Author: Chris Teale

ACPD’s ‘Operation Santa’ Performances to Feature Synchronized Swimming Stars

By Chris Teale
1/2

The stars of the Arlington County Police Department’s viral synchronized swimming video will again be showing off their acting skills.

This coming Saturday, December 9, ACPD’s “Operation Santa” will visit at least 10 neighborhoods throughout December, spreading holiday cheer to children and adults in the community. Among the stops is the parking lot at Nottingham Elementary School (5900 Little Falls Road) at 11 a.m.

A blurb on the event said it “features many popular characters including, Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch and others. This event will offer members of the public an opportunity to experience the show, get to know the officers who make it happen each year and take photos with the characters and officers following the performance.”

ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage said the same officers who starred in the swimming video will don costumes for the performances, which are free to attend. Members of ACPD’s Community Policing District Teams work with neighborhoods to designate dates, time and locations and help promote to the children in the community.

“It is an opportunity for the Department to give back to the community, spread holiday cheer, share an important message about the holidays and give the community another opportunity to get to know the men and women of the Arlington County Police Department,” Savage said.

Savage said the officers involved are all currently working nights, so were not available for additional comment.

Rosslyn CVS to Close in January

By Chris Teale
1/3

A CVS in Rosslyn will close early next year.

A sign on the door of the pharmacy and store at 1555 Wilson Blvd says it will shutter on January 3.

The CVS is on the first floor of a soon-to-redevelop office building, alongside the now-shuttered Quiznos Subs and Domino’s Pizza.

Developer Penzance is planning to raze the current building and replace it with two apartment buildings, ground-floor retail and the new Fire Station 10.

The site is also close to the Wilson School, future home of the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, where construction is underway. Both properties are a part of the broader Western Rosslyn Area Plan, a vision for development in that section of the neighborhood.

The other CVS in Rosslyn is located at 1100 Wilson Blvd.

Hat-tip to Allix H.

W&OD Trail to Be Pre-Treated if Snow or Ice in the Forecast

By Chris Teale

Crews will pre-treat the Washington & Old Dominion Trail for the first time this winter when accumulating snow or ice is in the weather forecast.

Officials behind the 45-mile paved trail between Shirlington and Purcellville announced the change in a series of tweets last week.

When snow or ice is in the forecast, crews will pre-treat the trail “in Arlington heading west.” The change comes after discussions with staff from Arlington’s Department of Parks and Recreation, who have been pre-treating trails for at least the past few years.

The Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority, which is responsible for the trail, purchased a tanker trailer to do the pre-treating, which will likely involve putting salt down hours before snow or ice is due to hit. NOVA Parks will continue to use its snow blowers to clear the paths.

“The pre-treatment working in tandem with our snow blowers should help reduce trail down time so to speak with snow & ice on the trail,” the trail’s Twitter account tweeted.

The new regime may be needed later this week. The Capital Weather Gang reports that there will be a “decisive flip to cold,” which may bring snow flurries.

https://twitter.com/WODTrail/status/936634069739335681

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

Club Pilates Studio Open in Pentagon Row

By Chris Teale
1/5

A nationally-known Pilates studio has opened its first D.C.-area location in Pentagon Row.

Club Pilates had its soft opening this weekend at 1101 S. Joyce Street, and will host a grand opening celebration on January 6. The gym is next to the Saigon Saigon restaurant. It had planned to open earlier, but organizers blamed delays on the county permitting process.

The soft opening included three full days of free 30-minute introductory classes and specials. Soft opening pricing specials are available through January 5 and include 20 percent off the first three months, 5 percent off an annual membership and the waiving of the enrollment fee.

Classes are available in the mornings and evenings at the studio, which modernizes traditional Pilates with the help of state-of-the-art equipment. Eight different class formats are available, with four levels of difficulty.

“Club Pilates is like nothing the DC area has ever seen — merging a variety of exercises that complement the core traditional Pilates practice,” studio owner Michael Grams said in a statement. “And in our efforts to modernize the workout even further, we’re bringing a group class feel with slightly larger classes (12 reformers vs. the traditional 2 to 8) so students will feel the motivation of community while providing personalized attention in this all-in-one workout.”

