Arlington PD to Participate in National Night Out
Officers from the Arlington County Police Department’s Third District will be participating in National Night Out tonight (Tuesday).
National Night Out is described as “an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships in our fight for a safer nation.” Locally, the Third District — which includes most of southwestern Arlington County — will be participating in four National Night Out events.
The times and locations listed for the events are:
- Fort Henry Gardens (2470 S. Lowell Street) — 12:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Barcroft Community House (800 S. Buchanan Street) — 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Park Glen Condos (824 South Arlington Mill Drive) — 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Douglas Park (1718 S. Quincy Street) — 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
The Barcroft neighborhood website says its National Night Out event will include an ice cream social, along with appearances from state Sen. Barbara Favola and members of the police department. The time listed for the event on the neighborhood website is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said the events are intended to help the department build relationships in neighborhoods.
“National Night Out is about building long-standing relationships within the community and developing a sense of trust with one another… so when crimes like the one today occur, there’s full cooperation between neighbors and the police,” said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck, referencing the two suspicious deaths that are currently being investigated in the Hall’s Hill neighborhood.
Power Outage Affecting Parts of S. Arlington
(Updated at 3:25 p.m.) At least 150 Dominion customers are reported to be without power in parts of South Arlington this afternoon.
Some traffic signals are dark along the eastern end of Columbia Pike as a result of the outage. Police have set up cones at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Joyce street, preventing traffic on both roads from making left turns.
It’s unclear what caused the outage or when exactly power might be restored.
Ask Adam: Getting Closing Costs Paid For
This periodic sponsored Q&A column is written by Adam Gallegos of Arlington-based real estate firm Arbour Realty. Please submit follow-up questions in the comments section or via email.
Question: My fiance and are planning to purchase a home in Arlington this fall and are wondering if we can expect the sellers to pay all the closing costs?
Let me start with some basics. When closing on the sale of a home, the buyers and sellers each have their own set of closing costs that they are required to pay for. In some circumstances, a buyer will negotiate to have the seller subsidize a credit towards the buyer’s side of closing costs. You may want to check out my recent ARLnow article for tips on calculating your closing costs.
Sellers are primarily concerned about the net value of the contract they are considering rather than whether it includes a closing cost concession or not. If the value of the contract is $500,000… they make the same amount of money whether you pay $500,000 and cover your own closing costs or if you pay $510,000 and ask for them to subsidize $10,000 of your closing costs.
The question becomes whether asking for a closing costs subsidy is the best strategy for you.
A ramification of asking for a closing cost subsidy is that by artificially inflating your price to $510,000 you are essentially financing 80% of that $10,000 over the life of your loan. That $10,000 could cost you a whole lot more by the time you sell your home or pay off your loan. Another consideration is whether it will weaken your offer. A well advised seller knows that appraisals can be challenging in this market. Using the above example, the home would have to appraise for $510,000 rather than $500,000 if the seller agrees to subsidize closing costs.
A benefit of asking for a closing cost subsidy is that you can hold on to your $10,000 rather than using it towards closing costs and invest it elsewhere. With interest rates as low as they are, I can see you making a strong argument for this.
Now that I’ve talked a little about whether it is a good idea or not, let’s talk about whether it is possible.
Italian Restaurant Concept Coming to Clarendon
La Tagliatella, an Italian restaurant concept from Spain, is coming to the former Restaurant 3 space at 2950 Clarendon Blvd.
The restaurant chain, which has some 135 locations in Spain, France and Andorra, is expanding rapidly. AmRest, the restaurant’s European parent company, recently announced that it’s opening La Tagliatella locations in China, India, Germany and the United States. In addition to Arlington, news reports indicate another location is coming to Atlanta.
La Tagliatella is described on the restaurant’s web site as “a chain of restaurants specialising in high-quality Italian gastronomy… from the [Northern] Italian regions of Piamonte, Liguria, and Reggio Emilia.”
From the web site:
At La Tagliatella, we explore every aspect of Italian gastronomy so as to provide the best tastes and textures directly from their origin. Our attention to such detail starts from the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, with its own Denomination of Origin (ripened in caves for 24 months), our pizza dough, elaborated with two different kinds of grain to achieve its particular taste and consistency, to Bocconcino, our buffalo’s milk mozzarella made following the genuine traditional Italian recipe.
