Author: Heather Mongilio

Marymount Volleyball Coach Competes as a Pro Player

By Heather Mongilio
1/3

The volleyball coach at Marymount University knows a thing or two about the sport. Off the court, he’s a professional player, himself.

This summer, coach Hudson Bates will compete in pro beach volleyball tournaments in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to a university press release. In between competitions, Bates will also be gearing up for the next volleyball season at Marymount.

“It keeps me busy,” Bates said. “I usually go from playing in a beach tournament over the weekend to recruiting at an indoor club tournament during the week.”

Bates is the university’s first men’s volleyball coach. The program was started three years ago and Bates was hired a month before the first season started.

“We had to scramble to put a roster together from nothing,” he said. “They called us the Bad News Bears. But I got hooked up with a couple of players. We found a few who were already here who had played in high school. We even had a few who had never played before.”

The first year, the team ended with a 9-20 record. Last year, they went 14-20, but this year Bates has high hopes, he said.

“Getting those wins is just like a drug,” he said. “It keeps you going back for more.”

Bates started off as an indoor volleyball player, playing  in college at George Mason University. After graduation, he spent two years as an assistant coach for the school, while also training with the USA National Team. Bates has also played professional volleyball in Puerto Rico and Qatar.

Back and knee pain forced him off of the indoor court and outdoors onto the beach.

“Now I like playing on the nice, soft sand,” he said.

Despite the pain from playing indoors, Bates will often demonstrate moves for his players and join them in practice. This helps the players to learn, said Tomasz Ksiazkiewicz, a junior volleyball player at Marymount.

“We always talk about leading by example and Coach Bates always lives up to that rule,” Ksiazkiewicz said. “I have never seen him take days off either at the gym, court, or his office. If you see him around he’s always working on something or helping others out.”

Arlington Central Library to Hold Outdoor Movie Screenings

By Heather Mongilio

Arlington Central Library

At Arlington Public Library the library isn’t just for reading and summer reading events are not just for kids.

The library is holding two outdoor movie screenings (Aug. 6 and Aug. 13) as part of its Summer Reading 2015 for Adults event. Movies start roughly at 8:45 p.m. on the field next to Arlington Central Library (1515 N. Quincy Street).

Attendees are encourage to “bring a picnic and blanket and watch a movie under the stars.” Both movie showings are free. In the case of bad weather, the event will be canceled.

The first screening is “Empire Records” on Aug. 6. The movie, rated PG-13, is about a group of record store employees attempting to save the store from selling out, which just like the movie is a very Gen X concern.

“A flashback to a time when there were record stores and people paid to work in them,” the library notes on its event page. “It’s a day in the life of a staff of hip, quirky youngsters who are fighting a store buyout from a big greedy record store chain. Those once existed too.”

The second screening is “The Great Gatsby” on Aug. 13. The 2013 movie version of the classic book by F. Scott Fitzgerald stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, a mysterious rich man pining after an old love. The movie is also rated PG-13.

Public Meeting Scheduled on I-66 HOV Lanes, Tolls

By Heather Mongilio

Traffic on I-66

(Updated on 7/31/15) The Virginia Department of Transportation is going back to Arlington residents to hear their concerns about its planned Transform 66 project.

Del. Patrick Hope organized a public meeting featuring representatives from VDOT on Saturday at Arlington Central Library auditorium (1015 N. Quincy Street) from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed changes to the highway inside the Beltway.

The planned features include turning the HOV lanes on I-66 between Rosslyn and I-495 into to High Occupancy Travel (HOT) lanes during weekday peak periods. These lanes would be open for anyone with three or more passengers or those who are willing to pay a toll. The new lanes would also not accept Clean Fuel license plates issued before 2006 as a way to avoid the toll.

The idea is to “deliver free-flowing and more reliable travel,” according to VDOT, but some Arlington residents have spoken out against the changes. Arlington residents packed into the library’s auditorium in June to hear from VDOT staff about changes. A lengthy Q&A period followed with many residents expressing their displeasure toward the proposed changes. County Board member John Vihstadt was also in attendance.

Attendees raised concerns about the amount of traffic that would be redirected to Arlington streets as a result of the lane changes. Others proposed that VDOT allow Arlington residents to use the HOT lanes for free since they were supposedly paying for the changes without getting any benefits.

An Arlington resident has also started a group to oppose the changes. The 66 Alliance had 350 members as of June 17.

Libby Garvey to Honor Late Husband with Bike Ride

By Heather Mongilio

Kennan Garvey

County Board member Libby Garvey and other cyclists will brave the heat on Saturday, riding up to 100 miles as part of the second Annual Kennan Garvey Memorial Ride.

