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.

Volunteers Needed to Help ‘Retire’ Wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery

By ARLnow.com
1/4

While placing wreaths on headstones at Arlington National Cemetery may be a more festive volunteer activity, there’s still as much of a need for help removing the wreaths.

The cemetery is calling for volunteers to help “retire” the wreaths with dignity this weekend. The removal event is taking place Saturday starting at 8 a.m.

Due to stepped up security all volunteers will need to bring photo IDs.

More from the cemetery’s website:

Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) will hold its annual removal of wreaths, known as “Wreaths Out,” Saturday, Jan. 11 beginning at 8 a.m.

Thousands of volunteers are expected to help remove the more than 245,000 wreaths placed Dec. 14 by approximately 35,000 volunteers. The high volume of volunteers may create traffic congestion and delays on nearby streets and at the cemetery’s entrances.

This is a special day where the wreaths placed at these hallowed grounds during the holiday season in remembrance and honor of our nation’s fallen service members and their families will be respectfully removed by volunteers. We encourage volunteers to use three entrances to access the cemetery which include Memorial Avenue, South gate and for DoD cardholders, the Old Post Chapel gate.

There will be no vehicular access permitted on cemetery grounds until 3 p.m. Family pass holders and volunteers with handicapped placards only will be permitted to park in the Arlington National Cemetery parking garage beginning at 7 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. Volunteers must remain in their vehicles until the cemetery opens at 8 a.m. Ride share and taxi drivers using Memorial Avenue must drop off adjacent to the Arlington Cemetery Metro stop.

Tips for Volunteers:

  • Give vehicles and heavy equipment the right of way and let them pass in roadways.
  • Remove only WAA wreaths. Leave all other wreaths or decorations in place.
  • Place wreaths in dumpsters positioned throughout the cemetery and pack them tightly.
  • When dumpsters are filled, do not pile wreaths next to them. Carry wreaths to unfilled dumpsters.
  • Do not jump or climb on wreaths in dumpsters to compress them

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

HQ2 May Have Security Robots — “Amazon.com Inc. wants to keep its second headquarters safe. And it’s looking at a variety of methods like incognito barricades, a police presence on the campus, external facing cameras, and, oh yeah, ‘security robots.'” [Washington Business Journal]

More on Tuesday AM Robbery on the Pike — “The victim was in sitting in his parked vehicle, when an occupied vehicle pulled in front of him. The occupants of the vehicle engaged the victim in conversation and asked him to make change for their bill. During the exchange, the suspects gave the victim a lesser sum of money in return for the change and attempted to drive off. When the victim attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspects exited, assaulted him and attempted to steal his wallet.” [Arlington County]

CO Leak at GW Parkway Building — Arlington County firefighters responded to a possible carbon monoxide leak at the GW Parkway maintenance facility near Crystal City yesterday afternoon. Two people were evaluated for CO-related symptoms, per scanner traffic, and the leak was traced to a malfunctioning HVAC system. [Twitter]

Major Reston Property Owner Buys in Clarendon — “An affiliate Comstock Holding Cos. Inc. has acquired the Hartford building in Clarendon, extending its local footprint beyond its major outside-the-Capital Beltway developments in Reston and Ashburn. Comstock… bought the nine-story building at 3101 Wilson Blvd. from an affiliate of Chicago’s Heitman Capital Management for $128.75 million.” [Washington Business Journal, Globe Newswire]

Photo courtesy Peter Golkin

Arlington Pet of the Week: Archimedes

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Meet Arlington’s newest Pet of the Week, Archimedes, a rescue that has just mastered the command ‘sit’ and is working on learning more.

Here is what Archie’s owner told us that he has to say about his life in Arlington:

Hi my name is Archimedes, after the Greek Mathematician, but you can call me Archie. My litter-mates and I were rescued from a kill shelter and my new mom and dad got me before Christmas. I was the unique pup of the bunch, being the only brindle with blue-green eyes

Currently I love my cookie monster, blankies, meeting new people, and being told I have the prettiest eyes and coat. I’ve totally mastered ‘sit’, but most everything else is gibberish. Hopefully I’ll grow smarter each day to live up to my namesake, but for now I’ll eat every leaf in sight.

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care is the winner of eight consecutive Angie’s List Super Service Awards, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year and a proud supporter of the Arlington County Pawsitively Prepared Campaign.

Becky’s Pet Care provides professional dog walking and pet sitting in Arlington and all of Northern Virginia, as well as PetPrep training courses for Pet Care, CPR and emergency preparedness.

