memorial

Major Road Closures Planned for 9/11 Event This Week

By ARLnow.com

The annual America’s 9/11 Foundation Memorial Ride will be rolling into Arlington on Friday, and several road closures are planned to accommodate the large number of motorcyclists expected to participate.

According to an email from Arlington Alerts, police are planning on shutting down eastbound I-66 from the Beltway to Route 110, from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

“The [police] escort is being provided to ensure the safety of all motorists along the path of travel,” the email said. “It is recommended that anyone who travels along this route take alternate routes to their destination during this period. It is anticipated I-66 will be reopened by 4:00 pm at the beltway to minimize the impact on rush hour traffic.”

The bikers’ ultimate destination is the Double Tree Hotel at 300 Army Navy Drive in Pentagon City. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., ride organizers are planning on holding a street fair-type event on Army Navy Drive, complete with barbeque and beer from street vendors, a gun raffle and a performance by country music artist Aaron Tippin.

According to the Arlington Alerts email, Army Navy Drive will be closed from S. 12th Street to S. Fern Street from 9:30 a.m. to midnight. Traffic will be rerouted around the closure, according to county spokeswoman Mary Curtius. Still, drivers should still expect significant traffic issues around the evening rush hour in Pentagon City if the Army Navy Drive/Eads Street intersection, which leads to an I-395 on-ramp, is blocked.

At 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, the ride will move to the Pentagon’s North Parking lot for a ceremony commemorating the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. At 7:00 a.m., the ride will depart the Pentagon and head out across the 14th Street Bridge, en route to New York City.

The ride, which could featuring as many as 3,000 motorcyclists, helps to fund scholarships for the children of 9/11 first responders.

Photo via Facebook

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Police Investigate BB Gun Bike-By Shooting — Arlington Police searched for a pair of young men on bikes last night after one of them allegedly shot a woman in the arm with a BB gun near the intersection of N. Pershing Drive and N. Thomas Street, in the Buckingham neighborhood. The suspects made a clean getaway, although one may have been briefly spotted near Ballston. The woman required medical treatment for the wound.

Pentagon Memorial Called ‘Contemplative,’ ‘Noisy’ — Visitors to the Pentagon Memorial are reportedly weirded out by the sound of low-flying planes at the Pentagon Memorial — which was built in honor of the 184 people who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon’s west wall on 9/11/01. The Pentagon is along the flight path of Reagan National Airport. [Associated Press]

WaPo Sums Up the 30th District State Senate Race — As Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka, Del. Adam P. Ebbin and Arlington County School Board member Libby Garvey knock on doors in the 30th state Senate district, Virginia Tech professor Craig Brians commented on the many policy similarities in the three-way primary race. “It’s so difficult for voters to figure out what the real difference is between these people,” he said. [Washington Post]

Arlington Wants Its Money Back — Arlington and other Northern Virginia localities are pushing Gov. Bob McDonnell to return some of the $311 million state budget surplus to local governments. “I think the governor’s going to hear pretty clearly from local governments that they think some of this should be restored, it not all of it,” said Arlington County Board Member Mary Hynes. [Washington Examiner]

Flickr pool photo by ddimick

Law Enforcement Cyclists Kick Off Police Week in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement officers completed a 240-mile memorial bicycle ride in Pentagon City today.

The officers, accompanied by dozens of police cars and motorcycles from law enforcement agencies across the country, completed the annual Road to Hope bike ride on Eads Street, in front of the DEA building. A crowd of DEA employees and the agency’s Black and Gold Pipes and Drums Corps greeted the riders, who were clad in matching red, white and blue bike gear.

The ride, sponsored by the group Law Enforcement United, honors “the service and sacrifice of all law enforcement officers that have died in the line of duty.” After the stop in front of the DEA building, around 3:00 p.m., the cyclists headed to the Pentagon to pay their respects at the Pentagon Memorial.

The event marks the beginning of National Police Week in the D.C. area. See more photos after the jump.

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Arlington Honors Fallen Officers

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department and Sheriff’s Office held its annual observance of Peace Officers Memorial Day this morning.

Drummers, bagpipers and a bugler helped to mark the solemn occasion at the Arlington County Justice Center Plaza om Courthouse. Courthouse Road was shut down for the ceremony, which started at 8:00 a.m. Through speeches, the law enforcement community remembered the six Arlington County officers who have died in the line of duty.

Later in the day, Whole Foods and Applegate Farms grilled a free lunch on the plaza for law enforcement officers and employees.

National Police Week, an annual law enforcement gathering held in the D.C. area, officially begins on Friday.

Quiet Remembrance at Pentagon Memorial

By ARLnow.com

In contrast to the noisy, jubilant celebration at the White House, the scene at the Pentagon Memorial last night was one of quiet remembrance.

