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

Metro Tests New Tech in Pentagon City — The Transportation Security Administration and Metro rolled out new security technology at the Pentagon City Metro station on Tuesday. The system “can detect an individual concealing an improvised explosive device, such as a suicide vest or another weapon.” [Fox 5, Twitter]

HQ2 Leads to Development Boom — “Arlington officials, developers, market researchers — everyone, really — predicted that Amazon.com Inc.’s arrival in the county would generate a development boom in the company’s neighborhood. So far, they’ve been right.” [Washington Business Journal]

Tafti Sworn in as Prosecutor — Parisa Dehghani-Tafti was sworn in Monday as Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington and Falls Church. On Tuesday she warned a crowd at a progressive think tank there has been a “growing narrative in pretty extreme circles that trying to reimagine the criminal-legal system is somehow going to make us less safe…somehow disrespects victims.” [Twitter, Blue Virginia]

Airport Authority Voting on $15 Wage — After years of protests, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is set to vote today on a new policy that would increase the hourly wages of contracted workers — baggage handlers, wheelchair attendants, lobby agents, skycaps, cabin cleaners, airport concessions and airline catering workers — from $12.75 to $15 by 2023. [Press Release]

Beyer Pushing for Quieter Airplanes — Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who has long advocated against excessive noise from aircraft landing at and taking off from Reagan National Airport, is calling on NASA to study ways to make commercial jetliners quieter and cleaner in a new bill. [Press Release]

Northam Proposes Nixing Vehicle Inspections — “Gov. Ralph Northam wants to end state-mandated vehicle safety inspections and cut vehicle registration fees in half, proposals his administration says would eventually save Virginians more than $280 million per year. But motorists would have to pay a few dollars more each time they fill up on gas under a proposal to increase the state’s motor vehicle fuels tax from about 22 cents per gallon to 34 cents per gallon over three years.” [Virginia Mercury]

State Definitively That You Do Not Comment on ARLnow With This T-Shirt

By ARLnow.com

Christmas is just a week away and let’s face it, you still need to shop for gifts.

Luckily, ARLnow has a sartorial alternative to lame “ugly holiday sweater”-style shirts. We’ve been rolling out a series of locally-themed shirts and today is the fourth installment of our 2019 holiday collection.

A bit of background: In reader surveys we’ve conducted, we constantly hear about the comments. Most people love our comments section and love to tell us about it. But a vocal minority hate it. They still seem to be reading the comments, curiously, but they tell us they really don’t want to.

For the ARLnow reader in your life who wants to make it clear to the latter group that they are not commenters on the site, we now have the perfect gift. Get the new “Definitely Not an ARLnow Commenter” shirt in the following styles now, in time for Dec. 25:

Dense Fog Prompts Some Airport Delays

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) The worst of today’s fog is starting to lift after an earlier Dense Fog Advisory that was in effect for Arlington and surrounding areas

The fog has prompted delays at Reagan National Airport.

“Due to Low Ceilings, traffic is experiencing Gate Hold and Taxi delays between 16 minutes and 30 minutes in length and increasing,” said the FAA’s flight delay maps.

More of the advisory, from the National Weather Service:

…DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON… * WHAT…VISIBILITY ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS IN DENSE FOG. * WHERE…PORTIONS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, CENTRAL, NORTH CENTRAL, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN MARYLAND AND CENTRAL AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA. * WHEN…UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON. * IMPACTS…HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… IF DRIVING, SLOW DOWN, USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS, AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU. &&

On Twitter, Reagan National Airport tweeted earlier this afternoon that the fog completely hid its tower, as seen from nearby Crystal City.

File photo (top) via Twitter/@Reagan_Airport

Alexandria Man Arrested After Clarendon Stabbing

By ARLnow.com

A “verbal dispute” led to a late night stabbing in Clarendon over the weekend.

The incident happened on the 3100 block of Clarendon Blvd, in the heart of the neighborhood’s nightlife district, around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Police say a large group of people were leaving a restaurant when officers found a victim who had been stabbed multiple times. A 33-year-old Alexandria man was subsequently arrested and charged with the stabbing.

