June, 2010 | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published June 4, 2010 at 7:17AM | Updated June 4, 2010 at 9:56AM

Arlington Restaurateur Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement — Roberto Donna, who owned the now-defunct Bebo Trattoria restaurant in Crystal City, pled guilty yesterday to felony embezzlement, Washington City Paper’s Tim Carman reports. Donna must repay Arlington County the more than $150,000 he owes in unpaid meal taxes. Donna isn’t the only one who owes the county big bucks. According to the City Paper, Arlington Catering Company, owners of the recently-shuttered Restaurant Vero, owes $78,297 in delinquent meal taxes.

Lyon Hall’s Outdoor Patio Open for Business — You can now have a prime outdoor seat to go with your Silly Saison and Hungarian lamb sausage mussels. Lyon Hall has rolled out the folding white umbrellas and steel tables and is now helping to bring some street life to Washington Boulevard. Perfect DC Bites has more.

Events

To Do This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 4:46PM | Updated June 3, 2010 at 6:23PM

Normally for our weekly “To Do” list we pick a few of the upcoming weekend’s most promising events and write a couple sentences about each.

This week, there’s so much going on that it was impossible to narrow it down. So rather than a novel-sized write-up, here’s a list of everything on our radar. See our events calendar for more details on each event.

Traffic

Carlin Springs Road Still Blocked After Accident

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 3:10PM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 2:26PM

Carlin Springs Road is still closed between North Glebe Road and Vermont Street after a utility pole collapsed, sparked a fire and knocked out power to nearly 2,000 homes and businesses.

Crews from Dominion, Verizon and Comcast are still working to fix the mess. No word yet on whether the road will reopened by the evening rush hour.

Around Town

Twittering Food Truck Hits Wrong Button

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 2:02PM | Updated October 7, 2016 at 1:32PM

Running your own business is hard work. Handling lunchtime crowds in hot and humid weather is exhausting. And nowadays, if you run a popular mobile food business, you need to keep your loyal fans apprised of your every move lest an online revolt breaks out.

District Taco is one of the more prolific food truck vendors on Twitter. They’re total social media pros — answering questions and retweeting customers’ feedback.

Around Town

HuffPo Blogger Offers Kudos to Va.’s Teen Licensing Law

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 1:12PM

But blogger Tamar Abrams was so delighted with her teen daughter’s experience with Virginia’s unique “juvenile licensing ceremony” that she felt compelled to tell the world.

There is one shining beacon of brilliance that I witnessed yesterday in the Arlington County Courthouse and which makes me want, for a moment, to brag about the state in which I’ve resided for 18 years.

News

Red Light Cameras Return To Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 11:35AM | Updated June 3, 2010 at 5:04PM

Arlington’s previous generation of red light cameras went dark in 2005 after the Virginia General Assembly banned them statewide. The cameras were reauthorized in 2007 but stayed dormant in Arlington.

Now, the county is installing a new generation of cameras with the vaguely Bono-inspired name of ‘PhotoRED.’

News

Arlington’s Jobless Rate Drops

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2010 at 7:58AM

The unemployment rate is down in most metro areas across the country — and Arlington is no exception.

Newly-released data for April shows that Arlington’s jobless rate dropped to 4.0 percent from 4.8 percent in March.

News

Biz Leaders Ask Arlington to Drop HOT Lanes Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Published June 3, 2010 at 6:41AM | Updated June 3, 2010 at 5:05PM

Twenty professionals, including Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Richard V. Doud, Jr., signed a memo urging county board chairman Jay Fisette to embrace the toll lanes project.

“The primary obstacle to advancing this innovative, multi-modal improvement is the Arlington County Board’s lawsuit that precludes the project from securing any private or public sector funding,” the letter stated.

News

Crime Report: Rude Behavior Edition

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2010 at 4:42PM | Updated January 9, 2018 at 2:35PM

It’s generally considered good manners to hold the door open for strangers. We’re pretty sure, however, that Miss Manners would not approve of pummeling someone who fails to partake in such common courtesy.

ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST 05/26/10, 1200 block of S. Eads Street. On May 26 at 9:30 pm, one woman assaulted another after the victim did not hold the door open. Atiba Ayala, 19, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault and Battery. She was held on a $1,500 bond.

News

Del. David Englin, Keeping Things Hot

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2010 at 3:46PM | Updated June 2, 2010 at 4:04PM

Today she apparently answered her own question.

“14 years, 3 cities, 1 child, 1 business, 1 political career and I’m still married to my (hot) best friend. Happy Anniversary @David_Englin!” she wrote.

Around Town

Fantom Comics Closes Shop at Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2010 at 2:52PM

Fantom Comics, a tiny oasis of graphic novels in a far-flung upper corner of the Pentagon City mall, quietly closed up shop on Sunday.

Owner Matt Klokel said another business wanted Fantom’s space and was able to get it due to a clause in the store’s lease. Klokel said he would have had to pay twice his current rent to keep the space.

News

Liberty Tavern Group to Take Over Alpine Restaurant

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2010 at 2:07PM

The 44-year-old Italian eatery closed last month after owner Ermanno Tonizzo decided to sell the restaurant and retire. We hear that the new owners are trying to decide whether Alpine will remain a restaurant or will be transformed into something else.

It’s not clear what other form the property may take — a bar or a coffee shop would not be out of the realm of possibility — but so far the new owners have been very tight-lipped about their apparent acquisition.