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.

Here’s the Lineup for ARLnow’s Tech Event on March 29

By ARLnow.com

Arlington tech eventIn less than two weeks, ARLnow.com will be holding a networking event and discussion about Arlington’s growing tech industry.

With tech firms moving to Arlington, expanding in Arlington and the continued growth of incubators, co-working spaces and even tech-inspired co-living spaces, there’s a lot happening here.

Here’s the current lineup of innovators who will be discussing their business and their take on the local tech scene:

The event will be hosted by Sarah Fraser, Fox 5 contributor and founder of the Hey Frase podcast. Representatives from Arlington Economic Development will also be on hand to discuss the resources available to startups in Arlington.

Details about the event are below.

Day: Tuesday, March 29
Time: 5:30-8 p.m. (program runs from 6:30-7:30)
Venue: Highline RxR (2010 Crystal Drive)
Tickets: $10 online, includes food and drink ticket

Thank you to our co-sponsors, Vornado and the Crystal City Business Improvement District.

UPDATED: Metro Train Evacuated at Rosslyn Due to Smoke

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn Metro by Chris RiefUpdated at 5:45 p.m. — A Metro spokeswoman says the incident described below was a brake issue with a train.

According to Sherri Ly: “There was no ‘evacuation.’ The train was offloaded due to a brake issue… The train was taken out of service and the customers were able to board the next train.

“There was no electrical issue and the smell is not an electrical smell, it’s the smell of hot brakes – similar to if you are riding your brakes in your car.”

Earlier: A day after the Metrorail system was shut down due to the risk of electrical fires on the tracks, an apparent brake or electrical issue has prompted the evacuation of a train at the Rosslyn Metro station.

Numerous riders, including a reporter who occasionally freelances for ARLnow.com, reported the incident on Twitter.

We’re told that the train’s conductor was initially skeptical when riders began pressing the emergency button, but the train was offloaded shortly thereafter as it filled with smoke.

Metro described the incident as a “train malfunction” and said riders should expect some residual delays. A haze and an electrical smell was reported throughout the station following the malfunction.

https://twitter.com/Joel_Smithey/status/710548851954946052

https://twitter.com/HawatmehNick/status/710550127719612416

https://twitter.com/tomkarako/status/710548210734014465

File photo by Chris Rief

Man Trapped in Overturned Vehicle on Williamsburg Blvd

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A man in his 70s was trapped in an SUV that overturned in North Arlington early this afternoon.

The crash happened around 12:45 p.m., on Williamsburg Blvd near the intersection with N. Glebe Road.

The man was promptly extricated from the vehicle by firefighters. He did not appear to be seriously hurt, according to scanner traffic, and was transported via ambulance to Virginia Hospital Center.

Williamsburg Blvd is closed while a tow crew removes the vehicle and debris from the roadway.

Photos courtesy @ACFDPIO

Arlington Ranks High for Excessive Drinking, Lower for STDs

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Arlington County is one of the healthiest places in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but doesn’t quite top the list.

That’s according to new 2016 rankings from countyhealthrankings.org, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Arlington ranks No. 3 in Virginia, with Fairfax County at No. 2 and Loudoun County at No. 1. Loudoun County received higher marks for Quality of Life and Length of Life, while Fairfax edged Arlington on Quality of Life and Healthy Behaviors.

Two healthy behaviors in particular for which Arlington did not compare favorably? Excessive drinking and sexually transmitted diseases.

Arlington has the highest rate of excessive drinking in the Commonwealth, according to the rankings. Fairfax and Loudoun both come in a few percentage points lower.

Arlington ranks more favorably for the rate of sexually transmitted disease — Arlington’s rate of chlamydia infection is lower than about 60 percent of Virginia jurisdictions, but still above that reported by Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

One healthy behavior in which Arlington has a decisive advantage over Fairfax and Loudoun: the rate of alcohol-impaired driving deaths.

Hat tip to James Breiling

Morning Poll: Do You Agree With the Metro Shutdown?

By ARLnow.com

Damaged power cable in a Metro tunnel (via WMATA)In an unprecedented step, WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld shut down the entire Metrorail system on a weekday for emergency inspections.

