lawsuit

Va. Transportation Chief: No Money For I-395 Improvements

By ARLnow.com

Virginia’s transportation chief is gently nudging the federal government for road money while tweaking Arlington’s HOT Lanes lawsuit.

In an interview with WTOP, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton said that the planned shift of 6,400 Department of Defense jobs to Alexandria’s Mark Center is turning I-395 into a “military corridor.” He quickly added that the state does not have money for any major improvements to the highway, despite dire predictions of heavy congestion as a result of the Mark Center move.

Connaughton did, however, think of one possible way to relieve the congestion. He said a ramp to the center would be built as a result of the I-395 HOT Lanes project. A lawsuit filed by Arlington County is currently preventing the project from moving forward.

Blue Top Cab Sued for Woman’s Sexual Assault

By ARLnow.com

A young woman is suing Arlington Blue Top Cab, claiming she was sexually assaulted after a cabbie dropped her off in a dangerous neighborhood at 3:30 a.m. because she was $1.95 short on the fare.

According to the lawsuit, first reported by Courthouse News Service, the woman was taking a Blue Top taxi from Arlington to Alexandria early on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. When the cab arrived at her house in Alexandria, the woman says she tried to pay with a credit card.

The cabbie ran the card twice and each time said the card was rejected, when in fact the payment went through, according to the lawsuit. When the woman only had $18 in cash for the $19.95 fare, the driver is alleged to have insisted upon driving her to an ATM.

The ATM, located in a high-crime section of Alexandria, was out of service, the lawsuit claims. After the woman got back in the cab and told the driver about the out of service ATM, he is alleged to have pulled over, taken the $18 she had in her possession, and — despite pleas for her safety — forced the young woman out of the cab.

“Immediately after being ejected by [the driver] from the Blue Top taxi cab, while attempting to walk to a safe location, [the plaintiff] was approached on the sidewalk by a man who indicated he had a gun,” the lawsuit says. “The man threatened to shoot [the plaintiff], then dragged her into a nearby parking garage, where he brutally sexually assaulted her.”

The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 12 in Alexandria Circuit Court, seeks $5 million in damages from Blue Top Cab and the driver for negligence, fraud, breach of contract, false imprisonment and the infliction of emotional distress.

A call to Blue Top Cab management has not been returned.

Arlington Delegation Responds to HOT Lanes Letter

By ARLnow.com

Backups on I-395 caused by 4/1/10 crashA day after two Virginia legislative leaders — a Democrat and a Republican — sent a letter blasting Arlington’s expensive lawsuit against the planned I-395 HOT lanes project, three members of the Arlington delegation to Richmond have sent a reply.

In subdued, measured language, the letter states support for “properly designed and managed HOT lanes,” but urges the state to “come to the table and negotiate in good faith.” The letter cites “legitimate environmental impact concerns” and “technical issues that must be resolved if the project is to achieve its goal of moving people through the corridor efficiently” as justification for the county’s resistance to the project.

Noticeably absent from the letter is any defense of the lawsuit’s “outrageous claims of conspiracy and racism” that the original letter — sent by Republican House Speaker Bill Howell and Democratic Senate President Pro-Tempore Chuck Colgan — railed against.

The Arlington delegation — Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, Del. Bob Brink, and Del. Patrick Hope — also avoided reference to the controversial decision to sue four state and federal transportation officials in their personal capacity as part of the lawsuit, which Howell and Colan called a “moral error.”

“We are confident that the Board is not pursuing litigation for its own sake,” the Arlington lawmakers wrote. “We hope that you will use your good offices to urge the Governor and VDOT to come to the table and negotiate in good faith; we will do the same on the local level.”

See the full letter here.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Trio of Editorials Against HOT Lane Lawsuit — Arlington County’s $1 million lawsuit against the planned I-395 HOT lanes project is getting more bad press from local newspapers. Letters to the editor in the Sun Gazette and the Washington Post have both panned the county’s decision to add a federal highway employee to the lawsuit in his professional and personal capacities. And an editorial in the Washington Examiner called the lawsuit a “peevish jeremiad to block HOT lanes on Shirley Highway.” Ouch. All three have been published in just the past 36 hours.

Metrorail Operator Caught Texting in Arlington — Unsuck DC Metro published a photo that purports to show a Metrorail employee texting while operating a Blue Line train in Arlington. The incident happened Saturday morning, a tipster told the site.

T.A. Sullivan and Son Monuments Profiled — You know that rickety old building on Washington Boulevard in Clarendon? The one across from Lyon Hall with all the blank gravestones outside? According to TBD the site is worth $538,800 but the 71-year-old, cigarette-smoking, Skoal-chewing owner says business is good and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

Civil War at Army Navy Country Club Over Bike Path

By ARLnow.com

A rebel faction of tradition-bound military officers has declared a legal war on the management of Army Navy Country Club for having the temerity to allow Arlington to build a bike path along the northeastern edge of the golf course.

