News

Beer Garden BrickHaus Applying to Keep Patio Partly in Sidewalk

By Chris Teale
1/3

A just-opened beer garden on Columbia Pike is applying to keep its patio in part of the sidewalk on S. Walter Reed Drive.

BrickHaus (2900 Columbia Pike) opened in September after months of delays. It is applying to keep its outdoor patio, which encroaches on the public right-of-way on S. Walter Reed Drive, near the intersection with Columbia Pike. The sidewalk is still approximately six feet wide in the area.

If the Arlington County Board approves the plan at its meeting Saturday (January 27), the encroachment would be permitted to continue “until the structures encroaching into the right-of-way are destroyed, removed, no longer in use, or not continuously and promptly maintained by the Applicant,” per a staff report.

The restaurant agreed to pay $429.54 to the county as compensation for the encroachment, and will be required to maintain its patio.

BrickHaus could also be forced to remove its fire pit from the same area. Under the terms of its Use Permit from the county, it must remove the fire pit and either remove or abandon the attached gas line before receiving a Certificate of Occupancy for safety reasons.

Staff recommended the Board allow the patio encroachment.

Police Charge Three Teenagers in Four Mile Run Trail Stabbing

By Chris Teale

Arlington County Police announced today (Tuesday) that three teenagers from Alexandria have been charged in a stabbing yesterday on the Four Mile Run Trail.

Police said the suspects, all aged 16 and 17, were each charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding, Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Malicious Wounding and Gang Participation.

Officers responded to the 3400 block of S. Glebe Road at around 4:50 p.m. on January 22. They found a man suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The man was walking on the trail when the suspects approached him. After an argument, the suspects assaulted the man before fleeing the scene. As they are juveniles, the suspects’ names will not be released at this time.

More from an ACPD press release:

Police have charged three Alexandria, VA juveniles for their involvement in a stabbing on the Four Mile Run Trail on Monday evening. The suspects, ages 16 and 17, were each charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding, Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Malicious Wounding and Gang Participation.

At approximately 4:50 p.m. on January 22, police were dispatched to the 3400 block of S. Glebe Road for the report of a stabbing. Arriving officers located one male victim suffering from multiple stab wounds and immediately began performing life saving measures. The victim was transported by Alexandria Fire Medics to George Washington University Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation determined that the male victim was walking on the trail when he was approached by the suspects. Following a verbal altercation, the suspects assaulted the victim before fleeing the area. Arriving officers established a perimeter and located three suspects matching the descriptions provided by witnesses.

The investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective Henretty of the Arlington County Police Department’s Gang Unit at 703-228-4110 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Pedestrian Struck on Washington Blvd Near Washington-Lee High School

By Chris Teale
1/4

A 60-year-old man suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being struck by a car on Washington Blvd earlier today (Tuesday) near Washington-Lee High school.

A driver in a white SUV struck the man just before 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Stafford Street. According to scanner traffic, he had a head wound but was conscious, and was attended to by nearby construction workers before police and medics arrived.

Officers from the Arlington County Police Department canvassed witnesses nearby but did not close any roads, and traffic appeared to be flowing as normal.

Washington Blvd has had well-documented issues with pedestrian-vehicle conflicts in recent years, despite various safety improvements being installed. A teen was struck by a car in 2016 at its intersection with N. Utah Street and suffered a serious head injury.

In the aftermath, police stepped up traffic enforcement at the intersection to enforce traffic laws on scofflaw drivers. Still, reports of drivers ignoring pedestrians in the crosswalk continued.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Puerto Rico Pets Coming to Arlington for Adoption — Dogs and cats from Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, were flown from the island to the D.C. area over the weekend by Arlington-based Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. The pets arrived via van convoy to a hero’s welcome in Shirlington and are now up for adoption. [Washington Post]

Arlington Among ‘Best Places to Live’ — City ranker Livability.com is out with its 2018 “Top 100 Best Places To Live” list and Arlington has placed No. 35, one spot below Pittsburgh and one above Asheville, N.C. Arlington previously ranked No. 3 on the list. [Livability]

Lower Property Value Rise Will Cause Budget Challenges — “The year-over-year increase in real-estate assessments throughout Arlington came in lower than government officials had expected, which may cause problems for County Board members trying to avoid either tax increases or budget cuts.” [InsideNova]

More on Key Bridge Marriott Sale — The new owners of the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn may benefit from the previous owner’s application to the FAA to construct buildings up to 470 feet tall on the property, which overlooks Georgetown and the Potomac River. The FAA application is “an indication it was setting the stage for the site’s redevelopment.” [Washington Business Journal]

