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.

Power Outage Reported in South Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Dominion power outage map 1/12/16At least 2,700 Dominion customers are without power in South Arlington tonight.

The power went out as winds whipped up in advance of a brief period of snow around 7:15 p.m. Via Twitter, one resident reported the sound of a likely transformer explosion.

The power outage is affecting residents around Nauck and other areas around S. Glebe Road, south of Columbia Pike in Arlington, and around W. Glebe Road in Alexandria. Residents of Fairlington and other nearby neighborhoods reported that power was flickering around the start of the outage but quickly came back on.

According to the Dominion website, power is expected to be restored at some point between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.

‘The Springs’ Affordable Apartment Project in Buckingham Celebrates ‘Topping Out’

By ARLnow.com
1/7

The Springs, a new affordable apartment complex in the Buckingham area, near Ballston, celebrated its “topping out” last week.

The five story, 104-unit apartment building, at the corner of Carlin Springs Road and N. Thomas Street, is being developed by the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing. The project was approved by the Arlington County Board in 2014.

A topping out ceremony was held last Wednesday, after the construction project reached its highest point. Construction is expected to wrap up later this year.

“APAH purchased this site in 1997,” APAH Board member Susan Bell said in a statement. “Nine of APAH’s 14 properties are in North Arlington. The redevelopment of The Springs expands APAH’s presence in this wonderful Ballston location, just 1/2 mile from Metro and close to so many jobs and services.”

As part of the ceremony, more than 40 attendees, including County Board members and local legislators, signed a “commemorative beam” that will be installed on the top floor of the building.

“Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing is one of our key community partners,” said County Board Chair Libby Garvey. “Today only 9,600 Arlington apartments are affordable to the 17,000 low income families looking for housing in our community. With the targets set in the County’s Master Plan, we are committed to keeping Arlington a place where people from across the socioeconomic spectrum can live and work comfortably.”

Larry’s Homemade Ice Cream Has Apparently Closed in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Clarendon residents hoping for some ice cream to go along with tonight’s snow showers will be disappointed to learn that they have one fewer option from which to choose.

Larry’s Homemade Ice Cream, at 3018 Wilson Blvd, has apparently closed.

Located in a prime retail space steps from the Clarendon Metro station, the store generally received positive marks for its ice cream, if not its prices, after opening in 2011.

As of this afternoon it appeared that the interior of the restaurant was being dismantled and signs being taken down from the windows. The store’s website is not functional, its Facebook page has not been updated recently and there was no answer at its phone number.

SoBe Bar & Bistro Closed in Clarendon, To Be Replaced By Spanish Tapas Restaurant

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Clarendon nightlife spot SoBe Bar & Bistro (3100 Clarendon Blvd) has closed last week and will be replaced with a new Spanish tapas restaurant.

The new restaurant will be called Pamplona and will be run by Social Restaurant Group, the company behind Provision No. 14 and The Prospect in the District, ARLnow.com has learned. Both restaurants are noted for their creative, theme-based decor.

Renovations are underway inside the former SoBe space, at the same time as a separate exterior renovation of the courtyard Pamplona will share with Mad Rose Tavern.

Social Restaurant Group wants to have Pamplona open by this spring, though hopes for speedy renovations in Arlington are usually met with disappointment thanks in large part to a stringent county permitting and inspection process.

Pamplona will face competition from La Tasca, Clarendon’s existing Spanish tapas destination.

NWS: Expect Snow Showers, Gusty Winds During Evening Commute

By ARLnow.com

Snow squall on 2/14/15The National Weather Service is warning of a potentially messy commute tonight.

D.C. area commuters could face snow showers and strong winds during the evening rush hour, forecasters say.

NWS issued the following Special Weather Statement just after 1:50 p.m.

