Concealed Carry Permits Spike in Arlington — The number of applications for concealed-carry permits in Arlington has quadrupled in the past 8 years, and continued to spike. Last year the Circuit Court received 1,042 applications from whose who want to carry concealed weapons. This year the office is expecting nearly 1,600. [Sun Gazette]

Whipple Pens Pro-Streetcar Op-Ed — In an op-ed, former state Senator Mary Margaret Whipple compares the heated debate over the planned Columbia Pike and Crystal City streetcar systems to the debate over the construction of Metrorail through Arlington in the 1970s. “A small but vocal faction of our community claimed that the proposed Orange, Blue and Yellow lines were too expensive and risky and argued that we should just use buses instead,” Whipple writes. “After much deliberation, Arlington invested in rail.” [Washington Post]

New Gym for George Mason? — George Mason University’s Arlington campus currently lacks a fitness center for students. A plan to build a new gym, put in place after a student petition in 2011, has not moved forward because it was determined that the project would go over budget. The university is currently exploring options for either constructing a new fitness center or partnering with a nearby office building to use its gym. [Connect2Mason]

DCA Fight Attendants Protest Knife Decision — Flight attendants have been handing out flyers to passengers at Reagan National Airport, encouraging them to sign an online petition against a recent TSA decision that will allow small knives to be carried on to planes. [WAMU]

The new vending machines are part of the county’s FitArlington initiative. At first, about half of the contents of the vending machines will contain healthier snack options that are lower in calories, fat and sugar.

One such snack machine includes options like baked potato chips, Clif bars, Nutrigrain bars, Sun Chips, 100 calorie sweet packs and other options. Drink machines will offer low-fat milk, low-calorie teas and bottled water — although the county is discouraging people from buying the latter.

“Our FitArlington Healthy Vending machines will have water but remember that it’s better for the environment to bring your own bottle and fill it up at a nearby drinking fountain,” the county said in a press release (after the jump).

The vending machines will first be deployed to county office buildings  then are expected to be installed in community centers and parks starting in August. (Long Bridge Park, which was in need of vending machines, got an early installation.)

The machines are provided by a vendor at no cost to the county, according to spokeswoman Susan Kalish.

Arlington County is installing vending machines in its County offices that will supply staff with healthier snack options.  Arlington County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada kicked off the effort at a Healthy Vending Tasting event at Court House Plaza today.

“Arlington County is committed to promoting a Culture of Fitness to community and staff. Two years ago we installed healthy vending machines in some of our community centers.  Now we are providing healthy vending options in Court House Plaza and other County office buildings,” said Chairman Tejada.

The plan is to start with having about 50% of the snacks in these machines meet the County’s guidelines for healthy vending.  It is expected that in time staff will come to prefer the healthier options and the County will gradually increase the amount of healthy food offered. “Our goal is for all our FitArlington machines to meet 100% of the County’s guidelines for healthy vending,” said Chairman Tejada.

So what’s healthy vending?  In 2010, Arlington County developed guidelines to improve the quality of foods in its vending machines.  Arlington is one of the first communities on the East Coast that did this. At the time, in fact, it was very difficult to find a vending machine company that would meet the County’s requirements and the County worked with a vending company in California. Now, one of the largest vending companies in the area, Canteen, can support the effort. Vending machines that meet the County’s guideline include:

• No more than 250 calories per item
• No more than 35% calories from fat, and no more than 10% from saturated fat
• No trans fats added during processing  and only two or less grams of naturally occurring trans fats
• No more than 35% of the total weight of a snack can come from sugar and caloric sweeteners with the exception of fruits and vegetables.
• No artificial sweeteners
• At least of 75% of the snack choices in each machine will have 150 milligrams or less of sodium per serving.
• And at least 75% of the snack choices will have two grams or more of fiber per serving
• And for beverages, we’ll offer healthier choices such as water, low-fat milk, 100% fruit /vegetable juices and low-calorie teas utilizing natural sugars as sweetener. Our FitArlington Healthy Vending machines will have water but remember that it’s better for the environment to bring your own bottle and fill it up at a nearby drinking fountain.

