weekend discussion

It’s going to be a wet weekend with the National Weather Service predicting a 30 percent chance of rain on Saturday, before 2 p.m., and more rain on Sunday.

If the rain holds off, you can head down to Wilson and Clarendon Blvds for the annual Clarendon Day.

The free festival will have food, five different stages of live music and entertainment, a kids zone and the annual chili cookoff.

The morning kicks of with the annual Clarendon 5K/10K/Kids Run, organized by Pacers.

Arlington County Police Department will close Clarendon and Wilson Blvds from N. Highland Street and Washington Blvd starting at 5 a.m. for the festival. N. Highland will also be closed between 11th Street N. to the Views at Clarendon (1210 N. Highland Street).

Wilson Blvd will be closed from N. Highland to N. Lynn Streets from 5-9:15 a.m., and the southbound lanes of Route 110 will also be closed from 8-10:30 a.m. for the race.

On Sunday, people can celebrate Latin American culture with a festival in South Arlington. The Latinoamerican Festival kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27 at Kenmore Middle School (200 S. Carlin Springs Road).

The free festival, which runs until 5 p.m., will have live music, dance performances and authentic Latin American food.

This year, there will also be a fútbol, or soccer, game. Bata and Arlington United, two teams from the county’s Bolivian league, will play at 3:15 p.m. on the soccer field at Kenmore Middle School.

The event will happen rain or shine, but will move indoors in the case of rain. National Weather Service is predicting a wet Sunday, with an 80 percent chance of rain, likely after noon.

Feel free to talk about the two events or any other topic of local interest in the comments.

The Capital Weather Gang may have declared summer over in the D.C. area, but National Weather Service’s predictions for this weekend look pretty summery. NWS expects a high of 86 degrees for Saturday and a high of 78 degrees on Sunday.

One way to enjoy the beautiful weather may be a trip to the Air Force Memorial, located off of Columbia Pike, to say happy birthday. The Air Force turned 68 years old this week.

This morning you may have seen or heard fighter jets flying over parts of Arlington. The Air Combat Command, which is part of the Air Force, flew two F-22 aircrafts at approximately 9:10 a.m. over Arlington National Cemetery and two F-15C planes over the Pentagon around 10:40 a.m.

Arlington’s future may look a little more affordable, at least in terms of housing, after the County Board meeting on Saturday. The Board will take up the Affordable Housing Master Plan during their meeting first meeting since July. Under the plan, the county will add approximately 15,800 affordable housing units by 2040.

At least two groups from South Arlington have organized in response to the housing plan. While both groups support adding more affordable units, the Coalition of Arlingtonians for Responsible Development has been lobbying the Board to include more geographic distribution of affordable units. New group, Mi Voz Cuenta, supports the plan as is and says it welcomes more affordable housing on Columbia Pike. Mi Voz Cuenta is allied with Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement, which supports affordable housing.

County Board candidates have also weighed in on affordable housing with Christian Dorsey and Katie Cristol announcing their support of the plan and independents Mike McMenamin and Audrey Clement saying they would not vote for it.

The County Board’s meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the County Board room at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.

Feel free to weigh in on affordable housing or any other topics of local interest in the comments section.

Despite possible storms tonight, National Weather Service predicts a sunny three-day weekend. Saturday and Sunday both have highs of 84 degrees, and a a high of 88 is predicted for Labor Day on Monday.

Most county government offices will be closed for Labor Day, and ART and Metro will both run on holiday schedules. Metered parking in Arlington will not be enforced on Monday.

ARLnow.com will also be taking the day off, barring any breaking news. We will be back on Tuesday with plenty to report, from the beginning of school to the upcoming election.

As always, feel free to comment on the holiday, Labor Day traffic or any other local topic. Have a nice three day weekend.

Flickr pool photo by thekidfromcrumlin

Stores might be stocking up on pumpkin ale and other fall goodies, but the weather this weekend does not indicate the end of summer any time soon.

