Around Town

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 30, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Friday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 6087 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 30, 2023.

  1. Plans to turn Nottingham Elementary into ‘swing space’ prompt swift backlash
  2. Morning Notes
  3. Ballston Quarter is getting an interactive art installation for the month of July
  4. A gym in Shirlington hunts for a new home before closing its doors in August

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

  1. Arlington pulled prosecutors from traffic court. A driver who struck a girl on a bike escaped charges on an error. (13297 views)
  2. Arlington to consider hunting and sterilizing deer, or fencing parks, to cull herds (7834 views)
  3. JUST IN: Community activist charged with sexual assault (7745 views)
  4. ACPD: Bystanders intervene as suspect fights officer in Clarendon (7063 views)
  5. The new “athletic country club” in Clarendon is sprinting to open next month (6661 views)
  6. A tricycle-based Turkish coffee purveyor has set up shop in Ballston (5941 views)
  7. Three hurt in serious Route 50 crash (5106 views)
  8. NEW: Code Red air quality alert issued for Thursday (4766 views)
  9. More than a dozen mirrors stolen from cars parked in S. Arlington (3565 views)
  10. Plans to turn Nottingham Elementary into ‘swing space’ prompt swift backlash (3417 views)
  11. Parents call on APS to address slow academic growth, teacher turnover at Oakridge Elementary (3184 views)
  12. New draft plan for Langston Blvd calls for private development to help build public benefits (2598 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

⛈️ Saturday’s forecast

Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 87. South wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. At night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
– Chinese Proverb

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 29, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 10221 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 29, 2023.

  1. A tricycle-based Turkish coffee purveyor has set up shop in Ballston
  2. Morning Notes
  3. ACPD: After breaking into car, would-be thief opens home’s garage door
  4. New draft plan for Langston Blvd calls for private development to help build public benefits

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Friday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

🌤️ Friday’s forecast

Widespread haze. Patchy smoke before noon. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 89. South wind 5 to 10 mph. At night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. South wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
– Albert Schweitzer

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 28, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Wednesday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 10835 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 28, 2023.

  1. More than a dozen mirrors stolen from cars parked in S. Arlington
  2. Arlington pulled prosecutors from traffic court. A driver who struck a girl on a bike escaped charges on an error.
  3. Morning Notes
  4. Parents call on APS to address slow academic growth, teacher turnover at Oakridge Elementary

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Thursday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Thursday’s forecast

Widespread haze. Areas of smoke. Sunny, with a high near 88. Light and variable wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. At night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. Southeast wind around 6 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
– Socrates

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Arlington Pet of the Week: Alfie and Eve

By ARLnow.com
1/5

Meet Alfie and Eve, the newest Arlington Pet of the Week duo!

This Boston Terrier and ginger cat duo are living their best lives in Arlington.

Their owner had this to say about them:

Meet the cutest brother and sister pair since Luke and Leia.

Alfie enjoys snuggling with anyone with a blanket, especially his mom, barking at the vacuum cleaner for fear it will vacuum him, and chasing Eve at random times, especially when she gets close to the person with the blanket.

He treats dog parks like human parks, happily running up to and jumping on unsuspecting people, particularly those wearing light-colored pants. Since his best friend, Floof the Bernadoodle, moved away, he hasn’t bonded with another dog, but he seems to like those who he can pretend to dominate the most, whether they are okay with this approach or not.

I keep talking to him about consent, but it seems to fall on deaf ears.

Eve enjoys waking her parents up at the crack of dawn by throwing herself against their bedroom door until they can no longer ignore her. Once in said room, she likes to step on her parents’ alarm clock until she turns on the radio or sets an alarm for 3 am to scare the bejeezus out of them.

If there’s a crawl space to be discovered, she suddenly becomes Marco Polo, ensuring that every inch is explored and that her parents yell her name, looking for her for hours until she acknowledges that she is alive. Her age is unknown because although the Fancy Cats and Dogs Rescue Team said she was a kitten, the cat dental surgeon who had to pull four of her teeth because of severe gum disease said her teeth put her age at roughly 5-7.