Arlington Agenda: December 4-10

By Chris Teale

Arlington Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in Arlington County. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out the event submission form.

Also, be sure to check out our event calendar.

Monday

Conversations With Tyler: Ross Douthat *
GMU Founders Hall (3351 Fairfax Drive)
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.

New York Times editorial columnist and leading conservative thinker Ross Douthat joins Tyler Cowen for a wide-ranging dialogue as part of the Mercatus Center’s Conversations with Tyler series at George Mason University’s Founders Hall.

Carols and Ale *
O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub (3207 Washington Blvd)
Time: 6-8 p.m.

Celebrate the holidays with good company, communal singing, and giving back. Attendees are invited to bring donations for Doorways for Women and Families: Paper towels, dish soap, disinfectant wipes, Target gift cards and/or monetary gifts.

Tuesday

Holiday Cheer on Tap
Holiday Inn Arlington at Ballston (4610 Fairfax Drive)
Time: 5-7 p.m.

Celebrate the holiday season with colleagues, friends and neighbors in Ballston alongside the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and Ballston BID. Enjoy drinks and appetizers while networking with fellow local business leaders.

Fill the Cruiser
Pentagon Row (1101 S. Joyce Street)
Time: 6:30-8 p.m.

Officers from the Arlington County Police Department will collect new, unwrapped toys as part of Operation Santa to donate to needy children. Donations can also be made at police headquarters (1425 N. Courthouse Road) until December 15.

Thursday

Home Alone
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: 7:45 p.m.

As part of the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse’s Christmas Movie Festival, view a screening of holiday classic Home Alone, starring Macaulay Culkin as a child that gets left at home by his parents. Another screening is on Monday, December 11.

Friday

Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting
Sheraton Pentagon City (900 S. Orme Street)
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The 93rd annual meeting will be a celebration of 2017 and the exciting future. The meeting details the Chamber’s key initiatives and plans for the coming year, with a keynote address from County Board chair Jay Fisette.

Miracle on 23rd Street
Linden Resources (750 23rd Street S.)
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.

The annual Arlington holiday tradition features The Grand Tree Lighting Ceremony, Santa arriving on an fire truck, a visit with Santa, face painting for children and holiday musical entertainment. Guests are encouraged to dress warmly.

Saturday

Wakefield High School Holiday Shop
Wakefield High School (1325 S. Dinwiddie Street)
Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wakefield High School students, clubs, activities and teams will be selling fair trade and hand-made items to raise money for activities at the school. Current vendors include 10,000 Villages, Wakefield Boosters, Colette’s Popcorn and more.

Grump! Arts and Crafts Show
Crystal City Underground (1750 Crystal Drive)
Time: Noon to 5 p.m.

A chance to shop locally and have your photo taken with the Grumpy Yeti. More than 50 vendors will appear, chosen by jury every October. Items available include clothes, jewelry, greeting cards, cosmetics, art and accessories.

Sunday

Bubbles & Beyond *
Twisted Vines (2803 Columbia Pike)
Time: 5:30-7:30 p.m.

A casual tasting event featuring a variety of sparkling wines and various bite-sized pairings of food. Stations will be setup throughout the restaurant with wine professionals taking you through the wine’s story and how best to pair for the season.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) event

Second Leaf Collection Pass Begins Today

By Chris Teale

The second phase of Arlington County’s leaf collection program begins today.

Some neighborhoods can expect to see trucks pass through as early as today (December 4), with the work scheduled to be completed across the county on December 21. Trucks will operate Monday through Saturday.

To prepare for the vacuum collection, residents are reminded to rake leaves to the curb but away from storm drains, and to remove stones, litter and other debris from the piles.

County staff said residents should only report their street has been missed if leaves haven’t been collected after it’s been labeled completed, by calling 703-228-6570.

And with piles of leaves on the ground this fall, one anonymous tipster warned others to think before driving through those piles.

