Earmark Could Save Planetarium — Rep. Jim Moran says he’s going to try to dig up $400,000 in federal funds to help renovate and save Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium. But even if he’s successful, Moran’s press secretary says the money would not be available until late next year — past the fundraising deadline the school board set for the non-profit Friends of the Planetarium group. More from the Sun Gazette.
Golf Farce Premieres at Signature Theater — Now playing at Shirlington’s Signature Theater: A Fox on the Fairway. The show, which is making its world premiere at Signature, is a “screwball comedy” and “a tribute… to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s.” Starring Jeff McCarthy, Holly Twyford and Andrew Long, A Fox on the Fairway is “about love, life, and man’s eternal love affair with… golf.” See a video promo here.
Sushi Rock Applying for Dance Hall Permit — Sushi Rock wants to become a late night party spot. But it also wants to “keep the volume to a reasonable level,” which means lots of sound-proofing material. The county board is expected to decide whether to grant Sushi Rock a live entertainment and dance hall permit at its upcoming round of meetings — either Saturday or Tuesday. More from TBD.
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thank you moran for doing your job. i hope zimmie and the school board are appropriately embarrassed.
Sorry, but there is no reason the Federal budget should be paying for something local such as this.
well sure. but 80% of the federal budget is similar pork. (not that this makes it okay).
I’m just more excited that one of our elected officials is smart enough to see how important this project is for our community.
Just for the record: only about 1% of federal spending is on “pork”.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/what_percentage_of_the_national_spending_is.html
I guess it all depends on what you think is “pork”.
How much money is spent on defense that isn’t necessary? Or how much do we give to countries that don’t need it or abuse it?
So pork is pork.
and the less than 1% that is earmarked are generally for projects the federal government routinely funds – ie, weapon systems and roads.
No reason to make citizens of the other 49 states subsidize a facility that we don’t care enough about in our own locality to keep in the black. But then, what do I know? I have 16 years service in the Army, and by Jim Moran’s standards that doesn’t really count as public service…
This is great news, but still plenty of work to be done until anything like this is made official.
http://www.saveplanetarium.org/
I hope Sushi Rock changes the whole soundtrack if they get this permit. Their patio is the main draw… most people wish the Metallica or whatever would just stop. Maybe now they’ll be Sushi Dance?
Why can’t they use the dog park money for this instead? At least it is educational for kids.
I’m a dog owner and it does seems like a gigantic waste even to me.
the children get over $400m a year, plus a $100m school bond. and there is only 20k of them. i think they are doing just fine.
there are way more dogs and dog owners in the county than school children.
Jack, did you think about that before you typed it? Have you re-read it since? I have a dog and no kids and I am still just rendered speechless. People NEVER cease to amaze me.
truth is truth. dog parks impact a higher percentage of the county than schools.
20k kids are going to receive $500m next year. of course we should fund education – but the planetarium is clearly not a priority to the school board. Given their budget, if it was important, they could fund it. Arlington spends more per children than 99% of jurisdictions in the country.
to take $ away from something that serves a higher percentage of the county to fund something unimportant is almost silly.
I saw Fox on the Fairway Wednesday night. It is pure entertainment very well done, and OMG, what a great cast.
How many times does it have to be said? “Zimmie” and the rest of the county board–and county staff–and ‘dog park money”–have NOTHING to do with school funding/operations! They’re totally separate entities. It’s the SCHOOL board who voted not to spend the money on the planetarium–and have you even bothered to find out why? Sometimes the reasons actually make sense. How many of you complainers have contributed any money to the planetarium fundraising, anyway? 5 or 10 from each of you would help…
I donated, more than 5 or 10. I went to the Planetarium on several field trips in elementary school, and I think it’s an opportunity all kids should still have.
I don’t have kids, and I don’t have a dog. But I do have a value system that guides where I think money should be spent in the county.