Author: Alex Koma

Police Arrest Man Following Scuffle Near Clarendon Metro

By Alex Koma

Arlington police arrested a Texas man after a fight broke out near the Clarendon Metro station Saturday night (July 21).

Police charged 41-year-old Kenneth George Griffin with one count of malicious wounding, after he was involved in a scuffle along the 3100 block of Wilson Blvd in Clarendon.

They believe the fight broke out when “a verbal dispute between known individuals escalated and became physical when the suspect pushed the victim to the ground, causing a laceration,” according to a county crime report.

He’s now being held without bond, and has a preliminary hearing on the matter set in Arlington General District Court on Aug. 31.

Full details on the incident from the crime report:

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 2018-07210228, 3100 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 8:45 p.m. on July 21, police responded to the report of an assault with injury. Upon arrival, it was determined that a verbal dispute between known individuals escalated and became physical when the suspect pushed the victim to the ground, causing a laceration. Kenneth Griffin, 41, of Pasadena, TX, was arrested and charged with Malicious Wounding. He was held on no bond.

After Years of Delays, County Finally Breaks Ground on Long Bridge Park Aquatics Center

By Alex Koma
1/7

Very little about the effort to build an aquatics center at Long Bridge Park has ever been easy — and that includes the project’s long-awaited groundbreaking.

Mother Nature had one last obstacle in store for county leaders as they gathered to finally turn some dirt at Long Bridge, delivering a formidable deluge that thoroughly soaked the construction site ahead of Tuesday’s ceremonial start to construction.

Yet even as the rain turned the ground to mush and tested the limits of attendees’ umbrellas, Arlington officials pressed on with a celebration of a project that’s been decades in the making.

“This project has endured worse than a little rain,” joked County Board Chair Katie Cristol.

Voters approved funding for the project in a 2012 bond referendum, but major cost overruns prompted county leaders to delay the facility’s construction two years later, and it quickly became a hot-button issue in that year’s local elections.

After a lengthy process of scaling back the project’s scope, and reducing its cost, the Board signed off on its construction last fall — but even still, some in the community would rather see it pushed back once more as the county wrestles with a budget dilemma.

Those are all big reasons why Jay Fisette, who served on the Board for 20 years, compared the project to a church in Barcelona, Spain that’s been under construction since 1882. Toby Smith, a local activist who helped lead the Long Bridge Park planning process, added that he “can measure the project’s length by the height of my kids.”

“It’s fair to say I did have doubts over the years, even as the community was largely still behind it,” Fisette told ARLnow. “It wasn’t clear every moment that it was going to happen… but groundbreaking helps it become eminently real.”

Fisette remembers some delays prompted when planners working to design the park, which opened across from the Pentagon in 2011, decided to shift where the aquatics center would be located within Long Bridge. He also puts some of the blame for the project’s long timeline on himself, recalling his insistence that the facility meet the new energy efficiency standards he fought to impose for county buildings.

“It was never expected to happen quickly,” Fisette said. “Good things sometimes take a long time.”

Still, Cristol lamented that it was “bittersweet” that the county would break ground on the project without Carrie Johnson around to see it. As one of the county’s longest tenured planning commissioners, Johnson played a key role in shepherding the entire Long Bridge Park project through the process, but she passed away this May.

“Years down the road, we’ll all be thanking Carrie Johnson for this,” Smith said.

But for all the project’s long history, Cristol points out that many of Arlington’s new arrivals are only now learning about aquatics center. She feels Long Bridge is as much about the county’s future as its past, and she hopes the upcoming construction work “will give people a chance to learn about what will be coming here.”

Work is set to wrap up in 2021, with a 50-meter pool, diving towers, a family pool and a series of additional park improvements on tap for the area by the time it’s completed.

So even if the project required some long nights, a few headaches and one last morning in the rain, Fisette feels it was all worth the effort.

“This area used to be an invisible place,” Fisette said. “It was a wasteland, where you’d only come if your car got towed. This is going to transform it into a vibrant community amenity.”

