News

BREAKING: Police investigating ‘drive-by shooting’ near Shirlington

By ARLnow.com
1/5

(Updated at 11 a.m.) Arlington police are investigating gunshots reportedly fired from a vehicle in the Shirlington area.

Described to first responders as a “drive-by shooting,” the incident happened around 9:30 a.m. on the stretch of 31st Street S. between the Shirlington and Fairlington neighborhoods.

The vehicle from which the shots were fired is described as a dark blue Toyota Prius. A lookout for the car was broadcast to police in neighboring jurisdictions.

So far there are no reports of anyone being struck by the gunfire.

Police are on scene investigating while medics stand by in case any gunshot victims are located.

Map via Google Maps

NEW: Video shows man lighting American flag on fire outside Arlington Heights home

By ARLnow.com

A man walked up to an American flag outside of a home in the Arlington Heights neighborhood early Friday morning and lit it on fire.

Arlington County police and fire investigators are now trying to find the suspect, a younger man who was wearing a hooded windbreaker and a backpack at the time. The motive for the crime is unclear.

The incident happened around 3 a.m., in the residential neighborhood several blocks away from Thomas Jefferson Middle School. It’s being investigated as arson.

“The unknown suspect approached an American flag on the victim’s porch and set it on fire,” said an ACPD crime report. “A witness observed the flag on fire and extinguished it. The suspect is described as a White male, 18 – 30 years old, 5’4″ – 5’11” tall and wearing a dark hooded windbreaker, jeans, white sneakers and carrying a backpack. A joint investigation with the Fire Marshal’s Office is ongoing.”

The resident of the home, who did not wish to be named, recounted what happened to ARLnow.

“We awoke to a neighbor banging on our front door and a burning flag, which had spread to the bush in our front yard,” he wrote. “Our neighbor put out the fire with a hose. We then saw the video of the person lighting the flag on fire.”

The video was shared with neighbors on an email listserv.

“No idea,” the resident said, when asked why someone would do this, adding that nothing like this has ever happened before in the area.

Hat tip to Smiley456

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Basketball under the lights at Alcova Heights Park (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Metro Delays All Week — “Reduced Metrorail service is expected to continue until at least Sunday, October 24, as the investigation into the October 12 derailment continues. Beginning tomorrow, trains will operate every 15 minutes on the Red Line and will continue to operate every 30 minutes on all other lines. Silver Line trains will operate between Wiehle-Reston East and Federal Center SW only.” [WMATA]

WMATA Knew About Defects — “Wheel assemblies on Metro rail cars like the one at fault in last week’s Blue Line derailment had failed 31 times since 2017 — and renewed inspections last week identified almost two dozen similar defects, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority pulled the 7000 series cars from service Sunday night, leaving the agency down more than half its fleet.” [Washington Post, WJLA]

Beyer on Metro Mess — From Rep. Don Beyer: “This is going to be a very frustrating week for commuters. I’m maintaining close contact with WMATA and NTSB as we seek a safe return to regular service.” [Twitter]

Issues With New County Website — From Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt: “The new @ArlingtonVA website has broken SSSSOOO many links. The fact that the old link for the County’s IT Advisory Committee is broken and doesn’t redirect is the most ironic though.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Flags Lowered in Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered flags lowered throughout the Commonwealth in honor of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a McLean resident, who passed away from COVID-19 complications on Monday. [Commonwealth of Virginia]

It’s Tuesday — ☀️ Sunny, with a high near 71 today. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Sunrise at 7:22 a.m. and sunset at 6:23 p.m. Tomorrow is will be sunny, with a high near 75.

Join the ARLnow Press Club and get the Morning Notes four hours earlier.

DEVELOPING: Bomb squad investigation at State Dept. office in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Update at 4:40 p.m. — The suspicious package has been cleared and first responders are starting to leave the scene, according to scanner traffic.

