December, 2012 | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published December 27, 2012 at 10:20AM | Updated December 27, 2012 at 12:56PM

Chamber Wants State Control of Energy Plan — One of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce’s legislative goals this year is to have the state take control of energy efficiency and green building standards. The Chamber’s call for statewide objectives and policies comes as Arlington is in the latter stages of developing its own Community Energy Plan. “The Chamber does not support the delegation of authority to localities to establish green-building codes and requirements on a locality-by-locality basis,” the group wrote. [Sun Gazette]

VSP Responds to Crashes During Storm — Yesterday’s snow, ice and rain storm resulted in dozens of crashes on Northern Virginia highways. Virginia State Police’s Fairfax division (which includes Arlington) responded to 69 crashes, 46 disabled vehicles and a total of 328 calls for service yesterday, according to VSP spokeswoman Corinne Geller. Statewide, VSP responded to 686 crashes, including one fatal wreck in Campbell County, near Lynchburg.

Around Town

NWS Warns of Gusty Winds Thursday

By ARLnow.com

Published December 26, 2012 at 2:45PM

The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for the D.C. area Thursday.

Wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour could make travel treacherous throughout the day and could result in downed trees and power lines, forecasters say.

Around Town

Christmas Tree Collection Begins Jan. 7

By ARLnow.com

Published December 26, 2012 at 2:00PM

Arlington County’s annual Christmas tree collection will begin on Jan. 7. The collection does not take place until the first full week of January.

Holiday tree collection will run from Jan. 7-18, on residents’ regular trash collection day. The trees will be picked up by county crews and recycled into wood mulch for garden use.

Feature

Ask Adam: Upgrade Your Home Like a Flipper

By ARLnow.com

Published December 26, 2012 at 12:05PM

This periodic sponsored Q&A column is written by Adam Gallegos of Arlington-based real estate firm Arbour Realty, voted one of Arlington Magazine’s Best Realtors of 2013. Please submit follow-up questions in the comments section or via email.

Question: My wife and I recently purchased a house in Arlington and plan to make some improvements to it over the next couple of years. Can you recommend which improvements will bring us the most value when it comes to resale value?

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 26, 2012 at 10:45AM

Board to Hold New Year’s Meeting — The Arlington County Board will hold its traditional New Year’s Day meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. At the meeting, Walter Tejada is expected to be elected County Board chair. Tejada and the other four Board members will then outline their policy goals for 2013. In a press release, Arlington County billed itself as “the only local government that “gets to work” on the New Year’s holiday.” [Arlington County]

Cemetery Expansion Concerns Tree Lovers — A plan to expand Arlington National Cemetery has some tree lovers crying foul. The cemetery is projected to run out of additional burial space in 2025, prompting the need for the expansion. Some Arlington residents, however, have been critical of one particular part of the expansion plan, which calls for the clearing of 890 “old-growth” trees. The cemetery plans to replant 600 trees and to preserve a stand of 220-year-old trees. [Arlington Mercury]

Traffic

Morning Commute: Accidents, Ice, and a Water Main Break

By ARLnow.com

Published December 26, 2012 at 9:40AM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 1:28PM

There have been numerous accidents reported on local roads and highways, including several on the 1700 block of Lee Highway, near the intersection with N. Scott Street. Among those was a serious one-vehicle crash involving a minivan that ran off the road and into a wall along I-66.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect until 1:00 p.m. In an Arlington Alert, the county asked residents to drive carefully.

News

UPDATED: Pedestrian Dies After Christmas Eve Accident

By ARLnow.com

Published December 24, 2012 at 6:15PM | Updated December 26, 2012 at 1:49AM

(Updated at 9:25 p.m.) A 30-year-old woman has died after she was struck by an out-of-control car in Ballston this evening, according to police.

The accident happened around 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, near the Harris Teeter on Glebe Road in Ballston. According to police, a two vehicle accident occurred on Glebe Road in the area of N. Randolph Street. One of the cars ran off the road and struck the woman, who was walking on the sidewalk. The car then struck and partially wrapped around a street tree.

Around Town

Merry Christmas from ARLnow.com

By ARLnow.com

Published December 24, 2012 at 3:45PM

As we approach the new year, we have a sincere wish for 2013. We have noted with disappointment the increasingly negative tenor of some comments on the site, and we hope that in 2013 those commenting here keep in mind that while the people on this site may be using online aliases, they are our neighbors in this relatively tiny, 26 square mile county.

ARLnow.com staff has been doing our best to actively remove comments that contain personal insults, racially or ethnically insensitive remarks, or even vitriol directed at children who are part of a news story. We will continue to do so to make sure ARLnow.com is a safe place for a robust but respectful community discourse. We also hope that readers understand that the moderation of comments is an imperfect process, and refrain from cursing at or berating our staff who are making an honest effort to prevent discussions from degrading to the the level of discourse found on some other, popular news websites.

News

Four Arrested After Armed Bank Robbery in Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Published December 23, 2012 at 6:35PM | Updated December 24, 2012 at 9:32PM

Three men who were wearing ski masks and pointing guns entered the credit union, located a block from Ballston Common Mall, just before 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

They shouted threats and forced the 13 customers in the business to lie on the ground. The men made off with several bags full of cash — an undisclosed but substantial sum of money — and were whisked from the scene of the crime by a getaway driver who was waiting outside, Sternbeck told ARLnow.com.

Around Town

Low-Income Students to Receive Donated Bikes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 21, 2012 at 8:00PM

The children, elementary students at Patrick Henry, Barcroft and Randolph schools, were chosen to receive a refurbished bike from the Arlington-based nonprofit Phoenix Bikes shop. The presentation will be made at Arlington Presbyterian Church (3507 Columbia Pike).

From Phoenix Bikes: