News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Fluffy white clouds above the Air Force Memorial (Flickr pool photo by ksrjghkegkdhgkk)

Candidates: APS Needs Better Community Engagement — Arlington Public Schools should be doing a better job of community engagement, both Democratic candidates for School Board said at a debate Friday night. Sharon Dorsey said that APS tends to listen to the “squeaky wheel” while those who don’t have the time, energy or connections to press their case are often largely ignored. Both Dorsey and Reid Goldstein both pointed to the rollout of iPads and MacBooks in schools as an example of an APS decision-making process they would have approached differently. [InsideNova]

Britt McHenry Returns to ESPN — D.C.-based sports reporter Britt McHenry is back at work at ESPN following the release of a video that showed her berating an Advanced Towing employee in Arlington. McHenry issued an apology and was suspended for a week. [New York Post]

More on I-66 Plans — Arlington officials have “softened” their stance on widening I-66, says Virginia’s transportation secretary, but County Board Chair Mary Hynes insists that the county will only consider widening as a last resort — and only after evaluating the impact of changes to I-66 ten years from now. [Washington Post]

County, APS Consolidate After-School Programs — Starting this fall, Arlington Public Schools will take over the previously county-run Charles Drew and Carver after-school programs. “The consolidation is expected to save $123,000 the first year and $160,000 annually after that,” according to a press release. [Arlington County]

Arlington Man Sentenced for Child Porn — Arlington resident Patrick Friedel, 29, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for the production and possession of child pornography. Friedel pleaded guilty in January, admitting to meeting five underage girls via social networking apps and coercing them to send him sexually explicit images. Prosecutors say Friedel also picked up one of girls and videotaped himself engaging in sadistic and masochistic sexual activity with her.

Flickr pool photo by ksrjghkegkdhgkk

One Dead After Car Runs Down GW Parkway Embankment

By ARLnow.com
1/4

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) One person died after a vehicle ran down an embankment on the GW Parkway early Saturday morning.

A technical rescue team from the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the single-vehicle crash.

The vehicle was located 100 feet down an embankment, with one person dead inside, according to a fire department spokesperson. No other injuries were reported.

The parkway remained closed between Spout Run and Route 123 for much of the morning while U.S. Park Police investigated the crash. Lanes reopened around 10:00 a.m., WTOP reported.

Schneider, Cristol Lead Early County Board Election Fundraising

By Ethan Rothstein

Andrew Schneider(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Democratic County Board candidates Andrew Schneider and Katie Cristol have the fundraising edge so far for the party’s two-seat primary in June.

Schneider raised $32,095 by the March 31 disclosure deadline, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan organization that tracks fundraising in elections across the state.

Schneider had spent just $4,634, leaving him with the most money to spend of any candidate, $27,640.

Katie CristolCristol was second in fundraising, having raised $25,906. She had $13,337 cash on hand as of March 31.

Fallon had $14,815 in cash-on-hand, having raised $23,388 during the first quarter of 2015.

Here are the reported fundraising totals for each County Board candidate:

  • Andrew Schneider (D): $32,095
  • Katie Cristol (D): $25,906
  • Peter Fallon (D): $23,388
  • Christian Dorsey (D): $13,880
  • James Lander (D): $8,320
  • Bruce Wiljanen (D): $1,400
  • Audrey Clement (I): $531

Fallon’s biggest donor has been himself — he’s given $3,500 in cash to his campaign. Self-donations are common in local elections. Cristol has given her campaign $1,804 in cash and in-kind contributions, while Schneider has donated $390 his own campaign.

Audrey Clement, the perennial Green Party local election candidate is running as an independent this year. As of March 31, Clement has brought in $531. She reported $528 cash-on-hand at the end of the reporting period, with $3 in expenses.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article erroneously reported incorrect data from the VPAP website.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Dark clouds over Rosslyn (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

ACPD Patrolling Trails — Auxiliary officers with the Arlington County Police Department will be increasingly patrolling trails around the county this spring, to help keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe. [InsideNova]

Arlington Transit Survey — Arlington County is conducting an online survey of residents as part of its update of Arlington’s Transit Development Plan. The 10-year-plan is intended to identify transit goals and prioritize improvements. This latest update will include recommendations for future transit on Columbia Pike. [SurveyMonkey]

Blue Goose Mostly Torn Down — Demolition of the above-ground portion of the Blue Goose building in Ballston in nearly complete. [Twitter]

Forums Shut Down — Due to an influx of uncontrollable spam and an unresolvable technical glitch with the latest version of WordPress, ARLnow.com has made the decision to shut down our message board indefinitely. Thank you to our forum participants for four years of vigorous community discussion.

