Author: Airey

Arlington Pet of the Week: Chloe

By Airey
1/2

This week, the Arlington Pet of the Week is continuing to profile companions of those whose homes were affected by last week’s flash floods.

Chloe, 13, is the feline friend of Westover residents Melinda Root and John DeMarce, whose home was damaged by water that filled the basement and rose almost two feet high in the first floor.

Root previously told ARLnow that she awoke that morning to the flood waters rising out of the floorboards at her bed.

“The first thing I thought of was my cat,” she said.

Luckily, Chloe made it to higher ground on the house’s second floor thanks to the quick thinking of a friend. Unfortunately, the couple still lost their car, parts of their dry wall, kitchen appliances, hot water and HVAC system, and many personal keepsakes.

“I’ve thrown away hundreds of books and CDs,” said DeMarce, who tore up the first floor carpet after worrying the water that saturated it could lead to mold in the house.

Two days after the flood, when ARLnow visited, Chloe could be seen winding around DeMarce and Root’s legs, and perched on the books and boxes piled for the garbage truck like little islands in a sea of lost belongings.

Now, DeMarce says they’re “down to the guts of the house” but they were able to save the floor and the older plaster walls. He said the house is “almost dry” again, but he’s been keeping Chloe upstairs where he and Melinda are staying while contractors are repairing the downstairs.

“She’s not afraid of them,” he said. “She likes to help.”

So for now, Chloe is busy dozing on the second floor where she can’t rub up against any sharp tools or step on any nails. And outside, a young wild bunny has returned to their yard after DeMarce and Root feared it had drowned in the storm.

In the heavily damaged Westover neighborhood, DeMarce said two young girls held a bake sale to raise money for gift certificates to the nearby Ayers Variety and Hardware store. They delivered one gift certificate off to him this week, writing on a note in blue marker, “I hope this will brighten your day.”

“It was just the cutest thing ever,” he said.

DeMarce’s coworkers at the Arlington Animal Welfare League have also launched two GoFundMes that hopes to raise $10,000 to cover the cost of the damage to the couple’s home — one of several fundraising efforts in the county aiding flooded neighbors and businesses.

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 of eight 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.

Presidential Candidates Arrive at DCA to Support Airline Catering Workers

By Airey
1/13

A rally for airline workers rights drew hundreds to Reagan National Airport, including a number of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Labor union UNITE HERE helped organize the rally in support of airport catering workers, who are planning a large-scale strike if their demands for better wages and benefits are not met. Presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were among those on hand to support the workers, along with other labor unions and local officials.

“No one should have to choose between healthcare and paying the rent,” Warren called out amid cheers.

The Massachusetts senator’s speech on Tuesday echoed her support for more corporate regulations.

“Giant corporations believe if they just push hard enough the unions will just go away,” she said. Since entering the race in February, Warren has since risen in recent polls to second among the crowded field.

Tuesday’s crowd was equally loud for two-time presidential candidate Sanders, who was ushered to the podium among chants of “We Love Bernie!”

“At a time when corporate profits are a record-breaking level, our demands are simple,” said the senator, who rose to popularity for his stance on economic inequality. “Pay your workers a living wage and provide… affordable healthcare for your workers,” Sanders said.

Sanders noted workers in the D.C. area “cannot live on $10 hour” wages due to the rising costs of living and housing.

Presidential hopeful Bill de Blasio also received a warm welcome and led the crowd in chanting of “working people first!”

“I hear they made $15 billion in profits last year,” de Blasio said of recent airline earning reports. “Are are they sharing that?”

De Blasio, who has generated little enthusiasm for his campaign so far, ended his speech by touting his new “Bill of Rights for Working People.”

The catering workforce authorized the strike earlier in June, but airline workers must gain approval from the federal National Mediation Board for large-scale strikes due to the potential impact on travelers. Workers are seeking to reach a new collective bargaining agreement with the private companies who contract them to assemble the food for airlines: LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet.

