Morning Notes

District Taco’s Big Expansion — “District Taco has inked a trio of franchise agreements to significantly expand along the East Coast, the next step in a larger plan to broaden the reach of the Yucatán-style restaurant chain that started in 2009 from a single food cart… It’s the latest step by co-founders Osiris Hoil and Marc Wallace to turn the restaurant chain into a nationally known brand or, as Hoil put it in an August interview, to put District Taco on every American’s dining room table.” [Washington Business Journal]

Rep. Beyer Studying AI at GMU — “His phone was ringing. ‘I’ll be there,’ Beyer told a colleague wondering when he would be returning to the House floor for votes. It seemed study time would have to wait. That’s been the story of the year for Beyer (D-Va.), who has been moonlighting as a student at George Mason University in pursuit of a master’s degree in machine learning while balancing his duties as a congressman.” [Washington Post]

Trash Collection Bills to Rise — “‘We [currently] have a really fantastic deal’ on the solid-waste-collection contract, Schwartz told Civic Federation delegates. ‘That contract’s about to come due. Their labor cost has gone up 50 to 60 percent over the course of the contract.’ Any increases to future contracts will end up getting passed on to homeowners, who currently pay $318.61 for trash-collection services.” [Sun Gazette]

Brandishing Tuesday Night on the Pike — “A security guard observed a vehicle parked in the fire lane of a residential complex and approached the driver. A verbal dispute ensued, during which the driver brandished a firearm and verbally threatened the security guard. The suspect then fled the scene in a gray vehicle. Responding officers canvassed the area for the suspect yielding negative results.” [ACPD]

Workers Spend Xmas Eve Fixing Pole — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “After a driver totaled a signal pole at Washington Boulevard and Sycamore late Christmas Eve, a DES operations crew spent the deep-freeze early morning securing the damage and ensuring safety. Temporary armature is now in place.” [Twitter]

Top 25 Books at Arlington Libraries — “It’s no secret that Arlington is a community of readers. Here is a breakdown of combined adult eBook, eAudiobooks and print checkouts that made the 25 top list this year. In 2022, we saw six titles rising above the 2,000-checkout mark starting with ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’ by Anthony Doerr.” [Arlington Public Library]

It’s Thursday — Clear throughout the day. High of 51 and low of 30. Sunrise at 7:28 am and sunset at 4:56 pm. [Weather.gov]