Author: Katie Pyzyk

Senate Page Lauded for Service During Fiscal Cliff Battle

By Katie Pyzyk

Senate page Jarrod Nagurka and President ObamaAn Arlington teen is doing a lot of storytelling about what he did on New Year’s Eve. He wasn’t out partying with friends, but instead spent Monday working as a page while the Senate scrambled to pass fiscal cliff legislation.

Jarrod Nagurka said he had a short break as the clock struck midnight, so he watched the New York City ball drop on a television in the Senate Democratic cloakroom.

“Nothing could be cooler than spending New Year’s in the Senate,” said Nagurka. “I was joking around with one of the senators that hopefully I’ll have quite a few more New Year’s Eves, but my days spending New Year’s Eve in the Senate are probably numbered.”

The last time the Senate worked on New Year’s Eve was in 1995, so this week’s occurrence is rather rare. The vote happened around 2:00 a.m. on January 1, after a series of long days. Nagurka said he put in around 80 hours of work in the eight days he served as a page over the past couple of weeks.

Nagurka, who just celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday, is originally from Arlington and is in his freshman year at the University of Virginia. He was one of 30 students chosen from across the country to participate in the page program in the fall of 2010. Knowing that Nagurka is local and would be on break from school, he was asked to return as a page during the recent fiscal cliff session. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) even took a moment on the Senate floor to thank Nagurka and the few other pages who were able to help out.

“We have 18-year-old Jarrod Nagurka, of Arlington. He gave up his winter break to be here,” Reid said. “I want the record to reflect our deep appreciation for [the pages], and I wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”

Back in 2010, Reid gave a lengthy speech thanking Nagurka and a page from Maryland, calling them “legislative heroes.” Reid said they took on the work of 30 legislative pages, and that pages are hard to come by for legislative sessions suddenly occurring around the holidays. Nagurka said due to the serious nature of the fiscal cliff situation, he didn’t expect accolades this time around and was honored that Reid still recognized him.

“When he thanked me on early Tuesday morning, it was really short and that’s understandable because it was right before the vote,” said Nagurka. “Back in 2010, it was longer, but look, he doesn’t have to do any of that. I certainly appreciate that he and others recognize we were there.”

Nagurka acknowledged many Americans’ frustrations with how the fiscal cliff situation played out, but he urged citizens to look at things from a different perspective.

“I think a lot off people have a tendency to say [senators are] not doing their job and they’re putting their work off,” said Nagurka. “I think people need to realize it’s not just one senator running the country. It’s like you have 100 CEOs trying to run one company. You have people who are ideologically on different ends of the spectrum, so I think that’s where the gridlock occurs. There are certainly parts of the bill that are tough to swallow, but it’s the first time in 20 years that they voted in the Senate for tax increases.”

Jarrod Nagurka and the other 2010 Senate Pages with John Kerry and Hillary ClintonSenate page duties typically include taking care of odd jobs that allow senators to remain on the floor. For instance, Nagurka said he has been asked to do everything from providing a glass of water to delivering legislative paperwork.

“As small of a role as a page plays, it’s kind of cool to contribute to making the Senate run and observe the workings,” he said. “What’s kind of cool for me is I almost felt like a fly on the wall. You really hear the conversations and the inner workings of the Senate, which is really not an experience too many people are fortunate enough to have.”

Although he’s currently majoring in economics, Nagurka isn’t ruling out a career in politics at some time in the future.

“I think politics is definitely something I’ll keep open,” he said. “Political process is so rare, and sometimes people take it for granted in this country.”

Nagurka also is not ruling out another opportunity to work as a Senate page.

“If the Senate was brought back at some unusual time again, I’d expect to go back and help out.”

TRAFFIC ALERT: Water Main Break Shuts Washington Blvd

By Katie Pyzyk

Update at 4:35 p.m. — One westbound lane is now slowly getting by the scene of the water main break.

A water main break in Virginia Square is snarling traffic on Washington Blvd, and will continue to do so through the evening rush hour.

Westbound lanes of Washington Blvd have been closed between N. Kirkwood Road and N. Lincoln Street. Traffic heading eastbound has been reduced to one lane.

There’s no word when the road will re-open, but a crew will remain on the scene making repairs at least through rush hour.

Police Arrest Three Teens for Shooting Car Windows with BB Guns

By Katie Pyzyk

Alexander Chase Ricardo Reynoso Jr William Romero

Police have arrested three Arlington teens in connection with a rash of car windows being shot out with BB guns.

