Neither the inauguration nor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day nor Lee-Jackson Day will stop Arlington’s housing market from charging on. About three dozen open houses are on tap this weekend.
See our real estate section for a full listing of open houses. Here are a few highlights:
The David M. Brown Planetarium (1426 N. Quincy Street) will host NASA’s Star Party. Astronauts, astronomers and other experts will be on hand to talk about current NASA missions and the future of space exploration.
Weather permitting, one of the big attractions will be star gazing through the 15 telescopes set up in the plaza surrounding the planetarium. There will also be a variety of displays (both indoors and outdoors) relating to NASA and astronomy, including one featuring real meteorites.
A tipster sent ARLnow.com a photo of the county inspection sign that went up on the door yesterday, claiming the building is unsafe.
According to a representative with Arlington’s Inspection Services Division, the restaurant had opened before receiving its certificate of occupancy. The county worker said the restaurant owners took it upon themselves to open when they weren’t authorized to do so.
Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway)
We’ve looked at Belgian Trappist Ales here before, but I wanted to take a quick moment this week to consider the newest member to the ranks of the official Trappist brewers. News of the addition of Austrian monastery Stift Engelszell to the list of approved Trappist breweries got a little lost last year in the wave of excitement over the impending release of Westvleteren 12. However, while Westy 12 has already come and gone (with none allocated for the District or Virginia) the first of Engelszell’s beers is reaching us now.
Commercial property values decreased by 0.1 percent in Calendar Year (CY) 2012, coming in at $30.4 billion. Although multi-family rental properties fall into that category and increased by almost 1 percent, the rest of the commercial property types (office, retail, hotel) declined by 0.5 percent. Commercial properties still account for 49 percent of the county’s tax base.
A county press release suggests the drop in commercial property values is due to impacts from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in Crystal City and concerns about federal budget issues. The budget concerns are expected to have an impact for the next few years. While state and federal grant funding remains uncertain, real estate tax revenues represent approximately 56 percent of the county’s total revenues.
A number of road and government closures will be in place on Monday for the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and for the Presidential Inauguration.
The following government offices will be closed on Monday, January 21:
The legislation defines the term “bullying” and requires school boards to prohibit students and school employees from engaging in any actions that fall under the definition. The bill also requires local school boards to implement policies and procedures for reporting, investigating and addressing acts of bullying.
The part of the bill defining bullying reads:
Citizen Receives Reward for Crime Tip — A tipster will get a $650 reward from Arlington County Crime Solvers (ACCS) for helping police solve a case from Christmas Day. The tipster’s information helped police arrest a suspect from an armed robbery of a 7-Eleven. “We are delighted to pay a reward to a local resident whose tip led to an arrest in an armed robbery,” said ACCS President Andres Tobar. “We encourage local residents who have information on a crime to call the ACCS tip line at 866-411-8477 to remain anonymous. If the tip leads to an arrest, a reward will be paid.” [Arlington County Crime Solvers]
Tejada Launches Campaign Targeting Childhood Obesity — County Board Chairman Walter Tejada kicked off his Moving Forward Together Campaign at a community meeting yesterday. The initiative involves the county working with a volunteer coalition and community members on several points, such as getting kids moving more at recess and in after school programs, establishing healthier vending options and training childcare providers in nutrition and physical activity. Residents are encouraged to get involved with the newly formed Healthy Community Action Team (HCAT). [Arlington County]
Residents in Lyon Park, Buckingham, Douglas Park, Arlington Heights, Alcova Heights, Arlington Ridge and portions of Crystal City may be affected, along with portions of surrounding neighborhoods. According to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services (DES), the worst pressure issues will likely be during peak times in the morning from 6:00-9:00 a.m., and in the evening from 5:00-9:00 p.m.
The county is asking residents to help reduce the pressure problems by minimizing water use at peak times. For example, run dishwashers and washing machines during off-peak hours or take a shower at a different time.
The following are today’s featured events from our Arlington event calendar. Submit your event to the calendar here.
The 2013 Grassroots Inauguration Gala and Fundraiser for AFAC — State Theatre (220 N. Washington Street, Falls Church) on Saturday, Jan. 19, from 7:30 – 11:30 p.m.
Looking for a job? Know someone who is? ARLnow.com periodically highlights job openings in the area. If you’re an employer with a position to fill, contact [email protected].
NEW Northern Italian Cuisine restaurant seeks inspired, high quality team-members that are professional & committed to delivering SUPERIOR customer service.
The Arlingtonians for Sensible Transit (AST) website lists its goals as educating residents about the streetcar, offering a bus rapid transit (BRT) system as a streetcar alternative and encouraging community discussion about a BRT versus a streetcar system. The group contends the County Board didn’t hire “truly independent contractors” to do a cost-benefit analysis of the two systems, and didn’t engage in a community conversation about whether the streetcar is the best transit choice. It’s asking the Board to perform both of those tasks.
“The CP streetcar was conceived many years ago in a rosier economy. Since then, the CP streetcar’s price tag has soared,” AST spokesman Peter Rousselot said in a statement. “We now have substantial new experience and data regarding the relative economic and operating performance of both modern streetcars and modern BRT systems. In light of these changed circumstances, our community needs to examine and discuss this new information before making an irrevocable commitment to a project now estimated to cost over a quarter of a billion dollars.”
