Arlington County board member Chris Zimmerman has been appointed to a special task force of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board.
The task force will try to find a way to prioritize the backlog of “unfunded transportation needs” around the DC area.
Last week Skanska USA applied for a demolition permit at the site. Barring any major obstacles, the buildings are expected to be gone by the end of the year.
In its place, Skanska, the American division of the Swedish construction conglomerate, is building a five-story office building that will include ground-level retail and 230 underground parking spaces. The project will also include the construction of a new road — an extension of Quinn Street that will break up the long block and connect Wilson Blvd with Clarendon Blvd.
In-person absentee voting started today, in advance of the November 2 election.
Election officials say two people have already cast ballots in the first hour of absentee voting. The voting is taking place on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
Planetarium Group to Sell Seats — You can now have your name etched permanently in the David M. Brown Planetarium. The Friends of the Planetarium, which is raising money for much-needed renovations, is offering to engrave brass plaques on the back of one of 55 seats, for a donation of $1,000 or more.
BRAC Meeting Gets Rowdy — For the most part, it was an informative and respectful discussion. But some folks couldn’t contain their anger at the lack of transportation planning related to Alexandria’s massive Mark Center project. Military officials heard an earful. The meeting was organized by Rep. Jim Moran, who has sponsored legislation to delay the move of 6,400 military jobs to the building until sufficient transportation infrastructure is in place. More from the Washington Post.
Outside Pardus’ home on South Kenmore Street in Nauck tonight, a steady stream of reporters and television news crews stopped by to interview neighbors about the man who just hours earlier was the biggest story on the national news.
Pardus had allegedly shot a doctor in the abdomen at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after becoming “emotionally distressed” about the prognosis for his ailing, elderly mother. Then, as police surrounded the hospital room he had holed up in, Pardus fatally shot his mother, then himself.
The Airports Authority will be conducting a simulated plane crash exercise, featuring numerous boats and helicopters, river rescues of live “victims,” and some pyrotechnics to boot.
The exercise will take place from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., primarily on the southern end of the airport.
So it stands to reason that your kids would probably be thrilled to see some real-life robots in action this weekend. Good news: Anthony Nunez of local research firm Infamous Robotics is hosting a robot demonstration from noon to 2:00 p.m. Saturday at Central Library (1015 N. Quincy St.).
If you know a 7 to 12 year old who wants to get even more hands-on with robots, Nunez also teaches a Robots 101 class through the Arlington County Parks Department.
Update at 4:50 p.m. — Townhall tells us via Twitter that the suspicious package was not in their office.
Earlier: Police have shut down streets around 1901 North Moore Street in Rosslyn due to a suspicious package in the building. The package is reportedly being x-rayed at this time.
In subdued, measured language, the letter states support for “properly designed and managed HOT lanes,” but urges the state to “come to the table and negotiate in good faith.” The letter cites “legitimate environmental impact concerns” and “technical issues that must be resolved if the project is to achieve its goal of moving people through the corridor efficiently” as justification for the county’s resistance to the project.
Noticeably absent from the letter is any defense of the lawsuit’s “outrageous claims of conspiracy and racism” that the original letter — sent by Republican House Speaker Bill Howell and Democratic Senate President Pro-Tempore Chuck Colgan — railed against.
As soon as next weekend, Clarendon Grill will reopen after nearly two months of renovations. Walking through the doors, the long-time C-Grill fans will see a space both familiar and completely different at the same time.
Nearly every surface in the bar has been changed, says owner Peter Pflug. From the long cast-in-place concrete bar to the large-tiled bathrooms to the new dance floor, what was once old and beat up and is now clean and new. That old Clarendon Grill musk, from 14 straight years of eating, drinking, smoking and dancing since the last renovation, has been replaced with the smell of fresh lacquer.
On construction-clogged Columbia Pike, it can be pretty annoying when one person holds up a line of traffic thanks to their infernal desire to make a turn. But you eventually realize that it’s not their fault traffic is down to one lane and there’s no turn lane in which to maneuver. So you wait.
Some jerk may blow their horn out of frustration. But it takes a special breed of really big jerk to get out of one’s vehicle, walk up to said turning driver, and show her — you know, just FYI — that you own a handgun.
Just a week later, on Sunday, Sept. 4, Wardian won the Kaua’i Marathon in Hawaii. His time of 2:30:52 just barely missed the 2:30 mark, which would have earned him a $15,000 bonus prize. Another Arlington runner, Michael Zinn, placed 17th in the race.
Finally, on Sunday, Wardian placed third in the Parks Half-Marathon in Montgomery County.