In August, Arlington County will begin updating vending machines in community centers and parks. Community machines will be 100% healthy vending because children have access to the community machines and may not have the information or training to choose healthy foods over sugary snacks.  As such, all their options will be healthy.  Long Bridge Park is our first community facility with FitArlington Healthy Vending machine.

Providing access to healthy snacks is just one of ways Arlington County tries to support healthy lifestyles among staff. The insurance programs the County offers employees provide additional support to help improve health and prevent disease. From nutritional counseling, online health assessments and preventive screenings, the County provides staff with the information to stay healthy and strong.

Arlington also offers a number of great programs through Health Smart, the employee health and wellness program.  There are convenient exercise classes and fitness centers for employees throughout the County.  In 2012 the County added the Health Smart Wellness Clinic in Court House Plaza with a monthly mobile clinic at the Trades Center.

“I’d like Arlington County to be a model employer for supporting employee health and fitness,” said Chairman Tejada.  “In fact, these great new healthy vending machines are available to private employers as well. Hopefully in time, people will recognize the FitArlington logo on machines and know there will be healthy options inside.”

Tejada and other County Board members outlined their vision for the county at the Board’s traditional New Year’s Day meeting on Tuesday. As Chair, Tejada’s priorities will receive the sharpest focus.

In a seven-page speech, Tejada repeatedly called on the county to “move forward together… for all of Arlington.”

Tejada’s first major policy initiative is affordable housing. Tejada repeated a call he and Board member Chris Zimmerman previously made: for new affordable housing investment funded via adoption of Tax Increment Financing for Columbia Pike. The TIF would steer a percentage of taxes gained through increases in property values along Columbia Pike to the creation of new affordable housing, to bolster the county’s existing 6,585 committed affordable units.

“Already on Columbia Pike, market forces are threatening one of the County’s largest supplies of market-rate affordable housing,” Tejada said. ”I have asked [County Manager Barbara Donnellan] to analyze and submit a recommendation by June 2013 for creating a transit oriented affordable housing fund on Columbia Pike through adoption of a TIF.”

“We need to house our healthcare workers and teacher aides, our cashiers and restaurant workers, our cleaning staff and small business employees, and other hard-working people so vital to our County’s economic health,” he continued. “We need to maintain the cultural and economic diversity that is so vital to Arlington’s soul, for all of Arlington.”

Tejada acknowledged that more affordable housing will not come cheap, but quoted former president John F. Kennedy in saying, “To those whom much is given, much is expected.”

An affordable housing TIF on the Pike wouldn’t be the county’s first use of the funding vehicle. A TIF is in place to fund infrastructure improvements in Crystal City, including a planned Crystal City streetcar.

After affordable housing, Tejada called for the county to “promote healthy living” through an initiative called FitArlington.

The new focus on fitness and health will include the creation of a “Arlington Healthy Community Action Team” (HCAT) comprised of local health and fitness providers, youth services providers, nutrition educators and urban agriculture enthusiasts. In addition to promoting physical fitness in general, the county will work in partnership with the HCAT and Arlington Public Schools to help reduce the rate of childhood obesity in Arlington.

The childhood obesity initiative will kick off with a community meeting from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Fairlington Community Center (3308 S. Stafford Street).

Tejada also highlighted the work of the county’s Urban Agriculture Task Force, which was announced as an initiative at the 2012 New Year’s Day meeting. Among the issues being considered by the task force is the controversial proposal to allow Arlington residents to raise egg-laying hens in their backyards. Tejada said he expects the task force’s forthcoming recommendations to help promote healthy eating in Arlington.

“Sometime this spring, we expect the task force to bring its recommendations to the County Board,” he said. “I look forward to receiving those recommendations and helping lead the way on urban agriculture.”

Tejada said he will continue to “actively promote” the county’s “PAL” safety campaign, which encourages drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians to be more courteous and conscientious on roads, trails and sidewalks.

“As part of the campaign, we will create more bike lanes, add more bicycle and pedestrian way-finding signs; make safety improvements and break ground this year on another section of the Washington Boulevard Trail,” Tejada said. “You will also see coordinated activities across the County, a number of events throughout the year, coordinated activities across the region and expanded outreach to the immigrant community.”

