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.

New Marymount Farmers Market to Launch May 21

By ARLnow.com

Marymount Farmers Market logo (image via Facebook)A launch date has been set for the new farmers market at Marymount University.

The market will launch on Saturday, May 21, according to its website. It will be held at Marymount’s surface parking lot at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Old Dominion Drive, on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., through Nov. 19.

Free parking is available at Marymount’s Blue Garage.

The market, which was organized by local residents, is billing itself as the only farmers market in Arlington north of Lee Highway.

“Featuring a fresh, delicious, organic, and healthy variety of foods, the Marymount Farmers Market was created and developed by your North Arlington neighbors and Civic Associations in partnership under the Lee Highway Alliance,” the website notes. “It is hosted by Marymount University and managed by Field to Table.”

“The Marymount Farmers Market is a local producer-only market. Each of our vendors grows, bakes, roasts, cooks, or prepares all of their products within 125 miles of Arlington County. Produce is usually picked within a day or two of the market so it is as fresh as possible.”

Photo via Facebook

UPDATED: Ace Hardware Store Coming to Courthouse

By ARLnow.com

2001 Clarendon Blvd (file photo)(Updated at 11:33 a.m.) A new hardware store is coming to Courthouse.

Fairfax-based Twins Ace Hardware will open an Arlington location on the ground floor of the 2001 Clarendon apartment building late this summer, according to a company announcement

The store will sell a “wide variety” of products and span 5,560 square feet, the announcement reads.

A building permit application for the new business was filed on Monday.

A hardware store is one of the most often-requested retail amenities for the Clarendon-Courthouse area, following the 2005 closure of Virginia Hardware on Wilson Blvd.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Glencarlyn forest (Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick)

Report: Toddler Left in Car Suffered Burns — The Annandale man charged in the death of his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter was watching TV and drinking beer as the child sat forgotten in his car, NBC 4 reports. He was also driving on a revoked license. The girl had a body temperature of 107 when she was rushed to the hospital and had second-degree burns from the car seat. [NBC Washington]

Park Aides Get Banning Powers — Park ranger aides in Arlington now have the legal authority to ban people from parks. The County Board voted earlier this month to add aides to the list of county personnel with powers of attorney for the “Park Safe” program. Offenders who violate the ban — which is typically levied on those who repeatedly violate park rules — can be charged with criminal trespassing. [InsideNova]

Moon Bounce Opportunity — Arlington County will be holding a “Fitness Day in the Park” at Alcova Heights Park on Saturday. The event will include games, nutrition and fitness demos, an inflatable rock wall and a moon bounce. [Arlington County]

Festival Argentino in Arlington — The 2016 Argentine Festival will be held at the Thomas Jefferson Community Theater (125 S. Old Glebe Road) on Saturday, May 14. The event will feature traditional food, exhibitions, music and dance. Tickets are $20 in advance. [Festival Argentino USA]

Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick

Arlington Agenda: April 26-May 1

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.

Wednesday

Screen Shot 2016-04-26 at 3.26.13 PMFundraiser to Support Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Cafe Pizzaiolo (2800 S. Randolph Street)
Time: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

A fundraiser is being held for Jack Creedon, an 11-year-old boy from Alexandria who was diagnosed with “very high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia” in November. Mention the fundraiser and Cafe Pizzaiolo will donate 15 percent of the sale.

The Celtic HouseARLnow Presents: Hot Topics on the Pike
Celtic House Irish Pub (2500 Columbia Pike)
Time: 6:30-8 p.m.

Development, affordable housing, school crowding, Metro’s woes, the future of Columbia Pike. Those are just a few of the Arlington issues we’ll discuss with our opinion columnists and a number of notable local leaders. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Doorways for Women and Families.

Thursday

ConfederateHistoryMonthProgram on Arlington’s Civil War History 
Aurora Hills Branch Library (735 18th Street S.)
Time: 2-3 p.m.

Warren Nelson, Chairman of the Arlington County Board’s Civil War sesquicentennial observance, will offer insight into Arlington’s role in the Civil War. Learn about this fascinating history, and see pictures of your own backyard from years gone by.

Friday

ADDAMS-Logo_RGB_smMusical: The Addams Family
Wakefield High School (1325 S. Dinwiddie Street)
Time: 7-9 p.m.

