Students Accused of Bringing Knives to School
Two students have been suspended from Thomas Jefferson Middle School after knives were allegedly found in their possession at school.
Police say last Thursday (December 13), a school administrator noticed two boys outside engaging in what appeared to be suspicious behavior. The administrator thought the boys might be smoking cigarettes. She then checked the boys’ schedules and noticed they were both late to class.
According to police, the administrator found that the boys had returned to the building shortly after the incident, and she pulled one boy out of class to confront him about his behavior outside. A search was performed on the boy’s backpack, in anticipation of finding cigarettes, and a butterfly knife was discovered. Upon searching the second boy’s locker, a similar butterfly knife was also found.
Both boys were charged with Possession of a Weapon in School and released to the custody of their parents. Both have also been suspended.
Nobody at the school was injured. Arlington Public Schools will not comment on the incident to protect the students’ privacy.
Arlington Pastor: Local Couples Aren’t Having Enough Sex
A pastor of a local Arlington church says married couples in the area are too stressed and not having enough sex.
John Slye, senior pastor at Grace Community Church, is two weeks into an eight week sermon series that the church has dubbed “Smokin’ Hot.” A mailer sent to local households took the unconventional step (for a church) of promoting the sermon series with the boldfaced words: “Dating. Sex. Marriage. Porn.”
Though the marketing is unquestionably provocative, the overarching goal of the sermon series is improving relationships. Syle says that all too often, intimacy is lacking from marriages and mutual understanding is missing from relationships.
Slye says stress is often the culprit when there’s not enough sex in a marriage. He said there’s even a term for it: DINS, or “Dual Income, No Sex.”
“We see this in Washington, D.C.,” Slye said. “I mean, there’s so much stress here, we have so many Type A people, and we’re just hard chargers. And sex, even among married couples, is just dropping dramatically because of all the stress.”
Syle says physical intimacy — kissing and sex — is a key component of marriages, and shouldn’t be pushed to the wayside.
“In a marriage, sex is meant to be a really positive thing,” he said. “It’s meant to be the glue that holds the husband and wife together. It’s powerful, and that’s what the Bible speaks about.”
“A lot of times when couples first get married, the sex between them is really bonding, but after a while… it either goes away or dries up,” Slye added. “Eventually, married couples — a lot of them — they’re having sex but they’re not kissing. And eventually they’re not even having sex. And you’ve got to do these certain things to instill the passion.”
Another disconnect in marriages and relationships comes from a lack of mutual understanding, says Slye.
“A man has a certain set of love buttons, and a woman has a certain set of love buttons,” he said. “By default, we think that the other sex’s love buttons are the same as ours. And we’re, like, pushing those buttons and it’s doing nothing for them. We have to learn what the opposite sex’s love buttons are, so we have to be real students.”
“Arlington is one of the smartest areas in the country,” he continued. “But we have to be great students, we have to study this person that we’re in a relationship with harder than we study for our PhD, or Masters, or whatever… Both [partners] need to bring something to the table, and they both need to understand each other.”
Slye’s sermon series is based on the Old Testament’s Song of Solomon, which he describes as “the relationship book of the Bible.”
Easter Weekend E-CARE Event Deemed a Success
(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) Despite the holiday, Arlington residents turned out in droves for Saturday’s Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE).
The bi-annual event gives Arlington residents an opportunity to safely get rid of hazardous materials and to recycle items that usually aren’t accepted during the weekly residential recycling collection.
This weekend’s event drew 1,341 people to the parking lot of Thomas Jefferson Middle School, according to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services. DES spokeswoman Shannon Whalen McDaniel said residents filled two tractor trailers with some 30 20 tons of electronics to recycle.
This year’s spring E-CARE also collected about 35.5 tons of hazardous household materials, said Whalen McDaniel, who deemed the event a success.
“The weather for E-CARE was picture perfect and residents turned out!” she wrote.
This Saturday: Arlington E-CARE Recycling Event
Arlington County is holding its bi-annual Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE) this coming weekend.
E-CARE gives Arlington residents an opportunity to safely get rid of hazardous materials like paint, solvents, garden chemicals and items containing mercury. It is also is an opportunity to recycle items that usually aren’t accepted during the weekly residential recycling collection, like electronics, bikes, small metal items, shoes, eyeglasses, and durable medical equipment.
Anybody who drops off household devices that contain mercury, like thermometers and barometers, is eligible to receive a $5 gift card courtesy of trash-to-electricity company Covanta Energy. Fluorescent lights are excluded from the gift card offer.
The event is being held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 at Thomas Jefferson Middle School (125 S. Old Glebe Road). E-CARE is open to Arlington residents only — not to businesses or to residents of other jurisdictions.
More than 1,000 residents disposed of 36.8 tons of hazardous material and recycled some 16 tons of electronics at the Fall 2011 E-CARE event, according to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services.
Photo via Arlington County DES
Theft from TJ Middle School Trailer
Someone broke into a relocatable classroom outside Thomas Jefferson Middle School (125 S. Old Glebe Road) and stole equipment, according to a recent Arlington crime report.
The theft happened between 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7 and 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, according to police. A suspect broke into the school trailer by forcing open a window, and then made off with a laptop, a microscope and keys.
Police do not have a description of the suspect, who remains at large.
