’s was among more than 28,000 essays submitted. Other finalists include CLARITY, TENACITY, INGENUITY, VISION, PROMISE, PERSEVERANCE, FORTITUDE, and COURAGE.

Voting closes at midnight tonight.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Board Approves Construction Contracts — “The Arlington County Board today approved contracts for projects that will improve the streetscape on 20th Road North, upgrade several intersections along the North Pershing Drive corridor, and rehabilitate a North Glebe Road water main.” [Arlington County]

ACPD Searching for Missing Man — “ACPD continues to attempt to locate critically missing adult Paul Winfred Coleman. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police at 703-558-2222 or 9-1-1 in an emergency.” [Twitter, Arlington County]

Va. Could Stay Blue Without Arlington — “Virginia Delegate Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun) made headlines when he suggested returning portions of Arlington and Alexandria back to the District of Columbia. Even if this idea were to gain any serious traction with other legislators, it would not help LaRock or Republicans in Virginia hold on to a majority in the legislature.” [Greater Greater Washington]

Ebbin’s Labor Bill Faces Opposition — “The bill has attracted opposition from the state’s commercial and residential development industries, in addition to state Republicans, now in the minority in the General Assembly for the first time in two decades. Even some Democrats expressed skepticism about the legislation in initial committee hearings.” [Washington Business Journal]

Map of Cyclist-Involved Crashes — “Cyclists commuting into the District over Key Bridge have to travel through one of Virginia’s worst areas for vehicle-on-bicycle crashes. Both Clarendon Blvd. and Lee Highway had numerous collisions.” [Twitter, WUSA 9]

Possible N. Va. Coronavirus Case — “The Virginia Department of Health says it is investigating three people, including one in northern Virginia, who ‘meet both clinical and epidemiologic criteria’ for coronavirus.” [Fox 5, Virginia Dept. of Health]

Arlington GRAMMY Connection — At last night’s GRAMMY Awards, one-time Arlington resident Roberta Flack was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

It’s looking like a rainy night in Arlington — though those with evening plans that end before midnight should be fine.

Despite the shortened holiday week, it was an exceptionally busy one in Arlington, with lots of breaking news, business news and previews of items up for a vote at Saturday’s County Board meeting.

Here are the most-read articles on ARLnow over the past five days:

  1. Man’s Death in Ballston Ruled a Homicide
  2. Person Struck By Train at Courthouse Metro Station (update)
  3. PETA To Protest at Clarendon Starbucks Tomorrow
  4. A-1 Cleaners in Clarendon is Closing and Can’t Promise You’ll Get Your Clothes Back
  5. Police Investigating ‘Suspicious Death’ in Ballston Apartment Building
  6. Papyrus Closing All Stores, Including at Pentagon City Mall
  7. Excerpts From the W-L Alumni Lawsuit Over the High School’s Name Change
  8. ACPD Investigating Armed Robbery on Lee Highway
  9. Marine Corps Marathon Issues Third-Ever Lifetime Ban for Cheating (Press Release)

Feel free to discuss those stories, or anything else of local interest, in the comments.

But first, here it is: your moment of zen. Have a great weekend!

Cemetery Expansion, Columbia Pike Realignment Moving Closer to Reality

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board is set to vote this weekend on a new Memorandum of Agreement with Arlington National Cemetery, ahead of work on a new cemetery expansion project that will bring major changes to the eastern end of Columbia Pike.

The project, which has taken shape over the past four years, would add 70 acres to the southern portion of the cemetery, including 37 acres of additional burial space, intended to help the nation’s most hallowed ground continue burials through at least 2050. The expansion will add another 60,000 burial plots, by converting the former Navy Annex site, as well as current portions of Southgate Road and Columbia Pike, into cemetery space.

The Southern Expansion Project will result in a realignment of Columbia Pike, bringing it south of its current loop toward Southgate Road and reconfiguring both the intersection with S. Joyce Street and the ramp to Washington Blvd. While the reconfiguration may be an improvement for cars and buses, bicycle advocates have worried that the elimination of Southgate Road may make cycling more dangerous on the stretch.

Portions of the land being added to the cemetery are owned by Arlington County. Originally the military proposed a land swap, giving Arlington a chunk of federal land south of Columbia Pike to use for county facilities, but the land swap was called off in 2017. Instead, the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act lets the Army purchase Arlington’s land for fair value, and compel the sale if necessary.

The land south of the Pike will now be used to house a cemetery maintenance and operations facility, and a parking garage that will serve visitors to the cemetery and the Air Force Memorial, which will become part of the cemetery.

More from an Air Force Magazine article this past summer:

The plan would turn the Air Force Memorial into the centerpiece of a new southern entrance to the facility, potentially bringing thousands more people to the memorial each year.

The change will alter the landscape, traffic flow, and even the way people experience the memorial, which today is accessible 24 hours a day, but under the new plan, it would be contained within the cemetery’s perimeter and only accessible during daylight hours. The memorial entrance would have a multilevel parking facility and an anticipated five-fold increase in visitors, said Maj. Gen. James A. Jacobson, commander of the Air Force District of Washington.

