Elizabeth Abraham, a second grade teacher at Arlington Science Focus School, was the surprise recipient of a Virginia Lottery “Super Teacher” award at a school-wide assembly yesterday.

Students, faculty, PTA representatives, school board members, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy, and Del. Patrick Hope — along with Abraham’s husband and two children — were on hand when Abraham was told she was the first of eight teachers statewide who will receive the award this year.

Abraham will receive a $2,000 cash prize from the lottery, as well as $2,000 classroom supply credit.

“Beth’s commitment to students of all levels is unmistakable,” said Arlington Science Focus School PTA President Noah Simon. “Whether it is the differentiated guided reading groups she established or her firm yet supportive classroom management style, her students develop and keep the will to learn and excel.”

Simon also noted that Abraham has been working beyond her contract hours to help an at-risk student “whose behavior has not only improved, but is serving as an example classmates can follow.”

Funds raised by the Virginia Lottery provided more than $430 million last year for Virginia public schools, representing about 8 percent of state funding for public education.

Photo courtesy Frank Bellavia/Arlington Public Schools


First Lady Michelle Obama gave the welcoming remarks at an awards ceremony in Pentagon City last night.

The Military Child of the Year Awards recognize the “strength, resilience and leadership” of military kids from each of branch of the armed services. The event, held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, was organized by the group Operation Homefront.

Support of military families is one of Mrs. Obama’s signature issues. She spoke glowingly of the honorees’ maturity, wisdom and bravery.

“When our troops are called to serve, their families serve too,” Mrs. Obama said to an audience chock full of military officers, spouses and media personnel. “[Military children] play their own very unique role in keeping our country safe… their strength and support helps our troops serve.”

The five recipients of this year’s awards were:

  • Taylor Dahl-Sims, 17, of Oceanside, Ca. Dahl-Sims helped to care for her baby brother —  who was suffering medical problems — while dad was away at war. When her father, a Marine, returned with a traumatic brain injury and facial injuries from multiple IED blasts, she also helped to take care of him. All the while, she has been doing volunteer work, taking college classes and commanding her school’s Air Force Junior ROTC.
  • Kyle Hoeye of Tucson, Ariz., whose Army father has been deployed three times. At 16, Hoeye “has made helping military families his life’s work.”
  • Melissa Howland, 17, of Millis, Mass. Howland nearly died from a blood disorder, the symptoms of which are now keeping her from playing her favorite sports. Nonetheless, Howland has managed to rack up nearly 500 volunteer hours while her Navy father was deployed in Iraq.
  • Nicole Goetz, 17, of Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Nicole’s father has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. With dad gone for months at a time, Nicole has stepped up to help raise her 10-year-old brother, all while donating hundreds of hours of her time to community service, earning a 4.0 GPA and serving as president of her school’s Key Club.
  • Margaret Rochon, a 17-year-old Coast Guard kid from Jacksonville, N.C. In addition to numerous extracurricular activities at school, Margaret helped to organize a seminar about the “stresses of wartime deployment on students and the effects of PTSD on families.” The seminar became mandatory training for teachers in her county.

More photos, after the jump.

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Ann Taylor Coming to Clarendon — An Ann Taylor store is coming to the Clarendon Market Common storefront formerly occupied by a Myer-Emco home electronics store. The new Clarendon Ann Taylor is expected to open on June 10, according to Market Common spokesperson Carol Nahorniak. [Clarendon Culture]

Tapas Bar Coming to Ballston — Upper Crust Gourmet (1000 N. Randolph Street) closed late last month for renovations. According to Eat More Drink More, the three-week project will transform the well-liked cafe into a tapas bar. [Eat More Drink More]

Club 31-11 Had Fights, Armed Security — What really went on behind the scenes at the recently-shuttered Club 31-11 on Columbia Pike? Gambling, fights, open-carrying security guards and frequent visits from police, according to Pike Wire. The owner says he was “harassed” by police due to the club’s primarily black clientele, but police say that charge is “way off base” and the visits had more to do with the club’s lack of permits. [Pike Wire]

Hynes Wins ‘Noise’ Award — Mary Hynes has won the 2011 Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Organization to Insure a Sound-controlled Environment (N.O.I.S.E.), a group dedicated to controlling aviation noise. Hynes has assisted N.O.I.S.E. with its annual legislative forum and has organized public meetings about helicopter noise in Northern Virginia.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99


First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver a speech at the Operation Homefront 2011 Military Child of the Year Awards on Thursday evening.

