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.

Arlington Agenda: Dec. 19-25

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in Arlington County. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out the event submission form.

Also, be sure to check out our event calendar.

Tuesday

SnowglobeHomemade for the Holidays: Snow Globes
Connection: Crystal City (2100 Crystal Drive)
Time: 4:30-6 p.m.

Learn how to make homemade gifts for friends, family or yourself in this series of holiday craft programs. This event will teach you how to make snow globes out of Mason jars and all supplies will be provided. Perfect for holiday gifts!

Wednesday

Pre- Chanukah on Ice 2016Pre-Chanukah on Ice*
Pentagon Row Ice Rink (1201 South Joyce Street)
Time: 6-8:30 p.m.

The Pentagon Row Ice Rink is hosting its annual Chanukah event where you can skate with family, friends and win prizes. There will be dinner, refreshments and a giant six-foot menorah. Tickets are $13 at the door.

Thursday

An Improvised Christmas CarolBah, Humbug! An Improvised Christmas Carol
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: doors open at 6:15 p.m.

The Baltimore Improv Group is performing their take on A Christmas Carol. The plot remains the same but the show is an improvised retelling that includes audience participation. Tickets are $20 and there will be another show on Friday.

Saturday

Live Nativity Calloway UMCLive Nativity at Calloway UMC*
Calloway United Methodist Church (5000 Lee Highway)
Time: 4-5:15 p.m.

This “live nativity” event will include real animals with a reenactment of the Christmas story’s visit from the Wise Men. Guests can also sing Christmas carols and enjoy hot beverages.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) event

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Sign on Military Road in Cherrydale (photo courtesy Becca Collins)

Icy Saturday Morning — Several crashes were reported around Arlington Saturday as freezing rain turned roads and sidewalks into sheets of ice. The slippery conditions lasted for most of the morning, before a warm-up started melting the ice around lunchtime. [Storify]

Wreaths Laid at ANC — Despite the icy weather, tens of thousands of volunteers helped to lay 245,000 wreaths on grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery Saturday morning. Arlington County Police assisted with crowd control for the annual Christmastime event. [WTOP, The Blaze, Twitter]

Students, School Board Speak Out on Boundary Changes — At last week’s Arlington School Board meeting, students spoke in opposition to high school boundary changes some see as furthering racial segregation. School Board members, however, defended their recent boundary change vote. [Washington Post, InsideNova, YouTube]

Borderstan Closes, Editor Coming to ARLnow — Borderstan, ARLnow.com’s sister site that covers the mid-city neighborhoods of D.C., is shutting down at the end of the week. One of its co-editors, Tim Regan, will be joining the ARLnow team in January. [Borderstan, Washingtonian]

Photo courtesy Becca Collins

Rollover Crash Closes WB Route 50 Monday Morning

By ARLnow.com

Rolled-over vehicle on Route 50 (photo courtesy ACPD)

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) A crash involving at least two vehicles, including one that rolled over on its roof, closed westbound Route 50 for part of the morning commute.

The crash was reported around 7:30 a.m. at the intersection with Irving Street.

One person had to be extricated from the rolled-over vehicle. That individual, an adult male, was transported to the trauma center at George Washington University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, said Arlington County Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage.

From the Arlington County police and fire departments, via Twitter:

Photo courtesy ACPD

ACPD to Conduct Extra DUI Patrols During the Holidays

By ARLnow.com

Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over imageArlington County Police are conducting additional DUI patrols during the holiday season.

The DUI enforcement campaign started Sunday and will run through Jan. 3. It coincides, in part, with the SoberRide free taxi service that’s currently in effect.

From an ACPD press release:

Due to the increase in drunk-driving-related fatalities around the holidays each year, law enforcement agencies across America will be actively searching for and arresting drunk drivers from December 18, 2016 to January 3, 2017. During the 2015 Christmas holiday period (6 p.m. December 24th – 5:59 a.m. December 28th), the nation lost 34 lives per day in drunk driving crashes–a total of 120 deaths over 3.5 days.

If you plan on drinking this holiday season, hand the keys over to someone else – a sober friend, a taxi, a ride share driver or public transportation. Washington Regional Alcohol Program’s 2016 Holiday SoberRide program is offering free taxi rides home from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am nightly from Friday, December 16 through Sunday, January 1, 2017. To receive a free cab ride home (up to a $30.00 fare), call 800-200-8294 (TAXI). Or, try NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, which allows users to call a taxi or a friend by identifying their location so they can be picked up. The app is available at http://ow.ly/RWs3S for Android and http://ow.ly/RWs8h for iPhone users.

As part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over enforcement campaign period, police will be increasing the number of patrols, setting up roadblocks and using local media to reach out to all drivers. If you’re drinking and driving, Arlington County Police Department will stop you.

If you see a drunk driver on the road, call the police right away. If someone you know is about to drive after drinking, take their keys and help them get home safely.