The tipster wrote:

With all the leaf piles in the streets this time of year I want to get the word out that children play in those leaves. I was waiting for my son at [Williamsburg Middle School] and was parked behind a pile of leaves. While I was waiting a WMS student popped up out of the leaf pile. He had been laying in the pile for at least 30 seconds for me to not see any activity. He got up and walked away. Moments later a parent drove into that leaf pile and parked to wait for her child. Someone’s son was less than 10 seconds from being run over. This is the second time I have seen a child pop up out of the leaves on the street.

Flickr pool photo by Eric

Catering Startup HUNGRY Opens Online Ordering System

By Chris Teale

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.

Just in time for the holiday party season, a catering startup has launched an online marketplace for business customers to order its food.

HUNGRY, which launched last year, opened its online ordering system earlier this month.

Customers can now log on to its website, fill in details on the number of people they expect to cater for, a delivery date and time and their zip code. HUNGRY then works to provide personalized choices, including different cuisine types and showing the chef who would prepare them.

The website also shows the average price per person for the locally-prepared dishes, and gives a sample menu.

“We partner with incredible local chefs that prepare amazing variety across all types of cuisines and affordable prices, making HUNGRY’s model the future of office-centered catering,” Shy Pahlevani, HUNGRY president, said in a statement. “The new marketplace makes online ordering a simple three-step process as our proprietary Smart Catering Engine recommends the ideal menu for your team based on your ordering preferences. This technology enables the consumer to feel more connected to their unique meal experience as they learn more about the chef that made their meal.”

Food options include seasonally-inspired salads and custom burger stations to modern takes on classic sandwiches and ethnic dishes. The marketplace also remembers past orders and interests, and factors those into its options for returning customers.

HUNGRY works with more than 50 chefs, who are provided kitchen space and marketed to interested customers, with the company taking care of delivery and logistics.

Earlier this year, it added four new D.C. area chefs to its stable, including Patrice Olivon, a former White House chef and Adam Greenberg of the Coconut Club and a “Chopped” champion on the Food Network.

“HUNGRY’s new marketplace provides access to more than 50 top-notch local chefs, giving our clients even more variety and authentic options to choose from,” Eman Pahlevani, HUNGRY founder, said in a statement. “Our growing chef network includes James Beard Award nominated chefs, former Iron Chef and Chopped champions, and even a former White House chef. The marketplace will be a catalyst for connecting these renowned chefs in our area and businesses together in a way like never before.”

Images via HUNGRY

Tolls High As I-66 Express Lanes Launch

By Chris Teale
1/2

The rollout of the I-66 Express Lanes began this morning (Monday) with tolls already on the high side for solo drivers, and high prices could be the norm depending on traffic.

Tolls as high as $25-30 were reported this morning for non-HOV drivers heading from the Capital Beltway to Washington, D.C. on eastbound I-66.

And when an ARLnow reporter logged onto the 66 Express Lanes app just before 8:30 a.m., solo drivers could still expect to be hit in their wallets, even just traveling eastbound on I-66 within Arlington.

At that time, a trip from Sycamore Street in East Falls Church to Rosslyn would cost a solo rider $11.50, while a separate journey from the Glebe Road exit to the Pentagon would cost $7. A trip from the Beltway to Washington on I-66 cost $21 at the time.

A fact sheet on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s website said tolling “will be dynamic and will fluctuate depending on the amount of traffic on the Express Lanes.”

“As with other Express Lanes facilities, dynamic pricing will manage demand for the lanes to provide users a reliable trip,” VDOT continued. “When traffic volumes increase, tolls will rise, and when traffic volumes decrease, toll rates will fall.”

Eastbound I-66 inside the Beltway is free for carpoolers with at least two people in the car and an E-ZPass Flex device set to HOV. Solo drivers can take I-66 towards D.C. in the morning, as long as they’re willing to pay a toll that will vary with demand.

The High Occupancy Toll restrictions and charges will apply only to the peak demand direction during rush hour — 5:30-9:30 a.m. in the morning and 3-7 p.m. in the evening.

