| ARLnow.com - Part 63

Home Demolitions On Pace for Another Record Year

Published August 7, 2014 at 4:00PM

Arlington County has received applications for 122 demolition permits this year, which is on pace to set another record for the tear-down of homes.

Preservation Arlington notes that 115 of the 122 demolition permits applied for are for homes, 22 of which are located in National Register Historic Districts.

“The looming demolition of these houses and buildings represents an incredible loss of history, architecture, time, energy, and materials,” Preservation Arlington wrote in its mid-year report. “These buildings are often replaced with new construction that is out of scale and proportion to the community. Preservation Arlington urges citizens to adopt Local Historic District designations for their communities, with standards for design, height, and placement that could be customized to reflect community needs while still allowing reinvestment to occur.”

The number of demolition permits is well ahead of the record pace set in 2013, when 92 permits had been applied for in the same time period. Preservation Arlington said historic districts in Arlington are seeing one home targeted for demolition about every week.

Arlington County Planning Director Bob Duffy told ARLnow.com that the county is “watching the trend” of increased home demolition closely, but has no plans to recommend changing the Zoning Ordinance to stem the tide of house tear-downs.

“We’re watching it and tracking it as we always do,” Duffy said. “At this point, Arlington’s housing market is quite robust. The investment in our single family neighborhoods will continue and we’ll work with everyone to make sure our zoning regulations are in place.”

Duffy said there is no provision in the current zoning regulations to prevent multiple demolitions on the same block at the same time. He said the East Falls Church, Williamsburg and Cherrydale neighborhoods have seen the most demolition permits, and the vast majority of all the home tear-downs are north of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

#preservation

Virginia Repeals Ban on Uber and Lyft

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 6, 2014 at 1:30PM | Updated August 6, 2014 at 4:34PM

(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) Ridesharing services Uber and Lyft again can legally operate in Virginia, despite protests from taxi companies and cab drivers.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring announced today that they reached an agreement with the two smartphone transportation companies with stipulations that will allow them to operate in Virginia. The conditions “will help ensure the safety of passengers, bring the companies into compliance with Virginia law, provide transparency into their operations, and promote a level playing field for transportation providers,” according to a press release.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles issued a cease-and-desist order to the companies on June 5 for doing business in Virginia without an operating permit. Uber and Lyft have continued to operate in the state, including in Arlington, which has led to protests from taxi drivers and a lawsuit from taxi companies. The decision to allow the companies to operate did not come with a penalty for flouting the cease-and-desist order for two months.

“In order for Virginia to remain economically competitive, it is important that we welcome innovative companies like Uber and Lyft and provide them with the resources they need to safely and effectively operate in the Commonwealth,” McAuliffe said in the release.

McAuliffe’s office also announced it has authorized a study on how best to permanently allow Uber and Lyft to operate in Virginia without disrupting competitive balance with the traditional taxi companies and providing safety for its passengers. The study is expected to conclude by the 2015 legislative session, when McAuliffe hopes a bill will be introduced to codify the agreement.

The eight Northern Virginia taxi companies — including Arlington Blue Top Cab — that are suing to for an injunction against Uber and Lyft, issued a statement responding to McAuliffe’s decision, saying they “objected strongly” to the ruling.

“Today’s issuance of temporary authority to an out-of-state carrier is both unprecedented and illegal,” Northern Virginia Checkered Cab owner Spencer Kimball said in the statement. “Under state law, the DMV was not even permitted to consider this application, considering that Uber and Lyft had been openly boasting that they were not following the ‘cease and desist’ from the DMV — and had no intention to do so. As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of Virginia, the Attorney General should be enforcing the laws, not promoting a double standard for well-connected Silicon Valley companies.”

The conditions of the temporary operating authority, per the press release, must be met or either company would have its temporary license revoked. They are:

Extensive background checks of drivers, with immediate disqualifiers including convictions for any felony, fraud, sexual offenses, or violent crimes, or registration as a sex offender.

A review of driving history, with disqualification for drivers convicted of three or more moving violations in the last three years, DUI, underage drinking, refusal to submit to a breathalyzer, hit and run, or eluding law-enforcement, or a revocation of a driver’s license.

Zero tolerance for the use of drugs or alcohol by any drivers, and a suspension pending investigation of any driver accused of violating the zero tolerance policy.

Only employing drivers who are properly licensed and over 21, and vehicles that carry a maximum of seven passengers and are properly registered and inspected for safety and emissions, where applicable.

Rigorous insurance requirements, including requiring drivers to maintain automobile liability insurance, maintaining on behalf of all drivers an additional $1,000,000 of coverage from the moment a driver accepts a trip request until the passenger leaves the vehicle, and liability insurance for drivers who are logged onto the companies’ software but not providing services.

