Fairlington

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Water Main Break in Fairlington — A large water main break shut down the intersection of 31st and S. Abingdon Streets in Fairlington last night. [WUSA 9]

Joe Paterno Hires Clarendon Firm — Before he was fired by university trustees last night, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno hired Clarendon-based TMG Strategies to handle media inquiries. TMG specializes in crisis communications. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Green Party’s Fortunes Tied to GOP — Green Party candidates in Arlington seem to do significantly better on election day when there’s no Republican in the race. [Sun Gazette]

New Art on ART Buses — There are a few new whimsical illustrations on the county’s ART buses. The art was created by Nigerian-born and Alexandria, Va.-based artist Victor Ekpuk, as a joint venture between Arlington Transit and the Artisphere. [CommuterPage Blog]

Deal on Romeo and Juliet Tix — The Washington Post is offering $55 tickets to Synetic Theater’s Crystal City performance of Romeo and Juliet for $25. Synetic, which only recently established its home base in Crystal City, is a physical theater company — its shows substitute intense physical acting for dialogue. The deal expires at midnight tonight. Romeo and Juliet opens on Nov. 25. [The Capitol Deal]

‘Chicken Whisperer’ to Talk to Arlington Egg Supporters

By ARLnow.com

A group that’s trying to convince Arlington County to allow residents to raise backyard hens is bringing in an “urban chicken expert” as a speaker this week.

Pat Foreman, co-host of the “Chicken Whisperer Backyard Poultry and Sustainable Lifestyles Talk Show,” will be addressing members of the Arlington Egg Project (motto: “Give Peeps a Chance“) on Thursday night. Foreman has written books like “City Chicks,” “Chicken Tractor” and “Day Range Poultry,” which promote the benefits of small-scale hen-keeping. She will teach interested Arlingtonians the ins and outs of “keeping micro-flocks of laying hens as garden helpers, compost makers, bio-recyclers and local food suppliers.”

Foreman, who lives near Lexington, Va., will provide chicken supporters additional ammunition in their quest to get Arlington to relax rules that prohibit the vast majority of residents from keeping egg-laying hens in their backyards. Among the poultry-powered benefits she promotes: “enhance backyard agriculture… divert food and yard ‘waste’ out of landfills… decrease oil consumption… lower carbon footprints… improve national defense and emergency preparedness.”

Foreman will also be selling autographed books.

The event, co-sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension, will take place on Thursday, Oct. 20 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Fairlington Community Center (3308 S. Stafford Street). The public is asked to pre-register by calling 703-228-6414 or by emailing [email protected].

Following Foreman’s talk, the Arlington Egg Project plans to discuss the “next steps” in its advocacy effort. The group has told members that it’s nearing 1,000 signatures on a petition it plans to present to the Arlington County Board.

Low Water Pressure After Main Break in Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

Many residents of the Shirlington and Fairlington areas of South Arlington are experiencing low or no water pressure after a water main break.

The break happened near the intersection of Walter Reed Drive and Arlington Mill Drive in Shirlington yesterday. Crews have been unable to fully fix the rupture because the size of the water main — 14 inches — is “rare” and the nearest replacement part that the county was able to find was four hours away.

Much of Fairlington and parts of Shirlington are currently experiencing low or no water pressure. Most Shirlington businesses, however, are “in good shape,” according to Arlington County Department of Environmental Services spokeswoman Myllisa Kennedy.

Kennedy says crews will be making repairs throughout the evening. Work is expected to wrap up during the overnight hours, she said. The work has reduced Arlington Mill Drive to one lane in each direction near the water main break.

Residents with discolored water are encouraged to run the taps until the water clears up. Anybody who is concerned about their water can call the county’s water emergency hotline at 703-228-6555.

Update at 3:20 p.m. — A status update from Arlington County:

Emergency repairs are underway on the water main break at Walter Reed Drive and Arlington Mill Drive. Crews installed the new pipe and valve; however, while they were reopening the valves another portion of the pipe broke. Water in the area has been shut off while the team reassesses the situation and continues repairs.

Abingdon Elementary School has been notified of the situation. For the latest information about the schedule at Abingdon ES, visit Arlington Public Schools at www.apsva.us.

File photo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

It’s Election Day — See our election day guide here.

Don’t Give Money To Panhandlers, Say Advocates — What should you give when a panhandler approaches you on the street? Whatever you do, don’t give money, say advocates for the homeless. The Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network recommends giving its new “Arlington County Street Guide,” a pocket-sized information packet for the panhandlers. More from the Sun Gazette.

JetBlue Now Flying Out of DCA — Yesterday marked the first day of JetBlue flights out of Reagan National Airport. The airline is operating seven daily nonstop flights to Boston’s Logan airport, one daily nonstop to Orlando and one daily nonstop to Fort Lauderdale, each out of Terminal A. JetBlue is currently offering a special $49 fare to and from Boston for travel between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31. More from JetBlue.

Arlington Dentist Buys Back Candy — Dr. Michael Rogers of Fairlington Dental has a special offer for trick-or-treaters. He’s offering to pay kids $3 per pound for cavity-causing Halloween candy. He’ll even throw in a free toothbrush. What’s Dr. Rogers going to do with all that candy? He’s going to ship it to our troops in Afghanistan. More from TBD.