Taxi Drivers Argue DCA Construction is ‘Destroying Our Business’

By Alex Koma
1/3

Construction-related changes at one Reagan National Airport arrivals terminal have local taxi drivers fuming, and they argue airport officials are ignoring their complaints while catering to ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft.

Dozens of drivers serving the airport have begun leading protests outside Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority meetings in Crystal City, with the most recent demonstration coming last week, in order to force attention on the issue.

Backed by the National Airport Taxi Drivers Association and progressive organizers with New Virginia Majority, the drivers are urging the airport to change how it’s managing construction work that’s necessitated lane closures at its arrivals area for Terminals B/C. With less curb space available, they say taxis are getting squeezed out by Uber and Lyft drivers, with cabs unable to leave their taxi stands in a timely fashion due to the increased traffic.

“That’s not good for passengers or drivers, because we’re just sitting there with the meter running for 10, 15 minutes at a time,” said Tibebu Ergete, a longtime taxi driver and one of the organizers of the protests. “This is destroying our business.”

Ergete estimates that some drivers have seen as much as a 40 percent dip in earnings as they increasingly jockey for curb space with rideshare drivers, though he would concede that taxis have seen ridership declines for years now as Uber and Lyft have gained popularity.

Still, he’d rather see rideshare customers shuttled off the premises to meet their drivers, who already have to stage in a nearby parking lot as they wait to accept rides.

“We’ve given [the MWAA] plenty of options to deal with the construction,” Ergete said. “But they won’t listen to us. They only put Uber’s interests first.”

Christina Saull, a spokeswoman for the MWAA, said airport officials are trying to balance the competing demands of everyone impacted by the construction, and said the “dialogue is ongoing” about how to improve arrival conditions. However, she would say that the MWAA does not see shuttling rideshare users elsewhere as a workable solution, arguing that “we don’t see that as providing good customer service for anyone.”

“We’ve considered everything they’ve suggested,” Saull said. “But we have to weigh a multitude of preferences in this case. We’re moving a large volume of traffic through a really small area.”

Uber spokesman Colin Tooze wrote in a statement that the construction means “the pickup experience at DCA is not an ideal one right now” but said his company in “regular dialogue” with the MWAA to ensure “ensure a smooth experience for riders and drivers.” Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews wrote in a statement that “we are glad to work with officials at the airport on a pickup and drop off arrangement that works well for passengers, drivers and the airport.”

Saull also pointed out that taxi drivers already have double the curbside pickup space at the arrival terminal compared to rideshare drivers, and that the MWAA levies a higher fee on airport trips by Uber and Lyft than it does for taxis.

But Ergete believes the MWAA is still overly deferential to the companies, as demonstrated by the refusal by its Board of Directors to discuss these complaints at any of its meetings.

Saull is urging drivers and passengers alike to simply “hang with us until the middle of next year,” when construction work at National will move inside, and the arrival lanes will reopen. Yet Ergete fears the damage inflicted by the current setup may prove to be irreversible.

“Our concern is our future,” Ergete said. “If they destroy the taxi industry, what is going to happen to the public? What is going to happen to the drivers who have been there for 40, 50 years?”

Upper Crust Pizzeria Along Lee Highway Shuts Down

By Alex Koma
1/3

The Upper Crust Pizzeria along Lee Highway has closed down, roughly three years after opening.

The store, located at 4514 Lee Highway as part of the Lee Heights Shops, shut its doors last Monday (July 16), according to a sign posted on its door.

The restaurant was the small chain’s first in Arlington, and opened for business in October 2015. Chief financial officer Ben Deb did not respond to a request for comment on what prompted the closure.

The chain is primarily based in the Boston area, though it previously operated a D.C. location until closing it 2012 amidst bankruptcy proceedings.

