Pentagon City mall

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Waterfall on I-395 — NBC4 captured video early Thursday morning of a burst pipe underneath the 34th Street Bridge. The rupture sent a torrent of water onto I-395 for more than an hour. The old pipe that created the “waterfall” was reportedly patched up by 2:30 a.m. Utility crews are planning to make permanent repairs. [NBC Washington]

Burger Cook-Off For a Good Cause — The newly-minted Harry’s Smokehouse in Pentagon City mall will be holding a fundraiser for D.C. Central Kitchen on Sunday. From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., “three teams of DCCK chefs-in-training will battle to create the city’s tastiest mini-burgers.” In addition to the burgers, attendees will be able to sample ribs, brisket and other BBQ items from Harry’s. [Eventbrite]

Woman Complains About Mosquito Spray — An Arlington woman has taken to her neighborhood email listserv to complain about a chemical spray used by one of her neighbors. Kate Pemberton says she and her young daughters walked through a cloud of “neurotoxin” while returning from school, thanks to an extermination company that was applying an anti-mosquito spray to a customer’s yard. Pemberton says she reported the incident to county officials, but was told that there was nothing they could do about it. The story was reported by Press Action, a left-leaning environmental news web site. [Press Action]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Panel Recommends Building New Schools — An Arlington Public Schools advisory council has come out with a report that recommends new construction to help ease the looming school capacity crisis. The panel recommends building one or two new elementary schools and adding capacity at two existing middle schools. In addition to the construction, they suggest adding as many as 40 classroom trailers. Questions linger as to whether the county has enough debt capacity to follow the building recommendations. [Sun Gazette]

Adopt-a-Cat Month at AWLA — The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (2650 South Arlington Mill Drive) has declared June to be Adopt-a-Cat Month. With the shelter — and other shelters like it —  inundated with homeless felines, AWLA is trying to find homes for its “Desperate Housecats” — cats that have been at the shelter more than four months. The adoption of such cats is free through the end of the month. [Animal Welfare League of Arlington]

‘Art Every Day’ at Artisphere — Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd) is unveiling two new murals to the public today. The words “Art Every Day” and “Live For Art,” designed by notable local artist Linda Hesh, will appear on two glass panes within Artisphere. The cultural center will also distribute “Art Every Day” decals to visitors, who are then in turn encouraged to photograph the decals in various locales and situations. “Art Every Day” will also appear on food court tabletops at the tourist-laden Pentagon City mall, which should give a boost to Artisphere’s promotional efforts. [TBD]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Civil War ‘History Mobile’ Coming to Arlington — A tractor trailer turned mobile history museum will be visiting Arlington several times this summer, as part of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The History Mobile’s exhibits “look at the war through the eyes of civilians, slaves and soldiers.” [Sun Gazette]

ART Contractor Wins Safety Award — The contractor that operates Arlington Transit (ART) buses won a top safety award on Sunday. The company, Forsythe Transportation, helped reduce safety complaints on ART by 58 percent in one year, according to a county press release. [Arlington County]

Pentagon City Casting Call for Kid Singers — Organizers of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic — held later this summer in D.C. — are looking for kids between the ages of 6 and 12 to sing the National Anthem prior to featured tennis matches. A casting call will be held at the Pentagon City mall from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 4. Multiple winners will be selected. [Legg Mason Tennis Classic]

Flickr pool photo by Mark C. White

Harry’s Tap Room in Pentagon City to Become Harry’s Smokehouse

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s favorite watering hole for midwestern tourists is getting a new identity.

Harry’s Tap Room at Pentagon City Mall (1100 S. Hayes Street) is being transformed into “Harry’s Smokehouse-Burgers & BBQ.” The newly-branded restaurant will get a menu makeover that will include in-house hickory-smoked spare ribs, pork butt, pork sausage, whole chickens, salmon and beef brisket, as well as “the area’s very best buttermilk fried chicken.”

Diners will get to choose from six different types of meat for their burger: Whitewood Farm corn fed beef, Grayson Farms grass fed beef, Whitewood Farms beef short rib burger, all natural bison burger, all natural turkey burger, and a vegetarian buckwheat chipotle burger.

“We are raising the bar in iconic American food,” Harry’s co-owner Michael Sternberg said in a statement. “We challenged Executive Chef Alex Reyes to create a menu based on a simple premise: really, really good burgers, barbeque, fried chicken and addicting sides. He has, and now we are opening a place dedicated to it.”

The change-over will happen on Tuesday, May 3. So far, no changes are planned for Harry’s Tap Room in Clarendon (2800 Clarendon Blvd).

iPad 2 Still a Hot Commodity

By ARLnow.com

Apple’s iPad 2 has been on sale for nearly a month now, and they’re still selling out around the country.

The Apple stores in Clarendon and Pentagon City are certainly no exception. Customers in Pentagon City started lining up as early as 5:00 a.m. this morning to get their hands on the coveted tablet. By the time the store opened at 9:00 a.m., the only iPads left were the 64 gigabyte version with Verizon connectivity — the most expensive model at $829.

Arlington’s Apple stores get iPad shipments every weekday, according to employees, meaning that the early morning scene at the store today gets repeated daily. Before the store opens, employees will hand out claim tickets for those in line, entitling them to no more than two specific models in stock.

Cops Nab Cross-Dressing Shoplifting Suspect

By ARLnow.com

Arlington police arrested a shoplifting suspect in Pentagon City last night after two store employees gave chase.

