More on Possible Shirlington Walmart — Three months after ARLnow.com reported exclusively that Walmart was eying a site for a possible store in Shirlington, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman is acknowledging that the county is aware of Walmart’s interest in Shirlington. This weekend the County Board is expected to discuss changing the zoning ordinance in order to prevent “big box” stores like Walmart from being constructed without Board approval. When the ordinance change was first advertised, the word “Walmart” was never mentioned. [WTOP]

Fire Station Open Houses This Weekend — Arlington’s 10 fire stations will each be conducting an open house between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The kid-friendly event is organized as part of Fire Prevention Week 2011. [Arlington County]

Turnaround at AWLA — There’s a turnaround underway at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, which had been criticized for its relatively high euthanasia rate for dogs and cats. The shelter’s euthanasia rate during fiscal year 2011 was down 60 percent compared to the year before. The “positive outcome” rate for sheltered dogs rose to 91 percent from 80 percent one year prior. [Sun Gazette]

F.C., Arlington Police Investigate Burglaries — Arlington and Falls Church police are investigating a series of ten residential burglaries since the beginning of fall. The burglaries have occurred in the City of Falls Church and in Arlington’s East Falls Church neighborhood. Stolen items include laptops, iPods, guns, passports, bank checks and jewelry. [Falls Church News-Press]


In this week’s Arlington County crime report, a suspected burglar was caught after a handyman working on a neighbor’s house saw the crime in progress and called police.

BURGLARY-ARREST, 09/15/11, 3500 block of N. 13th Street. On September 15 at 12:44 pm, a man was seen breaking into a residence. He was located by police and in possession of items from the house. Michael Porter, 53, of no fixed address, was charged with Burglary and Grand Larceny. He was held on a $1,500 bond.

The rest of this week’s crime report, including a man charged with assaulting a police officer during a DWI arrest, after the jump.

(more…)


A north Arlington resident came home this morning and reportedly found a man who was in the process of burglarizing his house. The burglar punched the homeowner in the face and fled with some sort of a metal box, according to police radio traffic.

The incident happened in the Yorktown neighborhood, a few blocks away from the Knights of Columbus and Yorktown High School. Police are now searching the area, trying to find the alleged burglar.

He’s described as a tall black man, wearing a light shirt, a baseball cap and a long coat.


A group of men in ski masks threw a cinder block into a window at the Apple Store in Clarendon overnight, but they didn’t break the glass.

The men reportedly fled after they were unable to break into the store. Police set up a perimeter and searched the area after the apparent burglary attempt, but they could not locate the suspects.

A large gash is visible where cinder block hit the window, we’re told.