Sen. Leahy Visits Glebe Elementary
Third graders from Glebe Elementary School in Arlington welcomed a special guest today: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Students at the school had written letters to the Vermont senator “about conservation and what the students are doing here at Glebe to help in conservation efforts,” according to school principal Jamie Borg. Leahy, the grandfather of a Glebe student, “decided to respond to their letters in person.”
Leahy personally delivered letters to each third grade student, then engaged them in a conversation about the branches of government — a topic they had been studying.
“Senator Leahy was able to talk to the students about it in depth and explain his role in government,” Borg said.
He also told students some personal stories, like celebrating his birthday with President Obama in Vermont and doing voiceover work for Batman: The Animated Series.
“The children were very impressed!” said Borg.
Leahy’s wife, Marcelle, joined him for the classroom visit this morning. Leahy, 73, was re-elected in 2010 to a seventh term in the U.S. Senate.
Courtesy photos
Morning Notes
Kaine Meeting With Defense Contractors in Arlington — Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) will be in Arlington today meeting with Northern Virginia defense contractors. Kaine will be holding a roundtable discussion at Courthouse-based contractor Dynamis at 3:00 p.m. “The event today in Arlington will discuss the upcoming sequester cuts that are reported to threaten 1 to 1.4 million jobs with a disproportionate effect in Northern Virginia,” a Kaine spokeswoman told ARLnow.com.
Arlington Tax Surcharge Advances – A bill to restore Arlington’s 0.25 percent hotel tax surcharge is closer to passing in the Virginia General Assembly. The bill has passed the state Senate and last week passed the House of Delegates Committee on Finance, albeit with a three year sunset provision. The Arlington Chamber of Commerce supports the tax surcharge, which helps to fund county tourism promotion efforts. [Sun Gazette]
PBS Doc Films at Glebe, H-B Woodlawn — An upcoming PBS documentary called “The Path to Violence” filmed at two Arlington Public Schools on Sunday. The production filmed at Glebe Elementary School and at H-B Woodlawn, according to an email from Arlington County. The Path to Violence, which is expected to air the week of Feb. 18, will tackle the topics of school safety and school violence.
Corps of Engineers to Review Tree Concerns — The Army Corps of Engineers says it will revise its Environmental Assessment of Arlington National Cemetery’s planned expansion in response to concerns from residents about the loss of old-growth trees. [Arlington Mercury]
Flickr pool photo by Jorge Bañales
Animal Control on the Lookout for a Friendly Deer
Animal control officers are on the lookout for a deer that’s getting a bit too friendly with people.
According to police radio traffic, the young female deer was walking right up to Glebe Elementary School students today before school — a behavior much more reminiscent of a lost puppy than a wild deer. In days past, kids had been spotted feeding the deer in a local park.
Arlington animal control officers are reportedly aware of the deer and are trying to capture it.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Morning Notes
Problems at PBS NewsHour — The PBS NewsHour is facing serious challenges. The hour-long news program, which is produced at the WETA facilities in Shirlington, has been shedding staff and viewers. A number of top news and business personnel have left recently, while viewership is down 11 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, a top sponsor is pulling out at the end of the year, leaving a $2 million hole in the NewsHour’s budget. [New York Times]
Elementary School Goes Solar — A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Glebe Elementary School yesterday to mark the installation of a 1.1 kilowatt solar panel system. The solar panels will not only generate enough clean energy to power one classroom, but will also serve as an educational tool. Students, parents and teachers will be able to monitor the system’s electricity output using any web-enabled device or smartphone. [Arlington Public Schools]
Park Gives Marymount New Athletic Facilities — Long Bridge Park is more than an attractive new green space to Arlington’s only four-year university. Marymount University paid about $2 million toward the cost of one of the three multi-use synthetic-turf fields at the park. In exchange, the school’s Division III soccer and lacrosse teams will utilize the field as their “home base.” When the field is not in use by the school, it will be available for use by the public. [Sun Gazette]
Ballston BID Director Hired — The newly-created Ballston Business Improvement District has a new executive director. Tina Leone is leaving her post as president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce to run the BID. [Alexandria Times]
Flickr pool photo by Mark C. White
Arlington Students Participate in White House Easter Egg Roll
Students from Arlington Traditional and Glebe, Jamestown, McKinley and Taylor Elementary Schools traveled to the District yesterday to participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll
Arlington schools were granted 250 tickets by the White House for this year’s festivities on the South Lawn. Each of the five schools were chosen because they had not participated in the Easter Egg Roll in previous years.
The schools were each granted 50 tickets. The tickets were good for a noon admission — after President Obama’s official participation in the festivities, but still in time to see some of the invited celebrities and musical acts.
Glebe Elementary principal Jamie Borg arrived on an Arlington County school bus with dozens of preschoolers, a few fourth grade helpers and a couple of school staffers in tow. Borg said that many students were looking forward to seeing the First Family, but they had other things they wanted to do, in case the president decided to stay inside.
They’re hoping to see President Obama… but I think they’ll just be excited to see anything they can see,” she said. “They’ve been talking a lot about the eggs.”
See more photos from the school’s visit and from the egg roll ceremony itself, after the jump.
Virginia’s First Lady Cuts Ribbon For Glebe Reading Garden
Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell was at Glebe Elementary today as school, county and state officials helped to mark the opening of a new “reading garden.”
McDonnell used garden shears to cut a ceremonial ribbon as a crowd of about 50 adults and students applauded.
The reading garden was opened with the help of more than 100 parents, students, teachers and neighbors. It involved 200 planning hours, six dump truck loads of mulch and $22,000 in donations.
Joining McDonnell were state delegate Bob Brink, school board chair Sally Baird, superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy and county board members Barbara Favola and Mary Hughes Hynes.
