9/11

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ACFD 9/11 Memorial to be Landscaped — Last week the Department of Defense gave Arlington County’s first responders a chunk of limestone recovered from the Pentagon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. That stone now sits near a steel beam from the World Trade Center, in a field outside Fire Station 5 in Pentagon City. The county is planning to landscape the area around the two memorials, in advance of the upcoming 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. [Arlington Connection]

Missed Connections in Arlington — Someone is looking for a “Persian goddess in pink” who was spotted shopping for chickpea salad at the Clarendon Whole Foods. Also: a woman is looking for the “armsleeve tattoo man” she ogled at the Golds Gym. [Clarendon Culture]

Whipple Fights Abortion Amendment — Arlington’s retiring state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple is fighting an amendment inserted into a General Assembly-approved bill by Gov. Bob McDonnell. The bill would establish a health insurance exchange in Virginia as part of the federal health care reform law. However, McDonnell’s amendment would prohibit any insurance plan in the exchange from offering coverage for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk. [Washington Post]

Arlington Diocese Fights Porn — The Catholic Diocese of Arlington continues its campaign against “the very real danger of pornography in our culture” with a blog post. The post notes that an anti-porn pamphlet authored by Bishop Paul Loverde is so popular that it’s now in its second printing. Also, the post says that Bishop Loverde has been active in the fight against pornography on cell phones. [Encourage and Teach]

Arlington FD Missing From Nats 9/11 Heroes Day

By ARLnow.com

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with new information that has come to light since it was originally published.

On Saturday, the Nationals held a special ‘Heroes Day’ in remembrance of 9/11. The DC Fire Department was a major participant — DCFD firefighters were on hand, players wore specially-made DCFD hats with the Nationals logo in the center, and Nats general manager Mike Rizzo and catcher “Pudge” Rodriguez were recognized as Honorary DCFD Fire Chiefs.

But the Arlington County Fire Department — the first to arrive at the Pentagon on 9/11 — was not invited.

Fire Chief Jim Schwartz, who led the incident command at the Pentagon for 10 days after the attacks, says the department did not receive an invitation from the Nationals to participate in the ceremony. Nor, to his knowledge, did any of the numerous Maryland and Virginia fire departments that assisted Arlington on 9/11. Instead, Schwartz says he only received a flyer advertising discounted tickets for firefighters, after it was forwarded by a colleague at DC Fire.

“I’m definitely disappointed that there wasn’t more of an outreach on the part of the Nationals organization,” Schwartz said. “I assume they have a communication operation over there that ought to know the lay of the land, and I would put this on them for not reaching out and making some sort of formal invitation.”

He said that despite all the other events ACFD was involved with on Saturday, the department would not have had trouble finding firefighters interested in participating in the Nats’ ceremony.

Schwartz recalled a ceremony at a Redskins game two months after 9/11, which made a point of featuring numerous local fire departments.

“I know that we have taken great pains to acknowledge the assistance of all of those other fire departments,” Schwartz said, while noting that he did not fault the DC Fire Department for taking part in the ceremony by themselves.

“It’s not their job to do the outreach to other departments,” he said.

The Nationals have not returned a call seeking comment.

Photo by @natsnq via @welovedc. Hat tip to @katekirk.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Obama Marks 9/11 Anniversary at the Pentagon — On the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, President Obama visited the Pentagon and called for tolerance and strength in the face of terrorism. More from Fox 5 and a transcript of the president’s speech from CBS News.

Arlington’s Fire Chief Remembers 9/11 — WTOP talked to Arlington Fire Chief Jim Schwartz, who was incident commander at the Pentagon on that fateful September day. “Every time I look at it, it still looks the same to me as it did that morning. I can still see the visions of the gash in the building, the column of smoke, the casualties laying out on the West Lawn,” Schwartz said.

More Teacher Diversity at APS — Arlington is trying to hire teachers who better reflect the student body’s racial make-up. Still, the 190 teachers hired for this year are 73 percent while, when the student body is only 48 percent white. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Fastpitch Softball Tourney Returns to Arlington This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Girls’ fast pitch softball teams from around the region will converge on Arlington this weekend for the ninth annual First Responders’ Cup tournament. The tournament is held to “celebrate the heroism of the Arlington Fire and Police who were the first at the Pentagon” on 9/11.

More than three dozen teams, in age divisions from 12 and under to 18 and under, will begin competing tomorrow night. Tournament play will continue through Sunday.

Games will be held at the Barcroft Sports Complex, Jennie Dean Fields (near Shirlington) and the Wakefield High School softball fields.

At 7:30 Saturday morning, an opening ceremony will be held at Barcroft. It will feature the Army Old Guard Ceremonial Fife and Drum Brigade, along with WJLA sports reporter Britt McHenry, Arlington County Manager Michael Brown, Police Chief Douglas Scott, and Fire Chief James Schwartz.

Photo courtesy First Responders Cup.

Registration Still Open for Arlington 9/11 Run

By ARLnow.com

Online registration is now closed for this year’s Arlington 9/11 Memorial 5K, but runners can still register in person over the next three days.

The race, which was started by two Arlington police officers in 2002, will be held Saturday in Pentagon City. Thousands of runners are expected to participate.

Team and online registration is closed, but anyone interested in participating can register in person today at Pacers Running Store in Clarendon (3100 Clarendon Blvd) between noon and 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday, in person registration will take place at the Pacers store in Pentagon City (1101 South Joyce Street) from noon to 9:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday it will take place at the DoubleTree Hotel in Pentagon City (300 Army Navy Drive). The cost of registration is $30 now, $35 on race day.

The race will kick off from the DoubleTree at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Fifteen minutes before the race, Del. Bob Brink (D-Arlington) will dedicate part of Washington Boulevard as “9/11 Heroes Memorial Highway.”

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA