election

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Seeks Contractor to ‘Dump Bodies’ — Updated on 1/6/12 — This article has been corrected. Earlier: Among the “just in case” categories of contracting work for which Arlington County is seeking potential applicants is corpse handling. Listed under the heading “Dump Bodies,” the job would be awarded in the event of a disaster involving mass casualties. [Washington Business Journal]

Local Dems to Require Loyalty Oath, Too — The Republican Party of Virginia has been facing some scrutiny over its plan to require voters in the upcoming Republican presidential primary to sign a “loyalty oath.” Arlington Democrats, however, are planning to require something very similar for participants in their upcoming County Board caucuses. Caucus voters will be required to sign a statement pledging their support for the eventual Democratic County Board nominee. [Ode Street Tribune]

Cap City Launches Sunday Brunch Service — Capitol City Brewing Company in Shirlington is now serving brunch on Sundays. The brunch service, which features familiar brunch fare and “free-flowing” cocktails for a fixed price of $15.95, started on Jan. 1. [Facebook]

Obama to Visit Pentagon — President Obama is scheduled to visit the Pentagon around 10:50 this morning. While there, the president is slated to deliver a speech that will guide the Defense Department’s upcoming budget decisions. The speech comes as the Pentagon faces hundreds of billions of dollars in budget cuts. [Associated Press]

Candidate Is Running for County Board, Literally

By ARLnow.com

County Board candidate Kim Klingler is taking the phrase “running for office” literally.

Klingler’s campaign has scheduled a series of morning jogs with the candidate. The jogs are open to anyone interested in learning more about Klingler, a trained emergency medical technician and a certified personal trainer.

“Arlingtonians can start their new year off right and join Kim for a morning jog and discussion about how Arlington is doing as a County and how we can improve,” the campaign said in a press release. “This is an opportunity for those on the go to meet Kim, run with a group, and get to know different neighborhoods in Arlington.”

Five runs are scheduled between Jan. 5 and Jan. 16, in advance of the Democratic caucuses on Jan. 19 and 21. The chosen Democratic nominee will compete in a special election on Tuesday, March 27. (See run schedule, after the jump.)

“Runs range in distance from 2 miles to 5 miles, and those of all paces are encouraged to join,” the campaign said. “In addition to these scheduled runs, Kim plans on joining established running groups for a run, time permitting, and also invites area runners to suggest other runs.”

Campaign photo via Facebook. Disclosure: Kim for Arlington is an ARLnow.com advertiser. Advertising on ARLnow.com is open to all political campaigns and does not influence news coverage.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Board Debate Scheduled — The six Democratic candidates for County Board, along with Green Party hopeful Audrey Clement, have been invited to participate in a candidate’s night debate on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The debate, which is sponsored by a number of civic associations as well as the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, will take place at McKinley Elementary (1050 McKinley Road) at 7:30 p.m. The Arlington County Democratic Committee has also scheduled its own candidate forum.

Petraeus Spotted in Shirlington — CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus was reportedly spotted eating and drinking with his wife at Guapo’s in Shirlington Village over the weekend. Petraeus isn’t the only powerful Guapo’s fan: House Speaker John Boehner has also been spotted there several times. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Changes to ART 62 Route — Several significant changes to the ART 62 bus route start today. [CommuterPage Blog]

Neighborhood College Registration Open — Arlington County’s ‘Neighborhood College’ is accepting applications for its 2012 Civic Leadership Development Program. The free, eight-week course is open to all residents. It seeks to give students “the inside scoop on how County government works… helping you hone your civic leadership skills.” Applications for the 25 available slots are due Jan. 30. [Arlington County]

County Board Candidate Forum Scheduled

By ARLnow.com

(Updated on 1/3/12) The six announced candidates for County Board will have an opportunity to publicly make their case to fellow Democrats next week.

The Arlington County Democratic Committee has scheduled a candidate forum for Wednesday, Jan. 4. The forum will be held during the ACDC meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the NRECA building in Ballston (4301 Wilson Blvd) George Mason University Law School’s Founders Hall in Virginia Square (3351 Fairfax Dr.).

To date, the candidates who have announced their intention to seek the Democratic nomination for County Board are: Melissa Bondi, Peter Fallon, Libby Garvey, Kim Klingler, Elmer Lowe, and Terron Sims.

The deadline for filing to seek the nomination is 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9. Democrats will choose their nominees during caucuses on Thursday, Jan. 19 (at Washington-Lee High School) and on Saturday, Jan. 21 (at Kenmore Middle School).

The County Board special election — to fill the seat being vacated by state Senator-elect Barbara Favola on Dec. 31 — will be held on Tuesday, March 27. So far, no Republicans have announced their intention to run for the seat.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Gingrich Doesn’t Make Cut for Va. GOP Ballot — Despite a last-minute push for signatures, Republican presidential candidate Next Gingrich failed to get enough valid signatures to make it on the Republican primary ballot in Virginia. Texas Governor Rick Perry also fell short of making it on the ballot. [Bloomberg]

Dominion Hills Gets Historical Designation — The Virginia Department of Historical Resources has added the Arlington neighborhood of Dominion Hills to its register of historic places. [News Leader]

Cheesetique Now Open — The new Shirlington location of Alexandria-based wine and cheese store Cheesetique is now open. The store opened its doors to the public for the first time on Monday. [Shirlington Village Blog]

Flickr pool photo by Michael T. Ruhl

Newt Gingrich Rallies Supporters in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

About 200-300 supporters of Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich packed a large conference room in the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn last night, to hear a brief campaign speech by the former House speaker.