The cost of having to get all of her teeth pulled eventually will be like putting a child through private college, but she makes it all worth it by… well, we haven’t figured that out yet, but hopefully, she’ll give us motivation beyond scratching at our couch and giving us occasional purrs when we pet her.

The two of them have a love/torture/tolerate relationship, but I think they’d be pretty lonely without each other.

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with 2-3 paragraphs about your pet and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos.

Long-time sushi spot in Rosslyn closes, as building is set for redevelopment

By Matt Blitz
1/2

A long-time Rosslyn sushi spot has closed.

Kanpai Japanese Restaurant inside 1401 Wilson Blvd and near the intersection with N. Oak Street had its last day of service on Friday (June 23), per the restaurant’s Facebook page. Additionally, online ordering is no longer available and the phone number is disconnected.

A sign is also now on the door of the former restaurant appearing to thank the owners. It reads, “Thank you, Kanpi. The best sushi. The best neighbors. The best friends. We will miss you so much.”

Kanpai appears to have been open since at least 2006, according to Yelp reviews. Its menu consisted of sushi, tempura, and other Japanese favorites.

ARLnow has attempted to reach the Kanpai’s owners about the closure, but it’s likely due to the pending redevelopment of 1401 Wilson Blvd. The building is nearly 60 years old and aging. The plan is to build newer, more modern office and retail space in its place. Earlier this month, owner Monday Properties got a two-year extension on the project.

The building’s parking garage is noted for being the spot where reporter Bob Woodward secretly met with Deep Throat during the Watergate investigation. A historical marker was placed in front of the building in 2011.

Hat tip to Matt Siniscal

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 27, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 12981 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 27, 2023.

  1. Arlington to consider hunting and sterilizing deer, or fencing parks, to cull herds
  2. Morning Notes
  3. Three hurt in serious Route 50 crash
  4. JUST IN: Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued for Arlington

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Wednesday’s forecast

Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Northwest wind around 10 mph. At night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. Northwest wind 3 to 6 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
– Mother Teresa

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Thai Select in Rosslyn expanding into former Good Sweat space

By Matt Blitz
Thai Select expansion (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Rosslyn’s Thai Select is adding a sushi bar in the former home of a spin studio.

The four-year-old Thai food restaurant located just off Wilson Blvd in the Colonial Village Shopping Center is expanding, a restaurant representative confirmed to ARLnow.

The restaurant is adding a sushi bar and a small dining area in the space that formerly housed Good Sweat. The independent spin studio at 1711 Wilson Blvd closed back in May 2022.

It’s expected the sushi bar will open sometime in October or November, the representative said, though it depends on when county permits are received.

The expansion was needed because their original space “is tiny” and it often gets very crowded when there are both customers and drivers picking up food orders packing into the space, we’re told. The restaurant’s take-out and delivery business grew significantly during the pandemic, the representative said.

Colonial Village Shopping Center in Rosslyn has seen a good deal of turnover in recent years, with a French pastry shop replacing a coffee shop and a Brazilian steakhouse moving into the former home of Ben’s Chili Bowl.

One thing that has not changed is the well-known, cash-only Pho 75, which has been in the shopping center for years.

Hat tip to anonymous and Ben L.

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 26, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Monday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 15538 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 26, 2023.

  1. JUST IN: Community activist charged with sexual assault
  2. The new “athletic country club” in Clarendon is sprinting to open next month
  3. ACPD: Bystanders intervene as suspect fights officer in Clarendon
  4. Morning Notes

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

⛈️ Tuesday’s forecast

A chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11am and 2pm, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 81. Light southwest wind becoming south 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. At night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 8pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 8pm and 2am. Low around 65. West wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
– Alan Kay

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

The new “athletic country club” in Clarendon is sprinting to open next month

By Matt Blitz
1/4

Clarendon’s huge “athletic country club” is hustling to open within the next few weeks.

The long-planned Life Time fitness center, inside of a renovated office building at 1440 N. Edgewood Street, is looking to open in early-to-mid July, a spokesperson tells ARLnow.

