Author: Ethan Rothstein

Working Group Can’t Agree on Elementary School Plan for TJ Middle School

By Ethan Rothstein
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(Updated at 5:55 p.m.) The working group charged by the county to help decide the fate of the green space next to Thomas Jefferson Middle School says it was unable reach a final consensus.

Arlington Public Schools is eyeing land surrounding the middle school as the site for a new $50 million, 725-seat elementary school for south Arlington. Those funds were adopted by the School Board as part of the 2015-2024 Capital Improvement Plan last June, and approved as part of the schools bond referendum by Arlington voters in November.

The 20-member Thomas Jefferson Working Group was formed by the Arlington County Board last year, after APS announced the middle school’s surrounding area was its “preferred” location for a new elementary school. The group has met 10 times over the last five months but still couldn’t reach an agreement on how best to proceed.

“While the group could not reach full consensus within tight constraints, we do agree on strong guidelines under which a new school, if approved, could be fitted into this important site without harming TJ Park or the many community activities there,” working group chair Carrie Johnson said in a press release.

An advocacy group, Friends of Thomas Jefferson Park, formed soon after APS announced it was considering the TJ site, and the Friends group has been expressing vocal opposition to the placement of a new school on existing parkland at the 27-acre site.

“Building adjacent to the middle school ignores the county’s future recreation needs by permanently converting parkland and valuable open space to non-park and recreation uses,” Friends group President Jim Presswood said in a December press release. “We agree that Arlington needs more seats for students, but we should not have to choose between schools and parks.”

The group now leaves the decision of whether to build on the site up to the County Board. If the Board elects not to build on the site, the elementary school seats the school could have provided to South Arlington would come from additions at Barcroft and Randolph Elementary Schools, an alternative plan the School Board has already approved but is more expensive than building a new school.

Johnson will present the working group’s recommendations to the County Board at its Saturday meeting, and the Board is expected to respond during its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 27. During its deliberations, the working group engaged the community with open meetings, surveys and involving local civic associations in the discussion.

Any plan to build a school at the site needs County Board approval because part of the land is owned by the county, not Arlington Public Schools.

The complete working group report is available online. The group found that it’s feasible to build an elementary school site to the west of the existing middle school and it would have a relatively minor impact on current recreational uses. However, the group says building on the site removes it from consideration for future parkland — for which it’s currently slated — and it would pre-empt the comprehensive study the County Board is launching this year of all county- and school-owned properties for future use.

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Water & Wall, Jaleo Participating in Restaurant Week

By Ethan Rothstein

Restaurant week logoWinter Restaurant Week is already underway, and it runs until Sunday, Jan. 25.

At least 14 restaurants in Arlington are participating, offering prix fixe menus for $20.15 lunches and $35.15 dinner. The weeklong special is organized by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington to boost restaurant business after busy times, like the December holidays.

The list of restaurants participating in the promotion — which some argue isn’t a deal at all, but may cost diners more money — appears to have dwindled from previous restaurant weeks. Last August, 15 restaurants were featured on the RAMW website, a dip from 17 restaurants in 2013. This week, however, restaurants that have not previously participated have joined up, including the highly regarded Water & Wall in Virginia Square and Mazagan Restaurant on Columbia Pike.

The list of Arlington restaurants on RAMW’s website, where all of the restaurants participating in the D.C. area can be found, is below. Note: some restaurants may be offering separate specials for the week.

