Redskins Portis, Orakpo to Visit Claremont Elementary
Students at Claremont Immersion Elementary school in South Arlington will be immersed in a world of football and fitness tomorrow afternoon. The school has been chosen as the local winner of the NFL’s Play 60 Super School sweepstakes.
Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis and linebacker Brian Orakpo will make a special appearance at the school around noon to talk to students about the importance of living healthy and active lifestyles that include 60 minutes of exercise each day.
Orakpo and Portis, who has been recovering from an injury, will then lead students in an Ultimate NFL Physical Education Class.
The Redskins stars will be joined by Tanya Snyder, wife of Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Mrs. Snyder will present the school with a $10,000 check, to go toward health and wellness programming or equipment.
Hazmat Investigation at Fort Myer
An Arlington County hazardous materials team has been dispatched to Fort Myer to investigate a white powder that reportedly fell out of a package mailed to the base.
The building that houses the installation’s personnel office has been evacuated while hazmat crews determine whether the substance could be harmful.
Initial reports suggest that the package contains spices mailed from a family member to someone stationed at the base.
Update at 4:00 p.m. — The substance is not harmful. The scene is being cleared.
A Look Inside the County’s Emergency Winter Shelter
Arlington’s emergency winter shelter in Courthouse is now open and serving dozens of homeless individuals. On Saturday, reporters got a tour of the facility.
The Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, which runs the shelter, gave the tour in advance of the group’s Community Walk for Homelessness. The group highlighted the shelter’s housing case management, nursing services and mental health services.
Also emphasized during the tour was A-SPAN’s big push for the funding and resources needed to operate the shelter year-round.
“Homelessness is not a five month issue, it’s a 12 month issue,” said Kathy Sibert, A-SPAN’s executive director. Newly re-elected congressman Jim Moran, who stopped by to offer words of encouragement, agreed.
“I would like for [the shelter] to be all year round,” he said. “We have people in the community who ought not suffer when we have the resources we do.”
The shelter can only stay open from Nov. 1 to March 31 due to insufficient funding and building code issues, Sibert said. If the shelter is to operate year-round, a new facility and additional funding must be obtained. A-SPAN is working with county staff and the county board to figure out a way to turn its vision of a year-round shelter into reality.
The current shelter facility is remarkably clean and well-kept — Sibert places an emphasis on cleanliness — but there’s no hiding the fact that it’s in an aging building that’s probably just a few years away from being torn down to make way for new development.
Last Day for ABBIE Award Voting
Today is the last day to help your favorite local businesses win an ABBIE Award. Online voting for the annual awards, which honor Arlington’s best businesses, ends at midnight.
ARLnow.com has been nominated for an ABBIE, under the category “Arlington’s Best Place to Learn Something New.” However, we’re facing tough competition from the category’s reigning champ, the Arlington Public Library system.
Our odds are especially long, considering that the library isn’t any old small business — it’s a large government entity with nine locations around town, dozens of staff members and thousands of customers — who receive its services for free. Plus, while the general public is limited to one vote per computer, ABBIE rules specifically state that publicly-accessible computers at the library are exempt.
Not that we’re complaining or anything.
Good luck to the nominated businesses and organizations in all 15 categories — even our own!
Ballston Looks to Improve Image
Rosslyn and Crystal City are doing it. Now Ballston wants in on the action.
This weekend a group of large local property owners will ask the county board to advertise a public hearing on the creation of a Ballston Business Improvement District.
The Ballston BID would be responsible for marketing Ballston to potential businesses, residents and visitors. It is necessary, property owners say, to keep Ballston competitive with other fast-growing commercial office markets in the District and in Northern Virginia. (Such as Tyson’s Corner, which is a few years away from becoming Metro-accessible.)
“The common view is that Ballston is a ‘good’ place but, it is not yet a ‘great’ community — a goal all urban mixed-use communities need to achieve in order to remain competitive, attractive and sustainable,” the BID’s boosters wrote in a proposed business plan.
The BID, with an initial budget of just over $1 million, would focus on “improving the business climate through branding, marketing and events.”
Organizers say the BID would be similar in function to the Crystal City BID, which has been very active in beautifying the streets, working to attract new businesses and organizing events meant to showcase various desirable neighborhood characteristics.
Ballston BID supporters propose spending $186,000 on events, $205,000 on marketing and branding, and $300,000 on signage, including banners, a “gateway” and navigation aides. The BID would also create a new “fully interactive website.”
A large part of the BID’s mission will be to “enhance and sustain Ballston’s image as a premier live-work-play community.”
A common complaint about Ballston is a lack of reasons to stay past 5:00 p.m. on weekdays or to visit on weekends. As such, the BID would take steps to promote the neighborhood as “a place where visitors and employees will stay longer and enjoy the BID’s after-work and weekend energy.”
Morning Poll: Plastic Bag Ban?
The Arlington County Board is seeking the authority to ban or tax the distribution of single-use plastic bags at retailers in the county, according to the Sun Gazette — but it’s an uphill climb.
Since Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, Arlington must first ask the state legislature for permission to pursue policies not specifically allowed by state law. In past years, the state government has been reluctant to grant Arlington any new taxing power.
Arlington will make its unlikely bag request during the General Assembly session starting Jan. 12.
D.C. has already imposed a tax on disposable plastic bags in an effort to limit their use. Should Arlington follow the District’s example?
Morning Notes
Virginia Dems Seek to Clarify Lobbyist Rule – The Democratic Party of Virginia is seeking an independent legal opinion on whether state law bans federal lobbyists from serving as party chairman. The move comes after Brian Moran, brother of Rep. Jim Moran and a top lobbyist for for-profit colleges, decided to seek the state Democratic chairmanship. Former Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Peter Rousselot is also running for the position. More from the Washington Post.
Giant Wall Projections in Rosslyn — From 6:00 to 11:00 p.m., every night through this coming Saturday, large images will be projected onto the side of an office building in Rosslyn. The photo and video projections are part of FotoWeek DC. More from the Ode Street Tribune.
Shirlington’s New Irish Bar Asks for Sign Change – Shirlington Village Blog has an image of the bright orange flyers posted around Shirlington, advertising a proposed site plan change for the future Samuel Beckett’s Gastro Irish Pub. The change would allow Beckett’s to have more signs identifying itself to the outside world. The issue will be heard by the county board this weekend; county staff is recommending that the requested change be granted.
Flickr pool photo by Team Rank