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

First Look: The Future Plans for Pentagon Centre

By Ethan Rothstein
1/12

Kimco Realty has released the renderings of its plan for Phase I of the redevelopment of the Pentagon Centre mall.

The real estate company will present the renderings to the Site Plan Review Committee tonight as it tries to amend its approved site plan. Its initial plans for the 16.8-acre site that includes the Costco, Best Buy and Nordstrom Rack in Pentagon City were approved in 2008, but those called for constructing the six-structure complex’s office buildings first.

Because of the realities of Arlington’s stagnant office market, Kimco now wants to build residential first, including a 25-story apartment tower at the corner of 12th Street S. and S. Hayes Street. That tower would be steps from the Pentagon City Metro entrance and would include ground floor retail.

Also in Phase I would be two buildings along 15th Street S.: a 10-story residential building with ground floor retail at the corner of S. Hayes Street, and a seven-story parking garage next to a new S. Grant Street, which would alleviate the loss of parking spots in the Costco’s surface lot.

The two residential buildings would give the area an influx of 703 residential units, and the parking garage would supply the area with 394 spots.

Phases II and III of the redevelopment — planned for 20 and 40 years after Phase I — have not been rendered. If approved, those phases of the redevelopment will see the demolition of the main mall building and the Costco, replacing it with three office buildings, a hotel and a park along S. Fern Street.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Mill Community Center on Columbia Pike in the spring (photo courtesy @TheBeltWalk)

Police Answer Resident Questions About Murder — Arlington County Police held a community meeting in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood last night to answer questions about the murder of Bonnie Black. Police said that Black was stabbed in the chest and neck. Officers have been conducting extra patrols but police say no immediate danger to the community. Meanwhile, it was revealed that police are searching the home of Black’s estranged husband, who so far is not being named as a suspect. [MyFoxDC, WTOP]

Judge Considering Deaf Inmate’s Suit — A federal court judge is considering testimony in the lawsuit against the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office by a deaf inmate who says he was denied access to an American Sign Language interpreter during a jail stay last year. [Associated Press]

TDM For APS Teachers — Arlington County has launched the first transportation demand management (TDM) program in the U.S. for public school faculty and staff. The program is “aimed at reducing the drive-alone rate of the more than 5,000 employees of Arlington Public Schools (APS), one of the top employers in the county.” [Mobility Lab]

No ‘Bells and Whistles’ for Lubber Run — Arlington County is in the early stages of a plan to renovate the Lubber Run Community Center (300 N. Park Drive), but the officials are already tamping down any expectations of gold-plated features. “We’re not going to build everyone’s wish list,” said County Board Chair Mary Hynes on Tuesday. A community forum about the renovation project is scheduled for next Wednesday at 6:30 at the community center. [InsideNova]

Arlington Native Named People’s ‘Most Beautiful’ — Actress Sandra Bullock, a 1982 graduate of Washington-Lee High School, has been named People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman of 2015. [Patch]

Photo courtesy @TheBeltWalk

Pedestrian Hospitalized After Being Hit By Car Near Crystal City

By Ethan Rothstein

Pedestrian struck in Crystal CityA pedestrian was sent to the hospital with a head injury after being hit by a car near the Arlington-Alexandria border this afternoon.

At about 3:30 p.m., a pedestrian at 33rd Street S. and Jefferson Davis Highway in the Potomac Yard area was struck by a sedan.

The pedestrian was conscious, but couldn’t remember where he was, according to scanner traffic. He was transported to George Washington Hospital’s trauma center with a reported head injury. The striking vehicle remained on scene.

The northbound lanes of Jefferson Davis Highway were blocked while the injured pedestrian was treated and the Arlington County Police Department investigated the incident, but the road has since reopened.

Arlington’s Homeless Population Falls 18 Percent

By Ethan Rothstein

Homeless man on a bench outside Arlington Central LibraryTwo months before its new, year-round homeless shelter is set to open, Arlington County released encouraging results from the annual count of its homeless population.