Just after 5:30 p.m., a call came in for two men chasing a woman down South Hayes Street. Later, the person being chased was described in police dispatches as a six-foot tall man dressed as a woman.

The man had allegedly stolen an item from a store in the Pentagon City mall, and the two men were identified as store employees.

The men chased the suspect into a condo complex on 15th Street, across from Costco. Police arrived and apprehended the suspect, who was handcuffed and later placed in the back of a squad car.

The store employees declined to reveal their employer but confirmed that they chased the suspect after a theft.

ARLnow.com was in Pentagon City on another story and was able to arrive at the scene shortly after the incident.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Congressman Dated Pentagon City Mall Employee — Disgraced former Congressman Christopher Lee (R-NY)  had “a relationship” with a young woman who “worked at an upscale Pentagon City department store,” according to the New York Post. GOP leadership reportedly ordered Lee to “curtail his randy DC antics” after word got out he was dating the “young salesclerk.” There is a Macy’s and a Nordstrom department store at Pentagon City mall. [New York Post]

Post Editorial Slams Arlington, Again — Three days after declaring that Arlington Public Schools should investigate the explosive claims of a former middle school teacher, the Washington Post’s editorial board is on Arlington’s case again. The Post says Arlington won “a battle over HOT lanes but may lose a war.” By effectively killing the I-395 HOT lanes project and blocking the widening of I-66, Arlington’s “NIMBYism” is “frustrating the county’s populous and fast-growing neighbors” while “undercut[ting] its own economic interests.” [Washington Post]

Another Day Added to Wine Walk — Crystal City is adding another day to its inaugural “1K Wine Walk.” The indoor wine-tasting “race” will now be held on Feb. 26 & 27. Buy tickets for the event here.

Crime Report: Fighting in Public Edition

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s malls, bars and restaurants could have been mistaken for the set of the Jerry Springer Show over the past week, with five separate cases of violence or attempted violence.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST 12/16/10, 1000 block of S. Hayes Street. On December 16 at 3:30 am, a male employee of a department store assaulted a female employee. Brian Austin, 18, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault and Battery. He was held on a $2,500 bond.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST 12/19/10, 3100 block of Wilson Boulevard. On December 19 at 2 am, a man fought with others inside a bar. The suspect knocked a woman to the ground during the struggle. Sean McCliggott, 24, of McLean, was charged with Assault and Battery. He was held on a $5,000 bond.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY 12/19/10, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. On December 19 at 4:25 pm, two women argued in a mall bathroom, and one slapped the other. The suspect is described as an African American female with a light complexion, 5’4″, and 115 lbs. She was wearing a pink sweater and jeans.

ASSAULT BY MOB 12/19/10, 2000 block of Wilson Boulevard. On December 19 at 1:30 am, several males assaulted another male outside a restaurant. The suspects were white males in their late 20’s to early 30’s.

ATTEMPTED MALICIOUS WOUNDING 12/18/10, 1100 block of N. Highland Street. On December 18 at 12:45 am, a man lunged at a bouncer with a knife when he would not the let the suspect in a restaurant for free. The suspect is described as a white male with blonde or red hair, 5’9″ and 200 lbs. He was wearing a brown plaid shirt and jeans.

The rest of the Arlington County crime report, after the jump.

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Morning Poll: Black Friday Shopping

By ARLnow.com

Contrary to popular belief, the Friday after Thanksgiving is not the busiest shopping day of the year. Americans actually buy more in the days leading up to Christmas.

But Black Friday is one of the biggest “traffic” days of the year at shopping centers, as consumers, unburdened by work or the need to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, head out to the mall just for the sake of getting out and doing something. And of course there are those doorbuster specials, too.

The good news if you are heading out on Friday is that we know more people will be out of town this year. But it’s not clear whether that will have any noticeable effect on the normally horrendous mall parking lot traffic.

Are you planning on joining the crowd?

Crime Report: Mall Theft Suspect Runs Through Metro Tunnel

By ARLnow.com

A kid involved in the theft of watches from a store in the Pentagon City Mall went to great lengths to try to avoid getting caught by police.

According to this week’s crime report, the juvenile fled to the Pentagon City Metro station and then ran through a Metro tunnel with police in hot pursuit. He was eventually arrested at the Pentagon Metro station.

Metro trains were stopped in the area during the pursuit, according to police.

GRAND LARCENY-ARREST 11/11/10, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. On November 11 at 9:30 pm, several subjects stole watches from a store at the mall. They were located by police in the Pentagon City Metro Station. One subject fled from police into the metro tunnel. Trains were stopped until the subject was apprehended at the Pentagon Metro Station. Two juveniles were detained and petitions are pending.

The rest of the crime report, after the jump.

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Need a Job? AT&T Is Hiring

By ARLnow.com

AT&T is holding a job fair in Pentagon City tomorrow in an attempt to fill more than 100 retail sales and management jobs in the DC area.

The job fair is being held at the Doubletree Hotel at 300 Army Navy Drive (the one with the dome restaurant up top) from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Among the locations for which AT&T is hiring is a new retail store that’s planned for the Pentagon City mall. The third-floor store will replace the existing AT&T kiosk on the second floor.

In a press release, AT&T Mid-Atlantic President J. Michael Schweder said he company is “proud to be making a contribution to the local economy during these difficult economic times.”

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