Betsy Franz Leaves Leadership Center — Leadership Center for Excellence (formerly Leadership Arlington) founding President and CEO Betsy Frantz is leaving the organization in April to become President of the Virginia Hospital Center Health System Foundation. Liz Nohra, the COO of LCE, will take over as Acting President and CEO. [Leadership Center for Excellence]

Eviction Notice for TechShop in Crystal City — “A Jan. 18 eviction notice from the Arlington County sheriff’s department now hangs in the storefront of the maker space chain’s Crystal City location. The notice comes more than a month after San Jose, California-based TechShop announced it would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and then, a few weeks later, disclosed in early December it was reaching a deal to be acquired.” [Washington Business Journal]

County to Connect Building Owners and Investors for Sustainability — “All systems are ‘go’ for Arlington’s new ‘C-PACE’ program, a first-in-Virginia public-private partnership to provide affordable, long-term financing to improve energy or water efficiency of commercial buildings.” [Arlington County]

Reminder: Use Salt in Moderation — Prior to this morning’s rain, Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services tweeted a reminder to residents to avoid excess application of salt during freezing weather. “Use only as much as needed and no more to melt ice because this will wash into our watershed,” DES said. [Twitter]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

Meanwhile in D.C.

By Christina Sturdivant-Sani
Photo by John Goucher

There’s a lot to do this week, flu cases are on the rise, and other news of the day over in the District.

Police: Three Arrested for Gang-Related Stabbing Along Four Mile Run

By ARLnow.com

Update at 11:55 a.m. — Three suspects, all teens, have been arrested and charged in the stabbing. Police say the incident was gang-related.

Police have charged three Alexandria, VA juveniles for their involvement in a stabbing on the Four Mile Run Trail on Monday evening. The suspects, ages 16 and 17, were each charged with Aggravated Malicious Wounding, Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Malicious Wounding and Gang Participation.

At approximately 4:50 p.m. on January 22, police were dispatched to the 3400 block of S. Glebe Road for the report of a stabbing. Arriving officers located one male victim suffering from multiple stab wounds and immediately began performing life saving measures. The victim was transported by Alexandria Fire Medics to George Washington University Hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The investigation determined that the male victim was walking on the trail when he was approached by the suspects. Following a verbal altercation, the suspects assaulted the victim before fleeing the area. Arriving officers established a perimeter and located three suspects matching the descriptions provided by witnesses.

The investigation into this incident is ongoing. Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Detective Henretty of the Arlington County Police Department’s Gang Unit at 703-228-4110 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Earlier: Arlington County Police are investigating a stabbing along the Four Mile Run Trail.

The stabbing happened around 4:50 p.m., along the trail near the county’s water treatment plant. Police say a man was stabbed after some sort of altercation with a group of suspects.

Other trail users came to the victim’s aid. He was transported to the trauma center at George Washington University Hospital and is expected to survive.

An ACPD spokeswoman said the investigation is “ongoing” and that police talked to witnesses at the scene, but thus far no arrests have been made. As of Monday evening there was no description of any of the suspects nor any word of a motive for the crime.

Photo via Google Maps

UPDATED: Federal Government to Re-Open

By Chris Teale

Update at 9:30 p.m. — The shutdown is over after legislation passed Congress and was signed by President Trump.

Federal workers will receive back pay for any time lost during the shutdown.

More via a press release from Rep. Don Beyer’s office:

Legislative language mirroring a bill offered by Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Rob Wittman (R-VA) to protect the pay of federal workers during the government shutdown was passed by Congress today as part of a larger temporary funding bill. The inclusion of text of the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act will guarantee that the entire federal workforce receives back pay for the time during which appropriations lapsed.

“It is deeply disappointing that Congress was unable to prevent a government shutdown, but the passage of the our bill’s language should at least minimize the damage to rank-and-file civil servants,” said Rep. Beyer. “I thank my colleague Rep. Wittman for standing up for the federal workforce again, and hope that this will be the last time that this bill is necessary.”

Text of the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act was included in HR 195, which passed both chambers of Congress today. The bill had nearly 100 bipartisan cosponsors.

Earlier: The federal government could re-open as early as tomorrow after the U.S. Senate voted to advance a short-term spending plan today (Monday).

Senators voted 81-18 to end debate — a procedural move — on a three-week bill that would fund the government through February 8. The bill would give Congress more time to negotiate a long-term spending package.

The U.S. House of Representatives could vote on the plan today, if it passes the Senate.

The government partially shut down at midnight on Saturday (January 20).

But the impasse appears to have ended in the Senate after Republicans committed to holding a vote on the future of those who were brought to the country illegally as children and protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. President Donald Trump announced he would end the program in March.

