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.

BREAKING: Bank Robbery in Westover

By ARLnow.com
1/2

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) The Wells Fargo bank in the Westover neighborhood was robbed Friday afternoon.

A man robbed the bank by passing a note to a teller shortly before 3:30 p.m., we hear. Arlington County Police are currently on the scene investigating. No injuries were reported.

The suspect is described as a white male between 40-50 years of age. He was wearing a light-colored vest and blue pants at the time of the robbery, and fled the bank in the direction of Washington Blvd carry a bag full of cash, according to initial reports.

County Has Already Collected More Than $1 Million in Prepaid 2018 Taxes

By ARLnow.com

The new GOP tax bill has prompted numerous Arlington taxpayers to prepay their 2018 taxes more than a year ahead of time.

The bill, which was just signed into law by President Trump this morning, caps State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions at $10,000. For many Arlington taxpayers with pricey homes, this means they will lose part of their deduction next year and thus potentially pay higher federal taxes.

To counter that, some Arlingtonians are planning to take a higher deduction on their 2017 taxes by prepaying their property tax for future years.

Arlington County and other Virginia localities allow residents to make tax deposits. County Treasurer Carla de la Pava tells ARLnow.com that more than $1 million in tax deposits have been prepaid by 144 residents as of Friday morning.

The Treasurer’s Office has been “inundated with people trying to pay in advance” and is expecting the prepayments to continue through the end of the year, de la Pava said. The first prepayment was made by an attorney about two weeks ago, when the bill was first passed by a narrow Republican majority in the U.S. Senate.

“It’s interesting because in Arlington [prepayments] started much earlier than anywhere else in the state,” de la Pava said, noting that it “has been a really big topic of conversation” on the Treasurers Association of Virginia email listserv.

Some prepayers are depositing more than a year of taxes in advance, while others are paying whichever potion of next year’s they can afford, we’re told.

Tax deposits have been an option for many years, but the Treasurer’s Office hasn’t seen a prepayment surge like this at any point in recent memory.

“We have never seen these volumes,” said de la Pava.

Tax deposits are invested by the Treasurer’s Office in “very safe” investments, earning a small return for the county.

De la Pava is encouraging taxpayers — particularly those paying the Alternative Minimum Tax — to consult with a CPA or tax expert before deciding whether to prepay. More from the treasurer’s website:

If you are interested in prepaying your 2018 taxes, the Treasurer’s Office can accept tax deposits on active Real Estate accounts. While our office does accept tax deposits, we are not experts in federal tax law and are not able to offer any advice, guidance, or opinion on whether or not your deposits will be deductible on your 2017 federal tax returns. If you have questions about making a tax deposit on your Arlington real estate, please email us at [email protected] or call 703-228-3090.

Free Christmas Trees at Lions Club Lot

By ARLnow.com

If you’ve procrastinated on picking up a Christmas tree for your home, you’re in luck: at least one lot in Arlington is now giving trees away for free.

The Arlington South Lions Club, which this year moved its lot from the under-construction Food Lion site along Columbia Pike to American Legion Post 139 in Virginia Square, is trying to make sure its trees don’t go to waste.

“Since there are still many trees and only three days until Christmas, the Arlington South Lions Club will give a tree for FREE to anyone who wants one and stops by at 3445 Washington Blvd today, 4-7 p.m. and tomorrow, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Peter Golkin, who has been helping with the sale, tells ARLnow. “Financial donations to the Lions Club will gladly be accepted but are not necessary.”

As of Dec. 18, the Lions Club said it still had over 500 Fraser Fir trees still waiting for a home.

Photo courtesy Peter Golkin

Photos: CarPool Demolished in Ballston

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Long-time Ballston watering hole CarPool closed earlier this year, and now it has been bulldozed to make way for a new development.

Photos show the bar flattened as construction crews prepare to build a new 22-story luxury residential building.

Photos (top) courtesy Phil McGeehan

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

New Renderings of Crystal City Development — Property owner JBG Smith “has unveiled never-before-seen concept images of its planned 50,000-square-foot Alamo Drafthouse Cinema fronting Crystal Drive, a yet-unnamed specialty grocer and the future look of an office building it plans to convert to multifamily. The images were presented to Arlington County’s Site Plan Review Committee earlier this month.” [Washington Business Journal]

Pentagon City Mall Holiday Hours — Arlington’s biggest shopping mall, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, will be open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Christmas Eve (Sunday) for last-minute shoppers. The mall will be closed on Christmas and open from 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. on Boxing Day (Tuesday).

Aurora Highlands Chimney Fire — Thankfully happening prior to Santa’s arrival, a smoky fire broke out in the chimney of a home in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood last night. Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames before they could potentially spread. [Twitter]

Photo courtesy Peter Golkin

Help ARLnow Thank Our Advertisers

By ARLnow.com

It’s the holiday season and, in the holiday spirit, ARLnow is asking for your help in thanking the advertisers who enabled us to serve you in 2017.

It takes the hard work of talented, full-time professionals to bring this site to you. As an advertising-supported publication, our local journalism would not be possible without you, our readers, and the companies below.

We are proud of our work on behalf of these local businesses and often hear success stories of readers becoming happy customers of our advertisers. However, for every customer who volunteers to an advertiser that they saw an ad on ARLnow, there are many more who saw it but did not say anything.

