May, 2012 | ARLnow.com

Published May 24, 2012 at 12:12PM | Updated May 29, 2012 at 10:36AM

Residents who live along I-395 and Route 1 can expect to hear the roar of motorcycle engines tomorrow, May 25, as the bikers head to hotels in Crystal City — including the rally’s official hotel, the Hyatt Regency at 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway — and to a candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C.

On Sunday, Rolling Thunder will rumble over to the Pentagon parking lot at 6:45 a.m. for an event that will be followed by a convoy into D.C. at noon. In order to safely accommodate the rally, Arlington County Police will close Washington Boulevard from I-395 to the Memorial Bridge from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., according to a press release. During that time, Arlington National Cemetery will only be accessible from southbound George Washington Memorial Parkway or northbound Route 110.

News

Police Officer Delivers Baby on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published May 24, 2012 at 11:05AM

Corporal Steve Troyano had just pulled over a car on the 5300 block of Columbia Pike when a woman ran over and frantically requested the officer’s assistance for her pregnant sister, who was in labor in a nearby SUV. The officer used his radio to request paramedics, but when he arrived at the SUV the baby’s head was crowning and ready for delivery.

Corporal Troyano helped to deliver a healthy, 6 pound, 3 ounce baby girl at 6:41 p.m. He managed to unwrap the child’s umbilical cord from around her neck, then wrapped her in a towel until an ambulance arrived four minutes later.

News

Crime Report: Adding Insult to Injury Edition

By ARLnow.com

Published May 24, 2012 at 9:50AM | Updated January 9, 2018 at 3:16PM

Arlington police are investigating an incident in which goods purchased with a stolen credit card were mailed to the victim of the credit card fraud, then stolen from the victim’s home.

“There were at least ten pairs of women’s shoes and several purses mailed to [the victim’s] residence several days after his credit card was stolen,” said Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. “A day later the package he received was stolen, along with jewelry from the house.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 24, 2012 at 9:10AM

‘SmokeHouse’ Coming to Pentagon City — Two veterans of The Palm restaurant are teaming up to create “Epic SmokeHouse,” described as a cross “between a fine dining steakhouse and a barbecue joint.” The restaurant will reportedly be located inside the Millennium at Metropolitan Park apartment building at 1330 S. Fair Street, near Pentagon City mall. [Washington City Paper]

County Launches ‘Green Streets’ Program — Arlington County has launched a pilot program to build bioretention systems into road medians, in an effort to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff before it reaches the Chesapeake Bay. [Connection Newspapers]

Around Town

Volunteers to Distribute Roses for Memorial Day

By Katie Pyzyk

Published May 23, 2012 at 4:50PM

This Monday, May 28, more than 100 volunteers from Memorial Day Flowers will hand out more than 50,000 roses at the cemetery. Visitors are given two roses, one to place on a grave, and one to take home in remembrance.

All of the flowers are donated by farmers throughout Ecuador. The idea was initiated by Ramiro Peñaherrera of Flowers for Kids. He’s part Ecuadorean and has family members buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Being that Ecuador is one of the largest rose producers in the world, he set out to get farmers there to donate roses for the cause.

News

Board Approves Rezoning of Rosenthal Site

By Katie Pyzyk

Published May 23, 2012 at 3:45PM | Updated May 23, 2012 at 5:56PM

At its meeting yesterday, May 22, the board voted unanimously to approve a rezoning and use permit for the property. The site, located at the southwest corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road, will be turned into a multi-family residential complex.

The plan includes construction of a six-story building with 245 apartments, 44 townhouses, 12 stacked flats and retail space on the ground floor. Renderings of the buildings were released in January. The development will be split into two blocks by a new road that has yet to be constructed.

Around Town

Clarendon War Memorial Shows More than Just War History

By Katie Pyzyk

Published May 23, 2012 at 2:50PM | Updated May 23, 2012 at 4:33PM

World War I plaque at war memorial in Clarendon

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) In preparation for Memorial Day, there’s a place in Arlington that might be worth a look — and it’s not Arlington National Cemetery.

Thousands pass by it daily, but many don’t realize that the large, stone structure flanked by cannons across from Clarendon Ballroom (and near the Clarendon Metro station) is actually a war memorial. It was put up by the American Legion and honors Arlington citizens who died in combat, up through Vietnam.

News

Resident Wakes Up to Find Bullet in Living Room

By ARLnow.com

Published May 23, 2012 at 1:55PM

An Arlington woman woke up this morning to find a .45 caliber bullet in her living room.

This incident happened on N. Bedford Street in the Lyon Park neighborhood. A resident of a townhouse called police around 9:00 a.m. after finding that a bullet — likely a stray bullet — had punched through the front of her house and had come to rest on the living room floor. Only the woman and her husband were at home at the time, according to Arlington County police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

Events

Photos: Artomatic Comes to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published May 23, 2012 at 12:32PM

Artomatic 2012

Billed as “the Washington area’s biggest free creative arts event,” Artomatic is the collective, unjuried work of more than 1,300 artists, spread across 10 floors of a former Department of Defense office building at 1851 S. Bell Street.

The sheer scale of Artomatic is mind-boggling: 5,000+ pieces of art (much of it for sale by the artists) in 380,000 square feet of office space. There are also more than 300 planned performances by more than 750 performers on 6 separate stages. Some 80,000 visitors are expected over the festival’s five week run, and they will have 3 cafes at which to buy food and drink. Artomatic is made possible by sponsors and an estimated 27,325 volunteer hours, much of which is put in by the artists themselves.

News

Resident Satisfaction with the County Increases

By Katie Pyzyk

Published May 23, 2012 at 11:00AM

This is the third time Arlington has done a Resident Satisfaction Survey; the first took place in 2004, with another in 2008. The county uses the results to target areas for improvement, and to figure out the public resources residents find most beneficial.

This year’s results showed that overall satisfaction with county services increased to 89 percent, up from 87 percent in 2008. Satisfaction with overall quality of life in Arlington increased from 87 percent in 2008 to 92 percent this year.

News

Public Feedback Requested on Pike Streetcar Plan

By Katie Pyzyk

Published May 23, 2012 at 10:05AM

An Alternative Analysis/Environmental Analysis (AA/EA) was performed as part of the Columbia Pike Transit Initiative, which addresses transit along the five mile corridor from the Pentagon City area to the Skyline area in Fairfax. It’s the plan that includes the controversial streetcar system, now believed to cost between $242 million and $261 million.

The AA/EA looked at four alternatives and analyzed how each would satisfy the community’s need for improved transit, and how each would affect the environment. One of the options was a “No Build Alternative,” which is designed to provide a baseline comparison to the other ideas. Two of the other plans involve beefing up bus operations, and the final is the streetcar option.