…SNOW SHOWERS AND STRONG WINDS EXPECTED TO IMPACT RUSH HOUR THIS EVENING…

A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING DURING RUSH HOUR. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE SNOW SHOWERS WILL START TO MOVE INTO THE METRO AREA BY 4 PM AND SHOULD CLEAR THE REGION BY 8 PM.

THE SNOW SHOWERS MAY BE LOCALLY HEAVY AND COULD DROP A QUICK COATING OF SNOW IN SOME AREAS. WHILE ROAD TEMPERATURES ARE WARM AT PRESENT…GUSTY WINDS AND COLDER AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA MAY RESULT IN PATCHES OF ICE ON UNTREATED ROADWAYS THIS EVENING. THE GUSTY WINDS MAY ALSO REACH 50 MPH WHICH COULD CAUSE SPOTTY MINOR DAMAGE.

EVENING COMMUTERS SHOULD USE EXTRA CAUTION AND TAKE THEIR TIME. VISIBILITY COULD DROP RAPIDLY FOR A BRIEF PERIOD DURING HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS…AND ROADS WHICH APPEAR WET LATER THIS EVENING COULD IN FACT BE ICY.

Police: Man Steals Engagement Ring in Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsArlington County Police are looking for a man who ran off with a diamond ring while browsing at a jewelry store in the Pentagon City mall.

Police were dispatched to the store around 2:30 p.m. Monday.

A man was in the jewelry store for about 10 minutes looking at rings, said ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage. At one point, he allegedly grabbed one of the rings — a diamond engagement ring — and took off running.

So far, police have declined to identify the jewelry store or the release the value of the ring.

The suspect is described as a 6-foot-tall black male in his 40s, with a medium build. He was wearing a tan thermal hat and a zip-up sweatshirt at the time of the crime, we’re told.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Robin in the winter (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

Pentagon City Apartment Complex Gets Financing — The Altaire, the high-end residential development at 400 Army Navy Drive, has obtained $100 million in financing from Wells Fargo and is expected to begin construction this month. The 20-story complex will have two towers with a total of 453 units. Construction is expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2018. [Washington Business Journal]

History of Hall’s Hill — This year is the 150th anniversary of the historically African-American neighborhood of Hall’s Hill, also known as High View Park. An event on the community’s history last week revealed the origin of its name. Hall’s Hill is named after Bazil Hall, a white slaveholder who sold plots of land to freed slaves after the Civil War to spite his white neighbors. [InsideNova]

Arlington Real Estate Agent Invited to SOTU — Naveed Shah, an Army veteran and a Rosslyn-based real estate agent, was invited to be a guest of the White House at tonight’s State of the Union Address. Despite the fact that Shah and his family moved to the U.S. when he was two, after living in Saudi Arabia, Shah grew up in Northern Virginia and describes himself as “as American as it gets.” [Military Times, NBC Washington]

Local Immigrants Worried About ICE Raids — There’s growing fear among undocumented immigrants in Northern Virginia of stepped-up U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. Advocates are advising immigrant families “to have a plan for their kids in case they’re deported.” In other news, it’s said that ICE agents “are making their presence felt and regularly hang around the Taco Bell on Little River Turnpike” in Annandale. [Annandale VA]

Arlington Young Dems, GOPers Working Together — In a show of bipartisanship during the heat of a presidential election year, the chairs of the Arlington Young Democrats and the Arlington-Falls Church Young Republicans met over the weekend to plan joint community service events in 2016. [Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Slow Yellow and Blue Line Commute Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Track equipment similar to the one that broke down outside National Airport Monday afternoon (photo via WMATA)Metro riders had an especially awful commute home on the Yellow and Blue lines tonight.

A piece of maintenance equipment — like the one pictured, left — broke down just outside the National Airport station this afternoon, leading to single-tracking. While the equipment was eventually moved to allow normal rail operations, delays lingered into the evening rush.