The companies have said they cannot meet the demands for increased wages and benefits, telling the Huffington Post that could “more than double” their costs.

About a thousand union members in red shirts with slogans like “One Job Should Be Enough” gathered in Terminal A to hear the speakers. But it’s not the first time DCA has seen labor unrest. In 2016, service workers nearly went on strike for a $15 minimum wage.

“We’re going to fight like hell,” UNITE HERE president D. Taylor told the cheering crowd Tuesday night. “We’re going to kick the hell out of American [Airlines].”

Workers at several other airports nationwide are also asking for permission to strike, according to a map shared by the union.

Catering employees Tenai Stover and Eric Brightley, who said they prepare the food and beverages served on DCA and Dulles flights as part of their work at LSG Sky Chefs, each described to ARLnow difficulty making ends meet given the meager pay.

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Officials Warn of Foodborne Illness Outbreak in Arlington and N. Va.

By Airey

Arlington and Northern Virginia are experiencing a possible outbreak of cases from a particular foodborne illness.

Dozens people in the region are suspected of having contracted a gastrointestinal illness called Cyclosporiasis, according to a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Health. The outbreak involves “two large businesses” where more than 40 people were sickened, possibly with Cyclosporiasis, as well as 15 confirmed cases of the disease, officials say.

“A food or water source of this outbreak has not yet been identified, and the investigation is ongoing,” said the state health department.

“Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite,” the department noted in a press release today (Tuesday.) “People can become infected by consuming food or water contaminated with feces or stool that contains the parasite.”

The 15 confirmed cases of people infected with Cyclospora since mid-June compares to eight cases in Northern Virginia by this time last year.

The affected area includes Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

“Arlington County has… experienced an increase in cases of illness due to Cyclospora,” confirmed epidemiologist Colleen Ryan Smith of Arlington’s Department of Human Services.

“The increase in Arlington… has contributed to the increase in cases noted for Northern Virginia,” added Smith, who said that “specific counts of cases by locality [are] not possible due to patient privacy and confidentiality considerations.”

Officials said they could also not identify the “two large businesses” where dozens were sickened.

Symptoms can begin one week after exposure to the parasite, and typically include explosive diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, aching muscles, and a low-grade fever. Symptoms can last days or a month for some, but others can be a carrier of the parasite and experience no symptoms.

Those afflicted can only be diagnosed by a lab test ordered by a doctor.

Health officials have also reported 90 cases of Cyclospora in New York City since January, and over 100 cases in Massachusetts since May. In both areas, the number of cases is approximately three times the normal number officials usually see in a year, and the cause is not yet known.

Officials in all three locales say they are still investigating the cause of the outbreak. Previous outbreaks were linked to contaminated produce.

The full press release is below, after the jump.

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Columbia Pike Dry Cleaner Closing Leaves Customers Hanging

By Airey
1/3

Last month, when Jeannie Osborn dropped off her new dress at her usual Arlington dry cleaner, she never thought it could be the last time she would see the garment

Osborn now lives in D.C. but still drives to Arlington to do her dry cleaning at the same spot for years: Family Dry Cleaners on 5021 Columbia Pike. The business offers nearly unbeatable prices — normally charging $2.29 per piece of clothing — which Osborn said made up for inconvenience of having to pay upfront in cash.

But five days after she took her new $128 Banana Republic dress to the dry cleaner on June 25, the business closed.

Now there’s a sign taped to the door reading “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!” and asking customers to pick up any garments by June 30, “otherwise you will not be able to pick up your clothes FOREVER.”

Osborn was on vacation when the business went under, and only learned her dress was locked in the building when she tried to pick it up last week.

“I’ve been going there for six years,” she told ARLnow Monday. “And the fact that they are just closed is shocking.”

The business is located in the Columbia Pike Plaza shopping center, near the Arlington Mill Community Center, between a CVS and a Little Caesars. ARLnow could not reach the strip mall’s property management company, Bethesda-based Rakusin & Becker Management.

