‘Silent Soccer’ in Arlington This Weekend
The 6,000-player Arlington Soccer Association (ASA) will implement “Silent Soccer” rules in its recreational and teen leagues this weekend.
Parents and spectators will be encouraged to only silently support their kid’s team, and coaches will be asked to only provide ”positive and encouraging feedback and allow players the time to work through issues on the field.”
“The reason for Silent Soccer is to let the kids enjoy the game of soccer and make decisions on their own,” the ASA said in a blog post. “While the practice does remove positive cheering of the kids accomplishments from the field, the goal is to make parents aware that the kids can play without their coaching, yelling, and other disruptive influences during play. At any age. So we remove all voices coming from off the field for this one day.”
Players are encouraged to speak to each other on the field as normal, but those on the bench are asked to remain quiet.
UPDATED: Woman Sexually Assaulted Near Ballston
(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) A man was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a woman near Ballston last night.
The alleged incident happened around 9:00 p.m., in front of a church on the 600 block of N. Vermont Street, in the Bluemont neighborhood near Ballston. Police say a woman noticed a man following her while she was out walking her dog. She tried to alter her route and at one point shouted “stop following me,” but the man then grabbed her from behind, fondled her, and tried to pull down her pants, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.
During the attack the woman managed to knee or kick the suspect in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. She ran away and sought help, while the suspect was seen by a witness fleeing in the direction of Ballston Common Mall, according to Sternbeck.
After calling in a K-9 unit and establishing a perimeter, police found a man matching the suspect’s description trying to change his clothes in an alley outside Ballston Common Mall. The man was arrested and was positively identified by the victim, according to Sternbeck. Police also determined that the suspect had stolen the clothes he was trying to change into.
Nathanael Lovett, of no fixed address, has been charged with abduction with intent to defile, grand larceny and trespassing. Lovett, who’s in his late 20s, was also arrested in March after a police officer saw him allegedly masturbating outside the 7-Eleven store at 3510 Wilson Boulevard in Virginia Square.
President Obama Visits Washington-Lee High School
(Updated at 7:35 p.m.) President Obama visited Washington-Lee High School in Arlington today, continuing his push to get Congress to act on legislation that would prevent federally subsidized student loan rates from doubling on July 1.
The president met for a private round table discussion with three students before addressing an enthusiastic crowd of more than a thousand Washington-Lee juniors, seniors, and parents in the school gymnasium.
After opening remarks that included riffs on prom, final exams and the school’s upcoming graduation, the president began making the case for maintaining the Stafford loan program and keeping student loan interest rates low.
“You guys shouldn’t have to pay an extra thousand dollars [per year] just because Congress can’t get it’s act together,” President Obama said. “In the long run, the most important thing we can do for our economy is to give all of you and all Americans the best education possible.”
The president encouraged students to speak out about student loan rates, suggesting they Tweet their representatives in Congress with the hashtag #DontDoubleMyRate.
“I guarantee you, members of Congress — they pay attention,” President Obama said. “Your voice can make a difference.”
“Teach them how to Tweet,” the president added, motioning to the parents in the room.
The president concluded his remarks by saying that the students in the room were part of a generation that will “remind the world just why it is America is the greatest nation on Earth.”
“When I met your classmates, when I look out at your faces, it gives me confidence about our future,” Mr. Obama said, to wild applause. ”I believe in you.”
The president then spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with students before departing the building.
The president’s visit largely went off without a hitch, though there was a small group of protesters outside the school during his arrival, one with a sign that read “Where is the recovery, Mr. President?” A student in the gymnasium fainted shortly before the president’s arrival, but was able to stay for the speech after receiving medical attention.
This was President Obama’s fifth official visit to an Arlington public school during his first term in office. School officials said they could not recall any visits from his predecessor, President George W. Bush.
The choice of venue seemed to work in Mr. Obama’s favor. The crowd at Washington-Lee booed when the president said student loan rates could double, shouted “no” in unison when asked if they wanted to pay a higher interest rate, and applauded with gusto at all the right times. The crowd was so obliging that the reporter filing today’s White House pool report concluded that the president “could not have found a better audience.”
Local officials, including Rep. Jim Moran, Del. Bob Brink, County Board member Libby Garvey, and Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy, were also in the crowd.
