W&OD trail

Police Looking For Footbridge Flasher

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Police are looking for a man who exposed himself to a teenage boy on a bike path near I-66 and the W&OD trail over the weekend.

The crime happened around dusk on Sunday. The boy’s stepmother sent the following warning out to other local moms on an email listserv following the incident.

Could you let the group know that there was a flasher on the bike/foot bridge over 66. He exposed himself to my 15 year old step-son who was coming from the Westover side. My step son turned and ran back towards Westover. It happened around 5:45 pm. The guy did not chase him, but did lunge toward him. We reported it to the police who checked the park and bridge, but he was gone. Here is a description: white male, 40’s, blond hair with some gray, 6 ft, 200lbs wearing a trench coat. No shoes. Smoking a cigarette.

An item from yesterday’s daily police report provides a bit more detail.

EXPOSURE, 11/06/11, 1500 block of N. Potomac Street. On November 6 at 5:30 pm, a teenage male was riding his skateboard on a footbridge when an unknown male exposed himself to the juvenile. The suspect is described as a white male, 6’, and 220 lbs. with medium length blond and gray hair. The suspect was wearing a trench coat and did not have shoes on.

Photos: Four Mile Run Flooding in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Despite dozens of flooded basements and a couple of thousand Dominion customers without power, Arlington was largely spared the flooded roads and swift water rescues that took place elsewhere in Northern Virginia.

In fact, Arlington firefighters were able to help out neighboring jurisdictions like Falls Church, Fairfax County and Alexandria during the worst of flooding last night.

That’s not to say, however, that there was no flooding in Arlington. These photos, many of which were taken along Four Mile Run and the W&OD Trail, show just how bad things got.

Photos courtesy Brendan L. and Anonymous

1/15

Teen With Gun Spotted, But Not Found

By ARLnow.com

A search for a teenager spotted with a gun on the W&OD trail this morning caused some anxious moments but turned up nothing.

The call came in to police around 11:15 a.m., stating that a young male wearing a black ski mask and holding something that looked like an assault rifle was spotted in the Madison Manor neighborhood. The teen and a companion were heading toward the pedestrian bridge that crosses I-66 near Ohio Street, just east of East Falls Church on the W&OD trail.

Police officers swarmed the area. At least three witnesses reported seeing the same teen, who was accompanied by another young male who was carrying a camera bag and a camera.

A half-hour search of the Madison Manor, Westover and East Falls Church neighborhoods turned up nothing, and eventually the search was called off. During the search extra security measures were put in place at McKinley Elementary School. One tipster reported that some roads were blocked in the area during the search.

Mystery Event Revealed, Will Take Place in Ashburn

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) The formal announcement of a “big” new annual Labor Day event along the W&OD Trail took place in Arlington’s Bluemont Park this morning.

Few details about the event were revealed ahead of time, but with the announcement featuring remarks by County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman and local lawmaker Del. Patrick Hope, one could reasonably assume that the bulk of the new event was to take place in Arlington, right?

Wrong.

The “Dominion Trail Mix” Labor Day community event will largely take place in Loudoun County, as it turns out. “The Great Skedaddle” — a bike, run, walk event along the W&OD Trail — and “TrailFest” — an outdoor festival featuring pop-country group Gloriana — will both take place at Farmwell Station Middle School in Ashburn.

A third Trail Mix event — the “Hail the Trail” clean-up event — will take place at eight nine different stations along the trail on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 3. According to the newly-updated Trail Mix web site, the station closest to Arlington will be located at Veterans Common at 507 Little Falls Street in Falls Church. The event will encourage volunteers to pick up trash, perform kiosk maintenance, weed and plant along the trail.

Among those on hand for this morning’s announcement were Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell, Dominion CEO Paul Koonce and Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority Executive Director Paul Gilbert.

‘Big’ Annual Event to Be Revealed Next Week

By ARLnow.com

A new annual community event will be launching later this year in Arlington. Organizers have released a few tantalizing tidbits about the event, but most details will remain a mystery until a formal announcement featuring Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell on Wednesday of next week.

The one-day event is expected take place Labor Day weekend along the W&OD Trail in Arlington. It will feature “a sports event with a historic twist, a large-scale environmental action activity (biggest in the park’s history) and a festival featuring a national recording artist which we expect will draw several thousand attendees,” said Chris Browne, Vice President of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance.

“It is going to be BIG and very relevant to our regional community,” Browne added.

Wednesday’s announcement will feature First Lady McDonnell, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman and Paul Koonce, CEO of Dominion Virginia Power, which is sponsoring the event. The announcement is scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m. at Bluemont Park (601 N. Manchester Street).

Police Identify Bicycle Accident Victim

By ARLnow.com

Arlington police have released the identity of the bicyclist who was killed in South Arlington over the weekend.