Police say an argument led to the violence. The victim suffered serious injuries but is expected to recover.

More from an Arlington County Police crime report:

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2019-12150013, 3100 block of Clarendon Boulevard. At approximately 12:31 a.m. on December 15, officers working the Nightlife Detail responded to assist with dispersing a large group of people exiting a business, when they encountered a victim who was suffering from multiple lacerations. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the victim and suspect were engaged in a verbal dispute, which escalated when the suspect allegedly produced a knife and stabbed the victim multiple times. Arriving officers located the suspect and took him into custody without incident. The victim was transported to an area hospital with serious, but non life-threatening injuries. Theodore Li, 33, of Alexandria, Va., was arrested and charged with Malicious Wounding.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Thieves Hit Three Local Car Dealerships — A group of thieves stole a dozen cars from three car dealerships in Arlington. Some of the thefts were caught on surveillance video. In one instance, five vehicles were damaged as the thieves made their getaway. [WJLA, Arlington County]

Some Amazon Neighbors Wanted More — “Amazon.com Inc. easily won approval this weekend to start work on its first new HQ2 construction in Arlington, yet many of the company’s new neighbors remain exasperated over the benefits the community will receive… Though Amazon’s proposed investments may seem substantial, some people residing close Met Park feel that these benefits will inevitably fall short in mitigating the impacts of the construction.” [Washington Business Journal]

Spotted: Albino Squirrel — An albino squirrel was caught on video in Arlington’s Waverly Hills neighborhood. [Facebook]

Accounting Firm Touts ‘Zero-Waste’ Office in Rosslyn — “Grant Thornton LLP has consolidated its workforce in the Washington, D.C., area in the firm’s MetroDC office – its first zero-waste office in the country. The office, located at 1000 Wilson Blvd in Arlington, unites staff from other Washington-area locations and is the firm’s largest, by headcount, in the United States.” [Grant Thornton]

Nearby: Alexandria Bans Scooters from Sidewalk — The Alexandria City Council has voted to ban electronic scooters from sidewalks across the city. [ALXnow]

Plans for New CVS on Highlander Motel Site Appear to Be Advancing

By ARLnow.com
1/3

No work is happening yet, but there are signs that plans to replace the Highlander Motel in Virginia Square with a new CVS store are getting closer to fruition.

A permit application was filed last month for the property at 3336 Wilson Blvd for a new building, to house CVS. Thus far no permits have been issued.

The application follows years of legal wrangling between Arlington County and local businessman Bill Bayne. In 2018 the Virginia Supreme Court cleared the way for Bayne to redevelop the 56-year-old budget hotel, after the county refused to allow him to use the parking lot behind the motel for store parking.

Bayne subsequently sued the county in federal court for alleged civil rights violations, but that suit was dismissed in October, with the judge citing Arlington County’s sovereign immunity as a reason for the dismissal.

Bayne told ARLnow that the legal fight cost him at least $250,000, if not more.

“It’s over… it is what it is,” he said.

As of Monday morning, no bookings were available online for the Highlander’s $69/night rooms past January, but Bayne told ARLnow that was an error that would be corrected; rooms could be booked past then if you call the hotel, he said.

Bayne said the hotel is planning to stay open for at least another year and there’s no set closing date, though he acknowledged that he’s continuing to pursue the redevelopment.

Bayne is also the owner and co-owner, respectively, of two other long-time local businesses: the Crystal City Restaurant gentlemen’s club and Crystal City Sports Pub, both on 23rd Street S. Changes may be on the way for the former — Bayne said he’s considering changing the name of Crystal City Restaurant to “National Landing Strip,” given the new branding for the collective Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard area in the wake of Amazon’s HQ2.

“I’ve thought about doing it… it’s certainly crossed my mind,” Bayne said of the possible name change.