The president was introduced by Washington-Lee senior Amirah Delwin, one of the three students who, along with their parents, took part in the roundtable discussion with the president and Education Secretary Arne Duncan before the speech.
Delwin, who will be studying psychology at Old Dominion University in the fall, delivered a speech intended to reinforce the president’s message.
“I wouldn’t be able to go to school without Stafford student loans,” she said in an energetic speech that prompted a shout of “I love you” from a fellow classmate. Later, the president told the crowd that “following Amira is kind of tough.”
Delwin told ARLnow.com that one of her teachers recommended her to be in the group that met with the president.
“I was in sociology one day and they randomly called me downstairs,” she said. “I didn’t know what it was for, I initially thought I was in trouble.”
After the president’s speech Delwin, along with fellow roundtable participants Brendan Craig and Rina Castaneda, gave interviews to the various members of the media that came to cover the event. After that, they went back to class.
The White House-provided transcript of the president’s remarks, after the jump.
Your Beermonger: The Reinheitsgebot
Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).
After our tour of beer styles common to most of the world, we’ve arrived at the beers of Germany. Germany has one of the richest and most celebrated beer histories in the world; it’s perhaps the country most responsible for establishing beer’s presence all over the world. German beer isn’t without controversy, however. I can attest to the decline of interest in German beers over the past few years among American craft beer drinkers, and as a result have stopped stocking them as much as I once did. I hear both sides of this; from those who love German beer and wish I had more to offer, and those who perceive German beer as boring or too traditional in the era of beer experimentation. Today, before getting into the specific German styles as we normally would, we’re going to look at the law that both established German beer and in many eyes holds its development back in the modern era: the Reinheitsgebot.
The Reinheitsgebot recently celebrated its 496th anniversary on April 23. In its original form, it stated that beer could only be brewed using water, barley, and hops. Note the lack of wheat or rye: the intent of the original law was to eliminate competition for those grains so that bread makers would be able to produce enough product to keep it affordable. Yeast is not mentioned either, as it wasn’t until the 19th Century that scientists would first discover microscopic organisms and then later come to understand yeast and its role in brewing.
With the Reinheitsgebot in place, Pilsners came to dominate German brewing. As Germans immigrated they brought their brewing traditions with them; this was the rise of Lagers as the most popular and commonly brewed beers on Earth. Without the Reinheitsgebot there is no Bud, no Miller, no Coors, no Stella, no Brahma, VB, Molson, Sapporo, Singha—you get the idea. The Germans made a lot of Pils, got really good at it and then spread all over the world teaching others how to be really good at it.
What about Hefeweizen, you ask? Well, Wheat Beers are not allowed under the Reinheitsgebot, but later revised German beer laws (most notably the post-reunification Vorläufiges Biergesetz of 1993) would expand permissible ingredients to include different types of malt and even sugar in Ales. Some breweries today claim their Hefe to be made under the Reinheitsgebot, but this technically is not true — those beers are okay by the standards of the current laws in place, not the original document.
So what relevance does a 500-year old law have today in the face of a global beer market dominated by countries where regulations are less strict, if they exist at all? This is the great debate today when it comes to Germany. Many see German beer as holding too firmly to its traditions and losing its place as a powerhouse beer producer because of it. I can see the merits of this argument if you’re solely looking at the most popular exports of Germany, but like all things some deeper consideration is required. For one, I believe creativity can often flourish when one is working under certain parameters, and Germany is coming around to realizing this. The most well-known example is likely Infinium, the joint effort of Sam Adams and Weihenstephaner, the world’s oldest continually-operating brewery. Working within the Reinheitsgebot, Infinium drinks more like a Champagne than a beer and is completely unexpected from this most traditional of German breweries.
Even in Hefeweizen-style beers, innovation is happening. Schneider and Brooklyn breweries got together to produce a Hefe that featured the kind of hop character more typically seen in American Pale Ales or IPAs. The result was a hit, and a shot across the bow of those who argue that Germany has become too stale, too fixed to be interesting today. But even without the intervention of American brewers, there are so many different German styles that we as Americans haven’t even fully learned to appreciate yet: Schwarzbier, Rauchbier, Dopplebock, Weizenbock, Eisbock, Kolsch, Berlinerweisse… we’re going to get into all of these and more over the next few weeks. Hopefully by the time we’re done with Germany, we can all agree that these styles are all vibrant and worthy even today; perhaps even more so for their long histories having given brewers decades or even centuries to perfect them. In this is the Reinheitsgebot’s relevance in the 21st Century. Until next time.