About two dozen visitors trickled in to the memorial following the announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed by American forces in Pakistan. As visitors strolled the dimly-lit grounds, only the peaceful sound of bubbling water could be heard. The sound came from small pools below each of the memorial’s 184 benches, which represent the 184 people killed during the bin Laden-orchestrated attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Two visitors said they came to the Pentagon seeking a deeper connection to the evening’s news.

“The celebrations over at the White House didn’t fully capture the emotions of the night,” said Crystal Adams, of the District. Fellow District resident Brian Chiglinsky agreed.

“It felt like this was the place for a more solemn remembrance about the importance of tonight and what this past decade has meant to our generation,” he said.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ACFD 9/11 Memorial to be Landscaped — Last week the Department of Defense gave Arlington County’s first responders a chunk of limestone recovered from the Pentagon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. That stone now sits near a steel beam from the World Trade Center, in a field outside Fire Station 5 in Pentagon City. The county is planning to landscape the area around the two memorials, in advance of the upcoming 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. [Arlington Connection]

Missed Connections in Arlington — Someone is looking for a “Persian goddess in pink” who was spotted shopping for chickpea salad at the Clarendon Whole Foods. Also: a woman is looking for the “armsleeve tattoo man” she ogled at the Golds Gym. [Clarendon Culture]

Whipple Fights Abortion Amendment — Arlington’s retiring state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple is fighting an amendment inserted into a General Assembly-approved bill by Gov. Bob McDonnell. The bill would establish a health insurance exchange in Virginia as part of the federal health care reform law. However, McDonnell’s amendment would prohibit any insurance plan in the exchange from offering coverage for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk. [Washington Post]

Arlington Diocese Fights Porn — The Catholic Diocese of Arlington continues its campaign against “the very real danger of pornography in our culture” with a blog post. The post notes that an anti-porn pamphlet authored by Bishop Paul Loverde is so popular that it’s now in its second printing. Also, the post says that Bishop Loverde has been active in the fight against pornography on cell phones. [Encourage and Teach]

A Tribute to Our Firefighters

By ARLnow.com

In honor of National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, we asked Arlington Fire Chief James Schwartz to write a guest column.

This weekend, the nation’s fire service will honor those firefighters
 who died in the line of duty during 2009.  The names of 80 fire fighters
 who lost their lives in service to their communities will be added to
 the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in an annual ceremony at 
Emmitsburg, Maryland. The names of 25 firefighters who died in previous
 years will also be added. The plaques surrounding the Memorial, which
 was established in 1981, contain the names of more than 3,400 
fire fighters. Firefighters and fire department honor guards from across 
the country will gather to pay tribute to the lives of their fallen
 comrades.

Unfortunately, firefighting remains a dangerous profession.  Despite a 
reduction in the number of fires nationally, effective fire and rescue
 operations require firefighters to be in harm’s way.  Firefighters are frequently exposed to high temperatures and toxic products of combustion and they work around heavy, fast moving objects, all while wearing protective gear and equipment that weighs in excess of 60 pounds.  Rates of cancer and heart disease are higher among firefighters.

Firefighters 
accept a measure of risk when they take the job, understanding that the 
ultimate sacrifice may be required to save the life of another under
 extreme circumstances. They do not accept this risk cavalierly. As a 
whole, the fire service continues to work tirelessly toward improvements 
that will reduce the number of firefighter injuries and fatalities.

Arlington County Fire Department has been fortunate; we have not
 suffered a line of duty death since 1982 when Firefighter Mike Miller
 lost his life.  Before the loss of Firefighter Miller, the department
 lost two captains in separate incidents.  On October 19, 1964 Captain
 Archie Hughes was lost after becoming trapped in the flashover of an 
attic fire. Captain Charles Theodore died of smoke inhalation while 
fighting a fire on June 24, 1961.  In a ceremony earlier this year, the 
department retired their badges.

Jim Schwartz, Chief
Arlington County Fire Department

National Police Week Begins

By ARLnow.com

Those groups of motorcycle cops you see going up and down I-395? The random street closures in South Arlington? Police cruisers from jurisdictions far, far away from here? All are signs that National Police Week has begun in the nation’s capital.

Several Police Week-related events were held in Pentagon City today.

The Drug Enforcement Administration held its annual memorial service at its headquarters this morning. Three agents who were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan last fall were honored at the event, which included a speech by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Later, bicyclists from the inaugural Law Enforcement United Memorial Ride stopped outside DEA headquarters for a short service that included a performance by a group of police bagpipers and drummers.

The riders — more than 200 in number — were then escorted by dozens of police motorcycles over to the Pentagon Memorial for another service.

National Police Week will conclude on Monday.

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