Wild Chickens Living Near Crystal City?
On a fishing expedition to the Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary, located between Crystal City and the GW Parkway, local fly fishing guide Rob Snowhite made a surprising discovery: a group of wild chickens that has apparently taken residence in the sanctuary.
Snowhite wrote on his blog this morning that shortly after parking in the Roaches Run parking lot (across from Gravelly Point, the lot is frequented by limo drivers waiting for airport arrivals) an animal control officer arrived on scene and started trying to round up the wily birds, who seemed determined to not be evicted from their South Arlington home. To assist the effort, Snowhite and his fishing buddy got out their nets and joined the chase. After 20 minutes of fruitless effort, the trio gave up — an outcome that was cheered by some bystanders who told the men to leave the chickens alone.
The two fishermen continued on with their fly fishing mission at the sanctuary, marveling at the prospect of wild chickens living near an urban pond but lamenting the unsuccessful chicken chase.
“There won’t be any fresh roast chicken at Ri Ra tonight,” Snowhite quipped.
Photo courtesy Rob Snowhite
Neighborhood Conservation Projects Await Approval
The Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee is recommending that the County Board approve five new street improvement projects when it meets this weekend.
The total cost of the projects — which are expected to improve the appearance and safety of the streetscape — is estimated at $2.8 million. Of the five projects, all but one are in North Arlington.
The Neighborhood Conservation program allows neighborhoods to compete with one another to receive funding for public improvements requested by residents. The five projects expected to receive funding over the weekend include:
- Beautification plus pedestrian safety improvements with raised medians on Yorktown Blvd between Little Falls Road and 30th Street N., near Yorktown High School. ($202,599)
- Street improvements including sidewalk, curb, gutter and street lighting in Glencarlyn, on 4th Street S. between Lexington and Kensington Streets and on Lexington Street between 3rd and 4th Streets. ($653,033)
- Street improvements including sidewalk, curb, gutter and street lighting in Ashton Heights, on N. Piedmont Street from 5th to 6th Streets. ($519,345)
- Beautification plus pedestrian safety improvements with curb and median extensions in Tara Leeway Heights, on N. Patrick Henry Drive from 18th to 20th Streets. ($717,897)
- Street improvements including sidewalk, curb, and gutter in Leeway, on N. Illinois Street from 22nd Street to Lee Highway. ($716,692)
The last round of Neighborhood Conservation projects included street, park and sign improvements in six different neighborhoods. This time around, the committee passed over proposed park projects in Penrose, Arlington Forest and Boulevard Manor; pedestrian safety projects in Westover Village, Waverly Hills and Claremont; and street improvement projects in Williamsburg and Maywood.
Board Expected to Approve Bus Stop Improvements
While Columbia Pike will be getting its first of two dozen planned “Super Stop” bus shelters later this year, more modest improvements are in the works for 31 other bus shelters around the county (see map, left).
This weekend the Arlington County Board is expected to approve a nearly $400,000 contract to upgrade bus stops in various “County designated high-priority zones.”
“Improvements include improved crossings, curb ramps, the addition or replacement of bus shelters, benches and trash receptacles, the addition or upgrade of existing sidewalks, and landscaping,” according to the board report. “As the construction progresses, periodic traffic restrictions may be required upon roadways in the vicinity of the active construction zone.”
The project is being fully paid for with state and federal funds. A second, more limited phase of the project is expected to follow the current contract.
Server Improvements Complete
If you’re a regular ARLnow.com reader, you may have noticed that the site started loading noticeably faster last week. You may have even noticed that the site never got knocked offline last week, as it did several times in August due to high demand.
There’s a reason for that — over Labor Day weekend we upgraded to a new server and refined some of our website coding.
For the time being, we’ve had to suspend our mobile-optimized website — which used to automatically appear for smartphone users — and had to make some changes to our “Recent Comments” box in the sidebar. We expect to have the mobile site back up and running within a month or two, and hope to upgrade the “Recent Comments” box by the end of the year.