The only thing keeping Bayne from changing the name, he said, is sentimentality. Bayne’s father bought the business in 1963 and renamed it “Crystal City Restaurant” from “Arlington Luncheon” to reflect what was then the new name for the neighborhood along Route 1.

Flickr pool photo (1) by Maryland Nomadic

First Phase of Amazon’s Permanent HQ2 in Pentagon City Approved

By ARLnow.com
1/12

(Updated at noon) The Arlington County Board voted unanimously over the weekend to approve the first phase of Amazon’s permanent Pentagon City headquarters.

The vote on the 2.1 million square foot office-and-retail development along S. Eads Street was not met with the same degree of protests that greeted the vote on Amazon’s $23 million local incentive package in March, though union carpenters showed up en masse to protest what they say are labor violations at Amazon’s under-construction, temporary office space in Crystal City.

Amazon says it fired the contractor in question and pledged to ensure prevailing wages are paid to construction workers, while providing labor compliance oversight going forward, the Washington Post reported.

The first half of HQ2, which is situated around Pentagon City’s Metropolitan Park, will feature:

  • Two towers, up to 22 stories high, with room for around 12,500 employees
  • An underground parking garage with nearly 2,000 spaces, as well as more than 600 bicycle parking spaces
  • A daycare center open to Amazon employees and the community
  • Street level retail space with outdoor cafe seating and greenery
  • Two new street segments, including a new 14th Street S. and E. Elm Street

As ARLnow previously reported, Amazon has agreed to a host of community benefits, including:

  • $14 million for an expansion and redesign of Metropolitan Park, from the designer of NYC High Line
  • A record $20 million affordable housing contribution
  • Sidewalk and streetscape improvements, with new protected bike lanes, bus shelters and utility undergrounding
  • A 700-person meeting center that will be available to the county and other users after hours
  • Highly energy efficient design, with LEED Platinum certification and use of renewable energy for everything other than backup power and cooking

Empty warehouses and a surface parking lot will be demolished to make way for the 6.2 acre development. The new towers are expected to open in 2023, according to previous public presentations by Amazon.

A second phase of Amazon’s permanent HQ2 at the still-vacant PenPlace site along 12th Street, housing the other half of its expected 25,000 employees, will follow the Metropolitan Park phase. In total, Amazon expects to build 4.2 million square feet of new space.

Also on Saturday, the Arlington County Board “accepted a $200,000 federal grant to provide innovative workforce development services to 50 persons in Arlington and Alexandria who will be negatively impacted by increased development in the area,” according to a press release.

The county press release about the approval of Amazon’s Metropolitan Park site plan is below, after the jump.

(more…)

New Seating, Bus Bays Coming to Ballston Metro Station Entrance

By ARLnow.com
1/7

The Arlington County Board has approved a nearly $5.5 million contract to revamp the area around the Ballston Metro station.

The project — a refinement of an earlier plan, which we last reported in 2014 — will build nine bus bays, covered bus shelters and new seating areas.

More from Arlington County:

The Board voted unanimously to approve a $5.45 million contract, including $909,080 (20 percent) contingency, with Ardent Company, LLC for major improvements to the bus stop and seating areas along North Fairfax Drive and North Stuart Street. The project will expand pedestrian circulation spaces, and add real-time information displays to nine bus stops in the area. Antiquated streetlights will be upgraded, landscaping added and the existing bus driveway on Fairfax Drive will be replaced with four new saw-tooth bus bays. The North Stuart Street sidewalk will be made more accessible to persons with disabilities.

The project, included in the County’s Capital Improvement Plan, will be funded with a combination of federal, state and local funds. It is expected to begin in early spring 2020 and last for 18 months.

“Upon completion, Arlington County will take ownership and maintenance responsibility of the new furniture, information signage, and bus shelters,” a county staff report notes.

“As Arlington grows, it is essential that the County continue to improve our transportation infrastructure,” County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said in a statement.

A separate plan calls for the Ballston Metro canopy to be replaced with a public art installation, “which will consist of a dozens of LEDs that can be individually programmed to respond to motion sensors that detect riders coming in and out of the station.”