Morning Notes

By Alex Koma

‘Life-Threatening’ Flooding Possible Throughout D.C. Region — The flash flood watch for Arlington continues through early Wednesday morning, with a “water hose in the sky” expected to blast the region with rain over the next two days. [Twitter, Washington Post]

Defense Spending Juices Hiring in Northern Virginia — From Arlington to D.C.’s more far-flung suburbs, the Trump administration has meant big business for contractors in Northern Virginia. Federal employment numbers may be shrinking, but the area added 12,800 jobs over the past year, including 5,700 federal contractors. [Washington Post]

NewsChannel 8 Gets a New Name — Arlington-based WJLA-TV is rebranding its sister station as “WJLA 24/7 News” starting today (Tuesday). The stations’ parent company, Sinclair Broadcasting, has attracted some intense scrutiny in recent months for its conservative bent, and its effort to buy up scores more local television stations. [Washington Business Journal]

John Vihstadt Earns Endorsement of County Firefighters’ Union — The County Board’s lone independent picked up his second endorsement from the Arlington Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Association. The union cited his work to fight for a raise in first responder pay rates in its decision to back him over Democrat Matt de Ferranti. [InsideNova]

Arlington Soccer Teams Head to Nationals — The county is sending both a boys and girls team to the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Frisco, Texas today. [Twitter]

Nearby: Potomac Yard Death Investigation — Alexandria police are looking into a death on E. Reed Avenue, just across the city’s border with Arlington. The victim was an 82-year-old man, and police believe the death was suspicious. [WJLA]

Vihstadt Backs Kaine Over Stewart for Senate, Says the Republican Nominee ‘Sows Fear’

By Alex Koma

Ahead of his own tough re-election bid, independent County Board member John Vihstadt says he plans to support Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) this fall, spurning Republican nominee Corey Stewart.

Vihstadt, the first non-Democrat to sit on the Board since 1999, has long defied easy political characterizations. He won office in 2014 with the backing of both the county’s GOP and Green Party, earned the endorsement of several elected Democrats and has donated to Republicans and Democrats alike over the years.

Now, he’s opting to endorse one Democrat even as another, Matt de Ferranti, challenges him for re-election this fall.

Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and the former head of President Donald Trump’s Virginia campaign, has frequently managed to stoke controversy throughout his lengthy political career. He earned national attention for pushing policies targeting undocumented immigrants around Prince William, embraced the Confederate flag during his unsuccessful run for governor last year and courted the support of white nationalists, though he has frequently disavowed any charges of racism leveled against him.

Since earning his party’s Senate nomination in June, Stewart has even attracted condemnations from some fellow Republicans. Accordingly, when he was informed of Vihstadt’s decision by ARLnow, Kaine was not overly surprised to hear the news.

“I have an opponent who, he’ll pick as many fights with Republicans as he’ll pick with Democrats,” Kaine said during a campaign stop in Ballston. “There may be a lot of Republicans who feel like he’s pushing them away, and I’m going to be proud to have anyone’s support.”

Stewart, however, says he’s never even heard of Vihstadt, and quickly dismissed his criticisms.

“A lot of the establishment crowd have more in common with Tim Kaine than they do with me,” Stewart said. “They don’t have anything in common with me, because they don’t want much to change in Washington. It’s all very chummy… I’d rather lose all those establishment types and pick up the working class voters. That’s a good trade, to me.”

Yet Jill Caiazzo, the chair of the county’s Democratic Committee, pointed out Vihstadt declined to back Kaine in 2016 when he was on the ticket as Hillary Clinton’s running mate — Vihstadt put out a statement after the election saying that “all four party nominees on the Virginia ballot for president fell short of what our nation deserved — and needed in 2016.” She sees Vihstadt’s decision as “further evidence that voters who previously considered third party candidates are voting Democratic in the Trump era.”

“These voters will send a strong message in 2018 that the extreme Trump-GOP agenda is bad for Virginia and bad for Arlington,” Caiazzo wrote in an email. “We expect that a majority of Arlington voters will vote for Democrats up and down the ballot this November, including Democrat Matt de Ferranti for County Board.”

