A whole lot of shaking will be going on at Rosslyn’s Freedom Park, where a series of belly dancing classes will occur.
The hour-long classes, which run from May 9-30, target beginners looking to learn belly dancing basics. Classes take place on Wednesdays starting at 6 p.m.
A new move will be introduced each week by an instructor with Saffron Dance, and “particular focus is given to developing correct posture alignment, flexibility, arm positions and paths, fundamental shimmies, basic hip accents, introductory undulations, easy to follow traveling steps and combinations.”
The cost is $25 to attend four classes at Freedom Park, a typically quiet, elevated park at 1101 Wilson Boulevard.
This isn’t the first time that Saffron Dance has brought its craft into the community. Back in 2011, the studio organized a belly dancing flash mob in Clarendon.
Rosslyn’s annual outdoor film festival is returning to Gateway Park this June.
All of the screenings will begin at dusk, but moviegoers can attend events at 5 p.m. each screening evening and buy beer, wine, or sangria at a mobile pub. Local food trucks and popcorn will also be available for purchase.
The events at the park, at 1300 Lee Highway, are both kid and pet friendly. There will be kids activities before the movie begins on June 29, July 13, and August 17.
The festival, sponsored by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District, will be screening the following dozen movies over the summer, every Friday from June 8-August 24.
June 8 – Legally Blonde
June 15 – Wonder
June 22 – The Fifth Element
June 29 – Ratatouille
July 6 – Bridesmaids
July 13 – Coco
July 20 – Amelie
July 27 – La La Land
August 3 – Argo
August 10 – Lethal Weapon
August 17 – The Lion King
August 24 – Four Weddings and a Funeral
Events will be cancelled if there is a chance of rain, with a Rosslyn website update by 3 p.m that day.
Crystal City Tops HQ2 Poll — The combined Crystal City-Potomac Yard site is the most likely D.C. area landing spot for Amazon’s second headquarters, according to an online poll conducted by the Washington Business Journal. Meanwhile, D.C., Virginia and Maryland officials are teaming up to promote the region as the HQ2 search continues. Amazon fever has even entered the world of local business conferences: an event dubbed “HQmania” is scheduled to be held in Rosslyn next month. [Washington Business Journal, WAMU, DCA Live]
Rosslyn Lands Nonprofit HQ — “It’s been a good week for Rosslyn. First came the news that Gerber, a Nestle subsidiary, would relocate its headquarters and 150 jobs from New Jersey to 1812 N. Moore St. And Friday, we learn that a D.C.-based global nonprofit has decided to cross the Potomac into Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]
ART Bus Stop Vandalized — Someone smashed two of the windows on an ART bus stop in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood late last week. [Twitter]
Arlington Man Charged With Statutory Rape — A 47-year-old Arlington man was arrested at his home last month and charged with the statutory rape of a minor in North Carolina. The man arranged meeting the minor in North Carolina via the messaging app Kik, which is popular with teens. [Fox 8]
Local Columbine Survivor Addresses Student Protesters — “Salli Garrigan was in music class when the sound of gunshots reverberated through the halls of her high school… Garrigan, now 35 and an Arlington resident, stood Friday before a crowd of D.C.-area students gathered on the U.S. Capitol lawn and told them when she was their age, she didn’t know how to make her voice heard.” [Washington Post]
Long Bridge Park Field Renovations Starting — Work is set to begin today on new turf for Long Bridge Park’s heavily-used Field No. 3. The field is expected to be closed for 45 days. [Arlington County]
Past and Present School Board Members Gather — On Thursday, the Arlington School Board held its last meeting at the Arlington Education Center building next to Washington-Lee High School. The board room and administrative offices are moving to the Syphax Education Center along Washington Blvd. To mark the last meeting, past and current School Board members members gathered for a photo. [Twitter]
Barley Mac will be holding its second annual oyster festival on Saturday (April 21) from 1-5 p.m. on its patio, weather permitting.
Festival attendees can dig into unlimited oysters alongside a cigar rolling station, an oyster shucking instructional station, an oyster eating contest, and a live musical performance.
Tickets, ranging in price from $49 online to $59 at the door, will also include two drink tickets and a stemless wine glass.
