News

Former Arlington prosecutor named Va. Deputy Attorney General

By ARLnow.com
Theo Stamos (staff photo)

Former Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos is taking a top job in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.

Stamos lost her reelection bid in 2019, defeated in the Democratic primary by now-Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. Once Arlington’s top prosecutor, today Stamos was named the state’s Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice and Public Safety.

After her election defeat Stamos went on to work as a Law Enforcement Liaison in the U.S. Dept. of Justice during the Trump and Biden administrations, before starting to work with Jason Miyares, Virginia’s newly-elected Republican Attorney General, in January 2022. As Special Counsel to the Attorney General for Special Investigations, Stamos recently wrapped up the successful prosecution of former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler.

Miyares has been a critic of the progressive justice reform movement, which helped to sweep Dehghani-Tafti into office and Stamos out of a job.

Also announced today: the current Deputy Attorney General of Criminal Justice and Public Safety, Nicole Wittmann, is becoming the Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in Loudoun County, where Republican Bob Anderson defeated progressive prosecutor Buta Biberaj in the November election.

More, below, from a press release.

Attorney General Jason Miyares is pleased to announce that Deputy Attorney General of Criminal Justice and Public Safety Nicole Wittmann is joining the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney. Theo Stamos will become Attorney General Miyares’ Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice and Public Safety. Theo Stamos currently serves as the Special Counsel to the Attorney General in charge of Special Investigations, Cold and Actual Innocence Cases.

“Nicole has been an invaluable team member and has served the Commonwealth diligently. Virginians are better off because of her commitment to the rule of law and public safety. I look forward to seeing the positive change she’ll bring to Loudoun County as the Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, returning the office’s focus to prioritizing public safety and protecting victims, which has long been missing,” said Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Nicole Wittmann has spent the majority of her career serving the people of Loudoun County as the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney and Director of the Victim Witness Program. She specialized in the prosecution of sex crimes, crimes against children, human trafficking, internet solicitation of children, child pornography, child abuse, domestic abuse, homicide, and violent crimes. Wittmann received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law.

“As the attorney responsible for our office’s special investigations, cold cases, and actual innocence petitions, Theo Stamos has tirelessly pursued the truth that Virginians deserve. Her unwavering dedication to public service makes her a core pillar of my administration. I am thrilled to have her serve as Virginia’s next Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice and Public Safety,” the Attorney General continued.

Theo Stamos began her career as a prosecutor in 1987 in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, capping off her career there as the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney from 2012 to 2019. She worked in the U.S. Department of Justice where she served as a state and local law enforcement liaison in the Office of Legislative Affairs. Most recently, Theo spearheaded the investigation into the Virginia Parole Board and the Loudoun County School Board, which resulted in the termination of the previous superintendent and a successful conviction for retaliatory firing.

Both Wittmann and Stamos joined the Office of Attorney General at the beginning of the Miyares’ administration in January 2022.

News

New pilot program could bring lower speeds, more space for pedestrians and cyclists to three sidewalk-less streets

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Sometime next year, three residential streets in Arlington without sidewalks could get upgrades to allow for safer pedestrian and cyclist use.

To help address demonstrated safety and access issues on S. Lynn Street, N. Wakefield Street and 12th Street S., Arlington County’s Neighborhood Complete Streets Program is considering piloting “shared streets.”

On these streets, the county would slow down traffic and give cyclists and pedestrians more space through signs, barriers and other features, rather than building a sidewalk.

County staff picked these streets because they have incomplete sidewalks and characteristics “that make adding a sidewalk prohibitively difficult,” says Neighborhood Complete Streets Program Manager Michelle Stafford.

These characteristics include limited public right-of-way, difficult terrain and high parking demand. The streets also ranked above other streets nominated for the pilot program because of their crash histories as well as their proximity to schools, commercial corridors and transit.

“People currently drive, bike and walk in the street in these locations, but we can add features to the street to make that shared street conditions safer and more comfortable for all,” Stafford said in a recent presentation.

The identified streets in the Arlington Ridge, Douglas Park and Bluemont neighborhoods, and the challenges they pose for adding sidewalks, are as follows:

Shared streets can surmount these challenges, according to pilot project manager Brian Shelton.

“Shared streets can meet the desires of adjacent residents and function foremost as a public space for recreation, socializing and leisure,” Shelton said. “Many streets in Arlington already function as a shared street, however, we are missing some of the treatments which would enhance pedestrian comfort on these roadways.”

Shelton said staff have looked at recommended shared street tools from the National Association of City Transportation Officials, or NATCO, and opted to pursue a handful of strategies that make use of temporary materials and do not require significant construction.

These include midblock treatment options, such as chicanes — which narrow the road such that drivers are forced to slow down — and street entrance changes, including curb extensions.

Entrances to shared streets also typically have advisory signs and pavement markings to “eliminate the confusion of how the street is intended to be used,” Shelton said.

This fall, the county solicited feedback from residents on how the projects might change how they feel travelling these roads. This input will be used to refine designs, which are set to be finalized for funding hearings in early spring of next year.

