Green Valley

New Pool Hall to Open in Former Lucy’s Location Near Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

Former Lucy's ARL near Shirlington (photo via Google Maps)(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) A new billiards hall and neighborhood bar is coming to the former Lucy’s ARL location near Shirlington.

Chester’s Billiards Bar & Grill will be located at 2620 S. Shirlington Road, which has been without a restaurant tenant since Lucy’s closed in December 2013.

Co-owner Derrick Fulghum, Sr. told ARLnow.com today that he’s hoping to open by mid-August, should all go well with his permits and licenses.

Chester’s will largely pick up where Lucy’s left off. No interior construction of note is planned — the pool tables and bar will be in about the same place. Two things that are changing: more of a focus on live entertainment and on families.

Fulghum said he will be applying for a live entertainment permit, to allow him to offer performances by standup comics, bands and DJs.

As for his customer base, Fulghum said he hopes to attract families and local residents around the Shirlington area. That’s a bit of a contrast from Lucy’s, which proudly displayed the motto “Shrews. Brews. Cues.”

“I have a family and I’m planning on bring them here,” he said. “It will be very inviting, a fun atmosphere. We look forward to giving back… and becoming part of the Shirlington community.”

Chester’s will serve American cuisine — “good food,” Fulghum promises. He said local residents he’s talked to have been positive about the concept. Plus, he’ll benefit from reduced competition: The Bungalow Sports Grill in Shirlington, which had billiards tables, closed last month.

This will be Fulghum’s second South Arlington and third D.C. area establishment. He and his business partner own Andalusia Tea Room, a hookah bar in Crystal City, as well as a bar and grill in Rockville, he said.

Photo via Google Maps

Woman Exposes Herself to Police Officer

By ARLnow.com

Police car lightsA woman is facing charges after allegedly exposing herself to a police officer.

The incident happened just before 1:00 p.m. on Friday in a park near Drew Elementary School in the Nauck neighborhood.

Police say the woman, 50-year-old Arlington resident Delia Jones, exposed herself to a uniformed police officer. She was subsequently issued a court summons for indecent exposure.

Dog Bites Woman, Friend Pepper Sprays Dog Owner

By ARLnow.com

Arlington police carA woman was arrested over the weekend after allegedly pepper spraying the owner of a dog that attacked her neighbor.

The chain of events started Sunday evening on the 2400 block of S. Monroe Street, in Nauck.

Police say a woman was bitten in the face by a dog that belonged to a man who was renting a room in her house. The dog attacked the woman after she stomped her feet and tried to take a bone away from it, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. The dog’s owner was not at home at the time.

The woman went to the hospital, received several stitches, then returned home and called police to report the dog bite.

Later that night, just past midnight, police were called to the house again. The owner of the dog had returned home and was sleeping when he awoke to find a woman standing next to him. The next thing he knew, the woman was pepper spraying him in the face, Sternbeck said.

Police responded to the house and found the woman, a next door neighbor and friend of the bitten homeowner, hiding in some woods behind the house, Sternbeck said.

The woman, who had reportedly been drinking earlier in the day, was taken into custody but on the way back to the police cruiser she tripped and struck her face on a fence, causing a black eye, according to Sternbeck. An officer was dragged down with the falling suspect and suffered a dislocated shoulder, he said.

Arlington resident Laura Dyckman was arrested and charged with breaking and entering with intent to assault, plus assault and battery by caustic substance. She was held on bond.

The dog, breed unknown, remained in the custody of its owner.

New Nauck Restaurant Brings Four Cuisines to the Table

By Heather Mongilio
1/5

The Corner Tex-Mix, a new Latin fusion restaurant in Arlington’s Nauck neighborhood, has opened at at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive.

The eatery brings the flavors of Salvadoran, Mexican, American and Mediterranean food to its tables. The restaurant is colorful, with a bright red and green walls and colorful lights hanging over the bar. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has seating both inside and outside.