“I have one opponent: Barack Obama,” Gingrich told the enthusiastic crowd.

But with a dozen television cameras rolling and with members of the national press corps typing notes into their laptops, Gingrich focused his sharpest words on GOP rival Mitt Romney. Specifically, Gingrich bristled at the negative ads Romney and others have been running against him in Iowa.

“If they don’t have anything positive to get elected on, they shouldn’t be running,” Gingrich said, later suggesting that Romney is in danger of being branded “just another normal national politician with clever consultants and a lot of money but no willingness to tell the truth.”

(Video of the speech is available via the Democratic blog Blue Virginia.)

Before and after the speech, campaign volunteers collected signatures to get Gingrich, a McLean resident since 2000, on the ballot in Virginia. Gingrich’s campaign needs to turn in 10,000 valid voter signatures today to get on the ballot for the Commonwealth’s primary, which is held on Super Tuesday (March 6).

Despite a busy campaign schedule, Gingrich and his wife took time to pose for photos with dozens of supporters after the speech. Gingrich’s campaign headquarters is located in Ballston.

1/15

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Weekend Closure Times Revised — Some of the times of this weekend’s Christmas closures have been revised. Arlington County government offices will now close at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, while county libraries will close at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. [Arlington County]

Dem Caucus Date Revised — Democratic candidates for County Board are scrambling after the newly-chosen special election date forced the Arlington County Democratic Committee to move up its caucuses, which will choose the party’s nominee for Barbara Favola’s former County Board seat. Originally scheduled for Feb. 2 and 4, the caucus is now expected to be held on Jan. 19 and 21. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by Christaki

Newt Gingrich to Hold Rally in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be appearing at a rally in Arlington Wednesday night.

Gingrich’s campaign has scheduled a rally from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Key Bridge Marriott (1401 Lee Highway) in Rosslyn, according to an email published by Politico. The rally is apparently part of an effort to make sure Gingrich collects enough signatures to appear on the ballot in Virginia.

This is not Gingrich’s first appearance in Arlington as a presidential candidate. The former House speaker was in Arlington this summer for the grand opening of his campaign headquarters, which is located on Fairfax Drive in Ballston.

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Happy Hanukkah! — The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah starts at sunset tonight. Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah runs through Wednesday, Dec. 28.

Barcroft Construction Enters Phase Two — The initial demolition phase of the construction of a new baseball field in Barcroft Park has concluded. Crews are now moving on to the field’s construction phase. Work on the $3 million project, which is being paid for by George Washington University, is expected to wrap up in Spring 2012. The field will be used by GW’s baseball team but will also be available for public use. [GW Sports]

Bill Would Make Parties Pay for Primaries — Taxpayers currently pick up the tab for the cost of running primary elections in Virginia, but that could change if a piece of proposed legislation passes the General Assembly this year. The bill would make political parties pay for primary elections, but would also give parties the option of holding caucuses. It costs about $50,000 to run a primary election in Arlington. [Sun Gazette]

Large Arlandria Development Approved — A major residential development is being undertaken just across the Arlington border. Over the weekend, the Alexandria City Council approved a new six-story, 478-unit apartment complex in the Arlandria section of the city. The apartment building — dubbed Arlandria Center — will replace a strip shopping center, but will include 53,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. It is part of an effort to redevelop a portion of the “village center” of Mount Vernon Avenue. [Washington Post]

Date Announced for County Board Special Election

By Katie Pyzyk

The special election for Arlington County Board will take place on March 27, 2012, according to a court order issued today.

The election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Barbara Favola, who defeated Caren Merrick in the race for Virginia Senate last month. The date could not be set until Favola formally resigned from the County Board.

Arlington County Registrar Linda Lindberg said the County Electoral Board will meet on Wednesday to determine candidate filing deadlines for the special election. Candidates could not officially file to run until the special election date was released. Until now, they were required file as if they were running in the November 2012 election, and then amend the request once the special election date was official. So far, there are six Democrats who have expressed intent to run, but no Republicans.

Whoever claims victory in the special election still must run again for the seat in November.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Linden Resources Profiled — Linden Resources, based on 23rd Street in Aurora Highlands, provides jobs to more than 250 people with disabilities, including disabled veterans. The company was recently profiled on WUSA9’s Hero Central segment. [WUSA9]

GOP Still Looking for County Board Candidate — A special election may be the GOP’s best chance to capture a seat on the Arlington County Board, but so far no Republican has stepped up to run in the upcoming special election to fill state Senator-elect Barbara Favola’s seat. [Sun Gazette]

Obama Leading in Va. Poll — Virginia’s state legislature may be dominated by Republicans, but a new poll shows that voters are leaning toward President Obama in theoretical match-ups against GOP presidential frontrunners Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. [Washington Examiner]

Pike Streetcar… A Bargain? — Miles Grant argues that the estimated $250 million cost of the planned Columbia Pike streetcar is actually a bargain compared to some other major transportation project. [Greater Greater Washington]

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