The cyclists will bike on the W&OD Trail from Arlington to Purcellville and back, a 90-mile trek. For riders wanting to do a true century, they can continue to cycle to Roosevelt Memorial Bridge after returning to Arlington.

Cyclists can also shorten the ride by turning around in Reston at the 15-mile mark to make it a 30-mile ride, or in Leesburg, Virginia, at the 30-mile mark to make it a 60-mile ride.

It’s an easy ride, making it a great ride for a family, Garvey said.

“This ride is the perfect way to remember Kennan and to continue the good influence he had on so many people during his life,” Garvey said.

Garvey, herself, is planning to ride out to Purcellville, but is not planning to turn around and head back to Arlington. She and her husband previously rode to Purcellville on a tandem bike, she said.

The ride is also known as the Sizzling Suburban Century because of August’s heat, Garvey said, while promoting the event at County Board meetings. National Weather Service is predicting a high of 91 degrees on Saturday.

Garvey started the bike ride last year in honor of her husband, Kennan, who died of a heart attack in 2008. He was 56 years old.

“The ride means a lot to me and Kennan’s family and friends,” Garvey said. “Kennan commuted by bike to his job at EPA since the early ’80’s.  He loved cycling, loved to help people and loved to get young people interested in bicycles.”

The ride has an entry fee of $25, and participants are encouraged to raise $500 for the Kennan Garvey Memorial Fund. All participants will get a boxed lunch and t-shirt as part of the ride. Those who meet the fundraising goal of $500 will also receive a Phoenix Bikes jersey.

The ride benefits Phoenix Bikes’ Capital Campaign, with proceeds going toward helping the nonprofit fund a new building, now possibly in the area of Columbia Pike. The shop had previously looked at a spot at Walter Reed Drive and W&OD Trail, but that faced some community opposition.

Kennan had wanted to volunteer with Phoenix Bikes after retiring.

“Phoenix Bikes is a wonderful little organization,” Garvey said. ” They just do incredible things. And once they get a building, they’ll be able to take off.”

Photo courtesy of Libby Garvey

Potbelly Sandwich Shop Coming to Rosslyn

By Heather Mongilio

Potbelly Sandwich Works logoSandwich shop Potbelly is coming to Rosslyn’s International Place building at 1735 N. Lynn Street.

Potbelly has leased a 2,525 square foot space, according to Liz Wainger, a spokeswoman for real estate firm CBRE. An opening date has not been decided, she said.

There’s no word yet on which storefront Potbelly will occupy. There are at least three vacant or soon-to-be-vacant ground floor retail locations in the building:

  • The former FroZenYo frozen yogurt shop, which recently closed
  • The Wilson Florist shop, which had a moving sale sign outside today
  • A retail bay between Chop’t and the building lobby

The new store will be the third Potbelly in Arlington. The company also has a location by the Ballston Metro and in Crystal City.

CBRE’s D.C.-based retail leasing team tweeted out the news about Potbelly’s lease on behalf of Beacon Capitol Partners, a real-estate firm in Arlington.

New Grant to Help Keep People With Mental Illness Out of Jail

By Heather Mongilio

CIT Logo via Arlington CountyArlington’s Department of Human Services will now be able to staff its Mental Health Crisis Intervention Center around the clock thanks to a state grant.

DHS received a $222,225 grant, from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services, to hire a mental health therapist and a human services specialist, according to a County Board report. The new positions will help keep the Crisis Intervention Center staffed 24 hours a day instead of having on-call staff, said Kurt Larrick, a spokesman with DHS.

“Live coverage is critical in providing individuals in mental health crisis with timely access to services, assessments and treatment, and it helps ensure that law enforcement officers are able to return to service in a timely manner,” according to the Board report.

Police officers will drop off people they suspect have serious mental illnesses at the Crisis Intervention Center, where staff can help connect them with needed services, helping those with possible mental illness to get help instead of jail time.

The center is part of the Crisis Intervention Team, a partnership between DHS and the Arlington County Police Department to help train officers in handling those with suspected mental illnesses and combating mental health stigma.

As of July 23, more than half of ACPD officers were trained to be part of CIT. The training also extends to airport and Pentagon police, as well as other police forces in Northern Virginia and D.C., according to the CIT website.

While CIT has received funding before, this time it had to apply for the grant, Larrick said.

“We have received funding support from the state for this program in the past, but in this instance it was a competitive grant for which we applied and were chosen based on the merits of our program,” he said.

The Crisis Intervention Center has already seen success. There was a 19 percent increase of people brought to the center instead of jail from 2012 to 2014, and the county saves about $5,620 per person with a serious mental illness by keeping them out of jail, according to the Board report.

“Allowing people with serious mental illness to receive treatment in the community as opposed to in a correctional setting, where they are unnecessarily criminalized, results in improved outcomes for the individual in crisis and significant cost savings,” according to the report.