(Mobile users can still access a mobile-optimized version of our site, however, by pointing your browser to m.arlnow.com.)
A big thank you goes out to Alex Chamandy of Arlington Virginia Computer Repair, who spent hours setting up the server and helping to optimize its performance. Also, thank you to all our loyal readers, tipsters and comments section pundits who have helped us get to the point where this server upgrade was necessary.
Please let us know of any problems or concerns you have with the site in the comments section.
Meeting Tonight to Discuss Safety at Lynn and Lee
The Arlington Bike Advisory Committee is holding a site visit and safety discussion at the intersection of Lynn Street and Lee Highway in Rosslyn tonight.
The meeting is being held following a number of recent bicycle/vehicle collisions at the intersection, which serves vehicles exiting I-66 and approaching Key Bridge, as well as cyclists and pedestrians on the Custis Trail.
“Arlington County staff will be on hand to explain and discuss future plans to improve the intersection,” according to organizers.
Anyone interested in attending the site visit is asked to show up at the northeast corner of Gateway Park, near the intersection, at 6:30 p.m. The gathering will move to the Continental lounge around 7:15 p.m., organizers say.
Google’s Energy Usage, Compared to Arlington
Last week Google, for the first time, revealed how much electricity it consumes around the world.
It turns out that Google’s massive data centers and its corporate offices consume a mind-boggling amount of electricity: 2.26 billion kilowatt hours in 2010. The company’s power consumption — 260 million watts at any given moment — is about a quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant, according to the New York Times.
To further put that in perspective, Arlington as a whole (homes, businesses and governmental entities) consumed 2.76 billion kilowatt hours in 2007, according to a recent county report — a half billion kilowatts more than Google. The 210,000 people who live in Arlington consume far less electricity at home, however. Arlington households (single-family homes, condos and apartment buildings) consume about 0.73 billion kilowatt hours per year — less than a third of Google’s consumption.
Photos: Arlington’s 9/11 Anniversary Ceremony
On Saturday night Arlington County held a ceremony to mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
The ceremony, held at the Air Force Memorial, was attended by Arlington police officers and firefighters who responded to the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, as well as top county officials, military personnel and interested citizens.
The tribute featured the U.S. Air Force Band Brass Quintet Ensemble, the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard, the Arlington County Combined Honor Guard, Wakefield High School’s a capella choir “The Madrigals,” Macedonia Baptist Church Music Ministry, and a commemoration by the Pentagon Memorial Fund’s Jim Laychak.
Morning Notes
Somber Anniversary at the Pentagon — A crowd of 1,600 people — including survivors and loved ones of victims — gathered at the Pentagon yesterday to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks. Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Adm. Mike Mullen were among the speakers. President Obama arrived later in the afternoon and laid a wreath at the Pentagon Memorial. [Washington Post, New York Times]
‘Walmart’ Ordinance May Be Delayed — The County Board was supposed to vote this month on a new ordinance designed to give the board final approval on all ‘big-box’ development in Arlington, but county staff wants another month to write the ordinance. [Sun Gazette]
APS Creates Sustainability Committee — Arlington Public Schools have created a “Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability” in order to be “active stewards in protecting the environment.” The committee will examine sustainability policies and practices as well as energy and environmental curriculum in the schools. [Arlington Public Schools]
Flickr pool photo by Jason OX4
Investigation Near County Office Building
Updated at 8:55 a.m. — ART reports that the scene in front of the county building is now clear and buses are running normally.
Roads are closed in front of the county office building at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard, in Courthouse, while authorities investigate a suspicious envelope.
Police were unable to provide any additional information about the investigation, but a photo of the scene shows the county’s Bomb Squad truck and a Bomb Squad member in full blast gear.
ART bus routes 41, 62 and 77 are delayed due to the closures.
Photo courtesy Tim Kelley
