Washington Post

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Mailer Blasts GOP State Senate Candidate — A mysterious last-minute political mailer has been sent to voters in the 32nd state Senate District. The mailer attacks GOP state Senate candidate Patrick Forrest for being “openly homosexual,” supporting “illegal immigration reform” and for supposedly working for President Obama’s transition team. Forrest’s opponent, incumbent state Sen. Janet Howell, spoke out against the mailers, calling them “disgusting and despicable.” The mailing’s return address comes back to a parking lot, and the organization it purports to come from does not exist. [Blue Virginia]

Arlington Man Charged With Murder — A 27-year-old Arlington man has been charged with second degree murder in Hawaii. Christopher Deedy, a special agent with the State Department, allegedly shot a man during a late-night argument at a McDonald’s in Waikiki. [KHON 2]

Post Endorses Tejada, Hynes — The Washington Post has endorsed incumbent Democrats Walter Tejada and Mary Hynes for reelection to the Arlington County Board. The paper’s editorial board called their opponent, Green Party candidate Audrey Clement, “well informed” but “anti-growth.” Clement, meanwhile, is accusing Tejada and Hynes of being “in bed with developers.” [Washington Post]

D.C. Cop Seeks Legal Fees from Arlington Lawyer — A D.C. police officer is asking her ex-boyfriend, an Arlington lawyer, to pay her legal fees (more than $70,000) in a case that included accusations of “attempted stalking,” defamation and civil rights violations. [Legal Times]

Marines Want More Access to APS Students — The U.S. Marine Corps is asking Arlington Public Schools to relax its restrictions on military recruiting at school facilities. While more restrictive than Fairfax County or other local jurisdictions, the school system argues that its rules are consistent with federal law. The Marine Corps says its rate of enlisting Arlington students is far below expectations. [Sun Gazette]

Favola Wins Endorsement of WaPo, Sun Gazette

By ARLnow.com

Democratic state Senate candidate Barbara Favola has scored two notable newspaper endorsements.

The Washington Post and the Arlington Sun Gazette both endorsed Favola yesterday, passing over her opponent, Republican Caren Merrick.

“Our inclination at the beginning of the race was to favor Merrick,” wrote the Sun Gazette. “But as the campaign progressed, we’ve been left wondering exactly what her core political philosophy is, and how she will put it into action, if elected, in Richmond.”

“Democrat Barbara Favola, a knowledgeable veteran of the Arlington County Board, would be effective in the Senate from Day 1 representing this district,” wrote the Washington Post. “Ms. Merrick, despite her valuable business experience, has offered no plausible alternative for tackling [traffic] gridlock.”

Merrick holds a substantial cash advantage over Favola, however. As of Sept. 30, Merrick had $140,076 in the bank, compared to Favola’s $62,612.

Favola and Merrick are scheduled to debate tonight at the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department (3900 Lee Highway). The debate is expected to begin around 7:30 p.m.

Arlington Missing from WaPo Dining Guide

By ARLnow.com

For the second year in a row, Arlington is conspicuously missing from Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema’s fall dining guide.

The only Arlington connections on the annual list of 40 restaurants are mini-chains Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza and Jaleo, which have Clarendon and Crystal City locations respectively — though one wouldn’t know it since the dining guide lists the location of each as “Washington, DC.”

In contrast to Arlington’s goose egg, neighboring jurisdictions Alexandria and Fall Church have three restaurants apiece in this year’s dining guide.

Arlington County, which has seen a boom of new restaurants in the past couple of years, was similarly snubbed in Sietsema’s 2010 Fall Dining Guide. Eventide (Clarendon) and Ray’s the Steaks (Courthouse) both made it on the 2009 Fall Dining Guide.

Two Views on Artisphere

By ARLnow.com

Is Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd) a funky, welcoming arts venue that’s contributing to the vibrancy of Rosslyn? Or is it a disappointing, poorly-managed waste of taxpayer dollars?

Depends who you ask.

Artisphere turned one year old yesterday, but the young venue has yet to become a consistent draw or even a household name. Instead, scenes of young people having fun at an Artisphere birthday bash over the weekend contrast with the cold, hard numbers from a recent Washington Post article: attendance 70 percent below expectations, operating expenses more than 25 percent over budget. Although Arlington County taxpayers helped front Artisphere’s $6.7 million build-out cost, only 28 percent of visitors are actually from Arlington.

The libertarian Cato Institute, which has been critical of government subsidies for entertainment venues like sports stadiums, took aim at Artisphere in a recent blog post.

“Surprise! Arts Center Predictions Flawed,” Cato’s headline blared. The article blasted the projections made in Artisphere’s original business plan, including the assumption that every single performance at Artisphere would be sold out and at capacity.

A new business plan is expected to be presented to the Arlington County Board later this year.

Cato also criticized the fact that Artisphere was built while other county budgets were being cut.

“Maybe the next time Arlington County — or any other state or municipality — needs to cut its budget, it might think about cutting subsidies for money-losing venues before going after police officers, firefighters, and math teachers,” Cato’s David Boaz wrote.

The Washington City Paper, however, is taking a more optimistic view. The weekly agrees with Artisphere managers, county leaders and Rosslyn business boosters who say that Artisphere is an important step toward a revitalized Rosslyn — a Rosslyn that stays active even after 5:00.

