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.
(Updated at 6:20 p.m.) The effects of Tuesday’s major electrical fire at Market Common Clarendon (2800 Clarendon Blvd) are still being felt.
Large, noisy mobile generators are now providing power to the shopping center and its attached apartment complex, Avalon Clarendon. Nonetheless, some stores remain closed and the apartment building was still without air conditioning, hot water and elevator service.
Building management sent the following email to residents Wednesday evening.
Dear Residents,
We would like to provide the latest update on the power situation. We regret to inform that A/C, hot water and elevator service will not be restored today. Our team is making every effort for these services to be available tomorrow.
Comcast has notified us that phone, cable and internet has been restored in all three buildings. Verizon has yet to confirm a timeframe for their services.
The Whole Foods Market across the street also lost power after the transformer explosion and fire. Although the store reportedly brought in a freezer truck Wednesday, large quantities of meat, milk, cheese, juice and other perishables had to be thrown away.
Store employees were busy restocking throughout the day on Thursday.
Update at 6 p.m. — The southbound lanes of Washington Blvd have reopened, but the northbound lanes remain closed due to the police investigation.
Earlier: All lanes of Washington Blvd remains closed near Fort Myer due to a self-inflicted shooting.
The shooting happened just after 3:30 p.m., when an Arlington County Police officer approached a stopped vehicle on the side of Washington Blvd. As the officer was walking up, the man inside the vehicle pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, according to ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage.
Numerous police officers responded to the scene following the shooting, but they took a cautious stance out of safety concerns. The county bomb squad was dispatched to the scene, to investigate the vehicle. At 4:20 p.m., paramedics pronounced the man dead.
The officer who first approached the car is being evaluated by paramedics but is believed to be uninjured. Significant traffic impacts are being reported due to the now-rush hour closure of Washington Blvd between Columbia Pike and Route 50.
If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, help is a phone call away. Call CrisisLink at 703-527-4077.
This week’s Arlington Pet of the Week is Bosley, a seven-month-old Goldendoodle who melts hearts and destroys beds.
Upon recently discovering a new thing called a “beach,” Bosley was smitten. As much as he loves Clarendon, Bosley craves more trips to the shore.
Here’s what Bosley’s beach chauffeur, Liz, had to say about him.
Hello! My name is Bosley, or Bosley Bear as my mom likes to call me, and I am a seven month old Goldendoodle. I was adopted from Staunton, Virginia at nine weeks and moved to Arlington in January. You have probably seen me walking around Clarendon, desperately trying to pull my mom and dad to meet every single person we walk by. Sometimes I get the hiccups because I’m so excited to meet everyone.
I may be small now, but I have a big personality and endless energy! I LOVE going to the Clarendon Dog Park and playing with my fellow Arlington doggies. Every time we leave our apartment and start walking in that direction I try my hardest to get us there faster. I’ve taken a couple trips to the beach already and have decided the beach life is for me! I’d also settle for splashing around in the creek behind my grandparent’s house.
I may have chewed up a couple beds and stolen a few dinners from my parents but they still love me! Follow me on Instagram at Bosley_the_dood to see more pictures of my adventures.
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 six 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.
(Updated at 12:50 p.m.) The summer starts today for Arlington high school students.
Arlington Public Schools high school students will have an early dismissal today, their last day of the school year.
The last day of school for APS middle school students is Thursday; it’s Friday for elementary students. All schools will have early dismissals on their last day.
(Barcroft elementary ends its school year early — it had its last day yesterday. Private, Arlington-based Bishop O’Connell High School had its last day of school on Friday, June 10.)
Wednesday: Williamsburg Middle School (8:15 a.m.), Gunston Middle School (8:30 a.m.), Kenmore Middle School (8:30 a.m.), Swanson Middle School (8:30 a.m.), Jefferson Middle School (9 a.m.), H-B Woodlawn (6:15 p.m.)
Thursday: Washington-Lee High School (10 a.m.), Yorktown High School (3 p.m.), Wakefield High School (8 p.m.)
Friday: Arlington Mill High School (9:30 a.m.), Langston High School Continuation Program (1 p.m.)
