April 28, 2010 | ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 5:50PM

Donnellan Proposes Capital Improvement Plan — Outgoing Acting County Manager Barbara Donnellan has proposed a six-year, nearly $1 billion Capital Improvement Projects plan. The plan would fund county projects, including critical maintenance at parks and aging county facilities, but it does not include funding for the new Wakefield High School (below). More from the Arlington County website.

New Wakefield High Moving Forward — The county board approved a use permit for the proposed new Wakefield High School. While the move theoretically clears the way for construction to begin, the county is still trying to figure out how to fund the project. More from the Sun Gazette.

News

As Temperatures Drop, Winter Shelter Remains Closed

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 5:30PM

Arlington’s Emergency Winter Shelter will remain closed tonight despite gusty winds and temperatures dropping into the upper 30s.

Kathy Sibert, executive director of the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN), says that illustrates the need for a year-round shelter. A-SPAN has been lobbying the county board for funding for such a shelter.

Schools

Virginia’s First Lady Cuts Ribbon For Glebe Reading Garden

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 5:04PM

Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell was at Glebe Elementary today as school, county and state officials helped to mark the opening of a new “reading garden.”

McDonnell used garden shears to cut a ceremonial ribbon as a crowd of about 50 adults and students applauded.

News

Missing Yorktown High Grad Found in Fairfax County

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 3:27PM

A missing Yorktown High School grad and athletic standout has been found safely in Fairfax County. Mikey Pinkerton is back home in North Arlington after going missing on April 15, his father confirmed this afternoon.

Mikey’s father said he’s grateful to the friends, family and strangers who helped out during the nearly two week search.

News

ART Buses Now Can Be Tracked Online in Real Time

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 12:33PM

Among the tracking options for riders are the “RealTime Desktop,” which displays a useful but user-unfriendly map of the bus system, and “RealTime Smartphone,” which can be accessed on a computer as well as on a smartphone and which is actually much easier to use. There will also be RealTime displays at select bus stops throughout the county.

Excluding Metro’s NextBus system, the new ART system the first local real-time bus information service in the region. Beta testing on the system began a few weeks ago.

Traffic

Chain Bridge Closed This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 11:32AM

Chain Bridge will be completely closed to traffic and pedestrians this weekend due to the ongoing bridge reconstruction project.

The bridge will be closed from 9:00 Friday night to 5:00 Monday morning.

News

Irish Pub Coming to Shirlington?

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 11:02AM

From Shirlington Village Blog: An ABC notice posted in the window of a retail space at the Randolph Square development (2800 South Randolph Street) lists the occupant as “Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub.”

Around Town

Arlington-Based Elevation Burger, A Higher Plane of Fast Food

By ARLnow.com

Published April 28, 2010 at 8:15AM

Locals may know Elevation Burger for their strip mall storefronts on Lee Highway in Arlington and Falls Church. But the restaurant industry knows Elevation Burger as #56 on last year’s annual FastCasual.com Top 100 list of movers and shakers.

The nascent chain has seven restaurants open right now and expects to open more than 100 restaurants from LA to NYC to Kuwait by 2013. A Rosslyn location is also in the works, and a Ballston location may not be too far behind. The company hopes to open a few dozen stores in the D.C. area in coming years.