  • Epic Smokehouse — 1330 S. Fern Street, 571-319-4001
  • Fuego Cocina y Tequileria — 2800 Clarendon Blvd, 571-970-2180
  • Fyve at The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City — 1250 S. Hayes Street, 703-412-2762
  • Jaleo — 2250 Crystal Drive, 703-413-8181
  • La Tasca — 2900 Wilson Blvd., 703-812-9120
  • The Liberty Tavern — 3195 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-9360
  • Lyon Hall — 3100 N. Washington Blvd., 703-741-7636
  • Mazagan — 2901 Columbia Pike, 703-566-4173
  • McCormick and Schmick’s — 2010 Crystal Drive, 703-413-6400
  • Me Jana — 2300 Wilson Blvd., 703-465-4440
  • Morton’s The Steakhouse — 1750 Crystal Drive, 703-418-1444
  • Water & Wall — 3811 N. Fairfax Drive Suite 105, 703-294-4949
  • Willow — 4301 N. Fairfax Drive, 703-465-8800
  • Yayla Bistro — 2201 N. Westmoreland Street, 703-533-5600

Arlington Agenda (Jan. 20-25)

By Ethan Rothstein

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.

Tuesday

Sen. Tim Kaine (D) (courtesy photo)Sen. Tim Kaine’s Staff at Library
Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street)
Time: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

A member of Sen. Tim Kaine’s staff will be on hand to answer constituent questions, concerns and give assistance. The session is free and open to the public.

Encouraging Young Women to be Active in Politics
Patrick Henry Elementary School library (701 S. Highland Street)
Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Susan Welford of the Running Start organization speaks about why more young women don’t seek public office, and the ways society can help more women become civically active sooner. The event is free.

Thursday

cheryl-rtrResolve to Run for Arlington Thrive*
Pete’s New Haven Apizza (3017 Clarendon Blvd)
Time: 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Arlington Thrive hosts this training regimen to get runners in shape to run a 5K, 10-mile or half-marathon race. This happy hour is free, with drink specials, to help those interested get questions answered.

Diamonds and Dessert*
Crystal City Shops (1625 Crystal Square Arcade)
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The Junior League of Washington hosts a night of “sips, sweets and sparkles.” A $25 ticket buys nibbles and a ticket into a diamond drawing.

Saturday

Rosebud_EventRosebud Video and Film Festival
Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd)
Time: 12:30-5:30 p.m.

This film festival pulls films only from D.C., Virginia and Maryland filmmakers, and gives cash prizes. Tickets are $10.

Sunday

settlersStrategy Gaming at the Library
Shirlington Branch Library (4200 Campbell Avenue)
Time: 6:00-9:00 p.m.

A free evening of strategy-based board games like Settlers of Catan, Risk and Dominion. The night is free and knowledge of strategy games is not required.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) event

Pot Advocates Lobby for Ebbin’s Decriminalization Bill

By Ethan Rothstein

Marijuana and handcuff (photo via Facebook)The Virginia chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is in Richmond today, lobbying legislators to support Sen. Adam Ebbin’s marijuana decriminalization bill.

Ebbin’s bill, SB 686, has been referred to the 15-member Courts of Justice Committee, and if it’s approved would need to be approved by the full Senate before going through the same process in the House of Delegates.

Both houses are controlled by Republicans, which has traditionally been the party opposing marijuana legalization efforts nationwide. For that reason, Ebbin and NORML are targeting decriminalization, instead of NORML’s preferred policy, recreational legalization.

“Decriminalization is the first step in the process of fully legalizing cannabis,” Virginia NORML writes on its website’s section for SB 686. “Virginia is slow to change its laws in general; it often takes several years to make any significant changes, and usually requires support from both Republicans and Democrats. Our goal is to make the simple change to stop charging people with a criminal misdemeanor for simple possession.”

More than 60 marijuana reform advocates converged on the state capital today to discuss the legislation with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. If it passes, Ebbin’s bill would reduce the penalty for marijuana possession from a $500 fine and up to 30 days in jail to a $100 citation payable to the state’s Literary Fund. According to Ebbin’s legislation, Virginia currently spends $67 million a year investigating, prosecuting and jailing marijuana offenders.

“Criminalizing marijuana disrupts careers and families resulting in more harm than the drug itself and decriminalization is a commonsense step to allow law enforcement to focus its efforts on serious crimes,” Ebbin said in a press release.