“Artisphere, I think, deserves to succeed,” wrote Alex Baca for the paper’s Arts Desk blog. “Its programming nicely walks the line between avant-garde and accessible, and varies from film to installation art to performances. It’s a punch in the gut to Wilson Boulevard’s otherwise un-fun corporate landscape.”

“Two or three years from now… it’s very likely that someone will be able to credit Artisphere for the third-place-ification of Wilson Boulevard,” Baca concluded. “Artisphere might not be Rosslyn’s panacea, but it very well might be its catalyst.”

Local Coverage Shake-Up at the Washington Post?

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) ARLnow.com has confirmed that Christy Goodman, the Washington Post’s Arlington/Alexandria reporter, is no longer with the paper as of today.

That news comes as Washington Post employees reported on Twitter that the Post is shuttering all of its Virginia and Maryland local bureaus, with the exception of Richmond and Annapolis. The Post currently has local bureaus in Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Prince William County and elsewhere.

The Poynter Institute’s Jim Romenesko has a memo from the Washington Post Guild’s Facebook page confirming the closures. “The closure of the physical buildings does not mean that the Post will reduce its local coverage,” according to the memo.

No word yet on the Post’s plans for coverage in Arlington.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Storm Shopping Clears Shelves — Residents are taking the advice of emergency officials and shopping for essential items in advance of Hurricane Irene. At the Potomac Yard Target store last night, shopping carts were at a premium, milk was running low and bottled water was completely sold out.

Two Candidates Challenge Brink — Del. Bob Brink will have to work a bit harder to keep his 48th District House of Delegates seat. Brink is facing general election challenges from Independent Green candidate Janet Murphy and from McLean resident Kathleen Gillette Mallard, who has ties to the Tea Party. [Sun Gazette]

Major Crystal City Employer Purchased — Bloomberg LP has purchased the Bureau of National Affairs, a specialized industry reporting outfit headquartered in Crystal City. Bloomberg says it plans to run BNA, which has more than 600 employees, as a “stand-alone subsidiary.” [Washington Post]

Office of Emergency Management Video — Rest assured that Arlington County is ready for Hurricane Irene. But be a bit worried about the county’s ability to properly operate a video camera. [YouTube]

Fairfax Times Rips Off ARLnow.com Quote — The Washington Post-owned Fairfax Times has copied, verbatim, a quote from an ARLnow.com article on the 31st District state Senate primary without proper attribution. The quote from Betsy Wildhack only appeared on ARLnow.com — we were the only news outlet there at the time — but yet now appears at the end of a Fairfax Times article without any sort of credit or acknowledgement.

WaPo Covers Arlington’s ‘Karaoke Cab’

By ARLnow.com

Have you ever hopped in a Red Top Cab at night and realized that it wasn’t just a taxi, it was a karaoke parlor on wheels?

If so, you’ve probably met Joel Orbina Laguidao, the subject of an amusing Washington Post Style section feature this week.

A former truck driver, Laguidao started driving a cab shortly after moving to Virginia from the Philippines. After becoming bored with just driving all the time, he installed a karaoke machine.

The Post recently rode shotgun as Laguidao hauled bar-goers from Clarendon back to their apartments in Ballston, Pentagon City and elsewhere. Intrepid reporter Dan Zak bore witness to the looks of disbelief on the faces of first-time riders, and to the loud, terrible drunken singing that serenades Laguidao during his workday (that is, when Laguidao is not on the mic himself).

Morning Poll: Schools Instead of Streetcars?

By ARLnow.com

In an editorial, the Washington Post suggests that now would be the “wrong time” to start building a proposed streetcar line along Columbia Pike.

After all, the Post opines, the federal funds that the county hopes to receive for the $140-million-plus project may become difficult to obtain now that the federal government is on the verge of approving spending cuts. Arlington’s leaders, the Post editorial board says, would be better off spending the county’s share of the 4.7-mile streetcar line’s big price tag “elsewhere” — perhaps on additional capacity for the burgeoning Arlington Public School system.

The editorial comes three weeks after the Washington Examiner’s editorial board blasted the streetcar as a “colossal, unjustified waste of tax dollars.”

Do you agree with the Post’s stance?

In Arlington, Danger is Underfoot

By ARLnow.com

The ubiquitous brown flip flop may be hazardous to your health, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The Post reports that podiatrists are treating a rash of flip flop-related injuries in the D.C. area, including one District-based foot doctor who treats at least one flip flop injury per day during the warm-weather months.

The health dangers of flip flops include stress fractures of the metatarsals, plantar fasciitis, cuts, bruises and sunburn, according to the article. But the scientific evidence is a bit thin.

“Very few studies have looked at the pros and cons of flip-flops,” the Post notes. Perhaps researchers can interview a few of Arlington’s bevy of dudes in brown flip flops.

Said the tipster who sent us the link: “Breaking news! Residents of Clarendon need to be alerted immediately.”

Morning Poll: Did You Watch The Royal Wedding?

By ARLnow.com

Yes, it seems that the much-ballyhooed royal wedding is local news. After all, that and a weather item regarding today’s slight risk of showers makes up the entirety of the “above the fold” portion of the Washington Post’s local news page.

So we might as well give a nod to pop culture and ask: did you watch the wedding? Bonus question for the comments: were you late to work as a result?

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.

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