In a joint statement, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (D-Va.) blamed Republicans for the shutdown and said they were “deeply disappointed” that it could not stay open. But they said they are “heartened” by discussions that could help resolve many long-standing issues.

“As a result of those discussions, we now have a path forward to resolve many of the challenges that Congress has punted on for months, including a long-term solution to sequestration and full-year funding for our government and the military,” they said. “Today we are reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that tens of thousands of Virginians rely on – after months of Republican obstruction – and giving service-members and federal employees peace of mind that their paychecks will arrive on time. We also have the opportunity to finally make investments here at home to fight the opioid crisis, provide relief for communities hit by natural disasters, allow those who rely on community health centers to get care, reform pensions, and much more.”

Warner and Kaine’s joint statement is after the jump.

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Arlington Democrats Join Thousands in Women’s March on Washington

By Anna Merod
1/7

About 250 people gathered at the entrance of the Arlington Memorial Bridge on Saturday to join the second Women’s March in Washington, D.C.

The Arlington County Democratic Committee organized with grassroots organizations for the second year to gather locals to march across Memorial Bridge to a rally at the Lincoln Memorial. There, speakers talked of the importance of the rights of women, people with disabilities, immigrants and people of color.

Jill Caiazzo, the new Arlington Democrats chair after succeeding Kip Malinosky, said the point of this year’s march was to not only highlight women’s position in society, but to also encourage people to vote. The march’s theme this year was “Power to the Polls.”

“I think it’s important just as a general matter all year long that we remind people of the very critical midterm election and the fact that we all need to do our part so that everyone knows about it, everybody’s registered to vote and everybody is able to vote and does vote on election day who is eligible,” Caiazzo said.

Some of the speakers at the three-hour rally included Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),  Virginia Del. Kelly Fowler (D-21), U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

The speakers called for the need to elect more women and criticized the Republicans in Congress over the government shutdown that same weekend.

This year Arlington Democrats will be doing its part to march to the polls through its three new voter outreach coordinators, who will be setting up activities with marginalized groups in the community who do not necessarily interact with politicians on a regular basis.

“I think you will be seeing more events focused on just being in the community and voter education as opposed to just focusing on knocking on doors and get the vote out,” Caiazzo said. “That’s going to be very important but we also want to emphasize too that we are in the community as a positive force.”

Wendy Reed, a resident of the Madison Manor neighborhood, came to protest because of her concerns over immigration, environmental protection and the treatment of women.

“I feel like we’re upside down,” Reed said. “I feel like all the things I care about are being hacked away.”

Another protester, Lynn Borton of Courthouse, said she returned to the Women’s March because it felt good to be a part of something that’s unifying in a time when society has felt more divisive. Borton also said she is thinking of her great, great grandmother, who never had the right to vote.

Several parents brought their daughters to march with them as well, including Eric Sword, who brought his two daughters, Lyra and Cat. They also went to the march last year.

Lyra Sword said she came back to the march “because it was fun last year and it felt good to be surrounded by people who believe the same thing.”

Eric Sword added that President Donald Trump’s administration hits home because his family is close with someone that is transgender. It was reported recently that the Trump administration plans to protect health workers who deny treating transgender people or handling abortions on religious grounds.

Kay Bailey also brought her two daughters Elisa and Amanda Boiani to make sure they see that women don’t have to endure the treatment of Trump’s policies against them and minorities.

“I want to teach my daughters that everyone is equal and everyone is worthy of human rights and we can’t behave like this and expect the rest of the world to uphold human rights,” Bailey said.

Feedback Sought on Childcare Options at Thursday Community Meeting

By Fatimah Waseem

Arlington County officials are seeking the public’s input on how to improve the accessibility and quality of childcare at a community meeting on Thursday.

The meeting is part of the county’s Child Care Initiative, which aims to promote the development of an inclusive, integrated child care system that serves Arlington County families, especially vulnerable populations.

A draft action plan created in December outlined ways to make childcare more accessible for all income levels. Recommendations included creating a financial assistance program to help families defray childcare costs and updating the county’s zoning ordinance to create more facilities.

At the meeting, officials will hear feedback before the draft plan heads to a county workgroup. Attendees will circulate through different stations to provide written and oral feedback. At one station, attendees can also give first-hand, personal accounts of their experiences with childcare.

The meeting will take place at the Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Registration is requested online.

Caitlin Hutchinson, an assistant director with the county’s Dept. of Human Services said Arlington County has a unique opportunity to enact policy changes that drive meaningful progress.

“We’re one of the few jurisdictions in the state in that we can enact our own child care code. We really have an opportunity to think about what we want to look like as a community,” she said.