Earlier: A U.S. State Department office building in Rosslyn has been evacuated as Arlington’s bomb squad conducts an investigation.

The building at 1801 N. Lynn Street, which include State Department diplomatic security offices, was evacuated shortly after 3:30 p.m. Workers were directed to a plaza across the street from the building.

Arlington County police and firefighters are now investigating what’s initially reported to be a suspicious package inside the building’s parking garage. Police blocked off 19th Street N. as a result of the emergency response, which includes the fire department’s bomb squad unit.

CPRO celebrates 35 years, rebrands as the ‘Columbia Pike Partnership’

By Matt Blitz
1/8

The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) celebrated its 35th anniversary last week with a party at Penrose Square, while unveiling a new name: The Columbia Pike Partnership.

Shannon Bailey, vice-chair of the organization’s executive committee, along with executive director Kim Klingler, made the announcement at its 35th anniversary party on Wednesday (Oct. 13) evening.

“It really does take all of us to create an ecosystem here,” Bailey said. “So we do this together moving forward as a partnership.”

Along with the new name, there’s also a new logo, color scheme, and branding.

“Everything that we do requires our partners and we really realized that during Covid,” Klingler told ARLnow moments after announcing the name change. “We wanted a name that truly reflected who we are today. We have the same mission. We have the same values, but people really didn’t know who we were and we wanted our name to reflect that.”

The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization formed in 1986 in response to the Arlington County Board awarding a $50,000 grant to help make the moribund corridor a more vibrant place to live and do business.

The hope was the money and an organized effort would be “the first step in what some see as a 10-year effort to coordinate improvements that could lead to revitalization of the highway as well as a return of community pride.”

But times and the Pike have changed.

First enacted in 2003, the Columbia Pike Form-Based Code has led to an organized development effort and a standardization in how buildings along the Pike will look going forward.

“This really jump started [development] on Arlington’s oldest main street,” Takis Karantonis, former CPRO executive director and current county board member, told ARLnow at the celebration. “Urban development is a slow game. A very slow game. But [the form-based code] and CPRO have brought diverse communities together — developers, shop owners, residents — to make it happen.”

The Pike has a reputation for being one of the more affordable and diverse areas in the county. Columbia Pike and its 22204 zip code is often referred to as a “world in a zip code.”

Klingler said it was time to make clear the organization’s role in preserving this reputation.

“We really want to marry diversity and development. People say that is a very challenging thing to do, but I believe we can find that balance,” she said.

(more…)

Here are some of Arlington’s proposed priorities for the upcoming state legislative session

By ARLnow.com
Virginia State Capitol in Richmond (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

Arlington’s priorities for the upcoming state legislative session include more speed cameras, vehicle noise enforcement, virtual government meetings and preserving the local tree canopy.

That’s according the county’s proposed 2022 legislative package, which will be subject to a public hearing next month after an initial County Board vote this past weekend.

The county also appears to be seeking to prevent California-style state zoning laws, to get more state funding for police body to cameras, make it unnecessary for police to ask for a driver’s race during traffic stops, and to reduce the incentive for prosecutors to seek felony convictions over misdemeanors.

Those priorities, as worded in a county staff report, are as follows.

Land Use Policies: Support the authority of local governments to plan, zone, and enforce land use regulations, without restricting local zoning authority or the zoning process.

Speed Cameras: Grant local authority to expand the implementation of automated traffic enforcement beyond school and work zones. Automated ticket enforcement has the potential to improve safety, reduce unnecessary interactions between residents and police, and further advance confidence in equitable outcomes by reducing or eliminating the possibility of race-based disparities in speed enforcement.

Electronic Meetings for Public Bodies: Permanently allow virtual participation for public bodies to meet by electronic means under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Preserving and Expanding Tree Canopy: Support legislation to provide local governments with greater authority in the reforestation, preservation, and management of urban forests in recognition of their ability to capture and store carbon, reduce stormwater runoff, improve air quality, reduce energy use, and mitigate urban heat islands and their health effects.

