Author: Vernon Miles

Arlington Restaurants Embrace Newfound Ability to Deliver Cocktails

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 5 p.m.) A day after Gov. Ralph Northam issued an order allowing Virginia restaurants to offer mixed-beverages for takeout and delivery, a number of Arlington eateries are gearing up to serve cocktails to go.

Many restaurant in Arlington are still updating their menus before the order takes effect tonight at 11:59 p.m.

“We will be offering take out cocktails at Rhodeside Grill (1836 Wilson Blvd) as well as our sister restaurants, Ragtime (1345 N. Courthouse Road) and William Jeffrey’s Tavern (2301 Columbia Pike) in Arlington,” said Chris Lefbom, co-owner of Vintage Restaurants.

Renee Rojural, a brand and community manager for the Metropolitan Hospitality Group, said CIRCA at Clarendon (3010 Clarendon Blvd) and Open Road Rosslyn (1201 Wilson Blvd) will have cocktail menus to go sometime in the next few days.

Some, however, already have their new to-go cocktails planned and ready to sell.

“[We’ll have] curb-side and to-go custom cocktails,” a representative of Ms. Peacock’s Champagne Lounge (929 N. Garfield Street) said in a Facebook message. “32 oz jars filled with nothing but your favorites from our mixology team. Just add ice and enjoy!”

The Clarendon watering hole is also planning to offer 16 oz variants along with various bourbon mixes and a signature margarita.

An order by Northam last month allowed restaurants to offer beer and wine to go.

The Virginia ABC issued the following guidance on restaurants selling mixed drinks to go:

In order to maintain public safety, there will be restrictions placed on the service of mixed beverages in this fashion. Below are the highlights of the temporary regulation adjustment.

  • Distillery licensees are limited to a maximum of two mixed drinks per delivery or takeout order that contain 1½ ounces or less of spirits per drink.
  • Mixed beverage restaurants and limited mixed beverage restaurants are limited to four cocktails for each delivery or take out sale. Each order for delivery or takeout of cocktails must include a meal for every two cocktails purchased.
  • Cocktails shall be packaged in a glass, paper or plastic container (or similar disposable container) or in a single original metal can with a secure lid or cap designed to prevent consumption without removal of the lid or cap (lids with sipping holes or openings for straws are prohibited).
  • All recipients of delivery orders must be at least 21 years of age.

Photo via Dave B/Flickr

Governor’s Plan Will Delay County Board Primary

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Gov. Ralph Northam announced a plan yesterday that will shift summer primary election dates across the state back by two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The previously-sheduled June 9 primary will now shift back to June 23.

The Democratic primary sees incumbent County Board chair Libby Garvey facing off against challenger Chanda Choun. On the Republican side, there is a three-way primary among Daniel Gade, Thomas Speciale, Alissa Baldwin for U.S. Senate.

“As other states have shown, conducting an election in the middle of this global pandemic would bring unprecedented challenges and potential risk to voters and those who work at polling places across the Commonwealth,” Northam said in a press release. “Making these decisions now will help election officials prepare and implement the necessary changes. This is about protecting the health and safety of Virginians during this pandemic and ensuring our citizens can make their voices heard in a safe, fair, and uniform manner. I urge the General Assembly to do their part and take action to move our upcoming elections.”

Erik Gutshall’s resignation also leaves another empty seat on the County Board. County spokeswoman Mary Curtius said nothing has been decided yet about the special election for Gutshall’s seat.

Gretchen Reinemeyer, Director of Elections, said there are a number of state laws the County will have to sift through as it prepares for a potential special election.

“The Governor’s request that the legislature delay May town and city elections does not apply to our special election,” Reinemeyer said. “The Circuit Court will issue a writ setting the election date 60-80 days from the vacancy.”

Reinemeyer said the special election cannot happen before or on the same day as the primary.

Five candidates are also vying for two vacant spots on the School Board and are seeking the endorsement of the Arlington County Democratic Committee. Arlington Democrats announced earlier this week that it will be holding its endorsement caucus by mail.

