News

The forum, which will start at 7:00 p.m. at the NRECA building in Ballston (4301 Wilson Blvd), will give Favola, Areizaga-Soto and other Democratic candidates (there’s no contested Republican primary in Arlington this year) a chance to woo a group of largely Democratic voters just 14 days before the Aug. 23 primary.

House of Delegates candidates Stephanie Clifford and Alfonso Lopez are both expected to attend the forum. Other invited candidates include Adam Ebbin, Libby Garvey and Rob Krupicka (30th state Senate District) as well as Theo Stamos and David Deane (Commonwealth’s Attorney).


News

The bank was robbed just before 2:15 this afternoon. The suspect is being described as a 5’9″ white male, possibly of “Hispanic or Middle Eastern background,” about 50 years of age. The suspect implied, but did not display a weapon.

Armed police officers surrounded the bank for a few tense minutes while they awaited word on whether the suspect was still inside the bank. As it turns out, the suspect fled on foot before police arrived on scene.


News

According to recent federal accident data compiled by CNBC, Arlington has only 0.48 traffic fatalities per 100,000 population. The data includes vehicle occupant and pedestrian fatalities, but does not factor in the raw number of accidents or non-fatal injuries.

The next-safest city has more than twice the fatality rate. Vancouver, Wash. has 1.23 traffic fatalities per 100,000 population. The “most dangerous” city in the country is Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where each year 22.39 people die in accidents for every 100,000 people.


Events

The festival headliner for 2011 is Dee Dee Bridgewater, who won a Tony Award for her acting performance in ‘The Wiz’ and who has also snagged two Grammy Awards for ‘Best Jazz Vocal Performance’ and ‘Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal.’ In addition to her musical and acting accomplishments, Bridgewater hosts the weekly NPR jazz program ‘JazzSet.’

Also on the bill is New Orleans native Henry Butler, an eight-time W.C. Handy ‘Best Blues Instrumentalist – Piano’ award nominee. Blind since birth, Butler not only is a musical chameleon — mixing jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences — but he’s also an accomplished photographer whose work has been displayed at exhibitions.


Around Town

Thanks to its key strategic location across the Potomac from the District, Arlington County was home to 22 Union forts during the Civil War. In order to see an approaching enemy, soldiers often cut down 1-2 miles of trees around each fort.

The photo, left, illustrates just that. Fort C.F. Smith, now a county park along the George Washington Parkway in North Arlington, was surrounded by a denuded landscape that allowed soldiers to mount an effective, fortified defense against any Confederate force that might have tried to invade attack Washington.


Around Town

Interior construction has finally started on the new Trader Joe’s in Clarendon.

In addition to converting the cavernous space within 1109 N. Highland Street into a grocery store, crews will also be working to install an elevator shaft, to provide access from the store to the parking garage below. Residents of the Lyon Place at Clarendon Center apartments received the following note about the impending construction on Friday.


News

Update at 5:55 p.m. — Clarendon Boulevard and 16th Street will both remained closed between N. Pierce Street and N. Oak Street through the morning rush, the county said this afternoon.

Update at 1:10 p.m. — The processes of shoring up the collapsed retaining wall could take up to 48 hours, according Arlington County Inspection Services Division Chief Shahriar Amiri. While some road closures will remain, Amiri said that Clarendon Boulevard may reopen as soon as tomorrow’s morning rush hour. “We are working hard at it,” he said.


News

Jaime Areizaga-Soto has received the endorsement of Del. David Englin, a founding co-chair of the Virginia Progressive Caucus, while Barbara Favola received the endorsement of the Sun Gazette newspaper.

In its editorial, the Sun Gazette said that Favola provides “common-sense, middle-ground representation” as a County Board member, while Areizaga-Soto lacks experience.


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