During her monthly report to the Arlington County Board yesterday, County Manager Barbara Donnellan said the results form the count show an 18 percent decline in its overall homeless population from 2014, and a 34 percent drop in homeless families.

The count was conducted overnight from Jan. 28 to 29, and conducted in tandem with other jurisdictions around the region. While it’s not a perfect metric, Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network Executive Director Kathy Sibert said, the numbers are still worth celebrating.

In 2013, the count tallied 479 total homeless people in Arlington. In 2015, there were 239.

Many of those counted were staying in shelters or other temporary housing. The most dramatic number is 39, the number of unsheltered individuals counted in January. In 2013, that number was 146, good for a 73 percent decline. Sibert said those numbers can be directly attributed to the successful “100 Homes Campaign” in the county last year.

“The big thing is it’s such a cost-savings to all of the citizens,” Sibert said. “A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates it costs communities up to $45,000 to provide care to someone on the streets, compared to only $22,000 when they’re housed.

Donnellan also revealed Tuesday that the county’s year-round Homeless Services Center will open in June, construction permitting. It had originally been slated for opening last fall. When it opens, the shelter will provide 50 permanent beds, 25 beds in the winter, five medical beds for homeless people released from the hospital, as well as a full kitchen and classrooms for job training.

“We focused on getting those medically vulnerable people on the streets into housing,” Sibert said. “That’s how you end homelessness. To end homelessness, you’ve got to get them into housing, so that’s what we’ve done.”

Police Seek Victims of Home Inspector Accused of Sexual Battery

By ARLnow.com

Olaseni Cole(Updated at 7:45 a.m.) The Arlington County Police Department Special Victims Unit is seeking additional victims of a county home inspector who has been accused of inappropriately touching a woman during an inspection of her home.

Olaseni Cole, 54, was charged with sexual battery after allegedly groping a woman on the morning of Tuesday, April 14, according to Arlington County police.

The incident happened on the 3900 block of 8th Street S., in the Alcova Heights neighborhood. Cole, an Upper Marlboro, Md. resident and an Arlington County employee, was inspecting the woman’s house.

Cole was arrested and is being held at the Arlington County Detention Facility in Courthouse. Police are asking anyone else who might have been a victim to come forward.

“Anyone who has had past inappropriate encounters with this suspect is asked to call Detective N. Brooks at 703.228.4169 or email [email protected],” the press release continued. “To report information anonymously, contact the Arlington County Crime Solvers at 866.411.TIPS (8477).”

Olesani started working for the county in March 2014, according to Arlington Human Resources Director Marcy Foster.

Defunded Artisphere’s Future to be Decided by July

By Ethan Rothstein

Artisphere signThe Arlington County Board officially canceled the Artisphere project last night, making June 30 the grand finale for Rosslyn’s critically acclaimed but money-losing arts and cultural center.

June 30 is also the deadline the County Board has set for staff to return with a recommendation for next steps for the space, coinciding with the end of Fiscal Year 2015 and the last performances at Artisphere.

Arlington’s lease for the 62,000-square-foot space ends in April 2023, according to Deputy County Manager Carol Mitten, but the County Board could elect to cancel its agreement with owner Monday Properties and hand them back the unique space.

No formal proposals for the center have come forward, but Mitten said the county has had “lots of informal conversations” with outside parties. The cancellation of Artisphere will save taxpayers $2.3 million in FY 2016, and any scheming for the next steps won’t be coming from the county.

“If someone has an idea, they need to translate that into a proposal, because the county isn’t going to come up with a proposal of our own,” Mitten said yesterday. “The desire is that we get out of the business of subsidizing the use of this space… We have this block of one-time money to close out our obligations under the lease, and anything else the county were to do would really involve an outside entity.”

The only public idea to this point has been the vision of MoDev, a software developer conference company, to transform Artisphere into a tech incubator and conference center. MoDev CEO Pete Erickson told ARLnow.com this week that he is putting together a proposal, but he’s not alone.

“I heard that there are four different parties interested in the space, all with a technology center vision, which is awesome,” he said. “It doesn’t mean a deal will get done as the county could then decide to vacate the lease and put it in Monday Properties’ hands. If this happens, this would be bad for Arlington as the benefits of the existing lease would be away and put way more pressure on a new tenant and the building owner than would be necessary.”