After reaching out for comment to the company and the county, Arlington Resident Ombudsman and Director of Constituent Services Ben Aiken said he had good news to share.

Family Dry Cleaners will temporarily re-open on Thursday from 4-7 p.m. so customers can retrieve their belongings, per Rakusin & Becker.

“Anyone with clothing that needs to be picked up should try to go,” said Aiken, who noted afterward the owners may be unavailable to re-open the shuttered shop.

Family Dry Cleaners’ phone number was out of service when called on Monday and a Facebook page for a business with the same name had no posts nor ways to contact the owner.

Aiken previously said he heard from two customers whose clothes are apparently locked in the cleaners, and told ARLnow today (Tuesday) that he “shares their frustration.”

“It’s an unfortunate circumstances,” he said, adding that whenever dry cleaning customers are left out to dry it can be “tricky” to access legal remedies.

When a dry cleaner business closed in Silver Spring two years ago, the Montgomery County Consumer Protection Agency had to step in to return clothing.

Last August, customers in Austin, Texas, taped signs to the locked doors of a dry cleaning business, pleading with the owners to call them and return their clothes after the business unexpectedly shut down.

Last September, a Denver cleaner posted a sign for its customers that read, “if you have clothes, sorry we are closed.” Those customers were out of luck until another cleaning company purchased the inventory and returned the clothes to customers for free, per a press release.

Jeannie Osborn took pictures of the storefront and its sign last week that show a full rack of clothing behind the counter. She says she could see her dress through the glass.

“It’s just hanging there in the front,” Osborn said. “They hadn’t even put it on the conveyor belt yet.”

Map via Google Maps

Retailer Steadfast Supply Now Open in Ballston Quarter

By Airey
1/3

A new store selling handmade goods from small vendors is now open in Ballston Quarter.

Steadfast Supply opened last week in a 1,000 square-foot retail space, joining a cast of new eateries, cooking classes, a popup-library, and small shops inside the renovated mall.

The D.C.-based business aims to sells wares from a collection of small makers both local and from around the U.S. — everything from home goods to beauty supplies to pet accessories — thus supporting “creative entrepreneurship.”

“Our mission is to contribute to the advancement of the local community and to the creative growth of Washington, D.C. at large by introducing the creative force of emerging independent brands and designers into the D.C. market,” the store’s website said.

Steadfast started as a pop-up in 2016 before expanding to a 3,000 square-foot space in Navy Yard, according to a press release. The store announced plans to open its second location in Arlington last April.

Some of the goods currently in the new Ballston location include handmade leather bags made by the Atlanta-based company Neva Opet, T-shirts for kids made by YOUTHS, and jewelry from Vajzë. In addition to retail, the business is offering space for DIY workshops or other events on its website.

The store’s owner describes the business as something of an incubator for artisans and small producers.

“My goal with Steadfast Supply was to create a cool retail setting where talented creatives can grow their brands,” said owner Virginia Arrisueño in a statement. “As a designer myself, I know how tough and competitive the retail industry is, and I wanted provide a supportive space where brands can ask us questions about line sheets, packaging, etc., receive direct feedback and suggestions on how to improve their products.”

Coffee Shop Kaldi’s Social House Coming to Clarendon

By Airey
1/2

Clarendon could be getting a new coffee shop by the end of the year.

A staff member at Kaldi’s Social Club told ARLnow in a social media message that the business is hoping to open an Arlington location by December.

Wrapping outside a ground floor retail space at Ten at Clarendon building at 3110 10th Street announces Kaldi’s is “coming this winter” and features an image of people sharing dishes with cups of coffee interspersed between the plates.

Kaldi’s flagship location in Silver Spring first opened in 2013.

In addition to coffee, the Maryland cafe offers American fare for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and serves cocktails and beer. Staff did not immediately respond when asked if the Clarendon menu will be the same.