Reimbursable Positions Related to Body Worn Cameras: Provide state funding for additional positions related to body worn cameras to increase transparency and accountability with law enforcement. Additional staff in the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Policy Department, and Sheriff’s Office are all critical to effectively implement Body Worn Camera programs.

Include Race, Gender, and Ethnicity on Driver’s Licenses: The Virginia Community Policing Act mandates that police departments collect and report data on race, gender and ethnicity of drivers encountered during traffic stops. Including this information on driver’s licenses allows for automated collection of this data, reduces the need for officers to ask intrusive personal questions, and decreases the duration of, and motorist interaction with police during, the traffic stop

Reform Prosecutor Office Funding Formula: Reimbursement to counties should include the work performed on misdemeanors instead of only felony convictions. Misdemeanor cases account for the majority of cases and this funding will encourage more evidence-based and public safety oriented solutions. The Prosecutor’s Office funding formula is currently based on felony convictions and felony sentencing events, which incentivizes the pursuit of felony convictions rather than diversion programs, deferrals, or amendments to misdemeanor convictions.

Mufflers and Noise Ordinance: Reinstate law enforcement authority to regulate noise from car mufflers without doing so by unfunded mandate. Language should include specific requirements surrounding annual vehicle inspections to thoroughly examine the exhaust systems and include parameters around permissible noise levels around digital exhaust systems.

The 2022 Virginia state legislative session is set to run from Jan. 12 to March 12.

Other highlights from the nine-page list of priorities are below.

(more…)

County applying for $80M grant for Ballston Metro western entrance project

By Jo DeVoe

Arlington County is applying for an $80 million grant to help pay for a proposed west entrance to the Ballston Metro station.

On Saturday, the County Board authorized the application to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA), which helped cover the cost to develop designs for the second Metro entrance in 2016.

The entrance would be located at N. Fairfax Drive and N. Vermont Street, almost a quarter of a mile west of the existing entrance. A county report says the second entrance would greatly expand multimodal access to the station and provide greater capacity to, and efficiency for, Metro.

As part of the proposal, the county would build two street-level elevators and stairs connecting to an underground passageway, the report said. A new mezzanine with stairs and elevators would connect riders to the train platform.

Map showing potential location of new Ballston Metro entrance – via Google Maps

“This is an economic development application in addition to a transportation step,” Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said in the Saturday meeting. “This is a very important step as we continue to plan smart and build well for our community and future.”

The county unsuccessfully asked NVTA for $33.5 million for the project in 2019.

New cost estimates are firmer, and higher, than the 2019 proposal, according the report. The project is expected to cost $140 million, an increase of $10 million from 2019.

Rising costs can be attributed to inflation and having more detailed plans, the report said.

“The County’s funding plan for Ballston West Entrance has shifted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated impacts to local, regional, and state funding,” the county said.

In addition, the county is no longer relying on two additional funding sources that were both hit by the pandemic: Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s (NVTC) I-66 Commuter Choice Program or the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

NVTC grant funds are generated by toll revenues from I-66 inside the Beltway, which is down due to COVID-19, while the state rail department is focusing its resources on helping with transit maintenance and replacement projects.

“Therefore, a proportion of planned project funding for the Ballston West Entrance now unrealized from DRPT and NVTC is now being covered by the County’s application to the NVTA,” the county said.

The rising costs dismayed members of the Transportation Commission, according to a letter from Commission Chair Chris Slatt.

“While supportive of this project, multiple commissioners expressed great concern about the ballooning cost of these Metrorail second entrance projects and the large opportunity cost it presents,” Slatt said. “It is hard not to think about the other transportation projects that could be built for $140 million that would potentially move more people. That would build a lot of sidewalks, protected bike lanes or dedicated bus lanes.”