It would mean the world to us if you could let an advertiser know that you saw their ad this year. If you can tell them in person — great! If you are a bit stretched for time around the holidays, we’ll send a postcard to them on your behalf. Just fill out the form below and we’ll print and mail it.

(If the form doesn’t work, click here.)

Thank you from the ARLnow team!

Note: We’ll be removing some advertisers from the list after receiving a certain number of postcard submissions.

Crime Report: Water Bottles Fly in Road Rage Incident

By ARLnow.com

A driver experiencing a bout of road rage flung “cups, water bottles and other materials” at another car during the Tuesday morning commute on Route 50.

The driver apparently became enraged when another driver did not get out of her way fast enough, prompting more aggressive driving and the tossing of cups and bottles.

More from this week’s Arlington County Police Department crime report:

MISSILE INTO OCCUPIED VEHICLE, 2017-12190071, Arlington Boulevard at Henderson Road. At approximately 8:30 a.m. on December 19, police were dispatched to the report of an aggressive driver. Upon arrival, it was determined that the victim changed lanes to allow the suspect vehicle to pass, however the suspect continued to allegedly drive aggressively and began throwing cups, water bottles and other materials at the victim vehicle. The suspect vehicle fled prior to police arrival. The suspect is described as an Asian or Hispanic female in their 20’s or 30’s, wearing sunglasses. The investigation is ongoing.

The rest of this past week’s crime report highlights, including some that we’ve already reported, after the jump.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Dog and Owner Help Foil Purse Snatching — Mazel was a very good boy. The miniature bull terrier and his owner chased down a purse thief in Clarendon Tuesday evening, retrieving the purse and all of its contents. The thief remains at large but the purse owner is very grateful to get her belongings back prior to a planned vacation. [NBC Washington]

Arlington Woman Plows Into Falls Church Store — A 41-year-old woman from Arlington drove her car through the sliding doors of a Falls Church Rite Aid store this past weekend, damaging shopping carts and an interior wall. She was arrested and charged with DUI. [Falls Church News-Press]

Planet Money Looks at I-66 Tolling — NPR’s popular Planet Money podcast took a look at the sky-high tolls now in effect during certain times on I-66. There is “a beautiful, econ 101 logic behind a toll that spikes when demand spikes,” the podcast explains. [NPR]

White Christmas Looks Unlikely — The odds are low that the Washington area ends its recent draught of white Christmases next week. However, some snow on Christmas Day appears to be a possibility. [Capital Weather Gang, Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Jim Webster

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Beyer Blasts GOP Tax Bill — Rep. Don Beyer is, to say the least, not a fan of the Republican tax bill that is expected to pass the House and be sent to the president’s desk later today. “At its core, this bill is an immoral redistribution of wealth towards the richest among us at a cost of trillions of dollars, and I believe that those who voted for this monstrosity will be held accountable,” Beyer said in a statement. [Rep. Don Beyer, Twitter]

Single Vote Swings Va. House — Thanks to a Democratic candidate in Newport News winning her race by a single vote, as determined in a recount, the Virginia House of Delegates is now evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, ending a majority the GOP has maintained since 2000. [Washington Post]

‘Dominion Pint’ Coming to Arlington — The owner of Meridian Pint (also Brookland Pint and Smoke & Barrel) in D.C. is planning to open a new craft beer-centric outpost somewhere in North Arlington. The location has not yet been announced, but it will be called “Dominion Pint.” [PoPville]

DESIGNArlington Winners Announced — The Arlington County Board on Tuesday recognized the ten 2017 DESIGNArlington award winners for “outstanding architectural or landscape design in the County.” Among the winners are the new Marymount University building in Ballston, the Tellus apartment building in Courthouse, “The Quill” public art project in Rosslyn and two private North Arlington residences. [Arlington County, Arlington County]

Gutshall Sworn In — The newest Arlington County Board member, Erik Gutshall, was sworn in at yesterday’s Board meeting, while outgoing County Board Chair Jay Fisette received a standing ovation. [Twitter]

Changes to Historic Preservation Process — The Arlington County Board voted unanimously last night to revise and further codify the process for requesting historic preservation studies. Until now, any single individual could request a “historic preservation overlay district” study, which requires significant county staff time to complete. Before the vote, such a study could even be requested without consulting property owners in the proposed district. [Arlington County]

Arlington Man Dies in Plane Crash — Paul Schuda, a National Transportation Safety Board official and Arlington resident, was among three people killed in the crash of a small plane in Indiana. [NPR, Legacy]

Photo courtesy Peter Golkin

Beware the Hole in This North Arlington Road

By ARLnow.com
1/6

A big hole on the side of a road in the Waverly Hills neighborhood has been damaging cars that fail to steer around it.

At least one car was disabled and more damaged by the hole, according to police scanner traffic. No damaged cars were seen when an ARLnow.com reporter stopped by later in the day.

Located at the corner of N. Glebe Road and N. Woodstock Street, the hole appears to have been cut as part of road, curb and sidewalk work along Woodstock Street. While there are orange traffic cones around it, cars turning onto the residential street seem to have trouble squeezing by the hole when another is waiting at the stop sign to turn onto Glebe.

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