The Arlington County Police Department will likely have 141 new gas masks at its disposal soon, courtesy of the federal government.
The gas masks come from a $81,958 “urban area security” grant, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS’ grant program came into focus in the wake of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., during which local police used military-grade equipment to try to disperse crowds of people.
The grant for the masks is part of $51.8 million that was allocated by DHS for the D.C. metro region in 2012. The gas masks were purchased from a subset of grant money allocated to the Alexandria Police Department, according to Arlington County staff, “to increase response capabilities of tactical teams” in the region. The County Board is scheduled to vote on the grant at its regular meeting this Saturday.
Alexandria has already purchased the masks and “related equipment,” the report says, and ACPD is simply waiting for Board approval before it can receive the masks. The masks are required for the ACPD to be considered a Type 1 tactical response team for responding to disasters, “including terrorism.”
The ACPD says there’s no known cost for maintaining the masks, which have a lifespan of 20 years. After 20 years, the county may have to pay for new masks from its own budget if it hopes for ACPD to maintain Type 1 status, according to the staff report.
A-Town Bar & Grill could have its permit for live entertainment and dancing renewed this week, the next chapter in its tenuousrelationship with the Arlington County Board and staff.
Thanks to a reduction in noise complaints, County Manager Barbara Donnellan has recommended the Board approve renewal of A-Town’s permit, with another county staff review in three months and another Board review in six months.
“Residents in the community have stated to staff that the site plan condition, which restrict the permitted hours the outdoor cafe can be in use, has significantly cut down on noise-related disturbances,” the county staff’s board report states. “However, disturbances related to overcrowding and over-serving of alcohol still have a negative impact on adjacent properties.”
County staff specifically mentioned an incident during the World Cup final on the afternoon of July 13, when the restaurant was found to be over capacity by “at least 100 people” and Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control agents “found a truck, parked on the patio, dispensing champagne to the crowd without the proper licenses to do so.”
The County Board last approved the permit’s renewal three months ago, with conditions on limiting the times at which patrons can be on the outdoor patio. The restaurant also planned to install “theater-style curtains” on the patio to reduce noise after the Board’s December use permit review, which saw several residents of the surrounding area complain about the noise the bar was generating. However, A-Town opted to simply close the patio area early instead of putting in the curtains.
A-Town is still waiting for the results of a Virginia ABC Board hearing for a February incident in which, at an employee-only party, police say one man slashed another with a broken beer bottle in the face and neck.
County staff said A-Town gets more police calls than any other “liquor-serving establishment,” with or without live entertainment, in the Ballston area. It also “continues to have issues with compliance with local and state laws and regulations.” The situation has improved since the June decision to close the outdoor café at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and even earlier during the week, but the County Board could still revoke the live entertainment permit at its meeting this Saturday.
Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders and funders. The Ground Floor is Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn. 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.
A former professional poker player is getting ready for a new gamble: launching a Kickstarter to help fund his new smartphone “wearable” company, OnYou.
James Rogers and Scott Bauer co-founded the company this February, and have been refining the designs of their high-tech cases and associated magnets, which keep phones attached to the user’s body without a strap or a clip.
Rogers designed the case when he ordered industrial-strength magnets, took apart his own iPhone case and reconstructed it as a wearable. The cases he plans to bring to market will use “the absolute newest materials” available, including, he said, new carbon filaments “just invented last month.”
The magnetic cases are secure and comfortable, Rogers said.
“Everyone has smartphones and everyone loves to exercise,” he said. “Everyone’s been using armbands, and in talking to people, the vast majority of people are dissatisfied with them. We designed something that’s very comfortable and it’s about as secure as you can get.”
The magnets use 12-pounds of force, and Rogers put them through a series of tests, including kicking a field goal with the phone attached to his shin with one of OnYou’s compression sleeves. The phone didn’t budge, he said, and even if it did, it would still be protected by the carbon case. Rogers said for those worried about having their phones stolen, the cases will come with a safety strap.