Political scientists have indeed speculated in recent weeks that Stewart could hurt the party’s other nominees down the ballot, should Republican voters stay home. Several Republican members of Congress have already declined to campaign with Stewart, and while Vihstadt might not be wholly dependent on GOP voters, he too could fall victim to a wave election for Democrats made all the larger by Stewart’s shortcomings.

Stewart doesn’t think much of that idea — “It’s bull,” he says.

“I’m going to be a lot more competitive and a lot stronger this fall than people think,” Stewart said. “Tim Kaine is the sort of old, elite Democrat that people are tired of. There’s a change going on in Washington, and it’s being led by President Trump.”

For his part, de Ferranti doesn’t believe Vihstadt’s public support for Kaine will make a difference by the time November arrives. He sees backing Kaine over Stewart as a “low bar” for anyone to clear, given his dim view of Stewart’s politics.

“Everybody should vote for Tim Kaine, who is a phenomenal leader, and against someone who is clearly racist,” de Ferranti said.

Plans to Redevelop American Legion Post into Affordable Housing Complex Take Shape

By Alex Koma
1/4

Plans to redevelop the American Legion post in Virginia Square into a seven-story affordable housing complex are inching forward.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing has drawn up a preliminary proposal for the property at 3445 Washington Blvd, advancing plans to purchase the site and someday build 161 multifamily homes there. APAH would also include about 8,000-square-feet on the bottom floor of the building to let American Legion Post 139 stay on the property, which it’s called home for decades.

The proposal, which was submitted to the county last month according to the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, also calls for an underground parking garage at the site, and a new alley to access the building off Washington Blvd.

County planners started preparing in earnest for big changes in the area starting last year, approving a handful of zoning changes to clear the way for changes at the properties along Washington Blvd.

The adjacent YMCA of Metropolitan Washington is planning to build a new, 100,000-square-foot facility on its property at 3422 13th Street N., while another developer hopes to build a six-story apartment building at the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Kirkwood Road.

The Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association plans to discuss the American Legion proposal in more detail at its monthly meeting tonight, at 900 N. Taylor Street starting at 7 p.m.

JUST IN: Police Arrest Maryland Man in Connection with Ballston Murder

By Alex Koma

Arlington County police have arrested a Maryland man in connection with the county’s first murder of the year in Ballston this March.

County police have charged 42-year-old Jitesh Vitthal Patel of Woodbine, Maryland with murder, burglary while armed and possession of a firearm while in the commission of a felony. Police believe he was involved in the killing of John Giandoni, a Woodbridge native found dead in his home along the 4100 block of 11th Place N. on March 16.

Police believe Giandoni, who was 40, died after suffering gunshot wounds inside the home.

“Arlington County police detectives commenced an intensive four-month investigation, reviewing crime scene evidence and conducting numerous interviews,” the department wrote in a statement. “This review revealed additional information about Patel’s relationship to the victim that led detectives to identify him as the suspect.”

Police arrested Patel in Howard County, Maryland on Friday (July 20). He’s being held in the Howard County Detention Center as he await extradition back to Arlington.

Giandoni was a father of one who worked for Booz Allen Hamilton and was active in the Arlington-Falls Church Young Republicans.

Photo via YouCaring

County Settles Lawsuit Alleging Police Officer Rammed into Pedestrian in Crosswalk

By Alex Koma
1/2

Arlington County is paying out $97,000 to settle a lawsuit from a woman alleging that a police officer struck her with a car while she was in the middle of a crosswalk near Rosslyn.

The County Board voted unanimously to approve a settlement agreement last Wednesday (July 18) with Samantha Birr, an Arlington resident who filed suit seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages in circuit court in December 2017. The Board discussed the matter in closed session, and did not reveal additional details of the settlement ahead of its vote.

Birr had claimed that she suffered serious injuries stemming from a crash that took place on Jan. 13, 2015. She alleged that Marling Montenegro, then a county police officer, slammed into her with a police vehicle as she attempted to cross Lee Highway near where it intersects with N. Veitch Street, just past the MOM’s Organic Market.