In addition to his four major policy priorities, Tejada extended his “for all of Arlington” philosophy to a new series of neighborhood town hall meetings – 10 in all in 2013. The meetings will be held in “every corner of Arlington to listen to folks’ concerns and ideas.” The first will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at the Drew Community Center (3500 23rd Street S.)

Tejada wrapped up his speech by recounting his experience as an immigrant.

“My Moving Forward Together agenda is an ambitious one,” he said. “It is rooted in my experience as an immigrant who moved to this county over 20 years ago and took an unlikely path to community and political involvement. Who would have thought that the young boy who helped his struggling family by shining shoes in the central market in San Salvador, El Salvador, would become the Chairman — twice — in one of the best communities in the world?”

“Our Arlington values of inclusion and diversity, for healthy living, for sustainability, and fiscal responsibility, will again guide us to continue being the community where — no matter what background — each person is indeed important,” he concluded.

While the New Year’s Day meeting has been a largely harmonious affair, featuring grand plans and optimistic predictions, the newest County Board member used her speech to further highlight a point of discord with her colleagues.

Libby Garvey said the planned Columbia Pike streetcar would be a waste of nearly $300 million. Garvey repeated her push for a far less expensive Bus Rapid Transit system along Columbia Pike, despite the rest of the Board’s repeated votes for the streetcar and the fact that dedicated bus lanes — a hallmark of BRT systems — seem unlikely on the Pike.

“Money that businesses or taxpayers must pay for a streetcar is money that is not there for affordable housing, education, infrastructure, the arts… everything else we want to do,” she said.

Garvey said that implementation of BRT would be less disruptive than construction of a streetcar system.

“Right now the plan is to lay tracks along the Pike and put up above ground wire where we just, at great expense, put the wires underground,” Garvey said. “This construction will be disruptive and make it difficult for customers to get to local businesses, some of which are struggling already. I fear many of these small and diverse businesses will be forced to close and never come back.”

Garvey called for “a robust and informed conversation about the streetcar and possible alternatives” before continuing with the project.

Other priorities outlined by County Board members include a “personal crusade to reduce the use of plastic water bottles” (Jay Fisette), a continuation of the one-on-one drop-in meetings with County Board members known as Open Door Mondays (Mary Hynes), and a continued “unshakeable commitment to progressive moral values” (Chris Zimmerman).

Fisette was elected Vice-Chair of the Arlington County Board for 2013.

Arlington County has installed brand new fitness equipment along a stretch of the Four Mile Run Trail near Shirlington.

That stretch of the Four Mile Run Trail, which runs parallel to Arlington Mill Drive, was repaved last month.

The new Energi-branded outdoor fitness equipment utilizes bars and platforms to allow dozens of simple exercises that work out nearly all of the body’s 600 muscles. The equipment replaced older, deteriorating equipment that was once there, in Shirlington Park.

The equipment is still off-limits to the public while a contractor prepared to install surfacing under each station. No word yet on when that work might take place.

An open house will be held tonight to discuss the next big step in the development of Long Bridge Park: a planned aquatics and fitness center.

County staff, members of the project’s design team and the Long Bridge Park Design Advisory Committee will be on hand to give information and take questions from residents. Feedback is also welcome.

The Aquatics, Health and Fitness facility is expected to be built in two phases. A concept plan posted on the county’s website lists features of the proposed facility like cardiovascular and weight training equipment, an Olympic sized pool, a hot water therapy pool, a play area with slides and a lazy river.

Building the first phase of Long Bridge Park cost $31 million, and the aquatics facility is anticipated to cost around $50 $70 million. If bond funding is approved this year, construction on the aquatics and fitness center could begin as soon as next year and the facility could open by 2015.

The open house is tonight from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Fairlington Community Center (3308 S. Stafford Street).

The Virginia leg of the Southern Regional Pole Dance Fitness Competitions will take place at the hotel from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. More than 20 women will compete for the title of Ms. Virginia.