Virginia Hospital Center is Now Operating As a Trauma Center

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 8 p.m.) Virginia Hospital Center is now operating, effectively, as a Level II Trauma Center.

Trauma operations took effect Monday morning. The official Level II designation that VHC is working towards indicates that the Arlington hospital is equipped to handle serious trauma cases — everything from falls to crashes to gunshot wounds — with properly-trained staff (including board-certified trauma surgeons) and necessary equipment on hand 24 hours a day.

“Virginia Hospital Center, as of 8:00 a.m. [Monday], began operating a trauma surgery service and the Hospital is staffed as a Level II Trauma Center,” the hospital said in a statement. “It takes approximately a year to achieve the designation to operate as a Level II Trauma Center.”

“Becoming a Level II Trauma Center is a rigorous process that must be approved by the Commonwealth of Virginia,” a PR rep for the hospital added. “Virginia Hospital Center is partnering with George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates (MFA), OrthoVirginia and Arlington County Fire & EMS in this key initiative… It is projected that the Hospital will be able to provide care close to home for about 1,000 trauma patients a year, who otherwise would have had to be transported greater distances to other hospitals.”

In the past, patients with serious traumatic injuries in Arlington were typically rushed to Inova Fairfax Hospital or George Washington University Hospital, even though VHC was often closer. In 2016, for instance, a woman struck and seriously injured by a driver just blocks from the hospital was brought via ambulance to Inova Fairfax.

Now, however, most trauma patients will be brought to Virginia Hospital Center, cutting down on transport times.

Anne Marsh, EMS Chief for the Arlington County Fire Department, said “for the first couple of months” unstable, multi-system trauma patients — the most dire cases — will continue to be brought to GW or Inova Fairfax, as part of a “soft roll out.”

Most other patients — except those closer to the other hospitals (in Rosslyn, for instance) — will be brought to Virginia Hospital Center. The first such patient was transported by Arlington County medics to VHC on Monday morning, Marsh said.

“We’re excited because it’s a great resource to have within Arlington,” said Marsh. “Our transport times in Arlington are very, very low — around 5 minutes in most cases — and the fact that we can respond within our time frames… is very exciting and very advantageous to Arlington County as a community.”

Shorter transport times to the hospital won’t just benefit patients in need of care, it will also benefit paramedics. Rather than a longer trip out to Fairfax County or Foggy Bottom, Arlington County EMS units will now be able to stay within the county to transport patients and restock supplies, reducing downtime.

Marsh noted that ACFD personnel have been training in coordination with the hospital and that the department and VHC “have worked really closely together” on the new trauma operations.

“It’s been a long while,” Marsh said of the years-long effort to provide trauma care within Arlington County.

In November hospital officials told the Washington Business Journal that they expect to break even, financially, on its additional trauma capabilities.

“It’s worth it to do it for the community, and it adds some credibility to the great work that we do here,” the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer told the Business Journal.

Arlington Ranks as No. 3 Place for Working from Home

By ARLnow.com

If you are one of the many telework-capable federal employees who left work early yesterday, only to have to plop down a laptop and work from your kitchen table, then the following might not be a great surprise.

Arlington is the No. 3 place in the United States to working from home, according to a new study.

The number crunchers at the website SmartAsset determined — based on a number of factors, down to the relative concentration of coffee shops — that the best places for teleworking in the country are Scottsdale, Arizona (#1); Denver, Colorado (#2); and Arlington (#3).

“SmartAsset analyzed factors including the percent of all employees who work from home, the unemployment rate and the density of coffee shops to uncover the cities that are most conducive to working from home,” a company spokeswoman said. “Arlington ranks in the third spot overall.”

She continued:

Arlington had low rates of both unemployment and poverty in 2018. Just 2% of the population over the age of 16 was unemployed and 9.9% of residents fell below the poverty line. Relative to the other cities in the study, this is the second-lowest unemployment rate and the lowest poverty rate overall. Beyond its strong performance on those two figures, Arlington has a strong work from home culture. Almost 9% of working residents had no commute in 2018.

Rounding out the top work-from-home cities, from No. 4-10, are: Boise, Idaho; Portland, Oregon; Gilbert, Arizona; St. Petersburg, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; Chandler, Arizona; Austin, Texas.

Gusty Winds In the Forecast This Afternoon

By ARLnow.com

Expect gusty winds to start whipping up soon.

Arlington and much of the region is under a Wind Advisory from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. Forecasters say gusts of up to 50 mph are possible, which could down trees and power lines.

After two significant power outages yesterday in Arlington, there’s concern that the wind could lead to more outages today.

