(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) Hundreds of Pepsi cans spilled onto the road at the intersection of Army Navy Drive and S. Fern Street last night.
It’s unclear what exactly happened, but an Arlington resident who drove by the spill theorized, based on the large volume of soda on the ground, that it must have fallen off of a Pepsi delivery truck.
The resident, Christopher C., says that the truck was “nowhere to be found” when he drove by the mess around 6 p.m. Sunday, nor were any emergency responders. Police, we’re told, responded moments later.
“At approximately 6:05 p.m. police responded to S. Fern Street at Army Navy Drive for traffic control,” said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “A truck lost its cargo, blocking multiple lanes of Army Navy Drive. Arlington [Dept. of Environmental Services] was notified.”
Delays on Blue, Orange Lines Due to Person Struck — A person was struck by a train at the L’Enfant Metro station around 9:30 this morning. The incident is causing delays on the Blue and Orange lines, as service has been suspended between L’Enfant and Federal Center. Silver Line trains are operating between Wiehle and Ballston. [Twitter, Twitter, Washington Post]
Reminder: E-CARE Event This Weekend — Arlington County is holding its biannual Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. This time around the venue has changed; the recycling and hazardous household materials collection event is now being held at Yorktown High School (5200 Yorktown Blvd). [Arlington County]
Scott Disick Comes to Arlington, Disses ARLnow — Updated at 12:10 p.m. — Reality TV personality Scott Disick lorded over the grand opening ceremony for Sugar Factory in Pentagon City last night. About 100 people, mostly young women, showed up for the event, according to an ARLnow employee on the scene. Disick did interviews with local news outlets, but PR reps cut off the interviews and ushered Disick away just as our employee was next in line. [Twitter, Facebook, Daily Mail]
Kirwan’s Opens to Big Crowds — Mark Kirwan, owner of Samuel Beckett’s in Shirlington, may have another hit on his hands. His new bar, Kirwan’s on the Wharf in Southwest D.C., was packed last night before the Foo Fighters concert at the Anthem. [Facebook]
Courthouse Plaza Parking Lot Closed Sunday — The county’s Courthouse Plaza parking lot will be closed most of the day Sunday for the 2017 Animal Welfare League of Arlington Pints 4 Paws event. [Arlington County]
Marymount Makes USNWR Top Tier — “Marymount University is once again in the top tier among Regional Universities in the South in several categories, ranking 52nd overall in the 2018 edition of ‘Best Colleges’ by U.S. News & World Report.” [Marymount University]
AIRE Wins Regional Award — The Arlington Initiative to Rethink Energy was among this year’s recipients of the Climate and Energy Leadership Awards from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. AIRE’s Energy Lending Library “makes it easy to check out a thermal camera, a box of 10 different LED bulbs, energy meter, and Do-It-Yourself energy retrofit books through the library system free of charge,” notes COG. [Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments]
Anyone in the Arlington area will soon be able to have food delivered from the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City’s six restaurants and food court.
The mall (1101 S. Hayes Street) will launch Fashion Centre Delivered on Monday, October 16, in partnership with delivery provider Zifty. Food will be delivered directly from the mall’s eateries, including the likes of Sugar Factory, Matchbox American Kitchen + Spirit and more.
“We’re always seeking new ways to provide additional offerings for the community around our center,” Todd Jerscheid, director of marketing and business development at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, said in a statement. “Teaming up with Zifty is a new opportunity to help guests throughout the area conveniently enjoy their favorite meal from our food court restaurants at home or in the office.”
Zifty launched in Atlanta in 2003, and partners with local restaurants and brands to deliver directly to customers’ doors.
