August 8, 2011 | ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 3:28PM

Thanks to its key strategic location across the Potomac from the District, Arlington County was home to 22 Union forts during the Civil War. In order to see an approaching enemy, soldiers often cut down 1-2 miles of trees around each fort.

The photo, left, illustrates just that. Fort C.F. Smith, now a county park along the George Washington Parkway in North Arlington, was surrounded by a denuded landscape that allowed soldiers to mount an effective, fortified defense against any Confederate force that might have tried to invade attack Washington.

Around Town

Construction Begins on New Clarendon Trader Joe’s

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 1:26PM

Interior construction has finally started on the new Trader Joe’s in Clarendon.

In addition to converting the cavernous space within 1109 N. Highland Street into a grocery store, crews will also be working to install an elevator shaft, to provide access from the store to the parking garage below. Residents of the Lyon Place at Clarendon Center apartments received the following note about the impending construction on Friday.

News

Rosslyn Road Closures Expected to Remain Through Rush Hour

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 11:20AM | Updated August 9, 2011 at 7:37AM

Update at 5:55 p.m. — Clarendon Boulevard and 16th Street will both remained closed between N. Pierce Street and N. Oak Street through the morning rush, the county said this afternoon.

Update at 1:10 p.m. — The processes of shoring up the collapsed retaining wall could take up to 48 hours, according Arlington County Inspection Services Division Chief Shahriar Amiri. While some road closures will remain, Amiri said that Clarendon Boulevard may reopen as soon as tomorrow’s morning rush hour. “We are working hard at it,” he said.

News

Pair of 31st District State Senate Endorsements

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 10:24AM

Jaime Areizaga-Soto has received the endorsement of Del. David Englin, a founding co-chair of the Virginia Progressive Caucus, while Barbara Favola received the endorsement of the Sun Gazette newspaper.

In its editorial, the Sun Gazette said that Favola provides “common-sense, middle-ground representation” as a County Board member, while Areizaga-Soto lacks experience.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 9:15AM | Updated August 8, 2011 at 9:59AM

Lost Dog Cafe Expanding — The Lost Dog Cafe location on Columbia Pike is expanding. The restaurant is taking over the space once occupied by an adjacent cell phone store. [Pike Wire]

Changes to ‘Secure Communities’ — The federal government is changing the ‘Secure Communities’ program to “avoid further confusion” about whether it’s optional or not. Arlington tried to “opt out” of the program — which shares local arrest data with federal immigration authorities — last year. The program will remain mandatory for local jurisdictions, but now it will be conducted without formal, signed memoranda of agreement with individual states. [Washington Post]

News

Accident Involving Bicyclist Near Key Bridge

By ARLnow.com

Published August 8, 2011 at 8:33AM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 1:54PM

The accident happened on Lynn Street, near the intersection with Lee Highway. Two lanes of Lynn Street were blocked as medics treated the bicyclist and as police took photos of the accident scene.

The bicyclist was taken to George Washington University Hospital with unspecified injuries. So far there’s no indication that those injuries are life-threatening.