Via Twitter, riders reported various problems, from long delays to trains being offloaded at already-crowded station.

https://twitter.com/savetheblueline/status/686671770435321857

https://twitter.com/IrishElCucuy/status/686672213378859008

https://twitter.com/Ian_Platz/status/686671879998980096

https://twitter.com/lizsourlemon/status/686676414624591872

As of publication time, even more issues and delays were being reported on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines in D.C.

Man Arrested, Charged in Two Arlington Bank Robberies

By ARLnow.com

Suspect in Wells Fargo robbery in Pentagon City (photo courtesy ACPD)A man has been arrested and charged in connection with two recent bank robberies in Arlington.

Nathaniel Moone, 45, was taken into custody this past Friday evening by Metro Transit Police, at the Eastern Market Metro station in D.C.

Police say Moone was the man who tried to rob a Wells Fargo bank in Rosslyn on Dec. 30, but fled before receiving any money. He later successfully robbed the Wells Fargo across from Costco in Pentagon City this past Thursday, Jan. 7.

Moone was identified by detectives following the Jan. 7 robbery and arrested the next day.

The full press release from the Arlington County Police Department:

A bank robbery suspect was taken into custody by the Metro Transit Police Department. Nathaniel Howard Moone, 45, of no fixed address, was arrested during the evening of January 8, 2015 as he exited the Eastern Market Metro station.  Moone was charged with bank robbery and attempted bank robbery and is currently being held pending extradition.

At approximately 4:48 pm on December 30, 2015, the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center was alerted of an attempted bank robbery that had just taken place at the Wells Fargo, located in the 1300 block of N. Wilson Boulevard. The subject attempted to rob the bank by passing a note to the teller but became frustrated and fled the scene on foot.

At approximately 10:10 am on January 7, 2016, the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center was alerted of a bank robbery that had just taken place at the Wells Fargo, located in the 1400 block of S. Fern Street. The subjected entered the bank and handed a teller a note that demanded money. The teller gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money and the subject fled on foot. The suspect remained at-large for a little over twenty-four hours.

“Our detectives were able to identify this suspect in a timely manner as a direct result of our outstanding relationship and the ability to share resources with our partners at Metro Transit Police Department,” comments Daniel J. Murray, Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigations Division for Arlington County Police Department.

Police Called for Drunk Customer at Children’s Shoe Store

By ARLnow.com

Bradshaw's Children's Shoes on Lee Highway (photo via Google Maps)Arlington County Police responded to a call for a drunk customer harassing the staff at a children’s shoe store on Lee Highway.

The alleged incident was reported just after 3 p.m. at Bradshaw’s Children’s Shoes, a long-time local business at 4532 Lee Highway, in the Lee Heights Shops.

According to the police dispatch, an intoxicated woman is inside the store, holding an open bottle of wine. She is refusing to leave the store and “keeps demanding adult shoes,” according to the dispatch.

The store requested police to help remove the woman from the premises.

Photo via Google Maps

Has Corner Tex-Mix Closed on S. Walter Reed Drive?

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Update at 11:20 p.m. on 1/12/16 — It’s possible that reports of The Corner Tex-Mix’s demise were premature. Another tipster says it was open Tuesday evening. However, Google’s listing for the business says it is “permanently closed.” The tipster notes that the restaurant seems to be keeping “odd hours.”

The restaurant Bermuda Triangle that is the intersection of S. Glebe Road and Walter Reed Drive may have claimed another victim.

The Corner Tex-Mix, at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive in Nauck, has apparently closed, at least temporarily.

“I have driven by the restaurant about 5 times in the past six or so weeks anywhere between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. and the place is completely dark and the parking lot/patio is completely empty,” a tipster told us last week.

The restaurant opened last spring, promising a mix of Latin American, North American and Mediterranean cuisines. Online reviews suggest that diners were not satisfied with the quality of the food compared to other options along nearby Columbia Pike.

The stand-alone building at 1621 S. Walter Reed has housed a succession of failed restaurants including, in just the past four years, Las Delicias Restaurante and El Manatial III.

Hat tip to Nom de Guerre

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