News

Chamber of Commerce Launches All-Arlington Restaurant Week

By Kalina Newman

Arlington County its getting its own Restaurant Week later this month.

Arlington Restaurant Week, organized by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, will run from October 21-28. Diners can visit a number of Arlington restaurants offering special menu items at discounted prices, according to a press release.

There are currently 20 or so restaurants expected to participate, including Jaleo, SER, and Bistro 1521.

Previously, the Chamber partnered with regional groups for the Northern Virginia Restaurant Week and Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week.

However, Arlington Restaurant Week uniquely gives participating restaurants the option of setting their own price points and menus instead of the traditional, fixed $35 dinner course and $25 lunch.

“Flexibility is really important for our restaurants, so this gives them the opportunity to really showcase what they want,” said Arlington Chamber of Commerce President Kate Bates. “For example, Heidelberg Bakery will be doing speciality breakfast sandwiches, and across the board it’ll really range from bundled three-course meals to maybe a speciality dish.”

The Chamber has sent invitations across Arlington for all restaurants to participate, and will be continuing to follow up, Bates said.

For SER owner Javier Candon, the Arlington-specific celebration gives him the chance to get to know customers who might not venture out otherwise.

“Keeping it local, it encourages people who don’t go out as often during the year to have a different experience,” said Candon. “We still don’t have our menu finalized yet, but expect it to be high-quality and highly discounted.”

So far, participating restaurants include:

  • Ambar
  • Barley Mac
  • Bistro 1521
  • Bonefish Grill
  • Buena Vida
  • Cityhouse
  • Cookology
  • Copa Kitchen & Bar
  • Good Company Donuts & Cafe
  • Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe
  • Jaleo
  • La Côte D’or
  • The Melting Pot
  • Rhodeside Grill
  • Rustico Ballston
  • SER
  • Slapfish
  • Sushi-Zen
  • The Vantage Point

The full press release about Arlington Restaurant Week is below, after the jump.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Purse Snatching Outside of Whole Foods Saturday — “The male suspect approached the victims near their vehicle and attempted to engage them in conversation before entering their vehicle. One victim confronted the suspect, who then threatened them, before attempting to steal a purse from the vehicle and flee. With the assistance of two bystanders, the suspect was stopped and the purse was recovered. The suspect was subsequently chased away from the area prior to police arrival.” [Arlington County, Twitter]

Arlington Man Dies in Route 7 Crash — “A 92-year-old man has died as a result of injuries from a crash that occurred around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 in the 5600 block of Leesburg Pike. Donald Buzzell, 92, of Arlington, was operating a 1997 Mercury Marquis eastbound on Leesburg Pike when his vehicle hit two cars that were stopped in front of him, in traffic. The crash contributed to an additional three vehicles being hit.” [Fairfax County Police]

‘Pumpkin Patch’ Event in Ballston This Weekend — “Celebrate fall with a Pop-Up Pumpkin Patch at Ballston Quarter featuring live music, specialty drinks, crafts and of course, pumpkins! All pumpkins will be sold for $5 (cash only), with all proceeds going to Arlington Food Assistance Center. ” [Ballston Quarter]

N. Va. Atop State in Tourism — “Virginia’s tourism industry generated a record $26 billion in tourist spending in 2018 — and 40% of that, or $10.3 billion, was spent in Northern Virginia… Arlington County, Fairfax County and Loudoun County rank as the top three counties in Virginia for individual tourism spending.” [WTOP]

Winter Hours for Arlington National — Starting today, October 1, Arlington National Cemetery will close at 5 p.m. as part of its winter hours, which are in effect until the end of March. The Arlington Cemetery Metro station, meanwhile, will close at 7 p.m. during that time. [Twitter, Twitter]

ALXnow Launches Today — Our new Alexandria local news site, ALXnow, launches today at 8 a.m. Want to keep up with everything happening from Old Town to Potomac Yard to the West End? Follow ALXnow on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and sign up for our daily newsletter.

‘Electrical Emergency’ Closes Road in Va. Square

By ARLnow.com
1/4

(Updated at 8:40 p.m.) An “electrical emergency” — reportedly a utility pole being burned by a malfunctioning power line — has prompted an extended road closure in Virginia Square.

Police have closed 14th Street between N. Lincoln Street and N. Kirkwood Road, near Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

“It was just called in and it is a very dangerous situation,” a firefighter could be heard telling a resident along N. Kirkwood Road around 4:30 p.m. “We don’t know how long it will be closed. It could take one hour or six, we don’t know.”

Dominion Energy crews are on scene to work on the line and the pole.

As of 8:30 p.m., 26 Dominion customers in the neighborhood were reported to still be without power.

Map via Google Maps

BREAKING: Columbia Pike Blocked After Woman Struck By Van

By ARLnow.com
1/6

(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) All lanes of Columbia Pike were blocked Monday afternoon after a pedestrian was struck and injured in a reported hit and run crash.