Stratford School Designated Historic — The Arlington County Board has approved a historic designation for the Stratford School, the current home to the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program and the future home to a new middle school. In 1959, Stratford became the first public school in Virginia to be integrated, with four black seventh graders enrolling, thus marking the beginning of the end of school segregation in the Commonwealth. [Arlington County]
Fox Freed From Fence — A not-so-sly fox had to be freed by an Arlington animal control officer after getting its hind leg stuck in a chain link fence. The fox was uninjured. [Twitter]
Park Expansion, Land Donation Approved — The County Board last night approved the expansion of Benjamin Banneker Park, via the purchase of a 8,487-square-foot lot for $637,500. The Board also accepted the donation of 7,432 square feet of land adjacent to I-66 and a bike trail. Hitt Contracting, Inc. donated the land after figuring out that zoning restrictions prevented the company from developing it. [Arlington County]
Preservationists Worried About Tear-Downs — Local preservationists are worried about plan to tear down a number of older properties in the area of Minor’s Hill and replace them with new homes. However, it appears that the home builders will be able to proceed with their plans, as “Arlington County has no legal authority to delay or stop the demolition.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Long Branch Creek’s First Neighborhood Plan — The Long Branch Creek neighborhood, located near the Glebe Road onramp to I-395, has had its first-ever Neighborhood Conservation Plan approved by the Arlington County Board. The plan will allow the neighborhood to apply for neighborhood improvement projects. It calls for Long Branch Creek to become a “walkable urban village” while “preserving the livability and quiet, diverse character of the neighborhood.” [Arlington County]
Yorktown Student Auditions for Shark Tank — Among those auditioning for the ABC show Shark Tank at a recent casting call at 1776 in Crystal City was a 17-year-old Yorktown High School student, Zanab Farooq, who founded a custom mobile phone case company. [Arlington Chamber of Commerce]
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey addressed transportation and affordable housing on Columbia Pike at her State of the County address Tuesday morning.
Garvey said the county needs to “fix the transportation” on the Pike, “not that it’s too bad now.” She referenced the Transit Development Plan for enhanced bus service on Columbia Pike, which the Board is expected to consider at its July meeting.
Garvey noted that there has been continued development along the Columbia Pike corridor. The cancellation of the streetcar project — Garvey led the charge against it — “hasn’t affected people as much as some would suggest,” she said.
Garvey also said the county needs to “slow down a bit” the pace of affordable housing development along Arlington’s western end of Columbia Pike, to avoid an over-concentration of affordable housing in one place.
“It’s great what we’re doing, but I think we have to be aware that you don’t want to concentrate it too much,” she said.
That should be welcome news to the Coalition of Arlingtonians for Responsible Development (CARD), a particularly vocal civic group formed last year in opposition to what it views as a clustering of affordable housing on Columbia Pike. The group says it favors a more even geographic distribution of affordable housing throughout Arlington.
Sugar Shack Donuts on Columbia Pike, while it was still under construction
Sriracha and Maple Chicken Donuts at Sugar Shack
Del. Rob Krupicka
(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) Arlington has more to do to make the county friendlier to small businesses, particularly those with brick-and-mortar storefronts.
That was one of the messages sent by Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey during her State of the County talk this morning.
Garvey discussed the county’s efforts to compete economically during the talk, which is hosted by the Arlington County Chamber of Commerce. While Garvey lauded the county’s push to attract large employers — particularly tech-related firms — to Arlington, she lamented that small businesses are still encountering regulatory road blocks. As an example, she cited the experience of former Democratic state delegate Rob Krupicka, who opened a Sugar Shack Donuts location along Columbia Pike in February.
Garvey noted that Krupicka — who served in the House of Delegates for four years, representing parts of Arlington and Alexandria — had been expressing frustration on Facebook with the process of opening a shop in Arlington. She later reached out to him, asking that he share his experience with county staff.
“It was a little hard as a Board member to sit there and hear it,” she said. “He had to come in six times to get approval for a sign… And this was a small business, [Rob] is the one doing it all. [He also] had to come in to pay for permits and things because you can’t pay online.”
“We need to be thinking of the big guys, going to China [to attract businesses],” said Garvey, “but we also need to be down on the very granular level and make sure people don’t have to come six times for a sign — and can pay online. We’re working on it, we’re not there yet, but we’re absolutely committed to making it work.”
Asked about his experience, Krupicka said it was “definitely easier” to open his first donut shop in Alexandria than it was to open his second in Arlington.
“Both have their issues. Both have good staff. Alexandria has put a lot of effort into streamlining and it shows,” Krupicka told ARLnow.com. “The Arlington permitting process is in need of streamlining and modernization.”
There were five areas in particular where Arlington County could improve, according to Krupicka.
“Payments have to be made by mail or in person rather than online and for some things you can’t move forward without payment, so that means waiting in line in the planning office for hours to get your name called so you can hand a check to somebody.”
“Planning, Zoning, Health, etc. don’t talk to each other and it appears they don’t understand where each other fits in the process. The process actually seems to assume the small business person will force that communication and coordination. That is crazy, as the small business person shouldn’t have to be an expert on government process, the process should be designed to be easy. The big guys just hire lawyers. Small businesses should not have to.”
“Many permits need to be applied for in person. You can’t just submit them online. You have to sit in the office and wait to be called, wasting hours of time. I have spent days waiting in the county offices. I have overheard a lot of very unhappy individuals and business people. The elected officials should spend some time walking through this process.”