Arlington County plans to put the project into its next 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, which would begin in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

If approved, the grant and other regional transportation projects will be included in NVTA’s 2022-27 Six Year Program Update. The authority is slated to take action on that update, which will also have a schedule for each project, next July.

Map via Google Maps

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Major Metro Delays — “Following an investigation into the derailment of a Blue Line train, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission has ordered Metro to put roughly 60% of its rail fleet ‘out of service’ starting Monday. This will bring the total amount of Metro cars available to 40 and shift train service to departures every 30 minutes on all lines.” The delays may stretch beyond today as the 7000 series railcars are inspected. [WTOP, Twitter, Twitter]

County Board Roundup — “The Arlington County Board took action at its October meeting to ensure the safety of its youngest residents and secure quality housing. It also took steps to plan for Arlington’s priorities of housing and land use, transportation, sustainability efforts and more in the 2022 General Assembly legislative session.” [Arlington County]

Composting Program Profiled — “Erik Grabowsky is painfully aware that each time he chucks an overripe avocado, he’s not only lost a dollar; he’s also adding to the roughly 3,000 to 6,000 tons of food waste that residents in Arlington County, Virginia, generate every year. Most of it ends up in a nearby landfill. But Grabowsky, chief of the county’s solid waste bureau, is betting on a new residential composting program to change that.” [Bloomberg]

ACPD Latino Liaison — “ACPD is announcing the appointment of Cpl. Montoya as our first Latino Liaison Officer. He will work proactively with the Spanish-speaking community to build trust and confidence, share information, and conduct proactive engagement.” [ACPD, YouTube, Twitter]

Beyer Seeking Interns — From Rep. Don Beyer: “My office is now accepting applications for paid congressional internships.” [Twitter, Rep. Don Beyer]

Alexandria Police: Don’t Run Us Over — “Public Service Announcement: We recently have had two officers struck by inattentive motorists, so we are asking all who visit, work, and live in Alexandria to take a moment to understand Virginia’s ‘Move Over’ law and ensure you are following it.” [Twitter]

Outlook: Sunny, with a high near 66 today (Monday). Northwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Sunset at 6:25 p.m. Tomorrow it will be sunny, with a high near 71 and sunrise at 7:22 a.m.

‘The Finest Ropes Course in the Mid-Atlantic’ Formally Opens at Upton Hill Regional Park

By Matt Blitz
1/15

Dropping nearly 40 feet from a platform above, a climber cut the ribbon on the “finest ropes course in the Mid-Atlantic.”

Located at Upton Hill Regional Park on Wilson Blvd in Arlington, Climb UPton was formally opened this morning at a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by local officials as well as those from the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority which operates the course.

“We gather to celebrate this magnificent cutting edge recreational ropes course… and one of the finest examples of regional and local collaboration,” said Cate Magennis Wyatt, chair of NOVA Parks board. “This is the finest ropes course in the Mid-Atlantic. That’s what you have given back to the citizens.”

Officials are touting this ropes course as the biggest and best in the area. With 90 elements and reaching nearly 40 feet high, the course is intended for beginners and those more advanced alike. It features three zip lines, a 40-foot controlled freefall, tunnels, an Everest ladder, and an observation deck.

The course also has a “parks theme,” hence the suspended picnic table that climbers can ostensibly sit and eat lunch at.

The course actually has been open for climbers since July, but the admissions building wasn’t finished until now due to “supply chain issues,” NOVA Parks Executive Director Paul Gilbert told ARLnow.

The ropes course is the major addition of the $4 million, at times contentious, renovation of Upton Hill Regional Park that was first presented to the Arlington County Board in late 2017.

There’s also a new playground at the bottom of the hill, parking improvements (including ADA-accessible parking on Wilson Blvd), more walking trails, a large underground cistern to capture stormwater as well as soon-to-be opened bathrooms and a picnic shelter next to the playground. The renovations were paid for with revenue bonds from the Virginia Resources Authority.