“The name Kaldi comes from an Ethiopian legend about a goat herder named Kaldi who first discovered the power of the coffee bean,” owner Tsega Haile wrote on the business’s website, noting that the D.C. area is home to the largest group of Ethiopian people outside the continent of Africa.

A year after opening, the Silver Spring shop added a rooftop lounge. Since then, it’s upgraded furniture and recently bought the nearby Pacci’s Pizzeria.

The new cafe in Clarendon will have plenty of coffee competition, including Northside Social, Peet’s, Waterhouse Coffee, Heritage Brewing, Oby Lee, Detour Coffee, Bakeshop, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and the future East West Cafe.

Image 1 via Facebook/Kaldi’s Social Club, Image 2 courtesy of Alex Koma.

New Restaurant Namaste Everest Now Open in Pentagon City

By Airey
1/6

A new restaurant offering cuisine from Nepal and India is now open in Pentagon City.

Namaste Everest opened last Thursday at 1201 S. Joyce Street in the Pentagon Row shopping center, after initially shooting for a spring 2019 opening.

The restaurant’s seven-page menu includes a variety of traditional dinner plates, curries, kabobs, soups, salads, vegetarian dishes, appetizers and desserts. There are nearly a dozen different types of Indian breads alone on the menu.

The restaurant also houses a full bar with wines, seasonal draft beers and non-alcoholic options like lassies and fruit smoothies.

Pentagon Row owner Federal Realty Investment Trust had this to say about Everest’s head chef and co-owner Nabin Kurmar Paudel:

Interested in cooking since he was a child and inspired by his parent’s restaurant in Nepal, Chef Paudel creates authentic flavors through a mixture of various foods. The menu features Tandoori specials such as lamb, chicken, goat and seafood; Indo-Chinese and Nepalese specials; vegetarian dishes; rice and biriyanis; Indian breads; as well as salads soups and desserts.

Paudel previously opened another restaurant, “Namaste,” in Alexandria. His new Arlington venture will be open Sundays through Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Kari Glinski, director of asset management for Federal Realty, previously said that it was a “priority” to continue expanding restaurant offerings in the shopping center and that Namaste Everest would be part of the “diverse choices” for diners.

“Open 7 days a week — check them out next to Smallcakes NOVA!” wrote Pentagon Row on its Facebook page.

JBG Smith Unveils New Expansion Plan for RiverHouse Property Near Amazon HQ2

By Airey
1/5

Developer JBG Smith says it has submitted new plans for a major redevelopment of its RiverHouse apartment property in Pentagon City, four blocks from Amazon’s new HQ2.

The developer announced today (Monday) that it submitted a site plan application to Arlington County to build about 1,000 new housing units along S. Joyce Street. The units will be in two, six-story apartment buildings, as well as traditional townhouses and maisonettes, per the press release, and about 260 of the units will be available for purchase.

The six-story buildings will have mix of units, including studios and three-bedroom units, for a combined total of 750 units. These two buildings will be constructed on the parkings lots in the northern end of the site and will feature central courtyards, and 30,000 square feet of “community-oriented street-level retail, including a potential daycare center and medical office, at the base of the two new buildings.”

The townhouses will be built on “underutilized” surface parking lots in the southern end of the site, facing the Aurora Highlands neighborhood and its single-family homes, JBG said

The extensive, 36-acre RiverHouse property is on a long lot bordered by Army Navy Drive, S. Joyce Street, 16th Street S., S. Arlington Ridge Road, and S. Lynn Street, at the edge of what’s being called “National Landing” — the recently-created term for the Pentagon City, Crystal City and Potomac Yard neighborhoods.

Currently, RiverHouse has three apartment towers built in the 1950s and 1960s, with a combined 1,670 apartment units. JBG Smith intends to keep the three towers, per the press release, and will instead construct the new buildings around the existing towers.