The award show is being held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City. The awards honor “military children who demonstrate resilience, strength of character and leadership within their families and communities.”

Five outstanding children from each branch of the military will receive awards.

Operation Homefront provides emergency financial and other assistance to the families of service members and wounded warriors.

White House Photo


The 2011 RAMMY award finalists have been announced, but only two Arlington restaurants made the list.

Clarendon’s Liberty Tavern was nominated for Best Upscale Casual Restaurant and Lyon Park’s EatBar was nominated for Best Neighborhood Gathering Space.

In a fractional victory, Tiffany MacIsaac of Neighborhood Restaurant Group — which operates EatBar, Tallula and Rustico in Arlington, along with restaurants in the District and Alexandria — was nominated for Best Pastry Chef.

Five nominees were announced in each of 14 categories. Among the categories in which Arlington did not have a nominee were Best New Restaurant, Best Mixology/Beverage Program and Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene.

Last year Arlington had four RAMMY nominees. Each went home from the award ceremony empty-handed.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief


Davies Driver Sentenced in Crash — The driver in the fatal 2009 George Washington Parkway crash that left soccer star Charlie Davies severely injured was sentenced to two years in prison Friday. Maria Espinoza was drunk when the SUV she was driving hit a guardrail near Memorial Bridge and split in half, killing her best friend and leaving Davies maimed. Davies, now playing for DC United, scored two goals in the team’s home opener at RFK Stadium on Saturday. [ESPN, NY Times, Washington Post]

Arlington Woman Rescued from Potomac River — An Arlington woman was rescued by the Coast Guard after her kayak overturned in the Georgetown Channel, near Key Bridge, just before noon on Sunday. The woman, identified at 61-year-old Jenie Upchurch, was reportedly struggling to stay afloat when a Coast Guard vessel arrived at the scene and threw her a life ring. [U.S. Coast Guard]

APS Principal of the Year Named — Arlington Science Focus School principal Mary Begley has been named the Arlington Public Schools 2011 Principal of the Year. [Arlington Public Schools]

Pet Dove Eaten By Hawk — A pet dove named “Paci” was out enjoying the great outdoors in Alcova Heights last weekend when, according to the Ode Street Tribune, a hawk swooped in and put an abrupt end to her peaceful existence. [Ode Street Tribune]


Spring Cleaning For Bikes — Forecasts suggest we’re in for two very nice days to end the work week. It’s going to be warm enough that many seasonal cyclists may be thinking about dusting off their bike for a spin. Local cycling advocate Mark Blacknell has advice for getting your bike into proper riding condition after a winter in storage. [Patch]

Gas Company Urges Residents to Report Leaks — A public forum about gas leaks didn’t attract a large crowd, but it did feature officials from Washington Gas who asked residents to report leaks as soon as they smell them. [Sun Gazette]

Construction on Ballston Development Moving Along — Work is well underway on a new 10-story, 316,000 square foot office building at 800 North Glebe Road in Ballston, the former site of Bob Peck Chevrolet. Tenants are expected to start moving in next March. [CityBiz]

Arlington Wins Transparency Award — Arlington County has received a 2011 “Sunny Award” from the nonprofit Sunshine Review. The honor is bestowed on dozens of local governments each year for transparency on the web. Arlington’s web site earned a “perfect website transparency score” from the organization, which is dedicated to state and local government transparency. [Sunshine Review]

Flickr photo by Cobalt123


Arlington police are still looking for the people responsible for turning the DMV Music Awards show in Crystal City into a large-scale brawl.

