Morning Notes

Closed Cafe’s Investment Intrigue — “Former Rāko Coffee partners and even the co-founders are owed significant sums of money by the investors, who are based in Dubai… Murtha and Jain had a national vision for Rāko and wanted to aggressively expand the business, according to former leaders of the company who spoke with Huddle. They ousted Gerban, who co-founded the brand with her sister, from leadership and cut her out of discussions of the business expansion.” [Politico]

Copious Christmas Decor No More — “Calvin and Elinor Marcey have been decorating their home at 1610 North Abingdon Street, in Arlington, Virginia, since 1969. It’s one of those houses that people talk about and want to see every Christmas… Visitors learned things were changing from a framed letter the Marcey couple left on a table on their porch next to a train set and a red stocking. In it, Calvin Marcey explains this will be the last year for their renowned display because he needs to focus his attention on his wife’s care.” [WTOP]

Remembering the Westover Star — “Then in 1957 church member Henry McCloud, who owned a construction company, upped the ante to make the star more impressively visible. At a sheet metal shop in Franconia, he fabricated a 60-foot steel tower. It was trucked over on a double trailer with cranes to be installed on Trinity’s six-acre, 100 feet-high hill, lifted, via a winch and cable, onto a poured concrete foundation. From then on, the annual installation of the star could be accomplished in just three hours.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Beer Truck Crash Last Week — “A box truck from beer and wine distributor… hopped a Jersey wall on the outbound 14th Street Bridge in D.C. just before 3 a.m. Friday. The crash comes on a day that is heavily traveled as people make their way in and out of town for the Christmas holiday.” [WTOP]

Wild Windy DCA Landings — From WJLA’s Steve Rudin: “Landing was a bit of an adventure @Reagan_Airport Friday.” [Twitter]

It’s Tuesday — Sunny throughout the day. High of 39 and low of 23. Sunrise at 7:27 am and sunset at 4:54 pm. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Jeff Vincent