The first of four performances of The Addams Family musical. Tickets are $10 at the door. Synopsis: “Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday Addams’ ‘normal’ boyfriend and his parents.”

nickdipaolo2Live Comedy: Nick DiPaolo
Arlington Cinema Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: 10 p.m.

“In this day of watered down comedy Nick DiPaolo’s brutally honest performances remind us of what great stand up should be funny, socially relevant and a little bit reckless.” Tickets are $25. Two additional performances are planned for Saturday night.

Saturday

kilogoArlington Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast*
Clarendon United Methodist Church (606 N. Irving Street)
Time: 8 a.m.-Noon

A “fun-filled morning sponsored by the Arlington Kiwanis Club,” including pancakes, a moon bounce, raffles and more.

IMG_2347Spring Fling and Kids’ Sale*
Children’s Weekday Program (716 S. Glebe Road)
Time: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Inside will be gently used children’s clothing, gear, toys, and household items for sale at below-consignment prices. Outside, families will enjoy kid activities including a bounce house, face painting, active games, refreshments and more.

Mid-Atlantic Spring Beer Festival (photo courtesy Capitol City Brewing)Mid-Atlantic Spring Beer Festival
Village at Shirlington (2700 S. Quincy Street)
Time: Noon-7 p.m.

This springtime beer-tasting event will include a line-up of 35 regional breweries. Admission for beer drinkers is $30, which includes a wristband, official tasting glass and 10 drink tickets. The event is free for non-drinkers and children.

Jr_NBA_Under_Armour_tightJr. NBA Skills Challenge
Wakefield High School (1325 S. Dinwiddie Street)
Time: Noon-4 p.m.

A local competition for the national basketball skills challenge. Registration is $20.

Four Mile Run (file photo)Go Gaga for Green
GMU Founders Hall (3351 Fairfax Drive)
Time: 5-8 p.m.

Go Gaga for Green is a family-friendly, community-wide gathering to celebrate Earth Day and benefit three special programs. The event includes food, fun and live entertainment including a lip sync battle. Additionally, the nominees and winners of the Arlington Green Patriot Award will be announced.

Sunday

avmfinal5K AVM Awareness bRUNch*
Gravely Point Park
Time: 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Join Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) survivor Bridget Falcone for her 10-year anniversary celebration – the 5K AVM Awareness bRUNch. Part awareness run/walk, part brunch festivities, this fundraising event is not to be missed.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) content

GOP Congressional Candidate Fails to File FEC Report on Time, Blames ‘Cyber Attack’

By ARLnow.com

Republican congressional hopeful Mike Webb (photo via Facebook)Mike Webb, who’s running for the Republican congressional nomination in Virginia’s Eighth District, which includes Arlington, says a “targeted cyber attack” prevented him from filing his quarterly campaign finance report.

The Federal Election Commission sent Webb’s campaign a notice on April 22, stating that it had failed to file its April quarterly report.

“Failure to timely file this report may result in civil money penalties, an audit or other legal enforcement action,” the letter says. “The civil money penalty calculation for late reports does not include a grace period and begins on the day following the due date for the report.”

As of today, there was still no quarterly report for January through March 2016 on the FEC page for Webb’s campaign committee. A previously-filed financial report includes a note from Webb apologizing for it being late.

Webb’s campaign, meanwhile, said in a press release that it had not filed the April report due to technical difficulties it attributed to computer hackers. Here’s what the campaign said in the lengthy April 21 press release, one of more than 100 it has sent to local reporters since December.

… this morning, sources close to the campaign of Arlington resident Mike Webb, the putative front-runner in the Republican Party nomination race in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District disclosed that they have been the victim of what appears to have been a targeted cyber-attack.

Shortly before the filing deadline for the quarterly disclosure reports to the Federal Election Commission, the Webb campaign indicated that it began to experience glitches with the filing software, making it difficult to input information. However, on the deadline filing date, the software would just crash whenever the data file was loaded, thereby blocking access to all previously entered data. The Webb campaign indicated that it made several attempts to re-install the program, and to install the program on a separate computer, but the attempts to address and remedy the situation appeared to confirm that there was nothing wrong with the software, but rather that the data file had somehow been corrupted.

“The Webb team had no further comment this morning regarding the incident, but did indicate that they were continuing to work with the FEC on submitting the report and recovering the lost data,” the campaign itself said in a press release, before continuing on for two additional paragraphs.

Webb is running against environmental consultant Charles Hernick for the Republican nomination. A district convention will be held on May 7 to select a nominee. The winner will face long odds against incumbent Democratic Rep. Don Beyer in the fall.