Traffic appeared to be flowing relatively freely on I-66 this morning from the overpass by Washington-Lee High School, where Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) broke ground on the HOT Lanes last year.

Virginia State Police had warned drivers to plan ahead and recognize the change in traffic patterns at the Express Lanes, and to not stop or back up.

And VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller said there were “[no] significant crashes or traffic problems to report with this morning’s rush hour.” Based on social media accounts, eastbound I-66 inside the Beltway experienced delays on the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge heading into D.C. — a fairly typical occurrence for the morning rush.

“State police thanks all the motorists who put the extra effort into planning ahead and being prepared for the I-66 changes,” Geller said.

Image No. 1: screenshot via 66 Express Lanes app

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By Chris Teale

It’s been a busy week, filled with important decisions.

Only today, the National Park Service announced it will spend more than $200 million to repair and rehabilitate Memorial Bridge, while the County Board voted this week to allocate its closeout funds and encourage more “accessory dwelling units.”

Elsewhere, a survey found that more residents would cycle if there were more protected bike lanes available for use, and Second Lady Karen Pence will appear on community radio station WERA next week.

And ahead of the 2018 legislative session, Arlington’s lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly will have a go at renaming Jefferson Davis Highway and getting dedicated funding for Metro.

These were our most-read stories this week:

  1. Police Investigating Death in Pentagon City
  2. Morning Notes (November 27)
  3. Crime Report: Masked Man Seen Pleasuring Self in Courthouse
  4. Report Shows Disparities in Income, Health Care Across Arlington
  5. County Board Approves Long Bridge Park Aquatics Center Contract

Discuss anything of local interest in the comments below. Have a great weekend!

Flickr pool photo by The BeltWalk

Crystal Couture Fashion Show Set for Early February

By Chris Teale
1/6

Crystal City’s annual fashion show will return in early February.

Crystal Couture is set for Friday, February 2 (5 p.m.) and Saturday, February 3 (2 p.m.) at 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway.

The event includes a pop-up clothes store as well as the fashion show. Organizers said around 50 local boutiques, retailers and designers will be showcased.

“This one-stop shopping experience lets guests browse discounted offerings on the rack AND on the runway as models showcase select offerings while enjoying sips from the bar and free five-minute make-up and hair makeovers,” organizers wrote.

And for those who wish to get on the catwalk, casting got underway for Crystal Couture late last month. Planning has also started, including producer Maggy “Fancy” Francois.

National Park Service Approves More than $200 Million for Memorial Bridge Repairs

By Chris Teale
1/2

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) The National Park Service has approved more than $200 million in funding to repair and rehabilitate Arlington Memorial Bridge.

NPS announced today (Friday) it will spend $227 million on the repair contract. U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) helped secure the funding, alongside U.S. Reps. Don Beyer (D-8) and Gerry Connolly (D-11) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

Construction will begin next fall on the 85-year-old bridge, with the project set for completion in 2021. At least three lanes of traffic will remain open at all times during construction, which — thanks to the project now being fully funded — NPS will finish in one phase rather than two, to save $35 million.

Officials estimate the repairs will increase the bridge’s lifespan by 85 to 100 years. Last year, the bridge won a $90 million federal transportation grant to help with repairs, matched by $60 million from NPS, after years of deterioration and neglect led to worries it could close by 2021.

Beyer, who represents Arlington in the House of Representatives, said earlier this year he would push hard for federal money to fund repairs on a bridge that carries 68,000 vehicles each day from the county into D.C.

“After years of work to secure funding to fix Arlington Memorial Bridge, today’s announcement gives us hope that the bridge will remain safe and serviceable into the 22nd century,” Beyer said in a statement. “Our tour of the bridge and press conference in 2015 crystalized the dire need for this funding. Since then I have worked together with my colleagues in Congress, leaders from Virginia and the District, and two Administrations to secure the money for these structural repairs. This truly is great news, and I thank everyone whose efforts brought us here.”

Federal officials are scheduled to discuss the project during a press conference in the District at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

The full press release is after the jump:

(more…)

View More Stories