Please follow these tips to keep the holidays safe and happy:

  • Even one drink can impair your judgment and increase the risk of getting arrested for driving drunk–or worse, the risk of having a crash.
  • If you will be drinking, do not plan on driving. Plan ahead; designate a sober driver before the party begins.
  • If you have been drinking, do not drive. Call a taxi, phone a sober friend or family member, use public transportation, request a ride sharing application or call SoberRide.

Remember, driving after drinking should never be an option. Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

Police Investigating Bank Robbery Near Fairlington

By ARLnow.com
File photo

Alexandria police are investigating a bank robbery at the Bradlee Shopping Center near the Fairlington neighborhood.

Police say a man entered the Wells Fargo at 3624 King Street, implied a weapon and made off with cash.

From an Alexandria police press release:

The Alexandria Police Department is investigating the robbery of a Wells Fargo Bank located at 3624 King Street. On Friday, December 16, at 2:05 p.m., a man entered the bank, passed the teller a note, and implied that he had a weapon. He demanded money, the teller complied and the suspect fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. There were no injuries.

The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 5’10” tall with a large build. He was wearing a grey and black coat, blue jeans, grey and white tennis shoes, and a black baseball cap.

Police ask that anyone with information about this incident call Detective Michael Whelan at 703.746.6228.

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

GOAT Sports Bar in ClarendonOur biggest story of the week was the news that the crew from Don Tito and A-Town would be opening a new sports bar in Clarendon.

Say what you want about them, but they know how to create popular places. Close to 10,000 people read our article about G.O.A.T. Sports Bar, making it the most-read restaurant article in recent memory.

Since the article was first published on Monday, we’ve learned a bit more about G.O.A.T, which is coming to the former Hard Times Space.

“The G.O.A.T. will be an almost 10,000 square foot premier sports bar and game filled (your favorite arcade games from the past, mixed with the best of today’s game technology) fun zone with the best food and drink you can find in a bar,” one of the partners posted on Facebook this week. Those games just may help it to stand out in the crowded Clarendon bar scene.

The next seven most-read articles of the week were all police-related, while No. 9 was our article on the towing ordinance changes. Towing stories always gin up strong feelings in Arlington, and this week’s article was no exception.

Feel free to discuss the G.O.A.T, this week’s slew of crime articles or — gasp — towing, or any other topic of local interest, in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

SoberRide Program Offering Free Taxi Rides Through Jan. 1

By ARLnow.com

The regional SoberRide program is offering free taxi rides this holiday season, starting tonight (Friday).

More from a press release:

Combating that holiday period which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says is a “dangerous time to be on the road due to a high number of drunk drivers behind the wheel,”* a local nonprofit organization announced today that free cab rides will be offered to would-be drunk drivers throughout Arlington County, Virginia.

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the annual Holiday SoberRide® program will operate between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am each evening between Friday, December 16, 2016 and Sunday, January 1, 2017 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk, holiday period.

During the evening hours, between December 16th and January 1st, Washington-metropolitan area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1-800-200-TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to $ 30 fare), safe way home. (AT&T wireless users can dial #WRAP for the same service.)

“Last December, nearly 1,500 (1,456) Greater Washington residents did the right thing and availed themselves of this lifesaving service rather than possibly driving home impaired,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP’s President. “For SoberRide’s hours of operation during just last New Year’s Eve, alone, such ridership (580) translated into the removal of a would-be drunk driver from our shared roadways every 49-seconds.”

SoberRide is offered in the: District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William. In these areas, local taxicab companies will be providing this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.

Since 1993, WRAP’s SoberRide program has provided 65,385 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.

Sponsors of this year’s Holiday SoberRide offering include: AAA Mid-Atlantic, Anheuser-Busch, Brown-Forman, Constellation Brands, Diageo, District of Columbia Association of Beverage Alcohol Wholesalers, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Giant Food, Glory Days Grill, MillerCoors, Red Top Cab of Arlington, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, Volkswagen Group of America and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association.

Participating taxicab companies include: Alexandria Yellow Cab; Barwood; Fairfax Yellow Cab; Loudoun Yellow Cab; Northern Virginia Checker Cab; Red Top Cab; Silver Cab of Prince George’s County; Yellow Cab of D.C.; and Yellow Cab of Prince William County.

Founded in 1982, the nonprofit [501(c)(3)] Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is a coalition of diverse interests using effective education, innovative programs and targeted advocacy to end alcohol-impaired driving and underage drinking in the Washington, DC metro area. Through public education, innovative health education programs and advocacy, WRAP is credited with keeping the metro-Washington area’s alcohol-related traffic deaths historically lower than the national average.

More information about WRAP’s SoberRide initiative can be found at www.soberride.com.

Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Searching for a new home in Arlington? You’ll be able to find plenty of options this weekend.