More from the National Weather Service:

…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON… * WHAT…WEST WINDS 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH EXPECTED. * WHERE…PORTIONS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, CENTRAL, NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MARYLAND AND NORTHERN AND NORTHWEST VIRGINIA. * WHEN…FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 5 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON. * IMPACTS…GUSTY WINDS COULD BLOW AROUND UNSECURED OBJECTS. TREE LIMBS COULD BE BLOWN DOWN AND A FEW POWER OUTAGES MAY RESULT. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… USE EXTRA CAUTION WHEN DRIVING, ESPECIALLY IF OPERATING A HIGH PROFILE VEHICLE. SECURE OUTDOOR OBJECTS. &&

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Trash Collection Cancelled — Updated at 8:55 a.m. — Trash and recycling collection is cancelled today, according to Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services. Christmas tree and brush collection will be completed as normal, however. [Twitter]

Rep. Beyer Calls for Peace — Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) tweeted the following after Iran’s airstrike on U.S. military bases in Iraq — a response to the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general: “De-escalate. Exercise diplomacy. Talk. Listen. Give peace a chance.” [Twitter]

Civ Fed Worries About Upzoning — “‘None of us are interested in destroying all our single-family neighborhoods,’ new County Board Chairman Libby Garvey said during the board’s Jan. 2 meeting with the Arlington County Civic Federation… At the forum, Garvey promised that the Civic Federation would play an integral role in any civic-engagement process that transpires in coming months. She reiterated the board’s position that zoning changes are not a done deal.” [InsideNova]

Board Defends Amazon’s Housing Contribution — “Arlington County Board members are defending their decision to trade additional office-building density for affordable-housing funding, but the decision provoked tension with some delegates to the Arlington County Civic Federation. Meeting with board members on Jan. 2, several federation members asked why the county government had decided to allocate all the $20 million contribution from Amazon to affordable-housing efforts.” [InsideNova]

Marijuana Possession Cases Dismissed — In court Tuesday, Arlington’s new top prosecutor successfully sought for judges to dismiss charges against those charged with simple marijuana possession. [Twitter]

Police Investigate Pike Robbery — A portion of westbound Columbia Pike was shut down near S. Glebe Road early Tuesday morning while police investigated a robbery. An ACPD spokeswoman told ARLnow that a victim was robbed and suffered minor injuries; no weapon was involved in the robbery. [Twitter]

New Coworking Space Coming to Crystal City — “Hana is coming to Greater Washington, and it’s going to be neighbors with HQ2. CBRE Group has picked a Crystal City office building to serve as the first East Coast location of its flexible space concept, named after the Hawaiian word for work.” [Washington Business Journal]

Local Pawn Shop Helps Return Lost Ring — “Mary Nosrati, a certified gemologist who works at a pawnshop in Arlington, Va., likes to say that every diamond has a story. This is the story of Marsha Wilkins’s diamond, of how it was lost and how it was found.” [Washington Post]

Arlington Public Schools to Open on Two Hour Delay

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:20 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools will open on a two hour delay Wednesday, following today’s snowfall.

Officials hope the delay will allow slick spots on roads and sidewalks, from an expected refreeze overnight, to start to melt.

APS announced the delay at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday night, noting that morning field trips will be cancelled.

Arlington officials and forecasters are continuing to warn that temperatures will likely dip below freezing overnight, producing black ice and making driving dangerous.

Snow crews “will be on standby” to treat any problem spots, Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services said.

The National Weather Service says it will be breezy and cold Wednesday, with wind gusts up to 35-45 mph.

Also tonight, Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation announced changes with its programs Wednesday.

Arlington Public Schools have announced a two hour delay Wed., Jan. 8 so DPR will proceed as follows per the DPR Inclement Weather Policy:

  • All congregate meal programs will begin at 10 a.m.
  • All Early Childhood Programs (Preschool and Co-op) will begin at 10 a.m.
  • All Enjoy Arlington classes (except for Gymnastics), 55+ classes and trips, nature center programs, sports activities, leagues and instructional programs in County and joint use facilities scheduled to start prior to 9:59 a.m. are cancelled.
  • All Enjoy Arlington classes (except for Gymnastic), 55+ classes and trips, nature center programs, sports activities, leagues and instructional programs in County and joint use facilities scheduled to start at 10 a.m. or later will proceed as scheduled.
  • Gymnastic Classes scheduled to start prior to 11:59 a.m. are cancelled.
  • Gymnastic Classes scheduled to start at noon or later will proceed as scheduled.
  • All community centers (including the five joint use centers located at Carver, Drew, Gunston, Langston and TJ) will open as scheduled.