Cheers!
Nick Anderson keeps a blog at www.beermonger.net, and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings at www.arrowine.com/mailing-list-signup.aspx. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
Rosslyn Apartment Complex to Open Next Year
The massive new 474-unit Sedona and Slate apartment complex on the 1500 block of Clarendon Boulevard in Rosslyn is set to open to residents “early next year,” according to developer JBG.
The complex, which suffered a construction setback last year due to a retaining wall collapse, consists of two residential towers: one 14-stories and the other 12-stories. Of the 474 units, 55 are expected to be affordable. Another 25 townhouses will be added to the project “at a later date.”
In a press release, Bethesda-based JBG announced that they’re “on track” to achieve Arlington’s first LEED Gold green building certification for a residential development.
“It is clear to us that people want to live and work in healthful environments that improve their quality of life on a round-the-clock basis,” said Eileen Nacev, Director of Sustainability at JBG, in a statement. “Arlington County encouraged us in this direction, and we believe it is the right one to follow.”
The anticipated LEED Gold certification is the result of incorporating numerous eco-friendly features in the project. From the press release:
JBG is expected to be awarded the Gold standard for meeting a variety of criteria for sustainability, including its use of wind power renewable energy credits, for being smoke-free, bicycle friendly, close to transit and within walking distance of numerous neighborhood restaurants and shops. JBG is building Sedona|Slate with high-efficiency water fixtures, programmable thermostats, low-VOC paints and adhesives, light-colored roofing materials to improve micro-climate conditions and ENERGY STAR® appliances. Residents will also enjoy preferred garage parking for their hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles.
In addition to the residential space, the complex will include a landscaped park and 10,000 square feet of retail, including an outdoor café. For residents, there will be a rooftop pool, a sundeck, a fitness center, a social room, and garage parking for 427 vehicles.
Retail, Street Improvements Coming to Pershing Drive
(Updated at 9:55 a.m.) A grocery store and as many as four restaurants could be coming to Pershing Drive in Lyon Park over the next year or so.
Construction on the new $62 million apartment project at 2201 Pershing Drive, at the intersection with Route 50, is nearing completion. One of the two buildings is expected to open in mid-July, with the other expected to open in September. The apartments in each feature sound-resistant windows, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, and in-unit washer/dryers.
The 188-unit complex is currently leasing for both residents and for retail tenants.
The buildings together have 31,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Developers envision up to four restaurants, with outdoor sidewalk seating, and a 12,000 square foot specialty grocery store, like Yes! Organic Market or Balducci’s. One of the retail bays is pre-built for a wood burning oven, with the hopes of attracting a Matchbox-type restaurant.
Though the complex is about a 15 minute walk from Clarendon, most retail customers who do not live in the immediate area are expected to drive. To accommodate them, a 125-space at-grade retail parking lot has been built behind the buildings. That’s in addition to the 270 underground spaces for residents. Both the residential and retail parking areas will have electric car chargers.
While attempting to bring a revamped retail district to Pershing Drive (the apartment complex replaced a former strip mall), developer Equity Residential is also paying for improvements to the streetscape. Company officials expect the road construction currently in progress will be complete by the time the first apartments open in July. Improvements include a complete repaving, planted center medians, trees, brick planters, overhead utility relocations.
Morning Notes
Obama to Visit W-L Today — President Obama will be making a lunchtime visit to Washington-Lee High School today. Expect heightened security in the area.
Bus Stop Improvements — The County has been making improvements to certain bus stops around Arlington. One recent stop to get a makeover — complete with a shelter and a Capital Bikeshare station — is at 15th and Hayes Streets in Pentagon City. [Arlington Transit]
GMU Green Patriot Award — George Mason University has issued its first annual ‘Green Patriot’ environmental award. The honor was given to Martin Ogle, the chief naturalist at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, who is retiring this month after 27 years with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. [Sun Gazette]
Federal Agency Offers Zombie Classes — In an apparent attempt to bring some levity to federal bureaucracy, classes on how to be a zombie are being offered at the Arlington offices of the Fish and Wildlife Service. [Washington Post]
