Guard Attacked by Former Inmate on the Pike
An off-duty Arlington County Detention Center guard was assaulted by a former inmate outside a 7-Eleven on the 3000 block of Columbia Pike this afternoon, authorities tell ARLnow.com.
The guard, an Arlington sheriff’s deputy, was treated at a hospital after the attack, according to Maj. Mike Pinson of the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office. The injured deputy was spotted talking to police officers after the attack while wearing a small head bandage and an arm sling, but Pinson was unable to confirm the exact nature of his injuries.
The alleged assailant, meanwhile, was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for injuries that Pinson described as “minor.” The photo above shows the man handcuffed while being photographed and interviewed by police. Pinson said charges are pending against the man, a former inmate.
Attacks against sheriff’s deputies who work at the lockup are “infrequent,” Pinson said.
Towing in Shirlington Village?
Sun Gazette Editor Scott McCaffrey wrote on his blog today that he recently witnessed cars being towed and license plates recorded in the Campbell parking garage in Shirlington.
That would be a departure from the lax enforcement system that has been in place for a while. In January we reported that the Harris Teeter — which had just installed parking meters for its reserved spaces in the garage — was not planning on “actively” enforcing its parking rules at the time.
McCaffrey writes that he witnessed parking enforcement monitoring the one-hour-only, non-reserved spaces on the second level of the garage.
Slow Progress on Courthouse Plaza Brick Work
Work on the brick pavers at Courthouse Plaza appears to be behind schedule.
We’re told by a source that the project will most likely not be completed this month, the anticipated completion date that TBD.com reported in February. No official word yet on how much longer the project might take. Multiple calls seeking information from the owner of Courthouse Plaza, Vornado Charles E. Smith, have gone unreturned over the past week.
Courthouse Plaza is the home of restaurants, small shops, a movie theater, a hotel, county government’s main office building and a Courthouse Metro entrance. The project has resulted in a gauntlet of fences around the plaza, and the displacement of some outdoor seating, but access to businesses and Metro has been maintained.
Currently, workers are using pools of water to test the sealant used underneath the brick pavers. The pavers themselves — which, we’re told, only arrived recently after a significant delay — are stacked near the county government building, awaiting installation.
Undocumented Students Receive ‘Dream’ Scholarships
In front of friends, families and admirers, four Arlington students received a chance to dream Thursday night.
In a ceremony at the Arlington Public Schools Education Center on N. Quincy Street, Hareth Andrade and Antonella Rodriguez-Cossio from Washington-Lee High School, Henry Mejia from Yorktown High School and Jose Vasquez from Arlington Mill High School Continuation Program received Dream Scholarships to help fund their college educations.
Although countless high school students enjoy grants and awards around this time of year, the Dream Scholarship is reserved for undocumented students — children born abroad who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents.
An estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduate from American high schools every year, but they cannot receive federal financial aid and are ineligible for in-state tuition in Virginia. That renders college an expensive, unattainable goal for many.
While activists around the country fight for undocumented students’ rights at the federal level, others, like Arlington School Board Member Dr. Emma Violand-Sanchez, are trying to make a difference on a local level. Violand-Sanchez founded and chairs Dream Project, Inc., which awards the scholarships.
While speaking at Thursday’s event, Dr. Violand-Sanchez said that many undocumented students feel discouraged by the restrictions against them and don’t know where to turn. She added that although school guidance counselors and other community members may want to help, they don’t always know the best means if they haven’t previously dealt with students in this situation. She hopes Dream Project, Inc. can bridge that gap.
The four students all described the personal motivators that kept them focused on their goals during difficult times. “I despised the idea of throwing away the opportunities my parents gave me when they brought me and my siblings to the United States,” said Meija, a valedictorian who’s heading to Bucknell University in the fall.
Morning Poll: Testicle Festival
More than 500 people are expected to show up at the Arlington American Legion post in Virginia Square (3445 Washington Blvd) this weekend to chow down on 60 pounds of “peeled, sliced and fried bull testicles.”
The seventh annual Montana State Society ‘Testicle Festival’ is being held from 6:00 to 10:00 Saturday night. A $20 ticket buys you “all the Crown Royal you can drink and all the balls you can eat,” as festival co-organizer Brittany Beauleiu told NBC Washington. There will also be all-you-can-drink beer and country music from the Wil Gravatt Band.
Also known as Rocky Mountain oysters or cowboy caviar, bull testicles are said to be chewy and taste like chicken.
The western delicacy might not be for everyone — but everybody has a price, right? How much would someone have to pay you to sample some bull baby makers?
Photo by Fernando Hartwig
Morning Notes
Waterfall on I-395 — NBC4 captured video early Thursday morning of a burst pipe underneath the 34th Street Bridge. The rupture sent a torrent of water onto I-395 for more than an hour. The old pipe that created the “waterfall” was reportedly patched up by 2:30 a.m. Utility crews are planning to make permanent repairs. [NBC Washington]
Burger Cook-Off For a Good Cause — The newly-minted Harry’s Smokehouse in Pentagon City mall will be holding a fundraiser for D.C. Central Kitchen on Sunday. From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., “three teams of DCCK chefs-in-training will battle to create the city’s tastiest mini-burgers.” In addition to the burgers, attendees will be able to sample ribs, brisket and other BBQ items from Harry’s. [Eventbrite]
Woman Complains About Mosquito Spray — An Arlington woman has taken to her neighborhood email listserv to complain about a chemical spray used by one of her neighbors. Kate Pemberton says she and her young daughters walked through a cloud of “neurotoxin” while returning from school, thanks to an extermination company that was applying an anti-mosquito spray to a customer’s yard. Pemberton says she reported the incident to county officials, but was told that there was nothing they could do about it. The story was reported by Press Action, a left-leaning environmental news web site. [Press Action]
Following Storms, Power Outage Hits Courthouse
Thunderstorms rumbled through the region tonight and knocked out power to parts of Arlington.
As of 2:30 a.m., 1,734 Dominion customers were without power in Arlington. The outage was said to be centered in the Courthouse and Clarendon area, along Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards.
In addition to restaurants and commercial offices, the outage also hit county government buildings in Courthouse. Some of the county’s internal computer networks were said to have been knocked offline by the outage. Firefighters responded to the county jail after the emergency generator reportedly failed to start, leaving the facility in the dark.
Dominion’s web site estimates that power will be restored no later than 7:00 a.m.