Arlington Man Dies in Motorcycle Wreck — A 68-year-old Arlington man died last month after a motorcycle crash in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Police say Ben Walker, Jr. ran into the back of a car that had just made a U-turn on Indian Head Highway. [Patch]
Pentagon City Hotel Changes Hands — An Orlando-based real estate investment firm has acquired the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Pentagon City for $105 million. Xenia Hotels & Resorts said in a press release that the 365-room hotel is “uniquely positioned” in the market given its direct connection to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. [PR Newswire]
Housing Demolitions Continue — The group Preservation Arlington has released its latest tally of demolition permits, reporting that demo permits for 120 single-family homes were applied for in the first nine months of the year. “The pending loss of these homes ‘represents a loss of history, architecture, time, energy and materials,’ the preservation group said in a statement.” [InsideNova]
Virginia’s Halloween Candy of Choice — The most popular Halloween candy in Virginia, according to the website CandyStore.com, is Snickers bars. Hot Tamales and candy corn were second and third, in terms of pounds sold. [CandyStore]
Letter: Possible Names for Schools — In a letter to the editor, a local resident recommended consideration of three African-American women who played notable roles in Arlington County history as potential new names for public schools. [InsideNova]
The new 5,500 square foot restaurant and retail store is located in a newly-expanded portion of the mall, facing S. Hayes Street. It opened to its first customers in May but is now preparing for a grand opening celebration.
Disick, 34, rose to fame on the reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians and is the father of three children with ex Kourtney Kardashian. His personal life remains a source of fascination in tabloids and celebrity magazines.
Sugar Factory sells celebrity-endorsed sweets and seats up to 200 people in its restaurant, which serves a wide variety of signature cocktails alongside mostly standard issue American fare.
The grand opening event will take place Thursday, Oct. 12 from 6-10 p.m. Dinner reservations are available by calling 703-258-3374 or online through OpenTable.
A restaurant inside the Pentagon City Whole Foods is among those affected by a security breach to the company’s credit card system.
Whole Foods provided public notice that it “recently received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card information used at certain venues.”
The breach does not affect purchases within the regular Whole Foods grocery section, but rather at the taprooms and full-service restaurants inside some locations. Paper Horse, a ramen restaurant inside the Pentagon City Whole Foods, is one of the locations named in the security breach.
Whole Foods’ statement said it notified authorities and has launched an investigation. Customers who may have visited Paper Horse or one of the other affected locations listed online should monitor their credit card statements and contact their bank to report unauthorized charges.
Whole Foods also noted that its systems do not connect with those of its new parent company, Amazon, so purchases on Amazon.com are not involved.
A Pentagon City resident has launched a social media campaign against abandoned Costco shopping carts, which she says are a persistent “eyesore” for the neighborhood.
Sarah Wohl started posting from the @CartsOfPCArl Twitter account on September 20, after walking around the neighborhood with her husband and finding it “comical” to see so many. She has tweeted about two dozen photos of abandoned carts in the week since the account launched — showing carts near apartment buildings, next to parking meters and outside restaurants.
“I’ve lived in Pentagon City for a couple of years, and since I’ve moved there, there’s always been Costco shopping carts everywhere, and it is an eyesore as you walk around,” Wohl said. “They’ll be by cars, by apartment buildings and blocks away from Costco. They’re kind of everywhere.”
NBC Washington reported earlier this year on residents’ renewed efforts to improve matters, including writing to Costco and documenting the abandoned carts.
And past online petitions have urged Costco to “take responsibility” for the carts left behind by their shoppers.
“These abandoned shopping carts create safety hazards and bring the overall image of our community down,” reads one petition from four years ago. “Please assist me in making our community a better place that doesn’t have shopping carts littering parking lots, store fronts, streets and our local park.”
Wohl said things haven’t improved, and that the responsibility must be shared between Costco and those who shop there.
“I think it’s because people live around there and don’t want to drive to Costco, but you can’t really carry bags of stuff from Costco home, so it’s easier to just take a cart and bring it home and then it’s a pain to bring it back,” she said. “Or people that drive from elsewhere may just take the cart to their car, which they don’t park in the Costco parking lot because that’s always a headache and they leave it by wherever they park their car.”
So Wohl decided to shine a light on the problem in her own way, using humor to highlight the neighborhood issue.
“It started as a silly thing, just putting it on Twitter, but it’s part of a larger problem,” she said.
For residents, visitors and businesses alike, Wohl said the sight of so many abandoned carts damages the neighborhood’s character.
“I think it detracts from the community and detracts from Pentagon City and Crystal City, because it looks like an eyesore and it looks a little trashy having these carts everywhere,” Wohl said.