Despite the fact that 1,500 people attended the event, dozens of offers responded to the scene, and some of the fights were caught on video, police still have not made any arrests, according to department spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal.

Investigators are asking anybody who witnessed or video taped an assault at the awards to come forward by contacting Det. John Donaggio at 703-228-4167.


Update on 3/7/11 — Another video of the brawl has been posted on DMVLife.com.

Update at 3:05 a.m. — A video posted on AllDMVHipHop.com (NSFW) shows a group of nearly a dozen people fighting inside the hotel.

A huge brawl broke out at a local hip hop award show in Crystal City Saturday night, sending several people to the hospital.

Multiple fights broke out at the 2011 DMV Music Awards at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, authorities said. Reports of more than 20 people fighting amid an audience of more than 1,500 prompted Arlington County police to take the rare step of sending every available unit to the scene.

“We’re going to need everyone,” an officer radioed to the dispatch center just after 9:30 p.m. “Apparently the whole place is out of control.”

Police arrived after most of the fighting had been broken up. Arlington officers were joined by units from Alexandria and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, a witness said. Some officers were armed with assault rifles, riot shields and other tactical gear, according to multiple witnesses.

The violence sent at least five people to local hospitals, according to Arlington Police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Among the injured were a hotel employee and an individual who suffered “severe trauma to left eye.”

As of 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, no arrests had been made, according to Nosal. At that time police were still conducting an “active investigation” inside the hotel, Nosal said.

Local resident Doug Wendt witnessed the aftermath of the melee from outside the hotel. He reported this from the scene:

Approximately 30+ police cruisers converged upon the scene within minutes, as well as multiple paramedic units. While uniformed officers – some wearing tactical gear – and plainclothes detectives searched the hotel for suspects and persons of interest, victims were being treated on the streets outside the hotel by emergency medical personnel. Medical staging areas were set up on South Clark Street in front of the Hyatt, as well as at the nearby Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Police units clogged Crystal Drive and South Clark Street as patrons streamed out of the hotel after the event was ended as a result of the incident.

According to TBD, the general manager of the hotel said security for the event was provided by “police, a private company, and the hotel’s own security staff.”

No word yet on why the fighting started.

Photo courtesy Doug Wendt. Hat tips to Doug, Alan and John.


Man Killed on Key Bridge Was Arlington Resident — Police say 23-year-old Arlington resident Aliester Elizardo Pineda-Medrano was walking his broken-down moped across the Key Bridge when he was struck and killed by an SUV Sunday night. The man who police say struck Pineda-Medrano and kept going has also been identified. [WUSA 9]

DMV Back Open After Roof Blown Off — A large section of the metal roof atop the DMV building on South Four Mile Run Drive blew off during Friday’s fierce winds. Nonetheless, the DMV opened as usual on Monday. [TBD]

Women of Vision Finalists Named — The Arlington Commission on the Status of Women has unveiled the four nominees for its 2011 ‘Women of Vision’ award. The winner of the award will be announced at a reception on March 10. [Sun Gazette]

ArlingtonSenator.com Registered — State political blogger Ben Tribbett has been mentioned as a possible candidate in the race to replace retiring state Senator Mary Margaret Whipple. The 31-year-old is at least considering a run. Domain records show Tribbett has registered ArlingtonSenator.com. [Network Solutions]


Bayou Bakery owner and chef David Guas has been nominated for Food & Wine Magazine’s The People’s Best New Chef award.

Guas is one of ten chefs nominated for the award in the Mid-Atlantic region, and one of 100 chefs nominated nationwide. Other local nominees include Kyle Bailey of Birch & Barley, Dan Giusti of 1789 Restaurant, and Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana.

The ultimate winner will be decided by an online vote. The winners in each of the ten geographic regions will be featured in the July issue of Food and Wine.

Bayou Bakery is located at 1515 North Courthouse Road in Courthouse.


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