UPDATED: Arlington Man Admits to Child Porn, Sex Crimes

By Ethan Rothstein

Gavel (Flickr photo by Joe Gratz)(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) A 29-year-old Arlington man pleaded guilty in federal court today to producing child porn, and admitted to engaging in sex acts with a minor.

Patrick Joseph Friedel, 29, will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession and production of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today.

Friedel admitted to meeting five underage girls over the internet and, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, exchanged sexually explicit images with them, using “persuasion, including sending depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and coercion, including threats to post images online and tell parents.”

According to a signed affidavit by the Department of Homeland Security agent assigned to the case and acquired by ARLnow.com, Friedel used social networking apps Kik and MeetMe with the username “gthoya” to find victims and persuade them to send him sexually explicit images and videos.

Law enforcement found approximately 500 images or videos on Friedel’s computer of minors engaging in sex acts or other lewd behavior, according to the affidavit. The majority of the media was sent to Friedel directly at his request. At least six of the images or videos were of children under the age of 10 engaging in sex acts with adult males, but agents believe Friedel acquired them from other sources online.

Friedel engaged in sexual activity with one of the girls with whom he had contact three times, taking pictures and videos of the incidents. According to Friedel’s plea agreement, the images “included sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.” The victim was 15 years old at the time.

The affidavit states Friedel rented a Zipcar to drive to the victim’s house, pick her up, and engage in intercourse and “oral and anal sodomy” in the back seat. On a separate occasion, Friedel picked her up and brought her to his home in Arlington, where he filmed their sexual encounters. On the videotape, the agent states, he instructs her to perform sex acts to him and “slapped her on the head” when she did not do as instructed.

Friedel is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24.

The full press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office is after the jump.

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Open Houses in Arlington This Weekend

By Ethan Rothstein

The real estate market has picked back up — bolstered by the lowest interest rates in more than a year — so there are plenty of options on what should be a clear, if cold, weekend.

See our real estate section for a full listing of open houses. Here are a few highlights:

4600-s-four-mile-run-drive4600 S. Four Mile Run Drive
0 BD / 1 BA condominium
Agent: Darla Colletti, Re/Max Executives
Listed: $129,900
Open: Sunday, Jan. 18, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

2125-19th-street-n2125 19th Street N.
2 BD / 1 BA stock cooperative
Agent: Morgan Knull, Re/Max Gateway
Listed: $350,000
Open: Sunday, Jan. 18, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

2723-s-cleveland-street2723 S. Cleveland Street
3 BD / 2 BA duplex
Agent: John Murdock, Keller Williams Capital Properties
Listed: $369,900
Open: Sunday, Jan. 18, noon to 2:00 p.m.

1112-19th-street-s1119 19th Street S.
3 BD / 2 BA single family detached
Agent: Tonya Finlay, Neighborhood Real Estate
Listed: $670,000
Open: Sunday, Jan. 18, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

308-n-george-mason-drive308 N. George Mason Drive
3 BD / 3 1/2 BA townhouse
Agent: David Mayhood, The Mayhood Company
Listed: $793,000
Open: Saturday, Jan. 17, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

3308-22nd-street-n3308 22nd Street N.
3 BD / 3 BA single family detached
Agent: Jacqualine McLaughlin, Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $1,149,000
Open: Sunday, Jan. 18, noon to 3:00 p.m.

Favola Introduces Bills to Regulate In-Home Child Care

By Ethan Rothstein

State Sen. Barbara Favola speaks to the crowd at the groundbreaking for the Union at Queen apartmentsState Sen. Barbara Favola has introduced a series of bills aimed at regulating the in-home child care industry in Virginia.

Her bills — SB 780, SB 818 and SB 898 — would require everyone who receives compensation for child care in their home to be licensed with the Department of Social Services, undergo background checks and include their own children in official counts of how many children are under their care.

Currently, only homes caring for six or more children must be licensed by the state as a child care provider. If Favola’s bills pass in the Republican-controlled General Assembly, all employees who are alone with children would also have to receive first-aid training and ensure the home is clear of fire hazards.

