Rosslyn Condo Up for HGTV ‘Doory Award’
Rosslyn might not quite be Manhattan on the Potomac, but a loft-style condo that’s up for an award from HGTV does have a certain SoHo vibe to it.
A penthouse condo at Rosslyn’s Wooster and Mercer Lofts condo building (1600 Clarendon Blvd) is one of eight finalists for an HGTV “Doory Award” under the “Urban Homes” category. The two story, 1,111 square foot, 1 bedroom/1 bathroom condo features Brazilian cherry hardwood floors, 25 foot ceilings, a kitchen island, private roof deck, two walk-in closets and top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances like a Wolf gas range and a Sub Zero refrigerator. The building was built in 2007 and the condo is priced at $791,000.
The condo’s competition in the HGTV contest includes units from other trendy multifamily properties in big cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Seattle — and New York City itself.
You can vote for Arlington’s hometown entry in the contest on the Doory Awards website.
Disclosure: John Eric, an ARLnow.com advertiser, is the listing agent for the condo.
Morning Notes
Older ‘Quota’ Memos Released — Arlington County Police Chief M. Douglas Scott continues to insist that the police department does not and never did have a quota system, despite new memos being unearthed which set “goals,” “expectations,” or “levels of production” for arrests and tickets. [WUSA 9, Washington Post]
Documentary About Arlington Freedom Rider — A documentary is being made about Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, an long-time Arlington resident and one of the original Freedom Riders who fought against racial segregation in the South. [YouTube]
Contest Sends APS Teacher to Volcano – Gunston Middle School teacher John Stewart will be taking an all-expenses-paid educational trip to Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii after winning a contest sponsored by Wonder bread. While in Hawaii, at the country’s most active volcano, Stewart will “provide an interactive educational experience to his 8th grade students at Gunston Middle School, which will also receive 25 free tablet computers for the remote lesson,” according to a press release. [7Wonders of the USA Teacher Tour]
Flickr pool photo by Alex
Arlington to Host Adult Singing Competition
(Updated at 11:05 a.m.) Last year Arlington Public Schools hosted an “Arlington Idol” singing competition for high school students. This year, adults are getting a chance to compete in their own contest.
As part of its adult education program, APS is hosting the “2012 Arlington Sing-Off Competition” for those 18 and over.
Auditions for the contest are taking place on Friday, May 11 and Thursday, May 17 at 7:00 p.m. The May 11 audition is being held at Washington-Lee High School, while the May 17 audition is being held at Kenmore Middle School. There is a $10 registration fee for all participants.
Entrants must sing as a soloist — no groups are allowed — and they must do so acapella, at least during the audition phase. Songs must be memorized, and profanity is not allowed.
Three judges will help narrow down the field. The judges are Bolormaa Judgersuren, an opera singer originally from Mongolia; Dawn Frederick, a professional singer and vocal coach; and Adelaide Ruble, a recording artist and vocalist for a local swing dance band.
After the auditions, a semi-final competition will be held at Jefferson Middle School on May 21. The finalists will compete at Jefferson Middle School on June 5.
Anyone interested in competing can register online or call 703-228-7200. The grand prize for the competition is a $100 gift card and an opportunity to perform at Arlington’s first annual “Night of Concert Music,” which is being held on June 15 at Jefferson Middle School.
Morning Notes
Major Redevelopment Proposed for Rosslyn — A developer has proposed tearing down four office buildings and two residential towers between N. Kent Street and Arlington Ridge Road in Rosslyn, and replacing them with four new buildings, including 2.5 million square feet of offices, residences, hotel rooms and retail space. If all goes well, the project might even attract a Ritz Carlton hotel and a Harris Teeter grocery store. [Washington Business Journal]
Nuclear Attack Would Be Survivable for Arlington — Most of Arlington would survive a terrorist nuclear bomb attack on downtown D.C., according to a federal report released earlier this month. The biggest danger to Arlington wouldn’t be the initial blast, but would be the nuclear fallout afterward. One scenario suggests the Columbia Pike corridor would be vulnerable to fallout given a specific set of wind conditions. [Sun Gazette]
Arlington ‘Peeps Show’ Contestants — Arlingtonians are a crafty bunch. A number of semifinalists of the annual Washington Post “Peeps Show” diorama contest are listed as Arlington residents. Among them are the creators of “Faster Than the Peep of Light?,” “GOPeep Primary Debate,” “A Peeps Eye View into an Apeepment on M St.,” and “Marine Corps Marathon: The Peep-les Marathon.”
