Federal Employees Can Now Go Swimming at Ft. Myer
(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) If you’re a federal government employee, you’re now eligible to go swimming at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
The military base announced a policy change today that will open up most recreation facilities there to non-Department of Defense federal employees. Among the facilities that federal workers can now take advantage of are the Fort Myer Bowling Center and the Fort Myer Officers’ Club. The club has a swimming pool, tennis and racquetball courts and fine dining facilities.
Federal workers don’t have to be an Officers’ Club member to use the facilities, but they will have to pay a non-member fee. Official government ID is required to access the facilities. The policy change announced today also allows federal employees to join the Officers’ Club, if they wish.
The fitness centers and child development center at Fort Myer will continue to be for DoD personnel only.
The Officers’ Club and the bowling center can be accessed through the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Hatfield Gate.
Man Arrested for Lewd Act Outside 7-Eleven
A 28-year-old man was arrested early Saturday morning after police say he was caught masturbating outside a Virginia Square-area 7-Eleven store at 3510 Wilson Boulevard.
An officer was driving by the store around 4:40 a.m. when he saw Nathanael Lovett, 28, performing the lewd act in plain view of potential passersby, according to police. The police report does not note whether anybody other than officer witnessed the act.
Lovett, who police say was recently released from jail in D.C., was charged with indecent exposure and held without bail. Public records show Lovett’s most recent address was an apartment in Northeast D.C. He does not match the description of a suspect seen masturbating along the W&OD Trail last week, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
Group Wants New Montessori School in Arlington
The Arlington Montessori Action Committee (AMAC), a six year old group of parents and educators, has launched a campaign to convince Arlington Public Schools to build a brand new school devoted to Montessori education.
As part of its ongoing capacity planning process, APS has been narrowing down its options for keeping up with rising enrollment at schools countywide. The options for adding capacity include building new schools and making additions to existing schools.
Montessori advocates have seized upon an APS proposal to build a new PreK-8 countywide magnet school between Carlin Springs Elementary and Kenmore Middle School. AMAC says the school would be ideal for a central Montessori “choice” program, hosting between 600 and 750 Montessori students either from PreK-5 or PreK-8. Currently, there are almost 600 PreK-8 students in 31 Montessori classrooms at schools across Arlington, with hundreds more on waiting lists, according to AMAC.
By drawing Montessori students away from already-crowded schools, the new Montessori choice school could efficiently help mitigate the school system’s looming capacity crisis, AMAC says. The group created a PowerPoint presentation to make their case.
In addition to helping relieve the capacity crunch, advocates say Montessori programs have educational benefits. AMAC cites the county-wide Montessori program at Drew Model Elementary as proof that a Montessori education can “[close] the achievement gap for minority students.”
This Saturday: Arlington E-CARE Recycling Event
Arlington County is holding its bi-annual Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) this coming weekend.
E-CARE gives Arlington residents an opportunity to safely get rid of hazardous materials like paint, solvents, garden chemicals and items containing mercury. It is also is an opportunity to recycle items that usually aren’t accepted during the weekly residential recycling collection, like electronics, bikes, small metal items, shoes, eyeglasses, and durable medical equipment.
Anybody who drops off household devices that contain mercury, like thermometers and barometers, is eligible to receive a $5 gift card courtesy of trash-to-electricity company Covanta Energy. Fluorescent lights are excluded from the gift card offer.
The event is being held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 at Thomas Jefferson Middle School (125 S. Old Glebe Road). E-CARE is open to Arlington residents only — not to businesses or to residents of other jurisdictions.
More than 1,000 residents disposed of 36.8 tons of hazardous material and recycled some 16 tons of electronics at the Fall 2011 E-CARE event, according to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services.
Photo via Arlington County DES
UPDATED: Bishop O’Connell Inadvertently Contributed to Kelly Campaign
(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) On March 15, a year to the day after the all-Democrat Arlington County Board rejected a controversial plan to add lights to its football and baseball fields, Bishop O’Connell High School made a $350 contribution to the campaign of Republican County Board candidate Mark Kelly, according to public campaign contribution records.
In a statement issued late this afternoon, Michael J. Donohue, Director of Communications for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, said the donation was made by a school employee using school funds. The check was intended to be a donation from an individual, however, and not a donation on behalf of the school itself, according to Donohue.
The Diocese learned today that a member of the staff of Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington County recently used a school check for the sake of convenience to purchase a set of tickets to a political fundraiser for a candidate for local office. This was a significant error in judgment on the part of the school employee as well as a clear violation of diocesan policy. Though all of the $350 in school funds were reimbursed by the employee, Chancery and school officials are presently reviewing the matter, and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.
One local Democratic official raised a red flag about the donation, which seemed like an unprecedented, symbolic gesture from the school, until the Diocese clarified the record.
“I’ve never seen this, a school giving a donation to a political candidate,” the official told ARLnow.com.
Donohue said Diocese policy specifically prohibits political donations, which would be a violation of the church’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
“Diocesan policy absolutely prohibits church entities to contributing to any political campaigns, either on behalf of or opposition to any candidate,” Donohue said. “That’s reflective of the IRS code.”
A Bishop O’Connell spokeswoman was reached via phone before this article was published, but declined to comment.
Kelly ended up losing the March 27 special election to Democrat Libby Garvey.
Image via Wikipedia
Clarendon Blogger Moves to Bethesda
Amy Moore, the writer behind Clarendon Culture, is retiring the blog after deciding to move to Bethesda.
In her last blog post, Amy says she would have liked to buy a home in Lyon Village, but it turned out to be beyond her and her husband’s price range. Instead, the couple and their baby girl moved to Bethesda, where they bought a house about six miles away from D.C. proper.
Amy is now launching a new Bethesda blog at www.Bethesdan.com.
Morning Notes
Local Deer Population Growing — The local population of white-tailed deer is on the rise and having an impact on plant life in Arlington County, according to a county naturalist. “Shrubs like spicebush and pawpaw are becoming much more abundant at the expense of things like wild azaleas, oaks, cedars and American euonymus,” said naturalist Alonso Abugattas. [Sun Gazette]
New Trail Signs Installed — New “wayfinding” signs were recently installed along bike and pedestrian routes throughout the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The signs are intended to make it easier to navigate to one’s destination, but sometimes can be unintentionally confusing. [Greater Greater Washington]
Arlington Civil War Shirts Available — The Arlington Plaza Library at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard in Courthouse is selling a t-shirt commemorating the Civil War sesquicentennial in Arlington. The Arlington Civil War 150 t-shirts are offered in three different colors for $10 apiece. [Arlington Public Library]
Flickr pool photo by Damiec
