July 25, 2012 | ARLnow.com

Changes to County Sign Regulations Approved

Published July 25, 2012 at 4:30PM | Updated August 29, 2013 at 1:30PM

The effort is intended to clarify gray areas, modernize the regulations and to make them easier for everyone to understand. Major issues included signs placed in the public right-of-way by private parties, the County Board’s involvement in reviewing sign requests and regulations for roofline signs.

Board members Walter Tejada and Chris Zimmerman pushed for a ban on commercial roofline signs — those installed above a height of 40 feet — but it didn’t pass. The county Planning Commission favored the ban, but county staff recommended keeping the signs. The remaining three Board members ended up siding with county staff.

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Arlington Listed High on “Creative Class” List

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 25, 2012 at 2:50PM | Updated July 25, 2012 at 3:07PM

The list is an excerpt from a recently released book, written on the belief that the role of creativity is on the rise in American society. It asserts that the creative class consists of around 40 million workers, or more than one-third of the total workforce. Examples of fields with high numbers of creative class professionals include management, education, science, architecture and media.

The list charts the concentration of the creative class by county (although several independent Virginia cities also made the list). Arlington County came in at number two, second only to Los Alamos County, New Mexico. A number of D.C.-area locales also made the list, including:

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Penrose Square Plaza Expected to Open This Fall Despite Oil Spill

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2012 at 1:45PM

The new public plaza at the Penrose Square development along Columbia Pike is still expected to open this fall, despite a recent setback.

The contractor working on the $2 million project found and accidentally ruptured an oil tank earlier this month during excavation work, we’re told. The rupture contaminated part of the site, but the county and contractors worked quickly to remedy the situation.

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Board Approves Grants for Artists, Cultural Groups

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 25, 2012 at 12:30PM | Updated July 25, 2012 at 1:01PM

Of the 33 direct financial support application the Commission received, it recommended the Board approve 25 of them. All 25 recommended grant recipients are Arlington arts organizations or individual artists.

The Commission recommends three types of support for the arts — general operating grants, project grants and spotlight grants. General operating grants help organizations with the cost of overall administration and program offerings. Project grants assist organizations or individual artists with completing a specific project. Spotlight grants go to individual artists for their development and presentation of innovative new arts projects or programs.

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Police Investigating Armed Robbery at Pike Check Cashing Store

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2012 at 11:30AM

Police are investigating an armed robbery at a check cashing store on Columbia Pike.

According to police, an employee had been walking up to the door of the store in the 4700 block of Columbia Pike around 9:00 this morning to begin her shift. Two men approached her and forced her to unlock the door. According to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, one of the suspects held a knife to the woman’s neck, and the other held a gun to her head.

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Rosslyn Gateway Project Approved

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 25, 2012 at 10:35AM

The mixed-use project covers the 2.2 acres of land bounded by N. 20th Street on the north, N. Moore Street on the east, N. 19th Street on the south, and Fort Myer Drive on the west. The existing two office buildings will be replaced with three buildings — an office building, a residential tower and a hotel/residential building.

The County Board voted 4-1 to approve the project at its meeting last night (Tuesday).

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Georgetown Clarendon Campus Set to Move to D.C.

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2012 at 9:30AM

The Georgetown Center for Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE) will be moving from Clarendon to the District.

The campus, part of the Gerogetown School of Continuing Studies (SCS), is recognizable by the “Georgetown University” sign across from the Clarendon Metro station. CCPE, which offers non-credit classes and 25 professional certificate programs, is one of the tenants of an office building at 3101 Wilson Boulevard.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2012 at 8:45AM

W-L Softball Field Approved — The Arlington County Board has unanimously approved use permits for a new softball field at Washington-Lee High School. The $1 million field will include lighting, grandstands, and a press box.

Comcast Doubling Internet Speeds — Arlington is one of the areas where Comcast is increasing its internet speeds this week. The company says it’s doubling the internet speeds of Arlington customers who currently have the Blast 25 Mbps or the Extreme 50 Mbps internet service, at no additional cost. “This is the seventh time since 2002 that Comcast has increased speeds for its customers,” Comcast spokeswoman Alisha Martin said.