“What I can say is that we’re trying to do something new in the area for the residents of Arlington with good dishes and a lot of different flavors they can come over and try,” head chef Leo Medrano said.

The food is fresh, Medrano said, with sauces and salad dressings, such as the bleu cheese or chipotle barbecue ranch, made in the restaurant daily.

Medrano recommends new patrons try one of the four salad options, but his favorite is the bib lettuce salad. The bib lettuce salad has bib lettuce, tomato, red onion, bacon and blue cheese. His other favorite meal is the crab cake sandwich.

“We offer some healthy food and delicious and good quality,” Medrano said.

Medrano also has a different special plate every day, he said. His favorite dishes to create include Salmon or Mahi Mahi.

“You can mix it with fruit or vegetables,” Medrano said, “and it tastes delicious either way.”

In a press release, The Corner Tex-Mix said it will be a “a big change from the old establishment at the same location” and will bring chef-driven food to a Nauck community that “has been historically void of any good restaurants.”

Previous restaurants that have come and gone at the 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive location include Las Delicias Restaurante and, more recently, El Manatial III.

Photos: More Animal Tree Carvings Around Arlington

By Ethan Rothstein
1/10

(Updated at noon) More and more dead trees are being turned into animals around Arlington.

Artist Andrew Mallon, owner of Potomac Tree Structures, drew attention for the bear he carved into a tree on 14th Street N. in Virginia Square last summer and business has only improved since then.

“I think it can get very big,” Mallon said. “I think that it is something that’s going to keep growing. I get more and more calls all the time.”

The Virginia Square tree has been completely transformed. Where was once a bear in the middle of a dead tree, there is now a complete statue, with a fox curling around the trunk and a hawk perched on top.

An Andrew Mallon original has popped up in Maywood, with an owl perched on top of a carved down tree with a “green man” etched in the middle. That sculpture, on the 3500 block of 21st Avenue N. is set back a little from the road — unlike the bear, hawk and fox tree, which is almost on the sidewalk.

South Arlington also has a bit of tree art. On the 4000 block of 19th Street S. in Douglas Park, Mallon took a stump and carved two dogs chasing two squirrels up a tree.

“Most people don’t even really know exactly what they want,” Mallon said. “They mostly say ‘you’re the artist, you tell me.'”

Most of the pieces he’s done — there are some in Fairfax County — take a week or so, but the bear, hawk and fox statue took longer because of payment issues. When Mallon returned to work on it, neighbors gushed to him about the art he added to their neighborhood.

“That’s probably my favorite thing about it,” he said. “Neighbors stop and thank me for bringing it to their neighborhood. The community really likes it, the kids all love it.”

Mallon can be reached at 703-919-4835 or at [email protected].

New Brewery Coming to South Arlington?

By Ethan Rothstein

Metropole Brewing founder Michael Katrivanos (photo via Facebook)A new production brewery could be on its way to Arlington, on Four Mile Run Drive near Shirlington.

Metropole Brewing Company has applied for a permit to start a microbrewery at 2709 S. Oakland Street, in the Nauck neighborhood. The application is for a brewery producing 500 or fewer barrels per year — so far there’s no indication from either the application or the nascent brewery’s Facebook page if it plans to serve beverages on-site.

Metropole’s founder, Michael Katrivanos, did not return a message seeking comment this afternoon. He has applied for building permits with the county, but has yet to receive final approval.

If the ABC license and building permits are approved, Metropole could be Arlington’s first indigenous distribution brewery since 1916, when Arlington Brewing Company stopped making beer.

The only two places where beer is brewed commercially in Arlington are Rock Bottom Brewery in the Ballston Common Mall and Capitol City Brewing Company in Shirlington. Neither of those businesses brew beer to be sold off the premises.

This spring, Sehkraft Beer Garden and Haus plans to open in Clarendon and brew its own beer. Owner Devin Hicks told ARLnow.com last summer that Arlington’s Zoning Ordinance prohibits a brewpub from selling its beers to other businesses, but he was exploring options to work around the regulation.

