Author: Heather Mongilio

Hope Calls for Universal Background Checks for Va. Gun Sales

By Heather Mongilio

Del. Patrick Hope speaks about background checks at a press conference (via Blue Virginia)

Del. Patrick Hope is calling on Virginia lawmakers and Gov. Terry McAuliffe to pass a bill requiring universal background checks for gun sales conducted in the Commonweatlth.

Spurred by the recent shooting in Roanoke, Virginia, Hope took to the Internet, creating a petition on Change.org about universal background checks. The petition received more than 20,000 signatures in the first 24 hours, Hope said. As of today, more than 28,000 people had signed.

“People are angry,” Hope said. “People are angry by the inaction.”

Hope joined seven other Virginia delegates at a press conference in front of the Arlington County courthouse Thursday, talking about the need for universal background checks.

“We’re here today committed to do something about gun violence,” he said during the press conference. “We’re here today because we’ve grown really sick and tired that every single day we hear that there’s another mass shooting, and that we do nothing.”

According to hope, universal background checks are an easy, noncontroversial measure that can be changed and most voters support them.

“No responsible gun owner is afraid of a background check,” he said.

Most Virginia residents believe that there is already a law in place requiring a background check before every gun sale, Hope said, which is not the case.

Currently, there is a loophole in Virginia that doesn’t require background checks for sales at gun shows. Hope said he went to a gun show and asked if he could get a gun without a background check. Instead of raising red flags, the vendors were more than happy to help him.

“It’s as easy as buying a pack of bubble gum,” he said.

There will be legislation introduced in 2016 calling for the universal background checks, according to Hope, but it has to also pass the state Senate, which has killed gun control reforms in the past. The only difference between this year and next is that 2016 is an election year.

“The only way we’re going to get legislators to change their minds is if the voters force them to,” he said.

Universal background checks won’t prevent every tragedy, Hope said, pointing to the Roanoke shooting, where the shooter legally bought a gun, but it can prevent some.

“If we can prevent one incident from occurring, then we should do it,” Hope said.

Photo courtesy Blue Virginia

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza in Clarendon Plans to Open in October

By Heather Mongilio

Brixx Woodfire Pizza

Clarendon’s newest pizza joint plans to open its doors in six weeks.

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, located at 1119 N. Hudson Street next to Nam Viet restaurant, hopes to start serving pizza and beer mid-October, barring any construction delays, according to Tim Miner, the director of marketing for the company.

The North Carolina-based chain hopes to start training staff in the second week of October, Miner said, with the new restaurant opening a week later.

In addition to regular and gluten-free pizza, Brixx serves sandwiches, pasta, beer, wine and cocktails, according to its website.

Brixx does not plan to have any grand opening specials, but will start “business as usual” on the opening day, he said. The restaurant will have wine specials on Sundays and Thursdays and craft beer specials on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Miner could not elaborate on the deals because of Virginia law, he said.

The pizza joint also features buy one, get one pizza and appetizers after 11 p.m.

The Clarendon location will be Brixx’s third Virginia restaurant — there is another location in Charlottesville and Woodbridge. The chain came to Clarendon because of its exciting neighborhood, Miner said.

“It’s a thriving community, and we feel the folks that live in the area are a perfect fit,” he said.

Arlington Police Still Seeking Tips for 22 Cold Cases

By Heather Mongilio

Arlington County police logo(Updated at 5:10 p.m.) The Arlington County Police Department does not have new leads for any of its 22 cold cases, some of which date back to 1970, but is an the lookout for new tips and evidence.

The oldest cold case in ACPD’s files is the murder of Maria Currier, 23, from 1970. Currier was found strangled in her bedroom on 100 block of N. Columbus Street on Jan. 8, 1970.

There are two other cold cases from 1970 — Rene Karam, who was strangled in March 1970, and Frank Shipley, who died under unusual circumstances in May 1970.