JBG Smith Executive Vice President Andy Van Horn said in a statement that the developer aimed to design a plan that “respects and complements the scale and character of the surrounding neighborhoods while creating a more cohesive sense of community.”

“We also focused on providing a wide range of rental and for-sale housing opportunities that meet the differing needs of Arlington’s diverse and growing residential population,” he said. “It is our goal to deliver additional housing units concurrent with Amazon’s occupancy of its new headquarters to help meet anticipated new housing demand and mitigate upward pressure on rents in National Landing.”

Vornado — which was later acquired by JBG Smith — had planned to redevelop RiverHouse with more than 1,000 rental apartments in three, mid-rise towers. The new submission, which JBG Smith says is “consistent with the Crystal City/Pentagon City Sector Plan which calls for 7,500 additional housing units by 2040,” supersedes the previous, pre-HQ2 plan.

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The Curious Case of a Disappearing Stream

By Airey
1/7

(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) Last week’s torrential rainstorm flooded thousands of homes and businesses — but something mysterious happened, too.

Just upstream from where it meets Four Mile Run, the Lubber Run stream disappeared.

Earlier this week the stream appeared to be miraculously vanishing around a tree stump, according to a video posted online and on a local listserv. The water was a trickle of its usual flow when a resident shot the video, and the stream left a dry bed of round rocks exposed after the water appeared to disappear.

At first, when contacted by ARLnow, all the Department of Environmental Services (DES) could say for sure was that the stream hadn’t been “rerouted intentionally.”

Jessica Baxter, a DES spokeswoman initially it could take days to find the reason for the phenomenon as storm clean-up continues county-wide and crews work on the damage the storm wrought to public areas.

Raging flood waters washed away at least six pedestrian bridges in the county, including two over Lubber Run.

The department sent crews out Wednesday and Thursday to investigate the steam on a hunch the water could have somehow flowed into an underground pipe.

“There were a few trees that fell over the stream, including a stump that fell and possibly damaged our sewer main,” Baxter said on Thursday after crews visited the stream. “However, given the water entering the main, we are having challenges determining where the damage is.”

The crews then worked to divert the water — which had begun to swell again since its post-storm lull the resident captured in his video. Then the county crews used CCTV technology to inspect the pipe.

On Friday morning at 7 a.m., Baxter reached out to ARLnow to say crews had made a breakthrough.

“Crews got the tree stump removed from the area and we did observe a broken pipe,”she said. “We have our emergency contractor on-site to make repairs today.”

After the repairs to the pipe were completed later this afternoon, Baxter said crews are expected to return early next week for additional repair work, including inserting a liner into the pipe.

A 2011 assessment of all streams and their ability to prevent floods noted that many parts of Lubber Run were considered “stable,” but also noted that the stream had “poor utility elements” at the time.

Lubber Run is not just a feeder for Four Mile Run, it’s also a perfect habitat for underwater critters like crayfish and fly larvae, and snakes, snails, and worms make their home in the stream, which is lined by shaggy water elms.

ARLnow could not locate the mysterious tree dropping-off point after an hour of bushwhacking along the stream banks Tuesday afternoon. However, it was clear that the storm had left its mark in the area.

Bits of broken bridges were beached along the banks as far as Four Mile Run, and picnic tables were covered in silt after being swallowed by the rising water. The stream itself was brown with sediment and fallen tree limbs still littered the walking paths. A golden retriever could be seen jumping in and out of the stream with one of the thicker limbs in his mouth.

Residents, Officials Ask for More Time to Review Mental Health Court Program

By Airey
1/4

Some officials and residents are asking for more time to review a jail diversion program for people with mental illnesses, saying the county developed it without enough public input.

About a hundred people gathered in the County Board’s meeting room Wednesday afternoon for a meeting called after activists requested a chance to weigh in on the new criminal justice program. Attendees expressed general support for the “Behavioral Health Docket” but worried about its requirement that participants plead guilty to participate, adding that the county needed to listen to more members of the public before finalizing the program.