The suspects allegedly shot out the windows on more than 250 cars in Northern Virginia over the past several months, including two marked police vehicles. Nothing was taken from the cop cars, but at least one of the other incidents involved items being stolen from a vehicle.

19-year-old Alexander Chase and 18-year-old Ricardo Reynoso Jr., both of Arlington, were arrested and charged with felony destruction of property. Chase is currently being held without bond, and Reynoso is being held on a $1,000 bond. 18-year-old William Romero of Arlington was charged with grand larceny and grand larceny with intent to distribute. Romero is currently being held without bond.

The Arlington County Police Department says the suspects were caught based on an extensive investigation that has been going on for months. They were assisted by the Fairfax County Police Department.

The crimes are still being examined, and some may span all the way to West Virginia.

The Papery to Close in Clarendon

By Katie Pyzyk

The Papery in Clarendon is closingThis may give you a sense of déjà vu, but The Papery in Clarendon (2871 Clarendon Blvd) is closing. After making a comeback in late 2011, the business will now be closing for good.

Dick Visconti’s family owns the chain of stores, which is based in New Jersey. He said his brother had wanted to open a store in Arlington, but suddenly lost interest.

“My brother was operating the store and chose not to be involved anymore, and it got in the run down condition you saw,” Visconti said. “I came back in October 2011 and kept the store operational until now.”

When Visconti revived the store a little more than a year ago, the intention all along was to keep it open only until the lease expired, which happens this month. There is no plan to open a new Arlington location due to logistics.

“Unfortunately I’m done with Arlington. I’m a New Jersey based company and to operate in Arlington is logistically not feasible,” said Visconti. “I regret it because I think Arlington is beyond an awesome place to live and have a business, Market Common is an awesome location.”

Visconti said he hopes the store’s employees will be able to quickly find new jobs.

“They’re an outstanding staff. I wish I had them here,” Visconti said. “I told them that if any of them wanted to move to New Jersey, I’d hire them in a second.”

The Papery is holding a 50% off sale on everything in the store until it closes on January 13. Visconti reiterated that he wishes he didn’t have to close, but he doesn’t see any other option.

“I just live in New Jersey and can’t do it, that’s the bottom line,” said Visconti. “I’m really sorry that we have to go.”

Potomac River Running Moving in Ballston

By Katie Pyzyk

New Ballston location for Potomac River Running store(Updated at 12:35 p.m.) The Potomac River Running store (PR) is leaving its Ballston location (3924 Wilson Blvd), but the store isn’t moving far. It’s heading to the other side of Ballston in the old Alliance Bank (4501 N. Fairfax Drive) space along Glebe Road.

Ray Pugsley and his wife Cathy own the family business along with Cathy’s sister, Margie Shapiro, and Margie’s husband, Brendan. Pugsley said a number of factors contributed to the couples’ decision to move.

First, PR currently rents from Freshbikes, and the lease is up at the end of January. Pugsley said because of the sublet situation, PR doesn’t have long term control over the space. The owners of PR had concerns about what ultimately would happen to the single-level building.

“All low buildings in Arlington become tall buildings, so there was uncertainty going forward what would happen to that spot,” said Pugsley. “There’s no plan, but given that other things were important to us, we figured we would not wait until the time when everyone had to get out because someone is building there.”

Pugsley said another factor that’s been nagging him for years is the inability for customers to see the store due to the county’s sign restrictions. The new location will allow for high visibility at the corner of N. Fairfax Drive and Glebe Road.

“We just had a lot of people who said, even years after we were open, ‘I didn’t even know you were there!'” said Pugsley. “The way sign laws are in Arlington, we didn’t have a sign that was visible from the road because of our location in the building. We were thinking where can we go for better visibility and this spot was open.”

The final element making the location ideal is its proximity to trails. PR offers various training programs and running groups which will benefit from being closer to trail entrances.

“We put a lot of emphasis on our training programs, especially for beginner to newer runners. Not having to run around city blocks is more attractive to someone who is just getting into running,” said Pugsley. “It’s got a lot of good options for folks who can’t run that far or haven’t built up their fitness yet. In the current location, by the time you get to a trail you have to turn around and come back.”

As far as parking concerns at the new, higher traffic location, the building offers parking in its underground garage. PR will validate on weekdays from 7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. for half an hour, and for an hour after 5:00 p.m. and on weekends.