To this point, Rogers and Bauer have developed prototypes using 3-D printers, including the one at Crystal City’s TechShop, where Rodgers is a member. The Kickstarter, which will launch Oct. 1, will aim to raise $20,000 and largely pay for an injection mold to mass produce the cases, since it will take about an hour for each to be printed. The funds will also be used to expedite OnYou’s patents and, if the goal is reached and exceeded, to develop specifications for more devices. At first, OnYou will only make cases to fit the iPhone 5, 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S5.
The cases will be sold for $49.99, Rogers said, and they will be just as durable and protective as the highest-end cases on the market for as much as $90. The cases can be pre-ordered on OnYou’s website now for $39.99, and include arm and calf compression sleeves. Rogers said he anticipates selling iPhone cases this winter, followed by models for other phones.
The magnets are safe around phones — magnets don’t affect the flash memory storage — and largely safe near credit cards, but those with pacemakers shouldn’t have the magnets on their bodies.
While exercise is OnYou’s “entry point into the market,” Rogers said, his hope is for his “OnUsers” to develop more “OnUses” for the OnYou cases.
“Doing research and talking to women, so many of them brought up sticking the magnet near the top of their purse so they never have to dig for their phones,” Rogers said.
“We thought it would be fun for people to show us that while it’s great for exercise, what about this?” Rogers continued. “We want to develop an online community to contribute more and more OnUses.”
Rogers was a paralegal when he began playing online poker. He quickly realized he made more money playing poker than he did at his day job, so he quit and started playing professionally, including by attending the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. When Congress passed laws restricting online gambling, Rogers got a job as a software engineer.
He realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur, and now he and Bauer, a graduate student at George Mason University, have brought their company to GMU’s Innovation Lab. They’re in discussions now for an initial funding round.
Four projects aimed at improving pedestrian safety, removing invasive plants and more are likely to be approved at this Saturday’s regular Arlington County Board meeting.
The final four projects funded by the 2012 Neighborhood Conservation bond, approved in June by the Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee, will receive a total of $2,540,175 if the Board approves them. About $1.3 million of those funds would come from the 2012 bond, while about $1.2 million is expected come from the bond referendum on the ballot on Nov. 4.
The four projects up for approval:
Pedestrian safety and street improvements for the intersections of N. Vacation Lane with N. Stuart and N. Utah Streets in Donaldson Run. Improvements include replacing a yield sign with a stop sign at the northeast corner of N. Stuart Street, replacing sidewalks on N. Utah Street and curb extensions at both intersections. Total cost: $608,749.
Street improvements for N. Quintana Street between Washington Boulevard and 19th Street N. in East Falls Church. This includes constructing curbs and gutters on both sides of the road and installing a 5-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side on the street. Total cost: $756,581.
Park improvements for Oakland Park at 3701 Wilson Blvd. in Ballston-Virginia Square. This project is meant to give the park a complete upgrade, bringing features up to Americans with Disabilities Act standards and adding new site furnishings, ornamental plantings and wood decking. Total cost: $798,845.
Removing invasive plants from Lucky Run Stream in Fairlington-Shirlington. The project calls for creating a “pollinator habitat between the stream bank and bike trail” and creating buffers with trees on either side of the stream. Total cost: $376,000.
The four projects were selected from a pool of 26 applications from neighborhoods around the county because they scored the highest on the NCAC’s points system, which is explained in the county staff’s report.
The county also has produced a five-minute video, embedded above, in honor of the Neighborhood Conservation Program’s 50th anniversary.
“When it was created in 1964, the goal was to empower residents by having them come together to discuss and share ideas for improving their neighborhoods,” the narrator says. The video includes interviews from NCAC Chair Bill Braswell and other committee members. “Over the years, the program has moved from beautification efforts to focus more on infrastructure needs… The program enables residents to identify and plan projects in their own neighborhoods.”
A new gift shop, Two the Moon, is now open in the Williamsburg Shopping Center (6501 29th Street N.).
Two the Moon opened on Sept. 2 and is owned by Williamsburg resident Johanna Braden. Braden retired earlier this year as an end-of-life specialist with Virginia Hospital Center, where she had worked the past 10 years. She said she retired “for about a half a day, until the house was clean,” before she decided to get to work opening up a gift shop.
“The kids don’t need me anymore, so my husband asked me what I wanted to do,” she said in her Boston accent. “Who asks a 56-year-old woman what she wants to do?”