“I think it’s important to keep in mind is that even if the application is a post-plea docket, which is what Judge [Fran] O’Brien would like to see happen, that there’s going to be evolution,” said Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Anita Friedman in an interview. “I think that even if we start post-plea we might add pre-plea later.”

“I think the important thing is not to let perfection be the enemy of good,” she said, noting that the county has revised its other diversion program, Drug Court, many times over the last few years.

The Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia must approve the county’s request to form the diversion program. DHS originally planned to apply for that approval last month before a group of activists and officials, including incoming prosecutor Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, said they hadn’t heard about it and had concerns.

After the meeting, officials did not confirm whether they would extend their plan to submit the application in September, or would schedule additional public meetings.

Chief Public Defender Brad Haywood was one of the officials who said he hadn’t heard about the application until very recently. On Wednesday, Haywood said he still supported for the docket but reiterated concerns about the post-plea condition.

“I really want to make sure that as many people as possible are getting into this program, and getting in as quickly as possible,” he said, adding that requiring pleas could “dramatically reduce” the number of participants and how fast they can join it.

The Behavioral Health Docket will accept participants who have pled guilty to a misdemeanor offense, or a felony reduced to a misdemeanor, and reside in Arlington, according to a program description obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. People with a history of felony convictions, sexual offenses, or have active warrants out for their arrest in other jurisdictions cannot participate, per a copy of the application ARLnow obtained after filing a FOIA request.

Participants would have to meet weekly in court as well as their probation officer, mental health clinician, per the application. Participants will also have to pass drug and alcohol screenings, take any medications prescribed, participate in activities like volunteer work or employment, and stay clear of any new arrests. Over time, participants will meet less frequently as they work towards a “graduation” where they’ll be supervised for another 90 days.

“That’s why it’s called a therapeutic docket,” said Judge O’Brien. “It’s designed to help people with mental illness and designed to help keep them on a path that keeps them out of the criminal justice system.”

She told the audience that it was imperative to move quickly because of the sheer number of people affected. Earlier that day, she said five people on her docket were clients of the county’s behavioral health services and where “chronic violators” of their parole. Recently, she said one defendant disappeared after appearing to get better and family members were concerned he was off his medications.

“All I wanted to do is try to find him before he got too far gone,” said O’Brien. “Because I didn’t have that power because he wasn’t on my docket, so I had to issue a warrant for his arrest.”

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County to Hold Hearings on Making it Easier to Build Elder Care Facilities

By Airey

Arlington County is searching for ways to make building new senior care facilities easier.

The Arlington County Board approved a request for public hearings on the topic, and specifically on whether Arlington should change zoning regulations to allow developers to build senior centers in more parts of the county.

Right now, developers can only build assisted living facilities in “special development districts” usually meant for hospitals, according to a county staff report to the Board. Nursing homes can be built in the same areas, as well as some commercially-zoned areas.

The Board and the Planning Commission will invite the public to discuss the possibility of opening up some areas zoned for multi-family buildings to senior centers, as well as commercially-zoned areas. Meeting dates and locations have not yet been announced as of today (Friday.)

Planning staff are also currently considering public land, too, as part of a broader zoning study they intend to complete by the end of 2019.

Currently there are six assisted living facilities for senior citizens in Arlington with a total of 2,658 beds, per the staff report to the Board. An additional 2,408 beds are spread across the county’s four nursing homes.

No new facilities have been built in the last 20 years — a big problem considering the county’s growing elderly population.

“Arlington County is home to more than 35,000 residents above the age of 60,” County staff noted in the report. “This represents 14% of the County’s population, and this percentage is expected to grow in the coming decades. Across the nation, one in five Americans will be age 65 or older by 2030.”

Despite this growing need, staff acknowledged that current options are “limited.”

The County Board unanimously approved the request to advertise the hearings during its meeting last weekend.

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