Author: Heather Mongilio

Clarendon Filmmaker Returns with New Movie

By Heather Mongilio

Clarendon filmmaker Mike Kravinsky is back with a new movie.

“Geographically Desirable” tells the story of Nicole, a TV news reporter whose life is turned upside down after she inherits a house in a small town and a dog from her recently deceased uncle. As she gets to know the town and its inhabitants, Nicole has to decide between the big city and small town lives.

Geographically Desirable (Courtesy of Mike Kravinsky)

“She gets to experience something other than the life of news. She lives and breathes this stuff,” Kravinsky said.

While Nicole will have to decide between the two lives, audiences members may not know which one she chooses. Kravinsky purposely chose to have an open ending for the movie.

“My thoughts were both lifestyles are good as long as there is balance,” he said.

Kravinsky is no stranger to the late nights that come with TV news. An editor with ABC News for 29 years, it would be fair to say that he lived and breathed the “life of news.” He decided to take a buyout in 2010 and turned to filmmaking. He released a web video-series in 2011 about a middle-aged man deciding what to do after being fired.

“This is sort of my second career,” he said.

While Kravinsky’s ABC career taught him how to use different camera equipment, he said creating and editing a film was completely different.

“People think if you can edit [for news], you can edit [for film], and that’s not true,” Kravinsky said.

Changing from a facts-only news mindset to a more creative one was also a challenge, he said. In news, reporters are telling someone else’s story, but when it comes to filmmaking, the creators have a chance to tell their own, he added.

“With writing fiction, every character is you in some way,” he said. “And every character’s experience comes from your own. It’s nice in a way because the story is some version of you and how you see life. I guess that’s the best way to describe it.”

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County Board Approves New Glebe Road Development

By Heather Mongilio
1/5

The County Board unanimously approved the plans for a new six-story development on Glebe Road in Ballston during it meeting on Saturday.

The new building, to be located at 670 N. Glebe Road, will be developed by Penrose Group. It is planned to have 173 apartments, seven of which will be affordable housing units, two different retails spaces on the ground floor and an underground garage with 177 parking spaces and 70 bicycle spots.

The building, to be known as 672 Flats, will sit on the site of a current Exxon gas station, used sales lot and parking lot, which are across from the Ballston Commons Mall and a few blocks from the Ballston Metro station.

“672 Flats is part of the exciting redevelopment of the west side of Glebe Road in Ballston. Importantly, this new building is the last piece in the long-planned transition from the high rise mall to the site-plan townhome communities built nearly 25 years ago,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a statement.

Under the approved site plan for the development, the seven affordable housing units must stay affordable for 30 years. Penrose will be giving the county $75,000 for the public art fund and $12,000 toward a new bus shelter. The site plan also requires the developer to reimburse the county for the $7,000 needed to conduct transportation and parking performance studies.

The new development will provide a tapering of density from the the core of Ballston to the neighborhoods that surround it, the county said.

“The site, located between North Carlin Springs Road and Seventh Street North, will provide a transition from the high-density commercial core of Ballston to medium-density residential uses to the west,” said a press release. “Between 672 Flats and the abutting townhouses, The Townes of Ballston, a shared alley will have plantings and a special paving treatment to ease the transition between the new residential building and the existing townhouses.”

The County Board’s decision was met with little protest, with only three speakers talking about the development during public comment. Of the three, two spoke out against the site plan, while the third spoke on behalf of the Bluemont Civic Association in support of the new development.

“Some 40 homeowners were planning to attend today but given the positive report before you they decided to go about their normal activities. On behalf of them and Bluemont, we support, enthusiastically support, the site plan on the agenda today,” said Terry Serie, who led the civic association’s task force on the Glebe Road development.

Other Arlington residents raised concerns about a supposed lack of transparency surrounding the Board’s process and the possibility of extending street parking on N. Glebe Road.

Under the site plan, Penrose will have to work with the Virginia Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study of extended street parking on N. Glebe Road. The developer will also be required to help implement the new parking spaces and meters.

