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.

Startup Monday: Arlington Hosting Tech Events at SXSW in Austin

By ARLnow.com

Startup Monday header

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

SXSW logo (photo via Facebook)Arlington Economic Development (AED) is continuing its tech and startup push by heading to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas later this week.

The music, film and interactive festival attracts thousands of tech and creative economy players, large and small, for conferences, screenings, concerts and other events. AED will have a team at the SXSW Interactive portion of the festival, described as “an incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity.”

Arlington had a small team attend last year’s SXSW and co-hosted a reception with the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership. This year, AED is going big with an entire slate of events, including two official panels.

(Arlington’s two panels are among the 700 or so selected from 7,000-8,000 entries, an AED spokeswoman notes.)

For a taste of Arlington in Austin, here’s the lineup of AED events:

An RSVP is required.

Speakers at the county’s panels include Opower president and co-founder Alex Laskey, former U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Consumer Technology Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro, among others.

They will be among good company: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are scheduled to deliver keynote addresses at the festival.

AED Director Victor Hoskins said the county’s presence at SXSW is “key in letting our target audience of entrepreneurs and technology businesses know about the opportunities that exist here in Arlington.”

“This is our chance to connect with national and international companies who are on the leading edge of tech innovation,” Hoskins told ARLnow.com. “What’s more, it’s our opportunity to show those companies — through our hosted panels and other events — that Arlington is where they can find success in fields like cybersecurity, big data, and clean tech.”

“This is all part of our Way Forward strategy, which is Arlington’s commitment to closing the office vacancy gap through efforts of proactive marketing and sales as well as regional collaboration,” Hoskins added. “We had a team at [the Consumer Electronics Show] this year, which was incredibly productive, and we’ll be participating in similar other events throughout the year.”

“We’re really getting the word out that the region — and specifically Arlington — is where these tech companies want to be to succeed,” he said.

Belated Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Man pushing a disabled BMW to the Shell station in Shirlington 3/7/16

I-66 Public Hearing at W-L — VDOT is holding a public hearing on the changes planned for I-66 tonight. The hearing is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. at Washington-Lee High School’s cafeteria. Meanwhile, one letter-writer is decrying the “whining” from Arlington residents who complain about the proposed partial widening of I-66 while using it to make a reverse commute to Fairfax County — and the protestations from Arlington policymakers who are more than happy to have large employers come to Ballston and other dense neighborhoods along I-66, thus increasing traffic on the highway. [VDOT, Washington Post]

Wakefield, Yorktown Victorious in Key Games — The Wakefield boys basketball squad defeated Deep Run 50-48 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the 5A state basketball tournament. This will be the Warriors’ third semifinal appearance in four seasons. Yorktown’s hockey team, meanwhile, defeated Washington-Lee 5-3 at Kettler Capitals Iceplex Friday night. [InsideNova, Twitter]

Abingdon Elementary Design Approved — On Thursday the Arlington School Board approved a final design for an addition and renovation to Abingdon Elementary School in Fairlington. The project will add 12 classrooms and 136 seats to the school, while renovating the gym, kitchen and media space. [Arlington Public Schools]

Retired Fire Officials Speak Out Against Station Move — Two retired Arlington County Fire Department officials say a proposed relocation of Fire Station 8 from Lee Highway to a county-owned location farther north does not make practical sense and would mostly benefit residents of Fairfax County. Residents around the current fire station and around its proposed new location have been protesting the planned move. [InsideNova]

Arlington Complying With Immigration Detainers —  Arlington County law enforcement is complying with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests for jail inmates, but only if ICE reimburses the county for certain expenses and picks up the inmate within 48 hours. Fearing that some jurisdictions are not complying with federal detainers, Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly have proposed bills to make such requests mandatory. [Washington Post]

County Board to Meet With Commission Chairs — The Arlington County Board tonight is holding a meeting with the chairmen of the county’s advisory commissions. ARLnow.com hears that the Board has received complaints about certain commissions overstepping their bounds or operating inefficiently. The meeting will address diversity in commission membership, training for commission members and potential improvements to commission communication and community outreach. [Arlington County]

Alligator, Camel on the Menu at Rocklands This Week

By ARLnow.com

Rocklands BBQ (photo by Katie Pyzyk)

Rocklands Barbeque, at 3471 Washington Blvd, has some exotic meats on the menu this week for an annual event called “Grills Gone Wild.”

