Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) led a letter with more than 40 Democratic colleagues highlighting rising health insurance premiums and criticizing Congress’ inaction.
In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, 46 Democrats said the lack of action to fund cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments is hurting small business owners and the self-employed.
President Donald Trump announced he would end the payments, which help subsidize health insurance premiums, last month.
The Democrats said that House Republicans are blocking a “key solution” by not funding the CSRs through legislation, and it will only make things harder for individuals and business owners.
“We are hearing from entrepreneurs, small business owners and self-employed individuals who are being disproportionately impacted by the President’s decision,” they wrote. “We ask that you support our innovator economy and mitigate this financial burden by fulfilling cost sharing reduction payments.”
The Arlington County Republican Committee led a chorus of condemnation after state Sen. Barbara Favola (D-31) suggested Republicans are “evil” at a rally Tuesday night.
Speaking to more than 200 supporters at an Arlington County Democratic Committee rally alongside Democratic nominee for governor Ralph Northam, lieutenant governor candidate Justin Fairfax, Attorney General Mark Herring — who is running for re-election — and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), among others, Favola said that if Republican nominee Ed Gillespie becomes governor, it will be “dangerous.”
“My colleagues didn’t tell you how dangerous it will be if the other sides wins,” Favola said in a speech. “They’re evil, we’re the good guys… Every one of you is an angel. You’re not only fighting for yourselves, you’re fighting for hundreds of thousands of people in Virginia.”
(ACDC posted a video of the entire rally on its Facebook page. Favola’s remarks begin just before the 31:00 mark.)
The use of the word “evil” brought swift condemnation from Arlington GOP chair Jim Presswood, who pushed back on Favola’s statement.
Senator Barbara Favola crossed the line when she said that Virginia Republicans are “evil.” This language goes well beyond the realm of civil debate and demeans the moral character of Republicans.
Senator Favola and other Arlington Democratic leaders often talk about “Arlington values.” There are indeed many values Arlingtonians across the political spectrum share, including cultural and ethnic diversity, good schools, a well-run public transit system, and the need for public parks. But Senator Favola apparently does not include ideological diversity in this list. The term “Arlington values” should not be code for Democratic values.
There are many Republicans who live in Arlington — about thirty-thousand people in the county voted for the Republican Congressional candidate last year. Senator Favola needs to remember, even during a heated political campaign, that we are her constituents too.
In a tweet, Gillespie also condemned the comment.
Now just saying out loud what their campaign has shown they think of millions of their fellow Virginians… https://t.co/BbU6g8C6Od
A boxing gym already in D.C. and Bethesda is set to open its latest location in Virginia Square.
Urban Boxing will move into 3701 Fairfax Drive according to signs in its windows, next to a Dunkin’ Donuts that opened in September.
The gym, which already has locations near Foggy Bottom in D.C. and in Bethesda, Md., “offers members both individual training and group setting workouts. We strive to combine high energy fitness and self-defense in a fun yet encouraging environment,” according to its website.
It offers over 60 group classes and personal training sessions, and also represents professional and amateur fighters under the moniker Urban Boxing Sports Management.
A permitting application filed with the county indicates that the gym will have 3,800 square feet of space. No word yet on an opening date.
The restaurant group behind Pamplona and Bar Bao in Clarendon has opened an outdoor food stand in the Crystal City Water Park (1601 Crystal Drive).
Called The Stand, it features a rotating menu of what it describes as “the best new food trends the area has to offer, right in the comfort of your own neighborhood.” It officially opened for business today (Wednesday).
The Social Restaurant Group partnered with venture capital firm Catalyst Venture Group on the project. It opened a few months after the water park’s former concession stand was forced to close when landlord Vornado declined to renew the lease.
November’s line-up at The Stand is as follows:
All day, every day: Breakfast with B Doughnut and La Colombe Coffee
November 1-3: Cookie Dough & Co. (cookies)
November 6-10: Capital Chicken & Waffle (comfort food)
November 13-17: Donburi (Japanese)
November 20-22: Pinch Dumplings (traditional Chinese)
November 27- December 1: Timber Pizza (pizza)
The partners are also behind the upcoming Common Ground Food Hall in Rosslyn, set to open in late 2018.
“We are so excited to introduce The Stand in Crystal City,” said Zi-Heng Zhu, co-founder of Common Ground Food Hall, in a statement. “Crystal City is full of creative people with an appetite for discoverable new kinds of food. It’s the perfect canvas for our chefs to share and test ideas in a fresh outdoor setting.”