Although no definite moving date has been set yet, Potomac River Running will be in its new space by the end of January. There will be a grand re-opening at some point, but the owners haven’t decided if they would prefer to wait until the spring for better weather. The owners will send out a notice on social media before the current location closes, and they’ll try to do the entire move in one day.

“We’re excited about this location,” Pugsley said. “It’s a little bigger and we liked the idea of being closer to the trails. I really hope this conveys how much we’re looking forward to being in the new place.”

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Arlington, Virginia and Key Bridge across Potomac River from Georgetown (photo by Wolfkann)

Mario’s and Carvel to Remain Open Despite Sale — Mario’s Pizza House and Carvel Ice Cream shop (3322 Wilson Blvd) were sold at auction last month for $2.86 million, achieving one of the highest per square foot sales in Arlington. The tenants will continue to operate at the location because the sale was for the real estate only, not the businesses. [Globe Newswire]

Tejada and Violand-Sanchez Make History in Virginia — As of January 1, Arlington made history by becoming the first Virginia jurisdiction to have its two local elected bodies headed by Latinos. Walter Tejada was selected to chair the County Board for 2013, joining Emma Violand-Sanchez who is halfway through her term as School Board chair. Tejada is a native of El Salvador and Violand-Sanchez is a native of Bolivia. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann

Restaurant/Framing Store Combo Opens in Ballston

By Katie Pyzyk
1/10

When is a restaurant not just a restaurant? When it’s connected to a framing store, like the new Rus Uz in Ballston.

The restaurant is connected to Ballston Art and Framing (1000 N. Randolph Street), which is owned by the family behind the KH Art and Framing store on Lee Highway. Jamil Hakimi runs the framing business and said he originally had planned on just running his store until he was approached by the Rakhmatullaev family about sharing the space, which previously had been occupied by Daily Deli.

“I’ve been in the framing shop business for a long time. I was going to turn this into a whole frame shop. We actually put up walls around the kitchen,” Hakimi said. “Then these guys came in one day, we introduced each other, and from there we just went half-half, basically.”

Prior to moving to the Ballston location, Rus Uz had been a catering business in Alexandria specializing in cuisine from Russia and Uzbekistan. Bek Rakhmatullaev said his father has been a cook for more than three decades and served several different presidents and embassy officials as a caterer. He had been toying with opening a restaurant for years, though, and finally saw the perfect opportunity.

“He saw a demand and he always wanted to open a place. Everyone was always asking for a tasting room,” Rakhmatullaev said. “With catering, you have to have big orders.”

The family believes the combination of Russian and Uzbek foods will make their restaurant stand out from others.

“There isn’t anything around like us that combines the two,” Rakhmatullaev said.

As far as the framing portion, it’s connected to the restaurant via an open doorway. Hakimi is still working out a schedule and how closely it will coincide with the restaurant hours. He notes that for food safety reasons, no framing work will be performed at the new shop; all of the framing orders from the Ballston location will be worked on at the Lee Highway location.

Rus Uz is currently in the process of obtaining its license to serve alcohol. The owners plan to have grand opening sometime in the near future after the business has more time to get everything running smoothly.

Man Barricades Himself in Crystal City Apartment

By Katie Pyzyk

Police and sheriff's deputies respond to a barricade situation in Crystal City (photo courtesy @vtspaeth)More than a dozen police units spent part of the afternoon at an apartment building on the 300 block of S. 23rd Street in Crystal City, where a man barricaded himself inside and made threats.

A sheriff’s deputy approached the 39-year-old man’s apartment around noon in an attempt to serve an eviction notice. According to police, the man threatened the deputy, as well as himself, and then barricaded himself in the apartment.

Police evacuated the neighboring apartments and set up a command post in one of the units, where they were able to talk with the man on the phone. The man came out of his apartment more than an hour later and police took him into custody. He was transported to Virginia Hospital Center for a mental evaluation.

Once the man exited his apartment, police searched it and found the shotgun the man had referred to when threatening the sheriff’s deputy.

It is unclear if the man will be charged. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

Photo courtesy @vtspaeth

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt Opens in Penrose

By Katie Pyzyk
1/6

Columbia Pike is getting in on the frozen yogurt craze, with the opening of a Menchie’s (2405 Columbia Pike) in Penrose Square.

The shop opened on Friday (December 28) and features a wall of 16 self-serve frozen yogurt machines and dozens of toppings. Menchie’s tries to cater to people with food allergies, so there are dairy free and gluten free options, as well as extensive ingredient labels for each flavor. Menchie’s has its own organic dairy in California which supplies the products and provides some flavors not available anywhere else.