Maintaining documentation for each driver of his or her background check, sex offender registry check, driving record, proof of insurance, valid driver’s license, Social Security number, vehicle registration, and proof of vehicle safety inspection. Documentation must be available to DMV on demand to investigate any complaints, and must be available for periodic audits to ensure compliance.

Paying any previously assessed civil penalties for non-compliance and dropping any appeals, which both companies have already done.

Features to help customers identify their driver and vehicle, including from the outside of the vehicle.

Drivers notifying the companies of any change in their license status, vehicle registration, insurance, or any arrest for a crime that would disqualify them from being a driver.

Rate transparency and documentation.

Companies advising drivers of their need to comply with applicable tax laws.

Only accepting rides booked through the companies’ mobile device apps, not street hails.

Companies maintaining a Virginia transportation broker’s license.

The full press release, after the jump: (more…)

Hall’s Hill Hosts Second Peace Walk for Murder Victims

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 6, 2014 at 11:30AM | Updated August 6, 2014 at 4:56PM

Tonight, the residents of the Hall’s Hill neighborhood will hold a “peace walk” in memory of two residents who were killed two years ago in a double homicide.

From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., starting at 1945 N. Dinwiddie Street, members of the community will gather to remember Carl Moten and Keefe Spriggs, who were found murdered in an apartment on the 1900 block of N. Culpeper Street on Aug. 7, 2012. The crime is still unsolved, but according to Arlington County Police Department spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, it’s still an active investigation.

Moten, known as “Pooh Bear,” and Spriggs, known as “Kee Kee” to friends and family, were born and raised in Hall’s Hill. Moten worked as a cook in Falls Church and was 31 years old at the time of the incident. Spriggs, 59 when he was killed, worked at a body shop. This is the second annual walk to raise awareness of the crimes.

ACPD will have a presence during the walk, Sternbeck said, and continues to encourage anyone who has information about the crime to come forward.

“It’s important to get this back out there and visible to the public because the smallest piece of new information given to the detectives could be the big break in the case,” Sternbeck said. He added the department “has been working with both families throughout this whole thing in an attempt to find the killer.”

File photo

Crystal City Rolling Out ‘Car2Go’ Service

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 5, 2014 at 3:30PM | Updated August 5, 2014 at 4:11PM

Crystal City will soon be a “home area” for Washington D.C.’s car2go carsharing service.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District announced today that the carsharing service would be launching in Crystal City in the coming weeks. It allows users to park their borrowed car anywhere in the “home area” and find an available car via a GPS-enabled smartphone app.

The service costs $35 to register and 41 cents per minute, with a $14.99 per hour and $84.99 per day maximum. The car’s insurance, gas and parking fees are free (in the home areas), and car2go says it has hundreds of cars in the D.C. area. They can be driven anywhere as long as the user finishes his or her trip within the “home area.”

Crystal City is the first home area outside of the District for car2go D.C., and will offer at least four car2go spaces at the launch of the program. According to the Crystal City BID, any of the service’s 33,000 members may use the cars. The service will be the second carsharing option in the area, in addition to Zipcar.

Crystal City BID President and CEO Angela Fox boasted about the new service and hopes it spreads to other areas of the county.

“We sought it out but hope and expect they will launch in other nearby neighborhoods ASAP, because that makes the whole system more robust. The more options, the better,” Fox said. “Car2go is very popular, and we wants its users to know that they can get to and from Crystal City with ease.”

Photo via Facebook

Crystal City to Show James Bond Movies Next Summer

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 5, 2014 at 10:15AM

Outdoor movies in Crystal City in 2015 will be shaken, not stirred.

Crystal Screen, the Crystal City Business Improvement District’s annual outdoor movie festival, will be showing 14 James Bond movies under the theme Bond is Back. One movie will run every Monday next summer from June through August.

“Crystal City broke the outdoor movie festival mold by launching the very first Bond-themed series back in 2008 and we are excited for the triumphant return of everyone’s favorite super-spy,” Crystal City BID President and CEO Angela Fox said in a press release. “There are so many great Bond films that we wanted to give the fans a chance to see their favorite ones all summer.”

Anyone can vote online for their favorite Bond flicks to be shown, from the catalog of 23. They range from “Dr. No” in 1962 to “Skyfall” in 2012 — yes, even the two Timothy Dalton films. The 14 films that win the online vote will be announced on August 25 at the final movie of this summer’s “In Flight” program, “Snakes on Plane.”

File photo. Disclosure: Crystal City BID is an ARLnow.com advertiser

Protein Bar in Ballston Closes, Seeks New Location

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 4, 2014 at 3:30PM

The Ballston location of the health food chain Protein Bar has closed and apparently plans to relocate.

