Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. The ARLnow staff byline is used for the Morning Notes and reporting done by an editor or other member of our full-time staff.

Opinion

Morning Poll: New Pike Bus Stop Cost

By ARLnow.com

The new stops cost between $362,000 and $672,000, depending on size. They will serve riders of buses and — eventually, as currently planned — streetcars with a large, angled canopy, concrete seats and an electronic real-time arrival display.

The cost of the stops has been significantly reduced since the county put a halt to the “Super Stop” design that resulted in the infamous $1 million bus stop at the corner of the Pike and S. Walter Reed Drive.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Stormwater Management Ordinance Approved — The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved a new stormwater management ordinance. The ordinance complies with strict EPA standards intended to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay. It’s expected to raise the county’s costs related to stormwater management. [Arlington County]

Gymnastic Boosters Speak Out About Rising Fee — Youth gymnasts and their parents spoke out at Saturday’s County Board meeting about rising fees for out-of-county gymnasts. Starting July 1, the cost for using county facilities is rising dramatically for members of the Arlington Aerials gymnastics team who do not live in the county. [InsideNova]

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Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Relocate H-B Woodlawn

By ARLnow.com

The following letter to the editor was submitted by Taylor Elementary School parents Danielle and Greg Maurer.

The APS option to create a large, 1,300 seat, 8 story “urban middle school” in Rosslyn is deeply concerning. The School Board should not approve this proposal without appropriate analyses. An enormous new middle school in an area with the fewest middle school aged students makes little sense. Studies have not been done to determine of the cost of this proposal, or how it would compare to the other two options.

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News

Some Clarendon Residents Up in Arms About Noise Ordinance Changes

By ARLnow.com

The email listserv of the Clarendon-Courthouse Civic Association (CCCA) erupted today in protest over changes to Arlington’s noise ordinance, which the County Board is scheduled to vote on tomorrow (Saturday).

The changes are needed in order to allow police to objectively enforce the noise ordinance; the current ordinance contains subjective enforcement provisions that were struck down by the state Supreme Court. The ordinance attempts to address what county officials say are the top four noise-related complaints in Arlington: loud parties or gatherings, construction noise, animal noises and live entertainment venues.

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Around Town

Bonefish Grill Plans August Opening

By ARLnow.com

The seafood restaurant is coming to the 5,350-square-foot former Desi Innovations space, at 1101 S. Joyce Street. Bonefish Grill is a national chain specializing in market-fresh fish and other wood-grilled specialties.

It appears that some construction has already started, although we’re told the groundbreaking for the project is planned for June. According to a spokeswoman for Pentagon Row owner Federal Realty Investment Trust, Bonefish Grill expects to open in August.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Reporter Embeds with Clarendon Bar Crawl — Reporter Dan Zak embedded himself with revelers participating in the Cinco de MEGA-Crawl over the weekend. He found plenty of loud, opinionated young people — one of whom compared Clarendon to Brooklyn — but he apparently did not find any public urination, vomiting or destruction of property worth noting. [Washington Post]

Parents Rip Board on Autism Program Cut — Parents of children with autism swarmed the Arlington School Board’s budget meeting, angry with a proposed $270,000 cut to a program that provides assistants for autistic students and their teachers. [InsideNova, Fox 5]

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Sponsored

Just Listed in Arlington

Just Listed highlights Arlington properties that just came on the market within the past week. This feature is written and sponsored by Team Cathell, “Your Orange Line Specialists.”

Arlington is now experiencing a market compression, and buyers are feeling the pain. Total transactions for the first quarter are down 20 percent from last year. Our never-ending winter suppressed our housing market.

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Around Town

County Board to Consider Permit for ‘Clarendon Night Market’

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board is scheduled to consider a use permit for two new biweekly markets at its Saturday meeting. The outdoor markets would be held on alternating Saturdays and Sundays in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank at 3140 Washington Blvd, a block and a half from the Clarendon Metro station.

Organized by the Clarendon Alliance, one of the biweekly markets will be called the Spark Market. It’s described as a “juried art market” for artists and designers. The market is being managed by Jessica Blaszczak, who ran the former Ballston Arts Market, and will be open on Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. starting June 8, should the use permit be approved.

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News

Crime Report: Kids Whack Mom’s Attacker with Bat

By ARLnow.com
File photo

(Updated at 2:30 p.m. on 12/23/21) When a verbal argument led to a malicious physical attack in the Nauck neighborhood Tuesday evening, according to police, the victim’s kids stepped in and began attacking the alleged attacker.

The incident took place just past 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, on the 2400 block of S. Lowell Street. Two neighbors who “have a long, combative history,” got into a verbal argument “that escalated” when one of them pulled out a baseball bat, Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Morroy, O’Leary Join Call for Streetcar Referendum — The two elected officials directly responsible for managing the county’s money, Commissioner of the Revenue Ingrid Morroy and Treasurer Frank O’Leary, have joined Del. Patrick Hope and County Board candidate Alan Howze in support of a referendum on the Columbia Pike streetcar project. (Hope’s fellow congressional candidate, Mark Levine, has also called for a referendum.) “This issue has become too divisive to fester any longer,” Morroy said in a press release. [Blue Virginia]

‘Film Processing Kiosk’ to Be Removed from Zoning — In a sign of the times, “film processing kiosk” is being removed from Arlington County’s zoning classifications. The designation was determined to be “archaic,” a victim of the rapid rise of digital photography. [InsideNova]

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Around Town

Peet’s Coffee Expected to Open in Shirlington Next Month

By ARLnow.com

Construction was being performed on the interior of the store today. That construction is expected to wrap up and the new Peet’s coffee shop is expected to open “in approximately 6 weeks,” according to Molly Hippolitus, a spokeswoman for the Village at Shirlington shopping center.

Minneapolis-based Caribou announced last year that it would be closing about half of its stores and converting the others to the California-based Peet’s brand.

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Feature

NOVA Legal Beat: Can My Employer Change My Job After Extended Leave?

By ARLnow.com

Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Mathew B. Tully of Tully Rinckey PLLC, an Arlington firm that specializes in federal employment and labor law, security clearance proceedings, and military law.

Q. I took 10 weeks of FMLA leave off from work so I could care for my teenage son, who was injured in a serious car accident. When I returned to work, I was given a completely different job. Can employers do that?

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