The Arlington County Police Department is investigating a fatal traffic accident that occurred on [Sunday] in the 4000 block of Four Mile Run Drive. At approximately 2:56 p.m. on May 8, 2011, police responded for a bicyclist that collided with a vehicle.

Fitzgerald Pollard, 44, of Arlington, was riding his bicycle south on South Walter Reed Drive, turned right onto the access road of Four Mile Run Drive and crossed into oncoming traffic. Mr. Pollard then struck an occupied vehicle. He was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

The Arlington County Police asking that any witnesses of the accident contact the Department at 703 558-2222, or Detective Don Fortunato at 703 228-4197.

BREAKING NEWS — Bicyclist Dead After Collision With Car

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 9:25 p.m.) A bicyclist was struck and killed by a car near the intersection of Four Mile Run Drive and S. Walter Reed Drive this afternoon.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, according to Arlington County police spokeswoman Det. Crystal Nosal. Police are still investigating the accident — which occurred around 3:00 p.m. — and will release the victim’s name when next of kin are notified.

According to police, the adult male cyclist was turning onto the Four Mile Run Drive access road from southbound Walter Reed Drive when he collided with a car heading in the opposite direction. The man was brought to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Arlington County transportation officials are in the process of planning safety improvements for the intersection, which handles bicycle traffic from the W&OD Trail.

See the police press release, after the jump.

Hat tip to @abend0c4

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Power Outage Update — There are more than 2,100 Dominion customers still without power in Arlington. That’s down from 16,700 at the height of the storm. Dominion is receiving some favorable comparisons to Pepco from the Washington Post. The Post notes that Dominion called in out of town power crews early, while Pepco did not.

Arlington Delegates Have Bills Killed in House — Bills that would increase Virginia’s cigarette tax, lower the mandatory retirement age for judges and impose a 5-cent tax on plastic bags have all been killed in the House of Delegates, after being proposed by Arlington-based lawmakers. [Sun Gazette]

Library to Get Solar Panels — Thanks to a $300,000 federal grant, the Arlington Central Library will be getting 60-kilowatts worth of solar panels installed on its roof by this summer. [TBD]

Counting of Pedestrians Continues — Arlington is counting pedestrians and cyclists on local trails using an automated, database-driven system. Check out the sneak peak of some of the data that’s being recorded. [Commuter Page Blog]

Photo courtesy Lindsay W.

How Does The County Clear Snow From Trails?

By ARLnow.com

Here’s one way that Arlington County is making sure that pedestrian routes like the W&OD Trail are clear for cyclists, runners and walkers during the winter.

This pickup-mounted snow plow was spotted near today’s fire on Four Mile Run Drive.

Update on 12/23/10 — Since there was some confusion in the comments, we asked Department of Environmental Services spokesperson Myllisa Kennedy to clarify the county’s trail plowing policy.

“The County does a limited amount of snow clearing on trail sections where they provide the greatest community benefit including access to schools, metro rail stations, hospitals, or other areas frequented by the public,” Kennedy said. “Other county priorities include streets, bridges, and sidewalks on school routes, around county buildings and other operational needs.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

McDonnell Pushes For Quick Action on Health Care Challenge — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who praised state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s now-successful challenge to President Obama’s health care reform law, wants the federal government’s inevitable appeal to go straight to the Supreme Court rather than take a more circuitous route through a federal appeals court. “Everybody knows it’s going to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the governor told Fox News.

W&OD Trail Closure Postponed — A portion of the W&OD Trail was supposed to be closed today to allow for power line work, but that has been postponed indefinitely because of the wind, a county official says.

Arlington-Based Green Firm Acquired — ClearCarbon, a Courthouse-based company that audits corporations’ greenhouse gas emissions, has been acquired by consulting giant Deloitte. More from Reuters.

Street Closure Near Rosslyn Metro Sunday — North Moore Street between Wilson Boulevard and 19th Street North will be closed all Sunday as a result of utility work for the Rosslyn Metro entrance project. Buses that normally use the street will be redirected to North Lynn Street. Signs will be in place to direct riders.

Union Jack’s Reviewed — Parody, or just really enthusiastic? You decide.

Flickr pool photo by Amber Wilkie

Power Line Work to Close W&OD Trail

By ARLnow.com

Update on 12/13 — The work has been postponed due to high winds. No word yet on when it will be rescheduled.

The W&OD Trail will be closed next Tuesday between Carlin Springs Road and the Bluemont Junction Trail due to overhead work on power lines.

The trail will close starting at 5:00 a.m. on Dec. 14, and is expected to reopen the following day.

A trail that runs parallel to the W&OD, on the other side of Four Mile Run, will be available as an alternative route for trail users, according to county parks spokesperson Susan Kalish.

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