“We should give families some assurances that there’s some standard of care,” Favola told ARLnow.com this week. “Right now the law reads if you have five unrelated children, you’re not regulated. This would require all day-home providers to meet minimum standards, like CPR, background checks and house fire safety code.”

The bills are currently in the senate’s Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, which met this morning. Favola is hoping that she can draw support from across the aisle to win some form of child care legislation. Favola’s colleague in the senate, Sen. Adam Ebbin, thinks she may have a chance.

“Daycare is going to be a significant issue to see progress on,” he said.

Favola called her bills “baby steps” at this month’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting, but she said she wanted to introduce legislation she felt could pass. Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in December that daycare is an issue he wants to see progress on in 2015. According to an editorial in the News Leader in Staunton, Va., 46 children have died in unlicensed daycares in Virginia since 2004.

File photo

Just Listed in Arlington

Just Listed banner

Just Listed highlights Arlington properties that just came on the market within the past week. This feature is written and sponsored by Team Cathell, “Your Orange Line Specialists.”

The spring real estate market in Arlington is already warming up. Inventory increased by 36 new listings this week ranging in price from $130,000 to $2.2 million. Meanwhile, buyers were active, ratifying 38 contracts with most of those priced below $600,000.

The average list price of properties sold this week is $569,000. Buyers will love the good news that interest rates have dropped again to 3.73 percent for a 30-year fixed rate, the lowest since May 2013.

Listing of the week: 2607 Powhatan, good value for a new build under $1.4m.

Special Note: Team Cathell and Intercoastal Mortgage Company are pleased to invite you to a home buyers seminar on Monday, Jan. 26, 7:00-7:45 p.m. at the Lyon Village Community Center (1920 N. Highland Street). We will cover the home buying process from start to finish, and how to prepare for the biggest financial decision of your life. Please RSVP via email or on our Facebook page to ensure we have enough materials.

You can access all active listings in Arlington on the Cathell Team website.

 

Beyer to Serve on House Natural Resources Committee

By Ethan Rothstein

Rep. Don Beyer sworn into Congress (photo courtesy the office of Don Beyer)Rep. Don Beyer, the 8th District of Virginia’s first new congressman since Jim Moran in 1991, will serve on the committee in charge of environment policy.

Beyer is one of the newest representatives of the 47-member House Committee on Natural Resources, chaired by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah). During his campaign last year, Beyer made the environment a chief platform, and he told ARLnow.com this afternoon that he asked to be placed on the natural resources committee.

“This is a great platform for continuing the discussion on climate change,” Beyer said. “Every day we seem to discover some new climate change fact that should inform the legislation we pass.”

Beyer campaigned on instituting a carbon tax, which will be introduced soon by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Beyer said he will be “an early co-sponsor” of the legislation, which is likely doomed to fail in the firmly Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“I have no illusions, I’m a freshman in the minority,” Beyer said about his ability to get his pet legislation passed. “I think there will be some playing defense, but there will be some things we can do together too. Trying to continue to surface basic scientific facts, basic data observation points about what’s happening in the climate worldwide. They don’t have to have a significant label on anything, but they’ll hopefully lead all of us to good decisions.”

The ranking member of the 21 Democrats on the natural resources committee is Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who said in a press release he’s “tremendously pleased to welcome” Beyer to the committee.

“Rep. Beyer joins our committee as a welcome and established voice for conservation who understands the importance of protecting our natural resources and public lands, including the Chesapeake Bay,” Grijalva said. “Environmental allies like Clean Water Action support him because of his commitment to address climate change, promote renewable energy and stand up to Republican deregulation schemes. Those priorities are exactly what we need more of in this Congress, and I can’t wait to get started with him on our team.”

Beyer has requested to be placed on the subcommittee for the environment. He’ll also likely be placed on another House committee, and he believes it will either be the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology or the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform. Each, he said, would be an opportunity to impact the 8th District.