Shipley and his wife returned home to find a burglar in their house. Shipley suffered a heart attack while complying with the burglar’s demands.

The suspect was described as “a white male in his 20s, approximately 5″8′ tall with a slight build and dark-brown or black wavy hair,” according to the ACPD’s cold case website.

There were 10 deaths between 1970 and 1975 that remain unsolved — three in 1970, two in 1971, three in 1974 and two in 1975. The deaths of the 12 other cold case victims occurred between 1986 and 2006, with two deaths in 1988.

One of the 1988 unsolved cases is 38-year-old Constance Holtzman, who was shot and killed on Nov. 9, 1988. She was found in her bedroom on the 4400 block of S. Four Mile Run Drive. Police still do not have a suspect description.

The most recent cold case is nearly 10 years old. Paul Matthew Zeller was killed while walking near the Pentagon Row shopping center in 2006, according to ACPD.

On the night of his murder, Zeller stopped at a grocery store before heading to his Aurora Highlands home, according to detectives. Police found the 24-year-old Iraq war veteran shot on the 1300 block of S. Joyce Street, after receiving 911 calls shortly after midnight. There is a reward of up to $10,000 for any information on that case.

The cold case squad is also working on the 2012 double homicide in Hall’s Hill, where two men were found in an apartment on N. Culpeper Street. The case is not technically considered a “cold case” because it is still actively being worked, said Det. Rosa Ortiz.

“I do have several leads that are good leads,” Ortiz said. She declined further comment.

Ortiz heads the cold case squad and has been the lead detective in some of the police department’s most high-profile solved cases, including the Carl Diener murder and a 25-year-old rape case that was solved last year.

Anyone with information on any cold case or recent crime can call the ACPD Tip Line at 703-228-4242 or the Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

“Any new information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could help detectives solve this case and bring the victim’s family some closure,” the cold case website says.

New Rosslyn Sushi Restaurant Hopes to Open Later This Month

By Heather Mongilio

Rolls By URolls By U, a new sushi restaurant coming to the Colonial Village Shopping Center on Wilson Blvd, is hoping to open its doors mid-September.

There is no target date for the new restaurant, according to one of its employees. Rolls By U announced the mid-September opening on its Facebook page on Aug. 26.

The sushi restaurant’s slogan is “where you create,” implying that it may be a make-your-own sushi concept. On social media, the restaurant says it will offer “organic, healthy, and flavorful sushi for your senses and your soul.”

Brown paper still covers the window, but construction crews could be seen inside this afternoon.

Rolls by U will be at least the fourth sushi restaurant in Rosslyn, with Kona Grill, Kanpai and Cafe Asia all nearby, along Wilson Blvd.

Group Protests County Board Session on Affordable Housing Plan

By Heather Mongilio
1/8

Members of the Coalition of Arlingtonians for Responsible Development, a group that wants affordable housing throughout the county, protested before a County Board work session on the Affordable Housing Master Plan last night.

The Affordable Housing Master Plan calls for 17.7 percent of all housing in Arlington to be affordable by 2040 for those making up to 60 percent of the average median income. Under the plan, the county would add roughly 15,800 new affordable units.

“It’s housing for our low wage workforce, or our lower wage workforce,” said County Board member Jay Fisette after the work session. “It’s the people we all rely on and come across every day in our lives in Arlington.”

The County Board will vote on the plan in September, and CARD members said they do not think the plan does enough to spread affordable housing throughout the county. Instead, the group said that new affordable housing units will be clustered around Columbia Pike.

“I think the county can make a stronger commitment to placing CAFs [Committed Affordable Units] in school districts that don’t have a high concentration of poverty,” said CARD member Katherine Novello, who lives in Barcroft.