Later this coming spring, the county expects to start implementing these shared streets. County staff will monitor these streets to ensure each corridor is functioning as intended, per the county website.

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By ARLnow.com
My Painter's local headquarters

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News

Problematic I-395 interchange ramps close for good as part of major VDOT project

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

A nearly $20 million project to make Boundary Channel Drive and the I-395 interchange near Crystal City and the Pentagon safer has resulted in significant traffic pattern changes.

Last week, the Virginia Dept. of Transportation permanently closed two ramps: the southbound I-395 ramp to eastbound Boundary Channel Drive and the eastbound Boundary Channel Drive ramp to southbound I-395.

The closures will allow VDOT to reconfigure the ramps between I-395, Boundary Channel Drive and Long Bridge Drive.

The traffic pattern changes are the next step in a multi-year project to upgrade this area for drivers and make pedestrian and cycling improvements nearby. After two years of design work, construction began in September 2022 and will continue through early 2024.

“The project aims to improve safety and operations on that stretch of southbound 395,” Mike Murphy, a spokesman for VDOT, told ARLnow. “One such way is closing those two ramps in order to eliminate and mitigate some of the weaving areas, or spots where you have vehicles trying to get on southbound 395 mixing with vehicles trying to get off.”

The ramp closures will require drivers to do the following:

  • Southbound I-395 drivers must now use Exit 10A to access both westbound and eastbound Boundary Channel Drive via the western roundabout.
  • Eastbound Boundary Channel Drive drivers must now use the western roundabout to access southbound I-395 via the same loop ramp used by westbound Boundary Channel Drive drivers to access southbound I-395.

Ahead of the closure, public safety watchdog Dave Statter posted to social media a highlight video of the notorious section of highway.

Here, reckless drivers could be seen backing up, crossing multiple lanes of highway traffic and pulling other stunts to circumvent bollards and access the left-hand ramp to Route 1.

The video included several memorable moments over the last two years, including when an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and a Metro bus both tried the maneuver.

Statter and his videos got a shout out from VDOT as part of the closure announcement.

Statter also observed that the Boundary Channel Drive onramp, set to close at 5 a.m. on Friday, made it through one more rush hour.

“Did the governor give a short reprieve on the death sentence for the Boundary Channel ramp to I-395S?” he said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Besides @VaDOTNOVA crews, this bus and contractor’s van appear to be the last vehicles on the ramp just before 8:45 a.m.”

Murphy confirmed that the ramp from southbound I-395 to eastbound Boundary Channel Drive — the one with the green overhead sign saying “Exit 9 to Clark St” — closed around 4:30 a.m. on Friday. The ramp from eastbound Boundary Channel Drive to southbound I-395 closed around 8:45 a.m. Friday.

(more…)

Announcement

2023 Summer Camp Registration is Now Open!

By Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington

The Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington’s summer camps are fun experiences for campers ages 5-18! Campers go on artistic journeys and explore the visual arts through exciting projects in 2D and 3D media while learning about new and different artistic techniques and contemporary artists working around the world today. Full or half day options available for kids, teens, and pre- teens.

Go to 2023 Summer Camp Registration is Now Open! Read more
News

Study: Virginia has 4th strongest residents in U.S.

By ARLnow.com
Weight room at Life Time fitness center in Clarendon (via Life Time)

Arlington ranked as the ‘fittest city’ in the U.S. for the sixth year in a row earlier this year. But the state in which the county is located is no slouch either.

Virginia is the fourth strongest state in the nation, according to a new study.

The Commonwealth weighs in behind Texas (1), Florida (2) and New York (3) in the rankings, which looked at data from the website Open Powerlifting.

“Virginia’s results: average squat: 573 lbs; average bench press: 364 lbs; average deadlift: 667 lbs,” noted a PR rep.

More from a press release:

Lift Vault, an online resource for powerlifting, bodybuilding and strength training, analyzed data, and set out to determine where in America do the country’s physically strongest men & women reside? They scoured through 5 years of data provided by Open Powerlifting focusing on 3 main powerlifting categories – the squat (a strength exercise in which the trainee lowers their hips from a standing position and then stands back up); the bench press (an upper-body weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench); and a deadlift (in which a weight is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, before being placed back on the ground).

The full set of rankings can be found here. The top and bottom five are below.

2023’s Five Strongest States:

1. Texas
2. Florida
3. NY
4. Virginia
5. California

2023’s Five Weakest States:

50. Vermont
49. Wyoming
48. Arkansas
47. North Dakota
46. West Virginia

Announcement

Rock Spring Cooperative Preschool – Applications for 2023-2024 School Year Due February 23rd

By Rock Spring Cooperative Preschool

RSCP is a part-time, play based preschool located in North Arlington for children ages 18 months to 5 years

OUR SCHOOL: We believe that children learn best through play. Our preschool focuses on children’s intellectual, social, and emotional growth through active play. We offer:

Go to Rock Spring Cooperative Preschool – Applications for 2023-2024 School Year Due February 23rd Read more
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