These additions join slow and fast pitch batting cages, Ocean Dunes Waterpark (which is currently closed for the season), and a 18-hole mini-golf course already at Upton Hill Regional Park.

A big reason that some residents and conservationists initially disapproved of the project was the plan to cut down more than a hundred trees to make room for the ropes course and parking lot improvements. Not only were some of those trees saved, but a new native hickory and oak forest was planted in the park, officials said.

“We brought in the right trees, the right shrubs, the right grasses to create the ultimate succession of forest to kind of jumpstart [the growth process],” Gilbert told ARLnow. “We don’t have to wait a hundred years for it to get there. We can grow it from the ground up.”

Chris Tighe, president of the Boulevard Manor Civic Association during much of the project’s development, said in remarks that this was a “testament” of how government, non-profits, and the community can come together to build something that works for all.

(more…)

DEVELOPING: Worker Seriously Hurt in Power Line Accident

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) A man suffered injuries that are reported to be life-threatening after an on-the-job accident in the Old Glebe neighborhood.

Police and medics were dispatched to a large, under-construction home on the 4600 block of N. Dittmar Road around 1 p.m. Initial reports suggest a worker was carrying a ladder when it made contact with power lines, electrocuting him.

The man is being rushed to a local hospital by Arlington County Fire Department medics.

Police are now investigating the accident. A Dominion power crew is also being requested to the scene.

Students Protest New Marymount University Housing Policy

By Matt Blitz
1/5

(Updated, 12:30 p.m.) Some Marymount University students say they can’t afford a new housing policy that will require them to live on campus all four years.

Last week, a group of 15 students demonstrated outside of the Catholic university on N. Glebe Road in protest over a policy that will take effect next fall, requiring most students to live on campus during their entire stint at the school.

“Beginning in the Fall of 2022, all current and new undergraduate students who do not live with family members in the local [D.C] area will be required to live in University housing,” a university spokesperson told ARLnow.

A Change.org petition in response to the new policy calls for it to be rescinded, alleging that it’s a “blatant money-grab.” Plus, notes the petition, some off-campus leases have already been signed for next year, leaving students “to choose between breaking their lease or breaking university policy.”

The petition has more than 650 signatures.

The university tells ARLnow that this policy came from “input” they’ve received from students who say living on campus helps them have a “more engaged and fulfilling Marymount experience.” It also eliminates “problems with landlords and local housing laws, a growing trend that has been brought to our administration’s attention in recent years,” according to the spokesperson.

Those students who disagree with the policy say this makes attending Marymount University unaffordable for them when they could find lower cost housing options off-campus.

The lowest priced on-campus housing option is Rowley Hall, a dormitory on campus offering double rooms (as in, shared with another student). It costs $4,743 a semester, according to 2021-2022 housing rates, which works out to be more than $1,100 per month, per student. However, that option is only open to freshman and sophomores.

“We feel like we’re being priced out,” Giancarlo Ganzaba, a second-year Marymount student, tells ARLnow. “Not all of us can afford to keep [paying that]. We have to take out loans to be able to pay for on-campus living. We just can’t afford it.”

Ganzaba lives in the Rixey at 1008 N. Glebe Road, on Marymount’s satellite campus in Ballston, which was acquired by the school in 2019 and converted into university housing.

It was just announced last month that some of the student housing in the Rixey is going to be converted into hotel rooms. An attorney for the university noted that “student housing availability on site has consistently exceeded demand for student housing at Marymount,” according to the Washington Business Journal.

Ganzaba current pays $6,500 a semester to live in a two-bedroom, two-bath unit with three roommates at the Rixey. That’s about $1,600 a month.

“While that may be competitive with average rent levels, it is still incredibly expensive housing,” he says. “I could afford to live somewhere else off campus a few miles away and be a commuter. But they are taking that option away from me.”

Marymount, however, says that student who need it will have access to financial aid for housing.

(more…)

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