Downed Power Line Knocks Out Power in South Arlington

By Heather Mongilio
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A downed power line at S. Chesterfield Road and S. Columbus Street has knocked out power to parts of South Arlington and Alexandria this afternoon.

As of 3:35 p.m., more than 1,200 Dominion customers are reported to be without power in the area. Among the reported outages are homes in the Claremont neighborhood, Claremont Elementary and Wakefield High School, the DMV on Four Mile Run Drive, and numerous traffic lights on Route 7, Four Mile Run Drive and George Mason Drive.

Police officers were directing traffic at the intersection of George Mason Drive and S. Columbus Street. They also blocked off Chesterfield Road from Columbus Street at 14th Street.

A FedEx truck pulled down the power lines, according to scanner traffic. The tractor trailer could be seen behind the downed lines at Chesterfield Road.

Dominion crews are now on scene, preparing to repair the power lines. At the outage’s peak, Dominion reported more than 3,300 customers without power.

VDOT to Hold Open Meeting for Future I-395, Glebe Road Repairs

By Heather Mongilio

1-395 and Glebe Road (via Google Maps)

Arlington residents will have a chance to ask questions and weigh in on upcoming repairs to the interchange of I-395 and Glebe Road.

Virginia Department of Transportation will hold an open house tonight (Tuesday) from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Gunston Middle School (2700 S. Lang Street). Attendees will hear from VDOT staff and have an opportunity to ask questions about the anticipated construction.

The roadwork on the three bridges at the interchange is anticipated to begin in April or May 2016, said Brian Morrison, a senior structural engineer with VDOT.

Construction is anticipated to last about four to six months, so the project is predicted to be finished in October or November of next year, Morrison said.

Roadwork on the bridges is expected to include repaving the bridge decks, guardrail improvements, reconstruction of bridge joints, painting bridge beams and fixing the sidewalks and curbs on Glebe Road. The total cost for the project is projected to be $4.7 million, according to VDOT.

The project is currently in its design phase. Once construction begins, there will likely be single-lane and shoulder closures during the night and day, according to VDOT’s website for the project.

Arlington Agenda (July 27-Aug. 1)

By Heather Mongilio

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

skaiotaflyerThe Ska Revival Tour
Iota Club and Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd)
Time: 8 p.m. to midnight

Local Northern Virginia band Thirteen Towers joins bands Be Like Max and A-OKs at Clarendon’s Iota Club for the last leg of a ska-punk tour. The concert is for those 21 years and older. Tickets are $12 at the door.

Thursday

AD_Postcard_Paint_Party_2015

Painting Parties @ P. Brennan’s*
P. Brennan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant (2910 Columbia Pike)
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Paint Irish scenery while enjoying a glass of wine and an authentic Irish vibe from P. Brennan’s. Tickets are $40 and include one canvas, painting and one glass of wine. No experience is necessary. Another session will be held Aug. 13.

Friday

David Koechner (via theNerdPatrol/Flickr)David Koechner LIVE from The Office and Anchorman
The Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: 7:30 p.m., 10 p.m.

Fans of “The Office” and “Anchorman” will want to make their way to the Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse to see standup from David Koechner. If you can’t make the show on Friday, he’ll also perform on Saturday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets are $22.

Saturday

Book-Cover

Islamophobia Book Talk and Signing
Busboys and Poets – Shirlington (4251 Campbell Avenue)
Time: 10-11 a.m.

Author Tom Green will discuss his new book “The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West” and why everyone should be concerned about anti-Muslim bigotry. Green will hold a book signing after his talk. The event is free.

*Denotes featured (sponsored) content

Arlington Library to Host Breastfeeding Event

By Heather Mongilio

Big-Latch-On

A synchronized breastfeeding event will be held at the Arlington Central Library auditorium this week.

The Big Latch On is an international event where women across the country and world breastfeed their children at the same time. Women will join together in the Arlington County Central Library’s auditorium (1015 N. Quincy Street) to breastfeed from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Friday.

“The Big Latch On involves groups of breastfeeding women coming together at registered locations around the world to all ‘latch on’ (breastfeed) their child or children at a set time,” according to the event’s website.

The Big Latch On was started to promote the benefits of breastfeeding and to encourage more women to breastfeed. It also aims to make breastfeeding in public part of daily life, according to the website. Last year, 14,173 women in 31 countries participated.

The World Health Organization encourages mothers to breastfeed their child for at least six months. Breastfeeding helps protect babies from infectious diseases and can promote cognitive development, according to WHO.

This year, the Big Latch On is hoping to beat its record of 14,356 children breastfeeding at one time. The women start breastfeeding at the same time for one minute while the children are counted, according to the Big Latch On’s website.

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