Want to help plan and design the future of Columbia Pike? A series of charrettes — fast-paced, wide-ranging planning sessions — are being held on the Pike over the next week.
The primary public charrette will be held Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street), and everybody is invited to participate and help guide the Pike’s continuing development. A light lunch will be provided.
Featuring next-generation internet connectivity, computational laboratories and multiple meeting and conference spaces, the new 144,000 square foot Virginia Tech Research Center building in Ballston (900 N. Glebe Road) celebrated its grand opening today.
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, Rep. Jim Moran, and County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman were on hand this afternoon for a ribbon cutting ceremony on the glimmering glass-and-steel building’s seventh floor.
Newly-minted high school graduate Rachel Wilburn was a two-time high school dropout with a kid and another on the way when she entered the Langston High School Continuation Program. This morning, she was given the honor of addressing about 150 fellow Langston and Arlington Mill high school continuation graduates at the Washington-Lee auditorium.
“Despite everything that has come our way, there is a voice in our unconscious minds that said ‘I will not give up on myself,’” she said. “I thank God for giving us the strength to make it through this.”
You know the Fourth of July is almost here when fireworks sellers start popping up around the area.
A fireworks booth is now up and running at the corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road, offering all manner of sparklers and (legal) pyrotechnics.
The three-month old restaurant will soon be launching delivery service, and co-owner Joel Mehr says the newly-purchased Segway will allow his delivery staff to serve residents of Arlington’s dense urban core faster than traditional delivery methods.
The Segway — once it’s outfitted with a custom pizza-holding basket — will be able to transport multiple pies at a time, unlike deliveries by foot, and will be able to park anywhere, unlike deliveries by car. Plus, Mehr said, it’s cheap and eco-friendly — only requiring a $0.20 overnight charge for eight hours of operation.
Long-time Arlington resident John M. Couric has died.
Couric, the father of former CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, died Wednesday at Virginia Hospital Center of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 90.
School’s Out for Summer — Today is the last day of school for elementary students in Arlington. High school students had their last day on Wednesday and middle school students had their last day on Thursday. [YouTube]
Man Charged With Pentagon Shootings — Alexandria resident Yonathan Melaku, 22, has been charged with destruction of property and firearm violations in five separate shootings at Northern Virginia military installations last year. Melaku was arrested in Arlington National Cemetery last Friday, authorities say, with a backpack containing a ammonium nitrate, a key component in certain explosives, and a notebook containing referencing Al Qaeda and jihad. Sources tell Fox News that Melaku was “self-radicalized through the internet,” but there’s “no indication he was planning to harm individuals.” [FBI, Fox News]