Power Outage Reported Near Wakefield High School

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 6:30 p.m.) Nearly 400 Dominion customers are reported to be without power in the area around Wakefield High School on this snowy Tuesday night.

The outage follows a report of a live wire that fell across S. Chesterfield Road, prompting a road closure near the high school, according to police radio traffic. Dominion says the outage is caused by a tree on a power line and the estimated restoration time is between 7-10 p.m.

Currently, the outage is mostly affecting the Claremont neighborhood. Earlier, some 3,500 customers were said to be without power in Claremont and portions of surrounding neighborhoods like Shirlington and Fairlington.

Arlington County Police tweeted video of power lines sparking and an apparent transformer explosion on Chesterfield Road near Route 7, encouraging residents to “stay clear of downed trees and power lines.”

Roads Becoming Snow-Covered in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
1/20

(Updated at 6:45 p.m.) Some local roads around Arlington are becoming snow-covered as moderate-to-heavy snow continues fall into the early evening hours.

Early dismissals for the federal government and local schools resulted in an early rush hour, with I-66, I-395 and Columbia Pike jammed as of 2:45 p.m. Conditions have since improved somewhat, but slow traffic remains on large portions of 395 in Arlington.

Some 1-2 inches of wet snow is expected to fall before the flakes start tapering off around 5 p.m.

“Snow is getting heavier and visibility is dropping,” VDOT said this afternoon. “There’s not much accumulation on the roads, but even a little bit can causes spin outs if people drive like it’s a dry road. We’ve got lots of trucks out treating, but plan for a longer commute.”

ART and Metro buses are continuing to operate on a normal weekday service schedule, though ART warned of “minor delays depending on weather conditions this evening and overnight as snow, and any remaining rain may freeze.”

Most Arlington County facilities and offices remained open this afternoon, though county-run recreational programs after 2 p.m. were cancelled. Trash and recycling collection were suspended for the rest of the day earlier this afternoon.

Though arterial routes and highways were mostly wet, local officials encouraged anyone on the roads to take caution.

“As they head home, commuters and drivers should exercise caution and know the safety rules for dealing with winter road emergencies,” AAA Mid-Atlantic said in a press release. “Some research suggests the first snowy day of the year is ‘substantially more dangerous’ for drivers. What’s more, some earlier research revealed some drivers are ‘more likely to become involved in a crash during the first snowfall of the season compared to other snow days.’ Even so, ‘the first winter storms of the season usually result in numerous crashes because people fail to adjust their driving habits to the road conditions,’ area police and transportation officials advise.”

More from Virginia State Police:

Virginians are still advised to do the following if traveling today:

  • Use headlights. Increasing your visibility helps you to avoid slick and dangerous spots on the road, as well as helps other drivers see you better. Also, it’s a state law that if the windshield wipers are active, then headlights must be on.
  • Slow your speed. Though state police works closely with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to identify problem areas on Virginia’s highways during storms, drivers still must drive for conditions. Slowing your speed gives you more time to safely react and avoid a crash. Drive your vehicle based on your ability to properly maintain control of your vehicle.
  • Don’t tailgate. You need increased stopping distance on slick road surfaces. Give yourself more space between vehicles traveling ahead of you in order to avoid rear end collisions.
  • Buckle Up. Most crashes that occur during winter weather are caused by vehicles sliding into guardrails, off the road or other vehicles. Wearing your seat belt protects you from being thrown around the inside of your vehicle and suffering serious injury in a crash.
  • Check Your Vehicle. Make sure your vehicle is in good working order for the conditions. Fill up the tank in advance. Check windshield wipers, windshield wiper fluid, tire tread, battery life, etc.
  • Don’t leave home without a window scraper, blanket, bottled water, snack, cell phone charger and flashlight.

Forecasters and local officials are warning of a freeze overnight that could turn roads and sidewalks icy, in time for the morning commute.

Some photos above are via users on our Facebook page. Additional snow photos around Arlington, via Twitter, are below after the jump.

(more…)

County Working to Repair Water Main Break, Valve Leak

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County is working to fix a pair of water infrastructure issues ahead of an expected evening snowstorm and freezing overnight temperatures.

A six-inch water main burst on the 1600 block of N. Jackson Street in Lyon Village this morning, potentially knocking out water service to some 70 customers. Repairs are expected to wrap up by 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, a valve leak on the 4800 block of 1st Street S. in the Arlington Forest neighborhood is affecting the water service of up to 50 customers. Repairs are expected to be complete around 3 p.m.

In both instances, traffic is blocked around the water work; drivers should expect detours.

Map via Google Maps

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