“The science, space and technology committee would be great because the National Science Foundation is moving to Alexandria and DARPA is in Arlington,” he said. “Oversight and government reform would be perfect because it has so much impact on the federal government.”

Beyer said he’s been texting Moran for advice — “Jim’s a dear friend,” he said — and hired five of Moran’s former staffers for his office in Capitol Hill, and two more for his district office. After less than two weeks in office, he’s already “been on the losing side of a lot of votes” and frustrated with the majority party’s actions so far.

“I hope the rest of the session isn’t like the first two weeks,” he said. “It seems to have been largely political symbolism, where the Republican majority has put bills up for passage confident they’ll pass, but probably with little confidence they’ll get through the Senate or the president will sign them.”

Photo courtesy the office of Rep. Don Beyer

La Tagliatella to Close at the End of the Month?

By Ethan Rothstein

La Tagliatella in ClarendonLa Tagliatella, the Italian restaurant in Clarendon perhaps best known for a scathing Washington Post review, could close at the end of the month.

We’re told by one restaurant employee that Jan. 31 will be its last day. A manager, when contacted by ARLnow.com, said “there’s been talk of it” but “we haven’t gotten any official word yet.”

The restaurant, owned by Polish company AmRest, was the third American location of a franchise that was popular in Europe, and was viewed as a harbinger for potentially hundreds of additional U.S. locations. In May, the Washington Business Journal reported those expansion plans were on hold, and theorized the Post’s review — which called La Tagliatella “a threat to our nation” and compared it unfavorably to Olive Garden — might have had something to do with it.

La Tagliatella had a planned location in the Village at Shirlington at the former Extra Virgin space, and still has signs up that say “coming soon,” but the manager we spoke to said those plans have since been scuttled.

The restaurant opened in Clarendon in the prime spot at the corner of Clarendon Blvd and N. Garfield Street, formerly home to Restaurant 3, in 2013.

Ebbin Leading Ethics Reform Push in General Assembly

By Ethan Rothstein

Adam Ebbin and Alfonso Lopez before Arlington's first same-sex marriage on 10/6/14With former Gov. Bob McDonnell starting to serve a prison sentence on Feb. 9 after being convicted of federal corruption charges, Arlington’s state legislators are taking aim at the state laws surrounding political gifts.

Sen. Adam Ebbin (D) has introduced SB 1289, called the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act. If passed, the bill would establish an independent commission on ethics, which would review all government disclosure forms, conduct random audits of legislators and grant waivers for certain gifts. It would also limit “tangible” gifts to $100 and intangible gifts, like flights and meals, to $250.

“Having a commission gives real teeth to our efforts and shows we’re serious about enforcement,” Ebbin said yesterday. “I’ve been working on this for a few years, for common sense ways to increase transparency and to penalize things that are beneath the standards of our public officials.”

McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted of receiving more than $177,000 in impermissible gifts from a high-profile donor, and the former governor and attorney general was sentenced to two years in prison. Despite the conviction, McDonnell wasn’t charged with corruption in any state case.

“You can drive a Mack truck through Virginia’s ethics laws,” Del. Alfonso Lopez said.

ARLnow.com spoke to several Arlington state legislators yesterday, and all of them pegged ethics reform as the biggest issue the General Assembly will face in its 2015 session. McDonnell’s conviction has helped drum up efforts for reform on both sides of the aisle.

“I’m confident there will be bipartisan support for increased reform, it’s just a matter of the details, and I’m a pretty detail-oriented guy,” Ebbin said. “I’m going to work hard to make sure the most effective elements of this legislation are adopted, I’m going to do everything in my power.”

Ebbin says his bill would aim to curb “unlimited dinners” for lawmakers and “private jets to golf tournaments,” which he finds “reprehensible.” There would be opportunities for public officials to get waivers if trips are educational or fact-finding, he said.

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