While Webb has participated in Republican-sponsored events leading up to the convention, his campaign has adopted an outsider’s stance, often speaking out against the local GOP establishment. In a press release today, in fact, Webb said he has notified local police and the FBI about a persistent Twitter critic who goes by the monicker “GOP Establishment.”

Accusing the anonymous Twitter user of “extortion,” Webb claims that he gave law enforcement the name of “every potential suspect from the long list of establishment officials and Young Republicans.”

Webb, an Arlington resident, has been idiosyncratic in other aspects of his campaign, particularly on social media. On April 20 he posted an image wishing his supporters a “Happy 4/20.” On January 11 he accused ARLnow of “censorship” for our moderation of the comments section of a Dec. 23 article about his candidacy.

Arlington Spent $6.5 Million on Snow Removal This Winter

By ARLnow.com

Front end loaders clearing snow during the January 2016 blizzard (Flickr pool photo by Starbuck77)Arlington County says it spent $6.5 million on snow removal operations, equipment and supplies this winter.

That’s nearly $4 million more than was spent the previous winter, when the county almost ran out of salt due to a succession of snow storms.

The total roadway snow removal expenditure — the figures quoted here do not include removing snow from bus shelters or sidewalks — for Fiscal Year 2015 was only $2.7 million, according to Arlington County. As of April 25, the FY 2016 bill was $6.5 million, about $5 million of which was associated with the cleanup from January’s Snowzilla blizzard, as the county revealed last month.

Why was this year’s bill so much higher? It’s mostly attributable to equipment rental costs, we’re told.

“The majority of this cost increase was associated with heavy contract equipment used during the January 22-29, 2016 blizzard,” explained Mike Moon, Chief Operating Officer of Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services.

“The amount of contract equipment deployed for this event far exceeded the requirements for the previous year and cost more than $4.0 million,” Moon continued. “With more than two feet of snow, heavy contract equipment was needed for the effort, which included hauling snow in our commercial corridors (Rosslyn, Ballston, Crystal City).”

Last month Arlington said that it can potentially recoup $2 million from federal disaster assistance funds, though the reimbursement process is a lengthy one.

Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz said in March that the county is considering changes to its snow removal efforts in the wake of January’s blizzard. Among the changes being considered is the purchase of additional heavy equipment and a new snow melter.

Flickr pool photo (top) by Starbuck77

Bourbon Bar ‘Barley Mac’ to Open in Rosslyn Later This Week

By ARLnow.com
1/14

Rosslyn is getting a new bourbon bar and neighborhood hangout.

Barley Mac, located in the former Red, Hot & Blue space at 1600 Wilson Blvd, is set to open later this week. An official opening date has not been announced yet, but a safe bet is to expect a couple of quiet, “soft opening” periods, followed by a more official opening later this week, perhaps Thursday or Friday.

The ownership group behind Barley Mac is a familiar one — you’ve heard of some of their other, highly successful bar/restaurant ventures, notably A-Town Bar and Grill in Ballston and Don Tito in Clarendon. Barley Mac, says partner Scott Parker, will be the group’s most mature, food-centric establishment yet.

Case in point: the pedigree of some of the team members behind the restaurant. Executive chef Jeremy Magnanelli got his culinary start at the prestigious Inn at Little Washington, and most recently was sous chef at Lincoln Restaurant in D.C. Beverage program manager Mitch Johnson comes by way of the Robert Wiedmaier Group.

(Other team members include executive chef Mike Cordero, who is creating the menu, and interior designer Yvette Irene.)

The food menu, still a work in progress, is billed as “American tavern cuisine with an Italian twist.” In terms of drinks there will of course be draft beer and craft cocktails, but the star of the show will be the whiskey selection. Parker says to expect more than 100 whiskeys, half of which are bourbons.

Among the whiskeys on the menu: Elijah Craig 18 year, Hudson Baby Bourbon, A. Smith Bowman whiskey from Fredericksburg, Old Rip Van Winkle, Whistle Pig Rye, plus Yamazaki and Hibiki Japanese whiskeys.

Barley Mac has been more than a year in the making but Parker says the wait will be worth it. He and his partners are expecting Barley Mac to be another smashing success, thanks to pent up demand for a go-to after-work spot for those who live and work in Rosslyn.