Flickr pool photo by Plaszloc.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Fairlington’s Timeless Qualities — The Washington Post profiles Fairlington, which was recently battered by severe thunderstorms (though mention of the storms is conspicuously absent from the article). If it weren’t for the modern cars parked around the neighborhood, the Post says, one could easily mistake Fairlington for a scene out of the 1950s.

Boutiques to Check Out — Support local business and discover new places to shop. Connection Newspapers has a list of a number of great local boutiques around Arlington.

Planetarium Supporters to Fundraise at Fair — The Friends of the David M. Brown Planetarium have raised more than $15,000 so far, but remain far from their $402,800 goal. To help close the gap, they’re going to set up a booth at the Arlington County Fair. More from the Sun Gazette.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Power Could Be Out In Fairlington Until Sunday

By ARLnow.com

Update at 5:10 p.m. — Dominion reports that 3,583 customers in Arlington are still without power.

Power in the hard-hit Fairlington neighborhood could be out until Sunday, Arlington County warned today. With temperatures reaching into the 90’s on Sunday, this could present a dangerous situation for residents who try to wait out the power outage in their homes.

Arlington advises that residents could use Central Library as a cooling shelter. Central Library is open until 5:00 today, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sautrday, and from 1:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Other cool places to kill time include the Pentagon City mall, Ballston mall and the Crystal City underground. Click here for more heat safety tips from the county.

Food safety is another concern. A refridgerator can only keep food at a safe temperature for four hours during a power outage, assuming the door is not opened. One way to keep food from spoiling is to bring in blocks of ice or dry ice.

Freezers can stay cooler longer, but only 24-48 hours. Again, bringing in some sort of ice could prevent your frozen food from thawing.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a guide for which foods to throw out and which ones to keep when the power goes out for an extended period.

Hard-Hit Fairlington Cleans Up

By ARLnow.com

As chainsaws buzzed, residents walked the streets of Fairlington tonight, surveying the damage from this afternoon’s wicked storms. At least 40-50 trees were down in the area, according to Arlington County spokesperson Diana Sun.

Fairlington appears to be Arlington’s hardest-hit neighborhood. It was hard to find an older tree without large branches missing. It was hard to find a block without at least one car damaged.

Much of the area was still without electricity four hours after the storm, but the outages were spotty — some of the neighborhood’s garden apartment buildings had power while others across the street were dark.

Almost a dozen people gathered near Fort Reynolds Park, where a line of utility poles had split in half and fallen to the ground. A car with a Dominion logo on the side briefly parked nearby, then drove off ten minutes later.

Resident Bill Nesper said the storm brought back memories of living on the east coast of Florida during Hurricane Andrew.

“I looked outside and it looked like a hurricane,” he said. “The rain was going sideways… there were tree limbs everywhere.”

Nesper said the damage was caused so suddenly that “it must have been a quick set of wind gusts that did it.”

Nesper’s neighbor, who had two cars damaged by falling tree limbs in the storm, said the damage was close to the destruction Hurricane Isabel caused in Richmond, where he had been working as a police officer at the time.

One resident said training from her time in a war zone came in handy during the storm.

“I didn’t go near the window… having been in a war zone they said don’t get near the windows,” she said. “It was so black and dark… I almost went into the closet.”

1/15

What Will the Library of the Future Look Like? You Decide.

By ARLnow.com

This will be a rare instance of librarians encouraging people to speak up.

On June 5, Arlington County will hold a focus group to hear the citizen ideas for the future of the library system. And they’re giving away an iPod to boot.

The county is specifically seeking ideas for ways to improve its libraries. Officials will be asking questions like “why do you use the Library?” and “what should the ‘library of the future’ look like?”

The focus group will take place at the Fairlington Community Center (3308 South Stafford Street) at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 5. Refreshments will be served and an iPod will be raffled off.

Flickr photo by Arlington Public Library.

Woman Hit By Metrobus Faces Charge

By ARLnow.com

The woman hit by a Metrobus in Fairlington yesterday has been charged with careless interference with traffic.

Lisa Pope, 40, of Arlington leaned into the path of the bus while it was pulling up at a stop, police spokesperson Det. Crystal Nosal said. She was taken to a local hospital, bleeding from the forehead, as police and Metro personnel investigated the incident.

Pope was released on a summons, police said.

Woman Hit By Metro Bus in Fairlington

By ARLnow.com

A woman was hit by a Metrobus while waiting at a bus stop on South Buchanan Street in Arlington’s North Fairlington neighborhood around 10:00 this morning.

The woman was leaning over near the curb when the bus struck her in the head, Metro spokesperson Ron Holzer said.

She suffered minor cuts and was taken to a hospital, according to Holzer.

Witnesses said the woman was bleeding from the forehead when paramedics arrived.

A small crowd of commuters gathered near the scene, waiting for the bus to go back in service as Arlington police officers and Metro personnel talked to the driver and took notes.

Holzer could not say whether the driver was put on administrative leave after the accident.