A gang infestation, hoards of recreation-seeking youngsters and liability issues are a few of the undesirable consequences that the dissident club members fear. The officers, 14 in number, have enlisted a lawyer and are suing the club.

The Washington Post reports that the “grumpy generals,” as they’re called, are seeking a club-wide vote on the trail, which had initially been received with enthusiasm by local bicyclists and county transportation planners.

WaPo Editorial: Va. Should Conduct HOT Lanes Study

By ARLnow.com

In an editorial today, the Washington Post questions the basis for Arlington County’s $750,000 lawsuit against the proposed high occupancy toll lanes on I-395. But after calling the lawsuit’s racial claims “a doozy” and asserting the need for more capacity along I-395 and I-95, the Post says that Virginia and the Feds should accede to Arlington’s request for a full environmental impact study.

The request is “reasonable,” the Post editorial board writes, while adding that “once [the study] is complete, Arlington should stand down before it throws further taxpayer dollars down into the sinkhole of litigation.”

See the editorial here.

After Bankrolling Lawsuit, Taxpayers May Be Billed For HOT Lane Construction

By ARLnow.com

In an ironic twist, Arlington taxpayers, who have already paid nearly three quarters of a million dollars to fight the state and federal plan to build high occupancy toll lanes on I-395, may end up partially footing the bill for the eventual construction of the lanes.

Uriah Kiser of InsideNoVA.com reports that state transportation officials are considering a plan that would use taxpayer dollars to supplement private funding for the construction of HOT lanes. Previously, officials had said that the lanes would be wholly funded by a private company, in exchange for a long-term lease on the lanes.

The two companies in contention for building and leasing the lanes — Texas-based Fluor and Australia-based Transurban — have both had difficulty finding investors for the project. The companies have also recently donated a large sum of money to the Virginia Republican Party.

The private law firm representing Arlington County in its lawsuit against the HOT lane plan has been paid $744,000, according to the Sun Gazette.

Biz Leaders Ask Arlington to Drop HOT Lanes Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Area business leaders are urging Arlington to drop its lawsuit against High Occupancy Toll lanes on Interstate 395 and 95.

Twenty professionals, including Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Richard V. Doud, Jr., signed a memo urging county board chairman Jay Fisette to embrace the toll lanes project.

“The primary obstacle to advancing this innovative, multi-modal improvement is the Arlington County Board’s lawsuit that precludes the project from securing any private or public sector funding,” the letter stated.

Alexandria and Prince William County business leaders also signed the letter, despite opposition to the project from elected leaders in those jurisdictions.

When Arlington filed the suit in August 2009, officials said the lanes would create more traffic, would lead to more pollution and would have an adverse affect on Arlington residents who live along I-395. They said Virginia transportation officials were allowed move forward with the project without conducting the necessary environmental studies.

Arlington officials also said the lanes would benefit mostly affluent, white residents from Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Wednesday’s letter called those allegations absurd.

“Charges that the Obama administration and Governor Tim Kaine’s Secretary of Transportation acted with the ‘implicit intent’ to harm minority and vulnerable populations and benefit predominantly Caucasian Virginians are not credible and frankly an embarrassment to this region,” the letter stated.

(more…)

Crystal City Restaurant Owner: Va. Stripper Law “Crazy”

By ARLnow.com

Crystal City Restaurant owner Bill Bayne hopes the owners of PaperMoon Gentlemen’s Clubs succeed in their fight to bring hard liquor to Virginia’s topless bars.

Currently, the state prohibits adult clubs from “mixing distilled spirits with erotic performances,” as the Associated Press phrased it. In Richmond yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments against the statute.

“We all think it’s an antiquated, crazy law,” Bayne said. “We know that we’re losing business because of it, we know that people are perfectly capable of getting drunk on beer or wine or champagne.”

“The only thing [the law] doing is taking customers we would have and distributing them” to clubs in D.C. and other, more lenient jurisdictions.

Virginia has some of the country’s strictest laws governing strip clubs. Performers must wear bottoms and pasties at all times, and lap dances are prohibited.

Those restrictions may seem like an anathema to a club owner whose business is based around women showing skin, but Bayne said he’s much more concerned about customers not being able to order their favorite cocktails.

In fact, Bayne says he agrees with at least one part of Virginia’s stripper laws.

“My personal opinion is… the bottoms — they should be covered,” the father of three mused. “Leave something to the imagination, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

(more…)

Affordable Housing Development Tests Church-State Divide

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County’s effort to build affordable housing on land owned by the First Baptist Church of Clarendon is facing tough opposition from neighbors who claim the development violates the separation of church and state. One resident has even filed a lawsuit — on constitutional grounds — against the church, the county and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

More from the Washington Post.