“This will further enshrine the Air Force Memorial as the history and heroism location for our service,” he said. “Tying it in with the cemetery does what it can’t do standing alone.”

Last March, a House Appropriations subcommittee was told that the Army was hoping to break ground on the first phase of the project in 2020, with a second phase starting in 2022 and work completing in 2025. Nearly $300 million of the project cost has already been appropriated.

The Memorandum of Agreement among the cemetery, the county and other stakeholders, under consideration by the County Board this weekend, outlines proposed “mitigation of cultural resources” as part of the project. The agreement calls for repair and reuse of the cemetery’s blue granite Boundary Wall, in the project site; a new historic marker commemorating Freedman’s Village, a village of freed slaves that was built during the Civil War on current cemetery grounds; and some alterations to the grounds around the Air Force Memorial.

Arlington’s Delegates Push to Correct Civil Rights Injustices and Restrict Firearms Access

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s state senators aren’t alone in pushing for gun control in Richmond this legislative session — their counterparts in the House of Delegates have also proposed a number of bills on the topic.

Other bills being reviewed by Arlington’s delegates this session range from a local civil rights fight to the recognition of some Arlington cemeteries as historic places.

The all-Democrat group of delegates have been empowered by a new Democratic majority in the state legislature. Many of the gun control measures proposed in the House of Delegates and the State Senate have already faced substantial pushback, particularly from a crowded gun rights rally on Monday that drew national headlines, though a number of bills have passed at least one of the chambers.

Below are some of the bills that have been proposed by each of Arlington’s delegates.

Del. Mark Levine

Among bills introduced by Del. Mark Levine is HB 180, which would eliminate the requirement that the race of spouses be included in the marriage record filed with the state. Levine is also sponsoring HB 301, which would decriminalize simple possession of marijuana. Both bills were referred to committees, and HB 180 was recommended by a subcommittee on Tuesday.

The requirement of couples to list their race on marriage licenses is an obscure holdover from Jim Crow laws that’s gotten some pushback over the years, including a lawsuit in September by a local lawyer that ended with a judge ruling the law was unconstitutional.

Levine also introduced several gun control measures as well, including restriction of firearm ammunition, prohibitions on ownership after certain criminal convictions, and a prohibition on the sale or transport of weapons defined in the bill as “assault firearms.”

Del. Patrick Hope

Hope is also the sponsor of the House version of Favola’s bill that would eliminate the death penalty for cases involving a severe mental illness. Hope’s HB 1284 would eliminate the use of isolated confinement in state correctional facilities and juvenile correctional facilities. One bill, HB 1120, would also dramatically increase the tax on tobacco products, from the current 30 cents per pack to $1.80 per pack.

Hope’s gun control legislation, HB 1080, would prohibit school boards from authorizing or designating any person to possess a firearm on school property other than those expressly authorized by state law.

Also of note is Hope’s bill, HB 712, which would allow anyone required to post ordinances, resolutions, notices or advertisements in newspapers to publish instead in an online publication. The requirement for governments to only post notices in print newspapers is a standing rule backed by organizations like the Virginia Press Association. The requirement has gotten some pushback in recent years by local jurisdictions like Vienna, which argue that the law is costly and unfair to areas without print newspapers.

Del. Rip Sullivan

Among Rip Sullivan’s proposed legislation is HB 213, which would add out-of-state student IDs to the list of acceptable forms of voter identification, and HB 379, which adds three cemeteries in Arlington (Calloway Cemetery, Lomax Cemetery, and Mount Salvation Cemetery) to the list of organizations that may receive funds from the Department of Historic Resources.

Sullivan’s gun control legislation includes HB 674, which would allow law enforcement to remove firearms from someone they deem poses a substantial risk, HB 458, which would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a fugitive to purchase, possess or transport a firearm, and HB 459, which would prohibit anyone convicted of assault and battery as part of a hate crime from possessing or transporting a firearm.

Del. Alfonso Lopez

Legislation from Lopez includes HB 1184, which opens up options for distributing generated solar energy by individuals and localities, and HB 219, which would automatically register individuals at the Department of Motor Vehicles who are applying for or replacing their driver’s license.

Lopez’s gun control legislation includes HB 264, which would remove the option for concealed handgun permit applicants to demonstrate competence electronically, and HB 260, which increases the allowed length of time for a background check from the end of the next business day to within five business days.

Crossover for legislation — when bills that pass one house are considered by the other — is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 11, and the last day to act on remaining bills is March 5. Gov. Ralph Northam can sign or veto legislation until April 6, and the new laws will take effect July 1.

Photo courtesy former Del. Bob Brink

NEW: Crystal City BID is Changing Its Name to ‘National Landing BID’

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) The name “National Landing” is becoming official.

The Board of Directors of the Crystal City Business Improvement District voted yesterday to change the organization’s name to the National Landing Business Improvement District. The new name will now be voted on by the BID’s general membership and the Arlington County Board.