In March, a 22-member Leadership Roundtable will review the revised action plan. A final plan is expected to come before the county manager and board in April. Implementation of recommendations will begin in late spring, county staff said.

The plan highlighted “significant gaps between supply and demand” for childcare. There are only 6,984 licensed spaces available for children in daycare facilities, but more than double the number of children under the age of five in the county.

Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol said the child care initiative is one of her top priorities this year. In a Jan. 2 speech, Cristol said policy changes are necessary to make childcare more accessible and affordable for Arlington County residents.

“I anticipate that some long-awaited steps will be before the Board soon, such as a potential re-examination of our local codes for alignment with the Commonwealth’s; potential zoning changes to increase the availability of affordable places for, and decrease barriers to entry of, childcare centers; and new partnerships to increase the supply of trained childcare workers,” she said.

In addition to attending the meeting, community members can share feedback by Feb. 2 in the following ways:

Visajump Seeks to Rid the Stress of Traveling Abroad

By Anna Merod

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. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

A new app hopes to create a seamless way for users to plan a travel itinerary and keep track of all their travel documents, including visa information, in one place.

Local company Visajump hopes to take away the stress and worry travelers have when trying to keep up with documentation and the bureaucratic processes of traveling.

While the app is still in development, its co-founders, Craig Chavis and Wendy Truong, have been in touch with more than 20 embassies.

Many have agreed to keep a continuing relationship with Visajump so users will be able to receive live updates regarding travel alerts and visa information, Chavis said. In turn, he added, users can also provide live updates from the ground.

“Every passport has a unique, different situation, so changes occur all the time, and so having those relationships with the embassies we’re able to stay ahead of the game,” Chavis said.

Currently, Chavis and Truong are testing out the visa database feature in the first version, Chavis said. This includes going beyond the questions — do users care about immunizations? How long does it take to get a visa? How much will it cost?

“You know basically we’re figuring out how the travelers think, how they do their planning process from the beginning to the end,” Chavis said. “And so we’re gauging those different responses, because you know every traveler is different.”

The vision behind Visajump came out of Chavis and Truong’s passion for travel. Chavis had recently travelled abroad for three years and Truong had travelled for 19 years.

When Chavis was abroad he met other travelers who had issues obtaining their visas, keeping track of travel plans and staying organized. So once he returned to the U.S. and met Truong at Startup Week D.C. the two wanted to solve this solution on a global scale.

Truong added that once the U.S. passports are established in the app, the two want to start working on other passport user cases.

As a Vietnamese woman, Truong said she always needed a visa during her 19 years abroad. In fact, Truong believes the market for the app lies within developing countries.

“In turn, yes there’s a lot of U.S. travelers going abroad but not a lot of them require visas,” she said. “Whereas people from developing countries, they actually are traveling more cause there is a middle class rising from those markets and you know for them to go anywhere they require visas.”

Overall, it is the two founders’ avid passion for travel that has driven the app forward since its inception four months ago. The company has several investors and it meets with them weekly.

Next up, Chavis and Truong plan to enter into the Airport Innovation Challenge, a program that it said will “activate the startup community and identify innovations that will transform the passenger journey.”

Private Donation Would Help Fund Citizenship Applications

By Chris Teale

The Arlington County Board will debate accepting an anonymous donation from a resident to help immigrants pay filing fees on citizenship applications.

A private citizen made the $7,000 donation to the county’s Department of Human Services for a scholarship fund that will pay a portion of the costs to file an N-400 form, the Application for Naturalization.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s website, the filing fee is $640, with an extra $85 fee for biometric testing added in some cases for a total of $725.

USCIS waives the fee for applicants whose income is below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines and reduces the fee for applicants whose income is between 151 percent and 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

But despite the waivers, county staff said that sometimes people can struggle to pay the reduced fees.

“However, some applicants who qualify for the reduced fee and other applicants who are required to pay the full fee still have difficulty paying for their application,” staff wrote in a report. “As a result, they often delay applying for naturalization even when they are eligible and prepared for their interview.”

Under the proposal, applicants at 151-200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines could receive a $200 scholarship, while those at 201-250 percent could get $360. Applicants’ income will be determined based on adjusted gross income, while they must prove county residency and show they reach USCIS’ English language proficiency guidelines.

Anyone who applies must make an appointment and meet in person for an interview at the Community Outreach Program at the Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street, Suite 523).

They would be notified within two weeks if they are successful, and would receive a check from DHS made out to USCIS. The applicant would then be responsible for mailing that check and the rest of the filing fee with their application.

Staff recommended the County Board approve the scholarship at its meeting Saturday (January 27).

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