With the candy collected, the monsters mashed and the ghouls gone, Arlingtonians are anticipating trash day so that Halloween haunts us no longer.
This year, however, there is an option for getting rid of one Halloween staple in a decidedly un-scary, eco-friendly way: Arlington residents can drop off their pumpkins for composting on Saturday.
Arlington County’s Solid Waste Bureau will be accepting pumpkins for composting as part of its free monthly services on Saturday, November 4 at the Earth Products Recycling Yard (4300 29th Street S.) from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The service is for county residents only, not businesses or other commercial establishments. Anyone wanting to drop off their pumpkin must remove any decorations, candles or paint beforehand.
Residents can also have up to two boxes of paper shredded, including checks and checkbooks, and can drop off the following inert materials:
Asphalt
Ceramic tile
Concrete
Earth
Masonry block
Rock
Sand
Only a small pickup truck load or three cubic yards of material can be accepted. Brush material is not accepted.
Just in time for the holidays, a pop-up store celebrating local businesses and artisans opened today (Wednesday) in Courthouse.
The “Made in Arlington” pop-up shop is on the ground floor of county government headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd, in the Plaza Library.
It will be open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. between now and December 22. And on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., special exhibits will take place in the lobby from local artists.
The shop, which features vendors selling food and gifts, “will help Arlingtonians find that one-of-a-kind gift during the holiday season, while also supporting local businesses and artists,” according to a press release.
The new products are just inside the library entrance, next to the shop’s usual array of Arlington-branded t-shirts, water bottles, chocolate and other items.
From an Arlington Economic Development press release, the vendors include:
A multi-vehicle crash closed two southbound lanes of I-395 at the start of the evening rush hour today (Tuesday).
Police closed the center and left southbound lanes after the crash at around 3:45 p.m. near Mile Marker 7, just north of the Glebe Road exit. Cars could still get by slowly in the two right-hand lanes.
Backups were already reaching as far north as the Pentagon just after 4 p.m. Drivers in the area should expect delays.
Update: Accident: SB on I-395 at MM7 in Arlington Co. 2 travel lanes closed. Potential Delays.4:04PM
Little Ambassadors Academy west side (photo via Google Maps)
Little Ambassadors Academy east side (photo via Google Maps)
Photo via Google Maps
Two neighbors of a planned child care center on Lee Highway filed a lawsuit in Arlington Circuit Court this month to try and stop it opening.
The suit, filed by N. McKinley Street residents Francisca Ferro and Cornelius James Coakley who live right behind the property, is against the proposed Little Ambassadors Academy, which is planning to open at 5801 and 5901 Lee Highway. The Arlington County Board approved the plan at its September meeting.
Little Ambassadors, which already operates two child care centers on Lee Highway, is planning to open another facility that would have space for up to 155 children aged 20 months to 5 years old.
The center would be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and have its rear parking lot converted into an outdoor playground, while the loading area next to N. McKinley Street would be modified to have 20 parking spaces.
But in a complaint filed on October 18, the pair allege that the child care facility will negatively affect parking, traffic congestion and noise in the neighborhood, especially for local residents.
“The Special Use Permit materially impacts Petitioners in a way that is different from the impact on to the general public, by greatly increasing traffic and safety concerns in the vicinity of their residences as a result of the expanding the number of cars permitted to traverse and park in the area,” the complaint reads.
The complaint against the County Board and Little Ambassadors rests on four claims.
First, they allege that the Board did not give neighbors sufficient notice that a hearing on the planned child care facility would be taking place.
By law, those nearby must be given at least five days’ written notice, but Ferro and Coakley said they only heard about the hearing on September 14, two days before it was scheduled to be heard by the County Board.
Second, the pair argue that the County Board broke the Dillon Rule, which limits the power of local government by leaving it up to the state government to delegate powers to localities.
Third, the complaintants say that in having the county Department of Human Services decide on the maximum number of children that can attend, and by having the county Zoning Administrator approve the center’s parking plan, the County Board did not have the power to delegate those tasks and should have done it themselves.
Fourth, the pair also dinged the Board for an “unreasonable exercise of legislative function” in approving the center, meaning it should not have been approved, and said the center’s parking plan violates the county’s Zoning Ordinance.
Arlington zoning calls for one parking space on site for each staff member at a child care center, with one parking space also provided for every 10 children that attend. The complaint says the 20 on-site spaces and four off-site spaces do not add up to enough parking.