Animal Shelter Ends ‘Paws’ on Adoptions With Virtual Dates

By Vernon Miles

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington is opening its shelter up to virtual adoptions.

“Although we are closed to the public, we still want to give the animals in our care the opportunity to find their new families while still adhering to social distancing,” the shelter said on its website. “To do that, we’ll be setting our shelter pets up on virtual ‘dates’ with potential adopters!”

To sign up, applicants should submit their paperwork to [email protected] with the name of the pet in the subject line and an attached photo of a driver’s license or valid ID.

Adoptions counselors will contact applicants to discuss the animal’s medical history, personality, etc. to make sure it’s a good match, then set up a virtual meet and greet via Zoom between the applicant, the counselor, and the pet of choice.

If the applicant decides to move forward, the counselor can set up a time to pick up the pet at the shelter with all paperwork and payment handled via email or phone.

The shelter has pages set up for full lists of dogs, cats and other small animals, though at the time of writing only the cats page seems operational.

Adoption fees range from $275 for puppies to $175 for older dogs. Fees for cats range from $300 for a pair of kittens to $100 for a senior cat.

Adoptions include:

  • A certificate for a free exam with a participating veterinarian. Fees for other services performed will be paid by the adopter to the veterinary hospital.
  • Spay/neuter surgery
  • A heartworm test for dogs older than four months
  • Age-appropriate vaccinations
  • A personalized I.D. tag
  • A microchip
  • A free phone consultation or $30 off any training service from Fur-Get-Me-Not
  • An information packet

The website notes that the spay and neuter surgery may not be available during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Fur-Get-Me-Not page notes that the company has suspended animal training services.

Photo via Animal Welfare League of Arlington

Spring Blooms at Bill’s True Value Hardware Amid Pandemic

By Vernon Miles

Before you ask: no, Bill’s True Value Hardware (2213 N. Buchanan Street) does not have any face masks.

Every day, Mark Ploskina — son of owner William Ploskina — says he gets around 100 to 200 calls with people asking whether or not he has masks. He gets one of those calls in the middle of an interview about the number of calls.

Mark said as the pandemic was getting started, the store was buzzing with activity as people rushed to get supplies.

“Before the mandatory shutdown, it was insanely busy in here,” Mark said. “People were looking for everything. Emergency related stuff — toilet paper, paper towels, masks. Since the shutdown it’s been about normal.”

While many food, retail and service locations across Arlington are struggling, Mark said the store — considered an essential business under Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s emergency orders — has had a steady stream of customers. Occasionally on weekends it gets too busy and Mark said they have to limit the number of people in the store, but so far they’ve been able to manage.

At first, the main items were coronavirus-related, but as spring has started to bloom Mark said that’s beginning to change.

“Everybody wants to congregate in the same area: plants, seeds and gardening,” Mark said. “[People go for] everything garden related. People are so bored.”

Mark said he’s happy people are coming in, but feels slightly guilty when he sees customers going out and buying non-essentials during the stay-at-home order.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “I want to serve the community, but there’s a lot of people coming in and these are not emergency supplies.”

As the pandemic set in, Mark said the store got a box full of masks — about $150 worth — but they sent the box straight to the hospital for use by healthcare workers.

“It was the right thing to do,” Mark said. “I want customers to be safe, but the hospitals need it.”

Photo via Bill’s True Value Hardware/Facebook

Local Catholic Church Needs Groceries and Volunteers for Food Pantry

By Vernon Miles

The food pantry for an Arlington church is starting to run dangerously low on supplies for their weekly food distribution.

Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church (2700 19th Street S.) runs a food pantry that, once a week, provides a full bag of groceries. With Catholic churches in the Arlington Diocese no longer meeting on Sundays, Father Timothy Hickey sent a letter on Sunday to the congregation saying the situation with the food pantry has become increasingly dire.

“The number of families we serve has increased each of the past several weeks, and we anticipate that will only continue to grow,” Hickey said. “At the same time, with in-person masses suspended, our donations (both monetarily and food items) have considerably decreased. Combine those two factors and it is not difficult to appreciate the challenge we are facing.”