Local civic activist Bernie Berne criticized the decision to increase parking spaces on the Glebe Road, saying that it would cause the road to be even more dangerous to cyclists.

“Glebe Road is a major cycling route, even though its not dedicated as one. You put parking there, the card doors will open in the way of people on the bikes,” Berne said. “This is one of the biggest hazards of cycling. There’s no bike lanes there. There are no plans for a bike lane on Glebe Road. You put parking there, people are going to be on the sidewalks.”

Software Company Helps to Protect Data From Human Error

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.

Invincea logo (Courtesy of Invincea)An software company born out of an Arlington-based research lab says it has the solution for stopping certain types of large computer hacks, such as the recent federal Office of Personal Management hack.

Invincea helps prevent information leaks and hacks by protecting companies from human error.

Hackers commonly use “spear phishing,” which is when a hacker sends an email to an unsuspecting that appears to be from someone they know, with a link containing malicious code. The virus only enters the computer when the person who receives the email clicks on the link, said Invincea CEO Anup Ghosh.

“October is cybersecurity month. And you’ll see a lot of software companies telling their employees, ‘hey, don’t click on suspicious link.’ But the reality is employees will always click on links, they’ll always open attachment,” Ghosh said. “Not because they are bad, but because they don’t know.”

Invincea was born out of Ghosh’s first venture, a research and development company that later became Invincea Labs. Ghosh was working with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) on the first company when he noticed that most computer attacks came in the forms of links in emails.

Ghosh built the software while he was a faculty member at George Mason University and started Invincea. The main company, Invincea, has its headquarters in Fairfax, while the original research and development company, Invincea Labs, operates out of Ballston.

The name Invincea came out of the software’s ability to stop threats that other antivirus programs do not, Ghosh said.

“I think it represents our core values in the product which is its meant to signal strength,” he said. “That our product can protect from any threat.”

Invincea (Courtesy of Invinea)

Invincea works to protect data two different ways. The first is a preventative measure.

When an employee clicks on a link in a spear phishing email, Invincea’s software isolates the code and examines it in a virtual space. The software looks at the code to see if there is anything dangerous, and if there is, it destroys the virus, Ghosh said.

“When it comes to spear phishing, which is how they get on the network, security is depending on users,” he said. “They depend on user to not click the link, which we know does not happen.”

However, for many customers, the computers are already compromised by a virus when they hire Invincea.

“Once we identify a machine as compromised, we will quarantine that machine from the enterprise network,” Ghosh said.

By quarantining the computer, Invincea’s software prevents the virus from hopping to other computers on the network and accessing data, he said.

Invincea’s software can stop hacks like the OPM leak or the attack on Target, which leaked personal information from thousands of customers. Attacks like these happen all the time and in all types of sectors, including government and retail, Ghosh said.

“Every single day, Invincea stops sophisticated threats that most security networks don’t,” he said.

Working Group Still Eyeing Thomas Jefferson Site for New School

By Heather Mongilio
1/3

A working group tasked with analyzing sites for a new South Arlington elementary school is continuing to set its sights on the land surrounding Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

Working group chairman Greg Greeley presented the latest analysis to the County Board and Arlington School Board during a joint working session yesterday (Thursday). Arlington Public Schools is aiming to open a new school by 2019 in order to handle a 925 seat deficit.

The working group analyzed about 20 different locations, included those owned solely by Arlington Public Schools, solely by the county, jointly by APS and the County and privately owned. From there, the group narrowed it down to three finalists: Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Gunston Middle School/Oakridge Elementary School and Drew Model Elementary School.

With each site, the working group looked out how the new elementary school would fit on the property. Of the three sites, the working group preferred the Thomas Jefferson site.

In January, the County Board scuttled the school system’s plan to build an elementary school on the TJ site, following vocal protests from residents concerns about the impact to adjacent parkland.

County Board member John Vihstadt echoed those concerns, and brought up a proposal that he said could preserve the parkland while still getting the school built nearby.

