It may be a long night if you’re a light sleeper. Two separate training exercises are threatening to make some noise in the Arlington area during the wee hours of the morning.
First, a “series of training flights” is planned between 3:00 and 5:00 a.m.
About two dozen people showed up at the Shirlington Library to respond to draft recommendations put forth by the Arlington Commission for the Arts and its consultants regarding the future of the county’s arts scene. A previous proposal was developed in the 1990s, and the Commission is seeking a new plan to outline the next 20 years.
Arlington Arts Commission Chair John Seal explained that the proposal assumes the county will continue its current push toward urbanization. He said additional venues, funding and availability of arts is necessary to keep up with the trend.
The Arlington County bomb squad was called out to a grassy lot next to Faith Lutheran Church (3313 Arlington Blvd) in Ashton Heights this afternoon to investigate what looked like a hand grenade.
A bomb technician eventually determined that the object — which was found lying in the grass well away from the church — was not explosive and the scene was cleared within an hour. Based on initial descriptions, the object was likely a toy or a replica hand grenade.
When employees at one of those facilities — the YMCA Arlington Tennis & Squash Center at 3400 N. 13th Street — first heard yesterday that two men had finally been arrested for Carl’s 2009 murder, at least one woman burst into tears.
“We’ve all been sort of waiting around and hoping [police] find who did it,” said Audrey Giberman, who works at the Tennis Center and who formed a close bond with Carl through the years. “He’s always been on our mind. It was a horrible, horrible tragedy.”
If not, here’s an idea: The fourth annual Dash4Dad Four Mile Run and Walk is being held Sunday morning in Pentagon City, complete with entries for daddy-daughter and father-son teams.
The four mile race and one mile walk starts and finishes on S. Joyce Street, in front of the Pentagon Row shops. Proceeds will go to support prostate cancer awareness, outreach and research.
The funds will allow Arlington and Alexandria to create new wetland areas near the stream, thus adding needed habitat, enhancing aesthetics and improving water quality.
“This federal grant will help us fund the crucial first phase of the comprehensive restoration of Four Mile Run,” Arlington County Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman said in a statement. “Restoration of the wetland and stream banks in tidal Four Mile Run, which we expect to begin work on next year, is central to the effort to return the stream to a more natural, better functioning waterway that will serve people from across the region.
You might get the summertime blues on the Pike this weekend.
The 16th annual Columbia Pike Blues Festival kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Saturday on South Walter Reed Drive and Columbia Pike. The free event runs through 8:00 p.m. and features acclaimed acts like southern blues rocker Tinsley Ellis, along with Columbia Pike’s own blues and soul band, The Curbfeelers.
According to a local newspaper, the couple is glad they moved.
“It’s easier to breathe down here,” Chris Arnold told the Huntsville Times. “There’s more space, and it’s not that same kind of pressure on your chest as you have when you’re in a heavily populated area… D.C. was a concrete jungle.”
We’re riding along with Virginia State Police this morning as law enforcement agencies region-wide conduct a “Capitol Region HOV Awareness Day” mass enforcement operation.
So far drivers on I-395 have been well-behaved — we’ve only seen two HOV violators in the past hour and a half.
Striking ART Drivers Fired — The Examiner’s Liz Essley reports that the Arlington Transit bus drivers who went on strike yesterday have been fired by Forsythe Transportation, the contractor that operates ART buses. The paper also reports that the labor dispute came to a head when Forsythe fired the head of the bus drivers union last week. ART buses are operating on a reduced frequency schedule today, with all routes in service except the 61B route. [Washington Examiner, Arlington Transit]
Airport Uniforms Found in Ballston — Three pairs of airport employee uniforms and a Washington Reagan Airport safety vest have been found in the bushes outside Carpool restaurant in Ballston (4000 Fairfax Drive). The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Arlington police are investigating how the uniforms wound up there. [WJLA]