Visit our real estate section for a full listing of open houses this weekend. Here are a few highlights:

2805 Arlington Blvd2805 Arlington Boulevard
2 Bed/1 Bath Condo
Agent: Lauren Kolazas
Listed: $299,900
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

951 S Scott St951 South Scott Street
2 Bed/2.5 Bath Townhouse
Agent: Kristie Zimmerman
Listed: $449,000
Open: Sunday 2-4 p.m.

 

1016 N Arlington Mill Dr1016 North Arlington Mill Drive
4 Bed/3 Bath Single-Family Detached
Agent: Regina Gahunia
Listed: $699,900
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

6291 15th Place N6291 15th Place North
4 Bed/2.5 Bath Single-Family Detached
Agent: Thomas Hennerty
Listed: $849,000
Open: Saturday 1-4 p.m.

 

3819 N Tazewell St3819 North Tazewell Street
3 Bed/3.5 Bath Townhouse
Agent: Matthew Shepard
Listed: $1,150,000
Open: Sunday 1-3 p.m.

 

4437 33rd Rd N4437 33rd Road North
5 Bed/3.5 Bath Single-Family Detached
Agent: Patricia Bias
Listed: $1,379,900
Open: Sunday 1-4 p.m.

 

Real estate agents, if you don’t see your listings in our real estate section shoot us an email and we’ll let you know what your office needs to do to get listed.

ACPD: We’re Working to Better Address Construction-Related Traffic

By ARLnow.com

Traffic chaos in Rosslyn at Lee/Lynn

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Following the rush hour mess at the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Lynn Street earlier this week, the Arlington County Police Department says it’s working to better coordinate its response to construction-related traffic issues.

This week’s issues, the police department explained, were caused in part by road paving that’s part of a big development project.

“Heavy traffic in Rosslyn this week was [exacerbated] by street paving as part of the ongoing construction at Central Place,” ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage told ARLnow.com. “The paving is now complete and we are seeing a return to normal traffic volume in the area.”

Savage said the department has a detail that directs traffic at the congested intersection on weekday mornings, but doesn’t have a similar detail for the evening rush hour.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to address traffic issues in Rosslyn, the police department funds a special detail in which two officers direct traffic during the morning rush hour at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and Lynn Street in order to keep traffic from blocking the box,” she said. “This has a positive impact on the immediate area but traffic still backs up at the intersections west of that location due to infrastructure capacity.”

“While our detail has specific hours, our officers do conduct additional enforcement at the intersection on a random rotating basis with the goal of compliance with traffic laws even when police are not present,” Savage added.

ACPD says it is working with county development officials to improve the department’s construction traffic response.

“The police department is coordinating with the Development Services Bureau to better address traffic issues related to the construction,” said Savage.

However, Savage added, “We must balance our available police resources with all requests for traffic enforcement throughout the County.”

DCA Expects Heavy Holiday Traffic to Start This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Taxis queued up at Reagan National AirportReagan National Airport officials are warning travelers to expect heavy holiday traffic at the airport starting this weekend.

Traffic congestion at DCA is expected to be at its worst from 7-9 a.m. and 2-6 p.m. The peak holiday travel period is expected to last through Wednesday, Jan. 4.

From a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority press release:

Travelers using Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this holiday season are advised of possible roadway congestion associated with record volumes of travelers flying at the airport. Drivers on airport roadways experienced delays during the 2016 Thanksgiving travel rush. Airport officials urge the public to plan ahead and consider alternatives to driving when making plans to use Reagan National between December 16, 2016, and January 4, 2017.

Suggested strategies and alternatives include:

  • Riding Metrorail to and from the airport
  • Using the second airport exit from the George Washington Memorial Parkway coming south from Washington, D.C. This route provides more direct access to Terminal A and Economy parking.
  • Allowing extra travel time to reach terminals, lots and garages
  • Avoiding airport roads if the airport is not your destination

Airport roadway congestion often peaks from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 2 to 6 p.m., coinciding with local rush hours and the busiest movement of airline passengers. Congestion often extends beyond these times on days immediately before and after major holidays.

Customers parking at Reagan National are advised to reserve parking in advance at flyreagan.com/epark and check parking availability on overhead signs or at flyreagan.com/parking.

Finalists Chosen for Arlington County Vehicle Decal Contest

By ARLnow.com
1/4

The four finalists have been chosen for Arlington’s 13th annual Vehicle Decal Design Competition.

The contest, organized by the county Treasurer’s Office, received 235 submissions from Arlington high school students this year. It was narrowed down to the finalists, above, by a panel of local residents.

Arlington County residents can now vote (once) for their favorite through Monday, Jan. 16. Voting is taking place online and via mail.

The winner will be announced at a County Board meeting on Jan. 31, according to the Treasurer’s Office, and that design will then grace the windshields of 160,000 windshields from 2017-2018.

The winner will also get $750, while the runners-up gets $500 from the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union.

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