National Weather Service predicts a high of 88 degrees for Saturday and 90 degrees for Sunday.

One way to enjoy one of the last weekends of summer break is at one of Arlington’s numerous parks. Some Arlington parks have shade and water features to help beat the heat, as well as playgrounds, tennis courts and picnic spaces. However, as we reported this week, not all visitors have had glowing reviews of local parks.

If spending time in the sun, isn’t for you or your family, it might be a good opportunity to pick up last minute back-to-school items. It may be a good weekend to drive, walk or bike, as all Metrorail lines in Arlington will be experiencing delays.

The Blue, Orange, Yellow and Silver lines will run trains every 18 minutes this weekend due to single tracking and repairs.

Feel free to head to the comments section to lament over the impending end of summer, the pre-season state of Washington’s professional football team or the one-star reviews of local parks. Or, as always, you can discuss any topic of local interest.

Photo via Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation

It’s Friday, which means tomorrow is the Village at Shirlington’s annual Wags N’ Whiskers.

This annual pet shopping expo has more than 60 exhibitions, where shoppers can buy treats, food and pet goods. Pets can also get their pictures taken for $5, so make sure they look their best.

The event will also have live music and kids activities. Pets are welcome to attend.

Campbell Avenue and S. Randolph Street will be closed from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the festival. Campbell Avenue will be closed from S. Quincy Street to the parking garage in front of the Harris Teeter (4250 Campbell Avenue). S. Randolph Street will be closed from Arlington Mill Drive to the alley south of Campbell Avenue.

If four-legged friends are not for you, the Gulf Branch Nature Center and Park (3608 N. Military Road) is holding a bat festival from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Saturday.

There will be habitat walks, games, crafts and a chance to explore the nature center’s bat cave.

The event will also have talks led by Leslie Sturges, who works at a campaign helping to protect and conserve bats. Each talk is tailored for a specific audience, with two 30-minute kids talks and two 45-minute talks for adults and older children. The event costs $8, and there is currently a waitlist for the event.

Feel free to talk about Wags N’ Whiskers, bats or any other local topic.

Flickr pool photo by Chaita_1

It’s the weekend, which means the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will be doing rail work.

This weekend, the Orange, Blue and Silver lines will all be operating every 20 minutes due to single tracking between Federal Center Southwest and Eastern Market stations while WMATA conducts tests and installs emergency call boxes.

Metro is continuing to experience rush hour delays, with another station malfunction yesterday. Last week’s train derailment has caught the eye of area lawmakers, and they are not happy with the agency.

If you need a laugh to get over a week filled with Metro delays, head over to the Rosslyn BID’s showing of “The Hangover” tonight, which is part of the Rosslyn’s Outdoor Film Festival. Oscar-winner “Birdman” is also playing at Penrose Square on Columbia Pike on Saturday.

Feel free to vent about Metro or any other topic of local interest in the comments.

It’s Friday, which means the weekend is here. National Weather Service is predicting a sunny weekend, with highs in the upper 80s for both weekends.

The Arlington County Fair will be open from until 11 p.m. tonight, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. There will be concerts throughout the weekend at the fair.

This weekend is also the tax-free holiday for Virginia. With school around the corner — school starts on Sept. 8 — it is a good weekend to get school supplies and clothing.

Feel free to talk about the county fair or any other topic of local interest.

It looks like the rain is gone, at least until next Thursday, making this weekend a great time to go celebrate the start of the last full month of summer.

One way to enjoy the sunshine might be a walk on the Donaldson Run trail now the water advisory has been lifted.

Cyclists can also join County Board member Libby Garvey in honoring her late husband with a 90-mile bicycle ride.

Residents may also want to head over to the Arlington Central Library’s auditorium (1015 N. Quincy Street) to hear about the changes coming to I-66, including going from HOV lanes to HOT lanes.

Feel free to sound off on the proposed lane changes or any other topic of local interest in the comments.