In May, the Board added a staff member to the Dept. of Community, Planning, Housing and Development to suggest changes to Arlington’s zoning ordinance to help child care centers open.
At the time, Board vice chair Katie Cristol told ARLnow that “our biggest obstacles are within the zoning ordinance in terms of the number of parking spaces required by childcare centers or the amount of indoor vs. outdoor space.”
Arlington County should begin planning soon for the long-term growth in the use of driverless cars on its streets, says a local transportation expert.
The county has been on the forefront of research into autonomous vehicles. In August, a car that appeared to be driverless was spotted on the streets of Courthouse and Clarendon.
The following month, car company Ford revealed it was behind the vehicle’s presence, as it was partnering with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to test signalling technology and people’s reactions. (A human driver disguised as a seat was actually behind the wheel).
CNBC reports that Ford plans to bring autonomous vehicles to a test market next year, while the CEO of chip manufacturer Nvidia said fully autonomous cars will be on the roads in “no more than four years.”
And with the technology continuing to be refined, the time is now to start planning for a future with more and more autonomous cars on the streets of Arlington, according to Diana Mendes of HNTB Corporation, an architecture and civil engineering consultancy firm with an office in Shirlington.
“Arlington is a very special place,” Mendes said. “There’s a lot of thought given to land use and community and how communities are designed. It’s not too soon to start thinking about those changes so that you have the benefit of being able to reflect and then be proactive as opposed to trying to play catch-up when things start happening that you may or may not think fit with the character of the place you want to be.”
To do it, Mendes said elected officials, staff and other stakeholders must look to the future and explore how government policy and physical infrastructure can be put together. That could include making sure that the likes of crosswalks and stop lights interact with the autonomous cars to enhance everyone’s safety, or exploring how street layouts can change to adapt to the new technology.
“I think the local planning processes, community planning and master planning as well as regional transportation planning processes is a good place to start,” Mendes said. “You have your short-term improvements, but maybe we now should be spending a little more energy in those longer-term improvements to we’re not solving yesterday’s problems tomorrow. That’s the right place to start.”
But while there are planning decisions to be made, Mendes said, it will be exciting to see how the technology of autonomous cars evolves. Potentially, she said, driverless vehicles will become less like the cars we are familiar with today and may be designed to be more suited for people to get work done on the road.
“These could be portable spaces dedicated to different functions that enable people to recoup time that they would have otherwise lost in more traditional forms of travel,” she said. “I think that changes the landscape dramatically.”
According to its website, the restaurant “is redefining the traditional Greek restaurant with an interactive concept that combines high quality ingredients, open kitchens and Greek atmosphere in a fast casual setting.”
Customers build their own meal by ordering from a combination of proteins, toppings and sauces, with sides, drinks and desserts also available. A Greek yogurt can also be built, with various sweet and savory options.
Already, The Simple Greek has 15 locations in Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida and Arizona.
More are set to come in Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Indiana, Connecticut, North Carolina and Rhode Island. The Arlington location will be the first in Virginia.
Representatives with The Simple Greek did not respond to questions on an opening date. So far, no permitting applications have been filed with the county.
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.
A Theodore Roosevelt Salute to President Lincoln, sponsored by the Lincoln Group of D.C.Joe Wiegand as Theodore Roosevelt will deliver a salute to the president he most admired. Teddy will greet guests, then take questions after his address.
The Vivaldi Project performs works by members of the Bach family alongside those of Vivaldi, C.A. Campioni, Haydn and others in a chamber music concert on period instruments. Tickets cost $20 at the door, $10 for students.
Tom Arnold Live
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: 7:30 and 10 p.m.
Film and television star Tom Arnold brings his stand-up show to the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse, having won awards as a writer, producer and actor. Arnold will also perform on Saturday, November 4 a 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Educational Theatre Company celebrates the kickoff of its 20th year with desserts, a live band, cash bar, face-painting and much more.ETC expands access to theatre for children, adults and senior citizens through participant-driven programming.
A chance to celebrate the spirit of Halloween while bar-hopping through Arlington’s most popular bars with thousands of people. Attendees get a souvenir haunted mug, cover-free access to Arlington’s best bars, drink and food specials and more.
A celebration of words, logic, numbers and thinking, and a place to meet other puzzle fanatics. Participation is free for members of the Friends of the Arlington Public Library, with a suggested donation of $15 for non-members.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) led a letter with more than 40 Democratic colleagues highlighting rising health insurance premiums and criticizing Congress’ inaction.