The name change follows the September approval of the BID’s boundary expansion to serve portions of the Pentagon City and Potomac Yard neighborhoods.

Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, president and executive director of the to-be-renamed BID, emphasized in a statement (below) that National Landing is an umbrella term and that the names of the individual neighborhoods are not changing.

We are pleased to report that on January 23 our Board of Directors approved a resolution to change our organizational name to the National Landing Business Improvement District. The Board opted for the new name in recognition of the BID’s upcoming geographic expansion and as a reflection of the increasingly interconnected character of the Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard communities. This resolution marks the culmination of a robust public process in which the BID sought and received broad support from area residents and local civic organizations.

Pending approval by the Arlington County Board and a formal vote by the BID’s full members at our Annual Meeting this spring, the National Landing name will be utilized as an umbrella term for Virginia’s most vibrant and largest walkable downtown. It will not replace the existing neighborhood names of Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, which each maintain their own unique identities and distinct characteristics.

The BID is also seeking to change the term those in economic development and commercial real estate use to refer to the area — from the “Jefferson Davis Corridor,” after the former name of Route 1, to National Landing. Gabriel said the Confederate president’s name “did not represent a desirable monicker for the area.”

In an phone interview with ARLnow this morning, Gabriel acknowledged that the initial rollout of the National Landing name — when Amazon arbitrarily announced that HQ2 was coming to “National Landing” before members of the public had heard of the name — was “not ideal.” She noted, however, that the name was actually created by Arlington and Alexandria officials as part of the local governments’ joint effort to woo Amazon and the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

The BID, meanwhile, has been working to change its name since before Amazon’s announcement.

“We’ve been thinking about finding a collective name for our downtown since 2018, even before the arrival of Amazon and the expansion of the BID,” Gabriel said. “With the expansion of the BID we’ve had a renewed effort to have a public conversation about the name.”

“Since the name has come out, we’ve done extensive public outreach. We put out 18,000 flyers, 16,000 of which were mailed to all of the households in the 22202 zip code,” she noted. Other outreach included “numerous open houses about the vision for the neighborhood, as well as focus groups and open office hours.”

There were other possible names floated, we’re told, but none garnered more public support than National Landing. Among the alternative names considered were “Future Cities,” “Lower Arlington” and “Penn-Crystal.”

(more…)

JUST IN: Large Power Outage Affecting Parts of Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Nearly 5,000 Dominion customers in Arlington are currently without power as a result of a large outage.

The outage is affecting parts of the Virginia Square, Ballston, Bluemont, Arlington Forest and Glencarlyn neighborhoods, according to a Dominion map. As of 10:40 a.m. Dominion reported 4,798 customers without power in Arlington, and a few hundred more across the border in Fairfax County.

In addition to affecting homes and businesses, numerous traffic signals are said to be dark.

Initial reports suggest the outage was caused by a vehicle that crashed into a utility pole. Dominion is currently estimating restoration of power between 1-4 p.m.

Update at 11:05 a.m. — The number of affected customers is down to 770, according to Dominion.

Update at 12:35 p.m. — The outages are down to 51 in Arlington. An Arlington County Police spokeswoman provided the following information about the crash that might have led to the outage: “At approximately 8:32 a.m., police were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash at N. Carlin Springs Road at N. Kensington Street. Upon arrival, it was determined that a utility van struck a telephone pole. Two occupants from the van were transported to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. Dominion Energy was contacted to repair the pole. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Demolition Starts at HQ2 Site — “Roughly a dozen demolition workers from construction firm ACECO were on site in yellow vests and hard hats, along with a couple of excavators, one of which sat on a mound of bricks as it tore down the southeast side of the single-story building.” [Washington Business Journal]

Apartments are Hot Near HQ2 — “The development patterns that are taking place in Crystal City make it a more live-work-play area versus being an office-dominated submarket that has an underground mall… That area is evolving with new product coming online and Amazon making its presence in the region. All of those things have helped generate demand for multifamily housing.” [Bisnow]

New Pool House for Army Navy CC — “Arlington County Board members on Jan. 25 are expected to approve procedural matters that will pave the way for Army Navy Country Club to renovate its swimming areas and construct a new poolhouse.” [InsideNova]

Arlington Eateries Absent from Top 20 List — The new 2020 Washingtonian 100 Very Best Restaurants list does not include any Arlington spots in the top 20. [Washingtonian]

County Pitches in to Route 7 BRT Study — “The Arlington government will toss in just under $40,000 in support of the next phase of a plan to develop high-quality bus service in the Route 7 corridor. Arlington will allocate $39,200 as its share in covering the $560,000 cost of a ‘mobility analysis,’ the fourth phase of the study.” [InsideNova]

Four Mile Run Biz Celebrates 25th — Family-owned car repair business Auto Stop Arlington is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend with an event that will include a food truck, beer and wine tastings, and kids activities. [Facebook]

RIP Jim Lehrer — The longtime host of the PBS Newshour, which is produced in the Shirlington area, has died at the age of 85. [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

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