Emphasizing fitness and form over eroticism, the competition is drawing both professional competitors and amateur competitors from pole dance fitness studios across Virginia. The finalists were chosen via YouTube video submissions.

Three women will judge the competition: pole dance instructor Jane Allen, former exotic dancer Trixie Lovett, and Torwa “Fiya Starta” Jo.

The general public is welcome to view the competition, but tickets start at $25.

Screen grab of Ms. Virginia competitor via YouTube

The first of the three new businesses to open will be Xsport Fitness, a 12,000 square foot, 24  hour per day, 365 day per year gym on the ground floor of the Siena Park apartment complex (2301 Columbia Pike).

If you’ve driven by during the day, you’ve probably seen muscle-bound Xsport representatives promoting discounted pre-opening memberships. General manager Matt Minuth, who can apparently bench press 900 pounds, says the company is offering free enrollment and a lifetime monthly rate of $19.95 for customers who sign up in advance. (Normally there is a $99 enrollment fee.)

Minuth says he expects the gym to open mid-July. In addition to modern fitness equipment, the gym will offer personal training sessions, tanning booths, a juice bar, a club store and a child care area.

Next up is William Jeffrey’s Tavern, a new neighborhood bar/restaurant concept from the owners of Rhodeside Grill and Ragtime.

Also located on the ground floor of the Siena Park apartments, William Jeffrey’s will offer “quality eclectic-American cuisine at reasonable prices,” according to a press release. The restaurant will feature “a well-stocked bar with several beers on tap, a full wine list, space for private parties, weekend brunch, live acoustic music, and multiple HDTVs.”

Restaurant partner Wilson Whitney says he’s hoping to have William Jeffrey’s open by mid-November.

Finally, a new 7-Eleven store is reportedly opening across the street, in the old Saah furniture store at 2330 Columbia Pike. According to Pike Wire, the new 7-Eleven — located just four blocks from an existing 7-Eleven — is expected to open in the first quarter of 2012.

Don’t believe us? Next time you’re out near the local gym, the local pool, or the local trail, look around and see for yourself. This is a good-looking, fitness-oriented town.

At the risk of coming off as superficial — which would be a fair criticism — we’re wondering where the greatest concentration of attractive men and women is in our fair county. To make sure the list of locations doesn’t get too long, we’ve narrowed it down to Arlington’s residential Metro stops.

Arlington’s Modest Manager Reception – About a year ago, Arlington spent $600 to hold a reception for now-former county manager Michael Brown. By comparison to Savannah, Ga. — where Brown had held the position of city manager before jumping ship for Arlington — that reception seems like the pinnacle of modesty. Savannah is holding a reception for Brown’s replacement as city manager tonight. Locals are objecting to the fact that the reception — which includes keepsake wine glasses for guests — is costing the cash-strapped city more than $7,500. [Savannah Morning News]

New Pike Gym Selling Memberships – Xsport Fitness, a new 24-hour gym opening in July on the 2300 block of Columbia Pike, is selling $19.99 per month memberships out of a temporary office in the Siena Park apartment building. Xsport will be the second gym to open on the Pike this year, after World Gym opened in January on the ground floor of the Halstead apartment building. [Pike Wire]

Dels. Brink, Hope Launch Reelection Bids — Delegates Bob Brink and Patrick Hope formally announced their candidacies for reelection at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting. [Sun Gazette]

Flickr pool photo by LittleNewton787

Sign Goes Up at Penrose Square Giant — The Giant supermarket that will be opening at the corner of Columbia Pike and South Adams Street this summer is teasing residents with a new sign. The sign went up recently on the side of the new Penrose Square apartment complex, in which the 60,000 square foot store will be located.

Fitness Center Coming to the Pike This Summer — Just up the street from the aforementioned Giant, a new 12,000 square foot Xsport Fitness Center is planning on opening on the ground floor of the Siena Park apartment building this summer. Xsports plans to stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [Pike Wire]

East Falls Church Hearing Scheduled — The County Board has voted to advertise an April 16 public hearing on its controversial East Falls Church development plan. If the vocal opposition to the plan at Saturday’s board meeting was any indication, April’s hearing ought to be interesting. [Sun Gazette]

Courtesy photo