Initial reports suggest a woman was struck by the driver of a van while crossing the street near the Sunoco station on the western end of the Pike in Arlington. The van fled the scene after the crash, according to scanner traffic.

The woman was said to have been conscious but lying in the roadway and bleeding from the head when police arrived. Her injuries were initially thought to be potentially life-threatening, but were later determined to be minor and non-life-threatening, according to police.

The victim was rushed via ambulance to a local trauma center.

Columbia Pike is completely blocked between S. Greenbrier Street and the Arlington Mill Community Center. The road expected to remain at least partially blocked for an extended period of time while detectives investigate the crash.

Police are now seeking a white work van last seen heading north on S. Greenbrier Street.

The crash happened shortly before 2:40 p.m., at a crosswalk with high-visibility crossing lights.

As of 3 p.m., bloodied clothing could be seen balled up on the asphalt as police cars blocked off the scene. Later, detectives could be seen walking the roadway.

As of 4:05 p.m., all lanes of the Pike had reopened to traffic, according to Arlington Alert.

Vernon Miles contributed to this report

JRINK in Clarendon Has Closed

By Kalina Newman
1/3

The cold-press juice bar JRINK has closed its Clarendon location.

Less than three years after it opened, the Arlington outpost of the D.C.-area juice purveyor served its last customers this past Sunday, September 29. The store offered superfood bowls, smoothies, coffee, and cold-pressed, locally produced juice.

It appears the store closed in light of an upcoming Tysons location, per an announcement posted onto the shuttered storefront. JRINK still has at least three locations open in the District.

Read the full announcement below:

“After an amazing 3 years with the Clarendon community, we are taking JRINK to The Boro at Whole Foods Tysons Corner (opening Oct 30). Thank you for the continuous love, support, and juicy Instagram posts. It’s been an amazing ride and we can’t wait to grow into the new opportunity. Visit us Late October at our new spot with a freshly upgraded menu, but your same favorite vibe.

How to get your fix:
– Order online at JRINK.com for delivery to your door, 7 days a week
– Stop by one of our DC locations at Eastern Market, Foggy Bottom, or 14th Street
– Stalk us #jrinkjuicery. Stay updated on all things JRINK Tysons Corner prior to opening”

Pharmacy Owner Sentenced to Prison For Fraudulent Billing, Illegal Drug Dispensing

By Airey

A pharmacy owner with stores in Arlington and Alexandria has been sentenced to four years behind bars for falsifying insurance claims and illegally dispensing opioids.

Latif Mohamed Chowdhury, 29, was sentenced to prison on Friday after law enforcement accused him of running a get rich quick scheme by billing insurance companies for prescriptions he never filled, and in some cases, were never prescribed by a doctor to the patient. Officials say Chowdhury, who did not have a pharmacy license, dispensed medications and billed insurance companies at his two pharmacies between August 2015 and February 2016 using identities he had stolen from licensed pharmacists.

“Chowdhury blithely violated his position of trust,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement last week.

Federal prosecutors said Chowdhury pocketed $500,000 from his fraudulent billing and illegally dispensed “a significant number” of opioid and other medications.

Officials also said in the course of their investigation they found Chowdhury had given opioids to seven-year-old children “outside the usual course of professional practice.”

While searching one of the pharmacies, officials said they found Chowdhury had left a loaded Colt .38 revolver on one of the store’s shelves.

The Arlington pharmacy (called ACP-2) was located at 611 S. Carlin Springs Road, at the Virginia Hospital Center campus that is being acquired by Arlington County in a land swap. The Alexandria pharmacy (ACP-1) was located at 8330 Richmond Highway.

“Although one of Chowdhury’s family members owned ACP-2, Chowdhury in fact operated, managed, directed, and controlled ACP-2 from in or around January 2015 through in or around February 2016. ACP-2 was shut down for business in March 2016,” Matthew Nestopoulos, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told ARLnow.

On his LinkedIn, Chowdhury listed experience working in information technology — including eight months at the Pentagon — before leaving the field and opening the two pharmacists.

“In 2013 I began to venture towards opening a business and work alongside my career to grow Alexandria Care Pharmacy which has now been successfully operating for two years,” he wrote.

His most recent post included a call to hire “full-time background investigators” for a new business venture.

“We are committed to protecting the public and the people of Virginia,” said Jesse R. Fong, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Washington Field Division. “We will continue to track down and bring to justice criminals who are fueling the opiate crisis at every level including pill writers, pill fillers, and drug dealers in the area.”

Friday’s sentencing came after Chowdhury pled guilty in July.

Flickr photo by Joe Gratz

Number of Taxis in Arlington Continues to Fall

By ARLnow.com

Taxicabs are becoming an increasingly less common sight on the streets of Arlington County.

