Morning Notes

Work Stoppage Closes Local Starbucks — “The cafe in Arlington’s Court House neighborhood was one of more than 100 Starbucks stores around the country where workers took part in a one-day work stoppage, according to the baristas’ union, Workers United. The union said workers were striking due to alleged unfair labor practices committed by the company. Enough workers took part in the Court House walkout that the store apparently couldn’t function for the day.” [Huffpost]

New E-bikes Roll Out — “Arlington, Fairfax County and the District of Columbia on March 20 became the first jurisdictions in the region to serve as launch locations for Capital Bikeshare’s next-generation electric bicycle. Approximately 850 of the e-bikes, manufactured by Lyft, will roll out across the communities over the next month.” [Gazette Leader]

Reporting on Pike Raid Questioned — “The article left many readers with the distinct impression that the investigation [into ABC News producer James Gordon Meek, which included a raid on his Columbia Pike apartment] was linked to Meek’s reporting — which could lead to a clash of the government and the press… On Feb. 1, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges against Meek related to images of child sex abuse.” [NPR]

Library Users Back to Pre-pandemic Level — “After falling by about 25,000 active users (to 50,000) during COVID’s main thrust, the library system in February returned to its earlier level, library director Diane Kresh told County Board members at a recent budget work session. ‘Our goal was to get back to 75 [thousand] and then keep going,’ she said.” [Gazette Leader]

Restaurant 3 Gone But Not Forgotten — “Just observed a sudden, brief spike in interest in this story [about the closure of Restaurant 3 in Clarendon] from 2012… It was almost all from Google searches. Does anyone know if it was mentioned on TV?” [Twitter]

Tax Help for Vets — “Arlington’s American Legion Post 139 is serving as the proving ground for a new Internal Revenue Service initiative that will bring assistance in completing income-tax documents to military veterans.” [Gazette Leader]

Ordering Directly Helps Restaurants —  “Most restaurants have online ordering on their websites that integrates directly with the point-of-sales system. Even if delivery is contracted out to a third party, restaurants typically pay a relatively small fixed fee — which they can pass on to the customer or absorb themselves — instead of the commission percentage.” [Washingtonian]

Big Gas Leak in F.C. — “Scanner: ACFD is responding to a large gas line leak on the 300 block of S. Oak Street in Falls Church. A 4+ inch line was struck and homes nearby are being evacuated, per initial reports. Similar in scale to the March 15 gas line rupture in Ballston.” [Twitter]

It’s Thursday — Cool and rainy in the morning, then cloudy but warmer in the afternoon. High of 75 and low of 49. Sunrise at 7:10 am and sunset at 7:23 pm. [Weather.gov]