Since 2012, at least two aspiring breweries had sniffed around Arlington to start operations, but both companies could not find space and close a deal.

Photo via Facebook

African-American Heritage Festival Returns Saturday

By Ethan Rothstein

Drew Community Center (photo via Arlington County)Arlington’s 23rd annual “Feel the Heritage Festival,” celebrating Black History Month, returns on Saturday to the Charles Drew Community Center in Nauck.

From 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. at 3500 23rd Street S., attendees can come to the free event to enjoy live music and dancing, a display of Arlington’s black history with photos and artifacts and food from Buck’s BBQ and Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Performing throughout the festival will be an assortment of musical acts: N2N Band, an eight-member R&B and Motown cover group; Anansegromma of Ghana, performing traditional West African drumming, storytelling and dance; and the Ebony Day Dance Company.

There will be children’s activities like face painting, balloon animals and hands-on craft-making for kids to make their own souvenirs. The community will host a bake sale and there will be dozens artisan and nonprofit vendor booths.

For history buffs, the highlight will be the “Hall of History,” with artifacts from nine different black churches and organization, including relics from the Civil War and segregation.

Photo via Arlington County

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Flower in autumn (Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley)

TV Bachelor Arrested in Arlington — John Bonavia, a wealthy bachelor who tried to find love last year on the Bravo show Millionaire Matchmaker, was arrested in Ballston on Saturday, Nov. 1. Banavia was charged with being drunk in public on the 4200 block of N. Fairfax Drive, near the Ballston Metro station. [Radar Online]

Historical Marker for Pharmacy — Arlington County has erected a historical marker for the Green Valley Pharmacy in the Nauck neighborhood. The interactive marker includes audio clips from an interview with 86-year-old owner Leonard “Doc” Muse, who still operates the pharmacy to this day. [InsideNova, Arlington County]

No Blue Line Tomorrow — Metro’s Blue Line will be suspended on Tuesday (Veterans Day) to help with the agency’s effort to accommodate the massive crowds expected to attend the Concert for Valor on the National Mall. Yellow Line trains will replace Blue Line trains on Tuesday. As many as 800,000 people are expected to attend the concert. [WMATA]

County Offices Closed Tuesday — Arlington County offices, schools, courts and libraries will be closed for the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday. ART buses will operate on a modified holiday schedule. Normal trash, recycling and leaf collection will still take place. [Arlington County]

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

Teen Shot in Butt in Nauck

By ARLnow.com

Police car (file photo)An 18-year-old man was shot in the rear end in the Nacuk neighborhood early yesterday morning, a law enforcement source tells ARLnow.com.

The teen showed up at Virginia Hospital Center at 2:30 a.m. Thursday with a single gunshot wound, according to a crime report (below).

The circumstances behind the shooting are unclear. So far, police do not have a description of the suspect.

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 141023003, 2200 block of S. Shirlington Road. At approximately 2:30 am on October 23, a male victim arrived at Virginia Hospital Center with a single gunshot wound. The injury is non-life threatening. There is no suspect(s) description and the investigation is ongoing.

ACPD Chief: Another Ferguson Could Happen Here

By ARLnow.com

Police Chief Doug Scott at a community forum on policing

Could another Ferguson happen in Arlington?

Yes it could, admitted Arlington County Police Chief Doug Scott, but it’s not likely.

Scott and other local law enforcement and community figures were speaking at a community forum on policing last week at Wakefield High School when he was asked by WJLA’s Jeff Goldberg whether a police shooting — like the Aug. 9 shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. — could happen and spark unrest here. Yes, he said candidly, but Arlington County Police has been doing its best to ensure it does not.

For one, said Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos, Arlington officers are well-trained in the proper use of force.

“The level of professionalism, training… and the degree to which Arlington police exercise restraint in terms of the use of force,” make a controversial police shooting very unlikely, she said.