According to Rosslyn Business Improvement District President Mary-Claire Burick, a Chinese business delegation recently toured the space and was intrigued. During the visit, Monday Properties representatives expressed a willingness to renovate and transform the space, if necessary, for the next tenant.

And while momentum seems to barreling ahead to transform the space into Arlington’s next major technology center — and potentially Rosslyn’s answer to 1776’s Crystal City investment — Burick said that the location at 1101 Wilson Blvd could return to its roots, when it was the former home of Newseum.

“We’ve had two groups that have been looking at turning it into a museum,” she said in a phone interview this morning. “Because of the grouping of other things in Rosslyn with Arlington Cemetery and the Marine Corps Memorial, we’re really starting to see Rosslyn have more tourism potential, particularly once CEB Tower delivers with its observation deck.”

All parties involved are looking forward to the unique space — with multiple theaters, high ceilings and an outdoor terrace — becoming something that can generate money for the county, rather than lose it. But the County Board’s decision has also left some wondering what the future of arts funding through taxpayer dollars will look like in Arlington.

Mitten said the cultural affairs department is developing a strategic plan that will address just that.

“There’s a belief that there is a clear nexus between our investment in cultural affairs and the arts and economic development,” Mitten said. “The part of the story that’s missing at the moment is how much is enough and in what way is the most effective in order to have it be a real investment and not just an expense.”

Budget Approved: Artisphere to Close, Tax Rate Stays Steady

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board marks up the budget, April 16, 2015(Updated at 1:20 p.m.) The Artisphere cultural center in Rosslyn will close and Arlington’s property tax rate will stay the same under the new Fiscal Year 2016 budget approved unanimously by the Arlington County Board last night.

The $1.16 billion budget will provide Arlington Public Schools with the extra $6.2 million it sought to deal with rising enrollment.

It also will fund a new internal auditor position, a campaign promise of County Board member John Vihstadt.

Other budget highlights include:

  • An additional $1.4 million for economic development efforts, including an extra $200,000 for TandemNSI, $200,000 for tourism promotion and an extra $100,000 for the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization
  • Five new sheriff deputy positions
  • Salary supplement for the public defender’s office
  • Additional jail-based mental health services
  • An additional animal control officer for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington
  • Funding for Affordable Housing Investment Fund remains steady at $12.5 million
  • An additional $1 million for housing grants, for a total of $8.9 in housing grant funding
  • The county manager’s proposed cuts to BikeArlington were eliminated. Funding for county bike and pedestrian programs remains at $812,121.
  • A merit compentation increase for employees
  • Funding restored to the “Live Where You Work” program for county employees

Under the budget, Arlington’s real estate tax rate will stay at $0.996 per $100 in assessed value. However, due to the 4.9 percent rise in residential property assessments and a 1.8 percent increase in the water-sewer rate, the average Arlington homeowners’ tax and fee burden will rise about $281 a year, to a total of $7,567, a 4 percent increase.

“Arlington’s real estate tax rate remains the lowest in the region,” a county press release noted.

County government spending will increase 1.1 percent and Arlington Public Schools spending will increase 4.5 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

Under the budget, the per-pupil cost of Arlington Public Schools to taxpayers will drop to $18,558 per student from $19,040 per student during FY 2015.

The internal auditor position sought by Vihstadt will require $200,000 of funding. The auditor will be independent, reporting to the County Board as opposed to existing internal auditing programs that report to the County Manager.

“The auditor, and an advisory committee, will report directly to the County Board and will focus on tightening financial oversight and deepening program performance review,” according to the press release.

The Virginia General Assembly passed a bill this year giving the Board the authority to hire an auditor. The only other positions the Board can hire directly are the County Attorney, the County Clerk and the County Manager.

County officials say they were able to balance the budget without a tax increase and find additional funding for schools and other priorities by making budget cuts elsewhere, including Artisphere.

“The Board’s most significant cut was its decision to close Artisphere, a move that will save $2.3 million in net taxpayer support for the County’s critically acclaimed arts and cultural center,” said the press release. “The County has said that the center’s failure to consistently attract a large enough audience and its ongoing need for substantial County funding put too great a burden on strained County finances. The County is redirecting $496,000 of the money saved to fund alternative arts and cultural programming across the County.”

Artisphere is set to close June 30.

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