Housing Distribution forecast map (via Arlington County)

The plan includes a map that forecasts the distribution of affordable housing units throughout the county. By 2040:

  • Rosslyn-Ballston corridor will have 22 percent of the affordable housing units
  • The Route 1 corridor (Crystal City and Pentagon City) will have 10 percent
  • Columbia Pike will have 22 percent
  • The area around the Arlington and Washington Blvds will have 6 percent
  • Buckingham will have 7 percent
  • The Westover Garden Apartments will have 3 percent
  • Apartments along I-395 will have 13 percent
  • The neighborhoods along Lee Highway to East Falls Church will have 11 percent

Under the plan, no affordable housing units would be added to areas in the northern most part of Arlington, including the Bellevue Forest, Arlingwood, Old Glebe and Rivercrest neighborhoods.

Many of the CARD members are concerned that the lack of distribution throughout the county will hurt school achievement by clumping high levels of poverty in some schools, while others have very few students who need free or reduced meals.

“If you create pockets of poverty, you’re not creating opportunities for people to succeed in life,” said CARD member Sue Campbell, who lives in Glencarlyn.

The lack of diversity in some schools also goes against the county’s slogan of diversity and inclusion, Campbell said.

The County Board received many comments from the public asking for geographic distribution and urging the county to do more to ensure it, said County Board member John Vihstadt during the work session.

“I’m just looking at pages and pages of the comments looking at the survey [on affordable housing],” Vihstadt said. “We’re moving in the right direction. The question is what more can we do.”

Vihstadt said after the meeting that he thinks the plan is better than before and is hopeful that the final plan presented in September will be something he can support.

“I think this plan now has goals as well as some teeth,” he said.

CARD founding member Joye Murphy said this morning that while the County Board members, “especially John Vihstadt,” were listening to the group, the plan still does not do enough to enforce geographic distribution.

“The county continues to harp on ‘preserving’ affordable housing,” she said in an email. “The only place housing is ‘market-rate affordable,’ (this means ‘low rent apartments’) is basically along Columbia Pike. This thinly-veiled ‘goal’ of ‘preserving affordable housing’ means dumping more committed affordable units on the Pike. We are not drinking that Kool-Aid.”

Carlin Springs Elementary Educators Write Children’s Book

By Heather Mongilio

A Cat Named Denali cover (Courtesy of Gretch Brenckle)

Two Carlin Springs Elementary School staff members have created a new book series to help kids learn U.S. geography.

Gretchen Schuyler Brenckle and Kathryn Belcher Frazier recently released “A Cat Named Denali: An Outer Banks Adventure,” the first book in the series. In the children’s book, Denali goes on adventures while traveling with her family and learns fun facts about the United States, according to the book’s summary.

Brenckle, a counselor at Carlin Springs, wrote the story, and Frazier, a third grade teacher at Carlin Springs, illustrated the book. Brenckle said that she was inspired to write the book to give kids a fun way to learn geography.

“I am so excited to help children of all ages learn more about our country with Denali the Cat, who is on the adventure of a lifetime as she travels with her family, meeting new friends and learning fun facts about the United States,” she said in a press releases.

Frazier added: “Though I always remind my students not to judge a book by its cover, I hope these illustrations will entice and encourage young readers everywhere.”

Both Brenckle and Frazier live in Arlington and are Yorktown High School graduates.

“A Cat Named Denali: An Outer Banks Adventure” is available for purchase on Amazon or at Barnes and Nobles and Books A Million. The book costs $14.95.

County Offices Closed, ART Service Limited for Labor Day

By Heather Mongilio

American flag (file photo)

Most Arlington County government offices will be closed this coming Monday, Sept. 7, for the Labor Day holiday.

Libraries, courts, nature centers and administrative offices will be closed on Monday in observance of the holiday.

Parks will be open, and county pools will operate on a modified schedule. The Washington-Lee pool will be open from noon to 4 p.m., the Wakefield High School pool is open from noon to 6 p.m., and the Yorktown pool will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

ART will run on a holiday schedule, meaning the 41, 51 and 87 buses will operate on Sunday times. All other routes will not run on Labor Day. Metro will run on a Sunday schedule and will operate from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Trash and recycling will be collected as normal.