We have designed our menu so that our customers can fully enjoy it with loved ones. Pizzas are made in a traditional forno italiano, our carpaccio with genuine buffalo mozzarella, salads in the shape of the tower of Pisa, made with real grilled vegetables, risottos with duck maigret, truffles, and Iberian cold meat. We have more than 400 combinations of pasta and sauce, panna cotta, tiramisù and home-made ice-cream… our extensive choice, with its generous portions, is perfect to be enjoyed in the company of your loved ones. In addition, all our recipes are cooked with real extra-virgin olive oil.
The company is currently seeking to hire managers for the Clarendon restaurant. According to a help wanted ad, the prospective managers would be flown to Spain for 2-4 weeks of training.
No word yet on when La Tagliatella is hoping to open.
UPDATED: Police Investigating Possible Homicide in Hall’s Hill
Update on 8/8/12 – ACPD has confirmed that they’re investigating the deaths as a double homicide.
(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) Police are investigating another possible homicide, this time in the Hall’s Hill/High View Park neighborhood.
A maintenance worker found two men dead in the living room of an apartment on the 1900 block of N. Culpeper Street, after a family member had called because they hadn’t seen the resident for awhile, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. A television was on in the apartment and blood could be seen, but no weapon was found, Sternbeck said.
Detectives are investigating the incident as a possible homicide or double homicide, though so far police are only officially saying the deaths are “suspicious.” The deceased men have been identified by police as Keefe Spriggs, 59, of Arlington, and Carl Moten, 31, of no fixed address.
The men are acquaintances and the apartment belongs to Spriggs, Sternbeck said. Asked whether a killer is still on the loose, Sternbeck was vague.
“We do believe it’s an isolated incident,” he said. “We are very early in this investigation. The detectives that are working the case will be processing the scene, interviewing all the neighbors [and] last known contacts of these individuals.”
Several people, including a woman believed to be Spriggs’ sister, have already been interviewed by detectives on the scene.
This could be the third homicide in Arlington in as many weeks. On July 24, a woman was killed in a murder-suicide near Fairlington. On July 27, a jewelry store owner was killed during an armed robbery on Columbia Pike. A 53-year-old D.C. man was charged with murder last week for the latter crime.
Prior to July, there had not been a homicide in Arlington since March 14, 2010.
Congressional Candidate Plans ‘Happy Hour Town Hall’
Independent congressional candidate Jason Howell is planning a “Happy Hour Town Hall” today (Tuesday).
Howell says he’ll be hosting interested 8th Congressional District residents at Bailey’s Pub and Grille in Crystal City (2100 Crystal Drive) starting at 5:00 p.m. The evening will start with a meet and greet. Then, at 6:00 p.m., Howell will give a “short presentation,” followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Appetizers will be free for early arrivals, according to a press release.
Howell — who has raised just $9,572 as of June 30, compared to $813,463 for Democratic incumbent Rep. Jim Moran and $97,999 for Republican Patrick Murray — has been trying some unique strategies to help get the word out about his candidacy.
Howell has pledged to wear a name tag at all times between now and the Nov. 6 election. Earlier this year he ran a 5K race in Crystal City and issued a press release with the subject line “‘Running’ for Congress… Literally!” And last week Howell participated in Iota Club and Cafe’s open mic night; he performed “Congress-Man,” his take on Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”
Howell’s campaign website says he’ll have a booth at the Arlington County Fair later this week.
Murray, the other challenger to the 11-term Rep. Moran, will be attending a private fundraiser with Rep. Frank Wolf (R) tonight.
Morning Notes
Challenges for Crystal City — Vornado Realty Trust, which owns half of the commercial real estate, is struggling to fill 2.4 million square feet of office space in Northern Virginia being vacated by government agencies, largely as a result of the military’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. [Washington Post]
Romney Office Opens in Arlington — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s “Virginia Victory Office” — in Virginia Square — held a grand opening ceremony over the weekend. The special guest for the event was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). [Sun Gazette]
Financing Secured for Pike Development — The Penrose Group, a Vienna-based developer, has raised $92 million to finance construction of “Pike 3400,” a 257-unit apartment building planned for the former Rosenthal dealership site at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Glebe Road. [Washington Business Journal]
Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann
