April, 2012 | ARLnow.com

New Budget Includes Tax Hike, Add’l Housing Funds

Published April 22, 2012 at 4:18PM

The Board voted unanimously on Saturday to pass the budget with a 1.3 cent increase in the real estate tax rate for Financial Year 2013. The county tax rate will now be $0.971 for every $100 in assessed real estate value. The tax hike will be partially offset by a $32 decrease in trash and recycling fees, to $294 per year. Taking into account rising real estate assessments, the overall tax and fee burden for the average Arlington homeowner will increase by 2.4 percent, or about $155 per year, according to the county.

County Manager Barbara Donnellan had recommended the tax rate increase be limited to 0.5 cents in her $1.03 billion proposed budget.

News

Car Slams Into Baskin-Robbins in Yorktown

By ARLnow.com

Published April 21, 2012 at 7:13PM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 1:31PM

Just after 12:00 p.m. an elderly male driver in a Toyota Camry drove into the store’s entrance after accidentally pressing the gas instead of the brake, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Two people were inside the vehicle at the time. No word on whether anybody was inside the store.

Damage to the store is estimated at $20,000, but a building inspector determined that there was no structural damage to the building.

News

Navy Annex Set to Be Torn Down This Summer

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 4:16PM | Updated October 23, 2012 at 12:45PM

Update on 10/23/12 — Demolition is now set to begin in November or December.

The 70-year-old Navy Annex complex, on the eastern end of Columbia Pike next to the Air Force Memorial, is set to be torn down starting next month.

Traffic

I-395 HOV Lanes Blocked by Accident on Bridge

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 3:37PM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 1:34PM

The inbound (northbound) HOV lanes of I-395 are blocked over the Potomac River due to an accident.

The accident reportedly involves at least one overturned vehicle and two injuries. Arlington firefighters and medics are on the scene, though the accident is closer to the D.C. side of the river.

Around Town

Arlington Author Releases Novel About Vampires, Cupcakes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 3:05PM | Updated April 20, 2012 at 5:58PM

Arlington author Mindy Klasky has released a new novella, with a plot that features vampires, lawyers and cupcakes.

Klasky, a Princeton University graduate and former litigator, is the creator of a series of fantasy novels that center around Jane Madison, a librarian who finds out she’s a witch. Her latest creation, Capitol Magic, teams Jane up with Sarah Anderson, who works as a clerk in a secret supernatural court and who’s apparently fond of cupcakes.

Around Town

Road Sign Wishes Passersby a ‘Happy 420’

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 1:33PM | Updated April 20, 2012 at 5:58PM

A road sign in North Arlington is wishing everyone who drives or walks by a “Happy 420.”

The greeting, on a day that is closely associated with cannabis culture, was likely the result of the same sort of electronic road sign hack that pranksters have used to warn of “Zombies Ahead” or “The British Are Coming.”

Feature

Your Beermonger: Italian Time

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 12:15PM | Updated April 20, 2012 at 5:59PM

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

People often ask me about ‘what’s next’ in craft beer. What will be the next big thing? The next hot brewer, or brewery, or style? In all honesty I can only offer guesses, but I think there’s something building here that no one may quite be expecting, and it may turn out to be a great force in beer here in America: the emergence of Italian craft beers and their potential influence on food-pairing in gastropubs and (increasingly) in fine-dining restaurants here in the States. With a rich craft beer scene spearheaded by brewers who came up during the 90s, it’s easy to make the joke that these beers are arriving on ‘Italian time.’

News

Board to Consider Westover Farmers Market Proposal

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 11:19AM

The farmers market has been in the works for a couple of years. If approved, it will be the seventh weekly farmers market in Arlington.

Organizers are asking the County Board to approve a market that will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sundays along the 1700 block of N. McKinley Road. The street location is temporary — organizers are hoping to eventually hold the market on the adjacent Walter Reed School property, but are still awaiting approval from Arlington Public Schools.

Schools

Students Protest Bishop O’Connell Teacher Firing

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 10:01AM | Updated April 20, 2012 at 6:00PM

Some 150 students took to the streets outside Bishop O’Connell High School yesterday to protest the firing of John Harrison, a beloved social studies teacher.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 20, 2012 at 9:04AM

Defibrillator’s Batteries Weren’t Charged — Metro General Manager Richard Sarles has ordered a review of the agency’s automated external defibrillator (AED) program after it was revealed that the AED used to try to revive a man suffering a heart attack at the Pentagon Metro station on Monday had “insufficient battery charge.” The man later died. [Dr. Gridlock]

Favola Gets Top Business Rating — State Sen. Barbara Favola was the most “business-friendly” member of the Arlington legislative delegation in 2012, according to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. During her recent campaign Favola was criticizing for taking big donations from real estate developers. [Sun Gazette]

Around Town

H-B Woodlawn Students Learn Geography Via Cupcakes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 19, 2012 at 3:58PM

The 80 students each chose a country to write a report about, focusing on one particular issue in that country. They made signs for their cupcakes on the map, which correspond to the individual reports that are hung on the wall of the gym.

The students worked from 9:00 a.m. until about 1:00 p.m. to construct the map, which is made up of more than 2,500 cupcakes. Most of the sweets were made by students and their families, but some were also donated by Harris Teeter at the Lee-Harrison Center and by Sprinkles Cupcakes in Georgetown.

News

Changes Coming to Hayes Street in Pentagon City

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 19, 2012 at 3:19PM | Updated April 19, 2012 at 3:46PM

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) If the County Board approves the construction contract, work could start soon on a major road improvement project near the Pentagon City mall.

An agenda item is on the table to award a contract to Milani Construction LLC for the work along S. Hayes Street from S. 15th Street to Army Navy Drive. There will also be improvements made to the Pentagon City Metro station plazas. The contract is worth more than $9 million.