December 18, 2012 | ARLnow.com

High Holiday Travel Numbers Predicted

Published December 18, 2012 at 4:30PM

More than 41 percent of local residents report travel plans of 50 miles or more during the holiday travel period from Saturday, December 22, 2012 to Tuesday, January 1, 2013. That’s a 2.3 percent increase over last year.

“During Christmas and New Year’s we will experience the highest travel volume this decade, especially by the roadways, the railways, and the waterways,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “The one exception is the airways, and this year, even that is making a comeback.”

Around Town

Paciugo Gelato Becoming Street Corner Cafe

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 18, 2012 at 3:30PM

Owner John Croce said while the shop launched as a gelato franchise earlier this year, he’s now shifting gears and wants to transform it into a cafe serving a full menu. He’s also changing the name to “Street Corner Cafe” and renovating the inside. In July, he began dabbling with a limited number of breakfast and lunch items and says they were an immediate hit.

“This is what people want and this is what we want to be. We’re trying to evolve,” Croce said. “We still have gelato but we’ve expanded the line of food products to welcome more customers in. You can never satisfy everyone but you can try to satisfy most people. I think that will be accomplished.”

News

Law Firms Recruited for Food Truck Fight

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 18, 2012 at 2:00PM | Updated September 3, 2014 at 8:39AM

At issue is a citation received by Seoul Food for violating the 60 minute rule, which police began enforcing over the summer. As noted in a CATO Institute post last week, the food truck owner told police he had moved to a different spot after one hour, but the ticketing officer didn’t believe the truck had moved far enough from its original position.

The Arlington-based Institute for Justice (901 N. Glebe Road) became involved after some of its workers heard about the legal issues while stopping at a food truck for lunch one day. They thought it fit perfectly into the organization’s National Street Vending Initiative, which aims to foster conditions that allow food trucks to thrive.

News

County Board Mulls Pike Streetcar Design

By ARLnow.com

Published December 18, 2012 at 12:30PM | Updated December 18, 2012 at 2:21PM

Arlington County Board is mulling over possible design specifications of the streetcars that will one day traverse Columbia Pike.

At a work session earlier this month, the Board was presented with a number of streetcar vehicle design considerations, including the width, length, layout and emergency power capacity of the streetcar.

News

APS Relocating Two Education Centers

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 18, 2012 at 10:50AM | Updated December 18, 2012 at 11:10AM

(Updated at 11:10 a.m.) Arlington Public Schools is relocating two of its education centers to a renovated facility on Washington Blvd.

Administrative offices, classrooms and staff currently at the Clarendon Education Center (2801 Clarendon Blvd) and the Syphax Education Center (1439 N. Quincy Street) will be moving to a space in the Sequoia Building 2 (2110 Washington Blvd). The new facility is in the same cluster of buildings housing the Arlington Employment Center and the Arlington County Department of Human Services.

News

Man Indicted for July Jewelry Store Murder

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 18, 2012 at 9:50AM

An Arlington County Grand Jury indicted James Sylvester Caroline on capital murder and weapons charges for the murder of Tommy Kin Mo Wong.

Caroline is accused of killing Wong during a robbery of the Capital Jewelers store at 3219 Columbia Pike on the afternoon of July 27. Caroline was arrested just days after the murder during a traffic stop on the Arlington/Alexandria border.

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 18, 2012 at 8:55AM | Updated December 18, 2012 at 9:17AM

Silver Line Could Shift Economic Development — As Metro’s Silver Line nears completion, there’s speculation it could prompt an economic development competition between Arlington and Fairfax County. Fairfax officials are already crediting the new line with bringing in at least one new business — Intelsat, an international satellite system provider. Gerald Gordon, the head of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said the transformation of Tysons Corner will put it on a level playing field with the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor as far as attracting businesses. [Sun Gazette]

Polar Bear Sports Registration — United Social Sports is expanding its typical offerings of “bar sports” — such as cornhole, shuffleboard and skeeball — to include Polar Bear soccer leagues this winter. The leagues are for die hard players who wish to continue playing outdoors throughout the winter on a soccer field at Long Bridge Park. Registration is available online for the league, which offers weekly games on Sundays or Tuesdays. Games start the week of January 13. [United Social Sports]

Traffic

Columbia Pike Closed Due to Water Main Break

By ARLnow.com

Published December 18, 2012 at 7:32AM | Updated December 18, 2012 at 2:57PM

Columbia Pike is closed in both directions between S. Thomas Street and Wakefield Street due to a water main break.

The closure will last throughout the morning rush hour, according to Arlington Alerts, and drivers are asked to seek alternate routes. The closure is also apparently having an impact on bus service — long lines at bus stops have been observed on eastbound Columbia Pike.