“In Alexandria you only need one permit to put up a building sign. It takes 20 days or so. In Arlington, you need two permits, zoning and construction, and it takes 60 days plus. In Alexandria you can apply online and never have to go into the office. My Arlington sign had me to to the County Offices at least 5 times wasting a lot of money on parking and more importantly time.”
“There is an online system for some things, but in my experience, it was very cumbersome and I spent hours working with tech support to get it to work. I’m hoping that is fixed now.”
“All of this could be streamlined without impacting the proper county regulatory role,” Krupicka concluded. “I was impressed the way Libby Garvey reached out to me, tried to help and then made time and organized county staff to listen to my experience in order to try and fix it. She, [County Board member John] Vihstadt and Commissioner [of Revenue] Ingrid Morroy were the three that made a real effort to help me.”
Update at 5:55 p.m. — A Flash Flood Warning has also been issued for the area, through 8:45 p.m.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
* FLASH FLOOD WARNING
* UNTIL 845 PM EDT
* AT 551 PM EDT…DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE AREA. FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN
SHORTLY.
* SOME LOCATIONS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE… ARLINGTON…ALEXANDRIA…BETHESDA…ANNANDALE…CLINTON… SPRINGFIELD…FORT WASHINGTON…FAIRFAX…FORT HUNT…VIENNA… GROVETON…FORESTVILLE…FALLS CHURCH…HUNTINGTON…LARGO… CORAL HILLS…BLADENSBURG…MANTUA…FORT BELVOIR AND PIMMIT HILLS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
TURN AROUND…DON`T DROWN WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS. MOST FLOOD
DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES.
Update at 5:40 p.m. — Another Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for Arlington.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FROM 5:31PM EDT TUE UNTIL 6:15PM EDT TUE
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR… FAIRFAX COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA… THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA… THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA… ARLINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA… THE CITY OF FAIRFAX IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA…
* UNTIL 615 PM EDT
* AT 531 PM EDT… A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTH RIDING… MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
HAZARD… 70 MPH WIND GUSTS AND HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL.
SOURCE… RADAR INDICATED.
IMPACT… DAMAGING WINDS WILL CAUSE SOME TREES AND LARGE BRANCHES TO FALL. THIS COULD INJURE THOSE OUTDOORS… AS WELL AS DAMAGE HOMES AND VEHICLES. ROADWAYS MAY BECOME BLOCKED BY DOWNED TREES. LOCALIZED POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE. UNSECURED LIGHT OBJECTS MAY BECOME PROJECTILES.
* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE… ARLINGTON… ALEXANDRIA… CENTREVILLE… RESTON… ANNANDALE… SPRINGFIELD… FAIRFAX… FORT HUNT… VIENNA… GROVETON… FALLS CHURCH… HUNTINGTON… MANTUA… FORT BELVOIR… PIMMIT HILLS… CRYSTAL CITY… REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT… MCLEAN… ROSSLYN AND BURKE. GET INDOORS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM WIND AND LIGHTNING. TREES AROUND YOU MAY BE DOWNED FROM DAMAGING WINDS… SO IF YOU ARE NEAR LARGE TREES… MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. DON’T DRIVE UNDERNEATH TREES OR IN WOODED AREAS UNTIL THE THREAT HAS PASSED.
Update at 2:25 p.m. — Arlington is now under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning through 3:15 p.m.
Earlier: Arlington is now under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch.
The watch is in effect until 9 p.m. tonight for much of the Mid-Atlantic region.
The National Weather Service says that isolated severe thunderstorms may produce “damaging winds and large hail” this afternoon and evening.
A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of DE, DC, MD, NJ, PA, VA, WV until 9 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/61tSA37lsp
— NWS Severe Tstorm (@NWSSevereTstorm) June 21, 2016
But, according to Niche, Arlington didn’t rank quite as well on its new list of the “Best Suburbs to Live in America.”
Arlington is No. 7 on the list, behind McNair in Fairfax County (No. 6); Park City, Utah (No. 4) and Merrifield, also in Fairfax County (No. 2). Superior, a town near Boulder, Colorado, topped the list at No. 1.
The “Best Suburbs” list is “based on crime, public schools, cost of living, job opportunities, and local amenities.”
Arlington County and Pentagon police are responding to two Noodles and Company restaurants in Arlington due to bomb threats.
According to initial reports, someone phoned in multiple bomb threats to the Noodles and Company restaurants at 2011 Crystal Drive in Crystal City and 1201 S. Joyce Street on Pentagon Row.
The restaurants have been evacuated, we hear, and bomb-sniffing dogs from the Pentagon Force Protection Agency are en route to sweep the area.