New 12th Street Extension in Pentagon City May Open By End of Year

By Heather Mongilio

Future 12th Street extension in Pentagon CityPentagon City and Crystal City may be connected by a multi-modal passageway by the end of the year.

The county is working with a private developer to expand 12th Street S. between S. Fern and S. Eads Streets to better connect Pentagon City and Crystal City.

The new extension, built by the private developer, will allow people to bike, walk or drive between the Pentagon City and Crystal City. MetroWay rapid transit buses would also use the new street to get from Pentagon City and Crystal City Metro stations, according to the Crystal City BID.

Two-way traffic on the new 12th Street S. extension is anticipated to start in 2016.

“This new roadway will become the main connection between Pentagon City and Crystal City. Considered the ‘Primary Transit’ street, 12th Street South has dedicated high-frequency transit service between Pentagon City and Potomac Yard,” according to Arlington County.

The entire project is anticipated to be completed in 2016, according to the project’s website, but a target date has not been set, said county spokesman Eric Balliet.

The southern part of the 12th Street S. extension is mostly complete. The developer still needs to install traffic lights and finish utility work before the road can open to one-way traffic, but Balliet said he did not know when that would happen.

“We expect this part of the street to open to one-way traffic later this year (no set date yet),” he said via email. The road is currently blocked off with gates and traffic cones, but pedestrians are able to use a sidewalk on the right side of the street.

The first half of 12th Street S. was constructed as part of the Metropolitan Park development project. Private developer Vornado is building a new complex with 22 levels, 699 apartments and 41,679 square feet of retail space next to 12th Street S.

A Whole Foods grocery store is also being built on the first level of the apartment building. There is no target opening date for the store, according to Katie Malloy, a PR rep for Whole Foods.

Metropolitan Park “completes the pedestrian streetscape along 12th Street for a seamless, urban experience between Pentagon City and Crystal City,” according to the Crystal City BID.

The northern half of 12th Street S. is expected to be completed next year, and is being constructed as an early part of the PenPlace development, Balliet said.

“I don’t have any updates about the timing of that portion,” he said.

PenPlace will sit next to the Marriott Residence Inn, off of Army Navy Drive and will extend to the new 12th Street S. The development, also being built by Vornado/Charles E. Smith, is projected to be five different buildings. The 16 to 22 story towers are expected to be office buildings, but one may be used for residential uses. A 300-room hotel is part of the five building plan and three connected open spaces are also being planned for the project.

There’s no word yet on when the bulk of the construction on PenPlace might begin.

Rosslyn’s Gateway Park Gets a Sandbox

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

(Updated Sept. 1 at 5:45 p.m.) The Rosslyn Business Improvement District and Arlington County have turned an unused fountain at Gateway Park into a new sandbox.

The sandbox will officially open on Sept. 12 during the Rosslyn Jazz Festival, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. There will also be kids activities, including face painting and sidewalk chalk drawing.

Located on the western edge of the park, by Lee Highway, the sandbox features the work of local artists Evelyn Powers and Patrick Kirwin, who have painted the edges of the sandbox with flowers, insects and other critters.  The artists will also paint stone bunnies, turtles, frogs and other creatures that will be placed around the sandbox, according to a press release.

The former fountain now has a main sand area reachable by stairs, surrounded by a sand-filled moat.

“Once an unmemorable part of the park, we hope it will become a place where children and their caregivers can go to relax and have fun,” the Rosslyn BID said in a statement.

Local Resident Helps Start DIY Gin Brewing Company

By Heather Mongilio

Startup Monday header

Editor’s Note: 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.

Ginbrew kit (Courtesy of Ginbrew)

Do-it-yourself booze is popular right now and Arlington resident John Quinn is hoping to capitalize on it.