The church is not alone in this. Local organizations like the Arlington Food Assistance Center have also seen increasing needs and decreasing access to the traditional sources of donations.

“While everything else in our parish has scaled back and otherwise paused during this pandemic, our entire parish leadership very strongly feels it is vital to keep the Food Pantry open and continue to serve this community in need,” Hickey said. “We have a small but mighty staff and volunteers that are committed to keeping this ministry going to the best of our abilities.”

Hickey said there were three ways to contribute to the food pantry.

Monetary donations can be made online. A general donation will include the food pantry as well as money to pay for church staff salaries, but there is also an option to just donate to the pantry.

Food can also be dropped off at the shelter. Hickey said a bin will be placed behind the church from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is also a list of specific foods requested for donation:

  • 1 bag of rice, any size (bigger ones will be split into a 1 lbs. bag)
  • 1 bag of dry beans, 1 lbs. or two cans of beans (prefer black, pinto or small red beans)
  • 1 pack of long or short pasta
  • 1 jar of pasta sauce approx. 24 oz. (any flavor is great)
  • 1 box of low sugar cereals (eg. Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, Cheerios)
  • 1 can of corn approx. 16 oz
  • 1 can of green vegetables approx. 16 oz (eg. green beans, sweet peas)
  • 1 can of fruit in light syrup or in its own juices
  • 2 cans of tuna or packs of tuna in water or oil
  • 1 bottle of oil, 48 oz.
  • 1 bag of Tortimasa (no cornmeal)

The church, in Arlington’s Green Valley neighborhood, is also requesting help from volunteers to help break food into smaller servings for individual grocery bags.

To this end, the following are our current volunteer needs.

  • 2 Food Sourcing Volunteers — These volunteers will be calling the list of stores and other food sources (eg. Costco, BJ’s, Restaurant Depot) each week to determine which of the Food Pantry needed items are in stock. Ultimately, these volunteers will be coming up with the shopping list and location for the volunteer grocery shoppers. Because so many stores are running out of items, the ideal volunteer for this role will have plenty of patience and persistence. When Plans A, B and C don’t work out because the stores can’t meet the demand, we are looking for creative and resourceful personalities who thrive on figuring out the plan even if that means getting all the way down to Plans X, Y and Z. The ideal volunteer for this role can commit to weekly or every other week outreach through mid-June.
  • 4 Bulk Grocery Shoppers — For this role that involves receiving the grocery list and completing the grocery run for bulk items, the ideal volunteer will have a large car, be able to carry large amounts of heavy items and would be able to commit to weekly or every other week grocery runs through midJune.
  • 1 Signage Volunteer — Any budding artists among us? Signs are needed to clearly mark the bins where in-person donations will be received. This is a short term and immediate need. Perhaps ideal for one of our Religious Education families?
  • 1 Admin Assistant — This ideal volunteer is someone with strong computer skills to help organize various aspects of this effort such as creating volunteer lists, organizing team calls and various other types of simple items that come up. Ideally would be able to commit through mid-June.

“It is only through your generosity that we are able to continue to help supplement their food needs,” Hickey said, “especially in this time of crisis.”

Photo via Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church

Columbia Pike Tech Repair Shop Running on Low Power During Pandemic

By Vernon Miles

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. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Shirlington Gateway. Say hello to the new 2800 Shirlington, which recently delivered a brand-new lobby and upgraded fitness center. Experience a prime location and enjoy being steps from Shirlington Village, a large retail hub with a variety of unique restaurants and shopping options. Spec suites with bright open plans and modern finishes are under construction and will deliver soon!

(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) For a while, things at Wireless Rxx (2340 Columbia Pike) were going okay. Owner James Sampson said there was a rush on getting smartphones and other devices fixed the first week of March, and he was able to pay his employees and get them a small bonus.

Like many businesses in Arlington, however, the swift spread of the pandemic and the subsequent social distancing measures caused a sharp downturn by the end of the month, and Sampson was the sole worker left at his technology repair shop.

“Things dipped down so quickly,” Sampson said. “At first I had to furlough one college kid. Others had to let go and show them how to sign up for unemployment.”

Sampson said some of the signs were there early on for him.

