I’m very proud to announce tonight that ARLnow.com is the first site to partner with new D.C. local news site TBD.com.
TBD is helmed by former washingtonpost.com executive editor Jim Brady and backed by Allbritton Communications, parent company of ABC7, NewsChannel 8 and Politico. We’re excited to be working with Jim and his team, including Erik Wemple, Steve Buttry, Jeff Sonderman, Lisa Rowan, Julie Westfall, Steve Chaggaris and Mandy Jenkins (who did I forget?).
Obey’s Retirement Will Boost Moran’s Influence — Wisconsin congressman David Obey’s retirement will move fellow Democrat Rep. Jim Moran higher up in the powerful House Appropriations Committee’s pecking order. Moran said of Obey’s decision not to seek re-election today: “Chairman Obey is one of the most consequential figures to chair Appropriations. With unparalleled institutional knowledge, he has skillfully guided the Committee through some of the most difficult terrain in its history. He will be sorely missed.” More from the Washington Post.
Elevator Fire at Navy Annex Ties Up Traffic — A small fire in an elevator mechanical room at the Navy Annex on Columbia Pike tied up traffic this morning. Firefighters and police responded to the scene, shutting down Columbia Pike between South Joyce Street and South Oak Street around 10:15 p.m. ART and Metro buses were delayed as a result.
This week’s Arlington crime report is especially long, but that’s just because it details incidents from the past two weeks (as opposed to the normal one).
The report includes the bank robbery and the armored truck robbery that we reported on the Friday before last.
This morning we ran a story on Committee for a Better Arlington chairman Mike Staples declining to participate in a planned debate over the group’s change-of-government proposal. Since there will be no “debate” tonight, we decided to ask two fresh voices from each side of the issue to make their case to Arlington residents here, in 400 words or less.
As a preface: it’s looking like this is a debate that will only get louder in the coming weeks and, possibly, months. The Committee is facing the daunting task of collecting 14,340 signatures by July 15 in order to float the proposal as a ballot initiative. Staples, however, says his group is “on track” to collect the needed signatures.
Arlington police arrested 47-year-old Luis Hoil yesterday and charged him with Forcible Sodomy. He’s being held without bond at the Arlington County Detention Center.
Investigators say Hoil sexually assaulted a juvenile male between 1999 and 2001. Hoil was the coach of the Crystal City Soccer Club from 1998 to 2003. The club serves students of Oakridge Elementary and Gunston Middle schools.
For the crafty mother: The first day of the Ballston Arts & Crafts Market (in Welburn Square, between N. 9th and N. Stuart Streets) is on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Expect plenty of delightful, handmade gifts that will impress your mother much more than anything YOU could have put together at the last minute.
For the musical mother: The Opera Guild of Northern Virginia is holding a benefit concert for the children of Haiti from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday at the NRECA Building (4301 Wilson Blvd). The music will range from arias to swing and there will also be an art sale — a great opportunity to show that your mother raised a charitable, thoughtful son or daughter.
A power outage hit Ballston and a large swath of North Arlington this morning. More than 2,500 Dominion customers were without power in Arlington as of 11:20 p.m., according to the company’s web site.
Later, a Dominion rep told the Washington Post that as many as 6,500 customers lost power at one point. The outage was caused when a private contractor hit a power line, the Post reported.
The Arlington County Democratic Committee is holding a forum about the proposed change to Arlington’s form of government tonight, but the person billed as representing the “pro” side of the debate says he won’t be there.
Mike Staples, president of Arlington’s firefighter union and chairman of the Committee for a Better Arlington, which supports the proposal, says the group is refusing its invitation due to unreasonable terms of participation.