NSF Starting Its Move to Alexandria — “Moving day for the first group of National Science Foundation workers relocating from the agency’s Ballston headquarters to Alexandria starts this weekend, more than four years — and more than a bit of controversy — after selecting the site for its new home.” [Washington Business Journal]
TSA Moving to Springfield — The headquarters of the Transportation Security Administration will be moving from Pentagon City to Springfield, after the GSA awarded a new 15-year, $316 million lease. The move is expected to take place in 2020. [Washington Business Journal]
Construction Activity at DCA — Construction is underway at Reagan National for the airport’s $1 billion expansion project. [NBC Washington]
‘Doc’ Muse Dies — “Leonard ‘Doc’ Muse, who for 65 years – from the era of Jim Crow to the election of an African-American president – watched over the Nauck community from his perch behind the counter of the Green Valley Pharmacy, died the weekend of Aug. 19-20. He was 94 years old.” [InsideNova]
The race is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree hotel (300 Army Navy Drive) in Pentagon City. The race route follows Army Navy Drive, S. Joyce Street, Washington Blvd, looping around the Pentagon on Route 110 before returning to the finish line at the DoubleTree.
The following closures will be in effect, from the Arlington County Police Department:
From 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.:
Army Navy Drive closed between 12th Street S. to S. Eads Street
From 5:45 p.m. until approximately 6:30 p.m.:
Westbound Army Navy Drive from S. Eads Street to S. Joyce Street (All streets crossing Army Navy Drive, including access to southbound I-395, will be closed for approximately 20 minutes)
S. Joyce Street from Army Navy Drive to Columbia Pike
Columbia Pike from the Pentagon South parking lot to S. Joyce Street
I-395 Northbound HOV exit to S. Eads Street
From 5:45 p.m. until approximately 8:00 p.m.:
Westbound Washington Blvd closed from Memorial Bridge to I-395
Southbound Route 110 closed from Rosslyn to 15th Street S.
Marshall Drive closed at Route 110
S. Eads Street closed from Army Navy Drive to 11th Street S.
The 5K was founded by three Arlington police officers: retired Capt. Matt Smith, Detective Dan Borriello and Sgt. Sean Bryson. All of the officers worked as first responders at the Pentagon after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
After the attacks, the group was inspired by other police 5Ks that they had participated in and decided to start their own race.
A dispute over a stop sign between two drivers led to one allegedly striking the other with a water bottle.
The road rage incident happened in Pentagon City, at the intersection of S. Hayes Street and Army Navy Drive near the Pentagon City mall, just after 10 a.m. this past Friday.
Police say a man was so enraged that he threw a water bottle at the other driver, striking him or her. The victim was uninjured by the projectile.
More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:
MISSILE INTO OCCUPIED VEHICLE, 2017-08110095, S. Hayes Street at Army Navy Drive. At approximately 10:11 a.m. on August 11, police were dispatched to the report of an assault. Upon arrival, it was determined that following a verbal dispute between drivers over a stop sign, the suspect threw a plastic water bottle at the victim. The water bottle struck the victim but no injuries were reported. The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 28-40 years old, with a larger build. He was driving a gray four door sedan. The investigation is ongoing.
A Mediterranean restaurant will replace NKD Pizza in Pentagon City
The restaurant is located next to an F45 gym at 1101 S. Joyce Street
The former Pentagon City home of the NKD Pizza restaurant chain will become a Mediterranean restaurant and kabob house, permits filed with the county show.
The eatery looks set to come to the Pentagon Row shopping center at 1101 S. Joyce Street, next door to an F45 gym and across a surface parking lot from the Harris Teeter. No word yet on an opening date or a name for the new restaurant.
NKD Pizza opened in July 2011 as Naked Pizza, touting unique pizza recipes and all-natural ingredients. A Ballston/Virginia Square location opened in 2012 at 933 N. Quincy Street.
Both of the Arlington pizzerias closed, as well as its flagship store in New Orleans after financial problems. The company has since relaunched, and now operates locations in Michigan as well as Dubai and Bahrain in the Middle East.