Montenegro’s lawyers insisted in legal filings that she did nothing wrong, asserting that Birr was equally at fault for the accident, yet the county’s settlement averts the need for a trial on the matter that was originally scheduled to start Wednesday (July 25).

County attorney Steve MacIsaac was not immediately available for comment on the settlement, but county police spokesman Ashley Savage told ARLnow that Montenegro is no longer with the department. Savage added that the county commissioned an “internal administrative” investigation of the matter, but declined to share the results, citing privacy considerations.

Birr declined to discuss the settlement, and her attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the case. But, in legal documents, Birr’s attorney claimed that the incident “significantly affected [her] liveliness and livelihood.”

The lawsuit claims that Birr was heading home from her Rosslyn office immediately before the crash, walking west on a sidewalk along Lee Highway. As she turned right to cross the highway, she says Montenegro suddenly turned right off of N. Veitch Street, striking her on her left side.

“The impact knocked Ms. Birr onto the hood of [Montenegro’s] vehicle, where Ms. Birr’s left elbow smashed into and cracked the vehicle’s windshield,” Birr’s attorney wrote in the suit. “Ms. Birr rolled off the hood of the vehicle and fell onto the ground.”

Birr claims that she had a “walk” sign from a nearby crosswalk signal at the time, and said that Montenegro “did not stop, slow down or yield” for her. Additionally, she says that Montenegro did not have her lights flashing and was not responding to an emergency at the time, a fact that Montenegro’s lawyers conceded.

Birr’s attorney claimed she “sustained serious and continuing injuries to her elbow, arm and hand, including nerve damage, chronic pain, numbness and decreased sensation in and use of various body parts” as a result of the crash, necessitating surgery.

Accordingly, the suit alleged two different counts of negligence against Montenegro, and demanded $350,000 in damages stemming from each one.

Montenegro’s attorneys pushed back on all of those accusations in a Jan. 19 filing, even asking to have the suit dismissed in its entirety. However, a judge denied that motion in a May 18 hearing, setting up the trial that was eventually averted by the county’s settlement.

Morning Notes

By Alex Koma

Weekend Rain Intensifies, Prompts Flood Watch — As if this weekend’s downpours weren’t enough, there’s now a flash flood watch in effect for Arlington and much of the rest of the D.C. region through late tonight. That seems to be the theme for much of the upcoming week’s forecast. [Twitter, Washington Post]

Amazon HQ2 Contest Sparks New Levels of Regional Cooperation — That’s what economic development officials from Arlington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland say. The Metro funding deal, negotiated across three different governments, represents some of that cooperation, but will that spirit last if Amazon doesn’t pick the D.C. region? [Washington Business Journal]

Yorktown Alum Bound for South Africa — Drew Kiser will make the trip with some help from a Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistant award and the State Department. He’ll teach English at a high school “as part of a project to promote literacy among developing nations, as well as educating youth about LGBT identity.” [InsideNova]

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By Alex Koma

The weather has been just about perfect the last few days, but it doesn’t seem meant to last this weekend.

Rain is set to move in Saturday, then linger throughout the D.C. region for the next week, so go find that umbrella.

Watch out for some big traffic backups if you’re planning on hitting the road on I-395 this weekend. And if you’re looking for things to do, head on over to our event calendar.

It’s been a big week full of news, so catch up on our most popular stories from the past few days, if you haven’t been able to keep up:

  1. Body Found in Potomac River Off Gravelly Point
  2. Police Arrest Man Following Shirlington Standoff
  3. Ballston Construction Projects Continue to Progress
  4. Thieves Smashed Windows, Stole Airbags from ‘Approximately 35 Vehicles’
  5. Dorsey: Stop Trying to ‘Protect Neighborhoods’ from Density

Head down to the comments to discuss these stories or your weekend plans. Have a great one!

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