Rosslyn

Police: Man Slaps Victim, Spits on Officer

By ARLnow.com

Police car (file photo)A 28-year-old man is facing assault charges after police say he spit on an officer.

The incident happened last night around 8:30 p.m. in Rosslyn. It started, police say, when they were called for a “disorderly” man who had slapped someone in the face several times after an argument.

From an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

ASSAULT ON POLICE, 160915045, 1100 block of N. 19th Street. At approximately 8:33 p.m. on September 15, officers responded to the report of a disorderly subject. Upon arrival, officers determined that following a verbal altercation the male subject slapped the victim in the face several times. When officers attempted to place the subject into custody, the subject resisted and spit on an officer. Mohammed Alotaibi, 28, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with assault & battery and assault on police.

How To Fund Infrastructure Improvements at a National Monument: Find a Wealthy Donor

By ARLnow.com

American Flag at Iwo Jima

For years, visitors to our country’s most recognizable military monument have had but one nearby option should they need to use the restroom: a line of green porta-potties.

The porta-potties near the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington might be convenient, but they were also “unsightly and they smelled,” says Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). Plus, they presented big challenges for disabled veterans visiting the memorial.

Porta-potties near the Iwo Jima memorial (photo via Google Maps)Luckily, the local philanthropist David Rubenstein stepped up last year with a pledge of $5.4 million to rehab the monument, the lighting and the landscaping around the 62-year-old monument, colloquially known as the Iwo Jima memorial. Rubenstein’s gift will now also fund permanent restrooms.

(Rubenstein has also funded post-earthquake repairs to the Washington Monument and to Arlington House, and pledged $50 million for the expansion of the Kennedy Center.)

A bill sponsored by Beyer passed last week, authorizing the construction of the restrooms. The bill had bipartisan support, although its passage came a year after Rubenstein’s donation was first announced and it was made necessary by a provision that stemmed from a debate over the location of the Air Force Memorial 14 years ago.

“It’s a small victory but it moves us in the right direction,” Beyer said.

Amid congressional gridlock on important issues like the budget, immigration and gun safety, Beyer said there is still plenty of work getting done in Congress — provided the work is politically uncontroversial.

“There are places where we really can’t get things done,” said Beyer. “But those are all places where there are significant philosophical differences between Democrats and Republicans. On things where there is consensus, we can actually move pretty quickly.”

But the fact that this pretty obvious improvement is getting done mostly because a billionaire ponied up for it may make a larger point about the current state of American governance and budget priorities.

“We’re fortunate to have the David Rubensteins of the world,” said Beyer, “but it is sad that we can’t free up more money for investments in public infrastructure.”

Beyer cited figures that suggest the U.S. is $3 trillion behind on needed infrastructure work due to deferred maintenance. The U.S. Park Service alone has $11 billion in infrastructure needs, including the funding still needed for repairs to Memorial Bridge.

For needs not deemed essential enough to receive taxpayer funding, private donations may be the only way to get it done in the near term.

“Until we get our arms around entitlement reform, finding ways to grow our discretionary resources for things like infrastructure, we’re going to be dependent on good folks like David Rubenstein,” Beyer said.

Though Beyer said he had not seen a timetable yet, he expects that the Iwo Jima improvements will take at least 12-18 months to complete.

“Arlington is a wonderful place to live — it gets all these awards for best suburb or best small city — and hopefully getting rid of the porta-potties at the Iwo Jima memorial will be another small step in improving the livability of Arlington.”

Photo (below) via Google Maps

Arlington Residents Skeptical About Proposed DCA Flight Path Change

By ARLnow.com
1/12

The FAA wants to shift the northbound flight path for planes taking off from Reagan National Airport directly over Rosslyn, a change that many residents expressed skepticism about during a public meeting last night at Washington-Lee High School.

“What we’re asking people to look at is a new proposed route that is an effort to relieve noise in the Foxhall Village section of [D.C.] and put planes more over the middle of the river,” said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. Residents of Northwest D.C. have been complaining about airplane noise for some time now, culminating in a letter to the FAA from D.C.’s attorney general earlier this year.

But the new proposed flight path could result in more noise for parts of Arlington, particularly the Rosslyn, Courthouse and North Highlands neighborhoods. (The new flight path would slightly shift planes away from some far northern Arlington communities.)

Some residents questioned why Arlington should be subject to more noise so that D.C. residents could have more peace and quiet.