“It started a little earlier with problems with the supply chain,” Sampson said. “In China, where our distributors are, Chinese Lunar New Year is the first week of February. There will be a week where you don’t get any shipments. But right after that coronavirus hit and nothing was shipping. It’s been months now where nothing’s shipping.”

Sampson said he started having to tell people that the repair parts for their devices were being held up at a warehouse in New York as impacts rippled down the supply chain. That increased prices too, with Sampson saying he had to raise prices $15 to $20 because of price increased sent down to him.

“I was getting letters from wholesale distributors saying they’re operating at 30 or 40% capacity,” Sampson said. “Because how how globalized economy and world is, it didn’t take too long to affect businesses in the U.S.”

Wireless Rxx is considered an essential business in Virginia and is open. But the store was briefly closed because Sampson didn’t feel comfortable making employees face possible exposure to COVID-19.

Today, it’s just Sampson. Before the pandemic, he said there were usually between 20-30 people walking into the store per day. It’s by appointment only, for now, with a sign in front of the store telling customers to call and set something up. Sampson also does on-the-go repairs now, traveling around Arlington to make fixes. Where he’d have 15-20 repairs a day, though, Sampson said he’s now doing between one and three.

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Arlington Improvising to Address Coronavirus-Driven Needs While Stopping the Spread

By Vernon Miles
1/10

On Friday, Arlington Central Library was transformed into a storage space for donated goods, serving as a symbol for the county’s efforts to improvise solutions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The idea of today’s one-day donation drive was to “to collect unused, unopened containers of essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and certain food to assist essential employees, nonprofits and community organizations with coronavirus (COVID-19) response operations.”

“We’ve been repurposing employees and our organization in many ways to solve the problems that are arising,” Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said at a press event outside the donation station.

“Many nonprofits need donations and many of our residents want to donate and help. But a lot of the nonprofits don’t have the ability to safely collect [and store] the donations in this pandemic,” she said. “Many of our libraries are empty, we have a drive-through here, so we’re providing a bridge for those who want to donate and a safe bridge to get it to the folks who need a donation.”

Both at the new donation station and a virtual town hall meeting this afternoon, members of the Arlington County Board and other local leaders said that while the county is generally well supplied with needed medical equipment, that may change as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

“As of right now, we are confident our healthcare providers have what they need,” said Aaron Miller, Director of Arlington’s Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management, “but we’re continuing to ensure that we’ve sourced appropriately and ask the federal government when necessary to access the national stockpile.”

In the town hall, at noon on Facebook, County Board members and county staff fielded questions from the public about the county’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and some of the restrictions regarding social distancing. Some of the most pressing questions were about what kind of outdoor activities Arlingtonians can do while parks are closed down.

County Board member Katie Cristol said Arlington’s trails are still open and locals in need of some sunshine and exercise should travel on those — while maintaining six feet of distance from other trail users.

As a two-person activity with players spaces a full-court apart, tennis would seem like a decent option. But as it involves a ball that both players are touching, it has been verboten — and the county-managed tennis courts are now being padlocked to prevent pandemic scofflaws from serving up disease to one another.

Basketball hoops in county parks have similarly been issuing Wilt Chamberlain-worthy blocks, with the hoops now covered by 2x4s.

“If you’re applying the principle of staying six feet apart there is, on its face, nothing particularly horrible about standing on a tennis court 40 feet apart,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said. “The problem is trying to make an exception and open up some of the park facilities. I realize this is a situation where we’re perhaps painting with a broad brush, but we’re left with limited resources. If we had fine-tuned enforcement, we could do it.”

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Pacers Running Fights to Keep One Foot Ahead of the Pandemic

By Vernon Miles

With running retailer Pacers shutting down its brick-and-mortar stores due to the coronavirus pandemic, the regional chain has shifted its focus to newly-launched virtual fittings.

Like many other video conferences being scheduled for those working from home, virtual fittings are being conducted via Zoom. The customer books an appointment online then joins a one-on-one call with someone from Pacers, who walks them through the sizing and gives the customer some shoe recommendations based on their needs.