The four-day event is being held from Tuesday to Friday at the four Rocklands locations in the D.C. area, including Arlington.

The menu includes:

  • Alligator Brunswick Stew served with a honey jalapeño cornbread square
  • Camel Burgers topped w/pickles & onions served with French Fries
  • Rabbit Sausage topped w/grilled peppers & onions served w/a side of whiskey mustard sauce & carrot sticks
  • Wild Boar Barbeque Sliders (2) topped with coleslaw

The restaurant is encouraging customers to use the Twitter hashtag #grillsgonewild to suggest new “Grills Gone Wild” meat offerings for next year.

Arlington Restaurants Participating in Northern Virginia Restaurant Week

By ARLnow.com

Bistro 360 in RosslynToday through next Monday, more than a dozen Arlington restaurants will be participating in Northern Virginia Restaurant Week.

The weeklong event is being organized by the Reston, Loudoun, Arlington and Prince William Chambers of Commerce, with more than 60 restaurants participating across Northern Virginia. First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe kicked off restaurant week during a ceremony at Jaleo (2250 Crystal Drive) in Crystal City this morning.

Unlike D.C. Restaurant Week, which involves fixed lunch and dinner prices, restaurants participating in the Northern Virginia event are able to set their own “value price” — provided it ends in .16.

Here are the Arlington restaurants participating:

  • Bistro 360
  • Bracket Room
  • Cinnabar by Hyatt
  • Cityhouse Hyatt Arlington
  • Crystal City Sports Pub
  • Il Forno Ristorante
  • Jaleo
  • Kona Grill
  • Lebanese Taverna
  • Liberty Tavern
  • Lyon Hall
  • McCormick & Schmick’
  • Morton’s
  • O’Malley’s Pub & Fresh Kitchen
  • Potomac Bar and Grille
  • SER Restaurant
  • Sushi-Zen Japanese Restaurant
  • Upper Crust Pizzeria

BREAKING: Firefighters Rescue Victim Pinned in Shirlington Circle Crash

By ARLnow.com
1/8

Firefighters used heavy machinery to rescue a woman from her car after a wreck near Shirlington Circle this morning.

The two-car crash happened around 8:30 a.m, on the ramp from Quaker Lane to Shirlington Circle, near the Fairlington neighborhood. A Toyota SUV collided with a Buick sedan, trapping the Buick driver inside her car.

It took Arlington County rescuers about a half hour to free the woman from the wreckage. She was transported via ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Quaker Lane remains blocked in each direction in the area of Shirlington Circle while debris from the crash is cleared.

ACFD Battles House Fire in Bluemont

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Arlington County firefighters battled a house fire in the Bluemont neighborhood tonight.

The fire broke out on the second floor of a home on the 800 block of N. Abingdon Street, near Ballston, just before 8 p.m. Sunday. It took about 20 minutes for the blaze to be extinguished.

No injuries were reported — no one was reported to be inside the house when firefighters arrived.

Photos via Facebook courtesy of Andrew Pang

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Snow on cherry blossoms

It was a busy week for news here in Arlington.

ARLnow.com was the first to report on two developments in the on-going saga of the Lyon Park gun store, we were the first to report on this piece of local election news that was later picked up by the Associated Press, and we were the first to report on today’s bomb threat and evacuation at Bishop O’Connell High School.

By Sunday, ARLnow.com will have published at least 54 posts this week, a new record.

While we enjoy a well-deserved weekend break — complete with a trip to buy some Girl Scout cookies — feel free to discuss any issues of local interest in the comments.

Whitlow’s to Celebrate 20th Anniversary Tonight and Saturday

By ARLnow.com

Whitlow's on Wilson (photo via Facebook)(Updated at 5:55 p.m.) Whitlow’s is celebrating its 20th anniversary in Clarendon with two nights of free events.

To start, the local watering hole at 2854 Wilson Blvd will hold a release party for a new signature beer tonight.

Created as a collaboration with Devil’s Backbone Brewing near Lexington, Va., the beer is being called the “Whitlow’s Good Time IPA.” It’s a moderately hoppy beer that’s 4.7 percent alcohol by volume, according to Whitlow’s manager Jon Williams.

Locals can get their first taste of the beer for a big toast at 7 p.m. The beer will be offered for $3 from 7-9 p.m. Then, starting at 10 p.m. tonight, local party band For the Win will play a free show (correction: there will be a $5 cover after 10 p.m.).

