Meet Cooper, Arlington’s Cutest Dog
Cooper the cocker spaniel/poodle mix is officially Arlington’s Cutest Dog. Cooper captured a whopping 1,238 votes in the final round of our inaugural contest.
Cooper and his owner, Joe, will receive a brand new Apple iPad courtesy of Siena Park, the new pet-friendly luxury apartment community on Columbia Pike.
If you’re still not convinced that Cooper is, in fact, Arlington cutest dog, we present the following photographic evidence:
Meanwhile, Lucy the Dachshund made a spirited run at first place but came up just short. For placing second, Lucy and her owner, David, will receive a $100 gift certificate to Wylie Wagg in Clarendon (2509 N. Franklin Road). We think Lucy may appreciate the store’s great selection of healthy food and supplies for dogs (and cats) more than some fancy techno gizmo.
Bentley the English lab placed third and will receive a $50 Wylie Wagg gift certificate.
The three top finishers will also receive a soccer ball fetch toy in honor of the World Cup, which we tried to tie-in with the contest but then sort of gave up on (whoops).
Prizes will be presented at a reception at Wylie Wagg. We’ll announce the details later this week.
Congratulations to the prize winners and a big thank you to all contest participants. Your enthusiasm helped make this contest such a smashing success. We hope to see you all at the reception.
To Do Tonight: Wine Tasting at a Bike Store
You heard right. In honor of the Tour de France, Revolution Cycles is holding a French wine tasting at its Crystal City store (220 20th St. S.).
The wines will be grouped by their location along the Tour de France course.
There will also be a contest to see who can predict the winner of tomorrow’s leg of the race. The winner will get a free bike tune-up kit.
Tonight’s event will take place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public (ages 21 and up).
Signature-Gathering Enters Homestretch for Change-of-Government Proponents
Thursday is the deadline for change-of-government supporters to submit 14,350 signatures to the county registrar in order to get a referendum on the November ballot. According one of the contract signature collectors hired by the Committee for a Better Arlington, which wants to change Arlington’s form of county government, they have already exceeded that number.
Speaking to ARLnow.com at the Columbia Pike Farmers Market Sunday afternoon, signature collector Robert Farrell said they’ve collected about 15,000 signatures already and are trying to collect about 2,000 more by the deadline as a “cushion” to make up for signatures that might be disqualified by the registrar (due to duplicate signatures or an out-of-county address).
Officially, the Committee has declined to discuss the exact progress of its signature-gathering effort, except to express confidence that it will be successful.
Signature collectors have had to put in “a lot of legwork” and overcome a number of challenges, Ferrell said. He cited demonstrators who show up at events with “decline to sign” signs from the anti-referendum Coalition for Arlington Good Government. The sign holders are generally respectful, Ferrell said, although he has encountered “hostility” from about one in every 1,000 people he approaches.
Meanwhile, the number of places where Committee contractors and volunteers are allowed to gather signatures has become a bit more limited. The Committee used to rely heavily on collecting signatures outside Giant and Safeway stores. Ferrell said he was told a week ago that they were no longer welcome outside the stores due to unspecified complaints.
Ferrell, a self-described native Arlingtonian who returned from living elsewhere to help the petition effort, said that means he will just have to “keep on trucking” at another high-traffic location.
BREAKING NEWS — Northrop Grumman Bypasses Arlington
Northrop Grumman has bypassed Arlington and selected the Falls Church section of Fairfax County for the location of its new DC-area headquarters. The company will purchase a building in the Fairview Park office park, near the Beltway and Route 50, the company said in a press release.
The purchase caps a “comprehensive site selection process” that lasted about a month and a half longer than originally anticipated. When Northrop CEO Wes Bush and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced in April that the company had narrowed its headquarters search down to Northern Virginia, Bush said the process would take about a month.
Amid the media speculation about the headquarters location, two sites were consistently mentioned near the end: the Falls Church site and a building in Ballston. Buildings in Crystal City and Rosslyn were also said to be in the early running. In the end, however, Falls Church won out.
The fate of Northrop’s ritzy Rosslyn government affairs office is now in question. The company said cryptically that employees from the office will help “initiate operations” in the new building next summer. We’re awaiting further clarification from a Northrop representative.
The company’s full press release, after the jump.
Power Lines Down Near Hospital
Police have blocked a stretch of North George Mason Drive between 16th Street and 15th Street after utility lines fell across the roadway.
The closure is adjacent to Virginia Hospital Center. George Mason Drive is a key route for ambulances heading to the hospital.
Free Family Movie Mornings in Ballston
With the kids out of school, parents have to occasionally do something to keep them entertained and out of trouble. Going to the movies is a good, albeit pricey option. Now, the Regal Cinema at Ballston Common Mall is removing the pricey part with the introduction of a “Free Family Film Festival,” which will run through the end of August.