Morning Notes
Va. Budget Standoff — There’s a standoff in Richmond as the 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats in the state Senate remain evenly divided over the state’s two-year budget. Democrats say their opposition stems from the budget’s inadequate funding for public education, transportation and health care. Republicans, meanwhile, are accusing Democrats of obstructionism and “Washingtonian behavior.” The budget needs at least 21 votes to pass. The last vote was 20-19. [Washington Post, Washington Times]
High School Graduation Date Moved — The graduation date for Arlington public high schools is now Wednesday, June 20. The date was switched from the 21st because the graduation venue, DAR Constitution Hall, was not available that day. The last day of school was also moved back a day, to Tuesday, June 19. [Arlington Public Schools]
Arlington Au Pair Recognized — An au pair from Arlington has been named the winner of the national ‘Ultimate Au Pair’ contest. AuPairCare, an agency that places international au pairs with host families in the U.S., says they selected Mariana Moujan, of Buenos Aires, as the Ultimate Au Pair “for her compassion and dedication to the Edwards family in Arlington, Virginia.”
Local Couple in the Running for Bridal Contest
A local couple is in the running for a Facebook contest organized by the national bridal store chain David’s Bridal.
Samantha Sissman and Clyde Wentling, who first met as students at Arlington’s H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, are getting married this summer. They’re hoping to win the $2,500 “Share Your Love” contest to help offset the expense of flying the mother of the groom-to-be in from her home in West Africa.
Sissman and Wentling both grew up in Arlington. Though they attended high school together, they only started dating in 2008 after meeting again years later through friends. Sissman, whose family still lives in South Arlington, has worked as an aide in the Arlington County Board office for nearly four years.
To vote for Samantha and Clyde, go to their contest entry page and click on the red ‘vote’ button. Additional information about the contest can be found here.
Photo via Facebook
Winner of County Vehicle Decal Contest Announced
The new 2012-2013 Arlington County vehicle decal has been revealed.
The winner of this year’s vehicle decal design contest was announced at this afternoon’s County Board meeting. Out of a group of four design finalists, a decal with a photo of the Pentagon memorial received the most votes.
The decal, entitled “Silent Memories,” was designed by Jeppe Callander, an exchange student from Norway who’s attending Wakefield High School. Callander said he originally took the photo of the memorial to show his mother.
Arlington residents cast nearly 2,000 votes cast in the annual contest. About 155,000 decals will be mailed to vehicle owners this summer.
Voting for Vehicle Decal Contest to End
There are only two days left to cast a vote for which 2012-2013 decal you think should grace Arlington’s car windshields later this year.
Every year, high school students enter original artwork or photos into the Vehicle Decal Design Competition. A panel whittles down the entries to four finalists.
About 155,000 Arlington residents display the decals to prove payment of that vehicle’s personal property tax.
The four finalist designs, along with descriptions written by each student, are available online for viewing and voting. All votes must be submitted by noon on Sunday.
Village at Shirlington Kicks Off Holiday Giveaway
It’s often said that giving is better than receiving, especially during the holidays. The Village at Shirlington is doing its part to honor the mantra, with “Shirlie’s 10 Days of Giving.”
The giveaway kicked off yesterday and runs through December 23. Each day one entrant will be picked to receive a gift set valued at $150 or more. The various goodies will be from Shirlington merchants, with the grand prize including dinner at Extra Virgin, tickets to see Hairspray at Signature Theatre, and a one night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn.
If you’d like to enter, click here. No purchase is necessary, but participants must be at least 18 years old.
Vehicle Decal Finalists Revealed
(Updated on 12/13/11) The four finalists for Arlington’s 2012-13 vehicle decal design contest have been revealed.
The annual contest challenges Arlington high school students to submit an original photograph or artwork to appear on the county’s vehicle decals. More than 150,000 decals are mailed to vehicle owners in Arlington each year. Those decals must be displayed on the windshield as a sign that vehicle’s personal property tax has been paid.
A “Citizen’s Panel” selected the four finalists (above) after a call for entries in October.
All of this year’s entries are photographs taken in south Arlington. Two of this year’s finalists are photographs of the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial. Another showed an honor guard statue at the Air Force Memorial. The fourth was a nighttime photograph of a Ferris wheel at the Arlington County Fair.
Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite decal design through the Arlington County website, starting on Thursday Tuesday, or via the Sun Gazette newspaper. More information about the entrants and the contest is available from the Sun Gazette.
Arlington Resident a National Punctuation Day Winner
A local woman has been named one of the big winners of a little-known contest.
Yorktown resident Kathleen Summers is one of 10 winners of the 2011 National Punctuation Day paragraph contest. In case you missed it, Sept. 24th marked the annual celebration of National Punctuation Day — a day that has promoted the correct usage of punctuation since its founding in 2004.