The shop, which specialized in smoothies, raw juices and healthy food choices, cut its hours in February to lunchtime only. Its location on the ground floor of 800 N. Glebe Road, next to Mussel Bar, opened in January 2013 but did not get the traffic Protein Bar CEO and founder Matt Matros had in mind. It was the eighth location for the Chicago chain, and third in the D.C. area.

“While we were excited to serve the customers of Ballston,” Matros told ARLnow.com in an email, “we weren’t pleased with our specific location and have decided to relocate the store. Because the other lease is not quite final, I can’t comment yet on the location.”

As Protein Bar closes, the first Arlington location of gourmet pizza shop Pizza Vinoteca plans to open next door by the end of the month, a spokeswoman said in an email.

Arlington Researchers ‘Giving the Internet a Mind of its Own’

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 4, 2014 at 12:20PM

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.

SailMinder, like many startups, came from an idea to make its co-founders’ lives easier. CEO John Stauffer, Chief Technology Officer Hashem Fouad and Chief Creative Officer Robert Cooper have come up with a way to make internet research based more on human input and less on search engines.

The three came together in September 2012 with a common problem: all of their jobs required gobs of research from different sources around the internet, but none of them were satisfied with the way they could look for reliable information and organize it.

Stauffer works as a social media strategist for Ogilvy & Mather and needed to research “a big topic for a big client,” Cooper told ARLnow.com. Cooper, a former co-worker of Stauffer’s, had been designing products as a consultant and was itching to start something new. Fouad had just developed emotion detection software that can adapt training methods based on participants’ emotional responses, as part of a contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The ONR passed on the project — “it was a little too out there,” Fouad said — but he had told Cooper about it just days after Stauffer and Cooper had chatted over coffee. The three decided to team up and form a new company designed to help “knowledge workers,” as they call themselves, with research.

“We wanted to make some next-generation learning software,” Cooper said.

Cooper, Stauffer and Fouad designed an idea to create a browser plug-in that allows the user to “like” or file an article, then the plug-in automatically categorizes that article and sorts it. The more users that install the plug-in and use it, the more powerful a tool it becomes, recommending new articles on relevant topics, dividing topics into sub-categories and organizing articles based on how highly recommended they are.

“The more you interact with it, the more refined the search becomes,” Cooper said. “It’s like we’re giving the internet a mind of its own.”

Fouad, a consultant and game programming professor at Rosslyn’s Art Institute who said he’s constantly looking to build new products like 3-D sound systems, finished the prototype in April and the product is patent pending.

“I spent 40 to 60 percent of my time on projects just finding good information,” Fouad said. “It’s a problem knowledge workers have. There’s no technology that really outlines a quality source. The best tool for this is the human brain. So humans tell us what is good, and we have a machine learning system that lays it out on a topical landscape. Then it will tell you what topics are relevant in your neighborhood of research.”

“It depends on a crowd of users populating the system,” Fouad continued. “It’s a very powerful idea.”

Not only does the product categorize topics and recommend articles for research, but it tracks the user’s “learning” progress. It rates them on a percentage of expertise based on the amount and variety of sources they have read. It can develop quizzes and show who else is researching a similar topic. (more…)

#Startup Monday

Arlington Agenda (Aug. 4-10)

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 4, 2014 at 5:00AM

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

Outdoor Movie: Red Tails
1851 S. Bell Street
Time: Sundown

Crystal City hosts another in its summer movie lineup. This Monday night, for fee admission, visitors can picnic and watch the Spike Lee World War II movie, “Red Tails.”

Tuesday

LGBT and Straight Friends Social
IOTA Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd)
Time: 7:00 p.m.

The first in a weekly special night designed to promote community among LGBT individuals and their straight associates. No cover charge and “Mikey’s ‘Bar A’ Video Wall” will be the entertainment.

Thursday

Mosaic-making Class
Barstons Child’s Play Stores (4510 Lee Highway)
Time: 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Parents can pay $5 to let their children “peel and stick plastic squares to create a no-mess, fantastic, hang-it-in-your-window mosaic.” Walk-ins and registration accepted.

Public Art Unveiling
Welburn Square (901 N. Taylor Street)
Time: 6:00 p.m.

The Ballston BID will unveil two public art installations — one displaying Craigslist missed connections and one on rising sea levels — during its farmers market Thursday evening.

Friday

Live Comedy: Moshe Kasher
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: 10:00 p.m.

Moshe Kasher, a comic who has appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as has a special on Netflix, performs at the Drafthouse. Tickets are $20.

Saturday

Summer Safari
Potomac Overlook Regional Park (2845 N. Marcey Road)
Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m.

This free program allows participants to go on a mini safari of the “vernal pools and frog pond” in Potomac Overlook park. Call 703-528-5406 to reserve a spot.