The shoes are then ordered online and sent to the house, but can be returned for a full refund.

“This has been incredibly popular,” Pacers CEO Kathy Dalby told ARLnow. “We booked almost 100% — over 50 appointments the first week — within 72 hours of launching. We had 100 scheduled as of this morning.”

Dalby said the company is aiming to increase its capacity for virtual fittings over the next few days. A chat feature on the website has also proven popular for the online store. Dalby credited much of that to outdoor running being one of the few allowable, socially-distanced exercises left and a popular form of stress relief.

“Our online sales have increased 10 fold, as has the option for people to have their product shipped or picked up curbside at select locations,” Dalby said.

Still, Dalby admitted the closure of the physical stores in mid-March hurt the company as closures throughout the region has severely impacted other local retail.

“We certainly saw a large dip the first week when the world was just trying to figure out what was going on,” Dalby said. “Spring is a big season for us so it certainly stings but we saw sales double from the first week of closure to last week as we mobilized our team and rolled out virtual fit options and promotion of our online shop. While the closures are incredibly difficult for all small businesses we are hanging in there and staying positive.”

Dalby said the crisis put pressure on the Pacers team to respond quickly. Virtual fittings, for example, went from concept to market in eight days.

“Normally a product like that would take 3-4 months to develop and test,” Dalby said. “We are design testing it on the fly making edits as we go. Finding these new ways to communicate with our customers will have staying power past COVID-19 for sure.”

The other side of Pacers is as an organizer of local races, like the now-postponed Crystal City 5K Fridays. All races have been put on hold for now.

“April is our biggest month for events constituting about 65% of our event revenue for the year,” Dalby said. “Through amazing partnerships… we have been able to pivot and reschedule a good number of events. We will certainly see a dramatic decrease in revenue for this year but are working now with many of our client events to help them find new dates in the fall.

“This will change the landscape of events,” she added. “We are working with other race producers across the country to mold what the future will look like.”

File photo

Five Roads Eyed for Complete Streets Changes

By Vernon Miles
1/5

(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) Five arterial streets in Arlington are being considered as candidates for a Complete Streets overhaul.

The county’s Complete Streets program adds safety features to roadways that improve the experience of road users other than drivers, including pedestrians and cyclists. The changes are usually made in conjunction with repaving projects.

The streets that are up for a makeover later this year are:

  • Wilson Boulevard — N. Larrimore Street to McKinley Road (Dominion Hills/Boulevard Manor)
  • Potomac Avenue — S. Crystal Drive to Alexandria City Line (Potomac Yard)
  • Clarendon Boulevard — N. Nash Street to N. Oak Street (Clarendon-Courthouse/Radnor/Fort Myer Heights)
  • N. Lorcom Lane — Old Dominion Drive to N. Taylor Street
  • Military Road — Lorcom Lane to Old Dominion Drive

At an online open house scheduled for Monday, April 6, Arlington County staff members will reveal more details about the project and how community members can share their experiences.

The virtual public meeting is scheduled to run from 6:30-7:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams Live Event. No account is needed to join.

Complete Streets upgrades may include “sidewalk expansion or obstruction elimination,” “curb ramp reconstruction,” “crosswalk and signal enhancements,” “pedestrian-scale lighting,” “improved access to transit stops” and bike lanes, per the county’s website.

Such changes have been implemented in other parts of Arlington, though they’ve also faced some public pushback from local residents concerned about traffic impacts. One Complete Streets project in neighboring Alexandria has become a legendarily contentious issue.

Photos via Google Maps

Arlington Community Foundation Distributes $300,000 to Local Charities

By Vernon Miles

The Arlington Community Foundation has provided more than $300,000 in emergency support this week, as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

The distribution of funds comes after the nonprofit refocused its Prompt Response Fund to support other local nonprofit organizations that can provide emergency food supplies to those in need, healthcare for the uninsured or underinsured, and support for hourly workers who have been laid off or furloughed.

The Arlington Community Foundation recently received a $1 million grant from Amazon, with $350,000 earmarked specifically for use in Arlington and the rest to be spent around the region in other community foundations. The Arlington-based Washington Forrest Foundation has contributed 25 percent of each grant awarded by the Arlington Community Foundation.