Those inspections found more than two dozen damaged power cables along the tracks, the kind which caused a deadly fire and smoke incident in a tunnel outside of the L’Enfant Metro station last year.

With the damaged cables repaired, Metrorail service resumed this morning. Do you think the disruption to hundreds of thousands of people’s daily commutes was worth it?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Ballston neighborhood sign

Snowzilla Cost Arlington $5 Million — The total cost of January’s blizzard to Arlington County is close to $5 million, the county said yesterday. Of that, Arlington believes that it can recoup $2 million from federal disaster assistance funds, though reimbursement process is a lengthy one. [Arlington County]

Young Republicans to Meet With Gun Store Owner — The Arlington-Falls Church Young Republicans will hear from the owner of NOVA Armory, the new gun store in Lyon Park, at their meeting on Monday. The meeting will be open to AFCYR members only — much like a Lyon Park community meeting on the store was open only to residents. The Arlington County Republican Committee, meanwhile, passed a resolution last night in support of the store, stating that the local GOP “stands with gun stores such as NOVA Armory that are engaged in lawful commerce.” [Facebook]

Metro Shutdown and Bus Stigma — Did yesterday’s shutdown of the Metrorail system help some commuters overcome perceived “bus stigma?” Given the longer lines around bus stops, bus ridership was definitely up. [Mobility Lab]

Metro Planning to Reopen Thursday Amid Light PM Rush Hour Traffic, Long Cab and Bus Lines

By ARLnow.com

The Metrorail system will reopen at 5 a.m. Thursday, following today’s shutdown, but riders should expect possible single-tracking and delays as crews continue to fix damaged power cables along the tracks.

That’s the word from officials at a 6 p.m. press conference, in which Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld showed a video (above) of a damaged “jumper cable” found during today’s inspections. With most of the inspections complete, 26 damaged cables have been found — mostly along the Blue, Orange and Silver lines — and 18 have been repaired so far.

Evening rush hour traffic on 3/16/16 (image via Google Maps)“The shutdown was necessary,” Wiedefeld said.

Fears of a traffic nightmare today largely did not materialize, as many workers either telecommuted, took buses or rode bikes to work. The morning commute was a bit slower than usual on some routes, while evening rush hour traffic — at least in Arlington — was lighter than usual.

Bus stops were certainly more crowded than usual today, but some of the biggest queues could be found at Reagan National Airport, as travelers waited for taxis.

After the jump: the press release from WMATA about the inspections and the planned reopening of the system Thursday.

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Arlington St. Patrick’s Day and March Madness Guide 2016

By ARLnow.com

St. Patrick's Day guide (yes, we reused this old graphic)

If you like sports, beer and corned beef, tomorrow just may be the best day of the year.

Tomorrow is both St. Patrick’s Day and the start of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, better known as March Madness.

There will be more basketball and green beer this weekend, including the annual Shamrock Crawl bar crawl in Clarendon on Saturday, but below are a sampling of ten St. Paddy’s Day and March Madness-related events happening Thursday at bars and restaurants around Arlington.

  • Celtic House (2500 Columbia Pike) — The festivities start at 9 a.m. with a traditional Irish breakfast and lasts all day with Irish music from Pat Garvey, Irish dancers and March Madness on the TVs.
  • Ireland’s Four Courts (2051 Wilson Blvd) — As previously reported, Four Courts, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Wednesday, will open at 9 a.m. for the usual St. Daddy’s festivities: live music all day and a heated tent in the back to help accommodate the crowds.
  • Mad Rose Tavern (3100 Clarendon Blvd) — Mad Rose will be open from 4 p.m.-2 a.m. and will be showing NCAA basketball games, serving green beer and giving away green beads. DJs will start spinning at 7 p.m. and the happy hour will run until 8.
  • A-Town Bar and Grill (4100 Fairfax Drive) —  A-Town will be open at 11 a.m. for St. Patrick’s Day. NCAA games will be on TVs all around the establishment.
  • Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd) — Iota will be opening at 5 p.m. for their St. Patrick’s Day party, with rock and blues band Westmain taking the stage at 8 p.m.
  • O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub (3207 Washington Blvd) — O’Sullivan’s St. Paddy’s party will be kicking off bright and early at 8 a.m. with Irish dancers and a full live music lineup until 1:30 a.m.
  • P. Brennan’s Irish Pub (2910 Columbia Pike) — P. Brennan’s will be opening at 10 a.m. with all-day music and Irish dance.
  • Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub (2800 S. Randolph Street) — Shirlington’s airy Irish bar will open from 11 a.m.-2 a.m., with performances by Michael Darcy and the ShamrockRs.
  • Don Tito (3165 Wilson Blvd) — The party at the Don begins at 11 a.m. for brunch. NCAA basketball games will be on and a live DJ will be performing.
  • Copperwood Tavern (4021 Campbell Avenue) — Copperwood Tavern will be hosting a farm-to-table St. Patrick’s Day featuring special Irish menu items and gourmet craft cocktails.