#Arlington Agenda

Six Injured After Police Chase on I-66

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 2, 2014 at 7:25PM | Updated August 3, 2014 at 12:45PM

(Updated at 12:40 p.m. on 8/3/14) Six people were hospitalized after a police chase turned into a multiple-vehicle collision on I-66 Saturday afternoon.

Around 3:15 p.m., Virginia State Police say they pulled over a Dodge Charger for a routine traffic stop on eastbound I-66 in Fairfax County when it was spotted driving on the shoulder. The Charger stopped for a state trooper in Fairfax County, near exit 57 for Route 50. The responding trooper discovered the driver, 25-year-old Ericka S. Oliver, had an arrest warrant from another local jurisdiction and took her into custody. According to a VSP press release, the male passenger, 33-year-old Anthony G. McCrae of Washington, D.C., then grabbed the wheel of the car and sped off, which led to a high-speed pursuit.

McCrae reportedly exited I-66 at Route 123, turned around, then got back onto eastbound I-66. When the Charger approached traffic before the exit for N. Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive, police say it struck a Ford Expedition and spun out of control. The Charger then smashed into a Subaru Outback.

The Arlington County Fire Department responded to the crash scene, and Capt. Bill Shelton told ARLnow.com they transported six patients — including McCrae — to local hospitals. McCrae was treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The other patients also suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but Shelton said a few were in serious condition when they were transported.

McCrae was arrested and is being held without bond at the hospital on outstanding warrants from both Arlington and Prince William counties. He likely will face additional charges for Saturday’s incident when VSP completes its investigation of the pursuit and crash.

Eastbound I-66 was closed for about an hour following the wreck, and traffic started to get through around 4:30 p.m. Just after 6:00 p.m., all lanes of the highway were open to traffic.

Arlington Looking for New Deputy County Manager

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 1, 2014 at 3:45PM

Arlington County is in the market for a new deputy county manager — and so far the position has remained vacant for six months.

Arlington posted the open position on its jobs page this morning. According to county spokeswoman Mary Curtius, the position has been open for six months after interim deputy manager Jay Farr returned to his original post as deputy chief of the systems management division with the Arlington County Police Department.

Farr had replaced former Deputy County Manager Marsha Allgeier, who stepped down about a year ago into a part-time position as assistant county manager of special products, Curtius said.

The salary for the open position is “negotiable for up to $195,000” and the responsibilities include overseeing the Department of Environmental Services, the county’s largest department.

“This executive will be a visionary leader who will focus on overseeing the Transportation, Environmental and Capital Programs,” the posting states. “The Deputy will focus on ensuring that the strategic vision and goals are being met and are aligned with the County mission and vision by providing oversight to all staff associated with the Programs and in collaboration with task forces, citizen groups and other stakeholders.”

The county also announced it was seeking a new director of Arlington Economic Development, who would become the full-time replacement for the late AED Director Terry Holzheimer. Holzheimer died in March of a heart attack. Deputy Director Cindy Richmond has served as acting director since Holzheimer’s death.

Library Offering ‘STEM Kits’ For Children

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 1, 2014 at 1:00PM

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) Pre-schoolers and elementary school students can do a lot more than read at Arlington libraries this summer.

Early last month, Arlington Public Library rolled out seven STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) kits — one for each branch — to encourage children to get hands-on experience with science in conjunction with its science-themed “Fizz, Boom, Read” summer reading program.

“The kids can come in, they can play with the kits, they can read books that correspond with the themes,” Anne Womack, the library’s youth collections librarian, said. “We saw other libraries doing this, and STEM is really important, so we thought we should do it, too. The kits are something to make kids see that science can be fun and hands on.”

The kits are for engineering (as pictured above), earth science, the human body, insects, plants, a “snap circuit” for basic electronics and weather. Each one is designed so children can play independently.

“The girl who built the bridge in that picture, she did it on her own,” Womack said. “She read the instructions and just did it. It’s just hands-on science activities for the kids, not something that has to be parent or teacher-led.”

Each kit has components for young children and late-elementary schoolers. They were paid for and partly designed by Dan Cross-Cole, a retired engineer. Womack was sitting in her office early this spring when she was told “there is a guy in the lobby looking for you.”

It was Cross-Cole, who told her he “wanted to design some science projects for kids,” Womack said. Library staff had already been discussing building the kits because they had seen them at other library systems, so Womack instantly agreed. Cross-Cole arranged to have the project paid for by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

“[Cross-Cole] was a miracle,” Womack said. “He just came to us out of the blue… [IEEE] paid for everything, and they’ve been really helpful in this process.”

The kits will rotate throughout the library system for the rest of the summer. After the summer reading program is finished, Womack said they plan to circulate them among the different branches of the library.

Photo (top) courtesy Arlington Public Library. Bottom photo courtesy Anne Womack