Vihstadt introduced a letter from Snell Properties, which owns the Dominion Arms complex at 333 S. Glebe Road, offering APS land for a school free of charge, in exchange for the ability to build a new development with more density.

The Sun Gazette has more about the proposal and the mixed reaction to it.

“Without getting into the pros and cons, the merits and demerits of this potential new location, I, for one, am certainly interested in the pursuit of looking at this, completely scouring the pros and cons of whether this is an option or not. We are making a decision for 50 years,” Vihstadt said.

At the time of the working session between the two boards, not all members had read the letter, including School Board Chair Emma Violand-Sánchez and Superintendent Patrick Murphy, who voiced concerns about the potential for delaying the opening of a new school past 2019.

“Some of the concerns I think is we have a process in place and we have to respect the process. The South Arlington working group has done a fabulous job, and I would hate to see something new come into play and derail and delay given the 2019 timeline,” Murphy said.

Vihstadt asked the working group and School Board about possible alternatives to find at least 725 new seats, a request made previously by the County Board in January.

The School Board looked at additions to Barcroft and other elementary schools but they would not add enough seats, said Violand-Sánchez. School Board member Abby Raphael also raised concerns over the costs of additions versus a new school.

“Clearly additions are not as cost effective as  a new school. Given the limited funding that we have for capital. I would be very surprised if we had to go back to what we called plan B,” Raphael said. “And I kind of find it inconceivable that we’re not going to reach agreement on a new site for a school in south Arlington. We have to. We have to the seats in the fall of 2019.”

A full report from the working group on potential South Arlington school sites is due to the County Board in November.

Arlington’s Red Top Cab Trying to One-Up Uber With App Features

By Heather Mongilio

Red Top Select appClarendon-based Red Top Cab has been rolling out new features on its smartphone app that the company hopes will set them apart from Uber.

The recently-updated Red Top Select app features allow users to reserve a cab in advance or repeat one of their previous trips with the touch of a button. The company says those features go beyond the functionality of Uber, which has been the scourge of traditional taxi companies and driver everywhere it operates.

“With Uber, riders have to wait until they are ready to ride and hope there is a car available near them and also hope that Uber is not charging surge prices at the time they need their ride. With the Red Top Select app, riders can select the date and time in advance and their car will be waiting for them, instead of them waiting for the car,” said Red Top Cab spokesman Von Pelot.

Riders also have the option to book a ride based on a previous destination, saving some effort, Pelot said.

Like with Uber, Red Top Cab app users can link a credit card and pay for the rides from their phones. The app also allows companies to hook up a corporate account, and riders can decide between getting picked up by a taxi, a Red Select sedan or a luxury car.

Red Top Cabs (File photo)

“Of course, the app also lets riders view available cabs/sedan in their area, select the type of ride they want (Red Top Cab, Red Select sedan or Red Select black car) and track the arrival of their vehicle,” Pelot said in an email.

The focus on technology comes at a time of transition for Red Top, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. The taxi company has sold its long-time Clarendon headquarters, which will eventually be torn down to make way for a new apartment or condo development.

Red Top is planning to stay in Arlington, but is still trying to figure out where exactly it will move to. The company is currently looking for a new location for its headquarters, Pelot said, but he could not go into additional specifics.

Disclosure: Red Top Cab is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Nighttime Paving on Crystal Drive to End Tonight

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

Some Crystal City residents say they’re fed up with nighttime paving on Crystal Drive that they claim has kept them from sleeping.

Roadwork on Crystal Drive should end tonight, which is ahead of schedule, said county spokeswoman Jessica Baxter, adding that the original timeframe had paving and milling continuing for several weeks.

“We apologize for the inconvenience, but this is important work that needs to get done. The end result will be a smooth, durable pavement that all roadway users will enjoy,” Baxter said.

Crystal Drive was on the county’s schedule for paving this year, and it needed to be completed so the county could finish the Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway. Milling began last Friday, Oct. 9 at 9 a.m., but the majority of the paving was done at night in order to reduce traffic disruptions during the work day, she said.