On Saturday, the band Virginia Coalition will play a free show at Whitlow’s. “VaCo” used to play at the bar every Tuesday night during the early 2000s before getting big.

“We’re looking forward seeing some old faces,” said Williams.

Williams reflected on Clarendon’s evolution since Whitlow’s first opened. (Before coming to Clarendon in 1995, Whitlow’s was a greasy spoon and bar in D.C. It first opened there in 1946.)

“The neighborhood has changed,” he said. “The condos got built and the demographics have gotten younger. And obviously there’s a lot more competition now.”

Despite the competition, Whitlow’s has managed to stay busy, attracting both younger bar-goers and long-time “neighborhood folks.” Williams chalked that up to Whitlow’s not straying far from its roots.

“We don’t try to be something we’re not,” he said. “We’re not pretentious at all and we just stay true to what we started out as — a neighborhood gathering spot — and I think people appreciate that. It’s a gathering place people who have lived here a long time know they’re pretty much guaranteed to run into someone they know.”

The most recent major change: the opening of a new rooftop bar, Wilson’s on Whitlow’s, a few years back.

Asked what the future holds, Williams wasn’t sure.

“We’re going to keep chugging along and keep coming up with silly ideas,” he said. “You have to keep doing stuff to stay fresh and current in people’s minds. That’s the biggest challenge. We’re going to get through this weekend and put on the thinking caps again.”

UPDATED: Bishop O’Connell High School Evacuated Due to Threat

By ARLnow.com
1/6

Update at 6 p.m. — Arlington County Police have issued the following statement about today’s incident.

Staff at Bishop O’Connell High School contacted an Arlington County Police School Resource Officer after they received a bomb threat that was telephoned to the school.  After the school was evacuated, canine resources from the US Park Police, WMATA Metro Transit Police, and Pentagon Force Protection Agency assisted Arlington County Police canine in conducting a thorough and systematic search of the school.

Students were able to be evacuated by school staff with the assistance of Arlington County Police Officers and they were sheltered in nearby Tuckahoe Elementary School, who was having a Parent-Teacher conference day.

There was no evidence of any explosives or hoax devices and the school was deemed clear a short time later.

It appears that this bomb threat may be related to similar threats in the region based on their nature and timing. We will work closely with the other affected jurisdictions to investigate these incidents.

Update at 2 p.m. — Students are now being allowed back into Bishop O’Connell.

Update at 1:10 p.m. — The evacuated students from the high school have been moved from the football field to Tuckahoe Elementary School, across the street. K-9 units from Metro Transit Police, U.S. Park Police and Pentagon police have arrived on scene to aid in a sweep of the school. 

Update at 1:05 p.m. — Tuckahoe parents were sent a text message saying the school was being secured in connection with the Bishop O’Connell incident and evacuation.

In addition to O’Connell and George Mason High, evacuations are also underway due to threats received at five other schools in Northern Virginia, NBC 4 reports: Herndon High School in Herndon, McLean High School in McLean, The Potomac School in McLean, Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn and Falls Church High School in Falls Church. (We’ve since updated this list as NBC 4 corrected its article.)

Earlier: Bishop O’Connell High School is being evacuated due to a bomb threat, ARLnow.com has learned.

Police and K-9 units are en route to the private Catholic school.

The evacuation was reported just minutes after another local high school — George Mason High School in Falls Church — was evacuated due to a bomb threat.

Here’s Where to Buy Girl Scout Cookies Around Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Girl Scout Cookie boxesGirl Scout Cookie time is here and there are plenty of places to buy boxes of the addictive treats around Arlington.

This year’s selection includes favorites like Thin Mints, Samoas, Tagalongs, Trefoils, Do-si-dos and Savannah Smiles, along with some newer cookies recently added to the lineup.

Booth sales will be going on locally through at least March 20. You can search for sale locations on the Girl Scout website, or use this handy guide to find a sale location this weekend.