Quinn and his friend Chris Rories are the co-founders of Ginbrew, a company that helps people make their own gin through a DIY gin kit.

“It makes pretty cool gin, and we thought people would be interested in making it themselves,” Quinn said.

Each Ginbrew kit comes with a mason jar, a cheese cloth and three different types of botanical mixtures. To make gin, the customer pours a bottle of vodka in the mason jar, adds one bag of botanicals and gives the mason jar a shake every day for a week.

After a week, the mixture is poured through the cheese cloth in order to remove any of the botanicals. Rories recommends using middle-of-the-shelf vodka like Smirnoff.

“Gin is like flavored vodka. The original flavored vodka,” said Quinn, who also serves as the chief marketing officer for the company.

Rories is currently the mastermind behind each of the mixtures, while Quinn works on marketing and tasting each flavor.

Ginbrew currently sells two kits, both of which cost $29.99. The original Ginbrew kit has a “Liberty 13” botanical blend, a “Blue Ruin” botanical blend and “Jenevieve” botanical blend. The Liberty 13 is the flagship blend and is a mixture of 13 botanicals, according to the website. The Blue Ruin has a more traditional gin blend and is heavier on the juniper berry and the Jenevieve is more floral, Rories said.

Ginbrew blends (Courtesy of Ginbrew)

The company also has a summer brew kit, which includes a “Gravier Street” blend, which is heavy on the citrus and meant for gin and tonics, and a “Hops Populi,” which makes a hoppy gin with citrus and floral hints, Rories said. The summer kit also comes with a Liberty 13 blend.

Ginbrew is eight months old, but it is already reaching a large customer base, Rories said.

“We’ve seen sales climb pretty steadily since we launched,” he said.

The company has shipped kits to 49 states, as well as to places in Europe, including the United Kingdom and Germany, he said. It has also received positive reviews from Brightest Young Things and a United Kingdom gin review website.

(more…)

September is Affordable Housing and Hunger Action Month

By Heather Mongilio

Affordable Housing Month logo (via Arlington County)

Arlington County and a local nonprofit are raising awareness of housing and hunger in September.

September is Affordable Housing Month in Arlington. Throughout the month, Arlington County will be holding events that celebrate “the County’s long-term commitment to preserving and creating housing opportunities that benefit the whole community.”

There will be bus and bike tours of affordable housing complexes, a speech from national affordable housing advocate Chris Estes and a public forum about the benefits and challenges of offering affordable housing in the county.

During the month, there will also be public hearings on the Affordable Housing Master Plan on Sept. 8 and 19. The plan addresses the decline of affordable housing in the county and includes the creation of 15,800 additional affordable housing units by 2040.

“For decades, we have invested in our affordable housing programs to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a statement. “These efforts support our residents at all ages and stages of life, improve our neighborhoods and strengthen our economy. This September, we will come together to celebrate our successes and discuss our challenges.”

Affordable Housing Month kicks off on Wednesday, Sept. 2 with a speech from Estes, the president and CEO of non-profit National Housing Conference. The opening reception is from 4-6 p.m. in the County Board room (2100 Clarendon Blvd, room 307).

The following events are also part of Affordable Housing Month:

AFAC celebrates 25th anniversaryThe Arlington Food Assistance Center will also spend September educating residents about hunger and food demand in the county as part of its Hunger Action Month.

The organization will hold discussions about hunger, a golf tournament, a film screening and multiple food drives to raise awareness of Arlington residents who struggle with feeding their families.

There will also be a month-long exhibit about AFAC and hunger in the lobby of the Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street), with an accompanying presentation on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.

“Over 2,200 families are coming to AFAC each week to access fresh and healthy supplemental groceries, freeing up tightly stretched funds for child and health care, rent, and other financial demands. The growing need shows no signs of abating and Hunger Action Month creates an opportunity to share AFAC’s story and expand its reach to every Arlington resident suffering from food insecurity,” the organization said in a press release.

View More Stories