“The problem with downtown airports is that they’re convenient and they’re noisy,” said Arlington resident and retired Naval aviator Jim Pebley. “You can have one, but you can’t have it without the other. The best we can do is distribute the noise equally between the District and us.”

Arlington County Board members Libby Garvey, Katie Cristol and John Vihstadt were in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting. Garvey on Monday wrote a letter to the FAA asking why data shows aircraft noise increasing in Arlington over the past couple of years. The letter asks the FAA to be more responsive to concerns from residents and localities about aircraft noise; it also asks the agency to propose alternatives for reducing noise.

“Arlington County firmly believes that improvements for both those on the ground and the flying public are possible and necessary,” the letter says. However, “it does not seem reasonable to the County that local communities, who are not experts on the needs, constraints and opportunities with regards to aviation, should be tasked with solving this problem.”

Another issue raised at the meeting: the safety implications of having jetliners flying even closer to Rosslyn’s tall buildings. The recently-released film ‘Sully,’ which recounted the Hudson River landing of US Airways Flight 1549 after striking a flock of geese on takeoff, was brought up.

“I’m worried about what this is going to do for a single engine out operation over Rosslyn,” Pebley said. “I ran the calculations. If you take off on a warm summer day and climbed up the best you could, you might make it a couple hundred feet over the tallest building there. That’s really scary.”

The FAA will be holding two additional public meetings — in Georgetown tonight and Bethesda tomorrow — and will weigh public feedback at each of the three meetings, Brown said. A final decision on the flight path could be make as early as January 2017.

Terrible Morning Traffic Persists in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) This is at least the second morning in a row that people have called Arlington County Police to report gridlock at the intersection of Lynn Street and Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.

The intersection is usually problematic but has been even more so recently due to construction on the Central Place project, which has blocked 1-2 left lanes of Lynn Street for the past two years.

Officers did not respond to the intersection today, saying that little could be done to ease the traffic. A traffic detail that was assigned to the intersection last year was discontinued, the department said, because it did not receive funding for it.

ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage said that officers will be dispatched to the intersection as needed, but will not be assigned there on a regular basis.

Arlington offers were posted at a different intersection today — Washington Blvd and N. Utah Street, in the Ballston area — for high-visibility pedestrian and traffic enforcement. Despite a painted crosswalk, the intersection has been deemed a particularly dangerous one due to past crashes as well as fast-moving traffic and a high volume of pedestrians crossing the street.

County Board to Consider Allowing Pedestrian-Only Streets

By ARLnow.com

Pedestrian-only street in Boston, as seen in a County Board reportThe Arlington County Board is expected to take up a change to the county’s Master Transportation Plan (MTP) that would allow pedestrian-only streets.

The Board is set to consider a request to advertise hearings on the change at a meeting later this month, according to a draft proposal.

The proposal would add “Pedestrian Street” to the MTP’s existing four defined street types. A pedestrian street is described as “a car-free travel corridor that provides public pedestrian access to adjacent buildings and properties fronting the street and serves as a public meeting place and location for commerce, communication and other community activities.”

“A pedestrian street is [predominantly] paved with a hard surface suitable for walking and includes physical measures that prevent regular access by motor vehicles,” the proposal says.

There are currently no pedestrian-only streets in Arlington, but a few are proposed, including a new 18th Street corridor in Rosslyn that would replace the neighborhood’s aging skywalk system with a several blocks of a new pedestrian-only street between N. Oak Street and N. Lynn Street, with the Rosslyn Metro station in between.

In addition to pedestrian-only streets, the proposal updates the definition of an existing street type — a pedestrian and bicycle priority street. The newly-defined “shared streets” are intended to “allow people to comfortably walk within the roadway” thanks to “implicitly slow traffic speeds through the mixing of travel paths, physical measures and visual cues.”

A recently-approved plan for the Courthouse neighborhood calls for portions of 14th and 15th streets to be shared streets, primarily intended for pedestrians but open to slow-speed vehicular traffic.

If the request to advertise the changes is approved in September, the Planning Commission and the County Board are likely to hold hearing on the change in October.

Hat tip to Jim Hurysz

ACFD Battling Car Fire in Rosslyn Office Garage

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County fire truck(Updated at 10:45 a.m.) Arlington County firefighters are battling a fully-engulfed car fire in a Rosslyn office building’s parking garage.

The blaze was reported just after 10:15 a.m. on the B1 level of the Waterview building garage, at 1919 N. Lynn Street. The building is home to companies like CEB and Deloitte.