Barley Mac will be serving raw oysters, oysters Rockefeller, grilled oysters, fried po-boys, oyster stew, fried buffalo batter oysters and oyster ceviche.
The oyster and wine festival will be open for all ages, though those 21 and older will receive a wristband to drink.
Trash truck smashes into cars in parking lot near Rosslyn (photo courtesy @idlelupino)
Trash truck smashes into cars in parking lot near Rosslyn (photo courtesy ACFD)
Parking lot at N. Nash Street and Arlington Blvd access road before the crash (photo via Google Maps)
(Updated at 12:10 p.m.) A trash truck smashed into a half dozen cars near Rosslyn this morning.
The crash was reported just after 11 a.m., at the intersection of N. Nash Street and the Arlington Blvd access road, in Ft. Myer Heights.
The truck was going up the steep hill on N. Nash Street when it lost its momentum and started rolling down, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ben O’Bryant.
On the way down it struck five vehicles, destroyed part of a stone wall and came to a stop in an apartment building parking lot. It also pushed at least one vehicle over a retaining wall and onto the street and sidewalk below.
Police and firefighters are on scene and the intersection is closed to traffic during the cleanup. The driver of the truck is currently being evaluated for injuries, O’Bryant said.
#Alert: Units are on scene of a 7 vehicle accident involving a trash truck at the Arlington Blvd access road and N Nash St. The access road is shut down from N Queen to N Meade St. One patient being evaluated for injuries. Avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/gcDIo3wSDV
@ARLnowDOTcom I have no idea what's going on here, but I think a garbage truck backed at least one car out of the lot thru a wall. EMS on scene. pic.twitter.com/3uNdHE6HeD
(Updated at 1:05 p.m.) Two people were pepper sprayed and had a knife pulled on them in Rosslyn Saturday night.
The suspect was someone the pair knew and the incident happened after an argument, police said.
More from this week’s Arlington County Police Department crime report:
MALICIOUS WOUNDING BY CAUSTIC AGENT (late), 2018-04140296, 1500 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 11:20 p.m. on April 14, police were dispatched to the late report of a malicious wounding. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 10:20 p.m., following a dispute between known individuals, the suspect sprayed the two victims with a caustic agent. The suspect subsequently brandished a knife before fleeing the area. Neither victim required medical treatment. Warrants for Malicious/Unlawful Wounding by Caustic Agent and Attempted Malicious/Unlawful Wounding were obtained for the suspect.
Early Monday morning, two men broke into Nova Armory in Lyon Park. Nothing was stolen from the gun store, police said.
BURGLARY, 2018-04160016, 2300 block of N. Pershing Drive. At approximately 1:53 a.m. on April 16, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined that two unknown suspects forced entry to a business, causing damage. Nothing was reported missing from the business. The suspects fled prior to police arrival. Suspect One is described as a black male, approximately 5’10”-6’0″and 150-175 lbs., wearing a skullcap, gray pants and a dark jacket. Suspect Two is described as a black male, approximately 5’7″-5’9″ and 150-175 lbs., wearing a jersey. The investigation is ongoing.
The rest of this past week’s crime report highlights, including some that we’ve already reported, after the jump.
(Updated at 2 p.m.) Baby food and products company Gerber is moving its headquarters from New Jersey to Rosslyn and creating 150 jobs, officials announced Monday afternoon (April 16).
The company, a Nestlé subsidiary acquired in 2007, will invest $5 million in the relocation.
The announcement comes a little over a year after Nestlé announced its move to Arlington to a 250,000 square foot office space at 1812 N. Moore Street.
Gov. Ralph Northam made the announcement at Nestlé’s Rosslyn headquarters, noting that his excitement in announcing the move partially stemmed from his 30 years as a pediatrician.
“We want to be the most business-friendly state in the country,” said Gov. Northam at the relocation announcement.
A line of elected officials at the state and local level praised the relocation at a brief media event, including Rep. Don Beyer, Del. Rip Sullivan, and County Board Chair Katie Cristol.
Esther Lee, Virginia’s Secretary of Commerce and Trade, who also spoke at the event, was quoted in a press release saying that “gaining the headquarters of the iconic Gerber brand is an important win for Arlington County and the Commonwealth.”
At the event, Cristol presented a key to the county to Steve Presley, Nestlé’s chief financial officer.