Friday:

  • 4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Giant Stores (3115 Lee Hwy., 3450 Washington Blvd.)
  • 3:30-7:30 PM – Courthouse Metro (2100 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 4:00-7:00 PM- Virginia Square Metro (3600 Fairfax Dr.)
  • 5:30 PM-7:30 PM – Madison at Ballston Station (4401 N. 4th Street)
  • 4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Giant Food (2501 9th Rd. South)
  • 4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Safeway (2500 North Harrison St.)
  • 4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Safeway (3717 Lee Hwy.)
  • 3:30 PM-7:30 PM – East Falls Church Metro (2000 North Sycamore Street)
  • 4:00 PM-8:00 PM – Safeway (5101 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 3:30 PM-7:30 PM – Pentagon City Metro (1200 South Hayes St.)
  • 3:00 PM-7:00 PM – Crystal City Metro (1750 South Clark St.)
  • 3:30 PM-7:30 PM – Pentagon Center Mall (1201 South Hayes St.)

Saturday:

  • 10:00 AM-5:00 PM – Central Library (1015 North Quincy St.)
  • 9:00 AM-5:00 PM – Giant Food (3115 Lee Highway)
  • 9:00 AM-5:00 PM – Giant Food (3450 Washington Blvd.)
  • 11:00 AM-6:00 PM – Market Common (2801 North Clarendon Boulevard)
  • 11:00 AM-3:00 PM – Courthouse Metro (2100 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Giant Food (2501 9th Rd. South)
  • 9:00 AM-8:00 PM – Safeway (5101 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 9:00 AM-5:00 PM – Safeway (2500 North Harrison St.)
  • 9:00 AM-5:00 PM – Safeway (3717 Lee Hwy.)
  • 1:00 PM-5:00 PM – Westover Market (5863 Washington Blvd.
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Safeway (5101 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 11:00 AM-7:30 PM – Pentagon City Metro (1200 South Hayes St.)
  • 11:00 AM-3:00 PM – Crystal City Metro (1750 South Clark St.)
  • 10:00 AM-8:00 PM – Pentagon Center Mall (1201 South Hayes St.)

Sunday:

  • 12:45-5:00 PM – Central Library (1015 North Quincy St.)
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Giant Food (3115 Lee Highway)
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Giant Food (3450 Washington Boulevard)
  • 1:00 PM-5:00 PM – Market Common (2801 North Clarendon Boulevard)
  • 3:30 PM-7:30 PM – Courthouse Metro (2100 Wilson Blvd.)
  • 1:00 PM-6:00 PM – Kettler Capitals Iceplex (627 N. Glebe Rd.)
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Giant Food (2501 9th Rd. South)
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Safeway (3717 Lee Hwy.)
  • 11:00 AM-7:00 PM – Safeway (2500 North Harrison St.)
  • 3:00 PM-8:00 PM – Pentagon Center Mall (1201 South Hayes St.)

List compiled by Justin Funkhouser

Annual Water Change Coming Monday

By ARLnow.com

Kitchen sink and tap water (file photo)Expect your tap water to smell and taste a bit like chlorine starting Monday.

The Washington Aqueduct, which supplies Arlington with its drinking water, will be making the annual disinfectant switch from chloramine to chlorine from Monday, March 7 through Monday, May 2.

The switch is intended as a “spring cleaning” for the pipes that supply water to Arlington, D.C. and part of Fairfax County. From an Arlington County press release:

Arlington’s safe and dependable drinking water may taste slightly different next week as the regional supply system undergoes its annual spring cleaning.

Crews at the Washington Aqueduct will begin the temporary disinfectant switch from chloramine to chlorine on Monday, March 7. The biological safety process, routine for many systems across the United States, will continue through Monday, May 2.

During the cleaning, Arlington’s Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau will continually monitor the output for safe chlorine levels as well as conduct system-wide flushing to enhance water quality.

The Aqueduct also adds a corrosion control inhibitor during the switch to prevent the potential release of lead in system pipes throughout the region. Extensive research in Arlington has failed to turn up any lead service lines or lead pipes inside homes.

Running the cold water tap for about two minutes, using water filters and letting water sit in a container in the refrigerator are generally effective for removing chlorine taste and odor.

Customers who take special precautions to remove chloramine from tap water should continue such methods during the temporary switch to chlorine. As always, those with special concerns should consult their health care provider.

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Washington Aqueduct is the wholesale supplier for Arlington, the District of Columbia and northeastern Fairfax.

Arlington’s drinking water meets all of the safety standards established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Virginia Department of Health. The bureau’s latest annual water quality report will be released in May.

Arlington’s Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau offers a staff presentation on the water system to any schools or community groups that request one.

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