The county is also currently working to kickstart a project to build a second entrance to the Ballston Metro entrance.

Photo via Google Maps

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Board Approves Legislative Priorities — “The Arlington County Board today finalized its 2020 General Assembly Legislative Proposals… Arlington’s proposals include requests that the General Assembly renew without a sunset clause the .25 percent transient occupancy tax on hotel rooms that funds travel and tourism promotion in Arlington.” [Arlington County]

Groups Call for County-Owned Power Company — “Eighty years after the idea was first broached, several progressive groups are embarked on a likely uphill effort to have the Arlington government develop its own energy utility. The Arlington Green Party is the latest to sign on to the effort, which was proposed by Our Revolution Arlington.” [InsideNova]

New Operator for Shelter on the Pike — “Arlington has finalized new contracts for operation of the County’s two homeless shelters for single adults beginning in January 2020. A-SPAN will continue to operate the Homeless Services Center in the Courthouse Neighborhood, and New Hope Housing will take over from Volunteers of America – Chesapeake & Carolinas to operate the Residential Program Center on Columbia Pike.” [Arlington County]

Thousands Participate in Wreath Laying — “Despite the cold and the rain, thousands of volunteers came to make sure our country’s fallen heroes were honored with wreaths during the 2019 National Wreaths Across America Day at Arlington National Cemetery. There was no mistaking what this meant to families whose loved ones are buried at Arlington National. One of those families watching volunteers flood the cemetery told FOX 5 they couldn’t interview without crying.” [Fox 5]

Trump Campaign Strategizes at Local Hotel — “Over a 90-minute PowerPoint session at a hotel in Arlington, Va., on Thursday, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign manager Brad Parscale and other senior Trump campaign officials presented dozens of national political reporters their theory of how Trump can win again in 2020.” [Axios]

Nearby: Seven Corners Bridge Rehab Complete — “The rehabilitation of the one-way bridge linking the eastbound Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard) service road to Wilson Boulevard (Route 613) is complete, improving safety for drivers and pedestrians and extending the overall life of the bridge.” [VDOT]

Show Your South Arlington Pride With This New Shirt

By ARLnow.com

The third installment in ARLnow’s 2019 local apparel collection has arrived and it’s the perfect gift for the South Arlington resident in your life who likes geographically specific shirts.

Whether you live in Crystal City, Pentagon City, Shirlington, Fairlington, Green Valley, Glencarlyn, Arlington Mill, Forest Glen, Barcroft, Alcova Heights, Arlington Heights, Penrose, Foxcroft Heights, Arlington View, Columbia Heights, Arlington Forest (the southern portion), Douglas Park, Columbia Forest, Claremont, Long Branch Creek, Arlington Ridge, Aurora Highlands, or in a van down by the river — did we cover all options? — this shirt proudly declares that living below Route 50 is totally cool.

Get your South Arlington 4 Life shirt in any of the following styles:

Two more local shirts are coming next week, just in time for the holidays.

Due to tonight’s fog and crash, this post will have to serve as the weekend discussion. So feel free to discuss anything of local interest in the comments below.

Dense Fog Advisory Issued for Arlington, Region

By ARLnow.com

If you’re outside, on the road, or looking out of a window tonight, you won’t be able to see very far in front of you.

The National Weather Service has issued a Dense Fog Advisory for Arlington and the region, warning about hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility.

The advisory is in effect until midnight. More from NWS:L

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
459 PM EST FRI DEC 13 2019

…DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT…

* WHAT…AREAS OF DENSE FOG WITH VISIBILITY AROUND ONE-QUARTER MILE.

* WHERE…THE WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE METROPOLITAN AREAS, CENTRAL MARYLAND, NORTHERN VIRGINIA, PORTIONS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA AND EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA.

* WHEN…UNTIL MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT.

* IMPACTS…HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS DUE TO LOW VISIBILITY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

IF DRIVING, SLOW DOWN, USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS, AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU.

Flickr pool photo by Eric

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