More from the press release regarding funding:
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Arlington County Economic Development to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Northam approved a grant in the amount of $862,500 from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the County with the project. The company is also be eligible to receive a Major Business Facility Job Tax Credit.
Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
The Simple Greek is hoping to open its new restaurant location at the Colonial Village Shopping Center in early May, according to a company representative.
Signs for the restaurant are currently up at the shopping plaza, between the Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro stations. Workers were installing equipment as of Wednesday morning.
The Simple Greek representatives had previously told ARLnow that they were hoping for a late April opening.
Located at 1731 Wilson Boulevard, the restaurant will serve personalized Greek pitas and bowls. Greek wine and beer are available at select locations, but it doesn’t appear that this location has a pending or active Virginia ABC license.
New Rooftop Beer Garden in Clarendon — The company behind Ambar is opening three new Mexican restaurant concepts in the former La Tasca space: “Tacos, Tortas & Tequila (TTT), Buena Vida and eventually a rooftop Mexican beer garden called Up.” [Northern Virginia Magazine]
School Board to Gather Once More at Ed Center — Past and present Arlington School Board members will gather prior to the April 19 board meeting for a final group photo at the Arlington Education Center building. School administrators are leaving the 50-year-old building for leased administrative offices along Washington Blvd, to make way for a new high school program. [InsideNova]
Deloitte Expanding in Rosslyn — “Global consulting firm Deloitte LLP plans to significantly increase its footprint in the Waterview building in Rosslyn, where it recently subleased about 120,000 square feet from Gartner Inc. The sublease boosts Deloitte’s presence at 1919 N. Lynn St. to about 450,000 square feet, including the five floors it has picked up from Gartner… The firm now has around 8,000 employees in Rosslyn, its largest of 13 offices across Greater Washington.” [Washington Business Journal]
DC United’s Kofi Opare practices grilling at Nando’s (courtesy photo)
DC United’s Russell Canouse practices grilling at Nando’s (courtesy photo)
Six D.C. United soccer players will be taking over the grills in the Rosslyn new Nando’s Peri-Peri on Thursday (April 12) to benefit the team’s charity partner, D.C. Scores.
All of the proceeds earned that day at Nando’s will go towards D.C. Scores, a non-profit that offers free after school soccer and literacy programs to at-risk D.C. youth.
The players will be using Nando’s grills from 2-8 p.m. The team and Nando’s will also be raffling off a signed team item and a pair of tickets to the D.C. United v. Columbus Crew SC match on April 14.
The location at 1800 N. Lynn Street opened almost a month ago and is one of the chain’s now 41 U.S. locations.
First Responders Say Starting Pay Is Too Low — “Patrick Gorman was just beginning to enjoy his job as an Arlington, Va., police officer when he decided to quit. His wife was pregnant with twins, and they already had a 2-year-old. Even with both working full time, he said, they couldn’t afford to live in the area. Two months out of training, he left the department in February and moved to North Carolina.” [Washington Post]
Large Arlington Contingent for Boston Marathon — Some 77 runners from Arlington are set to compete in the prestigious Boston Marathon a week from today. [InsideNova]
Public Safety Personnel Recognized for Crisis Interventions — “Four Arlington County police officers, two sheriff’s deputies, and a 9-1-1 dispatcher were honored this week for their exemplary work in responding to people in a mental health crisis when on a call or on the job.” [Arlington County]
Spotted: Michael Irvin — Former Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin was spotted hanging out at Champps on Pentagon Row over the weekend. [Twitter]
Rosslyn Hotel Opening Brings Up HQ2 — It’s difficult to find an economic development event in Northern Virginia these days that doesn’t spark discussions of Amazon’s HQ2. At an opening for the new Homewood Suites hotel in Rosslyn, Arlington Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins remarked that “you’d have to build, like, 10 more of these” if Amazon were to come to Arlington. [Washington Business Journal]
ARLnow Doesn’t Have a Wikipedia Page — Did you know that despite being around for more than eight years, and being cited as a source in plenty of Wikipedia pages, ARLnow does not have its own page? With Facebook now starting to use Wikipedia as a signaling mechanism for trustworthiness, now would be a great time for someone to finally give ARLnow its own Wikipedia entry. Pretty please?