After reaching a high of 847 in 2017, the number of authorized taxis in Arlington continues to fall precipitously. Over the past two years, the number of taxis authorized at the county’s three largest cab companies — Red Top, Yellow Cap and Blue Top — has dropped by a third.

In all, there are now 542 cabs authorized in Arlington, including 39 wheelchair-accessible cabs, as of March. That number, however, is almost certainly higher than the actual number of cabs on the road.

The taxi industry has been devastated by the popularity of ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft. In 2016, ARLnow reported that dispatched cab trips, the predominant measure of taxi activity in the county, plummeted by a third — from 2.6 million to 1.7 million annually — between 2013 and 2015.

Two local cab company, All Access Cab and Envirocab, have gone out of business since 2017.

File photo (top), table via Arlington County (bottom)

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Wawa Planning 40 New N. Va. Stores — “Wawa Inc. has big plans for the Northern Virginia. Upon breaking ground on its latest project in Vienna Tuesday, the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain officially unveiled its expansion plan for the area, which includes 40 new Northern Virginia stores in the next 15 years totaling $240 million.” [Washington Business Journal]

National Honors for Arlington Traditional School — “Arlington Traditional School is one of nine Virginia schools, and 362 across the nation, to be named 2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. It is the third time since 2006 the school – known as ATS – has received the national honor.” [InsideNova]

Census Is Important for Emergency Management — “The Census provides emergency managers and public safety officials with critical information to better prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters in Arlington County. Data from the Census provides us with key demographic, socioeconomic and housing data that form the basis of Census Bureau tools we use in emergency management.” [Arlington County]

Outdoor Lab Ready for Another School Year — “The Arlington Outdoor Lab starts the school year with a host of initiatives, as well as a new incoming director. Michele Karnbach, who previously served as a resource assistant at the facility, has been tapped as its next director. Karnbach most recently was a science teacher in Prince William County’s school system.” [InsideNova]

Arlington Population, Income Continues to Rise

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s population and median household income continues to reach new heights.

Data from 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), just released by the U.S. Census Bureau, pegs Arlington’s population at 237,521. That compares to 234,965 for 2017 and 230,050 for 2016.

Arlington County’s more conservative planning division population estimate currently stands at 226,400. The last official Census population count was 207,627 in 2010 — that is set to be updated next year with the 2020 Census.

The latest ACS data puts Arlington’s median household income at $122,394, nearly double the national median of $63,179. Arlington’s median household income in the 2016 ACS was $110,388.

Means of commuting to work showed some minor trends in the latest ACS.

Those driving alone to work dropped to 47.8% of workers over the age of 16, compared to 51.6% in the 2016 ACS. Those working from home rose to 8.8% from 5.7% two years prior, while those taking public transit rose to 28.9% from 26%. Bike commuting dropped from 2.4% in 2016 to 1.5% in 2018, though it rose within the margin of error year-over-year and Arlington now outpaces Alexandria in the category.

https://twitter.com/bikepedantic/status/1177234777889542144

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

‘Moderate Drought’ in Arlington — “A significant lack of rainfall and unusual late season heat has led to flash drought conditions across a large portion of the area.” [Twitter]

Extended Closures Expected at Local Metro Stations — “The next round of work is scheduled to include platform repairs and other station upgrades at Vienna, Dunn Loring, West Falls Church, East Falls Church, West Hyattsville, Prince George’s Plaza, College Park and Greenbelt…. In summer 2021, Metro plans closures or long-term single tracking… at Arlington Cemetery on the Blue Line in Virginia; and Reagan National Airport on the Blue and Yellow Lines.” [WTOP]

MoCo Worried About Being Lapped By N. Va. — “Ten jurisdictions – Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park cities – are teaming up to market themselves to employers… If these jurisdictions can truly put aside their own rivalries and form a bona fide joint marketing authority, this will be a big problem for suburban Maryland – and especially Montgomery County.” [Bethesda Magazine]

Beyer Champions Ranked Choice Voting Bill — “‘Ranked choice voting can play a significant role in addressing our hyper-partisan, polarized political environment by discouraging negative campaigning and promoting majority support’ said Congressman Don Beyer about… the Ranked Choice Voting Act (HR 4464).” [Press Release]

Real Estate Investor Expects Rent Increases — “‘We believe Amazon’s decision to establish Northern Virginia as its East Coast headquarters location will drive significant future rent growth in nearby markets such as Falls Church and beyond,’ said Blackfin Co-Founder and managing partner Doug Root.” [Press Release]

Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler

Water Service to Be Cut to Portion of Arlington Forest for Valve Replacement

By ARLnow.com

Up to 100 homes and business in the Arlington Forest neighborhood will be without water service Friday night into Saturday.

Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services says a valve replacement is needed and the portion of the neighborhood east of Lubber Run is expected to lose water service around 7 p.m. Friday as a result.

Water is expected to start flowing again around 9 a.m. Saturday, DES said.

File photo

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