Buzz Bakery in Ballston Opening Next Month
There’s finally an opening date in sight for Buzz Bakery in Ballston.
“Coming soon” signs have been up at the storefront on the 4000 block of Wilson Boulevard for almost a year now. Next-door sister eatery Rustico opened in October while Buzz remained closed. Now, at long last, comes word that Buzz will start serving cupcakes and cappuccinos early next month.
Neighborhood Restaurant Group spokeswoman Jennifer Eberline says the company expects to announce an official May opening date “very, very soon.”
The will be NRG’s second Buzz Bakery. The first, on Slaters Lane in Alexandria, serves breakfast, baked goods, paninis, coffee, tea, wine and beer.
Bluemont Civic Association Mulls Development Plan
County Board Member Mary Hynes seemed a bit surprised at last night’s Bluemont Civic Association meeting when she started fielding questions about a development plan for the North Arlington neighborhood.
“It’s not on the county’s radar,” she told anxious residents and businesses owners who had gathered in the library of the Arlington Traditional School.
It turns out that the plan everybody wanted to talk about was not a county plan at all, but a private plan commissioned by the leaders of the civic association. The 32-page document, which includes renderings of an imagined “Bluemont Village Center” along Wilson Boulevard, was created after civic association leaders decided just over a year ago that it would be prudent to begin thinking of the neighborhood’s long-range (10-20 year) future as part of its upcoming neighborhood conservation plan.
The reasoning, as explained by the civic association’s president, was that the Bluemont Safeway (5101 Wilson Blvd) — which seems to be serving fewer and fewer customers lately — may decide to sell its large property. If that were to happen now, the neighborhood wouldn’t have much of a say in the kind of business they sell it to. A plan could help guide the use of the land so that it — and properties around it — could be gradually transformed into an attractive, pedestrian-friendly commercial district.
Expect “Increase in Odor” Near Sewage Plant
The smell around the Water Pollution Control Plant in South Arlington is going to get worse before it gets better.
In a note to neighbors today, managers say that they’re “working diligently to reduce the excessive odors that were intermittently emitted from the Plant over the past few weeks.”
However, the work that must be done to solve the problem over the next month — cleaning ducts, performing maintenance activities, modifying equipment for rapid troubleshooting — will “likely cause a temporary increase in odor.”
“The Water Pollution Control Plant strives to provide the best level of customer service and we apologize for any inconvenience,” plant representatives wrote. “In the future we will attempt to perform the duct cleaning activities during the winter months to minimize the impact on the local residents.”
Managers also say they will be “refreshing staff on odor control procedures.”
Power Outage Affects Part of County
Update at 11:35 a.m. — All power has been restored.
Update at 11:20 a.m. — Power has been partially restored. Just over 500 Dominion customers remain in the dark.
A power outage is affecting portions of Arlington County.
Just over 1,400 Dominion customers are affected by the outage, according to the company’s web site. At least one traffic light was reported to have gone dark on N. George Mason Drive as a result of the outage.
No word on when power will be restored.
Overturned Vehicle Shuts Down NB I-395
Update at 11:20 a.m. — One lane of NB I-395 has reopened.
Update at 11:05 a.m. — All traffic is being diverted onto King Street and being re-routed back onto I-395 past the accident scene. Expect major backups.
As of 10:30 a.m., northbound I-395 was shut down at King Street due to an accident involving an overturned vehicle.
Arlington firefighters on the scene report three injuries, including two with head injuries. All of the injured people were responsive, firefighters said.
New Crew at the Ballston Chipotle?
One thing’s clear: Chipotle has been doing a lot of hiring lately.
This month alone, the restaurant chain has held ‘open house’ hiring events in Ballston, Rosslyn, Falls Church, Seven Corners, Reston, Sterling, Herndon and Ashburn.
Why the sudden hiring push?
A Chipotle spokesperson told us that they’re “in an industry where turnover is high.” But recent news reports suggest something else may be going on.
“The feds are cracking down on undocumented workers at Chipotle restaurants in Virginia and the District,” TBD reported last month. “After the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly warned Chipotle it would be targeted… the Chipotles in Columbia Heights and Woodley Park fired 40 employees who could not prove they were legally authorized to work.”
No such mass firings have been publicly reported in Virginia, but one local says there are a lot of unfamiliar faces among the crew at the Ballston Chipotle (4300 Wilson Blvd).
“I’ve been going there for 5+ years and literally most of the same people worked there till a few weeks ago,” Chipotle regular Jamie Cave told ARLnow.com. “When I went in the other night, it was a whole new crew and barely any Hispanic workers (mostly white or Indian). Others have been mentioning that they don’t recognize most of the workers there now.”
A visit to the Ballston Chipotle last night confirmed that, at the very least, the location is understaffed. The line for a burrito around 7:30 p.m. extended nearly out the door.
Chris Arnold, the Chipotle spokesperson, confirmed the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement investigation into the restaurant’s hiring practices in the Washington area, but denied that there has been a mass exodus of employees.
Crime Report: Eluding Police, Temporarily
In this week’s Arlington County crime report, a woman is accused of speeding around a police cruiser, with her hazard lights on, for no apparent reason. The officer tried to stop the vehicle but did not pursue it when the woman refused to pull over, per department policy, according to police. While doing a search of the area, however, police say the woman’s SUV was found parked in the middle of a busy street with music blaring. The woman was not in the car — she was allegedly found in a nearby office building.
(This item removed on 10/3/11, by request, due to outcome of trial.)
The rest of the crime report, after the jump.
Tornado Watch Extended
Update at 12:30 p.m. — The tornado watch has been canceled.
Arlington has been largely spared from the wild weather affecting points north, west and south of here. But the possibility for dangerous storms remains.
This morning the National Weather Service extended a regional tornado watch until 3:00 p.m.