“Milling tends to be noisier, which is why we scheduled it during the day to reduce the impacts in residential areas,” Baxter said. “The majority of paving, however, is taking place at night between 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. to minimize traffic impacts, maximize pedestrian safety and to expedite the work.”

Some Crystal City residents claimed that the paving noise was loud enough to keep them awake throughout the night, taking to Twitter to voice their frustrations.

The noise was loud enough to be heard through earbuds, said one resident who asked that we redact his name after the publication of this article.

“Why would the County approve night time road work along a road with residential buildings with hundreds of residents? Even with ear plugs, it was extremely difficult to sleep, and I’m sure other residents along Crystal Drive had a difficult time as well,” the resident said.

While the county tried to minimize the disruptions to the flow of traffic, the resident said in an email that the road conditions were hazardous to drivers and pedestrians due to “an unmarked work zone (no cones, no police, no barriers, nadda).”

“On Saturday, with no Arlington County police officers present and no workers directing traffic, pedestrians and vehicles engaged in a game of Frogger — dodging workers, raised manhole covers and work vehicles and equipment on the unmarked road,” he said. “Throughout the day, there were a few near misses as work vehicles moved about and backed up in and around passing cars and crossing pedestrians.”

Arlington warned people living in Crystal Drive residences that there would be nighttime roadwork, Baxter said.

“We sent out notifications through the Crystal City-Pentagon City e-newsletter, the Crystal City Civic Association and BID, as well as to contacts at residential and office buildings,” she said. “In all of our communication, we shared that nighttime work should be expected.”

Paving Causes Unexpected Road Closure in Rosslyn

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) N. Nash Street in Rosslyn was closed to traffic in both directions today due to road construction crews paving the road.

Signs have been placed at entrances to N. Nash Street, indicating cars should take a detour. Key Blvd, which intersects with N. Nash Street, has also been milled and crews were beginning to pave the road as of 3:30 p.m.

The road closure came as a surprise to many.

Workers parked in parking garages on N. Nash Street this morning — including a garage used by ARLnow.com employees — only to find that they were unable to leave. A spokeswoman with the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services said that paving on N. Nash Street will be finished tonight. (Update at 4:05 p.m.: Those parked in the garage are now being allowed to exit.)

Arlington’s police and fire departments were not told that the street would be closed, according to the fire department’s public information officer.  The county typically tells emergency services which roads are closed or being worked on to allow them to adjust their response routes, he said.

The road should not have been closed to traffic in both directions, county spokeswoman Jessica Baxter said

“‘No Parking’ signs were posted along the block a few days before the operation began, and the roadway was not entirely shut down,” Baxter said. “Residents and workers should continue to have access to the garages.”

Road construction crews will start paving Key Blvd, between N. Nash Street and N. Quinn Street, once they have finished N. Nash. Paving is expected to be done by the end of the week, she said.

N. Nash Street is being repaved in response to complaints from residents, while Key Blvd was scheduled for paving this year, Baxter said.

“This street [N. Nash Street] was added to the paving list recently due to its deteriorating condition, pothole history (from the previous winter/spring) and amount of complaints we received through the Arlington, Va. App,” she said in an email.

Equipment Problem Temporarily Closes Down Oz Restaurant in Clarendon

By Heather Mongilio

Oz restaurant in ClarendonA kitchen equipment problem prompted new Clarendon restaurant Oz to temporarily close Tuesday night.

“We had an issue with our hood [that goes over the stove],” said owner Ashley Darby. “We had to make sure it was ventilating properly.”

It took a couple hours to fix the hood, which meant the restaurant had to suspend dinner service for the day. Oz reopened today (Wednesday) and has been business as usual, she said.

Darby said she doesn’t foresee any more temporary closures.

Oz, which serves authentic Australian cuisine, began dinner service at the end of September. The restaurant started serving lunch today, Darby said.