The original hope was to open by the end of this week — the website still lists June 29 as the opening date — but the company is currently waiting on its final permits, we’re told. Some builders and business owners have previously criticized Arlington’s permitting system for excessive delays.

Billing itself as an “athletic country club,” the four-floor, 113,000-square-foot Life Time Clarendon will feature high-end fitness facilities, multiple studios, childcare facilities, a salon and spa, a cafe and lounge, and a 28,000-square-foot coworking space.

A preview center opened in April.

It was nearly two years ago when Life Time first announced it was opening a facility in a converted office building at The Crossing Clarendon. Initially, an Equinox gym was supposed to move in but that company pulled out and was sued for breach of contract in early 2021.

Construction, meanwhile, has continued on Life Time for the past year or so as other new businesses opened around it.

There are several other Life Time locations in Northern Virginia, including in Fairfax, Reston, Centreville and Ashburn. The Clarendon location is roughly the same size in square footage as the Reston and Ashburn locations, but it will be the only one with a co-working space.

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 23, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Friday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 4013 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 23, 2023.

  1. An update in the ‘wide open’ Arlington County Board race could come this afternoon
  2. Morning Notes
  3. Morning Poll: Are you more or less optimistic about Arlington than one year ago?
  4. Local kabob shop donates meals to children fighting rare diseases

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

  1. Young black bear spotted in Arlington (20232 views)
  2. JUST IN: Woman stabbed to death in Virginia Square apartment building (17537 views)
  3. JUST IN: Bear spotted in another N. Arlington neighborhood (15348 views)
  4. NOW: Police searching for pursuit suspect near Air Force Memorial (7962 views)
  5. DEVELOPING: Dehghani-Tafti ahead in early vote tally as results roll in (4915 views)
  6. Shove seriously injures innocent bystander near East Falls Church Metro (3964 views)
  7. New Japanese restaurant opening in Ballston, next to Uncle Julio’s (3773 views)
  8. An update in the ‘wide open’ Arlington County Board race could come this afternoon (2679 views)
  9. Light turnout so far for Democratic primary in Arlington (2630 views)
  10. Celtic House planning to expand with lower level whisky bar (1947 views)
  11. Local civic association says parks department ignoring their pickleball court objections (1747 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

⛈️ Saturday’s forecast

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. At night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 68. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
– William James

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋

Local kabob shop donates meals to children fighting rare diseases

By Anya Wareck
Volunteers serve Arlington Kabob’s packaged meals at Children’s Inn (courtesy Susan Clementi)

Earlier this month, Arlington Kabob cooked up hot dinners for a cause.

About two weeks ago, the restaurant donated 75 individually packaged meals to the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health. The nonprofit provides housing and programming to young people with rare diseases being researched and treated at the NIH campus in Bethesda.

Arlington Kabob owner Susan Clementi says she was approached about a meal donation by longtime customer Gindy Feeser, who regularly serves dinners at the Children’s Inn with her coworkers.

Clementi said she worked with Feeser and her team at General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) in Falls Church to offer a “moment of kindness” to kids living at the hospital, who lack normalcy in their day-to-day lives.

“One of my personal spiritual values is to stay involved and have awareness for my community,” Clementi said. “We at Arlington Kabob are always eager to support any great cause… and partner with [the restaurant’s dedicated customers] to make a small difference.”

Together, for the GDIT team’s June dinner contribution, Clementi provided the kabobs and Feeser provided the service.

“I think most of us know by now how lucky we are to have a gem like Arlington Kabob in our neighborhood,” Feeser said in a recent post that received considerable attention on the social media platform Nextdoor.

She said delivering a car full of kabobs to Bethesda was “a mouth-watering experience.”

“Once delivered, they were gone in minutes,” Feeser said in her post, which garnered nearly 530 reactions. “Bellies and hearts, full.”

Arlington Kabob is located at 5046 Langston Blvd in the Halls Hill/High View Park neighborhood and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The restaurant was founded by Clementi a decade ago and, as reported earlier this year, is noted for its partnerships with local schools on various fundraising initiatives.

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