As of 10:35 a.m., firefighters on the scene reported that they had the fire under control. Sprinklers in the garage helped to keep it contained, according to scanner traffic.

Two people are being evaluated for possible injuries.

Firefighters are currently checking to make sure the fire didn’t spread to other levels. They’re also assessing smoke conditions in the garage.

Between the fire and lane closures due to construction, drivers should expect significant traffic delays on Lynn Street in Rosslyn.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Demolition at Ballston Common Mall (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)

Cemetery to Start Screening Visitors — Arlington National Cemetery will begin security screening of visitors and random inspection of vehicles in November. Visitors, particularly those in large groups, are being advised to allow extra time to go through screening. [Dept. of Defense]

Police: Dog Walker Stole from Residents — A dog walker who served clients in Arlington has been charged with stealing from them. Police say 34-year-old Margarita Denison and an accomplice stole valuables from watches to jewelry to baseball cards from homes in Arlington and Fairfax. Denison worked for the dog walking service Time for a Walk, which said it runs background checks and checks references but will be tightening security. [NBC Washington]

NPS Recommends Trail Projects in Arlington — Among the 18 regional trail-related projects recommended by a new National Park Service study are two in Arlington: connecting the Roosevelt Bridge path to the Mt. Vernon Trail, and improving safety at the so-called Intersection of Doom in Rosslyn. [Greater Greater Washington]

ACPD Lauded for Crisis Intervention — A father whose son spit and cursed at police as he was taken into custody in Arlington has written an op-ed to praise the Arlington County Police Department for its crisis intervention training. The father called police after his neurologically-disabled son got drunk and left the house. Officers could have hurt the son and threw him in jail, but instead used the minimum amount of force necessary and took him to a hospital, the man said. [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf

FBI Seeking Info on Rosslyn Gas Station Robber

By ARLnow.com

Robbery suspect (photo courtesy FBI)The man who robbed the Sunoco gas station in Rosslyn this week has robbed at least seven gas stations, convenience stores and drug stores in the D.C. area since last October, according to the FBI.

The Bureau says the man robbed a CVS in Seat Pleasant, Maryland and an Exxon in Northwest D.C. Tuesday morning, before robbing the Sunoco around 11 a.m. The man implied that he had a gun and then fled with cash, the FBI says.

The suspect, who’s considered to be “armed and dangerous,” is described as “a black male, approximately 5’10” tall, between 40 and 50 years of age, with a medium complexion and a black and gray colored beard.”

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the suspect’s identification, arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the FBI Washington Field Office at 202-278-2000.

Crime Report: Driver Flashes Gun After Getting Cut Off

By ARLnow.com

Police car (file photo)A 52-year-old Arlington man is facing charges after police say he got mad and brandished a gun at a driver who tried to merge into his lane.

The road rage incident happened around 9 p.m. on Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. The man was later located by police and arrested.

From an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

BRANDISHING, 160902041, 1300 block N. Wilson. At approximately 9:07 p.m. on September 2, a male suspect brandished a firearm after the victim attempted to merge his vehicle into the same lane as the suspect. The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival but was later located and positively identified by witnesses. Sergio Martinez, 52, of Arlington VA was arrested and charged with brandishing a firearm. He was held on a $5,000 secure bond.

The rest of the past week’s crime report highlights, including two items already reported, after the jump.

(more…)

Redevelopment in the Works for RCA Building in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/2

A recognizable part of the Rosslyn skyline is set for redevelopment.

The RCA building at 1901 N. Moore Street is in the very early stages of a redevelopment plan.

Though still a few years away, the building is expected to be torn down and replaced with a new residential tower.

Local architecture firm Hickok Cole is working with property owner Weissberg Corp. on an “iconic” initial design that will balance “elegance and cost,” we’re told.

A site plan application is expected to be filed by next spring.

Armed Robbery at Rosslyn Gas Station

By ARLnow.com

Sunoco gas station underneath the Arlington Temple United Methodist Church (photo via Google Maps)A man with a gun robbed the Sunoco gas station in Rosslyn this morning.

The robbery happened just after 11 a.m. at the Sunoco at 1830 Fort Myer Drive, underneath the Arlington Temple United Methodist Church.

A man armed with a gun robbed the station, making off with hundreds of dollars in cash, according to initial reports. He was last seen fleeing southbound on N. Nash Street, on foot.

The suspect is described as a black male with short black hair, wearing a red shirt and black pants. He is said to be of medium height and medium build.

So far, police have been unable to locate the suspect.

Photo via Google Maps

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