Vegetarian Indian Restaurant Reopens with New Name, Owners

By Heather Mongilio
1/7

A Indian restaurant serving only vegetarian food has reopened on Lee Highway with new owners and new name, though its sign may not reflect it.

Sharan Indian Cuisine, formerly Saran Indian Cuisine, is now open for business at 5157 Lee Highway. While the sign above the restaurant says “Saran Indian Cuisine,” owner Ashraful Siddique said the missing “h” is due to trouble getting a new sign.

“Arlington County is taking [a] little time to approve the signage,” Siddique said.

Siddique took over the restaurant in July and closed it for renovations in order to comply with Arlington codes, he said.

“We just acquired a restaurant that has been at this same location very successfully for the last 16 years, it has a pretty niche clientele and a following, we will like to seamlessly maintain that reputation,” he said. “We had to do small renovation to be compliant to the new code, but we have kept the look and the feel almost the same.”

Sharan Indian Cuisine serves only vegetarian food, a decision made by the previous owners, Siddique said.

“We are a vegetarian restaurant, in the sense we do not serve meat, fish and eggs, we serve a little different menu from the other conventional ethnic Indian restaurants,” he said. “We did not decide on our own, this has always been a vegetarian restaurant and we want to keep the tradition.”

Siddique describes the restaurant as having a “niche menu” because it serves dishes not typically found at Indian restaurant, including Pani Puri, Bhindi Jalfrezi and Masala Dhosa. The restaurant strives to maintain a comfortable atmosphere with affordable, homemade food, he said.

“We will like to invite the clientele of this restaurant who have been coming for the last 16 years to the same old charm vegetarian Indian food and also the new customers to come and try our cooking,” Siddique said.

Public Art Installation on Sewage Plant Fence Completed

By Heather Mongilio
1/8

An assortment of pipes, wrenches, wheels and pink balls have been attached to the fence separating the Four Mile Run trail from the county’s  sewage plant.

These items are part of an art installation by Dutch artist Tejo Remy and his design partner Rene Veenhuizen, who are known for their use of everyday objects to create works of art. The installation, which runs along the fence of the Water Pollution Control Plant on the 3400 block of S. Glebe Road, was completed in the middle of September, said Jim Byers, a spokesman for Arlington Cultural Affairs.

The display runs the length of the sewage plant, transitioning from a sea of pink balls and flat, blue objects to orange wheels and then a series of neon green wrenches and baby blue pipes. The piece starts with a lone pink ball.

“Remy and Veenhuizen’s design ethos stems from a strong industrial design background and building awareness about our connection to the environment,” Arlington Public Arts said in a press release. “Their innovative concept consists of more than 800 linear feet of brightly colored ‘widgets’ that reference the importance of microorganisms in the plant’s treatment processes and shaped fence panels overlaid on the existing fence to create a moiré effect reflecting the movement of water.”

The artwork is part of series of restorations and enhancements being made to the Four Mile Run area, which include work on bike trails and a new pedestrian-cyclist bridge. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held once all projects are complete, Byers said.

The County Board approved the project in 2012, and $350,000 was allotted for the fence display, which included a $30,000 contingency fund. The project has stayed within that budget, Byers said

“Funding for this Contract is included in the approved $568 million budget for the Master Plan 2001 upgrade and expansion project at the Department of Environmental Services Water Pollution Control Plant,” he said. “The total cost of the fence enhancement project is 0.061 percent of the total of the upgrade and expansion project at the Department of Environmental Services Water Pollution Control Plant.”

Car Crash Shuts Down George Mason Drive Intersection

By Heather Mongilio
1/4

The intersection of Washington Blvd and N. George Mason Drive was temporarily closed due to a two car accident this afternoon.

Police were on scene helping to direct traffic after shutting down the intersection at approximately 1:30 p.m. It reopened around 2:20 p.m.

There were no major injuries, according to an officer at the scene, and one of the drivers was seen walking around the scene. The other was reportedly taken to the hospital.

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