Starting this week, the theater will offer free admission to a G or PG movie every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Doors open at 9:15 a.m. and the movie starts at 10:00 a.m. Seating is first come, first serve.
The Regal Cinema chain has hosted free family movie screenings every summer since 1991.
This year’s movie schedule includes Monsters vs. Aliens, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Charlotte’s Web. The full schedule, after the jump.
EFC Plan Moves Forward
In the news business, this is known as a “process” story. On Saturday the county board voted to accept a task force’s plan for development around the East Falls Church Metro Station. The board passed the plan on to county staff, who will review it and make changes while preserving 15 priorities outlined by the board. The board’s action will have no actual, practical consequences. That will come when the final plan is adopted by the board about six months from now, following more revisions and public discussion.
For what was essentially a procedural action, however, there sure were plenty of people who wanted to talk about it. About 25 speakers voiced their opinion on the EFC plan, most of them residents who believe that the addition of transit-oriented, mixed use retail/office buildings and the subtraction of the commuter parking lot would “destroy” or otherwise sully their relatively quiet residential neighborhood.
Passions run high on the EFC issue, and Saturday’s nearly three hour discussion was no exception. At one point, while the board was discussing the plan amongst themselves, board chairman Jay Fisette scolded development opponents for hissing.
Later, in a bit of openness that should give opponents hope, board vice chairman Chris Zimmerman acknowledged a major hurdle that could prevent the development from getting done. The commuter parking lot, which the county wants to convert into a mixed-use development that will act as the “town center” of East Falls Church, is owned by VDOT, which has said it wants the lot to remain.
“Maybe VDOT won’t allow it and it won’t get built,” Zimmerman conceded.
After 3+ Hours, American Flatbread Denied Patio Seating
It took nearly three and a half hours for the Arlington County Board to squash any hope of outdoor patio seating at American Flatbread.
Board members repeatedly reassured owner Scott Vasko that Flatbread was exactly the type of business that Arlington County is trying to attract. In the end, however, promises made to local homeowners in 2004 were upheld, and a patio between the restaurant and an adjacent house will remain an undeveloped “buffer zone.”
In a concession to Flatbread, the board granted the more lenient of two possible scenarios for sidewalk seating in front of the Clarendon restaurant. Flatbread will be allowed to set up tables on 25 feet of sidewalk in front of 11th Street North (the other scenario called for 15 feet). Combined with sidewalk seating also approved for North Fillmore Street, Flatbread will likely have a total of four outdoor tables and 10 seats. The patio could have sat 24.
Numerous local homeowners spoke out against Flatbread’s patio request at the board meeting, although most also voiced support for sidewalk seating. Of the dozen speakers on the issue, only 25% spoke in favor of patio seating.
As part of the board’s action, Screwtop Wine Bar was also granted sidewalk seating, which should allow for 3-4 tables outside the restaurant. Like Flatbread, Screwtop is located in the ZoSo building at 1025 North Fillmore Street.
In addition to sidewalk seating, Fillmore Street may soon be getting some signage. To help attract customers to the off-the-main-drag strip of shops and restaurants, the board paved the way for on-building “blade” signs and sidewalk-level sandwich board-style signs to win approval at a subsequent board meeting.
“I am concerned that this small business needs some help in ensuring that enough people use his business,” board member Barbara Favola said. “I’m also concerned that Arlington really balance as well as we can our desire to have some kind of street life to encourage that urban character we talk about. This is an urban area, and I have to admit that people should expect some activity in this part of the county.”
At the end of the discussion, which began at 9:00 a.m. and wrapped up in time for a late lunch, board chairman Jay Fisette lamented that the developer of the ZoSo building didn’t try to set up an area for patio seating before its initial design was approved. Fisette, speaking for himself, suggested that an outside courtyard surrounded by 7 foot walls could have been quiet and unobtrusive enough to pass muster, had it been built into the original plan.
Vasko, Flatbread’s owner, has not responded to a request for comment.
Morning Notes
More Proof of Arlington’s Burger Supremacy – The Associated Press has declared that “better burger” joints — think: Five Guys — are “one of the fastest-growing parts of the restaurant industry” and that the D.C. area in particular “has emerged as fertile ground for ground chuck.” Mentioned in the article are Arlington-based Elevation Burger and Ray’s Hell Burger, formerly Arlington-based Five Guys, and BGR-The Burger Joint, which recently opened a location in Lyon Village.
Pentagon Chocolatier Popular With Pelosi, Palin — What do Nancy Pelosi and Sarah Palin have in common? They’re both loyal customers of Sherm Edwards Candies, a Pittsburgh-based chocolate company that recently opened a store in the Pentagon. More from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Lower Speed Limit for Pershing Drive? — At Saturday’s county board meeting, a representative of the Lyon Park Civic Association made an impassioned plea for speed control measures on Pershing Drive. In response, the board pledged to review speed limits and other traffic concerns. More from the Sun Gazette.