However unlikely, though, Scott said the department was prepared for a Ferguson-like shooting, in which the suspect turns out to be unarmed and conflicting witness statements are given. ACPD would stay in close contact with the local community in the wake of the shooting, would release information in a timely manner and would thoroughly investigate the shooting, he said.

“Part of my charge as the Chief of Police and working with members in the community, is to assure them that we’re going to do a comprehensive, objective and fair investigation,”said  Scott. “We’re going to put the officer on restricted duty. [He or she] is going to be compelled to give us a statement. There are going to be two investigations, a criminal investigation and an administrative investigation.”

Scott said the Ferguson police department seemed to be “trying to hold something back” after the shooting. “I think that those kind of things fueled the mistrust.”

Speakers at a police forum at Wakefield High SchoolDespite the police department’s efforts to build trust with minority communities — like Nauck, Arlington’s oldest African American neighborhood — speakers at the forum expressed concern about policing in the community. Some accused specific officers of being too aggressive, while others said that officers don’t spend enough time trying to be a part of the community.

“We should not be prisoners in our own house. Were were born and raised here,” said one Nauck resident, who said she was concerned about police “harassing” her sons. “You don’t go to my church. You only come out what, during Community Day? How are we supposed to trust you?”

“The way they speak to us is unacceptable,” said another woman. “The way they treat us in Nauck is not right.”

One young woman said she gets pulled over by ACPD at least once a week because she’s mistaken for her boyfriend, the co-signer on the car, whose drivers license is suspended. Another speaker said Nauck residents get stopped for riding bikes without helmets.

“Yet you put bikes without helmets in here,” he said, referring to Capital Bikeshare stations.

After the forum, Chief Scott said it’s clear that ACPD has more work to do.

“I thought I had a pretty good pulse on some of the issues that are out there in the community,” he told ARLnow.com. “I heard some things tonight that really have made me pause and think we have work to do in some of these communities in terms of trust in the police department.”

Arlington Studio Featured in Foo Fighters HBO Show

By Ethan Rothstein
1/8

Inner Ear Studio doesn’t have a neon sign on its door, a flashy building with modern designs or gold records on the wall.

What the Shirlington-area studio has is decades of experience recording D.C. artists, nurturing the local punk and independent music scenes, and, now, the cachet of being one of the eight studios in the country the Foo Fighters recorded in for their new album and TV show on HBO, Sonic Highways.

This Friday night at 11:00 p.m., on HBO, you can watch the Foo Fighters and Springfield, Va., native Dave Grohl record a song for the album at Inner Ear Studio (2710 S. Oakland Street), along with interviews and stories of Grohl’s time growing up around the D.C. punk rock scene. You can watch the preview for the episode on HBO’s website.

Inner Ear started in founder Don Zientara’s basement in the 1970s, when Zientara was in a band and needed somewhere he and his friends could record.

“I was in a band, and we needed to record a demo tape,” Zientara said while sitting at Inner Ear’s mixing board last week. “I had always had tape recorders, but I had a decent one at that time. I borrowed microphones, bought a basic mixer. People started to hear that I had equipment, which was not typical at the time.”

Zientara traveled around D.C. with the recording equipment in his backseat, bringing it to different independent musicians’ houses, or hosting them in his basement. “I happened to drop into the indie music scene at the right time, because it was really not supported by major studios here.”

In 1979, Zientara started the business, doing it as a side project until 1985, when it was successful enough to do it full-time. It was in his basement that Grohl recorded with the band Scream, before he joined Nirvana.

“I remember walking down into that basement as if it were Abbey Road,” Grohl told the Washington Post. “‘Oh my god, Rites of Spring recorded here!’ It was like hallowed ground to me. And then later on, I recorded at the new facility after I was in Nirvana — I recorded some stuff there with my sister and one of those songs ended up on the first Foo Fighters album. But it was cool to see our bass player, Nate [Mendel], walk down the hallways and look at all the albums that had been made there, realizing that the soundtrack of his youth was on the walls.”

(more…)

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