She said she knew immediately she wanted to open a gift shop in her neighborhood, so she leased the basement space in the strip mall, which had been vacant for seven years since Action Music moved out of the space. It was “in ruins” she said, but in six months she, her family and friends fixed it up and made it ready to use.
Now open, the shop features gifts and wares from about 20 Arlington vendors as well as people from the surrounding area and up and down the East Coast. Braden keeps a book with the stories of each artist or vendor sold in the shop, so she and her employees can give the full story to every customer.
“It’s a fun place,” she said as she waltzed around the store, proudly showing stationery with drawings of Westover landmarks, blankets made from recycled cotton and linens made by a cancer survivor that say “Fork Cancer.” “I think it’s going to be a hit. I really want it to be about community, because I live in the community and I care about the community.”
The store is open from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, from noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays and closed on Mondays. For one weekend a month, Braden is planning on holding a showcase for an Arlington artist and serving wine and cheese. This past weekend, the artist was Jessica Lee Designs, which specializes in handmade jewelry.
Help launch a new game from a tech startup. Demo the game, in which players “answer questions with a hand of answer cards containing the most annoying/fun/questionable aspects of building great cities and towns,” for free.
Thursday
Hot Sauce Competition
Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Company (3471 Washington Blvd)
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Rocklands hosts its first-ever hot sauce competition. Homemade sauces are welcome. The event is $20 and is good for a serving from a barbecued pig, beer, and raffle with prizes.
Cosmo Couture
Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd)
Time: 5:00-10:00 p.m.
The 5th annual fashion show returns to Artisphere with a “President of the United States” theme. The show features designers incorporating building materials into haute couture outfits. Tickets are $160.
Friday
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Heavy Seas Alehouse (1501 Wilson Blvd)
Time: All Day
In celebration of the novelty holiday, Heavy Seas is offering $1 off its “Arrrrrlington Burger,” pirate “swag” and raffle tickets for a Baltimore brewery bus tour. At 6:00 p.m., a cask of a Loose Cannon variety will be tapped.
Saturday
Festival of the Arts
Clarendon (1101 N. Highland Street)
Time: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (also on Sunday)
The second annual street festival brings more than 100 artists and vendors in glass, mixed media, paintings, jewelry, and pottery to the streets of Clarendon.
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) says he “had to stand up for Arlington” this morning in his office with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) who rankled folks in Arlington over the line in her book calling the county a “soulless suburb.”
Warner wrote in a tweet “All is forgiven” and thanked Gillibrand for “being a class act.” He posted three photos, including one of him and Gillibrand holding an “Arlington, We Got Soul” T-shirt.
“Senator Gillibrand says she meant no offense,” Warner told ARLnow.com in an email, “and she certainly was a good sport about the whole thing.”
Warner Press Secretary Beth Wanamaker said Gillibrand came into their office “and was immediately apologetic to all of us. She said she had no idea that she would cause such a kerfuffle.”
The shirt is produced by Fairfax-based CustomInk, and it can be bought online here for $20 each. All of the funds from T-shirt purchases will go directly to the Arlington Food Assistance Center, per the T-shirt seller’s website.
As our Just Listed columnist wrote, “helloooo inventory.” There is plenty of variety among the real estate listings this week, including a two-bedroom condo right off Lee Highway and a $2.2 million house in Woodmont.
2030 N. Woodrow Street
2 BD / 1 BA condominium
Agent: Eric Hernandez, Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $240,000
Open: Sunday, Sept. 14, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
4638 31st Road S.
1 BD / 2 BA condominium
Agent: Margaret Baldwin, Long & Foster Real Estate
Listed: $372,500
Open: Sunday, Sept. 14, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
1732 S. Fillmore Street
4 BD / 3 BA single family detached
Agent: Joyce Becker, Weichert, Realtors
Listed: $589,000
Open: Sunday, Sept. 14, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
1713 N. Edison Street
5 BD / 3 BA single family detached
Agent: Keri Shull, Keller Williams Realty
Listed: $749,900
Open: Sunday, Sept. 14, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
2422 13th Court N.