Excluding Ri Ra, which has since closed, our list of Irish bars in Arlington should still be applicable for further St. Paddy’s research.

Update at 4 p.m. — Addition to the list above, Whitlow’s in Clarendon (2854 Wilson Blvd) will be holding a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The roof opened at 2 p.m., live Irish music started at 4, bagpipes will be played at 9 and a DJ will start spinning at 9:30. 

Justin Funkhouser contributed to this report

County Considers Snow Response Changes in Wake of Snowzilla

By ARLnow.com

Snow plow on Jan. 24, 2016The remnants of January’s blizzard may have finally melted, but the storm is still producing policy repercussions in Arlington County.

The county has been soliciting resident feedback on its snow removal effort and there has been no shortage of opinions: some 3,000 constituents responded to an online survey alone.

In response, County Manager Mark Schwartz yesterday presented an initial report for the County Board, outlining a number of snow removal changes that are being considered.

Among the proposed changes:

  • Plow both major roads and residential streets simultaneously during large snow storms, rather than only focusing on major roads and leaving residential streets snow-covered until after the storm.
  • Adding “backup drivers” for large snow storms.
  • Better utilizing staff and contractors “to minimize snow piling at intersections and sidewalks and reduce missed streets.”
  • Improving training and oversight of contractors “to minimize obstructive snow piling.”
  • “Improving technology used to track, monitor and communicate progress during snow and ice removal.”
  • Better utilizing volunteers and coordinating with Arlington’s civic associations.

Longer term changes also being consider include:

  • Adding a snow removal staging area in north Arlington and adding new equipment like backhoe plows and a new snow melter.
  • Odd-even parking requirements, enforcement of snow emergency routes and opening parking garages during large snow  events to reduce obstructions on residential streets for snow plows.

Schwartz is expected to present a more comprehensive report later this year.

Free Cab Rides Offered for St. Patrick’s Day

By ARLnow.com

SoberRide St. Patrick's Day posterThe regional SoberRide program will be offering free cab rides starting tomorrow afternoon for St. Patrick’s Day.

The free rides (up to a $30 fare) will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday and end at 4 a.m. Friday. Those wanting to take advantage of the program have to call the SoberRide hotline at 1-800-200-TAXI (8294) to book their ride.

SoberRide is sponsored by alcohol companies, cab companies and a number of other brands and local organizations, with the goal of reducing drunk driving on local roads.

“During the evening hours immediately following the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, nearly half of all U.S. traffic fatalities involved drunk drivers,” noted Kurt Erickson of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program.

From a WRAP press release:

Preparing to combat that time of year when, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly half of all U.S. traffic deaths are caused by drunk drivers*, free cab rides will be offered to would-be drunk drivers throughout Arlington County, Virginia on Thursday, March 17, 2016 (St. Patrick’s Day).

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the 2016 St. Patty’s Day SoberRide® program will be in operation beginning at 4:00 pm on Thursday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) and continue until 4:00 am on Friday, March 18 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday.

During this 12-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide® phone number 1-800-200-TAXI(8294) and be afforded a no-cost (up to a $ 30 fare), safe way home. AT&T wireless customers can dial #WRAP for the same service.

Local taxicab companies throughout the Washington-metropolitan area provide this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.

“During the evening hours immediately following the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, nearly half of all U.S. traffic fatalities involved drunk drivers,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP’s President.

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.

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