Franchise owner Robert Guinn said business has been steady since the opening and customers have been receptive to the frozen yogurt shop.

“We were looking for someplace we could fit in and growth with,” Guinn said. “The community is really strong and we’ve been really happy with the retail traffic coming by.”

The chain is recognized around the world partly due to its team of “Sweet Friends” such as Menchie, Mookie, Barry and Sprinkle. Guinn said kids can identify with the Sweet Friends according to their different personalities considering each character has different traits. Employees at the Columbia Pike location having been taking turns dressing up as Menchie to draw customers into the store.

“All of our team members thought they’d never want to be in a Menchie costume, and honestly all of them have been out there and loved it,” Guinn said.

This is the first Menchie’s location in Arlington. The shop plans to hold a grand opening starting next Saturday (January 12) which will run for a week. There will be a variety of events announced, including frozen yogurt and t-shirt giveaways.

Moran Votes No on Fiscal Cliff Legislation

By Katie Pyzyk

Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)Late Tuesday night, Congress approved legislation to end the battle over avoiding the “fiscal cliff.” However, Rep. Jim Moran (D) was not one of the members giving the measure his stamp of approval.

The House voted (257 to 167) to send the plan to President Obama, less than 24 hours after the Senate passed it. But Moran spoke on the House floor last night in opposition of the legislation, contending it doesn’t create a permanent solution.

“We set up three more fiscal cliffs. We’re going to have to deal with the debt ceiling, we’re going to have to deal with the continuing resolution expiration and we’re going to have to deal with the sequester,” Moran said on the House floor. “We’re going to look back on this night and regret it, notwithstanding the fact that 95 percent of us apparently will vote for it.”

Moran released the following explanation in a statement:

Throughout negotiations aimed at staving off the economic damage of the so-called ‘fiscal cliff,’ I have been hoping to cast a vote for a balanced deal which addressed both long run fiscal issues and the artificial short term crisis created by the Budget Control Act.

Unfortunately the bill before us today is wholly inadequate. It leaves our country with three more ‘fiscal cliffs’ to negotiate over the next three months. There’s no clarity as to how we preserve the full faith and credit of the U.S. by raising the statutory debt limit, the economically devastating sequester is delayed two months but remains in full effect, and there’s no direction as to how we will fund the government for the remainder of the year when the continuing resolution runs out in March. Each of these deadlines represents a major political battle in which nearly 40 percent of Northern Virginia’s economy in terms of federal contracts and federal employees will be on the chopping block. Our leverage to strike a balanced deal will only be weaker in those coming battles following passage of this bill.

Furthermore, I question the wisdom of permanently locking in revenue levels which are far too low. This includes an estate tax structure which provides a massive tax cut for a small minority of the richest Americans at the cost $369 billion dollars, in exchange for only a temporary extension of important programs that help low and middle class Americans.

“I am deeply concerned by the long term consequences of this hastily crafted agreement, both in terms of our ability to invest in our priorities, such as educating and training future generations, and in terms of the way we govern this country. For these reasons, I cannot in good conscience support this legislation.

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Disc golf in Bluemont Park

Park Police Seeking Hit and Run Info — The U.S. Park Police is asking for the public’s help with providing information about an early morning hit and run on Monday. Around 5:45 a.m. on December 31, a driver was involved in an accident with a motorcyclist while traveling on the Memorial Bridge. The motorcyclist is being treated for a serious leg injury and other non-life threatening injuries. Police need help finding the other driver involved. The person was said to be in a brown minivan, which may have damage along the front driver’s side. Call the U.S. Park Police tip line at 202-610-8737 or U.S. Park Police Dispatch at 202-610-7500 with any info.

Avant Bard Needs New Theater — WSC Avant Bard has spent the past two years as the resident theater company at Artisphere, but now the performance group is looking for a new home. Avant Bard has not been operating under an official lease at Artisphere, and received the news last month that it needs to find a new space before its play season begins in May. The county now wants to use the stages at Artisphere for shorter running productions. [Washington Post]

APS Holding Meetings about New Williamsburg School — Public meetings begin next week regarding the new elementary school that will be built on the Williamsburg Middle School site. There will be a work session next Wednesday, January 9, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the Williamsburg auditorium. On January 14, the public will get a chance to look at the concept designs from 6:00-8:00 p.m., and on January 17, the School Board and County Board will engage in a work session about the plan following a project presentation. Residents are welcome to attend all meetings. [Arlington Public Schools]

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