3 BD / 3 1/2 BA townhouse
Agent: Ruth Boyer, American Realty Group
Listed: $949,000
Open: Saturday, Sept. 13, 1:00-4:00 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 14, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
2608 24th Street N.
5 BD / 5 1/2 BA single family detached
Agent: Kevin Love, Re/Max Allegiance
Listed: $2,199,000
Open: Sunday, Sept. 14, 1:00-4:00 p.m.
Nancy Van Doren is the newest member of the Arlington County School Board after the Board appointed her in a special meeting this morning.
Van Doren replaces Noah Simon on the Board and will serve her interim turn until the Nov. 4 general election. Van Doren is running unopposed for the seat in the election, and she will be sworn in for her full, four-year term after she wins. Simon resigned this summer to take care of his children after his wife died on Dec. 30, 2013.
Van Doren will fill one of two open seats on the Board. Former Board member Sally Baird also resigned this summer; Barbara Kanninen and Audrey Clement are running to replace her in the Nov. 4 election. Baird originally had announced she wouldn’t seek re-election but would serve out her current term, but changed course and resigned on Aug. 22.
“Nancy is a well-regarded civic leader who has supported the Arlington Public Schools for a decade,” School Board Chair James Lander said in a press release. “Nancy has been highly engaged and is well-informed about the many complexities associated with Arlington’s needs. She will make a tremendous addition to this Board.”
After the jump, the full release from Arlington Public Schools on Van Doren’s appointment: (more…)
(Updated at 2:05 p.m.) A Ballston hot yoga studio sparked outrage Thursday by promoting a Sept. 11-themed sale and referencing conspiracy theories.
“9+11 = 20% OFF! PATRIOT DAY SALE on Bikram Yoga,” Bikram Arlington, located four miles from the Pentagon at 4509 5th Road N., tweeted Thursday morning.
Twitter users told the company they were appalled by the reference to the tragedy.
“Kind of disgusting to promote shop sales with a Sept. 11 discount. Shame on you, @bikramarlington,” user @Melissaeweiss wrote.
Courthouse resident Angela Herrick, 32, said a Facebook post from the yoga studio about the sale appeared alongside a post remembering her friend’s father, who was killed in the Pentagon.
“A tragedy like this should never be used to promote a business, period,” Herrick told ARLnow.com, noting she had frequented the studio since 2011. “I will not be returning, ever.”
Bikram Arlington then tweeted, “The goal was to point out what date it was and associate to patriotism and to remember it. Its [sic] a shame some of you go to the negative.”
“Apologies to anyone who is upset by it!” another tweet from the company said.
That tweet was was quickly followed by a suggestion to search 9/11 “truther” conspiracy theories.
“If you want to be upset, research the term ‘911 building 7’ and check the news because they are hearing ‘chatter’ about us getting hit again.”
The studio’s promotion page added more color on the deal: “Freedom Isn’t Free — And we intend to honor those patriots who have died for our country and morn [sic] the loss of freedom of speech and other rights that died day.”
Studio owner Zahra Vaezi, whose husband, Frank, wrote the tweet, told The Washington Post that she “didn’t realize people would be so ‘roar,’ you know?” over the promotion.
“It’s like that man who punched his wife,” she told the Post, referring to ex-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. “I mean, that’s upsetting. But I think it kind of gets blown out of proportion.”
Multiple calls to the studio went unreturned.
@bikramarlington You demonstrate an incomprehensible lack of compassion—in the town of the Pentagon, no less. Hoping you learn & improve.
Two drivers were involved in a head-on collision this morning on S. Carlin Springs Road, closing down the northbound lanes for about an hour.
A Toyota Corolla and Ford station wagon collided when, according to the driver of the Corolla, the station wagon started to turn left into Long Branch Nature Center, crossing into her lane before she could brake. The crash occurred at about 11:00 a.m.
An ambulance arrived on the scene but both drivers refused medical attention. The Corolla driver, who declined to give her name and was visibly shaken up, suffered only a minor abrasion on her chin. Both airbags in her car deployed.
All lanes of S. Carlin Springs Road have since reopened.
The Arlington County Police Department will likely have 141 new gas masks at its disposal soon, courtesy of the federal government.