The Rosslyn market, he said, is “underserved” by existing restaurants, particularly when it comes to happy hour and late night options.

“We expect to be really busy from day one,” Parker said. “We think Rosslyn has a lot of good spots but it doesn’t have that neighborhood gathering place. That’s what we’re aiming to be, the go-to spot… the place in Rosslyn everybody knows.”

Barley Mac plans to remain open until 2 a.m. seven days a week. It expects to serve only dinner this week, with lunch service added next week. After about a month, Barley Mac will offer a “huge brunch buffet” on weekends and will also add outdoor, patio dining options.

Morning Poll: More Traffic Safety Enforcement?

By ARLnow.com

New decals on police cars remind drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to be Predictable, Alert, Lawful, or PAL (photo via Arlington County)

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) This week, the Arlington County Police Department is holding its annual Spring Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety Awareness campaign.

This morning and for part of the day Thursday, police will be conducting targeted, high-visibility traffic safety enforcement and public education in Clarendon and Crystal City.

https://twitter.com/ArlingtonVaPD/status/724958170754506754

But is that enough to truly improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists in Arlington? In just the past week alone, two young people have been struck and seriously injured — while crossing in marked crosswalks along the pedestrian-heavy Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

In both instances, nearby residents complained that drivers were chronically ignoring crossing pedestrians, driving too fast and driving while distracted — and that police enforcement is virtually non-existent.

Those two incidents aside, local drivers will tell you that pedestrians in Arlington make a habit of darting out into the road mid-block and crossing against traffic lights, often oblivious to oncoming traffic.

So what should be done about this, to improve safety for all? Should the Arlington County Police Department issue more tickets to drivers and pedestrians in an effort to curb serious accidents and bad behavior on both sides?

(Note: this poll and discussion concerns drivers and pedestrians only. Say what you want about cyclists — and the drivers who sometimes cut them off — but the most pressing issue here is about what to do specifically about pedestrian and vehicle conflicts.)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

WeWork and WeLive building in Crystal City

Watch Caps Practice in Ballston Today for Free — The Washington Capitals will be preparing for their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins this morning at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston. The Caps’ practice starts at 10:30 a.m. and it’s free to attend and watch. The Iceplex, the Caps’ administrative and training home base, is owned by Arlington County and leased to the Capitals. [Arlington County]

Garvey Turns 65 — Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey celebrated her 65th birthday yesterday. Garvey’s reelection campaign wasted little time in using the occasion to ask for donations of $65 as “a special birthday gift.” [Reelect Libby]

Yorktown’s Efforts to Narrow Achievement Gap — Yorktown High School has been working with the Minority Student Achievement Network, a project of the University of Wisconsin, to help it narrow the school’s achievement gaps. The program at Yorktown specifically focuses on minority boys, a relatively small group at the school. [University of Wisconsin]

Man Struck By SUV in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) A man has been struck by a car on 10th Street N. in Clarendon.

The crash happened around 6:45 p.m., on 10th Street N. at the N. Garfield Street intersection, just west of Washington Blvd.

Initial reports suggest a driver in an SUV struck the man as he was in the marked crosswalk. The man, said to be in his 20s, was bloodied but conscious and alert when paramedics arrived. He was transported to the trauma center at George Washington University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A nearby resident said the intersection is dangerous because drivers speed up as they turn onto 10th Street from Washington Blvd.

“This is what I’ve feared for the longest time and why I’ve repeatedly complained to be county,” said Anne McKenna. “It is a notoriously horrible intersection.”

McKenna said she was instrumental in getting Arlington County to install bright crosswalk signs at the crossing two years ago, but they’ve had little impact on driving behaviors.

“No cars ever stop in that crosswalk and… there is no enforcement,” she wrote in an email. “I’ve never seen ONE law enforcement/code enforcement person in that intersection.”

Police are investigating the crash, but McKenna said the driver, who remained on scene after the crash, was allowed to drive off. Police charged the driver with failure to yield, a minor traffic infraction.

“No arrest or any justice for pedestrians,” McKenna said. “Huge blood stain in street.”

This is the second significant pedestrian crash in Arlington in the past two weeks. Last week a teenage girl was struck and seriously injured while walking in a crosswalk on Washington Blvd in Ballston.

Arlington County is conducting a pedestrian and bike safety campaign this week.

Editor’s note: Citing a witness, an earlier version of this article mistakenly identified the victim as female. Police say the victim was a man.

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