The largest amount, $25,000, went to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC). AFAC has been on the frontlines of the pandemic, trying to get food and supplies to an increasing number of Arlingtonians without an income to pay for groceries.

“We heard loud and clear from our nonprofit partners that they needed to get funds into the hands of the helpers in our community quickly, as this is a time of exceptional need for our neighbors who are experiencing job loss and other crisis situations,” said Arlington Community Foundation CEO and President Jennifer Owens said in the press release. “Our network of nonprofit safety net providers has responded quickly, as have the many generous people in our community who have pitched in to help with contributions of time, talent, and treasure. We owed it to them to move swiftly to support their efforts.”

Owens said the Arlington Community Foundation is continuing to review requests daily and sending awards by direct deposit.

“As the community needs evolve, I’m confident our use of the funds will evolve to meet those needs,” Owens said. “We continue to receive worthy applications as fast as we can respond, and we hope that businesses and individuals will continue to view the Prompt Response Fund as a way to effectively support the nonprofits who are providing crucial support for Arlington’s most vulnerable residents.”

Donations can be made online to the Prompt Response Fund.

The full list of recipients is below, after the jump.

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Ballston Startup GoTab Helping Restaurants Adapt to To-Go Ordering

By Vernon Miles

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. Monday Properties is proudly featuring a rare leasing opportunity at 1101 Wilson Blvd: 5 contiguous floors with exceptional views, building signage opportunity and brand new amenities. Enjoy all the perks of easy access and ample parking; a variety of food trucks at your front door; and enviable walkable amenities. Join YEXT and other leading tech companies at this vibrant location.14

The international coronavirus pandemic has put a brick on the gas pedal for one Ballston startup called GoTab, which was facilitating social distancing before it went mainstream.

GoTab locates nearby eateries and pulls up the menu, allowing customers to place their own orders directly into the business’s system and schedule a pickup. It’s more efficient than phone orders and is less costly to restaurants than delivery services like GrubHub.

“We do think the world is going to more online, it just went more online a lot faster,” said Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab.

McLaughlin said the original design for GoTab was use in-restaurant for things like placing orders on your phone rather than waiting in line. It’s an idea that McLaughlin said is increasingly popular, pointing to Starbucks’ mobile order program. GoTab also benefits from having no need to create a profile or download an app.

Placing orders for takeout and delivery (by the restaurant’s own drivers) was just a side feature of GoTab, but COVID-19 changed that. McLaughlin said while the eventual goal is to get back to in-restaurant use, takeout and delivery orders have taken the spotlight.

“It had always been a feature but not something we sold by itself,” McLaughlin said. “Takeout was not usually the majority of the revenue, it was always something that was bundled along with on-premises. Now that’s changed. Because it’s cost-effective, we just kind of said ‘let’s help restaurants get online quickly and easily.'”

As also reported by Washingtonian, the company is offering its tool for free to restaurants, taprooms, breweries and others that have been affected by COVID-19 related shutdowns.

Seeing heavier use than normal, the website had some technical bumps last week, but McLaughlin said they’ve been worked out. The main struggle has been adapting the tool even further to the extremes of social distancing.

“There’s things that are different now that we’ve had to implement quickly,” McLaughlin said. “People used to come in and talk to the host, but now people are standing outside the restaurant. People might bring [food] out and never exchange cards. It’s clean and low-to-no contact, but in order for that to work, need a way to communicate without face to face.”

McLaughlin said the company took the texting tools utilized already for the hotel side of GoTab and repurposed those for restaurant use.

Even once the pandemic is over, McLaughlin said he thinks there will be an permanent impact on the restaurant industry, and more mobile ordering is going to be a part of that.

“We’re not going back,” McLaughlin said. “There’s a population shift towards using your phone to do that for a whole host of reasons, one of them is that you know your order is right because you put it in. People also don’t want to stand in line… I think this is just going to push it a lot further in that direction. People are going to be fearful for a while about germs and it’s just convenient.”

Photo via GoTab/Facebook

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