For the traditional Punctuation Day contest, punctuation fans around the world were invited to: “Write one paragraph, maximum of three sentences, using these 13 punctuation marks: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once. Multiple entries are permitted.”
Here’s Kathleen’s winning paragraph:
The semiliterate—and unintentionally hilarious—sound bites of the 2012 presidential candidates (such as this recent gem by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, quoted in the Milford [Mass.] Daily News: “If Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people … who knows what may come out of that?”) make me wonder if we should return to the back-to-basics teaching methods of the 1950s. I know what you’re thinking: “Okay, genius, did all those grammar drills, diagrams, and rote memorizations turn you into a gifted writer?” Alas, no; but as prosaic as my sentences may be, at least they’re sentences!
Summers was selected as a winner from the pool of 220 entries received. Entrants were from locales as far-flung as India.
As a winner, Summers will receive “a box of punctuation gifts.”
2012-2013 Decal Design Competition Kicks Off
The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office is asking for entries for its 2012-2013 Vehicle Decal Design Competition. The contest, now in its eighth year, is open to all high school students who live in Arlington.
“The competition will give you the opportunity to practice your design skills as well as participate in the workings of local government,” the Treasurer’s Office said in a letter to high school students. “The winning decal design will be displayed on the windshields of over 155,000 vehicles in Arlington, and will become part of the Arlington decal exhibit located at the county administrative building.”
Students are asked to submit their design as a JPEG file, either via email or via CD. The design must be in a resolution no less than 300 DPI. The final decal measures 1.5 inches by 2.25 inches. More detailed instructions are available on the county’s web site.
Entries for the contest must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23. Four finalists will be chosen by a “Citizens’ Panel” and will be announced in the Sun Gazette newspaper on Thursday, Dec. 8. Sun Gazette readers will then vote for a winning design, which is expected to be announced on Jan. 24, 2012.
The finalists will each receive a $500 savings bond.
This year’s competition winner was “Hume, Sweet Hume,” by Wakefield High School student Maya Giacobbe.
Morning Notes
More US Airways Flights at DCA? — US Airways is seeking regulatory approval for a plan that will give it more flights in and out of Reagan National Airport. The airline, which serves almost 4 million passengers annually at DCA, has negotiated a deal to acquire some of Delta’s take-off and landing slots in exchange for cash and slots at LaGuardia Airport in New York. [Sun Gazette]
Local Dog a Frontrunner in Postal Contest — Jordy, a mixed-breed terrier who resides in Arlington, is a frontrunner in an online contest organized by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Jordy is currently neck-and-neck with a terrier mix named Bentley in a contest to find an Owney lookalike — Owney, for the uninitiated, is a postal service mascot of yesteryear. Owner and Arlington resident Patrice Robinson is trying to rally locals to vote for Jordy. Voting is being conducted on Facebook. [Washington Post, Facebook]
Patch Adams Rallies D.C. Protesters — East Falls Church resident Dr. Patch Adams, of eponymous film fame, rallied “Occupy D.C.” protesters in the District last night. While there, the 66-year-old Dr. Adams told the Huffington Post that President Obama’s health care reform efforts have been worthless. “He sold out,” Adams said. [Huffington Post]
Photos: ‘Top Dog’ Contest in Crystal City
Fox 5 Morning News anchor Steve Chenevey, 94.7 Fresh FM morning show host Tommy McFly and an Arlington County K-9 police officer were among the guest judges at the ‘Top Dog’ talent contest in Crystal City last week.
The contest was held by the pet-friendly Residence Inn Arlington Capital View, in order to select a new canine mascot for the hotel. Pooches were put through a series of “American Idol”-style challenges, complete with commentary from the judges after each pair of performances.
In the end, Sweet Dee, a pug, captured the top prize.
Doggone Good Time Planned for Pooches in Park
Looks like Saturday is going to the dogs. Animal lovers will gather at Lacey Woods Park at 1200 N. George Mason Drive for the Dogtober Day dog show.
Some categories for the show include Best Kisser, Best Tail Wagger and Best Costume. First, second and third place winners will receive ribbons.
This year the event also includes the “Barkers Bash” skills tests for dogs and owners. One of the games is called “Chicken Chase,” which is a toss and retrieve test with rubber chickens. First and second place finishers in the games receive ribbons and prizes.
Festivities start at 1:00 p.m. and last until 3:00 p.m. On-site registration starts at 12:15 p.m. The cost is $6 per category or $25 for unlimited categories. It’s $2 for each attempt in the Barkers Bash. Click here for a registration form.
